Sometimes, Winter Happens

Saturday

This past weekend was Apple Cross, a two day race weekend in Winchester, VA.  I had heard great things about the race and the venue and was excited to race a course I had never seen before.

As per usual, we got up super early and drove down to the venue to arrive around 7:00. Even though Saturday was a Sportif race and my race did not start until 10, I wanted to pre-ride a couple of times and make sure that I worked any kinks out of the techy sections before my race.  And it was a good thing I did!  After setting up the team tent, my significant other and I hit the course.  Less than a minute in, we hit our first surprise: an off camber downhill with a sharp corner hidden by a tree with a nasty short climb after it.  I was NOT expecting the climb that was hidden by the tree and promptly fell over while trying to get off my bike on it.  Whoops.

After several pass through attempts, I figured out the best line and dismount area and found that the left side was the best for running up it.  My significant other took some convincing that because of the loose dirt and rock on the hill that it was almost unrideable and it would benefit him to figure out the best dismount area.  And I thought I was the stubborn one.

There was another off camber section that I wanted to try again after coming out of it too close to a stake.  The second pass was much better and I felt a lot better about NOT running into the stake on that attempt.  Most of the rest of the course was fine until we got to the "Belgian Wall".  It was long, it was steep, and it was not rideable for me.  I immediately decided that I was just going to run the whole thing.

The course on that day had a nice rocky and rooty climb that I loved.  It was perfect for my mountain bike skill set and flat bars.  I knew that I would be able to either pass folks or drop folks on that climb.

The early races started and we stood around and cheered.  It was nearing race time and the sun had come out.  It was starting to get nice and warm.  I took my arm warmers off and changed to a less insulated hat and went to go get lined up.  There were 11 of us racing the women's Cat 4 race.  I got a first row call up again.  Yay!

Well, the whistle blew and I felt like I got a good start, but my mountain bike gearing and inability to sprint caused me to fall pretty far back as usual.  However, once we got to the grass, I started to gain momentum and started to pass a few of the other women.  All of my playing around on the first corner came in handy as I was able to dismount and run up while passing several other women.  The rest of the first lap was pretty uneventful.

The second lap, Andrea caught up pretty close behind me.  I cheered her on and taunted her telling her I was right here that she could catch me.  We played leap frog once or twice on that lap.  On the third lap, she caught up pretty close behind me coming into the barriers. My teammates were yelling at me that someone was catching up to me.  She yelled back, "She knows!  It's okay!" and started to laugh.  Of course, she passed me on the remount after the barriers.  We played leap frog a few more times on the second half of the course.  As usual, she would catch up to me on the power sections and I would drop her on the techy sections.

The last little section before the finishing sprint was pretty techy, so I was feeling a little over confident and slowed down behind a friend who is a new racer so as to not freak her out on the techy section.  Once I got around her, I saw Andrea around a corner and realized she was closer than I expected.  I hit the gas on the last grassy patch hoping I could keep my distance.  I hit the pavement as fast as my mountain bike gearing would let me.  I heard my teammates screaming as loud as they could, so I knew she was gaining on me.  I did not dare turn around, I just pedaled as hard as I could.  Luckily, it paid off.  I beat her by not even a second, coming in fourth out of only eight finishers.

For a Sportif race, it was a tough field and everyone was extremely strong that day. Unfortunately two friends DNF'ed and one was DQ'ed.  Sarah G, who was doing her very first cross race, double flatted on a concrete step up on the first lap.  She got back on the bike and finished the men's noon race strong though.  Anna had a major equipment failure when she snapped her carbon saddle rails and hit the dirt pretty hard.  She was a trooper though and immediately started looking for a saddle to borrow for the next day's race.  I told her that I was going to get her on a mountain bike because she had the best attitude about crashing. Unfortunately, Hillary was DQ'ed for feeding on the course after another racer complained to an official.  She still looked like she was having a great time though.

Saturday Women's Cat 4 Results

As the men's 1:00 race was getting ready to start, winter decided to crash our cross party. What had started as a sunny, 65 degree day quickly turned into 35 degrees, windy, with some rain and sleet mixed in.  We hung around to watch the 1/2/3 race to see an old teammate who was visiting from Texas race.

Jamie and Arny - The cutest cross puppy ever!

Once that was done, we high tailed it down the road through more wind, rain, and sleet. The next day was looking quite miserable.

Sunday

As usual, the day started super early.  It was cold and incredibly windy.  We arrived back at the venue a little after 7 where I immediately got my number from registration and started my pre-race freakout since I was doing the early race.  I met up with another friend, Sarah B, who was interested in racing cross, but nervous about doing a race.  She brought her bike so we were going to pre-ride the course together.  Unfortunately, the changes they made to the course overnight did not make it less challenging.  It made it way more technical (sorry Sarah!).  But she was a beast and rode most everything out, even though she thought she was going to die (she was fine!).  There was a new off camber section into the first steep run up.  There was a different line going into straight away before the barriers.  The Belgian Wall was shorter, but SO much steeper (but I was able to ride the short kicker after it).  There was a paved climb (ugh... who does that?) and a loose rocky, rooty climb that I immediately determined was faster to run it than to try and ride the slightly less steep option to the left.

Sunday was a Super 8 race, which puts the Women's Cat 4 race with the Men's Cat 5 race. Usually, there are about 60+ Cat 5 men and between 15-25 Cat 4 women.  Today was a bit different.  There were TEN men and 13 women.  We finally outnumbered the men!  It was pretty empowering.

As in the day before, I got a front row call up and botched the start.  I really do sense a pattern here and need to figure out how to be better at starts.  I quickly started to pick off women and settle into fourth spot.  Jamie took off and I saw her a total of once on the course after the hole shot.  That girl was on FIRE.  It became pretty apparent that this was going to be an actual race, with actual racing happening.  A group of five of us (Mia, myself, Becky, Maureen, and Evelyn) were in a pretty tight group with a lot of passing and repassing.  It became pretty apparent that Becky (whom I had never raced with) was a mountain biker as she was keeping up with me on the techy sections.  It was nice to have someone to race with that could match me on bike handling skills.  It really kept me on my toes.

After some jockeying back and forth, I was able to get in second for a bit.  It was a pretty awesome feeling until I washed out in a corner and had to put a foot down for a second. Evelyn was behind me and I think she did the exact same thing that I did.  But either way, we both got passed by Becky.  I kept on Becky's wheel for the most part through all of the techy sections.  But she had a cross bike and was able to pull away from me on the power sections.  I was in third, but had a taste of second and I wanted it back, but just could not catch her.  On the last lap, Sarah G caught up to me with her ridiculous roadie strength and passed me on the barriers.  I grabbed her wheel and yelled at her that she was not stealing my apple butter (which was a prize for the top three the day before, so I assumed they would do it again for this race).  I am pretty sure she had no clue what I meant by that, but she put the hammer down and dropped me like I was standing still.

She also quickly passed Becky, whom I caught up to on the Belgian Wall.  Apparently I could mosey up a hill on foot faster than she could.  But she broke away on the next power section.  I spent the rest of that lap trying to catch up to her.  I was pushing as hard as I could and as fast as my gearing would let me.  It was not enough, she finished with 15 seconds on me as I came in 4th out of 13 finishers (no DNF's today!).

Sunday's Women's Cat 4 Results

Women's Cat 4 Podium - Not pictured: Jamie and Sarah G (who were nice and warm inside the rec center!)

This was a great race and an excellent learning experience for me.  I think this sealed the deal for me buying an actual cross bike for next year.  I just need to get used to drop bars before next season.  Yikes!

Race Report: Podiums and Pedals

This is my first full year racing cyclocross.  Last year I completed three races and absolutely fell in love with this new-to-me discipline of bike racing.

To fully comprehend what happened this past weekend, I am going to rewind the calendar to last year.  My second 'cross race happened to be at Rockburn.  The venue was right next to the Avalon area of Patapsco Valley State Park in Maryland, a place I had mountain biked several times.  I had heard great things about the course and was really excited to check it out.  In 2015, the beginner women raced with the junior fields, which was not a healthy combination.  This race was the first experience I had with "Cross Dads" and what happens when a ten year old has no bike handling skills whatsoever.

The Rockburn course was (and still is) a pretty technical course.  There were a lot of off camber corners, some fast, some not so fast.  There was a mandatory run-up in the form of a large telephone pole at the bottom of the hill.  There was a long singletrack section, while not technical to me, would be to someone who is not a mountain biker.  There was an optional log that had a penalty if you chose to go around it.  And lastly, there was a long paved climb that was absolutely torture.

This was my first actual "race".  There was a woman who raced for Sticky Fingers that I was back and forth with most of the race.  She was a power person and I was good on the technical stuff.  So I would pass her on the single track and some of the off camber sections and she would get me on the straight sections.  And I absolutely fell in LOVE with having someone to race with.  In most mountain bike races, I am pretty much by myself.  At my first cross race, Ed Sander Memorial Cross, I was in the same place pretty much the whole race.

Having someone to keep me competitive was something completely different.  And I loved it. Right until the point where I freaked out on one of the super sharp off camber turns on the back side of the course.  I had to get off my bike and walk it.  Every lap.  And then I met "Cross Dad" for the first time.  I had just passed a junior and an adult male yelled at the kid to put me into the tape.  What?!  We were not even in the same field, why would you tell a kid that?!  And then...  it happened.  A junior that I was about to pass fumbled and came straight across the course and hit my wheel.  Unfortunately, the kid went into the tape.  I apologized, made sure he was okay, and went along my way.  Sure, the kid was fine and did not even hit the ground, but it freaked me out.

Well, I ended up finishing pretty well for my second ever cross race: 12 out of 22.  Seven seconds behind the girl that I played leap frog with the whole morning.  She totally dropped me on the finishing stretch.

2016 Rockburn CX - Photo Courtesy of Ben Kristy of Dominion Cycling Photography

This year is a completely different story.  Before the Rockburn race on Sunday, I had seven races under my belt already for 2016's cross season.  With the exception of two races with mechanical issues, I had top ten finishes every week.  I was feeling fairly confident and strong and I remember loving the Rockburn course.

I am still racing on a rigid mountain bike, but I bought a gravel bike a few weeks ago.  Drop bars are scary.  I have not ridden a drop bar bike regularly since the summer of 2013 and have gotten very much out of practice on drop bar handling skills.  But, teammates have been pressuring me to race it for cross.  I figured if I did well in the beginner race (Cat 4) that I would race the Warbird (my new gravel bike) in the intermediate race (Cat 3/4).

Unfortunately the beginner race is at the beginning of the day, and I have no photos of the actual race.  *sad face*

I started the race with a front row call up even though I am terrible at starts (I can start in the front row, but literally as soon as the whistle blows, more than half the field passes me). The usual chit chat was happening at the start until the officials blew the whistle for the men's beginner race to start.  We all kind of quieted down, since we only had a minute between their start and ours.  

The whistle blew, and off we went.  Up a paved hill to a straight stretch before hitting the hole shot, which is the first turn of the race (usually from pavement onto grass).  I have no clue what place I was in, but was trying to pass as many women as I could on the turns towards the sand pit.  I was behind a teammate coming into the sand pit and she had an unfortunate fall with another racer.  I made sure she was okay as I passed and settled into the straight stretch before the singletrack.

About halfway through the singletrack section, I caught up with a couple of girls.  Then Jamie (who won the last week's race) was pulling over.  I asked her if she was okay, and she shouted "flat".  That was a bummer, I think she could have won this race also.  But, that is cross racing, sometimes you have a great race and sometimes you get a flat (or bust your chain like I did two weeks ago at Tacchino).

I kept going and caught up to another friend.  I noticed two juniors who were racing in the beginner women's field ahead of us.  I told her that they were teenagers and we HAD to beat them, just on principle.  I passed her and one of the juniors and kept my sights on the other.  (I should add that both girls are very talented and incredible young women.)

I passed the young woman in front of me, but she passed me back.  This happened a few times and reminded me very much of last year's race.  On my third lap, I put a little distance between us on a gravel climb and was just trying to hold her off when I went by my team's tent.  Someone yelled out, "GO GO GO, YOU ARE IN THIRD!"  Apparently my reaction was pretty off the charts.  I remember yelling "holy shit" and dropping down a gear or two and taking off.  The junior's dad commented to me after the race that he saw she was right behind me on the second lap but there was a good gap between us on the third.

I knew I could put more space between us on the technical sections.  So I concentrated on not making any mistakes through there and pedaled as hard as I could on the power sections.  Coming out of the off camber section towards the officials and the timing arch, I saw the lap counter was at one.  I had heard the bell (meaning last lap) about a quarter of my way through my third lap, so I was expecting that to be it.  I was not prepared to do a fourth lap and was not sure I could hold the junior off for another two miles.  Luckily, about 50 feet from the line, the counter turned to zero.  I smiled, mouthed "thank you" at the official as she told me I was third, and probably could have lit up the entire DC metro region with my grin.

My first cyclocross podium!  And it was at my favourite course!  And I beat a teenager! Woohoo!  

Women's Cat 4 Podium - 2016 Rockburn CX
Photo Credit: Charlie Lewis

Well, as promised, I also raced the Women's Cat 3/4 race on my Warbird.  I convinced a couple of other beginner women to race with me (thanks Maureen and Christine!).  We lined up near the back, since this was going to be a "see what happens" kind of race.

"I have no idea what I am doing."
Photo Credit: Charlie Lewis

As per usual, my start was terrible.  The first lap was pretty terrible.  It was terrifying going over technical terrain with drop bars.

The sandpit was especially scary, but I made it through with Christine, a fellow Bikenetic teammate) right on my wheel.  As the race went on, things got a little less terrifying.  In fact, Charlie caught me grinning a couple of times!

"This is a little more fun."
Photo Credit: Charlie Lewis

"Just riding along, nothing to see here."
Photo Credit: Charlie Lewis

By the third lap, I had caught up to a friend that was having some trouble on the off camber tight turns.  Instead of passing her like I did on the second lap (only to have her pass me back on the straight sections...  I see a pattern here), I told her that she absolutely can make the turn, to take it slow and pedal out of it.  And she DID!  I was so proud of her and even though I could not see her face, I am pretty sure she was quite happy.  The next one came up and I encouraged her to do the exact same thing and she crushed it.  I spent the last lap yo-yo-ing behind her.  I would catch her on the techy stuff and she would drop me on the power stuff (again, I see a pattern here...).  I felt pretty confident on those drop bars on the last lap and passed a couple of ladies.  I felt great going into the techy stuff at the end of the course and Charlie caught a big grin this time around!

"Oh, I have TOTALLY got this!"
Photo Credit: Charlie Lewis

Crossing the finish line was pretty amazing.  Sure, I finished not even remotely in the top ten (23rd out of 29, actually), but I finished with a great group of supportive women and we all had a blast.

The gearing on my gravel bike is not really all that great for cyclocross.  So, with the help of a teammate, I am planning on building one up over the winter so that I will stop getting harassed* for riding "FLAT BARS!"

*and by harassed, I mean lovingly teased by all my bikey friends

Time to Start Writing Again...

It was mentioned to me the other day that there is a distinct lack of female voices in the bike community (especially in the racing community).  Every time you turn around, you see a race report from a confident male cyclist.  You read interviews on bike related websites of national championship contenders that almost always happen to be male.  And on the off chance you actually see a televised cycling event, it is almost exclusively the men's race.

I am incredibly lucky to live in an area with a (relatively) huge population of female cyclists. Unfortunately, not all of them race.  Even more unfortunate, not all of them feel welcome in the racing community.  By starting this new blog, I want to not only give myself a voice in the cycling community, I want to give all of us a voice.  The more voices we add, the louder we get.

I am not really sure what this is going to evolve into.  But I want to share my experiences and encourage others to follow their passion and to be courageous and confident.  It has been a while since I have done anything other than technical writing, so this is going to be an interesting experiment.

Myself and a teammate at Hyattsville CX this year.