Race 1 (of 5) is in the books for the 2023 New York State NICA High School Mountain Bike season! I arguably had more fun than the kids did, but man I really do appreciate them showing any sort of interest in this weird sport of pedaling over rocks and roots and dirt and often mud! We had plenty of the latter yesterday on a soggy course at EF Academy in Thornwood, N.Y., about 15 miles from the Girards place in Rye. Drove down Saturday, pre-rode the course once that afternoon (when it was dry), then overnighted with Peter and Esme (Sara was out of town) while it rained all night and all morning. So by the time the starter's gun was fired (there isn't one, really, but it sounds nice) at 11:30 a.m. (girls races) and 2 p.m. (boys), it was a soupy mess. Even my 2.4" tires couldn't shed enough of it. Must have been worse for the kids, whose bikes have just 1.9" tires. I was slipping up plenty of hills as I tried to stay with the Freshmen Girls category as Sweeper. Anyway, long story short -- Greta placed 12th among 15 JV Girls, and Linc carded 18th out of 19 sophomore boys. It should be noted that Lincoln completed all 3 laps (9 miles), while Greta and I only managed 2 before the timed cut-off. Here's hoping for dryer weather next time out on May 7 at Walnut Mountain in Liberty, N.Y.
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At the start. (aka, Before the Mud)
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| Also at the start. That's Greta's teammate Jordan, to her right. Greta beat her by about 8 minutes. |
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At the finish.
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Weird aspect ratio at .05x mag, but he wouldn't pose for any other finish photo.
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So I surrepetitiously snapped this one while they waited for post-ride food.
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Very cool! I would have expected everyone to be more covered in mud.
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