Day 1 and 2 Home Turf and Cumberland

Day 1

Of course I was so excited before day 1 that I could barely sleep, and with good reason. A year of preparing, racing on my home trails, and knowing my amazing friends would be there.

I seeded myself in the 4 hour group and we headed up Lynn Valley Road. When we got to the end of the line so many of my friends were there with signs and costumes that I seriously teared up before even riding any trails!! The first bit of singletrack (Circuit 8) created a 20 minute bottleneck. I was worried that things were off to a bad start. Luckily I was wrong. I got nearly clean runs at both the fun descents and definitely passed tons of people, which is a huge confidence booster. Having all my friends out and racing at home made for what was one of my best days ever on a bike.

Day 2

After the North Vancouver stage we took a ferry and a bus and rolled into our huge tent village around 9:30 in Cumberland.  I was hoping for a better sleep then last night, but first night in a tent and midnight trips to the bathroom kinda stood in the way. 6 am is an early start, but luckily Bean Around The World had coffee on hand and I tried to eat a huge breakfast. We started right on Main st in Cumberland, which really speaks to the towns commitment to riding. We started with a 15km road climb, which of course I didn't love but I stuck to my plan and stayed in an easy gear and went slow. The first bit of singletrack was a fairly new trail and was really muddy. I felt really great on it and once again passed lots of people, which in case you didn't hear, I like, especially the guy who commented that I wasn't working hard enough on the climb. Lots of awesome long descents today, but some hard hot road climbs too. 48km is a long time to ride even though it was less climbing than yesterday. On a ferry now to Powell River and I'm looking forward to being in the same place for two nights.

It's been go go go for 2 days, but despite that, it's insanely well organized considering the feat that it is to move, feed, and house this many people. Sorry for the lack of cohesiveness to this and to any typos. I'm doing it on my phone after a long hot day in the saddle.

Day Zero BC Bike Race

I can't believe it's here!!! It was only a year ago that I was given the ok to ride again from the doctors and now I'm about the embark on The Ultimate Singletrack experience. It's all exciting, overwhelming, and awesome all at the same time. I've been a bundle of nerves all week.

Today was registration, the kid's race, and later today will be the race meeting. Waking up this morning, I was more grateful than ever to live on the North Shore. I literally walked over to Argyle school where the festivities were taking place. It was a nice feeling of relaxation amidst the otherwise frantic nature of preparing for something so big. I was surprised by how big the lines were considering I showed up right on time, but everything moved quickly and I was soon outside watching my friend Heather's son rip it up in the kids race.

When I got home with my racer bag and swag from numerous sponsors, the excitement was too much, so I headed out for my last pre-race ride. In true North Shore fashion it poured rain the whole time.I felt grateful that this didn't phase me one bit and felt kind of bad for the racers from drier places.

Now it's time to pack, go to the racer's meeting and get a good night's sleep. It feels like Christmas!!! Before I sign off, I just want to thank all my friends and family who have been messaging me, cheering for me, and supporting me. I couldn't have done this without YOU!

The Sturdy Dirty Enduro - Pinkbike Race Report

The Ponies were down near Olympia, WA for the Sturdy Dirty Enduro in Capitol Forest State Park. Out of 125 ladies, Aja was only one minute off top spot while Veronika finished 4th in pro. Check out this race report on Pinkbike, with a couple of mentions and photos of Team Danger Pony:
http://www.pinkbike.com/u/umabomber/blog/race-report-the-2014-sturdy-dirty-womens-enduro-event.html

Aja, Veronika, Isabelle and Cheryl after finishing Stage 1

Thanks to our friends, the Sturdy Bitches, for an awesome event. Check out their website: http://www.sturdybitchracing.com

Ponies Love Their Beer...

Team Danger Pony is excited to announce it's partnership with Russell Brewing Company for the 2014 race season. There's nothing better than enjoying a cold beer after riding and the ladies will be drinking Russell Brewing Co's delicious beers, like Hop Therapy ISA, at every race. 

Thanks Russell for your support!

BC Enduro Series - Race No. 1

The first race of the BC Enduro Series kicked off the season in Penticton, BC on May 17^th & 18^th.  We showed up on the Friday evening and set up camp and hit the trails for some shuttle action to see what the courses would be like. I had never ridden in Penticton before so I was excited to see what the terrain and trails would be like. Trails were marked well enough to find our way to hit up several of the stages for the race. We were able to get a taste of what sort of pedalling would be involved and also what kind technical trails Penticton had to offer. After doing a few stages I was excited for the race. I was ready to roll and stoked to sport our new team jerseys and try out some of our new team gear. My Smith Optics goggles, Bell Super helmet and Alpinestars shorts and gloves. Feeling very ENDURO!!!

The first day was up and out of camp fairly early for the riders meeting and getting set up with our timing devices. Options to shuttle to access the first stage was allowed, don’t mind if I do. Pedalling from the staging area would have added whole lot more KM to the day! Not feeling 100% this morning with stomach issues, stage one kicked my ass! It was a tough stage to start without much of a warm-up. I had nothing to give, I even considered stopping for a bathroom break mid stage. Little did I know at the time I would be returning home with the flu.

Chris Van Luven was on course taking rad shots like this of the racers!

Stage two had a bit more downhill flow which got me excited, but there was a challenging rock wall mid stage I barely made then got a bit zesty and OTB’d on one of the flowy faster sections. Basically stage 2 was a write off! With the biggest climb back to the top for the rest of the stages still to come I was ready to just enjoy the riding and forget the trying to race part. The single track to the top was amazing! Nice flowy trails with great views along the way. It was then that team mate Veronika and I decided we were definitely not cut out to be professional endurance athletes in this life! Maybe we should go back to DH? After picking up some random stray dogs that joined us on our trek and getting to the feed station to refuel we were ready to tackle the remaining stages to the finish.

The second day was up and out of camp a bit earlier than the day before, with a lovely breakfast on the beach. Three stages remained, being described as a shorter day with a shorter climb than the previous day. Well, not sure I agreed with the shorter climb. Being the second day of the race I was feeling the legs at this point. It’s not “ENDURO” if you don’t complain about the climbs, right? The next stages proved to have more downhill sections which were awesome fun but definitely not the kind of terrain you would want to cash on. Riding some stages blind I was definitely riding conservatively to keep from flatting or crashing on the loose shale rocks. I kept it clean and finished without suffering a mechanical. Unfortunately, Veronika my team mate wasn't so lucky.  The course lived up to its billing and was surprisingly technical with lots of loose shale rock sections which caused trouble for a couple ladies in my category. The after party was held on the back lawn of Misconduct Winery where everyone enjoyed the sunshine, local beer and wine and stunning views. When the names were called for the podiums, I was shocked  to learn I’d finished in 3^rd place Open Women and won a cash prize of $100. The cash allowed me to buy a few tacos to pay back the event organizer, Megan Rose, after my puppy accidentally ate hers! Oops!

Over all, great event and wicked fun trails. This race opened my thoughts on Enduro racing. It’s not necessarily the fastest riders that picks the fastest lines that will finish on top. It’s the riders that can ride any type of trail consistently,  stay on the bike and keep it together.  It’s about managing your energy and staying in the zone. This first race has left me looking forward to race #2 in the BC Enduro Series.  Race Recap on Pinkbike.com