It seems like the entire year was building up for this one race. And what a race it turned out to be :)
DH and I took Friday off so we could drive up in the morning and set up camp. On the eve of Iceman, Mother nature granted us the first snow fall of the season. Half-way up north it was a full on snow-storm.
After pre-riding the last 5-6 miles of the course a few things were clear: it was going to be COLD and MUDDY.
At the expo we picked up some cold-weather cycling gear: booties, full-finger gloves, hat for DH (who is bald) ;) We got back to camp early in the evening and enjoyed a relaxing dinner. Everything was going smoothly until . . .
DH went to try on his booties over his mtb shoes and the clasp on his shoes fell off in his hands. His shoes literally fell apart (they were 17 yo). We made an emergency run to the expo (which was only open for 30 more minutes). We found the ONLY pair of mtb shoes in his size in the building. The owner gave him an awesome deal on the shoes and even threw in SPD cleats. Crisis averted! I was not looking forward to duct-taping DH's shoes on him in the AM.
Morning of the race I felt ill. I tried to eat breakfast but couldn't stomach my usual diet. I managed to keep down some oatmeal with a banana smashed in it.
There were over 3,700 racers. They started them in waves based on finish times from last year. If you hadn't raced before (like me) then you were put in a late wave with other first-timers in your AG. There were 49 waves of riders. The first 20 were "veterans" of the race (even the really slow riders). The next 20 waves were the Men's AG. After 40 some waves, the women's AG finally began.
I knew if I wanted to place in the top 5, I had to, at the minimum, be out in front of everyone in my wave. The fastest women in our AG that had raced before had a huge advantage of being in the first 20 waves and wouldn't have the traffic jams we'd be facing with the later start.
The first 14 miles or so went according to plan. One other woman and I dropped our entire wave and were way out in front. We began passing the guys immediately. Because the 20 waves in front of us were all Men's AG, we only passed men (at least for the first 25 miles).
The course was not technical. But it was slick from the snow and ice and the single-track was really muddy, like peanut butter. Every time we hit a section of single-track, we'd have to slow down to a near stop because of the traffic jams of slow and inexperienced riders in front of us. We'd bide our time behind them or try and leap-frog them through the woods. Once we got to an open section we'd fly past dozens and dozens of racers.
As we approached the second-half, I started to encounter guys that did not appreciate getting passed by a woman (or maybe getting passed at all). They would literally step out in front of me or cut me off even though I was riding off the trail to pass them. This is where I lost my podium spot.
I should have made my move and passed the other woman by mile 8 or 9. I was confident I could drop her because I was climbing much stronger than she was. However, I thought it would be best to stay on her wheel until mile 14 and then make a move. That was a mistake. The singletrack was too clogged up, there were too many guys on the trail. She'd get around someone and that same person would cut me off. It was poor sportsmanship on their part, but it's also part of the race. Next year I will know better. She was able to get a gap on me and I just couldn't bridge it. And there was no one riding our pace that I could work with after that. I was on my own.
I pressed on, passing hundreds of guys. There would be rows of guys hiking their bikes up a hill and someone, thankfully, would holler "rider up!" and they would part and make room for me. Most of the time. There was one jerk, as I mentioned, who saw me coming and stepped right out in front of me and knocked me over :mad:
At the last steap climb my quads started to pop and cramp. I have never felt such pain. I dug deep and mentally blocked it out. I was in so much pain that if I got off the bike at that point, I knew I wouldn't be able to get back on. I survived the climb and entered the last ST section. It was so clogged up and muddy, most people were walking their bikes. I managed to slowly snake around a lot of them but had to slow my pace, once again, to a crawl.
I pretty much coasted the last 100 feet because of the cramping in my legs. After finishing, I laid on the ground for about 15 minutes while my quads and hamstrings cramped, it was sheer agony.
I am THRILLED with my race. I missed podium by one spot. And was never passed during the race, I did all the passing--just couldn't catch that one elusive woman (she rocked the course). Next year I will have a seeded start and I will have my eye on that podium.
BTW, it was so muddy, my bike chain was making really bad clunky sounds and it was nearly impossible to shift the last few miles.
Here is a picture of the winner of the Pro Men's race.
