Seven Oaks - Boone, Iowa

They say ignorance is bliss. That was certainly the case for me when it comes to Boone. Although it is just a few minutes down the road from Ames, I’d never ridden at Seven Oaks before. I’d seen Cam race there twice last year, but I’d never turned a single pedal stroke there myself. Either I wasn’t paying attention to the course while I was watching Cam race or my mind blocked out what I was seeing; regardless, that place is tough.

Cam and I went over for a little course recon on Saturday. We’d had some rain, so we weren’t sure what the course conditions would be. Literally, just as we were pedaling our way onto the first few feet of the trail, I asked Cam if I was correct in assuming that the biggest challenge of riding/racing at Seven Oaks was the climbing. He quickly corrected me – it is a very technical course. And he spent the next 75 minutes showing me example after example after example of the technical nature of this ski hill.

At some point about halfway through the single lap that we did together, I decided I wasn’t having fun anymore! The course was still a little slick from the rain, I had so much mud caked in my shoes and pedals that I could barely get clipped in and out, and I was spending a bunch of time off the bike pushing it around some of the trickier switchbacks. I honestly had a fleeting thought about the Hickory Grove triathlon being held the next day and if I thought I could still enter and compete there rather than at the Boone race! Thankfully, the last quarter of the lap gets a little bit easier, so I banished the triathlon thought from my head, and took a needed little rest in the back of the truck while Cam did another lap at his pace… Cam said the course had dried out quite a bit between his first and second laps, and he thought it would be good to go for the race on Sunday.

Race day was perfect – like 70-75 degrees, a light breeze, and not a single cloud in the sky – that kind of good! There was a good turnout of people, especially with three females in the beginner class, three in Cat 2, and one in Cat 1. Keely and I rode the beginner loop for a warm-up, then soon it was go time.

The experts took off at noon, with the rest of us 5 minutes later. Generally, we women start off in the back and have to pass a bunch of dudes shortly after entering the singletrack. I wanted to avoid doing any more passing than necessary, because there are very limited locations where a safe pass can be made (at least with my skill level) at Boone. I pushed it a little at the start and was thankful that my legs were able to respond. That would never happen at a bigger race…

Still, as soon as we all hit the singletrack, the pace slowed considerably and there was a lot of walking to be had by all. I stayed on my bike more than I thought I might, and was able to get around a couple more dudes in the process. I had managed to get in front of Keely and Kristin at the start and hoped to keep a couple of guys between us as much as possible.

The initial climb is challenging, but then it just gets worse from there. However, I found myself really enjoying it much more than the day before. For one, the course was much drier, and the parts I couldn’t ride were far less slick than on Saturday. Secondly, the pace was obviously higher during the race, so the momentum created by the speed eased some of the climbs. I was still working my butt off, but I was having a lot more fun doing it! I enjoyed riding with some of the guys during the first lap. We all seemed to struggle with the same technical areas, but somehow I managed to gain a little ground on most of them for the remainder of the lap. There were no major mishaps on lap one, but I did find myself laughing out loud a couple of times at some silly mistakes or total catastrophes that were narrowly avoided. Near the end of the lap, I could feel my back starting to revolt against the strain of the technical nature of the course.

Lap two started well, but not more than about five minutes in, I took a crazy line down a little drop, hit something at the bottom, and before I knew it I was on the ground and the bike was piled up underneath me. I knew there was one guy behind me who could very easily run me right over if he didn’t see me until too late. I grabbed the bike, did a really fast glance to make sure nothing was totally mangled, then remounted in a hurry. My body was fine, but not too long after, I heard the front brakes start rubbing. I stopped to see what was up with the brakes, and right then Cam came around (on his third lap!), so it was a perfect opportunity for him to pass me without putting myself into a tree. He asked me if I was in the lead, which seemed strange to me, because I knew that he would have had to pass Kristin and Keely to get up to me! I kind of pondered that in my head as I finished the lap.

I got the brakes to work without rubbing, and soldiered on to the finish. The only major mistake was stopping to let one of the leaders by me, but I mistook the Cat 2 guy behind me for the leader. Basically, I pulled over and let someone by who really should have fought me for the spot. It wasn’t Keely or Kristin, so it doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things, but I need to not make that mistake again!

After the race, Cam asked if I had won. I thought I had, but he said he never saw Keely. I wondered if she had to drop out or if something had happened to her. I saw her after we did a cool-down, and she said thought she was gaining on me at the end of the first lap, but then she’d taken a wrong turn (onto the beginner loop) at the start of lap two. It took her a while to figure out what had happened and how to get back to where she needed to be. That’s a bummer – it would have been fun to battle it out with her on the second lap!

Looking back, it really was a fun race. Painful, but fun. The only carnage from the race was a whole bunch of bruising on my legs, a little scrape on my elbow and one broken piece on the front brakes of the bike. The day was picture-perfect and we ended it well with a great post-race meal at Hickory Park!