NORBA XC #4 -- Sandpoint, idaho -- july 16-17, 2005

For my Pedalmag race report, click here.

I was pleasantly surprised by northern Idaho. Somehow I thought the entire state was flat and kilometre upon kilometre of hicks and potato farms, but I was wrong. Northern Idaho borders on Canada just below Crankbrook, B.C., which means they share a landscape of mountains, forests and lakes.

The Schweitzer Mountain event was my first NORBA and I was excited to check out the scene. I drove the Red Rocket a.k.a. Radio Flyer down with Trish -- we took the scenic route, so it took us around 10 hours. It was beautiful and we stopped along the way to buy yummy cherries and drink blended coffee drinks. Mmmmmmmmm....

We stayed with Kiara and Ricky from Gears along with their soigneur, Mike, in a lake house out in the boonies about 45 minutes from the race site. It was awesome!

The race course was really fun. It was 10.6 miles long, which made pre-riding feel like an exploratory ride. It was really quite beautiful, as it was relatively high (around 1600m) and we got an amazing view of the surrounding mountains and lakes.

On race day, driving up the mountain road, it suddenly started to rain and hail so hard, I could hardly see anything and had to slow down to a crawl. The flash flood ended relatively quickly, but it left puddles and a cold breeze.

Everything started well and I was having fun, although I did feel the altitude a little. The descent near the end of the course was super, with banked corners through trees and lots of other nifty things. At the beginning of the second of two laps, the skies opened up again and it got really cold -- so cold, in fact, that I stopped in the feed zone and put on my vest. I rode out the rest of the race, feeling pretty good, but not spectacular.

I finished 22nd out of over 40 girls. I was really impressed with the depth of the competition. It was challenging and I always saw women in front of me, so it was good motivation and I didn't feel isolated. I think the NORBA Series would be fun to follow for a season.

All in all, a great first-time NORBA experience!