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On The Rocks at French Creek

Anna Kelso and I represented DCmtb/City Bikes at the first cross country race of the MA Super Series. It was a blast. Anna, as a native rider of PA’s technical trails, had this course sized up as pretty much just another day in the park. A few logs, a few rocks, no big deal. But too me, it took all the confidence I could gather to go all out on some of those downhill, rocky technical sections. Luckily, there was usually an expert guy in front of me, and I would just make it my goal to stick with him and follow his line. That got me through really well (except the two times when another rider caused me to crash - more on that later). My Garmin computer broke the previous week at Poolesville; it fell off my bike on the rough dirt section and looks as if every racer there decided to bulldoze right over it. So, I rode this race without so much as even a watch. It really changed the dynamics of it for me. Instead of looking at the numbers on my computer, I was totally focused on working the course and just having a good time. And I had a blast! It definitely helped that I felt good that day, and that the race was shorter than the last few I’ve done. When I got to the finish line, I seriously couldn’t believe it was over. Maybe I should never race with a computer.
There were only a few things that put a bit of a damper on all the fun I had. First, there was not a women’s elite category, but only an “Elite Open” category. The men and women were supposed to be racing for the same prize purse. Okay, what’s the point of that?! Even the fastest female time of the day, Caroline Papovich from Trek/VW, wasn’t faster than a single one of the pro men. And of course I was no different. So I thought that was kind of lame. But at the registration desk, they told me there was no prize purse for the women’s expert category, and I could go ahead and register for the Open Elite race if that was my category. I figured this was what all the other women in my category were doing. Wrong. When I showed up to the start, I was the only female in the Elite Open. My competition was all registered for the women’s expert race. So I didn’t get to go head to head with the girls I wanted to compete against. It wasn’t such a big deal to me at the start since I was just there to have fun anyway, but then my start place meant there were some men starting behind me who were faster. Not usually a problem, but there were a few guys who let their machoism, and whatever preconceived notions they have about female riders, turn them into complete jerks on the course. During the second lap, twice I was caused a crash because some guy would decide that he had to pass me at that very moment and run me off of my line. The second one was the worst, happening on a rocky downhill section. This guy pushed me to the left, right into a slanted overhanging tree that I had to duck and lean right to avoid, at the same time as my front wheel faced a much-too-large rock. I crashed right into it. This was one of the most technical sections of the course and there was a great place to pass just moments ahead.
Let’s compare this to my experience at Greenbriar. I was just reading Marc Gwatz’s blog (great posts!) and saw a picture of Jeremiah Bishop passing me in the race. Again, this was on a downhill rock garden where I couldn’t exactly pull off to the right for him. Well, it entirely did not matter. He took a different line with worse rocks, did some magical Houdini thing to lift his bike right over the rocks and turn in midair, and passed me like a phantom. It was really something! I was in awe. That moment was actually one of my highlights of racing this year. Imagine that. Getting passed by another rider was one of my highlights. But, it was one of the most athletic things I’ve witnessed up close and personal. Compare that to a few of these guys, who were willing to cut me off path into the rocks, because it might make the difference of getting 18th place, or whatever that they got. Do men do this to each other too? Part of me feels like some of these guys go crazy when they see a girl in front of them - like we’re all just moving roadblocks or something, even if we’re going the same pace. For the record, I’m not some man-hating feminist. I know most the guys out here are really considerate, and I love riding with them. I’m just blowing steam. After the race, I found that my time was third fastest among the women. After the race, the promoters realized how unfair it was to not have a separate prize purse for the elite/expert women. Which was fabulous. Kudos to that! But, since I was not registered with the women, no prize money for me. Bummer. What I really got was last place in my field! Haha. Some people thought I was trying to be like Susan Haywood - like I think I’m so tough I need to race against the men. NOPE! Others thought that I was blowing away the women’s field - they didn’t know I started with the men and had basically a 20 minute head start on the rest of the women. So some of the spectators were going wild for me, cheering that I was waaaaay ahead of the field. Good stuff! I certainly didn’t stop to explain. Just smiled. City Bikes looked great.

And - cheers to Anna for bouncing back so fast after her accident only the week before!

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