Frozen in Time
Yesterday I did my first race of the season. The Frozen in Time bike…er…make that hike race. The course was 95% unridable. Which meant that we ran next to our bikes through powdery snow. I suffered through 3 laps. I think I finished dead last. It was amusing to see people trudging through snow while pushing thier bikes. I was tempted to just leave my bike behind and run without it. A lot of guys showed up on skinny tire cross bikes. Even a few fixies. They had no chance to even try and ride. There were also a lot of 29ers. Every event I attend there are more and more 29ers lining up.
The running race was painful. By the time I finished I was cooked. My calves and thighs are feeling the effects this morning. Yesterday afternoon I was a little mad that I went at all to the event. I got up at 6:30AM to be there for the start, which was delayed an hour. It was cold, and all seemed rather pointless. However, it was funny to see guys who are absolutley fast on thier bikes running through the snow. Those guys that are fast on thier bikes, yeah, they are fast pushing them also. I think also, this was the first race I have been to where a fellow competitor’s pre-race meal consisted of a beer, a cigarette, and a rock start energy drink. He was one of the poor souls riding a skinny tire fixie.
In the end it was an amusing time. But it made me only that much more excited about upcoming events in which I canactually ride my bike aroud the course. Bob was also at the hike race. You can read his report at his blog.
4 Comments
Jeff Kerkove
January 23, 2006Wahoo! New flavor!
Guitar Ted
January 23, 2006Yeah, I haven’t ever been to anything quite that silly, but it reminds me of a race a friend told me about. It apparently was so muddy, that after about 30 yards everyones wheels were so balled up in mud, that it became a running race. He described hoe he would run to the top of each climb, throw his bike down the other side, and slide on his butt down after it! Noooo thank you!
Andy
January 23, 2006would studded tires have helped or was there too much snow?
Adam Lisonbee
January 23, 2006To much snow for studs to be of any help I think. It was just really soft fresh snow.