Race Report: Eldora Escape 8/15/2004

Apologies for the length of this report ...

Backstory:

This is my first mountain bike race; actually, it's my first race of any sort,
ever. A really nasty cold slammed me on Tuesday, but I was able to preride
the course on Saturday, so I decided to race Sunday. Anyway, beginner women
were only slated to do one lap ...

Preparation:

Ordinarily, I carry a Camelbak Blowfish with 3L of water, stuffed to the gills
with tools, food, hand-wipes, extra clothing, etc. For the race, I bought
myself a 1.5L mini-bak with no pockets. I got one of those under-the-saddle
pouches for a tube, tire levers, and the multi-tool, and Eric found a way to
mount my tire pump to the water bottle mounts on the downtube. Pretty slick.

In addition, I practiced changing tires. I have two new bikes, a beater mtb
and a road bike, and they both needed new tires anyway. I successfully
changed both front tires on the first try; I punctured both rear tubes with a
tire lever on the first try. As our floor pump was also misbehaving, I headed
to the bike shop and picked up more tubes and a very nice Park Tool floor pump
(no more swapping bits to go from Shraeder to Presta and back again! Yay!).
I finished up one of the tires while Eric did the other -- my thumbs pads
ached from effectively having changed five tires (three successful, two
unsuccessful). But at least I think I might be able to handle a flat without
assistance now.

The race would start at 8:30; I had to have signed in by 7:30; it takes about
an hour to get to Eldora. Not knowing how difficult it might be to get
parking, find the sign-in spot, etc., Eric and I planned to leave the house by
5:30, so I tried to go to bed early. Eric, still up, asked me if I was
nervous, and I said, "Strangely, no." But then I tried to go to sleep.

I woke up roughly every three nanoseconds from ten till five in the morning.
My dream-thoughts were all about the race, except for one bizarre dream in
which everyone at work was picking on me. *shrug*

The race:

When I arrived to sign in, I found out that laps had been adjusted -- my group
would be doing two laps of the green course, not one. Doh! That's a total of
12 official course miles or, if you go by Eric's bike computer, 9.4 miles. I
tend to believe Eric's computer. Okay, it's not a huge amount of mileage, but
I'd been psyching myself to really push hard the whole way. Now I'd have to
save something for that second lap.

Here's my bike. Eric did the last-minute once-over while I visited the lady's
room about 4,000 times. Nerves plus the gallons of gatorade and water I'd
been drinking to keep myself hydrated ... what a fun combination!

http://www.bounceswoosh.org/pics/200...1-the_bike.jpg

Here's me waiting for my group, beginner women, to be called. I'm
wearing a Primal Wear Iron Butterfly jersey (orange) with a blue helmet
and a blue camelbak, right in the center of the picture. If you look
closely, you can see the nose strip I used to try to help me breathe
through the phlegm. I'm not sure it helped, but it didn't hurt, other
than making me look like a dork.

http://www.bounceswoosh.org/pics/200...ting_ready.jpg

I had a clif shot just before the race. I didn't have what seemed like a good
opportunity to go for the second packet I had stuffed in my jersey. I
actually got myself into position at the very front of my group, but that
didn't last long. As I dragged my carcass up the first (biggest, by far)
climb, all the beginner women, and then the juniors, rode on past me. Anyway,
here's me at the bottom of the climb, to the right of the pictu

http://www.bounceswoosh.org/pics/200...arting_out.jpg

I made it up this dirt road, slowly but surely. After that, the course enters
the trees where the Jenny Creek trailhead begins and there are three short,
sightly more technical climbs, each a little bigger than the one before. To
my surprise, riders were bailing and walking even the first one. I managed to
dodge them well enough to stay on my bike for the first two climbs, but on the
third, I ended up getting stuck behind the others and walking, too. On
prerides, I'd cleared all three.

From here the course undulates through a subset of Eldora's network of nordic
trails. My group was way out ahead of me, and I guess I kind of settled down
for a good solo ride. Looking back, I took it way too easy -- I had young
kids in front of me a few times and didn't take the opportunities I should
have to pass them. Naturally, this always happened right before
tough-but-doable technical climbs where I lost a silly amount of time by not
pushing myself to pass sooner.

Let's see, what else? I did pass one woman, and thought she was in the
beginner group, but as times later showed, that couldn't have been. She must
have been in the sport group or something. Anyway, she seemed to do better
than me on climbs but hold way back on descents. I also lost some time in the
singletrack trying to figure out how to pass her (oh, the irony, after my
question last night) -- ended up staying behind her through the singletrack;
she then told me to pass as it widened.

There were two nasty puddles; one I ran around; the other had a rideable trail
to the side. Most everyone considered them to be unrideable, but I thought I
saw one guy manage them out of the corner of my eye. On the other hand, I saw
a lot of people covered in mud with bloody noses; I don't know if they got
them in the puddles or not, but I'm happy to have avoided them. They stopped
my wheels dead last weekend when I tested the waters.

The one time I deviated from my pre-ride course, I beat the hell out of my
right pedal on rock deeply embedded in the mud. Surprise!

Anyway, around I came, past the feed zone and into the next lap. I
hadn't realized there would be bottles for grabs; I didn't have a bottle
cage on my bike, anyway. Something to think about for the next race,
though not so critical on such a short run. I'm sure those with more
laps needed that zone.

On a mini-uphill just after the gate, my rear tire slid out on an imaginary
speck of dust. I managed to dab it and keep going, losing all momentum of
course.

Being solidly behind, well, everyone, I took the second initial climb a bit
easier. I think I should have done this on the first lap, too -- it seems
like the time I might have gained by pushing myself up the hill probably
wasn't worth the exhaustion in the next sections. Eric had stationed himself
most of the way up the climb and shouted out encouragement. He told me I
wasn't that far behind the group and that he was really proud of me for
sticking to my bike -- apparently quite a few people had walked the top of
this climb, both times. I guess that's something, but it didn't seem to do
much for the time gap.

I think this is me:

http://www.bounceswoosh.org/pics/200...is_that_me.jpg

Apparently, Eric's camera misbehaved, which is why he didn't get any close-ups
of the climb.

The second lap ... it was a lot like the first, except that I think my body
finally figured out that this was a race. I pedalled more and braked less. I
didn't resort to my little ring as often, and I stood up for more of the
climbs. There was one short, scary moment when I dabbed coming around a
U-turn into the one longish, technical-ish descent -- I couldn't get my right
foot back into the pedal and had to ride down the hill unclipped. I guess
it's a sign of my progressive addiction to clipless that it bothered me to be
unclipped rather than clipped in. Other than that, though, I felt good.

Here are some pics of me on the last "real" climb before the finish:

http://www.bounceswoosh.org/pics/200..._keepin_on.jpg

http://www.bounceswoosh.org/pics/200.../29-and_on.jpg

http://www.bounceswoosh.org/pics/200...ough_climb.jpg

I pushed myself as hard as I could through the finish. My final time was 1:19
and change, 22 minutes slower than the one other woman in my age bracket and
four minutes slower than the next-slowest beginner woman.

Interesting thing, though -- Eric believes that my first lap was closer to 42
minutes, my second to 37. Okay, still not setting any records, but we're
thinking that I could have had two 37 minute laps if I'd just warmed up better
before the race. I did ride around the parking lot, but that wasn't enough to
get my heart or legs to really work. Riding that first climb and then resting
a bit might have done it, though? Need to figure that out.

Anyway, after I'd finished the race and Eric had hiked back to me, we watched
the more advanced folks on the first climb for a while. I decided I'd like to
see how they were handling one really tough climb toward the end of the race,
so we hiked over to the spot to encourage the riders and see what they were
doing. Hopefully our cheering gave them some strength and didn't just startle
them -- some did say thank you, though. I doubt that anyone who started at
8:30 managed to get up that run on wheels; the majority of the 10:00 starters
didn't even make it, which does make me feel a bit better. Here's a sample:

http://www.bounceswoosh.org/pics/200...h_climb/31.jpg

Those of us watching that spot debated about the right line to take, but in
the end I decided it didn't matter. The racers with the legs to keep pushing
almost always made it up, regardless of the line. It got so I could predict
who would make it up just by watching the approach.

There was a definite funny moment -- a guy had his little son and daughter
watching this climb. A guy uttered the "F-word" when the guy just in front of
him got stuck, causing both of them to have to walk. Several seconds after
they'd passed, the little girl slowly says ... "Daddy ... did he use a bad
word?" Well, it made me laugh, anyway.

We were also able to shout encouragement to he who posts as Pippen here on the
ng *grin*

After a while, our hands and throats were sore from all of the cheering, so we
hiked back to the finish line. After the 10:00 starters were through, there
was a fun little race for the kids -- twenty five feet (!) of vertical in each
lap. I'm not much for kids, but even I found them adorable and had a great
time cheering them on:

http://www.bounceswoosh.org/pics/200.../06-kids_race/

End Notes:

JD was right when he said that I should enjoy the course while it's nice and
empty. I don't know if racers purposely neatened the trail or if all the
pre-riding knocked the fun stuff out of the way, but the course got a lot
tamer from last weekend to today. There seemed to be a ribbon without loose
rocks through every technical section; it definitely didn't start that way.

Is it normal to get a pounding headache once you stop pedalling? I'm
wondering if it's a water/food thing or if it's just a matter of going from a
seriously hard workout to motionless without enough cool-down time in between.
This doesn't happen when I'm riding normally, but it happened both after
yesterday's preride and today after the race.

Sunburn sucks. The course was shaded, but between the ride and the awards I
sat around in the grass for several hours -- and naturally didn't have any
sunscreen. I look like a raccoon now.

The cold didn't impact me too much throughout the race that I could tell -- I
coughed a bit, but no major hacking. Afterwards, though -- man! It seems to
stir up all sorts of phlegm. For hours after the race, I'd get those coughs
that just don't stop.

I'm sure that I have other comments, but I have an all-day meeting starting at
8:00 tomorrow, so I'd best get some sleep. I'll follow up with thoughts as
they occur to me.

Oh, and before I go -- I really have to hand it to Eric for hiking around and
snapping all those pictures, and for helping me out these last few days and
preriding the course with me and generally being an awesome husband. I don't
know how much of that I can expect in the future -- now that he's seen what
it's like, he wants to race, too!

--
monique

"Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live."
-- Mark Twain

On Sun, 15 Aug 2004 22:29:25 -0600, Monique Y. Mudama =

wrote:

Here's my bike. Eric did the last-minute once-over while I visited th=
e =

lady's
room about 4,000 times. Nerves plus the gallons of gatorade and water=
=

I'd
been drinking to keep myself hydrated ... what a fun combination!

http://www.bounceswoosh.org/pics/200...scape/01-prer=
ace/01-the_bike.jpg

Here's me waiting for my group, beginner women, to be called. I'm
wearing a Primal Wear Iron Butterfly jersey (orange) with a blue helme=
t
and a blue camelbak, right in the center of the picture. If you look
closely, you can see the nose strip I used to try to help me breathe
through the phlegm. I'm not sure it helped, but it didn't hurt, other=

than making me look like a dork.


Hey, I thought I was the only dork using those nose strips. They =

definitely help.


I pushed myself as hard as I could through the finish. My final time =
=

was 1:19
and change, 22 minutes slower than the one other woman in my age brack=
et =

and
four minutes slower than the next-slowest beginner woman.

Interesting thing, though -- Eric believes that my first lap was close=
r =

to 42
minutes, my second to 37. Okay, still not setting any records, but we=
're
thinking that I could have had two 37 minute laps if I'd just warmed u=
p =

better
before the race. I did ride around the parking lot, but that wasn't =

enough to
get my heart or legs to really work. Riding that first climb and then=
=

resting
a bit might have done it, though? Need to figure that out.

Anyway, after I'd finished the race and Eric had hiked back to me, we =
=

watched
the more advanced folks on the first climb for a while. I decided I'd=
=

like to
see how they were handling one really tough climb toward the end of th=
e =

race,
so we hiked over to the spot to encourage the riders and see what they=
=

were
doing. Hopefully our cheering gave them some strength and didn't just=
=

startle
them -- some did say thank you, though. I doubt that anyone who start=
ed =

at
8:30 managed to get up that run on wheels; the majority of the 10:00 =

starters
didn't even make it, which does make me feel a bit better. Here's a =

sample:

http://www.bounceswoosh.org/pics/200...scape/05-big_=
guns_tough_climb/31.jpg


That looks like a nasty climb. I hate those type... back wheel spinning,=
=

front end popping up, quads burning, both testicles dead-numb, penis =

shrunken to the size of a baby carrot (without the top), snot blowing, =

lung collapsing.... where's my chairlift pass!!


Nice job.
-- =

Slacker

Slacker wrote:

Hey, I thought I was the only dork using those nose strips. They
definitely help.

Ha ha, sucker! I never really had you pegged as the gullible idiot
type. You're a placebo marketer's dream.

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message
...

Apologies for the length of this report ...
--
monique

wasn't a problem I just skipped to the end to see who won... nah it was all
good, very entertaing race report. You should feel proud that you managed
most of the climbs, that would mean more to me than finishing first but I'm
not very race oriented. It sounded like you misjudged your pace a bit and
underestimated your abilities too.

Steve.

Monique Y. Mudama wrote:

The race would start at 8:30; I had to have signed in by 7:30; it takes about
an hour to get to Eldora. Not knowing how difficult it might be to get
parking, find the sign-in spot, etc., Eric and I planned to leave the house by
5:30, so I tried to go to bed early. Eric, still up, asked me if I was
nervous, and I said, "Strangely, no." But then I tried to go to sleep.

Is that the little ski area before the tunnel by the quarry?


When I arrived to sign in, I found out that laps had been adjusted -- my group
would be doing two laps of the green course, not one. Doh! That's a total of
12 official course miles or, if you go by Eric's bike computer, 9.4 miles. I
tend to believe Eric's computer. Okay, it's not a huge amount of mileage, but
I'd been psyching myself to really push hard the whole way. Now I'd have to
save something for that second lap.

LOL! They do that all the time around here. Which is one of the
reasons I have yet to race (my first coming up in two weeks - 24 Hours
of Allamuchy).


I made it up this dirt road, slowly but surely. After that, the course enters
the trees where the Jenny Creek trailhead begins and there are three short,
sightly more technical climbs, each a little bigger than the one before. To
my surprise, riders were bailing and walking even the first one. I managed to
dodge them well enough to stay on my bike for the first two climbs, but on the
third, I ended up getting stuck behind the others and walking, too. On
prerides, I'd cleared all three.

Wow, you have too much self control. I would have been red screaming,
"get out of my f'ing way you stupid trail hogging a-holes".

Let's see, what else? I did pass one woman, and thought she was in the
beginner group, but as times later showed, that couldn't have been. She must
have been in the sport group or something. Anyway, she seemed to do better
than me on climbs but hold way back on descents.

I have the same problem. I plan on using that as my strategy buy
strapping on the body armor and attacking the DH. It's very interesting
to see people in my riding club that have been doing it for years stop
dead in their tracks when they come to a technical DH. Then I embarrass
them and they have to try and out ride me, which they end up doing .

I pushed myself as hard as I could through the finish. My final time was 1:19
and change, 22 minutes slower than the one other woman in my age bracket and
four minutes slower than the next-slowest beginner woman.

But you finished and that's a whole lot better than a DNF.

After a while, our hands and throats were sore from all of the cheering, so we
hiked back to the finish line. After the 10:00 starters were through, there
was a fun little race for the kids -- twenty five feet (!) of vertical in each
lap. I'm not much for kids, but even I found them adorable and had a great
time cheering them on:

http://www.bounceswoosh.org/pics/200.../06-kids_race/


Uh oh! A soft spot. Better watch out before those little twitches of
delight turn into something .

Is it normal to get a pounding headache once you stop pedalling? I'm
wondering if it's a water/food thing or if it's just a matter of going from a
seriously hard workout to motionless without enough cool-down time in between.
This doesn't happen when I'm riding normally, but it happened both after
yesterday's preride and today after the race.

It was probably from all that sugar and caffeine you loaded up on before
the race with gatorade and gels. I get them too but I drink a nice
bottle of Coke after takes it away. Yup, must be the caffeine and sugar
addiction.


Sunburn sucks. The course was shaded, but between the ride and the awards I
sat around in the grass for several hours -- and naturally didn't have any
sunscreen. I look like a raccoon now.

{Preaching mode on}
OK people. How many times have I told everyone here about the sun?
This I have knowledge on since I work for the oldest cancer research
association in the world. YOU MUST WEAR SUNSCREEN!!! I don't care what
color your skin is, whether or not you are already tan, even if it is
cloudy or shaded, and especially in altitude. Melanoma will be the
leading cause of cancer deaths within the next few years. It's not just
a weird colored mole on your skin. It spreads like wildfire. This is
one of the most preventable cancers and it only takes a minute to grease
yourself up.
{Preaching mode off}


Oh, and before I go -- I really have to hand it to Eric for hiking around and
snapping all those pictures, and for helping me out these last few days and
preriding the course with me and generally being an awesome husband. I don't
know how much of that I can expect in the future -- now that he's seen what
it's like, he wants to race, too!


I wonder if there is such a thing as a couples MTB relay race. That
would be cool.

Great work Monique. I think the Leadville 100 is this week. Are you
thinking about it?

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

spademan says:

It sounded like you misjudged your pace a bit and
underestimated your abilities too.


What he's trying to say is that you had the boot on, but failed to kick a$$.
Next time you will know where and when to apply the boot ;-)

Steve "nice RR, BTW"

Stephen Baker wrote:

It sounded like you misjudged your pace a bit and
underestimated your abilities too.


What he's trying to say is that you had the boot on, but failed to kick a$$.
Next time you will know where and when to apply the boot ;-)

Aye. However, it's always better to finish a race stronger than to hit the
wall and then struggle desperately to get to the end. BTDT.

On 2004-08-16, Slacker penned:

http://www.bounceswoosh.org/pics/200...h_climb/31.jpg


That looks like a nasty climb. I hate those type... back wheel
spinning, front end popping up, quads burning, both testicles
dead-numb, penis shrunken to the size of a baby carrot (without the
top), snot blowing, lung collapsing.... where's my chairlift pass!!


Several of the conditions you describe don't apply to me. But yeah, it
was rough. I might have tried to ride it my very first preride; don't
recall. After that, I just pushed my bike every time, knowing it would
take me longer to try to ride it and fail. Of course, those who *were*
able to ride up it had a distinct advantage, but there weren't too many
of those.

Nice job.

Thank you =)


--
monique

"Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live."
-- Mark Twain

On 2004-08-16, spademan o---[) * penned:

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message
...

Apologies for the length of this report ... -- monique

wasn't a problem I just skipped to the end to see who won... nah it was all
good, very entertaing race report. You should feel proud that you managed
most of the climbs, that would mean more to me than finishing first but I'm
not very race oriented. It sounded like you misjudged your pace a bit and
underestimated your abilities too.


On a normal ride, time wouldn't be a consideration -- I'd focus on just
getting up stuff. But I figure that if I'm in the race, I should try to go
fast. Otherwise I could just ride the trail without having to pay a
registration fee or anything =)

I definitely need to work on learning how far I can push myself. I'm not used
to racing in any capacity, so I'm not very good at getting my legs to move
faster than they're used to and such.

--
monique

"Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live."
-- Mark Twain

On 2004-08-16, Stephen Baker penned:
spademan says:

It sounded like you misjudged your pace a bit and underestimated your
abilities too.


What he's trying to say is that you had the boot on, but failed to kick a$$.
Next time you will know where and when to apply the boot ;-)

Steve "nice RR, BTW"

Boot?

--
monique

"Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live."
-- Mark Twain