My first ever MTB race in the books!
On Saturday, finally the time had come for my very first MTB race ever, and that right here in my hometown. After (only 2) months of training, mostly easy endurance on cycling roads instead of trails, I was excited to be wearing a race number and standing among dozens of other riders ready to tackle 54 kilometers of Dutch forest single track and forest roads.
Race Day Vibes
The atmosphere was really great. First of all, my neighbor was also participating, so we cycled there together and already could chat about what we were anticipating. For him it was his 5th anniversary of the event (congratulations Holger!)
The organizers have been doing this event for years now and you could tell. The course was well marked, plenty of options to re-fill your bottle during the race and sharp corners were manned with volunteers indicating a turn was coming up. But what stood out for me was the atmosphere at the start line, just before the gun. Everyone seemed genuinely excited to be there, which made the pre-race jitters feel more like anticipation than anxiety.
Walking around the event area, you could feel the energy building. Riders were fine-tuning their setups, discussing tire pressure choices for the conditions, and pointing out sections of the course they'd pre-ridden. The Amerongen forest, which I'd ridden countless times, suddenly felt transformed into a proper race venue.
The Race Itself
My goal going in was ambitious, and I didn’t really know how realistic it was: finish under 2:25 for the full 54k distance. While I didn't quite hit that mark, I'm genuinely happy with how the race unfolded. More than the final time (2:32:21), what made me proud was the pacing strategy I managed to execute.
The first lap felt controlled and strong, exactly what I'd hoped for. I mostly resisted the urge to get swept up in the early race excitement and blow up my legs before the halfway point. When I came through after the final lap, I was only three minutes slower than the first, despite taking a quick nature break along the way. For someone who's notorious for going hard from the get-go when riding with friends, this felt like a genuine breakthrough in pace management.
What I noticed is the massive advantage you have as a local rider. Especially the Amerongen section of the Utrechtse Heuvelrug trails, I really know by heart. Especially in the first round, where we went into the single track almost straight from the start (and a lot of fast riders were still around me), on the downhills I was able of keeping up, or even making up ground on riders that were much stronger when going up-hill.
Looking Ahead
Sure, it's nowhere near Cape Epic level yet, but that's the beauty of this challenge, there’s a big goal on the horizon. And as long as you’re making noticeable progress, it keeps fuelling your motivation.
Maybe for the data nerds among us: my normalized power of the 2:32 ride was 242W, my average heart rate 168 (max 186), and calculated VO2max and FTP after the race 51 and 263W respectively. I ended up being 84th in the classification, out of 201 riders classified. Values I am very satisfied with after only 2 months of structured training (and 6 more months to go!).
The MTB Marathon Amerongen was a wonderful experience, for which I will sign-up next year again for sure!
MTB in the USA
Jeroen and I are now in Seattle, to visit customers. But as it goes, they have wonderful mountainbiking here too 😊. So in a few hours we’ll be picked up by our guide from Seattlemountainbiketours.com for a day of awesome trail riding (we did it last year too, so we know 😉) Keep an eye out for our report on this day.
Until then, Keep Chasing!
