I still claim that I'm "not really into racing", though it's not very convincing when I will have done 4 mountain bike races in 9 days.
Last weekend, I re-visited NIMBY50 which I entered last year. Note "entered", not "rode" there. About 30 minutes before the start of NIMBY 2010 I discovered that my bike was deflated (literally) and no amount of pumping air into the rear shock or tinkering with it was helping. I ran the course on foot... helped people fix their bikes and encouraged the last riders over the line. Then we drank a heroic amount of beer, sat on hay bales, and a good time was had by all.
This year I returned to NIMBY with a different bike (that Blur 4X that I had to hacksaw the back end off of) and a determination to actually ride the course this time. It worked out. The weather was perfect, the course was fantastic, and the bike not only held together but was fun to ride. Careful analysis of the results indicates that if I can keep up the same pace for another 27 years my time of 3h16m:34s might stand a chance of winning the 60-69 years category. A good aim I think.
This weekend I have signed up to race in the time-trial, cross-country, and "Super D" races in the North Shore Bike Fest. Quite why I have done this is a mystery to me... but it probably has something to do with there being a "King of the Shore" category limited to people who ride all three races on the same bike. That's the kind of thing I'm into. I do now realize that it's also the kind of thing that all the best riders in Vancouver are also going to be into. My plan for racing success seems to be fatally flawed. There is some hope though, after all... will all those fast folk still be there in 27 years time I wonder?
Watch out for my domination of the 2038 mountain bike racing scene folks.
