Today was the annual Barking Spider Mountain Bike race. I raced it last year and liked the course so I figured I’d do it again. Forget the fact that I’m in nowhere near “race shape”, that’s OK…the only way to get faster is to race, right?

There was a good wind all day that would make the course tough, but it is a rolling course without any major long climbs. Definitely a roadie course. Heather supported me and did some hand-ups on the 2nd and 3rd laps. I had fun but wasn’t competitive. I didn’t come in last, but it was pretty close. I think I got 12th out of 17 starters in the Pro/Semi-Pro field. I guess not too bad, but by the end my legs were toast and my back was killing me. Even though it took me only 2:15 minutes, it was the longest ride I had done in 4 months! That shows you what a slacker I had been this winter. I’ve probably only averaged 3-4 hrs/week, well below what I should be doing for my category. Well, my philosophy this year is to race into shape. At this rate, I should be flying by August!

They held a kids race with a very shortened course that gave a flavor of mountain biking to the younger folk. Ages ranged from around 5 to up to 13. The funniest part was a kid who obviously didn’t want to be riding but seems like his father roped him into it. He was crying even before the race got started. Hopefully, he lightened up by the end of the race. It was a pretty tame loop they took them on so I’m not sure what all the fuss was about!