I’m writing this post on Friday night late.  I went ahead and signed up for the GoPro Mountain Games MTB race tomorrow at 11:45.    It should be interesting.

Right now, it is supposed to be raining most of the morning, until the start and through the race.   That should be interesting too.  I haven’t really ridden off-road on trails in the mud in a very long time.

Today VIncent and I messed around in Silverthorn doing chores.  We put a new lock in the front door and I mowed the whole yard.  It is a pretty big yard, like 2 acres.  I am pretty sore from that, even though it is good cross training.  Maybe good race prep?

Then we headed over to Vail and met up with Brad Bingham and his girlfriend, Hannah Williams.   Brad is awesome on a MTB bike and welds pretty great too.  Hannah finished 9th last year in the Pro women’s race and hasn’t been racing bikes very long, so she is only going to get better.

We rode 2 laps of a 7 mile course.  I was doggin‘ it up the first climb.  Actually, I was pretty slow the whole first lap.  This is, normally, 4 or 5 days into altitude where it catches up with me.  I really didn’t plan to race and haven’t been slowing down my activities, so what do I expect other than to be a tad tired.  It’s okay.  I’m doing it just for the race experience.

I usually don’t go to a race without preparing somewhat.  This is completely off the cuff.  I did put on some new tires, with more tread for the race, so I did something to prepare.  I’m riding 9 speed and old XTR.  I’ll probably be the only guy in the race on 9 speed, but I don’t really need another gear.

There are a lot of small ring climbing and then bumpy single track descending.  I was having a little trouble staying with Brad and Vincent on the descents, but definitely improved the 2nd lap.  I hope to get better even tomorrow.  I’m normally good when it’s a little slick out, but I haven’t done it in a while.

Okay, I’ll update this in the morning when the weather is closer.  I don’t mind the rain, but warming up in it will be a challenge.  The problem I’m going to have tomorrow is the start.  When I’m not used to the thin air, if I go too hard early, then I blow and it kills me for a while.  I really just need to start slow, way slower than I want to go, and ride into the race.  The problem is that the race is just 1:40 or so.  Not much time to make up lost ground.

I’m wandering again.  That’s it for now.

*20 minutes to start.  Down pouring rain. ☔️ And not warm. Another adventure.  

to walk.





mowed. It is pretty rustic/primitive in places. The Weedeater mower ran forever on a tank of gas. I couldn’t believe it.