Helen Fat Tire Festival, Race, & Mudfest

i've been wanting to try one of the GAP mountain bike races for awhile
now and finally bit the bullet this weekend. saturday josh & i went up
to helen so he could preride the course. i went to escape to the
mountains and get a bit of time on the trail before the race at Tsali
next weekend (goodbye pavement!!) once on course, i was pleasantly
surprised that it wasn't nearly as technical as i had thought it might
be. lots of climbing. LOTS. my legs felt it early, perhaps still
recovering a bit from the tri last weekend. i took one little spill
going up a rocky hill that really wasn't that bad, except for the fact
that a big rock nailed my right kneecap. it's like hitting your funny
bone on your elbow. far from pleasant. after 2 easy-paced laps, we ran
into some of my BOD crew in the parking lot. it turns out natalie
wasn't feeling well, but had pre-registered for the race. instead of
her being out the money, i decided to take her place. i liked the
course, it was supposed to be muddy tomorrow (although it was bone dry
today... i figured the AR chick in me might like the inclimate
conditions and maybe give me an edge), and hey, i needed a confidence
booster after having a bad week (on top of which i turned the big
3-0!).

sunday morning i awake to lots of rain. phone calls were made and
justine, josh & i decided to brave the elements and head on up. we
arrived while the experts were out on course. wow. you could hardly see
them with all the mud that was caked on. this would certainly be
interesting! the sport class went off, with josh, brandon, patrick,
mark, tracey, aimee & kate (and a few others too!). everyone finished
safely except for josh, whose bike broke (cable router thingee behind
the stem ripped off), causing him to dnf. too bad too, as he was really
rockin and on target for his best finish this year. finally it was time
for the beginners. justine and i lined up with the other women, many of
whom, like us, was trying their first race. it turns out there were 2
other adventure racers on the line - yikes, competition! one i actually
sorta knew (met her (katia) & her husband rob at coast 2 coast last
year). at the start, we voted unanimously to do only 1 lap, as the
conditions were pretty crappy. good, as i realized too late i forgot my
inhaler. yikes, those hills would get me! the gun went off and i
pedaled hard for the lead, knowing i wanted to stay in the front of the
pack. as soon as we hit the singletrack, the mud started flying...
inches thick, trying to grab your wheel. i tried to stay to the outside
to avoid as much as i could, settling for a rougher ride instead. soon
i was passing some of the guys that started in the heat before ours.
that felt good! climbing some of the hills were next to impossible with
all the mud, so most of us were jumping off and pushing up. i passed
several more guys as i ran up while they walked - i wanted to put as
much distance between me and the women behind me as possible! things
were going well and while my bike was sliding all over the place, i
remained in control. oh, but my luck would not last forever. i did
have a nice wipeout once as my bike turned right sharply and i was
launched forward to the left. nice slide, but nothing really hurt
(although my foot nearly cramped up). i hopped back up and continued
on, happy that i did not slide into the ditch that had a metal drainage
pipe in it. i rode a bit further when i heard a familiar voice behind
me, ready to pass. it was the c2c girl, katia. as she rode by, she said
how much better she did on the downhills that the ups. dang! of course
i have my problems on the downhills, especially in these conditions! we
were in a new part of the course, as it had been rerouted from what i
rode yesterday to eliminate some dangerous sections (2 people had to be
taken to the ER saturday with broken collar bones, among other
injuries). i didn't know if i'd have the opportunity to overtake her. a
few minutes later i figured out not, as there i was at the final muddy
descent to the finish line. people lined the side, as it had become the
prime viewing area for endos. the people cheering made me nervous, and
not wanting to please them with another crash, i set one foot down and
sorta slid for a bit to try and maintain a bit of balance. luckily i
got through that safely, but finished about 50seconds behind katia.
(this did get me 2nd in my age group, which also happened to be 2nd
overall in beginner women). justine followed a few minutes later,
getting 2nd in her age group too. we both got cool silver medals to
hang around our muddy necks. i did realize once i washed the mud off of
me that my leg did get much more scraped up during my fall that i
thought. maybe it'll make me look tougher for Tsali!