Annadel, oh Annadel…a place full of magically delicious
rocks galore, fun swoopedie single-track, climbing, and descending alike…a
little bit of mountain bike heaven squished into a corner of Santa Rosa, CA.
Many years ago, before life took me to other places far from the Bay Area,
Annadel was the favored trails among many in the area. It was always a treat
when I could make the hour or so trek north to sample their sweet delights. So
when I moved back to the area about a year ago and heard there is a mountain
bike race at Annadel I was so excited.
I had a whole year to look forward to this race. Seemed like
forever! But then before I knew it,
September approached and the race drew nigh. I noticed I was becoming extremely
antsy and nervous the days preceding the race. Not sure what got into me, I
guess I wanted to do really well and was realized I was putting a lot of
pressure on myself. The day before the race I knew I had to real in the nervous
energy or else I was going to get owned. Once I got my head straight I was able
to relax and focus at the task at hand. The race, yay!
This year the
Annadel XC race started in a parking lot at Spring Lake Park where each category of
riders was able to have their own start (unlike previous year’s when it was a
mass start). I was very happy that
Bike Monkey decided to make this change
(thanks Bike Monkey!). Soon it was time for the Expert Open Women to line up
(that’s me!) and the Pro Women. Unfortunately, only one Pro Woman lined up, but
I was pretty stoked that it was
Larissa Connors! It was pretty awesome to be on the front line with her. Needless to say that I only saw her for a
couple of minutes of the whole race, she was GONZO!
The whistle blew and we were off! The course starts with a
rocky uphill fire road climb before dropping into a technical singletrack
downhill. I knew I wanted to be as much in front as I could before the
singletrack so I wouldn’t get slowed down there. This was a tall order for me
since I have a hard time functioning at the beginning of a race. I was doing
pretty well up the climb sitting either 2nd or 3rd out of
the 16 starters. Just before entering the downhill singletrack I let myself get
passed
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| Hunting for a spot to pass on the first rocky decent |
(mistake numeral uno), subsequently I was slowed down on the decent as
predicted with nowhere to pass. Luckily, this portion of trail wasn’t super
long but I definitely lost some time. As soon as the trail dropped us onto the
road for a brief spell I seized the opportunity to get past my competition.
Unfortunately, someone else passed me as well before the next section of
singletrack. At this point I knew there was still a lot of trail ahead of me
and while I needed to push, I also needed to pace myself appropriately. I felt
like I was moving pretty well through this fun section of trail with its little
rocky ups and downs before it finally dumps into the Warren Richardson fire
road climb. I was a little worried about this section since I know powering up
long non-technical climbs is not my strong suit. I pushed as much as I felt
comfortable going up the climb (perhaps the word comfortable is my problem) and
sure enough I was passed by 2 ladies in my race shortly before the top. Now I
should’ve learned about this from “mistake numero uno” but instead of fighting
back I made this “mistake numero dos”. Sure enough, as soon as the climb was
over, it was time for some swoopedie fast fun down North Burma Trail. Except
one problem, there was no going fast and nowhere to pass in this section,
blocked again, doh! I had to wait to the end of North Burma where I bullied my
way past on the inside while turning onto Live Oak. Yes, I felt like a jerk,
but its racing, right!? :S Anyway, up
and down we went through the rocks of Live Oak and another fast little section
before arriving at the lake. I was
feeling good and holding my own at this point, but once we got to the lake I
knew there was another extended climb up the South Burma trail. Usually, I can
motor up this pretty well but today I just didn’t have the legs. Subsequently,
I was repassed by the lady I cut off and by another woman. Sigh. I was doing
the math in my head, realizing that at this point there were 5 or 6 ladies
ahead of me. At this point a real mental battle ensued, all the ugly voices
started rearing their head, and it took a lot of positive self-talk to get
myself to the other side of that climb. I felt a lot better once I made it to
the top without getting passed anymore and I knew much of the next 5 miles or
so would play in my favor. I love the rocks, roots, and turns on Marsh and
Lawndale trails and I was flying. Before I knew it I caught one of the ladies
that passed me on the climb. After passing I kept the hammer down for the rest
of the downhill. At the bottom Lawndale trail is Lawndale road. An aid station
was set up here with water, beer, and dare I say, dollars sticking out of beer
cans. Nice! At this point I could have kicked back for a bit of recovery time on
the road before heading into the next rocky climb, but I was afraid I would get
passed again if I backed off. So I pushed myself up the paved hill and once
back on the dirt I went for a little discomfort on the final climb knowing that
it could pay dividends. I somehow made it up Schultz and over to Ridge without
getting passed. With a sigh of relief I gave one last push as I cranked through
Ridge Trail…and then it was time to descend for approximately 3 miles. Woohoo!
Holy rock blast! Did I say yet how much I love my little bike?! She’s a good
girl! She ate up those rocks, spit them out, and left me hankering for more! And
then there was the finish line! Survey says, I managed to finish 5th out of 16. I'll take it!
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| Super-stoked coming across the finish line |
Lessons learned, sometime I should probably push a little
harder when I don’t want to. However, in this case, I might have only gained one
place higher on the podium if I did. The top ladies where smoking fast! All in
all, I’ll pat myself on the back for a great effort and good starting place for
improvement. On another note, my little
old
Ellsworth is still the bomb digity, love her…and my husband is the bestest
mechanic evah!
Also, want to give
Bike Monkey a shout out for putting on a
great event. The food and prizes were awesome. Super stoked to have received one
of the coveted prints.
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| All in a good day's work |
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