Breakin’ Stuff

So every time I have come back from a ride or a race, Steve asks, “What did you break now?” Last week I snapped my chain off my mountain bike. This week I flatted in a XC mountain bike race on a tire I have ridden on three times and I snapped my road bike cable shifter thingy during a “recovery” ride. I think I need to become a product tester because it is apparent that companies are not using the same protocols or environment I am encountering, such as thighs of mass destruction and “just riding along” power.

In any event, these last three weeks of racing have been tough - not so much physically as mentally. Last year, my husband and I made a huge life change and moved back to the east coast where we are both from to seize an opportunity of a lifetime. For a variety of reasons it did not work out. So now we are back in the throws of changing our lives again. I am very thankful for biking even though I am frustrated to have had to reduce my season goals to finishing a race unless the bike is completely trashed or I am carried out on a stretcher, and have as much fun as possible. So here are the highlights of what has been going on in the race scene:

Plattekill, NY XC

The race series is shortest distance from my house – only one hour in the car on windy country roads that leave me wobbly carsick. And inevitably the drive includes getting behind someone who is afraid to use the gas pedal and go the speed limit.

After warming up in the parking lot on the trainer, we took the chair lift up to the start line. I rode up the lift with my eyes closed and a tight grip on the safety bar. The warm-up was lost to a sudden drop in temperatures and my poorly acclimated blood to the northeastern weather. The course was rough for these California sand trap rattlesnake riding legs. My legs tightened up and my stomach was having a fit out of the gate. I tip-toed the first lap trying to feel out what lines to take – a pre-ride would have been helpful. The next couple of laps I got faster, however, I dropped my chain and a sapling branch twisted itself between my spokes and rear disc brake rotor requiring me to stop for a bit to make my bike rideable again. I finished 3rd.

Coyote Hill, VT ST and XC

This was the first short track event of the season for me. I forgot how much I missed racing short track. I cannot explain my love for 30 minutes of shear suffering and pain. It is so satisfying. Sure the east coast short track race series do not pull the same amount of competition as do the NORBA national events, but they are just as fun. It is cool being sent off with all the men and trying to match their speed or have them try and show you how tough they are before they blow up on a hill trying to stay ahead of a chick. Nice. So we raced around a grassy hill in Vermont. I placed 1st for the women and still held off some of the guys.

I was thankful that after the short track race I pre-rode the XC course. It may have not been the smartest move on my part in preparation energy-wise for the XC race, but remember my new goals. It was a really nice rooty technical trail with bouts of mud that were dragged about to make some sections really slickery. I forgot how to ride technical trails after moving to California. This trail beat the snot out of me. My arm muscles are growing by the race with all the bike handling skills I am reforming.

Anyhow, I was miserable for the XC race. I was full body tired. It was tough to haul myself to the start line. But I did. Why? Because this physical activity keeps me from going insane. After one of the laps Steve asked me if I wanted a water bottle – I shook my head “No” and gave him the cat claw. I had fantasies of a DNF. What would it feel like to willingly quit a race? It is a slippery slope and there is no crying or quitters in bike racing. During the last lap I finally started picking off some racers, but it there were too few laps in the race to keep up the good work. I managed to pull out a 6th place finish with a nice wreck and chain shifting issues in four laps of muscle rattling moves.


Channel 3, CT ST and XC

AHA! I figured out the reason why more chicks do not show up to short track in this series…they are either too scared of my huge thighs full of raw power or too scared they will use all their matches for the XC race the next day. BUMS! Call me a sucker, but I like what I like and short track is awesome! It was the coolest most technical short track race I have ever competed in. I lapped the chicks in this race. Even better I had my own personal fan club cheering for me on the course. It was so energizing. 1st place feels good too.

Yes, I burnt some matches in the short track event, but not all of them. The XC course was pretty technical with some killer logs in the middle of the trail that required super-bunny-hopping skills or psycho-cross dismount-remount skills – none of which are currently in my repertoire – I often took the weenie-bout, the little off-shoot trail to go around the log. I managed an OK run on the first couple of laps only to acquire a flat just as I was heading out for a third lap. Time taken for a tire change meant lost spots in the race. I also had some huff-daddy ram his handlebars up my bum trying to pass me in a rocky slippery mud section. Whatever. But on the last lap I was able to catch and release 3+ racers that had passed me. I was getting faster each lap after the flat change. I can only hope that I am getting stronger with each event. Surprisingly I was not DFL (Dead Freakin’ Last), but 7th.