MTB vs Road Averages

[madisongrrl]

Renee, I ride at 35-40 psi with whatever tires came on the rockhopper. I'll have to look that up for you. Knock on wood, I've never flatted. I think the WEMS race was a rockier trail and the expert loop went UPHILL on the rocks, thus a lot of pinched flats. How much does it cost to go tubeless?

It depends. I'm guessing that your wheels aren't tubeless ready so the cost would be considerable to go that route. I think you could do a conversion to tubeless with your standard wheels/tires and a conversion kit. I wouldn't necessarily worry about that, but it is a consideration for the future (with the next bike you buy) if Wausau is where you do most of your riding and racing.

I would worry about your tubed tire selection though. The stock tires sold with many mountain bikes aren't necessarily the ones you want to race XC on. A nice fast rolling tire is generally a good choice for many of the races around here (this might reduce the resistance on your legs, thus making you less fatigued and faster....and believe me, I learned this the hard way!) Many of the racers around here will run Kenda Karmas or Kozmiks and Maxxis Ignitors or Larsons amongst other tires.

When I was at Wausau, I think I ran my tire pressure at 31-32psi. I'm don't remember what trails we were on (Ho Chi Minh and others), but they had us climbing some technical rocky sections. I can see why so many people flatted.

As for time, I can committ 3-4 days a week to riding. Two days during the week for 1-1 1/2 hours and whatever I need to do on the weekends.

That is great! You can certainly accomplish your goals on 3-4 days/week.

I agree there is a MUCH different atmosphere between WEMS and WORS races! What exactly is the definition of a XC race?

In the NORBA sense, XC races are usually 30-40km and marathon races are usually 65-100km. A Wems races is very much similar in distance to a NORBA Marathon race. Our XC races here in wisconsin range from 10-25 miles depending on the class that you race in.

I plan on doing my first century Sept 9th (Door County Century with Sue - assuming the hand heals), the quadrathalon for BS games the end of January, the Big Ring next June, as well as the GEARS race again (May), and the Dirt Retreat in July. Can I chat with you off line on developing a training plan?

I think that is a great race/ride schedule. The WORS race, Gears, and the Dirt Retreat will be a nice lead up to 24-9 next July. We can certainly chat offline, but I'm no coach....

As for my warm ups, I don't think I'm doing enough - only 10-15 minutes in a low gear, higher cadence.

You might want to warm up longer. Especially if you feel that it takes you a long time to warm up once you start racing. I easily warm up 20-25 minutes before a WORS race (unless it is a blistering 95+ degrees out, then I might scale it back)

Crazy Canuck brought up a very good point, and a non existant skill in my arsenal - night riding. I will need to learn that as well before this race. Good thing I have a whole year to work on this

Yeah, definitely get some off road night riding in. You are going to need some decent lights though....something I have yet to purchase. We also did some night riding at the dirt camp this year...nothing big, but enough to get a little taste of it.