Quick review of the KUAT NV Bike Rack

Love the rack and will give more detailed review later on but here are some pictures.

Boxed from UPS

Very organized inside

All Parts removed from Box

Love the sachet for misc parts

Lunch Break

Assembled

 

Installed on car

 

Installed on car

Install took about 30 minutes - 45 with lunch Break...

Xterra and SERC 4 in Ft Yargo GA this week

This week will be a nonstop action packed week. We leave Wednesday to go to Pelham, Al to pre-ride the ITU World Championship course for next month at Oak Mountain Park and then leave to Ft Yargo Thursday night and pre-ride the Xterra course on Friday. Then Saturday I conquer the Xterra and then Sunday do the SERC Southeast Championships mountain bike race and then drive back home afterwards. Lots of exercise and not a lot of sleep - Should be fun :)

Here we go:

Our trip started with a long and quite scenic 10 hour ride from Florida to Alabama.

Oh our state seems to be never ending but thanks to the project of Florida highway beautification with Florida native wildflowers I had something to keep my mind occupied. Beautiful patches of yellows and pink flowers did accompany us throughout almost whole state ride. I could not take it any longer and at some point had to get out of the car and snap few pictures and just enjoy this simple beauty.

After crossing to Alabama things got slow and boring and if not for Peanut shows and all different peanut galleries and stands on the way that reminded us of our squirrel pet “Peanut” we would go bananas.

But we got there and when we did we still had maybe one hour to spare before sunset.

We took off the bikes, stuffed luggage to the cabin and flew downhill to the transition area. Tons of bikers were heading down the road finishing their day in the park. Oh this forest is so beautiful and smells so sweet.  When flying down with speed that we are used to we spotted three cute deer feeding on the side of the road. After seeing the lake we decided to challenge ourselves and see who can get the fastest to the top of super steep climb. That was definitely a lung and leg buster and we felt like it was perfect ending of the long day and headed back to the cabin which by the way was sweet.

The next morning after great breakfast and nice cap of tea on the porch overlooking the lake we headed for the trails.

The ride started with a very fun trail full of switchbacks and ups and downs. I enjoyed this section a lot. Good times did continue until we got to some more serious continuous climbs on the jeep road. This was a battle against yourself and the mountain, where mountain wanted to win so badly definitely kicking our butts. But we did it and climbed to the top just to start flying down almost in instance. When finally we got to the famous blood rock section we knew instantly why this part become so known. It was rough. And after seeing few attempts of my husband almost flying over his handlebars I decided to let it be and leave it in peace.

Next trial after that was interesting and challenging and then we got to the spot when the fun begun again and we were flying down with super speed on the nice single track. It was very enjoyable. After crossing the road trial got steep again and winy and stayed quite consistent to the end of the ride… We finished with a good time and still some fuel in our legs.

After meeting few great rides on the trails and at the lake afterwards we decided to head now to Ft. Yargo Park in Georgia; our next stop.

Ride from Alabama went by pretty quick and Friday morning our priority was to get out to the park and preview the race course. This was another beautiful place to visit and quickly we were mesmerized by the overwhelmingly sweet smell of the whole forest… White blooming trees and honeysuckle vines were everywhere, cascading down every single tree or shrubbery we went by.




We did some easy swimming in the designated beach area in the park with our Floridian friends and races Duffy and her husband Mike. Water was pretty cold and murky and swimming in quite shallow water with a company made things way pleasant for me. Shortly we changed and went for something that supposed to be a “short” run/jog, well at least until Duffy lost track of where we actually supposed to run and instead of going for one mile or so we ended up doing four miles which was most of the race course with all the climbs that did accompany it. The power line climb was brutal on the run and even more brutal on the bike afterwards with totally now heavy and tired legs. We did whole 10.5 miles loop; half of each did Duffy family with us… They were flying on the track but we had not much left from previous day in Pelham and all those miles of climbing. Trails were sweet here however and quite fast and enjoyable, except those few burning climbs! On the end of the day my legs felt like logs, but the next morning I had xterra to do and repeat the course!

Saturday morning comes and I can barely move my legs, I’m so sore. I know I like the bike course, I think I somehow hopefully will be able to deal with the run, but like usual I’m not happy about the swim.

 

Water looks really murky on the race morning, cold, and buoys are set super far away. I’m still having fear of open water and am not happy about what I’m going have to do. Pretty much 3 times you need to cross middle of the terribly large brown unhappy lake with bunch of people next to you. Next to the start there are huge pine trees submerged and blocking our way to swim out. I stood there in disbelieve and tried to keep myself calm, to the point that I did turn off all emotions to don’t feel fear. Shortly after start the trees created huge bottle neck effect and all hundred and fifty races were stuck on each other not able to extend arms to swim. I swam as far as I could and stuck my head up, ocean of heads next to me in matter of inches apart, funny thing is that I said to myself I don’t care, I’m totally fine and I accept this situation until things cleared out. My swim was not smooth however and shortly after this incident I was short of breath, I looked back very quick and I saw how far in the lake I already was.



I thought “oh, so that’s it, I’m going to turn around now and just quit. Wonder how my husband would feel about it, wonder how I would feel about it after the fact?”. And few seconds of glancing over the shore went by and I turned my head and decided to continue, but it was not pretty. I was very tense and was trying really hard to relax, nothing worked. Water was still ugly and I looked around and didn’t see anyone as far as help crew that could possibly aid me if it was needed. I saw people all around me trying to swim and struggle also and this is when I realized I was on my own. It was up to me to make sure I am safe and I had to rely solely on myself. I struggled little more and was doing a backstroke and looking at the sky and having water splashing in my face and my whole body just so stressed and shivering with uneven breath. I flipped over and was so scared to put my face back to the water and I don’t know why. It took me long time to get courage and a lot of time passed and got wasted this way. Finally I did it and followed some guy on the front, I was so happy to swim freestyle again that didn’t notice that we wired all the way to the right toward the shore on the other side of the lake instead the buoy that was more to the left. I had to zigzag to it and be on the course again, crossed the middle of the lake to the second buoy that was somewhat where our yesterday’s beach practice swim was and that back to the transition through whole very long middle of the lake. I was thinking it will be a piece of cake since I did the worst part already but it wasn’t, I started getting stomach cramps while swimming and I was in the middle of nowhere and it was still far to go. This was once again one of the worst swims that I have ever done. But I finished it and was so happy to approach huge xterra banner on the muddy shore.

 

Transition went well and when I was leaving it I had race director David encouraging me saying “Go Beata, get them!”. I smiled and biked away. Finally I was in my zone.  I loved the course, flew up the mountains, yes tired, yes it was not easy but with every passing mile I enjoyed it more and more. There were plenty of super-fast descents where I felt like a downhiller! I had big smile on my tired face and enjoyed the moment to the point of reaching the Monster Mile trail where I hit one of the roller coaster up and downs and saddle just collided with my butt, tilting it upwards! It was bad, really bad and it happened maybe 4 miles into the ride. I just managed to pass group of riders and the moment it happened I had to let everyone pass me back. I stopped; hit the pointing skywards saddle on the tip and it would not move at all, I hit it again and again until I realized that most likely I would break my arm before this saddle would move. Passing rider that I went by before just hit my saddle hard while still biking by me but that moved it only by millimeters. I had to ride it; I hoped on the bike and continued. The trail still had a lot of techy climbs and twists in the mid and later on last section of the bike course and I got really frustrated and annoyed with not being able to sit on my saddle and lean forward on the climbs. It took me few miles of my mind drifting away with disappointment to have first person (a girl) to pass me. I looked at her biking away and realized that it was not what I wanted to do, I told myself no more excuses, I put myself together and got back finally once again to my racing zone that I did enjoy. I flew on the downs and arrived on in the transition in no time. Run was going to be tough no matter what; especially on the super tired legs. But legs kept turning and I managed to catch few racers here and there. Finally on the main power line climb, the same that we had to do on the bike I caught up with two guys that will company me to the finish like. We actually had good time, trying to gauge the distance and going back and forth depending if we trail was aiming upwards or downwards. The main thing that was stuck with me was the fact that there was not enough water and I had failed gel still left over from the bike. It didn’t open and when I attempted to rip it open one more time before reaching water station, it didn’t work once again. So I was racing for over an hour with no nutrition and I was feeling very fatigued and low on energy. Few more technical ups and downs before the finish and we were done. Race director once again announced my name and where I was from and we had opportunity to congratulate each other for great run that we had opportunity to do together.









2nd in my age group was the final result, which was quite satisfying. I knew however that it was not over since next day I had another race!











Results:

2nd Place in Age Group out of 6 - 11th overall woman out of 30 and 82 out of 166 men and women. Stay tuned for full write up.

Tomorrow Serc Race number 4 in Ft Yargo.



Supergirls !!!

5th place in SERC 4 Ft Yargo Sport Class. Wow those local women can climb.... We will see how they do when they come to my neck of the woods in the FSC Cup :)









 
Today morning I felt like incredible hawk and not in a good way. My legs felt so logs like, so tired. It was however the final day of my big adventure.
 

Starting Lineup of the Sport Women at SERC 4 in Ft Yargo GA

 

These Photos from Steve Hampton at

http://hhmultimediallc.zenfolio.com/

 

 

This race was simply packed by racers, an amazing amount of good riders that I never saw before. The start line was simply full. I remember the whistle going off and I stood up and hammered. Seconds later I looked around and by surprise I was in a lead. I liked what I saw. I kept pushing. There was flat double track and it seems like I just developed the tail of all ladies behind me that I was taking for a ride. It all lasted for a while, but as we know all good things adventurely do come to the end. And after few minutes of sprinting I had enough and was gasping for air. There come first grassy wide turn and I saw Duffy ( my Floridian buddy) attacking it from the inside. I thought fine, treat yourself I’m done. So I let her go. I managed to keep the second spot when getting to the single track. I had still all the northern girls behind me and I should suspect it meant that I was still too good to be true.  Just minutes later in the single track I had two impatient riders behind me. After a while I let one go… I was able however to still keep up and don’t let other racers to past. Actually I noticed I started doing really good and got even upset that I did the front girl pass. I was getting just ready to get her and pass and I got some speed and was about to open my mouth to announce the pass when…  she suddenly took off and kept on getting farther and further. All of it was happening on the begging of the lengthy and leg busting power line climb. There are no long climbs where I come from so I didn’t know how things were going to unfold; apparently not so good for me…


Just seconds later when I started gasping once more for oxygen and started feeling little fire going through my quads and I was still in the very bottom part of the climb; I looked to my left and saw something like a freight train of few just flying up ladies going by me effortlessly. I was stunned. I lost at least 3 or 4 spots in few little seconds.  So let’s say now I was in the 7th. Good deal. After the mean climb riding become fun finally. It was brutal at times but also very enjoyable when trail turned downward and you could go as fast as you wished.  With the passing miles I was getting my momentum and at some point I made my first pass. I thought it was great and later on I remember catching up to another girl on the technical uphill and reclaiming one more spot. I wondered if I should start my countdown and things were going to start just getting better and better for me. This didn’t happen and toward the end of the second lap on the slow twisty climbs I felt like that was more than enough for the day. I simply could not wait to and this ride I was so tired. I remember climbing up at the snail almost pace and using my last bits of energy to make to the top of every little bump, hump and turn that was there to roll over and upwards while on the side of the trail there was a young man just sitting on the chair and ridding magazine! I made small talk, managed to put out a little smile and biked away punished up by the day…



My Husband, with his camera bags, following me encouraging me to go faster

These Photos from Steve Hampton at

http://hhmultimediallc.zenfolio.com/

I crossed the finish line as a 5th rider, which was quite acceptable for my second sport race ever and considering all the biking and racing I have done in all four consecutive days…
It was a monstrous weekend and finally it was over!

Duffy and me afterwards

 

 

 

 

US Cup East SERC at Haile's Trail

First race as a Sport contender and I placed 3rd. Not bad at all...

Those trails were on my mind for the longest time. I dreamed for more than a year to get there and bike. This park is little special, since it is on the private land and opens only for two events per year. Last time one of the FSC series took place there and I wanted to go there so badly but my super-fast race bike was not ready yet. So I had to wait. I watched some videos and knew that the trails are located on the old rock quarry site and there are a lot of huge hills and elevation changes, something we are not used to in South Florida. I remember watching people pushing their bikes up the hill and thought to myself, it is probably not that bad; I will be able to do it. Well we got there; finally, after months of waiting, the dream destination with the unknown was waiting to be discovered.


Park is located slightly away from civilization but the moment we arrived there, the grassy parking lot was full of buzz and high energy. Tons of people were pre-riding the course already and ocean of tents set up by different teams and vendors were filling the space. There was a specialized demo day and a bounce house for the kiddos.We changed to our biking clothes, grabbed the bikes and headed off to the trails. My team mate Jen told me that looks like the course is set up the opposite way to what it was last time. Meaning that the toughest section that was left for last was first now. So the moment we started biking and made the first right turn still on the grass the path took us to the first climb. Climb changed to sudden technical downhill section than to the next climb which leads us to the next mountain with even more demanding terrain. We climbed to the top and started heading down when I stopped and just said “Is it a joke?”, “Are we really going to ride it in the race?” This section was not only challenging with very long and steep ascends but also with very technical with fast descents. After that we headed to the third hill with even more advanced climbs and descents. Everyone was huffing and puffing and this was only the start and just a pre-ride! Finally the trail opened up and we hit the brakes hard to take a look at the scenery.


Whooo, look at that! There was a huge giant hole in the ground with the most beautiful lake far far down and a cliff just feet away from us. This was the next section that we had to bike on the rugged ridge of the quarry. Sweet. The ride was good that day and very exhausting. Things got little better there on the trails later on but was still full of surprises. This course was very taxing and my knee that was still not completely recovered from last week’s triathlon told me about it very quickly. I was all in pain, it was sharp and very intense, and at some point I could not put any pressure on my foot at all.



I wondered now how I was going to handle the race. My knee was shot. But I rode because I knew I had to. I didn’t come here so far to just give up. I even did a second lap and while trying to clear one rocky section I jammed the hurting knee straight in the face of a rock! It didn’t make it any better as you can imagine. But the second lap for some reason was easier, when my mind and body were equally warmed up. All I needed to be done now is to wait for tomorrow, wait for the race. Conditions were little sandy on the course and it made it little sketchy on the tough parts. But in the evening we had nice little rain and this helped with firming up the trails.

 So far I was calm and had no worries besides the condition of my knee and the first section of the course. We arrived early, very early on the Race day and everything was covered in dew. I headed up quickly on the course to warm up and started with the rocky section first and then aimed for the climbs. It was not that bad today, trails were now hard pack but still slightly wet and mud was building up on the tires. We waited for the start. My knee was not great today and it was my biggest concern for the day. My husband told me that if I need to stop because of it, it is OK, as long as I do my best. Last second before rushing to the start line I decided to tape up my knee with huge ugly band aid. Who cares how it looks like as long as it is going to help me keep my knee together.

I stood there with the rest of the girls when I spotted Duffy on the other site of the start line. I went to her and we both admitted how stupid it was for us to feel so terribly nervous at this moment while we really should not have much expectations from this race, since it was first time when we were riding with the big boys and big girls in the Sport Class. We didn’t know how we would handle the distance and how good the competition was. I didn’t know if the girls will fly by on the big climbs or they will struggle on them. All of it was one big question mark, but still the butterflies in the stomach were flying around full speed. “10 second left”, the race director announced. Oh the pain and the pressure. Few more seconds and the gun goes off and we go!

I stood up and cranked the pedals, settled little later to a nice fast pace and could hear only one girl on the left of me. Oh, I was in the lead from the start, but the girl passed me and then two more when I noticed the big hills coming up and decided to buck off a little to make sure I have energy for all the climbs. I cleared the first climb section and headed to the next one, here Duffy showed up on my left and just went by, I said “Go Duffy” since she is such a strong rider. I didn’t want to interfere that day with anybody’s ride and just see what I can do for myself. Everything was brutal and I noticed that some girls didn’t handle the terrain any better than I did, but one of them decided to pass me quick and the moment it happened I was stuck behind her wheel on the edge of the cliff. This was the section that I know I can clear nicely but the girl in front was taking her time. I wanted to pass her back but there was no space to do so.




While riding behind her wheel in between sharp rocks there was a very small alternative line to take. I decided to take it and was about to pop my wheel up and climb the rock when the girl arrived there exactly at the same time that I did. I hit my brakes and let her go. Now I was regretting that I gave all of those girls so much credit and decided to go for it. Finally I passed her in the forest and was keeping a pretty good pace. There were some other monster hills coming up in the middle section of the course and I was about to reach one. I made it almost to the top and there was another girl right there in front of me. I made a quick pass and zoomed down the trail. Some flat tiring section took us to the top of another quarry, this time we had to ride all the way down the rocky path and tape in the middle was dividing me from people climbing back up. I could see there who was ahead and how far. The climb was grueling and seemed never ending and it took us to the forest again where more hills were waiting for us.



 I cleared most of them but the further you got and with each passing lap they were getting more and more difficult. When coming out from the second lap I had girl in front of me in the feeding zone, she was taking her time and it was a good opportunity to make a pass. With Clif gel hanging out of my mouth I crossed the finish of the second lap and headed off for the final lap. In the first climb section it is also where I was able to catch up with another girl on the second lap and pass her on the top of the hill. When making one of the steepest climbs there I had to scream and give all energy I had to make it to the top. And I did and there was a group of people standing there and cheering you on during your struggle. Third lap felt pretty grueling especially in the hills and the quarries. The second quarry decent that was ending with a big gulp sandy drop on the bottom was just a misery when you got to climb it back. I could not think to myself any longer how much more there is ahead that will require high effort, it was to painful to even think about it. So I just took one section at the time and focuses on each and single task at hand. It was right here and right now that mattered and nothing else. I made the climb and got back to the forest to get to more climbs. I made them, but there is one, some three stories high assent covered in sand and tree roots. I got off my bike and walked, I walked the most painful walk of my life. All I could see in my head was the world champion Conrad Stoltz and him walking the bike during the world championships in Hawaii. If he can do it and go through the pain and fatigue like that than I can to. My legs were burning and felt like noodles and my heart was pounding like crazy. The sun was already high up and was just burning my exhausted body. I was almost at the top. I told myself than a lot of people would love to just collapse here and rest, but I knew that no matter how bad it feels right now I will be able to recover when I reach the downhill section. So with a shivering body from the exhaustion I mounted the bike and headed down. It took some time but it felt better eventually. I started cranking up and going harder since I knew it was the last lap. It was not easy and the moment I could see and hear sounds of the finish line through the trees I was in a happy place. I jetted to the finished with my hand high up when race director announced my name and that I was finishing my first race in the sport class.

I got third today and Duffy second who was already there waiting on the finish line to congratulate me. She was 4 minutes faster than me, she did awesome, and we both did. There was only one more girl in the second spot that was really faster than us, because the first place girl was a competitor from the higher Expert class that dropped down to our category. If not for her I would have a spot on this beautiful podium that day. And it was a very beautiful one in a great forest setting. Would love to be there and I was so close. I think we did both better than we expected and will know for the next time to fight even harder and don’t give too much credit to our competition. There is a lot of hard work involved in mountain bike racing and a lot of it will have to be put on once more to get to the level when no matter who shows up on the starting like you can feel good that you can ride faster than them. And I need to thank my swollen tortured knee for making it happen for me today and allowing me to finish the race. Thank my husband for being there for me no matter what is being thrown at as. And for those awesome friends and teammates that make this whole experience so much more enjoyable and worthwhile. This is a dream come true to be a part of such an experience.

And of course it was all about the socks! They make us cool and they make us FAST!

Team USA Xterra

Well I just got accepted to be on the USA Team for the 2012 ITU Cross Triathlon World Championship on May 19, 2012 in Pelham, Alabama.

Xterra Miami 3-11-2012

2nd Place in age group

5th Place Overall in Women

41st Overall Everyone

Oleta River Park, my favorite place to ride and race….

Finally after two long years I am able to challenge myself on those trials once again, but this time on the Long Xterra Course. I am used to competing in the Sprint Triathlons here and I know I can handle those distances, but the long course is another story. I missed Xterra Miami 2010 because of my bike accident which resulted in two broken arms and this took me out for a year. The following 2011 race has been cancelled by the race director and there were really no other local races to compete in. So time went by and finally I got to the point when all this waiting and dreaming and wondering become a reality. I knew the park well and I thought I knew the course as well, but there were some additional sections that were not included in the sprint course in the past. So to the last second I or anyone else weren’t completely sure of the race layout for this year.

The preview day was hot, sunny and very busy. We rode the bike course and biked over to some sections of the run to see where the markings had been set up. Then there was a time left for a little swim and I was very unsure on what I was supposed to do since race became wetsuit legal. Water temperature was so warm (we practically had no winter this year in Florida) that I did not even consider this scenario in the past; therefore did not practice for it. My long sleeve wetsuit that I got for Xterra Canada in Whistler (with water temps in mid 50s) had not been touched once for half a year now. I gave it a try and noticed that my arms were getting very fatigued in it very quickly. I was not sure I can swim this way whole distance so I opted on not using the suit. 

And then the race morning comes…

 



Rude early awakening by darkness, rain downpours and change of time took place. Long drive from Palm Beach to Miami culminated with me and my husband sitting in the car in the dark parking lot in the park, while rain just decided to go for it and it was just pouring like crazy. After a while the rain settled and I went to the transition area to reserve a spot.

Hanged my bike and got body marked. More and more people started pouring in to the race site. Slowly light of the sunrise started taking over the darkness and it started feeling like the race was taking shape. It was cloudy, windy and I would say cold after splashing around in the water and waiting for the start; which was a brutally long wait. My whole body was shivering like a little leaf in the wind. I noticed more than half of the racers were geared up in the wetsuits; therefore they were not sharing my experience, they looked just fine. Oh I wished that time I did allow my husband to purchase me a sleeveless suit which would be just perfect for this race.

We took our positions on the edge of the water and the horn went off. That’s it, now there is no turning back. We all jumped to the water and started swimming out. It was a frenzy, all I could see was the choppy angry water and millions of white bubbles all around me. People were everywhere. You go just fine for some 30 seconds and then it hits you. You look around and you realize in what kind of bad scenario you are in. Water becomes deeper and darker and people are grabbing your legs by your calves and keep pushing them under water. I tried to kick and get them back to the top but someone keeps on pushing down on them and submerging them again and again. I got overwhelmed and the fear of this situation caused the lungs to contract. Now I can’t breathe properly and I’m surrounded by close to a hundred human bodies in the middle of the angry bay. I kind of stopped and looked back; it was a moment when I was not sure anymore if it was something I wanted to do. I looked back and in that instance got smacked hard into my face by someone else’s arm. I checked if I was fine and decided to give it another try. I swam and swam and swam, and no part of it was easy. My breathing and unsettled mind was not giving me any break. It was a rough one. Usually my swimming experience is not that bad. I started to see some big boulders in the water and was approaching the buoy for the turn and this gave me a tiny bit of confidence that I needed so badly. I started heading back and tried to keep straight, still didn’t feel confident at all but I just kept on going. Running out to the beach was a big relief but this lasted only for a few seconds and I just shook my head and run back into the water. It was a little better this time around but I had one swimmer, tall big guy in the full suit that decided to just keep swimming over and over again my little body. He kept zigzagging in and out and the moment I thought I’m finally fine he would just zigzag back and swim on top of me again. Each time I had to slow down, give him space and settle behind his feet. Than he bounces off and I’m gaining speed again…

 

This lasted almost forever. If I was braver I would have made a pass earlier on, but I was just trying to hold on. After the final turn on the second lap this situation kept repeating and I really got sick and tired of him and when he finally bounced to the right I accelerated as fast as I could and finally got away from this nightmare. You would think people would be more considerate of other swimmers, but unfortunately no and you need to rely on you and only you in situations like that. Now I could see the shore already and had just clear way to the transition. I ran out to my bike and was about to put my shoes on when I realized how dizzy I was, I could not stand up straight, especially on one leg and kept fighting to keep the balance and don’t fall. I got everything I needed and headed for the bike section. Finally I’m heading into the trails. I settled into a nice pace and was so happy to be on the bike when I realized my next challenge. My swim was so poor that I had tons of slower bikers ahead of me that I will need to keep on passing for most of my first lap. Right in the first trail there were whole groups of people biking, walking, doing whatever they were doing to pass the easy wooden boards that were laying on the ground. They just blocked the whole trail. After passing them there was a next group taking their time on the very rocky section that requires some skills to clear it properly. And then there were more and more people to pass. The girls that I was here to compete with were long gone and ahead of this mayhem. If not for the swim my ride would be a totally different story and I realized how important the swim part of the race was.

Trails were wet, very wet and all the roots and boards in the park were saturated with water. There were mud puddles here and there and this was a very new scenario for me on this course. I saw a girl ahead of me and was approaching her for a pass, she took one 90 degree turn very wide and I decided to go on the inside. Boom, out of nowhere my bike did slide out on the wet roots and with no warning just slammed me into the ground sideways. I lifted my head up and just watched the girl biking away. Shoot, I checked my left wrist and looked like it was fine. I got up as quick as I could and kept on going.

Since then I realized how dangerous the wet course was and decided to be more caution. I did catch up with her again and she had some slower rider in front that could not make a climb on the gumbo limbo trail. I yelled to him in advance to give her and I space to pass and clear the path, he moved and so she did. This was good and allowed me to pass them both safely. Rest of the lap went quite uneventful and I wondered where the girls that I race mountain bikes with were. They got a lot of distance on me and I was left alone on the trails. I headed back to lap two and had a nice smooth pace and I even thought to myself, wow I’m not that tired at all. My breathing was easy and I felt quite fresh. Did I fail to push hard enough on the most important part of the race? Maybe it was me not knowing the distance that well and making sure I will finish my first long course. Maybe it was that the swimming discouraged me from pushing harder and that my competition was already a long time ahead. Or maybe it was the course that was very challenging that day and people were crashing left and right because of it. On the second lap I crashed two more times, once not that terribly bad but the fall squished my knee big time and I got scared there for a second that it can affect my race. I felt a sharp pain but with time it seemed to be not so bad. Next time I washed out pretty badly while approaching Stairway to Heaven. The trail was covered with roots going in different directions across the whole path; there was not an inch that did not have roots in it. I got to this section going fast and in the high gear; I told myself oh this might not work for this situation. And bum! Bike did slide across the trail flying like a razor full speed while I was falling full speed to the right and landed on my side. I got up and noticed that nothing happened, not to me and not to my bike. And it was almost over; this was almost toward the end of the second lap. While speeding back to the transition area a volunteer told me to go straight, I’m like “Straight? Why?” Apparently there was one more additional section for the bike course that had to be done. I finished quickly the little rocky and twisty trail and headed back. Got to the transition and managed to get rid of my biking gear quite quickly, changed my shoes, grabbed the race number and headed for the run. 

The run was OK, not super-fast no super slow, quite strong but very tiring. I got to the first water crossing and saw a guy floating ahead of me below the older mangrove trees and roots. We were supposed to be able to walk it but water seemed to be quite deep and bottom was very soft and mushy and I made a good use of the roots of the trees dangling down and used them as my pulleys in the water. I got around the guy and headed out of the water. There was another young guy that I was going back and forth with throughout the whole run. We approached the next water crossing quickly and after a quick fix of my shoe lace I got in to the water. The crossing was long and deep and there was a rope designated for racers to use to pull ourselves across. I grabbed it little here and little there and tried to swim some. Wow, the swimming with shoes on is almost impossible and you are just stuck in the same spot for a long time. I managed across finally and headed to the famous Gilligan’s Island which is super fun to run and bike on with tons of man-made hills, staircases, bridges, switchbacks. Something however that seems like great thing in the training doesn’t have to be necessarily so awesome during the race. It was cool but very exhausting. I told myself “Beata you love this trail, make it happen” but I was getting more and more tired. However what I managed to do is to pass other people and leave the ones next to me way behind. I guess I was keeping good speed and when I did come out finally from this trail I was told that I was doing great on my run. Oh good, at least something is falling in place in this race for me I thought… 

The more flat the path was the more monotony was kicking in giving me more time to realize how tired I was. Didn’t like this part! I got in to the rocky mile section that is covered with 100 percent roots and rocks and just zoomed by it. I passed some more people on this trail and headed out across the grassy lot. There was Jen my team mate and my husband Pax cheering me on. I was tired at this point and sun was beaming on me at full strength right now. I grabbed water from the aid station and poured it over my head. I was almost there and was running along the intercostal on the open dirt path that lead me to the final grueling part of the run course that I did not have a chance to pre-run and honestly didn’t know it existed until the day before. It was a section straight from hell with big loose sandy, rocky climbs and descends, whining up and down and sucking out every bit of energy you have left in your body. I had a group of guys there with me just following my steps in this misery. I did not stop or slow down, I took one little step after another and told myself I will keep on going and don’t allow the exhaustion to get in. When we got out some guys passed me and jumped into the last water crossing, it felt good and refreshing and even though the water was quite shallow none of us missed the opportunity to just dive in and submerge our overheated bodies in this refreshing goodness.

All I got now is to head to the beach and have the famous beach shore run to the finish. I know from the races in the past how easy is to overdo this part since it seems so close to the finish, but actually it is still quite far. So I just kept a strong solid pace and kept on pushing without going to crazy. But I knew it was over and crossed the finish shortly after with a big smile. I was done, finally done with my first full Xterra! It was completely awesome to have it finally under by belt after all this time.

Funny part is that I wasted no time to check on anyone or anything. But instead of celebrating I made complete U turn and headed for the bay. I jumped into the calm now cheery wavy water and enjoyed my body being cooled down by it. I sat there for a while sipping on the water I was handed on the finish line. Life was good now and this moment of bliss and tranquility lasted for a while. I looked far ahead on the islands and the city line in the distance and was in such peace.

My husband found me finally and encouraged me to get out and get back with our friends.

We had great after race meal that seemed never ending. The race was run pretty well and shortly we all got nice printouts of our splits, I found out that I was 2^nd in my age group and 5^th overall. Four and five minutes behind my friends and competitors Duffy and Melissa. Jen like usual took the first and Michaela that also races bikes with us and is a runner took 2^nd. Overall with all this good and bad that happened on the course I did pretty well. All the girls that were faster than me today had more experience with triathlon racing and with long distance racing. So I’m happy. Could I have done better? Probably, but hopefully this is just the beginning of my race journey. Also it was great to find out that I had 3^rd best run for all the women, considering I’m not much of the runner. Those events will always surprise you one way or the other. Maybe this is the reason why we all keep coming back race after race and asking for more…

Melissa, Jen and Me after crossing Finish Line...