It was pretty cold out Saturday morning. I remember wishing I would've grabbed my knee and arm warmers for the race.

We got to Southridge, actually ahead of Nancy and Roger, and went up to the registration tent to get our number plates, check in, and get our DH shuttle wrist bands for later in the day. I'd made sure to pre-register for the free t-shirt. They're actually pretty cool. They're a steel grey color with the Tara Llanes Heart of a Champion design on one arm in bright pink.

We got all of our stuff together, I found I actually had my good pair of knee warmers in my gear bag (I love having gear bags that pretty much always stay packed with at least one pair of clipless shoes, my 5.10's, an extra pair of socks, knee pads, etc. I usually keep my plastic courage in there, my XC helmet, a pair of gloves… in case anything is forgotten, at least I've possibly got an extra in there!

Nancy, Roger, Steph and Dan showed up soon after and got their gear out. Unfortunately for the DHers the powers that be requested that they stay off the DH trail while we were racing XC and Super D, as the DH course was part of these as well, or cut through in short stints. That didn't exactly work out in the XC racers favor, but more on that later.

So, Steph, Dan, Roger, and Nancy agreed to help Justin and me out with bottle handoffs, and they were an awesome cheering section for us. I had knee warmers on for my warm-up, and it was nice for the extra warmth, but I knew they'd be way too much for the race itself. I rode the beginning of the course, got my HR up to around 170, turned around and came back and waited in the staging area.

Jen, an Expert DH racer showed up not long after. She informed me she wasn't really out to race, and just wanted to get some training in. I didn't let that stop me from actually racing. Another woman showed up in the next age group up, but she said she may have to bail as she was a Vet on-call. She only wanted to do one lap, but Jen and I had come out for 2. I guess there were no pro men, so they started the Expert Men next. I don't think there were any Expert Women.

I think the 3 of us were the only women, period. It was definitely a small XC group. There were a lot more for the Winter Series. However, the 12 hours of Temecula was also last weekend, so perhaps that took some of the racers away. That, and mid-November is quite an off-period for many racers. The serious ones are usually recovering from the season and ready to start base miles for next season.

We took off with the older men's Sport group. They were pretty fast. Justin had gone in the wave before we did. I stayed right with one of the sport men, and I think passed him around the pavement or something.

There were quite a few DHers pushing up the pavement. I watched a few going down the course and wished I was going downhill as well, instead of climbing the pavement. I felt pretty good, though, and probably stood for about 40% of it. I didn't want to push it too much, since I knew I still had about 1800ft of climbing left.

Brandon passed me on the loose crazy wide downhill, which I tripoded. I've ridden down it a few times, crashed once on my rigid SS. I kind of hit the brakes and came to a stop to let him go unimpeded, and just tripod'd from there to save myself an embarrassing crash.

On I went. It was pretty quiet. I saw a few people on the back side of the next hills after the cul-de-sac. I was finally on my way back in for lap 2. I went through the staging, passed the Start line…

There was Dan kneeling in the dirt, ready to catch my cast-off bottle. Next up was Nancy ringing the cowbell. Steph was ready and handed me my fresh bottle of Water with Elete drops. They were cheering me on and yelling for me, so I stood up and hammered the flat stretch, up the little hill, and around I came just up above.

There was Jeff cheering me on; I gave him a high-5 as I passed. Next up was Danny with our cowbell ringing. I was practically giggling as I went through. It was SO awesome having the cheering and support. Made me feel great and realize that they are the reason I enjoy racing so much. Not the competition, suffering, or chance to get on a podium. It's the comraderie, the friends… it's so great. Thank all of you for the support!

Lap 2 was a bit more difficult. I was struggling a tad bit more on the climbs. I was climbing up just around the wall and bottom of the DH course when two downhillers were waddling their way up pushing their bikes. I yelled rider coming through. Neither moved. I said something again and one got out of the way, but the other didn't. We were on pretty narrow singletrack, so I yelled that I was racing and finally the guy moved over a little.

Slightly rattled, I continued on. Up the pavement I was huffing it… saw Franky from InCycle pushing his DH bike up the hill, said hello. Next I heard a shout from the left. There was Carla! Up and up… there were less course marshalls this time.

I worried about being hit by a DHer as they came down a fast loose section and I climbed up a slow steep-ish section, but I was in the clear. It got fairly desolate after that. I don't remember seeing anyone ahead or behind me for probably a mile.

I went through the "jungle" area and saw a guy sitting by his bike. I continued on, and eventually as I was a turn up the fire road he started pushing his bike. No idea if he was XC racing or what.

There was one section on the back side that they left open for cutting some time out, but despite there not being a course marshall to ensure honesty, I kept on the singletrack and went the long way around.

I came up on Troy, a DH racer normally, I think, who had a broken chain. I had nothing except water and HEED, so I wasn't able to offer much to him. The last bit of the XC course was uneventful, and I came around the chicane's to Justin cheering and Sharky taking a photo.

I knew I'd won. My avg. HR for the race was 175, so I was fairly happy with myself for not just taking it easy, and actually going out and racing. That is the kind of training *I* need right now, so I'm glad I hung on and kept the pace as high as I could.

We took a break for lunch, awards, and the raffle. We won a KHS/Free Agent button up shirt and some Elete samples. After that we got geared up and got in line for our first DH run.

Others had been practicing all morning (when they shouldn't have been), or while we were doing awards and raffle. That's the life of a dual-sport racer, I guess. We did one run, stopping at the first rock garden with Sunny and a few others to check out lines through the first rock. We chose where we wanted to go, and blasted through. I'd ridden the lower rock garden before, so didn't have any problems there.

We went back up again, planned to stop halfway through, then hike back up again. So, I got in 2.5 runs on Saturday afternoon. I felt somewhat comfortable, but not stellar.

Sunday morning Nancy got us up before 6. Luckily I had gone to bed before 9pm the night before, so I wasn't ready to kill anyone! She also made a great oatmeal breakfast for Justin and I, which kept me happy most of the day. Other than the oatmeal, I ate half of a sweet & salty chocolate/peanut bar and two handfuls of goldfish crackers. Then dinner at about 5:30. And I wondered why I had a headache?

At any rate, we got to Southridge, put our bikes in line and got on the first shuttle to the top. Justin agreed to take a few photos of me. We went the whole way down, took a second shuttle up, worked on one section that I didn't know the fast line, hiked back up a second time to hit the section, and down we went, from top to bottom. I felt okay.

After seeing that there weren't really any Sport women racing on the seed list, and seeing as how I was listed in the wrong class anyway, I bumped myself up to Expert Women. I was a little nervous, but figured I should be able to handle it, and the worst case scenario was that I'd come in 4th.

Ann and Andy showed up, so I chatted with them. Sarah and I hopped on the shuttle the first time they called out for K's. Some people don't like sitting up top, but I like being up there, having time to get myself ready, watching others, getting the flow of the starts, etc. We sat up there for a bit, but soon enough I was called to line up.

The four of us chatted a little, as Sarah and I were both new to the Expert Women's DH class, and both in Path jerseys, which were greatly represented out there!

Sunny took off first, and said a bit before her start to call out if I needed to pass her. HA! As if that would've happened. Joy was after me, and then Sarah.

I took off, and felt somewhat slow and sluggish up top in the sandy corners. Cornering is not exactly my strong suit. Once out of the top area and next to the pavement I felt pretty comfortable, but the pedaling was really starting to ache.

I could totally feel the 14 XC race pace miles in my legs from the day before. Every pedal stroke on the 40lbs + bike in a high-ish gear could be felt in my quads. But, I pedaled like a mad woman (or so I felt like I did). I really need to gain some confidence in speed through the trickier sections. I still grab mad brakes and roll everything a lot slower than I should. I went through it all with no dabs, no crashes... I got to the wall and noticed a family of about 5 or 6 meandering in my direction, walking abreast so there was no room for a speeding downhill racer and her bike. I yelled out to get out of the way, and had to dodge one of the people.

That caused me to slip a pedal, and then I noticed I was headed right for a big rock. Had to grab more brakes to keep myself from a bad crash, and then tried to stand up and mash the pedals to the end. I got about 20 yards from the turn with the little jump on the right, so close to the finish, and I was just out of juice. I had to sit. My lungs were searing in pain, my legs hurt.

I crossed the finish line, and kept going toward the little fire road where the XC race starts to keep myself moving a bit. I hurt, a lot. I turned around and realized I should count to see how far behind Joy was.

I counted 12 seconds, but I didn't know how long it had been since I crossed. I thought maybe 15, so our times might be close. Annie was her way down to get me the truck keys so that I could get my camera and something to drink before we headed up to take pics of Justin and cheer him on.

We didn't quite make it back, as he was just entering the wall. I got a crappy photo of him, but we cheered him on to pedal pedal pedal!!

We hung out and watched everyone else, and finally around Z Justin came up to join us. Joy came over a bit after our race ended (I'd gone directly up to spectate) and said Congrats. I didn't know what she was talking about. She said I'd gotten SECOND!! I was so stoked! I ran right over and told Ann. I was less than 2 seconds away from 1st (Sarah).

If only it hadn't been for that slipped pedal! Nancy told me "that's racing", so I got over it. Better luck next time.

Justin came in 4th in his class, out of 19, which I thought was awesome. He may have a shot at the series title in DH Sport in his age group next year! After the race concluded we all went over for the awards ceremony and raffle. It was really crowded! They were giving away an Ironhorse frame, two wheelsets, some Dainese armor, TLD leg armor, Sponsorhouse shirts, DH tubes, and much more.

We won a set of grips we gave away, and a DVD from like 03 that followed the Houseman's and Eric Carter, along with Orlando Martinez. It was an interesting video. Some cool stuff in it for sure. Oh, and Johnny Waddell was in it also.

All in all, an awesome day. We came home with 1st and 3rd in XC and 2nd and 4th in DH. Now we're just patiently waiting for the Winter Series!

The Denmother planned a weekend of DH shuttle riding on the weekend of my birthday.  That made my choices the Push-a-Kona ride (which was unfortunately relocated to a county park from the national forest/mountains due to the fires last month) and football on Sunday, or a weekend of fun with around 30 friends.

Naturally, I chose Bootleg, after some cajolling.  We drove out Saturday morning with two friends, and arrived around 8:15.  Off we went in the shuttle just after 9 am.

If you've never done any DH riding at Bootleg, you probably don't understand how horrid the hike-a-bike up to the trails is.  I thought the HABage at Southridge was bad, but it doesn't compare.  Definitely not knocking the shuttle ride at all, but damn if that isn't a long hike up to the start. 

Snakeback starts out technical right away.  Whether you ride over and down the rock garden, or go straight down the easier section, once you get to choose straight or down to the right it's not easy.  I walked quite a bit of the top portion a few of the runs, but did eventually ride everything, including all of it in one run probably 2-3 times, which is nice.

The entirety of Snakeback is a great run.  I also liked coming down Diva and Reaper.  My rear wheel hit on one of the middle drops on Reaper a few times... good thing it's pretty strong!  Luckily no flats for me, but quite a few others sustained more than one over the weekend.

Saturday evening we rode the pump track (which really you can't pump very much).  I never made the table top.  The Demo just soaks up the bumps quite a bit.  It's not an air bike, for sure.

Saturday we went to a Mexican joint in town right down the street where we enjoyed some Patron, and lots of food. 

Sunday we were back out there at 9 am ready to start shuttling again.  We hit Snakeback - Ona Lee - lower Ginger.  Not my favorite route.  I'm not really good with rock gardens and lots of exposure yet.  Maybe some day.

I quit a bit early to start packing up and chill with Clinky, Danny, and Jeff.  We enjoyed draining the coolers.

All in all, great weekend. 

I had no idea what to expect out of Mt. SAC as I didn't know the course and hadn't been riding much at all.

We got there around 7:30 or so, which I thought would give us plenty of time to get our stuff ready, stretch, get our number plates, figure out the bottle situation, do a short pre-ride, and then line up for the start time. This time around, I made sure we got the cooler with our bottles and post-ride food, and also made sure to pack Justin extra clothes.

So, we were able to grab our number plates and get our letters on our shins really quickly as we had pre-registered. We'd seen Nancy and Roger, ran into Sauce and Keith at check-in, saw the Maxwell's, Luke... Gene, Carl. Looked to be quite a turn-out from STR!

Justin was in a big hurry to head out, so he took off. I stopped to use the facilities and apply Chamois Butt'r, then started riding down the course. I took it pretty easy, in my easiest gear on any hills. I had no desire to burn out before the race started. I came back after the first small hill... still awhile til the start. So, I went back and continued on.. got to a tough looking singletrack, and had no idea how much further I had to go, or when the course would return to the start. It was about 8:25, so I just turned around and rode back the way I came. A few more STR peeps were showing up, so I hung out and talked to Keith, ran into TrophySpokes and Andy.. then I was told they were bumping back the sport start time to 9:00. Bah. So, I'd kind of warmed up too early, since I didn't want to get in the expert start. I just hung around. I got kind of cold. Had a shot of Hammer Gel, sipped water and HEED.

Finally they started staging the Sport racers. I was in the 4th wave, made up of the the women and a guy with a trail-a-bike.

2 minutes...1 minute...30 seconds... I started my Garmin 305, made sure to breath.

GO!

I took off pedaling. No hesitation. I was in about 13-15 on my cassette (3 up from 11), cranked it up a bit higher, stood up and just mashed. Turning right off the pavement there was one girl right in front of me, and as she slowed down for the turn, I called going around on the left and kept mashing halfway up the hill... Then I got hit with a wave of, "OMG, I'm gonna pass out, throw up...something." I felt horrible. I slowed down, but didn't want everyone passing me then and there, so just tried to hang on. I held the front of the group all way past the off-camber singletrack, and to the doubletrack. A few people, I think including some Experts, started to pass, including two women. They didn't have the HH's on their calves, so I figured I was safe.

I held what pace I could up the hill, figuring out the right line of the doubletrack was the best. Struggled up the steep part, then down the fire road... was glad for the course marshall's explaining to make the hard right at the bottom.. kept hammering where I could. Got to the second freshly cut singletrack roller section.. continued climbing. I saw the switchback climb coming on and was not really looking forward to each steeper switchback. Then it wasn't so bad once at the top. Had fun on the small bump after that, before the grass section and the tunnel. Saw Justin going the opposite way in the tunnel, and we yelled encouragingly at each other as we passed. I saw Maxwell heading up past the large open section over by the stables and called out to shake that cowbell! Went by him in the back, but heard the bell back there quite a bit. It just plain was hot and stale air back there. The first lap I noticed some water spraying out of a small sprinkler on the other side of the fence... oh, how I wished that it was near me. I got to the top, and started heading down the loose, steep stuff. I made it down unscatched, and continued on my way. The rest of that section is fairly uneventful. I went up the curb, up the loose singletrack to the hike-a-bike. Three guys had all fallen on each other, but luckily made it up and started moving by the time I made my way up there. Survived the horrid hike, then was on my way down. The last little steep/loose singletrack was pretty fun, then it was around the paved corner and past the STR cheering crew.

Up and over the curb, then on my way on lap two. I felt more comfortable with the trails at this point, and was kind of out there on my own for a bit, or so it felt like. I freaked out near the end of the off-camber singletrack thinking I had somehow lost my necklace, but it was just slightly tied up with my helmet strap. I almost went down when my front tire hit the hard edge of the new cut singletrack, but a quick unclip, restraightening, and off I went.

I don't really recall anything eventful for a bit... I got to the singletrack before the grass stint and the loose steep short uphill I jumped off, and had noticed Sarah not far behind. I fully expected her to be on my tire before I got moving, but she was still back there, so I jumped on and kept motoring.

She did finally pass me on the back side climb. It was also over there that I noticed the other female who I believe was the one I went back and forth with at Bonelli. Unfortunately, she didn't have any markings at all on her shin, so I had no idea what class she was in. But, she hadn't passed me on lap 1, so I had no idea where she came from. As I was on lap 2, I didn't think she could still be on her first lap, but I hung in behind her, and Sarah passed us on the left. I decided I was going to hang on to Sarah's wheel while I could, and passed the girl. I kept Sarah in view for a bit, trying to keep up. She ended up only about 4 or so people in front of me on the hike-a-bike, but I didn't see her again after I remounted my bike and descended. I knew I wanted a new bottle of water for the final lap, so once around the pavement I tried to drain my bottle, and grab a full one from BottleSpokes.

The bottle hand off went really smoothly (it was my first attempt). Off I went for my final lap. I felt really good. Like, surprisingly well. Had no idea what place I was in, but I knew I was in front of a few of the women in my class. I also didn't know how they would do the women's times. At Bonelli it was just Open Women. There were more at Mt. SAC, but still I didn't know if it was enough for all of us to have our own class.

I tried to hop over the curb and was greeted with Brandon yelling, "You're not going fast enough!" I laughed and tried to speed up just a tad. I took another shot of Hammer Gel, a few more sips of water and HEED and just tried not to forget I was racing.

It's tough when you're out there, virtually by yourself, and you're kind of tired... I haven't had music on for any of my XC races, so I just tend to loose myself and start thinking of random stuff. So, I tried to stay on topic and not think about suffering. Just focused on what was up ahead, etc. I ended up behind two guys in the Sport class on the doubletrack climb, but had no desire to attempt to speed up a bunch to pass them on the loose stuff. They were really close together. Someone else, I think another female in a different age group, came up behind me, but she could have passed us if she wanted. She just fell in behind us and then made her way past at the top before the fire road descent.

I noticed Roger with my camera over at the bottom of the switchback climb, so made sure to say hi and thanks. The photos were much appreciated.

I kept it going for the rest of the lap, just reminding myself that I was on the final leg. I ran into Jeff from Jenson going the opposite way through the tunnel, and cheered him on. Made it through the loose descents.. back up the hike-a-bike...

Once I got up to the top of the last descent and around into view of the finish line I heard a lot of cheers, and knew Justin was down there also. I went as fast as I could, around the corner, then to the finish. Pulled over to where part of the crew was hanging out.

They told me they thought I'd fallen off on lap 3, but my lap times were all really consistent, so I had no idea how I'd done.

There were quite a bit of delays due to a printer issue, but finally about 2 pm we had our results. I came down the hill toward the grass where they were giving out raffle prizes and was congratulated by my husband. I'd gotten FIRST in my class! This was my first time finishing 1st in a XC race against other women. I felt great.