Solo 24 HOA Nationals

I’m making the long drive back to Squamish after a successful weekend at the Canadian Solo 24 HOA championship. It was so good to be back in Canmore again racing and seeing my friends and family. We arrived a few days early to some seriously muddy new cut trails at the Nordic Center but come Saturday it was bone dry and getting hot. This year I had my usual pit crew. Husband Jeremy, Brother Chad, mom Betty and a new addition my cousin Keith. Along with all my great friends that came out for various lengths to cheer me on there was no shortage of help and support. This year was my 4th 24 Hours solo and the first time that I was nervous in my stomach days before it. It’s been a different year for me having moved out of Canmore a year ago and traveling all winter then moving out to Squamish this spring I was feeling a little self doubting with not having the usual winter program. The race started at noon with a short 3min run to our bikes. We were all bunched up on the new single track climb but it helped keep things to a settling pace. The first few laps went well. It was a mentally stimulating coarse with a lot of climbing and some new descents. I had about a 7-9 min lead on second for about the first 5 hours. She was riding the same pace it seemed and I kept hoping that I had put more time in on her when I came through but she was riding consistent. It was a hot day but I never really even noticed. I think I’m actually getting adapted to the heat now living out on the coast. Between the 6-8 hr mark I was feeling totally like ass. I have never felt like crap so early on in this race before, it was fueling the self doubting. My legs were getting swollen, my stomach was turning sour and I felt like I had an extra gravitational force pushing me backwards. I kept telling myself it will get better, it will get better, it has to get better! I came in to the pit and force feed some real solid food and soup. I didn’t even want to know where 2nd was, I needed to do my own thing and that was stay on top of the fueling and keep my head clear. Jeremy looked at me questioning if I was going to make it. I was looking tired and motivation was looking low! Evening was settling in and the heat of the day was dyeing down. I put my lights on and headed back out unsure how this lap would play out. The laps were taking me about 1hr:30min almost 19km a lap. Night had arrived and I had come back to life. Better then before. I couldn’t believe it but I was feeling awesome, strong, solid and confident. It was a beautiful, warm, clear, calm night and the moon was full. I was thoroughly enjoying ripping through the trails with my nightrider light feeling my laps were getting faster then the day times. We couldn’t have asked for better weather. It made for a consistent enjoyable, non epic night. Only for a short period in the night I felt the sleep monster trying to take me in but it never lasted long. With a bit of singing to myself, entertaining the riders behind me and a few expresso beans the sleepiness quickly passed. As day break came I knew now that I had a huge lead on 2nd and third. I was sitting 3 laps ahead of 2nd about a 5 hour lead. The rules are you can’t finish until 11 am, you have until 12 pm to leave for your last lap and it must be finished by 1 pm to count. The morning was just a matter of riding and getting to the end. Chad gave me the choice: 3 fast laps or 2 slow laps killing some time before I needed to cross the line at 11 am. I was sitting in 6th place amongst the mens field. The advantage of doing the 3 laps would help me keep that spot but my butt was feeling the effects of the saddle time and I was already stoked to be amongst the top 10 in the mens. I choose the 2 slow laps and managed to take my sweet time enjoying the views, chatting with other surrounding riders and some extra time in the pit chowing down on a tasty bacon, egg sandwich with sausages and coffee. Not usual that I’d be into eating anything of that sort but I was totally digging it! A perfect ending to a great race. 15 laps finishing in 23 hr taking National Champion status and 7th amongst the mens field. I feel the best I’ve ever have felt after a race. A few bum sores but that’s it. The Era and Safire treated me well. I road the Era for the majority except for one lap I jumped on the Safire. Not a single mechanical this year. I experimented with trying out some compression socks for over half of the race and although they looked like I should have been playing soccer rather then mnt. biking I really think they made a big difference in why my legs feel as good as they do now and durning. I must thank my most amazing pit crew and support. With out them this could never be possible. It’s a long, tiring job but they seem to love it and they keep me coming back. Thank you so very much everyone it’s so great to share this experience with you all! I was awarded airfare to Austrailia for World’s Solo in October but unfortunately it coincides with World’s AR in Spain which I will be racing with Team Ecuador. I wish the Canadian’s all the best who will be making the journeying to Australia for it.

BCBR is Finished!

7 days of riding through BC "ultimate single track experience" came to an end on saturday up in Whistler. What a great week! We started in Vancouver moving up to the island, down the sunshine coast, then finishing the last 2 days in Squamish and Whistler. Each day was on avg. 60 km ranging in 2.5- 4.5 hr of riding time. Shorter days in my opinion yet once you added on the early wake up calls, 4 ferries, plenty of bus rides and travel in between the stages I was totally trashed when I got back home on the night of day 5. I was so happy to be able to spend the last 2 nights in my own bed. I started the race off sitting in a comfortable 5th place. There was a strong women's field so I was totally content to be sitting in the top 5. As the week went on there was a good few of us that jumped around positions in the stages. Depending on the coarse of the day you quickly learned each other strengths; the roadies from the technical descenders. In the end I finished 6th and was happy to be in the top 10. I came into the race knowing that this is only the beginning of my season and looked at it as a great training race for the 24 hours and adventure races later this summer. I managed to not have one single mechanical on the coarse and walked away in one piece with all body parts intact. BC bike race is one of the more technical stage races that I've heard of. Day 0 in the Prolog someone already broke their frame. I had one crash which projected me off my bike at high speed 7 feet in the air the girl behind claimed I was flying. It was one of those hidden peddle catchers in the bushes. I lost my big toenail on that one.

All in all it was a great week meeting great people and catching up with old friends riding some awesome BC trails. Solo racing was a good experience to push yourself on your own and having to completely rely on yourself. But racing with the right partner seemed to be a much more enjoyable experience. To share the laughs, spills, the wahhoooo's down sweet trails and to have someone to push you just a little harder can make it all the more fulfilling. BCBR has something great going on here and I would totally recommend this race to anyone. Especially people not from Canada. I truly think that Canada is the real mecca for mountain biking and this race highlights some of the best riding in the world! Check out www.bcbikerace.com for more information. I road the Specialized Era for the whole race and loved it. It's really a great bike for me. I saw other women on Safire's or other 5+ inches of travel bikes and I think I would do the same next time. It has some great descents on it that having a little bit more travel would have made it even better! Now it's back to work tomorrow and time to recover and get ready for 24 hours of Adrenaline Canadian Nationals in only a few weeks. Scary thought that in these 7 days of riding I never even broke 24 hours of riding. I'm reminded of how bad my but is about to hurt again.