Anyone else racing this summer?

[altagirl]

Who else races bikes? Road, mountain, DH, XC whatever...

I mostly race DH and Super D, with the occasional sport class singlespeed XC race for fun and fitness.

So far this year I've raced:

Sea Otter (SS XC and DH)
Angel Fire (Super D and DH)
Bountiful Bomber - Utah series (DH)

And I'll be at Crested Butte if it doesn't get cancelled, the Deer Valley National, Mt. Snow, Brianhead, and a few other races.

Anyone else??


Here's a pic from our race this weekend:

 

[itri]

Well, I don't know if it really counts as "bike" racing, but I do triathlons! I did two last summer on my mountain bike with slicks, but am super excited to race my first tri this weekend on my road bike and see how much of a difference it really makes!

And not really a race, but someday I would LOVE to do Ride the Rockies...

 

[altagirl]

Well, I don't know if it really counts as "bike" racing, but I do triathlons! I did two last summer on my mountain bike with slicks, but am super excited to race my first tri this weekend on my road bike and see how much of a difference it really makes!

And not really a race, but someday I would LOVE to do Ride the Rockies...

Sounds like bike racing to me! (Just with lots of extra racing added in!)

I'd imagine that should be a big help to have a real road bike for an event like that. What distance are you racing?

 

[Robyn]

While not a race I am doing the Fat Tire Classic in 25 days to benefit the National Sports Center for the Disabled and the American Red Cross. I'm nervous and excited all at once.

 

[itri]

Sounds like bike racing to me! (Just with lots of extra racing added in!)

I'd imagine that should be a big help to have a real road bike for an event like that. What distance are you racing?

I have a sprint tri this weekend (500 yd swim, 12 mile bike, 5k run) and another in 3 weeks (750 yd swim 12 mile bike, 5k run). I'm doing an Olympic distance tri in July, which is the one I'm nervous about...1.5k swim, 42k bike, 10k run!

 

[Native Vail Gal]

While not a race I am doing the Fat Tire Classic in 25 days to benefit the National Sports Center for the Disabled and the American Red Cross. I'm nervous and excited all at once.

That's GREAT Robyn!

That's the Organization that Steve and I volunteer for....he for 20 years! We'll tell everyone about you and introduce you to all! It's a great organization and a good cause!

We'll see you there! :D

 

[Robyn]

Thanks Kelly, I'll keep my eyes out for you.

 

[mtnbikegirl]

Sounds like you'll have a fun time racing this summer. I'm doing a race in Bend, Pickett's Charge, in a couple of weeks. 20+ miles of single track .

 

[Consuela]

Kirkwood is hosting a couple friendly XC and DH races throughout the summer. I must confess that I'm tempted, but not quite sure yet. Will want get a couple rides in there first to feel out my comfort level and help convince hubby that its a good idea.

PS. Hubby did his second clipless ride tonight! Bitter-sweet, he was passing me on the climbs now that he has the secret Clipless-Power. haha Makes me happy because he is almost enjoying himself, but sad because I will soon lose any edge I had as he picks up more skills.

 

[altagirl]

Kirkwood is hosting a couple friendly XC and DH races throughout the summer. I must confess that I'm tempted, but not quite sure yet. Will want get a couple rides in there first to feel out my comfort level and help convince hubby that its a good idea.

Definitely give it a shot and check out what their beginner courses are like. Most race series have something reasonable set up for beginners so you can try racing without getting in over your head. And there's nothing like racing to push yourself to really look at the trail, pick fast lines, and try new things. Plus - particularly with DH racing - it tends to be a really fun and supportive atmosphere.

PS. Hubby did his second clipless ride tonight! Bitter-sweet, he was passing me on the climbs now that he has the secret Clipless-Power. haha Makes me happy because he is almost enjoying himself, but sad because I will soon lose any edge I had as he picks up more skills.

Oooh don't you hate that? I can spend all winter/spring busting my butt in the gym and I MIGHT be able to drop my husband on climbs for a ride or two. But over the years I think I've improved as much as he has and he's not really any farther ahead of me than he was - we both just keep getting faster. :D

 

[tradygirl]

Hey AG, I meant to ask you this weekend - are there any really good beginner DH courses in Utah? The Bountiful course is definitely not my idea of "beginner". I'd be interested in trying a race later this summer once I'm 100%, but I'd like to start on something a little less intimidating. Maybe the Super D at Deer Valley? Do you think my Ironhorse would work for that?

itri - good luck on the Oly! I always wanted to do an Olympic back in my tri days, but I burned out/got injured before I ever got to race one. It's kind of intimidating to think of that race as whole, but I always tried to think in terms of the individual legs. Swim a kilo? No biggie. Ride 40K? You can do that. Run 10K? That's not even a weekend workout, right? You're gonna do awesome, lady!

 

[Consuela]

Thanks for the encouragement, Alta! I'll post an update if I do one. Will need to rent a bike for the DH. Actually, may turn out to be the perfect weekends to demo the Heckler.

Soo... I decided to go on an Alaskan cruise for the bday, instead of getting a new MTB. So, will have to wait until next season to retire Little Red. I know! What was I thinking?!? hehe

Partially kidding, we had a good time on the trip and I still have a lot of fun with Little Red. But, she is a '95 rigid. Yes, full rigid. So, she does force me to pick my lines carefully.

Shocked the socks off some guy last night when I beat him on the 4 mile downhill with his fancy full suspesion Specialized with an extra "$1200 in super light components". Not a common occurance, so my head can't get too big. But, it was fun to let Little Red strut her stuff after the guy was like ,"What in the world are you riding?"

My reply: "I'm old school, dude. This baby has organic suspension. Bet you've never ridden a bike like this." hahaha sigh...

 

[altagirl]

Hey AG, I meant to ask you this weekend - are there any really good beginner DH courses in Utah? The Bountiful course is definitely not my idea of "beginner". I'd be interested in trying a race later this summer once I'm 100%, but I'd like to start on something a little less intimidating. Maybe the Super D at Deer Valley? Do you think my Ironhorse would work for that?

Yeah - Bountiful is pretty gnarly for beginners. It's all so steep and loose, and you go so fast on Pinchflat Alley - it's pretty intimidating. (not surprisingly, there were no women beginners this past weekend...) But Deer Valley would be great for you in both disciplines.

The Super D is just FUN. It basically starts at the same place the DH does for the National course, and goes down the fire road and onto Deer Crest. There's one section that's a little bit rocky and the rest is just swoopy, turny XC riding. Almost all downhill too - so that one is just a blast to race. Your Ironhorse might actually be too much bike for that, though since there's not really any climbing to speak of, it's not that big of a deal. The past two years I've raced my AS-X on it.

And Deer Valley's beginner DH courses are really fun too. For the NMBS race (the National - June 27-29) they use Devo. Which has some rocks but no jumps/drops/nothing like the other course. They actually ran the Super D on that course 3 years ago and just added a climb to the start, so it's really not too bad. And for the local race (July 19-20) they usually run beginners down Aspen Slalom and then cut over to the bottom section of the DH courses, which is the fun/nice part of the course.

I'm not sure if I'm going to do the local one, since Gene has a BetterRide camp in Sol Vista that weekend that I'd like to try to do if I can scrape the money together.

Pomerelle is another good one. There are a couple little drops (like 2' maybe) and one obstacle that looks scary but isn't (basically a 12" wide skinny that goes up over a downed tree and has a wide ramp down the other side). And they do two races that weekend. That's the Saturday course and on Sunday they race a second course that's just flowy and fast and fun. That one is mostly swoopy through the trees and has a few log piles but you can roll over all of them, and a jump at the finish that you can also roll.

And I think at Brianhead they run Beginners down Timberline - which is the fun course that we all ride when we're not racing. It has a few obstacles, but overall is really fun. And Brianhead's Super D uses part of Timberline and then some other fun stuff. There's one climb at the top that's not too bad and the rest is a fun XC-ish downhill.

Anyway - those are all trails you'd love to ride anyway - so we'll just have to get you out on them whenever you're ready and see what you feel like trying for a race! That would be so fun!!!

 

[altagirl]

Thanks for the encouragement, Alta! I'll post an update if I do one. Will need to rent a bike for the DH. Actually, may turn out to be the perfect weekends to demo the Heckler.

Soo... I decided to go on an Alaskan cruise for the bday, instead of getting a new MTB. So, will have to wait until next season to retire Little Red. I know! What was I thinking?!? hehe

Partially kidding, we had a good time on the trip and I still have a lot of fun with Little Red. But, she is a '95 rigid. Yes, full rigid. So, she does force me to pick my lines carefully.

Shocked the socks off some guy last night when I beat him on the 4 mile downhill with his fancy full suspesion Specialized with an extra "$1200 in super light components". Not a common occurance, so my head can't get too big. But, it was fun to let Little Red strut her stuff after the guy was like ,"What in the world are you riding?"

My reply: "I'm old school, dude. This baby has organic suspension. Bet you've never ridden a bike like this." hahaha sigh...

That's awesome!

Hey - and riding a rigid bike one of my favorite things to do for training! I have a pink rigid singlespeed and I love that bike. (And you don't need to tell me - I've done a couple XC races on it - and there's nothing quite like passing some guy in a corner on the downhill and then hearing his reaction as he notices he just got passed by a chick, on a pink bike, with no suspension...)

But back to the training aspect - I raced DH in Angelfire 2 weeks ago and then mid-week I was down in SW Utah for work and rode my rigid bike on Thunder Mountain (which may be the most scenic and fun trail on earth) and then came back to practicing for last weekend's DH race. And it was actually great for me I think. Because even with a ton of suspension - you don't want to be death gripping your bike. You need to stay loose. And riding a rigid bike really forces you to do that - you have to use your body as suspension and keep your hands relaxed or you get punished for it immediately. And you have to stay active and light on your bike to get over all the rocks and obstacles in your way. All things you should be doing all the time but it gets easy to cheat with suspension.

So I'd vote to not "retire" your rigid bike - just buy it a companion in the stable! :D And demoing some FS bikes is a great way to figure out what you want!

 

[itri]

itri - good luck on the Oly! I always wanted to do an Olympic back in my tri days, but I burned out/got injured before I ever got to race one. It's kind of intimidating to think of that race as whole, but I always tried to think in terms of the individual legs. Swim a kilo? No biggie. Ride 40K? You can do that. Run 10K? That's not even a weekend workout, right? You're gonna do awesome, lady!

Thanks! I'm gonna need all the encouragement I can get!

You're so right, I can totally do all the distances individually (although swimming's a little sketchy right now, need to get back in the pool more!)...it's just the putting them together that scares me a little! I did my first brick of the season this weekend and it went pretty well, so that was encouraging!

 

[Consuela]

I've done a couple XC races on it - and there's nothing quite like passing some guy in a corner on the downhill and then hearing his reaction as he notices he just got passed by a chick, on a pink bike, with no suspension...

I love it! You're a triple threat to the DH male ego on that bike, aren't you?
1. Chick
2. Pink
3. No suspension

you have to use your body as suspension and keep your hands relaxed or you get punished for it immediately. And you have to stay active and light on your bike to get over all the rocks and obstacles in your way. All things you should be doing all the time but it gets easy to cheat with suspension. !

Yeah, I was wondering if I would get lazy about this stuff with a FS. When I rode the Pitch at the bike store the shop guy had me ride up and down the curb still seated to see what 6" of travel was like. Sweet!

So I'd vote to not "retire" your rigid bike - just buy it a companion in the stable! :D

Now that's some good thinking! We may have to expand our tiny California garage to house my new bike stable.

 

[altagirl]

Yeah, I was wondering if I would get lazy about this stuff with a FS. When I rode the Pitch at the bike store the shop guy had me ride up and down the curb still seated to see what 6" of travel was like. Sweet!

That's really the key to riding well - ride like you don't have any suspension. It's there to save you when you make mistakes, and smooth out the occasional section where there really is no smooth line... BUT - for the most part - there is usually a smooth line somewhere - even when it's not obvious (usually it requires going faster to make it happen).

It's really amazing watching the best DH guys ride when I can keep them in sight for a few seconds here and there. They are so rarely on the ground. They find the smooth spots and just jump from spot to spot and don't even touch the rough stuff. When they land a big drop and land it smooth, the suspension doesn't even compress - you don't even need it. (I saw a guy hitting a huge step-up a couple weeks ago, probably 15' in the air on a rigid 29er XC bike - not even a dirt jumper with a slacker headtube - a full XC race type bike... and landing like it was nothing.) The 8" of suspension on your DH bike is more to save you from your mistakes than to let you just steamroll through obstacles.

So that's why the rigid bike comes in so handy. You do the same thing just on a smaller scale - you can't bash through the obstacles or you'll pinch flat at a minimum, so you learn to lighten up and skim over them, if not hop them completely.

And then when you get on your FS bike and can just bomb down stuff.... ooooohhh it's so much fun!!

 

[Consuela]

Hi AG,

You have any races coming up the next couple weekends?

 

[altagirl]

Hi AG,

You have any races coming up the next couple weekends?

Yeah - this weekend we have a local race at Wolf Mountain. I'm definitely going to race the Super D - undecided on the DH at this point. My husband has to work and I'm a little undecided about driving back out there myself on Sunday for a course I'm not all that into...

And then next weekend we're racing at Deer Valley. That's my super duper favorite Super D course, so I'm definitely doing that and then I know they're working on fixing up the blown out DH course, so again, I'll see how that goes and decide if I want to do both or just Super D.

 

[Consuela]

How was it?

Hey AG, how was Wolf Mountain and Deer Valley? Any pics?