Bare Bones #1 Race Report

Bare Bones #1 - Greenhill Park, Salem, VA
November 12, 2006

Today was the first of 2 installments of the Bare Bones Mountain Cross series. Bare bones is just like it sounds, no frills, no thrills, no classes, no prizes. Just come on out & have some fun. The course description read 200’ of climbing per lap w/ 3 water crossings each lap.

200’ can’t be that bad….I was more intimidated by the thought of water crossings given the fact that it rained cats and dogs the night prior to the race and temps were not expected to get out of the 40’s.

15 of us lined up for the start….and yes, once again…I was the only girl!!! I wasn’t too worried about it though seeing as how I’m in “off season mode” and only riding once per week. I did not have high expectations except to just go out for a fun, Sunday ride.

The course was laid out nicely. The first part takes you on a 2 –way fireroad which eventually crosses a small creek, then dumps into a large field. This is where the 200’ climb started. The climb seemed to never end and by 4 laps, the riders would be well spaced out. At the top of the climb, riders drop down into some fun, tight singletrack. After finessing our way through some tight turns, we enter back into the field and start a fast descent. Then the riders cross the 2nd of the creeks. This one was deeper & more challenging than the first. Riders needed to pick a good line to stay somewhat dry. After the creek, it’s over a small wooden bridge to another open, grassy area. Riders could hammer through this section because it was relatively flat and smooth. A quick right turn took us across the last water section, then back past the timers to start all over again.

The pack seemed really tentative at the start. No one wanted to jump out in the lead until fellow teammate Ron Glowczynski finally made a move. Nobody jumped on his wheel once he took off. Maybe the pack was conserving for the climbs. All the riders spread out quickly once we started climbing. For the first lap I stayed on the wheel of two fellas on cyclocross bikes. They were strong climbers but the pace was manageable. After the climb we dumped into some singletrack for a bit. Once through the singletrack it was back into the field where we faced what seemed like a 25 mph headwind. I tucked in behind one of the cyclocross dudes to draft a little. I also shared my usual “motivational” speech with him…It consists of “come on now..you don’t want to be passed by a girl!” It seemed to do the trick until we got to the steepest part of the descent. It was a bit tricky for the skinnier tire bikes so I went around him to the right and continued on. He would catch me though as we started climbing again.

I was pretty happy with how I rode. I held a very consistent pace each time I climbed and negotiated the water crossings fairly well. Along the course you could see the other riders finishing or starting their laps. I had fun encouraging fellow team mates & folks I’ve ridden with as I saw them zipping along. On laps 3 & 4 I had a little bit of trouble on the second water crossing. I picked bad lines and ended up wetter than anticipated. By the end of the race, I could not feel my feet! Overall I think I finished 13th. El Toreo teammate Ron Glowczynski took first & my hubby took 4th (on a singlespeed, thank you very much) Great job guys!

All in all, it was a blast! Thanks to Dick Howard & Roanoke County Parks & Recreation for hosting such a fun event! See ya’ll next weekend!