VA Cyclocross Championships

So, this year for Thanksgiving, my significant other and I decided to get away together and enjoy some alone time.  We packed up and headed towards western VA for some mountains and solitude.  We ended up doing a couple of gravel rides with some spectacular views!

Mountains and cows as far as the eye could see!

We rode about 32 miles on Thanksgiving in one of the most beautiful rolling valleys I have ever seen.  We crossed the Maury River and climbed a couple of mountains before heading back to our cottage.

Such a beautiful blue sky.  

On our way back, we ran into some old friends.  I feel like if we ever go back, we should bring them some green flamingos to match!

Pink Flamingos, a flower, and a Warbird!

Roads like these are what I live for.  Crunchy gravel, beautiful scenery, no cars around, and cows to keep us company!

#roadslikethese

 My pups enjoyed all the gravel roads as well.  They were pretty zonked after their long morning walks to watch the sun rise over the mountains. 

B&N snuggling by the fire.

On Friday, we made the mistake of doing part of the Devil's Backbone Mountain Cross loop.  It was 22 miles with about 3,400 feet of elevation.  It did take us to my favourite stone church.  We even had time to stop and take a couple of photos.

This church is the most adorable thing ever.

 And for the first time ever, I was able to get up close to the bell tower.  It is seriously gorgeous.  These photos do not do it justice at all.

Never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

We had already decided that since we were going to be relatively close to Charlottesville that we were going to race the Virginia State Championship Race in Keswick on Saturday.  I had signed up for the Master's and the Cat 3/4 women's races.  Dane had signed up for both the 4/5 and 3/4 men's races.  We were a little late leaving Saturday morning and only had about 45 minutes from jumping out of the car to the start of Dane's first race.  

I was luckily able to get in two laps of pre-riding.  The course was rough cut with some debris (mostly sticks and woody weeds) in the corners here and there.  There was a muddy creek crossing and a LOT of sharp, narrow corners.  Two relatively long climbs and one super fast and swoopy descent.  It looked like racing it was going to be fun.

Dane's race was pretty spectacular.  He had a decent start, settling into 12th place after the first lap.  I had told him my former teammate from Dire Wolf, Adam, was going to be there and that since they were so close together at DCCX, he should set his sights on him.  That seemed to be sound advice, since Adam was pretty close in front of him.  Lap after lap, Dane kept gaining on that group until he finally passed and dropped them.  I was so proud!  He ended up in 6th place and had his best race of the season.  According to the results, he was only 17 seconds off first place! 

After finding one of my competitors, Lindsay, we decided to head down to the start.  The men's race ran a bit long, so they were starting us about five minutes behind schedule.  The whole thing was a bit of a cluster and there was no organisation or call ups.  The start line was a bit of a free for all.  Which, I suppose is fine, since there were only 7 of us in the Master's race and 5 in the 4/5 race.  There were some juniors, too, but I have no idea how many there were.  They started after us and I am pretty sure I never saw them out on the course.

One thing that I noticed was that for every group on the start line, they had a different starting number.  So, the Master's were all 600's, the 4/5's were 500's, etc.  It made it REALLY easy to figure out who was in your race.  MABRA take note!

I got to know everyone in the Master's race as we waiting for the officials to get their stuff together.  There was no chip timing, no announcer, no music.  It was strange and VERY inefficient.  

Anyway, the whistle blew, and I actually had a REALLY good start!  I replaced the pedals on my Kona with some fancy new Race Face ones that had amazing pins.  I honestly think this helped quite a bit.  The Wellgo's I had got for the Kona have new pins that are not very grippy and I had been unhappy with them.  The start was a slight grade uphill into a right handed turn that went straight up a climb.  At the top of the climb, I was in fourth place and was quickly able to pass two of the ladies in front of me to claim second after the creek crossing.  A HUGE thanks to Dane's post-race advice on the best line for the creek crossing.  

Now for the "It Could Only Happen to Me" part of this race report...  As I went over the barriers, my right shoe came untied.  I could feel it slipping as I hopped back on the bike.  Whoever was behind me, yelled at me that my laces were undone.  I had zero time, as three gals were right on my wheel.  So I just lifted my foot and stomped on my lace to keep it out of my drive side.  I was doing really well through the sharp corners and around the pit.  Dane was there cheering me on and I stopped paying attention.  

My right foot came off the pedal as I dabbed on a corner and as I put my foot back up, my lace got caught in my chain ring.  "F#CK!!!!!"  (Sorry to all the juniors out there!)  I am super glad I did not eat it.  I was able to brake quickly and fall to the left with my foot down.  As I was tying the lace back up, I got passed by EVERYONE.  I could hear Dane yelling for me and telling me that I could catch back up.  My legs did not believe him (whose idea was it to do that much climbing the day before a cross race?!).

I could hear teammate Peter Schultz in my head telling me to never stop racing and not give up, even when you think there is no shot (where was this advice at Sykesville!?).  I hopped back on the bike and mashed harder.  Crossing over the second creek crossing, I remembered Dane's advice about not braking, that the grass would slow me down enough for the 180 coming up.  I laid on the gas right before the crossing and kept my fingers off the brake levers.  I was able to catch the last woman that passed me on the climb after the finish straight.  The fun swoopy downhill became my friend as I hauled down it without touching the brakes.  

I caught up to my friend Lindsay and battled with her for a bit.  I was finally able to out maneuver her on the sharp corners and kept on going.  At this point, I assumed I was maybe in 5th place, but probably 6th.  I was not going to give up and kept hammering through the course.  On the last lap, I could hear someone behind me breathing hard.  I would lose her on the corners, but she would catch up on the straights...  This is the story of my life!  As I passed the pit for the last time, I heard Dane yell that someone was on my wheel.  I almost laughed as I though, "Yep, I know, I can hear her!"  But I pushed as hard as I could through the turns, channeling my inner Simona.  I knew that as soon as we crossed the last creek crossing and made the 180 to the finishing stretch that she was going to catch me.  I am not a sprinter.  But I put as much power as I could into my pedals and pushed, pushed, pushed.

It was a photo finish.  She got me by an inch.  I thought we were racing for 5th and 6th place.  So when we rolled up to a group after the finish, everyone congratulated us on a great race.  Turns out, we were racing for 2nd and 3rd!  GAH!  I wish I had known.  I would have tried to push it harder and faster in the turns.  But honestly, I am not sure it would have made a difference.  I absolutely gave it my all and she was a fierce competitor.  We laughed and recounted about it for quite a while and I now have a new cross friend!

Master's Women Overall Podium

I finished third overall in the Master's and first in the 35+ Masters.  Which means...  I am a State Champion!  

VA Cyclocross State Champion, right here!

Seriously, I was super stoked.  I have never been a state champion before!  It was kind of cool for about five minutes!  Lindsay had never done a state championship race, so before she ran off for volunteer duties, we made sure to get our 35+ podium picture!

Master's 35+ State Champion Podium (Not Pictured, 3rd place Donna Wolf)

My second race was much less eventful, but was fun.  It was great to have my friend Lynn out on the course cheering and taking pictures.  I finished 5th in the Women's 3/4, which was a pretty big deal since it was some pretty touch competition.  

Overall, it was an interesting experience racing a VACX race instead of a MABRA race.  It was definitely smaller and quieter, yet even though there was less competition, the racers are all extremely talented.  I invited them all up to do the BikenetiCX race in two weeks, but unfortunately, the VACX finale race is the same weekend.  Good luck to all my new cyclocross friends for the rest of the season!  Hopefully I will be back to defend my championship title!