Suffer Springs Summer Solstice

Goal for the race: Finish the race in under an hour
Seconday goal: Don't crash or bail

You really have to love a race that starts with the word "suffer"....at least they get you to sign a waiver that pretty much says if anything happens, it's your own fault.

This race was held on the Sulpher Springs trail in Bragg Creek. In all my time mountain biking, I have never once hiked or biked this trails. My first time ever on the trail was during the pre-ride with the 'Goats in which we also did a run on the new Pneuma trail. Saturday during the course setup was the first time I had ridden the entire trail.

I wasn't as nervous than in previous races so when the whistle blew we all went out pretty hard. My plan for the race was to pick off people during the climbs. I got myself into good steady pace but could already feel my quads starting to burn a little on the first climb. I continued picking a few guys off but overall I was by myself. I could see my teammate, Ken, up ahead and was trying to pick up my pace so that I could ride with him as he seemed to going pretty good.

I kept him within eyesight until the second big hill. I tried to crank in a harder gear then usual but when I tried to shift into an easier gear, my chain popped off. All I could think about was "not this $#*! again". Luckily it didn't get stuck so after dismounted and doing a revolution on the pedals the chain came back on. I ran a little bit up the hill to a flat section where I started up again. The descent was really sketchy with loose gravel everywhere so I was riding the brakes pretty hard down the steep switchbacks. One really long climb still remained but as I approached it I could not see a single rider on it. There was one section that was extremely loose so I had to dismount and run a little as I couldn't any traction but for the most part I rode it all the way to the top.

The second major descent was a lot more technical and faster but all around tons of fun. I was finally getting used to my new bike and started taking straight lines down. I was also letting go of my brakes a little more then usual and just trusting my bike to carry me through the descents.

The last part of the race was a flat and grassy single track to the finish so I put my bike into the big ring, stood up and just hammered all the way to the end.

I finished the race with no bails, cuts or bruises and a fully working bike so I had met my secondary goal. I also checked my computer and I had finished the race in 55 minutes so I had completed both of my goals for the race. I was really happy...I didn't care about my results. I had gone out, raced my race and had a lot of fun in the process.

Result: 10/25

Good job to all my teammates that competed in the race. We had 4 people on the podium that day which was awesome.