9.10.2007

meltdown

i don't think there could have been a more perfect day to race than yesterday.
low 70s and the sun out in full force. in the trees it was nice and cool. out in the sun it was warm, but felt good.
i wanted to get to the race pretty early. i wanted to hang out for awhile before having to get ready to race. owning an xbox 360 and having 3 kids doesn't really allow this.




my start was typical of any other start. i try not to blow myself up as it takes me a real long time to recover. instead of having us go straight up the grass hill we rode across the bottom of it, straight up around a bush-tree thing, back down and back up on the singletrack in the middle of the hill. ugghhh. brutal. i was stil breathing hard as we rode around the parking lot ready to drop into gravity cavity.
i don't think i've ever ridden gravity cavity as fast as i did on that first lap... ever.
i could see mitch just up ahead as i came off of one day trail. he was climbing up ho chi minh. i didn't see him again until turf 1. as i was coming down the second ravine i saw the yellow things which i thought were leaves. they hit me pretty hard. for a second i was like wow the wind is blowing really hard here for those leaves to be hitting me that hard... but then i realized after i heard everyone yelling that they were bees (really they were wasps). climbing out the second ravine was just as brutal as i remembered it... but even more so in a race. there's just something about racing that makes things hurt just a bit more.
up to psychopath, down psychopath to turf 1. we were flying. there was a bit of a back up in turf. this is where i caught on to mitch. the majority of turf is really difficult to pass on especially with a train of people.
the train broke up at the exit of turf onto the kinda paved road. where mitch disappeared. climb climb climb. down to stairsteps... wait a minute no stairsteps- reroute. up to the gravel and down to badass hill. this is some of the most technical multi-use path i've ever ridden really. back up to green grassy and headed out for another lap. nothing that eventful really. it was just fun. ran into the wasps again, but luckily never stung. traded places with some guys a few times. it was nice racing with people. it's very rare that i'm not by myself. the grass hill was a bitch. i was totally up for another lap though! next year provided my mom is up for taking the kids again.



i even had a fan club after the race. i'm guessing these guys have never ridden with a girl who mountain bikes? i had to break their hearts and tell them i was married with kids. fran asked if they wanted my autograph. it was kind of embarrassing for me really.



watching the expert race was very exciting actually. there were a couple places to go see them without getting on the race course. seeing ben come through with jeremey on his wheel in the first lap was pretty exciting. i think i knew everyone in the top 10! it was cool being able to yell everyone's name as they sped by.
ben was leading at the start of lap 2. kevin was leading at the start of lap 3. and then jeremey finished it off to come in for the win. mike, chris, frank, john, mark, jerry and adam came in shortly after. most excellent racing.
total bummer that half the women's expert field was taken out by the wasps. kaitlynn had them stuck in her jersey and helmet. poor holly was stung on the lip and forehead. upon running into her i didn't have to ask what happened. her lip was enormous. and then lori with her flat and bent rim (she really needs to learn how to ride smoother).

CAMBr put on an excellent event. even more amazing was it was their first time putting on a race. the weather put it over the top. props to CAMBr, all the volunteers and sponsors who made the race what it was- AWESOME! everyone is already talking about next year.

***pics stolen from mg, ben and the cambr page

16 comments:

velogrrl said...

Congrats on your win!
Sounds like it was a great day. (minus the wasps) Wish I could have been in two places at once.

Mountaingoat said...

(she really needs to learn how to ride smoother)

Ha! Good line.

Unknown said...

i figured you'd dig.

Anonymous said...

Punks!

Anonymous said...

The race was great. It was nice to finally meet you. Next time we'll have to get the kids together too.

Chris said...

Yup. You left me out of the list of finishers!

Unknown said...

that's funny chris... i actually went back to edit it to put you in there after i wrote this. i must not have saved? sorry. awesome finish!

Sara said...

how did you escape no stings a second time!??!!! nice stand up shots by the way :)

Anonymous said...

That was an awesome race. I was sorry half my competition got knocked out because I actually had a really good race and would have liked to see how far behind I would have been from Lori and Holly.

What did Lori bend her rim on anyway?

MTB Girl said...

Nice job! Sounds like it was a good time. The "grass ski hill" actually wasn't as bad this year.

Dano said...

Nice!

Regina said...

Awesome finish!

Anonymous said...

Again, great job! It was awesome hearing you cheer for us out on the course! Such a perfect afternoon

Anonymous said...

Even though I got stung it was fun hanging out with you an Lori. Great job on the race, next year you better be racing expert!

Mountaingoat said...

"The "grass ski hill" actually wasn't as bad this year."

That's a lie, when are grass ski hills ever good?

joeyTWOwheels said...

Winna winna, chicken dinna!

Congrats.