As it turns out, Darryl is awesome and has beat me at every mountain bike so far this year except one (which she popped a tire and messed up her chain). In my defence, I only switched to clips half way through this year and she has been ripping it up with them for a while now.
Cumberland XC
The first bike race we did this year was the Cumberland XC race on April 6th. It was hosted by the UROC, who I have found always do a great job. Also, the trail network is unbeatable in Cumberland! The work that is put into those trails blows my mind. The trails included in this race were: Sykes Bridge, down Teapot to Railroad, the Crafty’s, Black Hole, and Space Nugget. Sort of a smaller loop that didn't require riding to the very top of the mountain. The conditions were not bad, I recall it being a bit chilly, but mainly dry.
We registered in the intermediate division, which required us to do 2 laps of the course. Experts did 3 and beginners did 1. It was a great success! Darryl came in 8th at 1:44:58, and I came in 9th at 1:48:02 for our division out of 11 girls. Not too shabby for our first time. Hey, we didn't come in dead last!
Cumberland Coal Town Classic Light: Who wouldn't want to bike 30kms all throughout Cumberland's rad trail systems? I was stoked! Little did I know that this would be my last ride without clips. I was sick and tired of being schooled by Darryl! The morning of that race started off pretty dry. We headed up via logging roads (Davies Lake Main) along Davies Lake and then around Hamilton Lake. We wound up on a trail called "further burger," which I had never ridden before, and eventually joined back up with the Trent River Main. Finally! We joined up with some familiar territory and rode "bear buns," "tea pot," and "that dam trail," which are some good speedy downhill trails. To finish it off we rode "short and curly," "swampmonster," "crafty butcher," "black hole," and "space nugget" for a classic, more cross-country feel. | Port Alberni XC Well since we were now hooked on bike racing, we signed up for the Port Alberni XC on May 4th. We had never ridden in Port Alberni before and so we were excited to try somewhere new. This time we registered in the ladies beginner division since the intermediate required us to do 4 laps. Ain't nobody got time for that! In the end, it was a good call to do 2 laps just like the Cumberland race. The ladies that were in the intermediate division killed it. The beginning of the race started out pretty lame. It was on wide walking paths that were not very technical. Eventually after climbing for a bit we ended up on a sweet cross country-type single track called "fir baby" that took us back to the start again. By the time we hit our second lap it was an all out downpour. We got muddy... but boy was it fun! Darryl finished in 1st with a time of 1:00:24 and I came in 2nd at 1:06:11. There was only one other beginner lady and she came in a couple minutes after me. |
We sure picked a great race to end the mountain bike racing season in Cumberland. The Enduro was fantastic! This was our first enduro race. For those that don't know what an "enduro" race entails, it is a race that has some un-timed and timed sections. The un-timed sections are generally trails or roads that you have to ride to get to a timed section. You can go as slow or as fast as you want, but there is a cutoff for when you must make it to the next timed section. The timed sections in this race were mainly downhill with minimal cross-country, but in other enduro races, they can be whatever the race organizers choose.
Stage two required us to head up the mountain on logging roads to the top of "buckets of blood" passing "bear buns" to the Trent River Main. I was very excited for this stage because it was a few of my favourite trails and we only had to wait about 5mins before we could start the timed section. The trails included were "thirsty beaver" and "blue collar." I was very impressed with "blue collar," which I had not ridden in a few years and has had a serious overhaul! It is fast and flowy with some great little launches. This stage took me just over 12mins.
When I popped out at the bottom of this stage I waited for a few riders to come down, Darryl wasn't following. I was then informed by a fellow racer that she was having some bike difficulties... Oh no... I waited for a good 10 or so riders before Darryl finally emerged... She looked very disappointed, but what can you do? She got a flat tire and messed up her chain pretty good. After quickly catching up we rode on to the next stage.
The final stage required us to ride on a few cross country trails, "swampmonster", "rug burn," and some logging roads back up the mountain. We then rode up the first bit of "truffle shuffle" and waited to start the timed section. Again, the wait wasn't long, only a few minutes, and we were back at it, flying down the mountain. I let Darryl lead this time. The trails down included: the remainder of "truffle shuffle," some of "tea pot," "that dam trail," and "bronco's perseverance." It was speedy! I think I was flying faster then I ever had before. It took about 16mins to get to the bottom.
In the end I finished in a time of 33:00 and in 4th place for our division and Darryl finished in 47:02 and 7th in our division. Not even last place! She would have beat me too if not for the biking malfunction!