2013 Pan American Championships

Hola Amigos!

Team KENDA - Seven - Stan's NoTubes rocks the Pan American Continental Championships!

Mike and I just made it back home to the east coast, tired and spinning from our most recent journey to Argentina to compete in our first XC event of the year.  Despite the tiredness we currently feel, we are smiling and very happy to report a successful team effort:  It is a huge honor to come home with the overall title for winning the Elite women's  2013 Pan American Continental Championships!!   

Mary McC off the front...

  

The race was held in the high mountain valley basin in the small town of Tafi de Valle, Province of Tucuman.  The altitude of 6500 feet surely added to the challenge of racing this highly competitive event and called for special preparation.  Mike and I wanted to give ourselves every opportunity for a good result so we arrived 10 days early to give our bodies time to recover from the L O N G travel and acclimate for race day.  

Spinning out the legs after the long travel

Cabanas Altos de Tafi

It is always takes time to get settled in a foreign land, especially when you are jet lagged, barely speak the language and have never been there before.  Luckily I could do some internet searching before we got there to reserve a cabin with cooking facilities and could immediately move into our place as we came into town on the busy Easter weekend.  The accommodations we arranged, Cabañas Altos de Tafí, turned out to be the perfect quiet space to unravel and prepare for the race weekend.    We found the good veggie shop and the market in town, where we could buy fantastic local wines and get the best beef filet we've ever tasted.  Nourishment was abundant here.

Post race party - Eating the right foods every day is an important part of being fit!

Mike and I were pleased to find a technical and demanding race track which was set up along the base of the mountains and traversed the rocky high desert terrain with short abrupt climbs and swooping sections through the dry river beds.  It was super fun to ride, but was going to be tough to race on with limit passing zones and very technical pieces which could potentially get bogged up and create big gaps.  We trained on the track all week, dialing lines, feeling what it felt like to push hard at elevation, envisioning race tactics, and in general, getting our groove on.  The track got worn in over the week, as riders from all over the continent checked it out -  masters, juniors, cadets, under 23 and elite categories  - as well as motorcycle enthusiasts, so we found.  Some sections deteriorated and deep dusty ruts formed, requiring more care to ride.  

Out training early in the week

Racing at elevation is always tricky especially for us low landers.  Putting in really heavy efforts will push me right over my threshold and I "blow up" unable to recover from the surge.  This can make you cross eyed and will surely affect bike handling skills.  For me, the right balance to race fast at elevation is to keep steady, riding just at my top end and I focus on being really smooth.  Of course I am breathing hard, but it seems like I'm going really slow.  Tactics also become even more important.  I knew I needed to go out front from the start if I was going to have a chance at winning. 

Elite women minutes before the start...

Race day came, and we were ready.  Mike dialed our incredible race machines and USAC was covering our tech and feed zones.  I surely appreciated my front row call up and managed to get the hole shot upon reaching the first tight single track.  I rode hard and kept the lead for the entire 5 lap race with enough of a gap to know I could monitor my pace and ride within my threshold, focusing on flowing the technical sections.  It was an amazing feeling to cross the finish line first!  My 4th Continental Champion Title in the past 10 years! :-)

La 2013 Campeon Panamericana

I danced on the podium and sang the US national anthem at the top of my lungs!

The support and enthusiasm from local fans after the race was astounding…. I must have posed for hundreds of photos and smiled so much my cheeks were cramping.  I will cherish the moment as it reminds me how lucky I am to truly be LIVING my passion.

Post race interviews

the enthusiastic fans were amazing

The bikes were AWESOME!  My hand crafted Seven Cycles 29er IMX with Stan's NoTubes's Race Gold wheels and my favorite light weight tires - KENDA's Karma - was the perfect application in the dry loose soil.  The biggest change to my bike for this race was installing SRAM's latest XX1 - My drivetrain was impeccable and my bike over a pound lighter than I was used to!  The combination of all our sponsors' fantastic products, my team of supporters... along with a little good luck earned this victory!  THANK YOU team!!!

Thanks to our great USA Cycling support crew!

Pan Ams has always been a special event on Mike's and my calendar - we truly appreciate this opportunity to travel to South America to race our bikes on the dirt and share the great sport of mountain bike competition with another part of the globe.  The flavor of racing Pan Ams is always a little different than our usual American or European race experience.  The flavor created by the small town juxtaposed with top mountain bike racers and supporting National federations from all corners of the continent is something pretty cool to witness.  Many have never seen such bikes or dedicated athletes - shaved legged men or super fit women, with specific training, diet & internet needs, all dressed in tight fitting colorful clothing… we surely got some pretty surprised looks…  The energy of  the town changes for the week and hopefully good impressions are left.  I know we are ambassadors of our sport and countries, so it is important we take time to smile, be friendly and show enthusiasm for interested individuals. 

Mike takes time to share about his bike with interested locals (before he goes to the start)

The boys get ready to race

The elite men's race was a raging dust bowl of incredibly talented and fast riders - most of whom were coming off their summer months of racing.  Mike fought hard in the mix, giving his ALL on the radical course.  It was pretty clogged on the first few laps  and the leaders got away.  Gaps never to be closed.  Mike toughed it out in the crowd and it was beautiful to watch him race.  He suffered and rode strong, looking super smooth on the challenging terrain.  I loved watching him close gaps on the technical sections.  

It's a pity one of the UCI officials decided to pull several riders, including Mike, well before the 80% rule (which is in place so lapped riders do not get in the way of the leaders).  There were several minutes until the 80% mark would be met and these riders should have been allowed to finish the final lap.  There was no way these riders could have interfered with the finishing leaders.  So Mike and several others unfairly did not get the chance to finish the 6th lap…which is a bummer because you never know what can happen in the final moments of a race, when everyone is pushing their limits to the edge.  So that was sort of disappointing for him.  He still had a solid result of 25th place - which is pretty much the position he started - a testament to the strength of the field and how crucial the start is.  I'm proud of Mike for riding so strong alongside giving his all in supporting me.  He is a good sport about it and considers the day a team victory… which it was.  Couldn't have done it without him.

Mike riding a dusty rut

Stay tuned as we head to Europe next week to move into the RV and get into the spring racing…

Good health and rides!

Mary and Mike

Team KENDA - Seven - Stan's NoTubes

Enjoying a little field trip up the valley on our rest day.  We saw incredible Condors and cacti.

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