2010 Spring Thaw XC and Downhill Race Reports
May 15-16, 2010, Womens Category 1
by Elaine Bothe
Cross Country on Saturday.
They did not remove the gravel road climb but I had a good xc race on Saturday. I shaved 30 minutes!!! off my last years time! I still finished last of the Cat 1’s, which was a regional group of people, not the usual suspects. Northern CA, Nevada, Seattle were all represented. But I was only 20 seconds behind the next finisher --- a much closer gap than Mudslinger race.
The Spring Thaw is not a course that favors me... 21.5 miles uphill on gravel road, then only 2.5 miles of highly technical downhill. Not enough hard stuff to make up ground on super talented and fit riders, but I was still was proud of myself. Michelle finished 5th, even after crashing once and and employing other heroics to get down the hill. My whole race was clean, no crashes, no injuries, boring war stories (sorry!!) and I rode up and down stuff I walked last year.
“Hardtail Pride!
The downhill race on Sunday was even more fun, which is really the whole excuse for the weekend! I shaved a whole minute (total this year was 6 min 45 seconds, over a 1.7 mile course) off my last years time for 4th place, Cat 1. I really should have run the masters Cat 2 in this one, I'm still a minute off the cat 1 pack pace!
Oh well. I had the only hardtail of the bunch (to shouts from the crowd “Hardtail Pride!”) and it slowed me down through the washboards and jumps. My bike, not the crowd’s calls. Still a hoot and I had a blast.
Photo credit: Melissa Boyd.
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