SORBA Chattanooga’s “Pick Your Poison” XC race at Booker T:

I almost decided to stay in bed instead of going to the race, and I’m glad I didn’t.  A late night out before as well as daylight savings had me wishing for more sleep when the alarm went off.  I sucked it up and the day turned out to be a great day to ride.  Clear skies and a little chill in the air makes for a great day when you don’t overheat during the race.

Booker T is a fun trail with a 7 mile loop that isn’t very technical and also doesn’t have much climbing.  The Cat 2 race consisted of two laps with a little road entry to spread us out as well as some cyclocross-like turns on grass to spread out the riders since the trails are tight singletrack.

I had a good start out and my strategy was to be first in the woods because of the nature of the short race and tight trail.  That goal was achieved and I tried to ride fast as long as I could to get a good lead for the first lap.  I passed the Masters class men and a few others along the way, but I rode alone for the majority of the race.  I actually prefer to have people around because I have the tendency to slow down if there is no urgency 😉  I ended up winning the Cat 2 women with a time of 1:30 for the 16 mile race.  I felt good during most of the race, but a couple times my legs tried to bonk on me.  I enjoyed the course and I appreciate all the volunteers at the race, the race directors, and all the people that came out to clear the trails after the tornadoes came through.  It was a great day to ride!

– Ginger