Livin' la VIDA loca.

I am so so excited to announce that I am fortunate enough to have the opportunity to be representing VIDA MTB Series as an ambassador! This is incredible to me. As an ambassador I'll be involved not only with clinics, but I will also be doing a lot of outside promotional work for VIDA and women's cycling as a whole. I get to work with a great program and amazing women who are passionate about the sport of cycling and determined to create a healthy, beautiful, and strong women's cycling community. I am happy to already be good friends with a lot of these rad chicks. You can check out all of the VIDA Ambassador's profiles here.

Another exciting tidbit: I will also be working with VIDA as a coach later this summer when my dang arm heals! Unfortunately I will not be able to ride for the Sedona or Valmont clinics, but will be headed up to Colorado in June to get my IMBA coaching certs! Afterwards I will hopefully be appearing a few clinics :)

If you don't know about VIDA, check it out. Register for a clinic and come meet the amazing women behind the program! If you are attending the Sedona clinic, I'll see you there!

www.vidamtb.com

Down, but not out.

Yes, I did just use that oh-so-cliche saying as the title for this post. But the name fits perfectly with the concern of this post. One of the few definitions of cliche is "something that has become overly familiar or commonplace." Well unfortunately, me being hurt is overly familiar to just about anyone that knows me. Here I am again, maybe more than slightly broken.

My tendency to be covered in bumps, bruises, and scars is not a new one. I broke my arm at my elbow when I was three, they put me in a cast and I was immediately trying to figure out a way to climb the fence in my back yard and any tree in sight. I think I broke each of my pinkie fingers twice before I was 10 from crashing on my bike, jumping out of trees and off of swings, or sledding. I broke my other arm when I was eleven when I crashed on my bike. I cut my cast off with a pair of tin-snips and was back to climbing two weeks after. Court burn and dislocated thumbs were abundant from years of volleyball. However, most of my injuries were relatively minor until I blew my knee to pieces racing the downhill at U.S. Nationals in 2011. Two surgeries and seven months later I returned to sports and my knee has been happy ever since.

I finally quit ski racing in 2013 and immediately started riding and racing mountain bikes. The cross-over between ski racing and biking is massive so I picked it up rather quickly. Unfortunately I also decided that going fast downhill was what I liked the most, so I immediately started flinging myself down fast, steep, and gnarly stuff without really having ever acquired the skill to navigate safely. Luckily it wasn't long before I started riding with the guys from Bike Rev and I began to build my skill set. Three years into my biking career I'd like to think I'm a pretty good rider.

That doesn't seem to matter though--there is no avoiding injury. Its the nature of the beast. I was a pretty good ski racer who had a lot of success. But I crashed all the time, I got hit in the face by gates, I was covered in bruises, and I tore almost every ligament in my left knee. Now I am a pretty good biker. Still, I crash a lot, I have a lot of scars, I'm typically covered in cuts and bruises, I've been to the ER and plastic surgeon for stitches numerous times, and every ENT and Ortho knows me by name. Despite what everyone thinks, I am not just an out-of-control maniac who just tries to go as fast a possible all time no matter what. Yes, I like going fast, but I am not an idiot. It's also not bad luck. Shit just happens. It's just part of being an athlete.

That being said, not every athlete is going to have a serious injury. Lucky me, I'm on super-surgery serious-injury number two. Almost four months ago I crashed and completely dislocated my right elbow. Ulna and radius. Fortunately for me, I didn't break any bones or have any serious tissue damage as far as the doctors could tell. I had a pretty short recovery: I was off my bike for 7 weeks and then right back to it. Bikes, gym, yoga. Until a couple weeks ago when a crash, if you could even call it a crash, landed me back in my ortho's office. I dislocated my right elbow again. Though the dislocation was not nearly as severe, I somehow managed to tear the anterior bundle of my ulnar collateral ligament and tear my radial collateral ligament off my humerus. Now my humerus is not sitting in the cradle of my ulna correctly and I'm having reconstructive surgery next Wednesday.

When it happened I knew it was bad. I didn't know it was this bad. So you can imagine my shock when my ortho told me how severe my injury was and how long the recovery was going to be. I was thinking maybe a minor surgery to tighten things up and then 6-8 weeks off. Nope. Try reconstruction, an autograph from each of my forearms and 3-6 months off. I was heart broken and it has taken me three days to come to terms with it. But the fact of the matter is that there is no avoiding getting my elbow fixed; it will be better in the long run. I know that the world isn't actually ending and that I'll be back on my mountain bike before I know it. I know I'll come back stronger, faster, and more motivated. I know that I'm not going to get fat. I know I have the support of my family, my friends, my coaches, my doctors, and my physical therapist. How do I know this? Because I've here before. Twice.

I have come to terms with my injury, my surgery, and my recovery. I have found peace of mind looking at the track records of some of my biggest idols. Lindsey Vonn sustained serious knee injuries two years in a row and came back this year to break the record of most world cup wins by a female and took third in the super-g at world championships just a couple weeks ago. Aksel Svindal tore his achilles tendon in October and missed three months of the season, had a week of training going into world champs and got two 6th place finishes. Bode Miller had back surgery at the beginning of this season, missed three months, made it to world champs and was set to take the win in the men's super-g before crashing. All of these people are physically and mentally tough, that's why they made it back. That's why I know I'll be back. May 20th is the goal.

On the brighter side of things, I have some super awesome news to announce regarding this season. But it has to wait a couple more weeks ;). For now, I am thankful for my family, my friends, good doctors, the fact that I'm still on my parents health insurance, and the fact that I am twenty years old. I'll heal quicker ;).

P.S.: I really just wrote this to convince myself that I'll be fine. It worked. So if you read this, thanks :)

Some Announcements

First, Big Mountain Enduro has released their 2015 schedule. It includes Aspen/Snowmass,
Keystone, EWS Crested Butte, and a NEW stop for the series final! Where could it be...? But most exciting about this announcement? EQUAL PRIZE PAYOUT FOR MEN AND WOMEN! This. Is. Awesome. I definitely understand the payout difference: men make up way more of the field and thus pay in more than women do. BUT I think this is an excellent way to get more women into the series, even if they aren't racing pro. To me, equal payout says, "it may be 85% men, but these women rock and deserve equal prize money." It will bring more attention to all the women in the sport, and hopefully not just attract women from other series, but also bring newcomers to the sport. Just another reason BME is my fave. (:
Check out the press release here or visit the BME website and sign up for email announcements.

Second, back in September I got to do some Q&A with Josie Smith, author of Life on Two Wheels. I was in Crested Butte for the Ultra Enduro at the time, hence the reason some of the answers say that "I am in Crested Butte" or that "I was just in Crested Butte" haha. If you care to read the full write up, here it is: Women on Bikes Series: Alex P. For stories, advice, and more badass women, follow her blog!

Third, THE SEMESTER IS ALMOST OVER. I have one more O-Chem test and a paper due in Russian Politics before Thanksgiving Break then the first week of December is reading week, followed by finals! Hallelujah!

Last, I went to the doctor earlier this week... My elbow is slowly healing and I have a custom Donjoy brace on the way. I will be back on my bike soon, though I'll have to be careful for awhile. In the mean time, I've been dying on the trainer and getting back to off-season conditioning.

Brief Update

Wow. I have not posted anything since Moab--two months ago. Since then, life has been rolling along merrily, mostly. I will try my best to fill in the gaps and keep it concise.

The Monday following BME Moab I started my junior year of college at Northern Arizona University. Crazy how time flies. On the schedule this fall semester I have Anatomy Lab II, Physiology II, Organic Chemistry II, Cellular & Molecular Biology, and Russian Politics. All interesting, all difficult. At this point in the semester I am happy to report mostly A's and a B in Cell & Molec. Thankfully the semester is almost over; only 5 short weeks left and then a month to enjoy riding and hopefully skiing. Then it's back to it with Infectious Diseases, Human Sexuality, Environmental Sustainability, Physics, and Biochemistry. It's probably gonna rock my socks, but I'm excited. Let's be real though, you probably don't care.

Since school is so hard, I decided that it would be a great and brilliant idea to miss the WHOLE second week to go to Crested Butte for the BME Ultra Enduro. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) I didn't get too far behind in school because I had plenty of time in Crested Butte to work on school stuff. How did I have all this time? Wasn't I supposed to be riding 9 stages, 100 miles, and climbing 23,000 feet over the course of 5 days? The answer is yes, but I didn't, because a nasty crash on the second day of the race ended up taking me out of the race for the rest of the week.

Photo: Daniel Dunn

Yeah, really really pretty. But that's how it goes. Sometimes you crash--I'm very thankful I got away with a broken nose and some bruises, and not a broken face, neck, or back. Helmets: They are the best. Following Crested Butte I took a couple of weeks off to heal and to catch up with missed school work before hopping back on my bike.

At the end of September I raced the Bearjaw Groove 12-Hour race here in Flagstaff just for fun. I did it last year as a duo with my friend Erin, but this year we both did it solo. The course was about 14.5 miles a lap with a little over 900 feet of climbing. I borrowed a friend's Intense Hard Eddie and shredded for 108 not-so-exciting miles. Regardless, it was a great time.

That brings us to October, a month that quite frankly sucked. My grandmother passed away, I had to get my left arm stitched back together for the second time, and I dislocated my right elbow completely. But as a said before, life goes on. And lucky for me, life goes on and goes well. My fantastic grandpa has moved in to my parents house and I didn't have to have surgery on my arm. I've been off the bike for two weeks and on the trainer but I'll be back on a real bike soon. For now, I have plenty of time to focus on school and the end of the semester and get things going for next season.

I leave you with this video my friend Lexie and I made out at Kelly Canyon before I dislocated my elbow. Enjoy!

A Quick Kelly Canyon Shred

BME Season Finals: Moab, UT

Photo by Devon Balet

The Big Mountain Enduro season finals were held this last weekend, August 24, in Moab, Utah. The race was only one day and only two stages on the Whole Enchilada. Now, I bet you're thinking, "Moab? In August? WHY?" I know, I thought that too. However, the weather ended up being pretty much exactly the opposite of what I (and everyone else) was expecting. I was expecting to be drenched in sweat, dying of heat, and worrying about getting sunburnt. Wrongo. It rained in Moab pretty much everyday leading up to the race, which was scheduled for Saturday, the 23rd, and all day race day which lead the BME organizers to push the race back to Sunday.

A view of the La Sals from UPS on Friday afternoon

Scott and I arrived in Moab late Thursday night, errr... early Friday morning and pre-rode that afternoon. Since we rode in the Whole Enchilada twice a couple of weeks ago we only rode from Hazard County down. We could obviously see that it was raining up on Burro and with high elevation comes the cold, plus all the creek crossings and the super slick roots and rocks... I was glad we skipped it. The storm kept coming our way, following us down the slick rocks trails, but luckily it evaded us by about 20 ft. Literally.

Rain<----------------------------->Us. Nice.

Friday night at the riders meeting it was announced that the pros would be leaving at 7:45am instead of 5:45am so the trail could dry out a bit more. Well, I woke up at 5:00am to the sounds of rain and thunder and had a hunch that the weather would not be in our favor that day. Oh well, we went over to the shuttle area at 7:45 and waited in the rain for organizers to call the race. They had been in contact with the Forest Service and knew that getting up to Burro was not possible and that Kokopelli was not rideable, so that left them with two options: run the race only from UPS down, or postpone it until Sunday. Thankfully they were able to extend the permits from the Forest Service for another day and the race was rescheduled for the following day. We spent Saturday meandering through Arches National Park and played about 78,932 games of Gin and Hungarian Rummy.

Sunday morning when we woke up the skies were blue and the temperature was perfect, so we loaded shuttles and up we went. Because of all of the rain we still couldn't run the race as planned. Originally the race was supposed to be one stage down Burro Pass, followed by a transfer to the top of Hazard, and a second stage from Hazard all the way down to the bottom of Porcupine Rim. I don't know if you realize how hard that second stage is. It's 15.6 miles. Yes, it is downhillI (it seems ridiculously flat) but it is rough, technical terrain and there are a good number of little climbs on Porcupine Rim that make you feel like you are being strangled. Last year it took me an hour and fifteen minutes to finish that stage. ANYWAY, this year we could only run two short stages: one from the top of Burro, and one from the top of Hazard to the top of Kokopelli. The race was won and lost in a matter of 19 minutes.

For those of you reading this (and I know it's not many) who have not ridden Burro Pass, it is silly steep with some silly tight switchbacks, lots of roots and overgrowth that makes following the narrow single track more like a guessing game. Not to mention the multiple creek crossings that make everything more slick and cause your brakes to not work quite as well as you would wish. It's awesome. Really. On race day the slippery mud had pretty much turned into tacky, moist, perfection (not everywhere) but the roots and rocks were still terrifyingly slick. At the top my sole goal was to make it through all the switchbacks without having to take a foot out or stop--mission accomplished. In the middle my goal was to traverse and navigate over and through the wet roots and rocks without slipping or crashing--mission accomplished. At the bottom my goal was to keep my head up and eyes ahead so I wouldn't get lost in the knee high grass or accidentally miss the hard left turn to avoid the creek gap--mission accomplished. Though I felt as if I couldn't have gone any slower the whole time I was racing stage 1, I still ended up getting second (only to the Moab Queen, Beth), so I was pretty happy with that.

Somewhere in the beautiful La Sal Mountains. Photo by Daniel Dunn

Stage two was Hazard County top to bottom. I love, love, love this section of trail. It's fast, it chunky, it's wide-open and then closes in on you, the corners come faster than you could ever expect (even when you've ridden it 100 times), there are awkward rock gardens, and WATCH OUT FOR THAT COW! The dirt is like concrete, except where it's not, so pay attention. The bottom half of the trail is this kind of awkward up and down traverse through the oaks, and there is one particularly devious, up-and-down-to-the-left-back-up-to-the-right turn where either the oak root to your left wants to grab you or the rock to the right wants to bring you to a halt. Well, I knew it was coming and evaded both rock and root, but tried to go a little to sharply and quickly into the next turn and ended up laying over and tweaking my handle bars 45 degrees to the right. Dang it. But I was so close to the finish line I decided to say, "Screw it, I'm riding like this!" That lasted about 10 seconds. I had to jump back off and wrench my bars into submission. I still ended up 3rd on that stage, behind Heather and Beth, off by just a little over 30 seconds. After the crash and the fix I wasn't disappointed--I rode well until that point and after, so that's that.

We had a nice little (27 miles) transfer down Sand Flats Road back to town after the race, after which I immediately laid down on the lawn until the burgers were ready at the expo area. Photo by Daniel Dunn

I ended up third for the weekend, behind Beth (2nd) and Heather (1st). I'm pretty pleased with that. I also ended up 6th in the overall standings, only 10 points off of 5th place, even after missing the Keystone race. Again, pretty pleased with that. Thank you to the staff and volunteers of Big Mountain Enduro for making this race happen, despite the weather difficulties, thank you for putting on all of the other races, and thank you in advance for the Crested Butte Ultra Enduro! Thank you as always, Flag Bike Rev, for all of the love and support. Crested Butte is next week, September 3-7.

Pro Women Podium: 5th-Ileana Anderson, 4th-Sarah Rawley, 3rd-Alex Pavon, 2nd-Beth Roberts, 1st-Heather Irmiger. Photo by Devon Balet

My favorite mechanic. Oh, and boyfriend, who ended up taking 10th for pro men! Photo by Daniel Dunn

I was trying to make it look like I was popping a wheelie and making the "BRAAAPPP" noise. No, really. Photo by Daniel Dunn

Enduro World Series #5 & Colorado Freeride Fest, Crested Butte, Moab

View from the somewhere at Trestle
Photo: Daniel Dunn

Sorry this post is SOOOOO late. After Winter Park I was off to Crested Butte and Moab for another week of adventuring with my bicycle! I am finally home, with internet and a broken bike, so I have no reason to not write.

ANYWAY...
BOOM. First EWS race DUNZO.

Pro Bike Checks!
Photo: Daniel Dunn

The Enduro World Series came to Winter Park, Colorado for the fifth stop of the seven stop international tour July 25-27. The tour stop was in conjunction with the Colorado Freeride Festival. The original roster listed 40 open women, including Tracy Moseley, Anne Caro Chausson, Anneke Beerten, Rosara Joseph, Cecile Ravanel, Anka Martin, Tracey Hannah, Kelli Emmett, Heather Irmiger, etc.; the final results at the end of the weekend only had 27 finishers on it. Fortunately, I was on both of those lists.

For starters, Trestle Bike Park is totally wicked. It is a great combination of manicured jump trails and perfect berms and features, along with totally raw single track laced with roots and rock gardens. Wanna pedal? There's plenty of that too. The race was 7 stages over three days. Two stages the first day, three stages the second, and two stages on the final day. Even though the stages are usually between 5 and 15 minutes, three days of racing had me feeling pretty beat by the end. The format of the race could have lent itself to that a little more than usual though. At most races, the courses are announced several days in advance so that riders have the chance to pre-ride, if they so choose. Not the case for the EWS. Courses were announced at noon the day prior to racing them--so Friday's stages were announced Thursday, Saturday's on Friday... Of course you can still show up early and make well-educated guesses about what trails to ride but pre-riding stages after a morning of racing was definitely tiring.

Stage three, dropping into the rock garden on Mountain Goat
Photo: Daniel Dunn

The experience of my first EWS was something that cannot be described by any word other than inspiring. I was surrounded by some of the fastest men and women on two wheels, I got to watch them ride and chit chat with them like they were friends I have had for awhile. That seems to be the nature of every badass biker I meet: laid-back, friendly, helpful, easy to talk with. That makes the oh-so-intimidating race line-up a little easier to swallow.

In the days leading up to the race I was not feeling particularly spectacular. The Friday previous I had crashed and it cost me a trip to the plastic surgeon and 10 stitches in my left elbow. Due to the severity of the cut on my arm, my doctor prescribed me a hefty dose of Cephalexin (2250mg a day for a week), an anti MRSA medication that made me feel drained and unattached to my body. (I am glad I had it though, as I came to find out that a girl I was racing with ended up getting a MRSA infection from just a small cut on her leg! Sorry Syd!) The whiplash I sustained from my crash was also not the most awesome thing. I could barely move until I got into to see my massage therapist; after seeing her my muscles were looser but I was incredibly sore for a couple of days. But life must go on...

And it did. Friday was 2 stages; the trails included Search and Seizure, Rain Maker, Boot Camp, Trestle DH, Jury Duty, Bear Arms, and Boulevard. AKA jumps, berms, bridges, gnar. It ended up being a decent day, but a high speed OTB at the end of stage 2 cost me a good chunk of time. Saturday was 3 stages and started with mandatory transfers to the top of stages 4&5 for practice followed by the transfer to the top of stage 3 for the start of the race. Stage 3 was Mountain Goat trail, famous for its rock garden and "rotor rock." We had pre-ridden Mountain Goat a few times by that point and had sessioned the rock garden several times. Unfortunately, I managed to hit rotor rock during my race run, mangling my rotor to the point of no return. Goat trail is really physical, and my rotor was so warped I had to pedal the whole time to keep it from stopping my rear wheel from rotating. I also lost my back brake when I bashed my rotor, so I was being extra careful about speed and using my front brake. I attempted to bend my rotor back by hand, but there was no hope. Thankfully at the top of stage 4 Tracy Moseley had a tool and I was able to bend my rotor into submission... at least to the point where it would rotate through my brake pads and not stop immediately. Stages 4&5 were two stages that racers only got to pre-ride once the morning of. They were totally rugged, meandering through slash piles and a burn area. I really really liked both of them, maybe because they reminded me a lot of Flagstaff.

Somewhere on stage 1...

The scenery of stages 4&5

The last day was 2 stages, the first was a total XC stage--10 minutes of non-stop pedaling and sprinting across flat ground... Minus the one really fast, super chundery double track. I'll be honest, stage 6 was awful. Probably not for the reason you are guessing. About 500 yards after we dropped onto the double track from a fire road, Brittany Clawson, a friend of mine from Durango had crashed. HARD. I stopped immediately when I saw her and got off my bike to find that she was unconscious and bleeding. I started yelling as loud as I could that there was a racer down and that we needed a medic and I unstrapped her helmet and took her goggles off. Thank goodness Mal had stopped just below us and came running up to help. Mal stayed with Brittany and I took off to try and find someone with a radio. There were no course marshals--the only person I saw until I got to the bottom was a photographer who I told to call someone. It wasn't until I got to the finish line that a race official started running up to help. Brittany ended up with three skull fractures, a TBI, 2 pelvic fractures, and a broken sacrum. Hero of the year award goes to Miss Mal Burda for remaining calm and in control in an awful situation and staying with Brittany while they waited for medics and race officials. Send Brittany all your healing vibes; according to her Facebook she has finally been transferred from the hospital in Denver and is ready to "make PT her b*tch!"You go girlfriend.

My lungs, legs, and heart working as hard as they could on stage 6
Photo: Daniel Dunn

 After a long delay we finally raced stage 7, which was the gnarliest stage of the weekend--all of Trestle DH, Bear Arms and Space Ape. My nerves were totally wacked out and my heart was beating at its max heart rate in the start. As nervous and morbid as all us girls were feeling after Brittany's crash, it was the last thing we could do to fling ourselves down the mountain like she would. I made it down without crashing, but it was by no means fast. Oh well.

Trestle DH

Trestle DH, right after Anne ran Mal's cell phone over in the rock garden.

Ultimately the weekend did not go as I wanted it to. A crash and Brittany's unfortunate mishap took its toll, but in the end I could not be happier that I finished my first EWS race and finished it safely. I finished 23rd out of 27. I got to meet, ride, and make friends with some wicked fast and wicked awesome people. The weekend reinforced the fact that I need to continue working on jumps and braking technique, and I though I can make my way through gnarly technical sections, I need to work on my finesse (hmmmm...) and going faster through them. I suppose that will come with time and experience--something I am lacking at this point in time. This month marks the two year anniversary of when I started riding bikes, so I suppose I shouldn't be as frustrated as I am when I get destroyed by women who have been riding significantly longer than I have. As a matter of fact, I was one of the youngest in the pro women's field. There was another girl who was also 20, and a girl who was 19. Yay, 1994!

Final Results, EWS #5

It's off to Moab for the next and last BME (8/23) before the Ultra Enduro in Crested Butte in September (9/3-9/7). After Winter Park I headed to Crested Butte with my family to try and do some pre-riding for the Ultra Enduro. We arrived Monday to some serious rain, and it continued to rain through Tuesday afternoon and beyond. Unfortunately I did not get to do ANY riding at the Butt, but headed to Moab for the next 4 days and was met with lots of sunshine.

Rain, rain, go away, come again another day.

Crested Butte, beautiful as always

Scott and Kyle came and met me in Moab. We rode the whole enchilada twice and Hymasa and Capt. Ahab once. It was HOT so we rode really early. Last year's race was one stage from the top of Burro pass down to where the climb to Hazzard County starts, and then another stage from Hazzard County all the way to the bottom of Porcupine Rim. BRUTAL. I'm pretty sure this year the one day race will be more than two stages (fingers crossed). It's going to be an insanely difficult and physical race regardless.

Top of Capt. Ahab

Oh so cute.

It was a long but good 12 days of traveling and riding. My body needs a break and my bike has found multiple ways to ensure that I get that break. After Moab I had to replace my derailleur, all of my bearings need to be replaced, I have a massive crack in the seat stay of rear triangle, and at the beginning of my ride this morning I discovered that the damper in my fork is no more. Sweet. Good thing I know a good mechanic;) Time to log some miles on the road bike.

BME Durango

Stop no. 2 of the Big Mountain Enduro was this last weekend, June 28-29 and took place in beautiful Durango, Colorado. This round of racing had only 4 stages, but totaled just over 47 miles and 5,950 feet of climbing when you include the transition stages. Not forgetting my experiences last year at BME Durango, this stop was not for the light-hearted.

Saturday's two stages took place on the Colorado Trail, descending all the way from the top of Kennebec Pass to Junction Creek--from elevations of higher than 11,200 feet  down to 6,300 feet. Without a doubt, I think that these two stages are the most physically challenging of all the stages thus far and will be continuing forward through Keystone and Moab--Crested Butte will be a whole other ball game (check out this video, a preview of the 5 day Crested Butte Ultra Enduro). As a little warm up, riders got to climb and easy 3,000 feet and 6.5 miles up La Plata Canyon Road. Starting out above tree line, you are at high elevation and super exposed. The first 3-5 minutes are just ridiculously fast and scary off-camber single track carved into the mountain and running through a scree field. As soon as you drop into the trees you feel a little safer, but it's still tight and narrow, you're still going fast and there is plenty of stuff to grab the end of your bars or your pedals... Oh, and watch out for those water-bars! And oh shit, that's a really tight switchback! That's stage 1: Six miles and 25 minutes of pedaling your face off through epic, beautiful, rough, and real backcountry single track. To get to stage 2, there was another really easy transition--only 4 miles of steep and narrow! But whatever, because the top half of stage 2 is where it's at. The first 3.5 miles of stage 2 are more epic and high speed single track. Not nearly as exposed as stage 1 and a lot less steep, the top half of stage 2 reminds me a lot of descending the AZT from Snowbowl to 418. The last 4 miles of stage 2 though... holy crap. I didn't get to pre-ride that section of the Colorado Trail, so I had no idea what I was in for. I was told to be prepared for a couple of short, punchy climbs, and then around 3 minutes of gradual climbing. Well, part of that was correct--there were two short, punchy climbs, but I'm pretty sure it was more like 5-8 minutes of grinding uphill and across flats. When the trail finally took a turn for the better and went down, it was really fun, fast, pedal-y, with loose rocks and tight corners.

Sunday's stages took place at Horse Gulch. Stage 3 was the bottom (fun) part of Raider Ridge and Snake Charmer. This was the stage I was most looking forward to. Yes, it is a very physical trail, but not the same kind of physicality as stages 1, 2, and 4. It's technical, it's fast, it's loose, there are a couple of big drops and step downs, etc. Overall, it's just challenging. It requires you to look ahead and pick the right line, be confident with your decision, and execute, because there is really no room for mistakes and they will cost you a lot of time. Stage 4 was similar to stages 1 and 2 in the sense that it was just pedal-y and heavy on the cardio side. It was wayyyyyy shorter than stages 1 and 2 and a lot smoother with more flow. To me, it was the least exciting stage.

I started stage one out feeling pretty good... My legs were a little tired from the transition but adrenaline eventually worked it's magic. I had just got Krista in my sights about three-quarters of the way down when a little elf disguised as a rock grabbed my crank arm. It was only a momentary stop though. I finished stage 1 tired, but in 3rd. At the start of stage 2 I was feeling a lot stronger than I was at the top of stage 1 and it showed in my riding. The top half of stage 2 was, in my opinion, some of my best riding yet. I was fast, smooth, and clean, I pedaled hard, and made almost no mistakes knowing that it was where I could gain the most time before the climb. I climbed as hard and as fast as I could, but I knew I needed to gas it on the downhill if I wanted to finish well. Then, about three-quarters of the way down stage 2, I crashed and knocked myself out! Never have I ever had that happen before. I was going through a fast and loose section of the trail, trying to look as far ahead as possible since I had never ridden it, and wasn't paying enough attention to what was right in front of me. I'm pretty sure I hit a loose rock with my front wheel and it just knocked my front wheel sideways. I hit the ground with the one part of my head not covered by my helmet--my face. Or rather the bottom of my chin. I remember hitting the ground, closing my eyes, and waking back up looking at the dirt. After gathering my wits and wiping the blood off my face, I rode slowly down to the bottom. I couldn't have been out long, I didn't get caught by the next woman behind me until right after I crossed the line. At the end of the day I was feeling fine--no headache, no nausea, no concerning head damage, just a sore body. I stretched, rolled out my back and legs, took some IB-broken and went to bed.

At the top of stage 3 on Sunday I knew it was going to be rough. I was so tense, even when I was trying to relax, and I was super nervous. I don't typically get nervous, just anxious to race, but these were some serious nerves, and they had their impact on my riding. I managed to miss most of my lines in the first third of stage 3--not good on the clock--but pulled myself together for the rest of the stage. After finishing stage 3, I was a little disappointed so I went straight to the top of stage 4 by myself. It was a good choice. I had the whole transition stage to mentally get myself together without having to talk to anyone or think about anything besides being calm. I was the only at the top when I started stage 4 and all the pressure was gone. When I left the line the smile had returned back to my face, my legs were feeling good, and all of my muscles had relaxed. I rode stage 4 like I would ride it if I were chasing Scott: as fast as I could but with ease. It worked much better.

At the end of the weekend I managed to get away with a fifth place finish. Heather Irmiger blew everyone away, winning over second place by 4 minutes. Second through fifth place was separated by about a minute and a half. Cait Dmitriew took second, followed by Krista Park (welcome back!), Sarah Rawley, and myself. Congratulations ladies, you're awesome! Thanks, BME, for a great weekend of racing and the prize money! I will not be at BME Keystone, I will be at home in Flagstaff celebrating my Grandpa's 90th birthday! Next stop: Enduro Cup at the Canyons, July 19th (maybe) followed by Colorado Freeride Fest/EWS, July 24-27 (definitely)! Good luck everyone!

Full results can be found here: http://www.bigmountainenduro.com/results?mode=viewPoints&resultsyear=2014&seriesid=&func=event&eventid=9
Event coverage, photos, video: http://www.pinkbike.com/news/big-mountain-enduro-2-durango-colorado-2014.html
http://www.pinkbike.com/news/results-big-mountain-enduro-round-2-durango-2014.html
http://vimeo.com/99504703
http://www.mountainflyermagazine.com/view.php/photo-gallery-big-mountain-enduro-durango-2014.html