Melinda posted on May 23, 2011 14:10
With the good always comes the bad, right?...there's always two sides, half full, half empty, right?. I guess I was looking for an event to do...and because the main event, BC Bike Race was only 6 weeks away and I am training in earnest, I was looking for an opportunity to race something challenging in the middle of some long rides. Our coach, Steve Neal, suggested I try the Canada Cup course at Mt Tremblant. Erica was going to race it so I thought; "Ya, I'll jump in my car and go to Tremblant." I had an awesome drive there and arrived just as preriding was open Friday afternoon. I did a lap of the course and confess I was a little freaked by some of the descent but had a plan about where to get off/run/on and I was psyched!!!
On Saturday, I didn't count on 10 minutes into the race, doing a drop off to avoid a fallen rider on the course and endo-ing into the biggest, deepest, squishiest , grossest mud pie I have ever had the pleasure of sitting in!! Oh My!!!, I landed on my left shoulder/upper back, and left elbow....judging by the shock I was feeling and the reaction of the other riders passing me it was quite the flying endo...but no worries the Superfly 100 survived unscathed. I was covered in mud head to toe and bleeding from my elbow. Being only a few minutes into the race I was super disappointed to go all that way and quit. It flashed through my mind; "What if I can't ride?". I thought, after about 5 minutes sitting in the mud, and clearly no longer in a 'race'; "What if this were BCBR and I'm miles from anybody to help?....I'd better get up, get out of the the disgusting mud and complete the lap easy...walk/ride as best I can but carry on in the direction of the big red Canada Cup arrows" .
I did a whole lot of walking in the mud on that lap...I ran into a rider who had had two flats and was heading back towards the aid station I had just passed and listened to his woes, all the while I was slowly regrouping myself and really getting up the courage to ride some more, cuz after all my bike was Okay. I got to the steep descent that had kept me awake the night before with worry and attempted to walk down the ramp. I had tried the walk-around option on the preride and that had just been scary. The course marshalls were watching closely as I walked down the shingle clad ramp slipping and squealing as I discovered that too was clearly an unsafe option. Once I had passed that ramp though the rest of the descent was flowy and super-fun so I got to the lap/finish line on the move and feeling fine.
So...I decided that I could just ride around up to the start since the bit of the course through the village had not been in the first lap...just so I could tell myself I'd ridden it all...and then when I got to the start, I thought, "Well, I'll just head up to the feed zone since Kim and Marc were up there with my bottles as they had so kindly offered to feed me"....and then in the feed zone, with a fresh bottle, I thought; "I'm so close to where I bailed I'd better just go conquer that drop" (which I did) and then, "Well, I should go round again and get the ramp descent". Small goals, easier to achieve and check off the to-do list, you know.
Truthfully, I was in a great deal of pain and when I had attempted to run and carry my bike I just couldn't lift it with the injury, riding was a much better option. I came across Linda with a flat on my second lap and stopped to assist, after all neither of us were racing anymore. It's so much nicer to help somebody if you can, I often pass people and ask if they are ok, but then continue to wonder about them after I leave them.
I rode all of that second lap, including the big-ass ramp...when I got there the course marshalls were surprised to see me back again and said that it had been pretty funny watching me slip and slide down and that this time I had better ride it as that was truly the safest option....the rocky-rooty-drop-in approach to the ramp I will have to save for another year but there is a way to line up to get onto the ramp...and then, oh my gosh!!! it was so exhiliarting to ride that ramp, I whoop whooped all the way to the bottom of the descent and out into the village....it was amazing!
Of course a few days later I am very sore, melancholy, medicated, and taped, but the little successes of the day really added up to a feeling of great accomplishment after a weekend of firsts...first time riding the Tremblant course, (It's NOT like Ontario), first time going to an away race with no support, (thanks to Kim and Marc for offering to feed me), first time to really crash in a race, first time to ride injured, first time to DNF in a race, first time to really test those new white socks and shorts in the mud (Oxyclean and Shout just plain rock! they should be our sponsors cause I can truly tell you you'd never know they were completely brown three days ago), first time riding in Ottawa, (did that the next day on an endurance road ride when I was still deluded that I wasn't injured), and the first time to really appreciate just how addicted I am to mountain bike racing.
It really is a great individual sport with endless opportunities and challenges. Next challenge for me is to heal up to ride the BCBR. What's yours?
Ride On!
Melinda.
Melinda.