So I like volunteering for Epic Rides events, you get the swag, you get to ride the course and you go at your own pace (usually...read on). Everything one could want - but without paying for it. This is the second event that I've swept for them (Tour of the White Mountains 08).
Erik was doing the 25 proof again so he headed out about an hour before the 15 proofers did. Now, being an Epic Rides event, the 15 proof meant that we were really going like 18 miles. 18 proof just doesn't sound as fun.
I lined up in the back and chatted with a few people who swore they were going to be last. I laughed and let them know they certainly wouldn't be last as that was my job. The weather was kind of chilly and I had forgotten my knickers so I only had my mtn bike shorts. I figured I would get warmed up quickly. I did take a jacket which I started with, took off and then put back on later.
We headed out and within the first 2 miles I knew this was going to be a long day. There was a woman who was off her bike and walking - and we were still on the pavement!
We made it slowly onto the gravel road and then finally started heading up the climb to the singletrack. I found it was easier for me to just ride very slowly (in my granny gear - to go slow) and stop frequently to let her catch up. Or spend some time chatting with the medic sweep and then try to ride as slow as possible before I caught up to her again. As we rode I learned she had just started mtn biking about 6 months prior and had been a former swimmer. I believe she said she had qualified for the Olympics but as she put it, that was 20+ yrs ago.
We actually did ok on singletrack as she could descend fairly well. We finally got to the first radio check (who were quite worried!). Unfortunately, this also signaled the beginning of the horrible climb that is the 15-proof Whiskey. Again I kept the with the idea of making really slow, S's across the road. I would ride about .25-.5 mile out in front and then wait. I just couldn't possibly ride my bike to go as slow as she was walking and I had no interest in pushing my bike up that hill. Every time we would go around a corner the road just kept climbing. I swore it would never end. I'm not sure, personally, how I would have done at this race if I was racing; but sweeping I was feeling fairly good and while climbing at elevation was taking some effort I wasn't dying.
We finally got to the point where the 25's & 50's meet up with the 15's. From here it is more climbing up to the aid station. I finally arrived at the aid station and my charge arrived a few minutes later. The aid station is set near a top of a hill at a vista point. It horribly windy and I was afraid to get to close to the edge! I snacked on some pretzels and helped out the volunteers for a few minutes. I watched my sweepee head off to start what I thought was the downhill part of the trail. I gave her a good 20-30 mins head start in hopes that she would make it a ways before I caught her. I think I rode a couple miles before catching up to her - and most of it was downhill! We eventually came up to a loose, rocky jeep road that didn't look I wanted to ride down so we trotted down and got on our way. I was beginning to wonder, as people passed us, just how few people were behind us? We discovered that we still had more climbing in front of us before we could call it a good day on the bike.
I started to slow down after the aid station which actually helped me stay with my new friend a little better. We finally got back on some single track that had a couple little stream crossings and we were finally having a good time. We rejoiced when we hit the last section of trail before you get back to the road. Of course, this section of trail is really rocky (large rocks) and we both spent good chunks walking. When we hit the road, we chatted with the SAG guys for a couple minutes and found out that there was about 4 people total behind us. 4. From the 15, 25 AND 50 races. We set off on the pavement which was pretty much all downhill. We took so long that most of the cones had been taken down and we had to navigate traffic on our own. When we headed back into the residential section of town we realized we didn't know where the left turn was that took us back to the finish and we missed it which caused us to do a bit more climbing than originally planned. The medic sweep caught up to us and I got directions from him. We turned around and made a right and started heading back to the square.
We crossed the line 6:30 (ish) after we had set out that morning. For 15 (17ish) miles. Longest day ever. I did end up getting a thank you email from the lady I rode with. Erik finished before me. So far before me that he went back to camp, napped and then came back to town. Awesome. I rewarded myself with some fish & chips and a cold beer. :-)
Pictures: 2009 Whiskey Off-Road
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Las Palomas Rocky Point Triathlon Race Repot (April 18, 2009)
This was my very first tri so I was hoping to improve greatly over last year. Of course, they decided to double the distances. Last year was 400/9/5k, this year was 800/16/5k.
As always, the Palomas is a fabulous resort and if you don't go to race there are plenty of pools to spend your day toasting by. Like last year there was gender specific tee, this year they were tech tees. Erik and I went into town for dinner at a Mexican place we ate at last year. I tried to get into bed at a decent hour. The race doesn't start until 9am, but transition opens at 7 or so and I wanted breakfast. This would be my first race with my wetsuit (previous races, I borrowed one).
Swim:
I was feeling pretty good about the swim given the progress I had made in the pool. I got in the water and got warmed up and hoped that I wouldn't repeat the freak out from last year. Yeah, good luck. The horn went off and we waded out (this swim is awesome in that you can *almost* walk to the first turn), I finally dived in and started swimming. I don't know what happened but I was doing so well and then all of a sudden my mind went haywire and I started panicing. I flipped over and tried to catch my breath. I kept trying to keep swimming and my mind kept freaking out on me. It was a miserable swim and I just wanted it over. I could breath, I could swim, but I couldn't do it all at the same time! Looking back on it, I think it has to do with the salt water. My throat and lungs start to burn after I start swallowing water that is getting kicked up, so I have to assume that is what it is. I made it out of the swim and started the slog up the sandy hill. Naturally the timing mat is in the transition area so my time includes the walk up the hill.
Swim = 20:50
T1:
I had my wetsuit half off by time I made it into transition, but I still struggle with getting it off over my feet. Nothing exciting here. I managed to not forget anything. Grabbed my helmet, gloves, garmin and I was off.
T1=2:51 (I think most of the time was centered around my wetsuit. And walking to the line)
Bike:
Finally! Something I can do and go faster at. Thanks to mountain biking I've noticed my road biking has gotten stronger. Last year it was a 1 loop course, this year it was doubled. They shut down 1/2 of the road (it's a divided road, bikes on one side, cars on the other) so that helps with some of the traffic issues. The course is 3 legs, 2 with a roundabout, 1 u-turn. I passed lots of people on the bike. I hauled on the slight downhills and tried to get up the uphills with as little effort as possible. My goal had been about an hour for the 16 miles. I came up a little short, but not I'm not terribly disappointed by this.
Bike = 63:49
T2:
Again nothing exciting. In, out, done.
T2=1:16
Run:
My least favorite leg. I'd like to say that I spent lots of time running in prep for this. But I didn't. And I paid for it. As well as changing up the course the nearly doubled the beach run. I had tried jogging part of it the night before and nearly died. I tried to just keep a slow pace, with the option of walking on the uphills. I had hoped to run .75 mi and walk for a min. Ideally, I should go a mile and then walk (aside from aid stations). There seemed to be a lot more uphill on the course than last year. These are not gradual uphills either, its the golf course cart path so it can just up because it fits the course. The Olympic had a similar course, but took a different turn than the sprints. I guess there was some issues with people doing the oly who took the wrong turn and this made the course almost 2 miles short. Oops. The run was really hot and I was doubling up on water at the aid stations so that I could dump some on myself. I finally made it to the last part of the course that led to the beach run. I made the decsion to walk the beach in front of phase I and then start running when I hit phase II so that I would have some energy to run across the finish line and hit the slip'n'slide!! I barely made it, even walking Phase I. The sand was very soft and at least ankle deep. I saw a few people stop and take off their shoes and just finish barefoot. This probably would have been a good idea. I finally crossed the line and hit the slip'n'slide, but again there wasn't a ton of water on it and I didn't go very far. :-(
Run = 39:59 (2 mins faster than last year)
Total time = 2:08:31
Not the best overall race, but it wasn't terrible. This is a fun race for me in a fun locale. We'll be back next year if anyone wants to come!
As always, the Palomas is a fabulous resort and if you don't go to race there are plenty of pools to spend your day toasting by. Like last year there was gender specific tee, this year they were tech tees. Erik and I went into town for dinner at a Mexican place we ate at last year. I tried to get into bed at a decent hour. The race doesn't start until 9am, but transition opens at 7 or so and I wanted breakfast. This would be my first race with my wetsuit (previous races, I borrowed one).
Swim:
I was feeling pretty good about the swim given the progress I had made in the pool. I got in the water and got warmed up and hoped that I wouldn't repeat the freak out from last year. Yeah, good luck. The horn went off and we waded out (this swim is awesome in that you can *almost* walk to the first turn), I finally dived in and started swimming. I don't know what happened but I was doing so well and then all of a sudden my mind went haywire and I started panicing. I flipped over and tried to catch my breath. I kept trying to keep swimming and my mind kept freaking out on me. It was a miserable swim and I just wanted it over. I could breath, I could swim, but I couldn't do it all at the same time! Looking back on it, I think it has to do with the salt water. My throat and lungs start to burn after I start swallowing water that is getting kicked up, so I have to assume that is what it is. I made it out of the swim and started the slog up the sandy hill. Naturally the timing mat is in the transition area so my time includes the walk up the hill.
Swim = 20:50
T1:
I had my wetsuit half off by time I made it into transition, but I still struggle with getting it off over my feet. Nothing exciting here. I managed to not forget anything. Grabbed my helmet, gloves, garmin and I was off.
T1=2:51 (I think most of the time was centered around my wetsuit. And walking to the line)
Bike:
Finally! Something I can do and go faster at. Thanks to mountain biking I've noticed my road biking has gotten stronger. Last year it was a 1 loop course, this year it was doubled. They shut down 1/2 of the road (it's a divided road, bikes on one side, cars on the other) so that helps with some of the traffic issues. The course is 3 legs, 2 with a roundabout, 1 u-turn. I passed lots of people on the bike. I hauled on the slight downhills and tried to get up the uphills with as little effort as possible. My goal had been about an hour for the 16 miles. I came up a little short, but not I'm not terribly disappointed by this.
Bike = 63:49
T2:
Again nothing exciting. In, out, done.
T2=1:16
Run:
My least favorite leg. I'd like to say that I spent lots of time running in prep for this. But I didn't. And I paid for it. As well as changing up the course the nearly doubled the beach run. I had tried jogging part of it the night before and nearly died. I tried to just keep a slow pace, with the option of walking on the uphills. I had hoped to run .75 mi and walk for a min. Ideally, I should go a mile and then walk (aside from aid stations). There seemed to be a lot more uphill on the course than last year. These are not gradual uphills either, its the golf course cart path so it can just up because it fits the course. The Olympic had a similar course, but took a different turn than the sprints. I guess there was some issues with people doing the oly who took the wrong turn and this made the course almost 2 miles short. Oops. The run was really hot and I was doubling up on water at the aid stations so that I could dump some on myself. I finally made it to the last part of the course that led to the beach run. I made the decsion to walk the beach in front of phase I and then start running when I hit phase II so that I would have some energy to run across the finish line and hit the slip'n'slide!! I barely made it, even walking Phase I. The sand was very soft and at least ankle deep. I saw a few people stop and take off their shoes and just finish barefoot. This probably would have been a good idea. I finally crossed the line and hit the slip'n'slide, but again there wasn't a ton of water on it and I didn't go very far. :-(
Run = 39:59 (2 mins faster than last year)
Total time = 2:08:31
Not the best overall race, but it wasn't terrible. This is a fun race for me in a fun locale. We'll be back next year if anyone wants to come!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Prescott Punisher (April 4, 2009) Race Report
The Prescott Punisher was #5 in the MBAA series. It was being held at the Alto Pit OHV site outside of Prescott. Erik had warned me that given the location it would likely be a lot of jeep roads and very rocky. He had decided to not do the race but left me on the fence. He decided to sign up for El Tour de Phoenix instead. At the last minute I decided that I should do this MBAA race just in case something came up preventing me from doing the one of the other races. (You need 5 races to qualify for the State Championships or something).
He decided to stay in Mesa on Friday night because of his early start time on Sat. I decided to stay in Mesa with him because I was halfway to Prescott and could just leave at 6am to get up there. On Friday night I got a text from Elaine letting me know it was snowing. Fabulous.
I was up and ready early Sat morning and on my way. Made it to the race site at about 8am and picked up my packet. The nice Polar waterbottle sort of made me feel better about the 35 deg temps that morning. Liane, Elaine, Zac and I started getting ready and talked to a guy parked next to us. He informed us that the course was easy and fast - but was never flat, you were alwyas going up or down. Non-technical is a plus for me. Fast = awesome. Climbing = not awesome.
My course was 2 5 mile loops. Not even .25 mile in and people were literally tipping over. I don't even know what caused them to fall, but it was getting messy. Finally we spread out on the ATV course. Because it was an ATV course, the corners are all cambered. This is good when you are carrying speed. When you are slow and on small pea gravel like stuff - you just slide down the turn because you are not perpendicular to an angled line. The climbing started immediatley (and the desending). The climbs in some spots were horrific - short but steep. Lots of people chose to get off an walk those. The descents were loose gravel. A few clusters of large rocks/boulders made it interesting. I walked a lot, a LOT! I should mention that the marathoners (who started at 8:30 - 19 mins before me) started passing me at mile 1.5.
Lap 1 = 1:15:54 (4.2 mph)
By lap 2, I felt like I was alone. Then, less than 2 miles in and the Cat 3 men started passing me. And there were lots of them. I spent a lot of time on the side of the trail letting large groups pass. When I finally got going, I came across a guy fixing a flat who warned me to be careful around the next turn. Luckily, I knew I was walking down this section anyway, but I discovered Zac and another guy tending to some guy who missed the line through a rocky dip and must have just endo'd into a rock. The guy didn't look so fabulous and I offered up some Tylenol to help ease a little bit of the pain. Turns out the guy broke his collarbone, a couple ribs and likely punctured a lung. I learned you can use a bike tube for a sling. I kept trudging on, thinking that Elaine and Liane should have passed me by now (they were doing 3 laps). Finally at about mile 4 Elaine caught up to me. She'd had a small wreck and scratched up her knee. We chatted and hiked for a few minutes before she continued on. I kept hiking up hills. I was able to chat with a lot of people on that lap who got hit by elevation and hill climbing. It didn't seem to be a great race for a lot of people. Finally, we hit the last descent that lets you know the finish is near. Naturally it is followed by a steep climb which I decided to hike until the last bit where I forced myself to ride across the finish line. Again - you can't walk across the finish line unless your bike is broke or you are broke.
Lap 2 - 1:36:04
Total Time - 2:51:54
I came in 6th/7 (7th DNF'd). I was so ready to get out of there. Horrible, horrible race. All told, I probably walked a total of 5 miles of that race. I hate climbing and I hate fast descents.
He decided to stay in Mesa on Friday night because of his early start time on Sat. I decided to stay in Mesa with him because I was halfway to Prescott and could just leave at 6am to get up there. On Friday night I got a text from Elaine letting me know it was snowing. Fabulous.
I was up and ready early Sat morning and on my way. Made it to the race site at about 8am and picked up my packet. The nice Polar waterbottle sort of made me feel better about the 35 deg temps that morning. Liane, Elaine, Zac and I started getting ready and talked to a guy parked next to us. He informed us that the course was easy and fast - but was never flat, you were alwyas going up or down. Non-technical is a plus for me. Fast = awesome. Climbing = not awesome.
My course was 2 5 mile loops. Not even .25 mile in and people were literally tipping over. I don't even know what caused them to fall, but it was getting messy. Finally we spread out on the ATV course. Because it was an ATV course, the corners are all cambered. This is good when you are carrying speed. When you are slow and on small pea gravel like stuff - you just slide down the turn because you are not perpendicular to an angled line. The climbing started immediatley (and the desending). The climbs in some spots were horrific - short but steep. Lots of people chose to get off an walk those. The descents were loose gravel. A few clusters of large rocks/boulders made it interesting. I walked a lot, a LOT! I should mention that the marathoners (who started at 8:30 - 19 mins before me) started passing me at mile 1.5.
Lap 1 = 1:15:54 (4.2 mph)
By lap 2, I felt like I was alone. Then, less than 2 miles in and the Cat 3 men started passing me. And there were lots of them. I spent a lot of time on the side of the trail letting large groups pass. When I finally got going, I came across a guy fixing a flat who warned me to be careful around the next turn. Luckily, I knew I was walking down this section anyway, but I discovered Zac and another guy tending to some guy who missed the line through a rocky dip and must have just endo'd into a rock. The guy didn't look so fabulous and I offered up some Tylenol to help ease a little bit of the pain. Turns out the guy broke his collarbone, a couple ribs and likely punctured a lung. I learned you can use a bike tube for a sling. I kept trudging on, thinking that Elaine and Liane should have passed me by now (they were doing 3 laps). Finally at about mile 4 Elaine caught up to me. She'd had a small wreck and scratched up her knee. We chatted and hiked for a few minutes before she continued on. I kept hiking up hills. I was able to chat with a lot of people on that lap who got hit by elevation and hill climbing. It didn't seem to be a great race for a lot of people. Finally, we hit the last descent that lets you know the finish is near. Naturally it is followed by a steep climb which I decided to hike until the last bit where I forced myself to ride across the finish line. Again - you can't walk across the finish line unless your bike is broke or you are broke.
Lap 2 - 1:36:04
Total Time - 2:51:54
I came in 6th/7 (7th DNF'd). I was so ready to get out of there. Horrible, horrible race. All told, I probably walked a total of 5 miles of that race. I hate climbing and I hate fast descents.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Foray at the Fort (3/14)
This race was supposed to be at Gardner Canyon. That would have been closer. Instead they moved it to Fort Huachuca. Something about an archery tournament.....
Erik didn't sign up for this once because on the map it looked like a lot of jeep roads and he wasn't interested. He did agree to pre-ride it and then decide.
Got up Sat morning and got ready to go. The field looked smaller than normal and I was hoping this would be the breakthrough race. You know the one where I don't come in last and maybe place because there is no one in my AG. This has nothing to do with my becoming a better mtn biker.
We headed out and the first mile is a steady climb. The 2nd mile is suckier climb at which time I chose to walk. I knew there was a couple people still behind me - sweet! Right about the 2 mile mark is when the first marathon passed us. Finally you get to this nice downhill singletrack that goes through this tall grass. It looks really awesome. This was one of those ride a little ways and walk. Rinse and repeat. At this point I left the girl who was behind me (and a 10 - my AG). You could hear my brakes squeeling from miles I swear. Finally the trail gives way to some flatter sections where you can really crank through. Of course this is followed by sucky rocky climbs and descents.
There was another cool downhill section that would be great fun if I liked going fast. I began to notice that the chick I left never caught up to me so I decided to keep pushing it for lap 2 - maybe this time I would be 7/8!!!
Lap 2 sucked in roughly the same places, it felt like I walked more/slower. But as soon as the nicer (less rocky) downhill started I decided to let it go. I got in my big chainring and just churned away. Not like there was anyone close enough for me to catch, but still there was my time to think about!
I turned the corner onto the dirt road leading back to the finish line and took it too wide and ended up in the sand. Managed to save it and get out quickly before trying to haul ass. Finished in 1:42. Most difficult course to date for us beginners.
Ended up coming in 5th. My first medal! (That wasn't a finishers medal) The girl behind me DNF'd. Elaine took 4th and Liane took 3rd. Clean sweep for the Tri Girls!
Erik didn't sign up for this once because on the map it looked like a lot of jeep roads and he wasn't interested. He did agree to pre-ride it and then decide.
Got up Sat morning and got ready to go. The field looked smaller than normal and I was hoping this would be the breakthrough race. You know the one where I don't come in last and maybe place because there is no one in my AG. This has nothing to do with my becoming a better mtn biker.
We headed out and the first mile is a steady climb. The 2nd mile is suckier climb at which time I chose to walk. I knew there was a couple people still behind me - sweet! Right about the 2 mile mark is when the first marathon passed us. Finally you get to this nice downhill singletrack that goes through this tall grass. It looks really awesome. This was one of those ride a little ways and walk. Rinse and repeat. At this point I left the girl who was behind me (and a 10 - my AG). You could hear my brakes squeeling from miles I swear. Finally the trail gives way to some flatter sections where you can really crank through. Of course this is followed by sucky rocky climbs and descents.
There was another cool downhill section that would be great fun if I liked going fast. I began to notice that the chick I left never caught up to me so I decided to keep pushing it for lap 2 - maybe this time I would be 7/8!!!
Lap 2 sucked in roughly the same places, it felt like I walked more/slower. But as soon as the nicer (less rocky) downhill started I decided to let it go. I got in my big chainring and just churned away. Not like there was anyone close enough for me to catch, but still there was my time to think about!
I turned the corner onto the dirt road leading back to the finish line and took it too wide and ended up in the sand. Managed to save it and get out quickly before trying to haul ass. Finished in 1:42. Most difficult course to date for us beginners.
Ended up coming in 5th. My first medal! (That wasn't a finishers medal) The girl behind me DNF'd. Elaine took 4th and Liane took 3rd. Clean sweep for the Tri Girls!
Desert Classic Duathlon (2/22)
So I hadn't run since PF Changs in Jan so I knew this running thing would not go over well. Got up and got my stuff racked. Met up with a few Tri Girls at the start and waited for our waves to go off.
My wave (35 & younger) headed out and I was immediately alone and left behind. I made it on to the trail before the first person passed me. I saw the 40 & under group pass, then the 40-45, then 45-50, then 50-60ish...and I even saw a 60+ pass me. I had to keep looking behind me to make sure that I wasn't the last one! I finally made it around and into transition and it was very easy to find my bike since there weren't that many left.
The lead male elite was 2 miles out when I pass him (going the other way) on the bike. Fabulous. I didn't push too much on the way out because I knew I would need it on the way back into the park. I felt so much better going up the hills than I previously had and I'll chalk that up to more mtn biking. My legs still got worn out, but I wasn't dropping gears as fast as usual. I hit the turn around and started counting the people behind me - 6. I wasn't last! About mile 14 (of 21) I heard a pssshhhhh sound and it occured to me that I might have a flat. So I hop off, cursing myself for taking my CO2 out of my bento box (I had a hand pump). Got my tire off, tube out, check it out and there was a little gash - probably from some sand or glass I rode over. Was getting the new tube in when the SAG guys showed up. By now the 6 people behind me passed me and the sweep caught up to us. The guys helped me get my tire pumped up and back together. I took off and rode with the sweep for awhile before he told me to go chase down some of the people in front me. By time I made it back to transition I had passed 3 of the 6 people. People were going home and I wasn't done yet! I forgot I still had to run.....
I trudged off on to the run, hell they may have been doing awards when I headed out. I saw Erik and he wondered what happened. I just kept plugging away and then I hit that stupid hill. Who puts a hill in the last run of a du? I walked up and down behind a woman who had passed me about 1 mi into the run. She was quite nice and we jogged/walked together back towards the finish line. Right before the finish we decided to push for it and I passed her with like 3' to go. Not that it mattered since she wasn't in my AG, but I passed someone??
Bad idea to do this the day after mtn biking and a poor idea to not really train. Still not a terrible race - and I'll do better next year!
My wave (35 & younger) headed out and I was immediately alone and left behind. I made it on to the trail before the first person passed me. I saw the 40 & under group pass, then the 40-45, then 45-50, then 50-60ish...and I even saw a 60+ pass me. I had to keep looking behind me to make sure that I wasn't the last one! I finally made it around and into transition and it was very easy to find my bike since there weren't that many left.
The lead male elite was 2 miles out when I pass him (going the other way) on the bike. Fabulous. I didn't push too much on the way out because I knew I would need it on the way back into the park. I felt so much better going up the hills than I previously had and I'll chalk that up to more mtn biking. My legs still got worn out, but I wasn't dropping gears as fast as usual. I hit the turn around and started counting the people behind me - 6. I wasn't last! About mile 14 (of 21) I heard a pssshhhhh sound and it occured to me that I might have a flat. So I hop off, cursing myself for taking my CO2 out of my bento box (I had a hand pump). Got my tire off, tube out, check it out and there was a little gash - probably from some sand or glass I rode over. Was getting the new tube in when the SAG guys showed up. By now the 6 people behind me passed me and the sweep caught up to us. The guys helped me get my tire pumped up and back together. I took off and rode with the sweep for awhile before he told me to go chase down some of the people in front me. By time I made it back to transition I had passed 3 of the 6 people. People were going home and I wasn't done yet! I forgot I still had to run.....
I trudged off on to the run, hell they may have been doing awards when I headed out. I saw Erik and he wondered what happened. I just kept plugging away and then I hit that stupid hill. Who puts a hill in the last run of a du? I walked up and down behind a woman who had passed me about 1 mi into the run. She was quite nice and we jogged/walked together back towards the finish line. Right before the finish we decided to push for it and I passed her with like 3' to go. Not that it mattered since she wasn't in my AG, but I passed someone??
Bad idea to do this the day after mtn biking and a poor idea to not really train. Still not a terrible race - and I'll do better next year!
Hedgehog Hustle (2/21)
Location: Estrella Mountain Park
More lists:
More lists:
- Erik and I arrive on Fri afternoon
- I meet up with Liane and we decide to pre-ride together
- We walk A LOT! Stupid rocks
- Stupid climb at the end
- Sweet downhill after the stupid clim
- Total pre-ride ~1:40
- Hoped for a cool tshirt or something for this race - with a name like Hedgehog Hustle. Nope - a mini cooler and a water bottle with a thought bubble coming out the cyclists butt
- Off I go at 8:49 - amazingly I keep people behind me!
- Stupid ATV road that is just rocky and climbs for miles
- Get to the first downhill section that I walked yesterday and decide I can ride it today
- Start to go down, try to avoid a rock in the middle of the trail by going right (left goes off into cacti and brush); hit loose rocks and bike slides, I try to put my foot down and it slides. I try to grab the rock to my side and it just crumbles. I ripped my shorts. :-(
- Try to catch my breath. Everyone else behind me passes me.
- Hike up the next section
- Another girl catches me at the next downhill and we trade off riding and walking (ride 20 ft, walk 100 ft...)
- She finally passes me, so do lots of marathoners. Damn those fast people
- I walk some more, ride a little bit
- Passed a girl who seriously injured herself - they airlifted her out later
- Finally got to that evil climb - didn't even use my granny gear!
- Enjoyed the downhill section for the most part
- Let myself pick up a lot of speed coming into the finish
- Total time ~ 1:45
- Place - 8/8
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