EFTA's Weeping Willow

A handful of DAS racers took the starting line in Ipswich, MA Sunday for the Weeping Willow race at Willowdale State Forest.  With this being the farthest drive of the season (so far) at a little over 2 hours, it meant leaving pretty early for those guys and gals racing in the Sport category at 9:30 am.  Representing DAS this time around were Liz Bove, Matt Danis, John Hanson, and Liz Allen.  

The race had required registering in advance because of its popularity and lack of parking, and it was capped off at around 400 riders well before the registration was officially scheduled to close.  DAS had been fortunately tipped off to this in advance and told that it would be a fun race to head out to.  The rumors held up; the course was fast and fun.  

Liz B - courtesy of Michelle Packer

Liz B had a podium finish once again in a stacked field.  This race brought out a lot of female racers, which is not always that common in mountain biking.  Here’s her take on the experience:

Women's Sport - courtesy of Michelle Packer

“Weeping Willow was a course that suited me well. It was fast, flowy and not very technical. Since the women's fields are so small, we all started at the same time. In the Root 66 series, I'm familiar with many of the racers by now, but in this race there many new faces and I couldn't be sure who I was racing against. I got off the start in 2nd position. At the second section of single track, a woman who looked crazy fast (yes, I judged a book by its cover) got in front of me. She got caught up a couple of times, each time I tried to get past, but couldn't. The third time she fell I was able to get around her. We were about 3 miles in and I led the first lap from that point on. My reaction to being in the lead was to ride scared. I was anxious and trying to look behind me often. This made me push harder than I probably should have. 

Liz 1st Place - courtesy of Michelle Packer

For a while I think I had a sizable lead, but soon into the 2nd lap, Kyla caught up to me. I knew Kyla to be a very fast rider, but also in the younger category. We stayed together for most of the 2nd lap with Kyla leading. With two miles to go, we had been caught by two more women, Haley and Amanda, when I wiped out. Now all three women were in front of me as we headed into the final stretch together. I didn't know what category Amanda was in, so I passed her, only to be passed by her, Haley, and Kyla respectively. It was an exciting finish with all four of us passing and being passed in a short distance! I was relieved to learn that Amanda was also in the younger category and I had taken first in the 40+ Cat 2. 

I had a great time racing and really have come to appreciate the camaraderie of the super cool women that race!”

John H has been working hard the past few weeks.  With only two races under his belt and bike that weighs a good 5-10 lbs more than the competition, his attitude is admirable:

“I came with a plan to race my own race. I didn't worry about the hole shot and aimed just to keep them in sight. Everything worked out great! Came through the first lap with plenty of legs left. Made a couple of passes stick through most of the second lap in spite of two minor crashes. But at the very last section of single track I had a really good crash that took it all out of me. The frustrating part was losing all the places that I had moved up to, knowing I had enough left to hold position. But in writing this while sitting in the doctors office waiting for x-rays, I’m smiling remembering how much fun it was. Looking forward to coyote hill. I’m hoping for some better luck so I can see the hard work pay off.”

Matt made his debut this week racing a geared bike for the first time this season.  He raced his singlespeed at his last two races.  Another guy with a commendable attitude despite results that he wasn’t completely ecstatic over:

“A bad day on your bike is better than not riding at all. That's what I am going with today. The course at Weeping Willow was fast and flowing. I however, was neither. If the goal was to suffer, then it was a complete success.”

Liz A lined up with 5 other elite women for what was certain to be another leg ripper.  Unfortunately, she had her first, and hopefully last, DNF of the season:

“I should have known better than to go into the woods with no tools again.  I’m done with that.  Regardless, it wouldn’t have made a difference even if I’d had the proper supplies.  I was basically about 2 miles in when I noticed my bike was steering a little off.  In fact, I thought something was wrong with the fork at first. When I finally allowed myself to look down, I was devastated to see my tire had lost a lot of air.  I kept pedaling while I really let it sink in.  In retrospect, that was probably a terrible idea because then I had even farther to walk out of the woods.  I also think the flat had started before I’d even really gotten going because my bike felt awful from the very start of the race.  Anyhow, I spent some time cheering on the racers that had started after me as I made my way back the way I’d come.  Fortunately, or unfortunately, (I’m not really sure about this one yet) I came across a guy who was patiently waiting for a medic to escort him out of the woods.  He’d hurt his hip and couldn’t get up, but he offered to give me CO2 so that I could ride faster to get him help.  On my way back to get help, I actually encountered the help who were already on route to the poor guy, so I didn’t feel bad when my tire started getting flat again, and I had to slow down.  By the time I’d made my way to timing van to drop out, the elite men had already started coming through to start their second lap.  

It was a huge disappointment, but I knew that even if I’d been able to put air in my tire, it’d only have gotten me a little farther, and a tube would have been nearly impossible to get in with the tight-fitting Ardent I use on the front.  

When I got home, I found that the rim tape had a puncture in it, and it had probably been there awhile.  There was sealant caked around the hole, and I’m guessing it was a problem just waiting to show itself.  Unfortunately, it cost me a fun day of racing.  On the plus side, I got to watch Karen Potter kick some butt, and I got to cheer on a lot of my friends who were racing while I caught up with some other friends.  It turned out to be a great day!  I even scored some loot from the raffle!” 

The results of the race can be found HERE.

The next race on the agenda is Root 66’s Coyote Hill Classic which will probably be the farthest drive of the season at around 4 hours away.  It’s a fun course, and it sounds like it will be well-attended by team DAS.