Cornhusker State Games Race Report

The cornhusker state games race was one that I had looked at as a bigger race for me for the season since last year it was my first race and I ended up getting a flat tire on the first lap and wasn't prepared and had no way to change it and ended up with a dnf and not even completing one lap.

I was real antsy at the start line and was putting a lot of pressure on myself to finish strong and have a good race especially since it was on what I consider to be my home course at Branched Oak lake. The race started with a long flat section of grass along the lake before we got into the single track. When the gun went off I had a good start and was right up with the leaders from the expert category when we hit the singletrack everyone got bunched up and there was a big train of us going through the course. We were running the course the opposite way that they normally do used so it practically seemed like a different course. I stayed up with the expert leaders for about 3/4 the way through the first lap and that's when the problems started. I started having stomach issues again. I think this time it was due to the heat. I wasn't hydrating very well and it was humid with a temp of about 92 degrees. As I progressed along I slowed down some and lost the leaders. I was going through stages of dry heaving for about the first 2 miles of the second lap and was really slowing down. I crashed towards the end of the second and I got caught by a couple of people by the end of the second lap that I wouldn't catch again. That crash I think really got to me more than I thought it did.

Towards the end of the second I really was taking in a lot of fluids and was feeling a bit better and was able to able to pull a couple people back and really progressed pretty well around the course for the final lap. I was closing down on some more people but ran out of space and time and finished the race. I felt pretty strong coming across the line which is pretty common for me the problem I have is always in the beginning or middle of a race I feel like crap and by the end it's to late for me to catch anybody.

When the results for the race where posted I ended up finishing in fourth. One of the guys who passed me when I crashed was the third place finisher. This was the best ending results I've had so far this season but I still felt I could have done better. I did get some things out of the race. It really showed me I need to get more time in on my mountain bike(hopefully the rain stops). I was not very good at picking my lines and on the descents which has always been a problem. I was also slow going through a real tight twisty section of the course towards the end. I also really need to change my training I think so that I'm getting more work in on the top end of my speed and heartrate instead of just logging huge miles on the road. I need to get used to going at my max for longer periods of time without cracking. During the race my legs felt good but I always was having trouble with my oxygen intake.

In the end the best thing about the race for me is that it was a good time and my family was there to spend it with me. It was nice to have my wife be proud of me when I finished towards the front end and my kids had the best time out of anybody getting to play and swim in the lake for a couple of hours.

The worst part of the whole day is after the race I had some plans of getting some stuff done around the house since I was home by 1:30. We were able to get out and eat and go pick up some stuff we needed but as we were doing that I started to get a migraine that only got worse as the day went on. It ended up being one of the worst migraines I've ever had and I spent the rest of the day in bed and wasting one of my precious days with no work.

At least I feel much better today and can get on with things. No riding for me today since I got to work both jobs probably get back to my new training plan on Tuesday.

the kids playing in the lake having a blast

Crossing the finish line

I would also like to throw out a congrats to Ryan and Justin who I beleive finished in Second and Third respectively in the beginner race. Nice Job guys.

Harp