White Park Throwdown

8/10/2013

The White Park Throwdown was the last race of the ABRA MTB series and I was in a good position for the overall win. The course was described as "World cup style" with short, four mile spectator-friendly laps. It was as twisty as a cyclocross course and would've been just as fast, but the mud made everything extremely sketchy. It rained for three days up until the race and the slightest off-camber sections, roots, and log bridges required tons of bike handling skills and focus. The White Park Throwdown was actually a "throwdown" when me and my bike were literally THROWN DOWN IN THE MUD. It was crazy. I lined up at the front; the women and guys were starting together. My goal is always to get a good start and put as many guys between me and my competition as possible. I had a great start, but everyone suddenly stopped at the first turn into the singletrack. It was too congested and all I could do was anxiously wait for everyone to file into the woods. Only a short way into the prologue, there was a big mud bog with some hidden roots that basically yelled, "We are sneaky ninjas that will flip your bike over in the blink of an eye!" I slid out and hit the ground really hard. My adrenaline blocked out most of the pain and I jumped up frantically. I realized my bars were twisted around, so I tried straightening them out. Then I noticed that my brake cable was actually wrapped around the head tube TWICE. How the heck does that happen?! I yanked on the bars with no success and prepared to hike a bike. Then, I gave it one last shot and my bars snapped back into place. I had a mini sense of victory until I jumped back on my bike and realized another problem. My shifters and brakes had turned all the way around the bars! I pulled both sides up to their proper place, not taking any time to level them out. All this probably took five minutes and I was shocked that none of the women had passed me. However, I was really mad that I wasn't able to stay in with the men and see if I could've pulled off a top ten overall. I finished the prologue and reached down for a drink. Are you kidding me? My bottle cage was empty! I realized that I must've lost it when I crashed. My parents didn't think I'd need another bottle just after the prologue so they had no reason to be in the feed zone until after the first lap. I was insanely thirsty and I couldn't focus. After the first lap, I screeched into the feed zone and snatched a bottle from my mom. I actually came to a dead stop just to chug as much water as I could before going out on my second lap. You know I'm thirsty when I stop in the middle of a race! I felt a thousand times better after hydrating and I focused on passing guys ahead of me. It was hard to make up time on such a sketchy course, but I managed to stay steady. My chain kept falling off my big ring and I had to keep shifting down, and then back up. Need-less-to-say, my uneven brakes and malfunctioning bike was not helping at all. I finished my second lap and only had one to go. All I had to do was stay steady and not take any risks that would potentially force me to hike a bike. Luckily, I kept the rubber side down and crossed the line victorious. Although I was disappointed with my performance, I understand that crashing inevitable. It's how you react to it that matters.

I wanted to thank race director, J.R. Petsko, for putting together an awesome series (as always!) None of the MTB races were actually dry and, although it was a little messy for us racers, it was a lot more work for him - so thanks! I'm growing very fond of the West Virginia gang... you guys are great people and a lot of fun : )