An Exercise in Branding: Hard Girl Spring

Early this year I registered for two races, the Whistler Back 40 endurance race and the Sturdy Dirty all-women’s enduro. As I've mentioned previously, in my old age I’ve decided it’s okay to care about races, finally overcoming the feigned apathy all the local dudebros cultivated when I was racing in college and after graduation. I also now have riding friends who don’t judge me for my try-hardness. In fact, they celebrate it, which goes a long way toward me accepting and overcoming my bullshit.

 
And I cared a lot about these two, especially Back 40, a race that all the local speedy boys raved about, in a format I really like (timed stages with untimed transfers), on fun hard trails.

Even though I did really care about these races, I had the somewhat freeing knowledge that I had no hope of doing well at either of them. For Back 40, I didn’t know the trails well enough (and actual pro Whistler girls show up sometimes) and for Sturdy Dirty, I also didn’t know the trails and I simply am not fast enough downhill to be competitive.

But I did want to give it my best. I dubbed my "training regimen" Hard Girl Spring, an effective branding exercise that I let my friends interpret as they wished — half decided it was about fitness, and I used that to goad them into longer rides, and half decided it was about riding hard features, and they used that to goad me into hitting scary things I wouldn’t have dreamed of prior to this year.

El Diablo was the capstone of my "ride hard things" project

The strategy was effective. I didn’t really do enough high intensity riding to be at the pointy end of the Back 40, although coaching with the new kids XC team definitely helped, but I was fit enough, and I unlocked a new level of bravery, which somewhat improved my race descending.

Back 40 was during my dear friend Ursula’s bachelorette weekend, which conveniently was in Whistler, and she graciously gave me the okay to disappear for half a day to race.

A most excellent bachelorette crew

On the first stage I felt relaxed and strong as I picked off rider after rider on the steep climbs, and then mostly didn’t get caught on the descents even though I was really worried about that. The downhills were fun and technical and at the edge of my comfort level on my little bike at race speed.

After the day heated up and fatigue set in, I dragged my sorry ass up the last and by far hardest uphill of the day. I barely survived the final descent, my upper body crying from 5K of intense climbing. But I finished without crashing a single time, and pedaled slowly back to our vacation rental in the village and tried to recover so I could switch into party/drink/club/dance mode.

I truly loved racing XC in Whistler

Then I discovered I had placed fifth! The field was small, around 20 women total, and I was definitely toward the back of the serious racers, but I was still pleasantly surprised. I don’t usually like repeating races but I’m so excited to drag all my friends up there to do the Back 40 next year (after properly whipping them into shape).

For the Sturdy, I prerode the trails twice and felt excitement and trepidation. I registered for expert because that’s obviously where I belong in an enduro but then the courses were announced and the pro category had a longer course than the experts. And only the pros got to race all of Predator, the much ballyhooed double black trail at Tiger Mountain that I happened to really enjoy.

So I upgraded categories, as did several of my friends. I wanted to do the longest ride, and I wanted to relieve some of the internal pressure I was already feeling. I expected myself to podium in expert, and I knew if I didn’t I would be shatteringly disappointed, and if I did I would immediately discount it because “it’s not a real category.” Yes, being in my brain is terrible when it comes to racing. This is why I stopped pursuing it seriously. Holding myself to an unreasonably high standard would be fine except that I STILL refuse to adequately prepare or train to my fullest ability. So I just need to chill.

This isn't even all of us. Amazing day

We rolled down to the race with a huge crew of Bellingham women, which made the already festive event even more fun. I told everyone my goal for the day was to finish first, which is obviously stupid in an enduro when the uphills aren’t timed, but I just don’t like prolonging the nerves before each downhill.

I finished the first three stages totally clean, relaxed, happy, having so much fun, so far ahead of the rest of the pack, and feeling like I was almost kinda racing downhill well for the first time. It all came a bit unglued on Predator, where I had some very ugly bobbles and a silly crash, but at the finish I was elated to have a goodish race.

I am faster than I used to be but still haven't unlocked downhill race mode

I ended up being total pack fodder, sandwiched by all my friends very near the bottom of the results list. And based on comparable times, I wouldn’t even have podiumed in expert, the horror. But, I reasoned, I have raced the pro/open/A category at many races and been so sad about how tiny the field was, sometimes not even big enough to fill out a podium. At Sturdy, the pro field was huge, from actual world class mountain bikers to tentative, uphill-loving me.

Also it was just a damn good time with my friends. Hard Girl Spring was an absolute success.