The Feminine Side of Beef and Pie (Rashomon 1)
Posted on March 25, 2008 by admin
By: Karen
As most Beef and Pie fans know, my nick-name is Ponies. Because this is a cycling blog there will be no horses in my blog entry. No really, I promise. Last week after many years off the bike I was lured out to West Texas to ride in the Mas o Menos mountain bike race. I was promised sunshine, a stay in a cool hotel, a fun track, a big hill, and Tito’s Vodka. All were delivered. I was also to be the first female rider for the esteemed Beef and Pie Cycling team. Who could resist? After a night in Alpine to stay with some old friends, we arrived at the race site on Friday to meet some folks for a pre-ride. One of them was our Beef and Pie team member Joey “The Cuban Missile” Machado.
I had registered for the 18 mile race which I knew was going to be a true test for my fitness level. I decided that a nice 5 mile pre-ride would be enough for me. I didn’t stick to my plan at all and rode way longer than planned. I was so tired that I considered scrapping my race plans altogether. We checked into our groovy hotel, La Posada Milagro, after the ride. What a fab place. A small hotel made of stone with cozy rooms, great tiled baths and showers and an amazing view. Highly recommended.
Beef ( Mike) arrived shortly after we did, with Ayse and Dianna. Then Jeff and Jane. Yay! Jeff and Jane are like migrating birds. They’re from Baltimore, but always show up in Austin right before SXSW. This was my first sighting of the migratory Jeff and Jane this year. There are few people that enjoy West Texas as much as this group. I still wasn’t sure of participating in the race the next day, but spent the evening preparing with my hubby anyway. He’s a seasoned racer, and he helped me get everything layed out perfectly so I wouldn’t forget a thing. He even prepared my special drink mixes. One tastes like bad Koolaid, the other like buttery chalk. We had a big dinner and went to bed at 8:30 (mostly because I was so trashed from the pre-ride). When we got up the next morning - pre-dawn - and loaded everything into the car and we were really surprised to see Beefy already up and asking questions about the plans for handing out drinks according to instructions that Andrew had written the day before. He was wearing funny moose pajamas. We knew then that he was serious about his designated job that day. His hand-ups to me would be easy (one bottle), but Andrew was riding 60 miles and there were multiple locations and different drinks to keep track of. We stopped at the closest open diner to have breakfast and found ourselves eating breakfast in a cloud of cigarette smoke with some local folks that were still drunk from the night before. One of them was impressed by our intentions to ride that day and he bought us breakfast (two very delicious bowls of oatmeal – not instant). When we got to the race start, another friend had arrived, Nancy Germond. She decided to register for the 50K at the last minute, and ride down with our friend Charles. It was good to find her at the start line. I’m going to stop here and gush about my bike. Andrew bought a new ride and gave me his old bike. After riding it the previous weekend, I really think it’s the best bike I’ve ever ridden. It’s a Kelly 29er and it rolls over everything like water. I may even be tempted to ride it instead of my pony sometimes (oops sorry about the horse mention). Nancy was also giving a 29er a whirl, and I think she felt the same way I did.
The race started in waves with 100K riders first (Pros, Experts), then the 50K (sport riders), then the 30K (beginners). So my group left last in the dust of all the others. I sat at the back and decided to take it easy because I was tired and my butt was sore from the previous day. We wound through the single track at the beginning and then I arrived at the first water stop after only about 30 minutes. I wanted full documentation of my race so I dismounted and took pictures with Mike (Beefy) handing me my one hand-up.
After this water stop we hit the gravel road leading to the base of the massive hill climb. The road was uneventful, but the hill climb was a monster. I made it to the first big landing, and then had to get off and walk after the switch back. The race photographer was there and he told me to get back on my bike because I didn’t want a picture of myself pushing. You can see from the picture that I obliged. 
I rode and pushed my way to the top, gasping for breath the whole way. The pros and experts started to pass us, and we were careful to not get in their way. I chatted with some really nice folks along the way. There was one fun guy that I stayed with almost to the end. I passed him going up, he passed me going down. He passed me for the last time when I made a stop to get some water before the final downhill. He made a funny comment about how he was glad I stopped so he could pass me again.
After that water stop it was a screaming ride down to the end. Fun. I was ecstatic to find myself at the end of the race and still alive and not even as tired as I was the previous day. 
Mike, Jeff and Jane were waiting at the finish line. An excellent cheering section. Really soon after I finished, Andrew came by finishing his first 30 mile lap. We cheered and Mike gave him his scheduled hand-up. We stayed around the finish line for a little while and then moved to Andrew’s next hand-up area. Somewhere in between the two locations, Mike and Jeff found some huge, red beers that were part Budweiser, part tomato juice and part clams, yes clams. I had a tiny taste, um, not so good. They sucked ‘em down while we waited for Andrew to come by. 
There was live music at the water stop and guy was singing, playing his guitar and harmonica. The weather was perfect. After a couple of those huge beers, Mike stood on a cooler with is binoculars to make sure he could see Andrew coming. We had a couple of false alarms, but Andrew came through, and Mike tried to make a joke by offering him Gaffer’s tape. Andrew, in his oxygen debt, ignored him completely and asked for food. Mike gave him food and water, and away he went. 
We went back to the finish line and waited for his finish. In the meantime we saw Nancy who looked fresh as a daisy after her 50k race. Beefy made sure to position himself perfectly for pictures of Andrew’s finish. He finished strong and his fans (us) cheered appropriately. We showered, napped and made our way back to the race site for the awards ceremony and fajita dinner. Dinner was excellent and it was a great crowd. I made the mistake at this point of drinking the product of the race sponsor, Titos Vodka! We had breakfast with Charles and Nancy (and a bit of a hangover) and hit the road early the next day.What an amazing time. You can count me in for next year!
Leave a Comment
If you would like to make a comment, please fill out the form below.
You must be logged in to post a comment.