8.05.2007

franklin


ha ha. what a mudfest! what a blast! popped it in the big ring not realizing the mud that was ahead after cresting the climb. forgot i was in that big ring and pushed through. passed like 5 gals. slip, slick, slide... down. bar end, grip and shifter sunk in the mud with my hand.
got up and was sliding off the handlebar. now i realize i'm on the big ring and can't shift down. hmmm.... my teeth... i'll figure it out. just keep going. finally made it to the gravel. i can see brittany just ahead. okay i'm not doing bad. now use your other hand to try and shift down. nope, too slick. glove off. that worked. phew. the singletrack was awesome. slick to make it interesting which is what i like. pass people get out to that moon climb thing and everyone passes me. it would have been nice if i warmed up. but to have time to warm up i need to leave my house in time to get there before 11:18. thanks to everyone that helped me get on the bike to make the start. my warm-up consisted of big ringing it to the bathroom and then downhilling to the start. i don't remember any details really after that moon climb. just passing people, trading places with people. the second lap was worse than the first and third. the mud just before the singletrack was obnoxious, but i'll remember this race for a long time because of it. i still need to work on the food thing... perhaps taping the gels to my stem or wrapping them on my bottle. i have a hard time reaching in my jersey as it's kind of short. on that third lap i really needed a gel. this guy's kid, meghan, and i traded places a couple times at the end, but she killed me on the final climb to the finish line with her smooth pedaling skills. i wish i had that much energy at the end... i saw amy walking and i think i was riding as slow as she was walking as she didn't seem to be getting any closer. the elites and comps i know were yelling at me to get her... i stood up to give it an extra go and sat right back down again. didn't matter. i was happy with my finish. 2nd age and 5th overall chick.
this was probably the first race in a long time i didn't have thoughts of quitting. which to me says i wasn't going hard enough...
thank to john and jeremey (he has pics from the race) for giving me water. how rad is it to have people give you water? i won't get used to it as i think next race i'll have to carry it in my pocket or something.
congrats to everyone today... john for taking 2nd age on his singlespeed, jesse for taking the overall, marko for following in for second and ronsta coming in 4th after his grueling win last weekend. it made for a fun watch of the elite race. congrats to dave and jerry for making mars the majority on the comp ss podium. congrats to the juniors nate and mitch for killing it as well.
as i was walking around the event today i thought about how it's cool having a blog. i've met so many people i wouldn't have otherwise. you know people's names to cheer them on and they know you.

*photos courtesty of mg and rusty

14 comments:

velogrrl said...

nice job in the race.

Anonymous said...

Nice finish! You were strong out there!

Anonymous said...

way to go Rachel! it was awesome seeing you out there yesterday. thanks for the encouragement.

MTB Girl said...

Awesome, AWESOME race. Remmber on the start line you were looking around going "she's going to beat me, she's going to beat me". . . .whatever! You freakin' rocked. Wish I could have kept up with you. I had so summon ALL my mental strength just to stay in the game. Yes, I walked the craters climb every freain' lap. I'm such a loser. :-)

Mountaingoat said...

That was fun to watch you girls roll through the field.

Anonymous said...

Nice job Rachael! I beleive this means you have now earned the coveted Greek Goddess title.

Anonymous said...

Oh! BTW, I've got the perfect place for the gus...stuffed between your boobs! It works great. Easy access to.

Tom K said...

nice job, i didn't want to play in the mud.

Mountaingoat said...

What's Lori talking about? Who's Gus and why is he between your boobs? Does John know about this?

Unknown said...

mg- i was thinking the same thing! i need to meet this gus first.

The Baron said...

first, you need boobs if you're going to "stuff" things in them. And big boobs are gross!

Anonymous said...

the only rack you guys should be worring about is the one on your roof or the one hanging off the back of your vehicle. leave spicyrides rack to me.
im just sayin

ps. what is gus' last name? i would like to meet him

Anonymous said...

Hey Rachael
That was fun, And thanks for helping me up after my crash. I have ice on my knee now.

P.S Your daughters look soo cute on your blog header.

Christine said...

Nice job out there on Sunday! All you guys up front ROCKED! Try getting one of those "GEL" containers that sits on the frame of your bike for easy access. It works great and you can fit about 4 gels in it. I have one and it is a savior.