Over The Hump - Weeks 8 & 9

Back to the weekly mountain bike races at Irvine Lake! A year ago I would have told you that I didn't like racing on my mountain bike, but I'm a changed woman. I guess it doesn't hurt that I'm doing well.

We both got to race Week 8 of Over The Hump. There were three new women racing in my category and it turns out that they were all pretty good. This week the course was run backwards again and they added in some single track (ugh!) and a hike-a-bike hill. I kept up with two of the lead women for most of the race, although one woman was out of my sight. One woman was either new at mountain bike racing or just plain mean because she cut me off two times, one of the times resulting in me taking a spill into some prickly bushes. I never caught back up to her (although I definitely wanted to). I pushed hard to the end, but ended up fourth, behind all three of the new women.

The good news is that I got the leader's jersey back!! Although I lost the jersey after missing a race, all of the other top women missed one week too, so the jersey returned to me. I was even mentioned in the weekly newsletter.




Week 9 (last night) was a great night! Skyler was unable to race or attend because he was out of town (NY!) and just returned last night. I was a little nervous (as usual) because I am so close to winning the whole series for my category and each race is important.

Since I regained the leader's jersey last week, I got to sport it tonight. The course was the same as last week except the hike-a-bike part. You could choose to ride that hill or an easier one.

The race started and I tried to get in front, but the course goes into a single track pretty quickly. It's a good way to separate riders if you time it right. The first half of the first loop went well, but I was a little tired. Onto the second half and into the single track. I got stuck behind some slow riders and could see some women gaining a bigger lead. I decided to choose the harder hill because the easier one was backed up. It ended up being the exact same.

Next I came to the "pipe hill," as I call it. It's a super steep hill that comes after a sharp left turn. I've never made it up, although I've tried probably 15 times. Well, tonight was my lucky night and I successfully climbed the entire hill. Because of that, I was able to pass some women since hiking your bike slows you up a lot. There was still one woman in front of me.

Onto the second loop. Nothing exciting happened on the first half. Riding into the second half, the lead woman's bike slides on a turn and she takes a tumble. I was able to catch up with her. So there was a group of about four women booking it down the flat, getting ready to enter the single track. Right at the entrance of the single track I managed to slip in front of a slower male rider, leaving the other women stuck behind him. Yes! I sped through the single track and totally missed the easy hill. I ended up walking my bike up the harder hill (that definitely cost me time), but was still ahead. Kept riding and got to pipe hill again. I climbed up the steepest part and was on track to climb the entire hill again, but a male rider came up from behind me and clipped my front tire, forcing me off my bike. I was so mad because it's really hard to get back on your bike on an uphill! Luckily another guy saw it happen, grabbed my bike, held it steady, and let me hop on. I was able to pedal to the top without letting any women pass me. It was all downhill after that. A first place finish for me! I only wish Skyler could have been there to witness it.

Three more races left in the series and I still have two races left to drop. Anything can happen, but I hope I can continue to race as well as I have so far.