I competed in my second mountain bike race yesterday. It was the The Talon Trails Excruciation Exam. This consisted of a lap at Bluff Creek Ranch in Warda, TX. Then a ride on back roads (gravel) to Rocky Hill Ranch in Smithville, TX. Do a 20 mile lap around Rocky Hill, then a back road ride back to the start with a short 3 mile lap there. The total distance was 87 miles.
I woke up at 3 am to drive to Warda since I did not know exactly how long it would take me. I arrived at 5:30. Which worked out great since registration opened at 6:00. There was a ride meeting at 7:00 with a 7:30 am start.
The race started with a Lemond start which involved putting the bikes in a specific area, We lined up and had to run around a tree, then back to the bike and head off on the trail. I was with the back half of the group for about half of Warda, but quickly became isolated from the rest of the group. By the time I reached Rocky Hill, I was the last rider to start the 20 mile loop. Rocky Hill took me just under 4 hours to finish, which meant that I missed the safety cut off and had to catch a sag back to the start. My time was prorated so that I still got a finish. I was never so glad to take a ride after a day on the bike.
I came in dead last, but at least I did not get a DNF. At the awards I won a park tools BBQ set. All in all, it was a much tougher ride that I should have tackled but I did it and had fun. That is all that matters.
