Winner winner chicken dinner!!

Last weekend was one of my favorite mountain bike events, the Cave Creek Cactus Classic. You might ask why I love this race so much - well, first of all, last year I surprised myself and took the victory! So, there is a bias there but also the course is full of climbing, technical singletrack and incredible scenic views!

The previous week did not go so well for me so I was on guard for this race. The week before, was the 12 Hours of Fury that I raced as a duo with my friend and teammate Tricia Davis. It was hotter than normal that day with a high of 85 degrees. As I had ridden in much hotter temperature through the summer, I didn't plan for the heat or consider this to be an issue. However, I couldn't have been more under-prepared. I am very susceptible to the heat with my fair skin and have always suffered headaches from heat, however this time it was much worse. I was on my 3rd lap of the day when I started feeling chills and then the throbbing headache. Tricia and I were sitting in 2nd place but not far behind the leaders. I was trying to catch the leader however my head started to throb over every bump and soon I started feeling very sick. I completed the lap minutes slower than my previous lap times, handed the timing chip off to Tricia and immediately my husband Aaron threw tons of ice on me. I layed in the Scott van (in the shade) with ice all over me. My stomach felt raw and I felt very sick. I had an hour to recover before my turn on the course. With 20 minutes to go, Aaron kept prodding me, "Melissa, are you going to be ok? Let's get moving around so you can be ready." I moaned but moved and got myself together.

I waited for Tricia and when she came through, I knew I was in bad shape, but I took the timing chip and headed out. Immediately, I started coughing and soon within 400 meters I had to pull over to vomit. It kept coming. I stood there and as people rode by and asked, "Are you ok?" I responded, "I'm ok." I wasn't. Within seconds, my teammate Todd Tankersly appeared. He was riding solo but stopped. "Melissa, you don't look so good." I couldn't even talk. I felt awful. "Let's go back to the tent." He rode me back to the team tent. Everyone looked at me, "That was fast!" I could barely talk, "I got sick." Tricia jumped up, grabbed the timing chip from me and took off. Aaron had already left on his dirt bike to get the car so my friend Liz Vito took care of me. She blew up my air mattress, got me fluids and helped me lay down. I was done for the day. I lay (in my nasty kit) for 2 hours as the ice melted and cooled my temperature down. Tricia returned - she was done too and opened up her Maple Whiskey Flask. Finally, I came around and started feeling more alive. It started getting dark and a fire pit was lit with smores on a table nearby. We made some smores and cheered as riders came through on their laps. We decided we'd stick to quad teams for 12hr events - it's a long day!

So, after going through my first head exhaustion episode, I was more prepared this time. The morning of the Cave Creek race, the temps would still be high - around 85-90 degrees. I consumed lots of fluids, electrolytes and everything possible to keep my body temperature regulated. The race started off wild western style with a blessing of the bikes from the local pastor and a shotgun start! We took off down the Spur Cross Road, neutralized behind a cop car. About 3 miles down, we reached the dirt and the cop pulled off for the race to begin. My nemesis was Crystal Petrocelli. Last year, she had finished only a couple of minutes back and this year - she would do the same. I had been following her rides on Strava and knew she was riding about the same pace as me, so my chance to beat her would be to get away at the start. So, once all hell broke loose, I took off at the front with the fast guys, grabbing their wheels and getting pulled up the trail. The first 40 minutes would be all climbing. I stayed in tempo. My breathing was high.

It wasn't long before I heard Todd behind me, "Come'on kid! You got it! Keep it smooth!" He stayed on my wheel the whole race and every few minutes would pipe up, "You got this kid! Keep it going!" The course was as smooth as it could be as for weeks, volunteers had gone out to help maintain the trail. The trails in this area can get highly affected whenever there's rain (trust me, it doesn't rain here!) and when we had monsoons in August, they made many of those trails pretty ugly to ride on! I kept drinking, shoving dates and honey into my mouth and after the first hour I felt pretty good! Todd and I started catching guys up the trail as we moved along. He would constantly remind me, "Keep it going Melissa! We finished strong with Todd pacing me up Cave Creek Road to the finish. Again, this year I would finish just a few minutes ahead of Crystal! But thanks to my teammate Todd for being out there and helping me keep the pace up...he even said that if I would have flatted, he would have given his wheel to me so I'd still have a chance at winning. It's all about teamwork - even in a XC mtn bike race!

Now I am off on some CODE RED dirt bike adventures this weekend...Yes, I know, I took the plunge and got my first dirt bike last week! Brrupp...brrupp! Aaron's had his since June and now I can go out and play with him in the desert! It's a 2011 TC250 Husqvarna. Lightweight and has some power! It will make me stronger on my mountain bike for sure!