Danville State Championships

So the mountain bike State Championships were this past Sunday in Danville.  I had never ridden the course before.  Tom and I decided to make a weekend out of it and get a hotel room, since it's about a 3 hour drive.  We drove down early Saturday and got to the course around noon, planning to do a one lap pre-ride.  Well, remember the sleet that the Richmond area got Friday?  Danville got a couple inches of snow, that was still there.  The whole park was white.  Then up a steep hill from the parking lot we saw what must have been the race promotor on the trail with his bike, and he was shoveling!  We walked a ways up the trail and it was pretty bad- snow with mud underneath.  We decided to save our bikes (and ourselves) and not attempt to pre-ride.  It was a warm day, so the only hope was that it would all melt overnight.

That night we met Jason's family (Mason was racing too) and Tom Haines family for dinner at a Mexican restaurant, which was nice.  We all stayed at the same hotel, so saw them again for breakfast.  All night I tried not to think about those snowy trails.  What can I do?  I had driven 3 hours and gotten a hotel, I wasn't going to back out now.  It didn't help that this was going to be my first cat 1 race, so the race was longer than I was used to.  It was going to be 21.6 miles (3 laps), vs. the usual 14 or so.

The morning we got to the race there was still snow in the woods but the trails themselves were snow free, however they were completely soaked and mucky.  At the race start there was a rumor they were going to cut our race short.  They had cut my husband's 3 lap race one lap shorter, so he had 2 laps.  Then when we got to the start line the official asked us if we wanted 2 or 3 laps.  There wasn't a consensus so he kept it at 3.  I had to race longer than Tom???

So the start was up a steep hill with straight paths but tight switchbacks.  As soon as I got into the muck, it was a bizarre experience.  It was worse than I even thought it would be.  You'd pedal, but your wheels would just spin in place which was exhausting, and when you did make forward movement your bike was pulled one way or the other depending on the hidden ruts in the trail under the mud.  I must have fallen about 4 times on the first hill.  At first, I was so discouraged, I thought there's no way I can do almost 22 miles of this.  I think I came the closest ever to quitting a race.  But I couldn't, I knew I wouldn't be able to live with myself so I just kept going.  My goal became just to finish.  It got easier, not because it got less muddy, but I think because I relaxed and stopped fighting my bike.  It actually became fun (mentally, physically I was suffering), learning how to ride in the mud.  I found out two things- ride through those deep puddles instead of trying to go around them- they clear the debris from your drive-train.  The other thing was when the water was literally flowing down the middle of the trail like a river, to ride in the center of the stream- the water carries the silt away and leaves sand and the sand has better traction.  (For those of you that maintain trails and are cringing reading this- I know, I know- that was the other thing running through my head the whole time- the poor trails!  But they didn't cancel the race, and so race I would.)  Another thought would poke in my head sometimes.  You know that show "Monsters Inside Me"?  There was mud over every square inch of me and my camel bag- drinking from that muddy thing, I could even feel mud stuck on my teeth.  I was just imagining what parasites I might be picking up along the way....

When I finished my second lap I yelled out to the officials whether I had one more to go, just to be sure, they said yes so I mentally geared up for another round and as I was nearing the hill at the start I heard my number being yelled frantically!  Ah...they were pulling me!  I was so excited, my race was over and I didn't quit!  (For those that don't know, an official can pull you out of a race and place you based on where you were relative to the other riders, they then pull out all the remaining racers.)  The grace!  It felt so nice to be done.

Luckily they had three hoses for people to wash their bikes and themselves. 

I learned that our teammate Tom Haines had gotten third in his cat 2 40-49 race getting a state bronze medal, that teammate Thomas Flynn finished (finishing this race was a victory, there were many DNF's), and that my husband Tom got first in his 50+ cat 1 race and took away the state gold!
 

 

For my 30+ cat 1 race I got 5th place, but got a state bronze in the 40-49 age group.  I was very happy with the results, and to get my first cat 1 race behind me.

Three state medals for out team, that's not too bad!  I think the Richesons are going to the Nationals in Pennsylvania this summer.  For Tom, he has a chance to do something, for me it will be a neat experience if nothing else.