Backpacking has been a passion of mine for the past 6 years and still continues to be. Until i added a new passion to my list more than a year back, mountain biking. I have trained for many things through out my lifespan including hoopfest, bloomsday, a half marathon (which i never ran) and many other running events but never a bike race.
My passion with mountain biking started at Capital Forest. Before hitting the CF i only had mountain biked around my parents house as a teenager. I romed Riverside State Park which has some sweet trails along with some singletrack but unfortunately I romed around on a huffy with no shocks. Not enjoyable!!
My first ride at CF was the Waddell loop, which is all singletrack. I had recently bought a Motobecane hardtail MB and was eager to ride! Soon i found myself exploring all the trials in CF from Mima Porter trail to the Green Line trail. I'm not a MB junkie yet as backpacking has dominated but that might change a bit this summer. I have determined to tackle the CF 50 miler in august.
I have never rode 50 miles at once in my life and i have to combine three back to back rides to even reach 50 miles. I enjoyed running races in the past but disliked the training. So i am combining my interest in racing with my MB. As of august 25th i will find out if combining these two interests produces a new passion.
The Capitol Forest 50/100 mile Endurance Mountain Bike Race is set for august 25 2012. The 100 mile starts at 6 am and 8 am for the 50 miler. 10% of the proceeds go to benefit the Friends of the Capitol Forest. The FOCF build and maintain the awesome trail network up at CF. Last year alone the race raised 3,500 dollars. 80% to 90% of the race will be singletrack. These trails are well maintained and during the race aid stations will be plentiful. Among the stations will be fresh fruit, sandwiches, clif bars and gels, electrolytes and cookies among others. Categories include men's open, 40-49 and 50 plus. Women's categories include open and 40 plus. Both men and women can also enter the singlespeed category. Once registered, free camping, a post-race fest, raffle items, finisher prizes, after finish massage, bike mechanics at each aid station and EMT's are all apart of the package!
There's no question this race will beat me up and shove me to the ground...multiple times, hopefully not literally. At this point my goal is to finish but i have started training and hope to up my goal of finishing in the 6 hour range as my training goes well. Keep tuned in on my unprofessional training program (more blogposts) as i try to accomplish my first mountain bike race ever! One thing is for sure, it will be EPIC!!! Hopefully not an epic failure!
