Date: April 24, 2001

Event: Michaux Lives! 2001

Name: Allison Nataro

City: Beltsville

State/Province: Maryland

Country: USA

Age: 18

CLASS +/or Age group: Junior Women

Category: Sport

Team: Bike Stop - Mountain's Edge

XC Race Bike: Klein Attitude

Tires: Hutchinson Python Gold

Conditions: Hot & Technical!!

Email: girlybiker@chickmail.com

Did you do anything special (apart from the whole training lifestyle) to prepare for this race?

I spent the whole week before the race in Culpeper, VA training with my boyfriend (I was on my spring break).

Did you achieve your goals for this race?

I think so. This was my third year doing this race and my first time doing sport. I think I held in there pretty well, considering the course was a lot tougher and longer than it has been in the past.

Were you strong from start to finish?

I didn't even know we had started because of the "mass start", but I figured it out when we hit the singletrack. The rest of the race I was trying to make up time from that.

Did you change your race strategy after encountering the more difficult course this year?

HA! It was a lot more difficult than I had imagined it would be. I really just wanted to finish it in one piece and in under 3 1/2 hours, which I did.

What was your favorite part of the course?

I love technical riding, even if I do say it's really tough, so I would have to say all of the rocks.

When did you put the hammer down?

I really started pushing it on the fire road climb near the end.

Due to the heat and difficult course did you have any problems with cramping or dehydrating?

I love hot weather, so I was really happy about the heat. The only problem I had was with getting two enormous blisters on my heels; one on each foot.

Did you have any unusual problems?

Other than my blisters, my Camelback hose was leaking the whole race, so I was trying to ration the water that I had in my 1 water bottle. I ended up having just enough water to finish the race.

How would you rate the course?

I loved the course! It was awesome!! Although I wish I had known that the course was going to be different than in the past more than 5 minutes before the start.

Were you happy with the way the race was run?

I would have liked to have had a real start because it was a little confusing to most of the riders. We didn't even know that we had started or who was in our class, etc.

Is there anything you would like to add?

I'm glad that my last race at that part of Michaux was a success, as I will be moving to Colorado in August for college. I hope this race continues because it is such a true classic!