Mike and I packed up our camping gear, riding gear and the dog and made our way up to Plattekill mountain to spend a three-day weekend camping with friends and to race the second (or third?) Gravity East series DH.
I had two goals for this race. If it was dry, rail all of my lines. If it was wet, just stay upright. Since I’m still learning the “who’s who” of the local East Coast scene, I wasn’t quite sure of where I stood or should expect to place but to say there’s some talent out here is a gross understatement. These gals straight rip. Then I found out Dawn Bourque was in attendance.
Dawn has been a force in the racing scene ever since I’ve been racing. I remember seeing her on the podium at Nationals, her name plastered all over the top ten of result lists along with names like Sher, Giove, Streb, Lawyer and Donovan, all of whom are women that I looked up to for their racing and riding ability. So, when I finally saw her to introduce myself and she said she remembered riding with me a number of US Opens ago, to say the least I was really flattered and maybe just a little star struck.
Thankfully (and amazingly) the course was bone-dry. After taking a practice run and performing an Olympic-worthy swan dive off of the middle rock drop I had a new goal; Hit my lines, stay within ten seconds of Dawn and since she was on course directly after me, either don’t let her catch me or get the hell out of her way FAST if she does. Since the course was short, times would be mid to high three minutes for the women and sub to low three for the men. Ten seconds on a course like that is still light-years off, but a goal none-the-less.
The race started and off we went in forty-five second increments. I charged and tried to stay off the brakes where I could. Platty’s courses are no joke. The course was so steep that by 1:30 into the run my arms and legs were pumping up. By the end of the course, my Avid brakes had heated up and expanded from holding them in the lower section. I LOVE my Avids, which are always so reliable and modulate so well I hardly ever get arm-pump, so I can’t imagine how the other racers using a different brand of brake even hung on.
bottom of the course
I came through the final “Maxxis” jump and tried to pedal the twenty feet across the finish line only to find…SURPRISE! No chain. I have found that the common denominator in my “chain problem saga” is some type of timing device. Whenever my run is timed, my chain gives up the ghost. (Plan “D” is now in the works to rectify said chain issue for the Windham national) Thankfully the chain issue had no effect on my results other than maybe being able to knock off a tenth of a second.
I came through with a clean run and I was eleven seconds off Dawn and 1 second off my goal. She’s still amazing and I’m still learning.
My goals are personal. I don’t intend to “beat someone” in a race, but to improve my ability and speed. I have found that I’m learning more this year by having fun riding and racing with really talented people and by paying attention than from trying to be competitive with them as racers. Every race and every ride this year that I’ve had the opportunity to do has been a positive experience, mostly because the only expectation I have of myself is to enjoy the track and improve my own riding each time. Overall I expect to be a stronger faster rider at the end of the season, but then again, better + faster + stronger = more fun.
Just for fun, watch this: http://youtube.com/watch?v=WOYtWXlcTlk and watch me demonstrate how NOT to ride Plattekill.
