CCCX Toro Park MTB- by MAry Ellen Ash

Photos Courtesy Rick Rasmussen

Race Name: CCCX – Toro Park MTB race:
Distance: 5 laps
Weather: sunny ~70 degrees with steady wind.
Course conditions: Long single-track/double-track climb followed by an awesome descent. No gflats.
Tire Selection: Slime 2.00
Race time: 2hr09
Warm up: Was still tweaking the bike position leading up to the start – slightly altered position and new shoes and cleats. Did 6x1’(1’) on the slight hills.
Race Strategy: Even with a smaller field, I wanted to push myself throughout the race. My goal was to be completely shattered by the end of the race. Since I didn’t get to pre-ride the course, I made sure to be careful in the technical sections so as not to crash. And I haven’t actually ridden by MTB in a full year, so this was a re-acquaintance with an old friend. I used the first lap to get my bearings.
Lap 1: the initial climb went pretty well and then for the remained of the climb, I hung with the masses. I was a little unnerved by a lady (Sharon) still hovering closely behind. By the top of the climb, she had caught me and decided to lead down the long descent back to the start/finish. I was pretty happy about that b/c she could pace me down the hill. And usually, I can gain time on most female MTB’ers b/c they lack the technical skills and are afraid of speed. That was not true of this lady – she flew down the hill. We were flying down the hill and I was barely hanging on.
Lap 2: Same as the first: I was starting to get concerned b/c I was putting in some hard accelerations and I wasn’t able to drop her. Maybe Sharon’ll start to fade soon – everyone breaks at some point.
Lap 3: My botched bottle feed put me back 20 seconds. I was starting to hurt a lot up the long climb and I began to worry that I had over-exerted myself on the first few laps. By the top, Sharon had gotten a 30” gap. I flew down that descent without an inhibitions and through the Start/finish, I saw her once again. We were still 30” apart!
Lap 4: I didn’t know if it was possible to catch her again. 30” meant I was still in contention, but I was getting tired and knew I had a whole another lap to go. In previous laps, my climb was all over the place – body moving, standing frequently – anything but steady. On this lap, I finally got comfortable. So up the climb, I put my head down and turned a gear that I was comfortable with - nothing too crazy. By the top, I had closed my gap to 5”. I knew if I was smart, I could close the gap on the descent. And lucky for me, Sharon botched a tight switch-back and crashed. Nothing serious, but it was enough for me to catch and re-pass once again. This race was becoming epic!
Lap 5 (the final showdown): Of course my legs would stop cooperating – the inner-thighs started to cramp! Crappy, and just in time for a long climb with no recovery! I started chugging the remainder of my bottle and spinning my legs as much as possible. And I had nurse my legs up to the top. If I made it to the top first, there was no way she could pass me. I made it to the top with a 20” advantage. And I descended almost too cautiously. Sharon was un-nervingly closing in on me. I got to the finishing straight and then sprinting (rather ugly to onlookers) for 1st.