Icky

(Photo courtesy of Amy)

I am surprised by how many people told me that I should have loved the Northbrook course. The downhill turns I should have rocked. Instead, I rode it cleanly the first lap and went down the first turn the next three. I think I took it too fast but I'm still not sure. Each time, I would think "Yes, I cleaned it;" and, then, I would slide out. I was able to pop right back up so I actually don't think it lost me much time but it was still so infuriating to not clean a section you know you should be.

I did realize we need to change our tire setup though. After pre-riding, I was thinking my WTB cross wolves would be the better tires but they were on my Schwinn which I can't shoulder. We're going to put the WTB's on my bike and I'll bring Tom's wheels up with me which will give us both more options for racing. I'm learning. = )

But, back to why I didn't love this course -- No barriers! Also, those stairs blew. I thought I couldn't get a rhythm because of my short legs but I heard others say the same. And, even though there were fun off camber sections, there were also plenty of flat non-technical sections for speedy people.

It was my worst placing with an 11th. I wasn't dead last but only one off. Besides screwing up the one turn nearly every lap, I was also really cranky because I witnessed a girl lifting up the tape and riding under it as opposed to riding around a stopped rider. Going under the tape allowed her to not have to complete the last tight turn and to bypass completely the last left turn off the ski hill. She wasn't out of control when she went off course. She stopped, lifted up the tape and rode under it. I figured the officials would ask her about it, remind her not to cut the course and that would be it. They posted results, I went and asked the officials if they spoke to her and was told they hadn't seen the incident (which I totally understand) and that, basically, she was low in the placings so it didn't matter if she cut the course. WTF? And, they said that she wasn't still around. Yeah, but she was when I first brought it up. Grrr. It's not like I think it will change the series standings or anything but I still think they could have at least talked to her about it.

On a more upbeat note, I'll be near registration at Lansing (after my race) for the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation trying to get people to fill out surveys for our program to get people to use cars less and do more walking, commuting by bike and using mass transit. We take info. on a recent car trip you took and try to plan a route using bike, bus, train, etc. So, please stop by, fill out a survey and say hi to Christopher. = )

Halloween & CX

Christopher had an adorable Elmo Halloween costume. He would not wear it. So, he was a bike rider for Halloween instead. I did get Tom to wear the Elmo costume on his head for awhile but, alas, I do not have any photos of it. Christopher liked being able to ride up to people's doors and have people give him candy for it.

I went up to the Polska cross race on Saturday. It was an awesome course except for the hill run-up which spiked my heart rate and slowed me down to a snail's pace. Getting over the barrier on the hill climb was horrible and I felt like I needed a ladder to get my short legs over it.

I had the same feeling on Sunday. Two of the barriers were on the tops of little inclines. My getting over the barriers was sloppy and I kept banging my shins while pre-riding the course. The course was, like all the Chicago races, almost entirely grass and asphalt. However, there were a lot of turns to make it interesting. I was right behind Beth, with xXx, when I took the turn leading into the gravel mushy road too quick and at a bad angle and washed out. Then, I was in too big of a gear and couldn't get going for about two minutes. I have an extremely bad tendency to get focused on trying to pass someone and forget completely about riding the course cleanly. I totally lost any chance of catching Beth and then had to put it in high gear to keep a girl from SRAM from catching me who I had previously had a pretty decent lead on.

Christopher has been a total demon lately. His new thing is to bring a chair to the fridge and then use the water dispenser to fill a cup and, then, overflow the cup causing water to go everywhere. After both Monday and yesterday, I would say "wow, this has been a long week." Thus, the late post. Tonight, I have a meeting for the local paper which will be a brief break and tomorrow afternoon my mother is watching him. I'll be jumping for joy when my mother's car pulls out of the driveway.

Race registration

The Bartlett CX course was put on by ABD. Unfortunately, I didn't have a say in course layout. It was slightly more technical, I think, than last year but still mainly wide open. It did seem like we had more of an incline this year. I was 7th out of 8, which would have been 8th out of 9 but Holly had a major mechanical that took her out of the race early on. I had a crappy start and couldn't get my right foot clipped in or get it to even stay on the pedal. I then got ahead Imelda and a xXx girl. I was ahead of both for awhile and then the xXx girl came flying past me and I couldn't keep up.

I did get to race on the SRAM Rival's. I didn't have a problem shifting the wrong way but we do still have to do a little tweaking as I was having a really hard time getting in my big ring during the race.

My best performance of the day was registration. I volunteered as soon as I got changed after my race. During Tom's race the wind really picked up and would have knocked the registration tent over except for Kevin Klug and various others who helped hold it up until it could be taken down. Christopher handled it fairly well and Holly, thankfully, took him until Tom's race ended. People still kept coming in to register and one guy actually tried to shove his registration forms in my hand while I was taking someone elses. There had to have been 10 people holding up the tent at this point, I was on the other side of the table as a pole had came loose knocking over the stuff that had been behind me and my chair and stuff was still flying all over the place.

I also have to thank Debbie for buying Christopher a truck. It makes cool noises and has levers and kept him entertained during most of the time I was volunteering. Christopher has been quite the demon at times lately but I lucked out on Sunday, thanks in part to his cool new toy. Thanks.

Conversion is almost complete

Tom is down in the basement as I type finishing putting all the SRAM stuff on my cross bike. I'm so excited! What is not exciting is the stupid rain. I couldn't ride to take Christopher to story time tonight, it's supposed to rain tomorrow and Saturday morning. Icky.

I was reading my report on Carpentersville and realized how short it was. Things have been way too hectic around here. I wanted to add that I was really excited about the race. I just barely held off getting lapped by Rebecca Much (which could have very well been her being nice). I beat both xXx girls that I've been going back and forth with -- which is especially cool considering that I had raced the day before and I'm pretty sure they had not. And, I had won the water bottle and socks -- which is the first time I have ever won anything as a Cat. 3. = )

Racing, cops & braking

Not only did I get pulled over today by the police, but the guy actually called for back up. Why? The light illuminating my rear license plate was out. I was at a village board meeting for the local paper and, as I'm driving out of town, I see lights behind me. He takes my license and I sit. After awhile I look up and see two sets of lights and the two of them chatting. Finally, both officers come up to the car -- one on each side with the guy on my passenger side having his hands ready like he's going to shoot me or something if I make a wrong move. The other one gives me a written warning ticket. It'd be amusing as hell if I wasn't so annoyed.

Racing was bad and good. My race in WI on Saturday sucked. The legs felt like crap, my mounts sucked, my dismounts sucked. I prerode and figured I should ride my Schwinn with the disc brakes and second guessed myself only to then keep going off course.

Sunday was great. Great course. I finished 8th out of 13 which included two Cat. 1 girls and two Cat. 2 girls. And, I won socks and a water bottle. = )

I was finally able to order my SRAM Rival stuff today for the Trek XO after almost a month. Then, Calamity! Tragedy! Horrors! I got an email that they don't have rear derailleurs. So, now, I have to try track one down so I can finally race this weekend my new cross bike with brakes that I can actually brake with.

DFL

When I upgraded to a Cat. 3 at the end of last season, I did two races and finished last in both. This season, I had done 5 races up until today. I had finished in the back of the group but had beat a couple of girls in most races and wasn't last in any of them. Up until today. 9th out of 9 in the Women 1/2/3's.

The Hawthorne Woods course was nearly half pavement and nearly half wide-open grass. (I was told later in the day that with it being the first year for the venue they wanted to use as much pavement as possible to prevent damage.) There was also a toboggan sled hill that we rode up, rode down, went back up with a barrier at the bottom and then rode down once more. I pre-rode the course and thought immediately it was suited more to roadies and hit pretty much all of my weaknesses. I also thought immediately Damn, I might be dead last. The hill is actually what did me in. I now know what I need to work on. I rode it after the barrier three times and ran twice. I ended up with an avg. HR of 190 and a max of 199 but my lap times took a nose dive during the course of the five laps. Icky.

Tom's race went slightly better as he was 29th out of 49 but he was pretty disappointed as well. As a bonus, my car tire blew as I started driving there this morning. I had already been running late. Luckily, I was still close to home and a good samaritan came to my aid so I just had to give Tom the tire by the time he showed up. New tire: $60.

I'm thinking of racing in Verona on Saturday and the Carpentersville race with the Chicago series on Sunday but am not totally sure. I like the Wisconsin courses so much better than the Chicago ones but also need to try to beat two xXx girls for series points.

7th

(photo courtesy of Sheri)

I opted for a full weekend of racing and went up to CamRock on Saturday and then did the ChiCrossCup DeKalb race on Sunday. I rode well on Saturday and was 6th out of 8th until about 1.5 laps to go where I got passed on a flat section and couldn't keep up.

I was a little concerned about Sunday that my legs would be toast and that I still have a lingering cold. The legs actually did pretty well but I kept screwing up the same friggin' turn -- wiping out once good enough to turn my brake/shifters and another time good enough to screw up my rear derailleur. I was 6th out of 9 for a good chunk of the race and went back and forth with a girl but I screwed up the turn yet again and then couldn't catch back up with her on the pavement sections. Still, I was mostly pleased. It was a fast course and I wasn't sure how I'd do after racing the day before. My starts totally blow though. I think I'm being too tentative and am going to try to be more aggressive to get closer to the front for the next race. Of course, being faster would help too.

Well, I can get an awesome deal on the SRAM Rival's but will have to wait probably a month to get them or I can get some used short-reach Shimano's at a good price a hell of a lot sooner. I know the SRAM's would work for me. I'm not sure about the Shimano's. Decisions, decisions.

No word yet on Christopher's blood test results. So, hopefully, that's a good sign.