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This blog is to report the goings on at SpinDoc. Everything from race reports to training blogs.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

SpinDoc races in Gallup and Monterey








Hello, SpinDoc-ers!

This race report is a little different than prior reports for two reasons: first, I was not present at the first of the two events, and second, I participated in the second event.

The first race was the Dawn to Dusk (7 am to 7 pm) race in Gallup, New Mexico. Kirk was invited to race with cyclocross racer Jon Dellios, putting NM's first and second place cyclocross champs on the same team. David Sammeth, Jerry Shere, and a friend of Jerry's comprised a second SpinDoc team. Last year's event was cancelled due to snow, and none of these guys had raced this event before, so the adventure meter was ticked up pretty high. On Friday, April 8th the weather forecast predicted snow for Gallup and a high temp of 43. The guys packed up a variety of gear and took off, battling wind the whole drive East. Kirk and David pre-rode the course Friday afternoon, hooked up with Jerry, John and the third rider and tucked in for the night. Kirk called Friday morning after his first lap to report that the weather was good and he had a good ride. The course sounded quite challenging, with it starting with climbing on a rock face and skirting between large rock formations and bowls, and some cliffside single track. Kirk conceded it would be pretty tough if wet, but at that point the weather was good. David and Kirk rode the first lap for each team. Kirk's second lap was fast and he was feeling good. David and Kirk each rode their second laps with a 15 second difference and everyone was enjoying the race. The weather started to shift, the winds picked up, and precipitation was on it's way. First came the wind, then rain, followed by snow, and the race was called at 5:00. Jon said his last lap was miserable, so he and Kirk called themselves finished after completing a total of six laps. As a matter of fact, the weather had gotten so bad that the wind folded up our easy-up tent into a pretzel. All in all I think all the guys were pleased with their performance and enjoyed the adventure. Their held their own: if you visit www.dawntodusk.com you can view the race results for both teams under the names "SpinDoc" (Jerry, David and their teammate), and "SpinDoc Redux" (Kirk and John).

On Sunday Kirk continued West towards Santa Cruz, CA and his fifth annual Sea Otter Classic. Weather was great, his drive was easy, and he and the camper were installed in a space in the redwoods Monday afternoon with time enough for a lag stretching ride. I flew out on Thursday (without my driver's license. . .but that's another story for another day. I don't recommend trying to fly without it, but it is possible.) Friday was beautiful, and we spent the day cycling through the redwoods with Rob, a friend with whom Kirk has ridden more off road miles than anyone, in many different venues. Rob is also the skilled designer of SpinDoc's logo. It's beautiful and challenging riding in the forest, navigating tree roots and narrow passes between trunks. The smell is wonderful, as was the feeling of moisture in the air. On Saturday we opted out of riding the 49 mile Gran Fondo, a fun ride road event and instead took a recovery day which included a leisurely walk through the Henry Cowell Park, reading about and admiring the gorgeous stately redwoods.

Sunday was an early morning, driving to Monterey for the race. We got there in time for Kirk to air up his flat front, debate how warm it would get during his 20 mile race, and get him to the start line. We did a little better than last year, at which he had to run to the start line -- but not much. Meantime, my ride started at pretty much the time Kirk would be finishing, so Rob (who joins us each year for the race) and I had some time to kill. We went down to the expo area, an outdoor tent village of food vendors and cycling vendors, for a cup of coffee. As this was my first ever mountain bike "race," I was opting to view the experience as simply 'going for a ride,' not racing. That being the case, I wasn't that nervous.

Luckily I had NO idea what I was going to be looking at. Since racing is based on your age at the end of the current calendar year, I was aged up to the 50+ age group of women racing at the lowest "beginner" level referred to as Category 3 in mountain biking. (As Kirk points out, there are four categories in cyclocross, and five in road racing; these are based on the sheer numbers of participants in each genre of riding.) So I'm lined up with the other gals behind the Cat 3 Women's 50+, the only one in mountain bike shorts (hey, that's what we wear where I come from, not lycra!), trying to relax, and querying the ladies on either side of me about the course. It had been lengthened from 12 to 16.2 miles, and -- as I was to learn -- was the same course the Cat 1 and Cat 2 riders took with the exception of side loops added for them which lengthened the course to 20 miles. Heading out, of course, I was happily oblivious to this fact. Waiting for our countdown, the announcer asked if this was anyone's first mountain bike race, at which I raised my hand (indicating 'so hey, play nice, ladies!'), I was the only newbie in our small group.

We took off along the paved wide track that is Laguna Seca Raceway, with about six women all riding like bats outta hell. I was last, but Kirk had told me this was how it would play out. As many of them went anaerobic, I caught back up with about half of them. We took a left turn onto dirt, and immediately started crossing some ruts. Unfortunately, the last and biggest got me, and my front wheel turned and fell into the deep rut, and I went down hard on the handlebars. Wind blown out of my sails, I got up, dusted off and resumed, but it took a bit of time to regain some confidence in my ride. Adding to the mix was the fact that the Boys 13-14 group had been set off two minutes after us, and were already making their way through our group. Shortly after that we hit a steep, loose and heavily rutted ascent, which got pretty much everyone off their bikes to walk up. Several women from my group were already out of site, and we were already starting to catch some of the younger women from prior heats. At the top I hopped back on my bike to see a gnarly very challenging descent -- and some walking down it, too. I made it down, past the ambulance at the bottom (which seemed to be in the process of utilization, but I never heard any details) and continued on. Whew.

All in all, it was a great ride. Parts were lovely swooping single track through willow-ish trees and meadows; some was wide gravel road; some was steep climbs on loose stuff; some was deep New Mexico-style sand. I reminded myself that I was there to ride my own ride, no one else's, and was very proud of some of the stuff I rode. I ended up walking up about three ascents, and down two or three (including one that was simply a foot of sand, making me think of Kirk and some of his cyclocross races, and marveling at the fact that hours earlier he had bombed down that same descent at high speed). After a while I wasn't being passed anymore, and started passing men and women that had started before I had. It was starting to feel long, and I started to wonder how much more there was. My leg ached where it hit my handlebars in my starting crash, but I still felt pretty strong. Where possible, on climbs and easy flats, I tried to pedal harder to make up some time. People out on the course were so nice, and I ended up riding with a local woman who had ridden the course many times as a young adult, and a couple times in the past years. She commented on how much harder that course was than any prior year, and that she'd even heard Cat 2 women talking about how tough the course was. I left her on a climb and unfortunately did not run into her post-race.

Finally, it became apparent that I was approaching the finish, but not without one more nerve-wracking descent. I rode down a rutted bit to discover it suddenly droped in a rutted sandy descent, at which three or four young volunteers were gathered. As I gently braked and exclaimed "Oh crap!" they encouraged me on with "Let it roll! Let if roll!" I did, and made it down, and called back over my shoulder that they helped get me down. Coming into the finish and over the timing mats, I was completed toasted and so happy to see Rob on one side, and Kirk on the other cheering me in. All in all, I am very pleased with my performance on a course that was very technical, very long, and technically over my skill level. It was also my first race, and I felt I held my own, used the skills I have learned from Kirk, and generally applied what I knew pretty well.

Kirk had a great ride, felt good and strong, and rode fast. The longer, highly technical course suited him well, and he placed 16th in his group -- a huge jump from his 41st place standing last year. We wandered the expo, saw some of our SpinDoc reps, and headed back to Santa Cruz. Monday saw us taking a short easy recovery ride, and heading east towards home. Driving past Gallup, Kirk was able to point out where the Dawn to Dusk race was. . . .wow! Pretty crazy terrain there.

Kirk's fifth and my first Sea Otter under our belts, we're ready to hit the ground running at SpinDoc, and prep for the next adventure: racing La Tierra Torture. Oh yeah, it snowed on the racers last year, and the starting gun wouldn't fire in the wet. What will this year bring?

Best to all,
Kirk, Chandler and Ashleigh