Cholla Left It's Mark

The night before the race there was trepadation as to what the conditions would be for riding the next day. Outside it was raining and the weather report had changed from a sunny Saturday to a windy, rainy Saturday. However, Saturday morning brought clear blue skies and sunshine!

We arrived at the race course around 9 in the morning. Although it was sunny and clear it was 38 degrees with a slight breeze. I got Mandy and me registered and prepared out bikes while jumping in and out of the car to keep warm. The breeze was just enough to give you the chills. It was then time to face the cold and ride Mandy's course with her. We rode and did one lap. I thought Mandy would like this course as it had a fun downhill and was mostly flat except for one hill. Mandy did like it, especially the downhill.

After riding with Mandy I took off with some friends to ride the slickrock and then wait for Mandy to ride by during her race. I saw the kids go by for their first lap while I was on the slickrock, so I went down to the course and waited for Mandy to come by on her second lap, but there was no Mandy. I waited and waited and then finally decided she was not going to show up, and took off up the hill to find her. I found her crying by the car. She did not feel good and had quite the race. I had been a little concerned about her racing as she was sick all week and did not go to school until Thursday, but she wanted to race, so she did. She has great determination, but the sick stomach won out. She was really sad when she found out she DNF. I told her it was okay, but she was heartbroken.

By the time my race started it had warmed up to the perfect temperature for riding. At the start line we talked with friends and caught up on what was going on. Then it was time to take off. Tasha got a jump out to the front, but I was quick to catch her and take the lead. As we rode down the hill I began to get a dizzy feeling and was worried it would affect my ride, but the dizziness left and I kept going out. I could hear the riders behind me and I knew they were right on my tail, and sure enough as we turned the corner to head for the slick rock Tasha passed me. I stayed with her as we climbed the slick rock and then it was on the top portion of the slick rock that Jen (my teammate) passed me. From this point on we were one, two, three. As we climbed I would shorten the distance between us and as we went across technical stuff they would spread it out. It was during this time I realized I need to turn it up as both these riders have skills on the downhill like nobodies business and if I let them get too far ahead I was going to lose them.

I picked it up and then we came to chatterbox hill. Tasha and Jen were flying down the hill, and put a little bit of distance between me. At the bottom of the hill is singletrack with climbing. It was here Tasha got a flat tire. My heart felt for her. There is nothing worse than being stopped by a mechanical. I kept on and before long I saw Jen again. I continued to pound on the pedals to catch up to her. It felt like a cat and mouse game with Jen being the mouse and me the cat getting close but not close enough.

As we rode we came to a hill where I passed Dale. I remembered at the top of this hill it was churned up when we pre-rode, so I took it wide to make it up. Ooops big mistake. The rain had fixed the churning and I went to wide and ended up hitting a rock that stopped me cold and caused Dale and me both to have to dismount. I hate stopping my ride, but it's worse to stop another ridder. It was three steps to the top and then I was back on my bike riding hard. I don't know how far I went, or how it happened, but it was not far before I ended up having a doozy of a crash. How I crashed I am not sure, but I went down and I went down hard. I rolled off my bike and ending up hitting the back of my head on a rock. Thank goodness for my helmet!!!

Dale asked if I was okay, and I was jumping up grabbing my bike and telling him to go, go, go. There was no way I was going to stop him again, and there was no way I was going to let my crash stop me. I jumped back on my back and took off only to find out my chain was dropped. My heart dropped as I got off and fixed my chain. This was going to give Jen a good lead on me. Once the chain was back on my ring I took off with every ounce of speed I had.

As I rode I went to shift and realized by shifter was broken, and I was going to have to ride the rest of the race in my middle cog. Thank goodness it got stuck there and not in my small chain ring. As I rode across the trail I noticed a group of riders up ahead coming up to the singletrack and turning on it. About 5 to six riders had missed the turn and gone the wrong way. There bad luck turned out to be my good luck, because in that group was Jen. I continued to pound away at the pedals to catch Jen. We came to the last hill climb, before the flat and then it was on.

On the flat Jen was pounding hard and I was pounding hard. If I was going to get her it was going to be here. During this final push I could feel pain in my shoulder and my head was hurting, but all I could think about was I wanted to win this race, and I continued to pick up the pace. We came to a flat area and it was here I passed the 2 riders behind Jen. Now there was no one but her and me on the flat. I continued to pound away on my pedals, decreasing her lead little by little. We came to the final flat area. It is here the grade begins to go more uphill, and it was here I could see Jen fade. Now was the time to make I move. I pushed it out and right at the steep passed her to the top of the hill. At the top I continued to kick it in all the way to the finish to take my very first win!

Right after the race my legs were so spent that I had noodle legs and could hardly stand. My head hurt and the pain was starting to set in, but I got my first win. It was exciting to get my first blue ribbon, and honestly I hope I get a lot more.

At the start line.

Mandy at the start ready to go.

Start line before we get serious.

Preparing for Cholla

No there is no riding, lifting weights, yoga or anything like that. If I am not ready physically, then I am not ready. My preparation is much bigger than this, it involves several loads of laundry, cleaning the house, prepping our bikes, packing our bags and getting the food snacks together, and tomorrow getting 9 hours of work done in 5. Wish me luck.

Spontinatity

All week long I had been waiting to see if the race course for Cholla had been marked. Dot and I had planned to go down Friday, but only if it was marked. I had an email out and a couple of phone messages to see if it was marked, but no reply. By Thursday afternoon I had consigned myself to the fact that I was not going. Eventually late Thursday night at 9:30 pm I received an email letting me know the course was marked. I forwarded it Dot without much hope of going and then went to sleep.

The next morning I received a call from Dot. She had received my email and wanted to know if I was still wanting to go. Of course I still wanted to go, so off we went to sunny St. George. And sunny it was. It was so nice to have a break from the cold weather and be in the sun.

The course for the race is different from last year. The hill we ended on is the hill we start on, and it is a very fast start. It has me a little worried bombing down a hill so quickly with a group of riders. It would take only one person to slide to take out the rest of the group. At the bottom of the hill you level out a little bit, but continue on a downhill grade. Eventually you turn left and head back towards the slick rock. The course all the way to the slick rock is very fast. For those who did the race last year the slick rock portion is the very same.

At the bottom of the slick rock you take off to the west and ride. This part of the course was completely new to me, and somewhat difficult. There was sand, that was not so deep, but just deep enough that my back tire kept sliding out, and I ended up off my bike a couple of times. The hill climbs are not so bad, and the down hill....well one of them I call chatterbox hill. Dot forgot her fork was locked out on our first lap and rode down the hill rigid. I don't know how she did it, because I thought for sure my teeth were going to get knocked out and I had my front suspension nice and soft.

The course is a lot of fun, and the second lap turned out a lot better than the first, since we had cut a path for our bikes. I am hopeful this will be the case in the race and the riders ahead of me will cut somewhat of a path.

Results from my rear tire sliding out.