Last weekend, Sarah and I, headed down to Mammoth mountain for an awesome weekend of mountain biking. The spectacular Sierra views, bike park trails, and Kamikaze Bike Games proved to be a favorite biking trip in my book.
We both arrived to Mammoth Thursday afternoon. Sarah was slated to race XC and Dual Slalom. I chose to race just the Enduro stage race, which happened to be on Sunday. This meant a full day of playing on the mountain Friday and Saturday while Sarah practiced and raced!! The riding was very different than anything I've rode before. I heard it was loose, degraded pumas rock combined with more rock--and man was that true. After messing around on random trails all morning on Friday, I checked out the Enduro course.
The course was 3 timed segments that incorporated both of the downhill race courses. "Follow Me" was the Cat 2/3 course. This was a super fun trail that of course had loose and rocky technical sections as well as some drops and wooden featured berms. The Cat 1/Pro downhill course was called, "Bullet". I definitely was nervous my first run down this guy. Basically turn "Follow Me" up a couple notches and you are left with "Bullet". Bigger drops, looser turns, and more rocks. We were re-routed around one of the steep rock gardens normally on the trail. Rocketing down towards Canyon Lodge at the bottom of the run was a great feeling because, 1. you were alive and 2. you felt proud of the technical stuff you just did. The final segment of the Enduro started at the top of the mountain off of the gondola. It was a long segment combing the trail "Skid Marks" to "Lincoln Express" and then again down "Follow Me".
The course was 3 timed segments that incorporated both of the downhill race courses. "Follow Me" was the Cat 2/3 course. This was a super fun trail that of course had loose and rocky technical sections as well as some drops and wooden featured berms. The Cat 1/Pro downhill course was called, "Bullet". I definitely was nervous my first run down this guy. Basically turn "Follow Me" up a couple notches and you are left with "Bullet". Bigger drops, looser turns, and more rocks. We were re-routed around one of the steep rock gardens normally on the trail. Rocketing down towards Canyon Lodge at the bottom of the run was a great feeling because, 1. you were alive and 2. you felt proud of the technical stuff you just did. The final segment of the Enduro started at the top of the mountain off of the gondola. It was a long segment combing the trail "Skid Marks" to "Lincoln Express" and then again down "Follow Me".
The view at the top of "Skid Marks".
The beauty in the picture is my Santa Cruz Bronson lying down...
The beauty in the picture is my Santa Cruz Bronson lying down...
On Saturday I did some more playing on all the trails on the mountain. Meanwhile, Sarah raced in the XC race and dual slalom downhill events.
Photo credit: Someone awesome other than me.
Photo credit: Someone awesome other than me.
Race day on Sunday was exciting to say the least. It was my first Enduro style race. The consensus was that this was a long one. Being at Mammoth and being able to utilize the chair lifts meant longer descents. We still did some climbing (+1000ft), but it wasn't that hard. I can see where some Enduro events you can really tax yourself on the uphills, even though they are not timed.
Segment 1: It was a bit rough up top. Going from a chairlift to a short little climb/push a bike up to the top to waiting for an hour for my start and then having to go directly into downhill mode is no easy task. I messed up a section I was feeling solid on during practice, but all in all, my race down the segment was faster than practice.
Segment 2: After being a bit warmed up after segment 1, we had a short chairlift back up. I was feeling good going into "Bullet". I was confident and in race mode so I went through a section I had fallen on in practice and had contemplated walking in the race. My favorite part of this segment was coming down towards the end. Under the chair lift there were hecklers lined up and were cheering me on. I was the first girl in line after the older mens divisions and I picked a few guys off. A sight hecklers LOVE.
Segment 3: :( :( the frowny face segment because half way down I flatted. I ended up putting a two holes in my tire. Threw a tube in and then pinch flated not once, or twice, but THREE times. The next unfortunate part was that I had 4 patches and no more tubes. Walk of shame down is no fun.
Segment 1: It was a bit rough up top. Going from a chairlift to a short little climb/push a bike up to the top to waiting for an hour for my start and then having to go directly into downhill mode is no easy task. I messed up a section I was feeling solid on during practice, but all in all, my race down the segment was faster than practice.
Segment 2: After being a bit warmed up after segment 1, we had a short chairlift back up. I was feeling good going into "Bullet". I was confident and in race mode so I went through a section I had fallen on in practice and had contemplated walking in the race. My favorite part of this segment was coming down towards the end. Under the chair lift there were hecklers lined up and were cheering me on. I was the first girl in line after the older mens divisions and I picked a few guys off. A sight hecklers LOVE.
Segment 3: :( :( the frowny face segment because half way down I flatted. I ended up putting a two holes in my tire. Threw a tube in and then pinch flated not once, or twice, but THREE times. The next unfortunate part was that I had 4 patches and no more tubes. Walk of shame down is no fun.
All in all a wonderful weekend and set a fire in me to want to race more Enduros!
I hope Mammoth puts on this event again next year.
I hope Mammoth puts on this event again next year.