Short But Sweet Race Report 11/22/08:

This should've been called Short But Painful. This was my first time I raced on a track built for motocross racing and this was actually the first time the race track was being used for a mountain bike race a la BMX style.

I had gone out Thursday night for a practice run at the D-Tronics MX Park in Donna, (http://www.dtronicsmxpark.com/)my first time out there and my first time out on my mountain bike in a long time. After one lap I was beat. The Monitor, the local newspaper had shown up to do a story on the upcoming race and the mountain bike club and to take photographs. (http://www.themonitor.com/articles/mountain_20169___article.html/donna_org.html)
My bike got a flat on my fourth lap. I walked the bike out to the bleachers, walked over to the concession stand and got myself a beer.

I arrived Saturday evening and registered for the big boy category, otherwise known as the clydesdale category, meant for participants weighing above 200 lbs. Only three had registered for the clyde category. Originally it was only going to be a 10 minute race but since we had only three people in our category, they threw us in with the sport category and now had an additional five minutes added to the race.

It was a mass start and I was right in the middle after the race had begun. I was right with the pack until I got stuck behind a slower rider and could not get around him. By the time I got around him, mostly everybody had passed the both of us. I finally got around the slower rider and huffed and puffed my way down and up the track.

The motocross track is impressive. It is approximately half a mile in length with twists and turns and berms and hills. It was cool racing at night under the big bright lights with music blaring from the speakers and spectators rooting for everybody.

The only thing I heard was my gasping for air and my heart thumping. Midway through my fourth lap I felt as if my heart was going to explode and my tar stained lungs collapse. Just as I was about to call it quits upon completing that lap, the race officials told me the race was over. Those fifteen minutes could not have come sooner. I was relieved it was over, as were my heart and lungs. It may have been short, but it was anything but sweet. Either way I at least was better than somebody else that night. I got second place in the clyde category. Did I mention it was kind of chilly that night? Mikeytoe, first place in the clyde category is to the left of me. The rider who won third place had left before the awards ceremony. Picture taken from missiontrails.org website.