It ain't easy improving by 10%

Today was the Platteville XC TT. While I think I did well, I only complicated my pending decision about upgrading to Comp. Last year I had no clue how to ride a singlespeed and I had no base miles or conditioning. This year is different. I have the miles. I have a bike dialed in perfectly. I understand how to gear the bike. All that preparation let me improve my time on the ~7 mile course from 46:59 to 42:24. While I was 3rd of 7 and 2nd ss last year, this year I was 5th of 18 and 1st SS. The 34x22 gearing was perfect. I was able to climb everything except the uphill switchback coming out of the creekbed area, I had to trot all of 5 feet. Maybe I could have run a 21 but oh well, what's done is done. John Fang (BKB) did the Expert/Comp race and didn't do so well. He was complaining his body felt wrong. He gutted it out and finished anyway. There were quite a few DNF's in both race but the best reason I saw was in my race. He had started a couple of minutes ahead of me but was sitting on the side of the trail maybe halfway through. The chainstay on his Trek EX7/Fuel7 had broken at the weld right behind the chainrings sending him over the bars. He still managed to get 3rd in his under 18 age group in spite of his DNF. Anyhow, Cory aka Crash was dealing some pain in the Expert race. After his victory last week in MBM was back to his usual tricks doing well. Tomorrow is a long road ride. I can't ride Monday night so I need to put in the miles for a recovery day. Maybe I'll ride to Dodgeville and feel some pain. 42:24, max HR 180, average HR 170.