Saturday, February 20, 2010

Perfect Day

Today may have been the perfect day.  It started at 9am with a home-made banana/strawberry/peanut butter/chocolate/yogurt smoothie, followed by an awesome ride at Sac River. 

The trails where great and the weather was perfect.  I met a few other riders and just had a great time.  My new bike is so much fun to ride.

That was followed by a trip to JQH Arena to watch the Bears beat Nevada in a nationally televised bracket buster game.  It came down to the wire, with them winning on a pair of free throws with 3 seconds on the clock.  We had great seats in the second row right behind the bears basket.  It was such a good game.

Then I went back out to Sac River for another ride.  While riding some of the lesser used trails I discovered that Jason Faegans and his crew have been busy building new trails.  They aren't finished yet but I was able to ride 3 of the new trails and part of a 4th one by following the ribbons.  I also found a new bypass they've put in and lots of trail grooming where erosion has degraded the trail.  There are several miles of new trail and it will be really cool when they are finished.  

After the ride I had a really good steak gorgonzola salad and a peanut butter cookie from the Grotto with some wonderful company .  A perfect day.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Spa City 6 hour mountain bike race

My first mountain bike race of the year is in just a couple weeks.  I'm going to do the Spa City 6 hour race in Hot Springs AR on Feb 27th.  My plan for the weekend is to car-pool with 4 guys from Springfield and arrive early enough on Friday the 26th to be able to pre-ride the course a little, then camp at the race site Friday night, race Saturday and either come home after the race or camp Saturday and drive home Sunday.

I think I'm ready for the race.  Hopefully the temps will be in the 50's and the trails won't be too sloppy.  I've been getting in some fairly long training rides and I plan to ride for 4 hours this Saturday.  I don't have any expectation of doing well at the race, but if I can get in the top 10 I'll be very happy.  I'm just really excited to get this racing season under way.

If anyone reading this is interested in doing the race and wants to car-pool from Springfield, let me know in the comments.  Hot Springs is a great town and Saturday night could be a good time.  We are planning on taking only 1 vehicle, but I wouldn't mind driving if a couple more people want to go.  We'll have a pop-up camper and a pop-up cover.  Just bring your bike and a tent.  This would be a good tune-up race for Ouachita, and it's a USA Cycling event.

Here's a picture I took in Hot Springs last year:


It's going to be a great place to ride.