Buck Hill

It seems like it has been a long time since we raced at Buck Hill, for me anyway. The last time we were there I wasn't feeling 100% so I decided to watch instead of race. I am glad I did, as I wouldn't have done myself any good.

Last night at Buck I felt better on the bike than I have in a long time. The speed is coming around nicely and I am able to push "hard" for the 1 hour duration of the race.

If you race at Buck and want to get a good starting position at the line you better come early and camp out. Unfortunately, I realized that I didn't have a full water bottle and started heading back up the hill to get a full one as all the racers were lining up. Fortunately, Andrea was coming down the hill with fresh bottle for Jordan and I. I was able to line up in the front row, although it was way off to the right side and it made for an interesting start.

At the gun I tried to get past the banging bars and make it towards the road to smooth things out a little. I was in the middle of a fairly snarled mess, but was able to hold my position and find smoother ground. As we proceeded up the first grassy rise I backed off a little to catch my breath and played it safe around the wood chip hairpin turn. Up the first climb I settled into a nice rhythm, not trying to push to hard anticipating a log-jam entering the single track. I was pleasantly surprised that everyone funneled into the woods without stopping and the pace was very good. I pushed a little harder up the next climb and settled into a nice pace through the flat tight turns. I found myself in a nice group of riders that were going the pace I wanted and settled in.

Each lap I was able to pass a couple of riders up some of the steeper/extended climbs and hold my own in the single track. On lap 4 I had a great battle with Kevin Supple. I had passed Kevin lap 2 or 3 I can't remember, but he pushed hard on the last lap and was able to bridge the gap before the large drop near the end of the lap. Kevin went around me at the base of the service rode and I pushed hard to hang on his wheel up the gravel incline and onto the grass. As we hit the wood chip hairpin turn before the final climb to the finish I was even with his back wheel. I dropped two gears in the back and pushed as hard as I could towards the finish edging him out by a couple of feet. Thanks for pushing me at the finish it feels great now, but it hurt like crazy.

My heart rate his 196 on the last sprint. I have hit 196 a couple of times in the past but never after 1 hour of racing.

Next stop Hillside Park for the next MNMBS race. The legs should be nicely recovered by then.