I'm always surprised....race report
I'm always surprised when I don't suck racing my mtn bike.
Part of my surprise stems from my past. Back in the 60s/early 70s (elementary/mid-high school)- I was always the littlest and scrawniest kid in the class. Well...I'm still the littlest person nowadays too...
In PE when the captain of the teams had to pick people to be on their teams - I was *always* the last kid picked.(it was traumatizing) And often the team captain's would argue about who was stuck with me. When we played kickball - the whole outfield would come to the infield and chant "easy out! easy out". And darn it! I was always an "easy out". No matter how hard I tried I was always the worst person on the team.
So...in regards to mtn biking(don't get me wrong - I'm confident in my technical abilities) my big weakness is my cardio fitness. And in the past few years I've been racing(no matter how hard I try) I usually get dropped on the climbs or where it's pure cardio effort.
SS racing in Winter Park
The Winter Park race series has a Women's SingleSpeed class (yay!). For the 15mile ~2200feet elevation gain race - I chose 32x20 gearing.
The Women's SS class starts with the Expert racer girls. Even tho my technical skills are on par with the Expert girls - my climbing ability is solidly in the Sport class. So I felt like a fraud as I strapped on an orange Expert number plate. I felt like saying "I'm a sport girl racing SS - i'm not an expert." I felt that way when I bought my first pool cue and would walk into pool halls. Eventually I began feeling comfortable with walking in with my own pool cue - but at the beginning I felt like a poser.
As I lined up at the start with 25 other girls - I see 2 other SSers. Chelsea (a phenomenal descender) and Jo (a great climber) we do the usual race start chit-chat.
Race Start/Lap 1
The race starts with a steep bitchy climb and the turns right onto a flat doubletrack. We take off. I start off mid-pack I am riding my race pace up the first climb and to my surprise I start passing several girls. ??? Oh well...I'll take it for what it's worth. Jo and I are neck-and-neck and then I pull ahead - Chelsea is behind us somewhere. At the top of the climb, my friend Tom was hanging out watching - he says "way to go Cynthia! You are riding strong! you are in the top 5" Holy Moly - 5th back on a climb with Expert girls!! No Way! Sweet!
Alas it didn't last long as we turned on the flat double track and I was immediately spun out. I was spinning like a hamster when all the girls clicked up to the big ring and started cranking and passing me like i was standing still. A couple of girls were really nice and one said (as she passed me) "sorry this is so flat" another said "keep spinning SSer!"
However on this section us 3 SSers were pretty much together. Chelsea passed Jo and I as she was running a 32x18. I was on a 32x20 and Jo was running the equivalent gearing on her 29er. Jo passed me on the flat too as those big wheels seem to roll a little faster than my 26" wheels. We all hit the singletrack climb around the same time.
As soon as the trail went up I was able to pass a few of the expert women. The trail flattened out and they passed me back. There were bottle necks on the techy sections where you were forced to get off and walk. Chelsea a really good technical rider was strong enough to get ahead of some girls that were walking the techy bits - Jo and I were trying to catch up. Finally it loosens up a bit and people are actually riding their bikes. Jo bobbles a switchback and I'm able to pass her on the inside of the switchback.
We start catching the back end of the Expert Men's field. These guys had to do 3 laps and were suffering. I guess a few were pretty tired as I was able to pass them on the climbs and while they struggled on.
We finally hit top of the climb and the last part of the course was a ~4mile, fast, fun, long, moderately technical singletrack descent. Oh my! What a blast - this was probably the best XC race descent I had ridden in a long time. Luckily last year my friend Akria and I had come out and did a chairlift day and practiced this exact descent last year. So I knew the descent well - but not well enough to catch Chelsea!
The last 1/2 mile is the most technical and it was here the Sport guys started catching up to me.(sport men started 10 minutes behind us girls)
Lap 2
The 2nd lap starts with ~1/4 a mile flat double track. I'm spun out and several Sport Men pass me on this section.
We turn left on a 1 mile steep climb. Owww...this hurts. I had to get off and walk ~100 yards of it then got back on my bike. As I'm slowly cranking on the last part of the climb - the course marshall says "You are doing well. You are in 2nd place. The last SSer was walking this part. You are 2 minutes back".
Hmm....2 minutes back - that's a lot of time to make up but if i can get ahead of her before the descent - I'll have a chance. The course is now filled with Sport Men. As we ride the single track up - I'm surprised that I can hang with most of them on the technical bits. And equally surprised on how weak some of them are on the techy bits. I ride as hard as I can - passing some guys and getting passed by others.
At one point I catch up to a guy in a Big City Burrito race kit - we are about the same pace - I'm probably a bit faster than him as I feel I'm resting behind him. However - I don't have enough "umph" to pass him. I urge him on. "go burrito boy - go! I'm following your line and your riding well...let's go!" He goes "I've eaten too many burritos to go any faster" I laugh. The trail flattens out and he drops me.
We finally crest the top (I never saw Chelsea) and have a gradual road climb to the last descent.I pass several of the Sport Men at this point. I crank as fast as I can to hit the descending singletrack.
I'm a decent descender but with the rigid fork I'm being more cautious than usual. I start getting passed by several of the Sport Men. They are pretty aggressive. Now I don't mind getting up close and personal on a pass so I'm "fairly" comfortable with the passing. However - at one point I feel someones handlebar brush my right butt check. I'm like "dude - can you get you handlebar off my ass. Pass on the right up here". This has been a common theme when getting passed by the Sport Men - invariably I get poked on the butt by someones handlebar. I'm just glad I feel comfortable on my bike to not get freaked out about it.
I descend as fast as possible for me and finish in 2nd place. Oh well...I'm super stoked with my riding and happy with my effort - esp.considering the other SSers are 15 and 12 years younger than me. I guess I've come a long way from those "kickball days". ;)
My friend Tom fell asleep at the wheel and got this weak podium shot.
Part of my surprise stems from my past. Back in the 60s/early 70s (elementary/mid-high school)- I was always the littlest and scrawniest kid in the class. Well...I'm still the littlest person nowadays too...
In PE when the captain of the teams had to pick people to be on their teams - I was *always* the last kid picked.(it was traumatizing) And often the team captain's would argue about who was stuck with me. When we played kickball - the whole outfield would come to the infield and chant "easy out! easy out". And darn it! I was always an "easy out". No matter how hard I tried I was always the worst person on the team.
So...in regards to mtn biking(don't get me wrong - I'm confident in my technical abilities) my big weakness is my cardio fitness. And in the past few years I've been racing(no matter how hard I try) I usually get dropped on the climbs or where it's pure cardio effort.
SS racing in Winter Park
The Winter Park race series has a Women's SingleSpeed class (yay!). For the 15mile ~2200feet elevation gain race - I chose 32x20 gearing.
The Women's SS class starts with the Expert racer girls. Even tho my technical skills are on par with the Expert girls - my climbing ability is solidly in the Sport class. So I felt like a fraud as I strapped on an orange Expert number plate. I felt like saying "I'm a sport girl racing SS - i'm not an expert." I felt that way when I bought my first pool cue and would walk into pool halls. Eventually I began feeling comfortable with walking in with my own pool cue - but at the beginning I felt like a poser.
As I lined up at the start with 25 other girls - I see 2 other SSers. Chelsea (a phenomenal descender) and Jo (a great climber) we do the usual race start chit-chat.
Race Start/Lap 1
The race starts with a steep bitchy climb and the turns right onto a flat doubletrack. We take off. I start off mid-pack I am riding my race pace up the first climb and to my surprise I start passing several girls. ??? Oh well...I'll take it for what it's worth. Jo and I are neck-and-neck and then I pull ahead - Chelsea is behind us somewhere. At the top of the climb, my friend Tom was hanging out watching - he says "way to go Cynthia! You are riding strong! you are in the top 5" Holy Moly - 5th back on a climb with Expert girls!! No Way! Sweet!
Alas it didn't last long as we turned on the flat double track and I was immediately spun out. I was spinning like a hamster when all the girls clicked up to the big ring and started cranking and passing me like i was standing still. A couple of girls were really nice and one said (as she passed me) "sorry this is so flat" another said "keep spinning SSer!"
However on this section us 3 SSers were pretty much together. Chelsea passed Jo and I as she was running a 32x18. I was on a 32x20 and Jo was running the equivalent gearing on her 29er. Jo passed me on the flat too as those big wheels seem to roll a little faster than my 26" wheels. We all hit the singletrack climb around the same time.
As soon as the trail went up I was able to pass a few of the expert women. The trail flattened out and they passed me back. There were bottle necks on the techy sections where you were forced to get off and walk. Chelsea a really good technical rider was strong enough to get ahead of some girls that were walking the techy bits - Jo and I were trying to catch up. Finally it loosens up a bit and people are actually riding their bikes. Jo bobbles a switchback and I'm able to pass her on the inside of the switchback.
We start catching the back end of the Expert Men's field. These guys had to do 3 laps and were suffering. I guess a few were pretty tired as I was able to pass them on the climbs and while they struggled on.
We finally hit top of the climb and the last part of the course was a ~4mile, fast, fun, long, moderately technical singletrack descent. Oh my! What a blast - this was probably the best XC race descent I had ridden in a long time. Luckily last year my friend Akria and I had come out and did a chairlift day and practiced this exact descent last year. So I knew the descent well - but not well enough to catch Chelsea!
The last 1/2 mile is the most technical and it was here the Sport guys started catching up to me.(sport men started 10 minutes behind us girls)
Lap 2
The 2nd lap starts with ~1/4 a mile flat double track. I'm spun out and several Sport Men pass me on this section.
We turn left on a 1 mile steep climb. Owww...this hurts. I had to get off and walk ~100 yards of it then got back on my bike. As I'm slowly cranking on the last part of the climb - the course marshall says "You are doing well. You are in 2nd place. The last SSer was walking this part. You are 2 minutes back".
Hmm....2 minutes back - that's a lot of time to make up but if i can get ahead of her before the descent - I'll have a chance. The course is now filled with Sport Men. As we ride the single track up - I'm surprised that I can hang with most of them on the technical bits. And equally surprised on how weak some of them are on the techy bits. I ride as hard as I can - passing some guys and getting passed by others.
At one point I catch up to a guy in a Big City Burrito race kit - we are about the same pace - I'm probably a bit faster than him as I feel I'm resting behind him. However - I don't have enough "umph" to pass him. I urge him on. "go burrito boy - go! I'm following your line and your riding well...let's go!" He goes "I've eaten too many burritos to go any faster" I laugh. The trail flattens out and he drops me.
We finally crest the top (I never saw Chelsea) and have a gradual road climb to the last descent.I pass several of the Sport Men at this point. I crank as fast as I can to hit the descending singletrack.
I'm a decent descender but with the rigid fork I'm being more cautious than usual. I start getting passed by several of the Sport Men. They are pretty aggressive. Now I don't mind getting up close and personal on a pass so I'm "fairly" comfortable with the passing. However - at one point I feel someones handlebar brush my right butt check. I'm like "dude - can you get you handlebar off my ass. Pass on the right up here". This has been a common theme when getting passed by the Sport Men - invariably I get poked on the butt by someones handlebar. I'm just glad I feel comfortable on my bike to not get freaked out about it.
I descend as fast as possible for me and finish in 2nd place. Oh well...I'm super stoked with my riding and happy with my effort - esp.considering the other SSers are 15 and 12 years younger than me. I guess I've come a long way from those "kickball days". ;)
My friend Tom fell asleep at the wheel and got this weak podium shot.
Comments
You GO woman! You ffing ROCK. I am SO proud of you, Cynthia! Way to beat the piss out of many, many men ... and to stand on that crazy SS podium.
Personal opinion: i think the SS is the best thing that's ever happened to you ... i mean, your mountain biking!!!!
I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!
Jeny Jo
"I came out here, busted my ass, got 2nd place and all they gave me was this mug and a ribbon!"
:-)
Great job Cyn, congratulations!
Ed
Ed - you CRACK me up!
sorry i held you up on the climb. i'm moving faster these days. I think i've found the perfect Big City Burrito for race fuel.
C U at the Park.
Big City Burrito Guy