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??

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!

WP Races #3 and #4

Saturday: Valley Point to Point

Most of my team headed up Friday night to stay at Michelle’s family’s home in Frasier (thanks Michelle!). We relaxed, chatted and enjoyed looking at a magazine of child starts, then and now. It made me feel old… Who knew that Mark from Home Improvement was going to someday make cheese???

The next morning we all got up and had a yummy egg sandwich that Chris made everyone, before heading over to the resort. Once the bikes were ready to go, Marni took me on a long warm up ride. I have never done a long warm-up before, I was always afraid it would make me tired before the race even started. I wasn’t sure if it was going to help me, or hurt me, but I went along anyways.

We went to the start line with enough time to get in front, although I am not sure why… They sent us off, and I took off up the hill. Too fast. I have seen so many people take off too hard and burn out quick, shaking my head at them. Well, that day I was one of them, and I did shake my head at myself. I burnt out before the single track, feeling like I was going to puke on the side, not sure if there was anyway I could continue. I was mad at myself, and told myself there was no way I was going to quit because of my stupidity, doing something that I knew not to.

Another girl and I were pushing hard to fight for the lead when the single track came. She beat me to it, which actually wasn’t too bad, we were about the same speed. Not too long into the downhill we came across a girl who had wiped out around one of the corners. A guy had stopped for her, we asked if she was ok and kept going when she said she was. Eventually I knew I could ride faster than this girl, so I started to work on a strategy to pass her. She wasn’t having any of that, and refused to let me by. During a flatter section I saw her start to wobble, and lose control. I knew what was happening, and just watched as her back tire went flat. I flew past her, not feeling too bad at all.

Once the uphill started again, I felt the pain from the long warm up and stupidly fast start. My energy was already gone, and I started to curse myself. It was at this point that my mind started getting to me, I was getting frustrated, and I was mad at myself for feeling like I did. I tried really hard to stop those thoughts, and just work on enjoying the ride, which worked for a little while. I got to the top of the hill where originally we were supposed to go right and cross the river, but the re-routed it since the river was running too high. I was overheating by this point and really wished we were going through the river. There was a nice long downhill on a road where I caught another girl, so my spirits started to lift a little. But then we turned onto D4 where more climbing started. My bike was fighting with me, not shifting when I wanted it to, and then shifting when I didn’t want it too. Frustration sank in again, and I was having a hard time concentrating. I was still feeling like crap, still no energy, and I could not focus. More than once I went to shift down to make it up a steeper section, but ended up shifting into a harder gear instead, so I ended up having to walk those sections. Frustration got worse at this point. When I turned around at one point I saw Marni coming up the hill. She looked strong and I knew it was only a matter of time before she passed me. I was looking forward to her catching up, I thought some chatting with her would lift my spirits. I was on the verge of throwing my bike off the trail and sitting on a stump crying.

Eventually I made it to the turnoff onto WTM, a very steep lose downhill. It was fun, but still hard to navigate. The trail continued to rollercoaster a bit through the forest, the ups hurt, the downs were a little better. I saw another girl on the side of the trail trying to fix a flat. I could tell she was frustrated, she started to smash her tire on the ground. I was about to tell her I know how she feels, but thought that would be inappropriate since I was still riding…

I eventually popped out onto a road where a guy said only 4.5 miles. Only. Ugh. I kept going though, knowing the end was soon. It didn’t seem like it was too long after that I came across another person who said it was only about another mile. Sweet!! Those last 3.5 miles went super fast! I was starting to ride faster, excited to finish. It was a while later that I saw the sign saying 1 mile to go… Hadn’t I already gone a mile?? I kept pedaling along, but more frustration came during this last section. I was trying to go fast but there were so many baby heads it was hard to pick a good line. Eventually I started to see cars and people, and then heard my teammates cheering for me. I was about done! Thank god!

If this were my first race, I would have probably quit, never wanting to race again. I did not enjoy myself, I let my mind take over, and instead of having fun just being on my bike, I took everything too seriously, and was really hard on myself. I thought about it for a while afterwards, how to take this experience and learn from it. I was even debating writing about it, thinking it might be better to just forget about it and move on. I think I need to work on just enjoying the ride, whether it is a casual ride, or a race.

Sunday: Super D

I took my own advice for this race, before really thinking about it, and decided to just have fun on this course. It was the Super D, and I will admit, I was kind of scared doing a downhill race. We got there early so we could pre-ride the course and see what we were up against. We had to take the lift up, which was one of the biggest challenges of the day! Marni and I went to get on, thinking the operator was going to put our bikes on for us. He informed us that we were responsible for loading our own bikes. Uh, ok, and how do we do this??? Marni and I did our best, and through much laughter and yelps we managed to load our bikes on before the chair took off with the bikes hanging off. I think the lift operator did it on purpose to get a kick out of us. He didn’t even slow down the lift for us!

Mel, Erik and Scott met us at the top, and we all took off on our pre-ride. Some of the crew thought we looked pretty cool in our kits, and all sporting squeaky toys. I am sure they were wondering what all of us were thinking, about to do a downhill race.

The course was fun, very technical in spots with large rocks to go over, lose sand and roots sticking out. There are a few uphills that we all felt after Saturday’s race. When we got to the bottom we waited for Chris to come down. He rode his fully rigid SS. Ouch is all I can say. He finished well, coming in 3^rd.

It was then time for Marni, Mel and I to head to the top, so we headed to the dreadful chair lift. There was a different operator this time, and he was nice enough to slow down the lift so we could all get our bikes on.

We watched Scott take off in the group before us, and soon all that were left were the women. 11 total between Beginner and Sport. We had about 15 minutes before we were to head off, so we all started chatting, being silly girls. We found out how old everyone was so we knew who our competition was. It turned out there wasn’t much for anyone! I think all 11 of us got on the podium. Melissa was the only one in her group, so she automatically got 1^st, and it was between me and Marni for our group. It made the start more fun, knowing we could all just have fun in this race.

The race started Le Mans style where we staged our bikes about 100 feet up the road which we had to run to. Once they sent us off I got to my bike pretty quick, but for some reason could not get on it! I was struggling so hard to get my foot even on the pedal. Melissa was right beside me, and I think she was having the same problem because she wasn’t moving any faster and we could not stop laughing. We were pretty much at the back of the pack by the time we got on our bikes. No worries, though. I caught up to quite a few of the girls up the hill and rode with the front of the pack for a while. They lost me pretty quick once the single track started. They always stayed in sight, but I never caught them, not that I was trying to. I ended up right in the middle of the fast girls and the slower ones, so there was no one around me for the whole race. I had a blast. I was cruising down, singing along to my music, just having fun. This is what racing should feel like.

I came upon the rocky section, so I downshifted and was able to ride right over them. It flattened out for a while so I was about to push harder when all of a sudden my front tire turned and I went flying off my bike, sprawled out across the trail. I have no idea what happened, there were no rocks or roots to grab my tire. I got up, found I had no severe injuries, got back on the bike and continued down. I never saw the fast group after that. I came to the final switchbacks, bummed that the ride was about over. I finished in about 27 minutes, good for 1^st place. J A few minutes later we saw Marni and Melissa coming down the switchbacks. Mel good for 1^st, Marni for 2^nd. Turned out Scott got 2^nd in his class, so it was a day of success. It was a lot of fun to stand on the podium beside Marni, and I am sure that wont be the last, she has gotten super fast I am struggling to stay ahead of her! Erik pulled in a great time, but he was in a large class. Brett did great also, and would have had a great time if he didn’t crash so bad.

I am really glad this race followed so closely to Saturday’s. I got my spirit back, and I am looking forward to racing in 2 weeks. Go Team!

Firecracker 50 2008

Once again on the 4th of July I participated in the Firecracker 50 mountain bike race in Breckenridge. The only difference was that this year I completed the full 50 instead of the Sparkler 14 miles. It was a goal I set for myself last 4th of July.

The day started out hot. I got up to Breckenridge early to get my number and calm my nerves before the race. That didn’t happen, because my race number ended up being 666. As soon as they told me that I felt my heart sink. This is going to be a long race, I thought to myself…

I got lots of oohhs and aaahhs about my number as well as many comments, most along the lines of “good luck” with a discomforting look on theire face, or saying I was screwed because the devil was on my side… Needless to say, my nerves were never calmed before the race started.

My friend, Matt, decided to brave the 50 miles with me. I admire him a lot for that! He just moved here from back east, has a 15 year old mountain bike and has never raced in a mountain bike race before. I haven’t figured out yet if he is a superstar or just plain dumb. I think to do something like that is a mix of both! He met me in Breckenridge where we got some Starbucks and people watched for a while before we went off to get ready for the race. The race starts off the 4th of July parade, which has always been fun. The kids love to cheer us on and it is a good way to get pumped up for the race. Once our leader pulled off we were on our own. The race began. It starts with a pretty good uphill on a paved road. I quickly fell to the back of the pack. I had no goals for this race, other than to complete it, so I knew I didn’t want to start out hard- I had a long way to go. Eventually some of the beginner riders passed me, which took a lot to not push harder. It took a while for my legs to get in the groove of things, but eventually the spinning came naturally and I was feeling good. The pavement turned into dirt, and eventually into singletrack. Parts of the trail were very muddy, but still refreshing considering how hot it was. There were some evil uphills, where many people were walking. I thought about the last day of Kokopelli and how I just kept spinning, and used that on these uphills. I wasn’t overly fast going up, but I passed a lot of walkers and other riders, and was not dead by the time I got to the top. Then the steep, loose descent came. Most people walked this section, too. I was able to ride all of it, and ended up catching a few girls while I was at it. The evil descent finally ended at a fireroad where it descended at a much safer pace. I was feeling really good at this point, but this is about as far as I had ever ridden the trail, so I had no idea what was still coming. Well, there was a lot more uphill. An average grade of 16%. It was steep, and there were parts at the top that weren’t even ridable. Eventually I made it to the top, where it then descended down a very narrow singletrack. Thoughts were going through my head that I have to do all of this over again, and I tried my best to push them out and ignore them.

The trail descended for a while on a nice smooth, fast trail. It was so much fun. My favorite part of the course. Especially when there was a larger mud puddle I had to fly through. It cooled me off a lot! There was another steep scary downhill before the last aid station and the final climb. That last climb was not too bad, middle ring at least the whole way, and the feeling that it was the last climb was a good feeling. (except when you know you have to do it all over again…)

The last descent is fun, a fast fire road and then narrow switchbacks through the trees. It was here that I caught up to Matt, who was saying something about a problem he was having with his bike. I didn’t want to stop to chat, so I kept going, hoping he was ok…

I completed my first lap with lots of jeers from the spectators about my number. I had actually forgotten about it by this point. Thanks, guys… I pushed on, though, ready for the second lap. It was hard to ride up the pavement again knowing what I was up against, but as soon as I hit the dirt road I started feeling better. Really good, actually. I was passing people left and right, including the girl that I knew was standing in second in my category. It felt good to catch her, which boosted my mood and energy. I never saw her again. This lap was obviously the same as the first, the only difference is that I felt like I had more energy the second time around. My second lap was definately faster, and more fun than the first. The final descent was a blast, knowing that it was really the end now. I crossed the finish line in about 6:45. I wasn’t dissappointed by time, even though it is slow to some standards. I wasn’t racing for time, or a podium. Just to cross the finish line of my first 50 mile mountain bike race. I did it, and it felt great…

Matt ended up going out for the second lap, even though his bike was not functioning properly. He finished the race as well. Barely, because he collapsed as soon as he got to where I was sitting and it took a lot for me to get him up. Congrats to him for doing something so crazy and for surviving.

I ended up taking second place, and that is with riding with the number 666. I think it is just a myth that gets to people’s heads too much. It was my first ever race where I didn’t crash or have any sort of mechanical issue. Maybe it is my lucky number…

If only that luck could get rid of this darn cough… With still trying to get over the bronchitis, as well as inhaling dirt for the last almost 7 hours, my lungs were hating me and trying to get all the junk out and get air in. It was painful and continued all night and all weekend. It was hard to sleep, made all of my muscles ache and made me nauseaus. I couldn’t take it any more, so I called my step-mom to see if there were any more remedies for it, since the steroids and perscription cough medicince didn’t work… Luckily one of her friends was in town and she is a doctor. She ended up calling in another perscription for me, so now I am finally on antibiotics. God I hope it works this time. I am not sure I can survive another race feeling like this…

Winter Park Race #2 Cross Country

After three years of longing to be a part of this series I finally competed in my first Winter Park race. I can’t say it was what I expected, or wished for. I didn’t seem to have much going for me, and was struggling before we even took off from the start. I have been dealing with a severe cough for over two weeks now, that brought on evil headaches and massive lethargy. My doctor Carol said there was a good chance it was pneumonia, told me to take it easy and take lots of Robitussin DM until I could go to my real doctor on Monday. I really didn’t want to miss out on the race, so I downed lots of Ibuprofen and Robitussin, tried to rest as much as I could, and my goal was just to survive the race.

I got to meet up with Scott, Melissa, Brett, Chris, Marni and Cori before the start, so we all wished each other good luck before we headed off. After Chris’s epic ride, he decided to skip this race, and I don’t blame him! He turned into our cheering section and photographer. It was nice because he was at every intersection we came to, so we had a constant cheerleader.

Marni and I lined up together at the start, and headed up the first climb a little after 10:30. I felt like crap from the start. I pre-rode part of the course on Saturday and felt a lot better than I did when I started the race, which wasn’t a good feeling. The climb seemed steeper and longer than the day before, and I wasn’t really able to push taller gears without getting too worn out. There were a few times in that first mile or so that I was about to bag the race and head back down. I didn’t think I was going to survive. I think one of my problems is that my back tire didn’t have enough air pressure in it. I didn’t want to stop to fill it, thinking that would make things worse, not better. So I trudged on, and we finally made it to the single track descent. I used to think I was a decent climber, but now I think I am better at the down hills. I was able to catch quite a few girls in that first down hill, and I was proud that I was able to pass on such loose terrain.

As soon as the uphill started again, the lack of energy came back. I only got passed by one girl on this climb, but I could tell the others were gaining ground fast. I didn’t want to burn out, but I knew I had to push harder if I wanted to stay ahead. When the trail leveled out in between climbs I tried to push a little more to gain ground before the next uphill. Unfortunately as soon as the uphill started and I went to shift down, my chain experienced major chain suck. It was really bad and took a good 5+ minutes to get it out. I got passed by a lot of girls at this point. That didn’t really help my mood. I continued to have problems with my chain the rest of the race, it fell off at least 3 more times, and it argued with me every time I tried to shift into my middle ring.

I think adrenaline from being so frustrated kicked in, because I ended up catching I think all the girls that passed me when I was stopped. The single track then turned into a long dirt road, that I also found frustrating because there were so many small bumps that I couldn’t get a good speed going and I felt I was wasting more energy. Not too long after the road looped back around I got passed by two girls who were drafting each other. So I tagged along for a while, gaining some energy back. It help tremendously, I ended up passing them pretty quick and stayed ahead of them for quite a while. Soon I came upon Cori who was looking really good, so we cheered each other on, and I continued on. There was another girl that had caught up and we were riding neck and neck. I knew it was going to drop into single track soon, and I knew I needed to beat her to it. I did, and had a fun blast down the hill, and through the river. It was very refreshing! Especially since I knew what was coming next…

Lots of uphill. I paced myself, I knew I would be climbing for a long time and again I didn’t want to burn out, I was still struggling with lack of energy. Cori caught back up, but not for long before I heard a bad shift and curse words come out of his mouth as he stopped. I thought his chain probably fell off, since mine did not too far from where he was. I didn’t think he needed help, so I didn’t stop. Another girl caught up to me and told me that he had actually broken his chain. Total bummer, and I wished I could have helped him, but there is nothing I could have done except be there for moral support. The girl was cruising pretty good up the trail, and soon another one caught up and took to her back wheel. I warned them that it went up for a very long time, but they said it was not bad at all, and kept going. I wasn’t bothered, I was pretty sure I would catch them later. Around this point a lot of the beginner guys started catching up, and I was starting to get worried that Scott would catch me soon! I tried to not let that get to me and just kept pedaling. Funny thing is, I think I passed every guy back. They burnt themselves out really fast. I am glad I pre-rode this part…

I did end up catching one of the girls on the dirt road, but she didn’t seem to like that because she pushed hard to get back ahead of me. Not a good move. I passed her again on the single track, I think she was throwing up. I never saw her again. I passed a few more guys on this single track, according to my pre ride this was one of the last climbs before the downhill started. We came out of the single track and had to head up a dirt hill to where Long trail starts the descent. I saw the other girl who passed me earlier in front of me, and knew, again, I had to get in front of her before the downhill started. So I pushed really hard, and made it to the single track before her. Really fun descent. I got stuck behind a slow guy for a while, but was eventually able to pass him. I was cruising, thinking just one more short uphill, my computer was reading over 16 miles at this point, so I thought I was home free…

Yeah right. I get down to the dirt road again, where the day before I went right and down, but now they made us go left, and up. And up… I had spent everything on the last climb that I was hurting. Wait a minute… they said the course was 16.1 miles… my computer is well over 17 at this point and we are still going up, really high on the mountain… Not too cool. I was hating life, but I had gone this far I had to push through and finish. So I kept pedaling up the hill, and finally more single track downhill came. I was tired, my cough was getting to me, I hadn’t eaten anything in almost an hour because I though we were about done, so this downhill was a bit sketchy. It had fairly tight switchbacks and was loose dirt. I had about 4 guys on my butt, but I think we were all going the same speed, the guy behind me was actually saying that I was making him go faster, so none of them passed me. I also did not ride any of this section the day before, so all new terrain for me. Luckily the guy behind me did, so he warned me when there was a tight switchback coming. I did good on most of them, until I tried to make one to the left but didn’t cut it tight enough, and there was a tree that I couldn’t avoid. My bike skid off the trail and smashed into the tree. All four guys behind me had to slam on their breaks to avoid a pileup, since my bike landed across the trail. My right foot was still stuck in the clip, so I tried to move my bike off the trail with that foot to let the guys pass. They were all really nice, making sure I was ok before they took off.

I wasn’t really that shook up, I just wanted to get down! I came to the last intersection and saw Chris again. I told him about meeting the tree, and continued on. The last section of downhill was very loose, with tight switchbacks and lots of rocks and roots. Being so short on energy, it was very difficult. I crossed the dirt road one last time, with another cheer from Chris, and finally made it to the road where I was cheered on by good friends. I pushed as hard as I could to the finish, which unfortunately didn’t turn out to be so hard because my chain was acting up again, but I was finally finished. I had a nice cough attack that had been waiting to come out all race, and then I stayed by the finish to watch Marni, Scott and Melissa finish. They all looked great crossing the finish. We hung out for a while to watch the awards ceremony. Somehow, after all I went through, I came out in 3^rd place. And, both of the girls that I was leapfrogging most of the race weren’t even in my category! Overall a fun course, I wish they would have been more accurate on the distance, but it was so great to finally be apart of this series. Congrats to Shawn for pulling in 3^rd in Expert, both Mel and Marni getting 4^th, Scott and Brett for putting in great times, Cori for his efforts to stay in the race after everything he went through, and then dealing with everything he went through to try to get back to his car, and thanks to Chris for being the cheerleader and photographer. Can’t wait to race with you all in a few weeks! I am now hoping I feel better enough for the Firecracker 50 on Friday…

Lookout Hill Climb Race

A few people from my team and I did the Lookout race this morning. It’s 4.5 miles with about 2200 feet of elevation gain (I think…). It was super fun! My first race of the season, and my first road race ever! Marni and I were in the same class, so we warmed up and started together. It was nice to have someone at the start like that! It could have been disastrous when we took off, a women a couple bikes in front of us fell and almost started a chain reaction! Luckily Marni and I were able to manuever around her with nothing more than a few seconds off our time. Then we were off…

I felt really good on this climb. I got into my own rhythm pretty quick, feeling the breath and the pedal movement. I got passed by a couple women towards the start, but the bonked later on, so I passed them. It was amazing how many people started out too fast, and then dropped halfway through. I kept a pace I was very comfortable at, and knew I could finish at that pace. It felt really good. I came across the finish line at 28:31, which I was pretty happy with! Only good for 19th place though… Some of these women are beasts! Not sure how much time I can knock off of that, but I will try!

Marni did great, with an exciting finish that I didn’t see! Pushing herself at the very end for a last pass on one of the women and a strong sprint finish! It was exciting! Chris and Shawn did awesome on their old bikes, Chris making it in a little over 20 minutes, and enough to finish in the top 10, and Shawn with an unbelievable 18:XX minutes! He got 3rd, some cash and beer. Sweet.

The ride down was super cold, Marni and I were shivering so much we almost lost control of our bikes! It was so much fun,  though. Really makes me look forward to more races this summer!

My Way or the Tri Way

Today I participated in a Triathalon. It is different from the normal triathalons in that you can choose what activity you do, and what order you do it in. So I chose a run-bike-run, mainly for the fact that I hate swimming! It was very hot from start to finish, and the bike was a lot harder than I anticipated, but I ended up finishing 3rd in the women in my group, 8th overall. There were only about 30 people who were in my group, but I was still happy with my time! After every triathalon I swear that I will never do one again, as I did after this one, but who know’s, I am sure I will be doing another one in the near future.