Michaux Maximus Report
by Tris
The start was a two mile road climb, which I settled into and spun. I counted two women a bit ahead of me, but nothing to worry about. Then it was onto the dirt and about 5 miles of rock garden. I had cleared more of it in my pre-ride 3 weeks earlier when it was dry, but I still felt pretty good about my effort. At about mile 7 a woman in my class passed me. I was surprised it took her that long because she was a local and had led the ride 3 weeks earlier and was definitely better than me in the technical stuff.
A short breather and another 3 miles of rocks, now in the pouring rain, with the last mile the toughest. During the scouting ride I had cleared about 80 percent of the rocks, but this time, the trail was a lot more slick due to the weather and I only was able to ride about 60 percent. I was passed by a bunch of guys over the 7 rocky miles, but I guess some of those guys were actually the rest of the women in my race.
I hoped that once the rocks were done, I could fly through the single track and fire road of the rest of the race, but no such luck. Just getting my wheels to go around was so hard in the goop on the trails. But I just kept spinning and worked my way through. By the time I reached the fire road that was the last 3 miles of the race, I had very little left to sprint home. I wish I had known one of the women was only a minute ahead, maybe I could have dug up something more. But as it was, I just focused on keeping my pedals moving to get to the end, and if nothing else, get in a great training ride.
I finished the race in 3 hrs, 11 minutes and covered from head to foot in mud. My bike was also coated. Quite the breaking in for its first race, but I love my Epic!
While I am disappointed by my result, 7th of 7 sport women or 5th of 5 sport master women, I can say that I enjoyed the challenged and I really did the best ride I could have done. Maybe I could have made up that minute somewhere, but I just don’t know if I could have gone any harder.
- Posted in : 2006 Race Reports
- Author : Tris Newbury
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