Thursday, March 7, 2013

1 race down and 9 months to go!

It is amazing, only the first week of March and already the first race of the season is done.  Many more months to go till November and I will have a schedule up on the home blog soon, www.nathanguerra.com

Pre-ride went pretty well, with how technical the course was I swapped out some skinny raceface bars for some wide next sl’s.  Also, Kenda hooked up some new tires which showed up at our cabin where we were staying in Texas the night before the race, so I got to rock Kenda karma’s and test out my skills this new sponsors rubber.  This course is nothing but broken and jagged rock with dirt mixed in here and there, with so many riders with flats on course I was really glad I went with something so super reliable!

 

So race day last Saturday and it was time to see how my a demo bike I just jumped on and my indoor trainer only fitness fared against the best in the nation, although the field consisted of many well beyond our borders just looking at the start list!  UCI C1’s attract so many International teams.

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Start went well and I kept the effort in check knowing I would pay dearly for too much effort in the red zone since I have had no efforts there so far this year, although not being on the front leaves ya blind in a cloud of dust on a Texas course.

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Conservative racing only lasted about 1/4 a lap.  If you know me on the bike or off, I am an “all or nothing” type of personality.  So after the first major  climb I was pretty blown up and needed to recover for a bit.  I started reeling people in the last 3 laps but a ton of damage was done in the first 2 with me going way too far into the red.  Plan was to use my strength in threshold power that I know I have right now but that plan suffered a bit, not sure it is really a practical way to race a UCI C1 mountain bike race anyways, since these mountain bike courses are full on bursty climbing followed with recovery by UCI regulation.

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So 38th and a mid pack finish with a few kinks to work out for early season racing.  Came in with no expectations and was able to learn a ton about racing the 1st week of March and how to prepare for next years season opener. 

 

I want to thank  everyone who has made this great early start possible.  RaceFace, Kenda, Powerbar, Champion System, Concord General Store, SNR Remodeling, Dr Mcgillicuddy, and Kona.  You guys made this trip possible, so thank you! 

Next up on the Pro XCT circuit, Fontana and Sea Otter! 

Stay Tuned and remember for faster updates hit me up on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+

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