Suffering in Summit County
Mavsports (my favorite race promoter) does a local Summit County mtn bike race series. They put on first rate and fun races. In addition great courses - the competition is so strong.
There are so many crazy strong athletes in all shapes and sizes that come out of the woodwork at these races. I would dare to say this is the strongest competition in the area - stronger than in the Winter Park and Mountain States Cup races.
I've done 3 or 4 of these races over the years and even though I usually feel I raced to the best of my ability - I *always* get my butt kicked and end up last or 2nd to the last. Usually these races are on Wednesday nights -but this year the 1st one of the season was on Sunday - on the spur of the moment i decided to go.
The race is a 4.5 mile course with approximately 700 feet of climbing per lap. None of the climbs last more than 5 minutes so being able to power up the climbs is critical. I didn't have any expectations for this race due to the fact that -
I saw my friend, Pam at the start - I haven't seen her since October. I know she's been riding strong so I'd have to ride hard to keep up with her. I also saw my friend, Cat - I was hoping I could keep her in sight - this girl is so cute and tiny - but she ROCKS it on the downhills.
We started @ 1:25pm. There were about 20 Sport Women. The first climb was short and into a headwind - i stayed with the lead group of girls and was able to draft. A quick fast downhill and another steep but short climb - I powered up this puppy in my middle chain ring and passed 3 girls. The next downhill section is fun and fast through the trees with a lots of bermed turns. I see a great hump to use my pumping technique on and I pump over it and miss the turn as I tired to turn to get back on the course I crash! 2 girls (including Cat) passed me. uhhh - darn!!! Even though I was only off the course less than 30 seconds - it cost me more time in momentum.
Here's a couple of pics after my crash (hover and click on pic for larger version)-
A couple of girls passed me on the next climb - but I kept close and passed them back. On that last climb with a steep switchback I could see Pam was just 20seconds or so behind me. I was able to keep about the same pace on Lap 2 (turns out I was 1 minute slower than Lap 1) and Pam was sticking on my tail the whole time. I kept waiting for her to make a move!
Pam and I started the final Lap together - neck-and-neck. We head up the first climb and she goes to pass but my legs found some extra muscle juice and I was able to stay in front. Thoughout the 3rd lap I was slowly able to pull away. I wanted to be totally toast by the end of the race. On the very last climb I had a chance to pass 1 more girl but I didn't turn it on and figured I'd be able to catch her on the downhill. ughh!!! bad choice I was never able to pass on the downhill and at the end of the race i still had some energy left.
I finished in 7th place - 30 seconds out of 6th place, 45 seconds off 5th place and 3 minutes off the poduim.
I was really happy with this result but regret not turning it up a couple of more notches on the last climb. I don't think I would have been able to poduim but a couple of more places up in the finish would be nice. 3 minutes (off the poduim) is a long time in mtn bike racing - but I feel this is a bridge I can gap. Considering the competition - i'm pretty stoked. And knowing Pam and I are so evenly matched will make this a fun season!
/rant on
Ok - so there's this racer that is head of the local womens mtn bike group. She's done alot to get women into mtn biking and teaches mtn bike skills clinics. When I started racing in Summit County 3 years ago I thought it was interesting that whenever she went to collect her prize for winning a race (and she won EVERY race she competed in) the promoters would announce on the loudspeaker "Here's the winner so-andso -- she refuses to move up to expert". (at the time I thought it was kinda rude for them to announce that) Turns out she was beating the entire Sport Womens field by many minutes but didn't want to move up to expert because she is older.
So she finally moves up to expert - and isn't winning anymore - she's finishing mid to the bottom of the pack. Pooor lady - so she downgrades to Sport this year - goes off course during this race losing several minutes and STILL poduims. Man! For some reason it REALLY bugs me that this woman (who you'd think since she's so active in the mtn bike community would set an example of good sportmanship) But I guess her winning is more important. hmmm..maybe me and Pam should move to beginner so we can podium and win prizes??
/rant off
There are so many crazy strong athletes in all shapes and sizes that come out of the woodwork at these races. I would dare to say this is the strongest competition in the area - stronger than in the Winter Park and Mountain States Cup races.
I've done 3 or 4 of these races over the years and even though I usually feel I raced to the best of my ability - I *always* get my butt kicked and end up last or 2nd to the last. Usually these races are on Wednesday nights -but this year the 1st one of the season was on Sunday - on the spur of the moment i decided to go.
The race is a 4.5 mile course with approximately 700 feet of climbing per lap. None of the climbs last more than 5 minutes so being able to power up the climbs is critical. I didn't have any expectations for this race due to the fact that -
- I didn't do so well at Angel Fire
- I always get my a$$ handed to me here
- I just consider this a good hard training ride in at altitude.
I saw my friend, Pam at the start - I haven't seen her since October. I know she's been riding strong so I'd have to ride hard to keep up with her. I also saw my friend, Cat - I was hoping I could keep her in sight - this girl is so cute and tiny - but she ROCKS it on the downhills.
We started @ 1:25pm. There were about 20 Sport Women. The first climb was short and into a headwind - i stayed with the lead group of girls and was able to draft. A quick fast downhill and another steep but short climb - I powered up this puppy in my middle chain ring and passed 3 girls. The next downhill section is fun and fast through the trees with a lots of bermed turns. I see a great hump to use my pumping technique on and I pump over it and miss the turn as I tired to turn to get back on the course I crash! 2 girls (including Cat) passed me. uhhh - darn!!! Even though I was only off the course less than 30 seconds - it cost me more time in momentum.
Here's a couple of pics after my crash (hover and click on pic for larger version)-
- On Lap 2 - powering up the short steep hill (you can see i'm hurting and my leg is scratched/dirty from my crash)
- heading into the singletrack - the fun twisty section
A couple of girls passed me on the next climb - but I kept close and passed them back. On that last climb with a steep switchback I could see Pam was just 20seconds or so behind me. I was able to keep about the same pace on Lap 2 (turns out I was 1 minute slower than Lap 1) and Pam was sticking on my tail the whole time. I kept waiting for her to make a move!
Pam and I started the final Lap together - neck-and-neck. We head up the first climb and she goes to pass but my legs found some extra muscle juice and I was able to stay in front. Thoughout the 3rd lap I was slowly able to pull away. I wanted to be totally toast by the end of the race. On the very last climb I had a chance to pass 1 more girl but I didn't turn it on and figured I'd be able to catch her on the downhill. ughh!!! bad choice I was never able to pass on the downhill and at the end of the race i still had some energy left.
I finished in 7th place - 30 seconds out of 6th place, 45 seconds off 5th place and 3 minutes off the poduim.
I was really happy with this result but regret not turning it up a couple of more notches on the last climb. I don't think I would have been able to poduim but a couple of more places up in the finish would be nice. 3 minutes (off the poduim) is a long time in mtn bike racing - but I feel this is a bridge I can gap. Considering the competition - i'm pretty stoked. And knowing Pam and I are so evenly matched will make this a fun season!
/rant on
Ok - so there's this racer that is head of the local womens mtn bike group. She's done alot to get women into mtn biking and teaches mtn bike skills clinics. When I started racing in Summit County 3 years ago I thought it was interesting that whenever she went to collect her prize for winning a race (and she won EVERY race she competed in) the promoters would announce on the loudspeaker "Here's the winner so-andso -- she refuses to move up to expert". (at the time I thought it was kinda rude for them to announce that) Turns out she was beating the entire Sport Womens field by many minutes but didn't want to move up to expert because she is older.
So she finally moves up to expert - and isn't winning anymore - she's finishing mid to the bottom of the pack. Pooor lady - so she downgrades to Sport this year - goes off course during this race losing several minutes and STILL poduims. Man! For some reason it REALLY bugs me that this woman (who you'd think since she's so active in the mtn bike community would set an example of good sportmanship) But I guess her winning is more important. hmmm..maybe me and Pam should move to beginner so we can podium and win prizes??
/rant off
Comments
But you rock! Good job! Overcame a wreck, left some blood on the course and still kicked some butt. :)