Race Report: Horning’s Hustle,
April 5, 2009
Mountain Bike: Women’s Cat 2 - 35+
2nd Place
by Elaine Bothe
I made a few mistakes, the biggest one I didn’t figure out until the next day. This race is probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.
The amazing and beautiful course made a giant figure-8, a 5 mile circuit on which I managed 3 laps. Up some really steep hills, three or four of which became more walkable and less rideable as the race progressed. And since whatever (and whoever) goes up, must come dow
n, and we did—lots of really fun, squishy and muddy descents, one of which crossed a creek.
And the weather was even better! 70 degrees or so, and sun. I packed my rain gear just in case—I didn’t really believe the weather forecast until I got all warmed up and stripped off layer after layer, until I got down to my bran’ new Sorella Forte kit. I even got a good head start on my farmer’s tan.
Lap One gave me a great start out of all the Cat 2’s, off the line and up a big dirt road hill. I was dueling back and forth with Michelle, who beat me by just 4 seconds in the Echo Red to Red race in February. We picked off some of the back markers in the men’s Cat 2s one by one.
Up, down, round and round. Michelle dropped her chain and I got past her. I’m working on passing somebody else (it’s really hard to tell who I’m racing against, I just want to get around ‘em!) and I misjudge the exact location of a tree and its root, washed the front tire and I go down.
Not much harm on me or my bike. I get up and keep going.
It’s hot. I’m powering down water out of my water backpack. In my stem-mounted Mountain FeedBag I stashed a Hammer Nutrition flask that I put a concoction of Hammer Perpetuum and HEED... like pancake batter, but tastier. It's handy, and I don't have to have a water bottle.
Lap Two is tougher. Michelle catches up and we go back and forth again, up the big hill and around down through a tricky switchback section riddled with fun drops. I saved an over-the-handlebars down a 4 ft drop (a kit-filling moment for sure) and later dropped my own chain. Michelle gets ahead of me.
Now I’m hearing funny sounds out of my back tire…it’s rubbing on my front derailleur and the brake pad is rubbing on the rim. This is a good way to get more exercise by making those steep hills even harder!
The start of Lap Three I wasn’t sure about. I asked if we were done… “Nope,” Kris the race organizer said. “Keep going!” So I did. Off I went, using every ounce of brainpower and every relaxation trick I could think of to simply keep my legs moving. Out of water and food, I’m saying encouraging things to other riders as I pass them, but really meaning the words for myself.
I plugged along, and I finally hear the band at the finish line—that means just down into the creek crossing, up a hill, past the feed station (yay! Water!) around the back loop, through some more drops and a really fun banked berm, into the amphitheater bowl and across the finish line.
Whew.
My tag goes up onto the board, fifth in the column. Rats. I thought I finished better than that. Hey, said my husband Mark. Fourth. The top tag is the category header, it’s not anybody’s tag!
Still.
I get some more water, chat with some fellow racers and we head back to the car for some Hammer Recoverite and lunch. We decide to head home.
That was the biggest mistake of the day.
On Monday, I’m looking at the results and figure out that two of the tags above mine were from people who completed only 2 laps! I finished in 2nd place, behind only Michelle! In spite of my crash and mechanical issues. So I was bummed all evening on race day for nothing. And I missed my chance to stand up on the podium.
Lesson learned: figure out the code before going home.
Many thanks to the race organizers and OBRA, for the help and support to Mark my husband, my team and riding buddies from Sorella Forte (Missed you in this one, Sage, and good job everybody – volunteers and racers -- in your successful race weekend at Cherry Blossom!), and our team sponsors including River City Bikes, Hammer Nutrition (I’m a recent convert) and all our other sponsors; and also my personal sponsors Mountain Feed Bag by Epic Ride Research, Dustin Ranck at Icon Tattoo, Acme Moto Wear, and Life Flight Network Memberships.
Photos courtesy of Oregon Velo.
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