The day started out cool and clear. I drove with Paul Herrera to the first camp that JPL was setting up. It was at the start of leg 4 - a running leg that Mark Ryne was doing. He would tag off to me at the start of leg 5. I was enjoying the great desert scenery - the New York mountains were absolutely stunning this morning.
I drove to the start of my leg with Randy and got the mountain bike ready. It was Paul's bike and I'd never ridden it on dirt. :) The road was a graded road that wound through the mountains. It didn't look too steep (good thing) and since it was still quite cool (78 degrees F) I was happy. I watched Pete Penseyres take off on his ride. His team was in first place and far ahead of the rest of us. I was talking and joking with the Marine who was riding this leg (on a borrowed bike). He was a big, muscular guy and I told him I'd just draft off of him until the end of the leg. As it turned out, that statement was truer than I knew.
We heard over the radio that Mark was approaching the hand-off. I rode down to get ready to ride. Here came Mark running up the incline, his white hat easy to spot. Not too far behind him was the Marine runner! Mark reached the end and I took off. A bit too fast as the climb was gradual but noticable. I settled into a rythmn and was quickly passed by the Marine. OK, I *knew* that he'd pass me. After all, he couldn't let a woman beat him. :) I rode at a steady pace and knew that this leg was far from over even though I had been passed already.
My leg was 12 miles of dirt road - 6 miles uphill and then 6 miles downhill. So I just paced myself and kept going. It was fun to have someone to compete against. The Marine stayed in view. He gained a quarter mile lead but I noticed that it wasn't increasing. Fine. I'll just ride my pace and keep him in sight. If all goes well, I should be able to stay with him. I noticed that he'd slow down a bit on uphills and then get ahead on the downhills. I kept my pace on the uphills as much as I could without killing my legs and then spun hard on the downhills. Mile after mile he was in sight. This is GOOD! Our support van was honking every mile so I could judge how far I had to go. I was keeping it steady and staying on target.
The scenery was outstanding! Even if I weren't racing (which I actually quite enjoy) the scenery would have made the ride worthwhile. The desert was green from all the rain and the flowers were everywhere. Indian paintbrush was blooming, bright red flowers contrasted nicely with the green and brown hills. We climbed through some gentle valleys and startled some cattle that were grazing. I did wonder what I'd do if they decided to come my way. There were some impressive horns on their heads! (Just how fast *can* I ride??) I climbed up the road and enjoyed the lava topped hills on either side. Gosh this is beautiful.
The road was fairly smooth if you could find a good line. Occasionally we'd hit washboard sections that really got your brain bouncing. I was glad to have the front forks on the bike but even still my body got quite a massage. My arms and shoulders were taking the brunt of the vibrations. I tried to stand up on the pedals for the worst downhill sections but even still it was rough going at times. I can't imagine how the ride was for the support crews, they must have taken a real beating driving all day.
I was so happy riding that stretch of road. The beautiful scenery, the terrific weather and the joy of racing had me bubbling over with excitment. I was yelling "This is BEAUTIFUL!" and just having a terrific time - and all the while the Marine was still in view.
We finally reached the top and started the "downhill" section. It wasn't a steep downhill but it made pedalling easier. I shifted to a higher gear and went for it, not pushing so hard to burn out my legs. I was feeling fantastic! I was smiling and singing and loving the ride.
About a mile from the end of the leg I started to make a noticable gain on the Marine. Perfect, just as I had planned. I passed him on a slight downhill and we exchanged pleasant comments. I knew he was going to stay with me so I tried to push it but not so much that I burned up. It was fun and difficult to keep going waiting for him to answer my challenge. I couldn't sprint to the end because I was also doing leg 7! I just kept pedalling and waited for him to pass me back.
The end was in sight! I kept a steady pace and was so excited that I might actually keep my lead that I was really jazzed! I had been joking around that I just wanted to beat a Marine and I actually had a chance to do so! Yahooo!! I tagged off to Aaron and we kept our second place position for another leg! Yippee! I was pumped! (Later, one of the Coast Guard team members commented that she thought I was psycho because I was enjoying the race so much.) I was having a wonderful time and was a happy "Death Racer". Unfortunately, it wouldn't last long.
Susan Merrill