Everything sneaks up on me so fast and all of a sudden March is gone and I need to make updates!
First of all this season brings some slight changes. I will again be riding for Folsom Bike but I am on their Elite Mountain Bike team! I am excited to be able to step up to this team for the season as a female on the team. Erin Gorrel has been so great in helping me out. Along with this comes a new bike partner. I will be riding as a Liv/Giant ambassador this season as well!
This season has come up so quickly. I start of with some great MTB races with TBF racing right here at Granite Bay. I have enjoyed these and they are a great way to get warmed up for Mountain bike racing and build into my season. This year has been especially fun since we have had some more ladies coming down from Truckee adding a bit of depth to the field. I actually had someone else to race in the women's pro category! It has been a lot of fun. I also threw an off-road duathlon in there to test out my off-season run focus. With those finishing up I moved right into my main racing season and my first two mountain bike races I had mechanical issues!
Cool Mtb Race
Excited to get in a good race and toe the line with Teal Stetson-Lee. Started out well keeping in sight and then flat. Only about 10 min of racing I think I had a torn sidewall so there really wasn't a way I could get that one through the race.
Big Sandy
I was excited when I heard about this race it looked like a lot of fun and I thought it would be a good addition to my race schedule! This used to be a classic point-to-point race but this year they decided to make the already long course even longer and add an extra 15 miles! This made the course a lollipop of 38 miles with over 6000 ft of elevation.
We made a weekend of it and headed down on Fri. stay in a cabin near the race venue with friends, Sian and Dennis and Julie Young. It was a fun time in the little cabin with 5 adults a 5-year-old and 4 dogs (3 of them huskies)! The problem was I got a little too moto on my crossfit style strength workout earlier in the week and was so sore I could hardly sit on Fri. So Sat while Drew got in a ride the girls and the dogs went and found the icy lake so that I could ice my legs! Just hoping they would not feel so bad in the race.
Sunday there was a record number of Pro/Expert women for the race (at 6!) which meant equal prize money! I started out strong and took the lead very quickly on the initial climb.
Knowing it was going to be a long ride, I tried to set a conservative but strong pace. I found that I was quickly gaining a little ground on the rest of the field. I knew that there were a couple Primes for prize money out there one of them being the first 15 mile. As I got closer I put in just a little extra to maintain my lead for that. I was hoping though, that with my sore legs, I didn't burn too much too soon. Well, a couple miles after the 15-mile feed zone we started up the major climb of the course. Julie had caught me here and we were going together when I tried to get back in my pedal only to find I lost a bolt from my cleat and it was loose. I had to stop and tighten down before I lost the whole thing! During this I moved to 3rd. I rode the loop trying to make up ground. I came through the feed zone to head back the last 15 and I could see the 2nd female just ahead. I moved to catch her and reeled her fairly quickly. I was just about to make the move and get past when we had to dismount a short section and when I tried to get back on my cleat had twisted again! I made another quick fix but she got away, I think with fire under her knowing I was right there! At this point I knew I just needed to ride without coming out! Ha! I did make quite a ways but alas, I had to come out eventually and this time I couldn't get back into my pedals. Cleat was twisted and I had tightened it so much to get it to hold that I couldn't loosen it to straighten. Also, I was just ready to be done. So, away I went for the final long climb unclipped. Made that a lot tougher than it should have been. I rode the last 3 miles with only my right foot clipped. I did make it though and maintained the final spot on the podium.
Not quite what I was hoping for but I did have fun out there nonetheless! The race was a ton of fun, I love these grassroots races! Laid back and great people!
First of all this season brings some slight changes. I will again be riding for Folsom Bike but I am on their Elite Mountain Bike team! I am excited to be able to step up to this team for the season as a female on the team. Erin Gorrel has been so great in helping me out. Along with this comes a new bike partner. I will be riding as a Liv/Giant ambassador this season as well!
This season has come up so quickly. I start of with some great MTB races with TBF racing right here at Granite Bay. I have enjoyed these and they are a great way to get warmed up for Mountain bike racing and build into my season. This year has been especially fun since we have had some more ladies coming down from Truckee adding a bit of depth to the field. I actually had someone else to race in the women's pro category! It has been a lot of fun. I also threw an off-road duathlon in there to test out my off-season run focus. With those finishing up I moved right into my main racing season and my first two mountain bike races I had mechanical issues!
Cool Mtb Race
Excited to get in a good race and toe the line with Teal Stetson-Lee. Started out well keeping in sight and then flat. Only about 10 min of racing I think I had a torn sidewall so there really wasn't a way I could get that one through the race.
Big Sandy
I was excited when I heard about this race it looked like a lot of fun and I thought it would be a good addition to my race schedule! This used to be a classic point-to-point race but this year they decided to make the already long course even longer and add an extra 15 miles! This made the course a lollipop of 38 miles with over 6000 ft of elevation.
We made a weekend of it and headed down on Fri. stay in a cabin near the race venue with friends, Sian and Dennis and Julie Young. It was a fun time in the little cabin with 5 adults a 5-year-old and 4 dogs (3 of them huskies)! The problem was I got a little too moto on my crossfit style strength workout earlier in the week and was so sore I could hardly sit on Fri. So Sat while Drew got in a ride the girls and the dogs went and found the icy lake so that I could ice my legs! Just hoping they would not feel so bad in the race.
Sunday there was a record number of Pro/Expert women for the race (at 6!) which meant equal prize money! I started out strong and took the lead very quickly on the initial climb.
Knowing it was going to be a long ride, I tried to set a conservative but strong pace. I found that I was quickly gaining a little ground on the rest of the field. I knew that there were a couple Primes for prize money out there one of them being the first 15 mile. As I got closer I put in just a little extra to maintain my lead for that. I was hoping though, that with my sore legs, I didn't burn too much too soon. Well, a couple miles after the 15-mile feed zone we started up the major climb of the course. Julie had caught me here and we were going together when I tried to get back in my pedal only to find I lost a bolt from my cleat and it was loose. I had to stop and tighten down before I lost the whole thing! During this I moved to 3rd. I rode the loop trying to make up ground. I came through the feed zone to head back the last 15 and I could see the 2nd female just ahead. I moved to catch her and reeled her fairly quickly. I was just about to make the move and get past when we had to dismount a short section and when I tried to get back on my cleat had twisted again! I made another quick fix but she got away, I think with fire under her knowing I was right there! At this point I knew I just needed to ride without coming out! Ha! I did make quite a ways but alas, I had to come out eventually and this time I couldn't get back into my pedals. Cleat was twisted and I had tightened it so much to get it to hold that I couldn't loosen it to straighten. Also, I was just ready to be done. So, away I went for the final long climb unclipped. Made that a lot tougher than it should have been. I rode the last 3 miles with only my right foot clipped. I did make it though and maintained the final spot on the podium.
Not quite what I was hoping for but I did have fun out there nonetheless! The race was a ton of fun, I love these grassroots races! Laid back and great people!
Next is first Xterra of the season but I think that gets its own post! Stay tuned!
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