Season Recap

The mountain bike race season is over, and I thought it might be productive to review the season. I've linked to previous posts where applicable.

IMBCS #1 – Sylvan Island.
A flat course that is located in the quad cities on as island on the Mississippi river. It was a perfect day for a bike race, and it was my first Sport race. I had low expectations, so my effort in the race was sub-par. In retrospect, I should have tried harder. I had fun, and it was a well-organized race. I finished, but I was unsure where.

IMBCS #2 – Boone
My home course is also my weakest course because of the climbing. It was another perfect day for racing. Somehow I finished 2nd of 4 in Sport +45. Also a surprise is that the IMBCS sport class breaks at +45, instead of +40, as it did last year. I guess that’s a benefit of getting old.

IMBCS # 3 – Waverly
I went up on Saturday to pre-ride the course. On Sunday, the weather was perfect (again), but the Iowa East-coasters kicked my ass. I finished 6th of 10 in Sport + 45. Finishing ahead of me was Landon Beachy (a common theme).

IMBCS # 4 – Council Bluffs
A hilly course that ended with a killer climb called “Heart Attack Hill”. Christy and I drove over on Saturday so I could ride a few laps. I also rode another during a warm-up on Sunday. That turned out to be a mistake. Out of nowhere, it started to rain during my pre-ride. I finished muddy and exhausted (a bad way to start a race). I fell once during the first lap, but felt pretty strong dung the last lap (by then it was too late). I finished 9th of 11 in Sport + 45. It was to be my worst finish for the year. I’ve since learned that too much preparation is worse than none. Oh, and Landon finished ahead of me, way ahead.

IMBCS # 5 – Sockum Ridge
This was another hilly course. It was a two-day stage race. I drove down with Dave and camped at the park. On Saturday there was a time trail, a hill climb, and a short track. Landon beat me in all three. The next day, he did the same thing In the cross-country race. I got a lot of second place points, though. And, camping out with Squirrel, Dave, and Jubil was a lot of fun!

IMBCS #6 - Webster City
Sadly, an out of state family reunion prevented me from going to this race. I heard it was muddy. I hate mud so it was OK.

Iowa NORBA State Championship - Boone
I planned on a training peak for this race. We got 2 inches of rain the night before the race, when I got the e-mail that the race was still on, I called Thad and told him I wasn’t going. It was going to suck. From those I’ve talked to, I was right (Nick had his first DNF).

Iowa Games – Ames
I also planned my training peak around this race, which was rained out. This is really starting to suck.

IMBCS # 7 – Fort Dodge
I salvaged what was left of the peak from the previous two failed races, and came out swinging for this one. It was hot (98 degrees). I was up there with the fast sport guys (Thad, Taylor, and Jacob) for a while until I got chills in the heat (not a good thing) and faded late in the race. I finished 1st in +45 and 6th overall in Sport. It was my best race of the year.

Tour de Webster – Webster City
This was my first road race. I had low expectations, and just wanted to finish with the main group. I did. I finished 18th overall, and got some hardware in my age group. I’ll be doing more of this next year.

24 hours of Seven Oaks – Boone
Team 14 put together a 4-person team for this event, and I was lucky enough to be on it. What blast! We were not there to compete, but to have fun.

IMBCS # 8 - Boone
This was another 2-day stage race, but this time much closer to home. Saturday was a time trail, and a short track race on the grassy infield. Sunday was the XC race. I got first place points in every race.

IMBCS # 10 – Iowa Game – Ames
After this race was postponed in July, it became an IMBCS race in September - sweet! It's in my back yard! The weather was perfect, my training was perfect, the course was perfect, and I broke my chain during the first lap. I turned into a personal challenge to see how many people I could pass from DFL after I fixed my chain (I think the answer was seven). I finished a disappointing 5th in 45+.

IMBCS # 9 - Sycamore Time Trial – Des Moines
A great race and a great time! I finished 2nd in 45+, just 24 seconds out of first.



So, that’s a season. "Lessons learned" and goals for this winter/next year will be forthcoming.