Western State College Mountain Bike Race (Conference Championships)

This past weekend was the Conference Mountain Bike Championships at Western State College in Gunnison, CO. Going into the weekend, I knew it was going to be a challenge (weather and competition). Gunnison is about a 5 hour drive from Fort Collins. We left Friday night and headed to the Western State College. They were nice enough to let us sleep in their student center. Much better than sleeping in a tent!

Ah, mountain sunrises!

Saturday's race was 20 minutes plus 2 laps. It was probably 40 degrees, no wind, and sunny at the start of our race. An impressive 25 women lined up for the start of the Women's A race. The course was very demanding. There were 3 decent climbs and a few techy downhills. It was actually a pretty fun course, just extremely hard. Estzer from CU took off from the gun, as always. I quickly grabbed her wheel. Up the first climb we went. I shifted from my big ring to the middle ring and all of a sudden got chain suck. Bummer, there went 4 spots. I quickly made up a few spots once I got my chain going again. The first place girl (Estzer) quickly put a huge gap on everyone. I caught 2nd place and she rode behind me for a while. The she attacked and that was the last of that. She wasn't all that far ahead of me, but the course was tricky and I wasn't able to get back to her. On the last lap, another girl caught me and flew by on the last climb. I knew she was close, but didn't think she was that close. So I ended up getting 4th place. Not what I was hoping, but I felt like that's all I could do. My lungs were on fire because of the cold air and not being able to catch my breathe at all during the race (it was that hard). The rest of the day included sitting around watching the downhill and dual salom races. The weather was actually pretty nice most of the day. Things would turn bad later on though.

Tearing it up in the short track race. Look at the pain...

Saturday night was the conference banquet. It was pretty fun to get to hang out with the team and other riders in the conference. When we got back to the school and headed to bed, it started sprinkling. I woke up in the middle of the night and it was snowing out. Yikes!

What we woke up to Sunday morning.

Sunday morning we woke up to just a dusting of snow, and a pretty good breeze. It was bitterly cold at the start of the race. Probably close to 25 degrees. The conditions caused many racers not to race. Only 11 women showed up for the cross country race. Our race was 2 laps, each lap being 10 miles or so (I don't know for sure). I took off hard from the start up the first hill. This hill was part of the short track race. I didn't pre-ride the course because my lungs hurt, and I figured I wouldn't be racing because of the weather. For some reason, I toughed it out. The course was pretty fun. The trails had snow on them and they were tacky enough to make it fast in sections. There was some decent climb, some fun downhills, and a few rock gardens. It wasn't all that windy at the start of the race, but by the time I was almost done with my 2nd lap, it was really windy and had gotten colder. I had thought about taking some of my clothes off (I had on 3 layers) the first lap at the feed zone, but I'm glad I didn't. I took the lead from the start and held it through the race. I tried to keep my tempo going, but knew I was slowing down near the end. My legs were starting to get tired. I tried to drink as much as I could, but only ended up drinking about a bottle. I tried to eat some Sports Beans, but my gloves were to thick to get them out of my pocket. I was determined though, and finished the race without cramping or bonking. I was able to hold off the win - my first cross country race win of the season. Three of the faster women didn't end up racing, so who knows if I would have been able to pull off a win if the circumstances were different. Gunnison is a pretty sweet town. It's not as tourist as Crested Butte. There aren't many trees to block the wind though. The trails seem pretty nice. It's sort of sandy, and the rocks are huge. There were actually a few places that looked like slick-rock. You couldn't see the trail.

Since this past weekend was Conference Championships, points were added up and awards were given. I ended up 2nd place in the RMCCC Division 1 women's A endurance category. A guaranteed spot to go to Nationals. The Rams Cycling team got 2nd in the conference Division 1. We were leading coming into the weekend, but Fort Lewis showed up with a ton of racers.

The drive back was rather interesting. This is a picture headed up over Monarch Pass. Semis and almost anything pulling a trailer looked like this. This truck/trailer was in the middle of the road.

Finally out of the snow. Awesome views though!

Next up for me is Collegiate Mountain Bike Nationals in Banner Elk, NC. I originally wasn't going to be able to go, but things took a turn this morning. I was/still am very excited and thankful. Hopefully it goes well. I've never done a Nationals event (other than Downer's Grove). I'm a little nervous. Most likely the course will be muddy, yay...haha or not. I'm flying out Thursday and flying back Sunday. A short trip, but well worth it. That's all for now. The cross country race is Friday and the short track race is on Saturday, so hopefully I'll be able to post an update sometime between there. Have a good one!

-A