Mt Bike, PIR Short Track 2009: Round 6 of 7, July 27

Elaine’s Race Report

PIR Mt Bike Short Track Round 6, July 27, 2009

Cat 2 Masters Women, 1st Place

HOTTTT!!! A high of 102 for the day. And humid, for Portland, 44%. Some of us lobbied for sprinklers and we got them, so not only did we have a cooling spray if we timed it right, we also got MUD! What a fun course.

My warmup was mentally lethargic because of the sun but my legs feel great and the bike is running really well. Overall the course is not too technical except for a couple of fun spots, one of which I horribly misjudge and fly down the side, screw up the rollout and land really hard on my right shoulder.

Really hard, ow.

As I’m laying on my side, staring at the face of the cliff I just fell off, I see a nice gently sloping path to the left of the scary path that I tried! Um, note to self: Check out scary sections before flying blindly all gung ho. Maybe there’s an easier, safer way down!

I’m still on the ground. Self assessment. I haven’t sworn or cried yet, so I must not have broken anything. I get up with Teammate Sage’s help. Fingers work, elbow works, shoulder works, but it’s sore. I walk toward the shade to collect myself, then I manage to get onto my bike and ride slowly back to the paddock area to find Hubby Mark.

There he is! He brought the little ice chest full of cold water and ice left over from his motorcycle race weekend (also hot, and he got himself a 4th and a 6th place finish in his two races! Yay! Good job!)

Sage and I soak our jerseys in the cooler (so does Eileen, it’s hot, after all, and we’re buddies) and stun ourselves with the cold shirts. Oh yeah.

I decide to race anyway and we go to finish our warmup.

Low turnout, only six in my master’s group, less than 20 women total. Eileen and another younger Cat 2 woman get the hole shot, Sage and I are side by side through the first couple of corners. Eileen gaps the other woman, I move past Sage and stay on the other girl’s wheel. I get around her and take up a “watch and wait” position behind Eileen, close the gap but not get too close.

She keeps turning around, she knows I’m back there. Her hubby John cheers us both on. I just wait.

She takes a funny wide line around a corner with some very deep ruts and instantly I’m on her wheel, pressuring her. A couple of really tight spots, I won’t pass there… she picks the smooth line through the whoops and I get alongside her, still pressuring, still waiting. She looks at me, I just look ahead plotting my move.

I know the next 50 feet after this steep little hill is really narrow and really bumpy, so I beat her to the top and gain a bit of a gap. Power on, but she hangs with me for a bit.

The next lap around I just hear John cheering for just me, so I know I have some time. I catch a glimpse of Eileen through the trees, but I’m safe. I decide to run clean and safely and I take the win over the entire Cat 2 women’s field by a healthy margin.

Eileen comes in 2nd and Sage gets 3rd in our age group! Kronda made it out, too, for the fun and brought home 6th. Yay! Good job!

The whole series is 7 races, they count the best 6 of 7 races. I have four wins, a second and a third so far, that seals the series for me as no one else has the points to beat me.

Unless they do a double points thing for next week, I’ll move myself up to the Women’s Cat 1/Pro grid and see what that’s all about! I can’t wait! They get 10 more minutes on the course than the Cat 2s do. Yay! More dirt time.

Once again, and it’s never enough, big fat juicy thank yous go to the race organizers for a wonderful series and the fun and challenging courses, my team Sorella Forte for all the friendship and support and all our sponsors, especially River City Bicycles and Jeff Tedder /Hammer Nutrition for all the race fuel and training tips.

Also, muchos gracias to my personal sponsors Acme Moto Wear, Icon Tattoo, Lifeflight Memberships and Corey Cartwright of Seven Corners Bicycles and to my #1 fan, my husband Mark.