Boyne XC Race Recap

The past week was getting ready for Boyne and enjoying myself. Friday, we left on mission "to boyne." I threw down a nice pre-ride in sunny 50 degree weather. I rode a lap with my dad and then went and rode the first 2.5 miles, then crossed the road and spun up the mountain (well, MI ski hill) and finished the backside of the trail off. Saturday was a nice recovery day to watch the Tigers BEAT those Yankees! I am not a baseball fan, but ya have to show some love for dem Tigers. I rode a trail called Aspen Pak in the middle of Gaylord to move my legs for 5 miles.

Sunday was race day. I got there nice and early to be able to get a good pre-ride in. I rode around for a while, then rode the first 2ish miles of the trail to get my HR up and ready for the climbs in the race. As the race started, I realized that there were only 2 of us in 19-under. We lined up with the 20-29's and took off. That was the best start ever! The pace wasn't pushed really high-my HR was only 150, when usually it is high 170's. After the first few climbs, I broke away from the group with a guy from Breakaway Bicycles (how ironic). About 5 miles in, I started picking off Elite riders. After the first lap, I had passed 4 Elite riders and was way ahead of my competition.

Lap 2-I kept on chugging and moving foreward. I passed another Elite rider early on, then another one later on. The hills were feeling good even though I couldn't get my HR as high as I normally can. There was no back and forth, but I just had to try and stay focused.

Lap 3-The guy from B-Bicycles zoomed by me after the last downhill at the end of lap 2, so I just let him go. I was going, but not sure how hard since I had no gauge with anyone. There was no one in front or behind me, but eventually I got into a good rhythm on the hills and caught the BB guy at the top of the ski hill.

I ended up getting first place by 25 minutes, which wasn't too big a deal. I would have managed to get 7th in Elite if I would have raced that (about middle of the pack). I figured race Expert in this and Iceman, then move up to Elite next year. A fun weekend with a beautiful countryside of red and orange leaves. Next up, ICEMAN...I have 4 weeks to figure out what tires to run!!!