They say that some days you’ve got it and some days you don’t. Mother’s Day at Ingawanis I definitely didn’t have it! I’d come off a great week of training, and I was feeling strong and ready to take on the world! In fact, we were slated to race on Saturday in Nebraska and Sunday at Ingawanis, but Saturday’s race at Platte River State Park got rained out at the eleventh hour. Cam and I opted to stay home on Saturday instead of heading south to Missouri for a race. I felt pretty decently rested, though my back had been barking at me the latter part of the week, but I do recall noticing that something just felt a little off on the car ride to Waverly.
I vividly remember racing at Ingawanis last year. It was a fun course with some good challenges, but nothing that was too killer. However, I heard that this year we’d be racing on the other half of the course – part that we didn’t see last year – so basically this was to be a totally unfamiliar course to me.
We arrived a couple hours before the race started and chatted with Cam’s mom who drove up to spend her Mother’s Day on the dirt! We suited up and headed out for a recon lap. I like it when Cam rides the recon with me, especially when it is totally unfamiliar territory. The first half of the 6-mile course is fast and fun. The second half kicks up the challenge and technical nature a couple notches.
Rock gardens have been a sticking point for me since my start in the sport. Even if it’s not that technical of a section, I still look and can’t see anything but the sharp, pointy shards of stone thirsty for my blood! But, after navigating long stretches of rocks at the Bonebender 3/6 with no mishaps, I rode into this section feeling better about my chances of survival. I rode and walked the first of two tricky sections during the recon, then hopped back on my bike and tried to catch back up to Cam who had by now ridden through the second section and on up the trail a bit. He heard the loud crunch as I t-boned a tree and launched myself over the bars. Pain and adrenaline spiked while I stood up, assessed the damage (to me, then the bike), and tried to calm down. By then Cam was back to check things over (me, then the bike…). It took me a while to get moving again, and I was pretty gun-shy from that point on.
It’d been quite a while since I’d crashed on the bike, and I was hoping to have my streak last much longer than it did! We finished the recon lap and headed back for the start. I still wasn’t totally feeling the love, but was happy to see the sun shining and to see so many women show up to race! We had six women in the Cat 1 race and probably five or so in the Cat 2! I knew Robin Williams and Brittany McConnell were gonna put the hurt on me, and Sandy Kessler had made the drive as well. Keely Shannon has been riding very well, and I figured she would be my main competition for the day, but you can never count out Kristin Reece, who finished less than a minute behind me at Waverly last year! So fun to have a big group like that!
We went off with the Cat 1 guys and I was left behind in everyone’s dust. We were all in for four long laps, so I figured I’d better not blow my wad on the chase up the hill! I concentrated on keeping Sandy and Keely in my sights and raced at a speed that I felt was on the high end, yet comfortable enough that I wasn’t gonna do another Superman. I opted to walk the rock garden, since I still was not back to 100% and there wasn’t anyone around me at that point. I still kept Keely in my sights and gained on her until we hit the big nearly washed out climb. I don’t think she knew it was coming ‘cause she was unclipped right at the base. I knew it was coming, geared down, and motored up and away. I didn’t see or hear any more from her the rest of the lap or into the second lap. I was starting to feel a little better and perhaps a little more (prematurely) confident. Early in lap two I caught up with Sandy who was moving very slowly. She pulled over and let me and another couple guys past. I asked her if she was okay, as I knew something had to be going on for her to be so slow. She said she was okay, so I kept moving. Two or three minutes later, she rides up next to me and we try to hang with the guys who just passed us.
Those three slowly gapped me, and I just did my own thing for a bit. I heard two more dudes come up behind me and through a slight lapse of judgment on a sorta tricky downhill, I found myself rocketing over the bars AGAIN! I didn’t get run over, and the guys made sure I was okay before they took off.
Crap. Again I assessed the damage (me, then the bike). This time, I was still fine, but the bike didn’t fare as well… The front was flat. In my dazed state at the start of the race, I’d neglected to grab any CO2, so my day was done. I was disappointed, but not totally heart-broken. I kinda felt like it was God’s way of telling me I was not meant to go fast today and I’d better just hike out of the woods and call it a day. I was reminded of a story I’ve heard a couple different times:
This is the story of the man named Ed who lived in the delta of Mississippi. One
day a great flood descended on his town and the torrents rushed down his street.
Ed prayed to God, confident that “the Lord would provide,” and he would be
saved. The water rose two feet, and a neighbor in a four-wheeler drove by and
called to Ed, “Come on, get in. I’m going to higher ground.” But Ed replied, “No
thanks, I’ll be fine. The Lord will provide.” The neighbor drove on and the water kept rising. Now at five feet, Ed was at
an upstairs window when a sheriff in a motor boat came by and called out, “Climb
down. I’m going to the rescue shelter.” But Ed answered, “No thanks. I’m fine.
The Lord will provide.”
The sheriff floated away and the water kept rising. Ed scooted up onto the
roof and the National Guard came over in a helicopter and shouted down,
“Sir, grab onto the rope. We’re evacuating the city.” But Ed called back,
“No thanks. It’s okay. The Lord will provide.” The guardsman tried again,
but when Ed didn’t climb on, the helicopter drifted away and the water kept
rising.
Inside Heaven’s gate, God was shocked to see Ed. “What are you doing here?”
“You tell me! I prayed. I said over and over, the Lord will watch over me. The Lord will provide.”
“Well, beloved Doofus, I heard you! I sent your neighbor in the Jeep,
I sent the sheriff in a speed boat. I sent the National Guard for goodness sake!
If you were waiting for wings to fly away – well, I guess you got them now!
Instead of wishing I could get back on my bike and just assume that God would make all my poor handling skills go away, I avoided being like Ed and just started walking. I watched Keely go by and a bunch of other dudes. I probably walked 150-200 yards before Jim Logan rode up. He wasn’t moving really quickly either and asked if I was okay. He generously offered to attempt to refill my tire, and that might have worked if we’d had a little more CO2 to work with, but I had none and one of his two was dead. I was still okay with walking, but Jim offered his front wheel to me! He figured his day was almost over anyways and I was still out there “racing” for money, so we made the switcheroo, and I was off again!
This marks the second time in my racing career that someone has saved my butt from a very certain DNF by literally giving me a wheel to race on. The first was at Ironman Coeur d’Alene, where a resident watching the race from his front yard just ran into his garage, produced a wheel, and sent me on my way! I think Jim’s willingness to help even trumps the guy in Idaho, since Jim now had to hoof it out of the woods pushing a mountain bike. I intend to repay Jim’s generosity the same way I repaid the guy at IMCDA – with a box of F(l)at Tire!
I was so far back at this point (and just thankful to be riding) that I just cruised through two more laps, not killing myself and taking it very easy through the technical sections. I was tired, bruised, dirty, and cranky when I finally finished. The rest of the Cat 1 field was in street clothes and enjoying the day when I finally finished. I was out of the money but also didn’t DNF. I came away with a shirt and some sunglasses. Not bad for a less than perfect day in the dirt. Maria was the big winner – it was Mother’s Day, her birthday, and she won a new Surly frame set! Oh, and Cam won his race, too!
Next up is, um, well, hmmm… We aren’t sure yet! Stay tuned!
We took off, and with my usual slow start and skittish descending abilities, I was off the back in a hurry. Over the course of the race, I made full use of my entire gear range, and just tried to pick off a couple of weary riders. Lisa lapped me once, then twice, and again mercifully with two laps to go (which meant it was only one lap to go for me!). The woman is crazy strong and crazy fast on a bike, and it is so good to see her back at it! She was the triathlete to beat in the Midwest, back when I first got into the sport. She took a little time off to start a family, but Maria von Ruhtenberg persuaded her to join up with the chicks of Punk Rock Cycling, and we’re all glad to have her back. Well, maybe not everyone who gets their butt kicked by her… but I’m more of a realist, and I think it’s awesome to watch her tear apart a field of great riders! 
