My First Race

[SheFly]

Wavedancer had an excellent race on Saturday! I am so glad to read that you had a good time. She neglected to tell all of you that I waited until AFTER the race to tell her that this was the hardest course she would find in New England for a 'cross race . No need to add to her worry beforehand.

DH and I did this race last year, and we loved it! It is very technical - more of a mountain bike course really than something you would find for 'cross. The course runs through a working farm, so besides running between the rows of blueberries, you also pass the donkeys, ducks and alpacas, as well as having to ride up freshly tilled garden rows. This year, to add to the excitement, there was a section of the course that skirted a paddock - the trail was fresh and narrow, with 90 degree turns that had an [electrified] fence on one side, and a tree on the other!

I set off in the Women's Open race later in the day, and it was HOT by then. Despite this not being a USAC-sanctioned race, there were a lot of women lined up at the start to give this one a go. Despite being lined up in the front row, I had a TERRIBLE start up the hill, and then got caught in traffic/crash going into the first narrow singletrack. After that sorted out, we headed for the tight paddock section of the course. Although everyone was able to ride it, the woman who had crashed got very impatient with me for going slower than she would have liked - oh well!

I got passed by a couple of the women in the first couple of laps, and managed to pass one other racer. From there, I was really on my own, riding my own race. When I looked up part way through and saw that we had 5 laps to go, I couldn't believe it - it felt like I had already been riding forever, but in reality, it had only been 30 mins...

I managed to ride the entire sand pit on my first lap, but not once after that. I also quickly started making mistakes - waiting too long to dismount in the sand, and MAJOR issues remounting at the top of the run-up that followed it. I was glad there was often no one up there to see me - it would have been embarrasing.

At one point, a junior racer passed me, and I wondered where he had come from, since I hadn't sen him coming up on me from anywhere. I also thought to myself that he must have picked it up if he had been riding behind me that whole time. It took a half a lap more of riding for me to realize Ihad just been LAPPED . DOH! Shortly thereafter, I got lapped by the women's race leader as well - to me, this was great news - one less lap to ride! YAHOO!

AFter either 8 or 9 laps, the race was finally done. Results still aren't posted, but I think I finished somewhere between 10 and 15 of about 20 women. I was excited to find out, however, that I was apparently one of the few who managed to stay upright during the race - I saw bloody elbows and knees, and one of the women managed to crack her helmet on the concrete wall just past the barriers . She was ok (and raced again the next day).

Thanks to Wavedancer and her BF and friend for the enthusiastic cheering as I came through the beer tent each lap - it did really help!

Lessons learned at this race: I need a better start. Beer is NOT a recovery drink .

SheFly

Here's a pic of Wavedancer happily crossing the finish line of her first race:

[Sheesh]

Lessons learned at this race: I need a better start. Beer is NOT a recovery drink .

Some of Mr. Sheesh's teammates swear by beer as the best recovery drink!

That does sound like a really technical course, congrats to you both for making it through unscathed!

Re: First-time women racers this year - I was motivated to get a cross bike and try out racing after I watched the womens' races last year. They looked like they were having fun, even though they were working so hard just to finish the course. I was kind of surprised to see only a few of the women returning this year from last year's races. I hope more women stick with it!

[Crankin]

Congratulations, Linda! You are really brave. I have been on my mountain bike exactly once since December.... guess that's why I never improve!

Robyn