"don't blow SSer, don't blow!!!" - teva mtn race report
GEEKINESS ABOUND...
the only info on the teva website was it would be a 6.5 mile "Colorado" course that went up and down the ski resort and Sport riders would do 2 laps. I figured that meant a lot of climbing so i decided to setup the SS w/32x20 gearing. I was hoping if the grade was avg 8% I would be good to go.
Now i'm a total data geek - and for a data geek going into a race where I had no idea of the course was a bit scary to me. (i know now tho! ;) )
XC Course Stats per my garmin data - post race:
6.5 mile course x2 laps for the sport class
1556 ft elevation gain per lap
min. elevation point - 8248
max. elevation point - 9137
avg speed - 6.1
max speed - 32
avg ascent grade - 9.6%
max ascent grade - 17%
elevation grap
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Racing in the hail/rain
The staging of the racers wasn't what i was used to. No age categories and only 1 minute between waves. There looked to be over 200 people at the start. I was guessing by looking around ~20 Sport Women. As the only SSer in the crowd - a few women commented on my bike - wondering if i had my own category - i'm like "nope - i'm racing with all the Sport women."
Of course - a few mintues before the start it starts hailing and raining. hmmm...that should make the course *interesting*, eh?
They start the groups off in waves - we start 1 minute behind the Sport Men's field. The race starts with a half mile climb - I started 3rd row back so i'm mid-pack at the start of the climb.
As we are climbing i'm thinking to myself "wow - this is the perfect gearing for this climb " I was working at race pace but not in the redline zone. I'm slowly start making my way to the front of the pack. I can hear my friend Cat say "good job Cynthia!" and I make my way past the girl in front i hear her say "damn - you on a single". Within a few minutes we start catching the back of the Sport Men's pack.
i take the lead on the climb and until the top of the climb. Me and another girl trade places - when it flattens out a bit she pulls ahead when the grade kicks up a little steeper i have to power up it and i pull ahead.
Ok ...now leading out on a climb is unusal for me - typically i'm a total mid-packer climber . My racing strength lies in my technical skills - but in CO the races are on won on the climbs.
So i was a bit surprised on my position. One thing i noticed was the effort of the other girls. It's loud up front with everyone (including me) breathing hard...hmmm....it makes me think that maybe when i'm mid-pack i'm not working hard enough? something to ponder...
'don't blow SSer'
At the top of the climb - i hear a guy say "don't blow SSer! don't blow". I think to myself - 'good advice - thanks dude' I see my friend Mel at the top and she cheers for me. I hear a few more people call my name and exclaim on my SS.
We hit a fast big ring descent and i see the girl i'm riding with click it in the big ring and start pedaling down. I tuck into an aero position and don't touch the brakes but 4 other girls blast past me. Somewhere in there i hit a whooping 32mph.
Another hill - i'm able to gain back 2 places but on the next descent 2 others pass me -so i'm now in 6th place. the girl in front of me passes 2 guys before the singletrack. darn! She's weak on the singletrack and there is a train behind her, 2 guys, me and 2 girls behind me. It opens up but it's steep.
grueling, steep, muddy climbing
At 1.9 miles the ascent grade hits 15%.(i didn't know this at the time - all i knew it was really hard to keep the pedals turning over) I'm able to turn over the pedals but barely - 2 girls get by me. Then we hit more singletrack - a descent. It's tight, twisty, switchbacky, muddy, rooty, slippery singletrack. The 3 girls in front of me can't ride it. As 2 of the girls are walking the switchbacks i'm able to stay on the bike and ride through them - i then ask the 3rd girl if i can get by as she's walking. She let's me by and i take off.
The next mile is good grade - not too steep and i keep on pedaling. Then the course opens up a ski run and switchbacks up - it's super steep and muddy. The next 1.5 (according to my garmin data) ranges from 8% - 14% grade.
The mud is grueling - it makes turning over the pedals that much harder. I use the tactic of only looking 3 feet ahead of me and keeping the pedals turning. I probably have a cadence of 30 and keep thinking to myself "pushing your bike in the mud is harder then riding - keep pedaling". The I use the tactic of counting pedal strokes. I say to myself "after 20 pedal strokes you can rest". Then I pedal 20 strokes and decide i can do 20 more.
As i'm slowly climbing 2 girls pass me. There is nothing more i can do but stay on the bike and keep pedaling. There's another descent before the final half a mile climb and this time i can't stay on the bike. 1st of all the trail is crowded and everyone is walking. It's steep, slippery singletrack and there is no way i can ride this stuff. I hoof it up the that last climb and then start the descent.
It's partly technical singletrack and road. I like the techy nature of the singletrack and ride a drop where a woman has parked her bike at the bottom of it - i hit her bike and fall over. darn! She doesn't let me by so i ride behind her - she drops me on a road descent and then more singletrack where i catch up to a guy that gets off his bike at the next drop. I'm regulated to walking that part.
the end of the race for me
I finally make it to the bottom of the loop and start the climb again. At the 1.9 mile mark my legs are running out of muscle juice. where i was riding before (barely) I'm walking. the steepness of the grade and the mud has sapped my legs. 3 or 4 more girls pass me but i can't stay on my bike - i'm walking. I grind through the feed zone after the 1.9 mile mark (w/the 15% grade) and start up the muddy ski run switchback climb after i get to the next small descent I know there's 2 miles of hike-a-bike waiting for me. I see a road off to the side back down to the start/finish. i duck through the tape - I DNF.
here's a pic of my muddy legs and bike.
Aftermath
Even tho i DNFd - i'm pretty happy with my effort. Everyone i talked to said that was a super hard climbing course. I probably should've run the 22t cog - but i think that course warrants a 20t cog and the fact the muddy conditions got thrown in there sapped my legs sooner then if it had been dry. Such is the dilemia of a SSer - what gearing to run. And obivously i'm not strong enough to deal with such a monkey wrench.
Also, i'm happy with my technical skills. Prior to the race a strong racer that i know said he would walk the techy bits and to me there was nothing on the course that warranted walking - even on the rigid. So i'm stoked with my techy skills.
In addition -Teva mtn games has cool swag. Check out this hat i got from the Trek
Trailer.
Aftermath part duex
I guess the big draw of the afteroon was the fact that Floyd Landis would be racing the Pro XC race. I stuck around to watch at they would be doing 3 laps and the specators would get to see the races come through the start/finish on each lap.
All the top local pros were there - Ned Overland, Travis Brown, Jay Henry, Nick Martin, Mike West to name a few. I was wondering how Floyd would do as he was once a mtn bike racer.
So the first of the pro guys start rolling through 32minutes after the start - I was looking for Floyd and got this pic of him. He is in the orange jersey. The crowd gave him a big cheer as he went by - i figured he was in about 20th place after the first lap.
Now the pro women started a couple of minutes after the pro men. My favorite pro woman race, Shonny Vanlandingham was racing. Man - i have the biggest 'girl crush' on her ever since i met her at the 2005 FFTF and she, Marla, and Katrina did a clinic. She's super nice, approachable and rides a bike like a mofo. plus she's effin hot as hell.
Here's a head shot of her i found on the web.
Anyways as the pro men are coming through on their 2 lap here comes Shonny passing Floyd Landis. wtf??? I tried to get a pic of her but all i got was her hand. As Floyd comes trailing behind her - a specator hollers "Floyd - go get that girl that just passed you!!!" Needless to say - Shonny won the women's pro race and yes - i still have a 'girl crush' on her. ;)
oh and here's an article from the Summit Daily about Floyd racing.
the only info on the teva website was it would be a 6.5 mile "Colorado" course that went up and down the ski resort and Sport riders would do 2 laps. I figured that meant a lot of climbing so i decided to setup the SS w/32x20 gearing. I was hoping if the grade was avg 8% I would be good to go.
Now i'm a total data geek - and for a data geek going into a race where I had no idea of the course was a bit scary to me. (i know now tho! ;) )
XC Course Stats per my garmin data - post race:
6.5 mile course x2 laps for the sport class
1556 ft elevation gain per lap
min. elevation point - 8248
max. elevation point - 9137
avg speed - 6.1
max speed - 32
avg ascent grade - 9.6%
max ascent grade - 17%
elevation grap
hRacing in the hail/rain
The staging of the racers wasn't what i was used to. No age categories and only 1 minute between waves. There looked to be over 200 people at the start. I was guessing by looking around ~20 Sport Women. As the only SSer in the crowd - a few women commented on my bike - wondering if i had my own category - i'm like "nope - i'm racing with all the Sport women."
Of course - a few mintues before the start it starts hailing and raining. hmmm...that should make the course *interesting*, eh?
They start the groups off in waves - we start 1 minute behind the Sport Men's field. The race starts with a half mile climb - I started 3rd row back so i'm mid-pack at the start of the climb.
As we are climbing i'm thinking to myself "wow - this is the perfect gearing for this climb " I was working at race pace but not in the redline zone. I'm slowly start making my way to the front of the pack. I can hear my friend Cat say "good job Cynthia!" and I make my way past the girl in front i hear her say "damn - you on a single". Within a few minutes we start catching the back of the Sport Men's pack.
i take the lead on the climb and until the top of the climb. Me and another girl trade places - when it flattens out a bit she pulls ahead when the grade kicks up a little steeper i have to power up it and i pull ahead.
Ok ...now leading out on a climb is unusal for me - typically i'm a total mid-packer climber . My racing strength lies in my technical skills - but in CO the races are on won on the climbs.
So i was a bit surprised on my position. One thing i noticed was the effort of the other girls. It's loud up front with everyone (including me) breathing hard...hmmm....it makes me think that maybe when i'm mid-pack i'm not working hard enough? something to ponder...
'don't blow SSer'
At the top of the climb - i hear a guy say "don't blow SSer! don't blow". I think to myself - 'good advice - thanks dude' I see my friend Mel at the top and she cheers for me. I hear a few more people call my name and exclaim on my SS.
We hit a fast big ring descent and i see the girl i'm riding with click it in the big ring and start pedaling down. I tuck into an aero position and don't touch the brakes but 4 other girls blast past me. Somewhere in there i hit a whooping 32mph.
Another hill - i'm able to gain back 2 places but on the next descent 2 others pass me -so i'm now in 6th place. the girl in front of me passes 2 guys before the singletrack. darn! She's weak on the singletrack and there is a train behind her, 2 guys, me and 2 girls behind me. It opens up but it's steep.
grueling, steep, muddy climbing
At 1.9 miles the ascent grade hits 15%.(i didn't know this at the time - all i knew it was really hard to keep the pedals turning over) I'm able to turn over the pedals but barely - 2 girls get by me. Then we hit more singletrack - a descent. It's tight, twisty, switchbacky, muddy, rooty, slippery singletrack. The 3 girls in front of me can't ride it. As 2 of the girls are walking the switchbacks i'm able to stay on the bike and ride through them - i then ask the 3rd girl if i can get by as she's walking. She let's me by and i take off.
The next mile is good grade - not too steep and i keep on pedaling. Then the course opens up a ski run and switchbacks up - it's super steep and muddy. The next 1.5 (according to my garmin data) ranges from 8% - 14% grade.
The mud is grueling - it makes turning over the pedals that much harder. I use the tactic of only looking 3 feet ahead of me and keeping the pedals turning. I probably have a cadence of 30 and keep thinking to myself "pushing your bike in the mud is harder then riding - keep pedaling". The I use the tactic of counting pedal strokes. I say to myself "after 20 pedal strokes you can rest". Then I pedal 20 strokes and decide i can do 20 more.
As i'm slowly climbing 2 girls pass me. There is nothing more i can do but stay on the bike and keep pedaling. There's another descent before the final half a mile climb and this time i can't stay on the bike. 1st of all the trail is crowded and everyone is walking. It's steep, slippery singletrack and there is no way i can ride this stuff. I hoof it up the that last climb and then start the descent.
It's partly technical singletrack and road. I like the techy nature of the singletrack and ride a drop where a woman has parked her bike at the bottom of it - i hit her bike and fall over. darn! She doesn't let me by so i ride behind her - she drops me on a road descent and then more singletrack where i catch up to a guy that gets off his bike at the next drop. I'm regulated to walking that part.
the end of the race for me
I finally make it to the bottom of the loop and start the climb again. At the 1.9 mile mark my legs are running out of muscle juice. where i was riding before (barely) I'm walking. the steepness of the grade and the mud has sapped my legs. 3 or 4 more girls pass me but i can't stay on my bike - i'm walking. I grind through the feed zone after the 1.9 mile mark (w/the 15% grade) and start up the muddy ski run switchback climb after i get to the next small descent I know there's 2 miles of hike-a-bike waiting for me. I see a road off to the side back down to the start/finish. i duck through the tape - I DNF.
here's a pic of my muddy legs and bike.
Aftermath
Even tho i DNFd - i'm pretty happy with my effort. Everyone i talked to said that was a super hard climbing course. I probably should've run the 22t cog - but i think that course warrants a 20t cog and the fact the muddy conditions got thrown in there sapped my legs sooner then if it had been dry. Such is the dilemia of a SSer - what gearing to run. And obivously i'm not strong enough to deal with such a monkey wrench.
Also, i'm happy with my technical skills. Prior to the race a strong racer that i know said he would walk the techy bits and to me there was nothing on the course that warranted walking - even on the rigid. So i'm stoked with my techy skills.
In addition -Teva mtn games has cool swag. Check out this hat i got from the Trek
Trailer.Aftermath part duex
I guess the big draw of the afteroon was the fact that Floyd Landis would be racing the Pro XC race. I stuck around to watch at they would be doing 3 laps and the specators would get to see the races come through the start/finish on each lap.
All the top local pros were there - Ned Overland, Travis Brown, Jay Henry, Nick Martin, Mike West to name a few. I was wondering how Floyd would do as he was once a mtn bike racer.
So the first of the pro guys start rolling through 32minutes after the start - I was looking for Floyd and got this pic of him. He is in the orange jersey. The crowd gave him a big cheer as he went by - i figured he was in about 20th place after the first lap.
Now the pro women started a couple of minutes after the pro men. My favorite pro woman race, Shonny Vanlandingham was racing. Man - i have the biggest 'girl crush' on her ever since i met her at the 2005 FFTF and she, Marla, and Katrina did a clinic. She's super nice, approachable and rides a bike like a mofo. plus she's effin hot as hell.
Here's a head shot of her i found on the web.
Anyways as the pro men are coming through on their 2 lap here comes Shonny passing Floyd Landis. wtf??? I tried to get a pic of her but all i got was her hand. As Floyd comes trailing behind her - a specator hollers "Floyd - go get that girl that just passed you!!!" Needless to say - Shonny won the women's pro race and yes - i still have a 'girl crush' on her. ;)
oh and here's an article from the Summit Daily about Floyd racing.
Comments
Great job even though you have DNF. :) You inspire me to be a better girl mountain biker, well heck all you great riders do :)
April :)