Scott Enduro Cup #1: Moab

The first round of the Scott Enduro Cup was this last weekend (5/3/14) in Moab, Utah. The race was only one day and 4 stages at the Mag 7 trails and was the first official race of my season. It was also my first race as a pro with a field larger than just Margaret and myself! The field consisted of XC U.S. national champ, single-speed world champ, EWS rider and NAET champ Heather Irmiger, cyclocross world cup overall winner Katie Compton, overall super badass Heidi Rentz, the Moab hometown hero Beth Roberts, amongst other awesome chicas.

I had ridden 3 of the 4 stages last year as part of the BME series, but for some reason I don't remember it being such a suffer fest. Going in to the race I wasn't expecting a lot, my ultimate goal was just to ride hard and keep the rubber side down, which I accomplished. I've never been much the one for flat, pedal-y, sprints--I like my descents on the steeper side--and the average grade for each of the 4 stages was somewhere between -1% and -4%, between 1.4 and 2.0 miles, and between 6:40 and 8:00 minutes. Not exactly my cup of tea but at least now I know what I really need to focus on.

There was a big group of us from Flagstaff/Sedona and we all pre-rode on Friday. I was having some major issues with dropping my chain due to a worn out cassette, chain ring, and stretched chain (oops) but thankfully my favorite mechanic happens to travel and race with me! Scott played with my chain guide the best he could in a hotel room to try to solve the problem but all we could do was hope that it would work.

The Mag 7 trails are incredibly rough and bumpy combinations of dirt and slick rock, almost a combination of Gooseberry Mesa and Sedona, and the bumpiness and chain slap is only perpetuated when you are pedaling as hard as you can across it. My chain stayed on through stage one, but came off almost immediately during stage two. It wouldn't have been such a bummer but it dropped to the inside of my chain guide and got stuck. They ran 60 second intervals between racers and I ended up getting caught by two other women while trying to fix my chain. After that it took just about all the motivation I could find to push through stage 2. I shoved my sour attitude to the side for the rest of the race and my chain stayed on through 3 and 4, though I was constantly looking down at my drive side to make sure the chain hadn't bounced off again.

Unfortunately at a race like Moab there was nowhere to make up any time so the two minutes I lost were lost for good. I still ended up 6th, just under 4 minutes behind the winner, Heidi. All in all though I was happy with how I rode. I was about 20-30s behind the winner at every stage (besides 2) and for how little I ride like that I was impressed. Now I know that with some more high-intensity/interval training I could be right there with the top girls.

I also want to congratulate all of the other Big Az peeps for shredding dirt in a major way. Two Flagstaff chicks in the top 10 for amateur women, a third in amateur men for another, and a big congrats to Jason First and Scott Countryman for a 5th and an 8th in pro men, amongst a stacked field including Ross Schnell, JHK, Mike West, and Alex Petitdemange. Go Big Az!

My next race will be the first stop of the Oregon Enduro Series and NAET in Hood River June 8-9. I am very much looking forward to 1) getting to hang out in one of my favorite places ever and 2) getting to do some racing on some steeper and gnarlier terrain.

Happy trails y'all!