Sarah's Traverse Race Report: How I almost won the Traverse

While I was excited to do my first Traverse and to support a SAW Sports Productions race, I was a little sick of racing. It would be my 3rd weekend of racing, after Whiskey 50 and the Idyllwild Spring Challenge. But I think supporting local races is important, as I emphasized on socaltrailriders. So, I sucked it up and went to the packet pick-up and raffle Thursday night. There was tons of swag, and I won an expensive helmet. Score! And when Saturday morning rolled around, I found myself lined up at the start, with my friend AJ Sura snapping pics of me:

Only about 40 people showed for the full Traverse, with another 20 or so people doing the "light" version (i.e., Blackstar-Motorway). The start was pretty casual. Kirk explained the course and then dropped his hat - the signal to "go." 


To my surprise, I was leading, and several guys were drafting me. I recall thinking, "something is seriously wrong with this picture." That didn't last for long, however. Danny Munoz powered out to the front, and three other guys followed. I couldn't hold on, so I didn't get to draft to the dirt, which was a bummer. I shouldn't have started out so fast. I was overly eager. 


But, on the bright side, Danny set a fast pace, and I'm guessing he may have blown some of the other guys up. I passed #4 soon after the dirt and #3 at the top of Blackstar. This being my third week in a row of long races, l felt tired. I was just trying to pace myself. 


At Motorway I ran into Joel Titius, the teenager who smashed the Counting Coup record, with a time of 3:40!! We rode to 4 Corners more or less together. He was very nice, and we chatted a bit.


Having never ridden that portion, my motivation was sapped. I didn't feel like I had loads of energy. I just wanted it to end. Where the heck was 4 Corners, and why was this taking so long?! 


At 4 Corners I stopped for 2 minutes. Seeing AJ there, I regretted not giving her my bottles. I had to mix and refill my bottles myself. I had some Gatorade as well. Thanks AJ for the pics:

The stop must have been good for my legs, because suddenly I had loads of energy. I actually had to reign it in a little bit. I charged up to the Peak, but I could see that #3 wasn't far back. 


After Lower Holy Jim I soon spotted #2, Nick. I sort of slowed to his pace for a minute to recoup some energy for the next haul. I judged that he wasn't as strong as I on the downhills and that if I opened up a gap he wouldn't be able to play catch-up on Trabuco. So, I put the hammer down and released my stored energy. Suddenly, I was right behind Danny at around The Wall. Hearing me behind him (he though I was Nick), he sped up. 


Still, I managed to get pretty close to him by the top of Trabuco,  but I don't think he saw me. I railed Trabuco (I got the QOM!) and almost caught him by the end, but it was too late ... . I knew that I couldn't make up time in the wash. Powering on flats is my weakness for sure. Even so, I kept the gap about the same, and I finished 25 second behind Danny, who very surprised to learn that I was not in fact Nick! Danny had actually had a bad race, getting two flats. Later he told me that he wished that I had won - a woman winning the Traverse would be a first! 


Keith and I chatting with Danny:

The most inspirational story of the day (at least for me) was that a mother and daughter duo finished the Traverse. Meet (from left to right) presumably grandma Prazak and finishers Lyndee and Tawnee Prazak:

Later, Keith and I headed over to O'Neil park for the BBQ and award. The dogs frolicked, and the grownups hung out. Me with my medal: