Bonelli Park Pro XCT Race Report

“Do you want to go play with me in the California circuit Kata?”  says, Beth Utley a couple months ago.   Bonelli Park Pro XCT was our destination, March 16^th. A US Cup Mountain Bike Race.  We packed up the car and the bikes and made the drive to San Dimas California to participate in our first pro xct world cup race.  It is here that there would be Olympians and Xterra World Champs to test our strength against.

Beth and I are used to racing the Arizona mountain bike circuit; I had previously been caught up racing endurance off road events and triathlons, but I joined the sprint circuit last year for a few races in the CAT1 (expert) division and this year I’m completing the entire AZ series with my newly acquired Pro status.  Beth and I toe the line together.   She is my friend, my competition, the one that is pushing me this season.  

She picks me up early Friday morning and we start our venture to the Bonelli race.  Do a pre-ride of the course and realize that we may be out of our leagues here.  It’s technical, off-chamber, no flat to this course, there is no room for error or room to breathe.  You must be “on” the entire time. It’s a 3.1mile x5 loop course totaling 3,500 ft of climbing, and the descents don’t let you rest either.  We are nearly in tears after the first pre-ride lap, but decide to go again after getting some food in us.  Let’s make sure we give ourselves every possible chance at maneuvering these tech sections correctly.   We retreat from the venue to the hotel feeling decent but not as optimistic going in.

Despite the tough climbs, the scenery was amazing.

Race day comes; the course marshal introduces the line of women.  I’m counting nearly 30 professional mountain bikers with excellent resumes, some take close to a minute to introduce.  When it comes to Beth and I… very quick introduction as my resume basically consist of being from “Phoenix, AZ!!!” (At least he said it with enthusiasm)  Oh well, to the line I roll.   I am 3 rows behind the front runners.   The countdown begins, and we are off.  These girls fly into super gear, I’ve never seen girls bike so fast, out of the gate they go and I’m dead last. Very last place out of the shoot I roll, yet by the first climb I start making some headway.   I pass 3 girls, one of them is Beth.  She is an amazing climber... so when Kata passes on the first climb, we know that she is having an off day.  I am used to Beth killing me out of the gate and me playing catch up the rest of the race.  The air is warm and the humidity is above 50%, I gasp at her with whatever breath I have “Okay Beth, I have to take the pass.” She knows and she understands. She is struggling with finding her climbing legs that didn’t want to show up to the race for her today.  We have these days, I’ve had these days as well, but today I want to climb and I climb well for myself.  The climbing on this course is insane, you grasp for an easier gear but you realize you’ve already granny geared yourself out. Your heart is through your throat and the water from the air is trapping your lungs.  You near every crest for a break, but you are immediately hit with a technical descend.  I still have calluses on the palms of my hands from the grip. My heart rate never lowers.  Through loop 1 I go, alone.  A few girls remain behind me, chasing me, but at least a minute or two back.  I don’t know exactly where Beth is at this point.

 

Loops 2 and 3 feel great. I’m getting the hang of this, my lungs are adapting and I understand what place I am holding against this field. My initial nerves are gone and now I just need to keep giving it my best, to leave nothing out there, for my own self.   Rolling through loop 4 and keep an ear out for the marshal to call 80% rule on me because I had no idea how far back I was from 1^st place.  80% rule is new to me but not to the pro xct circuit.  It means you get yanked off of course for being too far back.  If you are going to get looped, there is no reason for you to be out there.  In any event, no marshal voice yanking me from course, so I go. I go hard, I want this last loop. I’m really REALLY excited that I get to finish the entire race no matter how far back I was.  Right before the first climb I see Beth sitting with her bike along the side, cheering me on.  I look at her sadly and mouth “What happened?” but she yells, “Go finish it Kata, you look strong” I look back at the climb ahead, I’m ready, I’m taking it.  I find out later she was 80% pulled after her 3rd lap.

Finishing the last lap, smile on my face, my friend Lee-Ann Beatty from Arizona was yelling at me as I rolled through, “Kata, looks like you crashed! Awesome!”   I could only laugh… only from Lee-Ann would I get such enthusiasm from going over the bars in a race.  I’m 16^th out of 24 finishers and 18 minutes behind 1^st place on an hour and half course.  I’ll take it for now!  What a great experience at my first national level race.  I can’t wait to get even stronger.

Beth and I check out of venue not much long after and start the drive back to Phoenix, where the next day we will race again.  We will race the Fat Tire 40 put on by Swiss American Bikes.  This is an endurance event.  I’m anticipating it to be an “interesting” day racing 40 miles in the Arizona desert on a tired body and exhausted legs…. But let’s do it Beth says!   What’s the best part of the ride back?  I was introduced to heating up your previously packed food in a microwave at gas stations.  Who would have thought? With a girl like this in my life, we didn’t eat out once. We ate wholesome pre-packed homemade meals the entire time… I have a feeling that I’m going to be strong at the race tomorrow because of it.  We shall see! (Race report to follow).

Big thanks to Kevin Utley, Beth’s Husband, who drove us, supported us, and made us laugh through the weekend and big thanks to Marty Coplea from AZ Devo for his support on course.  I also have support from Adventure Bike Company, Trisports.com, and Shredly.  

Congrats to all the girls racing in Bonelli this weekend!

ITU's Xterra Alabama 2012

Alabama you say?!  Yes, Alabama…. And it is beautiful. The people are awesome, the trails are epic, and the air has this perfect balance of warmth and humidity.  Our team consisted of Rebecca Tschider, Nick Skaggs, Alan Abeyta and Myself.  Traveling with us was Rebecca’s husband Jeff as support. 

We arrived midweek to Birmingham and drove down to Pelham which is but 20 minutes.  Arriving to the site early allowed for a full pre ride of the mountain bike course on Thursday. Followed by a full loop of both the swim and run course on Friday. 

Off road venues are pretty chill, but I was unsure what to expect as this one was to host the ITU Championships in conjunction with the Xterra East Championships.  This meant that athletes from all over the world were traveling in.   Yet, the atmosphere didn’t disappoint and everybody seemed the familiar; looking for a burger/brat/bbq of some sort and cool beer to share stories over.  Side note: The dirtier we get and the more blood we show, the better stories we have to share!

The race starts “well after the sun comes up” which is unique for road triathlons but not Xterra’s. We must like our ZZZ’s.  Either that or we like the heat? Or perhaps we just like finishing races at beer thirty….  In any event, it was a beautiful day! A 2 loop course swim of 1500 meters total in a still lake nestled amongst large green trees.  Transition was close and compact; I was on my way into the epic mountain bike course within 30 minutes of start.  Alabama has been labeled as one of the most technical courses in the circuit.  I was looking forward to it.  It had everything that I am strong at.  Climbs, bank turns, and the technical down hills did not disappoint.   Most of it I rolled pretty smoothly, but one spot that the locals call “blood rock” was definitely a hurdle.  I had pre-road it just fine and knew a good line through it, but race day was different. I choked half way through, threw a foot out and half biked and half stumbled down the majority of it hoping that I wouldn’t face plant.  After clearing the section I yelled out the spectators “No blood for this girl!” which got a laugh. 

Coming out of swim I was mid pack, but rolling into transition 2, I was in 4^th place overall.  Like I said, the bike course is awesome and it felt good to feel the awesomeness.  So there I was running out with the top 3 girls to complete our 6.2 mile trail run to the finish.   I’m not as strong of a runner as those top girls but after a strong bike, I can usually hold on long enough.  My hips felt tight and after a couple miles, the hamstrings started to lock up.  I looked like I was trying to run with a stick shoved up my… well you know. ;)  Eventually loosening up, I didn’t run into any hamstring problems again until the last mile and a half where at that point I slowed down and just looked up into the sky to ask for 10 more minutes. 10 more minutes is all I needed to finish this race and 10 minutes I got.  I ran through the shoot at 6^th female overall, landed a 3^rd in my age division, and a trip to the Xterra World Championships in Hawaii.  This October I’ll be getting dirty on the island of Maui.
What did I learn?  After getting back to transition to pick up my bike, I noticed I hadn’t drunk my nutrition as planned.  Drink your nutrition! Maybe I wouldn’t have cramped and held onto the 4^th place.

I also learned that an entire world existed in Alabama that I was unaware of.  It’s a beautiful state and I was sent home with a staple of a sandwich that the locals enjoy.  Pineapple / Mayo Sandwich on cheap bread.  I told one of the locals, “I’ll try your sandwich if you try mine” (which was a peanut butter /jelly/banana).  She looked at me as if I was speaking in tongues, “banana?” yes, Banana!  “peanut butter?”  . YES, peanut butter! 

The pineapple and mayo sandwich does not disappoint… but it won’t be a pre race meal anytime soon!

Xterra World Championship 2012

The Xterra World Championships are set on the beautiful island of Maui each year in October.  Its an off-road race consisting of an ocean swim, a mountain bike, and a trail run in Kapalua.  It contains the most advanced and strongest off-road triathletes in the world.  I was fortunate enough this year to land my spot in Alabama at a regional championship race.  In Alabama I placed 6^th overall amateur and 3^rd in my age group.  (fast age group!!! Yikes!) 

Manuvering my way through the village and the course on the days leading up to the race, I knew it was going to be tough. The Xterra folks not only set a tough championship course for us, but the weather for the swim was a little iffy.  A tsunmai warning went into effect the night before, and we were unclear as to how this was going to affect us. Xterra sent out a warning but did not hint at any swim cancellation.  We knew as off-road champions… it was going to take a lot before they cancelled anything.  Sure enough, the shore break was over 6 feet tall and as a 2 loop course, we came in and out of it twice.  Otherwise, it was a beautiful swim!  We even had the security of 3 dolphins playing in the waters with us.  I had a terrific swim and jumped in and out of T2 without much time wasted.  The bike in Maui was hard. It was not hard because of any technical measures.  In fact, technically it maybe the most tame course in the circuit.  What made it hard is the type of dirt and the climbs. It had the most climbing I’ve ever experienced at an Xterra race, and the dirt was soft. It felt like your tires were actually fighting against you!  What was fun about the course is that it’s dirty. Oh it’s sooo dirty that you get dirt in places you didn’t know existed and you’re digging it out for weeks.   I ran into mechanical issues half way through the bike, which slowed me down a bit but all in all, my time came out to be a fairly average bike split.  The first 3 miles of the run course were uphill, but it’s a beautiful 3 miles. You run with heat and humidity in your lungs.  I swear the water from the swim still hadn’t left my skin at this point. I was drenched and dripping from head to toe. The sun was shining down on us and at the top of the hill we were rewarded with amazing views over looking the ocean as we jumped and ducked through trees and logs.  We battled boulders and rock drops, only to land back on the sandy beach to run in our quarter mile to the finish at the Ritz Carlton.

I was rewarded with a lei, it was beautiful and so lively, the orchids smelt like heaven.  Volutneers threw ice cold towels over our heads and took us to tents to replenish our fluids.  I awaited the finish line for our friend Rebecca who battled the same course and had an excellent time. We both got our leis and relaxed the rest of the night with a celebratory bottle of champange. 

I’m not only excited to say that I’m 9^th in the world for the 30-34 division of Xterra Women, but I’m happy and honored to have the fitness and health to experience such great events. I’ve traveled and seen so many great things this year, and to have the support of my friends and family… My Phoenix Tri Club Team members…. I truly feel blessed.  We never know what our future holds, but I will also be thankful for so much support I have received from everybody no matter what the end game may be.