Winter Park Race #6

Winter Park Race #6 Mountain Top Circuit

 

The decision to compete in this race was a tough one that kept me up almost all the night before contemplating. I talked to quite a few people about it, and the majority of them were pretty against me riding anymore. I knew overall it was my decision to make, and it was only me that would have to live with the consequences.

To make a long story short of the injury that has been haunting me; my left wrist has been giving me lots of problems the last few months. It mainly happens after long rides, and really started after Kokopelli. I went to the doctor, he first told me it was an overuse injury and just give it time to heal. I would, but it never got better. Actually it got worse. And then this last Wednesday while I was riding, something happened, I heard a pop and it caused the most excruciating pain. When I headed back down it was hard to put any pressure on it, and it almost gave out on me a few times. So I decided to go back to the doctor. He pretty much said it was not carpal tunnel like originally thought, and more than likely was from a previous traumatic injury that I have re-injured, and continued to make even worse. So he said I needed to see a hand surgeon, but in order to that I need an MRI, and in order to get the MRI I need an x-ray. So I got the x-ray Friday, and will go in for the MRI in the next week or so. I have been going to my doctor for about 11 years now, so he knows me, and my injuries pretty well. Whenever the subject of restrictions comes up, his answer has always been, “well as your doctor I would have to say take it easy and lay back a little until it heals, but ultimately it is your decision.” Not this time. This time he flat out told me to not ride, or do anything that could injure it even more. Since I have been making it worse, he thinks it is possible that I could make it to the point it will cause permanent damage and even with surgery I might possibly not have a full recovery…

Ok, so maybe that was the long version, but it helped to write it down… so all of the above was going through my head while I was trying to make my decision. Was it right to go against what my doctor was so adamant about? Maybe, but he doesn’t have to know.

I was nervous from the moment I made the decision to do it. I tried really hard not to think about it, but it was really hard, especially when I rode my bike I felt the pain in my wrist. I was lucky to be around my teammates before the start, and really lucky that Marni was with me till the start. Talking to them helped keep my mind in check, somewhat. After looking at the overall stats, Marni and I knew who our main competitions were. We scoped them out and memorized what they looked like. It was actually kind of fun, and it was nice to know that my competition was only one girl, the girl in the pastel shirt, not the whole group. We wished each other luck, and we were off.

The race started up a dirt hill, like always. Fortunately it wasn’t as steep as the other ones, so it wasn’t too much of a killer. The pastel girl started in the lead of the pack, and I kept my eye on her, I figured having something else to concentrate on was good for me at that time. I was able to pass her on the road, and I never saw her again. According to Marni she took a pretty bad spill and she DNF.

The course took a sharp left to start the singletrack. It was downhill for a couple miles, with a narrow trail that had lots of rocks, roots, switchbacks and was even washed out pretty good in some sections. It was definitely a course you really had to pay attention on. I was able to stay with the lead group through the downhill, and it was actually a little frustrating because the trail was so narrow there really was no place to pass, and I was probably 4 deep in girls. The girl that was right in front of me was one that we met in the parking lot, a one day racer that was in our age group. I decided I wasn’t going to let her win, we get annoyed when the one day racers come in and dominate the race. (of course that is only because they always seem to be better than us…) So when we were in the section before we went back down Long Trail, I sprinted up the hill to get in front of her before the singletrack started again. She saw what I was doing, and pushed harder too. I beat her to the trail, which I don’t think she was too happy about… Once the trail hit Gunbarrel it spread out pretty quick, and the one day chick passed me with a vengeance.  I knew it was a fairly long climb so I’m like go for it girl. I was on her back tire by the time the double track started. She was pushing pretty good, and I wasn’t ready to push harder to pass her. There were still quite a few miles to go. She knew I was on her tail, which is why I think she was pushing so hard. When the trail took a right and started to climb, she bonked. She moved to the side and I passed her, hearing her struggling for air. I never saw her again. Once the second lap started I was pretty much alone. I came upon quite a few Sport men, but never really saw any girls again. The second lap was more fun, it wasn’t as crowded so I could get going a bit faster. By the time I got to the end of the lap to where we turned onto Icarius I had passed probably 20 guys, and almost got stuck in a traffic jam at the sharp turn. There were 4 guys piled up heading up the hill, and one by one they bailed the climb and started hiking their bikes. I was able to clear it, which was nice, I didn’t want to be in a big group on the descent.

This was the part I was dreading the whole time. My wrist had survived the laps, but not without pain. I knew this downhill was rough, but I had to push through it. I knew I was in a good position and didn’t want to lose it. The descent wasn’t as bad as I remember it from the pre-ride, but was as bad as I expected on my wrist. I was in tears by the time I was down, but once I hit the bottom I couldn’t help but smile. I knew I wasn’t done yet, but I was getting closer and looking back up the hill, there was no one in sight. I caught another girl on the road descent, although I knew she wasn’t my competition. Across the parking lot I shifted my thinking; I knew the obstacle I still needed to get through.

Jackalope. No words can really describe this, but a saying can. “Are you kidding???” Fortunately I rode it before, so I decided to just stay in a low gear and take it easy over everything. There were three guys in front of me, and two behind. I knew this was not the type of trail to be in a pack on. But two of the guys struggled up the same hill, and I was able to pass them. Soon the third guy failed a technical and I passed him. I have no idea what happened to the guys that were behind me, but it wasn’t long before I was all alone. I did my best to concentrate on the trail. My wrist was throbbing and I was having a hard time steering my bike. I avoided many near crashes throughout the race, but finally, on one of the downhills, my body couldn’t fight it anymore. My left hand gave out and turned my front tire to a 90 degree angle. It seemed to go in slow motion, I knew what was happening, and as I was flying over the handlebars I was screaming “NO!!!” I got up quick and got right back on my bike. I didn’t want to take time to assess the damage or even think about what happened, because I knew it would get to me too much. Fortunately it happened fairly close to the end, I was having a really tough time getting back into it. I struggled through the trees and went off the trail on the final switchback. It took a lot out of me to push through that last section. I knew if I would have crashed any earlier, it would have been the end of my race.

I came up to the road, the final stretch, and heard people cheering for me and squeaking their animals. I was going to finish. It felt so good to finish. I did it, and survived. How, I am not sure, but I did. And not only survived, I somehow beat the girls in my group, taking my first “official” first place medal home.

Overall it was an emotional day for me. The end was not what I expected at all. I came into the race just wanting to finish, knowing it could be my last race of the season. I had done fairly well in the series, and needed one more decent race to clinch the lead spot overall. I was skeptical it would happen, and didn’t think it was going to happen like it did.

If my season is over, I will be disappointed, but I know there is always next year. I may not be able to do some of the races I had planned for the fall, and might have to take some time off the bike for quite a while. If yesterday was my last race, I could live with that. It was amazing, emotional and very unexpected. It would make a good ending to a rollercoaster first season. Whether I race the KoTR next week or not, I will be up there to support and cheer on my team, for we have done amazing overall for our first year. Everyone has accomplished so much, and it will be exciting to see Marni pull of 2^nd in Sport Women overall, and Melissa to take 1^st overall in Beginner Women.

Did I make the right decision in going against doctors orders yesterday? Maybe, but I think I just got lucky. J

Was it worth it? Every last minute.

To Ride or Not to Ride…

… that is the question… 

My mind is fighting my heart.

Logic and naivety have entered both.

Take the risk, and ride,

Live with those consequences.

Watch from the side,

Live with those consequences.

What will hurt more??

Great Music

Joe Purdy…. Jay Nash….Chris from LowStars….Amazing night at Soiled Dove Underground….thanks Matt!

 

If you haven’t heard of them, check them out. You will fall in love from the start…

 

 

 

It’s a Long Ride Home

Or, it’s a long ride around the Front Range… Saturday morning around 10, I met Matt at the Mt Falcon trailhead to leave his car as a shuttle, loaded his bike and gear into my car, and headed over to the Chimney Gulch trailhead for a day of fun riding. We had discussed doing a long ride for some time now, and finally made plans to do it. Note to self: Do not go out and drink with friends till 1 in the morning prior to an all day ride. Not a good idea…

Through my dreary, somewhat nauseous state, I struggled to get ready for the ride, and even managed to remind Matt to make sure he had the keys to his car. Fortunately I have done the shuttle thing enough times, and have left the keys in the other car enough times, causing us either to hitchhike, walk, or get a cab back to the second car, to always remember the keys to the shuttle vehicle. So we remembered that, but then realized that neither one of us left a spare set of clothes or extra food in his car. Oh well, not much we could do about it at that point.

Once we were ready we headed up the hill. It was long, and it took me a while to get into the groove of things. And took even longer to start to feel human. I was having fun, just had some issues on the technical sections. We reached the top, stopped at the Nature Center for a bathroom break, and headed down the Lookout trail that meets up with Apex. It was nice to have some downhill! We cruised down to the intersection of Apex and Enchanted Forest and opted for Enchanted Forest. It was a lot of fun, and by the time we started, I was feeling a lot better and having a blast. Matt was flying over everything, feeling very comfortable on his new bike. It was hard, and actually impossible for me to keep up with him throughout the day. That was fine with me, I wasn’t trying to go fast, I was more trying to see how long I can stay on my bike, since the 12 hour race is a little over a month away.

When we got to the bottom of Apex we rode down to Matthew Winters Park. One of my least favorite trails in the Front Range. We were up for it, though, so decided to do it. It was just as fun as I remembered! Still not one of my favorites… After MW we crossed the street and headed up Dinosaur Ridge. I had never been on this trail, mainly because I never really heard anything good about it! It actually wasn’t too bad, some stupid technical sections, but for the most part ridable. We didn’t do all of it, we cut down Zorro on the other side. That was a fun descent and was over too soon. Once down, we crossed C-470 and did parts of Green Mountain, then headed down to Bear Creek where we messed around on a couple trails before heading into Morrison. We took a break at the river, soaking our feet and enjoying the time off the bike. It took a bit for us to want to get back on our bikes, especially with the thought of food and beer so close to us… We did finally get back on, determined to finish what we started. After filling up on water, we headed to Falcon, where we had another tough time, seeing Matt’s car in the parking lot… We pushed through it though, and headed up. I was definitely starting to feel my legs, so I slowly pedaled up. Amazingly I was still able to clear everything, except the first section of water bars. I was more than ok with that. I met up with Matt at the gazebo, and really wanted to lay down and take a nap. Clouds were moving in, and it was getting really windy. I ended up putting on my jacket at this point. Again I had another thought, that if we turned around now, we were only about 10 minutes from the car, and only 15 minutes from an ice cold beer. Matt was persuasive enough to keep going, so I got back on my bike and kept pedaling. We made it to the paved road and cruised down to Parmalee Gulch. It would have been a lot more fun, if I didn’t have it in my head that we would have to still climb back up it. We rode up Parmalee Gulch to the Lair ‘o the Bear trailhead. Here I let Matt go ahead, I needed a break, my entire left hand was asleep and my wrist was pulsating from the pain. After filling up on food and water, I decided to head down and meet up with Matt. The plan was that I was going to turn around whenever I caught up with him. It was about 3/4ths of the way down, and frankly it was a good thing we did this. We slowly made our way back up to the road, both starting to feel the hurt of the long day. Once we got back to the road, we realized all the cars had their headlights on. We both thought it was getting darker because of all the cloud cover. We hadn’t looked at the time all day, and at this point we finally did. 8:04pm. Are you kidding!?! Where did the time go?? At least we knew why we felt the way we did…

I was kind of getting nervous, neither of us thought we would be out that late, so we stupidly didn’t bring lights. We still had the road to climb, as well as the Falcon descent, and our legs would not move us any faster. It got darker and darker on our ride up, to the point it was almost pitch black by the time we got to the gazebo. I will say, it is the most spectacular view I have had from up there, with the city lights aglow, and Red Rocks all lit up from the concert. I tried to enjoy it as much as I could, but panic was starting to sink in, knowing we had to get down the mountain. We have both done the descent enough to know where the rough parts were, but on dead legs, empty stomachs, overall tiredness and not being able to see, it was a very sketchy ride down. Super fun, but scary. Luckily we got to the parking lot without a crash, and were so grateful to be off our bikes for the day. It was a little after 9 by the time we were done, and the last car in the lot. It felt so good to get off the bike, and we were so happy to have made it down safely. Even though we had no change of clothes, or even sandals to change into, we couldn’t wait to have food and beer, so we stumbled down to the Morrison Inn. Although we struggled to even lift the glass, I think it was the best Fat Tire I have ever tasted.

Although I was tired, and more than ready to be done, we were out for long enough for me to be fairly confident I can complete the 12 hour race. Especially if I get real food in between… It was a good ride, with good company. I would do it again in a heartbeat, and plan to in the near future.  

Tagged

So I am finally getting around to answering the questions from being “tagged”. Here goes.

If you could have any one — and only one — bike in the world, what would it be?

A Jamis Exile 29er Single Speed.

Do you already have that coveted dream bike? If so, is it everything you hoped it would be? If not, are you working toward getting it? If you’re not working toward getting it, why not?

I do have it, and I guess that is why it was my answer. I love this bike, although there are some things I would change about it. Overall, talk about a bikegasm…
If you had to choose one — and only one — bike route to do every day for the rest of your life, what would it be, and why?

Hmmm. I would say Kokopelli trail, it is long, has all sorts of terrain and beautiful views.
What kind of sick person would force another person to ride one and only one bike ride to do for the rest of her / his life?

I have no idea, but it is wrong. Who would want to do just one trail when there are so many amazing trails out there??
Do you ride both road and mountain bikes? If both, which do you prefer and why? If only one or the other, why are you so narrow minded?

I ride both, but definately prefer mountain. I think road biking is rather boring, and gives me too much time to think. I love mountain biking, because when I am out there, it is nothing but me and the mountain. Can’t beat that.
Have you ever ridden a recumbent? If so, why? If not, describe the circumstances under which you would ride a recumbent.

No, and there is nothing that would make me want to ride one. Ever.
Have you ever raced a triathlon? If so, have you also ever tried strangling yourself with dental floss?

Yes, for a couple of years. And then I realized how much I hated to train for it. I hate swimming, and it made me so miserable whenever I had to go. I hated having a schedule to go off of, it almost felt like a job. I never think of mountain biking as training. I love every minute of it. Realizing that is why I stopped tri’s. I have never tried strangling myself with dental floss, although I will admit if I stuck with Tri’s I might have at one point…
Suppose you were forced to either give up ice cream or bicycles for the rest of your life. Which would you give up, and why?

Ice cream. Hands down. There isn’t much out there that could compete against bikes.
What is a question you think this questionnaire should have asked, but has not? Also, answer it.

Why did you actully take the time to answer these questions?

I have no idea…
You’re riding your bike in the wilderness (if you’re a roadie, you’re on a road, but otherwise the surroundings are quite wilderness-like) and you see a bear. The bear sees you. What do you do?

Sing to it, and pray it runs away from my horrible voice.
Now, tag three biking bloggers. List them below.

An Epic Weekend Part 2

Seranno and I got up at 4am Sunday morning to head up Mt. Huron. I was still sleepy, and it took a while for me to wake up. I was wide awake and ready to go by the time we hit the trailhead at 8. There is a rough road we could have driven in to the trail head, but for some reason I was up for more that 5.5 miles, so I parked at the bottom of the road and hiked in. I knew I was getting a late start, but so far the weather was holding up, not a cloud in the sky yet. The road in was fairly flat, it was a nice warm up. Seranno, of course, was bolting all over the place, getting in at least 5 times as much hiking as me.

The trail started about 2 miles up the road. It was nice switchbacks through a dense forest. It was so beautiful, and I got to enjoy the chirps of birds and the sound of the stream through the whole section. There were a lot of people climbing, but I got to a spot that I was alone through the trees. The trail opened up above tree line to a large meadow full of wildflowers in every color. They smelled amazing. While I was taking pictures and soaking it all in, I thought that it would be nice to have something similar to a camera, but that captures smell. Seranno seemed to enjoy it as well, she was jumping around through all the flowers like a little girl in a fairytale.

Once we got over our flower high we continued up the trail. It got steeper the further we went, but soon we were at the summit. It was 11am. Somehow, with all of the people, we got to the summit right after a big group left, and right before another group came, so we had the summit to ourselves for about 10 minutes. It was amazing, with some of the most spectacular views I have seen from a 14er.

There were some clouds rolling in, and it was getting rather crowded at the top, so Seranno and I headed down. Since everyone else was on the summit, we had the whole descent to ourselves for the most part. We of course had to stop and smell the flowers again once we got back to the meadow, I don’t think I could ever get enough of that. I could hear thunder in the distance, and the dark clouds were moving our way fast, so we pushed on, at least to get to tree line before it hit us.

Almost as soon as we were in the trees I could see lightning and the thunder was a lot closer and louder. It also started to rain. I would say it could not have been any more perfect. It wasn’t pouring, just a steady rain, beating on the leaves making the most musical sound. At one point I had to stop, and close my eyes to listen to the falling rain and rumbling thunder, while breathing in the smell of the moist dirt. Life could not have gotten any better than that moment, right there. It is for moments like that, that make me so addicted to the outdoors in Colorado.

Quite a few people passed me through the trees, running down in their raincoats. They must have thought I looked rather goofy, strolling along, head up to the sky, with still just a t-shirt on, almost soaked. I didn’t care, and neither did Seranno. She was feeling the same way I was.

The rain really started to pick up once I reached the road, so I did put on my raincoat at this time. It was a very leisurely walk back to the car from this point, and I took my time, taking in everything that I had experienced through the weekend. I feel so lucky during times like these. This is when all I have to say is: Life is Good. J

An Epic Weekend part 1

This past weekend was an epic one, and one that will never be forgotten. Saturday was Winter Park Race #5, the Crankworx Cross Country. They tied this race into the Crankworx events, so it seemed there were more participants. Somehow, when everyone else seemed to hate this course, I found it to be my most favorite race to date. Maybe it was because before the race I wasn’t feeling it, wasn’t really in the mood to race, my wrist was really hurting, so my thought was just to ride and have fun, this will probably end up being the other race I drop. So when they sent the very large group of Sport women off, I didn’t push, just pedaled at an easy pace. It didn’t take long to get passed by most of the girls, and I really didn’t care. Somehow, I had caught a lot of them before we turned onto Sunken Bridges, and even more on the steep climb. It was weird; I didn’t feel like I was pushing at all, just riding. Once we got to the road we turned right, and headed down a rolling dirt road for a ways, grateful that they made the Sport women turn with the beginners instead of climbing the nasty hill all of the others had to ride. Soon we turned onto Zoom and then Chainsaw, a super fun and fast single track descent. I caught a lot of girls on this, as well as a lot of guys from Clydesdale and Sport. I felt really good on this descent, too, picking good lines, and keeping my head in it. When Chainsaw ended on the road, I headed up to where Elk Meadow trail starts. It wasn’t a steep hill, but I passed quite a few more guys and girls who looked like they were standing still.

I knew there was the nasty climb up D2 and WTB, so I tried to save my legs on Elk Meadow, which wasn’t too hard. Soon enough D2 came, which was a long dirt road. I was able to climb in my middle ring and 3^rd or 4^th cog the whole way, which for me was pretty good. I passed quite a few more racers on this section, and I started to wonder if I was going to blow up at some point. I felt great, felt I still had good energy, and I wasn’t trying to push, I was just riding, so I kept the pace I was at. When D2 turned into a single track I stayed in a lower gear, just to spin and let my legs recover since I knew the tough part was coming. There was a group of racers that caught up to me at this point, but not anyone too far ahead. I knew I was in a difficult spot with the technical climb coming. If I wasn’t able to clear some sections, I would have a pileup behind me, and cause me to lose my calmness I had going on, but if I let them pass, I would have to worry about them not clearing something, causing the same result. I decided my best bet was to stay ahead and do my best to clear it. Good call. The person right behind me was not in a good gear when we hit the first root, so she stopped, causing others to move strategically around her. I was able to clean all of it, and by the time I got to the top, I could see no one behind me. There was still more to come. When WTB started I was pretty much alone except one guy ahead of me. I knew I had to focus and take it easy if I wanted to clear this section, so I stayed on his tail, but didn’t pass. He lost his balance on one section, and just happened to fall to the side I was on. I had to put my foot down for a second to move around him, but I was able to quickly get going again. Soon I saw a group of people ahead walking there bikes up. I caught up to them right at the top and passed a few of them. I was pretty happy with myself and knew at that point I could actually be in this race. The trail descended down D4 to Vasquez road, where I dropped quite a few more racers. (note: not all of these racers were Sport women. Actually most seemed to be Sport men) The route turned left to where we had to cross the river. I knew it was still running high from my pre-ride earlier in the week, and didn’t want to risk anything by attempting to ride it. So when I got up to it, I jumped off my bike, and carried it over my head to the other side. I thought it was a much better strategy. There was another climb up Tunnel Hill Road, where I passed another group of guys/girls standing still. A beginner guy caught up to me at this point, racing past to get to Chickadee first. He was the first person to pass me all race (except for the start). That didn’t last long, though, he flatted half way down so I passed him again. Once down the descent it started to climb again up Little Vasquez. I was surprised at how I was feeling, I knew this was the last big climb, and I was still feeling great. Once it dumped out to the dirt road, I passed a few more people, and got passed by one or two. At one point I was spinning along when I heard a squeaky toy. Oh no! Who is that?!? I thought, knowing it was either Marni, Matt, Mel or Scott. I turned and saw Matt with a huge grin on his face. We chatted for a while, he was looking really good on his new bike and all. It didn’t take long for him to gain ground on me. I guess I should have cherished the Firecracker a little more than I did. He is forever going to kick my ass now.

At the top of the road we turned down Arapahoe, which was fun single track for a while. One more person passed me there, and I passed a few more. Eventually there was only me and another guy winding through the woods. No sign of anyone else either in front of behind us. He kept a good pace, so I stayed with him, until the last little climb on Long Trail. He pretty much stopped at the top, saying I was pushing him to hard to stay in front of me, and he was about to die, so he let me pass. Sorry dude. I wound through the trees on Long Trail, no one else in sight. I shot down to the Boulevard, which I have come to love, with the wooded jumps and tight switchbacks at the end. I was able to enjoy it with no one else around. I finished in just over 2 hours. Good enough for 2^nd place. I felt great when I was done, and for once finished a race where I felt like I belonged. I am starting to get it!

Matt, of course, got 2^nd in his group, 10 minutes faster than me. Sandbagger. He will have to race Sport next time. Brett ended up flatting twice just a couple miles from the finish and was unable to repair it. He DNF’d. Marni did great, coming in 4^th again. She had a lot on her mind, she was picking up Chris right after the race, and her heart was more already with him than the race. She did awesome considering, it is scary to think of what time she would have gotten if she were more into it! Erik did really well too, even though he had to finish the last few miles on a very flat tire! He still kept people off his tail and finished with a good time. Scott crashed by wrapping himself or his bike around a tree, so he was hurting when he finished. Melissa did awesome, pulling in 4^th again. It is amazing how she can do it with not much training. Shawn did really well in his category, although I don’t think he wanted to admit it. I talked to him after the race and he pretty much said he blew up out there and didn’t do well. It wasn’t until later that I found out he was actually racing Pro…

Although no one else seemed to have enjoyed it as much as me, I was very happy with this race. Definitely my favorite so far. Especially the incredible lighting storm that started right when I finished that brought a downpour of rain. In a weird way when it started to pour, I wished I was still out riding… Luckily for those that were still out there, the rain didn’t hit them as bad.   Good times…

 

Racing Epiphany

I am definitely no expert at racing, actually I feel lost out there most of the time. I have tried different strategies, but it seems there has been some downfall to every race so far, whether it is being sick, to dealing with emotions, to having chain problems, to figuring out what works better; a camelback or water bottles, how much food to bring and when and what to eat, how to pace myself, when to push myself… the list goes on. Unfortunately I have learned the hard way in almost all the above, which has ultimately led to some not so great experiences. I am hoping by KOTR I will have figured racing out, but for now I am still taking every race one at a time, learning as I go, suffering from my mistakes and spending the weeks in between races debating on continuing, but talking myself into it by the next one, just to do it all over again. It has been a tough season for me, which has been very disappointing. I have been looking forward to doing the WP series for a few years now, but sometimes I wonder if I even belong here. I will continue to learn from my mistakes, and hope that next year will bring a better season!