Alison Dunlap reports from US National MTB Championships:

Mt. Snow, VT (July 23, 2008) - After a long 3 1/2hr drive from Georgia's place to Mt. Snow, the team has settled in for four days of training and racing in the heat and humidity. Being retired means I get to ride the course as many times as I have energy for, and so far I've done six laps. The weather has been fantastic this week, leaving the course dry and fast. The heat and humidity are creeping up and by tomorrow it is going to be pretty miserable. Glad I'm not racing. I'll be leading two clinics this weekend with the help of my retired teammate Jimena Florit. Be forewarned, the following race report is on the long side, so grab a snack, kick your feet up, and enjoy.

U23 Cross Country
I don't think many of us realize that Chloe Forsman, who happens to finally turn 21 this coming Monday, is one of the most prolific winners in recent mountain bike history. She has won a total of nine national championships; two in the U23 class, four in collegiate, and three as a junior. Impressive resume for someone that can't even legally drink. Yesterday Chloe dominated the women's race, winning by 1:35 over a tenacious Jamie Dinkins. This was the first year Chloe actually had serious competition. Jamie Dinkins, an up and coming U23 rider, finished ahead of Chloe at last weekend's race in Windham, NY. The two were together for most of the first lap, with Chloe putting some time on Jamie down the big descent. From that point she never looked back and her gap slowly grew the following two laps. She won by a comfortable margin and was very relieved to have defended the title she won here last year.

Elite Women Cross Country
Friday night was absolutely crazy. At 12:30am I was awoken by a huge wind storm. The trees outside my window seriously looked like they were going to be uprooted and tossed across the lawn. Then the lightning started followed by huge amounts of thunder. And then it rained, and it rained hard. It was the kind of storm that made me wonder if Mt. Snow has ever had a tornado. As quickly as it started it was over. I don't think I calmed down until 1:30am. If I had been racing I would have been stressed about how muddy the course was going to be by morning. But being retired, I fell asleep and didn't give it a second thought. Haha! By 11am, the start of the women's race, the course had mostly dried out. The climbs were all rideable and the single track in the woods was slippery and greasy, but still very fast, for those willing to let go of the brakes.

Mt. Snow has hosted a National or World Cup event for years. It is one of the classic courses and consistently puts on a stellar event with great courses and huge crowds. This year the riders saw a newly designed course. The dreaded hike-a-bike from last year was eliminated and there were some new single track sections linking parts of the traditional downhill. It was a big hit with everyone. Mt. Snow is also known for its heat and humidity, and this year was no exception. I don't know what the temperature or heat index climbed up to, but it was very hot and humid all day. You sweat and sweat, but the air is so saturated that the sweat doesn't evaporate off your skin. It just sits on your skin, creating a mini sauna all over your body. And when the wind blows up the climb at the same speed you're riding, there is absolutely no relief.

The women's race quickly developed into a two rider duel. Georgia took the early lead and had a slight gap on Mary McConnelog (Kenda/Seven Cycles) going up the first long climb. By the top, Mary had caught and passed Georgia, putting 20 seconds on her. Georgia made short work of the descent, caught and passed Mary, putting 15 seconds on her by the bottom. And this is how it went for the rest of the race. The last time down the descent, however, Georgia wasn't able to get around Mary, and the two of them popped out of the woods together. Mary led up the last rise through the feed zone with Georgia tight on her wheel. They came around the final turn together and sprinted for the finish. Mary won by less than a bike length. For Georgia it was a frustrating end to an otherwise great ride.

"I didn't have great legs on the climbs today," said Georgia. "Mary would gap me by 20 seconds at the top of the climbs and then I would easily catch her part way down the descent. I made a tactical error and waited too long to start my sprint. I chose too big a gear and wasn't able to accelerate around her like I wanted."

Elite Women Super Downhill
Marla Streb made the long trip up from Costa Rica to join the rest of us at Mt. Snow. Her first event of the weekend was the Super Downhill. Super D is a fairly new event that is an interesting mix of cross country and downhill racing. The course is usually a bit longer than a traditional downhill and thrown in the mix are varying climbs; some short and some long. The course is designed so that you not only have to be good at riding the technical downhills, but you need the fitness to go uphill.

The Super D can be run as a time trial, or as a mass start. Mt. Snow had the riders do a Le Mans mass start. All of the racers lined up at a designated spot, and when the gun went off they had to run with their bike at their side up the hill for a good minute. At the next designated spot, the riders then jumped on their bikes and had another 30 seconds of pedaling up a false flat, before diving into the single track descent.

Marla had a decent run and was 3rd to the top, behind Willow Koerber (Subaru/Gary Fisher) and Katie Compton (Spike). The first descent was full of treacherous rock drops, playing right into the hands of Marla. She quickly passed Katie, and then eventually passed Willow, just as Willow broke her chain. Part way up the only major climb of the race, Rachel Lloyd (Proman Racing) sprinted by Marla, getting a gap she would hold to the finish. Marla was faster on the next downhill, but it wasn't enough to catch Rachel, who won by a mere 5 seconds. Not bad for a 43yr old.

Elite Women Downhill
This year the riders saw a completely new course. There were more sections in the woods, and less fire road descents, which meant that the overall speeds were slightly slower than last year. Everything was more technical. There were also four pedaling sections, which for a true downhiller is four too many. But for Marla it was the perfect course. She had an almost flawless run, except for one major dab where she thinks she tore some cartilage in her knee (minor detail). There were also lots of rock sections that required the skill of gap jumping. Jumping over rock and root sections is much faster, as long as you control the landing. This course favored the ultra fit rider.

"I haven't raced a true downhill in 365 days," said Marla. "With all of the practice runs, Super D, and my 43yr old body, I was praying my arms would hold up. I just wanted to relax and hold on. My strategy was to start slow, and then build up speed. This year I actually followed my strategy. I hit all my lines, and the gap jumps were wonderful. My Orbea single pivot downhill bike is perfect for jumping. The rocks and roots slow you down so the more you can jump the faster you go."

Marla finished three seconds behind Melissa Buhl, the reigning 4 Cross World Champion. Not bad for a 43yr old that hasn't ridden a downhill race in a year. Haha!

Short Track Cross Country
The LUNA Pro Team has always been about giving back to the sport and giving women more opportunities on the bike. In the STXC, the team decided to let the other racers have a chance on the podium. Instead of their usual 1-2-3 finish, the girls, being the generous riders that they are, sacrificed their chances on the podium so other riders could share in the glory. Quite a noble act. I think it's because they missed their teammates Katerina Nash and Catharine Pendrel, and decided they didn't want to be on the podium without them.

The STXC was a brutally fast race. Katie Compton exploded off the front after two laps and was never seen again. Georgia bled out her eyeballs to keep the gap from growing, and Chloe monitored the action from further back in the field. When the race was done, Georgia had bled her eyeballs dry, and Chloe was the last rider to make it to the finish before being lapped by Katie. Not the best race for the team, but Murphy's Law says you can't win everything. There are advantages to not being on the podium. You can get out of your wet muddy skin suit a lot quicker and you get to go home right away to that much anticipated hot shower.

I stuck around after all the events were over and worked in the Media Center, catching up on emails and phone calls. Only Chris Mathis and Zeph Wadsworth, our team mechanics, were still at the venue tearing down the LUNA Team encampment. Around 7pm someone came into the Media Center and said in a frantic voice that the weather was moving in rapidly. I was almost done, and not wanting to get wet, I packed up my computer and left the building. As I got outside I looked up and saw this wall of water coming down the mountain and started running. I got only ten feet before it hit. It was like a hurricane. I ran under one of the overhangs and got stranded there for the next 15 minutes. I have never seen so much water come out of the sky. And then it was blowing at least 40mph through the venue. And the lightning and thunder was insane. I thought I was going to die. Things were flying through the air and everything flooded. And then it was gone. Stopped raining and no wind. I got to my car and drove out of the venue. There was a huge tree across the road just past the parking lot. On Hwy 100 there was another huge tree blocking 3/4 of the road. And then on that dirt road up to our house there were four trees that were blown over but had gotten caught on the power lines. Part of the guardrail had been ripped off. There were other trees that looked like they had been snapped in half, like they were toothpicks. I'm convinced a small funnel cloud touched down right at that spot. I've never seen anything like it. The windows of our house had been accidentally left open so everything was flooded in all the bedrooms. When Chris and Zeph came home about a half hour later they said the power lines were on fire where the trees had fallen on them. So much excitement!!

Canadian National Championships
While Georgia and Chloe were racing in Vermont, Catharine Pendrel was up at Mt. Ste Anne, Quebec, at the Canadian National Championships.

The 5.1 kilometer course used much of the World Cup course from previous years. It was a shortened version of the circuit which will be used this coming weekend for the World Cup race. The region is similar to Mt. Snow in that it is always hot and humid and it always rains. Even though the weather did improve for race day, the roots and rocks were slick and treacherous.
With another season of World Cup racing in her legs and the support of her LUNA Team, Catharine Pendrel was looking to unseat Marie Helene Premont, the five time defending champion. On the first lap of the five lap race it appeared that Marie was off to her usual start, but by the start of the second lap, it was Catharine in front with an almost minute lead. Marie, it turned out, was having problems with the remote lockout on her front shock, and had no suspension.

Marie was able to get her fork fixed in the tech zone, then caught and passed Catharine on the fourth lap and had a minute lead before crashing heavily in the rocky chute descent after the first climb on the last lap, scrapping her chin and injuring her left wrist. The two riders were together again and battled through the remainder of the lap, with Marie finally gapping her 'heir apparent' at the far end of the course to win by a slim six second margin.

"It was pretty epic out there on the last lap," commented Catharine. "We were neck and neck going up the climbs. But Marie-Helene gets stronger through the race usually, and her last lap is often her fastest, so I knew it would be hard to beat her. Going into the last technical section in the woods she is so strong and so fast that I just couldn't stay with her. But it was so close this time!"

Congratulations Catharine on a fantastic ride and a much deserved silver medal!
 

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