I don't remember the last time I had to get up so early for a mountain bike race, but I have to say, it was a pretty nice set up (once I'd finally found a Starbucks).
There was a calm feeling over the venue and only a few people had arrived, most being directly involved with the 8:30am Cat 1 races. So I warmed up in relative peace, thinking to myself the course was probably in excellent shape, dampened ever-so-slightly by the nighttime dew -- and we'd be the first ones on it to boot. I reflected on the cool, comfortable temperatures, compared to the hellfire that usually awaits at 1:30pm starts. And I looked forward to being finished in time to catch the women's Pro XC race.
With only a few minutes left on the trainer, my spirits were lifted tenfold as a whole gang of teammates meandered across the parking lot. I'd heard a rumour they'd be there to support the two of us with the early starts but I couldn't believe anyone would go to such trouble -- showing up EARLY in the morning a full day ahead of of their event at a race out of town.
Silly me. Team Ninja is the best team ever, both in spirit and in standings (or will be soon on the latter, just you watch). Thank you to all you guys and gal who brought the laughs, the support and the cowbell.
Added bonus, Coach Richard appeared seemingly out of nowhere to calm the last of my pre-race jitters on the start line. As the men's Cat 1 races emptied out of the start gates, I could feel my metaphorical hooves pawing the dirt. Time to go.
On the whistle, I carefully worked to get clipped in and stay out of trouble on the very loose asphalt chunks that lined the Start/Finish area (subsequent races saw some gnarly crashes thanks to that unstable surface) and once clear of that, clicked down the cassette and started to make some moves. I knew I wanted to be on the front of the race for the first section because of a couple potential bottlenecks, and I aimed to settle into my pace on the first open climb, part of which featured some pavement.
I lost a couple of the girls on the first climb, but I rightly predicted I'd reel them in on the descent, which was pulling double duty as the Super D course. I forgot to account for the back of the men's races ahead of us though, and got a little tangled up in traffic. Rode the first lap nice and clean, and came through the feed zone for my favorite part: Team Ninja love!!
Coach Richard and Ninja-extraordinaire Michael Henry followed me as the course wound back on itself with encouraging words like "race smart" ... at which point I klutzily got my grip hung up at the crucial moment I wanted to shift for a loose climb and eventual-winner Allison Jones saw her chance. We'd been playing cat and mouse so I was confident I could make up for the error but then I ran into some more unexpected trouble. My back muscles declared tug-of-war with my IT bands and hip flexors that left me feeling less than racy. I worked through that complication and continued on my way.
Lap three Richard and Michael again had words of encouragement, calling out split times between me and another woman (though not in my age group). I was grateful for the carrot and figured I could use her as a stepping stone to Allison so I closed the gap, passed and kept hunting. Ran out of real estate, and Allison had put a nice gap into me anyway, even with my last-ditch efforts.
I was pretty happy with my race -- I rode clean, no crashes -- and as if Team Ninja wasn't awesome enough already, they treated me to some post-race tacos and made me feel like a million bucks (even if I was "first loser" ;)).
We hung around our spiffy team tent watching the pro women warm up and then begin their race under the watchful eyes of high-tech drones, thanks to the amazing Red Bull coverage. I predicted Pendrel, Batty, Nash and almost won my bet but Batty ended up in third. She was accompanied by her parents and fiance Adam Morka, and combined with other familiar faces like Amanda Sin, Mikaela "Fudge" Koffman and Peter Glassford, I was feeling pretty darn homesick for Ontario Cups.
All in all an awesome day at the races. Can't wait for the next one!
Thank you Team Ninja, PowerBar, Zumwalt's (for the most-excellent fix to my cables! shifting was perfection), Coach Richard and to my parents who patiently waited for me to do my thing before we concluded the weekend (the last of their three-week visit) hanging out at the beach.
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| Thanks to Team Ninja's Paula Evenson for the podium pics! |
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