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| super relax team kit |
Tuesday before 4th July weekend I received a text while I was sitting at my desk trying to focus on an abstract land use staff report, it said; “Hey, wanna do a super relax co-ed relay team for six hours on Mt Hood on July 3rd? I don’t want to do this solo and all my riding buddies are sick of me. It’s about five 35 minute laps each, 7 miles and about 400 ft elevation per lap.” Curious, I didn’t recognize the number the text came from. It can only be one of two people. I asked a few more questions hoping to figure out who it is, no luck. In a moment of I should try new things out of my comfort zone, I reply “yes”. I learn that it is my friend’s husband that asked me to race with him, he has been racing mountain bikes all season and is in great shape. I on the other hand just bought a mountain bike Memorial day weekend and similar to my skis, it rides better than I do. My old mountain bike was heavy and most serious riders that saw it commented that it wasn’t really a mountain bike. This was going to be a big challenge for me – but I want to do new things and there is nothing like a race to make me face and conquer my fear.
This same thinking got me into short track racing earlier this year – 25-30 minutes of sprinting around obstacles and hills, I am not fast or even a very aggressive rider but it a lot of fun and different from other sports I have done. With my recent experience of short track racing I thought this mt bike relay would be a fun challenge.
Saturday before the race Jeff and I head up to Ski Bowl to pre-ride the course, my idea, I wanted to know what I got myself into and to be prepared. That was a mistake! I was so nervous that everything looked hard and more technical than what I was prepared for. That night I didn’t sleep, I was so nervous, I didn’t want to let Jeff down and I didn’t want to kill myself.
Early Sunday morning Jeff picked me up and we head off to the race. I am trying to make casual conversation on the drive and not reveal how scared and nervous I was. When we get there we set up our staging area, the weather is perfect sunny, not too hot. We agree Jeff will do the first lap. The race starts and I sit anxiously waiting for Jeff. What feels like a long time, but in reality is not very long, I see him coming down the hill, I line up to be tagged. I was so nervous, I just wanted to get the first lap done with, actually I really just wanted to be moving and not be sitting there waiting and over thinking everything. Jeff tagged me and I was riding. I conquered my fear right at the beginning of the first lap, the first and longest down hill I had been so nervous about came quickly. I picked a line that other bikers had established and followed it all the way down the hill. After that first decent I was fine, very focused, I wasn’t fast but I did ride almost everything. Each lap I felt more confident and slightly faster, by the fourth and my final lap I was starting to have fun.
We didn’t win – but we didn’t come in last either, 10 out of 20 for coed’s. Thanks Jeff for having the confidence in me to ask me to ride that race with you, I would not have chosen that on my own volition.
Keep up trying new things. That way I can continue to live vicariously through you!
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