May Long- switching to glide

Hardcore Cycling Club and Redbike organized a MTB stage race on the weekend, a first in my time of mountain bike racing in Alberta. I volunteered for the time trial in the morning: a fireroad climb followed by a rooty descent and some flat sections at the end to keep you honest. Some crashing provided some LOLZ for me.

I suited up for the dirt crit: 6 laps or a really short course. The most recent Hardcore Fat Tire Tuesday race really pissed me off as I lined up when we were told to and I still ended up with a 3rd row start. Getting stuck in bottlenecks, watching people let gaps go, and making glory passes ensued, until I flatted my front tire

So anyways, I lined up on the front row and even though there were none of said SPORT riders in the field, I did a full on sprint off the start and led for the first lap, which highlighted in me actually gapping some riders on the descent along with Dave R. John C joined the fun, and attacked when Dave was fed up with leading. I rolled in for 3rd in a hot race (hotly contested and high temps) behind  John and Dave, and Mark R came in 4th to make it a Hardcore 1-2-3-4.

I did some more spectating for the XC the next day and saw an awesome crash to bottleneck combo in the sport men race. Atta boy! Then it was finally our turn to take to the course. I threw down a couple of quick laps just a little bit behind the leaders, then it started to rain...hard. The track got super greasy and I was not having fun anymore and I shut it down but still finished. First couple of laps, the heart rate was around 180, I saw a lot of 150-160bpm in my last 3...

Off to Canmore to catch the slush cup and continue my streak of skiing for free. I decided to dress up like the typical douche-park-rat-wannabee-gangsta-who-lives-in-the-suburbs: Tall-T, low-riding pants with suspenders dangling, bandana on face, goggle straps under helmet, and GoPro. Why make fun of people who can only get out to ski once per year when you can make fun of people who try to be cool and end up looking ridiculous in their pursuits! Threw down some sick crotch grabs and mule kicks in the park. The skiing was pretty awesome too: the snow was soft and forgiving and there was water to be skimmed on the way down. Good times, the band playing was solid, but I forgot to take things "switch to the road" at the end of the day.

Even did a pro call-out of Kevin Hjertaas. "Come on, I've been retired for years!"