The Xterra East Championship in Richmond Virginia was the 3rd of 5 races in the US Championship Points Series. The Richmond Luna Chix Mountain Bike Team took advantage of the sunday race and having 3 Luna pros in town to have a skills clinic on friday evening. We had a big turnout of women and made great use of the new skills practice area on Belle Island. We practiced cornering, balance and weight transfer on the pump tracks, braking, navigating rock gardens, logs and skinnys, stair climbing and descending and had some great discussions on everything and anything mountain biking!
It was an earlier race morning than usual for Xterra but extremely welcomed since it meant we’d be finishing before the temps reached the 94 degrees that was expected for the day. The course consisted of a 1 kilometer swim which zigzagged every which way across the rushing James River, a 2 lap 20 mile mountain bike course around the James River and Forest Park Trail Systems, and a 10K run through the city, atop the floodwall, up the “Mayan Ruins” across the rocky dry riverbed, around the twisty Belle Island single track trails and back to Brown’s Island via the footbridge high above the James.
I had a great start to the race coming out of the water as the first female, though Mel McQuaid was right on my heels. Mel beat me out of T1 (all the more reason to stress the importance of transition practice!) and continued to ride away from me with a pack of pro men. I rode well on the technical course features for most of the first lap, despite covering some extra distance by making a wrong turn (during which time Renata passed me), then accidentally missing a turn which cut off about a minute of the course. I realized my mistake and initially panicked but continued riding while considering what I should do to remedy the situation. I decided that I should have turned back immediately and gotten back on course but I was too far along to turn around and ride into oncoming traffic so on the second lap when I got back to that split in the trail I would ride the course as directed then re-trace my steps from the first lap when I veered off course and re-ride the course as I should have the first time. I knew I would lose some time and probably a position or two in doing so, but knew it would be worth it. If I didn’t, I could be disqualified and morally I would not be able to live with knowing I had cut the course even if I weren’t DQ’ed. So sure enough, Lesley Paterson passed me while I fixed my mistake putting me in 5th position. At the end of the bike course we had a section of flat gravel road to tear down before getting back to T2. I tried to take advantage of the flat fast area to ride hard and drink down the last of my Clif Shot before transition. The next thing I knew I was flying over my handlebars into the rocky ditch covered in pricker bushes! I landed on my head and back, the bike landed on top of me and I was tangled in the bushes, unable to get out! Luckily there were a couple of spectators nearby to pull me out. It shook me up but I got back on the bike and rode into T2 very frustrated and irritated with myself. I set out on the run at a decent pace but my entire backside was completely on fire from the scratches and I was sure some poison ivy too. Danelle caught me just before the “Mayan Ruins” and then she shot ahead, leaving me with no mental or physical energy to keep up. We made our way through the city back to the single track along the James where I got a little bit of a second wind then finally crossed the river for one last time back to Brown’s Island where I was more than ready to cross the finish line.
Initially I was upset and frustrated with my mistakes and lack of focus and disappointed with my 6th place finish. As the hours have passed I had some time to reflect on the day, I’ve come to accept that the five women in front me me are tough competitors and great athletes regardless of my mistakes and to finish 6th isn’t all that bad-especially since 2 of those 6 are my Luna teammates! I’ve also realized that because I was racing so close to home I wasn’t in the mindset to race. It may seem like a good thing to maintain my usual work and training routine all week but because of that, race morning felt more like a workout than a race and I didn’t have the usual pre-race nerves and anxious energy- which I’ve learned are actually quite important! So next year I know I need to do things differently to treat this race more like a race. For now I’m learning from the experience and moving forward looking forward to the Xterra Mountain Championship in Avon, Colorado at Beaver Creek Resort.
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