Race Reports

Hello Blog Fans!

I am here to pay a debt - I owed you a race report from last weekend, so I'll write that one and include at the end the race report from yesterday's Fired Up For a Cure 5k!


Montvale Mayhem - Saturday September 17th

This race marked the finale for the Bedford County Mountainbike Championships and the end of bike racing for me for 2011.  Strangely enough, I'm not even sad about that.  I guess it's been such a struggle for two years to prepare for bike racing with my schedule being so crammed with school work.  I went into this race with the attitude that I would make my two laps and just enjoy the day to ride.  The weather has been a fickle beast as well and last Saturday would be the coolest day we've had in a long time.  I even sported arm warmers and a base layer under my jersey.  I think the air temp played a role in me never feeling like my back and legs were warmed up enough to ride fast.  Not that I could have actually ridden fast anyway.

I started off last in the Sport class and carried that through to the end.  Alas it was a fun course with two COLD crossings of Goose Creek per lap.  The first creek crossing was easily 8 inches deep and soaked you through all layers of clothing as you went through.  By the second cross you had dried just enough to warm up, but whoosh right through again this time only soaking your feet - never to fear though after going around the finish line and the fields, it was back to the deep crossing again.  HA!  The trails in Montvale are fun in that you have to work for the climbs then get to do some zippy downhill.  There are plenty of trail obstacles - logs, roots, rocks etc to keep you on your toes.  I was careful about negotiating would I could.  I still can't ride the stupid bridge, but I at least made it up the huge hill 1.5 times.  I need to work on my skills, but that all comes with time on a bike of which I don't have nearly enough.  Oh well, school will be over soon enough and I can get back to it.  All in all it was a fun day - my new friend Kristen J went with me and raced single speed for her first race in VA.  She did excellent and seemed pleased with the trails and the race experience.  My teammates Ron, Todd and Doug all did very well.  We had a very successful series.  Ron, Todd and I all won our categories for the series and were awarded with race jerseys and a neat trophy - Kenny and Bedford Parks are to be commended for hosting a wonderfully fun series of events.  Thanks!

Fired Up For a Cure 5k - September 24th

Before cycling, I was a runner.  I ran a ton of 5ks and a couple of 8ks.  I've dabbled a bit in trail running this year and have done the Drumstick Dash 5k for a couple of years now.  Fired Up For a Cure was an event that some friends of mine organized with Roanoke City Parks and Rec, Roanoke Fire Department, Roanoke County Fire Department and Komen for a Cure in order to raise money to provide free mammograms in the Roanoke Valley.  I think that is a wonderful cause and combine with fire prevention month made a neat concept.  There was a 5k, 10k and a 5k walk.  The course was a brand new course for Roanoke.  It was flat for the most part and fast.  I nearly PR'd with a 29:32 which placed me 2nd in my age group, 9th overall for women and 38th overall for the race.  I was shocked to do that well honestly, but I did run the entire way other than walking up the MLK bridge as a recovery moment.  Glad I went - it was fun and it reassured me that I can actually enjoy running.  I plan to do the Into the Darkness 4 mile race at Explore Park in October along with the Drumstick Dash in November.  Who knows, I may lose my mind completely and do the Jingle Bell Run in December.  I do running, but it's a matter of deciding between riding and running.  I can't wait to not have school in the way, I may actually excel at something.

=)  Anyway, I know the blog post isn't that exciting, but just wanted to share!  Hope everyone is well.