I was a little concerned prior to this race because we had not trained much on dirt with our MTB's. My training hasn't been so great so far this year because of a herniated disc in January and time-constraints throughout all of February. Also, I decided voluntarily to move up from Sport category to Expert because, even though I was only middle of the pack in Sport, it got just to crowded on the course, specially at the initial stages of races.

So the gun went off and we started on about 2 or 3 km of very fast pavement. I did pretty well drafting and set myself up for a good position in the climbs. The first ten minutes was a time for everyone to fall into his natural position. I passed and got passed. But felt good about being in this category because everyone there, whether fast or a bit slow, had good riding skills.

The first couple of hours were invested in getting to the top of this mountain. I probably rode an easier gear than usual (I've raced here three times now) and spun my way up pretty comfortably, alternating between water and gatorade every ten minutes. The heat was just brutal. I've never felt so hot on this course.

About 45 min into the race, I had a powergel and was feeling fine. Kept passing people up until approx. 1.5 hrs into the race when I started to feel my legs about to cramp. I took another powergel and had more water and rode it off for a while. At this stage, in the last 3 or 4k of the climb, things get really steep. It's time to use granny gear.

Unfortunately, at around 1:45 into the race, the cramps came full on. I had to get off my bike and walk up some climbs I've usually ridden in the past. The only good thing was that, when walking, I was managing to keep a good pace and maintain the cramps at bay. It was so steep that I wasn't losing that much time on the guys that were on their bikes.

Once we reached the top of the mountain, the so-called descent would start. However, the downhill part of the course had been changed and several little uphills were thrown in, making it more technical. I had to walk a lot of them, not because they were extremely hard, but because I got cramps any time I would put forth some power into the bike. I had to get off my bike a total of 10 times in the race, not good. Fortunately, around 10k into the return, the climbs pretty much disappeared and I let it rip.

I don't think I've ever descended that hard. It was a combination of frustration from having done so well in the initial part, only to get screwed up by the cramps, and the joy of blasting away on the downhills with my new front suspension.

I managed to repass a lot of people. If given a choice, I would probably sacrifice a little downhilling speed to the cycling gods for more climbing power. Are they listening?

The final part was about 3 or 4 flat km's, and I pretty much put the hammer down and had no further cramps until the finish.

I guess I have to hydrate better on a daily basis, not just the few days prior to the race. Also, training at higher heart rates is definitely required for MTB racing, yet my IM-training plan has very little threshhold work, which I believe affects my performance in these races.

I was expecting to place really at the very BOP in this new category, but 68/108 wasn't so bad.

I crossed the finish line and looked for Mayde, who was racing the Sport-category 14km course. She had earned first place!

At least I have her to bring the hardware home.

This was the first time that her mom ever attended a race, so she made the latter proud. :)


Freaking cramps. Fortunately, I wasn't the only one. Loads of riders were troubled by the same thing.

I wish organizers would do this race later in the season, when it's a bit cooler, there's less of a risk of forest fires and competitors are a little more fit.