XCO Super Cup #2

 Super cupi teine osavõistlus kodu lähedal ja minu klubi korraldatud. Rada väga äge, korralik xco, tõusude ja laskumistega, ei midagi super tehnilist aga kui sõita meeldib, siis rada tehtud nii, et saab kasutada kenasti laskumiste inertsi. Neljapäeval rada vaatamas käies oli veel täitsa kuiv vaid natuke niiske, siis pühapäevaks oli korralikult sadanud ja rada kõik sõidetav, kuid palju aeglasem. Meile naistele anti kuiva raja ringide arv, ehk päris pikalt läks rajal. 

Stardist sain okeilt minema, esimene ring lõikasime ringi natuke suuremal kruusakal, et oleks avaram start. Tõusu lõpul veel proovisin esimesena singlile saada, kuid kenasti blokkis võitja mu ära. Nägin, et olin palju kindlam mudastel singlitel, kuid ei olnud nii kiiret jalga, et tõusul kaasa minna. Seega jäin teisel positsioonil oma sõitu sõitma. Nautisin iga hetke, isegi raskemaid tõuse, kuna ka seal tuli tehniline sõitmine kasuks, et ikka teatud nõksudest üles saada. Tore päev rattal! Ainuke, mis jama on selliste ilmadega, on see pesemine peale sõitu, osad asjad veel ootavad.

Eelmine nädalavahetus oli ka siinne kohalik kestvussari, mis minu jaoks rohkem kimamine naabritega, et väga võistlusena ei võta, sel korral Piedade külast Pateira äärsetel radadel, väga kihvt rada oli tehtud ja sai ka kihutatud. Ja esikoht koju toodud ja ka kiireima ringi preemia.

Aitäh kõigile kaasaelajatele!

Second race of the Super Cup series, close to home and organized by my club. The course was really cool, a proper XCO with climbs and descents—not super technical, but if you enjoy riding, the course was designed so you could use the momentum from the descents really well.
On Thursday the track was still pretty dry, just a little damp. But by Sunday, it had rained a lot. The course was still completely rideable, just much slower.
We women were given the number of laps based on the dry conditions, so we spent quite a long time on the course.

I got off to a decent start. On the first lap we took a slightly longer gravel section to make the start more spacious. Near the top of the climb I tried to be the first onto the singletrack, but the eventual winner blocked me nicely.
I noticed I was a lot more confident on the muddy singletrack, but I didn’t have the speed in my legs to stick with her on the climbs. So I stayed in second position and focused on riding my own race. I enjoyed every moment—even the harder climbs, where technical riding skills helped to get up certain tricky spots.
It was a great day on the bike! The only annoying part with this kind of weather is all the cleaning afterwards—some of the stuff is still waiting to be washed.

Last weekend there was also a local endurance series race here. For me, it’s more about racing with neighbors than taking it seriously. This time it was on trails near Pateira, starting from the village of Piedade. A super fun course was set up, and I really got to push the pace. Took the win and also earned the fastest lap prize.

Thanks to all supporters!