A race in review….

In our typical fashion, Jeff and I arrived to the registration table 30 minutes before they closed. I was so relieved we had made it on time. The plan is always to get somewhere early, but it seems that the farther we travel, the greater the chances for a delay. (Don’t worry mom, this is something we’ll have in mind for the entire TransRockies travel experience.)

“OH MY GOSH!!!” the lady a the registration table exclaimed. “You’re the two racing on a tandem! We’ve been waiting all afternoon to meet you two.”

Oh my gosh was right! What was she talking about?! “No,” I told her, “I had registered us as a two person team (each riding our own bike), but definitely NOT as a tandem.” The last thing Jeff and I would want to do is sit for 70 miles on the same bike. (Never mind the fact that we don’t even OWN a tandem bike.) She was so excited, poor lady; I hated to burst her bubble.

I had personally taken on the task of registering us on-line. Looking back, in that moment while we stood confused at the registration table, I remembered the process being the most complicated registration that I had ever experienced. (The light bulb went on.) Did I want to register one person or two? Well, two, of course. But when the time came for me to type in Jeff’s information… they didn’t even ask for it. I thought that was odd.

Woopsie. Five hours of driving, including a 30 minute ferry ride across Lake Champlain, and I had messed up the darn registration. Fortunately, the registration ladies were amazing. They took us from tandem status and gave each of us our own bib number. (Maybe it helped that I shared the same birthday with one of them!)

Regardless of our individual race status, Jeff and I raced together. More often than not, we ride together when we train. There may be a small gap from time to time, but we generally stay together. (And I try as hard as I can to keep up with Jeff so I don’t get lost.)

This was to be our training race most similar to TransRockies. With our matching Fresh Bikes kits, and rested legs, we took off on the 108 km course (and prepared for the 10,000 ft of elevation that we’d be climbing throughout the day). This would be a bit more extreme than a typical TransRockies day, but it would certainly give us a sense of what the climbing will look like in BC.

This is serious business!

The course was fast. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a lot of single track; it was mostly double track, dirt roads. The race started and ended at Whiteface Mountain and took us exploring around jeep roads near Jay and Saddleback Mountains before the final climb up the front side of Whiteface. (As you know, I love climbing!) This portion of the race was the highlight for me- a make or break moment. Jeff and I started the final accent in a good space. I had just revived from my “oh my God I have no water left, I’m gonna die” moment… and things were good. We peddled up most of the climb, passing a lot of people who were , at that point, walking uphill. Peddling was certainly faster, but challenging. The climb was loose gravel, and it was steep.

Just before the summit I passed the 5th place woman. We battled back and forth from this point, down the descent to the finish. I passed her on the climb, she passed me on the crest of the peak, and then entered the final single track portion just ahead of me. With Jeff in tow, egging me on to make the big move, we waited for an opportunity to jump ahead. With her one wide turn, Jeff and I took the lead by bypassing the go-around and taking the more technical jump over a large rock and back onto the trail. We pushed, giving everything we had left in the final 1/4 mile of the race. Crossing the finish line together was a great moment… as it always is.

Jeff might argue how great the race was or how good he felt about his riding that day. But I felt fantastic, and being there, I know that Jeff had a solid day too. With such a thrilling sprint to the finish, I felt pretty darn good about a podium position (and a 5th place overall result in such a strong women’s category). (Plus the good beer and great company after the race was over added to such an amazing day.)

When the first place woman in our catagory turned down the entry into Leadville, and they looked at me and asked, “Meghan, do you want to go to Leadville?” My hesitant response was, “… no thanks, not this year.”  Leadville would be awesome but I have other prioritize.

As we all know… this year is all about TransRockies!

Fueling up before heading back out onto the course

Jeff and I raced together for the first time at Great Glen, an outdoor center at the base of Mount Washington, NH, in August 2010.

That year I had hoped to race either at Great Glen, or across the street at The Wildman (a run, bike, and hike up and around Wildcat ski area).

As a sponsor of Great Glen, Jeff knew he’d be racing. The only debate this season for him was, “do I race the 12-hours solo, or find a teammate for the 24-hour race.”

As chance would have it, we met at the Vermont Mountain Bike Festival a month before the race and agreed to be teammates. A perfect combination timing and chance.

Jeff and I didn’t really know each other at this point but we raced well as a team, placing 1st in the co-ed duo category.

A quick exchange of the team baton before jumping back on the bike

Our team name from this year has stuck with us for every other duo race that we’ve ridden since this time. It only seems appropriate that we’d continue with that name for TransRockies.

Keep an eye our for us; we’re the two cyclists on Cannondale bikes, riding under the name:

C-Dale Bike