Race

I raced in Grants Pass again yesterday evening. It was hot. It was 93 degrees when I first got there but it cooled considerably by the time I raced. It was still hot. There were only two single speeders. Me and Verne. Verne is a guy I met when I first started racing cross in Southern Oregon. He's a nice guy and is about my speed. He's younger than me, mid forties, and a strong cyclist. He whips my ass on road bikes. He's a big guy, bigger than me, so climbing takes a lot of energy. If I beat him it's because I outdid him on the up hills. His technical skills are superior to mine and he's braver going down hills. I have to push myself to beat him. I did beat him yesterday though. It was a good race. I think it was the first time that I "raced" and felt like I accomplished something. The course started uphill on a power line road, loose dirt, then some fairly technical single track, then uphill on a gravel road leading to more single track that came downhill to the start. I had ridden the South Fork of the Smith Saturday with Susan Roberts and my legs felt like they hadn't recovered yet so I was conserving energy from the start of the race. I just wanted to stay close to Verne. At one point during the third lap I bobbled and went briefly off the course. I was afraid that I had lost him but I caught up pretty quickly. The race was five laps but we got lapped during the fourth lap. I was feeling pretty worn out but I passed Verne on the gravel road uphill section on the last lap. You can see where on the chart. It's where my heart rate went to 182. It almost killed me passing him but I figured if I pushed hard I might demoralize him so he would back off. He stayed close so I had to push myself on the technical downhill single track. I was beyond my comfort level but ended the race with a pretty good gap on him. A good win. There are two more races in the series. I should win the series if I don't crash or break down. I've got two firsts and a second and Verne has a second and a third. The guy that won last week didn't show up yesterday.
I love my tubeless tires. Racing Ralph 2.4 at 28 psi in front and Small Block 8 at 30 psi in the rear. They hook up well in these dry conditions.