I placed 7th at the MS/LA championships. I could have done a lot better, but I ran out of water on the fifth of eight laps and began to implode from there. I started to cramp on the sixth lap and popped off the main group in lap seven. Everyone else had support in the feed zone, but I had to grind it out solo since there was no neutral support, at least none that I noticed. Still, one should never underestimate the value of having a girlfriend, relative, or teammate working the feed zone. Heck, I think someone’s mother was even out there. However, on a positive note, I did beat a guy in a sprint to the line at the end.
Immediately after my race, I drove down to Biloxi for race two of the Mississippi Mountain Bike Championship Series. The drive down was long and miserable. This probably added to my problems since I don’t like long drives. I was also tired, thirsty, and stiff. The worst part was having a queasy stomach. I stopped at a McDonalds, a sure sign I was desperate, for a hamburger, fries, and a shake. It helped a little, but I honestly didn’t have much of an appetite.
I was still dehydrated and felt a little queasy on the start line for the mountain bike race. The race was not pretty for me. I was slow off the line and last into the single track. The Biloxi trail is generally non-technical, except for the sand and one root-studded climb through a half-pipe carved into the side of a small hill. Two people spun out at the top of the “Clay Climb” as I was making my way up. I managed to get around them by rolling my front wheel along the wall of the climb and shooting myself past them. That was pretty much the highlight of my race as I placed sixth in a small field of seven.
I will never race in two different cities on the same weekend again. It’s just too much traveling and extremely exhausting.
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