MSC#1 Rabbit Valley Rally

Ok, I know, it's a bit over due. I've been busy this week trying to get things in order for Sea Otter. Last weekend I headed to Fruita, CO for the first Mountain States Cup race of the year. We arrived on Saturday to pre-ride the course. SWEET! I think this tops any trail I've ridden. The race course took place on the Western Rim trail via Trail 2 and the Kokopelli Trail. I've never ridden in this area before, so the scenery was new. The trail was fast and fun. Words don't do justice, neither do pictures. I'd recommend heading to this trail anytime you are in the Fruita/Grand Junction/Moab region. Here's some pictures I took during the pre-ride:


Sorry I didn't get a picture of my Vanderkitten kit. I completely forgot about it on race day. It did get lots of comments though!!

Sunday was the cross country race. The weather couldn't have been better. A little breeze, not a cloud in the sky, and temperatures in the 70's. The women expert 19-29 took off at 12:18pm. Our race was 2miles long. I jumped from the gun and was able to get a pretty decent gap. I was maintaining my lead, but could see a Tough Girl in the distance. About 5 miles in there was a tricky, short decent. I had ridden it before, and knew what line to take. But for some reason, I completely screwed it up. I made it down most of the hill, then I crashed. I got up and scrambled for my water bottle. By that time, I could see the 2nd place rider getting ready to come down the hill. I quickly moved out of the way. I hopped back on my bike and took off. I heard this noise coming from the front of my bike. Crap, I broke a spoke. Fortunately it wasn't in the way of things, so I kept riding. I also began to notice my brake was rubbing. Luckily the climbing part of the race wasn't for a while. I made my way back up to first place and kept pushing. Once we started climbing, I pretty much blew up. Nothing like going uphill with your front brake on. I got passed by the 2nd place rider again. Next things I knew, two more riders passed me. On a short uphill, I dropped my chain and got passed by 2 more riders. Now I was in 5th place. The race was almost over, so I kept going. I was able to pull off 5th place with a time just over 1hr 30minutes. I was alright with my finishing place. I missed the podium by one place. That kind of stuff happens though. I feel like I could have had the shot at first place though. It's hard to tell. I went out hard, and then settled into a place. 2nd place wasn't too far behind me, so who knows how the race would have played out if I hadn't crashed. Anyway, that's about all for now. I'm glad I pre-rode the course. It was awesome to enjoy the scenery.

I leave tomorrow afternoon for Sea Otter. The road race is Friday, circuit race Saturday, and cross country race Sunday. Should be a good time. I've never been to the west coast, so it's going to be an adventure! Thanks for reading!
-A