alright I am back from vacation and have my first hare scramble under the belt! It was a BLAST, and i am now hooked.
so how did i do?.... well not so good
. I started out in the back (as i planned) and the first wet snotty rooted hill (about 2 min in) there were people struggling left and right. i managed to lug my way up and around them and thought to my self "sweet! as long as i can keep making the hills others cant I am golden!". Then after about 20 min i got tired, dropped the bike a few times, got stuck on hills that everyone was getting stuck on, and eventually i became heat exhausted to the point of almost passing out. this really put a damper on things and i had to sit trail side for almost a half hour before i could stand with out feeling i was going to pass out/fall over. I was very hydrated and had water with me (luckily). Weather was around 80F or 26C which is much warmer than what i am used to riding.
I ended up with a DNF along with 7 others of the 17 in my class. The guys who have been at this for a long time said it was the hardest track they have ever rode.
now that i have rode one and have an idea of what its all about i plan to train by riding tougher single track, pushing my bike up hills with gear on, and picking my bike up repeatedly. Also the pace was not fast enough for me to need all the extra gear i had on, which i believe also contributed to my over heating, so next time i think i will ditch the chest protector and maybe wear a short sleeve (unless temps are lower in which case i could leave that stuff on).
all in all it was a great challenge and i want to do it again!