Catching up!

Wow, it's been a really long time since the last post and lots has happened since our trip to Rabbit Valley! My emergency room rotation has taken over my life causing me to work all kinds of crazy hours leaving me to fit sleeping and riding in whenever possible. To make things a little more manageable I have stayed local this month and raced two local I-Cup series races. And even more importantly the weather has finally decided to act more like spring, meaning I have spent a little more quality time on the trails. Poor Brandon has been so neglected this past month sometimes the only time we "see" each other is when we happen to both be sleeping in our bed at the same time. I think he has officially become numb to this whole PA school routine because when I ask him if he feels neglected he didn't even seem to really notice a difference from any other rotation! Crap...he such a better spouse than me!

The weekend following Rabbit Valley I made the long trip out west of Utah Lake to 5-Mile Pass. Out of the entire I-Cup race series this was the one that I had never raced. The last two years it rained the weekend of the 5-Mile so I had never made it out. Interestingly I had heard rumors that it was not the favorite course of most of my friends (due to it lack of singletrack, we are so jaded!). But never the less, I trekked out and saddled up! All of the fields were small for any number of reasons, but mostly because 12-hours of Mesa Verde had swallowed up a big portion of the local UT race community. The pro women group consisted of Sarah and me...no others, just us two! Well, ok then, we'll just have to make it a training ride and catch as many of the expert men as possible! The course was a fast 11-mile loop on double track used by ATVs. In the middle was a steep, loose, hike-a-bike section--baahhh! After the first lap I found myself in the middle of expert men racers and Sarah was no where in sight - very uncharacteristic of her. Usually when she is out of sight its because she is way ahead of me! So I continued to push on knowing she would be chasing hard and because I wanted to match last year's female winner who finished in 2.5 hours. That meant I needed to do 50 minute laps and I was a couple minutes ahead of schedule. The laps flew by and the temps near 80 degrees made it feel like race season! In the end I did finish under my goal time, I felt great about my effort, and my bike functioned perfectly. Unfortunately Sarah had to drop out of the race because of belly problems so I won by default! I was a bit disappointed that there was not a field of women to race against because I was not sure how I would have measured up against Sarah, KC, or Erica, the girls I'm usually battling with. I felt really silly standing atop the podium like a loner, but felt better after I reviewed the results and found that based on finishing times I would have been on the podium in all the expert men categories. I guess it just confirmed that I did earn it!

Really...was it absolutely necessary to stand here like an idiot!!

Last weekend the I-Cup race was originally scheduled to be at Sundance, one of my favorite places to race because the course is really fun and because it was the site of my very first MTB race four years ago and my first race against the pros last year! Unfortunately the snow pack is holding fast at Sundance so they were forced to move the race to Soldier Hollow in Heber City. Like the weekend before the bike gods gave us plenty of sunshine! Brandon and I jumped into the famous Jamis team van and rode up with Jason Sager. Between Sager and I we brought 5 bikes...can you say high-maintenance?! Jason's excuse was product testing. He was on a mission to figure out what bike was the fastest, hardtail, full suspension, 26'er, 29'er, so many options. My excuse was I wanted to race the hardtail but brought the dually as a back-up.

4 of 5 bikes the two of us brought!

I hadn't pre-ridden the course and wasn't sure what to expect so my plan was to try and stick on a good wheel for the first lap and see what it was all about. The pro women field was a little better than the 5-Mile Pass race so I had gotten what I asked for and now had the usual suspects to test my legs against. After the first climb I found myself out front...well so much for my plan to follow a good wheel! I had to change my mindset and figured I would just ride as smooth as I could and not make any stupid mistakes that would jeopardize my position. If someone wanted to pass, ok, just hold their wheel. About half way through the first lap my hardtail was climbing well and I was feeling pretty good. There was a short steep pitch ahead so I did what seemed like a good idea- shift my front derailleur to the small ring! Oh boy...chain suck! By this time Erica and I had a small lead and were doing our best to widen the gap. Well that's hard to do when you have to get off your bike, fix your chain, and push it up the steep pitch! I was forced to suffer up the main big climb in my big ring for fear of the dreaded chain suck if I shifted down. Near the end of the climb I needed the small ring and took the chance...yep, chain suck. Once again I forced Erica to break cadence and put a foot down, oops! While cussing my bike Erica and Sarah were calmly passing me and I turned to see KC not far behind. Trying to stay calm I fixed the problem and jumped back on in full chase mode. I made it to the feed/tech zone and Brandon was ready with my spare bike! What are the chances I bring two bikes to a race and actually need them both-Just FYI, its never happened before! We did a quick cyclocross style exchange and I was off to chase. It took the entire second lap and Erica crashing for me to move to second place. At the start of the third lap I finally caught up to Sarah! We decided to push the pace as much as possible up the big climb and before I knew it was in the lead at the top. I knew Sarah was capable of gaining a little time on the descent so I let 'er roll downhill knowing full well it was my race to lose so make NO mistakes! I could practically feel Sarah breathing down my neck and my legs were twitching and on the verge of cramping on every little thing that required a short bout of effort. Reminding myself to make no mistakes I pushed through the last few flat sections and was able to hold onto the lead for the win! Yeahhhh, my first real win of the year. Man did I need it too! I proved to myself I was capable of chasing back on and still having enough in the end to hold my pace. It was a huge moral booster!

Despite the crazy ER hours I finally feel like I am getting back on track when I comes to fitness. I need this weather to cooperate and continue to stay healthy so my training is worth while! Two good race weekends in a row was nice and hope to keep it rollin'. I plan on staying local for the next month and racing I-Cup and continuing to improve my fitness. The next big test will be the Subaru Cup in Wisconsin at the end of June. In the mean time the Draper race on Memorial Day is next on the schedule. Thanks for reading!

Down the Rabbit Hole!

Another race in the books! This time me and few of my best riding pals road tripped it to Rabbit Valley near Fruita, Colorado for a Mountain States Cup race. Since this one of our most memorable biking destinations we were all quite excited to race there. After working in the U's ER until midnight on Friday, I crashed at my friend Amy's place in the SLC for a few hours before jumping in her sweet new Subaru for its maiden road trip, new bike rack and all!

We arrived in a sunny, yet windy Fruita for a pre-ride. The looming rain clouds chased us the entire 2 hours of pre-ridding, but we escaped the rain and enjoyed the scenery. The race course snakes around the edges of mesa tops which overlook the Colorado river. This is one of many reasons I love to ride my bike in Fruita, the views are amazing and never ending.

One of the few awesome views in Rabbit Valley

Starved from our long drive and ride we headed toward Grand Junction to meet up with the Davis's and Foss's for dinner at the Ale House. Cool thing about racing during the Fruita Fat Tire Festival...lots of stuff going on. Bad thing about racing during the Fruita Fat Tire Festival...lots of people enjoying all the stuff going on! In case you weren't aware, mountain biking and beer go together like peas and carrots! Therefore, any place called the Ale House that has beer tasting during a mountain bike festival is going to be beyond packed. Good thing the world's greatest beer store was located just a few doors down from the restaurant because we had about an hour to wait before our table was ready. This beer store has a huge walk-in cooler with beer from every neck of the woods. It was so fun to walk around and look at all the flavors and labels. After we combed the place with a fine-toothed comb, between the six of us I think we left with about 100 beers! Chad was in heaven!!

We woke to more sun and wind for the race on Sunday. I was excited and ready for a race to go well. The race started fast on the flat double track and before I knew it we were 10 miles into the 32 mile loop. When I reached the only long climb of the race around mile 12 or so the leaders were in sight just a few seconds ahead. The climb took us atop a mesa which was covered with whoops from the moto riders which made it difficult for me to find a pedaling rhythm and taxed my legs more than I expected. By then the top 3 girls were soon out of my sight but I continued to push knowing that I would soon have a descent that would allow a little time for recovery. This was the only section of trail that I hadn't pre-rode the day before and it proved to be more challenging that I had anticipated. There were a ton a little drops, rough rocky sections, and Juniper trees jutting into the trail that grabbed at my handlebars. The Junipers took a few victims including one of the expert men riding just in front of me who caught his handlebar on a branch and it caused him to endo down a little 2-foot drop. Ouch! 

By the time I hit mile 20 my legs were screaming at me to slow down! I made sure to keep the guy in front of me close and push through the last section. The last 5 miles started with lots of downhill sections but I knew the last 2 miles were going to be tough because it was a long flat or false-flat ATV road with a steep popper-hill right near the end, just in case your legs hadn't suffered enough. I came across the finish line in fourth place, 7 miles behind the winner Teal Stetson-Lee. My bike worked perfectly and I felt pretty good with my performance. That's what I was looking for so I guess mission accomplished! 

I still feel like I have a long way to go on my fitness level but there just aren't enough hours in the day to get where I want to! Oh well, only 3 months left of school and until August 5th I'm concentrating on making the most of the time I do have and having fun riding my bike! 

Amy enjoying some time off from clinic and riding the trails on her Jamis!

Bike Lessons from Coach John Wooden

The people who turn out best are those people who make the best out of the way things turn out. --Coach John Wooden

A great section of flowy descent with banked corners at the Utah State Championship Race

Last weekend I finally got to stay home and race...well sort of. I only had to drive one and a half hours to race instead of the twelve hour trip we've done routinely over the last month or so. A new, well-organized, and fun series known as the Utah Championship Series launched its first race last Saturday at Lambert Park in Alpine, Utah. It was a circuit-type race consisting of four laps on about a 3.5 mile loop. It was similar in distance to the UCI sanctioned races that I have raced as part of the ProXCT series. However, the course was much different, in a good way! It started with a redline, full-throttle climb followed by a swooping descent with banked turns and all! The course circled around through a fun rocky section and back to the start/finish. The womens' field was not well represented for some reason. Only Sarah Kaufmann, KC Holley, and I stood at the start line. Too bad for those who couldn't make it, because they missed out on a great course! Anyway, the race started just as I expected with a hurried pace up the climb. My legs were ready for a break by the time we hit the top and the three of us were pretty much grouped together amongst a few of the expert men who managed to catch us early on. Sarah and I had ridden wheel to wheel through about 3/4 of the first loop when disaster struck! Near the mid-point of the loop I complained out loud about the sudden onset of shifting issues. Turns out my rear derailleur was jumping around because my rear wheel was moving about. This usually happens when an inexperienced rider fails to adequately tighten the rear skewer. Or, in my case, when I seemingly checked EVERYTHING on my bike to ensure proper functioning...everything except the rear skewer that is! In the middle of the rocky section, my rear wheel struck a rock just right and became dislodged. Thankfully, the wheel stopped rotating fairly abruptly and didn't come completely off. And furthermore my speed at that particular time was pretty slow. So simply put, I came to a halt and looked down at my skewed rear wheel not fully realizing that I was very lucky to escape injury. After a vocal outpouring of disgust, I struggled with the wheel and chain to replace it in the rear dropouts while using extra care to tightly secure the skewer in place. By then both Sarah and KC were no where in sight. I tried to take some deep breaths and prepare myself for a tortuous game of catch-up. It was not until the latter half to the final lap did I catch a glimpse of KC but was unable to reel her in before the finish line.

Sarah with her enormous check!!

Both my father and my college basketball coach were fans of the late UCLA basketball coach John Wooden. He therefore became a hero of mine too. Not so much for his unmatched basketball success, but more for his insightful theories about living a success life and being a good member of society. Both Coach Wooden and Coach E believed proper preparation was the key to success. One of Wooden's most famous quotes is "Failing to prepare is preparing to fail". Boy has that been resonating with me after the two avoidable mechanicals I've had this year. Odd, how those simple lessons are applicable to so many things in life!!

So to help me prepare a little better my friend, riding partner, mentor, and cycling guru Chad Davis offered to make a checklist of sorts. A quick run through to do before each race that hopefully will become routine after a few races. When I played basketball I had a pre-game routine and free throw routine... I need a pre-race, bike check routine! Chad chuckled when I dumped my sorrows upon him and he made me feel better when he told me that his coach had to give him a checklist after he experienced a slew of mechanical mishaps one season.

All these crashes and mechanicals are becoming all too frequent. I've begun to feel self-conscious that some people will start seeing them as excuses. They are coming to an end! Sarah tells me I have paid my dues to the bike gods and good karma is coming my way. And I'm doing my best to learn every bolt, screw, dial, skewer, etc to check so that my pre-race preparation is done before EVERY race! Because as coach Wooden says "Don't make excuses. Your friends don't need them and your foes won't believe them."

This coming weekend I will have a chance to try out my new routine. I'm headed to Fruita, CO to race the Rabbit Valley Rally, a Mountain State Cup Series race. Along side of me will be friends Chad and Tricia Davis, both banks of never-ending bike and training knowledge; as well as Amy Arriola, my emotional stalwart while we suffer through racing and the last few months of PA school together.

Sea Otter Recap

Everyone always told me Sea Otter was a huge event, but WOW! I was totally amazed by how many people attend and the multiple activities that are simultaneously occurring. The venue was completely packed with vendors, media, racers, spectators, etc. The other thing everyone warned me about was the infamously cold, wet weather that usually graces the Sea Otter goers. Quite to my surprise, the weather was pretty good. Beautiful sunshine the entire time and temps in the 60's with a cool ocean breeze that was chilly at times, but for racing it was perfect. Northern California will always have a special place in my heart from the countless fun times I spent in the bay area and Sac-town with my aunt Mikan, but Monterey/Carmel...oh my! The green rolling hills overlooking the ocean is an amazing sight. It was no accident that they chose the Laguna Seca area for this grand event.

Sea Otter Bridge

The weekend actually started on Wednesday with Brandon and I once again loading up the trusty Suby-Ru for another long road trip. After dropping off our pooches to their doggy-sitters (thanks to my mama, Sara and Brett) we made the 13 hour jaunt across windy Nevada to NorCal! We arrived at the team house in Seaside  to pretty much fall into bed. Thursday morning we made our usual Trader Joe's stop then made our first attempt at the Otter madness! I'm pretty sure that the biggest challenge of Otter is parking. You'd think that by driving a giant Sprinter van with Team Jamis plastered on the side would be a dead give away that we were not spectators but participants! Never the less, we were sent to three different lots before we were "allowed" to park the damn thing! We finally did some pre-riding on the dirt portion of the XC course which was basically the short track course. I was warned that the XC course had some road sections, but I was shocked to find out that probably 1/3 of it was on the road!

Since the pro women were racing the first stage of their race, Brandon and I decided to watch our god friend Nicky and her Primal/Map My Ride teammates race the crit. It was nice to chat with Nicky at the Primal tent afterwards since we hadn't seen each other for awhile. The day passed us by quickly, I felt like I had done nothing but run around all day so we decided to head back to the house and relax.
Its so nice to have a kitchen while on the road. We were able to stay in, cook, and have dinner with my teammate Thomas Turner, and Jamis gurus Sal and Tim; all of whom Brandon and I had just met that day.

Friday morning was short track day! Racing short track the day before XC was a new experience for me.  In the two previous Pro XCT races, XC was first. In hindsight, I liked this much better. It allows me to get the jitters out during ST for the next day's XC. Because Otter is such a big deal for sponsors and media, EVERYONE is there. The start list was packed with superstars--nothing new from Fontana and Bonelli! To make the race even more challenging, the course was really short and a little bit interesting due to some sections having only one good line for the 30-some odd riders to negotiate. I new the first corner was going to be trouble. I was a sharp left hand, uphill, off-camber turn immediately after a wide fast section. The upper part of the turn was in deep, mushy, muddy grass. The lower side of the turn was dry but more technical. I knew the group was going to explode there because the first 10 or so girls were going to ride it clean but a crash here was inevitable! My call up was surprisingly good, I'm not sure how it happened, but hey I'll take it! I was mid pack at the start and chose to take the lower dry section of the corner. It was no surprise when the race came to a screeching halt at the first corner and I was off my bike running the first hill. I couldn't help but chuckle out loud! I rode as hard as I could, but after a very short 9 minutes, the race officials began pulling riders. Seriously!?! Thirty-some riders started this race and after nine minutes only 12 girls were allowed to finish the race. The short course and the crash at the first corner allowed the leaders to circle around too quickly so lapped-traffic was an issue quicker than usual. In short, that was the most expensive ten minutes I've ever spent on a bike and the shortest race I've ever done!

Call-ups at the start of STXC

Saturday was XC and I was excited to be on my new 26" hard tail. It was my first race (well unless you count the 10 minutes the day before) on that bike and my first race on a hard tail too. I figured since the course had so much pavement and fire road I wouldn't be missing my dually. Unlike the day before, my call-up was nearly last. Damn those UCI points! Oh well, since we started with a long road section, there was plenty of room to move up and the group stayed together until we hit the first off-road section. I figure Kathy Sherwin's wheel was better than most so I did my best to follow it until the first gated S-turn. Man am I glad I followed Kathy! Once the group got off the road and on the grassy section, there were two trenches that ran across the entire track. They were only about a foot wide, but they were major wheel-eaters if you missed timed the bunny-hop. As I was tethering myself to Kathy's experienced wheel I heard the sound of carbon mashing to my left. As I looked over I saw bodies and bikes airborne! Whew, its about time it wasn't me involved in the crash! I found myself in a good group the as we rounded the second of seven laps. I was feeling good and was very happy with my placement. But, all things must come to and end! Even though Nicky had reminded me the day before to use my road tactics, I let myself get gapped off the group just enough that by the time we hit the road section I was too far off to catch the fast moving group. Those of you who know anything about road riding know that one person left out in the wind will NEVER catch a group! They just continued to gain speed as I worked twice as hard to keep them in sight. BIG MISTAKE! Basically, I screwed myself by committing the cardinal sin of road racing--falling of the back! For two laps a tried to play catch-up while I rode the road section alone in no man's land. The one break I did catch came by pure luck! Georgia Gould had flatted a couple of laps into the race. On the road section of lap 5 she caught me and another rider. I jumped on her wheel and enjoyed a free pull to the group ahead of me as we hit the dirt. Then I watched as she effortlessly rode me off! Well, it was nice while it lasted! Unfortunately by the time I got to the group, it had broken up quite a bit since lap 3. I was able to hang with them and even pass a couple of riders. By the last lap I was blown! I gave it my all chasing Sarah Kaufmann but in the end had no gas left in the tank. Another lesson learned. I can honestly say that this is the first race of the year that I had a chance to make or break my own race. This course favored riders like me because it kept groups together longer due to the long road sections.

Despite the fact my error was a race breaker, I learned...once again! And I made it through the weekend without a crash or mechanical. All-in-all I had fun, I'm no longer a Sea Otter rookie, my family was there to see me race, and I have another big race under my belt. If I can just continue to improve and not make the same mistakes twice, hopefully my name will move up the list on those paper results!

Pre-XC at the Jamis tent

We finished up the long day with a party hosted by Jamis's owner, Karen. It was held at a beachfront house on Ocean Ave in Carmel! AMAZING! I got to hang with such an amazing group of people and talk and laugh until early hours of the morning! The food was fantastic and I had no problem enjoying some wine! I couldn't help but smile as I took a moment to absorb the situation and remember how lucky I am to be part of Team Jamis!

Team Jamis ride in Santa Cruz

The weekend was capped off by a team ride in Santa Cruz and some team photos. What an amazing experience riding through the redwoods--even though I was on a hard tail! I couldn't imagine being able to ride those trails everyday. Hopefully I can get my hands on some of the photos, however unless you can ride the trails yourself, photos just can't do it justice. It was really fun to see all the guys outside of the competition scene and just hang out and free ride. I can't believe the guys didn't fall over laughing when the Santa Cruz "troll bridge" swallowed my front wheel and caused a ridiculous endo! I would say that they were just being polite gentlemen and not kicking a damsel in distress while she was down...but let's be honest, I've spent enough time with these guys to know they just waited until they got in the van to bust out laughing! I'm so glad I've have such good teammates!! : )  What happens in Santa Cruz stays in Santa Cruz, right guys?!!

Santa Cruz riding! Just above the infamous "Troll Bridge"

Off to Sea Otter

Well it has been an incredibly long 3 weeks since my last race at Fontana. I've managed to stay healthy for the most part and have been finalizing the last couple of tweaks on my bike. In addition, I've been putting in some  quality time pedaling. Despite quite a bit of rainy weather, the Shoreline trails have ranged from a few mud puddles here and there to amazingly tacky and fast. The road bike has also been out a bit due to the Rooster's/Biker's Edge team starting their group rides, a perpetual torture fest week after week chasing the Cat1/2 roadie guys!

A few of the local O-Town riders out for the weekly group ride. Don't worry, I didn't make my cute dog chase us. He just likes to pose for pictures!

I'm feeling well and hoping that all crashes and mechanicals are behind me and I've received an outpouring of support and well-wishing from my friends and family after my last sob-story post! How could I not feel good going into this weekend? I'm pretty excited to be submerged in the famous Sea Otter environment. I've always wanted to make the trip to Monterey as a spectator so its pretty cool to finally be attending.

I'm also pretty excited to have my dad in the mix of spectators! Oddly, he has never seen me race a mountain bike. He was exposed to cyclocross in his own backyard last fall at Moose Cross in Victor, Idaho but because of his busy summer work schedule and "life's curve balls" we've both had the last couple of  years, it has just never happened. He also sounded pretty excited when we talked on the phone today, but I think he is a little giddy about the "conveniently" close proximity to Pebble Beach golf course! He is after all a golf pro jonesin' for warm weather as the everlasting Winter continues to dump snow in Jackson.

So its back in the car for our third trip to California in about a month's time. It's pretty sad when I drive to Las Vegas now I think the seven hour drive is "short". Speaking of Vegas, I just got back from a road trip there about 48 hours ago. A few of my Rooster's/Biker's Edge buddies went down to compete in the Xterra West Championships and I figured I would tag along and get out of the rain to ride in the sunshine. On Saturday I rode at one of my faves, Blue Diamond. I met up with my friend and fellow racer Erica Tingey and her hubby for a morning ride. It was most enjoyable to ride those fabulous trails in such great company! Later that afternoon I caught up with the triathletes to pre-ride the Xterra course. I'll be politically correct and just say it was less enjoyable than Blue Diamond...much less. Not because of the company with which I rode, but because of the terrain--I'll leave it at that! Those of you who have participated in that race know what I mean!

Erica and I at the top of Techno

On Sunday morning as the Tri-geeks took the plunge into the freezing cold Lake Las Vegas, I mounted my trusty road bike for a spin around Lake Mead. It was nice to spend a little time soaking up the desert sun, listening to some music, and not having to worry about cars speeding by. Since it was fairly early and cold by Vegas standards, there were very few people on the perfectly paved bike path which made for sightings of jackrabbits and coyotes. One of the best sights however, were blooming cacti everywhere. Spring is such a great time to visit the desert! After my calming stroll, I returned mentally refreshed and ready to cheer on my friends as they crossed the finish line one by one. I felt quite content as we made the "short" seven hour drive home!

Lake Mead

Feeling both mentally and physically refreshed after my long three week break from racing, I once again have high hopes for the Sea Otter races. Yet another new race to add to the list! I'm looking forward to meeting some of my other teammates as well as some of the Jamis folks that Jason speaks about so often. I just hope I eventually get used to the pace of whirlwind race weekend trips dispersed throughout my medical career!

So Cal NOT So Nice!

Another long road trip to California done! This time we went for the 2nd Pro XCT race of the year held in Fontana. I was definitely ready for some redemption after my performance at Bonelli Park. With my hip healing up well and my sniffing nose and cough all gone, I headed back to So Cal with certain expectations. Brandon and I jumped into the loaded Subaru after work on Thursday and began the long haul. We drove until late in the night and finally could go no further than lovely Barstow, CA! After oatmeal and a chai latte from the trusty Starbucks we trudged on through the misty rain that settled itself into the San Bernardino valley and finally reached our hotel in Ontario. Rotem and Adam had arrived the night before and we all joined up to head over for registration and pre-riding. Being the greenhorn, I had no idea what to expect from this race course or how it would handle the rain. Turns out the rain was a good thing, it made the dirt nearly perfect. I suited up and was ready to rid my legs of the 10 hour drive I had done the night before. Rotem, a great teammate and overall nice guy, offered to show me the ropes on the first lap. He warned me prior to our departure that the climbing started near the beginning of the loop and that it was steep. Boy, I sure did under estimate his definition of 'steep'! After about 5 minutes in, I was in my granny gear "warming up" on about a 20% grade. Rookie mistake #1 of the weekend!

Ok so right off the bat I know that this climb is going to be a giant cluster on the first lap and my position is going to be key. I put that in my mental file of "important things to remember for tomorrow's race". Once we got to the top of the monster climb the trail had a few little rollers followed by a long fun descent. I discovered by surprise that there were two short but very steep shots down sand covered rock that could turn into trouble if I wasn't paying attention. Point #2 for tomorrow's mental file. Other than that, the dirt was tacky and really fun. Thanks to Rotem pointing out a few better lines and the rain calming down a potentially sandy mess, I was feeling pretty excited for the race. I had carefully made the necessary mental notes and was stoked to have a good spot on the call up list. The start list was stacked with the usual "A-listers", but for this race I was more focused on my personal goals and less star-struck than at Bonelli. My nerves were already way more controlled and this course felt way more comfortable.

I slept like a baby and was feeling good on Saturday morning, ready for self redemption. Thankfully, breakfast went down much easier than 2 weeks ago at Bonelli. Amazing how much just getting one race under my belt helped the nerves. Call ups began and I was second row...much better than dead last like Bonelli! I couldn't help but smile, it seemed like so many things that just weren't quite right at the Bonelli race seemed to be great here in Fontana! This was going to be a good race day!

Start of Lap 1

The start whistle sounded and we were off. I held my position as best as I could remembering the 1st important point--position will be key on this first climb! Then, I made rookie mistake #2 of the weekend- I got behind the wrong wheel! Here we were on the first pitch of the long climb and I saw Carolyn and Sarah take an alternate line on the right side. For a split second I considered following but I stayed the course. Crap, wrong decision! I chose the line of girls who were rubbing tires ultimately causing all of us to clip out of our pedals and begin pushing our bikes! Ahhhh, how could I do this? This was one of the keys to my race, hold your position! As much as I told myself to "stay calm, its really early" I could feel my sense of urgency rise when I looked up to see the train of leaders nearing the top. I finally made it back on my bike and managed to climb a bit more only to get caught in traffic again. Erica Tingey and I had both gotten caught this time...2 rookies frantically scraping our way to the top. I couldn't help but laugh after the race when Sarah, Erica, and I sat around recapping our races and Erica jokingly had to remind herself during a suffer-fest that this was no I-Cup race!  Once again, I got a big fat 'welcome to the pros' reminder! We finally got to the top and got to breathe for 2 seconds while we enjoyed some fast flowy descents. Somewhere during the second lap I realized that my shifting was off a bit. It got worse and worse and by the time I got to the descent on the third lap, the shifter for my rear derailleur was able spin a 360 without changing gears-meaning I had 2 gears--Hard and hardest! Rookie mistake #3 of the weekend: Know your equipment and make sure it all works! All the things that had been going well at the beginning of the race had done a 180 and now not much was going right. Problem was, the things that were going wrong, were mostly self-inflicted! I jumped off my bike once I hit the feed/tech zone. Brandon looked at me in dismay. "What?" he blurted out! "I have no shifting. Do you have a tool?" I yelled back! I stood there hoping that from the time I left him at the start til now, he had underwent some transformation from supportive husband to super mechanic! No such luck, even the couple of mechanics who had stuck around the pit had no idea how to fix the problem. We did a run though of all the things we did know how but we could only get the derailleur to move up by a gear or two. There was NO WAY I could climb that hill for the 4th time in that hard of gear. I had to granny it the time before. A race official approached and asked what my status was. I looked at Brandon who was just as disappointed as I. "I'm out, I guess" was the only thing I could say.

Seriously! I had never experienced this in my 3 years of riding...not being able to finish due to crashing, mechanicals, or just plain being lapped by faster riders. We fortunately ran into a friend of ours in one of the team tents, who after tinkering with my bike for a few minutes figured out what had gone wrong. I simple screw had come loose. I DNF'd for a screw-I'm so stupid! He tried to make me feel better by saying that he had never seen this and we wouldn't have known how to fix it anyway. I thanked him and made my way to the car. Disappointment and discouragement! No other way to put it! I shed a few tears, took some deep breaths, and took in the encouraging words from my friends Sarah and Erica. Ok, I've had my crash and mechanical for the year! What I really needed was to finish a race-outright.

Sunday came along and my legs felt pretty fresh considering I only did 3 laps the day before. Goal for the day: finish the race! No mechanicals, no crashes, and don't get pulled! Just finish and not in last place.  I had challenge ahead of me once again starting in last place due to my DNF the day before, and on a course with little room to reposition yourself. But, mission accomplished. I did finish and not in last place. Though not a stellar performace, I finished. I'm officially 0 for 2 on finishing XCO races and 1 for two on short track. I have 3 weeks until Sea Otter, the next Pro XCT. I have a lot of work to do until then. I have to get faster, figure out how to turn off my pain receptors in my legs, and get back to being comfortable on my bike! In the meantime, I'll race the second I-Cup race in Hurricane. I'm hoping it will be a little like comfort food! A comfortable place and the friends with whom I learned to race.

Looking Back but Focused Forward

I've been looking back at the Pro XCT #1 race after having a couple days to digest the whole experience. I must say after reading Jason's post on the Team Jamis website (see link on the left) about the weekend, I couldn't have said it myself. So instead of trying, I'll steal a few of his lines that wrap it up perfectly. 

"Every race is a priority. Not every race can be a top goal but there are no throwaways when it comes to expectations and desire to perform, to push yourself, and to achieve.

So whether its your first pro race ever (for new recruit Kelsy), first XC with a new team (Ben), a wake up call that you’re getting old (Sager) or simply your first XC of the year in your new national champ kit (Rotem) expectations are high. When you don’t meet them – be it from a paper results stand point, or from a personal desire to push yourself – there’s a let down. Not a loss of momentum, but just not the instant feedback we all want as products of modern instant satisfaction.Because no matter how you end up, on paper or within your own journey, its hard work out there."  - Jason Sager    Thanks Jason! 

Start of the Bonelli short track race

Furthermore, on Sunday while preparing for the short track race I received a text from my dad (who has just discovered the text message!). I was once again a ball of nerves and still had a little hangover of disappointment from the previous day's result, but parents are really good at keeping things in perspective. His text simply read: "Eat up everything you are experiencing. Success is sometimes just doing it while giving your best". Just like his subtle messages given in the past, he once again reminded me that the journey is far more meaningful than the destination. This is something I try to hold close to my heart for my life in general, so much that I had a symbol inked on my body for a daily reminder. But as mentioned in the last post, as Brandon's loyal support is sometimes taken for granted while things are easy, the details of achievement (AKA the destination) sometime steal the focus of the big picture.

I guess the simplest result of all this deep thinking comes down to this: I didn't meet my expectations in the XC race, I did better than expected in the super D, and I crashed out of the short track race. My first pro races are under my belt, I learned multiple things in each race, and I'm doing the best I can with my current situation. But I'm not lowering the bar when it comes to personal expectations and therefore need to continue to improve my fitness and bike handling skills to acquire that coveted paper result and at the same time remember keep my focus toward the next race without forgetting to take a look around to appreciate the scenery!

Nurses Jason and Brandon cleaning up my new battle wound!

Short tack wound, Day 2