Va Derailer Series Race #1 - Danville

Southside Scramble May 3, 2008

This was the first race of the year for me and the first in the VA Derailer Series. I wasn't sure how I felt about doing this race. It seems the past couple times I have been down to Danville, some type of bad omen goes with me. A few years ago during a pre-ride, I was attacked by yellow jackets & stung 4 times. Then two summers ago at the race I had heat exhaustion following the race. At least this year it was held in May, not August when temperatures can get in the 100's.

The day was gorgeous when we got up. Sunny skies, mild breeze, low humidity, cool temps....Perfect for racing. When we arrived in Danville, their weather was much the same...maybe a little more humid.

Met up w/ team El Toreo, then we got registered. At this race they write your class & age on the back of your leg....for some reason they decided to make my age really HUGE on my leg so everyone who came upon me in the race would know to get away from the crazy old lady on the single speed. All our buddies back at the staging area got a kick out of it. Ha Ha...wait til you get to be my age!!!...Anywho...got a bite to eat, got changed & ready to go. Met up w/ the newest team member, my buddy Jen, and we rode the beginning & the end just to get a feel for what to expect. She came back in to get a bite to eat, I made a pit stop, then continued to warm up a little more.

We lined up for the pre-race meeting and once again, I was the only female in my class!..There was one expert chicky, one single speeder chicky (me), and 4 sport chickies and a few beginners. There were probably 8 or so singlespeed boyz....so it was me and the boyz again.

Really the only time I hung w/ the other singlespeeders was at the start...after that, I was all alone.

The starter counted us down and off we went..down the gravel road, right hand turn into the grass to the left hand turn into the trails. Down some dips, back up, down a few more, then twisty turny trail til we dumped out onto a gravel fireroad. I heard the siren sound again to start the sport men...I thought..uh oh..here they come..time to get passed. Sure enough once I was on the fireroad the first group of sport guys came upon me. There was plenty of room to pass to I let them on through but kept moving. Back into the single track where I stayed free for a bit but then another bigger group passed me. Oh well...I just focused on keeping a steady pace and doing well technically. I knew I would be passed my many others but it was ok.

Danville is the type of course where you are on the gas the entire time. It is tough in some spots because there are short grunts, followed by longer gradual uphills, then a downhill, then a steady spin again. Lots of tight twists & turns, creeks, wooden bridges, etc..then more uphills which open into wide open fields of nothing, back into singletrack, etc. etc.

At one point approximately 3 miles in I heard something barreling through the woods. I checked behind me to see if it was a biker but there was no one there. Out of the corner of my eye I saw it. It was a deer moving pretty fast..maybe 30 mph..scared out of its mind. I wasn't sure which way it was going to go, so I stopped to watch it. I've never seen a deer run so fast. There were 2 more behind it...one ran in the opposite direction & the other just stared at me as I went by. Yikes!.....

I plodded on..at some points I felt great, at others not so great. I had to walk some of the uphills simple because I could walk them just as fast as I could riding them & I wanted to conserve my legs as much as possible.

At 9 miles in, my legs started to cramp but I was able to keep well hydrated so while it was uncomfortable, it wasn't race ending. Towards the end of the course I got passed by a couple of beginners. GRrrrr. That was embarassing..but then again they had a shorter distance so I guess it really didn't matter.

I did finish so I got first in my class....(also last in my class since I was the only one!)...I felt great at the finish & finished strong. I think my average time was around 8 miles an hour which surprised me because every time I checked my Garmin it hovered around 6 mph. Oh well I"ll take it.

Hubby didn't fare so well. Apparently he crashed & got a mystery scratch/gash on his thigh. It's weird looking.

As they wrapped up the award ceremony, they called my name ..I didn't know what that was about until they handed me this huge trophy. Apparently I got overall Sport female winner since I raced the same distance as the sport women & came in ahead of them. Cool!..although I don't know what I'll do w/ this big friggin trophy.

All in all I was pleased w/ the result. I didn't have any weird omens take place this year and I got a goofy, anotomically incorrect trophy to boot. I may have also gotten some more chickys friends to ride with.