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| photo by M. Domnarski - Cat 1 and 2 staging |
Sunday June 2 was a hot day for racing, but that didn't stop the DAS ladies from lining up for what is almost always a very muddy race at Domnarski Farm. The course starts on race promoter Matt Domnarski's family farm and winds its way into local forest areas on rocky fire-roads and through sections of singletrack that inevitably include water crossings on narrow wobbly bridges. This is the sort of course that requires handling skills, climbing agility, and the opportunity to pre-ride it a couple of days before the race so that you know where the deep parts of the puddles are. If you aren't careful, you could go for a swim in any number of mud-holes mid-race.
The beginner (cat 3) racers enjoyed an abbreviated race loop that avoided some of the more technical sections of the course and cut out about 5 miles while the sport and expert/elite racers (cat 2 and 1 respectively) raced on a 10 mile course - cat 2 doing 1 lap and cat 1 doing 2. Both Tracy and Liz lined up to do 2 laps on the 10 mile course. Knowing that it was going to be a hot day, everyone was talking about going out easy to avoid overheating.
Here's how the race went for Tracy:
So glad I decided to race!
I have been having second thoughts about racing and honestly sometimes getting on the bike is often a chore. Of course after I am on the bike I am having fun, but getting there has been more difficult this season. I certainly have not been training like I was last year, when I would schedule everything; my entire season was planned out. Don’t get me wrong, I have still been training and riding; I am just not as methodical about it. Anyway, I'm so glad I raced Domnarski’s farm; I really enjoy this course. It has a lot of climbing, plenty of mud, some technical areas, and some power sections. Each lap has over 1200 feet of climbing and doing 2 laps yeah, that’s a workout.
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| photo by M. Domnarski |
At the start I lined up with the rest of the Cat 1 women in the back as usual; I need to work on my positioning. This course starts right off climbing and climbing and more climbing... then we hit some atv/jeep trails where it is hammer time. In the middle of these trails however, are some very large and deep mud puddles, some of these puddles could swallow a bike and a rider. I fortunately did not get submerged in muddy water like some but got just wet enough to cool off. Then I think we headed into the woods for some technicalish (that’s not a real word, but you know what I mean) single track. Then you guessed it - more climbing, I believe we are at 5 mile by now. After this climb a bit more single track and on to climb up the power lines, here we are out in the sun but, we get a nice breeze. After the power lines it is the bridge of reasonable absurdity and then the hill where the tree of death is, since I am technically inept I walk these areas. Then we are home free with jeep/atv roads and descents. I think my chronological order of the course is correct, but I could be wrong. Anyhow, it is a great course and I am glad I raced; I felt good & had fun.
Liz's take on the race:
I lined up with only two other women, but that meant nothing as far as competition goes because both of those women are fast and skilled racers: Joanne Grogan and Ellen Noble. Knowing that Ellen had won the Winding Trails race earlier in the season against a bunch of fast gals, I figured that if I could keep her in my sight, I'd be doing well. At the start, I ended up in 3rd position, and Ellen was gradually pulling away from Joanne and I, so as soon as we hit double track, I made a pass (accidentally poking poor Joanne with my bar end - sorry!) and took off after Ellen. I kept her in site through the climb, and on towards the start of singletrack. That's where I lost site of her - either due to the nature of the trail or due to the my taking it easy in the heat.
The first lap went by uneventfully. I came through for the second lap knowing that I was only about a minute down from Ellen, and set off after her on a mission to catch up. As I came to "halfway hill," I noticed another rider just ahead on the climb and quickly recognized Ellen's pink socks. I was immediately pumped and had to mentally check myself because I didn't want my excitement to cause me to do something stupid. Well, as luck would have it, I was hammering the tiny section of singletrack that precedes the heinous power-line climb when I slammed my rear wheel into a log or something near it and burped half of the air out of my rear tire. I didn't realize I'd lost air until I'd completed the climb (I'm pretty sure it was leaking air all the way up), and then I had to make the decision whether I should stop and air up or keep going and hope for the best. At this point, I'd gained some serious ground and I was right on Ellen's tail. Here's the dilemma: I had my CO2 pump in the bag under my saddle. Getting that out would have been a debacle in itself never mind getting air into my tire without getting flustered. So I did what any silly fool would do, and I rode that wiggly tire for the remaining few miles. I managed to keep up with Ellen, and I was actually ready to pass her a couple of times, but I was nervous about that tire, so on some of the more burly descents, I kindly told her to take the lead.
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| photo by M. Domnarski - Sprint Finish |
It's tough to say what would have happened if I'd put air in that tire, but what did happen is this: I was right on her rear wheel through the final descent. As we came into the finishing stretch, we both sprinted to the finish, and I was left in her dust on my squishy tire finishing one second behind her. It was an awesome finish - fun and friendly competition on a fun and challenging course!
Tracy ended up taking 4th in women's cat 1 35+, and Liz crossed the line in 2nd place for the Pro/Cat 1 Open Women. Here're the official results.
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