Let's do this

Tomorrow's the big day. First mountain bike race of the season for me. I'm racing at Michaux State Park up in PA in the 25 mile version of the Michaux Trail Cup. Only tonight did I realize that I've raced at this place before. I earned 5th Place at the Iron Cross Lite which was held here back in 2006 (Check out that race report and images of a younger, fitter me right here). I have to admit, though I feel fairly prepared for this race, I am nervous. I don't want to get destroyed! Hopefully my training will pay off tomorrow when all hell breaks loose. Either way, it was fun stuffing my guts with mas quantities of pasta tonight.

I spent a little while today preparing my bike for the race. I picked up some new tires because I read that this place is very rocky. My Kenda Small Block 8's wouldn't have been ideal for this course, so I scored a great deal on some Mythos XC II's. The forecast is calling for rain, so I'm glad I have these knobbier tires. They're nice and skinny too. They're 2.2” tires but look more like a 2.0”. Believe it or not, I had a really great experience today at the Big P (Performance Bike) in Parkville, MD. I usually only go to this shop to buy tubes but today I got hooked up and enjoyed talking with a guy who, come to find out, is a friend of a really good friend of mine; Hoffman. He even gave me the low-down on what to expect at Michaux tomorrow. Right on. I popped the new tires on over a delicious new beer from New Belgium Brewing, their Shift Pale Lager. I suggest you try a can of shift at your earliest convenience. Along with the tires, I also scored a great new pair of shoes. Every 5 years or so I buy a new pair of Sidi Dominators, but this time I decided to go with a much more affordable pair of Shimano mountain shoes. Though they're not made of fine Italian leather like my Sidis, they feel amazingly comfortable and have a nice rubber tread instead of the rock-hard plastic tread of my Sidis. Fantastic. This may prove to be especially fantastic if I end up pushing my bike a lot tomorrow. Here we go!