With the season coming to a close, I'm taking the next few days to reflect on my year, hopefully I don't become too sentimental. Today is racing, tomorrow is stuff, Thursday is people. So look out for it!

So, as a little bit of background, this was my first full year racing. I did a few cross races at the tail end of last year in the C category and that planted the seed. So, when spring rolled around, I gave the whole racing this a shot.

What do you know, it was a blast.

Being able to race with so many different people and head off to places I'd normally never set foot in (Coburn, PA, anyone!?) was an experience in itself. The bike riding was just an added perk on top of that.

A few highlights:

• Mohican 100k

This was my first experience with any sort of an enduro race, and man it was awesome. Even though the 7 am start was wayyyyy too early, tearing through downtown Loudonville was awesome. I felt pretty good for not knowing jack shit about nutrition or pacing myself or any of that mumbo-jumbo. I was scarfing down granola bars having a blast. While getting lost for an hour plus may have been a huge kick in the nuts, there's always next year when I'm going to unleash some proverbial whoop-ass on that race.

• Manitoc

331 promotions really knows there stuff. A huge thanks to them for putting on this really well-organized race. The weather looked really ominous before this race. I left my place in North Royalton (20 minutes away) to a torrential downpour, but when I got to Manitoc, the trails were dry and the rain held off. Crazy stuff.

It was also one of those races where everything seemed to click. The bike was running well, I didn't crash like crazy, and I was able to power through the entire race. A 1st place plaque and a Chipolte burrito were my reward.

It's a shame the trails aren't open year round, but hopefully my good dudes in Camba have some luck with getting the Valley opened up for bikes.

• Wilderness 101

The hardest thing I've ever done on a bike. Seriously. Next year I'm putting a suspension fork on and maybe that will help me not think about dying on some of those descents. Yikes. But besting my goal time by 40-some minutes was something for me to be really happy about. Let's see if I can drop it down another 40 next year.

• West Branch OMBC

I got my start on a mountain bike at West Branch a few years ago. So it was awesome to be able to ride my home trail in a race. Once again it was one of those days were everything clicked.

• Kirtland Park CX

Fast! It was wild to be able to hang with the front group for a bit and see how insanely fast those guys were. Riding with Twining was always good too, as I've got a lot to learn from him. My best Lake Effect result of the year too.

I could probably write something about every one of these races and how much I liked them, but man this post is getting long so I'll save you the boredom.

But here is is a long and boring list of all the races I did this year... if you're into that sort of thing.

Mountain Bike

OMBC Series:

1st: 3/29/09 OMBC #1 Mohican Wilderness, Loudonville

5th: SATURDAY 4/18/09 OMBC #2 Vultures Knob – Wooster

1st: 5/3/09 OMBC #3 Mountwood Challenge WV

1st: 5/17/09 OMBC #4 The Wilds

2nd: 7/12/09 OMBC #6 S&S Trails - Mt. Perry

2nd: 7/26/09 OMBC #7 Alum Creek – Delaware

2nd: 8/23/09 OMBC #9 Caesar Creek – Waynesville

1st: 9/27/09 OMBC #11 Westbranch – Ravenna

1st: 10/11/09 OMBC #12 Mohican SP – Loudonville

1st: 10/25/09 OMBC #13 Mohican Wilderness – Loudonville

1st overall Sport Senior (19-30) category

Other XC races

1st: 8/30/09 NEO Power Series Big Valley Race at Camp Manitoc, Sport class - Peninsula

1st: 6/13/09 Vultures Knob #3: Woo-town Singlespeed Challenge - Wooster

1st: 11/7/09: Iceman Cometh Challenge, Sport 19-24 - Traverse City, MI

Endurance Races

20th: 8/1/09 Wilderness 101: Singlespeed Open - Coburn, PA

12th: 5/30/09 Mohican 100k: Singlespeed Open - Loudonville

Cyclocross:

2nd: 9/13/09 Bike Authority CX #1: Wendy Park, B race - Cleveland

1st: 9/26/09 Bike Authority CX #2: KSU Stark, B race - Canton

1st: 10/3/09 Cap City Cross #1: Alum Creek, B race - Delaware, OH

9th: 10/4/09 Bike Authority CX# #3: Leroy, A race - Panesville

7th: 10/9/09 Darkhorse Cyclo-Stampede International Cyclocross, Cat 2/3 - Covington KY

12th: 10/17/09 Bike Authority CX #4: Todd Field, A race - Willoughby

10th: 10/31/09 Bike Authority CX #5: Chagrin River CX day one, A race - Bainbridge

9th: 11/1/09 Bike Authority CX #6: Chagrin River CX day two, A race - Bainbridge

21st: 11/14/09 Bike Authority CX #7: KSU Main, A race - Kent

7th: 11/22/09 Bike Authority CX #8: Kirtland Park, A race - Cleveland

5th: 12/5/09 Cap City Cross: #6: Smith Farms, A race - Columbus

9th: 12/6/09 Bike Authority CX#9: Boughton Farm, A race - Copley

1st: 12/19/09 Cap City Cross #7: Infirmary Mound, A race - Granville

3rd: 12/20/09 Cyclocross Winter Trophy Series #1, A race - Akron

9th overall Bike Authority CX: A category

Keep an eye out tomorrow: I'll be posting about some of my favorite gadgets / gear of the year.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

End of the year part 1: The races