Reforestation Cramp

It was the cramp of the decade for me that decided my race. I never used to cramp like this since high school soccer.

Reforestation was a "marathon" style race that I dnf-ed at last year. That was my goal this year, not to dnf.

It was a rainy weekend so the preride was closed. I opened up my legs on the road the day before as the Muddy Cup and I formed like a pack of bumble bees and "bzzzz-ed" around on our mtb tires.

The morning of the race my tummy wasn't feeling too hot. But I pushed through it. The race started and I hopped on Abby's wheel. I was sitting about 6th behind Sue, Rebecca, Holly, Lisa, Abby, and then me. We had an awesome pace going and quickly dropped the rest of the women. We maintained and hit the singletrack very fast. We mostly stuck together, but me, Lisa, and Rebecca fell off the main group.

Lap two started and me, Lisa, and Rebecca had a great pace going, felt great, and were closing in on beginning our 3rd and final lap. We were dominated 4th, 5th, and 6th. We hit the final singletrack where Lisa crashed. We caught back on to Rebecca. I then proceeded to nail a stump with my partially cramping leg which triggered the cramp of a lifetime. I was flung from my bike to the ground where I laid screaming and screaming. I was focused enough to realize me holding my leg could look like I was injured. In turn, I began screaming, "I'M CRAMPING! I'M CRAMPING!" It just made the moment that much cooler.

Not only was I lying on the ground screaming, but a very nice gentlemen from Guiness helped me up from the ground and began cramping after he jammed into my bike. The state of delerium and pain passed and we both hopped on our merry way. My ladies were gone and now I had a sore as shit leg.

My third lap was pretty miserable as I rode, coasted, and stretched to maintain my leg strength. A rider from Vellobella passed me and I was unable to catch her in the open. Very disappointed about my unfortunate act of nailing a stump, I rolled in for a respectable race and a 7th place finish.

Solution to my problem: Hydrate more. Collectively, I drank about 1 full bottle for a 36 mile race. Can you say moron? I will also begin adding some magnesium into my diet to help maintain my muscles.

Continue feeling strong. And let me tell you, Rebecca Cleveland is so polite and kind when racing with. What a great group of women I race/ride with!

Oh yea. Today is kinda a special day...