Saturday we were given a bit more time in the AM due to a later start for the 12 hr Muir race. A couple months ago Kevin Heppner asked Tom and I to do the 12 hr team event. We then snagged Jason Labella a few days before the race to be our fourth.
Tom started us off and I made him promise not to run like a candy ass to his bike(he usually likes to do this just to annoy me). He ran like a normal human and got right up there in about 6th position. An hour ten later he came rolling in muddy as hell. Trails were a mess and he went down a few times. Jason was next and he was planning on doing 2 laps in a row.
I got suited up just in case he only wanted to do 1 and waited for him. He came in and yelled for me to go. I then set off planning on doing 2 in a row too. My first lap was slow due to the mud. Every corner in the blue was messy and slick so you would pick up speed and have to slow down before making the turn and then accelerate out again and again. I came through and felt good so I then set off on my second lap. It was a totally different course. Things were drying up and getting fast. I finished my second and Heppner set out for his lap. Things were getting faster and soon after Tom's second(fastest time for our team @1:01) we realized we were going back and forth for 2nd place.
Jason had gone off for his second lap and again was planning for 2 in a row. If this happened it would put me with the responsibility of the last lap. Again, I got ready just in case and watched as the other team came in a few minutes ahead of Jason. Again, Jason was screaming for me to go, he had crashed into a tree. I was taken by surprised and wasn't quite prepared to go. Legs were tight from sitting around and as I was busy tightening my helmet through the kids section hoping my legs would loosen up fast. Legs came around quickly and the course was perfection. I got in a good groove and was flying. I was passing people left and right. When I turned onto the orange to go the opposite way towards the white I saw the guy from the team in 2nd. Since it was a slight climb and I knew the white trail really well I quickly got right on this guys wheel. He asked if I wanted to pass but I said just keep the steady pace for now. Well, what has been happening a lot, again happened. He started to ride a little bit faster and then hit the deck. This has been happening a lot lately as I ride behind guys that don't know me. They realized a girl is behind them and can hang and all of a sudden they pick up speed and then crash. I went around him and was gone after that. I kept my groove and "girled" Russell, Tim, and Bubba. I came in a few minutes ahead of the guy and had my best lap time of 1:04!
Heppner set out for the last lap but couldn't hold off the charge of their last guy. That guy did the lap in under an hour. We only lost to second by a few minutes. Not bad for our team against an all guys team. We had a blast hanging out with everyone. Kenny put on a great race!
~holly
12 years ago