Of all the NETRA enduros on the 2018 calendar, my hopes were highest for Rhody. The first and only time I had raced the event was in 2015, when I contested the NETRA enduro series in the women’s class with routinely disastrous results. It was only my second enduro, and my first in summer heat. I ran out of water before gas, never arrived at resets with enough time to choke down any food, had a 4th gear crash in the infamous sand pit, and crossed the finish line exhausted and in tears after a complete physical and emotional breakdown. That said, I had a ton of fun.
You see, unlike the typical NETRA enduro, Rhody is FAST. There are no rocks, few roots, just mile after mile of sandy, singletrack flow. Going into this weekend, I was 20 promotion points shy of moving from the C (novice) class to B (amateur)--and if there was ever an enduro I could score 20+ points at, this is it. The pressure was on.
My boyfriend Greg and I start on minute 12. Not two miles into the singletrack, I miss a turn and stuff the bike into a pile of fallen logs. Minutes pass while I deadlift it out, then another as I wait for a break in the traffic so I can get back on the trail. Half the riders in the race must have passed me! “So much for the overall,” my inner defeatist groans. “Guess the pressure is off. Have a nice trail ride, kid.”
LITTLE
RHODY
ENDURO
Anna Svagdys