Roan Cliff Chaos MTB Adventure Race -- I entered the intermediate category (first MTB race in ~15 years...).
The "adventure" aspect meant we could do the loops in any order (although the order for the loops was pretty obvious, and they were one-way). We had to pick up a plastic poker chip at the far end of each loop to prove we had been there.
We left from the Garfield County Fairgrounds and rode as a pack for the first few miles up to the trail area. From there, everyone took off at their own speed. I was at the back of the pack, which was fine because that meant I didn't have anyone tailgating or pressuring me on the singletrack, nor anyone just in front to block my view of the trail.
At the very first downhill switchback, I realized (as I skidded off the trail) that I didn't have any rear brakes. Or, rather, I had to pull the lever all the way to the handlebars to get any braking at all. I'm not sure what happened between my ride last Thursday (when it was working fine) and race day, but I was able to adjust to using more front brake.
The course was desert-y and scenic (piƱon pines & junipers), rolling (no long uphill grinds), with plenty of rocky sections I had to walk, and some segments along ledges with drop-offs where I also chose to walk. I was leap-frogging almost the entire time with a guy who was better at the rocks (where I'd let him pass), but slower on the climbs (where he'd let me pass).
On the second-to-last loop (Suburban Decay), I thought I had opened up a big gap on that guy. I was puzzled about where to go at the end of the loop, which ended at a dirt road, since I didn't see any arrows or pin-flags. So I just kept going down the road. The next thing I knew, I was heading into the finish chute from the wrong direction. Uh oh. They sent me (and a few others) back up the road where I caught a trail and came through correctly -- but I still felt like something wasn't right, since other people were already on the trail, not entering from the road like I had done.
I was just going to ignore that unsettled feeling, since I was ready to be done, but then I realized I only had three poker chips instead of four, and that I had missed an entire segment of the course. ARGH!!! So much for my map reading skills. :-\
There was a 60-minute penalty for each missing chip, and the race director told me it would probably take 30 minutes to go back for the last loop & chip -- so I headed out. The extra loop wasn't so bad, and I was glad in the end that I had done the full & correct course (otherwise I would have felt like a cheater, even in last place...).
I finished "DFL" out of 13 people on the intermediate course (the leap-frogging guy passed me while I was screwing up the last loop). But...since there were only three women, I ended up on the podium. ;-)
This race was part of Rifle's "Western Adventure Weekend", so I showered and then wandered around town for a while checking out some shops, the craft vendors, potato pancakes at a Polish place (deep fried -- not so great -- I was expecting something more like latkes), and a rolled ice cream place (banana & nutella -- DELICIOUS!).
I had to kill a few hours before the band started, so I went back to my hotel room and fought against the urge to nap. By the time I rallied myself off the bed and back over to the festival area...the band was almost done and I only caught the last few songs. Too bad, because they were really good (
Mingo Fishtrap from Austin).
Overall, a very fun day.
* Map (my course did the red & yellow segments; my screw-up was missing the turn-off for Upper Upper Sidewinder and Paul's Trail...):
* Random internet photo from the race area ("Rusty Shovel" trail):