RIM [Rapture in Misery],
and boy was it an experience. We had awesome weather for most of the day and the trails were a bunch of fun to ride. Hats off to the volunteers and trail workers for getting everything together and running a great event.
The race consisted of a 9 mile lap through Crowder State Park. We went through the woods, up 3 pretty substantial hills, over rocks, roots, trees, mud, creek beds, etc. etc. I ended up completing 3 laps = 27 miles and by the end was pretty wiped out, not so much with my legs, but my upper body. Just a little FYI to anyone that is new to mountain bike racing, get your upper body and core in shape before the race. I have front shocks on my bike (it's a hardtail) and still got beat up. In retrospect, I think I was TOO cautious and afraid of wiping out. When you grip the handlebars as much as I did that day, it's no wonder that my arms would give out before my legs. I only had one wipeout which screwed up my front shifters, but other than that, came out relatively unscathed. I passed quite a few competitors with flat tires, broken chains, busted freewheels, etc.
Some of the rigs were pretty impressive, anything from full suspension bikes to hardtails like mine and some fixed gear bikes as well. Kind of like Triathlon, the different types of people suprised me, guys and girls that you would never picture competing in something like this, out there giving it all they have and making pretty good time around the course. What was taking me 1 1/2 hours to complete the top guys were doing in 42 minutes (yes 42 minutes!!) They apparently don't use their brakes, or at least I don't see how they could and get a time like that. Also like the Triathlon community, everyone I met was nice and helpful, not ego driven and snooty like other sports. I would highly recommend mountain bike racing to anyone contemplating giving it a try, it was a lot of fun, highly challenging and, highly rewarding. Don't sit on the sidelines and wonder "what if" get out there and make a memory, take away a story that you can boast about a little bit, and rise to another level of something you previously thought impossible, now conquered!
They had a few photographers on the course to take pictures, here I am during one of my 3 laps.
The overall winner ended up doing 8 laps in the 6 hour time frame!?? That's 72 miles, unbelivable! There were some great athletes there and I enjoyed the ride very much, already looking for the next challenge, I can see myself getting into this.
I've had co-workers ask me why do I do these types of events, and my response is
"If you have to ask, you'll never understand"
The sense of accomplishment and boost to your self confidence is priceless, going above and beyond what you thought was possible is something that you can carry with you the rest of your life. Looking forward to the next big event, keep bringing it to everything you do!
If you know you can . . . YOU WILL! until then . . .
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