Racin' & Shootin'

Yes, it was another mountain bike biathlon at Soldier Hollow. This report will be short because it's late, my allergies are killing me, and I'm tired.

I met Mark A. at the shooting range while we got the pre-ride briefing. I'm not a sprinter, but I tried to start faster and did a bit better, but still not even mid-pack hitting the single-track. The dust was bad, but at least the grass/weeds had been mowed in a 5-6 foot wide swath so the trail was easier to see and passing was easier.

I passed a few racers on the first lap. I had a 3-4 person wait at the range and missed one target, so one penalty lap.

Pushed the climb on lap 2 and passed 1-2 more riders. Hit all 5 targets. I got past Mark.

Pushed the climb again, but faded a bit. Missed one target, did the penalty lap. Mark was close behind me.

Tried to go hard for the last lap and did OK, but I was running out of gas. Decided the left-most target I'd used each lap so might be faulty so I switched up and missed 2 targets, did the 2 penalty laps. Mark passed me because he nailed all 5.

After the race my nose started running and I was sneezing like crazy. It was the worst allergy attack I've had in a long time.

I won some ShotBloks in the raffle. I drove home, ate dinner and took a shower.

It was still a fun event, but the allergy attack ruined it a bit. It was hot, but it didn't seem to affect me much. I'm going to bed.