OrangeTomato: USA Cycling Nationals

What a weekend! Vermont definitely doesn't suck, and is now officially on my very, very, very short list of places I could live, if only for the fact that every meal I ate there was just fabulous, and EVERYTHING just happens to be cooked in maple syrup. Mmmmmmm...

So, Connie and I flew out to New York Wednesday night, stayed with teammate Allie in a nearby town, and we all drove up to Mount Snow, VT, Thursday morning.

Connie's bike is in the pink bag, can you believe it??? Wheels in the box:

Due to a few snafus, we got to the venue 1/2 hour too late for the Thursday Super D practice. Unfortunately, we quickly learned that Thursday was the ONLY practice for SD until Sunday morning! Are you KIDDING? No practice until an hour before the race? We protested it to no avail, then tried to get onto the lift like one race marshal advised us to do, however that didn't work.

Now, due to the two broken wrists, I was only intending to race the Super D, and by "race" I meant "take it easy and have a fun ride 'cause you really shouldn't be crashing." As my doctor said, "You can go ahead and race, as long as you don't push it, and accept that it won't be your best finish."

So, I'd only planned to "race" a mellow SD, but with no practice and thus no riding (lame), Connie and I registered for the Pro Women's Downhill race. What else were we to do for 3 days??? The crazy part is that both of us only had 6" travel bikes, not full downhill bikes, but were willing to try it just to have a chance to ride.

Originally, we just intended to ride the course, and then to back out of the actual race, but then realized we shouldn't waste the $65 entrance fee. PLUS, the course turned out to be awesome! Sure, the smaller bikes absolutely sucked on the top 1/3 of the course, which was potholed and grassy and slippery and required a lot of gripping and praying to get through, but the lower 2/3 was just a blast! Rolling rocks, twisty trees, roots, techy rock sections, fast and smooth parts, just super fun!

The gnarly top section:

A tree section:

In honor of the absurdedness of racing a trail bike on a DH course, without armor or even a fullface helmet (I'd only packed for the SD), I decided to wear my skinsuit, with ribbons, and just laugh my way down the hill. Spectators loved it! Lots of cheers of "go single-crown!" (referring to the smaller fork on the bike) and "go girl" and "holy sh*&!" made my run fun. I chatted with people on the way down "Do you like my bike?" and "Just out for a fun ride." Good times!

I was shooting for last place, since I absolutely didn't want to crash on my already injured wrists, and somehow missed the mark on my qualifying run and beat one girl! Woot! With one small crash that smashed my thumb between a root and my shifter (hard enough to snap the shifter off the bars), I wasn't too upset with my finish!

In the final, I relaxed a bit more, pedaled more in the flatter sections, didn't crash at all, and cut almost a minute off my time, yay! Of course, the girl I beat in qualifying decided that a silly girl in two casts shouldn't beat her, and cut over a minute and a half off her time, and so I came in, happily, last. But not by much...which makes me feel pretty good. With the right bike, helmet, and armor, and without broken wrists, I think I'd have held my own! Plus, 15th at the US Nationals
is pretty sweet anyway.

Connie finished one space above me and by about 30 seconds, just SLAYing the course on her trail bike, getting similar cheers on the course about her small bike and ribbons. It was a good time.

The best: Allie, our teammate, finished in 5th place and earned a spot on the podium! Go Velo Bellas! Allie on the right:

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My thumb, as of yesterday:

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Super D - the Super D course was also an absolute blast. I could have ridden both courses for weeks without getting bored. Unfortunately, in the end, the cross country girls took over on the last climb...

We had a crazy mass start, where we had to run up a steep hill (read: 20% grade or more) through thick tall grass for about 100 yards, then pedal up a gravel road to the first descent. I held my own on the run, was passed by a handful of girls on the first climb, passed a bunch of them on the first descent, then was passed on the second climb when my chain wouldn't catch. Managed to maintain my position in mid-pack through the second descent, then just pooped on the last (and hugest) climb. The XC girls just flew up the hill while I struggled, and they put such a lead on that climb that I could only catch one girl on the descent. Shrug, it was awesome and fun, and I've never raced in a group like that, having to find passing lines and use strategy. So, I was second from last and know I need to work on climbing (and have a smaller / lighter bike...6" of travel was way overkill), but don't regret a second of it.
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Active recovery: we were hosted by an awesome guy at his farmhouse on the edge of the forest, about half an hour from the race venue. He took us to his neighbor's place on the river, and we swam and goofed off the night before the races, taking turns trying to balance on the tube:

It was certainly interesting swimming with the splints on, though it's certainly nice that they can get wet! (I actually held onto a floaty for a lot of the time since a) I suck at treading and b) it was MUCH harder with the splints):

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Food highlights:
- the deli on the drive: within three steps, Allie and I each had a gigantic, warm, soft, fresh, homemade cookie. As well as tapenade, napolean (a decadent dessert), and fabulous sandwich. Mmmm...
- sauteed zucchini, cooked in gobs of butter and, of course, maple syrup
- the "vermonter": ham, cheddar, and apple on, of all things, French Toast! With a side of warm syrup for dipping.
- "Sapling" a maple syrup flavored brandy-type liquor.