Muddy Mountwood

I was hoping that this race wouldn't be a repeat of last year - it sure was close.  The trail remained dry for the most part until race day.  The high for the day was 44 degrees with a light rain that became heavy at times.

The race took place at Mountwood Park in Parkersburg, West Virginia on Sunday April 13th. It was race #2 for the West Virginia Mountain Bike Association, as well as race #2 for the Ohio Mountain Bike Championship.  (although OMBC #1 was canceled due to weather)

There was a much larger turn out of pro/expert women this year with 10, how exciting.  The race was the first of the season for most, but for me - this made 3 in a row.  I really need a break after this one.  I pulled the whole shot off the start, primarily for fun, I knew it wouldn't last with Betsy Shogren in the field.  She finished 11th in the pro women's class at Nationals last year, so my goal was to finish as close to her as possible.  She passed me about 2 miles into the race and I was able to keep her in view for the next several miles and she disappeared about half way into the race.  I finished 2nd around 3 minutes behind Shogren.  I'll take that.

I have to say that the rest of the class did awesome considering the conditions, only one DNF'd due to a mechanical.  Great job girls!  Congrats to Cristina finishing fourth, Bridget finishing sixth and Lauren (new to the expert class) finishing 9th.  Awesome job Lauren!  Hang in there and it will come!