Fried Ramen Noodles

I was a bit unprepared for this race - Fall Epic 8hr at Hardwood Hills.  Having backaches and a mild hamstring strain.  I hadn't really felt like doing much and my mileage this year reflected it.   Motivation to get on the bike was lower than usual.

But my good buddy got himself a really beauty of a mountain bike!  One that had my stamp of approval, full squish, and enough travel for trail riding and most important a dropper!   All the ingredients for having a ton of fun and enjoying the outdoors.

I've often said, that if I had to pick only 1 bike.  I'd keep my mountain bike.  Sure there's rocks, gnarly roots, off camber trails, and often steep and technical descents, but there's also the fresh air, wildlife, blue skies, trees and amazing natural scenery.  And more importantly.  There's no cars with distracted drivers.  

People often see more often, mountain bikers falling and crashing.  It's part of the challenge.  The whole premise of mountain biking is changing terrain and obstacles.  Riders are more aware of this and it's expected!

On the road, it's often UN-expected, so when it happens, it's catastrophic!   One of my friends hit a newly installed rubber speed bumper on Bloor, meant to slow down cars and make it safer for pedestrians.  In any case, in the dark this speed bumper is invisible.  He hit it and has a fractured pelvis and broken ribs and a broken bike.    I've witnessed racoons and squirrels run in front of road riders causing them to fall.  I've encountered wildlife on my trail rides too.  And never had an incident.  I did run over a snake.  It squiggled away.  I felt bad and grossed out.

I've had incidents too, falling many times on my mtb, almost always not at high speed and certainly not as fast as I would be on a road bike.  And I've walked away with a dusting on my ego.  More often I look to see what I did wrong on that section and remember for my next run down.  Not a big deal.  I've even sailed over my bars into bushes on a night run in a 24hr
race.  I walked away without a scratch!  That was flukey for sure...could have been much worse.

In any case, I have ridden both, and dirt is much more foregiving than asphalt.  That's just a fact.   And I could ride fewer kms on trails and get a much harder workout.  Distance isn't everything.  Horsepower is one thing, but genetics can be against you, however bike handling skills can level the playing field as it can save a ton of energy.   Put the two together and you become a formidable athlete.

Back to this event.  Jinn was so excited and thoroughly enjoying his new ride, he asked if I would do this with him.  How could I say no?  A new mtb rider and he wants to do a race?

I owe it to him to give me the kick in the pants to give me motivation to ride!  And Kudos to the organizers for calling it out right at the start that this was meant to be FUN!  Weather was calling for chilly temps, but it turned out to be perfect!  No wind, no rain.  Cool temps but not freezing.  It was beautiful.

I did the start lap as it can be challenging to ride in a large pack and then you get to the single track which can be even stressful when a rider is on your wheel and you are stuck behind another.   Following laps will have riders strung out and later on, the field will diminish and less riders on the course at the same time.

The course was short at just under 10km and not very hard.  Sure there's a sprinkling of rock gardens and tight switchbacks but not overly difficult.   It would be an endurance/hammerfest type of race.  Pace yourself to do as many laps as possible in the 8hr window.

And because it was so quick the laps, there was not a lot of time to rest.  So endurance, constant steady fuelling was key.  I felt good after the start lap.  So good I did 2 laps consecutive the next time.  Which may not have been such a good idea, as recovery between laps is tight.  I was feeling it towards the end of the 4th lap.   So I got Jinn to do 2 laps back to back.

When he came in and looked to have left most of it out there.  That was a good sign.  It put a smile on my face.  Fun is fun.  There was nothing more to prove for either of us.

I am happy we got to race on a beautiful day, challenged ourselves, found our mojo, chatted with folks from all parts and a common love of mtb riding, and got home safe and sound.