Wow

I've had 5 or 6 mountain bike rides, so of course it's time to race. I found the Soil Saloon website, and saw they were putting a race together. It didn't look to hard and would introduce me to a bunch of trails in the city. So I showed up.

Now, when I say it didn't look too hard, I was comparing this to road bike riding. The Soil Saloon ride was listed as 30 miles with 4000' of climbing. The Fairfax-Mt Tam loop that I ride on my road bike is about 55 miles with 3500' of climbing, so I wasn't too worried.

I should have been.

I wasn't at all prepared for the amount of times I'd have to jump off and on the bike due to: steepness, obstacles, getting out of peoples way, etc. I had to walk a lot more than I expected, carrying my ridiculously heavy mountain bike way too much.

In the end it was all I could do to finish. My thighs, calves, feet and toes were all cramping by the time I was done.

Next time I'll know better what to expect, and will have more realistic expectations.