With a couple of bathroom stops along the way, we pulled into Ashland about 6pm, just in time to catch registration. Ashland is a happening place. Music, art and good food everywhere with plenty of people walking around to enjoy it.
 |
| Such a fun play structure. Emigrant Lake campground. I worked on my fear of heights! |
We arrived at Emigrant Lake Campground at about 7:00, and immediately fixed dinner. Happy bellies, full of Ravioli with Pesto and Spinach, we sat around camp and enjoyed some good conversation with friends and Team Dirters.
 |
| A nest of Woodpeckers in our campsite kept us entertained as we witnessed chick feedings! |
6am, and after a fabulous nights sleep, we woke up to eat breakfast. I was shocked that the kids stayed asleep until the moment we pulled out of the campground. Thank goodness for this. Well rested kids make for a happy day!
We arrived at the race site at about 7:30, fed the kids and got dressed. Trevor got the bikes ready and I filled bottles and flasks with our fuel for the race. We have this system down and make quite an efficient duo I must say! The babysitter met us at the van at 8, and whisked the kids away for a morning of fun at the Lithia Park playground. We rode up the road to the race site and were able to get a bit of a warm up in before the riders meeting. I was excited to see if Fernanda Mejia, the Mexican woman who sprinted me to the finish last year would be there. Indeed she was, and it was fun to chat with her a bit before the start. This girl knows these trails and is a sick fast descender. It was on the final descent into town last year that she caught me and beat me to the line by a wheel. This year the course would be different though. Instead of 2 smaller laps, it would be one big loop, the original course.
 |
| Taylor Bushnell and Ninkasi Spring Reign. Yum! |
The race began up a semi steep gravel road, and started pretty fast. I tried to pick my way through the pack to get a good place, but quickly fatigued at traversing back and forth over the thick gravel. I decided that rather than wasting my energy this way, I should just stay steady and close to the riders in front of me and hope that as they tired they would fall off. This road felt like it went on forever, but the course map tells me 7-8 miles and 4000ft of climbing. As we made the turn onto the single track climb, I knew that I had to keep the riders in front of me close. My legs were tired today.
The one tip that I got from those that had done this course before was that you want to be with a group heading onto the contour road. As I turned onto the road, I picked up the pace to try and catch the guys ahead of me. A rider that I had tried to stick with on the road climb pulled up along side of me. Surprised to see him there, since I thought he was ahead of me, I quickly encouraged him to work with me to catch that group up ahead.
This guy had great form, and offered me a really good draft. A compliment or two later got this guy really flying, and before I knew it, we caught up to the group of 3, who were quick to hop on a wheel. We all rode in a line for a while until we got organized and put together some resemblance of a peleton. My organization skills worked well here, or one might say manipulation, while I barked orders at the guys to take turns pulling. When it became obvious that I should pull some of the weight, I sprinted ahead to take my pull. We picked up one other rider, and now our group was 6. This was so much fun to be in such a fast moving train passing single riders like they were standing still. I have been that solo person out there, many times before and have wondered what was going on. I think I just figured it out! Drafting is amazing!
A big mistake came next though. As we approached a corner, I saw flagging on the right. Not knowing the course, I mistakenly thought that this was a course marking alerting us of a turn. I slowed into the corner and the entire group whizzed by me. UGH!!! My legs felt good so I tried to pick it up and catch them. They disappeared so fast, it was crazy. Again, the same guy in red, white and yellow comes along side me and I was so happy to see him there. He fell off the back with me and I apologized for my mistake. He was silent, probably irritated with me for my error but responded by riding fast away from me. " Lets go get them" I said, and made sure to stay right on his wheel. I was not going anywhere, and this guy was just going to have to deal with me.
We hammered this double track road. I would love to know how fast we were going because it felt smoking fast.... and so much fun! Unfortunately, we were unable to reconnect with that group, but I think we gave it a pretty good effort.
We arrived at the four corners and I recognized this as the beginning of the descent into town. I say to this guy, " This is where the fun begins, have a great time!" I expect to not see him again until the finish, but was surprised to see him stopped at the aid station half way down the trail. I encouraged him to come along as I continued on. I knew that I was in first place, but I had expected Fernanda to be catching up to me on this descent.
The trail was really dry, and loose with some tight switchbacks. Unable to pre-ride the course ahead of time, I really felt uneasy and insecure. A couple guys came upon me really quickly and without warning tried to pass me. I nearly crashed into a tree, but managed to pull out of it. This rattled me for sure and I told myself to just ride safe and steady. There were a lot of people on the trail right there cheering me on as I felt myself just crawling down. Ashland is a hot spot for downhill biking, so there were lots of jumps and rocks to navigate. I absolutely loved my bike for the climb and the contour road, but now I was dreaming of full suspension. My fanny took some big hits as I rolled down the rock garden, and over the rutted out parts of the trail, however this section was short and before I knew it was upon the finish line. Honestly, I was shocked to be finished so soon and even questioned the marshals if this was truly the finish. It seemed like the trails had just begun and I wanted more! I quickly got over it though, and rode down to the park to relieve the babysitter.
 |
| Corvallis Girls! Vonda Dirkson, Molly McGraw and Lizzy Gruber |
We all headed back up the road to the finish area where they would have the kids race. They changed the venue this year which was kind of a bummer. The kids race was cut short and the awards were on the dusty ground instead of the lush green grass of the amphitheatre. Nothing comes in between the fun of a great group of mountain bikers and an incredible race promoter. We all hung around, chatted in the sun and filled our bellies with food. A highlight of my day happened here when Jonathan Pierce from Team Sappo Hill approached me and asked if I was the one who writes the TriFitFamily blog! Blown away, that someone other than my family and friends are reading my blog, and he says that he really enjoys it! I just checked out his blog and it is pretty darn cool too. Very similar in the sense that our lives are sweetened by the joy of family, friends and BIKES!!! Check out his blog@ www. residualsugar.blogspot.com
The day ended so well. Trevor placed 1st in his Cat 1 45+, and I managed to come in 1st overall woman! Pretty exciting, although there were only 6 Cat 1 women that showed up for this race.
Even more exciting than coming in first was the fact that I was only 8 minutes behind Trevor! He was the first to point this out, and gave me big props. I must be getting faster if I am only 8 minutes behind my stud of a husband!
 |
Really though, I owe this win to that guy in red, white and yellow who allowed me to force myself upon him and not let go. Seriously, thank you.
We went back to Emigrant lake and enjoyed an amazing sunset upon our hilltop campsite. We ate a yummy beef taco dinner, then strolled down to the lake. The boys enjoyed flying their foam model airplanes for what seemed like hours. Other than Lego's, these simple model airplanes have been the best toys for my boys. Hours and hours of entertainment. When mom and dad need a break from kicking the soccer ball, throwing the football or running around playing chase, the airplane steps in and we get to SIT!
Sunday, Trevor met up with some friends to ride the trails near Talent and the boys and I spent the day on the trails watching the downhill race. I cringed as we witnessed riders flinging themselves off of jumps, and into trees. Keller on the other hand, is totally inspired and is now wanting to be a downhill racer. Yikes!
We met Trevor back in town in the afternoon and had lunch by the river in Lithia Park. Homemade Sushi and hummus with fruit, and we were set to make the drive back to the Valley.
We can justify eating out once a week, and usually treat ourselves at the end of our weekend. We stopped in Eugene at our favorite Thai restaurant The Ring of Fire and had an amazing meal. We all had fun sharing stories from our weekend, and talked about the many fun adventures that still await us this summer. My belly was full, and the food tasted amazing, but as I looked around at my dirty sun kissed family, I felt an overwhelming sense of happiness and contentment.
 |
| Better than an after dinner candy was the toothpick! |
 |
| Keller intently listens to the end of The Wizard of Oz |
This weekend we head to Sisters, Oregon for the Sister's Stampede XC.
residual sugar
Great job on the race - I figure you'll be riding with Trevor next year.
ReplyDeleteI'll see you @Sisters (no camping for us this time).
And I recommend checking out Ring of Fire's other restaurant Lucky Noodle - yum!