Race Report, or, When Just Riding Stops Being Enough

SERC #6 (http://www.goneriding.com/) was this past weekend at Clemson--the best course for racing in the series, I think. Not exactly epic or even all that technical or anything else otherwise outlandish, but I suppose that's the point. So much of it is high sppeds, big rings, tires barely gripping as you slide through cornes, putting all your trust into your balance and fish-tailing abilities. Somewhat of a roadies' course, maybe, but going fast is rediculous fun, so please excuse me.

Clemson is the type of course where it never mattered that my brakes were somewhere between shoddy and non-existant, but even so, the responsiveness of my new Juicy's and the natural brap-brap tendancies of I-9 wheels were much appreciated at high speeds. This is in contrast to the steady, more technical weekend Pisgah rides they had been used on up to this past weekend--for which this new set-up is also super.

And yet...I still came in just 2nd in the women's pro/expert race. Of the ten or so races so far this season, I've podiumed-a-plenty but have only managed to claim one victory, which leaves me feeling slightly frustrated at not being able to find that extra oomph.

The problem, apparently, is that I've plateued out awhile ago. Which is just fine in most respects--just like riding along ridge lines: such pleasant cruising for cruising's sake, with only minor ups and downs. But every once in awhile I sort of get the urge to maybe, uh, er...get a bit more serious about this sport.

Right now my "training" schedule looks like this:

• MONDAY: Easy day, ride to work on the road bike, then home, plus 1-2 hours of a good, local loop
• TUESDAY: Ride the road bike out to the BMX track, then try to maintain my dignity while learning to pump and "jump." I think this is helping my xc riding and by August, I'll be table-topping like Dan Ennis. No I wont.
• WEDNESDAY: Sprints. I usually make up the workout the day of: 2 x 12 min, or 4 x 6 min or uphill all crazy. Mostly this is on the the mountain bike, because that's what I race.
• THURSDAY: Ride 2-3 hours, on road or off, singlespeed if off, hilly route if on.
• FRIDAY: I don't work Fridays, so I like to do about 4 hours in Pisgah, or one of Art Shuster's incredible road routes.
• SATURDAY: Easy, little bit of riding, pre-ride race course if I'm there.
• SUNDAY: Race. Act mean.
  

I also train with a powertap. It's made out of electrical tape and a quote from Ryan Fisher: "Just go fucking faster." It doesn't give me my wattages and I can't upload my rides onto my computer, but it does tell me what to do and it is waterproof.

So anyway, that's my secret to mediocre success. Borrow from it what you will. We'll see where it gets me. I'm only half-concerned about being all serious and fast. Most of the time, I'm more concerned with finding awesome new loops through Pisgah, and if I get fast as a result of that, then that's cool, I guess.