Sea Otter: Full Race Report

OK I have been pondering the best way to recap each event without writing a million lines of text.

Matt sums up the high level of competition nicely in his blog. On the women's side, we had the usual World Cup suspects (Sydor, McConneloug, Florit to name a few), also among them 3 time world champion Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesja. I had only ever seen her before on the cover of Velo News. I didn't get as emotional as I thought I would lining up for each event. Probably since I knew I had business to attend to! Wasn't just hanging out at the side lines watching my idols like I had before. I was racing with them! HAHA.

**UPDATE: What I forgot to include was comments about the shifting problems that occured the short track and XC due to all the MUD! yes yes, that cost me some time as well! Yea yea, excuses, excuses!

Stage 1: Super XC

I basically just wanted to survive this race! I had no idea what it would be like. 60 minutes 1/2 pavement 1/2 MUD. Figured I would see how long I could stay with the pack and try not to finish last. I felt great on the road, had good legs, but then once we hit the mud, I just kept picking terrible lines. I felt like I was wasting lots of extra energy out there and it was very frustrating. People would pass me in the mud and then I would pass them back on the road. Same thing occured for the 4 laps I ended up doing. Would have done 5, if Gunn-Rita (who had a several minute lead on teh next group) hadn't passed me! Oh well, finished the event 57/69. Not bad for my first major pro event and lots of foul ups in the mud. One of the highlights of this race was working and finishing with Mandy.

Stage 2: Time Trial

I was hoping to do well in this event, but all good things come to an end! We lined up in the mud waiting for our start times. Preparing for a 2 mile time trial with a combination of mud, climbing and then more mud. The best line from the start line was right through the water. Mandy kindly reminded me of this right before she took off, and I waited my 30 seconds for my turn. Thanks Mandy! I had a pretty smooth start, with a few wobbles, but pretty good! James video taped several people's starts and I actually had a better start than some of the top pros! Waaa hoo! Anyways, like I said all good things come to an end. I was so close to catching Mandy on the climb, which meant I was making good time. However, got to the big mud pit, found what I thought was a good line, but in the 2nd section had to clip out. I SHOULD HAVE JUST RUN!!! Oh well in the end I had a coupel more struggles in teh mud costing me even more time. I finished 51/68 ( I think one person dropped out after day 1), and missed top forty by matters of SECONDS. YES the time I wasted in the mud could have put me in a much better postition! OH WELL C'est la Vie!

Stage 3: Short Track

Thankfully I have done a number of short track events at this point, so I knew the pain and suffering we were all about to embark on. However the big difference is that this course was 100% mud!!!!!!! I was very nervous at the start because it was going to be crazy trying to get around the first corner without falling. It was pretty exciting to have all sorts of photographers taking pictures of the group as we lined up. There were fans lined up ALL over the course. It was very exciting, but I tried to stay focused. Right off the start of course I was involved in a pile up which made me lose my good positioning from the start! UGGH! Anyways, once I finally got back on the bike I knew my strategy would include RUNNING ALOT. Turned out to be a good trick. I ran through the two big key mud sections which got me around other riders. The bottom half of the course was brown muck/mud/water and was basically like riding blind. Each lap the lines were different and you just had to hope you picked the right line. On one lap, a girl crashed in the brown water right in front of me, so I had to think fast and "MOVE _____ ! GET OUT the way!" For those of you familiar with hip hop, that was a excerpt from a fabulous little tune by Ludacris featuring Mystikal. :o) Yes, White Cocoa in the hizzouse! In any event, I made it 3 (or was it 4) laps of the course before Gunn-Rita threatened to lap me (again she was WAY AHEAD of the rest of the field). A bunch of us were pulled out at the same time which we were all honestly thankful for. According to the results I was 48/68. Whatever! Not too shabby for a mud-fest short track! Also I moved up in the ranks a bit more, which was also a pleasant surprise!

Stage 4: Cross Country

I basically summed up the XC race highlights in the previous post. To make it short and sweet: All I wanted to do was SLEEP that day. My legs tricked me into thinking they felt good, but my eyes were ever so tired. I think we all felt that way! The start was intense on the track for the start of the 38 mile race (in the MUD and the drizzle!). I stayed with the pack through the road section and then the pack was seperated on the first sections of trail. 20 minutes into the race, I endoed over my bars in the singletrack. NOT GOOD. Hurt my back and then realized that my front forkie no workie! I lost my mojo and my plan to keep up with some other gals. Took me a while to feel good again, and it wasn't until I saw Meggan out there that I felt happy again. As indicated in her blog, we worked together for a while and I think it refreshed both of us! On lap 2, forkie no workie still, so I had to back off on the descending. Luckily I ran into Mandy around 1/2 way through lap 2 and we worked together for quite a while. I also had a great time dukeing it out with "Jimbo" Wimberly (of Angela's hubby fame!) and some of the other expert men! Those guys helped make this race fun! My legs decided to come to the big show once we hit the pavement climb, and helped me work a pretty strong finish (relatively speaking.. gotta have my own little personal goals right?). I ended up 46th in the XC. Out of 69 women who originally started the 4 day stage race, including the best racers in the country and some of the world's best. I finished 44th overall in the Omnium GC. Can't complain! Especially considering how many problems my bike had and my mind had dealing with the mud!

It was also especially wonderful to have my fellow So Cal pro ladies out there. Mandy, Meggan, Teri, Chrissy, Carolyn and Heather (honorary So Cal gal). It was a tough week for everyone and we need to focus on the positives! ALL OF US have at least a few positive outcomes from the week. Ailments, mechanicals and illnesses aside!

Also BIG PROPS GO OUT TO:

Team K&N: Matt, James, Josh, Trevor, Teri and Jeremy. Everyone gave it their best shot given the outrageous conditions! What a crazy way to really kick off the season! It can only get better (hopefully!)

James Cross: Thank you for all of your help you provided to me, my friends and other folks! Yea yea, I know you just wanted to get closer to the pro chix... ;o) Thanks for all of your help and support!!!!!!!!!!

Hubby Greg: Thank you for another memorable year at Sea Otter. We have alot of photos to sift through. I know you had a good time and hopefully you will win the Velo News photo contest and then give me your prize! ;o)