Should I "race" ?

We have a women-only, beginner-friendly mountain bike race here in 3 weeks. The course is a 4 mile loop with very little climbing and hardly any obstacles.

I will definitely try the course ahead of time to see whether I can do it on my bike, but...what do you ladies think? And will any of you be there (Beti Bike Bash)?

I would likely ride it on the Fargo - I hate my old bike and haven't touched it since I fell except to hide it in the garage. The Fargo is a fully rigid 29er but I keep the tires pretty squishy so I don't think bumps will be a big issue for me. I'll just get LOTS of weird looks for having a drop-bar bike at a MTB race :)

Oh, and I've never raced before. This race was postponed for weather last year and happened after I wrecked but before I could drive - I couldn't even go watch.

Um - YES! But I love to race my MTB.

This sounds like a terrific course/event to try it and see if you might be interested in doing some more racing. My theory is you don't have any idea what it's like until you try.

DO IT! I know you can, and I KNOW you will have a good time! :D

SheFly

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Originally Posted by jessmarimba

We have a women-only, beginner-friendly mountain bike race here in 3 weeks. The course is a 4 mile loop with very little climbing and hardly any obstacles.

I will definitely try the course ahead of time to see whether I can do it on my bike, but...what do you ladies think? And will any of you be there (Beti Bike Bash)?

I would likely ride it on the Fargo - I hate my old bike and haven't touched it since I fell except to hide it in the garage. The Fargo is a fully rigid 29er but I keep the tires pretty squishy so I don't think bumps will be a big issue for me. I'll just get LOTS of weird looks for having a drop-bar bike at a MTB race :)

Oh, and I've never raced before. This race was postponed for weather last year and happened after I wrecked but before I could drive - I couldn't even go watch.

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What do you have to lose? It should be fun - go for it

Are you fully healed? What would your doc say?

If your doc is ok with it, I think that you should go for it!

If your cleared to ride this sounds like the perfect event to try! I won't be there but follow Heather Irmiger so I have seen about this race. From what I understand it is a complete beginner friendly race.

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Originally Posted by Aggie_Ama

From what I understand it is a complete beginner friendly race.

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I'm hoping that also equates to "complete not-in-bike-shape friendly race"

:)

Alright, I'll try the course once the rain stops and see how it goes!

I think it does. :)

Wheeeee!! Rode 15 miles of singletrack(ish) today! That course is definitely doable, though one climb is kinda nasty at the end.

I went from "OMG THIS IS A BAD IDEA" to "ok, well I'll take it slow and keep checking the course, I can at least try to ride it" to "I'm kinda tired, but lets do a lap and time it, just to know" to "if I finish this in less than half an hour, I'll sign up for the race." Last year's beginner field was between 38 minutes and an hour, and I don't mind being DFL but not by an entire lap.

I finished a lap in 22 minutes, not going as hard as I could.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jessmarimba

Wheeeee!! Rode 15 miles of singletrack(ish) today! That course is definitely doable, though one climb is kinda nasty at the end.

I went from "OMG THIS IS A BAD IDEA" to "ok, well I'll take it slow and keep checking the course, I can at least try to ride it" to "I'm kinda tired, but lets do a lap and time it, just to know" to "if I finish this in less than half an hour, I'll sign up for the race." Last year's beginner field was between 38 minutes and an hour, and I don't mind being DFL but not by an entire lap.

I finished a lap in 22 minutes, not going as hard as I could.

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Awesome, sounds like you had fun! So are you going to go for it?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jessmarimba

Wheeeee!! Rode 15 miles of singletrack(ish) today! That course is definitely doable, though one climb is kinda nasty at the end.

I went from "OMG THIS IS A BAD IDEA" to "ok, well I'll take it slow and keep checking the course, I can at least try to ride it" to "I'm kinda tired, but lets do a lap and time it, just to know" to "if I finish this in less than half an hour, I'll sign up for the race." Last year's beginner field was between 38 minutes and an hour, and I don't mind being DFL but not by an entire lap.

I finished a lap in 22 minutes, not going as hard as I could.

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You should do it and just have fun :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jessmarimba

We have a women-only, beginner-friendly mountain bike race here in 3 weeks. The course is a 4 mile loop with very little climbing and hardly any obstacles.

I will definitely try the course ahead of time to see whether I can do it on my bike, but...what do you ladies think? And will any of you be there (Beti Bike Bash)? .

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I have my eye on that event. Not this year...but hoping some year - maybe find a way to combine it with a work trip out to Golden. Looks like a great beginner race.

Not to mention I like how they are encouraging women into mountain biking- and from the videos and coverage I saw on last year, women of all ages.

When I was out in Golden last Sept I also saw signs for a Wine, Women and Wheels MTB event in CO. Yeti/Yeti Betis help sponsor that one, which also looks interesting, but kinda fluffy (at a nice resort, yoga involved, my kinda event if I'm honest)

I need to try the downhills a couple more times before I commit. The race starts on a (relatively) steep downhill on a fire road covered in loose gravel, before turning back something like 150 degrees onto singletrack. So basically that fire road sorts everyone, and it scares the bejeebus out of me. But hey, there aren't any water bars on the course :D :p

(I meant to go back and mention that the beginner race is 2 laps, but I bet you guys figured that out :) )