The Morning Of
I woke up from an okay night’s sleep. I’ve reached the age where I have to have a special pillow, a special body pillow I grip between my legs, a temperature in my room (62º F, please), and a bed that hugs me as I fall asleep. Without all that, I usually sleep like shit. I was okay about it because I wasn’t in some dingy hotel, but instead, in Bill’s condo in Winter Park. Less than one mile to the start line for the Winter Park Race Rendezvous. So, there are worse places to wake up.
My start time wasn’t until 11:28 AM. My category was actually the last wave to go which was kind of surprising. I’m used to starting much earlier, but again, Winter Park, sleeping in, you can’t be mad about it. I watched the seventh stage of the Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift while eating breakfast. Annemiek van Vleuten annihilated the field and took the GC, yellow jersey, from Marianne Vos, which was both surprising and unsurprising.
If you’ve watched any women’s cycling events, you’ll know Van Vleuten and Vos because they win damn near everything. They’re the racers who show up and everyone’s probably thinking, “guess I’m racing for second or third.” I guess the surprise is who’s going to win out of those two. Regardless, it was a fun race to watch and got me a little excited for my own race.
And I wasn’t sure what to expect. Still being relatively new to the mountain bike race scene, I don’t know the names of my competitors, so I have no idea how they’ll race. Unlike road racing, when certain people showed up, I assumed I was racing for second or third or hell, just to survive. Not knowing the competition had me a little on edge. Also, not knowing the course. I prefer to preview the course, so I know what to expect. I didn’t do that. So add that to the never-ending list of things that make Jessica uneasy. I looked at the profile and map of the course with Jackky.
A cool thing Garmin does is color-code the map, so blue sections meant it was slow (i.e. climbing) and red sections were fast (i.e. descents). There was an equal amount of both. And as a shitty descender, I knew I had to make up my time climbing. There was blue at the beginning of the race which meant I could try to drop as many racers at the beginning and push hard the rest of the race so they wouldn’t get the chance to catch up, even on the descents. That was my plan.
Chris and I rode over to the start and registration. No one was around. I think the morning waves were already on course. I attached my plate and we rode back to the condo so I could finish eating and get ready for the race. Jackky and Julia came by and we all biked down to the stat together. After the finish of the Tour, of course.
The Start of Race Rendezvous
I knew there were three others in my category and I had no idea how they would compare. Would they take off like I planned to? Were they also good at climbing relative to other mountain bikers? Did they also suck descending and turning on dirt? I had no idea and that drove me nuts. I guess, in a way, it was kind off freeing. Not knowing the course and not knowing my competitors meant there were no expectations (other than winning, of course).
We lined up. A woman with a clipboard told us she’d let us know when there were 30 seconds left, even though there was a giant timer in front of us. She also told us awards were at 3 PM and there were big pools of water on the trail. I jokingly asked if we needed a personal floatation device after she referred to these bodies of water as “lakes.” She told me to bike around it. I think she missed the joke. A random guy standing on the sidelines gave a chuckle.
She counted down from 10. I tried getting my ass on the seat, but it was a little too tall and a little too awkward. 3…2…1…I started off fast, slowed down for the sandy corner, and continued a quick pace at the front. We made it to the first climb within a couple of minutes and I immediately started distancing myself from the group of about 10 women. I caught up to the men’s group that started a few minutes before us. I’d quickly and politely announce I was behind them and to let me know when was a good time to pass. And we kept climbing and climbing and I kept passing dudes. All but one were super chill and encouraging when I passed. Even the volunteers cheered me on as I picked off the guys one by one.
The trails were very XC-friendly
There wasn’t anything technical about them. And unfortunately (or fortunately), I was going too fast to really take it all in. For the majority of the race, I was by myself, enjoying the quiet trails along my labored breathing. After the sandy switchback clubs, there was one spot I did not have the legs for. It was maybe a 20% grade. It felt like it went straight up though.
There were roots and rocks to get over too and at that point, I was too toasty to power through it. I got up the little hill as fast and as far as I could before I had to get off the bike and hike it the rest of the way. There was a man at the top who had just walked his bike too. I took a couple of deep breaths before continuing.
The trail finally leveled out for a few minutes when I got stuck behind a lady out riding for fun who had no idea what was going on. I politely announced I was behind her and asked to pass when it was safe for her. She said, “after the mud.” Sure, okay. And then she kept riding and riding, and admittedly, it was a nice break, but also, I was in a race and needed to get around her. I finally said, “Okay, I’m going to pass you on your left.” She said, “okay,” but wouldn’t move.
This was going to go one of two ways: I wait for a big enough opening where I could pass without clipping handlebars or I try to squeeze through and hope our handlebars don’t touch and I take us both out. The trail didn’t quite open up so I squeezed by on her left and sprinted away.
The Descent
There was another point on the trail where I passed several guys climbing, but then the trail started going down. There was a trail crossing so I pulled over to let them pass because I knew I’d slow them down and I know how much it sucks to get slowed down. I’m glad I did because now we were descending down sandy switchbacks. My kryptonite.
What kind of mental practices can I do to get over this block I have with them? I know, “practice.” And I do, but got damn, I still can’t trust my bike to turn quickly on them and to stay upright. There was one turn that knocked me on my ass. It could have been my overthinking or it could have been my worn-out tires not gripping the sand. I blame both.
Luckily, no one was behind me and I didn’t cause a pile-up or anything. My Garmin blasted a crash incident alarm warning me it was going to text my network I crashed. I actually don’t know why I have it enabled. Chris would be my contact and he doesn’t have a Garmin account. I had to pull out my phone to open Garmin Connect to turn off the notification and I was finally back riding. I thoroughly enjoy—albeit nervously—the descent.
The rest of the race felt almost like a sick joke. We kept getting pushed out onto the road and I kept assuming this was the last of the race, but then we’d be guided back on the trail, and then again on the road, and again back on a trail. There were a couple of guys I passed climbing up the road, but then I’d let them pass me as we descended the trail. I knew I was tired because I started making stupid mistakes (more than usual, I guess). Turning on the switchbacks and avoiding bushes became comical. I nearly took myself out several times because I misread a turn or a branch.
The Finish
I finally got to the last section of the road and no one was around. I saw Chris in the distance and the small crowd hanging around the finish line. I gave a little extra effort and crossed the line. I assumed I had to have come in first because I never saw the women again after the start line.
To avoid making my headache worse, I didn’t stop to talk long to Chris, Jackky, and Julia and instead, rode for a few minutes to cool down. Once my heart rate lowered, I rode back toward them and we all headed back to the condo to shower before awards. I checked my finishing time and won by nearly 20 minutes which was pretty shocking.
The Awards
The award ceremony was actually, kind of lame. It didn’t start until 3 PM and not many people were there. The announcer was less than enthusiastic and of course, my category was second-to-last. Winter Park puts on a great race. The course was challenging but not ridiculous. The volunteers were helpful and encouraging. They just need a livelier start and award ceremony. And again, I know I need to get better at descending and turning and I hope I improve faster than what it’s taking.
Some Stats:
From TrainingPeaks:
Miles: 17.9
Time: 1:49:31
Place: 1 out of 4
Average Speed: 9.84 mph
TSS: 247
Nutrition:
UCAN Edge Energy Gel before the race
Flow Formulas Hydration Mix during the race, and Electrolytes and Recovery Drink afterward
Tracked it on a Garmin Edge 1030
Kept my ass protected with Bag Balm
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