Hell's Divas

Today was the Pat's Peak XC MTB race in Henniker, NH. Uffff. One should be leery of bike races at ski resorts that have the word "peak" in them. 5 miles long, 847 vertical feet of climbing. Doesn't really sound like much. Tell that to my burning lungs.

The race was also part of the Pat's Peak MTB Festival. So while we arrived there in lots of time to pre-ride the course, we couldn't because the crazies doing the 24 hour race were still out there. Wow. Can't imagine doing that solo. But I can imagine doing it as part of a four person team. If you're reading this and want to do such a thing, let me know. I'm game. Anyway, ate our pre-race pbj's, hung out and talked to the downhill guys a bit about what their races were like, their bikes, etc. The idea of just going down sounds enormously appealing until I look at the body armor, bikes with 8" of travel, and some of the air these guys get on the course. I'd be the one coming down the course with their brakes on fire and setting new speed records for slowest decent humanly possible. ;-) Wussy downhill girl, for sure.

Since we were there so early and couldn't pre-ride, it gave me lots of time to fix my flat rear tire. Headed to the start line a little before 9 and knew it was going to be a hot one. Received lots of instructions from the officials - mostly warnings about water bars on the downhills. We'd be doing two laps and again following the 50+ men's division. The fields were pretty small. I suspect a lot of people were at Pedro's MTB Festival. Fine with me, though.

So the course: The start was up the grassy ski slope. Then some single track through the woods. Cross a ski slope, more single track, lots of climbing up ski trails, more climbing on single track (yay! shade!) Up..up...up...down...across...up...up...across...down...then a nice twisty single track section down the mountain. That part was super fun. Spectators who were supporting the 24 hr folks also had a great sense of humor and set up the "Teeter-Totter of Death" and "Ramp of Doom" which also added a bit of fun to the course.

As for my race, I thought I was going to spontaneously combust on some of the uphills. I'm sure the color of my face matched the red of my NEBC jersey perfectly. Stopped at the water stations for water to pour on my head. I rode most of the course by myself - leaving most of the women behind on the the first uphill. The second lap, I slowed a bit thinking I shouldn't kill myself before Mt. Snow. Thought I heard a women's voice behind me but thought, "Eh...far enough behind...probably one of the 24 hr riders." Yeah. Sure. Tell that to my sorry slow butt when she passed me 300 yds from the finish. Stayed on her tail and tried to get back in front but was blocked by the narrow trail. F*&^%%$!!! Couldn't see her number so I didn't know if she was in my race. She wasn't. We crossed the line together. Never should have let her get that close, though. Stupid.

All in all, it was the toughest race I did this season due to the climbing and the heat. Good warm up for Mt. Snow, though. I know that will be tougher. Still - looking forward to it.

Results: 1st place Beginner Woman 35+
Still have the leader's jersey
And now, I'm officially a Hell's Diva - got the t-shirt as proof for winning.

And yes, S won the First Timer's division! Pretty soon she'll be moving up to my division. Which means I better get to the sport division soon!