If I never see another ROCK again...

Xterra Trimax

Mifflenburg, PA - June 29,2008

We arrived mid-afternoon after a nice back-road drive to central PA. We had been out this route to Indiana, PA last year and knew the ride was nice. Half was there we ran into a crazy downpour, the kind that you can barely see when driving. In a short fifteen minutes, the rain was done. We made it to the hotel, and talked with Vince and Darlise (a neighbor from a few houses down.) We decided to meet at the race site for packet pick-up. Shawn and I went over early hoping to get a short swim in, but the water was cold and there were too many kids swimming at the park. Instead we walked a few miles of the course to see what we could see.  After picking up our packets we ran into someone we knew who told us the course was crazy and that he had walked 30% of it. We met this guy on the way back from Tahoe last year after he won his age group at nationals and was on to Worlds, I knew coming from him this was going to be a tough ride.

It was about then that I decided I was just there to ride and have fun. That evening we went to dinner with Vince and Darlise and then got some last minute stuff together and got a good night sleep. The morning came with sprinkles shooting out of the sky while we got the bikes back on the rack; we thought this would be our first race in the rain. But the rain never came full-on. We set up transition. Vince and I went out for a short warm-up run while Shawn went in the water. We met him back at transition and his teeth were shaking, he stated he made the decision that the wetsuit was needed. It was pretty humid, and our short run made us wet with sweat. It was a workout just to get the wetsuit on, but once we got in the water we realized why it was needed - it was cold. 

The swim went off as a sprint across the beach and it was a two lap course through some nice lake grass and crap. It kept getting stuck around my neck and through my fingers. Shortly through the first lap I was alone with one other guy. I rode his feet for the rest of the lap and then passed him on the second lap as he wandered wide. I came out of the water first; the guy was only two seconds behind and he congratulated me on a nice swim as we ran together up to transition.

The transition was tight and since I was first in I had plenty of room to get the wetsuit off, but by the time I was out the others were starting to crowd in. I had to carry my bike over people just to get out. The bike started with a few miles up hill, with two short but steep climbs. I sat back and paced them out, but made it up. Vince passed me just as we went in to the single track, then the rocks...oh the rocks. I have never seen so many. I attempted to ride them, and some were rideable. At the first unridable spot I had been riding for a while and a man behind me stated I was showing him some good lines, but I just couldn't take it any longer. From there out for the next few miles it was a walk - bike - walk. The rocks were insane. At one point while riding, I came up to a black, plastic storm pipe that looked as though if you hit it from the right angle you would go fine over it. But it was went and it took me right down, later on after the race, everyone in transition remembered this pipe and it sounded as though it took down most racers.

There was a point in the rock gardens that the race was no longer a race for me, I just wanted to survive and did not want a broken ankle. Shawn came by at some point and I probably made him worried because I expressed my concerns. Finally we got to some rideable terrain and a female came up behind me (many had passed already by this point) and she asked if I was Alicia. I said yes, and she introduced herself, Sue Anne, a name familiar from many races I have done. We stayed together for a few miles and even had a very long conversation on a very unridable long walking section, for both of us we were just out there for a ride and we enjoyed each others company. 

After a lot of back-jolting, neck jarring riding we ended up on a dirt packed fire road and it was up-up-up. A mile or so of up and up, and we climbed it, but there was a reward of the fastest down-hill ever. Apparently, this was not part of the course. Later on I was talking to Anne who is the xterra representative and she said they sent us all the wrong way, but once they determined it, they had to keep the race fair. At that point we were supposed to be back on single track in the woods. I kept waiting for us to re-enter. The course mileage was the same with our detour, but the single track was skipped at the end, and I was very thankful. 

So I come ripping into transition because we just had this beautiful downhill section and Anne is standing there telling us to dismount, so I did, but my shoe never came unclipped and I fell hard in front of everyone. Right onto my side on the gravel road, I told the crowd that one was for them and they cheered me back up and into transition.

I had plenty left for the run this time since a lot of the bike was a walk. I took off and tried to pace it out because I knew there was one big hill coming, and I mean straight up and had heard there was a second one as well. The race director warned me of the hard run ahead as I entered the single track. The first hill was tough but I made it and continued on, but then after a nice downhill section on road we came back into the woods at the base of a giant uphill rock garden. Yes, rocks everywhere, nothing you could do but climb. My heart rate was at max by the time I reached the top. At that point I passed Sue Anne who had a twisted ankle, that must have been really rough. I ran it in, fell once and felt my finger bend the wrong way. It seems fine, but my palm is pretty swollen. 

I am bruised up a bit more and sore in funny places, like the arches of my feet and my lower back from the rocks. It was a fun event, the race directors were full of enthusiasm, but overall the bike portion was not that fun because it was not really rideable. Darlise took some photos so I should be getting them later on this week and posting them. It was Vince's first xterra and he showed a lot of potential with an age-group placing and an overall 20th place...we tried to convince him that the rides were not all that technical and insane. Hope he will be out for more. Shawn did awesome after his few weeks out of it, and I was pleased to finish. I know I was 6th female and 3rd in my age-group. I passed one female on the run, but one passed me - she was flying. I will post the official results when they are available.