RR Fontucky WS #3 (Feb 9-10) XC, Super D & DH practice pics

[denmother]

Results have been posted!

[Winston]

That or cowboy hats:


Doublewide takes fifth in Sport (P) DH. His first mtb race ever. MO-mentum!

Originally Posted by RacinJason

I knew the orange was Key.

[J_Sims]

I think I need an Orange Cowboy Hat...

[gil_caz]

check out my podium pic

i swear there is no photoshop on this, just paint.

[gil_caz]

and jason ill take that cookie.

[Mudman]

Originally Posted by gil_caz

check out my podium pic

i swear there is no photoshop on this, just paint.

haha man thats awsome!

[foofighter]

Originally Posted by queenwilhelmina

Friday: I took a half day off work so Jason and I met up with Denmother, Roger, and Carl (Pho’dUp) in Fontucky so we could pre-ride the XC course. About 2 minutes into the ride, I got a flat. Not the best way to start a ride. After fixing it, we got rollin’ at a nice easy pace just to check out the course. I liked the course, but I was a little worried about racing on it. To me it seemed fun to ride on, but not necessarily something I was excited to race for my first time.

Everything went OK until the very steep, loose section where you turn around to head back to the finish. I was apparently going to fast and lost control at the bottom and landed in some lovely sharp weeds and scratchy brush. My leg and elbow were scraped and my confidence bruised. I decided to give it another try, and thankfully I pulled it off the 2nd time. And according to the others, my drift even looked pretty cool.

After our ride, I got to meet Mr. Bob Burnes and watch him give some 4x pointers to Nancy and Denmother. I really want to see those two race 4x!!
We went out for Mexican food after the ride (1st of 3 times this weekend), and Nancy and Roger were nice enough to donate an Ignitor 2.1 tire to replace my small block 8 (which is not the best tire for Fontana). Thanks again you guys!

Saturday: Race day. I wanted to go home. I was nervous, I was intimidated, and there was absolutely nothing fun about this whole process. I learned a few lessons:

1. Just wear the damn camelback next time (if there is a next time). Trying to survive on a hot day with a bottle of Heed/h2o mix just doesn’t cut it. It makes you thirstier.
2. Beginners (like me) should race in Beginner. Not Sport.
3. Apparently I stopped way too much to let people go by me. I cannot stand the feeling of holding someone up behind me, so I constantly stopped to let people go by.
4. People like to say racing is fun, but it is not fun. It’s stressful and painful and I hated every minute of it.
I really wanted to call it quits after the first lap because I was SOOOO thirsty for plain water, but seeing all my friends and STR peeps cheering for me kept me going (thanks guys!). I really hated it though.
It was fun watching the 4x race and the kids race was really cute.
Mexican food for dinner again, round 2.

Sunday: Ahhh much better. I didn’t have to race. I got to be a spectator in the shade. There were a lot more crashes today than the past races. I was worried about Gary when I saw him get tossed between those rocks, but it seemed like he was ok, just a little banged up. (But you were in full control – right Gary)?

Jason did great today, which makes me happy because when he's happy, I'm happy.
Mexican food for dinner, round 3. Aye carumba!

Thanks again to everyone who cheered for me during my race. It was nice seeing some familiar faces while on the course too. Maxwell was my coach for a few minutes on the roly section (thanks Maxwell!) and Jeff was encouraging also (thanks Jeff!) All you guys kept me going for sure!

i gotta commend you for trying it out at least. At least now you have a taste of it and maybe next time it wont be so bad...

I dont think i'll ever compete...because riding for me is about fun...when i start to compete (im very competitive) it stops being fun and that's not why i started riding.

Great job though for sticking it through the entire race.

[cbHarping]

I checked out the results - apparently no one knows how to spell the pro women's names.

[BobBurnes]

Originally Posted by foofighter

i gotta commend you for trying it out at least. At least now you have a taste of it and maybe next time it wont be so bad...

I dont think i'll ever compete...because riding for me is about fun...when i start to compete (im very competitive) it stops being fun and that's not why i started riding.

Great job though for sticking it through the entire race.

I second that queenwilhelmina! Awesome job! Drinks on me for you and RacinJason next we meet!

[denmother]

Bob, where's the photos from Friday practice???? I need to prove that I actually rode the 4x course!!!

[sauce]

Well, it was a pretty bad race for me. I practiced on my Nomad Saturday but couldn't get a complete practice run in, because Keith and I planned to do a CC training ride. So we left early and did his training ride. My legs totally blew up on the training ride wherein I unwisely chose to ride my one-by-nine in the heat at fast-pace for me (one hour to Beak's and another 20-something minutes to Peasant's Peak). I got home totally shaky and sick and dehydrated and just tried to sleep and elevate my legs. When I woke up Sunday morning my legs were like rubber. In practice I just didn't have any strength. I wasn't wearing my body armor when I crashed hard in the rock garden. I landed on my left breast and cracked a rib. I didn't have time to clean up the blood or gunk - just threw on my flack jacket and lined up for my race run. The pain kept growing. My legs were shaking. I had no strength in my left arm. So I just took it easy on my race run, and luckily the rock garden went really smoothly (ironically). The rest of the sections were hard for me to pedal in, so I finished with a pretty miserable time of 2:24. I think I should have ridden the Nomad given the state of my legs, and I know I can't do hard rides on Saturday pre-race anymore. Bad choices - gotta wear armor and rest more. All-in-all it was pretty demoralizing to go from middle-of-the pack pro to last place (9th). I'm pretty bummed and tired and hurting a lot in my ribs. Keith taped them up, and I've been taking lots of Advil, but I am wondering when I can ride again without experiencing horrible pain. Might just try out the trainer I just bought and see how it feels. Well, better decisions next time I guess! :-)

[BFloFoxRider.]

Originally Posted by sauce

Well, it was a pretty bad race for me. I practiced on my Nomad Saturday but couldn't get a complete practice run in, because Keith and I planned to do a CC training ride. So we left early and did his training ride. My legs totally blew up on the training ride wherein I unwisely chose to ride my one-by-nine in the heat at fast-pace for me (one hour to Beak's and another 20-something minutes to Peasant's Peak). I got home totally shaky and sick and dehydrated and just tried to sleep and elevate my legs. When I woke up Sunday morning my legs were like rubber. In practice I just didn't have any strength. I wasn't wearing my body armor when I crashed hard in the rock garden. I landed on my left breast and cracked a rib. I didn't have time to clean up the blood or gunk - just threw on my flack jacket and lined up for my race run. The pain kept growing. My legs were shaking. I had no strength in my left arm. So I just took it easy on my race run, and luckily the rock garden went really smoothly (ironically). The rest of the sections were hard for me to pedal in, so I finished with a pretty miserable time of 2:24. I think I should have ridden the Nomad given the state of my legs, and I know I can't do hard rides on Saturday pre-race anymore. Bad choices - gotta wear armor and rest more. All-in-all it was pretty demoralizing to go from middle-of-the pack pro to last place (9th). I'm pretty bummed and tired and hurting a lot in my ribs. Keith taped them up, and I've been taking lots of Advil, but I am wondering when I can ride again without experiencing horrible pain. Might just try out the trainer I just bought and see how it feels. Well, better decisions next time I guess! :-)

you beat adrian (foesnasty's) time i think HAHHA

[allison]

Originally Posted by BFloFoxRider.

you beat adrian (foesnaty's) time i think HAHHA

It was faster than my time, and I actually thought I did okay. But, times are subjective. Fast for one person is slow for another, and slow for one person is fast for another.

How Adrian lost 20 seconds is beyond me, though.

[tkblazer]

Originally Posted by denmother

Results have been posted!

wow a lot of PRO men showed up to race... sweet

[Mudman]

Originally Posted by sauce

The rest of the sections were hard for me to pedal in, so I finished with a pretty miserable time of 2:24.

I would have gladly traded you times. My fall in the rock garden slowed me down a considerable amount... I got 00:03:17.84
hope you feel better though!

[BigHOuse]

I'm lookin for some good photos of both Aaron Gwin and Kevin Aiello from last weekend? Anyone happen to catch some of these guys?

Thanks.

BH

[Winston]

Will do. 201A and 2E.

Pretty ironic that you and your brother both clocked in at 1:52.44.

Originally Posted by BigHOuse

I'm lookin for some good photos of both Aaron Gwin and Kevin Aiello from last weekend? Anyone happen to catch some of these guys?

Thanks.

BH