Snake Creek Gap TT # 3

Dalton, GA
Saturday March 06, 2010
by: namrita o'dea

I definitely did NOT think I was going to have a good race. I was trying to stay positive..but..it really wasn’t working. My legs have been fried all week and they weren’t any better on my pre-race ride on Friday. I was beginning to think I am anemic or have mono or some other crazy disease. I am going to get my iron tested. My diet includes very little red meat and I haven’t been trying to get iron like I should be. Bad dietitian..very bad. Anyway, on to the race.

As soon as the alarm went off this morning I started talking myself out of racing. But, we went. We took all 3 dogs, arrived late, missed the shuttle bus and had to get a ride over in Mindy’s truck. Luckily our bikes made it on the shuttle. We started almost last so luckily there were a lot of rabbits to chase on the trail. It was nice to be doing all the passing today instead of getting passed. I had forgotten a HR monitor and watch so I was pretty clueless as to what was going on all day. I rode very conservatively for the first half for fear I would bonk on the last 5 technical miles. But, I think what happened is I didn’t work hard enough. I could have pushed a slightly faster pace overall, I think, but in the end it wouldn’t have changed my placing. I ended up 2nd in my class with a time that was good for 4th in the money class. But, these were training races for me so I didn’t really feel like I needed to enter the money class…next time I will do so. I’m just glad that my legs decided to cooperate for me on race day! Eddie got 2nd, too! It was a good day..we went home with a plaque, food and beer, and some cool custom Snake swiftwick socks. The best part…the weather was absolutely perfect. I was actually overdressed!

The equipment worked flawlessly today. Woohoo! I will stick with the Rotwild R.R2 full suspension and the Ergon GA1 grips for the Ouachita Challenge, I think the conditions will be very similar to the Snake.