“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 16th. 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.
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| 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 1st
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 16th out of 24
finishers and 18 minutes behind 1st 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!
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