Another week, another training race at Catamount. This time we were back on the hillside, same course as Flower Power with an additional 50 feet of singletrack. Going into it I was feeling pretty drained from thinking too much at work, and cognizant that I might be doing a XC race in New Hampshire this weekend I decided to make sure and keep my efforts at about 80%. Oh, and it’s a sucky course for me on a singlespeed. Geared for the climbing, I suck ass on the flats.

Oh, and there weren’t any other women anyway. A few in the younger category, but again not much hot, racing action for me.

The weather was in the midst of turning from good to crap, a stiff cold wind made the wait for the start really cold and annoying. I had a sorta good start, good for the first 30 seconds to a minute, then I lost the lead folks. No problem, hung with the next group next two to three minutes but couldn’t hang on the downhill/flat section. I ended up in the back section of the pack, trading places with the folks that can ride — as long as it’s not singletrack. Sigh. Kinda depressing.

Turns out that riding felt pretty good last night, good stress reliever. And even though I wasn’t giving it everything I got, I still took almost 10 minutes off my Flower Power time and had a much easier time on the hills. The weather is here now, pouring rain = no ride today. My legs feel fresh (which i can tell from walking up the three flights of stairs here at work) and if I do race this weekend I think I’ll be in good shape. But if I don’t race, then I’m going out for a real long adventure type ride. And frankly, that’s sounding appealing to me right now.