Sunday, March 11, 2012

No Longer Last

Joining the Club





These five pictures are of my inspirational cheering committee.  After my last race, nobody could have predicted that I would start listening to the guys, right?  Well, I even let the hubby give me riding tips.  All I cared about was getting better so I didn't finish last again.
PreRace Workouts:  I rode five days a week and took every hill I could find.  If I had to get off and walk a hill, we looped back around and rode it again.  The whole time, these guys were telling me how to shift my gears, how to spin, how to stay in the highest gear possible so I had oomph at the end when I really needed to drop to that granny of all granny gears.  Finally, I was making it up those hills without getting off my bike and walking.  I owe these guys big time - perhaps an end of CCCX race season BBQ will be in the works.  All I know is I appreciate all their encouragement.  They also taught me about the Course PreRide.  The night before the race, the tape is up and you can ride the course to get a feel for where the hills are and where the good recovery locations are.  These guys talked me through the whole preride and gave me advice on where I should push hard and where to conserve energy for an upcoming hill.


Not to be left out is one of my gal pals, Anna.  I knew her son would be racing this day, so I roped her into racing with me.  Even though she's an amazingly strong rider, it just felt nice to have another female out there on the race course that I knew.  Not only that, but she taught me about how to warm up for a race without wearing myself out. 

Taking off at the start
The start was great.  Anna and I were not in the back and neither of us stayed there.  The first hill up, I passed several females and was off to an amazing start.  As I worked my way around the first loop, I actually saw people this race.  I wasn't on the trail alone.
 Lap .5 - Finally learning to go fast.
Lap 1/2:  The couse was again modified and we looped half the course before coming through the counting corral so it was a different kind of race where us beginners were doing 3.5 laps instead of 3.
Lap 1.5
Lap 1.5:  I never felt so good.  Goal for the day was to NOT walk up any hills on the first lap.  Goal was accomplished.  I rocked it - only a little foot tap on a particularly tough uphill turn.  As I came through the counting corral, I couldn't have been happier.  I was in second place and going strong.  My husband said he knew it was a good race when he saw the great big grin on my face.  It is such great motivation when you know you aren't dead last.  I was in the groove.


Lap 2.5:  The course was amazing.  Lots of ups but also lots of fast, long downs.  I even got the knack of getting passed without having to get off my bike.  Here is a picture of the kid that passed me first.  I'm tooling along down this hill and I hear someone behind me.  At the bottom of the hill is a hairpin right through lots of sand.  As I skid through, this guys starts calmly and cheerfully chatting with me.  He has yet to ask to get by me, so I finally ask who is back there. . .turns out he is Anna's son and he's the front runner for the beginner racers.  We finally hit a clearing and he passes me up telling me that next time I ride this particular spot, take the left as its a better line.  Advice from a 9th grader?  YES, he's a heck of a lot faster than me!  NOTED, Hudson!



All females in my category were stopped at the 2.5 lap mark so I didn't feel singled out.  Better yet, I had a photo finish.  No pics, though, as the hubby was prepping for his race which starts right after mine.  As I'm in the last few hundred meters of the race, I hear the dreaded "on your left".  I edge my bike to the right on the track and who should go by me but +3 girl.  DARN IT!  She's in my age category and I was in second place until this pass.  Kicking my bike up a gear, I stand up and practically jump that last bump trying to get past her.  I just couldn't pull it off.  We finished .07 seconds apart.  Lesson learned:  Don't get complacent when you are near the end, someone might sneak up on you.
3rd Place Finish
Another new rule:  Since there are so few female racers, only top three get a medal from now on.  Guess what!  I was top three!!!  I learned +3 girl was named Julie as I shook her hand after we got off the podium.  I look forward to seeing her again as I now have a new goal - beat Julie!


OH!  And I now have a serious case of MTB Race FEVER!   8-)