Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Scamp-venture 18: A Mountain Bike Love Affair

Jay and I loaded up the car and Scamp and headed to see Mother Henderson and introduce her to Rosco P. Coltrane for the first time. The weather was beautiful and it was great to see Dot!


To add to the fun, we got out and rode Mtn bikes with Thomas on Saturday as Serena played with Rosco. We hit the Sugar Bottoms, prepping for the next morning’s race, the Sugar Bottom Scramble & Iowa State Mtn Bike Championships. The trail is AWESOME! Super fast and flowing and perfectly laid out! The best part was the Lil White Fox doing everything I wanted at the same time coaxing me into things I’d hadn’t been able to do before.. railing down drops I’d typically hesitate on, hittin’ the bridges without question (I have a slight fear of heights still to overcome), and learning to weave among the trees with less turning and more leaning. Sweet!


Come race time the next morning, I was ready! I didn’t push for the hole shot, but I quickly moved into first on the climb, diving into the single track in the lead with my heart and lungs ramping up nicely. I wove through the single track faster than I’d ever done before, getting the rear end loose around the turns and exhilarated by the trees whipping past my fast. It was awesome!


I was setting the pace and was surprised to find me and 3 locals off the front with the rest of the field nowhere to be seen. Within a few miles, we started catching the men’s field that started just a few minutes in front of us - we were catching the dudes!!! As we popped out of the single track of the first loop 5 mi later and onto the road to the last section of the course, I pulled aside and invited the three IA gals to pull through - it was their championship on the line, and I wanted nothing to do with interfering with it. I was having so much fun just riding my brains out, I was happy to finish 4th!


Jay rode an amazing race, taking the Single Speed without breaking a sweat! Nice work, love!!! All in all, it was a bad-ass day of racing. Plus, we got done early enough to spend some time with Dot before heading home.




So in love with riding dirt,

Kristy Kreme

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