Poor Mtn Hill Climb race report

Poor Mountain Hill Climb Report – Sunday, October 1, 2006

The last race of the Va Derailer Series! Woo Hoo! This was gonna be a tough one. Having raced this one last year, I knew what we were in for and I was not looking forward to the climb. The course is very long, all uphill, and deceivingly tough at the end. If anyone has ever ridden the 1000’ climb at Carvins Cove, take that climb, steepen it a little, throw in more rocks than you can shake a stick at, and double the length.

The atmosphere was pretty relaxed when we arrived. I was on the alert to catch a glimpse of Jeremiah Bishop, Pro mtb rider for Trek Bicycles. He was set to make an appearance at this race and take a shot at beating his course record set in 2003. It think the record was something like 40:13…yes that’s right..under 1 hour! Insane.

It was hard to warm up for this race as there are no real hills in Camp Roanoke. A couple passes up & down the entrance road would have to do. Racers assembled together & were escorted on a somewhat leisurely pace for approximately 2 miles to the start. I had an opportunity to chat w/ the other sport chickies as we were waiting. Then it was a mass start along the 2 miles of paved road to the base of the climb. The other chickies shouted “go get em”…I said “I’ll try” and off I went.

My goal in this race was to better my time of 1:03:00 from last year. As we pedaled these first few miles of pavement, I did not want to “blow up” so I was able hook up w/ fellow Team El Toreo rider Chris Clark and another guy in Chris’ division. Together we rode to the base of the climb. The pace was good so I tried to stay on their wheels as much as possible.

Once we started climbing, Chris pulled away. No worries I thought..just get in a rhythm and spin. I couldn’t gauge my average pace b/c my stupid computer decided to take the day off. Maybe that was a good thing. The description on Roanoke County’s website reads “No Bike Technical Skills are Needed”. Whoever wrote that needs to come ride this course. This year it seemed to have more exposed rocks than I remember. Maybe the dry summer combined with a couple of torrential downpours early spring caused more erosion. I struggled to keep my momentum through these sections. Ultimately these rocky sections would cause me to lose time. I felt bad for the beginner cyclists, especially the women because these areas were extremely tough to negotiate.

As I climbed I was able to tuck in behind 2 other sport male riders. They were picking excellent lines as we worked our way up the mountain. I hung on their wheels for a little while, then had to pull around them to increase my pace a bit. One of the riders knew the course well so he warned me about the upcoming last ¾ of a mile of hell. All the while I was riding, I kept Chris’ group in my sight. In that group was another female expert rider. I was hoping to catch her along the way. At one point I looked at my clock an noticed it said 11:45…I thought to myself…”hmmm Jeremiah must be done by now….Lucky….I’ll still have 15 minutes of hell to go!”

I rounded the last turn which was the hardest part of the course. It’s pretty rocky and the gradient must be around 14% or so. Although I negotiated it a lot smoother this year than last year. Then comes the last ¾ of a mile….it’s gravel but deceivingly steep. The grade is around 16%....just when you think you can hammer, your legs are screaming from all of the climbing you’ve done. At this point, you just want to survive. I can hear cheering at the finish line so I know there’s not far to go.

About 500 meters left I see my husband off the bike, pushing. I thought “uh oh..his back is giving out…not good for him…but maybe I can catch him!” I can also see Chris’ Clark’s group including the expert female….maybe I have a shot! I try to crank up my tempo a bit but my legs are fighting it. I settle back into the saddle and spin. 200 meters…I see another teammate Ron Glowczynski who was finished…he shouts to me…”go catch your husband”….I can also hear the cheers from the spectators gathered near the finish. Finally a little bit of adrenaline kicks in and I stand up & crank as hard as I can. Pedal, pedal, pedal…one more stoke, another stroke, almost there…..and finally I cross the finish line. I felt strong at the finish…but I was not to beat last year’s time. I think my overall time was 1:04:00 or 1:05:00. I soon find out that many riders are slower than last year’s pace so I know. I wasn’t the only one struggling this day. I didn’t catch the other expert female but that’s ok….I was 3rd woman in overall, first in sport division. Oh and Jeremiah...he beat the record....I think he did it in 48 minutes or so....Unbelievable!

We descended back down the mountain for the ride back to Camp Roanoke. Descending was worse than climbing. You’re constantly on the breaks, watching out for riders who are still working their way up. We had to take lots of “hand breaks” to shake out our hands from the cramping endured on the descents. Once we hit the pavement, we were able to settle into a nice recovery pace. As we rode, Jeremiah Bishop joined our small group. At one point I was setting the pace back to Camp Roanoke. Hey…I paced out Jeremiah Bishop in a race!...well not really but it was still really cool!.. Jeremiah chatted about some upcoming fall Cyclocross races done in the Harrisonburg area as well as some other races he competes in. I think that was the highlight of my day…having a pro racer who just came off one of the best finishes for an American in the World championships riding w/ a bunch of local folk who have a passion for racing..just on a little bit smaller scale. How cool is that?

Back to camp to chow down on some pork bbq, baked beans & cookies….mmmm cookies. Then they handed out awards for the day & for the series.

Team El Toreo did very well in this year’s Derailer Series.
Expert Male 36+ - Ron Glowczynski 1st place
Expert Male 18 – 35 – Todd Reighley – 1st place
Single Speed Open Male – Warren Schimizzi 2nd place
Sport Vet Male 36+ - Chip Camper - 2nd place
Sport Vet Female 36+ - Paula Schimizzi 1st place
Beginner Male 36+ - Chris Clark – 2nd place.
Vet Sport Male 36+ - Warren Carwsell 4th place (1 point out of 3rd!!!)

I guess I gotta move up to the Expert class next year…It will definitely be much harder.

Off to Florida next week for some much needed rest & relaxation.