Well, That's Nats

It's a week of nothing but mountain bikes.  All ages.  It's fun to see how much we're different but yet really so alike. 

The down hill crowd isn't nearly as fit as the enduro or XC bunch.  Lots more tats and hair.

The enduro riders are in between.  Some look fit enough to ride up hill, some, not so much.  This type of competition looks to be growing.

The XC geeks are easy to spot.  Most are fit looking.  The juniors classes were over the top with 115 in the boys 15-16.  Lots of young girls racing also.  These classes bring out a huge number of spectators.  Lots of family in attendance.

There were 20 in my 60-65 class, the biggest master class of the day.

The gentleman who won the 80+ class was in Starbucks after his race downloading his stuff into Training Peaks.  How cool is that?  He said he hoped he had another 10-15 years of racing.  Now that's inspiring.

My Race

Oh well.  I got a second row call up.  Which I proceeded to ruin by getting elbowed by the dude next to me.  I came around the first turn towards the back of the pack.

We did the fingers section again.  It had rained the day before which made it even slicker.  There is no flow, only slick roots and black mud.  I fell once and ran most of the .6 miles both laps.  I'll complain here, the pros did a much shorter section of this stuff.  I rode theirs by accident on a practice day and almost cleaned it.  Anyhoo.

I clawed back up to the field on the climbs, passing a couple, only to get passed back in the fingers.

I rode more of the rock section than last year, so that's a positive.

I ended up getting pulled by 10 seconds, finishing 18/20.  Sigh.  If we had raced in Conyers......

I had a couple of beers for lunch and all was well.

Blake's Races

He entered three; 19-24 cat 1, U 23, and STXC.  

After getting a good start in the cat 1 race he crashed in..... you guessed it, the fingers section.  Twisting his stem and putting him near the back.  I don't remember where he finished but he burned some matches trying to get back on.

In the U 23 he had a tire go slack after burping it on a rock.  

The STXC was his best race.  However it was on Sunday so he was understandably tired.  Still he seemed to have had a good time.

Random Thoughts

USA Cycling does a mediocre job of running an event of this caliber.  Not many vendors.  Trail sucks (see above).  I feel like the cycling community is missing a great marketing possibility.  But what do I know?  I mean, 115 15-16 year old boys and their family's?  Talk about developing brand loyalty!

Snowshoe is a great place.  Good food, friendly people, beautiful scenery, cool temps.

Maybe because there's more money in it but moto, even at the amature level, does a MUCH better job.  Heck, even FTR had a better end of the year deal than this was.

I'll admit I wouldn't have gone if Blake didn't go.  Me racing in the wet roots of West Virginia is a stretch.  Having said that I did have a great time.  I already miss the place and all the races.  I wonder where it will be held next year?