Bump N Grind XIV

The day started with a wake=up at 0505. As soon as I looked at the clock I was excited to get up - none of that snooze button and roll over stuff. I hopped out of bed and started gathering my things for my first bike race, the 14th annual Bump and Grind.

I got the race site at Oak Mountain about 0630. After parking I registered, then got my gear ready. I rode about 20 minutes on the road for a warm-up, and then made my way back to the starting line to watch the Junior Olympic categoryies start. Just a few minutes later they called for my group!

I was a little nervous about the start. The marshall herded us all to the front, and there were 5 across in the narrow chute. For the final minute before the start all I could think about was all 5 of us trying to get clipped in and running into each other and falling down.

"GO!"

I paused about a half a second to let the guys around me get just a little ahead to avoid the envisioned fall. It worked great! I got clipped in and within a few hundred yards had zipped into second place. The first half mile or so was on pavement and the remainder was singletrack. I stuck about 20 feet behind the leader on the pavement, but once the singletrack started I lost sight of him pretty quick.

This 2 loop course gains most of its elevation on the first 1/3 of the loop, and I was huffing and puffing before I got to the downhill! The intensity was way high, and I was happy to be done with the climbing for awhile and head back down. Close to the end of the first loop I was passed for the only time on the course and dropped back to second.

This wasn't a technical mt bike course, thank goodness, and only had a couple log jumps a 2 sections of downhill rock steps. The rock steps would have intimidated me if I hadn't rode the course several times prior.

I held my own in 3rd for the 2nd lap, and finished in 3rd place. 2nd was about 45 secondes ahead of me and 1st about 3 minutes ahead. Ok, there were only 5 riders in my division and one DNF'ed, but it's still 3rd, right? Ha!

This race was a lot of fun, and I definitely would do it again. If I do it again, I need to actually ride my mt bike more than a couple times a month to be competitive. But ya know, I don't think I necessarily need to be competitive. As long as I'm having fun, right?

Thanks for joining me for My Daily Spin...