The course for the Blackstone River Greenway Challenge has been released. According to my team captain, the mountain bike section is tough. Says the course designer, "The mountain bikers will like this course!" Also, says our captain, "The road riders will hate this." Glad I'm doing the mountain section. Over there on the left you can see a little topo for the course. Looks like flat out (and flat) for the beginning. Then a quick jaunt through a wastewater treatment plant (How come it's always about the poop?). The technical stuff is loaded on at the end. One massive climb and a couple smaller ones. The descent from Goat Hill looks to be interesting as well.
This is an area I've never ridden before so it'll be good to check it out beforehand. Hopefully tomorrow will be the day. We have two weeks to go so I will try to ride up there a couple of times. Because, you know, it's crucial that we WIN!
And speaking of the Blackstone, yesterday I went paddling on the Blackstone River in a whitewater boat. I have sea kayaked for years but I have never paddled in moving water before. You know, rivers with rapids and stuff. The experience was fun and much more difficult than I expected. It gives me a whole new appreciation for how skilled the people you see in movies or on TV running huge rapids are. I'm scared of fresh water in general (who knows what sort of creepy things live there?) so my biggest difficulty was just relaxing in the boat. My arms are tired from over-gripping the paddle. All of my instincts were backwards. Which side to brace? Lean which way? Whoa, now I'm spinning... If I focused carefully on one skill at a time it was ok but when I had to react to the river more quickly I didn't feel entirely in control. Once in awhile it's fun to shake things up and try something new, to rediscover the beginner's mind.
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