Nerves and anticipation were high, but smiles plentiful early in the morning on Saturday, June 7 as seven VeloVixens converged near Dalton,GA for Chainbuster Racing’s 3 Hours of Raisin Woods. The sun was already blazing at 9am, and these ladies had put in the work to show this trail what’s up. Pre-race jitters melted away as race support QOM Virginia Lee prepped our muscles for some serious work. Warm ups were initiated, and soon word came in about not-so-great trail conditions dues to the previous day’s thunderstorm. All too soon we would know what this entailed…

The 6.2 mile course had a variety of technical features, tight-twisty-rooty singletrack, off-camber downhills, slippery switchbacks, pitchy rollers, and one rutted out nasty red clay climb that seriously made you consider dismounting. The Vixens fought hard to keep the rubber side down on the wet roots while keeping the speed up despite many mud holes. Mechanicals were at a minimum this race, with only Heather flatting once – but it hardly slowed her down.

Overall, despite the conditions, teal, black and red dominated the podium! Veronica Borne and Heather Hamilton were awarded 1st and 2nd place, respectively, in base class. Kathie Logan got 1st for her age group in base. Sport racers Elizabeth Glas and Monica Desjardins made 1st for their ages, and Noel Lawson 3rd. Monica was awarded the 3rd place female overall. Needless to say, the Vixens ROCKED it! When the trail gets rough, the Vixens get tougher. Perseverance leads to reaching your personal goal.

Many, many thanks to Virginia Lee with Hands on Healing Southside for providing massage, sag support, and recovery nutrition. Thank you to Chainbuster Racing for providing a well-organized event as always. Also thanks goes out to all of the various Vixens sponsors, especially Scott’s Bicycle Centre and East Ridge Bicycles, for providing hydration, gear and maintenance!

Race Report by Velo Vixens Race Team member Monica Desjardins