Roland Green (Trek-VW) on his way to winning the Men's Pro XC. Photo by Dr. Tim Simpson.
Race: NORBA NCS Number 3
Date: 6-22-2002
Place: Snowshoe, WV
Time: 58 minutes
Distance: 6.3 miles
Speed: 6.2 mph
The third round of the NORBA NCS Series was held at Snowshoe, WV June 20-23. In stark contrast from 2001, the spring had been unusually dry. The Weather Channel reported that no rain fell in June up until racing began on the 20th. The forecast for the race called for less than a 10% chance of thunderstorms each evening, and it held true. West Virginia saw its wettest spring in nearly a decade in 2001, which made the course nothing but 6 inches of muddy mess. Riders were pleasantly surprised with a course that was fast and in great condition.
The Sport/Expert Course was approximately 6.3 miles. It began by the registration and spectator area with a short climb up a paved walking path before going into a slightly downhill doubletrack section. The starts would be very fast. The course then narrows and dips into the first short singletrack section-a steep downhill covered with babyhead sized rocks and roots. Two lines were the most common-a roll straight down the middle over the rocks and a smoother line to the left that had a tree sticking out into. The left line took out about half of the riders that tried it. The course then veered sharply right and up a gravel covered hill. It dipped back into the typical West Virginia singletrack-tight, twisty, rooty, and rocky. Unlike last year, there was not a layer of several inches of mud covering it, but sections of it were still slick as they always are in this area. Several short, steep downhills were interspersed among the flat singletrack. The first major climb was a hike-a-bike and granny gear grind about 3/4 the way up the ski slope. The course dipped back into a short singletrack section before going down a road and back into the singletrack covered with gravel. The gravel held on tightly to any wheel that tried to ride through it. The course then opened up onto an earthen dam by a lake and then onto a gravel road that began the final 2 mile climb back up the mountain. The first half mile was not hard as it was gradual climbing on the gravel road. The trail then turned up-straight up-for a short hike along a service road before going into an unridable portion of singletrack. Large rocks littered the way and provided places to get bikes and ankles caught. The final mile climbed straight back up the ski slope towards the finish area. Fresh gravel had been laid recently, and it often caused riders to spin out on the final climb.
I lined up with 6 other Senior Sport riders, including the 1st (Erin) and 3rd (Linda) place riders from Wisconsin. I was very surprised that the field was so small after last weekend's large fields. The other women's Sport, Beginner, and Expert divisions were also very small. Once again, we lined up before 8:00 am. I dragged myself out of bed at 6:15 to get in a good warm up and to have an hour and a half to digest breakfast. I felt fair during my warm up; I did a few sprints to open up my legs. I knew the start would be fast. We went off behind the Sport men but in front of the Beginner Men, which was much better than last year when we were behind the Beginner Men and had to pass 3/4 of their field. Much to our surprise, we were to do only one lap of the course. On the starting line, I had a photographer ask me about Team Peggy and whether we were a grassroots or an Elite team. I explained to him that we were both. I wish I could find the photos he took. Back to the race...After a 60 second countdown, we were off! One rider took off the front, and I was right on her wheel with Linda directly behind me. As we were midway through the first doubletrack section, the other rider slowed down, and I passed her easily. We came to the first downhill, I hopped off my bike. When going down it during the pre-ride, I realized that I could run it faster than I could ride it. Linda passed me as she rode it. I hopped back on at the bottom of the hill and was soon on her wheel. At the top, I glanced back and saw the other riders just emerging from the woods; we had about a 20 second lead. Knowing that I beat Linda by about 4 minutes last weekend, I decided to sit on her wheel and save energy. She rode everything in the next portion of the singletrack while I ran two short sections. Back on my bike, I felt my wheels slipping with every change of direction. I had to make corrections every few feet. I was still on Linda's and was not breathing hard. It was difficult to go very fast through the slick roots. We came to the first major climb. I rode as far up as I could before dismounting to walk the extremely steep first section. My first breathing attack of the day occurred. I was hoping this would not happen. I concentrated on slowing my breathing down and trying to get air into my lungs. No matter what, I did not want to stop. I crawled along until the climb became ridable. I tried to get back on, but I could not breathe. Erin came up from nowhere and passed me. I continued to walk for a few more yards. Finally, I was able to remount. I grinded my way up the climb; my legs felt like they were not spinning at all. I tried to concentrate on the guy playing the drums at the top of the climb, even if it was irritating me. I knew that when I passed him, I had a few miles to try to catch the other two women. There was no way I could attack on the hills with the legs that I had. Once at the top, I flew down the gravel road and into the singletrack. I passed several men on one particularly tight spot on the trail, which gave me a little bit of a confidence boost. Once I reached the bottom of the mountain, I entered the singletrack that was covered in gravel. The gravel grabbed hold of my wheels and would not let go. What should have been a big ring section, was barely ridable in the middle ring. My legs had no energy to wade through the deep gravel. I managed to catch Erin, who was having problems riding through the gravel as well. She was dismounting over some easy roots. I decided to sit on her wheel because I knew that she was a much better climber than I was and would take off once we reached the base of the final 2 mile climb. I sucked wheel until the beginning of the earthen dam, when her afterburners went on. She quickly dropped me, and I began to concentrate on the long climb ahead. I was able to push the pace a little bit at the beginning of the climb when the gravel road was not that steep. My legs recovered a little bit from earlier efforts. The first serious challenge on the climb is a short, steep section followed by a brief dip into the woods. I was able to ride up further than in the preride before I had to dismount; I jogged through the woods and got back on. My goal became to stay on my bike as much as possible on this climb. Unfortunately, a breathing attack curtailed that early. Just after I approached the next section of singletrack, my lungs seized up. I could not breathe. My legs felt as though they were being held in place by lead weighs. I was barely moving for the effort I was making. I dismounted and walked through the singletrack section. I recovered enough to get back on and stay on for the rest of the climb. My breathing was still very shallow, even though I was focusing on inhaling deeply. My concentration was not there, not like it had been in Wisconsin. I looked up the hill and saw the feedzone coming up quickly. I popped up into my middle ring and pushed hard through the feedzone. A few cheers from friends helped to energize my dead legs. Less than 100 yards in front of me, I saw Linda. I rode as hard as I could, but I knew that I would not catch her before the finish line. I would finish about 15 seconds behind her.
Overall, I had an average race. My legs did not feel as good as they did in Wisconsin, and my breathing problems flared up on the very steep hills. After Thursday's preride, I knew that my breathing would be a problem. I had several attacks on both of the hills. If the climbs were not as steep, I may have fared a little better. Excuses aside, I finished third, behind the other top 3 ladies at Wisconsin. It will be interesting to see who shows up for Mount Snow, VT in August.
Roland Green (Trek-VW) on his way to winning the Men's Pro XC. Photo by Dr. Tim Simpson.
Tinker Juarez (Volvo-Cannondale) during the Pro Men's XC Race. Photo by Dr. Tim Simpson.
Allison Dunlap during the Pro Women's XC.
Allison Dunlap, 2001 World XC Champion, after the Women's Short Track.
Brandon Eifred of West Chester, NY on his way to a Top 10 finish in Master Expert Men 30-34.
Geoff Kabush doing his best George Hincapie imitation on the starting line of the Men's Pro XC.
Linell Wright, Trish Albert, and Jennifer Hare.
Jennifer Hare, Allison Dunlap, Trish Albert, and Linell Wright after the Women's STXC.
Linell Wright, Jennifer Hare, Roland Green, and Trish Albert. Linell finally got to meet her main man!
Ryder Hejedal, Trish Albert, Jennifer Hare, and Linell Wright after the Men's STXC. Ryder won.
Jimena Florit concentrates before the Women's Pro XC
Ryder Hejedal leads out Seamus McGrath in the Men's STXC.
Men's Pro XC Start.
Roland Green (Trek-VW) and Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (RLX-Polo Sport) await th
Roland Green takes a break before the start of the Men's Pro XC.
Sami Fournier accepts the gold medal for the Expert Women 35-39.
Susan Haywood (Trek-VW) under the umbrella before the start of the Women's Pro XC race.
Sven Eisenhauer in the Master Expert Men 30-34.
Sven awaits the start.
Trish Albert (2nd from left) gets the bronze medal in Senior Sport Women.
Trish Albert and Sami Fournier after the Expert Awards Ceremony.