Harris-Roubaix report by Julie K.
This weekend in an homage to everyone doing battenkill I head up northwest to Harrisonburg Virginia to race the Harris-roubaix. The course was a 15 mile loop of gravel descents and short punchy climbs. 100 plus people lined up for the roubaix, some to chill and some to race. I was at the front of the race to start. On the first section of gravel my bars dropped!! Agh!! Rather than stopping I managed to grab my multi tool out of my jersey pocket and adjust while still racing. Unfortunately, I got dropped from the lead group while adjusting. The rest of the race I found myself catching and dropping riders from the lead group. It was such an awesome course and the people racing and putting on were so nice. I will definitely be racing it next year. I wound up finishing first female which was awesome. After the race the Harrisonburg contingent supplied all the racers with sweets, snacks and beverages. Bonus for sure.
Camp Hilbert MTB Race report by Ava S.
Like many mountain bike races the start was a long, large graveled fire-road. With temperatures NOT in the 70's like predicted, the start of the race was in the 50s and the unpredicted rain that hit the evening before left roots extremely slick. Sprinting from the start I was 2nd into the singletrack and with a short straightaway, I took the opportunity to pass the 1st place girl. The course itself had few places to settle into a really solid rhythm - by the time you could it was time to climb again or there was a long section of roots to take away your momentum - so it was fairly high intensity the whole time. MTB races are fairly similar to time trials in that you don't know where the other people are on the course. Stress levels are high as well, constantly trying to keep an eye out for the person behind you, figuring out the quickest and easiest way to make a pass on the tight singletrack, and of course trying to focus on not slipping on the slick, off-camber roots and into the ravine that the trail ran beside for a couple miles. Starting before us were the Enduro races, Sport men, and Juniors, leaving us to pick our way through the Enduro riders that were in it for the long haul and pacing themselves, and the Juniors who weren't as quick with the bike handling. Lots of reasons to find the easiest line to pass on. Anyway, after 12 miles and 01:07:34 later, I crossed the line in 1st place with a minute between myself and 2nd place. Unlike road, mountain bikers don't have to Cat up with the local races...just the National level races. Guess I'll be racing Expert women for the next one!
Tour of the Battenkill report by Erin S.
The race started with 60+ women on the line. It was generally slow but the hills were punchy enough that the field started splintering in the first 15 miles. There was still a fairly large group together by the last dirt climbing section, somewhere around 35-40 women. Then the field shattered and the main group that finished was somewhere around 29 people. A few people tried to break away but nothing stuck. Mostly people were conserving themselves for the end since the weather was fairly warm and the group was overall very strong. Amanda put in attack near the end but unfortunately it didn't stick. Patty finished 13th and Amanda 17th in the main field and I finished 31st, 2 minutes back after falling off in the last 10K.
This weekend you will find us at Roanoke Twilight and Steel City Showdown, both are new races this year with great women's events planned.
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