First MTB Race of 2012: Echo Red-to-Red

This past weekend was the first XC MTB race of the season out in Echo, OR.  Thor and I rolled out early on Friday morning so Thor could stop along the way to do some work business at a courthouse along the way, and then we continued out east so we could get a pre-ride in on the course.  We met up with a bunch of other friends to camp for the weekend, and we had a great time!   In 2012 I'm writing race reports for the Tireless Velo team - so you can check out the weekend recap here if you're interested.

As far as my race went - I was really pleased!  It was my first race back since buggering my MCL back in October, and I wasn't sure what to expect.  I only started riding my bike again in mid-January, and had only put in one or two longer road rides since getting the go ahead to ride outside.  I'd been on my mountain bike a handful of time, but certainly hadn't ridden anything close to 31 miles (the length of Saturday's race for the Cat 1 women).  

I remembered from last year that the start out the gravel road was fast....and if there is anything I'm bad it it is fast starts!  I am not a zippy rider - picture more of a tortoise - slow and steady (okay, okay - maybe quick and steady is more accurate.  But fast, with good explosive acceleration is not my forte).    Anyhow - I was determined to have a good start (at least for me) - and I have to say that I probably had the best start of my life!  There was about a half mile neutral start on the pavement where I made a conscious effort not to let myself get shuffled too far back in the pack - and then when we hit the gravel road for the start I picked a couple of girls who I knew were faster than me (but wouldn't burn me out) and I forced myself to stay with them all the way up the gravel road even though it was faster than I would have gone on my own.  There was a crazy strong head wind - so it was good that I was grouped with a few ladies instead of out on my own.  As we crested the top of the hill the road we were on made a 90-degree turn, and we found ourselves out of the wind - this is where I made my move that I'm really proud of.  Everyone settled in to take a rest since we were out of the wind, and I realized that I could hop up and pass everyone - so I did! I expected some of the ladies to come with me, but they didn't - so I was able to pass a few men and put a small gap on people headed into the single track!! Never before have I had such an aggressive start!  Granted - 3  or 4 of those ladies passed me later on in the race and ended up beating me, but it was still a nice little personal mini victory at the start of my race.

Racing felt great - I tried to focus on having a good attack position on the downhills, not using my brakes at all in the corners (which turned out to be easy because the wind was blowing so hard), and pushing hard over the tops of all the mini-rises.  I was having a great race and keeping up with some ladies that I would have been happy to stick with pre-injury - and then at around mile 23 I had a mechanical with my front wheel and lost about 7-8 minutes and 4 places (the skewer came undone, but I was on a downhill when it happened so it jammed the skewer and I couldn't get it to move - argh!).   Anyhow - I eventually got it unstuck and hopped back on the course and was able to catch a few girls on the last loop of the course that was semi-technical.  I ended up finishing 11th out of about 20 girls, and felt really good about my first race back!

Here's Thor's race report in his own words:

Raced with 34x18, which I think was bigger than last year when I either had a 34x20 or 32x18. I was pretty happy with the gear, but I think I'll go with a 34x16 next year to gain some more speed on the start and through the flats. It will mean I might have to walk a few more things, but I'll be faster over the rest of the course. Of course, it could backfire spectacularly, leaving me crippled in the terrible cyclocross course woods section with serious leg cramps. But you can't know unless you try right?

What Thor doesn't mention is that he shaved close to 20 minutes off his time from last year and finished 12th of out 50 guys in the single speed category. Woot!

The rest of our weekend was spent chatting at camp, riding, and sampling great wine from the races title sponsor - Sno Road Winery! The owners of this winery are awesome supporters of the local bike community and open up their land every year for this race - really cool.  We stopped by their tasting room Saturday night and met the owners, Lloyd and Lois, and had a great time chatting with them. I would highly recommend picking up a bottle of their wine if you ever happen to see it at a store!

Enjoy these pictures from the weekend - and hooooooray for being back on my bike!!!

First stop - the court house. Hear ye! Hear ye!

our camping location

Sturdy checks out the course on Friday

Sarah & I after the race

Thor's post-race gut bomb

Thor using the new propane shower - thank you  Sheri!

Tim & Emily

The group on Sunday - you can really see how gorgeous and  clear it was!

A shot up the valley

Me - upset that Thor has stacked a cow patty on my knee.

And now we've made up.

Two of the great wines from Sno Road Winery - their Cabernet, and their 'dry style' Muscat

The new Tireless Velo team flasks!

One tiiiiired piggy in the backseat on the way home.