Wimmer's Sherwood Hills

What began looking like a mudfest turned out to be a relatively dry, spongey and fun XC race. When I arrived around 10:00 most of the talk was about tires getting hung up in the mud, deraileurs clogging and talk about whether or not to ride. By the time my group pushed off around 11:45, all was well and I'm glad I stayed.

Many of the usual suspects were noticably missing, but that did not effect the competition or level of excitment. My group was only 5 strong and I was able to finish on top of the podium. I was in 3rd place in the over 50+ group when my 2nd lap finished, so that made me feel real good. My teammate, Bill Dark, came in 2nd so we had a good day. Other Mad Dog riders had mixed levels of happiness topped off by KC & Chris Holley taking 2nd and 3rd, respectively, in the Pro divisions. I'm always amazed when someone rides faster than them because when I so on training rides with those two, I'm maxed out and they are barely breathing. How can people ride that fast!

Overall I'm a little amazed with my conditioning at this point in time. My time on the bike and total mileage is lower than last year, but, I feel better and I'm racing stronger. Go figure. Maybe it all the rest and recovery I'm getting - hopefully that won't come back to haunt me later this summer. My plan is to start Lynda's 100 mile PR program on May 19th in preparation for Leadville in August, so that should pick up the mileage and bike time. That ought to make my wife real happy. In the meantime, I'll do a few more ICUP races and the Soldier Hollow/Sundance series and see how things work out.