That was a very warm, very dry, very fatiguing race. As an individual who has ancestry from Northern Europe, who can grow a beard in a week, and am continually told by his partner that he is “radiating heat”…I found the conditions absolutely LOVELY. /s

There is also a power-to-weight calculation that I love thinking about during races like this. As a rule of thumb, “climbers” tend to have 2 lbs of body weight per inch of height. I am 73 inches tall. That means a climbing weight of around 146 lbs. Dear readers, I weighed myself last Thursday at 187 lbs. ::cough:: Damn those Kodiak Brownie Cups. Perhaps I love them too much!

All that being said, I did rather well for being an athlete who prefers cooler temps and excels more on the flats. Once the overall podium was done, I got third in my age group. What kills me a bit is that I missed first in my age group by a mere 20 seconds. For a race that took 3h 20m, that is an incredibly short duration. And that rider passed me on the last climb.

Is that margin just a bit better training? Being closer to 175 lbs? Improving my technique? Better pacing? Better hydration or fueling before or during the race? A lighter bike setup? Not dropping my chain when I avoided a crash at 45mph? Hm. HMMMM!

This morning while perusing Strava, I re-discovered that I am 84 out of 25,938 riders on the Sa Calobra descent this year. That’s pretty darn good for an amateur. I am almost impressed by my results. Almost. I desperately want to be even better at cycling but also know how much more time and effort that will require, at the sacrifice of other interests.

Anyhoo. Fun but brutal race this year. Set many PRs. No idea what I am doing next. No other races or trips planned.