Ft. Custer Stampede

I’m not as eloquent with words but thought I’d give it a try posting the race recap/results from Ft. Custer.

I had a great time for my first (or second) “official” mountain bike race.

We had a beautiful day for racing. By the time the sport and beginners divisions started it was actually sunny and hot. But I’m not complaining!

Anyways - the race. Tammy and Heather, both looking unbelievably relaxed, started the Sport class and then it was time for me to prepare for the Beginners class which started an hour later. I would be starting with Ellie and Kiersen Korienek on my tail. I lined up at the start line with 10 additional beginners, aged 19 plus. As the gun went off my goal was to be near the front as we entered the trail, since I have no idea how to pass. I entered the trail in second place, right on the wheel of first place. Very quickly we came into traffic and she was able to get by the rider and I waited until I felt comfortable to get around. By that time, she was still in my sight but had quite a lead. I tried to make up the distance but it just wasn’t happening. On a short descent I took a wrong line and went off the trail, into some sand (sand or tree, I chose the sand) and the 3^rd place person passed me so now I was riding 3^rd. Not to long after that there was a large, deep water section. Glad I didn’t know how deep or else I would have freaked! But once in it, you had to ride through. It was at the bottom of a very large hill called Cardiac Climb, quite appropriately named. As I approached the hill I saw that everyone was walking up the hill. Now this kills me – I’d much rather bike up the hill but coming up on those walking makes it a challenge. So I jumped off my bike and started walking. This is when the 4^th place person passed me so now I was 4^th. I stayed with her for quite a while until I had a mishap with the pricker bush. Well, maybe not bush, it was pricker ground covering – it was everywhere! I have no idea what, if anything, I hit. All I know is that I was off the trail, in the prickers and I thought the whole field passed me as I laid there. (PS Coach Korienek did advise me after the race that this was not a good racing strategy! :-)) I got back on my bike knowing that I had to finish but riding very skiddish. Near the end of the race I felt some confidence return and I knew I had to get around the girl in front of me. I also thought we were coming to the finish so I started to sprint (plus this is my favorite part of the race). I passed probably 12-18 people in the last ½ mile of the course. Where I first thought the finish was wasn’t but I was able to maintain my speed and finished strong. As I finished I gave Heather and Tammy a few words (I’d been working on them throughout the course). What were they trying to do, kill me? Heather pulled up the results and to my surprise, I’d finished in 4^th place! And then I heard the additional results for the day. Tammy had finished 2^nd and Heather had finished 4^th in the Sport Division! I was so excited! Podium finishes for all 3 of us!!!

I was able to pull myself together (still working on getting prickers and blood off my legs and arms) and got to see both Ellie and Kiersen finish. Ellie finished 3^rd (another podium finish for RWT) and Kiersen finished 6^th. Kiersen was the only girl racing in her division. I definitely think there should be a award for that!

What a great day for Real Women Tri!!!

Willow TT & Cone Azalia RR

Willow Time Trial - Saturday, April 30, 2011 - New Boston, MI
So the Willow Time Trial on Saturday went pretty well. The conditions were chilly, a bit windy (especially on the back side of the course), and overcast. RWT was represented by 5 key players: Heather Kubiak, Griff Griffin, Ellie Burke, Ellie Korienek, and Lori Huffman... with Kathy Everts & Laura Korienek supporting us on as the best cheer squad out there. (Next time I want to see a group pyramid though ladies...)  ;)

I (Lori) was pretty happy with my time, and I finished 14th out of 22. So near middle of the pack, as always. I didn't figure out until afterwards that I managed to average 20.75 mph, which I think beats my best time from the Ada TT's last year, so I'm pretty thrilled with that. Heather finished in 5th place with an awe-inspiring time. Griff finished in 15th. Ellie B. finished with 17th. And little Miss Ellie Korienek finished on the podium with 3rd!! Great job ladies!!

Cone Azalia - Sunday, May 1, 2011 - Milan, MI
Oh Cone Azalia... Why do you hate us so? Today's conditions sucked, to put it frankly. It rained all night and all morning, but stopped a little before we started racing, so that all the roads were a muddy mess. If you're not familiar with Cone, it's a road race done on a road bike that goes over at least 4 miles of really, rough gravel, interspersed in 2 different places along the course. This year's race featured 2 of our riders, Lori Huffman & Kathy Everts, both racing it for the first time. The course is known to be covered in potholes, even on the paved sections, and this year's race had the added bonus of having all those potholes filled with murky, wet mud, and slick dirt all around it. Terrific! :D

So Kathy's category (the Cat 3's) ended up having 5 or 6 riders in it, and they left about 2 minutes before the 4's. The Cat 4's had 10 riders to my count. We took off FAST! I was barely hanging on from the beginning. We got to the first gravel section (which was the worst of the two), passed by Kathy right away, who was happily cheering us on the sidelines with a flat already on the first lap  :(.  Along with trying to avoid the potholes, there were probably hundreds of water bottles dispersed along the course that had been rustled out of their cages due to the heavy gyrations of the bikes on the road.

I barely managed to hang on to the group until we got to the paved section. I was hoping for a slight rest, having just hammered it through the potholes... but they gunned it on the pavement and I got dropped halfway through the first lap. I was going 20-23 mph trying to catch up, but I couldn't catch them, and I couldn't hold that speed, so I never joined them again. The second gravel section was shorter and smoother than the first. And there I got some added encouragement from my fiancé, Mark, who had flatted and was waiting to cheer me on before wimpering back to the car.  ;) Then I reached a paved section that looked like land mines had gone off all over it. And then the final, smooth home stretch past the finish line.

But oh... our race was 3 laps long, so I could do that all over again 2 more times!!  ;)  I contemplated quitting many times... but really, I felt like unless I flatted, I had no excuse to quit, so I kept going (perhaps secretly hoping to flat). On the 2nd lap, I had hopes that maybe the girls would slow down a bit, that maybe there'd be some stragglers that I'd catch up to, or that maybe people would drop out or flat and I wouldn't get dead last. At one point I could actually see a few of the girls ahead of me, so I thought maybe I'd be able to catch them... but couldn't.

Finishing up the 2nd lap was a bit brutal and I had fight the desire to quit even more, but at that point I just thought, "Well so what if all the girls beat me? At this point, I can at least beat the course. If I make it through Cone Azalia without flatting, I'll call that a victory." (Oh, and also I figured I should at least get the miles in to try and burn off all the crap I'd eaten recently.)  ;)  So I managed to finish all 30ish miles of Cone!!

When I finished I found out that Kathy was able to bum a tube off of somebody and she got back in it and finished too!! So we both got last in our categories, but we managed to fight off our desire to quit, and that in itself can be quite the victory I think! So podiums for us!!!  ;)

Lori