Author

Thomas Kabacinski on May 3, 2010

Race name: Iola Bump and Jump Race date: Monday, May 3, 2010

My first MTB bike race turned out to be a great day with no major expectations but let me tell you it was fun. I didn't realize how Road riding makes you so strong compared to normal riders. I didn't know what to expect with the field and was rather bummed when I had a great start spot on the line only to lose about 20 spots in my field to people who had registered for the series instead of me who registered for the race. Any way I forgot about it and just concentrated on riding my race and pass who I could. Within the first lap I kept passing people. I found my strength was the climbs and developed my confidence in my handling as it went on. I had a 29er which made the handling a little tough but nothing I couldn't handle. On the second lap I passed one guy in my field after the last big climb only to have him pass me later when I was tied up behind a few slower riders. Well there went my first place except I didn't know it. I missed him by 30 seconds. I came in 15th for the whole field of 150 and could have made top 10 with a little more training and effort. Hey I loved the podium and the medal alone! I even remebered to put my hat and jersey on for the podium .