Race Report - so I got talked into Elkhorn..

[BikeMomma]

Hey there, Eden. Great report!

The race sounds fun and hard alike. Maybe in a couple years I can make it up there....not until the kids are a little older. I can't be gone from them that long at this point. I love Oregon, so it would be easy to be tempted enough to actually do it.

Hopefully they can keep the race on the womens' calendar. We really need races like that to help our segment of the sport grow.

~BikeMomma

[d-biker]

Eden,
I volunteer for the Elkhorn Classic and I love it and look forward to that weekend every year. This race is such a classic race for all levels! I usually drive lead car, sometimes do support. I felt the women were pretty conservative this year compared to the previous year.
Last year, I saw three women, all cat 1-2, I believe, sprint up Dooley Mtn. since I was the lead car. I cried with tears because they were so strong! They rode with huge hearts! One rider had a flat about 3 miles from the finish (for those of you who don't know, the finish of the 100 mile race is at the summit of a mountain!). I radioed support immediately, they got the wheel changed and she CAUGHT UP with the other two women before the end of the race. The vertical is 6% all the way. I was proud of her for the fight she showed. She took third but only seconds from the lead. What a come-back!
For your group this year, I watched a rider breakaway on the first big hill and no one caught her after that.
But for all of you women....I can't find the words to describe how impressive you all are, riding those two long races, doing the TT and then the scary crit. All of you earn trophies in my mind.
And I will talk to the organizer about keeping womens cats in this race. He should not drop it!

I look forward to 2007 and I will cheer you on! Good luck in your rides.

Pat

[Eden]

I can't thank you and all of the other volunteers enough - the support was excellent. Even off the back I often had a support car around asking if I needed water and if everthing was OK.
I sure hope that there is a women's field next year. We don't get too many opportunities to do races like this one, so it would be ashame if it went away. I'm sure it sounds pretty darn scary to a lot of beginners like me (I am a cat 4, this is my first year racing and I definitely did have doubts about it - especially since I knew I wouldn't have any team mates around) to not only have to race with the big girls, but to just do that kind of distance. Our longest local race to date has been 48 miles, but they are usually only 24 - 36 for us. I've had a lot of positive feed back from the team about going though, so I'm hoping that next year we might have some more representation. Good job all of you!