The Path Bike Shop

Wednesday

Apr282010

Race Report: Woodward West - April 25th

Wednesday, April 28, 2010 at 03:30PM

by Carla Bray, staff member at The Path Bike Shop

Representing The Path Bike Shop at Woodward West: Carla, Mark, & Eric

photo: Six3Events, Mike Lord

Eric and I were unable to practice the course the Saturday before, so we were there first thing in the morning on Sunday to run the course. Mark had gone to practice on Sunday, so he guided us through the course for our first run. The dirt was perfect; it had snowed a few days before the weekend, so the melted snow had soaked in and made the dirt nice and tacky. There was some mud in a few low spots, but otherwise it was completely "hero dirt" throughout the entire course. Weather was great with temps in the low 70s.

Mark was racing in the Expert Men class, Eric was in the Sport Men class, and I was racing in the Sport Women class.

The course was fun; lots of cornering, good flow, and a lot of cool features throughout. This section underneath the tree seems to be a standard section on any Woodward West DH course.

Carla & Eric at practice. Photo: Ian Cook

One section had a long, sweeping left-hand berm that led right into a steep wood ladder and up onto a wood bridge. If you held your speed in the berm, you could just coast up the ladder to the top.

Mark Olson, friend of The Path Bike shop. Photo: Jason Cleghorn Photography

There was a fun hip jump in the middle of the course. After the hip jump, there was a quick right-hand turn. It was great to watch how riders chose different lines going into the jump in order to prepare for that quick corner up ahead.

Eric Mellencamp, member of The Path Bike shop race team. Photo: Jason Cleghorn Photography

There were a few little chunky rock sections that riders either rode through or hopped off. Mark chose to air it out. See the dug-out section on the backside of the rock section? That got dug out deeper and deeper as the day progressed.

Photo: Carla Bray

I think I mentioned that the course had a lot of cornering???

Eric Mellencamp. Photo: Jason Cleghorn Photography

The race had a 2-run format. You were timed racing the course twice, and your combined score from the two runs was your total.

My first run went pretty well. I wasn't very fast, still feeling a bit unfamiliar with the course and unsure about what was coming up next, so I played it safe for the most part. I pushed it in a few areas that I knew I could make up some time.

Carla Bray, The Path Bike Shop staff. Photo: Six3Events, Mike Lord

There was more than an hour wait in-between the two runs. The pros decided to step it up by riding chainless for the second run. The amazing thing was that many of them actually improved their times on that second run with no chain. Just goes to show how much power and speed can be generated simply by pumping, rather than just pedaling. Good lesson.

By the time my second run came along, I was pretty tired. In fact, I remember midway through the course thinking "I'm tired", but I tried to push past . I felt slower in some sections of the course, but faster in others. At the bottom of the ladder bridge, there was a straight section that was pretty muddy. I wasn't carrying quite enough speed and my front wheel went right into a muddy section towards the end and it totally zapped my speed. I had to put a foot out to help myself out of the mud and over the top of that final lip. I knew I'd lost a lot of time with that mishap; I ended up losing 6 seconds overall in my second run. It's definitely tough keeping your focus for two race runs!

Carla at the finish. Photo: Eric Mellencamp

Both Eric and Mark had smooth first runs, but both had crashes in their second runs.

Woodward West is always a fun race. Great people to hang out with, great riding, and perfect weather.

Traci & Carla on the podium for Sport Women class. Photo: Six3Events, Mike Lord

Final Race Results: