Saturday I went over to Oakland to meet up with Lisa from Slowtwitch. There was a ride & tie training event (bike/run, not horse) over in one of the parks and it would be a chance to get a little off-road riding in, plus some nice trail running. I was under the impression it was going to last about an hour and a half. Well, we meet up and first of all we have to do the maps and figure out the routes (different for bike and run) to meet up at the checkpoints. There were 7 CPs! Oh my, how long are they expecting this to last? Probably 3.5 to 4 hours! Yikes! That means I’d miss the pre-ride at McLaren Park over in San Francisco. Not to mention, kill me for the race the next day.
Lisa figured out that I could bail out at the second CP and run back to the truck and since there was an odd number of people, she’d pick up that person as her partner after I left, so it all worked out. But let me tell you, I was in over my head! The two groups stuck together and I was on the bike first. Not too bad. We got to the first CP and switched out and my group took off running and the guy behind me was chatting about going back to Adventure Racing Nationals again this year because they only got 2nd last year. SECOND? These people are SERIOUS! But they were super, super nice and didn’t mind that I wasn’t the speediest of runners. Once we got to CP2, I got the directions back to the car and took off. I ended up with over 2 hours of biking and running, mostly running. Well, a lot of hiking too since we went up and down and back up in a canyon. But a fun time.
Afterwards, I headed over to McLaren Park to pre-ride Sunday’s cyclocross course. I met up with Dana and Marissa from the Roaring Mouse team, plus Janet from Velo Girls and some other folks were there.
The course started out flat to the grass, then a huge run-up after you went over the barriers. Then a short, steep hill and a U-turn back down. Had to stop for a minute to think about that one, but I rode down. A long stretch and then another uphill, longer this time, not as steep. Once you got to the top of that, it was a long straight and slightly downhill to the edge of the trees and a dismount and over a big downed tree. Uphill again and then curve around and down and if you missed that curve, then it was straight down a huge hill. That would NOT have been pretty. At the end of the downhill was a quick “c” around a big tree (if I’m remembering correctly). It was pretty rough through here and you had to make a sharp right and back uphill, but on the asphalt path, but then you turned left and cut down a bit, sharp right onto the asphalt and then left across the top of the bluff.
Then….another downhill and another “c” around the little bush in really choppy grass/tufts of dirt and then a hard left to a drop-off. How big? Big enough to make me sick to my stomach from stress and have to stop. After 30 minutes of "contemplation" (and a tear or two) a super nice guy (Ben from the Roaring Mouse team) who had been around at least twice, stopped and asked me my name and did some talking he finally got me to do it. Yes, I did it (and he made me do it twice more right then with him), then I went around another loop again for good measure. But even though I did it, I still wasn’t comfortable.
Race day on the pre-ride I was again sick to my stomach thinking about that section and decided that racing is supposed to be FUN and this was the farthest from fun, so I didn't race. Instead, Allie and I ran around the course and cheered everyone else on. Katy did well, even with a flat and then the spare wheel not being seated properly. Marissa crashed big time, knocking the wind out of here and out of the race. Really glad I spectated.
Now, the big question is how do I get over that fear of those drop-offs? I can descend pretty good on the road, no fear. Not sure what is the problem on the dirt, except that I have no (or at least very, very little) experience. And no, I do not own a mountain bike and have never really ridden one (maybe 3-4 times TOTAL and always along the nice path along Chrissy Field.
Here is some video from Sunday's venue, but a little different course (it's a big park). Note that the videos are from an underground "race" from the early part of the season when it's still light out after work. And if you are wondering why people are wearing dresses....you race for free if you wear a dress.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Blv-b6cwYyA
Yes, that run up was in the race, but there were barriers right in front of it. That I didn't mind.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eV0P3pj4Itg
So, working on the off-road stuff is a high priority! No race this coming weekend as I’m off to the desert for a long weekend. Some training, some margarita drinking, some hot tub sitting and lots of laughing with friends is on the schedule. I can’t wait.