Fontana race report

   After less than 2 weeks at home in Tahoe, we got back on the road to another race in Fontana, southern CA, the apparent smog capital of the US.  I expected a course more like Sea Otter than anything else, but was pleasantly surprised--ok, really surprised--to find a legitimately gnarly DH course.  Half of it, anyhow, because the gnarly part dropped straight down from the top in about 1 1/2 minutes and the rest was sprinting down "the Wall" to the finish.  Loose dirt and a long steep waterfall section toward the bottom was giving a lot of racers trouble, especially those winding up in the safety fence watching their bikes tumble down the cliff below.  I fortunately had only one minor crash there in practice after trying a new line and finding it was no good, then decided to stick with my original line after that.

Down the waterfall

   I rode the qualifying run on Saturday just like practice, a little on the safe side but clean, winding up in first by 30 seconds after the other 4 ladies crashed at least once.  None of the World Cup regulars were racing on the women's side, so the race was definitely up for grabs for any of us non-superhumans.  It felt good to be ahead but at the same time I was a little worried about my race run crashing habit.  Sunday morning I got up early for 2 practice runs, which felt great, and went back to chill at the van.  Following Jackie Harmony's advice after the Bootleg disaster my goal was to get good and warmed up and then keep moving up until I get in the gate.  This would supposedly reduce the massive adrenaline flood right when I start, and the subsequent spazz attack that makes me crash all over the place.  I probably looked like a goon jumping around in line for the start gate but it seemed to work, along with somehow convincing myself that it was another practice run.  I may have been too far on the slow side but it still worked!  I cruised through the upper section, crossed the road, went into the last technical part before the wall and got caught behind the girl who started two places ahead of me.  Finally enough room to pass at the wall and I sprinted my brains out, coming in 5 seconds ahead of Jackie Swider in second place and 15 ahead of Amber Price in third. For sure there was room to go faster, but I was just so sick of trying too hard and wadding up that I almost didn't care if I won, I just wanted a good clean run with no dumb mistakes.  I got lucky and my strategy wound up working anyway, but there's still tons of room for improvement, since downhill racing is not exactly about going slow and I know I'm capable of riding a bike pretty darn fast sometimes!  I also hope next time they do 1-minute intervals for the pro women too, not just the men, since there was a pile up in the waterfall involving both of the girls just ahead of me and neither of them were too happy about being involved in it.  At this level of racing to have your run screwed up by catching people is no joke, and with the small number of women racing it would only add a few extra minutes.

Wahoo! So stoked!

    I'm super excited this season to sport the Kali Protectives Avatar 2 helmet, the lightest full face lid I've ever worn, and comfy new Smith goggles that do exactly what they should--pretend they don't exist while keeping the gnar out of your eyes. They even came with extra mirrored lenses which are great for courses like Fontana and Bootleg that are out in the relentless bright sun.  Hanging around the 5.10 tent landed me a pair of last year's demo Karvers, a women's specific flat pedal shoe that is miles better than the too-big Freeriders I had been wearing the past couple of seasons. We haven't gotten our new 2013 Loeka kits yet, hopefully that will happen at Sea Otter, but I am becoming a huge fan of the all-mountain Ozust shorts for breathability on warm days of DH riding. It's so nice to not be wearing dude's riding clothes or obnoxious racer-geek outfits... and it's safe to say, without the support of Lindsay Beth Currier and Shine Riders Co that I would likely not be considering the prospect of racing the east coast Pro GRTs this year either.  Thank you SO much to everyone who is going to make this season the best one ever!!