Burning 6 Hour

Finally feeling the postive energy of recovery today. Burning was high on my list at the beginning of the year, but after a long season, the motivation was not all there. Still, I packed up and trugged forward. My goal for the weekend was fun and four laps. I have never done 4 laps in one day before, and only done 3 laps consecutivley one other time. I was a bit nervous about my preperation when lining up. I have not faired well on the long MTB rides this summer, so the name of the game is disapline for me. This was my second burning, last year being my first racing the fast class with tim and tony.

Lap 1 and 2 were pretty consistant. I was about mid pack for the Lemans start, and going down the hill. There was a pile up at the drop in, and the switch back onto the lake loop was a choke point. The first lap was crowded and bunched up a bit. The most frustrating part is when I would pass people, and then mess up a tech section. I really did enjoy the company though, and for me this made the time pass quickly. It was nice to ride with friends new and old. Lap two was cleaner, and had me feeling great. I took a 20 min break after lap 2 and had a sandwich. Probably not the best idea, but the hunger was intence, and I really wanted to rest up for the second half. Lap 3 was on a full stomoch, so it took a while to get the blood flowing again. I was definatly feeling it on the last hill, and ended up walking a portion of it with Scott P. The fatigue was setting in on my legs, but I still felt good. A short break, and some gels had me feeling good enough to tackle the last lap. I felt the best on this lap until I hit the beach, then the cramps set in. It is hard to keep those negitive thoughts from coming in, but I tried my best. I was covering the doors and windows like in that move "Birds", trying to keep the darkness out. I had been feeling the twitching coming on since about half way around the last lap, so I was standing alot on the inclines, and spinning the flatter stuff. The last hill had me walking again, cramps came on strong right at the end. I really wanted to ride across the line, but had to limp like a stray mutt into the finish area. I didnt care at that point. I ended up in 6th place for my first real endurance race. I was ear to ear about that.

The rest of the day is kind of a blur. We ate, drank and cheered until Zach B. came across that line with hands in the air. What a sight to see.

This was a test of will for me. I had a ton of fun with the trail, conditions, and all of the great people that made this event happen, and participated.

No complaints about the trail condiitons. It was super fast, no dust, and perfect temps for the whole day. C-bluff is an epic trail, at 13 miles, it never really lets up. The legs were super spent and warrented an Ice Bath. Man this is the ticket to a fresh pair of legs. Maybe could have used a little more ice, but the feeling is great. This was a nice end to the MTB season.