My 2011 Race Season Review

[Bigred15]

After the final points race of the season for TBRA on Sunday, I found myself both relieved and sad. I was relieved because my very long race season was finally over. The race season started for my in January with the first of the Snake Creek Gap TT Series and ended October 30th with Race to the Canal. I competed in 19 race weekends this year. I say race weekends because several of the races included either a TT and XC race, or a full bore Omnium with a TT, Short Track, and XC race in the same weekend. All together I competed in all 3 Snake Creek Gap races, 13 XC races, 4 TTs, 2 short tracks, and 3 super-endurance races. This after only planning to do 10 races on the season.

I'm sad because I made great strides from the beginning of the year until now. I went from finishing last or near the back at races to regularly competing for podiums near the end of the year. I went from finishing close to last at the Black Bear Rampage in 2010 in a geared class, to a top 10 finish in the SS class for 2011; dropping 1 hour 21 minutes off the 2010 time in the process. It's going to be tough keeping motivated to train with no races coming until January.

The drastic improvement I saw from race to race has me chomping at the bit for next season to start. I am well aware that I won't see the type of improvement that I saw this year again, but I can't wait to see what I can do next year. My goals for this year were to just hang on, next year will be quite different. I finished 6th in points this year, my goal next year is to finish in the top three.

What's up next for me??? A nice three week break from riding to let my body finally recover some. Then it will be time to start training in earnest. The first race of the season is the Snake Creek Gap TT Series again. This time I will be riding my SS and going for the 3x34 belt buckle.

[rsutton1223]

That is some serious improvement over a short period of time. Congrats on a great year! Looking forward to seeing how you do next season.

[ssinga]

Don't be sad. just go enjoy a ride for the sake of riding and a smile on your face. This is the best time of the year to be in the woods on your bike.