USGP

Last weekend rocked. We left on Friday at about 11:30 a.m. which let us get to Sun Prairie in time for me to preride the course. It was quite similar to last year -- lots of turns, off cambr stuff, but also a hellacious run up. I tried to find good lines, practiced turns, etc. and was psyched to race. Christopher got to play at their awesome park so he was excited as well.

When we got to the number pick up, Christopher wanted to stay in the RV so I just grabbed my number and we left being able to camp at the race site, which rocked. I got up early and rode the course before the men's 4 race started around 8:20 a.m. or so, warmed up and that stood around waiting for the race to start. I had a good start but my legs felt like lead from waiting around for the start. I'm passing girls, feeling good, I'm hopping back on my bike after the run-up and get bumped. Ugh. My pedal gets stuck on a post, I finally get it off and I get run into from behind. Crap. Get my pedal unstuck again and then play catch up the rest of the race, going back and forth with Courtney from xXx and one or two others. I ended up 12th out of 43 finishers. I was pretty excited once I saw results because I seriously had no idea where I was. Unfortunately, Sue crashed on the first lap and broke her arm. When I passed her, I figured her wheel slid out in the turn and she would soon be behind me. Looks like her CX season is done but she'll be spending lots of time on the trainer and kicking butt next year.

We watched the fast women and men race which was a load of fun and got to socialize which is always fun. Watching Jeremy Powers ride up the run up was awesome. Since we were camped in the parking lot, I was able to do a few laps of Sunday's course on Saturday evening. I was bummed that we would still be doing the run up as last year we rode up the hill twice and I would much rather ride up it once then run up it.

Sunday morning, I was out on the course again. They tamed down the course a little in spots which was disappointing since technical stuff is always good for me. Warmed up, kept bouncing around before the start. My legs felt better but my start totally sucked. I was in the third row (one row of 1/2/3 and the second row of the 3/4). I had waited to register 'til Tom got paid and, unfortunately, got stuck behind some slow starters on Sunday. So, similar to Saturday, I was picking them off the whole time, going back and forth with some. I felt good on the bike mostly; although, I kept getting passed on the run up and could use a little more practice on my dismounts and mounts. I ended up 11th out of 35 finishers. I cheered on the 50+ and juniors and then we headed back home.

This weekend, I'll be doing the My Wife Inc. Cross the Domes race on Saturday. Tom and Christopher will be coming with so we can visit some friends in New Berlin, WI afterwards. Sunday is DeKalb, which I am totally psyched about -- especially the stairs/ramp thing -- except for having to be there by 7:30 a.m. in the morning to do registration. I am going to have to leave at an ungodly hour.

Yesterday was more hill sprints. Not exactly the most fun way to spend my time at Bullfrog Lake but they definitely seem to be helping for CX. = )

3rd, 5th & 49th

This past weekend marked the start of the cross season. Yippee! I went up and did the No Good Double CX race in Eagle, WI on Saturday. As I pulled into the parking lot, there was a downpour. I put on rain gear but, by the time I registered, the rain had stop. It was a great course; although, there was a lot of horse crap. I had a bad start but was mostly feeling good. I passed two girls the last lap. I thought one of them I might have been lapping and the other one I wasn't sure about. I ended up moving myself up from 4th out of 7 to 3rd in that last lap. Woo hoo! I won an awesome set of long-fingered gloves that actually fit and grabbed a bunch of the free gels.

Sunday was Jackson Park. I had to be there at 7:30 to help out with registration. That sucked but it will save me a lot of coin by the end of the season. I did pretty good. I went back and forth with Courtney from XXX but couldn't keep up her pace. I was stoked to take 5th on a fast course -- not one of my strong points. Woo hoo!

More volunteering and then I lined up for the Men's 4A. I needed more caffeine, more drink and more food by that time. It was also blatantly obvious that I had not raced with the boys in nine months. 49 out of 75 starters. Not great but it's early in the season.

I need to work on making my mounts better. I keep fumbling with the pedals. When I was riding the course beforehand though, my mounts were great. So, I know what I need to work on -- getting back on the bike and pedaling quicker and getting more aggressive. The season is definitely starting off well. It will be great if I can keep up the good results but there were quite a few of the regular girls missing from the Saturday WI race as well as Holly missing from Jackson Park and Leah still getting back in form after having to spend some time off the bike.

This weekend will be USGP and should be awesome. I love CX. = )

Last mountainbike race of the year

This weekend was hectic and involved both cross as well as my last mountainbike race of the year.

On Saturday I went to the Half Acre Women's CX Clinic. It was geared more towards beginners but was lead by Kristin Wentworth and was only $15. It was fun, cool to hang out with everyone, good to get in some CX practice and I did learn some things. I realized I wasn't grabbing my top tube during the dismounts and they pointed out another technique mistake. It is really hard to concentrate on two different things so I may have to focus on the hand on the top tube first for awhile unless I want some magnificent crashes attempting to go over barriers in my near future. = )

Pretty much as soon as I got back, we headed down to Hudson so I could preride the course. Fun course with some bridges, log piles, etc. I rode some things Saturday night knowing I wouldn't ride them during the race as the other line was faster. We were able to camp nearby which was nice. Race morning, I did another lap as it is a short course at less than five miles. My legs were tired from all the CX mounts & dismounts the day before. Oh well. I warmed up and then it was time for the kids' race. The photo above is Christopher doing the kids race at Comlara Park. He had fun. We still can't get him interested in riding bikes that actually have pedals -- unless it is hooked up to my bike. He got a small box of sidewalk chalk, a sticker and a t-shirt. Pretty cool.

I lined up with only two other girls. Betsy who is a wickedly good and fast mountainbiker and a girl named Rachel, who I was told was a fast roadie that does adventure races. The guy in charge told Betsy we'd start two minutes after the guys. He tells the sport guys to go and then yells that we should be going with them. I took advantage of the slight confusion and got in front. We soon were on the sport men and started slowly passing them. I was actually able to keep the lead for half a lap. Yea me! Betsy passed me and I thanked her for letting me be 1st briefly. = ) Rachel had passed us at one point earlier and then crashed. She later passed me and got a little gap and I saw her crash at least 3 more times. The last section of singletrack had a lot of logs and long bridges and I was right on her tail -- then we came to a long fast section before the start/finish and I never saw her again. It was fun pretending to be one of the fast girls but I definitely went way too hard the first lap and could have felt better the last three laps. I took 3rd, which got me the most points for the season but I was DFL. Granted, I was beat by two really quick chicks but being DFL still is not a big ego boost. We were each in different age categories so they gave me a gold medal for being first in 30-39. Later, I looked more closely at the medal and realized it said "Novice Women," which seemed typical of how they have been treating the Women's Open category. I did also get a $10 gift card for a bike shop near there.

Tom did two laps of the course afterwards while Christopher & I chilled in the RV. We stopped at a park before the drive back. He got to play with two little kids and had fun. We thought he'd pass out on the way home but he was really hyper most of the way and finally passed out once we were off the highway.

Now, it will be all cross, cross, cross baby! First CX race of the year will be in Wisconsin on Saturday followed by Jackson Park on Sunday. I'm sure I'll be excited later in the week. Today, I'm exhausted and sore.

Kickapoo & 1st day of school

Christopher getting ready to ride on the tag-a-long to the first day of preschool.

We traveled down to Danville so I could race at Kickapoo on Sunday. We had actually raced here in 1999 but I could barely remember it. I was able to preride as it was getting dark on Saturday. The course was technical and fun but I was a little stressed that there were a couple of steep short climbs I couldn't get up in my 1x9. But, at the start line it ended up being me, Betsy, Bev, Rachael and a girl I believe was named Melinda. It was Melinda's second race and she would have did novice if she could have made it there early enough. Betsy, Bev and Rachael are three very speedy chicks who I will likely never beat. So, I had fun. I probably could have gone a little harder but I was confident it would not change my placing. So, I had fun. I passed a few sport men, I didn't get lapped by the expert men. Tom had hoped to ride but lost the spring from his brake while he was checking his brake pads. Not as much fun for him.

There will likely be one more mountainbike race for me and then it will be cross, cross, cross baby! I'll be volunteering at the races for the ChiCrossCup series so I'll be able to do both the Women's 123 and the Men's 4A races and hopefully scrape up enough $ to do some of the WCA races, the USGP in SunPrairie and Jingle CX. I would love to do Nats as well but I'm growing doubtful our financial situation will improve enough to make it happen.

Today was Christopher's first day of preschool for the year. He's going full days for four of the five days. He should enjoy it and I'll be able to get more work done, which will mean more $ for CX. = )

Meltdown & Thomas

(Photo from 2Bici)

Yesterday was the Palos Meltdown. It is the closest race to me but I do not tend to have a home court advantage as it seems to get a little less technical each year and a little faster. Approximately, 3.6 miles of the 8.3-mile course was singletrack and it was all together. I have been going back and forth with Liz in the IL series and was doubtful I could beat her today.

So, my expectations were not incredibly high and I am happy to say I definitely exceeded them. I actually was close to Rachael much longer than I would have dreamed, went back and forth with Regina and managed to barely hold off Liz. I finished in 2:20, my longest race of the year and, man, could I tell. The last lap my back/hips were killing me and my hamstrings kept feeling like they were going to cramp up. Regina, having done more longer races this year, definitely had the advantage. It was still awesome to go back and forth with her. The last lap I was starting to get a little sloppy but still rode well. I got compliments on my strong riding and technical riding, which was cool. = ) It was awesome to have so many people cheering for me out on the course, particularly John S., Anne and Roger and the Half Acre gang.

Christopher got to do the kids race and he got both a red smiley face key chain and a medal so he was excited. Tom didn't do as well as he would have liked but he hadn't raced since Iola in early May and scored a free race entry from Anne (Thanks!).

The weekend before that was "Christopher's weekend." We took the RV, he got to ride Thomas at the railway museum on Saturday morning and we checked out the museum for several hours -- including him getting to play in an inflatable dragon and another bouncy thing, on a sand hill, miniature golf, with Thomas the Tank Engine toys, color, get temporary tatoos, check out a few trains and go on a ride in an old Metra car. Then, we went to a KOA where he got to play at a park, play more minature golf and swim in a pool. They had a hayride on Saturday and showed Madagascar Saturday evening. Sunday, we played at the park, miniature golf and swimming again before heading home. Oh, and on Friday a girl I went to grammar school and high school with gave Christopher her Smart Cycle that her kids weren't using and he got to play with her two little kids. And, on Sunday evening, Christopher got to ride the trails at Palos for the first time on a tag-a-long hooked up to my bike. I practially needed a weekend to recover from it but Christopher had a great time.

Where to begin?

(photo of Christopher racing at Jubilee)

Christopher's birthday was on Friday. He had an awesome weekend--getting to celebrate at summer camp and going to Chuck E. Cheese with Tom & I and his grandma on Friday. And, of course, opening quite a few presents. On Saturday, we had his birthday party at a local park. Several of his friends from preschool, summer camp and the neighborhood came and he had an awesome time. We went to the race in Lake Shelbyville and he got to do the kids race with Zoe Gatto, earning blue ribbons and then he, Zoe and Casey chilled out and played in the air conditioned RV. On the way home, we stopped at a rest area after he woke up from a nap and he got to play on the playground there.

I did not have a good race. It was a great course for fast girls and didn't really have any technical sections for me to try to make up time on. I was fifth out of five. Yuck. I did get in a hard effort and, as Rachael pointed out, the trails here likely would have been too wet anyway. Tom was able to get two laps in after the race so at least he got to ride too.

I had also did the Jubilee and SoCaPa races. Jubilee was great. I took 4th out of 6. The trails are great although it was toasty. SoCoPa was not great. The trails were not as technical. The race officials and organizers annoyed the heck out of me. I spent a week of emails going back and forth with the race director trying to explain that they should not be encouraging expert girls to race sport for series points. Had the same discussion at the race. After being told that sport and open were two totally different races, they were scored as one. They had 10 or 11 girls signed up for "open" with one of those also signing up as the sole women's expert entry. I was 6th and have a medal for being third in my ag group that says "Sport" on it. I was a little unhappy with the result but it definitely didn't help that arguing with officials was my "warm up."

Mainly, I've been working or riding. I have been able to spend a lot of time on the trails lately, which has been great. I've been trying to improve my turning -- not having to brake as much. And, the riding has been great for trying to keep stress levels down. It's been a crazy couple of months. Tom finally got paid again so I was able to pay a bunch of bills and breathe a little easier for the time being. I was finally off anti-biotics for a recurring sinus infection -- but ended up back at the doctor and back on meds within a week. Those are starting to kick in again so I'm hoping to be able to do some more hard rides.

Nearly 30 for Women's MTB Ride!

(photo from Nancy, from CAMBr)

Tom & I decided not to do Wausau, mainly for financial reasons, which was bummin' but did give us the opportunity to do quite a bit-- a Friday evening ride with Rachael and Ryan; the Women's MTB Ride on Saturday and way too much fricken' stuff on Sunday.

Friday's ride I wasn't feelin' quite right-- turns out I have a cold but I think I'm getting over it soon. It was still fun and Tom & I rarely get to ride together.

Saturday was the women's MTB ride. I didn't know how turnout would be with WORS and the Iowa road crits. We had a total of 27 women and girls show up! A few that already mountainbiked but most were pretty much newbies, including a woman who had just bought mountainbike tires for her bike that were switched minutes before the ride. Women and girls split off into two groups of beginner and intermediate. Truth be told, they were pretty much all beginners for mountainbiking but there were also some new to shifting. Julia Daher, from Johnny Sprockets, and Jennifer Mosley, from Half Acre, led the beginner group and I was nominated to lead the intermediate group. I was a little nervous -- would I ride too fast (not something I usually have to deal with), not call something out and cause someone to crash, etc. But, it went well. No major crashes, no one got lost, everyone seemed to have a good time.

We did Out & Back and then took the trails to Cemetery Hill. I had us stop to regroup. For one section of Out & Back, I had us stop, we discussed the area, the women watched a few people go through and then each woman tried it with cheers for everyone. = )

Afterwards, everyone chatted, ate and enjoyed the afternoon. Tom brought Christopher and I watched him while he got a short ride in. As lame as it sounds, it was rewarding to try to make other women as excited about riding as I am. = ) I'll actually be helping to teach the MTB101 class CAMBr is doing next Tuesday if it doesn't get rained out.

On Sunday, I worked Bike the Drive for LIB. Amazing how many people I spoke with that didn't know who ATA was. Umm, the group hosting this event, that actually got Lake Shore Drive closed so you could ride on it. Also, surprising was the amount of rented bikes. Lots of people. I got to check out lots of bikes, talk about biking and get paid. = )

I rushed home so Christopher could go to a classmate's birthday party at her grandparent's mansion in Homer Glen. He had a ball. We then went to where some Bandit CX races have been at Shoe Factory Woods to catch the tail end of my nephew Steven's grad party. We got Christopher to ride his bike a little and he got to go on a hike of part of the CX course. = )

Great race, great trip

(race photo courtesy of Aaron)

We had a family trip and went to the PAMBA race this weekend. We left Friday night, slept at a Flying J's and got there at about 10 a.m. on Saturday. Christopher had a blast at the park. He is climbing up a metal slide in the first photo. It started lightly raining and I did a pre-lap of the course, a little apprehensive since Rachael had mentioned the tires on my bike are not great for mud. Tom and Christopher went for a hike and then Christopher got to play with two older boys for awhile. Then, Tom did two laps (for about 13 miles) while Christopher had a blast jumping in a mud puddle -- I made him stop in the doorway of the RV so I could take off his muddy boots and clothes and wipe him down. After dinner, I decided to do another lap and things were much better. The last part of the lap had more open sections where girls might catch me and, as I was finishing the lap, the PAMBA guys were marking the course -- showing us riding around the park, an extra 1/2 mile of just grass. I knew that would be where girls would be flying past me.

Race day. Rachael and John showed up with Zoe. Christopher was excited. The two of them played on a big pile of rocks. Slid down the rocks like it was a slide, made snow angels in the dirt, played at the park, used Tom as a jungle gym, we got to explore a cabin built in the 1800's and got to do a kids race where they won water bottles with Snickers inside. Christopher thought the trip absolutely rocked. = )

There were only eight girls that lined up. I was a little disappointed that there were so many less girls than last time and that they had us line up after the Sport guys (although it probably ended up for the best). I went back and forth with Liz Baumgaurdt and Gina Champion throughout the race. I got past them in the single track but Liz got past me right before we lapped and Gina was right behind me as we lapped. I got past Liz in the single track and red lined it trying to get a gap before the end of the lap so they couldn't get past me before the finish. I always make more mistakes that way and made some bobbles in sections I should've rode cleanly but oh well. I did manage to finish without getting caught. I took fourth place, about three minutes behind Rachael. Woot!!!

I lost my gel flask before I even had any, for the second race in a row. I really like the flask so I can water down the gel, otherwise I feel like I'll puke. I have a Nashbar flask holder I've been using. People suggested sticking it in my jersey pocket or pants leg. I think it will bug me in my pants leg, if I don't lose it, and I think it'll be harder to get it out of my pocket. Hammer products makes a flask holder too I'm thinking of buying and am open to other suggestions.

Iola

I should be extremely happy with Iola -- and, for the most part, I am. I finished at 2 hours, 14 minutes faster than in 2008 (last time I raced there). I finished less than a minute than Christine, was within sights of several girls throughout the race and went back and forth with a few of them. I rode everything cleanly -- with the exception of catching a tree with my handlebars while trying to see if the guy that crashed up ahead was still down. And, probably most importantly, I felt like...I'm not sure of the correct wording but, basically, that I deserved to be out there.

Training definitely has helped. I think all the cross races helped a lot too. A chunk of racing is mental and I don't always have the right attitude/frame of mind. The CX racing helped boost that confidence, racing instinct, whatever you want to call it. And, my new wonderful bike also definitely helped. Those 29 wheels...I'm in love. = )

The 1x9 was tough. It was the first race I did with significant climbs on it and I was afraid my legs would not hold out. That fear was not helped by losing my gel flask soon into the first lap and having my Camelbak leak leaving me with no liquid for a good chunk of the last lap. I held back a little and really shouldn't have but now know better for next time.

So, I was really happy when I finished. Then, I learned I was DFL. I was ahead of Jennifer Whitedog and didn't notice when she passed me back in my oxygen-deprived state. And, I was ahead of another girl that then dropped out. Arrgh!

Tom wasn't thrilled with his result but didn't do horribly.

Christopher had a great time. He was thrilled to get a medal and, in fact, even during the race he would all of a sudden say happily "I'm going to get a medal." = )

I couldn't get him to race his new bike for the kids race. Hopefully, next time. He is soooo close to being able to ride it by himself.

Sylvan Stampede

I haven't updated my blog for ages. I've been busy, Tom's been unemployed until recently -- now, his group has started working for a new firm but are not getting paid yet. Who really wants to hear me complain about my lack of finances?

So, when Rachael posted she wanted to sell her 29er, Tom and I were torn. Then, I rode it and immediately felt like a better rider. I finished doing our taxes, realized we'd get a decent return and bought it. Yea!

Of course, I had to try out the bike ASAP and decided to race the Sylvan Stampede. Christopher had also really been bugging us for a trip so we left Saturday afternoon after I was done co-teaching a bike ed. class. We got there about 6 p.m. and I was able to get in two laps. The trails there are awesome. I knew that, even if the race went horribly for me, I would still have fun riding those trails.

We got there early on Sunday so we could find a place to park the RV and I was able to spin out the legs doing an easy lap before the novice race started. I warmed up and then we waited around for the kids' race. Christopher had a fun time and we were so happy they had a fun little course mapped out for them.

There were a lot of girls lined up for the Women's Open and we were starting before the guys. I wasn't sure what I thought of starting before the guys. I figured the Women's Open should be good for me. I always get my butt kicked in Expert but am not really "sport" either. I ended up 9th out of 25 girls. I wasn't sure if I could hold off Liz Baungart. I had never beat her in a MTB race and had beat her once at CX. Last lap, I was passed by a guy who was then really laid back about passing a slow sport guy so the three of us were kind of just riding along with me thinking girls were catching up on me as Tom was yelling a girl was right up ahead. I was just under 30 seconds behind that girl but did keep Liz behind me -- by 8 seconds. Luckily, I didn't know she was that close 'til they put the results up.

It was awesome although I felt like I was going to die. Anne and Roger, from CAMBr, were course marshalls and it was cool to hear them cheer for me each time I went by. Paul and Jennifer from Half Acre were also happy to have them as a Half Acre cheering section. There were open stretches that I would redline myself on trying to keep from being passed by the faster girls and I actually ended up with an average heart rate of 187.

The 29er is so fricking cool. Although, as the race went on and my thinking ability diminished, I kept shifting the wrong way with the grip shifter and had issues shifting when my hand was sweaty and all of me was tired. Once Rachael gets back from AZ though, she is going to change it to a trigger shifter. = ) The 1x9 was good and kept me from going into too easy of a gear on the short climbs.

Our plan is now to go to quite a few of the WORS races for me to get in a long ride on Saturday and have Tom and Christopher race as well as hitting quite a few of the IL series for Christopher and I to race. = )

CX & Year-end wrap ups

(Photos of Christopher, at Grandma's, loading up his new robot to shoot and a hug)

Well, I'm a little late, but I've been wanting to do a cross season wrap up. I did a total of 30 races.

10 Women's 123 races in the Chicago Cross Cup series, taking sixth

4 Women's 3 races in the Wisconsin Cycling Association's cyclocross series, taking 10th

4 Women's 35+ races -- The USGP Planet Bike Cup & Jingle Cross

3 Women's 2/3 races at Jingle Cross

5 Men's 4B races in the Chicago Cross Cup series, taking 40th

4 Men's 4A races in the Chicago Cross Cup series

In addition, I did three of the Church Cross and one Bandit Cross training race and was able to make it to a few of the Beverly Vee Pak CX practices. I love cross because it is loads of fun but also because of the great community.

It was an awesome year for me for cross. I had three races where I took 5th including 5th out of 13 at Northbrook -- my best women's race. I also took 14th in the Men's 4b at Montrose, which rocked.

As for the year, I rode 4,523 miles -- which includes, racing, commuting, mountainbiking and a few trainer miles. I also ran more than 203 miles. Shocking for me. I actually ran five miles today, stopping after the first 10 minutes to drop off the dog and change gloves.

Race wise for the year, the focus was definitely cross but I managed to get some road races in -- mainly crits, which I did a shockingly high number of 15 or 16, including two or three of the Matteson training crits and two outdoor time trials (yuck) in addition to the indoor time trials my club, ABD, puts on. Unfortunately, I only did a few mountainbike races:

Two WEMS 12 hours that I didn't actually do the whole 12 hours, the Palos Meltdown and four WORS races, including Lake Geneva where I DNF'd after I crashed and rang my bell, so to speak, and killed my helmet.

This year is still totally up in the air as Tom will be out of a job by the end of February if he does not find a new one first. I want to focus on cross again and I would like to again do a few road and mountainbike races but it depends on our finances. I've told Tom that, if our finances improve, I would be fine going to WORS races for him & Christopher to race as long as I get to do a long ride on the course during the pre-ride. Tom's small trading group did meet with another firm yesterday and will meet with a different firm next week. "Hope. Hope." (Quote from the film "True Romance.")