Cholla Challenge 2008

I felt good about my performance at the Cholla Challenge race. I finished 10th with a time of 1:56:52. I was happy I finished under 2 hours and didn't fade in the last few miles like last year. I felt pretty strong the whole race and kept up an aggressive yet sustainable pace.

The weather was fantastic with sun, only a slight breeze and temperatures reaching the low 80s.

I started off the back (like always) and got into my pace. After the slickrock climb and the descent off the backside, the course is pretty flat with some dips through washes - I kicked it into the big ring and cranked up the speed. I reeled in a few people here - one was Jim Wedge from Revolution. Jim told me he didn't appreciate me pushing him so early, and I replied that I still had plenty of miles to blow up.

The smile can only mean one thing: this is near the start of the race.




I liked the trail out to the wash and kept my speed up pretty good. I trudged up the hike-a-bike with everyone else then got the speed back up for this slightly downhill section. I took the turns slow - I'm still a wimp at committing and diving into turns, especially when they look so loose. I let fly on the old jeep road and had fun bunny-hoping a little rocky dip. Then it's back to single-track as the course heads back north and slowly regains elevation lost.

I kept my speed up and could see another Revolution jersey ahead - ah, a nice carrot for me to chase. To my surprise it was Mark - he started before me in the Sport 35-39 group and I never expected to catch him this early. I crept up on him and gave him a push forward. He turned in surprise and smiled when he saw it was me. We said a few words then off I went.



Next was the longest climbing of the course and I did OK on the first section, even though I was stuck in the middle ring. I turned it OK, but I was concerned I was chewing through too much energy. The longer climb up the rocky old jeep road went OK for me. I was grinding it out like everyone else. Passed a female racer here.

The next section was new with a lot of loose dirt / gravel / sand peppered with rocks. I made it OK and didn't dab except when a rider in front of me endoed after dropping a ledge into a sand pit. The grind up the loose gravely wash was hard on the legs, but I tried to pick my way through it best I could. Then the final packed dirt back to the start for another lap.

Near the finish now - looking more grim.


The 2nd lap went about the same, except I was a little slower but still felt pretty good. I passed a few more racers. I didn't clean the final loose section and that annoyed me a little - dumb little mistakes. Anther Revolution rider (Janelle) was in front of me through the final single-track, but I passed her in the gravely wash and pushed hard to the finish.

Jolene pumping up the hill to the finish.


The final climb.


Almost to the finish.


Jolene takes 3rd.


With all the gloomy talk about the new course (basically the old course but run backwards with a few new sections), I thought it was pretty good. Of course having negative expectations helped. It had several good features, but I didn't like the hike-a-bike and churning through the loose gravel and sandy sections wasn't fun. Overall I enjoyed it.

In general Cholla was a good race for me. I could have pushed harder in a few spots, but I put in a solid effort.