Looking back....
What was the first mountain bike race you ever did?
Mine was the Firecracker 50, in Breckenridge, CO. Not exactly most people's idea for a good first-timer race..but I'm not really always full of good ideas :) My boyfriend (at the time) decided it would also be a good idea, so we bought our plane tickets and headed out west. We had no idea what bikes we would ride, we figured it would be easy to find a rental when we got out to Breckenridge. So, the day before the race, we started hitting up the local bike shops. We found 2 Rocky Mountains that were about 35# but I wasn't really satisfied with that. I was starting to get nervous that I might have to suck it up and ride at altitude with a bike that weighed a ton..until we walked into a ski rental place that rented bikes during the summer...they happened to have 2 Santa Cruz Blurs for rent...one was a size L, and that turned out to be mine for the day. My ex-BF got to ride a brand freaking new ano orange XL Blur...that was actually really light (from what I can remember). Anyway, I had been skiing and hiking at altitude many times, so I wasn't really worried about that. I didn't have many issues with it, though my HR would show to be a lot higher than it felt on the first climb out of town. I held my own for the rest of the first loop..until I got lost. Yes, getting lost on my first race ever...I guess that set the trend for the other races I've done since! I rode most of the course, I got a little freaked out by the exposed sidehill stuff but that's because I had never even ridden anything other than a "beginner/intermediate" local XC trail in Atlanta, before. My ex-BF and I did one loop of 25 and then decided the BBQ and festivities in the park at the midway point looked more appealing than riding another 25 miles, so we bailed on the race and drank some delicious Colorado microbrews...man that was fun!
I'd like to do this race again next year. In fact, I think I'm going to change up my racing quite a bit next year...I've done several races in the Southeast more than once, and change is always good. There's so much I want to ride in other parts of the country..I'm thinking Firecracker 50, Leadville 100, 24 Hours of Landahl, 24 hours of Moab, Kaibab Monstercross, 24 hours of Old Pueblo, Creampuff...hmmmph. I think we should just move out west. Oh well, my current financial state of poor student doesn't really make this a viable option right now, so we'll see what next year holds.
My plan for the rest of this year is:
24 hour Nationals (24 hours of 9 mile)
Shenandoah 100
Firewater 50
and maybe a couple random 12 hour events in the Southeast thrown in for fun.
Huge HUGE thanks to Mallie for my fantabulous new blog!!! Check out her site, she's raising money for the 24 hours of Booty in exchange for bloggy-designs. THANKS Mallie!! :-)
Mine was the Firecracker 50, in Breckenridge, CO. Not exactly most people's idea for a good first-timer race..but I'm not really always full of good ideas :) My boyfriend (at the time) decided it would also be a good idea, so we bought our plane tickets and headed out west. We had no idea what bikes we would ride, we figured it would be easy to find a rental when we got out to Breckenridge. So, the day before the race, we started hitting up the local bike shops. We found 2 Rocky Mountains that were about 35# but I wasn't really satisfied with that. I was starting to get nervous that I might have to suck it up and ride at altitude with a bike that weighed a ton..until we walked into a ski rental place that rented bikes during the summer...they happened to have 2 Santa Cruz Blurs for rent...one was a size L, and that turned out to be mine for the day. My ex-BF got to ride a brand freaking new ano orange XL Blur...that was actually really light (from what I can remember). Anyway, I had been skiing and hiking at altitude many times, so I wasn't really worried about that. I didn't have many issues with it, though my HR would show to be a lot higher than it felt on the first climb out of town. I held my own for the rest of the first loop..until I got lost. Yes, getting lost on my first race ever...I guess that set the trend for the other races I've done since! I rode most of the course, I got a little freaked out by the exposed sidehill stuff but that's because I had never even ridden anything other than a "beginner/intermediate" local XC trail in Atlanta, before. My ex-BF and I did one loop of 25 and then decided the BBQ and festivities in the park at the midway point looked more appealing than riding another 25 miles, so we bailed on the race and drank some delicious Colorado microbrews...man that was fun!
I'd like to do this race again next year. In fact, I think I'm going to change up my racing quite a bit next year...I've done several races in the Southeast more than once, and change is always good. There's so much I want to ride in other parts of the country..I'm thinking Firecracker 50, Leadville 100, 24 Hours of Landahl, 24 hours of Moab, Kaibab Monstercross, 24 hours of Old Pueblo, Creampuff...hmmmph. I think we should just move out west. Oh well, my current financial state of poor student doesn't really make this a viable option right now, so we'll see what next year holds.
My plan for the rest of this year is:
24 hour Nationals (24 hours of 9 mile)
Shenandoah 100
Firewater 50
and maybe a couple random 12 hour events in the Southeast thrown in for fun.
Huge HUGE thanks to Mallie for my fantabulous new blog!!! Check out her site, she's raising money for the 24 hours of Booty in exchange for bloggy-designs. THANKS Mallie!! :-)
posted by Namrita O'Dea at
5:35 AM
6 Comments:
I really think that we are the same person :-) I want to do creampuff too!!!
BTW...I can't believe that Firecracker 50 was your first race. Mine was a local 15 miler, and that almost killed me. Your tough!!!
I bet you won your first race too, didn't you ;)
yeah, but it was beginner and I barely rode my bike. I just walked faster then everyone else!!!
Puh-leeze. My first race was a 6 mile true beginner race. I led for 5.85 miles, fell going up the last climb and had nothing left so got passed and got beat by 12 seconds.
That's how we mere mortals race. You two...superhuman!
Love the new blog design Nam! Looks great. Definitely looking forward to the race schedule next year.
Like Danielle, it amazes me that the FC 50 was your first race; you are a glutton for punishment. I was out there a few years ago during that race and just rode the course for fun a few days before. That was a killer!
My son did the kids race that year (about 5 miles) and it was his first race too.
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