2nd Place!

Well, not for me, but for Noelle in the kids race! More on that later.

The Mansfield 8 hour was this weekend and since I haven't done a lot of riding I really went into it with an open mind just to have fun with complete disregard for results. It was quite refreshing actually.

The morning started in a bit of a frenzy trying to get the car packed. I had to fit 5 bikes into the car plus 2 coolers and a bunch of riding gear etc in the minivan. The neighbour didn't think I could do it but as you can see below it worked. I think I need some bike racks now that everyone wants to bring their bikes to the races.

After a stop at Tim Hortons for breakfast we were off. It has been awhile since I drove to Mansfield and I forgot how far it really is. We rolled in around 9:15am to see the Solo area pretty full. We decided to park in the main area since it was closer to the action anyways for the kids. We found a bit of a quieter area so we had some space to ourselves so the kids could play without bothering too many people. I went and registered then back to the car to get changed. By the time I changed I could hear Chico say "2 minutes to start". Uh oh. I still needed to take my cooler up to the start area so I would have access to it each lap. It was too heavy for my wife on her own so we walked together. I wasn't even halfway there when I heard "GO". Finally made it to the barn area and put my cooler there, hopped on the bike and started up the hill already a few minutes late. They had already taped it off and there were people everywhere. Nothing like starting dead last! It didn't take me too long to catch the tail end of the group due to the congestion in the singletrack...at that point it was just a passing game. Gradually I was with a group of people that were about the same speed as me and that lap turned out to be one of the most enjoyable with the company. I've been reading a lot of peoples write ups about the race and the common theme seemed to be the difficulty of the course and how technical it was and beat up your body. I'm not sure why but I just didn't find it that way. I actually enjoyed the course quite a bit. Near the end it was getting a little rutted up but that happens anywhere. The thing I liked about the course was the longer gradual climbs vs the short steep stuff like Albion. Plus I didn't find it to be a constant up and down either.

I turned out 4 or 5 laps and then the kids race was beginning so I wanted to watch that and it was a good chance for a break. It was the first time for both kids racing and it was exciting to see them go. They had them in different age groups and each group did a different number of laps. It was a lot of fun to watch and I rode around to different points of the 1.2km course to see them go by. Noelle ended up getting 2nd place in her grouping. It was so great to see....you couldn't wipe the smile off her face all day.

After their race was over I went out for a few more laps. I ended up running into a bunch of people on the course I knew. Jeff & Ryan from last weekends ride. And Craig Barlow who I saw a few times out on the course while he was passing me. At the end of the day I did 8 laps which I was satisfied with. I had a good time. The kids and my wife had a good time and that's about all you can ask for. Below are a few more pictures capturing the day.

The kids had a good time.

So did my wife (I think!)

Last lap

Anyways, the 24 hour should be interesting. I'll probably go into it with the same perspective and see what happens. Hopefully I can get some more riding in between now and then and be in slightly better condition....we'll see.

Steve