Roslyn Rush MTB race

So at the beginning of the week I asked my husband if he would mind going to Roslyn, WA and letting me race. As you all know we both race Mountain bikes in the Open/Pro fields so many times we are flipping a coin for who gets to race. I have been working full time and just haven't been able to race much this year, so I resorted to begging him to let me race. He agreed and Saturday morning we packed up the 3 kiddos and headed out. We first made a stop in Wenatchee to see Kris's Dad and Step Mom, we camped in their back yard cause the kids had been begging to camp. It wasn't too bad, Oliver my 2 year old was so excited he couldn't settle down at all. It was after 9pm before they were asleep (they usually go to bed around 7:30-8:000. Adrienne stole my blankets so from 1:30 on I was chilled. We survived and even plan on camping again this next weekend. Once packed up we hit the road and drove to Roslyn. I was a little nervous, it had been awhile since I had raced and I really haven't put in any sort of intensity training so I didn't know what to expect. Roslyn is a very small mountain town, Dante's Peak was actually filmed there. I think that might be the only thing that it is known for. Anyways I signed myself up and got ready to race. I chose to ride the Ibis tranny cause I had heard there was quite a bit of climbing so I thought I might like it better. Well I hadn't changed anything out on it and by the time my husband offered to switch out cranks so I might have some climbing gears, it was 10 min to go time. There were only a few girls racing, but they were fast. So we got a good start, I knew I wanted to start out somewhat reserved because there were 3 laps and I didn't pre ride and had no idea of what I was getting into. I started a good pace, but the first mile was a steep one, it was all I could do to keep the gear going that I had. So I rode past the girls and lead it out. Natalie, who is a friend of mine from Spokane, stuck to my wheel. Once you get on top, it is just rolling, still a lot of tough little climbs. Then a sweet descent with sweeping fun singletrack that then turns into some sandy techy switchbacks. We were hauling, passing a few men along the way. It then has a second shorter loop to it that was rolling also, it was tough though, this section I was wishing I had my Mojo SLR or a 29er. It was rutted and bumping, there was a meadow that was just brutal. It was all I could do to try and keep some sort of speed through this section. I had let Natalie lead for a little on the second lap and she pulled away in this section. I didn't see her again that lap. I headed out for lap number 2 and my family was on the climb cheering me on. It was awesome, Noah running behind me, Adrienne screaming something I couldn't understand, and Oliver saying Go Mama!! Brought a smile to my heart and kept me pushing on. I wasn't sure how long the legs would last pushing such a hard gear, cause I really hadn't put in any sort of race intensity in over a month. I let my head get to me a little. We got towards the end of that lap and I saw the girl that was in 3rd, I gave myself a little pep talk. I knew I was going to be alright and needed to put a move on. So I hammered the next lap. I had no Idea where Natalie was, but I was going for it. I saw the family again in the woods excited to grab a bottle (it was hot). The kids were hot too and well they drank my feed. They were still an inspiration and I just kept climbing. It really hurt this time, there were a few pitches I wasn't sure I was going to make, but I did. My husband said something about Natalie and her husband Jeff, I had gotten the impression that Natalie had passed her husband, and I was a little shocked. That meant she was flying, so I really had no thought at that point I might catch her. So next mission was to minimize the damage, good thing I kept on it, because I came around a corner on the second half and saw her jersey. I was so excited... race is on!! I poured it on, she saw me coming on the next corner and well.... From then on I couldn't make an inch on her. So I was left with being 20-30 seconds behind. ( My last lap was over a minute faster than the other laps and I made up more than a minute on 1st) The funny thing about me is I can go the same pace for a long time, I would have made it one more lap and probably would have been able to pas her. I wished I had raced more in the past few months so I would have had that intensity. I was so happy though, I had forgotten how much I love to race and compete. It was an awesome course and I will be back next year.

Mt. Spokane on the Tranny

So over the past few months I have gotten pretty use to the awesomeness of the Ibis Mojo SLR. Such a sweet, smooth, fast bike. Well I love mine so much I made the decision to get Kris (hubby) one for a fathers day/birthday present. He was pretty excited. So he got it dialed in but the only problem is we only have 1 rear wheel with a through axel, so we have to share. So this week it was his turn, so I was riding the Ibis Tranny hard tail. I was a little leery to take it down treacherous trees so I made Kris switch out seat post and put the dropper post on. I had so much fun riding up Mt Spokane on that bike, it was so fast climbing. I felt amazing. We climbed to the top and I dropped the post and I was so amazed at how much fun I had on that hard tail descending. Anyone that knows Mt. Spokane knows how technical treacherous trees is and that the Downhillers shuttle just to ride it. So I was so pumped to ride it well without the travel of the Mojo SLR. Needless to say it was a beautiful day and we had a blast of a ride with good friends.

Enduro Time

I am finally managing to get a free moment to write about my first Enduro. We had decided to head to the middle of the state for XC and Enduo races at the Loup Loup Mountain near Twisp Washington. We had the kids and no sitter so we split the weekend. I had just gotten a dropper post and was really excited to ride and and Kris hadn't quit gotten his Mojo SLR dialed in. So he road XC and I the Enduro( and what fun it was). There wasn't much said about the Enduro prior to the race except it would be 35 miles long with 3 decents. Well final stats looks something like this. 43 total min of descending and 3hrs 20min of climbing. I was so excited to be riding and be on the Mojo SLR. We climbed to the first decent, which I had crashed pretty hard the prior week and was a little on the cautious side for the first decent. It was AWESOME!!! Some technical areas thrown in with a few sweet switch backs. They ran us 30 seconds apart, I was so stoked to not get passed by any guys. I wasn't totally use to the dropper post yet so I had some trouble figuring out where the lever was on my handle bar and getting the seat in the right spot. There were a few steep ups in which one I ended up running, because I was in the big ring with the seat down. All in all I had an alright run. Then we climbed for I think an hour, Erika and I actually thought we had missed something and were just off in the middle of nowhere. We finally came up on it, I let Erika go first this time. As much as I liked being chased, I love to chase other riders down. There wasn't much technical about this decent, just fast super fun single track. I worked hard to try and catch Erika. I was starting to feel a little better about descending and less worried about being thrown down again. The Mojo SLR was again AWESOME, I swear the faster you ride that bike, the smoother she rides. We climbed again for another hour, this time it was brutal. It was almost the same climb, but it was now mid day and sooooo hot. We got to the final decent. This was my favorite, just enough technical to be tricky but still fun. I launched the Mojo SLR through 2 creeks, I almost didn't make one of them. So happy for the dropper post or I would have been taking a bath. There was some tricky rock sections. I let Erika go behind me this time I was racing my little heart out. It was no longer a matter of looking ahead and wondering if something was ride able, but how fast can I get thru it. I am not a Downhiller by nature and I usually am not thinking that way. Well about half way down I lost my chain ( I have broken my chain 2 times in the past month or so)so I was a little worried about trying to ride it back on. So I stopped and got it back on, at that point I was sure Erika would come up on me. When she didn't I hopped back on the bike and all I remember thinking was.. Go, Go, Go, Go over and over in my head. It was fun, the best part about it was when we weren't being timed, we could all ride together, something that doesn't happen in a race. I managed a 2nd in the Open Pro Women so I was pretty happy with myself. I think there might be a few more in my future, however I need to get my hands on a Mojo HDR 650b. Thanks to Vanderkitten and Ibis!!!