07.05.08 - Opening up and throwing up in Shiga
It's been a long time since I did a mountain bike race (about 3 months), so I was excited to go to my first race in Japan. I heard Shiga was a fast track with unpredictable weather. And I had knew that there were some fast Japanese riders. So I was ready to feel some pain. I didn't know just how much though...
After taking the long gondola ride up to the race start, I could see there was a lot of fog. There were also heaps of people, so the atmosphere was great. It felt wet, but hot and humid (I was also warned about that). But it was hard to guess if it would rain or not. Riders were deciding which tyres to use - dry or mud. The track wasn't technical (all grass and only 30 metres of singletrack in one lap!) but would demand some strength and endurance. I knew I had neither at this stage.
After warming up on the ergo in the Trek tent it was already time to race. I was looking forward to racing and finding out how I would feel. The start was fast, with Gary Fisher's Ken Onodera leading the first climb. I followed. But I didn't know he's typically a one lap wonder! The other riders were chasing us through the fog, but we couldn't really see each other beyond 20 metres.
For a couple of laps I felt some major pain and lactic, I was still in the top 5 though, so but I kept pushing. That was the first mistake. Then the stomach cramps kicked in and even breathing hurt. Then the rice balls I had for lunch showed up on my top tube, stem and all over my legs. I had to stop a few times to recycle some more food, so I moved back out of the top 10. Then I got back on to try again. I moved back into the top 5 again, with the top 3 in sight. But by the last third of the race my legs were cramping too. That's when I knew I wasn't quite ready to race hard. I just hobbled along trying to hold my spot. I lost one, so rolled in for 6th. My body was wondering what the hell just happened!
Luckily there was a great crowd there. They're keen as, so that helped me a lot. And the rain never came, despite my praying, so my running tractor tyres was a huge mistake. But you win some, you lose some. Apart from my poor judgement, the Trek 9.9 hardtail was insanely good. It fit me perfectly out of the box, which is rare. And I haven't had to tweak anything.
So now I'm looking forward to getting some more intensity in and doing the next race in Shiga, up north. My body's awake again and I know what to expect. Sendai's meant to have more singletrack too.
