This year I raced mountain bikes in the Mid-Atlantic
Super Series with the Downingtown Bike shop team.
Here
you can see
most of our team and our jerseys. This picture was taken at the Fair
Hill, Md. race July 13, 03.
I did horrible in the Fair Hill
race. It was hot, humid and 22 miles. The average race length for my
class is 15
miles. The Fair Hill race is always longer for
some reason. I finished 33 out of 45 in 2:36:26. Thirtysix
minutes
off the lead. I even had a
flat in this race.
My max heart rate was 194 with an average of 176bpm.
|
 |
This the the first race
in Hibernia, PA April 6, 2003. It was cold, wet and windy. The
race was 17 miles. I finished
24
out of 30 in 1:41:56. Twenty minutes off the lead. My max heart rate
was 193 with an average of
172bpm.
|
 |
This was the start of
the Granogue race in Montchanin, DE race May 4, 2003. I actually
woke up pretty sick that
morning. Something in the squid the
night before didn't agree with me. I wasn't even sure I was
going to do the
race until I paid my entry fee and couldn't turn
back. Overall the course was a lot of fun and I felt better as I
went
along. My second lap was faster than my first by 7 minutes
or so. The race was 15 miles long. I finished 27 out of
34 in 1:43:00. Twenty minutes off the
lead. My max heart rate was 188 with
an average of 176bpm.
|
 |
This was the Hershey, PA
race May 17, 2003. It was the 4th race of the season. The course was
a mess.
Everything was coated in mud. It was slick to ride on,
but stuck to everything else. A lot of people dropped out
of this
race. I actually did pretty well. It was my best finish of the
season and drag raced some guy across the
finish
line. It was 16.46 miles long. I finished 7 out of 15 in
2:23:15. Sixteen minute off the lead. My max heart rate
was corrupted. My average was
178bpm.
|
 |
This was the Carbondale
race in Carbondale, PA June 8, 2003. Don't let the short
sleeves and shorts fool you. It
was still cold and wet.
This course was actually more wet and muddy then Hershey, but it
wasn't slick. I actually
beat the guy that won the Hershey race
in this race. The race was 13 miles long. Originally supposed to be
18,
but they shortened if for the
conditions. I finished 12 out of 23 in 2:00:16. Fourteen
minutes off the lead. My max heart
rate was 195 with an average of
181bpm.
|
 |
This was Iron Hill, De
August 3, 2003. Another disaster for me. Don't let the picture
fool you, but the ground and
rocks were all covered in a thin
layer of moisture. It was like a sauna in the woods. We
were praying it would
start pouring, but it never did. The
moisture on the ground didn't give me any problems, but the moisture
in the air
killed me. I'd clean the technical sections, but died
on endurance. I literally collapsed on the third lap to catch
my
breath and brains. This picture wasn't actually taken during
the race. This was our pre-race warm-up. The guy
behind me is Paul. He's on my team. The race was 17 miles long.
I finished 15 out of 20 in 1:53:03. Twenty three
minutes off the lead. My max
heart rate was 193 with an average of
183bpm.
|
 |
Here are the other races in the series. but I
don't have pictures for them.
April 19,
2003 the Blue Marsh race in Reading, PA. The race was 16.78
miles long. I started second to last up the
hill (it started and
finished on a ski slope) when a guy crashed into me at the start.
After untagling ourselves and
our bikes, I was pretty far back.
Jen says I passed at least 10 guys before the top of the hill and
passed 2 more
bombing down the other
side. I finished 18 out of 35 in 1:25:24. Eleven minutes off the
lead. My max heart rate
was corrupted. My average was 175bpm.
June 29, 2003
Sewell, NJ. Originally scheduled for June 1, but it got rained out.
This was a fun twisty little course. It
featured the
infamous Hecklers Hill. It was a steep, twisted, gravel
covered climb with water bars. Spectators would
position
themselves throughout the twists to cheer and/or heckle the
riders. I got a little angry on the first lap and
heckled
back when I didn't make it. I cleaned it the second lap. The
third lap didn't go so well, but most of the crowd
was gone by then. The race was 14.92 miles
long. I finished 9 out of 13 in 1:22:00. Nine minutes off the lead.
My
max heart rate was
194 with an average of 184bpm.
July 27, 2003 Fairmont Park, Philadelphia, PA. This race was
tough. On the first lap I sprained my ankle and bent my
rear
brake lever 90 degrees straight up in a crash. I
was going to quit when I completed the lap, but something
about
riding out of the woods, through the field and past all the
spectators kept me going. I was banged up pretty good, but
I finished. The race was 14.78
miles long. I finished 17 out of 21 in 1:35:01. Fifteen minutes off
the lead. My max heart
rate was 193 with an average
of 180bpm.
September 14, 2003 Spring Mt. in Spring Mt., PA.
Another ski slope race. This race combined all things bad in each
race
into one. It had heat, humidity, insane climbs/downhills,
slick mud, huge rocks and a stealth bomber flying overhead. I have
seen racers legs cramp up and make them walk funny. It's even
happened to me, but at this race I saw/heard a guy scream
and cry
because of his leg cramps. He couldn't walk. He couldn't
do anything but scream and cry. The race was 12.53 miles
long. I finished 14 out of 16 finishers in
2:16:14. A lot of people dropped out of this one too. Thirty one
minutes off the lead. My
max heart rate was 194 with
an average of 177bpm.
|
|
|
|
|
|
