Squirt. . . . ."The long lasting dry lube"

'Nuff said.

Can you identify this Ninja?

Wolf River Rendezvous

What a fun race!  We arrived Friday night a bit later than we had hoped for. . . .got held up in Oshkosh by a 3 car pile up, so that put us about 40 minutes behind schedule.  As we pulled in Bear Paw Friday night, finding our camp site was tough.  We scoped it out, realized with the way the current campers were arranged, there was no way we were backing into our spot. . . . .we dumped the "hotel on wheels" right in the turn around and set up shop.  Perfect.

Saturday's preride was challenging.  One lap took me about 36 minutes and I was hoofin' it pretty good.  I figured I'd be looking at a bit longer of a race come Sunday, but that's ok.  My lungs felt like they were on fire after the preride, my legs were tired and my body wondered how in the HELL I was going to get 3 good laps Sunday.  But my mind wanted to go do another lap and focus on all that technical riding.

I wasn't sure how I felt Sunday, other than tired, but I knew it was a fun course so my plan was to just go ride.  I lined up on the start line with a mere 8 other Brave sport women.  We all had a little chuckle together, realizing we were all guaranteed a "Top 10" if we finished.  What a great attitude these women have!  :-)

Don said "GOOOOOOOOOOO" and I knew I should get up front.  Climbing is my "thing" and I needed to be up front on that start hill.  I also knew this course was built for me. . . .lots of slippery rocks and roots, lots of climbing. . . all my strong points.  If I could keep myself up front and working HARD, I knew I would do pretty good.

We started catching the Sport boys before we even hit the first section of single track.  They are always so nice to us. . . . .cheering us on, moving over, telling us what position we are in, making room for us when they know we can make a climb they can't.  This is one of the reasons I LOVE Sport.  And this race wasn't any different.  We hit the first steep little climb in the single track and 3 Sport boys and one Sport girl got off their bikes, not being able to make the climb.  Seeing me coming, they all parted the way for me to poke right up the hill past them. . . .I LOVE those technical climbs.  That put me in second place.  I hoped I could hold it.  I knew the chances of me catching 1st were slim, but I was certainly going to give it my all.

Lap 2 felt good.  It was tiring. . . .my legs were starting to feel all the climbing.  A couple Sport boys went down on roots in front of me, I managed to avoid them.  One by one I passed them and worked my way up.  For the first time in a long time, I got to ride WITH some of the Sport boys.  We seem to be opposites in our strengths. . . . .I'd gain time on them in the technical, climbing sections, they'd gain time on me in the open double track stretches.  Back and forth I went with a few of them.

Lap 3 I was wondering how in the WORLD I was going to finish.  My legs were SOOO fatigued.  My breathing was extremely labored, all that climbing was really wearing on me.  Each single track climb I would have to push a little harder to get myself through it.  I kept telling myself "this is the last time through here".  I knew I could ride every single section on that trail, so making a deal with myself to "walk if needed" was NOT an option.  "Stay on the bike" my mind kept telling me.  "You WILL finish".  And I did.

Since there were only 9 of us, we were pretty spread out.  The gal I usually battle with (Kate) had raced Saturday, so she was a little "compromised" on this course.  I managed to finish in 2nd with a good gap on the 3rd place gal.  My legs hurt so bad when I crossed the finish line I wasn't sure I'd get back to my camper.  It was a wonderful feeling.  Knowing I had once again pushed myself THAT hard and had THAT much fun doing it.  Kind of sick really.  :-)

I'll be signing up for that race again, that's for sure.  And I'll hope for slick conditions next year.  That's the perfect make up for me.  Awesome.