Today is Tuesday September 8 2026 and last Saturday i did a mountain bike race.
It was pretty great.
i also rode outside on Sunday and Monday.
It was pretty great.
Saturday... The mountain bike race was at McHenry Park in KCMO, just south of the airport. The race was a trail fundraiser and about 65 people signed up which seems like a lot for a local event. I'd guess half were serious about racing and the rest were kind enough to sign up and support the local cycling community. The race format was unique, and awesome, after a le mans start we did one lap (just shy of 5 miles) and people who finished at the back were eliminated, then after a short break we started the next lap in the order we finished, that continued each lap until the race was whittled down to a winner, with a cap at 50 miles because it was brutally hot.
The race started at 8am so the heat was manageable at first (i brought multiple ice socks) but by 11 it felt like the surface of the sun. i raced well and got in 33 miles / 7 laps. Laps 1-3.5 were great, laps 3.5-5 were so so, on lap 6 i wanted to die but i rallied and did one more lap, finishing maybe 10 of 11 on that lap which led to my elimination. So maybe i finished 10th overall. Shortly before driving home the 7 remaining riders started their 8th lap. A few of them appeared to be about 14 years old and 105 pounds.
This was the absolute perfect race for me as i attempt to get into mountain bike race mode. i got to ride a ton of single track but with short breaks every 30 minutes. i learned that my single track skills are very rusty compared to the fastest people out there. i learned not to start with too much air in my tires. i learned that i know what food and liquid to bring to a big race. i learned that my fitness is decent. i learned that drinking a flat ice cold coke after pedaling 25 miles of hot dusty single track may be the single greatest experience on the planet. i learned that no amount of salt stick tablets can make up for the fact that i have weak office job hands that will cramp up severely on the drive home from a long hot mountain bike race.
i learned that i'm really excited for the little sugar mountain bike race in 34 days.
Later that day we saw some sweet Halloween decorations.
Sunday... i was up real early for a spin on my cyclo cross bike and went harder than planned because i had to be home quickly and went farther than was wise. i was pleasantly surprised by both how good i felt given the effort the day before and how good the cyclo cross bike felt. It's been neglected for a while but i was really digging it.
Later that day we went bowling.
Monday... Labor day offered up a big ride window and i was out on the cyclo cross bike again from 6:30 to 10:45 in the am. i did the Rocky route followed by the full Old Leawood North loop followed by a few more junk miles, just because i could. 56 miles in total and i felt pretty great.
Later that day we went swimming.
The heat wave is still going but today may be the end of it (101 today and 89 tomorrow). AI tells me we had 9 days in a row of 95 or hotter which is the longest heat wave for KC since 2012.
Coming up in two and a half weeks is a gravel race in Lawrence, KS and then the week after that is a mountain bike race also in Lawrence, KS, and then little sugar is the week after that. i want to do all of those and i think it could be the perfect build up for Little Sugar. i can handle all that effort without getting fatigued (i think) and those races will really help my lungs (i think).
Either way i'm having a ball riding my bike and i hope to keep it that way.
Saturday... race day
Sunday...
Monday (labor day)...
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