velochicken: DCCX

Sunday I raced the second annual DCCX. How could I not? The venue was the Armed Forces Retirement Home, a mere 5 miles from my house. I decided not to worry with a pit bike or extra wheels and rolled out the door with Sonja (on her road bike) in plenty of time to catch the men’s ¾ race. On the way there I must have picked-up some glass in the rear tubie because after a couple of warm-up laps on the course, I realized my tire was almost flat. Thinking it was a slow leak I pumped it up to 60 psi and hoped for the best.

After the master’s elite race, I again rode a few laps on the course, and again realized my rear tire was low, now at about 20 psi. I rushed over to the Fuji van where Sonja and I had stashed our backpacks (thanks again, Tracy) and found Ronnie. I was just going to pump my tire up but Ronnie, being the superhero that he is, actually took the time to remove the valve core, pour some sealant in the tire, and pump it back up. As Ronnie is doing all this, Sonja rushes by and says they are staging the women and can I hold them until she’s ready. You see, Sonja rode some laps of the course with me ON HER ROAD BIKE and had decided to race. She was actually going to race her road bike, but Auer offered his pit bike so she was looking for his shoes.

Being the last 2 riders to the start put us in the back, but I didn’t mind. I’m a notoriously bad starter, and since these MABRA Elite races are more like training races for me in the since that I struggle to not be last, I don’t want to get in anyone’s way at the start. It was cool to see a couple of new faces on the line… Lorena the Stormin’ Mormon decided to try her hand at cross, and Kristina has stepped-up from the B’s to try her hand in the A’s.

As the gun went off I actually surprised myself by finding my pedal immediately and being able to sprint up the pavement climb. It was one of my best starts, even though I was still towards the back I was not on the back (read LAST PLACE). After a few twists and turns, the pack was starting to string out and I was behind the Stormin’ Mormon when Kristina passed me. As we approached the tree barriers, I made my move and passed Lorena, Kristina, and apparently Sonja, but there was a gap in front of me to the next group of riders, which included Harlow, Terri, Libby, Kristine, and maybe one other (can’t really remember).

As I passed the pit I heard the shouts of the C3 crew to catch that group. I normally don’t race that aggressive in these MABRA races, but something about those guys in the pit made me put my head down and give it my all. I eventually caught the tailend of the group, but right at is was about to shatter. Mel went out with a rolled tubie, Harlow went out with a crash, Terri attacked off the front, Libby, being Libby just rode us off her wheel and I found myself with Kristine. She asked if I wanted to work together, and that sounded good to me. We took turns on the front, basically just having a good time until we realized that we were closing in on 7th place. I looked up and saw Terri and commented to Kristine that “7th is right in front of us. Let’s go get her.” At this point, I’m just thrilled that I’m not in last place so I was willing to take some very hard pulls on the flatter roadie type sections to try and launch Kristine up to Terri. And it almost worked, we just ran out of laps, darn it! Honestly, I don’t know where they got the finish times from because all 3 of us had to be within 10 seconds of each other.

I have to say, this is the most fun I’ve ever had in a race. It was awesome working with Kristine and following her lines and speed in the technical sections. I hope she told her friends that were cheering for her that I was not just sitting on her wheel. Every time we came thru this one section they would shout “Don’t just pull her around all day!” I made her promise to tell them I was pulling on the back side of the course.

As for Sonja, I don't remember passing her the first time, but I distinctly remember the second time. Coming up the short little popper of a hill right before the finish I looked ahead only to see Sonja trackstanding at the top. Apparently she was having some issues with Kris' saddle and spent the entire race standing up. Now, I use some narrow saddles on my bikes... so narrow that Sonja has taken to calling me "Snake Hips" but Auer's... I swear they are smaller than mine and she just couldn't take it anymore, especially after a particularly bad misdirected remount. For the record, I think she would have kicked ass on her road bike.

Now that you've made it thru my lonnnnnggg race report, here are some pictures of hot men.