Tuesday, May 1, 2007

Crazylegs and Rock Cut Race Report


The weekend was a whirlwind for sure! Crazylegs Saturday was a killer for me, even after all the training I did. After the race I stopped at the new Erik's Bike Store on the East side just to see what they had in stock for mnt bikes (to replace the one I broke last fall). I ended up buying a Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Comp - isn't she a beaut? It matches my helmet too ;-) .

Sunday I was up at 5:30 to get ready to meet fellow Mad FORC racers Kathy, Berlie and Amy A., at 7 to go to Rock Cut State Park and ride the "Do the Rock Cut" Mnt Bike Race. Seven of our mnt bike club members showed up to represent! Four of us did the 10 mile race (Melissa S., Me, Berlie, & Renee V.) and 3 did the 20 (Renee C., Kathy & Amy A.).


Somehow I eneded up finishing first in my age category (18-39) and 3rd overall out of all the women...so I got a cool handmade trophy and a medal. Melissa won second place in the same age cat, and Berlie got 3rd in the 40+ age cat. What a great start of the season! I have to be honest and share that if there wasn't that one confusing part of the trail, Melissa would have been first by at least 5 minutes. She left only her tire rubber at the start and we never saw her again!

We had some medical excitement too. On the 10 mile race one guy fell and broke his knee. We had an ambulance for that. I heard another guy fell and banged his head pretty good. And shortly after the start, a guy's bike frame broke! Eeeesh! But he was okay. I saw him walking back to the start, probably mad as heck.

There was also a woman hiker/walker who fell and smashed her elbow pretty bad. I think she needed an ambulance for that. I heard sirens several times throughout the morning, but only saw the one to take the 'smashed up knee guy' to the hospital.

The thing about holding a race at a state park is they don't close the trails to the public (it's against the rules)...so we have to be extra careful when we come upon non-racers. The woman who fell and got hurt did it of her own accord though. As far as I know a racer had nothing to do with it. I came upon several hikers and a few bikers myself.

It was terribly fun and I'm glad I decided to go and tag along with my buddies. We had some nice-sized log piles, very shallow stream crossings and a little bit of everything else (mud puddles, thick mud, grass, pine needles, large white stones, sand). All of that was great as I was testing out the new mnt bike, and I have no complaints. I just have to figure out why my feet get numb, and I'm good to go!
Barbara

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