VQ & CC RR's???????

[mtnbikej]

Come on everyone....where are the RR's from all you VQ and CC riders. I did get to see you all when you came across the finish line, but didn't get to hear how you all did or what you all thought.

You have now had over 24 hrs to recover.......bring on the RR's.

mtnbikej

[LBmtb]

Here's my cliff's notes RR. Might add to it tomorrow.

Wasn't nearly as cold as I thought it would be. The wind kind of made up for the lack of cold though . My biggest fear was cramping or completely bonking so the whole race/ride I was 'pacing myself' and looking back at it I probably could have gone a little harder, especially towards the end. It was a bit hard to see at the very beginning but shortly into the blackstar climb vision wasn't a problem. The whole time I was kind of in awe at how big of a difference going from my almost 6" yeti to the 4" flux made on the uphill. Took it way easy on the main divide climbs for fear of burning out. Had a few chats with various people along the way. Motorway wasn't that bad on the flux and was still pretty fun. It was good seeing some friendly faces at the aid station. We had sort of an STR regrouping there.

Paved road was when the ass factor started to kick in. The chammy butter was doing it's job with the chaffing but the mileage and weight on the butt was starting to hurt. Note to self: don't fill up camelbak and possibly think about moving some of the liquids to bottles if I do this next year. Took a small break at the start of the dirt with craig and Jose. Us three ended up meeting back up at 4 corners where we had a good laugh. Jose was feeling some cramping going on and craig turns to him and goes "Jose, I'm starting to feel really shitty about this but I put a rock in your camelbak." The look on Jose's face was priceless!! (craig was just kidding of course)

Legs still felt OK on the 2nd half of Maple and on the climb towards the peak. BUT, the ass factor was killing me. Maybe I just wasn't used to the bike or I had the saddle setup wrong - not sure. But the ass (not the legs) forced me to step off and walk a few times. Craig of course made up tons of time on me on the DH and passed me coming down upper holy jim. Had a quick chat with OMR at the bottom of upper holy jim and enjoyed the rest of the downhill. Was cool seeing Cathy and Dean at the bottom of holy jim. Post-ride brews, courtesy of the sauces were awesome! Didn't look up at my time as I was concentrating on where to ride and where to stop - will have to wait till it's posted to see it.

[Keith B]

Originally Posted by LBmtb

Jose was feeling some cramping going on and craig turns to him and goes "Jose, I'm starting to feel really shitty about this but I put a rock in your camelbak." The look on Jose's face was priceless!! (craig was just kidding of course)

OMG! I sooooo wish I could have seen the look on Jose's face . Good result guys

My RR coming up later

[Wrecker]

I rode, rode, rode...climbed, climbed, climbed....ran over someone, crashed (sorry Trekker), crashed George of the Jungle style....almost cried and would have quit, but had so much support from John and you guys cheering me, that it carried me through to the end.

I almost mirrored my CC time 2 yrs ago, which means that I beat my CC time by about 3 hours--woohoo! Next year I'm either volunteering, or sticking to the coup, unless I eat something bad

[pshloss]

Originally Posted by LBmtb

My biggest fear was cramping or completely bonking

Well, I guess that should have been a fear for me, too. But I was worried about making the last VQ cutoff having only made it by 15 minutes last year and having 1/2 hour less time this year (no early start). So I went pretty hard. Had a flat just before Motorway, which slowed me a little. Felt reasonably good until near the top of Santiago Peak (although Dell passed me about halfway up), where I felt a couple of mild leg cramps. Downhill was fine and got to the second Aid Station about 55 minutes before the cutoff. No problem, right? After 5 minutes, I started heading up. Was fine until the fireroad turned to singletrack and started getting steeper.

At that point, the legs just really went into cramp mode. At one point both legs cramped at the same time and I just stood on the trail frozen. A guy coming down stopped, which was cool, and offered me some electrolyte capsules. But I had just taken some at the aid station and it was obviously too late. I think I just didn't drink enough fluids. Anyway, pedaled and walked my way up to Horsethief and made it about 10 minutes before the cutoff. A few minutes later, Chelle and her man came. We (the last group to make the cutoff) were all wondering if we were glad we made the cutoff or not. Our reward was going to be a big dose of punishment.

So after a few more minutes, I started The Trudge (I was listening to an old Frank Zappa song called Nanook of the North, about trudgin' across the tundra, mile after frozen mile. Maybe a different song next time...). I had to stop about 10 times or more to catch my breath on the way up, but eventually made it to the Burger Stand in the Sky. After some water and a fig newton I headed to the top of Trabuco still cramping whenever I pedaled hard. Downhill was fine, and I even got a bit of a second wind on the fireroad on the way out and passed a few people. 9hrs 20 minutes.

It was my second time doing this. The hard part next year will be signing up, but I think I will. The thing that kept me going was knowing that I probably could do it. The human body can be pushed pretty hard.

Big ups to Chelle (aka Georgia of the Jungle) for finishing. I have a little bit of an idea of the pain she must have endured. Wow!

And thanks to Guero for the pump help and encouragement at the bottom of Silverado and to an unknown guy who gave me a spare tube. The positive vibes at the aid stations and of all of the volunteers really do seem genuine and I appreciated it a lot this year.

At the chow station, I saw Mario and asked him if it was possible to bonk and finish. He said yes. So I guess that's what I did.

Other highlights: no mud snow! great singletrack downhills. STR representing big time. Nice jerseys!

[Winger]

Did Counting Coup...
The ride was awesome! I expected to wear winter gloves & booties, but instead wore fingerless gloves. The start just kind of happened. At no time did I feel like I was being held back by someone ahead of me. I had a light and was amused by people following me for the light. As I started the Blackstar ascent, I looked back and could see the trail of lights coming through the darkness.

There were a few gusts of wind going up to Beek's, but once I hit Main Divide there were some crazy strong winds going on. I almost got blown off my bike a few times.

Motorway was fast...did a jump as I reached the aid station & got some applause. In my mind it was 3 feet of air, but I probably just broke the ramp & landed my crotch on the top tube. Frantically filled up water & threw a Cliff bar in my mouth, which I chewed for the next 20 mins (yuck). Motorway screwed my rear derailleur alignment so I spent the rest of the ride with major ghost shifting in every gear. Sucked!

Some girl in a Deathstar jersey passed me on the pavement so I pedaled a bit faster & thought of cheesy pick-up lines.

Pre-cramping started partway up Maple Springs so I relaxed a bit. Just after 4 corners a $5 bill floated across the trail in front of me, which I chased into the bushes to retrieve. Went to prove that I still had gas in the tank if I had motivation.

I briefly stretched my legs at Modjeska peak, rode through snow coming down from Santiago Peak. I didn't know about traction on snow so I applied my brakes hard and had full stopping so I flew downhill. Ch4os cheered for me at the top of Upper Holy Jim. Cleaned most of it.

I almost got taken out by a downed tree on Holy Jim, but barely stopped in time. As I dismounted for one of the rock gardens my leg totally locked in a cramp. Ow...pain. Trabuco road was like a freeway with all the cars.

I finally made the finish, started through their gateway and stopped at the timekeeper's tent...5 feet short of the finish line. Do'h! They called out 6, and I was like "No, I'm #345!".

Oh yeah...I got 6th place!!!! I was really hoping for a top 20 spot, so that totally made my day. Woo Hoo!!!!

...Then I flatted on the way to O'Neil. LOL!



Not to be a downer, but this bugged me for the race and I have to mention it somewhere. Rider #195....I saw you cut the trail on main divide before Motorway. It probably only saved you 15 or 30 seconds, but it was the principal of it. I hope you're proud of yourself.

[Keith B]

[SIZE=3][FONT=Arial]Things didn’t start well when I realized I’d left my helmet behind. With 25minutes to go to the start of the race I had to jump into Sarah’s Civic and high-tail it back to RSM. That little car flew like the wind blows! Hitting more than double the speed limit on Live Oak and touching 3 figure speeds on Santiago Canyon (whilst passing other cars with bikes on the back - Guess they were late too!) woke me up in a big way. [/FONT][/SIZE]
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[SIZE=3][FONT=Arial]By the time I got back to Blackstar everyone had gone and the moon was going down over the horizon. I ditched the knee warmers and some of the extra food I’d brought and jumped straight on the bike and nailed it. They’d already closed the gate at Blackstar and one of the motorbike riders told me they’d already started 5 or 10minutes ago. Big ringing the road section in the near dark was a bit mental as there are some dips and broken up sections. I caught the first few riders just before the start of the Blackstar climb and it had suddenly become light [/FONT][FONT=Wingdings][FONT=Wingdings]J[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial] I kept telling myself not to burn myself out and just stay calm. But that wasn’t so easy to do. I passed a lot of people and put in perhaps too much effort. Saw Annie Slowspokes and briefly slowed down to explain why I was starting late.[/FONT][/SIZE][SIZE=3][FONT=Arial] [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Arial]Hopefully I didn’t piss too many people off by weaving through their groups and squeezing by around the outside of turns. This was my 2nd CC and I’d decided to do it again to see if I could place and hit a best time. After the late start I knew I’d be kicking myself to say ‘well that guy finished 5mins ahead of me but I’d have beaten him’ so I made the decision to catch Miss Sauce and complete the rest of the ride together.[/FONT][/SIZE]
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[SIZE=3][FONT=Arial]Sarah’s knee was giving her trouble when I caught her up and we both stopped for slight seat height adjustments (didn’t have time to dial mine in) Coming round the corner to Beeks place was like riding into a tornado – not so good when you’re wearing contact lenses and there’s a dust storm. I found it best to look at the floor and close your eyes when ever the sand and dirt flew up. The ascent to [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Peasants[/FONT][FONT=Arial]Peak[/FONT][FONT=Arial] didn’t seem so bad in the early morning light and the strung out line of riders made it seem like we were all on some great adventure together. Is there some kind of universal constant that says the greater the number riders on the trail the less effect gravity seems to have?! Certainly felt that way. Conditions on the main divide were totally different than the week before – the trail was dry and very lose after the rain, making the downhills tricky, although most of the downhills involved you pedaling as the wind was so strong up there. Alot of Crossmax bladed spoke riders were shocked about the amount of wind the spokes catch - sketchy times! At least the muddy puddles of the week before had mostly gone. Sarah took a slight spill at the bottom of one of the downhill transitions and got a bloody knee which I’m sure didn’t add much to the whole knee pain experience. With blood dripping we continued on to Motorway. Some of the riders pulled over pretty sharpish when you came up behind them however this one guy who appeared to have an MP3 player going wouldn’t move over which was pretty frustrating. [/FONT][/SIZE]
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[SIZE=3][FONT=Arial]Great support from Bret and the STR folks at the bottom of Motorway and my friend Graham handed over another 2 bottles of liquid refreshment although I’d only drank 1 and bit thus far (No camelbak this year) A quick hit of perpetuem and some white lightning on Sarah’s chain (Thanks to Boomer and Alyssa for the lube) and we set off up Maple. This is usually where the pain sets in but today it all felt good – the weather was perfect we were meeting lots of friendly riders and the ride up to the dirt section seemed to fly by. Matt (OC Rider) came up and said Hi and I chatted to my friend Paul Georgie who was doing his 1st Vision Quest. I think Sarah’s seat was slipping down slightly and when we adjusted it we put it up too far which after another 2 miles had really stressed her knees. Another adjustment and some of the magic numbing cream and the cramp disappeared and it was back on with ‘Mission 6hrs 10mins’ [/FONT][/SIZE]
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[SIZE=3][FONT=Arial]There were plenty of snow patches up to 4 corners which I knew would mean snow and ice on the backside of Santiago but the first goal was heading up to Modjeska – we passed one of the Sho-Air girls here but hey it wasn’t Monique so lets not get too excited. Pace was good and there was only the final climb up to [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Santiago[/FONT][FONT=Arial] to go. The motorbike support guys were pretty good here coming up and asking how everyone was and whether we needed anything – top job guys! Passed a few more people before heading down and spotted Justin taking a quick food stop - Yo dude! The Main Divide descent down to Upper Holy Jim was indeed snowy, icy with the odd mud patch thrown in for good measure. Caught Sarah up and headed down to the UHJ descent. Said a quick Hi to ‘Mary’ and hit the singletrack descent – the trail had been in better shape but I was on a mission and passed 5 people and just let go of the brakes at the rocky sections, tiredness and bravery rarely go hand in hand but this seemed to work just fine! [/FONT][/SIZE]
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[SIZE=3][FONT=Arial]The drop at the top of lower HJ looked super chewed up compared with when Sarah, George and I hit it (literally! ) 2 weeks back. Didn’t fancy riding that today! One of the warriors guys told me about a downed tree on LHJ but didn’t explain where it was - they should have had someone there warning people. The guy I caught just before it nearly got decapitated but I stopped to warn Justin and Sarah who were just behind. The rest of HJ was a blast, passed loads of people and found it was quicker dabbing on the switchbacks rather than delectably getting around. The water crossings weren’t as full as I’d have thought and I rode a fair few of them - unlike last year. Saw 4 guys heading to ride up HJ – guys you sooooo picked the wrong day to try that! [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Arial]Said Hi to some Geoladders buddies and a Sho-Air friend on the final ride down Trabuco. The Trabuco trail to the finish was the usual high speed battering and passed by quickly – quick sighting of Bret out on a photography mission and the only thing left to decide was whether to beat Sarah to the line, let her take the line or finish together. We’d ridden the whole thing as a team ride so we decided to cross the line together – only problem being the finish bit was barely wide enough for 2 bikes so right on the line I braked due to close proximity to a table, I think they gave the place to Sarah but I recon she deserved it for soldiering through the ride with her bad knees that very nearly meant she didn’t race. Way to go trooper! I rode last years CC in 6hrs 40 and bettered that by 23mins this year. Super Mario had calculated Sarah would make the ride in 6hrs 10mins and was right on the money. Big thanks to the family Sauce for the cold beers after the ride – 1 [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Newcastle[/FONT][FONT=Arial] later and I felt really out of it. Tired, dehydrated and buzzed – only way to finish an epic ride . VQ training begins here ;-) haha! [/FONT][/SIZE]

[andy aka rut]

Originally Posted by Winger

Some girl in a Deathstar jersey passed me on the pavement so I pedaled a bit faster & thought of cheesy pick-up lines.

The woman in the Deathstar jersey is Tiffany. She is the current female singlespeed world champion. I believe she was the 3rd female overall. Behind Monique and Leslie (I believe.) Her husband Mike, also a singlespeeder, did an amazing 6:15 with two flats!!! He probably would have beaten fuzzy if it were not for the flats-but that's racing.

[ECOdork]

I was thinking about all my STR bros (& bro-ettes) riding in the VQ/CC this weekend. I was thinking about those not riding too who were probably saying something like, "I ain't riding that sh!t!!!"

A big rain storm closed the trails for me this weekend, but I did build a nice veggie/pepper/herb raised garden bed...

Keep those RR's coming so I can dream and imagine was it was like from 2000 miles away.

Wish I could have been there...
nice work guys!

BTW, the jerseys look freaking awesome! Can't wait to get mine!

[CalEpic]

First off I need to thank my wife for waking up so early in the morning to drop me and a few of the guys off at Blackstar. On the way to the start George says "Craig, I have a secret. I'm using Chamois Butter". I tell him I have the same secret boy was it a life saver.

The start at Blackstar was pretty wild in the dark. I saw a girl get tangled up and crash within 100 yards of the start. What a bummer way to start the race. Once on the ascent I was determined not to blow myself up by going too hard. That was tough when I was constantly being passed by girls. I had an OC Rider sighting on Blackstar. The boy had a broken chain. Not to worry, he soon passed me after repair.

Once up to Beeks, the wind was howling. It nearly blew me off the bike. I stopped for a gel and here come George, Dell, Jose and Matt. We exchanged pleasantries and were off for the part of the course I despise the most. I continued on my slow pace and continued to get passed. Occasionally I would pass someone but that was a rarity. Once to Motorway I was determined to make up some time and I let it rip. I think I passed 10 riders on the way down. All were very cool and let me by. (The best thing about my I9 rear hub is how loud it is. People in front know you're on their ass and pull over)

I reached the bottom of Motorway to see Bret's smiling face as well as Dell, George and Jose. This would be the last we saw of Dell until the end. One of the aid workers offered to help me fill the bladder on my Camelbak since I was struggling with getting the lid off. (This sucker always feels like it's attached with red loctite) Finally get the lid off and add the water - Thanks dude! Eat a Clif bar and I'm off. At this point my ass is already getting sore and I hate the paved climb up Maple Springs. This day it really sucked but again, I was really pacing myself. George passed me like I was standing still. Once to the dirt, I stopped again for a gel and Advil once more regrouped with George and Jose. The dirt portion of Maple Springs went quickly and before I knew it I was at 4 corners. More Advil. Again George and Jose made it about the same time so we stopped for a quick break. As George mentioned earlier, The trick on Jose was priceless. He was clearly feeling worked (so was I) so I told him I was really feeling bad about the trick I played on you. I put a rock in your Camelbak. The look on his face was classic. I think he was ready to throw me off the mountain. I laughed so hard I almost peed myself.

The last ascent up to Santiago Peak was tough for me. George was on and off the bike and it's the only way I could stay close to him. I decided to walk about 1/4 mile section just to relieve the pressure. My dislocated finger was really hurting at this point but I was determined to not let that bother me. Once I got to the top, it was a glorious feeling. I got a second wind knowing it was downhill from here. I put it in the big ring and let it rip.

Once on Upper Holy Jim I passed George and a bunch of people walking their bikes as I plowed through the rocks and drops. I stalled on one of the switchbacks and fell in the bushes. I laughed at myself, got up and hammered.

Once at Main Divide, It was nice to meet OMR. Thanks for the heads-up about the downed tree. It wasn't there on Thursday when I rode it and would have taken me out. That little uphill section after the drop in was torture. I pushed hard going down Holy Jim and again passed several people. One girl in front of me crashed hard but was ok. Had a Steppie sighting at the bottom gate and made my way to the check point in the parking area. Here I made a bonehead move. I forgot the ride ended at Trabuco Canyon road and I thought I was done. I was milling around putting Clif bars in my pocket, etc. When I see guys flying past like their hair's on fire I realize I'm not done yet! Son of a B1tch - I hop on my bike and big ring it for all I have left to the finish. I easily wasted 5 minutes screwing around.

My biggest thanks go to the Sauce family for the beer at the finish . Man did that hit the spot. Everyone regrouped at the bottom and a few of us went for BBQ grub and skipped the Oneill festivities.

What a day!

Craig

[Abui]

Originally Posted by mtnbikej

You have now had over 24 hrs to recover.......bring on the RR's.

mtnbikej

Who said 24 hours it is enough?

Last year I had great support from friends. This year they were remodeling a house so I was self-supported but the (long) drive to the start went smoothly and the weather looked fine so I was optimistic.

At the start gate I recognized Sauce and said hello. She was holding mp3's bike while he was elsewhere. When I asked about other STR's she said that Keith B had forgotten his helmet. I said that I had an extra. (fate would fix that). "Too late" she said, he had gone back.

I didn't have a light and would have preferred to go by moonlight but when there are lights you need a light. I eventually found a singlespeeder with a light (you know, spinning wildly then resting) and stayed on his tail. On Blackstar there is a puddle that should have name (Lake Blackstar?). As I went around, somebody who couldn't wait passed and cut me off at the trench. I missed him but not the trench so I tumbled. No harm, just loss of dignity and my guide.

The climb went smoothly, the fast racers were gone so I was just one with the crowd. I passed Sauce and mentioned that her seat looked too low, (bent knees, etc.) and I think she agreed with my free advice.

At higher altitude the wind was a pain. Headwinds that make you wish for a motor and sidewinds that make you wish for a 36-pound bike. Unfortunately I was a weight-weenie that day.

On the Main Divide one sweeping turn and the wind came together to cause another fall. I was a little stunned but people were there in a flash and I got up and they seemed relieved. That was Chelle talking, right? (After the ride I found my helmet had cracked.)

The rest of the ride to Aid #1 was uneventful, just that the bumps added to my headache. I seemed to be making progress, made Aid #1 at 8:18:43 (isn't GPS neat?). A few (7) minutes to hydrate and think (what's my name again?) and away. At the end of the pavement I saw ocrider standing but he didn't wait for me to catch up. What am I, sweep?

I passed him later as he was fixing a flat. Sub 9 was his goal so if I'm ahead ----

No major issues on the climb, I was controlling my pace (going slow enough) but my lower intestines were cooking. At Four Corners I got a roll of paper from the guys and continued. On the long level section it was time. I pulled over into the shade for a break. Things went pretty smoothly. Luckily there was snow in the shade. I augmented the paper with snowballs, talk about pucker factor!

It must have been then that ocrider passed me. Nothing much to report except the grind, I felt fine but didn't push. I wanted more reserve in the wind and cold. Upper Holy Jim would be fun on a good day but - I walked the bigger drops (headache). Lower Holy Jim was perfect I was feeling good and much faster than last year (where I barely made the cutoff going SS - with an early start). Some uphill riders slowed me a bit, hikers gave plenty of clearance (I need it folks).

Saw dstepper at the last water crossing (Hi) and made Aid #2 at 11:49:09 (GPS again ). They say a fresh rider can make the cutoff in 30 minutes, can a stale rider do it in 40:51? Up the trail that I've seen 3 times before, hoping that every turn is the last and then finally the checkpoint. Made it! ( ). But wait, that means I have a long walk ahead. (ugh).

I made the hamburger stand some time later, much later actually, 1 hr 15 min - should have been 45 minutes. And the downhill, cool until the rocky parts, every bump was felt. Flatted too. The final Trabuco road took 18 minutes, total time 9:56 at least breaking 10 hours. 44 minutes better than last year's mudfest. That Warrior DVD is so misleading - all that nice sweat.

[SScheetz]

This was my 3rd VQ on a single speed so I pretty much have my ride setup dialed in. I knew we would see several records broken since conditions were near perfect. I got off to a slow start and just hung in mid pack for the first couple of miles. My teammates were up in front with the fast group. For some reason I was really content to just chill up Blackstar. Near the top I decided it was time to turn it up a little. My effort felt useless against that ferocious wind. I caught up to Andy and pretty much rode the main divide with him. Andy is such great company it helped me ignore the annoying wind.

My strongest part of the day was climbing up Santiago. Here we were sheltered from the wind and I was making great time passing several on the way to the top. Just before Modjeska I finally caught up to one of my teammates. That’s when I discovered I was still holding back too much so I poured it on and did little sprints to the top.

The descent down Holy Jim is my favorite part of the whole ride. I crashed hard here last year so this year I just chilled and hung behind someone who was riding at a slightly slower pace than I would have done alone. I wasn’t racing anyone here at this point, just kick’n it and having fun.

At Aid Station 2 I caught up to another teammate who was ready to bonk. About the time I left the Aid Station all three of us were together. For me the race started here. I rode several sections of the lower Trabuco trail where in previous years I hiked it. On the long hike up West Horse Thief I actually got back in the saddle a few times and turned the cranks until nearly exploding. I made good time here and passed several more riders. Near the top I looked down and saw a teammate several switchbacks behind. I wasn’t sure if this was enough distance to stay ahead of him on the long descent where he could kick his bike into a high gear and smoke me to the finish. So I continued my hard charge to the top of Trabuco trail.

I descended as fast as I possible could on a rigid. My wrists took such a beating that I could barely hold the bar at the finish (mostly my left). I didn’t quite reach my goal of 6:30 hours. I probably should have started a little faster and pushed just a little more on the Main Divide. I ended up at 6:42. This year that was only good enough for 25th place.

[sauce]

Keith let me stay at his apartment, since it's only 15 minutes from the race (as opposed to 45-60 minutes). That was awesome; thanks Keith. And thanks for helping me prep the bike. I repaid him by logging onto his STR account and posting the "i wanna be a hucker" thread and the comment about Sarah kicking his ass. OOPS! This is why you never let a girl use your computer.

Keith forgot his helmet and headed back. I pedaled up to the front and was shocked to only see a handful of people there. Even Mario (mp3) was still at his truck. I chatted with Doug (trekker?). Then I talked to Mario a bit. All this sorta eased my nerves, and I found that I wasn't getting worked up pre-race like I did when I ran the LA marathon two years ago.

Then the race began. I could see fine, even though I had no light. My seat was ridiculously low (felt like a kid on a bmx bike), but I didn't change it for fear of making it too high (which is what injured my knee in the first place). So of course, almost every guy who passed me told me to put the seat up. So I started to bring it up one mm at a time. Pain had began in my hips, but started to ease as i brought the seat up. Many people passed me in the first hour, and Keith caugth up fairly quickly. The seat problem and the dark were making me slow, but I wasn't worried ... because I knew I'd pick up the pace at Maple Springs.

Somewhere farther along on Blackstar, my front tire washed out. I ate it pretty badly -- scrapes and cuts all up my leg. Mario later told me I'm running a "mud" tire on my front, which is why you never let a bunch of roadies sell you a mountain tire. Anyway, the combo of sand and the crap tire made the dowhill fireroads a bit sketchy. But I kept my speed up all the same. As I was fixing my bike (it had gotten aal twisted about from the fall), some girl fell over my tire. Luckily, I kinda caught her. Since I was taking so long, Keith pedaled back. Thanks Keith. You were really nice.

At Motorway I managed to pass a good number of people, but I almost endo-ed. My new grips have no grip. The aluminum hardtail single-speed I ride (even w/ the tensioner, the chain fell off a few times) was bouncing a ton on that last rocky section, and I almost lost it there. It was super hard to keep my hands on the bars! :-)

At Motorway I saw Bret and forced a big hug on him- dirt and all. :-) hahah. j/k. Dazed, I scurried to refill my water and grab a bannana ... even though I wasn't hungry, Mario had told me to eat at this point. The sustained energy he had given me (thanks a bunch) was working wonders ... keeping me energised and full. Too bad I didn't know about nutrition on all those training rides!

After about 5 minutes we were off again, having enjoyed our only break. I began to feel stronger and started to pass all those people who passed me. I felt more and more content and strong. It was really great. The knee pain remained pretty constant, which was good. I popped more ibprofen and used a numbing cream on it that B.O.B. (shannon my savior) gave me. In fact, if it weren't for Shannon, I would not have raced. She encouraged me. Having been a pro-marathoner herself, she knows the limits and how to manage pain. You rule girl! w/o the help of STR people, I couldn't have raced actually (shannon, mario and keith).

The rest kinda went in a blur. I managed to clear the wall on the main divide w/o getting off the bike - a first for me. That was nice. In fact, I didn't have to get off at all. My knee pain became excrutiating, but I lowered the seat and the problem was solved.

The downhill single-track was good ... again, I did most of the passing (as opposed to being passed). I kept my speed pretty high and rarely got off (except for that drop - see video! :-)) ... technical is my strongpoint, so I tried to rock the rocks. But I was going slower than I had wished. And toward the end, I was getting sloppy and riding over stream crossings and falling over like a total fool. Maybe I was bonking or something.

Del passed Keith and me only a mile before the finish. Way to go! And Keith and I tried to finish at the same time - 6:17. My goal had been 6:10 (thanks to Mario, who said I could do better than I and everybody else thought) ... so I missed it by 7 minutes. I was sorta bummed. I had also bet Mario I'd beat him (he rode VQ - came in 6:21 last year I believe), but Mario came in at 6:06 (and that's losing 10 minutes or so on a mechanical!). So I lost that too. :-)

But I had a great time. I had a smile on my face most of the ride. And this race definitely reminded me why I love mountain biking so much. Having spent a week off my bike trying to figure the knee problem out, I felt like a kid in a candy store once I got back on the dirt!

I found out I had finished second woman in Counting Coup. I guess the girl who beat me is sorta a pro or something ... Mandy? She beat me by a full 57 minutes! Go girl! She came over and said hello ... she was so nice. She tried to convince me that the only reason I had lost to her by so much was my 18-32 single-speed. Needless to say, I wasn't buying it. I wasn't bonking THAT badly! :-) I also got to meet Monique finally ... something I've been looking forward to. She is so awesome. So is Ron.

Again, thanks to everyone who was so nice and supportive to/for me. It means a lot. Like I said, I couldn't have raced otherwise.

[slowSSer]

CC ride report:

I finished! better than 2003's attempt. didnt truly start feeling good on the ride till i got past the pavement on maple, then something just felt right and the climb began- I think I passed somewhere around 10-12 people before four corners, which made me feel good. the bike held up, though i think that i should have had new brake pads before the start of the race- my rotors look like there was a little metal-on-metal contact. oops.

Feeling a little sore today- think i'll take it off from any strenous physical activity and have a beer earlier in the day than usual.

thanks for all the wonderful supporters and cheering sections- the crowd at the bottom of motorway and at the top of upper holy jim definitely brought a smile to my face.

oh, and it made me feel EVEN (*#%ING BETTER when I crossed the finish line and not 5 minutes later, Padre finishes the whole VQ. Wow- I am slow!


...and, yes, that was my wife (a touch pregnant) with the silly little 1/2 sized greyhound. damn dog wanted nothing to do with me on the ride home- I guess i smelled that bad!

next year: VQ!