Hannah,
Thanks for the advise. I actually did the 3 hour solo race on Saturday - I walked most of the hills but I had a pretty good time! I even flipped over the handle bars on one down hill and dropped a chain and crashed going up one hill. The course elevation was 100 ft per mile which is the toughest I've done yet. AND - I finished first! LOL, between us, I was the only female in the running, but hey, I got the trophy

Not one biker, even out of the experts, rode all the hills. That's how steep some of them were. I was pretty proud of myself. My other confession: I only rode one lap. Hey, I figured why risk injury when I had first place all wrapped up! I got enough bruises from the first lap, hehe.

I did learn that I agree on walking the hills. Minor hills I could handle but I bet I walked 3/4 of them. I even walked one downhill that was so steep I couldn't control my bike. The other think I learned was that I do need to warm up first. I rode 3 miles first to get my muscles awake so I could hit my grove faster. I think that really helped me.

The fun part was talking to the other riders. It was a small race - about 40 riders in all divisions. So I talked to some of the solo riders. One of the experts even said this course was over his head so I didn't feel so bad! I know it's the end of the season here, but it got me pumped to plan my goals for next year. I even have my first race picked out for next April