Whirlybird CX

When I arrived at the race, Tammy told that Jenn, the lady who has ben killing my class, moved up to elite for the day. There were still a bunch of strong ladies at the race, but my hopes of 2nd or 3rd just raised up a notch. Robin, another fast lady was there and she usually kills me on the long straights, something that my attention span does not handle as well. I am always looking forward to the turns and sketchy off cambers to get a quick recovery. I suppose you just can not take the mountain biker out of a mountain biker. Either way, I am aware of that weakness, and make that the place where I push the hardest.

I had front row line up, yay! ... and filled in #3 during the opening sprint. Eventually Robin sprinted by all of us and I had to sit in #4 until a slight uphill off camber where I saw Robin start to pull away so I made my move up to second position. I struggled but was able to keep her in sight. She eventually fell in a wet section which gave me a second or two to catch up. I think we got to the top of the run up at the same time, but she mounted immediately and I ran up to speed and got in front. I have been practicing my mounting and running, and I think the practice is paying off!

Now the problem was holding her off and riding clean myself. I had to dig really deep, as I felt like crap. There is something about being in the front that motivates you, and I continued to keep digging my way through the pain cave. Robin was on my wheel the entire race and the 3/4 women were now nipping at my heels as well. I almost went down once, but managed to keep it upright. I did not waste too much of my time trying to ride the steep wet ups, I just ran them as not to make any mistakes. Usually a handful of 3/4's, who start a minute back, come by, but not today. I finished first rider in , which is a first for me in the Mac series.

I was super pleased with my race, but learned that I need to pay better attention to where the awards are to be. I was a bit rushed not being able to find them, that I forgot to take my helmet off for the picture. I thought this would be a good time to thank my sponsor Bell for keeping my head protected and so comfortable that I did not even realize my helmet was on.

At Home Again in Mud

Although watching summer give way to fall brings some sadness, Cyclo-Cross has brought the love back into fall for me. I am not exactly sure what it is about this crazy sport, but being in the company of mud-splattered smiles seems to help make up for losing those wonderful long days of summer.

Last Saturday was the season opener at T-Town with the Nittany Lion Cross. The race fell on the heels of hurricane Irene and a tropical storm, both that soaked much of the northeast with rain causing major flooding. I was a bit apprehensive when the promoter kept sending out updates of flooded parking and road closures the day before the race, but much to my surprise we had no problem parking or getting there.



This would be my first race since MTB National Championships in July. I knew it would be muddy, but I was more nervous about lasting 40 minutes than I was about dealing with mud. I do not consider myself an experienced cyclo-cross mud racer, as it was dry most of last year, but I suppose I do have several decades of mountain bike race experience in all conditions, and I was somewhat curious to see what this mud stuff was all about on a cross bike.

I pre-rode the course in the morning and it was somewhat muddy, flat and not technical. However after the Cat 4 race went, the mud puddles got bigger and one became a giant long slog that would need to be run or walked. I felt fairly confident in my technical skills on this course and was looking forward to plunging into the water on my first lap. I always get a chuckle on a first plunge of the day. I don’t think I ever ran through puddles as a kid, and who would have imagined I would get into that when I was 50?

I went to the line and although I had some “first race of the year” nerves, it felt good being there, and I quickly felt at home with this group of women. The women at the Mac series are a nice bunch of ladies, and it is a thrill to see so many women that come out to race. I was not certain of how the mud thing would pan out, but my main mission was to move ahead whether on foot or bike and figure it out as I go. The nice thing about multiple laps, is that you have the chance to master it by the last lap.

I did not pay close enough attention at the start, and was alarmed to hear clipping in while I was daydreaming for a second. So although I was last out of the start, I stayed calm and safely worked myself up to maybe 5th within a minute. This was not a bad place to be, and before I knew it, I was chaffing a bit, but steadied up a tad until passing space looked good. By the end of the second puddle, I was in the lead. That only lasted a short while, and the eventual winner came by me.

As soon as things opened up a bit, she started to pull away as I started to pull away from those behind me. The first lap is always exciting as a wet course can change greatly as the races go on. Having to run a long section while shouldering your bike sends your heart rate through the roof, but I kept moving forward like I had planned. On lap 3, my bike, which was covered in mud, slipped out of my hand while setting it down from my shoulder and bounced up and struck me hard behind the knee. For a second, I wanted to give in to the pain cave, but I resisted and moved ahead. I think my last lap was my smoothest, placing me in second place with a two minute margin on both sides of me.

This was a much better result for me than I expected. Spent 40 minutes on the bike wash line with all the other muddy chicks, and then it was time to pack it up and head home to get ready to race Jungle Habitat mountain bike race on Sunday.







Jungle habitat is uber technical and on top of that, it was wet. By the time Cat 1 raced, it was extremely slick and would be a race for bike handlers more than fitness. My plan on Sunday was to ride technically clean, and to look at the race as a longer and more aerobic paced ride. Considering the slickness of the course, it was probably the most sensible plan.

I decided to ride my Titus 26” full suspension, which I had not ridden in 6 weeks. It was probably not the smartest choice, but I was thinking the 100mm fork on my 26" bike would be better than 80mm on my 29er at Jungle. I struggled a bit on the first lap readjusting to the feel of the smaller wheels, but eventually settled in by lap 2. Once again, I think my third lap was my smoothest, cleaning the entire chute and only 1 dab on goat. I cruised in for 4th place in the elite field. I was a good distance off 3rd place, but a strong finish none the less.

More bike washing, then time to rest my little legs....