Blowing Up At Landmine

Wah! This was my last mtb race of the season (~sniff ~sniff) and the last one I'd be doing in the beginner division. My goals: 1) finish so I received enough points to win the series 2) don't get hurt and screw up my cross season 3) ride more of the technical stuff

The course was fairly flat, 4 wooden bridges, numerous logs and a few killer rock gardens which reminded me of Mt. Snow except they weren't muddy or on a 20% incline/decline. ;-) Unlike all the previous races, this course would be one 11 mile loop which meant no pre-ride on the day of the race so I decided to pre-ride on Saturday to check it out, see what Wompy State Park was like and just get back on my mt bike. Saturday was HOT and humid, I rode around noon, didn't eat lunch and pretty much set myself up for a bonk-fest. The course was super dry and dusty and on the first small downhill section with left turn I skidded out and went down hard on my left side. Hmmmmm....wrong tires? Have my skills really degraded in 3 weeks off? Was I simply spacing out? Similarly, on a small downhill section with tight left turn that went onto the bridge, I went in a little hot, couldn't hold the line I wanted and yes, flew off the bridge (3-4 ft drop into branches, brambles, weeds). As I went off the bridge I thought, "This is going to hurt." but oddly enough it wasn't so bad. One gi-normous bruise on my thigh, a few scratches, a 4" diameter stick through my rear wheel (no broken spokes!) and fortunately, no witnesses. ;-) The last 3 miles or so, I was entering the bonk zone - wasn't sure where I was in the woods, couldn't wait to be done, and pretty much walked through the rocky sections since I didn't think being so tired and handling technical stuff was wise. Was so happy to get back to the car and probably at least 5 lbs lighter given how much I had sweat out there. :(

Race day I was still feeling pretty tired but kept telling myself all I had to do was ride conservatively, finish, get enough points and win the '07 season series. Funny how all that flies out the window when the whistle blows. One thing I have learned is that it's really important for me to be out front. I don't ride as well in back of others (something I need to work on next year). The first mile was flat, fast and not technical. I wanted to be out front after that section. Three younger women flew out off the front and I let them go. Then one woman from my age group who was also super fast flew by and I let her go. At the end of that first mile section, I started running into the 55+ men and juniors. The juniors were really good about yielding on the trail where there was space but I think the older guys really weren't happy about getting "girled". Really super frustrating as I was going way slower than I knew I was capable was and felt my lead just melting away.

For about 1/2 the course, I fought for second place with another woman. We were pretty well matched and traded back and forth between 2nd and 3rd perhaps 3 or 4 times. The last time she passed me I was pretty wiped but thought I still had a chance if I didn't make any mistakes and so that's what I drilled in my head. No mistakes, ride EVERYTHING and if you need to get off, use your 'cross skills to get back on fast. Amazing what you can ride when you tell yourself that. That helped me catch up to her, had to jump off in a uphill rock garden but at the top of the hill did perhaps my best 'cross mount ever and took the lead back. Now I knew I just needed to push it and not wipe out. The pre-ride helped here as I remembered there was one large log, then flat and fast twisties to the grass and then finish. I thought that if could ride the log (way bigger than any I'd done before) and then sprint, I had second. If I endo'ed on the log, race over. Push...push...push...where's the log? where's the log? holy $^%$# it's bigger than I remember....hope that dirt's tasty in case I bite it big time... popped the front wheel...chainring hits the log...pedal...over! And still upright! Such a rush of adrenaline that I was still riding that I had a good sprint for the 1/4 mile to the finish. Took 2nd by 6-8 seconds or so. :) Won the race series for the season. More importantly, really improved my bike skills this season. Stuff that scared me silly in the spring is totally doable now (with a little guts and much trepidation). Looking forward to taking it to the next level next season.

I'm off for two weeks now - but when I return, it's full throttle on 'cross (Amesbury should be my first 'cross race of the season. So psyched!)

The Point Of It All

Sometimes you need to ride with a 6 year old to remember the real reason we ride bikes in the woods. My usual goal is to get from point A to point B as fast as possible, choose the shortest route, the line with the least obstacles, the smoothest part of the trail. Yesterday I rode with E and he reminded me that oh, yeah, finding your favorite rock, gnarliest root or tallest log can be the most fun. And doing it over and over is even better. Why go down the middle of the trail when you can skim the sides and hit the rocks less ridden? Why do it once as fast as possible instead of trying it again - this time with both feet off the pedals Good questions.... Pretty damn smart for a 6 year old. Turned out to be one of my best rides this summer!

US MTB National Championships

We headed up to Mt. Snow Thursday morning aiming to pre-ride the course later that afternoon. As we approached closer and closer to West Dover, the skies got darker and darker. By the time we pulled into the parking lot, there was a decent, steady drizzle falling. Since the course would be closed from 8-7pm the next day, our only chance to pre-ride would be that afternoon or super early Friday morning. So despite the rain, we headed out on the course.

Wow – I’ve heard lots of things about Mt. Snow’s XC course and it lived up to all of it. Technical, wet, rocky, rooty, hilly killer course. It’s a 5 mile course laid out in a north and south loop. The start is a very slight uphill dirt road that then turns up the mountain, zigs and zags a bit on fireroad, still up, up (past the first feed zone) then goes left off the ski slope into the first wooded section. There you start the descent down on rocky, rooty single track, across a couple of small streams, pop out onto a ski slope and head straight down toward the start where you’d then head back out the opposite direction up a LONG climb to the south loop. The climb starts out gradual but after a level bit through the woods turns straight UP the mountain. Steep, mud, roots, rocks. I can’t imagine anyone being able to ride it (especially in the muddy condition) and sure enough even the pro-women were doing the hike-a-bike through that section. Lots more up, up, up until you’ve hit about mile 3 and then you start heading down through the most difficult trails I’ve ever ridden. Mostly single track, rocks, roots, stairs, 4 foot drops over roots, you name it, it was there. After about 1.5 miles of that gnarly single track, you finally pop out down a ski slope and onto a fire road, through a tunnel, past the Grand Summit Hotel, small gradual climb until a nice downhill to the finish line.

So imagine seeing it for the first time during a two hour deluge. Yes, it dumped rain on us the entire time we were out there. The climbs were made tougher by the dirt that was now inches of mud. The technical downhill sections were pretty much impossible since choosing a line was a total crap shoot. The puddles and mud hid the holes, rocks and roots. And all the rain made everything slick as snot. We kept telling ourselves if we could ride it in these conditions we could do even better when (if?) it dried out by our race on Saturday morning. We spent a few hours out there slipping, sliding, trying to figure out lines, etc. At one point on one of the more sketchier downhill sections, we ran into an expert woman rider we know who was also off her bike, walking (made us feel good) and saying how it was pretty much impossible to ride in these conditions. As we were discussing this particular section (two trees in the middle of lots of rocks – go left, between or right of the trees?) two guys come flying down the hill and chose to go between the two trees. That line looked good on the surface but under the mud was a slick web of roots. The first guy went down hard, second guy was able to stop. First guy was ok. We all decided the left line was best after that. ;-)

Friday we spent watching the men semi-pro, and women’s pro races. All the lap counts were reduced by 1 lap given the conditions of the course. For the men’s semi-pro, the gradual fire road climb between the two loops was so muddy that mostly all the guys were off their bikes. By the time the pro women’s race (3 laps instead of 4) went off at 2pm, it was much drier given the sun and breeze. Amazing race to watch. Mary McConneloug led out from the start and never gave it up. I think she ended up beating Georgia Gould by 90 sec or so. Wow. So cool to watch those guys ride.

Saturday was blue skies and breezy for our race. It had rained a bit overnight so the course got a bit of extra moisture on it. Lovely. Earlier that morning, the expert men and women races were held and their lap counts were reduced by one so expert women ended up with having to do only 2 laps. Beginners were scheduled to do 2 so we were wondering if they would cut us to 1. But no, they kept us to 2 laps which I figured would be to my advantage anyway since lately I’ve been relying on my fitness and not my technical skills. My goals were to: 1) finish 2) not get hurt. My strategy was to basically push hard on all the rideable climbs and put lots of distance between me and my competitors since I knew the downhill sections would be super difficult.

Our wave rolled up to the start, and the announcer introduced us each by name.(!) I was shocked when he mentioned along with my name that I was ranked #2 in the country. (Who was he talking about? ;-) Yes, I had discovered a few weeks ago I was the ranked as the #13 Women Beginner, then moved up to #5 but I guess my win last week moved me up to #2. Oh geez…nothing like a little more pressure at the start of the race. I can’t begin to describe how cool it was to stand at the start line as the clock ticked down, fans banging on the walls lining the course and being super excited to just start riding.

Race went off as planned. I rode up the entire hill of the north loop (found out later that all of the others in my division walked parts of it). I hit the first wooded section in first, and couldn’t believe the mud. It was like biking though a giant vat of peanut butter. Slipping, sliding, and off the bike for my first fall. And of course, in front a big group of spectators who had hiked up to watch the carnage. I was glad I did not disappoint in putting on a good show for them. ;-) I was so happy when I survived the first wooded section that when I popped out on the ski slope for the downhill, I almost endo’d as I flew down and hit a trench (nice recovery). Whew. The entire first lap was made difficult as I was spending a lot of time avoiding the juniors. Especially on the hike-a-bike mud steep uphill section and the downhill sections. I started catching women from the two age groups below mine as well. Toward the end of the first lap, in the absolute worst section of downhill rocks, I had probably my worst fall (hard enough to brake my plastic number plate), I lost my chain and thought I had broken my left shift lever. I spent 2-3 minutes getting the lever unjammed and getting the chain back on. Finished the first lap in 1 hr 20 min. (that’s almost as long as any mtb race I had previously done). Oddly, though, I pretty much felt ok as I headed out for lap #2. True to form, I rode that lap much better (and faster) than the first. With no juniors and very few other riders to avoid, I was able to set my own cadence and just ride. I could spin better up the climbs and was much smoother on the technical downhill sections. Finished the race in 2hr 39 min. 1st place for Beginner Women 40+ and I later realized would have been good enough for a 6th place finish in the Expert Women 45+ .

Coolest part - S doing her first 2 lap mtb race ever crushes the competition for 2nd place. How cool is it to be 1 and 2 on the podium together! Gold and silver medals. Yeah.

Beginner and sport categories aren’t awarded National Championship stars and stripes jerseys but they do get the blue stripes and red stars jerseys. So I have a very cool, new blue stripe jersey.

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!

Keeping It Fun

I came across this video (kudos to these guys for having some fun out there) yesterday while doing some research for work (honest! I was!) It instantly reminded me of about 35 years ago when I would take my Schwinn Sting-Ray into the woods behind our house in CT with the other kids in my neighborhood. Now, I know they say mountain biking originated in Marin but heck, we didn't need no stinkin' fancy rides - we had our Huffy's and department store specials. My Sting-Ray was probably the nicest bike on the block.

Anyway, it became a Neighborhood Badge of Honor to be able to ride the trail from the "Big Kids" tree house on the top of the hill, down the hill, through the swampy fern section and over the last fallen tree at the end by the "Little Kids" (us) fort without touching down. Getting over the tree didn't scare me as much as going down the hill - a lot of speed was necessary to get through the swampy fern section without tipping over and suffering the "Wrath of Mom" for returning home covered in and reeking of swamp muck.

I think I spent an entire month one summer just doing that trail over and over and over and over.... I never got bored but how could I? One day Jimmy H. took a nasty fall, knocked out his tooth and blood was everywhere. Bobby B. ended up falling in leaves, getting a tick on the top of his head and needing to get part of his head shaved to have it removed. In retrospect, they probably should have given him a total buzz cut but instead he had a bald spot right smack in the middle. Much ridicule ensued until it grew back. Once we all successfully mastered the trail, we started hauling more obstacles out there, large branches, pieces of plywood, and flattened metal garbage cans which added sound effects to our ride. Bike heaven!

So I was remembering all that this morning as I headed out on my bike. The workout of the day was meticulously written out in block print and taped to my stem next to my HRM:

10 EASY (61-72%)
10 LIGHT (73-80%)
SMALL RING SPRINT
53 x 15 SPRINT
2 FREE FORM SPRINTS
5 x 1 min @100
62 min total

Now, while that may be fun for some, it isn't particularly for me. And while it was a great workout and I'm glad I did it, it didn't have me doing a happy dance when it was finished. I definitely need to figure out how to mix more fun in there and keep reminding myself that those kind of workouts may not make for a fun morning but will certainly make races more FUN as I RIP legs off the other racers. ;-)