Inspire…

I’ve officially had my first mountain bike race in the Italian Alps. I have also officially never felt such numbness in my saddle. For those male cyclists out there, you probably know what kind of numbness I’m referring to. I thought I almost lost the poor guy around mile 23 when I couldn’t feel anything. I’m not sure if it was the 5000 feet of vertical climbing along this 27 mile race or the relatively new seat, but all I could think about was finishing this beast!

Altitude of race course

I’ve had a few MTB races in the past including a 24 hour team event, but after 3 consecutive hours of racing on the saddle the ball game shifts into a new level. I noticed that my legs starting cramping after a 2 hour, 3000 foot, ascent to the apex where the downhill started. I polished off my 300 oz’s of hydration around mile 13 without knowing the distance till the next rest top and this is when things went awry. I noticed that my heart rate dropped below 135 bpm when it should have been averaging 175 bpm so my heart was ready to attack but my body was lacking energy to deliver. After another 7 miles of exhaustion I finally reached the must needed rest stop. I shoveled in about 300 raisins, 5 oranges, 2 bananas, and another 300 oz of hydration and felt soooo much better.

Here is a picture of the fearless NI team that attended this race. As you can see, we all had our game faces on except I’m stuffing my face with a powerbar.

This was by far one of the best organized races I’ve been to from the volunteers and race markers to the pasta party and awards ceremony. I hope to attend this race next year with a few extra bottles of water!

The final results are here