Proof that brakes only slow you down

Last weekend, I was able to kick back, relax, and be normal person for a few days. I had a company picnic on Friday afternoon, and continued the party all night with friend s around Madison. Then partied hardy on Saturday. That’s 2 days in a row, something rare for me. Then I took Sunday off, to sleep and get over my splitting headache. I have to admit, not the best for my training, but it’s good to have a fun weekend once in a while and not worry about training. It keeps you motivated. And that is exactly what it did to me.

I kicked off that Monday riding hard, getting a solid 2 hours at a thigh splitting pace. Then on Tuesday I rode out to Bluemounds and climbed the backside in all its 800ft of vertical climbing glory. I ended up riding in the dark, suffering like I haven’t suffered in a while. Actually I take that back, suffering like I did at the Wausau24. I ended up riding 62 miles, in 3 hours, with an average speed of 20.5 mph. I was very tired. Took Wednesday to recover, and rode and easy 2 hours on Thursday to ramp things down and get some rest before the weekend.

On Saturday I packed up and drove all the way up to River Falls, WI for the Boarder Battle. I vaguely remember the course from a few years ago, but slowly I remembered how awesome it was. My sister came to Madison and picked me up and we picked up Nick Frye in Tomah and made it up around 6:30 after many car shenanigans. Nick and I rode the course and damn I love those trails. Not my favorite trails, but they are up there for sure. After a quick lap we drop to St. Paul and got dinner at Great Waters Brewery. The food and beer was good and the waitress was pretty cute, this all adds up to a good night. I had a little trouble sleeping, but at least I didn’t sleep in the crack, sorry Ellie.

Woke up in the morning and had a huge breakfast at McDonalds, maybe not the best decision, but I was hungry. I enjoyed watching the Citizen and Sport riders and cheering on some of my friends that also made the trip. But eventually I got my head in the game and started a nice long warm up.

The field was pretty big, so I was really worried about getting a good start. I made the bone headed move when they called everyone up to get on the inside. I knew that it would bunch up and I would get stuck behind people. Exactly that happened and while I was hoping to go into the single track in the top 10, I was probably 25^th into the woods. I had some ground to make up.

I rode pretty well the first two laps, picking people off one by one and eventually caught my teammate, Tim. We rode back and forth, pushing each other faster and faster. Halfway through the 3^rd lap of 4, the pin fell out of my front brake and I lost all functionality. Not something you want on a course with those kinds of down hills. But to my surprise I was able to keep up on all but only a few really tight downhill switch backs. The broken part definitely brought my aggression levels down and I slowed a little, but I don’t think it really changed my result.

Whats missing in this picture?

I ended up in 15^th place, a solid performance when my legs went feeling 100%. I was hoping to do better with some of the big player missing, but I am happy with 15^th considering the situation. But either way there you have it; proof that brakes only slow you down.