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Race Report by Susann Novalis Even though I didn't get any response from my email last week asking if anyone had done any XC racing at Donner Ski Ranch, I decided to try the race anyway. (Anthony Thaulad and Ron Chai were planning to do the Downhill Race on Sunday but no one reported knowing anything about the XC on Saturday). I drove up early Friday to preride on Friday afternoon. I had corresponded with Todd earlier in the week (Todd had laid out the course during the week) so I knew that the course started under Lift 4 and that is was marked with green arrows. No riders were at the Ranch there so I took off alone. The Preride Let me say at the outset that this is definitely not a course for Beginner racers; Experts would have fun with it; and Sports would have to walk some. The course starts with a long climb (~ 1.5 miles) to the top of Lift 3. The climb is rutted, rocky, slippery sandy fireroad for the most part with a few steep sections; there are a few rocky single track sections interspersed. After achieving Lift 3 the course has some sandy, rocky downhill and a few downhill sections covered with straw - who knows what lurked below the straw - deep ruts, hidden rocks, etc. The next few miles included a few more rocky climbs and, finally for me, some fun, but rocky, single track including a downed 2 foot tree with a board bridge over it. Rocky, rock, rocky - some rocks fixed in the ground and some loose but most irregularly shaped and awkwardly spaced so it was hard to find a line especially among the fixed rocks. At about half way through my preride I decided the course was too technical for me to race the next day as I was having a tough time just doing the preride - I just wanted to finish the preride and get off the course without hurting myself. And then the course got really technical!!! The course moved into the treeless granite region on top of Donner Summit and started to follow a trail that would be hard even on foot - large irregular boulders - in some cases it was clear that you were supposed to ride over the boulders and do drops to the trail below, in other cases I just couldn't tell whether you were supposed to try to pick a line or just go over them and hope that your front wheel didn't get trapped; I didn't know whether to try to go fast and ride over the tops or slow; I didn't have a clue. This mile or so was at least two orders of magnitude more technical than anything I had seen at Rockville. I remember saying to myself "This is just a bad joke!!" During this part of the course I would have made much better time without my bike. Near the beginning of this super technical mile was a short steep shear "wall" of granite and 7 ft high and perhaps 50 degrees inclination that you had to get up and near the end of the mile was a similar granite "wall" but a bit steeper that you had to get down. As I struggled to make my way up and down these sections on foot with cleats sliding out once or twice, I wondered if anyone would be actually on their bike on these sections. After the super technical mile the very last section was less technical - just a super narrow single track with bushes and undergrowth so close that you were in constant contact with the "walls". Finally it was over and I have seldom been so happy to be finished with a ride!! Back at the parking lot were a few guys getting ready to preride. I talked with an Expert rider from the Sycips team and told him my observations of the course and that I had decided not to race it. On the drive back to my lodging I was busy constructing my Plan B for Saturday. The Race With my Plan B (riding at Northstar) in place I decided to stop by the Donner Ski Ranch on my way out. The parking lot was filled with racers. Most were for the Dual Slalom Race which was to run on Saturday too. The Sycips Expert racer came over and told me his opinion of the course based on his preride - "The course sucks!" He too had thought about not riding the course but had decided to do it anyway. I started talking with a man preparing for the race. Since he had a Bontrager too I had an opener. I told him of my preride experience and my decision not to race. He gave me the strongest possible encouragement to ride the race even though it was beyond my current skill level. After talking with him (Gary) I was able to put things in a better perspective and decided that if I could focus on racing the other women in my category instead of on racing the course I would probably do OK. Gary gave me the support that I really needed and that I know you guys and gals would have given me had you been there. So I grabbed my VISA card and entered the race. The original plan was for Beginners and Sports to do two laps and Experts three laps. Apparently during the morning there was a lot of feedback from preriders and a last minute decision was that Beginners would do just one lap. There were two other Beginner Women. My race was better than my preride in that I rode several of the sections I had dabbed or walked the day before. I took an early lead over the other two women and never saw them again.The super technical mile still eluded me and I walked/ran most of it. The Expert racers just flew past on their second lap and, yes, they did ride up and down the two "walls". I won my category finishing almost 22 minutes before the next woman. (In fact, the other two women were Master Beginner 30-39 while I was the only one in Master Beginner 40-99 and they gave separate medals for the two classes but, by time, I won the category). SWAG wasn't bad - two free day passes to Donner Ski Ranch and a nice tee-shirt! Was it fun? No! Did I learn something? Yes! I learned that, sometimes a good race is simply being faster than your competitors even though you may not be happy with how you rode the course. Will I ride other races in this series? Probably! But now I know some of the new skills I'll have to work on in order to ride more of the super technical mile. The other XC races are Aug 5, Sept 16, Oct 14. So if you want to race a super technical course this is the chance! More information at www.donnerskiranch.com. The Downhill Race
When I left on Saturday Anthony and Ron were just starting the downhill practice session. I didn't return to watch the downhill race on Sunday so one of you two guys will have to report on it. (I continued with my plan and rode Northstar on Sunday)
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