Mutual of Enumclaw Stage Race!

My team put on the Mutual of Enumclaw stage race last weekend. I raced at the track Friday night and then got up at 5am and spent the entire weekend at the race. It was exhausting. I helped organize all of the volunteers and helped cover any jobs that needed doing at the last minute.

I also got to hand out some of the yellow leader's jerseys and shake the hands of the winners. It was fun and very gratifying to see so many racers have a good time. There was one racer who chewed me out because he couldn't read the map in the technical guide, but aside from him everybody was really great.

We had a lot of racers come in from out of town, as far as Quebec, Canada, and California. I enjoyed getting to watch the high level of competition, right in our own back yard.

70% chance of rain with thuderstorms

We got to race friday night at the track! It was the last night of the pre-season and I thought for sure it would be rained out. In fact I wasn't even planing to go until Evan, one of the announcers asked me for a ride - that meant I had to go. When I left Seattle it was raining so I was really surprised when we got to Redmond and there were sunny skies!

They started off with a 200 for time. It was not a very fast time for me but it might have been due to the cold weather.

My next race was a keirin - the race where the motor cycle paces the group (5-8 riders) up to speed. The moto is supposed to pace you up to 30 mph - then you race for 1-1/2 laps. It takes 5 laps to reach 30 mph when it is done the way it is supposed to. It was the first night for the moto and we got up to speed really fast. I think they might need to work on the pacing. I was in the back and when the moto pulled off some of the riders were already gassed. I followed one of the other women as she closed the gap but it was too late to be in contention for the 2 spots that got to advance. I felt pretty good though.

The next race was the miss-and-out. My goal was to ride smart and not waste energy. We had 17 women and the miss-and-out works like musical chairs. The last person across the line each lap is out. So the key is to go just hard enough to beat one person without wasting energy by accelerating too much and burning matches. We ride a neutral lap before the race is started so everybody is clipped in and ready to go. On the neutral lap I spotted Rosalyn high up on the banking. The perfect wheel! She was off the front for quite a while on the Enumclaw road race so I knew she was going to be the strongest. I locked on to her wheel and sure enough, she accelerated to the front and started drilling it. We were single file and I was in second position - perfect! My luck lasted at least 4-5 laps before other riders got smart and I had left just enough room for someone to take the wheel from me. I was in 4th position which was still OK, I had to start accelerating towards the finish each time though to avoid being last. There was one lap where it was really close and I thought - that is it. I eased off - just to hear them call someone else's number! Woops! Too late to get back on the back. Aside from that I was pretty happy - I think I got 7th.

I was watching the radar and felt a raindrop or two before the final points race so I opted not to start. The race was really fast and agressive and I was starting to regret not racing when the skies opened up and they had to quickly call the racers off the track. That was it for the night.

I can't wait for next friday!

Pedal Driven

I saw a film last night it was a documentary called "Pedal Driven". It was about the confrontation between mountain bikers and federal land management agencies. It featured some local Mt Bike riders including a guy named Matt who works at Counterbalance. There was some pretty awesome riding footage. http://pedaldriven.howellatthemoon.com/videostrailers You can buy the DVD or watch movie trailers at the pedal driven link. The room was packed with mountain bikers. Boy did I feel like I was in different world!

So I learned a lot about mountain bike trails and thought I'd share since all my mountain bike teammates were actually mountain biking this weekend. Apparently there have been a lot of "illegal" trails build due to a lack of good places to ride. The problem is that the trails, if not designed well can increase erosion and be harmful to the environment. The documentary was about the success stories of the Mt bike community working together with forest resource people to get well designed Mountain bike courses that are also sustainable. According to the film a well designed course can last forever. One of the groups that is working to get new trails built is the Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance. This group is responsible for the I-5 Colonnade, Duthie Hill Mountain Bike Park and others. The I-5 Colonnade and Duthie were featured in the film. It seemed like a very good organization www.evergreenMTB.org They are currently building a bike park in redmond and are looking for builders: http://redmondbikepark.com

Overall the film was great and it was fun to feel the energy in the group. I used to mt bike in the old Redmond watershed before I converted to a track rider.

First night of track

Yea! The first night of track!

It has been so rainy that I haven't spent much time at the track yet - just one training session. So I didn't have my track legs yet.

I tried a 82" gear in the first race. I did not have the leg speed to spin in and got gaped at the first surge. Then I switched to the 88" and felt much better in the miss-and-out. I tried to ride from the outside and commit to my position before the last turn. It was working pretty good but I got tired. The last race was the points - I raced more conservatively but had to bridge a few gaps. I did feel some good speed in bridging. It was all fun again.