Snowmass Mountain States Cup 2009, Part 1

I got home after midnight last night from a whirlwind trip to Snowmass Village, Colorado, for the Blast the Mass Mountain States Cup bike race. It was an AMAZING weekend, and I did better than ever before!

There are too many pictures and too much to say for just one post, so watch for parts 2, and 3 in the next couple days.

Cross Country riders we are not...
This was again to be a virgin ride on the Ellsworth Moment, as this time she had a new shifter, rear derailleur, grips, and fork. Nothing fell off, phew, which must mean my bike building skills are improving.

Addie and I went up the lift the first day to take a ride on the Super D course. After some hunting, we found the start sign, and started following the arrows. For some reason, the Super D (aka Super Descent) kept going up. And up. And up. And up, very technical climbs and way Way too much pedaling.

After four HUGE climbs, and about 30 minutes (most Super D courses in their ENTIRETY, both ups and downs, are less than 20 minutes, if even 10) I was ready to throw the towel in on racing Super D, when suddenly it hit us: we were on the Cross Country course!

This is the hill that gave us the enlightenment...Addie's grin of "Whoops! This is NOT the Super D course!"


We got a little more lost trying to find our way back and also bypass the lengthy trail we'd ridden, and ended up first on a dirt road:


Then we were on a private paved drive, and finally found a little trail that took us back to the lift. Phew!

The next run, we went the OTHER way, and realized we'd been following the wrong arrows. Black arrows on white background = cross country. White arrows on black background = Super D.

Cross County (XC) and a familiar face
It turns out that the XC racers climb most of the Super D course.

Here's a shot of a "rather famous) XC racer, going the opposite way as the SD arrow. Can be confusing, no? We go down this part.


Speaking of Cross Country, recognize him? He has been training for the Leadville 100, which is next weekend, and decided to race Pro XC at Snowmass as part of his training. He won, of course.


Lance Armstrong:

(Short editorial: while I just have to agree to disagree with those that worship the ground he walks on, he is a talented athlete and has brought a lot of publicity to riding, and brought some attention to the MSC this weekend, which is good.)

Super D, Part 1
This is part of the Super D / Cross Country course. See the black-on-white XC sign? Yep, they got to pedal UP while we got to ride DOWN....I'm not jealous. Also, this guy happens to be taking his life in his hands by walking up the Super D course....riders go REALLY fast through this section since it's flat and smooth and launches us up on to the dirt road.


Sunday morning, and the Super D, arrived....

As I'm sure you remember, Super D starts are always something different/unique/terrible/crazy, you pick the adjective. Snowmass didn't fail to deliver, and I got another brand-spankin'-new start, dun dun dun: Lie on the ground, heads pointed towards the bikes 30 meteres away. At the whistle, get up and sprint! No chance for injury here, eh?

The Pro men, first to go, set a good example.

Ready:


Go!


Run!




The Category 1 (formerly known as Expert Class) men, even better show...

Ready:


Steady:


Go!


Run!!!


Obviously, I had to put my camera away so don't have pictures of us, but I'm sure we were equally entertaining for the race staff.

Super D, part 2, the race!
Unfortunately, I tripped and fell on the start (and sprinting is my strong suit!) and jammed my finger, but was still somehow first to my bike! How? I don't know.

As I pedaled out, I shifted to my big ring and pushed my legs for all I was worth, my legs pumping like little (big?) pistons.

Again with the "unfortunatelys", my spare crankset (still waiting for the Hammerschmidt) has only a medium size ring, so no matter how fast I could pedal, there was no way to keep up with the rider that gained on my left side. She was cranking away in a big ring, with more power, and I watched helplessly as she pulled away.

(On an aside, after the race, she came over to chat and take a look at my bike 'cause she thought it looked awesome - props to Ellsworth, it is lovely - , and the first question she asked after pedaling it was "Hey, was this ring big enough for you? I was in my big ring the whole way down and was still spun out." All I could do was laugh. Oh well, lesson learned!)

On the first fire road, another girl caught me on the right side, but then we got to a sketchy turn in the gravel, and I managed to hold my speed while she didn't, so I beat her to the singletrack. Once on the singletrack, passing options were limited, and I just focused on keeping enough distance between me and the women behind to prevent passing on the next two road sections and the climb, the only other opportunities to pass on the course.

Somehow, even though they were XC riders (and thus good climbers), I managed to keep ahead of them (yes, even on the climb) and even with washing out on one corner. SECOND PLACE!!! I was whooping and grinning and laughing. Couldn't believe it! Yes, I know, if more of the pro DH girls had raced, it might have been a different story, but then...who knows? I'll take it.

Uh-oh, Super D Awards
Then, I panicked...as a terrible realization hit me. In the rush of packing and leaving straight after work, I'd left the envelope with my sponsor decals on the kitchen table. In Utah. Not ironed onto my jersey where they were supposed to be. Oh no! Now my jersey was going to be in podium pictures without the right logos! Crap. BAD athlete...

I rushed to my car, only half an hour until awards, and hoped that I was still somewhat good at freehanding....

With the help of the registration staff who loaned me a sharpie, (since filling it in with ballpoint pen would have taken more than 30 minutes) and gave me safety pins (I was using hair clips to hold them on), I came up with these:




Phew!

The podium...my very
FIRST EVER NATIONAL PODIUM AS A PRO!!!
I was on cloud nine. Or ten. Or...wait...even better...turned it up to eleven.







Have I mentioned lately that I LOVE MY BIKE???!! I got a lot of compliments on it this weekend, and every time someone mentioned it I just started gushing. The Moment is the perfect bike for me. Perfect. Money. Butter. Pure joy. What else can I say?

Addie did really well in the downhill too, and I'll tell that story tomorrow. Cheers!