De-ja-puke

When I moved down to North Carolina last July I had already been off the bike as our lives were consumed with getting the condo ready to sell and then the move itself. My buddy Sean and I decided to dip our toes into the race scene down here by entering the final race of the summer series, Dark Mountain. 

I don't know if it was nerves, the heat, the fact that I chugged a Gatorade prior to the start, or a combination of all three but I puked during the race. Fun. After recovering, I quite enjoyed the course. 

Sunday I drove up to Dark Mountain to give the course a once over and test out how the trail would treat the Glow Worm. I could certainly let it go a bit more on the downhills with the HiFi, but the Glow Worm handled the footy goodness just fine. I was able to ride everything as is, but will likely make a gearing adjustment to account for traffic on the climbs. 

The thing about Dark Mountain is there is very little flat. You are either climbing or descending for the most part. So an easier gear should not be too much of a detriment... that is until the very end of the race when the course pours out onto a flat field, which we proceed to do a lap around. If anyone is close behind they will likely overtake me here.  

So I'll have to hit it hard off the start and put as much in as I can on the initial climbs. Let it go as much as I can on the downhills. And just pedal, pedal, pedal damnit the rest of the way. 

It's the last race of the series, I've got to be out of it on the overall standings, but I'm excited to be racing again.