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Thin Air Extravaganza
Chevy Trucks National Championship Series #1 Cross Country - Big Bear Lake, California by Chrissy Redden |
NORBA #1, Big Bear Lake, California, USA
Cross Country Mtn Race, May 19,2000
The first Chevy Trucks National
Championship Series race of the 2000 season
kicked off in the mountains just outside of Los Angeles. The 8 mile
cross
country course started at a base elevation of 7000ft
and climbed up to
8600ft. The women completed two laps with a
total elevation gain of 3200ft
and the men completed two laps with a whopping
elevation gain of 6400ft!
The course started with about a 1km road section
before heading in to the
single track followed by lots of fire road climbing. The descent was
high
speed on fire road with some rocky single track thrown in. A good course
for climbers and descenders who the thin air feeling!
Women's Race:
The Gary Fisher/Saab squad sent
two women, Mary Grigson of Australia, and
myself, Chrissy Redden of Canada. I was excited to be with my good teammate
Mary again as I opted to miss the three world cups in Europe this year. It
was very motivating for me to be racing with my friend again. Since the
call up of the women's field was based on last year's
overall series results
and since both Mary and I were mostly absent
at last year's series, our
starting positions were less than ideal. Mary was in the middle of the
2nd
row and I was nearer to the 4th row. The start was fast, but the wide road
allowed us move up through the field, missing the
large pileup of women and
into the single track in the 1,2 positions. I was feeling really good,
so I
took the lead, knowing that Mary would protect my
back, and went for gaining
a gap.
After the first 10 minutes of climbing, the elevation hit
me like a
brick and I backed off, and fell off the pace, going
into the first descent
in 6th. Mary was climbing well with the leaders (Jimena Florit and Anne
Trombley), with Ruthie Mathes not far behind. The descent woke up my legs a
bit and I went into the 2nd lap climb with more vigor
while Mary literally
"blew" the field away. Mary continued with her lead and won
the event with
dominance. "Congrats Mary"
I was feeling better and better and pulling in
the girls ahead, but flatted on the last descent. With a 2 minute fix, I
found myself in 9th position, got on my bike and punched
the last 3-4 km and
finished in 5th. It was a good feeling to have both of us on the podium
again!
Results:
1st Mary Grigson Gary
Fisher/Saab
2nd Ruthie Mathes Trek/Volkswagen
3rd Anne Trombley Koolius- Zaard
4th Jimena Florit RLX Polo Sport
5th Chrissy Redden Gary Fisher/Saab
Equipment:
Gary Fisher Pro Caliber
Rock Shock Sid with Black Box Technology (manual
lockout)
Oakley Rx vr28 blue iridium sweep lens with
white M-Frame
Endurox Fruit Punch Energy Drink
Icon handle bar and stem
San Marco Era saddle in white
Mental Training from Jim Taylor.
Special thanks to the support staff, you guys make racing FUN!