I'm not really the racing type, I don't get out and ride enough to consider myself in shape for it. Never mind the fact that I had started coming down with a cold. However, last weekend I entered McMudfest in Spokane in the Beginner Clydesdale class. Most of the others in this class weighed in between 195 and 220 or so. I tipped the scales that day at 254. (Well, I'm 6'6" so I'm not a completely fat bastard. 
) The advantage for me is that they detract seconds from your time for every pound over 190 that you weigh. I had no illusions of keeping up with anybody in the group. I just hoped that with a significant time bonus because of my weight my time might be close to the group. The other cool thing about the clydesdale class, is that in addition to getting medals for placing, the top three finishers get beer. How's that for motivation? 
When they sent us out of the gate, the other 7 riders took off like they were on speed or something. I was dumbfounded that they were going so fast. I was way DFL right off the bat. Then something funny happened. As soon as we hit the first bit of singletrack, they all slowed way up. I almost immediately caught up with the pack and actually had to slow up because some of them couldn't ride through the tight singletrack with any finesse at all. As soon as the course allowed it, I started passing people. By the end of the first (of three) laps I had past 4 of the 6 that had begun ahead of me. At this point I was pretty happy with where I was. I had assumed I would be bringing up the rear the whole race. About halfway through lap two I passed another guy from my group and even a couple people in the group that started 30 seconds before we did. By lap three I thought I was gonna pass out. I'm not used to riding that far without taking a rest. I pretty much just tried to keep moving and hold my momentum.
I think I ended up finishing an actual second place, but with the weight/time bonus thingy, I ended up in first place. Sweet! I seriously thought I was either gonna pass out or vomit after I crossed the finish line. All the pain was worth it, though.
My reward was a case of this:
Now if I can only get over this stupid cold so I can see what it tastes like...
) The advantage for me is that they detract seconds from your time for every pound over 190 that you weigh. I had no illusions of keeping up with anybody in the group. I just hoped that with a significant time bonus because of my weight my time might be close to the group. The other cool thing about the clydesdale class, is that in addition to getting medals for placing, the top three finishers get beer. How's that for motivation? When they sent us out of the gate, the other 7 riders took off like they were on speed or something. I was dumbfounded that they were going so fast. I was way DFL right off the bat. Then something funny happened. As soon as we hit the first bit of singletrack, they all slowed way up. I almost immediately caught up with the pack and actually had to slow up because some of them couldn't ride through the tight singletrack with any finesse at all. As soon as the course allowed it, I started passing people. By the end of the first (of three) laps I had past 4 of the 6 that had begun ahead of me. At this point I was pretty happy with where I was. I had assumed I would be bringing up the rear the whole race. About halfway through lap two I passed another guy from my group and even a couple people in the group that started 30 seconds before we did. By lap three I thought I was gonna pass out. I'm not used to riding that far without taking a rest. I pretty much just tried to keep moving and hold my momentum.
I think I ended up finishing an actual second place, but with the weight/time bonus thingy, I ended up in first place. Sweet! I seriously thought I was either gonna pass out or vomit after I crossed the finish line. All the pain was worth it, though.
My reward was a case of this:
Now if I can only get over this stupid cold so I can see what it tastes like...
