The forecast for Saturday morning was dismal with a 70% chance of thunderstorms. Not so much fun for folks planning on a 42-mile bike race that morning. At the same time, I was a little excited as the 'cross racer and mountain biker in me was ready to face the gravel and inclement weather with a smile. It wouldn't be the first time I'd raced in bad weather nor would it probably be the last.
Mike had been planning a ride with some friends up in Frederick, but they cancelled due to the forecast and so I dragged him out to Poolesville to race as well. The skies were gray and it was incredibly humid, but no rain yet when we checked in around 7:30am. I had my rain-jacket in hand, just in case, but for now - it was time to warm up and forget about whatever the weather would decide to do.
They only had a Women's 3/4 field at Poolesville, so in addition to the "challenge" of a gravel section (okay fine - I like riding gravel...dirty mountain biker) I'd be racing against some of the "big" girls who had a season or two of road racing under their belts already. I was excited to see two ladies I know from CX show up - Diedre and Kat. They're both talented CX and road racers, so I knew they'd make our race quite interesting and I could count on them not to freak out on the gravel section and keep things safe.
Our race started at 8:30, I almost had a goober moment when Lauren pointed out I still had my saddle bag on. Whoops. Threw it at Mike, who's Men's 5 race was going off 10-minutes later, and then we were off.
Sometimes women's racing drives me crazy. No one would pull at first, so we pretty much had a 14mph tea party for the first few miles. I was boxed in a few rows back from the front and with the moto-refs riding close, there was no where to go, so I just took advantage of the slow start to warm up some more. About 5 miles in when we hit the gravel, things started to get interesting. Kat and Diedre took off, attacking hard. A gap opened up and I knew at this point if I didn't go, then my race was as good as gone. I moved left and ended up pulling a sizable number of ladies back up to the break.When we turned back on to the pavement, there were about 8 or so of us that had survived Kat and Diedre's attack. Nicely done ladies!
We were able to organize quickly and start a pace-line to further our gap. This was working nicely until the moto-ref pulled us over ... we were getting neutralized. The Men's Cat 5 field was catching up so we had to pull over and let them pass. Slightly embarrassing since they had started 10-minutes before us, but we had "tea partied" our way to the gravel. It was cool to see Mike fly by, plus I took advantage of our little stop to shove down a gel and drink some water. Soon enough we were on our way again and luckily the ref's had noted the gap and held the peloton while we were allowed to go.
Our group survived through about another lap, but three girls made another break just before we finished our second lap. By this point our initial group had shrunk to 6 and while we tried to chase, those girls were gone... What we didn't know, was how far back the rest of the peloton was, so we kept pushing. And despite having a group of 3, by the time we started our 4th and final lap I knew I was fading fast. I kept it together through the gravel, but popped on the final hill and rolled across the line in 6th. Little disappointed that I had popped on the final lap, but considering I was racing with some Cat 3s overall, I was pleased with my finish. It also turned out we had put not just seconds - but probably close to 5 or 6 minutes into the peloton with our break. Not too shabby!
Oh - and the thunderstorms? Total no-show. We had to pull out the sunscreen!
Next it was time to play soigner for the boys in the Men's Cat 3 and 4 races. Mike had finished strong in the Cat 5s, but had to head back home. Luckily for me, I ran into my friend Sara, who was there to watch and we headed out to the feedzone with Diedre who was playing soigner for her husband in the Men's 1/2 race. It was neat to watch and luckily I got the boys bottles as needed. They were all looking pretty solid, and props to Brian for making a big move in his first race back in a while! At the end of the day Pat cruised to an 11th place finish in Cat 3 and Matt rode to a strong 9th place finish in Cat 4. All in all, a great day for Bicycle Outfitters Racing!
Up next?? Knobby-tires are back out as we're off to West Virginia for Odyssey Adventure Racing's Wild & Wonderful!!
09 May 2013
The 8-hour Sprint - Coastal Challenge AR
(Thanks to my good friend Pat ... for about the entire race , I had Taylor Swift's "Twenty-Two" stuck in my head - so... I don't know about you, but I'm feeling 22 ... for this race report at least)
I'm quickly learning that in different sports, the same term can have very different meanings. Typically when I hear "sprint" I think of a short, fast race, or the last 250m of a road race where you put your head down and go. When Mike does a sprint triathlon - it's just over 15 miles of racing he'll finish in a little under 90 minutes ... and now in adventure racing, the term "sprint" has come to mean a race anywhere from 4 to 8 hours. Yes, 8-hours is a 'sprint' race. Now what that translates to, is you're going full-tilt for those 8 hours of trekking (i.e. trail jogging), biking, paddling and of course, navigating. I.e. the whole dang thing just hurts. And here we go....
This past Saturday, I headed up to Cape Henlopen State Park with the Rev3/Mountain Khakis team to take on Delmarva Adventure Sports' inaugural Coastal Challenge 8-Hour Sprint Adventure Race. This go, I'd be racing on a 3-person co-ed team with Dave and Fritz. Initially I thought this would be a good "training" race to work out my kinks from the Epic and gear up for Odyssey's Wild & Wonderful in 2 weeks. And while I did learn some more valuable lessons, this race also more than lived up to its name, proving to be a fun, but very challenging day.
Pre-Race
It was a sunny, but chilly and windy morning and we arrived at the state park with plenty of time to set up our gear, check-in and sit around and wait. Oh, and of course our bib number just happened to be 20, 21 & 22 which did nothing to help the top-40 pop in my head. Dave got the "lucky" number so then the joke turns to "I don't know about you, but Dave's feeling 22..." Anyway....We got maps, but no coordinates, so Dave and Fritz looked them over and tried to figure out at least some potential route options for getting around the area. Our Rev3/MK Masters' team was racing as well so we had a good group to chat with and shake out the pre-race nerves. I was especially stoked that Terri was there - she's the one who got me into adventure racing in the first place and is my AR guru/big sister of sorts. When I start worrying or don't know what to do - she's right there to smile, help me in the right direction and give me a kick of confidence. She's been at all 3 of my adventure races so far, so I'm not quite sure what I'll do when she's not there!
And we're off - Plotting & Trek 1
The race director handed out the coordinates around 9:20am and it was plot and go time. We were starting on foot, and with Dave and Fritz handling the points and navigation, my job was to be ready as soon as they said "go!" We were the first out on the trek, and cut through some beach brush to head off to the first few checkpoints. The park wasn't nearly as flat as I had thought - with sand dunes and little hills in the coastal forest adding to the challenge. Running on sand and through sandy pine-needle-covered soil isn't easy, but at least it's more forgiving than asphalt. I hadn't run much (fine, at all...) since the Epic due to a tweaked muscle in my right shin that was out of whack because my calf muscles are way too tight from cycling (yeah, go figure) Thankfully it hadn't started flaring up again and I could keep pace. We got a little turned around trying to find the first CP, but quickly found it and were off to get the next ones. All the teams were pretty closer right now, as we saw Odyssey and GOALS at the first CPs and decided we needed to kick it up a notch. We took sand-swept trail from the last CP to the transition to paddle, and were the first into transition. Dave grabbed a sit-on-top single kayak and Fritz and I got one of the sit-in doubles. Hindsight, while the sit-in was theoretically faster, we'd soon find out the self-draining sit-on-top may have been better...
Paddling...with optional swim...
Minimum 15mph winds across the Delaware Bay had our paddle start off smooth and fast. Paddling is my weakest part, but since I was in the double with Fritz, at least I didn't have to worry about steering too much, and could work on re-fueling. We easily bagged the first two paddle CPs, even with a somewhat wild beach-launch from the 2nd where I mis-stepped and almost fell over the kayak getting back in. Yes, there's a reason my Dad often calls me "grace." We took the opportunity to stretch our legs and run a little bit on the beach getting the last paddle CP before turning back to face the wind and a 4-mile paddle back to shore. And that is when I thought we were going to die. The swell was picking up and Delaware Bay was quickly filling up our 2-person boat. I had some serious internal panic going on especially since at the front of the kayak the waves were either landing a) On my lap or b) In my face. The half of Delaware Bay that didn't end up in the boat, probably ended up in my stomach....more on that fun aspect later. But we bailed, we paddled, we bailed, we paddled, I started to freeze, paddled some more and finally, after what seemed like an eternity, made it safely onto dry land. To put the wind in perspective, when I got too cold to bail and had to paddle to warm back up, Fritz would bail, I'd paddle and the kayak would stay put. Once Fritz started padding again we'd actually go forward. I'm pretty sure if I hadn't been in a boat with him, I'd still be trying to paddle back....yay teammates!The guys would later tell me that while the kayak may swamp, it won't sink, so while I thought I'd have to swim, I actually was never in any "real" danger... awesome... My legs were not happy, I couldn't stop shivering and I wanted to vomit. But we were the 2nd team in, and soon I'd be safe and sound on my bicycle so I dug up a smile, got my head back in the game and ran the 1k back to transition.
Little bittersweet finish, but it was an awesome race that was close until the very end. I learned even more about adventure racing and myself on the course and am finally starting to feel a lot more comfortable in the sport. Not bad for my 3rd adventure race :-) Soon I'll be a rookie no more...I guess everything WILL be alright if I keep racin' like I'm 22 ....
I'm quickly learning that in different sports, the same term can have very different meanings. Typically when I hear "sprint" I think of a short, fast race, or the last 250m of a road race where you put your head down and go. When Mike does a sprint triathlon - it's just over 15 miles of racing he'll finish in a little under 90 minutes ... and now in adventure racing, the term "sprint" has come to mean a race anywhere from 4 to 8 hours. Yes, 8-hours is a 'sprint' race. Now what that translates to, is you're going full-tilt for those 8 hours of trekking (i.e. trail jogging), biking, paddling and of course, navigating. I.e. the whole dang thing just hurts. And here we go....
This past Saturday, I headed up to Cape Henlopen State Park with the Rev3/Mountain Khakis team to take on Delmarva Adventure Sports' inaugural Coastal Challenge 8-Hour Sprint Adventure Race. This go, I'd be racing on a 3-person co-ed team with Dave and Fritz. Initially I thought this would be a good "training" race to work out my kinks from the Epic and gear up for Odyssey's Wild & Wonderful in 2 weeks. And while I did learn some more valuable lessons, this race also more than lived up to its name, proving to be a fun, but very challenging day.
Pre-Race
It was a sunny, but chilly and windy morning and we arrived at the state park with plenty of time to set up our gear, check-in and sit around and wait. Oh, and of course our bib number just happened to be 20, 21 & 22 which did nothing to help the top-40 pop in my head. Dave got the "lucky" number so then the joke turns to "I don't know about you, but Dave's feeling 22..." Anyway....We got maps, but no coordinates, so Dave and Fritz looked them over and tried to figure out at least some potential route options for getting around the area. Our Rev3/MK Masters' team was racing as well so we had a good group to chat with and shake out the pre-race nerves. I was especially stoked that Terri was there - she's the one who got me into adventure racing in the first place and is my AR guru/big sister of sorts. When I start worrying or don't know what to do - she's right there to smile, help me in the right direction and give me a kick of confidence. She's been at all 3 of my adventure races so far, so I'm not quite sure what I'll do when she's not there!
And we're off - Plotting & Trek 1
The race director handed out the coordinates around 9:20am and it was plot and go time. We were starting on foot, and with Dave and Fritz handling the points and navigation, my job was to be ready as soon as they said "go!" We were the first out on the trek, and cut through some beach brush to head off to the first few checkpoints. The park wasn't nearly as flat as I had thought - with sand dunes and little hills in the coastal forest adding to the challenge. Running on sand and through sandy pine-needle-covered soil isn't easy, but at least it's more forgiving than asphalt. I hadn't run much (fine, at all...) since the Epic due to a tweaked muscle in my right shin that was out of whack because my calf muscles are way too tight from cycling (yeah, go figure) Thankfully it hadn't started flaring up again and I could keep pace. We got a little turned around trying to find the first CP, but quickly found it and were off to get the next ones. All the teams were pretty closer right now, as we saw Odyssey and GOALS at the first CPs and decided we needed to kick it up a notch. We took sand-swept trail from the last CP to the transition to paddle, and were the first into transition. Dave grabbed a sit-on-top single kayak and Fritz and I got one of the sit-in doubles. Hindsight, while the sit-in was theoretically faster, we'd soon find out the self-draining sit-on-top may have been better...
...this place is too crowded, too many cool kids....
Paddling...with optional swim...
Minimum 15mph winds across the Delaware Bay had our paddle start off smooth and fast. Paddling is my weakest part, but since I was in the double with Fritz, at least I didn't have to worry about steering too much, and could work on re-fueling. We easily bagged the first two paddle CPs, even with a somewhat wild beach-launch from the 2nd where I mis-stepped and almost fell over the kayak getting back in. Yes, there's a reason my Dad often calls me "grace." We took the opportunity to stretch our legs and run a little bit on the beach getting the last paddle CP before turning back to face the wind and a 4-mile paddle back to shore. And that is when I thought we were going to die. The swell was picking up and Delaware Bay was quickly filling up our 2-person boat. I had some serious internal panic going on especially since at the front of the kayak the waves were either landing a) On my lap or b) In my face. The half of Delaware Bay that didn't end up in the boat, probably ended up in my stomach....more on that fun aspect later. But we bailed, we paddled, we bailed, we paddled, I started to freeze, paddled some more and finally, after what seemed like an eternity, made it safely onto dry land. To put the wind in perspective, when I got too cold to bail and had to paddle to warm back up, Fritz would bail, I'd paddle and the kayak would stay put. Once Fritz started padding again we'd actually go forward. I'm pretty sure if I hadn't been in a boat with him, I'd still be trying to paddle back....yay teammates!The guys would later tell me that while the kayak may swamp, it won't sink, so while I thought I'd have to swim, I actually was never in any "real" danger... awesome... My legs were not happy, I couldn't stop shivering and I wanted to vomit. But we were the 2nd team in, and soon I'd be safe and sound on my bicycle so I dug up a smile, got my head back in the game and ran the 1k back to transition.
...it's miserable and magical oh yeah.....
Bike 1 - Headwind from Hades and what was that clue?
Dry socks, shoes, jersey and gloves will make you feel like a new person. That, and I downed two gels and half a pack of Power Bar Gel-Blasts before we rolled out on the bikes. Our transition had been quick enough so we were the first team off on the bikes despite being 3rd back into transition as Odyssey passed us running from the boats to TA. This bike was flat and mostly on road and a few gravel trails. The wind was awful and at times it was all I could do to hold onto the guys' wheels. Mountain bikes are for single-track, not pavement :-( Somewhere in the melee of TA we forgot our clue sheet for some of the CPs, but luckily Fritz remembered the clue for one CP we needed to write down. Unfortunately since we didn't have the clue / rule sheet we ended up riding for about 3 miles or so on Rt. 1, which wasn't allowed (oops!) but more on that later. On our way back to the park, we thought we might have missed a CP, but turns out it just wasn't highlighted on the map. Took maybe 3-4 minutes figuring that one out and soon we were rolling again, found the CP and were the first team back into TA.
...we're happy, free, confused and lonely at the same time...
Trek 2 - Nature Trails & Nature Calls
Another quick TA since Dave convinced me I didn't need to swap out bladders and offered to carry an extra bottle for me. Having awesome teammates rocks :-) And the learning continues - if your teammates can carry things for you - it's perfectly okay, especially since you'll go faster carrying less (and maybe keep up with them better this way...). The small-child in me was quite proud when I had to take a nature break along the trek. At least I was hydrated ... It took me a lot longer during the Epic to make my first nature break. The CPs here were fairly straight-forward, and the guys' navigation was spot on. We took some of the park's nature trails and had some minimal bushwhacking to save a little time. By this point in the day, we had been moving for about 5 1/2 hours and neither my leg nor my stomach were happy. Toss it up to downing 2 gels at once or drinking too much seawater, but we'll keep it ladylike and just say I was thankful to find a port-o-potty along the trail since no food seemed to want to stay inside. Flip-side, I felt like a new person and had a little more spring in my step despite my tweaky shin starting to act up. Fritz kept us entertained with stories of some of the crazy AR's he's done in the past, which took my mind off the pain and soon enough, we snagged the CP on-top of the look-out tower and were ready to book it back to TA for the last bike leg.
...you look like bad news...
Bike 2 - Disaster Strikes, but I love me some single-track
We had a quick TA and were about to roll out until Fritz yelled that his tire was flat. Not good, especially not good since it was maybe a 30-45 minute bike and Odyssey was maybe 4-5 minutes behind us. As we went to help Fritz change the tire, they rolled out, and of course nothing seemed to work - my pump was acting funny and no one had CO2 handy, but we got it together and rolled out about 5 minutes later to see what we could do. For the CPs on this leg, we had to take a picture at each one that included all the team members, part of a bike and a colored ribbon that was at the CP. We had some "technical difficulties" the first few CPs getting the picture framed right, but soon enough got the hang of it. We ran into Odyssey at a CP and realized that they had two relatively close CPs to finish while we had two relatively far out ones. It was going to be tight. At least I was feeling about 110% better and loving the fun, twisty single-track through the park. Sand? No problemo. Pine-needles? Bring it. I'm a new person if you give me my fat tires and some trail. We cleared the course and finished with about 45-minutes to spare. Odyssey had just come in ahead of us, but turns out it wouldn't have mattered if we had gotten the flat or not, because talking with them after the race we realized we had taken an off-limits road, and ultimately decided to tell the he race director, resulting in us being docked one CP. That didn't change our standings thankfully and we still had our 2nd place overall finish. Terri and the Rev3Master's finished strong in 4th, coming in a little after GOALS who finished 3rd.
Fritz, myself & Dave post-race
Thanks to Delmarva Adventure Sports for hosting a fun and challenging race, and HUGE thanks to my awesome Rev3/Mountain Khakis Adventure Racing Teammates - you guys are incredible athletes, navigators and a blast to race with!
Up next? Skinnie tires for the Poolesville Road Race on 5/11 and then off to West Virginia for Wild & Wonderful on the 18th! Game on kids :-)
23 April 2013
Rev3 Shenandoah Epic
As the "rookie" on the Rev3/Mountain Khakis Adventure racing team, I was more than nervous heading into this past weekend's Rev3 Shenandoah Epic. The only other adventure race I'd done in recent history was a 4-hour sprint in December, and now, I was staring at a 26-hour race through some challenging terrain in Virginia's George Washington National Forest. Luckily enough for me, pre, during and post-race I had the support and backing of my amazing friends and teammates who at times literally pulled me through the race. The Epic was by far one of the most physically and mentally challenging things I've done, and now since all the checkpoints have been found and I've washed the dirt off, my only question is - when can I do that again!?
I scooped up one of my Rev3/MK teammates from the airport Friday afternoon and then we were off to Luray for race check-in, the pre-race brief, your typical pre-race tequila shot and all the normal things you do to get ready for playing in the woods for the next 24+ hours. Huge thanks to Britt, Dusty and Terri for helping me figure out my gear and packing so at least I looked like I had my stuff together before the race :-)
With the race starting at 10am Saturday, we didn't have too early of a morning, but were still out the door and at the main transition area by 7am to organize gear and load the buses taking us to the race start. The Rev3/MK teams grabbed the first shuttle so once we got to the paddle put-in and picked out our canoes and loaded the gear it was time to play sit and wait while as racers kept arriving via shuttle.
As soon as the last shuttle arrived, Mark one of our awesome Rev3Adventure race directors jumped on the loudspeaker and it was time to roll! Our 4-person team was split between 2 canoes, and Britt kindly lent me her spare paddle, so at least I was looking somewhat pro when all the canoes and kayaks took off down the Shenandoah River. The mass-start of about 85 canoes and kayaks is nothing but pure chaos. Thankfully, my canoe-mate, Greg, knew how to get our boat out of the mayhem quickly so we soon cleared the flailing paddles and were on our way for adventure!
So here we go - and for the sake of simplicity - let's break up the race into 3 parts - 1) Shenandoah River Paddling; 2) Elizabeth Furnace and 3) Shenandoah River State Park
Paddling & Trek #1 - Shenandoah River
While most racers experience the dreaded "bonk" later in a race or event, I bonked within the first hour of the race. Not good. After about 30 minutes of paddling, we reached the take-out for the first trekking section and came out swinging. Fritz & Ernie (my other two teammates) likened our canoe landing to Normandy as we came in a little hot to the landing. Time to toss the PFD's and take off jogging up the hill in stride with the Rev3/MK Midwest team to capture the first few checkpoints. One of our major competitors, TeamSOG caught us on the run and while they turned toward CP2 with our Midwest team, my group headed basically straight up the ridge to get CP3 and 4 first. Running basically straight up a mountain after 30 minutes in a canoe hurts. When the trail pitched up toward CP4 my quads were cursing and I could feel myself redlining. Way too early for this to happen in the race. As we headed down after securing CP3&4 my energy level plummeted to the point where Fritz gave me a tow - which basically meant I was hanging onto a bungee off his pack to help me keep pace. Internal panic set in a bit - it was way too early in the race for me to be feeling like this - how would I ever survive the next 25 hours and I was terrified of letting my team down. I was the rookie - they had taken a chance racing with me and the last thing I wanted to do was slow them down.
The tow did help me catch my breath and once we were back in the canoes for the rest of the paddle, I was able to eat and let my heart rate calm back down. We took on a little water going through the rapids, but managed to keep the canoes floating, picked up the two remaining paddle CPs without much ado and made it to the take-out at the main transition area just around 1:30pm. Getting out of the canoe my legs rebelled. Apparently sitting in a canoe for 3 hours wrecks havoc on your legs. They felt all jello-y and weak. Being soaked from the river didn't help much either, but we got the boats up, took care of the two race challenges at the transition (a shape puzzle and a blow-up-an-inner-tube puzzle), changed some soggy clothes and were off on the bikes - at least now I felt a little confident that we were heading into my comfort zone on two wheels.
Mountain Biking & the O-Course - Elizabeth Furnace
While I thought I'd be a-okay on the bike - I neglected to realize that riding with a 15-20 pound pack is a lot different from riding with a tiny Camelback or no pack at all. Heading up the road toward the ridges and Elizabeth Furnace - I tried to stand climbing a hill and my legs buckled. Definitely something I'm not used to, but thankfully for me, my awesome teammates came to my rescue. Greg took some of my nutrition off my pack and gave me a tow up some of the hills so I could re-gain my strength and energy. Being towed on a mountain bike was an extremely humbling experience. I'm on Rev3/MK because of my mountain biking, and here I am having to get a tow early on. But I later found out, towing is pretty commonplace in AR (heck we even saw the seemingly unbeatable Team SOG towing their navigator early on) and it helps you save energy for the long haul.
Once we got into Elizabeth Furnace proper, I started to feel a lot better. Unfortunately we ran into the Midwest team having to deal with a nasty mechanical. That would derail their race as trying to fix the mechanical, Chuck badly tweaked his back and had to retire after. Britt and Cory did carry on unofficially, making great time and clearing the rest of the course.
The climb up to the Massanutten Trail via Mudhole Gap was a long, steady grind. Greg gave me a tow again to help me save energy for the gnarly single-track section we knew was coming. Once we got to Mudhole, I was finally starting to feel myself. We hit the single-track and I felt like a changed person. My heart rate was under control, my legs felt better and I was on a mission. We caught and passed several teams here. Once through Mudhole, it was on to the Massanutten Trail. The trail basically goes straight up a to a very rocky ridge. If you're familiar with Elizabeth Furnaces "Super 8 of Hate" this is the trail you descend from the fire tower... and we were climbing it. Ouch. It was a lot of hike-a-bike, from the extent that I didn't want to waste energy getting on and off and on and off over and over again. We still made pretty good time up to CP12 and ran into a lot of teams heading up as we were heading back. The one team we didn't see was SOG, which is interesting because the results show they punched CP12 only 7 minutes after we did and since there was a 4-mile stretch of trail everyone had to take to the tower, I found that interesting.... I later saw that they wrote in their race report that they "hid" from us so as not to let us know where they were in the race.... I've ridden that trail a time or two, and with the rocks and steepness, I don't know where one "hides" on it but that's neither here nor there. I'm just glad my team had nothing to hide.
We flew down the trail and picked up some nice fireroad to finish the biking CPs before heading into TA. The guys were laughing about my "comeback" and how I went from bonking to pushing the pace, but hey, all that mattered is we were definitely in the game, feeling great and pushing hard!
At TA it was a quick turn-around, and while I'm bummed our Midwest team had to pull out officially, it was a bit of a saving grace to have Chuck at TA, as well as the awesome volunteers and a bonfire to warm up before we headed out on the O-Course.
The O-course was fairly straight-forward, Erine, Fritz and Greg had the navigation dialed. We did
momentarily take a wrong trail after stopping to re-fill our water at a creek, but we quickly realized it and corrected to get back on course. I was feeling about 110% better on this trek than the previous one and was really enjoying trekking at night. The moon was out, and while it was a little chilly, our brisk pace kept us warm. Up on the ridge, we had to do some bush-whacking to find two of the CPs, and bush-whacking at night is quite the experience. I've night-hiked before, but there was something just extra exciting about heading off the trail and into the unknown. The last down-hill on the O-course was super rocky and technical and I managed to bang my ankle a few times. Not good, but not detrimental.
We made it back to TA just before my head-lamp went out, and had cleared the O-course faster than we planned, so it was nice to have a little time cushion and it was looking that if we kept going at this pace, we'd clear the entire course with time to spare. My team is awesome :-) It was great to see Dusty, Aaron and Kelly volunteering at the TA, a huge hug from Dusty and part of a semi-frozen Snickers bar re-energized me as we set out on the bikes once again.
The climb out of Elizabeth Furnace was one of the hardest hike-a-bike's I've ever done. We knew it was coming so we wore our trekking shoes to make it a little easier. Once we finally reached the top though - it was a screaming downhill, one of those trails that makes you grin like a 5-year old just 'cause it's so much fun.
I was feeling a little sluggish as we hit the gravel road back to the main TA, but pushed it since I knew we'd be re-fueling and out on the last trekking segment soon enough. We punched in, I got another hug from Mark (okay, I like hugs, especially when I'm a little spacy during a long endurance event) and got ready for the last trek!
Trekking & Mountain Biking - Shenandoah River State Park
This part of my recap may get a little fuzzy, because, well, I think it was about o-dark thirty. The funny thing for me, is once the sun goes down, I think it's midnight, whether it be 9pm or 3am, if I'm outside and it's dark, I just think it's midnight. We made good time getting over into the park and did a little bush-whacking to save some time. Most of the points were again straight-forward. I made the mistake of changing my nutrition here and my stomach rebelled a bit - instead of the Power Bar Gel Blasts, which I had been chowing down on most of the night, I grabbed a pack of shot-blocks, something I typically eat in races, but for some reason, the sweetness and texture of them just made my stomach turn and for a good 30-45 minutes on the trek I was pretty sure I was going to throw up. Ernie advised me to keep drinking and try and get some solid more "real" food down. All I had that was solid and "real" was a vanilla Power Bar that was 85% frozen since it was hovering around 40-degrees out. I somehow go it down though, and my stomach played a little nicer as we wrapped up the last of the CPs in the park and headed back to transition to grab our bikes for the final leg.
The sun was just starting to rise as we rolled out one last time. I had put down some Red Bull and part of a banana so my stomach was a lot happier. My legs on the other-hand, were quite cranky. Aside from the bruise on my left ankle, I had picked up a funky sharp pain in my lower right shin on the downhill sections of the last trek. Thankfully biking didn't impact either of those two, so all I had to deal with was the general fatigue from being up now for close to 24-hours. The trail signs and the map we had didn't quite match up so we had a little confusion initially, but got it sorted soon enough and scooped up most of the remaining CPs. After we got the final one, it was time to book it out of the park and back to the finish at TA, and while we knew SOG had a decent lead on us in the bike, we were still determined to finish strong. To get out of the park, we had to bush-whack up two seemingly monster hills with our bikes....and I thought hike-a-bike was tough - now try bush-whack-a-bike. I somehow did it, with a lot of encouragement from my teammates. We clipped in, picked up the last trail and flew into the finish.
We punched in around 7:30am, 29 minutes after SOG, but still clearing the course in about 21 1/2 hours to secures 2nd place. I was exhausted, but stoked. Hugs and high-fives all around, as we managed to overcome some early difficulties, but finished strong and smiling. And while of course winning would have been awesome, I'll happily take 2nd place in basically my first endurance adventure race. But now - I'm a little more experienced, a little wiser and while I still may be a rookie, it's game on for the rest of the season!
I couldn't have done the race without the help and support of the entire Rev3Adventure family. And
when I say family - after this weekend, I feel that I am part of a big, amazing family with Rev3. HUGE thank you to my teammates - Greg, Fritz and Ernie - you guys were incredible to race with and some of the most talented athletes I've met, I could not have finished so strong if it wasn't for you guys, at times even literally pulling me up the mountains. Thank you to the Rev3/Mountain Khakis Adventure Racing team-members, Terri, Britt, Dusty - you ladies inspired me and helped me prepare and have the confidence to tackle the race. Dash, Cory, Chuck, Aaron, Tim, Chris & AJ - thanks for the pre, during and post-race support and encouragement, friendly faces, smiles and hugs go farther than you realize in an event. And last but not least - another HUGE thank you to Mike and Mark and the rest of the Rev3 staff and volunteers for organizing, setting up and putting together such a fun race, all the while providing support for the Rev3/MK teams and all the teams on course.
So there you have it - I survived my first Epic, and I am eager for my next adventure!! (and will probably add more race photos as they appear!!)
Up next?? A much-deserved off weekend and then teaming up with Dash & Fritz to tackle Delaware's beaches in the Coastal Challenge May 4th!
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| Rev3/MK Checking-In Friday at Luray's Appalachian Outdoors Adventures |
With the race starting at 10am Saturday, we didn't have too early of a morning, but were still out the door and at the main transition area by 7am to organize gear and load the buses taking us to the race start. The Rev3/MK teams grabbed the first shuttle so once we got to the paddle put-in and picked out our canoes and loaded the gear it was time to play sit and wait while as racers kept arriving via shuttle.
As soon as the last shuttle arrived, Mark one of our awesome Rev3Adventure race directors jumped on the loudspeaker and it was time to roll! Our 4-person team was split between 2 canoes, and Britt kindly lent me her spare paddle, so at least I was looking somewhat pro when all the canoes and kayaks took off down the Shenandoah River. The mass-start of about 85 canoes and kayaks is nothing but pure chaos. Thankfully, my canoe-mate, Greg, knew how to get our boat out of the mayhem quickly so we soon cleared the flailing paddles and were on our way for adventure!
So here we go - and for the sake of simplicity - let's break up the race into 3 parts - 1) Shenandoah River Paddling; 2) Elizabeth Furnace and 3) Shenandoah River State Park
Paddling & Trek #1 - Shenandoah River
While most racers experience the dreaded "bonk" later in a race or event, I bonked within the first hour of the race. Not good. After about 30 minutes of paddling, we reached the take-out for the first trekking section and came out swinging. Fritz & Ernie (my other two teammates) likened our canoe landing to Normandy as we came in a little hot to the landing. Time to toss the PFD's and take off jogging up the hill in stride with the Rev3/MK Midwest team to capture the first few checkpoints. One of our major competitors, TeamSOG caught us on the run and while they turned toward CP2 with our Midwest team, my group headed basically straight up the ridge to get CP3 and 4 first. Running basically straight up a mountain after 30 minutes in a canoe hurts. When the trail pitched up toward CP4 my quads were cursing and I could feel myself redlining. Way too early for this to happen in the race. As we headed down after securing CP3&4 my energy level plummeted to the point where Fritz gave me a tow - which basically meant I was hanging onto a bungee off his pack to help me keep pace. Internal panic set in a bit - it was way too early in the race for me to be feeling like this - how would I ever survive the next 25 hours and I was terrified of letting my team down. I was the rookie - they had taken a chance racing with me and the last thing I wanted to do was slow them down.
The tow did help me catch my breath and once we were back in the canoes for the rest of the paddle, I was able to eat and let my heart rate calm back down. We took on a little water going through the rapids, but managed to keep the canoes floating, picked up the two remaining paddle CPs without much ado and made it to the take-out at the main transition area just around 1:30pm. Getting out of the canoe my legs rebelled. Apparently sitting in a canoe for 3 hours wrecks havoc on your legs. They felt all jello-y and weak. Being soaked from the river didn't help much either, but we got the boats up, took care of the two race challenges at the transition (a shape puzzle and a blow-up-an-inner-tube puzzle), changed some soggy clothes and were off on the bikes - at least now I felt a little confident that we were heading into my comfort zone on two wheels.
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| Rev3/Mountain Khakis heading out on the bikes! (Thanks to Extreme Prestige Worldwide Photography for the race pics!) |
Mountain Biking & the O-Course - Elizabeth Furnace
While I thought I'd be a-okay on the bike - I neglected to realize that riding with a 15-20 pound pack is a lot different from riding with a tiny Camelback or no pack at all. Heading up the road toward the ridges and Elizabeth Furnace - I tried to stand climbing a hill and my legs buckled. Definitely something I'm not used to, but thankfully for me, my awesome teammates came to my rescue. Greg took some of my nutrition off my pack and gave me a tow up some of the hills so I could re-gain my strength and energy. Being towed on a mountain bike was an extremely humbling experience. I'm on Rev3/MK because of my mountain biking, and here I am having to get a tow early on. But I later found out, towing is pretty commonplace in AR (heck we even saw the seemingly unbeatable Team SOG towing their navigator early on) and it helps you save energy for the long haul.
Once we got into Elizabeth Furnace proper, I started to feel a lot better. Unfortunately we ran into the Midwest team having to deal with a nasty mechanical. That would derail their race as trying to fix the mechanical, Chuck badly tweaked his back and had to retire after. Britt and Cory did carry on unofficially, making great time and clearing the rest of the course.
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| Most likely an "Emily are you eating?" moment ... thanks for keeping me going guys! |
We flew down the trail and picked up some nice fireroad to finish the biking CPs before heading into TA. The guys were laughing about my "comeback" and how I went from bonking to pushing the pace, but hey, all that mattered is we were definitely in the game, feeling great and pushing hard!
At TA it was a quick turn-around, and while I'm bummed our Midwest team had to pull out officially, it was a bit of a saving grace to have Chuck at TA, as well as the awesome volunteers and a bonfire to warm up before we headed out on the O-Course.
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| Fritz & Greg plotting the O-Course |
momentarily take a wrong trail after stopping to re-fill our water at a creek, but we quickly realized it and corrected to get back on course. I was feeling about 110% better on this trek than the previous one and was really enjoying trekking at night. The moon was out, and while it was a little chilly, our brisk pace kept us warm. Up on the ridge, we had to do some bush-whacking to find two of the CPs, and bush-whacking at night is quite the experience. I've night-hiked before, but there was something just extra exciting about heading off the trail and into the unknown. The last down-hill on the O-course was super rocky and technical and I managed to bang my ankle a few times. Not good, but not detrimental.
We made it back to TA just before my head-lamp went out, and had cleared the O-course faster than we planned, so it was nice to have a little time cushion and it was looking that if we kept going at this pace, we'd clear the entire course with time to spare. My team is awesome :-) It was great to see Dusty, Aaron and Kelly volunteering at the TA, a huge hug from Dusty and part of a semi-frozen Snickers bar re-energized me as we set out on the bikes once again.
The climb out of Elizabeth Furnace was one of the hardest hike-a-bike's I've ever done. We knew it was coming so we wore our trekking shoes to make it a little easier. Once we finally reached the top though - it was a screaming downhill, one of those trails that makes you grin like a 5-year old just 'cause it's so much fun.
I was feeling a little sluggish as we hit the gravel road back to the main TA, but pushed it since I knew we'd be re-fueling and out on the last trekking segment soon enough. We punched in, I got another hug from Mark (okay, I like hugs, especially when I'm a little spacy during a long endurance event) and got ready for the last trek!
Trekking & Mountain Biking - Shenandoah River State Park
This part of my recap may get a little fuzzy, because, well, I think it was about o-dark thirty. The funny thing for me, is once the sun goes down, I think it's midnight, whether it be 9pm or 3am, if I'm outside and it's dark, I just think it's midnight. We made good time getting over into the park and did a little bush-whacking to save some time. Most of the points were again straight-forward. I made the mistake of changing my nutrition here and my stomach rebelled a bit - instead of the Power Bar Gel Blasts, which I had been chowing down on most of the night, I grabbed a pack of shot-blocks, something I typically eat in races, but for some reason, the sweetness and texture of them just made my stomach turn and for a good 30-45 minutes on the trek I was pretty sure I was going to throw up. Ernie advised me to keep drinking and try and get some solid more "real" food down. All I had that was solid and "real" was a vanilla Power Bar that was 85% frozen since it was hovering around 40-degrees out. I somehow go it down though, and my stomach played a little nicer as we wrapped up the last of the CPs in the park and headed back to transition to grab our bikes for the final leg.
The sun was just starting to rise as we rolled out one last time. I had put down some Red Bull and part of a banana so my stomach was a lot happier. My legs on the other-hand, were quite cranky. Aside from the bruise on my left ankle, I had picked up a funky sharp pain in my lower right shin on the downhill sections of the last trek. Thankfully biking didn't impact either of those two, so all I had to deal with was the general fatigue from being up now for close to 24-hours. The trail signs and the map we had didn't quite match up so we had a little confusion initially, but got it sorted soon enough and scooped up most of the remaining CPs. After we got the final one, it was time to book it out of the park and back to the finish at TA, and while we knew SOG had a decent lead on us in the bike, we were still determined to finish strong. To get out of the park, we had to bush-whack up two seemingly monster hills with our bikes....and I thought hike-a-bike was tough - now try bush-whack-a-bike. I somehow did it, with a lot of encouragement from my teammates. We clipped in, picked up the last trail and flew into the finish.
We punched in around 7:30am, 29 minutes after SOG, but still clearing the course in about 21 1/2 hours to secures 2nd place. I was exhausted, but stoked. Hugs and high-fives all around, as we managed to overcome some early difficulties, but finished strong and smiling. And while of course winning would have been awesome, I'll happily take 2nd place in basically my first endurance adventure race. But now - I'm a little more experienced, a little wiser and while I still may be a rookie, it's game on for the rest of the season!
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| Rev3/Mountain Khakis at the finish - Greg, me, Fritz & Ernie |
I couldn't have done the race without the help and support of the entire Rev3Adventure family. And
when I say family - after this weekend, I feel that I am part of a big, amazing family with Rev3. HUGE thank you to my teammates - Greg, Fritz and Ernie - you guys were incredible to race with and some of the most talented athletes I've met, I could not have finished so strong if it wasn't for you guys, at times even literally pulling me up the mountains. Thank you to the Rev3/Mountain Khakis Adventure Racing team-members, Terri, Britt, Dusty - you ladies inspired me and helped me prepare and have the confidence to tackle the race. Dash, Cory, Chuck, Aaron, Tim, Chris & AJ - thanks for the pre, during and post-race support and encouragement, friendly faces, smiles and hugs go farther than you realize in an event. And last but not least - another HUGE thank you to Mike and Mark and the rest of the Rev3 staff and volunteers for organizing, setting up and putting together such a fun race, all the while providing support for the Rev3/MK teams and all the teams on course.
So there you have it - I survived my first Epic, and I am eager for my next adventure!! (and will probably add more race photos as they appear!!)
Up next?? A much-deserved off weekend and then teaming up with Dash & Fritz to tackle Delaware's beaches in the Coastal Challenge May 4th!
16 April 2013
Tour of the Battenkill - Chocolate Milk & Cat 4 Glory
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| Women's Cat 4A Podium |
Before I left, Coach B told me to ride smart, be safe and focus on finishing since Battenkill isn't your average road race. The goal was to experience it and come out in one piece, especially given some of my recent racing adventures. Well, Coach B, I did what you said, I rode smart, I tried to be safe and I finished ... finished on the podium in 3rd for Women's Cat 4 that is :-)
We left behind unseasonably warm temperatures in DC and drove into near-freezing temperatures and sleet in upstate New York on Friday. The weather Friday hindered our thoughts of a pre-ride on the course, so we all took turns spinning out on a trainer set up in the hotel gym (note: next time make sure you have more than one trainer for 4 people...) Matt played chef and cooked up some chicken and orzo a la Allen Lim to fuel our adventures the next day.
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| Yeaaah Battenkill!! Mike, Jason & Matt conquered their races! |
Mike and I got to Cambridge just as Matt and Jason were heading to their start. Shouted good luck and then the were off on their 65-mile adventure. We got Mike registered and ready to race and Mel, Joe and I walked over to cheer him on as he set off with one of the Men's Cat 5 waves. Next came the waiting game. Mel and I had just under 2 1/2 hours until our race to try to stay calm, warm up. Thank goodness for oatmeal and Allen Lim rice cakes!
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| Bicycle Outfitters Ladies ready to take on Battenkill |
As we approached the first to "kickers" in the race, the peloton began to yo-yo, and even though I had been warned not to, I got a little antsy and put in an effort to avoid a growing gap. The peloton was starting to come unglued, as we made the turn onto Juniper Swamp, it was definitely becoming more strung out, but I still saw Mel riding strong and smiled knowing she was doing well.
Then, as we neared the climb on Juniper Swamp, what parts of our peloton had been intact, now shattered. I saw the move start to go and jumped. My heart raced and my legs burned, but just like Matt and Jason had told me, after 2 minutes of pain, I was over it, and I had made the break. It was still incredibly early in the race and we still had a long way to go, so I knew nothing was for granted now.
We had a group of seven that immediately started working well together. One girl from a NYC team was taking some monster pulls. On the whole, everyone pulled through and while we didn't know the gaps, we were clear and moving. The dirt sections were more fun than scary and some of the downhills were white-knuckle, but awesomely fun. I think I was grinning for most of them. The miles seemed to fly by, I was feeling pretty good and being smart about eating and staying out of the wind.
About 10 miles from the end came another decisive point in the race - Meetinghouse Road. As we hit the dirt, a short steep hill loomed in the distance. In bike racing - you can sometimes tell where "key" race points are by the number of spectators - and this hill was lined with folks!!
As we started up the hill, two girls started to attack, and as my legs started to scream at me, I heard and saw Mike, Matt, Jason, Joe and Doug all jumping, cheering and yelling. My adrenaline surged and my legs seemed to find new life.
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| Meetinghouse Road with my cheering section in the background :-) (Photo: Doug Graham) |
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| Heading up one of the final steep climbs |
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| Nearing the crest of the hill as Doug is snapping pictures |
After the final climb, I knew things could get dicey. I'm a good climber, but I had yet to practice sprinting and didn't know what kind of sprint, if any I had, and with our group of three moving tightly - I knew it would most likely come down to a sprint finish for that 3rd and final podium spot, as the leaders now had 90-seconds on us. (Darn descents....)
Now we were into the point where there were signs every kilometer and they seemed to keep coming faster and faster. We rotated through one more time, and as we neared the 3km mark, one of the other girls popped off. We were down to two, and I was in a decent position, sitting tight on the wheel of the girl in front of me. We took the final turn just past the 2km sign and flew past the 1km sign, as the finishing arch came in to view, I knew it was now or never time. I shifted down and made my move.
As we came into the final shoot I could hear the guys errupting with shouts and cheers. "GO EM GO!!!" STAND UP AND SPRINT! GET OUT OF THE SADDLE AND GO!!" Mike, Matt, Jason, I caught them out of the corner of my eye, stood up and punched it. I crossed the line first - grabbing the last podium spot and a 3rd place finish.
Mel finished strong shortly after cruising across the finish line for a 16th place finish, beating over half the women's field in her 3rd road race ever! Talk about a way to break into the sport - I see the start of a strong road racing career for this lady :-)
When all the dirt and dust had settled - it was an awesome day for the Bicycle Outfitters Race Team. Matt finished 17th and Jason right behind him in 27th in one of the Men's Cat 4 field, and Mike, despite flatting finished 9th in his Men's Cat 5 field!
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| Mike charging up Meetinghouse ... and as Doug says - why isn't he in a BORT kit yet??? |
Celebrations all around with some great food at Local in Saratoga - and of course - some well-earned recovery chocolate milk!
Up Next?? Rev3EPIC!!!
10 April 2013
Race-tastic Weekend Part #2 - Jeff Cup Road Race
Up and at 'em for the 2nd time this weekend as Mike, Mel and I headed down to Charlottesville to meet up with Matt, Pat, Doug & Dawn for one of the "classic" road races in MABRA-land - the Jefferson Cup Road Race.
I had never done Jeff Cup before, but I'd heard plenty about it and knew it draws some of the fastest racers from across the region. The course is challenging, but not insane, ~10 miles with one big hill and several rollers, and some descents that could make a less-seasoned rider a little nervous.
Matt's race was early - 50 miles starting at 9:30am, so while we didn't get there to catch him start, we did get to the course to meet up with the awesome Bicycle Outfitters support team - Doug & Dawn, to see Matt's final laps. We saw him zip past the feed-zone, sitting top-10 and looking cool, calm and collected. After his flat at Morgantown, I was stoked to see him sitting strong at the front of the pack. Soon the officials started shooing people off the road and clearing it for the finish. This was going to be good. Doug walked a little further down to get some shots of the finish, and I hung back to stay clear since the sides of the road were already packed. I saw the pack come in, heard lots of shouting and saw Matt cross the line with the front of the pack. I was ecstatic! He had rocked it!! He rode by with a huge grin on his face. At first I wasn't 100% sure of his placing, but after reviewing Doug's awesome shot - we were 99.99% sure he had punched his way in the sprint to a 2nd place finish!!! So proud of him!! And yes, later podium did confirm that Matt had taken 2nd in the Men's Cat 4 field. Awesome race for him!
Next up it was our turn! Mike was off with the Cat 5 Men, and Mel, Jen and I represented Bicycle Outfitters in the Ladies 4 field. Let me first off say - for more or less a road racing rookie, it was awesome to have two teammates in a very large women's field with me - I felt a lot more confident going into the race and think it helped me ride strong! We had what seemed to be a forever neutral start as we rolled from staging to the actual race start. Then with a quick whistle, we were off for 30 miles of fun (?). The first lap was nothing but a mess of nervous energy. The pack would accordion, string out, take up the road, get single file - it was insane. No one wanted to pull, but everyone wanted to be at the front. Here's also where having teammates is awesome, at one point, Jen rode u next to me saying "We're too far back, we gotta move up!" and bee-lined for the front. I hadn't noticed us drifting back in the pack, but Jen did and got us back up to riding in the front 1/4 of the pack - great position for a break ...
Before the race Mel and I had been chatting with some of the other girls from Northern Virginia and were realizing that we might actually have the ability to make a move and make the move stick. But we'd see... about half-way through the 2nd lap though, the move came. Michelle from Artemis (crazy strong and nice girl) and Mary from NCVC (who I just met that morning, but also incredibly strong and nice) went off the front. I jumped and yelled for Mel to follow. We punched it up the hill and I could feel heart pounding. Once we crested the hill, there was a group of maybe 10 or so of us scattered across the road. We tried to organize, but it was still a bit of a scattered mess for the next few miles of failed attacks, people feigning fatigue and refusing to pull and people trying to organize us into a a pace line. Craziness.
The road racing rookie, I took a few too many pulls and started to wear out. I think I was also slightly anxious and a little fatigued from my efforts on Saturday. Running and mountain bike racing probably aren't the best ways to prep for a road race. Toward the end, I lost the break, but some how was able to stay away from the rest of the pack and pulled out a 9th place finish....
Mel finished with the pack in 17th and Jen a few spots behind. We all finished unscathed - so in my book - that's a win! I also learned how to get in a break, and what not to do while in a break, so we'll have to see what happens at Battenkill!
Mike on the otherhand, decided he'd outsprint the rest of the Men's Cat 5 field and brought home the WIN and a coveted Jefferson Cup. Mr. "Potty-Mouth" Wojtczak however, did almost lose his win due to Team America-inspired victory yell. Ooops! Still quite proud of him for winning his first race!
We cooled down on the course with Dawn and laughed, before heading back to cheer on the final races of the day - which included Pat's top-notch performance in the Men's 3/4 race which earned him a solid 10th place finish.
Pizza and beers at Mellow Mushroom to celebrate a great day for all!
Up Next .... BATTENKILL !!!
I had never done Jeff Cup before, but I'd heard plenty about it and knew it draws some of the fastest racers from across the region. The course is challenging, but not insane, ~10 miles with one big hill and several rollers, and some descents that could make a less-seasoned rider a little nervous.
Matt's race was early - 50 miles starting at 9:30am, so while we didn't get there to catch him start, we did get to the course to meet up with the awesome Bicycle Outfitters support team - Doug & Dawn, to see Matt's final laps. We saw him zip past the feed-zone, sitting top-10 and looking cool, calm and collected. After his flat at Morgantown, I was stoked to see him sitting strong at the front of the pack. Soon the officials started shooing people off the road and clearing it for the finish. This was going to be good. Doug walked a little further down to get some shots of the finish, and I hung back to stay clear since the sides of the road were already packed. I saw the pack come in, heard lots of shouting and saw Matt cross the line with the front of the pack. I was ecstatic! He had rocked it!! He rode by with a huge grin on his face. At first I wasn't 100% sure of his placing, but after reviewing Doug's awesome shot - we were 99.99% sure he had punched his way in the sprint to a 2nd place finish!!! So proud of him!! And yes, later podium did confirm that Matt had taken 2nd in the Men's Cat 4 field. Awesome race for him!
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| Matt (far left) takes 2nd in Men's Cat 4 at Jeff Cup (Photo Courtesy of Doug Graham) |
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| Lap 1 for Women's Cat 4 ... |
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| Jen getting up toward the front |
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| Always cool, calm & collected - Mel waves at our favorite photographer - Doug! |
The road racing rookie, I took a few too many pulls and started to wear out. I think I was also slightly anxious and a little fatigued from my efforts on Saturday. Running and mountain bike racing probably aren't the best ways to prep for a road race. Toward the end, I lost the break, but some how was able to stay away from the rest of the pack and pulled out a 9th place finish....
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| Exhausted and finally done! |
Mel finished with the pack in 17th and Jen a few spots behind. We all finished unscathed - so in my book - that's a win! I also learned how to get in a break, and what not to do while in a break, so we'll have to see what happens at Battenkill!
Mike on the otherhand, decided he'd outsprint the rest of the Men's Cat 5 field and brought home the WIN and a coveted Jefferson Cup. Mr. "Potty-Mouth" Wojtczak however, did almost lose his win due to Team America-inspired victory yell. Ooops! Still quite proud of him for winning his first race!
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| Mike's Cat 5 Podium! Someone's going to have to upgrade soon! |
We cooled down on the course with Dawn and laughed, before heading back to cheer on the final races of the day - which included Pat's top-notch performance in the Men's 3/4 race which earned him a solid 10th place finish.
Pizza and beers at Mellow Mushroom to celebrate a great day for all!
Up Next .... BATTENKILL !!!
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