The annual end of the season race, the Bogus Basin Hillclimb. This is a big event because a lot of the weekend warriors come out and will do this as the only race they do all year. It is a beautiful ride. For the racer types, it pretty much signals the end of the competitive season. Heather and I are both racing it this year. After States, I continued to train but last weekend’s mountain biking may not have been the ideal training if I wanted to keep my peak. I got a decent warm-up and then we started to line up. The pace wasn’t too bad over Corrals, I think people were feeling the colder morning than in past years. Then when we got to the switchbacks, the front group would surge and I popped off. I clawed my way back just in time for them to surge again. I managed to get back on at the top of the switchbacks, but then the third time they surged I decided I couldn’t keep doing this. I just settled into time-trial mode. I do have to say that was the farthest I’ve made it with the lead group…I’m not an exceptional climber, but with long climbs, my steady pace usually gets me by.

I managed to catch and then drop a few riders who popped off the lead group and by the halfway point I was by myself. I was in between the lead group and a smaller chase group behind me. I knew I’d be at a disadvantage once the road leveled off in the trees, but I kept pushing it since you never know what could happen up ahead. When I got to the trees the temperature was significantly colder and my fingers were freezing. I ended up staying by myself all the way to the finish with a time of 1:00:10 and in 14th place. I had a better time last year but it sounds like so did most other people, probably due to a slight wind and the colder temperatures.

At the top, I was freezing and quickly found the car I threw some extra clothes into. I put those on but still was shivering like crazy. Heather was the first woman to finish and she was even colder than I was. Our friend Mark, lent her a jacket. We hung out up top as long as we could so hopefully the temperature would rise. After a while, we decided to brave it and head down. It wasn’t too bad for me, but Heather was still freezing on the way down. With that over with, I can now relax and just ride instead of “train” every day.