Pat's Peak XC MTB Race 2013

With gallons of rain getting dumped on New England and the threat of a very muddy race course, many racers chose to stay home on Sunday June 9th rather than destroy their bikes with grit and grime. The only DAS racer to drive up to Henniker NH for the MTB Festival at Pat's Peak was myself (Liz A), and while I enjoyed the heck out of that course, I think many people made a good decision to stay out of the woods.

I decided to ride part of the course before the start to see what I had ahead of me.  I think I made it about 1.5 miles before I cut out of the woods and back down the mountain.  In that short distance, I'd already coated my drivetrain in gunk, washed out in a mudpit onto my side, and gotten off to walk through unrideable muddy climb sections.  Knowing that I'd be doing enough of that come race time, I thought it best to cut my losses.  My biggest concern was the descent because I knew how technical it was and how wet it could be on the driest day.

courtesy of Pat's Peak 

The only other pro/open racer was Hattie Freye (super fast and wicked good tech rider from Maine), and the Cat 1 women had a whopping total of 3 racers.  I took the hole shot, and Hattie and I set out for our 3 laps racing within sight of one another for a couple of miles.  I was a complete mess on that first lap - walking sections that I could have easily been riding, but I managed to pull ahead with all of the climbing.  I threw that all away when I got to the downhill.  I was walking way too many sections that I should have been riding, and with less than a mile to go to the start/finish area, Hattie had caught and gone by me.  Our friendly exchange included me telling her to go ahead by me and her telling me she was sure I'd pass her back on the climbs.  Mentally, I was completely enraged at myself for undoing all of the work I'd done on that first lap.

Over the next two laps, I not only regained the lead, but I pushed myself hard enough to gain 4 and a half minutes over Hattie.  It all came down to getting out of my own head and just riding my damn bike. The downhill was just as awesome as I remembered it being and not nearly as difficult as I was making it out to be...  I just had to put a little bit of trust in my bike (cautious trust... it was slippery out there).  It was a well-earned win.  It feels good knowing that my fitness has improved enough to be able to gain back lost time and then some.  I'm looking forward to the next few races!