Norba National #4
Snowshoe, West Virginia
June 12-13, 2004

Ever since I injured my shoulder last year I knew there would come a time when I’d have to go back to Snowshoe, WV and race on the same course that so abruptly ended my season last June. My shoulder has been 100% for over eight months now, yet to say I haven’t thought about this race CONSTANTLY and all the bad memories it has for me would be a lie. And honestly I was hoping to never have to race at Snowshoe again after what happened. I tried every excuse possible to get out of racing here but team sponsorship commitments won out. And I admit there was a small part of me that wanted to come back and conquer the course that has caused me so much pain and heartache. For those of you that don’t know, I had a nasty crash last year on this course and ended up with a 4th degree shoulder separation, subsequent surgery, and a premature end to my season.

I arrived in the Washington Dulles airport Monday afternoon, June 7th. It was an easy flight from Manchester, England. My husband, Greg, was arriving at 6pm from Denver. I waited for him and then together we picked up a rental car and drove to a friend’s house in Charlottesville, VA. Wednesday morning we drove to Snowshoe, WV. Snowshoe is the highest and biggest ski area in West Virginia. It is three hours to the nearest city, in any direction. The top of the mtn is at 4848 feet. Pretty high by east coast standards. It is a beautiful area, very rugged and remote, and super lush. Which only means one thing. It rains ALL THE TIME!!

The course was exactly the same as last year. Suprisingly for the first few days we rode it, it was actually somewhat dry. Dry by East coast standards means that you are only riding in mud for maybe a third of the lap, instead of the entire lap). It was fun and very challenging. The course is different from most in that the start/finish line, along with all the condos and restaurants, sits at the top of the mountain. The race starts with a big nasty descent all the way to the bottom and then you spend the next half hour climbing your way back up to the top. It is quite challenging because there isn’t much time to move to the front before the first descent. Usually most courses have a long painful climb that allows things to split apart before the first descent. But not Snowshoe.

By the day of the race the rains had made the course a disaster. Greg raced on Friday in the semi-pro category and had to drop out after a nasty crash, thinking he had broken his wrist. Not good for my confidence. I also knew that my start position wasn’t going to be very good because I had missed the last Norba National at Big Bear because of the European world cups. Nothing like a few challenges to make things exciting.

The cross-country event was Saturday at 2pm. After listening to it rain all Friday afternoon and then well into the night, I decided to switch to a skinny mud tire. I knew the course was going to be a quagmire of muck. I started in the second row, but was able to make my way to the front and went into the first descent in second behind my teammate Shonny Vanlandingham. It was carnage everywhere. You couldn’t ride a darn thing. The mud was so thick that you could hardly keep the bike moving. And without any forward momentum it was almost impossible to ride over even the smallest root or rock. So we were constantly on and off our bikes. It actually ended up being faster to just run the entire downhill. The legs were definitely not happy. Once at the bottom there was a fun singletrack (actually rideable) around a lake followed by the long grueling climb back up to the top. By the end of the first lap it was myself and my two Luna Chix teammates off the front. How exciting!

On the second lap Katerina dropped off the pace, leaving myself and Shonny at the front. The race was really about damage control. In a race this muddy it really comes down to not only who has the strongest legs, but who can stay upright the longest, who can run the fastest over slippery roots, who can see the best through mud splattered glasses, who can get the nipple of their water bottle clean enough to actually get something other than a mouthful of energy drink mixed with mud, and whose derailleur holds out the longest before getting jammed with mud and rocks. And trying to deal with all of this while your heart rate is through the roof and your legs are screaming with lactic acid because they haven’t “gone running” since the cyclocross season ended in late January. It was quite the day.

On the steepest climb of the course I found out my front derailleur had stopped working and I couldn’t get into my small chain ring. I was forced to ride up in my middle chain ring. At the end of a long race this is downright hard. I had to really up the tempo in order to push such a big gear up such a steep climb. Unfortunately I dropped my teammate in the process. It was either that or walk the entire climb. I rode the rest of the lap alone and finished ahead of Shonny by ten seconds for the win. And Katerina Hanusova rode in for third. It was a clean sweep by the Luna Chix!

On Sunday we had the short track event. Normally I look forward to this race because I always feel better on the second day. But not this time. All the running we did the day before had just trashed my legs. They were not excited to race again. The short track course had one hard climb through the start/finish followed by a quick descent, a U-turn at the bottom, and then back up the climb. Great for spectators but not super exciting for the riders. Plenty hard though. I suffered through the entire race. Kerry Barnholt (Subaru Gary Fisher) rode very strong and put the hurt on everyone. By the last two laps everyone else had gotten dropped and it was just the two of us. Somehow I was able to get around her by the top of the last climb and into the descent first. This was really the only way to possibly win. The finish line comes only 100m after the U-turn at the bottom. Not enough time to come around someone in a sprint. I won the race, Kerry Barnholt was second and Shonny Vanlandingham was third. Katerina was 4th. Another great day for our team.

The poor legs, however, were trashed and I was ready to get off my bike. Greg and I ordered pizza and spent the afternoon lounging on the couch in our condo. A small victory celebration before heading over the pond to Europe again this Thursday. I race in Austria this coming Sunday, another world cup. Then it’s back home. Just a quick weekend trip to Europe. Haha!

Until then, Happy Father’s Day!

Alison