Place: 10th
Site: Jacksboro
Guest Columnist: Cindy Gross, L613
Pat missed this race due to bruised ribs, a sore back, and a cracked collarbone. That's what happens when you practice too hard the week before the race. But it meant I had a full-time pit crew.
I went into the weekend with increased confidence. I had practiced several times over the summer break, especially on downhills and turns. We cleaned and tuned my bike and fixed a couple of mechanical problems (my rear brakes work now!). I hadn't been working out which was a big mistake. But I did load up on water and Gatorade the entire week beforehand. That helped immensely in the heat and dust.
I wasn't very impressed with the track. It wasn't very difficult, but it was rough. It had quite a few of what I was calling "kah-thuds." Narrow dips just deep enough to jar your entire body if you didn't hit it right - and I didn't know how to hit it right. Everyone else seemed to think they were G-outs, but I like my name better. However, those weren't as bad as the nearly blind turns. It's not that they weren't marked, it's just that there was obviously a valid trail straight ahead and I kept getting very close to the turn before the markers sank in and I realized that there was a 90+ degree turn and the straight-ahead trail was marked off.
So on to the race. I didn't get a very good start. I don't do well in traffic anyway, so I just hung back. I was doing ok until the first rocky uphill, I had even passed someone. I had been advised to stay to the right to avoid the worst of the rocks, but about half way up I bounced over to the left and couldn't get back over. And of course, I managed to get stuck below a couple of big rocks. A couple of spectators helped me get going again, but only after just about everyone had passed me. I managed to catch up to Stephanie Taylor (L699) after a little while. She stayed ahead of me for several miles, pushing back several of my attempts to pass her. It was great having someone to actually race against! I finally managed to pass her on a straightaway. At some point in there we both passed L632 when her bike stalled and she couldn't get it started. Those darn XR200s! She must have eventually gotten her bike started, because she passed me later.
About a half mile into the second lap I was passed by the first two expert riders. I knew I was riding at my usual slow pace, but I wasn't expecting to be passed that soon. I was feeling pretty energetic and was thinking that this would be a good race to actually do all three laps. Oh well, it's probably just as well that I was lapped. As it was, I wasn't overheated at the end of the race, and not even that tired (thanks, Pat for all those liters of water you made me drink all week). Anyway, I was riding pretty smoothly on the second lap and made it up the rocky hill with no problems (since there was no one there to observe me). Then, several miles into the track, I ran afoul of one of the blind turns. There were some fast bikes coming up behind me and I was looking for a place to get out of the way. I decided to stick to the outside of the wide 90 degree turn and let them go inside. But the turn was sharper than I was planning on and I was trying too hard to stay on the far outside and out of everyone's way. I went down and one of the bikes behind me had to back up before he/she could get going again (sorry!). Everyone else made it around me, but my bike wouldn't start. I was in the sun and a few frantic kicks left me overheated and out of breath. I pushed the bike ahead into the shade and then realized that no one would be able to see me until they were well into the turn. I tried to start the bike again but more fast bikes were coming so I just pushed it further forward until I could really get off the trail. Then I took off my helmet and rested for a while. After a couple of minutes I finally got my bike started, but I wasn't really confident that it would stay running, so I had an awful time getting my helmet back on with only one hand. I had hair in my face for the rest of the race. Once I got moving again, I almost forgot the energy drain I had experienced. I was feeling good and concentrated on trying to catch L699, since she was the last in my class to have passed me while I was stopped. Finally, I saw her not too far in front of me. We entered a straight-away and she pulled over as if she was exhausted. Her pit crew was waiting for her with water. I took the opportunity to zoom by. I didn't make any more mistakes and managed to pull into the barrels just ahead of her. My overall position was 10th out of 13 finishers (and one DNF).
My lesson from this race is that I really need to spend some more time learning the proper techniques for conquering different obstacles. For instance, I got some advice before the race on how to handle the G-outs, but I couldn't really practice it with all the riders on the trail. My next step is to question how I should approach each obstacle (even the ones I don't think I have problems with) and try to get at least the basic, correct way of doing it down. Poor Pat. I hope he stays as patient with me as he has been in the past! And I hope he's feeling well enough to compete in the next race!
Thanks for reading! Cindy