Race Day

Time just flew by on race day and on Sunday.  We are now home and I am doing some catch up to write this.

 

We woke up to a very beautiful morning on race day.  It was sunny and hardly any clouds.  We all had a good breakfast and headed for the Lakeview Arena and the start line.  We unloaded and prepped the bikes for the race.  I got to the start line a little later than I wanted to and was about in the middle of the pack.

 

When the race started a I tried to move up as quickly as possible.  I started to make some passes on the first grassy section and then again on the first dirt section.  Things spread out quickly as we moved into the first section of single track.  Once we crossed the railroad tracks and hit the first climbs I started to pass a few more people.  I felt really good and was cleaning all the climbs.  This was the first time that I did not have to get off the bike on any climb.  After crossing the tracks the second time we went into a new section of single track that was very fast and flowing.  I gained a lot of ground in this area and passed a group of six riders.  I then passed three more before the big sand downhill.  On the downhill I managed to get around another three.  Approaching Kirby's Hill I passed two more riders and then passed one on the hill.  After this it was all downhill to the finish!  I pushed really hard and was trying to catch another rider in the last mile and a half.  Unfortunately I just didn't have enough left in the legs.  I crossed the finish line with a little sprint left in me.

 

 

My time was just over 54 minutes.  My goal was to come in at 1 hour.  I went in and checked to see how I did.  1st place in the 50-59 age group and 10th overall!  Better than I had expected.

 

JJ was 7th in his class.

 

After the race we returned to our room for a little rest.  We went out for lunch and then to Presque Isle.

 

We then headed back to Lakeside Arena for Brendan's race.

Ready to go!

 

Brendan started very strong and quickly tired.  I kept him motivated and he did pass a lot of kids.  He finished strong by passing a couple more kids in the final stretch.  He was 13th in his class.  Much better than last year.

Finish Strong!

 

Another Ore to Shore trophy.

 

Overall a good Ore to Shore for all of us.  We then went out to eat with the Leach's and then went over to the Holiday Inn so the kids could all swim together.  It was a late night and a lot of fun.