It seemed like I just just settled in to being a non racer, and nationals was to come back to a local venue in 2023 and 2024. It wasn't just any place local, but Bear Creek, a place where I had won nationals twice and a place that had really fun east coast style trails. This was the one scenario that I thought would be worthy for me to get back out and race.
When the nationals location was announced in February, I gave it some thought. Just the thought of it, energized me throughout the winter. I really liked how it made me feel, so I went ahead and renewed my racing license for the first time in five years. Over the last decade, I had lost some fitness due to iron deficiencies, so I wanted to try and gain back some of the cardio fitness that I had lost. With regular riding and some higher cadence exercises, I had noticeable improvement.
Once I got back east and reunited with riding friends, I was able to more easily keep up on rides, and ultimately feel more like part of the group. I know my friends don't mind waiting for me, but I think it had more to due with not giving in to getting old and feeling vital enough to keep up. Another unexpected thing that happened was that my name started to appear on leader boards on Strava. I do not take Strava too seriously, but for whatever it is worth, for an aging rider, this boosted my confidence, and motivation followed. I seemed to be on a good trajectory.
The Race:
I went out to pre-ride the day before my race and was surprised to see so many kids on course. In my short hiatus from racing things had changed. Besides many juniors now out racing, a good portion of rocky single track had been taken out to shorten the race loop at Bear Creek. I was still nervous going into the main technical section as it was very gnarly and strewn with rocks. Not racing much over the past decade, I had lost my motivation to try to ride this type of stuff. Now the stakes were up and I wanted to once again try. This was a good thing! It felt good to get my adrenaline pumping and surprisingly my skills were still there. After a brief lap, I was confident I could handle the course on race day.
It was oppressively hot and humid at my 8:00 am start. Cramping on my third lap was possible. I was to finish on leaders lap and was racing on course with mountain bike legend, Tinker Juarez. With a short lap, getting lapped was probable. Whether it was to be a 2 or 3 lap race was uncertain. I made sure that Art was ready to get me a second bottle on the end of lap 2, just in case I had to do 3 laps. I drank an electrolyte bottle the night before my race and another while warming up in the morning. I felt like I was up to my eyeballs with electrolytes at my start.
I felt good off the uphill start and was positioned behind my one competitor, Beth, with one racer of a younger age group between us. They both slipped on the first root. It was not wide enough for me to ride through, so I was off too. I managed to get in front of the younger woman and take second wheel behind Beth. I hung for most of the climb, but near the top she pulled away. I had to mentally let her go. She had beaten me previously at Nationals five years prior, and I did not want to think about what I could not do. I wanted to stay positive about what was ahead: the fun rocky downhill. I rode in looking forward to it.
I entered the infamous "Heckle Pit": All I heard was cheering and my adrenaline was pumping. I did not look at the rocks, but looked for the path of least resistance. At the bottom of the first section there were racers off walking that forced me off, but they then pulled to the side. I was able to get by. Art screamed to me " 20 seconds back" as I remounted my bike. My adrenaline must have had me so pumped that none of that registered. I continued down the next few technical spots only thinking about where I was going. I ended up passing a few more racers, including the leader of my class.
Now in the lead, I was on a mission to try and hold it as long as I could. I did not think my climbing was quite up to the level of my competitor, Beth, but I would push hard as long as I could. Near the top of the climb on lap 2, Tinker passed me and then Beth passed me. This time I hung on her wheel until right before the "Heckle Pit" where I made my final pass. From there it was clear sailing on the downhill to the finish line. I was not 100% sure my race would be done with this second lap. To be sure, I saved nothing AND picked up my extra bottle. The race was indeed done.
So glad to have done this race! It has been a major confidence booster, got me into better shape and riding some stuff that I may have skipped if I wasn't racing. Just another one of life's reminders to NOT be too quick to give in to getting old.
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