Well the Mountain Man today was great! The weather, although chilly for spectators, was perfect for racers, the conditions were excellent despite the rain and the crowd was fun! It was a 2 mile run (a bit hilly- green loop counter clockwise), 11 mile bike (2 laps of yellow- clockwise) and the same 2 mile run again.
As for me- can you say peak? It was just one of those perfect days when you go faster than you think you are going because it just doesn't hurt much, no walking, no mechanicals.....it all just came together!
*I started out in the back of the pack- not a smart move since I would consider myself more of a runner than a biker. For the first 1/2 mile it was "excuse me" "sorry" "coming through"..... I wanted to just run flat out to get as much time on all the "bikers" as I could. I came through at 16 min which was good since my 2nd mile was sub 8.
*Then onto the bike- well since I'm the "Greatest Non-Clipless Rider" my transition was 1.5 min.
*The trails were great- I spent the first 1/2 mile being passed by tons of men- since I had taken off on the run they were catching up. By the end of the fire road climb the crowd was pretty spread out- although I shocked myself by actually getting stuck behind a few guys on the single track going downhill! When did I get so comfortable and quick going downhill!? (Must have been that Whistler downhilling trip
)
*The first lap flowed and the 2nd lap felt equally as good. I got passed again at the start of the 2nd lap- more guys, 2 females. I hammered the 2nd half of the 2nd lap and my transition to the run was 30 sec- tops.
*Bike to run- WOW! My legs- where are they? I started running and it definately took 1/4 mile or so until they were under me. I cruised through the 2nd run and finished 1.46- 14 minutes faster than my goal time!!
I got a good piece of advice from a friend who said to keep my bike in a granny gear going up the first fire road so that I can recover from the run and not blow up my legs- great advice, thanks Matt!
As for mtbnj.com finishers:
I came in 1st 25-29
Eileen was 1st <24
I know I met a couple other people......
I hope everyone had a great day today wherever they were riding!