Mw windows race

Sunday, Aug 13, 2006 MW Windows Race, Franklin Co, 1st in the VA Derailer Series.

Approximately 125 riders turned out for the first in the Va Derailer series. Team El Toreo had 6 riders on the podium for this race! Rock on team Burrito! The course was a combination of wide double track, some single track, cornfields, gravel roads, a creek crossing, and a deep river crossing…oh yea..and one very slippery bridge which I would find out about 4 miles into the race! Racers started with a staggered start..meaning experts, first, then single speeders 2 min later, then sport folks 2 minutes after the single speeders, etc, Thank you to the race promoters for doing a staggered start. Things were much less chaotic and you could work your way through the group much easier. I raced in the Vet sport (35+) division. In early spring I had entertained the idea of moving up to expert class. I decided against it because most of the races last year, there were few if any other racers in my class. Also with injuring my knee at the start of the race season, I did not think I would be ready to tackle the expert level just yet. I hoped more women would race this year and I would not be disappointed for this first race. There were 2 other ladies in my class, and 2 younger female sports….Woo Hoo..someone of my gender to race with!

I decided to line up towards the middle/front of the sport pack. In previous races I’ve lined up behind the guys and always seem to lose time because I’m in the back of the pack. It was a little nerve wracking when we started b/c everyone was jockeying for position before getting into the singletrack. Fortunately I was able to hold my own and maintain a sustainable pace on the first grassy climb. The pack spread out as we entered the singletrack..until we got to Still Hill. I jumped on another guys wheel & climbed behind him all the way up. We had to holler at a few folks who were walking, but no worries..cleared the first hill.

As the race continued, I felt strong. It was really hard to get into a steady rhythm because of the creek crossings and a couple of steep, slippery hills where you either changed your cadence to make the climb, or got off & hiked. As I approached one of these slight uphills, there was a mossy, slippery wooden bridge just before the turn for the hill. I was in a groove, pedaling a steady pace, and getting ready to gear down one ring to spin the climb. As I geared down, leaned into my turn and took a pedal stroke BAM! I was off the bike in an instant. In fact, my bike was about 3 feel below me just on the other side of the bridge! OUCH…I felt a little pain shooting up my backside as I mounted the bike to continue…I remembered that for the next lap.

I continued on….crossed the river a lot better this year than last. I kept my bike on my hip this year & plodded through water waist deep in some parts. Coming through the transition area, there was a small but LOUD group of folks cheering the riders on. I was so amped from this that I almost missed my turn and just about took out the marshall directing the riders OOPS..sorry about that. As I raced my second lap, I could see one of my teammates just up the trail. I came close but couldn’t quite catch up to him. I think I finished 15 seconds behind him. My overall time was 1 hour, 9 minutes, beating last year’s time by close to 4 minutes! And coming in first in my class.

Here’s the site for the overall results I'll create the link later so you'll need to copy & paste this to your browser for the time being. http://vaderailerseries.com/results/