6 Hours Riding like a Mom on a Hybrid

I thought I would take it a bit easy after my last race where I flew off into the woods and landed on my back as well as headbutted a tree. As a 32 year old rookie I always create a goal so that each effort feels like a success. So for the 2009 6 Hours of John Bryan I decided to get acquainted with endurance events as well as work on my bike handling.

Unfortunately the night before did not afford me much sleep. I think I only got three and a half hours... I nearly decided against racing worried that the tight trails may cause me to make mistakes and get hurt. But you don't know what will happen unless you try, right?

I had a secret weapon though. Bridget made an initial run of some of her BJET Bars, homemade energy bars. I had a big batch of banana walnut and a smaller potent batch of chocolate coffee.

LAP 1: 1:07:05
Really shaky handling, getting used to the coarse.
Approx 5 min break
checked air pressure as back was washing out a little
LAP 2: Approx 59:56 (2:13:01)
LAP 3: 58:37 (3:11:38)
Really tried to crush it...
Hands began to kill me!
Approx 36 min break
I was kind of drained and was searching for second wind
LAP 4: Approx 1:02:53 (4:50:31)
Really rode like a mom on a hybrid trying to get feeling back in my hands.
LAP 5: 1:01:26 (5:52:05)
Dialing it in, trying to teach myself skills.
LAP 6: 59:55 (6:52:00)
Tried to bring together what I learned that day with more speed, but bonked a bit in the middle due to running out of food and water.

I'm pretty happy with my performance — I was 11th out of 28 solo male riders.

I was so impressed watching some of the elite riders pass me in technical sections. They make it look so easy. I wonder if I lack quick hand-eye coordination. Will working out my upper body help my handling? Maybe Bridget can teach me a few things. I also feel like I could use a fit on my Paragon. Even though I dropped the stem I still feel a bit on top of it. That thing is huge, and I look like a kid on top of it. But when those wheels start spinning that bike really zooms!

Things I learned:
— Need to continue working bike handling skills
— Use brakes less and conserve energy through handling
— Make more efficient pitstops in Endurance events
— Please stop making poop face