Cyclocross Season 2009: Cross Crusade #8 Barton Park

Cyclocross Season 2009: Cross Crusade #8, Barton Park, Estacada, Oregon.

Nov. 15, 2009

Women’s Masters A 35+ 21th place ugh! (But at least my team won the team competition, so we're all winners, really! That's us in this photo after the race.)

By Elaine Bothe

The rest of that week got even busier. Wedding dress shopping with my sister. (Her wedding, not mine!) A funeral... RIP Sylvia, warm thoughts to friends and family.

Then the annual OMRRA Banquet (Oregon Motorcycle Road Racing Association) on Saturday night, in which Mark my husband won 2nd overall in one of his classes and 4th overall in another. (He races motor bikes at PIR when there aren’t any bicycles in the way. Good job!!) Plus we had an pre-function at our house, which of course left plenty of mental space to prepare for the last Cross Crusade Race of the Year.

And, my last cross race of the year as well. Sigh.

I’m doing a bit of remedial base training which will get me in much better shape long term, but is killing my legs for racing short term. I hoped to eke out one more race before that kicked in… excuses excuses, I know!! But I won’t be racing at Nationals or even the USGP at PIR. Bummer.

But come Sunday am, after the party was all cleaned up I got fired up for the race. My warm up went really well, and I stayed toasty before the start. Go!!

Off to a great start, I hung with the lead group for the first half lap! Lots of fun sandy mud, and a spectacular downhill that was quite the crowd-pleaser. Cross spectators love a great performance, whether it’s a fabulous successful ride-through or a big ol’ crash. Hopefully no one was hurt. I managed unscathed through that section five times, once in preview and all four laps.

But then my legs fell off and the sandy dirt took its toll on my rear derailleur. It was ghost-shifting all over the place. Usually in the worst places like in the middle of a big muddy rise, it would shift into a harder gear. Or even two! Heyyy! And I think I got a rock stuck in my shifter. Big blobs of dirt in my eyes didn’t obscure most of my field passing me. Also I think half of the next group and even a few Masters 35+ B. Sage tried to pull me through a long road section (thanks anyway!!) but it just wasn’t happening.

Well I still had fun attacking the technical sections like that downhill, and finding secret hard, fast grassy lines next to the slower muddy singletrack. Not that it did me much good. I thought hard about pulling into the pit to see what was wrong with my bike, but I didn’t.

21st place, my worst finish of the year! And for double points, too… but still not last, even not counting Colleen dealing with her flat tire.

Oh well. It sure was fun at the end, though, collecting all us Sorellas as we rolled in one by one and celebrating our Loo Victory! How cool is that! Our very own port-a-potty. Let’s see how many people we get to join us on account of that! Good job to everyone who braved the rain and mud, racers, friends and family. Kronda and Tim, as always those photos are great, thank you so much.

To a great year, and good luck to everyone doing the last few races, USGP and Nationals. Next year, count me in!! I have some work to do before mountain bike season starts in just a few short months.

Thanks as always to my #1 fan Mark for his love and support, and many thanks to our entire Sorella Forte team for all the encouragement and friendship; Coach Anne at Wenzel Coaching, our team sponsors including River City Bikes, Jeff Tedder and Hammer Nutrition and all our other sponsors; and also my personal sponsors Mountain Feed Bag by Epic Ride Research, Corey Cartwright at Seven Corners Cycles, Dustin Ranck at Icon Tattoo, Acme Moto Wear, Life Flight Network Memberships, Dentist Dan Stambaugh (for supplying protective mouth guards to be tested next year) and announcing Jennifer Adams Design Group and Impact Armor.

Photograph courtesy of pdxcross.com.

Cyclocross Season 2009: Cross Crusade #7 at PIR

Cyclocross Season 2009: Cross Crusade #7 at Portland International Raceway

Nov. 8, 2009

Women’s Masters A 35+ 12th place

By Elaine Bothe

Crazy. But still fun!

Lessee… that last week started with a madcap drive home from Seattle Saturday night after the WMRRA banquet. We pulled in at 3:00 am, I woke up in time for breakfast and a warmup ride to PIR for Cross Crusade Round 7 just in time to start. That race was cold, rainy, muddy and super fun. After a not-so-good start I passed lots of people in tricky off-camber and muddy sections, and stayed ahead of them. I caught up to Eileen, but I couldn’t hang with her on the long straight dry gravel road sections. Plus I thought it was the last lap and kind of burned out my legs trying to beat her to the finish line, when we actually had one more lap! Oh well…. Back to the car for warm clothes and food.

Wish I could have hung around for the single-speed cyclocross world championships (SSCXWC for short!) later that day. They sent our race through the Thunderdome where spectators could climb up and throw marshmallows at you but the Stripper Shortcut wasn’t set up for us, um, ha ha!

I managed 12th place, one of my best finishes of the cross series in Women’s Masters 35+ A! I’ll take it. Yay! I’m #12! I’m #12!

The above photo taken by Mark Bothe. I’m about to put the move on the rider in black.

See some truly amazing photographs at www.pdxcross.com, including Thunderdome and costumes, courtesy of www.pdxcross.com.

Photos of the normal PIR race are in this gallery at www.pdxcross.com.

Cyclocross Season 2009: Hillsboro Fairgrounds, Oct 25

Race report: Cross Crusade at Hillsboro, Oregon, Oct. 25, 2009

Women’s Masters A, 14th Place

By Elaine Bothe

Shout it out! My washing machine is working overtime. Finally we got mud.

Mud two layers deep inside my clothes. Luscious sticky grassy mud, some deep wet puddles, sloppy squishy hairpin corners and slick traverses to balance out the long gravel parts. And, bumpy mud! a first for me. The goal is to stay upright!

In and out of horse barns, through gates and across the fields. This year we skipped the show arena that was full of knee-deep muck and who knows what else. Well, actually, we DO know what else.

Weather was cool, it rained in the morning before our race. I layered up this time, so I stayed warm waiting for the start. Again, I’m in the back so I have to hang onto traffic until I can start picking people off. Not a bad draft, though, over the gravel road at the end of our steamin’ freight train!

The first muddy corner opens a door for some progress. A lot of people just slipped out. My tires are true, I pass a few people but too bad my legs aren’t at full steam yet, as a few of them passed me again on a long smooth straight.

I stay with Teammate Colleen for a little bit, I attempt a pass but that lights a fire and off she goes. Go!! Yay!! Suuuure, Colleen, you’re tired after finishing 3rd in Salem on Saturday, the day before! Good job! (Quite a Sorella showing there, too, way to go everyone!)

After a couple of laps my heart rate settles down and I can get busy. I see a couple of targets ahead and I go for it. The passes stick. I’m starting to see lots and lots of teammates, yay! Good job everyone! (My apologies to one of you, though, for a less than courteous pass… I thought I had lots of room on the left as it looked like you were heading down the middle. And I don’t think you heard my call-out. So sorry! You were looking good though! Way to go!)

Then I see a couple, maybe three more competitors amongst lap traffic, I plan ahead to catch them on a particularly treacherous muddy corner and it works. One woman gets by me later… Last lap.

And another. Rats. But I get her back. The other one, I don’t know her, gains some ground through the horse barns. I don’t give up, waiting for my chance. I hear a commotion from the spectators ahead, then a cheer. I pop out of a barn into a corner and… nearly run over her as she’s getting up and away from a spill! Surprised, I quickly plot two potential moves.

More lap traffic through Plan A. My first idea didn’t work. I hang close, but she knows I’m there. On to Plan B.

OK. The last turn into the finish area is REALLY slick, I’ve seen a number of wrecks there already. There’s a bit of intact grass to the right, I hug tight as she goes wide. Some tricky maneuvering around a downed rider and, stand up, quick sprint, maybe 12-15 yards at most to the finish line.

I look ahead up course aiming for a point well beyond the finish. She sprints too, it seems pretty close as there were three or four in close proximity. Hope they can see my number…. And they did. She beat me by a hair, apparently!

I end up in 14th again, but there were a couple more people behind me than usual. Including Sarah, finishing on a borrowed pit bike! Ugh! Good job to Eileen, bringing home 4th place. Awesome! And after leading there for a bit! Yay to everyone for some good racing and fun times!

All in all, I felt more aggressive and had the legs to attack in the last half of the race. My dismounts and mounts are improving and I’m trying hard not to get dropped on the straights… but I was thrilled for the mud. It was a lot of fun but I’m sure glad I had eye protection and didn’t lick my lips!

See everyone next weekend, twice! Go Sorellas!

Photo courtesy of Mark Bothe.

Mt Bike, PIR Short Track 2009: Round 7 of 7, August 3. Upgrade!

PIR Mt Bike Short Track, August 3, 2009

Cat 1 Women, 7th Place

by Elaine Bothe

Short track season epilogue. I upgraded tonight after clinching the series title. It's fun watching the race I competed in last week, but kinda lonely at the same time. All my buddies were out there and I'm trying to keep warm.

I'm nervous, way outside my comfort zone. I don't know who's racing, how many or exactly how they stage.

I'm taking notes for next year. My new race is an hour later (Rats! should have brought the clear lens glasses!) and 10 minutes longer. (Yay! more time on the dirt.)

I get a rotten start (nerves) but manage to stay at the end of the pack. I even pick a few off, and all my buddies are cheering me on. There's a lot less traffic in this race, in a lot of ways it's easier. And, it's still fun. Bittersweet, though, since this is the last short track race of the series, and the highlight of my racing year. I'm bummed it's over.

Looking forward to next year, I have some work to do to stay competitive. I didn't finish last, I hope to improve by a lot!

Photo courtesy of Mark Bothe.

Mt Tabor Circuit Race 2009: Round 1 of 6, June 10

Race Report: Mt Tabor Series, Round #1 of 6. June 10, 2009

Womens 40+ 2nd Place

by Elaine Bothe

Short race, short report… well, for me ; )

First road race ever. Except for the Jack Frost TT a year ago, right off the couch. (Not recommended.)

The word “mountain” is in the name of the series so it was appealing even though the race is on pavement. The course is a curvy circuit about a mile long and some change on top of Portland’s own backyard dormant (?!) volcano. Glorious corners, beautiful park setting, half the course is uphill and half is down.

Since I don’t have a proper road racing bike, I shod my trusty cyclocross bike with some slick rubber and swapped out the pedals, cleaned up the brakes and off I went to warm up.

My goal: ride hard, stay calm and don’t crash. It’s a fitness ride, right? Uh huh.

I jumped right into the Womens 40+ category. It’s a bunch start, the seniors have red ribbons on their backs (Cats 1-4 or so, I’m not really sure, as opposed to juniors who are under 18), there’s also yellow ribbons, oh well can’t keep all that straight, and masters, blue. Shari pins my ribbon on last minute. I just know I need to pass all the blues.

I start out at the back of the pack, self conscious as this is my first road race. No countdown or anything, just a mosey as the pack oozes between all the curbs and fences. The lead pack eases away from me up the hill past the cheering Sorellas and friends and Mark (thanks everybody! It really helped!) but I’m picking off stragglers, reds, a yellow and some blues. Short uphill pop-up to a hard right, then the downhill stretch. I fly through the gears, I keep clicking but I run out so I just pedal faster.

Big bump in the pavement, right on the line. Who cares, I’m on a cross bike. I pass a bunch of people on the downhill, and hug the inside line around the fast sweeping right hander which is also bumpy. My bike is solid and handles really well without the knobbies, bumps or not! Cool! Didn’t know I owned a road racer!

Short straightaway between the reservoirs. (No spitting or snot rockets, please.) Then uphill, uphill lungs searing and legs burning though the finish and up, onto another lap. The road looks fuzzy, I’m so lightheaded! Breathe deep, stay relaxed.

Back and forth, I traded places with a blue-tagged Kendra Wenzel. I pass her uphill, she’d get me later, for several laps till the last lap when she camped on my wheel and sprinted past me for the win. I did not know we were racing for the win, I thought for sure there were more blues ahead!

But I take second. And $15 prize money! Yay, my first cash prize. Who’da thought, road riding.

Later my husband Mark had great race advice and told me to always assume I'm racing for the win each time I pick somebody off. Especially when everyone is all mixed up in a group like we were. Lesson learned. Plus, looking back, Kendra was showing me her plan, if I paid attention. She’s smart enough though, if I caught on she’d probably mix it up somehow. Oh well. I shouldn’t have passed her for dramatic effect that last time and should have camped on HER wheel! Next time. Lots of fun and a great workout. I’m looking forward to next week.

Photo courtesy of Mark Bothe.

Mt Bike Season 2009: Bear Trap Springs, Apr. 25-26

Race Report: Bear Springs Trap, McCubbins Gulch on Mt Hood, Oregon

April 25-26, 2009

by Elaine Bothe

It’s a late April weekend in Oregon. What to do for a challenge and some exercise. Hike? Run? Ski? Mountain bike?

How about some of each! Both of the Bear Springs Trap mountain bike races were a tremendous challenge and a ton of fun. I got exactly what I wanted: a big challenge, feedback on where my mt bike skills are and my expectations of the unexpected which were 110 percent fulfilled.

I’ve never ridden my mt bike on snow before, so, what the heck, I gave it a shot.

Turns out it’s twistedly fun, especially when I made it through places that others didn’t. It also turns out that crashing on snow isn’t a bad way to crash, as I got my share of that too.

Day One, Saturday’s short track race was all of 30 minutes long. After driving up to the venue with some snow and ice on the roads, I was concerned about the weather but it turned out to be nice enough for just tights and a jacket, not snow pants, parkas and Bar Mitts.

We started out in the middle of the campground parking lot, shot up a fire lane onto a hearty gravel road climb then flew down a single track descent with several deeply rutted snow patches, a few token roots and a rocky section, some deliciously bermed corners and whoops and a muddy “S” section before popping back onto the road for another lap.

A woman I’d never met before named Eileen clobbered me on the hills, and I thought I was good on the hills. But my technical skills were better, particularly through the snowy sections. (I practiced, previewing the course 7 or 8 times to warm up so I got faster each time). We went back and forth, fighting for the lead up the hill.

We both knew she could take me on the hill but if I got ahead of her on the decent, I’d have it. Now I’m leading. Lap 4: I crash on a newly exposed rock in a snowy section. I decide to notch it back to stay under control and finish in one piece. Eileen caught up and passed me on the hill. Lap 5, I kept her in sight, waited patiently for my opening. Three laps to go.

Ha! I got right behind her, stayed quiet, waited… and sprang a sprint past her at the end of the decent onto the road. With a bit of a head start, I lead again that whole lap but she catches up and passes me on the hill. Rats. She’s first onto the singletrack. Lap 7.

OK. Game on. I’m thinking about the next passing opportunity. Wait… Then it happens, down she goes in the snow! An easy landing, “are you ok?” I get around her downed bike and ride like crazy. She doesn’t keep up, and I take the win, my first victory in a bike race. Eileen comes in 2nd. Great race! We both chatted and shook hands afterward.

Day Two, the cross country race, 18 miles of who knows what. Preparing for the worst and expecting many snowy running sections and maybe a creek crossing or two, I bought foot warmers at a ski shop in Government Camp. Thick and wooly socks, if my feet are going to be wet, at least they’ll be warm. All layered up, I warm up. The sun comes out. It’s actually nice! Still not sure how high the course will go and how cold it might be, I keep my hat on but remove the outer gloves and a fuzzy layer under my jacket.

There are a lot more people racing, I don’t know who my competition is. I don’t see Eileen as we corral for the mass start. The whistle blows and off we charge down the same road and up the fire lane. Today we keep going up the power line trail, which is covered in snow. Scores of people, running up the hill with their bikes. Glad I cross train!

I’m passing people, people are passing me.

Abby, a talented rider who just started mt biking last year passes me on the run, apparently she’s a talented runner, too. Abby’s in the middle of a bunch of women, including me at the tail end. We leave the snow, jump onto our bikes and head into the forest for a rolling loop. I try to hang onto this pack but they move away.

Now I’m on my own. I pass one or two people here and there, some others get by me, too. I’m not racing with anyone, just out for a lovely Sunday ride. Aapparently there are some amazing views, but I wasn’t paying attention.

Rolling trails through the forest, some wonderful shale Gorge-hiking trail style traverses (what a cool sound under my tires!), snow sections, up, down, mud, dust, some of everything. This isn’t bad! I take off my hat on the run under the power lines again.

I get plenty of opportunities to perfect my uphill bike pushing techniques. Wrong gear, or too loose of dirt/stone on the trail or too much mud.

Now, I’m on a wonderful decent, a quick rolling section with nice dirt. The trail T-boned into a dirt road, all of a sudden I’m alarmed. No trail markers, no tire marks, nobody in sight. Now what? I’m looking at the sun, that’s south, trying to remember what loop I’m on and where it is relative to the camp. Note to self, bring a good map of the area and a compass next time!

Ugggh, I head back up the hill, knowing I missed a turn someplace. How far back? About 200 feet or so, another rider comes along. He hadn’t seen any arrows either… did we just enter a vortex in the time-space continuum? A really bad horror movie or what?

He stops, since I’m in his way. I turn around, and I see a fast-moving blurry figure in the treetops. Goosebumps… not really, I just made that part up. We head back down the hill and aha! there it is. A couple of corners later, I just missed an arrow sign by ducking to avoid a branch. Whew. Just a race, no dramatic vortex or alien creatures wanting to devour our souls.

The hardest part of the whole day was yet to come, after I’d been biking hard and running already for almost 2.5 hours.

The trail wound down to a creek, and became really rocky, and REALLY rooty and muddy. It was both frustrating and inspirational (I think I’ll look for a bicycle trials camp to increase my skills). I would not have even guessed it was a trail if the arrows hadn’t pointed that way and if the Cat 1 and Pro riders were not catching up and actually riding over parts of it. And at the end of their 30 miles of who knows what!

I rolled in all by myself in 3rd place, happy to see the parking lot and the finish line. I got to try (and crash over) some fun stuff that I would not have attempted if it wasn’t a race, I got to discover some new trails to explore later in the year and I had a great time.

April 25, 2009 Mt Bike Short Track Race: 1st Place, Cat 2 Womens 35+

April 26, 2009 Mt Bike Cross Country Race: 3rd Place, Cat 2 Womens 35+

Muchos Gracias to the promoters and race sponsors, River City Bicycles for a last-minute wheel true and front derailleur replacement, Jeff Tedder and Shari for delivering the highly effective Hammer Nutrition products that really kept me going over two days of intense mt. bike racing followed by a motorcycle track day, Christa at Epic Rider Research and my trusty Mountain Feed Bag that held my handy Hammer Flasks full of the good stuff, Acme Moto Wear, Dustin at Icon Tattoo, Lifeflight Membership Services for NOT needing them, Corey at Seven Corners Bicycles for keeping me in road bike wheels, my hubby Mark for all his love and support, and my Sorella Forte teammates, friends and family. For inspiration and assistance, all of you are the best.

Mt Bike Season 2009: Horning's Hustle, Apr. 5

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.