Horror at Harding Hill EFTA NECS '10 #5

Ah the Horror.  This is one of those middle of the road courses for me.  Don't love it, don't hate it.  Wasn't expecting much from today.  This was my first race on the new bike and I fought it off but I had been a tad under the weather this past week and I wasn't sure what my energy levels were going to do.

Things got off to a decent start.  I was in a group of 4 other SS'ers for most of the lap feeling decent.  Pace was hard but manageable and riding rigid wasn't affecting me as much as I thought it might.  The new steel is a-niiiice.  Just before the end of the 1st lap heading down one of the faster, rocky descents I was getting jostled about pretty good.  There were some shadows coming through the trees making it hard to see obstacles and pick lines and I caught something with my rear tire and got bucked really hard.  Hard enough to send both my bottles flying.  Turns out the cages on the new ride were just a tad too loosy goosy.

I really wanted to stick with the group I was with because I knew if I lost those wheels to follow that was going to be it.  But on a hot day like today I wouldn't have lasted long without those bottles.  I rounded them up, bent my cages a bit to hold things tighter and went on my way.

2nd lap I laid it on the line trying to get back on terms with the group I lost.  Things actually felt really good and I thought I had a shot.  I was climbing strong and you can tell by my ride data that my second lap was just about as fast as my first.  I couldn't keep that up going into my 3rd lap though and I never did see that group again.

 even pro photogs cant make a gnarly step up look hard on film

I was able to ride all the punchy climbs every lap, which I believe is a first for me on this course.  I usually bottom out in a few spots on shorter punchy climbs but I was able to power through today.  I ended up latching on to the leader of the women's Elite race and we yo-yo'd the back half of the last lap.  Came in under 2 hrs and put up one of my better times on this course.  Not bad for the heat and riding ironman.  I was only about 2.5mins behind a group of a few SS'ers which was about the time I lost with my bottle mishap so I am going to call today a decent showing.

And I got all kinds of "Wait...whats the deal with riding with no gears or suspension?" questions at the finish.  Damned if I know.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/40919242