Dragon's Tale

This past weekend I went to New Castle, Virginia to participate in Shenandoah Mountain Touring's Dragon's Tale mountain bike race. This year, the ~40 mile course started with an eight mile road ride to the start and a few miles of dirt roads before the trail climb.  The switchback packed single track climb is done twice, the first time turning onto a short ridge section and coming down a fast descent to an aid station. The second time up the climb, you turn a different way to begin a long ridge ride. The gnarly 10 mile ridge is super technical with steep climbing and descending throughout, and the descent off the ridge takes you to the final aid station. Two more punchy climbs and a few more fun downhills spit you out on a mile long road ride to the finish. It might sound easy now, but this course is one of the toughest around! Last year was my first time racing Dragon's Tale, and it was the longest and hardest mountain bike ride I had ever done. I finished last year with a time of 6:42:24, and suffered the majority of those hours! This year, I knew to pace myself, eat a lot of food, drink plenty of water, and more of what to expect. For example, I knew that when you could see ten more bumps in the distance on the ridge, you had to ride over all of those bumps... The treacherous hike-a-bikes were much less menacing this year though, and I knew that the switchbacks come up faster than you think on the downhills. My goals for this year were to finish in around five hours, and to make it in before the awards ceremony - I reached both. My parents both came to help out and heckle, and their support was extremely helpful - how else would I know to not associate with the JV Squad or have eaten so many boiled potatoes? Dad made appearances in all the places I wanted to walk my bike... and Mom made sure I was eating/drinking enough at the aid stations.

After a full day of slum and fun, the last climb brought on painful leg cramps and dreams of hamburgers, and I finished fourth among the women after one-leg pedaling up the last two pavement climbs. I'm proud of both Kelly Paduch for completing her first big mountain bike race (finishing sixth!) and my boyfriend Erik Jensen for placing fifth overall. I can't wait to do this race again, and I know the experience will only get better. Thanks Chris Scott/Shenandoah Mountain Touring for another awesome ride!