Monday, January 14, 2013

Know when to fold em...

Mother nature is trying to take away our winter fun=(  Here in the south metro, after the rain last week we lost almost all our snow and the trails, singletrack and snowmobile, are skateable.
Murphy Frigid Race Series number 2 this last weekend was a TT (staggered start due to conditions) on lumpy glare ice singletrack.  Unfortunately, conditions forced me to ride my trusty Nokian studded "skinny" tires.  They made the trail rideable, but their well worn and rounded studs provided only enough grip for a slow careful ride. 
After a couple near misses, I shut 'er down early and just rode out the shorten lap (cut out ~1.5 miles of trail for this race).  I tried putting power down multiple times, but even when seated the bike would start fish-tailing.  My heart rate and exertion were the lowest I can remember in any mtbk or snow race, but the race made up for that lack of physical stress with plenty of mental stress! 

Results (figured I would provide links because they are hard to locate on the Freewheel site):
Snow Race #1: http://freewheelbike.com/about/frozen-frolic-january-5th-2013-results-pg750.htm
Ice Race #2: http://freewheelbike.com/about/froze...ults-pg751.htm

I will race again this winter, with vigor, if we get more snow.  I will not be buying or making new studded tires just so I can keep racing skinny tires... there is plenty of skinny tire racing to do in nicer weather.

In other news, it appears that I didn't get in to Ragnarok this year.  I did send a card in, but I am pretty sure they didn't get it because I never received the confirmation email.  If they did get my card and my name just wasn't drawn, I think that means I missed an entry by 5 feet after the 118 mile trek last year (I hear they let the previous winner in).  Bummer!




1 comment:

rideonpurpose said...

*cough* Dickie Scramble *cough*