Norba #3 Fontucky

I suppose that I should also write about the third norba, in Fontana, CA. This race was the next weekend after Santa Barbara, and I was not looking forward to it, since i had such a bad race there last year. All i remember is hot, super sandy and crashing. So the day we drove down, it was actually cloudy and about 65 degrees. nice.

I prerode with a few teammates, and it turned out that the course was actually sort of fun- i don't know what was wrong with me last year. anyway, i felt really good, so i was pretty excited to race again. we stayed with the host family in Redlands who we stayed with last year, and they are super nice and the house is awesome with plenty of room. definitely more relaxing than being stuffed into a hotel room.

anyway back to the race. so on saturday, the day of the cross country, i was warming up, doing some sprints, and my chain skipped and i almost went flying over the handlebars at 30mph. pretty scary, but my strong arms held me back (haha). i didn't think too much of it, or to tell our mechanic Tim about it. i felt really good, and definitely ready to race. my start was ok. i was able to get into a rhythm early on so not much pain- besides the part where i endoed over since i forgot to unlock my fork- i had sprinted up the pavement climb to get ahead of a bunch of girls, and maybe was 20th or so, and jumped onto the single track. i was totally gassed but i didn't care. i was completely into the course that i forgot to unlock the fork, and as i came up over a small berm and down the other side, instead of compressing, my fork pushed against me and i crashed pretty hard. i was ok, but the long line of girls that i had just worked so hard to pass were all passing me. suck. all i could do was get back on and hopefully catch them. as the race went on, i felt better and better. i started my second lap and i was actually enjoying it. weird. maybe i should have been going harder..

so before the last uphill (not sure if you could call it a climb) i stood up to get up a steep part, and it felt like my chain dropped, so i started pedaling to get it back on. not so much. it broke. double suck. and i was as far out on the course as you can be. figured. so i decided to ride the downhills, and run uphill. needless to say, i got pretty tired doing that. so, i cut the course and went back and dnf'd. i should have told Tim about the chain thing during warmup- that was a pretty big indicator that something was wrong. oh well, the race was good up until then.

sunday was the short track, and it was a beautiful day- i was happy to have another chance to race. i prerode the course, and tried to make it fun- but i knew it was gonna hurt- riding up the dual slalom course, you need quite a bit of upper body strength to make things easier. im trying to pump up at the gym, but im not quite there yet. so, it was a struggle in every way. i actually placed higher than i ever have- 27th, so thats something. i am slowly making my way to the front girls.. well, not quite.

Before the start of the short track- it was super HOT!!! Barb, Kristin, and me.

Santa Barbara Norba

I know its been a little while since i raced this one, but i figured i would at least get something down about it. Actually, it turned out to be a super fun race (the cross country anyway) and one of my better finishes, so thats good. So i flew into Ventura a few days before, and drove down with ryan on Friday. i have never done the race, so i hadn't ridden the course. I decided to just preride after the short track the next day (saturday). Saturday was one of the hottest days i have ridden this year. so needless to say, i melted on the short track race- i didn't have a bottle with me while racing, and that was a big mistake. i would have drank anything- even a sip from a bottle on the ground, or drool from the girl in front of me. ok, maybe not. thats kinda gross. so i stayed in longer than expected too, almost made it to the end- i didn't get to do the last 2 laps. so close...
sunday morning was beautiful- sunny skies, a cool breeze. things couldn't have been better. i decided not to preride after the short track since it was soooo hot and i figured it would do more harm than good. i am glad i didn't since the course was pretty straight forward. during my warmup for XC, i rode the first 15 minutes of the course including the first climb. i was really relaxed, and had a pretty good start. the first 30 minutes were pretty painful, but once i got things going i felt really good. i had the chance to catch up to a teammate, Barb, and we worked together for the second half of the race. i lost her on a steep climb, which is not my strong point, but i finished well, and was actually smiling as i crossed the finish line. i was happy with my finish, and looking forward to spending the next week hanging out in Ventura , doing some good riding in the sun.