After the usual Google search, I ended up at the Arrowsmith Mountain Bike Club. Front page there is the advertsing poster. Much to my dismay/amazement I noticed that the first race is this weekend in Nanaimo. Damn. I was hoping to do that race this year.

Next weekend is Victoria. WTF? I am dumbfounded that I haven’t heard of this race yet. After seeing this race is next weekend I jumped over to the SIMBS page has no mention of the race. This is an organization that must approve of races in the park. This is the same organization that is supposed to be promoting riding and racing in Victoria. No big mention of the Victoria race in the SIMBS forums either.

In any event I am looking forward to the race next weekend. I called Oak Bay Bikes today and learned that the race is on the same course as the last DH race at the dump. This is good news for me. I don’t have enough spare time next weekend to do a full training day on a new course before race day. Knowing those trails the way I do I feel pretty good about being able to put in a good race. I just wish I had put in some real training for the season. Maybe my commuting the last few weeks will pay off in the fitness arena.

I am anticipating the race. In some weird way I really enjoy the pre race jitters. I enjoy riding the course in my head a million times before my race run. I love the felling of my heartbeat racing off as the race official counts down my start. I love the adrenaline rush as I take off from the start line. I definitely push myself way more when I race rather than a normal ride, and I love that feeling too. The burning sensation in my budy as I cross the finish line is something I will never forget. The heavy breathing, the acidic almost blood like taste in my mouth. All of it is an experience that really makes me feel alive.

More next weekend on the race though.

The group yesterday was a bunch of guys I haven’t ridden with in a while. Even Shane came out!

We generally took it easy, didn’t ride any high difficulty trails, but still had a great time. There were 6 of us riding, and 3 dogs. Perfect sized pack if you ask me. The dogs were really good and didn’t get in the way at all. Can’t say the same for some of the people though 😉 Just pulling your leg James.

Trail conditions were awesome too. Excellent traction, under clear blue skies, with crisp air. If I didn’t know the time of year I would have guessed it was a fall ride.

I was under a time limit, and had to be home around 3, so when time came to make a decision on what trail to ride, I chose one of my favorites out there: Snakes and Ladders. I railed the trail like I last rode it yesterday. The twists and turns came flooding back to me, and I just pedalled for what I was worth. Such a fun trail.

By this time Yoshi was getting pretty tired. He hasn’t had many long runs lately, and I think that mountain biking was pretty hard on him. He just wasn’t keeping up like he used to. On the way back to the truck I rode pretty slow down the hills so I wouldn’t get too far in front of him. He gets pretty frantic when he gets seperated from me. Not sure how much longer I will be able to take him riding. Maybe when Sox starts running again, and we can get Yoshi’s fitness level up. Makes me sad to think that a time will come when Yoshi just won’t be able to come out with me any more.

The other sad note was on the drive down Hartland Ave, I almost creamed a dog with my truck. This dog bolted out of a hedge lined yard straight towards the road. I have no idea how close it was, but I swerved violently around the dog. It continued across the street like nothing happened. That was a quick shot of adrenaline that I didn’t need.