Awesome-Anne! Thanks for the report and for the words of encouragement. You shone on Sunday and did us women proud! As for my report, well, it’s much different than yours but for the sake of closure, here goes….
You know it’s bad when: 1) you arrive at the bottom of the hill before your bike does, 2) you rejoice over bending the handlebars because you’ve been wanting new ones, 3) all you can see through the new rip in your riding pants is black and blue skin.
On the bright side, there were a few sections that I felt good about and I aced the various hillclimbs, some rather steep. Last week, my husband Jon and I spent a couple days at the Trials Training Center (TTC) in TN where we learned a LOT from Laura Bussing aka Trialwench. It was a fabulous time and I was looking forward to applying my newly-learned techniques to Sunday’s race. Apparently, there wasn’t enough gel time because in moments of panic, looking down the steep root-covered precipice, for example, every reasonable thought in my head vanished. <sigh> But the peg-weighting technique seemed to work well because I didn’t hit one tree all day. Rejoice in the small victories, right?
The first steep downhill, in the first 10 minutes of the race, was the scene of my premiere endo. Going too fast, in a very deep rut, maybe too much front brake, and the front end washed out, sending me over the bars, bouncing down the hill. The bars were bent and I was a bit shook but I continued on. The trail finally emptied out alongside the creek and after another needless wipe-out there, I did the muddy creek crossing without thinking and surprised myself by a brilliant execution of it.
The second major downhill, the ‘gnarly’ one Anne mentioned with the roots, took me by surprise and partway down I got to practice my flying/falling technique again. Silly girl! Poor bike! After this spill, the bars were very loose but I kept going because I was feeling immortal, having survived some death-defying crashes already, I was unstoppable. Following the trail with shaky bars made for an interesting ride so after the checkpoint when I arrived back on the track, I rode to the first corner and stopped to chat with Jon who had been waiting and waiting and waiting to cheer me on. I told him I’d gotten my money’s worth, my bars were bent, and my body was beat-up. One lap was enough of an accomplishment on this 'given Sunday.'
I’m feeling ok about the race. Not great but I’m holding onto the small victories of the day (not hitting any trees, slaying the uphill dragons, and the perseverance to finish a lap) and looking forward to more practice and more races. Jon and I had a good talk about our new dirtbike lifestyle (we’ve been avid streetbike riders for many years), he wanted to make sure I was ok and still having fun and was there anything I need, like a new bike, to make it easier or more fun. Whatta great guy!
So, that’s that. Thanks for listening, if you made it this far. And thanks for this wonderful forum!
Sue
TTR250