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June 2004
06/15/04 - West Virginia NCS #4, Bellas In Paradise
by Allie Rau
Ok, not quite. It was really Snowshoe Mountain West Virginia, otherwise known as the F*&%ing middle of nowhere, then take a left.
The NORBA National stop #4 took over the small mountaintop resort of Snowshoe on Thursday and kicked off with some amateur events. The pro downhill practice started on Friday and looked extremely promising for a fun clean course. If the weather would hold out, this was going to be a blast. But this is no fairy tail; this is West Virginia. Later Friday afternoon the skies turned black and all soggy hell broke loose. A William Tell character did run through the venue with his warning, “The storm is coming! The storm is coming!” Wind whipped through the tent city while vendors scrambled to secure anything not already bolted down. A deluge of rain came down and animals lined up two by two.
Saturday a thick mist still shrouded the mountain. Downhill practice was at 8 so I went out to see how much the course had changed. To my horror it went from nice and tacky to squishy dog poop. I spent the rest of practice hosing the mud off of my bike. Sami Fornier had arrived the night before and braved the mucky mire of a cross-country course. She and I checked out a technical rock downhill on her course (Sami said she wanted advice on lines but I think she wanted to show off her downhill prowess. The gals got skills) She mud-surfed her two laps to victory!
It’s said that everyone serves a purpose. The purpose I served on Saturday was to make lots and lots of racer gals feel really really good about themselves. Enduring a comedy of errors I was a complete victim of circumstance. I raced, flatted, and mis-navigated my way to a rim-smashing good time and my first NORBA National Pro WIN!
I looked at the start sheet at the top of the course. It was just Marla Streb and me, however due to an injury in the downhill practice she didn’t make it. I was the Pro Women’s class, but hey, I’ll take it.
The start of the race was great. I charged and nailed the burmed turns like I had planned and charged my way down the rocky fire road to “the climb”. (It was here I had planned my charge up the hill to an easy fun downhill and on to victory! Armed with my Specialized SX and stylishly garbed in Bella wear complete with pink flamed roadie Giro I thought, “Damn I’m prepared! Damn I feel good! Pffffttt, gaawump, gawwwump,gawwwump. DAMN!!! I have a flat!!!!!!!” (It was right around that exact moment that my ego ejected and landed somewhere in the mud) Right before the climb, a 100 foot fire road on a hill, the rear tire blew, making me cyclocross my way up to the top, jump back on and face the other 5/8 of the course on a flat and a pretty sturdy rim. I dug and pedaled to get what speed I could and cleaned everything. I smashed metal over the rock gardens, through the fields, more rocks and right down the …hey…this doesn’t look familiar. OH F*&%!!!!!!!! I looked back over my shoulder and ran 100 yards back up the single track I followed back to the fire road I was supposed to be on. I mounted back up and ground my way up the last incline with my rear tire fuhhlumping behind me, much to the delight of the West Virginia native course marshals. “Ya’ll stick with it! Wundn’t it be easier with air? Yawwww…” Yep at that point I looked sadder than a (insert hillbilly phrase here).
I made my way, laughing to the finish. Oh, what a sight that was. I think everyone had beaten “The Pro” by healthy amount of time.
Later that night was the awards. I had pretty much said goodbye to the podium when I joined the ranks of the Pro downhill Divas. To be called up was sheer bliss! I stood proudly on top donning the Bella blue and pinks. Oh, there were flowers, there was champagne! I stood there slightly embarrassed but loving every moment of it. All of the Super D racer gals got together on the podium and laughed ourselves right off. I highly recommend this event for anyone starting out who isn’t fully committed to downhill or cross-country as this event has a bit of both. There’s a great vibe amongst everyone and it’s what a racing event should be, just plain ol’ great time.
Sunday:
Sami, once again braved the West Virginia mountain morning and disappeared into the mist to race short track. She returned later relatively clean, yet soaked and peering above the rims of her foggy glasses with her story and yet another podium finish!
The pro downhill qualifiers were a real treat. A treat, that is if you’re fond of dragging a 40 lb bike covered with 20 lbs of mud and so much gunk caked on your shorts it feels like you’re running with a fully loaded diaper. Remember that kids?
The course was so muddy that front and rear tires packed up to the point where they no longer rolled. I had to pull off to the side and clear the pounds of mud that clogged between my wheel and fork. At that point the tires were caked to the point of passing for a slick and the rest of the course was equally as muddy but steeper. The bike easily went from 40 lbs to at least 65. Wet roots ran along the steep off-camber sections and deep peanut buttery mud swallowed tires and precious speed. I got down to the bottom finally and seriously contemplated cutting my losses and packing it in right there.
I washed my bike off and forced myself to stay in my muddy riding clothes. I got my rotors straightened and seriously re-evaluated my strategy. I visualized the course. Each rock and how I would flow over it … and then get off the bike pick it up and run like hell through the mud!
At the start of finals I was ready. One more run and this is it. I hit the sections I wanted to, grabbed my bike and ran with the front tire off of the muck while with each step the mud got deeper and the “schhhhhhloooooP!” sound got louder. I managed through it only tripping a couple of times and got back on my bike. The straightaway to the next section allowed me to spin some mud off the tires before ducking into a steeper grade of muck. It was going oh, so well as could be expected when I caught up to another gal in front of me. She lost all of her speed over the log jump and got sucked into the mud on the other side. I followed her over the log and tried to land to her left but endo’d into the mud while my bike landed smack on top of hers! (queue the circus music) I felt awful. I apologized while we both yanked our bikes free and slid through the shoots. It went on this way for another quarter mile until, by a sheer act of grace and divine intervention, the bright light of the finish line shone up ahead. “GO TO THE LIGHT!!!” Oh the rapture of no longer has to ride in that crap!!! I plunked down next to the other finishers and we waited for the rest of the field to come through. It was Bernie Pizarro from Chile who raced her way to the muddy first place spot.
The resort quickly went from bustling mini-city to ghost town while the mountain bike circus disappeared as quickly as it came and rolled it’s performers on to the next show. Come one, come all! See the greatest spectacle on earth known as the NORBA Nationals!
Muchas Bella smooches to Shane Hensley of Velocity Racing who, on short notice, secured us excellent lodging and cooked us killer meals. Always nice to have a guy in the kitchen after a day of riding.
Pro Results
Mountain Cross:
1 Jill Kintner (San Jose, Calif.)
2 Tara Llanes (Los Alamitos, Calif.)
3 Melissa Buhl (Chandler, Ariz)
4 Lisa Sher (Capistrano Beach, Calif.)
5 Michelle Dumaresque (CAN)
Downhill:
1 Bernardita Pizarro Lazo (CHI)
2 Kathy Pruitt (USA)
3 Marla Streb (USA)
4 April Lawyer (USA)
5 Dawn Borque (USA)
Super D:
Allie Rau (USA)
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