Happy Trails to You

This is Amber. She was the female winner (by a long shot) of the God's Country off-road Duathalon in Lawrence held this Saturday. One hell of an athlete and one hot chick if you ask me.





It was a gorgeous Saturday morning, and I was heading to Lawrence. I was just glad to have my truck headed down the highway, going somewhere, to do something. I was starting to get cabin fever. This was only the third time I've even been on a mountain bike, much less competing in an event. I had insomnia the night before (too much drinking, again) so I wasn't really expecting too much. I was just going for the workout, and for the experience, and to just plain have fun.





It was held at River Front Park. They limited the field to 150, but, they had a few more than that. It was a mass start with the first leg being a 2-mile run. The first quarter mile was along the levee, which was a good idea, and then it headed onto the trails along the river. Being along a river, it was fairly flat, with several dips and short climbs on a single track trail. To pass, you kind of had to shout "Passing on the left!" and hope that the guy moved over a little bit to let you by. The trail was soft, almost sandy, a nice change from you typical asphalt and concrete road race.


When setting up in the transition area, there weren't any bikes on rack #13, so I put my bike there. I like to buck fate. I'll rethink that philosophy next time. I figured I would be in the top 10 on the running leg, but, was probably closer to 20th. I didn't shoot for a lightening fast transition time, took my time, took some swigs of gaterade, put on my helmet, gloves, and riding shoes, then snatched the bike and ran for the exit. My wheel caught the wheel of a guy in front of me and sent me tumbling, bike on top of me. I hadn't even made it out of the transition area and I was already on my ass, and I wasn't even riding.



As far as mountain bike trails go, this one was fairly tame. You pretty much put it in a high gear and let it rip. There were still plenty of twists and turns, dips and jumps, hops over logs, etc. If there was a slower guy, traffic would get a little backed up, especially on sections with a lot of switchbacks where there's be a lot of breaking. I was going a long pretty good. I was just doing the short course so I was only going to do 1, 9-mile loop. I was passing a lot more bike than were passing me. However, trail-riding is a different kind of workout, and works the body in different way, different even than road biking.

You do a lot of breaking, either for a sharp turn or rocky/rooty section, which is followed by a quick acceleration. It's not the steady pace and cadence of a road race. Just a few miles into the ride, I started to get cramps in my right calf (followed later by the left). I think I have to reposition my cleat, I was probably peddling to far out on my toes. That's just one of the little subtleties you have to learn in trail riding.


Half way through the ride, I felt I was starting to bog down. The cramps didn't help matters. Now, I was starting to get passed, more than I was passing. I just have to do more trail riding. At one point, I had about 5-riders right behind me. I turned a corner and there was a big, muddy puddle. I kind of freaked out and put on my breaks. I swerved over and side-swiped a cotton wood tree, hard with my thigh. I almost caused a pile up with the riders right behind me. One of them yelled "Let us pass!", so I pulled over and let them go by. My thigh was starting to throb. I don't know which was hurt worse, my thigh, or my ego. Lesson #3, when confronted by a muddy puddle, just plow straight through it.

The last couple of miles I felt I was riding through quicksand, still cramping in both calves. I heard someone crash and burn behind me and someone ask "Are you Okay?" "Better him than me", I thought. Finally, back to the transition area.

After the race, I noticed that my back tire was almost completely flat. I thought I felt and heard something a little strange. That explains the slow down, and lack of control. It wasn't just fatigue, it was mechanical. Most trail riders carry a small CO2 pump with them. I have tubeless tires, but they are prone to losing air. With the CO2 pump, I could have had it back to pressure in 30-seconds. Just another subtlety to learned.







I parked the bike and headed out for the final run leg of, what I thought was giong to be 2-miles. My legs felt as if they were embedded in concrete, the cramps had spread from calves, to all the way up my thighs. There was a guy just ahead of me who looked to be in my age group. I thought I might be able to take him with 2-miles. I knew the cramps would work themselves out. I even stopped once to retie my shoes. Then, before you knew it, we were back at the finish line. It turns out the last run leg was just 1,000 meters for the short course, not the 2-miles listed on their flyer. Lesson #5, know thy course.

I don't know how I placed. I imagine I won something, but, they had trouble with some of the timing so they didn't have the results very soon. I guess I'll find out when they post then to the web. Regardless, I had an excellent time! If you've never done any trail riding, and I mean, on real trails, give it a try. And the races are intence, and fun as hell.



Here is a picture of me, sporting my nasty strawberry on my thigh, the red badge of curage. My bike is Blue_Baby_2 (BlueBaby is my road bike). After the race I headed to the Free State Brewery for a hamburder and beers. I shared my expoits of the day with some old ladies at the bar. It was a lot of fun.