[/caption]Ok, so suffice to say that I didn't necessarily "set the trail on fire today at For Custer's Stampede. I opted for the Expert race, which ended up being close to 30 miles on the mountain bike today. The weather was perfect, the trail was in great condition but it was evident to me that my past several years of dedicating my training to the road bike and triathlons had not done much for my mountain biking. Considering I spent quite a bit more time on the trail that most racers, the way I look at it I was just getting as much visibility for our sponsors than other teams!
That being said, I finished the race with only a couple of "dabs" (that's having to get out of my pedals and touch to recover for those non-bikers reading this) and ended up putting in a good strong finish on the straightaway to the line. Despite some leg cramps on the third and final lap, I managed to get through the race without much pain (and avoided a couple of close calls when the trees seemed to "reach out" and try to grab my handlebars and jerk me to the ground.
While my performance today isn't anything to "write home" about, I'm very proud of my teammates and the fact that several of our racers made it on the podium. It was good to see the WSI-Team Active name on more than one occasion during the day. I'm sure there will be more updates shared very soon, so stay tuned.
I'm also proud of the great showing "after the race" and how team members all pitched in and helped with the "beer garden" and hospitality tent. A special thanks and shout-out to Mike Groat for not only giving me a spanking on the trail (nice ride, Mike), but for being grillmaster for the day. The spectators and racers all enjoyed grilled burgers and dogs thanks to Mike's grilling skills and cold beer (for those that were of age, of course). Funny thing, we set up the grill right next to the section on the course the racers had to pass on each list, so by the time the burgers and dogs were going, racers got to ride through some pretty-good smells. Let's just say it's good that Mike was racing in my group, because smelling that food may have been enough to get me to "pit" early.
In closing I want to also forewarn you that the "kilt" made another appearance today and I'm sure that you'll be seeing some pictures very soon. I can tell you it was much more comfortable wearing it today than back when I did the Lowell 50. Danny (and several other shutterbugs) were out and suffice to say I was the only one at the race sportin' classic Scottish apres-cycling attire.
See you on two wheels...
~Eric
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