Northern California Bicycle Racing Community

Oh Hallelujah! Nevada City Dirt Classic Series, Race #3

Saturday morning, early, we piled into Greg's truck and drove up to the mountains for the third race in the Nevada City Dirt Classic Series. This would be race number three for Jim and a chance at a State Championship. Greg and Simon had each raced at least one of the other races in the series. As for me, this was my first time ever competing in this event.

We arrived early to get Simon to the start by 9:00 am. He would race one six-mile lap. Greg, Jim, Mark Gibson and I all had 12:00 pm start times, with Jim heading out first in his pro class, and Greg and Mark next in their respective Cat 1 age groups. My Cat 1 women's 40+ was the last group of the day to start. We all were in this race for four very exhausting six-mile loops.

I was able to sneak in a pre-ride of the loop which saved me from the shock I would've been in on that first single track climb had I not known what was coming. At least I knew what to expect, and standing in line, waiting to start, I just focused on getting to that climb first so I would have the first run up the grinding, sometimes loose, sometimes rooty, but always steep, Hallelujah Trail climb. I know now why it is called the Hallelujah Trail...as you finally reach the top, all you can think to yourself is, "Hallelujah! I made it!".

As I watched each of my teammates start off in their races, I was pretty nervous. I made sure to line up in the front of my group so I could have a chance to position myself first down the fast and flowy beginning section of the course. At the fifteen second mark, I hit start on my garmin and I was ready to go. And...off I shot, determined to be in first place at the first turn. But, no. One other lady had the same idea and beat me to the turn. Dang! I pushed her hard down that first section and thought I would be able to pass her on a fast wide section just before the climb. But as we hit the straight open, she was just as fast, and I couldn't get by her. Turns out that was a blessing in disguise. The woman was an animal on the climbs, and 20 seconds into that climb she disappeared and I never once saw her again. Now it was just a race to stay ahead of the rest of the ladies in my class.

That first lap around the course was a very brutal and painful experience. I really wanted to give up, stop, not finish the race. Hoped my chain would break, my deraileur would derail, my wheel fall off.. I don't know. Anything to stop the pain. But I told myself to just get to the top of Hallelujah, and the rest would be easy. I did make it up the climb the first lap and once on the flumey portion of the course, I was able to recuperate a tiny bit and began to get into a rhythm. Unfortunately, a few of the riders that started ahead of me must've been hurting just as much, as I caught up to them and had to race at a slower pace for sometime until I could pass. My first pass didn't even happen until the gentleman in front of me (who would not, or could not, stop to let me pass) hit a root and went over the bars. We stopped to get his bike out of the trail, and he shakily confirmed that he was ok. That was all I needed. I was off. There was no reason to be slow or timid on any of those sections after the climb, and I didn't want to have one of the strong climbers in my class catch up to me.

I managed to catch one of the 19-39 year old ladies from the class ahead of me. She wasn't going to let me by, and as we headed down the rock garden, I just stayed on her wheel hoping she would scootch over or I could get a pass. But she was still fresh enough, and picked it up for the next two steep little grunts up the rocky section and into the last short, but challenging dirt climb of the lap. We both ended up walking that last little hill, and quickly hopped back on the bikes to finish lap number one.

As we cruised into our second lap, (I say cruise because I could've been hammering that section through the venue, but couldn't get past her), I decided to take her in that turn at the finish line sign. She wasn't expecting it, and I flew by her on the inside and took the front position down the fast and flowy section to start lap number two. I stayed well ahead through all of the fast stuff, and began to think I could handle the climb coming up for round number deuce. Ha! Halfway up the start of Hallelujah for the second time, I realized I better just try to keep my pedals turning. I would never make it this lap and then still two more if I didn't find a nice, slow rhythm. To hell with racing someone not even in my class! Sure enough, the woman began to catch up to me and eventually I just had to give her room to get by. Oh, my sensibilities go to hell when I'm riding down, not exerting, and I all but forgot that I almost quit on the last lap!

So, off she went and on I went, in my own little world of torture. But once again, at the top, I cried "Hallelujah!", and knew I could recover and do some riding. And riding, I did. I caught up to, and passed, a few more men that had started out ahead of our group. And then, there she was again! My non-competition and in the exact same spot I had caught her on the first lap. I think I must've said out loud, "Not again," because she actually just pulled over and let me past. I think she may have exerted a little more on the climbing section than she had wanted in order to pass me. I said thanks and told her to come get me on the climb again. But she never did, and I never even looked back to see if she was close.

Lap number three had me all alone down the beginning fun section. It was great, but I was getting more tired and didn't desire to stand and pedal as much to create some speed and push out of the corners. As I started the climb up for the third time, I decided not to look up and pretend there really wasn't another steep section around the next turn. That didn't really work. I passed a lone racer, walking, me still riding, and tried to be the better rider and stay on my bike. But I had to stop and rest for a tiny second, then push for a tiny second, to catch my breath. Just then, I heard someone coming up behind. "Oh, no! Is someone from my class catching me?" I hopped on my bike and tried to pedal to stay ahead. But as I looked back, I saw it was a man, looking strong, and I knew I was being lapped by the pros. One, two, guys pass me...then about 10 seconds later...here comes Jim. He looked great and I was so impressed how these guys were hammering out this climb on their last lap. And I was so jealous because they were on their last lap! With words of encouragement from Jim ringing in my head, I continued my trek up the hill.

I finished out lap three fairly strong and was encouraged that I felt ok enough to believe I could finish this race. As I swept through the finish area for round four, I saw Jim was there, finished with his race, and giving me a bottle hand up. I declined, but it was great to see him finished and pushing me through for the last lap.

That last time around was hard. Hallelujah broke me, but I eventually made it to the top. As I had passed the only lady giving me a battle, and would never catch the one ahead, I really could only race to stay in front. So I just kept pedaling as hard as I could. I tried to remember to not slack off and pretend as if I had a racer in my rear view mirror. I pushed my legs as much as I could at that point. I was also concerned about being tired and making an error that could cause me to crash, so I went cautiously through the last lap of the rock garden. But once I hit the smooth dirt again to the finish line, I knew I had it. I held onto my second place position and finished the race. Hallelujah!

It ended up being another winning kind of day for team Acme Bikes. Jim was third in this race, which put him as the series winner and State Champ! Greg ended up taking the second place trophy for the whole thing and Mark Gibson got third in his class and won the series in his category!

And Simon, the 8-year old, raced against kids twice as old as him, and landed a fifth for the day. Nice work again guys. So proud of all of you!

Until next time,

Cat