MTB Nationals Recap
Saturday, November 5, 2011 at 11:18AM A week ago I made the trip out to Angel Fire Resort in New Mexico for the collegiate national mountain bike championships. Racing Conditions were super tough due to a snow storm that hit the mountain the day before racing began. Additionally the race was at elevation which proved to be an interesting challenge. I traveled Thursday and got in with enough time to do a pre ride loop of Friday's cross country course.
Friday was the cross country. The race was shortened from five laps to three in large part because the course was so muddy from the melting snow. The course had us climb 1,400 feet up the mountain and then back down. Due to the melting snow and mud the first half of the climb was too muddy to ride so you had to get off and run. The upper part of the mountain was cold enough that areas were still some what frozen and could be ridden which was a welcome relief. I ran in to problems with my bike on the second lap when my front brake went out before the descent unfortunately causing me to lose quite a few spots. When All was said and done I came in around 50th happy to have finished.
Saturday was the short track cross country. This was the day that the switch to elevation really hit me hard. To begin with I'm not a great short track rider, I'm just not suited to the 20 minute all out effort that it requires. Saturday was when the elevation really hit me hard. I felt like I was going hard while warming up and I just couldn't breathe enough to keep out of oxygen debt. And finally to add to the trifecta I didn't have the necessary parts to fix my front brake. So I had to make a go of it with only a rear break which turned out to be kind of scary in a few areas. In the end it was a rough day and I got pulled two laps into the race with a group of about 25 other riders. Although it was some consolation that only 4 riders finished the whole race with out getting lapped and pulled.
In the end it was a good learning experience and I especially learned some valuable lessons about how my body reacts to being at elevation.
-Alex
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