Carson 50 Report

Last weeks ride was a set up to the Carson 50, perfect trails, a light crew, long light. XT, Uknown Local, NoCar, Keds, Buttons and (not sure of his handle-new Giant bike) and I goofed off a bit too much to take full advantage of the spoils, but in the end it turned out to be a legit FT3 adventure, as always. I was all in a twitter about preparing for the big race on Saturday. Laughable that is in hindsight, since I clearly went into that race over confident and under trained. It was just XT and I who were able to make the trip, Fro had some unexpected back issues.

Here is a brief report from my perspective. First of all, I should have signed up for the 35 miler. And from Epic Ride's perspective XT and I, in spite of being over 40, are not Master's racers. We will need to reach the ripe old age of 45 to race in that category. Here are some quick stats:

Lap Times

Cap'n            XT
1) 1:34         1) 1:47
2) 2:24         2) 2:15
3) 3:12         3) 2:45
Fin) 7:11     Fin) 6:48

XT finished 47 and I finished 55th out of 70 finishers. There were 95 racers in our class, so 25 did not finish.

My in depth analysis shows that both of us would have finished in or around the top ten in the open class we were assigned had we raced the 35. Hmmm.

My cramps started during the last climb of the second lap. I realized the seriousness of the cramps when I began cramping while gently pedaling downhill. I attempted to fuel up well on electrolytes etc. at the end of the second lap, just then XT arrived. We pedaled out for the last lap together. As I continued to suffer I watched him ride away. He was still in sight just before the final aid station, that is where I had to take a few minutes and have a come to Jesus meeting with myself. Ultimately the call was to HTFU, I continued on and suffered out the last of the climbing. The course was very exposed, hot A.F., and rocky, challenging, "Brutal" was XT's word. The decent back into town was actually super fun. Great trails. While I think the course last year would have been better, it was still fun and would have been way better if it was not so hot. It's a great event, we need to line up a crew for another trip next year.

Cappy Gen 2 and I participated in the Klunker Crit, which was super fun, I made the front page of a local online paper:

http://carsonnow.org/story/06/16/2017/eyes-carson-city-klunkers-race-ahead-epic-riders-friday

Here is a link to a race report for the pro class:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/carson-city-off-road-2017/elite-men-xc/results/

And  link to the results if you want to geek out on them a bit (check out Lance Armstrong's finishing time in the amateur class 50):

https://epicrides.com/events/carson-city-off-road/results/

I am out tonight, but you all should enjoy a warm ride and a cool swim. When is the next LRP?

Larz in town next Tuesday June 27, let's make it special.