MSC #1 Rabbit Valley
Rally
Fruita, CO
April 14, 2008
By the Yeti Beti's
It's been a long weekend to ride for about ~2
hours, but hey, that's what we've all signed
up for! We didn't expect it to take 6 hours
to get to Fruita Friday night, but a late winter
storm caused complete havoc in the mountains
closing I70 in both directions. We detoured
through Leadville and Minturn before we could
finally escape winter. Ski traffic at it's best
and we weren't even going skiing!
Saturday was the TT and Sarka and Sonya headed
out to an early, cold start on a technical 5
mile course. Natalie and I opted to save our
legs for the Sunday and just preride the XC.
Sonya and Sarka faired mid pack in what turned
out to be a HUGE combined women's expert field...35
women! Sonya finished 12th overall and Sarka
was a couple places behind. Results should post
soon at racemsc.com.
The XC course was hands down one of the best
that MSC has ever presented. Fast start, beautiful
single track on the Western Rim, followed by
long 4% grades to finish. We all started as
a bunch and within 2 miles, Amy and Sonya were
in the top 6. I got dropped after I dropped
my chain (whoops) and Sonya stayed with the
leaders. Sonya finished 2nd, only a few seconds
behind 1st. It was hard to pass on the tight
single track and she may have lost 1st when
another slower 19-29 woman fell in front of
her causing her crash and lose contact with
1st. But mountain bike racing is a lot of luck
as much as fitness. I surged and made up some
ground on the in the remaining climbs, passing
2 women and finishing 5th. Sarka came in 13th
and Natalie 15th. This was Nat's first real
effort of the season since returning from Australia.
The women's competition here was much stronger
than last weekend in Arizona. It was amazing
to see huge women's fields, especially so early.
There were 22 women in 19-29 and 19 in the 30-39.
The younger women were flying so I'm actually
happy to be older (for once)! I think the consensus
was awesome course and well worth the epic adventure
just getting to Fruita. Now if winter would
just end for real in Colorado.
