Lemurian MTB
http://www.teambigfoot.net/Shasta Lemurian
I arrived at Whiskeytown Friday night to warm weather as the sun was going down, it is much hillier than I remember... I had attended Lamurian as a spectator in maybe 90-91?? At that time, it was obvious to me it was a hard-core race "blood-n-mud".So why on earth am I up here today? Well, I made a decision a few weeks ago to start mountain bike racing, after Penny hauled my inert body off the couch to do Boggs. Next on the calendar Napa Valley Dirt and Lemurian and so forth. I know enough about myself to avoid big ones like Sea Otter.
Anyway, back to the story. I was FREAKING OUT basically. Not able to eat or sleep. My dinner consisted of Red Bull and Subway. My tent was full of G-nats. I was restless.
The morning arrived way too soon, I figured if I just stayed in the bag long enough, I could just jump up, do the deed and return to my prone position that I love so much.
Unable to eat, I walk in circles drinking coffee and really doing nothing to prepare. Finally, I load up and head down to the start/finish and register, miss the race meeting and still can't eat. This is not normal for me.
It was a mass start at 9:00 and true to form, I'm out in the parking lot pretending to check out my fork or something. I am surrounded by a pack of unicycles as we roll out and it takes some time to break free. Not long after the start, the short course folks peel off and things thin out. The first climb goes up this dirt road where I got lost the night before, so I know what to expect. For me, I was climbing pretty well, staying on when most of my enduro-bike companions were feeling the burn. And you know what? I am suddenly so hungry! Real bad timing!
After the long climb, we hit the sweet downhill. I had been seeing this one woman for most of the race and I came upon her on a very steep section walking her bike. It makes me stop too since I can barely clean things like this without a human in my path. She actually prolly saved me from crashing quite a few times during the day since I seemed to miss a bunch of warning XX rated sections.
After the Gascan decent, it's pavement, my familiar surface. And it goes on for a while. This is good, burn up some of those 20 miles! So far, the race has been really non-technical and I think "is this all there is"? Well, things were about to get hecitc.
After the road section, the singletrack was so much fun! It was hard to concentrate because of all the Calochortus flowers! Cat ears in a purple color. I felt like Ferdinand the bull, including the part of not wanting to race.
About the time the graidient heads back up, the pro/experts start showing up from their extra loop. The first ones were NorCal men (probably Roger and Dan) who came by saying "go NCV" sweet. After that, George and Cameron go by, just flying. I always seem to see these guys out there and when they say something nice, it really helps.
So now it begins to get really technical for me and the fast people are coming by at regular intervals. Most of the time, I can stay on and they pass no problem. But when it's sketchy, I have to dismount. The last thing I want is to become a living log.
The climbing is really starting to wear me down and I walk quite a bit of steeep stuff. The decents seem to be ridiculous too. Now I know why everyone has those crazy bikes! I would have to say the last 5 miles was just the longest time in and out of the saddle ever. I even got lost with another group (uphill of course).
I must say, aside from all my crying, I was able to ride things that I would never in a million years try. And that folks is what I get out of mtb. racing.
My time was pretty abmisal, I did not wait around for the results. I'm proud of what I did out there and that's what matters...
The end
And by the way, where the heck were my teammates? Do you all have a problem with great weather and beautiful scenery? What gives?
The lone NorCal
Race Reports
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
| - CCCX @ Fort Ord | 2004-10-03 |
| - Documentum Crit | 2004-09-26 |
| - Giro di San Fransisco | 2004-09-06 |
| - Return of the Jedi | 2004-09-04 |
| - Winters RR | 2004-08-28 |
| - 12 Hours of Humboldt | 2004-08-28 |
| - US Pro Criterium Championships | 2004-08-22 |
| - Corral Hollow RR | 2004-08-21 |
| - TransAlp Challenge | 2004-07-17 - 2004-07-27 |
| - Superweek | 2004-07-09 - 2004-07-25 |
| - Wine Country Criterium | 2004-06-13 |
| - Fremont Criterium | 2004-06-12 |
| - ICCC Dash for Cash | 2004-06-05 |
| - California Outdoor Sports Championships | 2004-05-14 - 2004-05-16 |
| - Sea Otter | 2004-04-14 - 2004-04-17 |
| - Pilarcitos Stage Race | 2004-03-27 - 2004-03-28 |
| - McLane Pacific Foothills Road Race | 2004-03-14 |
| - McLane Pacific Downtown Grand Prix | 2004-03-13 |
| - Land Park Criterium | 2004-03-06 |
| - Apple Pie Criterium | 2004-02-07 |