One-eyed Pirate

If anybody is interested...

2012-01-08T16:33:00.003-06:00

John is selling his white Spot CX bike (need to get measurements) as well as his orange Gary Fisher Ferrous (med- 17.5").
I'll also be selling my Blue carbon cx bike.

As soon as I collect all the details I'll post 'em up.

It's 2012.

2012-01-01T23:14:00.003-06:00

I can't believe it's a new year already.
As I get older it seems like time just flies.
We ended the year at a cross race and started one with the same.
I don't do resolutions but with that said I really need to get back into a routine of putting some sort of work out into my schedule. I'm still having wrist issues from my crash at Sheboygan back in October. I don't think I wrote about it. Or did I? Huh.
Anyway, I can't do yoga or push ups. I can ride. But jumping at Ray's eventually becomes an issue.
Ray's. It's what's on my mind for the winter. Hopefully I'll get out there this week.
I plan on being there the 15th for sure.
Mountain biking is not on the brain yet. I just put all the IL races in my calender. I haven't done that for WORS yet, which I guess says a lot for what I plan to do this year.
I miss WORS how it used to be but I won't miss what it eventually became for us.
It's just after 11pm. I'm pretty tired but just not ready to say goodbye to Sunday yet.

The Last IL Homegrown Race

2011-10-08T18:48:00.004-05:00

I was sick. So sick leading up to the last race. I had such mixed feelings on racing.
I just had to show up and finish to keep my 2nd overall in the series. At first I thought we had to do 3 laps for 24 miles. That's a bit rough being sick, but then I found out us ladies were doing 2 laps. I could totally do 2 laps for 16 miles. All I had to do was finish.

So we drove down to the Farmdale Reservoir to finish out the series. For the first time racing in near Peoria all year there were a couple unfamiliar faces at the start line. Which is great, but figures it would be the race where I wasn't going to be that competitive. It was a struggle with myself to hold myself back.

I love the atmosphere at these races. It's just so laid back. It's perfect for me actually. People just wanting to go ride their mountain bikes fast on single track.

We were off. It was a fairly slow start which surprised me. I thought they'd be giving it a little go. I was third on my way into the singletrack when second place ended up dumping it on the sharp left hand turn. I actually rode over both her wheels, though I did choose the wheels over her. She was fine and I hoped her bike was too. I was in second for a bit watching 1st place walk away. I hoped Betsy would come around me and give her a run for her money. I wanted to so bad, but knew it wasn't a good idea knowing how I felt. In hindsight I may have been too cautious, but if you've ever had an asthma attack, it's not worth the risk.

Betsy ended up going around me as we rode over the reservoir/dam thing. I stayed on her wheel for a bit. She opened it up as we got further into the trail and I never saw them again. I passed a few guys, nobody caught me, so it was good.

I forgot just how fun Farmdale is. The trails down there are definitely worth the drive. Not to mention there are multiple trails systems within a short drive of each otehr. I ended up coming in 3rd place. I actually wasn't more than a minute behind Betsy and first place was only a couple minutes ahead. The girl who won, Cat? or Kat? was actually from Utah, very cool to have her racing there.

So, I was 3rd overall in the race, 2nd overall for USA Cycling IL Cat 1 for the year and 2nd overall in the IHGRS. Good times.

Next up is Sheboygan, last official race of the season which happens to be pretty much be my all-time favorite race even though I usually have my worst results there.

The Yeti

2011-09-16T11:35:00.006-05:00

I was riding the trails last night thinking about riding 26" vs 29" wheeled bikes. I don't think I have a preference right now to be honest. A 29er does things well that a 26" can't, like keeping momentum. I noticed right away that I was pedaling to keep my speed quicker than I would hit the gas on my 29er. Roots, especially those that aren't straight across the trail, were easier on my 29er. Climbing steep, especially more technical climbs, are easier. Riding my 26er I had to work a bit harder to make it up the steep climbs that my 29er rolls right up. To add though, the Yeti is way taller and I'm not used to the higher front end to get up and over the bike. My second day on it I made the climbs, however there was a bit more grunting and more body english to go up.
A 26" has its very own things that a 29er couldn't compete with, however. For starters, I have never been able to accelerate out of a corner like I can on a 26" bike. I can't whip around a corner on a 29er like I can on a 26" bike. Floating in the air on a 29er does not feel the same as it does on a 26". The landings feel quite different too.
I have no complaints about either bike. A 29er rolls over things nicely, however I found that I work a lot harder to get over taller log overs than I realized. Popping a wheelie takes a lot more effort on my part on my 29er than it does on my 26".
I'm not disappointed by either ride.
I remember having a conversation with Kent Eriksen when he was building my hardtail a few years back. We spoke about how we go back n forth between short top tubed bikes vs longer top tubes with shorter stems and 29er vs 26ers, full suspension vs hardtail, etc. It's not that we feel one is better than the other, but we sort of like change. The difference. We get used to riding one for so long, and we adapt forgetting that we've adapted. So then you get on a different bike, for me 29er hardtail to 26" full suspension, and all of a sudden the traits that the new bike excels at are just that much more excellent. It's new and exciting and fun!

As far as the Yeti is concerned I was nervous that I would hate it at first. I hate the flat tire feeling and the hang up on log overs I remember experiencing on my Blur. I struck my pedal a lot on my Blur too. Anyway, after getting over the initial weirdness, which only took me about 15 minutes actually I had a blast! I'm a fairly aggressive singletrack rider. I like to attack the trail. I like to drop in, I like to lean, essentially I really like handling my bike. With the 68 degree headtube I found the small ravines, the downhills way more fun. I don't know if fun is the word, but I felt like I didn't have to get back off the rear of the bike. I just dropped in. I felt like I had more control. I realize we don't have huge drops here or very long downhills, but still, everything is short and fast here and I noticed the difference right away. I sort of touched on it above, but I was a bit nervous coming off of the 29er back to a 26" when it came to the logovers. My worries were put to rest right away. I thought I'd have that endo feeling as I hit the other side, but with the longer fork, this wasn't an issue at all. Not that it would have been an issue, just something I would have had to get to know again. It was so much easier to get up and over them, way less effort. I had troubles climbing steep ups on my first ride out. I didn't know how to get over the front end so it ended up wandering on me causing me to have to put a foot down. The second day it was fine. I'm sure I'll have issues in the snake put, but I'm looking forward to the challenge. It's funny how quick we adapt; I sat on my Form last night and it already felt low and long.
Hopefully I'll get to ride again later on today.

IHRS # I don't even know anymore

2011-09-15T15:49:00.003-05:00

I just realized I hadn't wrote about my last race. Probably because there really wasn't much to write about race wise.
Saturday night we had a party for my cousin. I was out until 1 am. I didn't eat dinner either. I knew that wouldn't bode well for my race the next day, but whatever.
It was just Betsy and me at the women's expert start. Betsy and I are pretty equal racers actually, it could go either way when we toe the line.
I was off the front in hopes to get some time on Betsy in the beginning. I was doing well and feeling fine, though I could tell that I was going to be hungry. You just know.
I took my first gel shortly after the first lap and felt fine. I actually felt pretty good. I killed my second lap once I knew the trails. As I was riding my third I could feel myself fading a little bit so I took a gel. I didn't feel so good right after. I felt like I really needed to burp and/or puke so trying to go hard was difficult. I shouldn't have needed a gel so quickly I think was part of it, but I think this had to do with not having ate right those prior 24 hours. Anyway, I could hear Betsy coming. But it was hard to keep moving feeling that crappy. Betsy caught me and then passed me. I was still feeling a bit green. I went to grab a drink out of my hydration pack hoping that watering it down would help me a bit. I did end up burping which relieved some of the pressure, but then my bite valve fell off my pack. W.T.F. I was shocked to feel all that water hit my chamois and start running down my leg. I tried to stop the water flow but all that happened was me getting a mouth, throat and stomach full of water. I gagged and choked while trying to reverse the flow back into the pack. Finally I had done so. Feeling a bit waterlogged I moved on. At this point I felt I had lost so much time, not to mention what the heck was I going to do about water? No water equals no food. Oh well, I thought, just ride your bike.
Dehydration caught up with me quick; it was way hotter out than I expected. I started to feel a bit out of it. In the singletrack I just felt a bit off. I just ended up slowing down to enjoy the ride. I didn't think I'd catch Betsy so it wasn't worth asking my body to go above and beyond just to finish a closer 2nd place.
I finally finished. I had dried salt all over my body and wasn't feeling the greatest. My body wasn't hurting like it should after a race, just more like out of it I guess.

Sitting here on Thursday typing this, I still feel like I'm a bit dehydrated. I really suck at drinking water lately it would seem.

Last race of the series is Farmdale, apparently if I race it I will be counted for series points.

Kickapoo Photos

2011-08-31T22:06:00.004-05:00

Kickapoo Bash

2011-08-29T22:40:00.009-05:00

I made a last minute decision to race stop 9 of the Illinois Homegrown Race Series. I wanted to race, I just didn't want to be in a car for 5 hours that day. I knew I'd regret not going so I made the decision to just do it. John headed the other way on I57 for the xXx cross relay with the girls in tow.
I love Kickapoo. It's a 10 mile loop of mostly all singletrack that I love. It's tight, technical and twisty with short punchy (at times super) steep climbs, ravines, off camber sections, not to mention two (or is it three?) pretty awesome downhills. There's like one spot on the loop to recover- the double track to start your next lap.
In past years us women have done two laps of the course. Twenty miles on that course is a lot. As I'm in the staging area I found out we weren't doing two, but three. I was not prepared to do three. Luckily I had brought enough water, but mentally it sort of deflated me not to mention that if I knew I had an extra 10 miles to do, I probably would've ate more. There was nothing I could do about it, so I shrugged it off and prepared myself for a long day.
We started two minutes after the men. There was a longish double track lead out that lead us to surprise hill, which is very aptly named by the way. My plan was to get out front to get into the singletrack first to hopefully put some time on the ladies.
As I struggled up surprise hill (should've been a gear easier) in the lead, I felt Bev right on my wheel, literally. I felt her tap it as I grunted pushing my pedal down to crest the hill. By this point I was pretty redlined. Arms tingly, breathing hard and legs burning, I almost felt like I was coming to a stop as the trail continued to climb.
I knew it would start going down in a couple feet, but Bev passed me before the trail turned to my favor. I sat closely behind her as she descended down the fast flowy singletrack. I wanted to get by her, but it was so tight. She'd brake going into the turns, I'd have to brake too, slightly annoyed that I knew if I was up front I'd be railing the sweet, sweet singletrack. But Bev can accelerate out of a turn like nobody's business, so it was impossible for me to get by.
We headed down the switchback down into the ravine. I was still right behind her as we climbed up the switchback out of the ravine, both of us dabbing as we made the super steep left turn. Still behind her we recovered as we finished climbing out of the ravine and onto more twisty, rooty goodness. I waited for an opportunity to get by. I was rewarded for being patient as Bev lost traction going into a turn and was off her bike.
Sweet. But, not so sweet. Her misfortune happened right at the only section of multi-track on the whole course! Her strength, definitely not mine. I laughed at the irony.
All I could do was slide forward in the saddle, click my gears and push as hard as I could. I raced this course last year so I knew the next section was the wall rides and technical creek climb. I hoped to stay in the lead once we got to that point. I know Bev is strong, and though I'm a better singletrack rider than Bev, she still is no slacker; so I knew staying ahead of her was near impossible, but anything could happen so I just kept pushing.
As I entered the trees I almost felt relieved as I thought I'd start descending to the wall ride. NOPE. More doubletrack. It felt like forever. Bev caught me here and I pulled her into the singletrack. I led for a bit but she was right on my wheel. I'd put some space between us in turns, but she was right back on me in no time. I probably still had 25 miles to go at this point in the race, so I told Bev if she needed to get by to go. She was gone. I didn't even try to stay on her wheel. She was way stronger than I was. I still pushed hard though because I knew Betsy wasn't far behind, and well, anything can happen.
As I entered the second lap I still felt good. I grabbed a gel, chugged some water and pedaled on. I had the singletrack all to myself! I was having a blast until I saw Betsy as the trails weaved next to each other. A sort of panic set in; I didn't want 3rd. I pushed harder to keep the distance between us.
As I came to the end of the 2nd lap there are two super steep hike-a-bike climbs (for me anyway), as I stood at the top of the second one trying to clip in my pedal I heard shifting behind me. It was like I saw a bear on my tail. I flew down the steep technical downhill, skidding around the 90 degree turn out to the multi-track to the next singletrack section. I saw Betsy again as I messed up the switchback climb to head to the finish. As I was running up the climb Betsy came shooting down out of the woods. CRAP! After climbing up that climb it took my legs what seemed like forever to want to turn over the pedals, but finally I got them going.
After that, surprisingly I still felt okay going into the 3rd lap. As I pushed down the double track to drop into my 3rd lap I almost missed the turn to surprise hill. I slammed on the brakes and barely made the turn. I felt like I lost so much momentum. As I climbed up the hill I heard the crowd cheering for Betsy. She was so close. I pushed myself so hard in the singletrack in hopes of gaining a bit of time where I knew I could make it count. I almost ate it twice. I flew down the switchback downhill perfectly and cleaned the steep switchback that I missed the first two times as well. I wish somebody was there to high five.
I pushed through the rest of the lap harder than I thought I could. On one of the downhills I thought I was going to have a significant crash. I was going very fast, way faster than I should have been. I brushed a tree which moved me to the left side of the trail where there was a hidden log in the grass. I'm not sure how I missed it, but I did. So I dialed it back a notch on the dowhills. Fatigue and pain were starting to take over. My stomach was crampy from the gels, both of my feet had blisters and my back was twinging on every root and ravine, not to mention my feet kept flying out of my pedals for some reason. Every sound I heard I thought was Betsy right behind me. I dreaded the hike a bike section. My legs were hurting, I knew I was close to cramping and I had blisters that burned and stung worse when off the bike. As I came flying down to the descent to head out to the finishing section of singletrack (which isn't short), I looked back and didn't see Betsy. I knew at this point that if I could keep moving I'd have second place.
A part of me wanted to cry. Whether it was PMS, pain, joy, I don't know, but the urge was there. I didn't though, instead I laughed. I was almost done. That last section of singletrack is super fun, however after almost 30 miles I just wanted it to end. I was close but still so far away.
Finally the little steep exit onto the double track. I put my head down and then looked for the timer's table. I hit the brakes and high-fived Bev who was standing at the finish line. As I stood there I wondered how I would get back to my car. The thought of pedaling back with legs that were probably planning a mutiny and a back that was revolting, not to mention I was feeling quite sick from my effort, was not one of joy.
It was the first race I'd ever done where I couldn't eat anything (well, okay, I had an ice cream cone) nor did I want anything substantial until the next day.
My legs feel okay today. My left quad is sore, but I think my cleat on my new shoe is a bit off. My back however, I feel like I've been punched in the kidneys.

No results posted yet. No pics yet either. I saw one guy out there in the ravines. I hope he posts them up.

2011 Palos Meltdown

2011-08-15T22:50:00.012-05:00

It wasn't looking good for a race on the singletrack for this past Sunday's Palos Meltdown. I didn't even want to think about it. I had been looking forward to the race for quite some time. The thought of a multi-track race was just, um, no.
I was stoked to read Ben's text early that Sunday morning: "Full course!" I didn't realize how down I was about it until I read that. I just felt my face light up.
It's really nice to have a pretty big race 20 minutes from the house.
As we got closer to the racecourse the weather was nothing what I expected it to be. It was barely in the 70s and misting. At about 11:30-12 it pretty much rained. As long as we ran the full course it sort of excited me. I'm a decent technical rider so I knew it would be to my advantage.
I'm usually not that competitive, but I really wanted to do well there; so this past week I thought about what I would do knowing who my competition was. I knew I just had to stay with the girls who were super strong power riders and hopefully get around them as we headed down into Turf.
Start time, as usual, came before I knew it. The rain had stopped. The expert men were off and now it was our turn.
When John Vande Velde sent us off I missed my pedal. D'oh! I'd like to blame the fact that I had different egg beaters on than I'm used to (wider spindle), but I think I just missed my pedal. I watched Julia smoothly pull away.
We all came together again quickly as we descended down the grass hill. I passed Julia on one of the slick short ups as some co-workers were cheering me on. I then took the lead and wondered what the hell I was doing. I'm so not good in the open.
However I figured what the hell, I'm going to suffer in front or trying to hang on. I mostly just thought about busting my ass to get into the singletrack first. I knew if I got into Turf first I could hopefully put some time on them.
As I was just cresting the hill to head down to clay hill I shifted my chain up into my spokes. Really? I seriously don't even remember the last time I did this. I don't even think I've done it in my 30s. I hopped off and calmly pulled it off, but I think I still swore. (reminder: check hanger- remember I sheared my other one off just last week?)
Now Julia was right on my wheel, which I expected. She passed me on the grass as we started to go around the lake and up the hill. I knew I had to just keep her in my sight. At this point I had no idea what was going on behind me.
I pushed hard on the gravel to keep Julia close. I felt like I was getting closer to her and debated on whether or not to put the power down (haha) and try to pass or just be patient.
I seriously didn't know what to do.
After exiting onto pipeline I was glad I waited. I forget how long that section is of lots of pedaling. I also apparently pre-rode the wrong fork in the trail, as we went left instead of right.
There were two small drops. I was right on Julia's wheel. She got a bit squirrelly on the second one which caused me to go off trail. For a split second I almost hit the brakes to let her go by like I would on a ride. *shakes head. But shortly after I just thought "go". So I did. I, and whether or not it was true, thought Julia might not want to pass on the cupped singletrack. I know I would've been freaked. I'll ride down rocky root infested downhills, but those types of singletrack trails with lips scare the crap out of me.
As soon as we hit the road and I was still in front I was confident I'd get into Turf first. I remember coming flying down the pavement and flying into Turf the smoothest I've ever floated in there before and just felt awesome. The bike floated underneath me as I negotiated the slick corners and off camber sections. Once I crossed the creek I felt like I had a gap and could just grow it as long as I stayed upright. And then I lost my water bottle. It was so weird. I actually thought about going to get it for a split second. I climbed up Psycho as best as I could. That section of trail is always longer than I think it is. Finally the turn to head down to the ravines. Man I love that trail. I almost ate it on One Day as I misjudged that long root over the trail and slid down it until my foot hit the tree. Luckily that's all that happened. As I was entering Gravity Cavity Bos passed me, but not without acting like an ass. Obnoxiously calling out on your left, racer coming, etc. It was pretty funny. I had him ask some friends to have a bottle for me. He then said, I saw your Metal bottle on Turf and totally knew it was yours. Of course.
Second lap I rode well but, and I think I was in the minority, thought Turf got a bit slicker on my subsequent laps. Not the actual trail, but the turns for sure were more slick. It was pretty uneventful actually. I was just enjoying the ride. I really loved the course. It was really fun and hard, but not a death march.
Going into my third lap I still felt pretty good. I rode the flats and singletrack great. I just felt really bad on Psychopath just as you pass the fence and the second up part of Gravity Cavity. My legs yelled at me a bit. I wanted to move them faster but they just wouldn't respond on the steeper stuff. I pretty much kept on the gas the whole race; I had no idea how far ahead I was so didn't want to chance it. I just wanted to be done pedaling. Obviously I was excited to come in first.
Crossing the finish line and having a bunch of people cheer and come up to me was really weird. I've never experienced that before, I almost felt a bit awkward.
It was really nice to get the win on my home course! I didn't realize I knew so many great people! It was cool to see them all in one place.
When the guy from the Southtown Star came up to interview me after, the first thing I thought of was CAMBr. Great job to all. I'm still smiling about it today.

"nice face" photo © velogrrl
podium shot © Luke R

Anybody interested?

2011-07-29T13:42:00.003-05:00

I'm going to put this stuff up on ebay soon.

Kent Eriksen ti 26” mtb frame w Rock Shox SID WC XX, Orange KING headset.
$1500

DT Swiss 190 (ceramic) hubs laced to Stan’s 355 rims with black DT Swiss Super Comp spokes
Bontrager XR 2 tires – set up tubeless (includes centerlock adaptors)
$1000 (the hubs alone retail for $800)

Edge handlebar- cut to about 22"
$65

Edge 90mm stem w white faceplate
$140

Eriksen ti sweetpost 27.2 w setback (I believe 360mm, but will measure).
$100

Or I'll sell the bike complete with full XX for $2800.

Race Blogging

2011-05-23T10:33:00.002-05:00

For some reason I had been really looking forward to the Illinois race this past Sunday. The race was held at Black Partridge Park in Metamora, IL. Being able to ride trails has been pretty intermittent this Spring, so I think a race held rain or shine gave me an excuse to get out there and ride my bike in the dirt regardless of weather.

On the way to the race I was almost a bit ho-hum compared to how I felt earlier in the week. Maybe it was nerves, I don’t know. The forecast wasn’t calling for rain, so I was stoked about that. However there was some rainfall at the course that morning. I was a bit nervous about my tire choice. I really think I dislike the Bontrager 29.2. The side knobs fill with mud and don’t clear, which then have absolutely NO traction in turns dry or wet. They are advertised as a loose over hard pack tire, so I guess the wet isn’t what they were made for, so I shouldn’t hate.

Anyway…

The Cat 1 women were initially supposed to do 3 laps of the 8 mile mostly singletrack course (same as the cat 1 men)… which meant I’d probably be out there for well over 2 hours. I was looking forward to the fun miles, but at the same time not really looking forward to it considering how hot and muggy it was. Not to mention it wasn’t dry, so lap times would be slower than last year. Which, yeah, get over it… but coming from 50s to 80s and humid is a bit rough on the body. Anyway, a couple of the girls petitioned the race director and we were cut down to 2 laps. I had mixed feelings, but it was going to be fun regardless. I unzipped my Metal jersey, so I wouldn’t be fumbling with the zipper in the singletrack, and lined up behind the men.

Us Cat 1 gals actually started in the pack with the Cat 1 men. I was a bit apprehensive about this at first, but it worked out pretty well actually. I was first woman behind all the guys. It was a fairly short lead out on the grass which then dropped us right into some downhill benchcut singletrack. Way awesome trail. The Cat 1 dude right in front of me was going a bit slow for my liking but it was difficult to get around him with all the creek crossings and bridges. Eventually I was able to sneak by him on a rooty climb. One creek crossing was very steep. It was like a wall to get out. The guy in front of me didn’t make it and I had to slide back down. I panicked trying to get up. It was so muddy and slick I couldn’t get a foot hold. I was just waiting for the women to come barreling down on me while I tried to get out of there. Finally I made it up the first of three switchback climb sections completely redlined and breathing hard feeling like my head was going to explode.

It took me a long time to settle, almost the whole first lap. With having asthma, the humidity and the fact I wanted to ride fast was causing me some breathing problems. I had to keep talking myself down; I felt like I was hyper-ventilating. Breathe Rachael, breathe. Finally I was able to settle down and enjoy the rad singletrack. And rad it was. Super tight, tons of log crossings. I felt like a Jedi floating between trees and dipping into little g-outs. I did end up at one point sliding out on a bridge (plank really) and hugging a tree, but I don’t think I’ve ever come away from a race completely unscathed.

Before I knew it the first lap was over. That ride on the grass was the hardest part of the race… I was pushing my gears so hard, but felt like I was going nowhere.

Second lap had me looking over my shoulder a lot. Betsy usually beats me when I race with her, usually after catching me after I’ve led most of the first lap. I could hear the sport guys coming on some occasions and feared Betsy, or another Cat 1 gal, was with them. I just kept pushing. Lungs settled, legs were good, I felt great all around. I was dreading that steep creek crossing, but not having anybody in front of me I floated right up it. What a relief! I was a bit more confident knowing the trails, not to mention they had dried out some, so weren’t as slick in the corners. It started to get pretty dark in the singletrack as it appeared a storm was rolling in; I almost had to take off my glasses. All I could think about at that point was how slick it was going to get if the clouds let loose. It started to rain just as I was exiting out of the singletrack on my last lap for the finish.

My first win in a very long time, and maybe my first one as a Cat 1. I was pretty stoked.

Iola 04.01.11

2011-05-02T22:40:00.003-05:00

Driving up to Iola I was sort of bumming... I knew it was going to be close to 70 degrees at home and Iola was calling for rain and cold. And having read that they had snow up there just a bit ago had me nervous for conditions. I knew I couldn't ride at home regardless and the thought of missing Iola for another venue just didn't appeal to me, so it was the best of all my options.

Getting out of the car to pre-ride the wind was coming hard but it wasn't raining. About 15 minutes after we arrived the wind totally died down. It was weird. I ended up starting the pre-ride in arm warmers and undershirt but promptly ditched them soon after entering the course. The trails were perfect and the climbs didn't seem to be as bad as I remembered (though they never really do on pre-ride).

My first lap I didn't feel like me. Just wasn't confident tossing the bike around, the second lap was much better I felt the "rail" come back.

We packed up and headed to our hotel. Pretty boring really.

Morning wake up had us not rushing as Ryan races the Cat 1 Junior category now. Though the thought of sitting at the hotel for hours before the start didn't sound appealing so we headed to the venue.

BRRR!!!!

Wow, was it cold! I ended up in 3 layers and a beanie with gloves just to walk around. I was sort of stressing about what to wear to race, always remembering that no matter how it felt outside of the woods, inside the woods always seemed 10 degrees warmer with only a few sections of dealing with the wind.

I ended up in arm warmers, jersey and shorts with wool socks. I lined up next to people wearing thermal jersey, tights with shorts, knickers, headbands and double layers. YIKES... I would have died of heat exhaustion! My head would have exploded on the first lap!

Don said Gooo... and we're off. I've never been a good starter. However I was surprised that the field wasn't completely gone as we got to the top. I hate the first lap as I'm sure most other people do as well. I went back and forth with a couple girls and then sort of settled into a spot until the first singletrack I passed a couple girls in there. I was actually surprised that I was able to power past up on what was definitely not the better line. It felt sort of good.

For the most part my race was uneventful. I passed a girl or two, a girl or two passed me. Tons of comps came by. I didn't have a problem with any of them. They all called their passes and weren't stupid about it. Iola is almost a perfect race course actually.

I still suck at eating. I totally forgot how quick one of the sections of singletrack came up so I ended up riding it with an unopened gel in my mouth. Finally ripped it open, sucked it down and stuffed it into my back pocket with all my unopened gels. So of course on my next lap that's the gel I grabbed thinking I'd be ahead of the game, I put it in my spandex on my thigh. EW. Gross. It wasn't so bad that it was all over my thigh, but when I grabbed it from my shorts, the gel was all over my glove... which then was all over my grip, lever and shifter. Ugh. There were times I actually had to pull my hand off the grip hard to grab the lever. I ended up sucking on my gloves where the gel was to help out with this a bit. So I had to get that mostly eaten gel into another pocket and grab an uneaten one out. *shakes head

Before I forget, I was so thankful for Jeff doing bottle hand ups. I go through a lot of water and not having to carry it on myself or bike is such a relief!

I actually felt pretty damn good on my 2nd and 3rd lap. I completely surprised myself. Going into the 4th lap right at the top of the start climb my legs started to fuss. It was the first time it was actually painful and hard to push them to go. I felt like they were pretty heavy. I actually didn't hate the start climb or the big climb in the back as much as past years. I really HATED the 3rd climb after coming out of the bowl. After you make that swooping left, ugh. I just felt my legs hate me. But I so love when you shoot back down into the bowl and right back up! So frickin' cool! I was hurtin' on that last lap but I was nowhere near being completely done and in survival mode like I am on my last lap at most WORS races. My legs still climbed and I was still pretty fresh in the singletrack handling wise, just wasn't poppy or fast.

Much better than last year's DNF, that's for sure. It's also the first year, I think ever, that I've raced Iola either not sick or coming off of being sick.

I ended up 11th overall/9th Cat 1. 4th age but 2nd age podium (I think) with the overalls taken out. I'm bummed I missed my podium opportunity. Those don't happen very often for me in Elite WORS (only once).

And how about the Twin Six Metal kits... so awesome!

whoa

2011-04-21T07:53:00.003-05:00

I have no idea what possessed me to actually update this blog.
Probably weather depression. My blog is filled with pissy posts about the weather so what's one more? I know that it won't be cold and rainy forever, but still...
Reading my last few posts the Superfly is gone; it'll be replaced by a Form shortly. I suppose I should be sure all of the parts we need are in. I need to make a list. I'm going to sell the Eriksen. I stopped racing cross. Once the weather turned to shit I hung it up. No regrets. I found that I enjoyed hanging out with the crowds and watching John. He raced right after me so I'd miss everything. I'm just not a competition person I guess. I think I like mountain bike racing because for the most part it just seems like a hard mountain bike ride with other people. With cross it seemed like the prep was longer than the race. Just wasn't for me.
The girls are good. Casey started tumbling, Zoe will be starting dance. Everything is so expensive. I can't believe Casey is 9. She is so unbelievably smart and creative. Zoe is 4 going on 15. She loves to sing, dance and be a drama princess. We finally got a trail-a-bike so hopefully we'll have some family rides (when the weather finally warms up).

I can't believe Iola is less than two weeks away. It's going to hurt.

Superfly for super sale

2011-01-08T19:17:00.005-06:00

John's getting rid of the Superfly.
It's in Gatto condition- however there is a scratch on the toptube from his handlebar (rookie).

Gary Fisher carbon 29er hardtail frame- med, 17.5"
RockShox Reba XX 29er fork- white
240 DT Swiss wheels- hubs are very lightly used, rims are still in the plastic- they were just rebuilt to Stan's rims.
pics are of the 190 wheelset that are being kept.
SRAM XX triggers
SRAM XX rear derailleur
SRAM XX front derailleur
SRAM XX disc brakes
SRAM XX 175mm 42/29 carbon crank.
Truvativ World Cup stem 100mm
Truvativ World Cup handlebar, carbon, flat
Cane Creek headset
Bontrager carbon ACC seatpost
Bontrager ti saddle
991 chain
1099 11-36 cassette
ESI chunky lava grips
No pedals.

$2700 complete or $1500 frame and fork.
If you want more pics or are interested email me if you'd like spicyride at gmail dot com.

blogging

2011-01-06T16:05:00.002-06:00

Someone asked me to update my blog or why don't I?
I don't know why. Time?
I always think to myself I should update it more. Even if a pic or two here and there. It always seems like at this point it overlaps with facebook.
I know I love to go look months and even years back to look at the photos and see what I had to say. I think I'll miss that.

No resolution or anything, but maybe I'll try and update more. Not for anybody else though, for me. Which is who this blog has always been for anyway.

Cross and things

2010-10-26T13:32:00.005-05:00

It's been awhile since I've updated.
Not much going on really.
I've raced cross 3 times, and although it's fun, it's yet to hit me as the best thing ever.
I long for roots, drops and twisty singletrack. However I do enjoy it for a good work out and hanging out with people.
I upgraded to a Cat 3 knowing I'd get my ass beat, but at the same time I didn't feel right racing the 4s, especially since the category was filling up so quickly. I guess I just felt that the women that were being kept out of the race, were true 4s. I don't really notice or feel much difference in the extra 15 minutes. The only thing that's changed really is instead of finishing in the top 10 I'm near last. I'm pretty used to that. John's been doing very well. Podiums for the most part every race. He won the 30+ this weekend and then took 4th in the 1,2,3. So good on him.
I sold my road bike. The Eriksen is still safe... for now. However, I did wake up one night in a cold sweat having thought I sold it. Perhaps that was a sign saying DON'T DO IT.
Halloween is coming. I have two costume ideas. Casey will be Hermione from Harry Potter and Zoe is Ariel from The Little Mermaid. I still have to pick up a few things which is sort of annoying as I just want to have it done. Hopefully tonight.
This weekend we'll be racing Campton on Sunday, not sure of Halloween Cross in WI. Just a lot of driving and a lot of cash.
So much to do at home. I'm starting to get a bit stressed out at how unorganized the house is right now. It's starting to get old.
I don't know when I'll be on my mountain bike next. Hopefully before the weekend.

Last one.

2010-10-12T23:04:00.005-05:00

I love Sheboygan.
I don't know what makes it so special. I think it's the crowds of people everywhere on a super fun course. It has a little bit of everything- roots, big fucking roots, log overs, a log drop, wooden bridges, a quarry, twisty singletrack, pines, river edge singletrack, steep leg cramp climbing, a creek crossing... There isn't a place on that course that I do not look forward to. It's all good.
I haven't done a WORS race since the beginning of July. I knew it was going to be tough if only because I haven't raced or ridden that intense in quite some time. Sure I did other races, but nothing compares to the competition of a WORS race.
My first lap was fun, going back n forth with a couple of ladies. Second lap I was still feeling good... I was starting to relax and get into a rhythem. Third lap I took another gel and my stomach cramped shortly after. I think I took it too soon not thinking that the laps at Sheboygan are pretty short. I knew right away after I took it that I wasn't going to feel well so I willed it away. Luckily it didn't get too bad.

WORS #12 ©WORS Danny Marchewka

My legs still felt great through my 3rd lap. I don't know exactly where it was, but
on the 3rd lap I did something to my back. I thought maybe it was just tense from all the roots and having too much air pressure in the back tire. But it didn't exactly feel like that and still today, my back hurts. I don't even want to ride my mountain bike. The thought of it causes me to tense up. It's just this one spot by my back rib.
Anyway, Sheboygan is pretty rooty so it was pretty intense at times, I could barely hold onto the bar, so I slowed down quite a bit. At first I was pissed off. But then, I was like, whatever. It wasn't like I'd be missing out on anything if I could pedal faster. So I just dealt with it. Weird for me, though, to actually look forward to climbing...
I guess it was kind of a bummer if only because I'd like to see how I would've finished without that issue as my legs were totally fine. But I'm sure there were other racers that day with their own problems as well.
In the end I had a blast and that's what it's all about. I still look back on it and smile.

I'm hoping to get an epic mountain bike ride in this weekend. We'll see. I'm not one for making plans. I either change my mind, or get disappointed if what I wanted to do doesn't work out.

John, me and the mesa

2010-09-22T20:34:00.004-05:00

So I did make it out to the mesa yesterday. Much later than I thought though.
John ended up riding with me. I felt sort of off. I wrote it off to not having been on a mountain bike in awhile, that time and just tiredness in general. I also need brake pads dearly.

There's a new bridge out there on the middle finger. I wussed. John even offered to spot me and I still wussed. I don't know what my deal was, but that sucker is mine when I'm out there next... I think.

Anyway, it was a short ride. I didn't ask my mom to watch the kids so we were pushing it time wise. Good thing too as the skies looked pretty angry as we rode home.

Today I went to work for what I hoped to be a half day. Turned out being a full day. I was hoping for a light week since every body is in Vegas, however it's been turning out to be the busiest week in recent memory.

We interrupt this mountain bike season

2010-09-21T13:16:00.005-05:00

to bring you cross.
Yep, that's right. Hell froze over. I raced my 2nd ever cross race.
I had a good time. I was on a bike, how could I not?
52 women started with me on Sunday. I finished 10th.

above image stolen from ©Edmund White

I'm ditching work here in a few to go for a mountain bike ride. It's been awhile.

obligatory

2010-09-17T22:28:00.004-05:00

unorganized

2010-09-16T23:09:00.004-05:00

I left my laptop at work Wednesday night; so after Casey went to school Zoe and I headed out to go get it.

Zoe wanted to stay for a bit so I was able to get some work done there... which isn't that interesting in itself, however we were there long enough for the UPS dude to have dropped off some goods for me.

My day was just so off. Not having my laptop, then being at work, then a conference call. It doesn't seem like a big deal but I was thrown off and had a hard time getting into a groove.

I ended up riding for a short time when John got home. Sucks that it gets dark so fast. At least I had something to look forward to when I got home.

My Ultimate Shorties and tires come in tomorrow. 17.01 lbs with Rival and WTB 38 tires.

it's still today... barely.

2010-09-15T23:53:00.002-05:00

YES!

2010-09-14T23:08:00.001-05:00

OH, HAI THERE RAGWEED. It's been awhile.

2010-09-14T00:01:00.004-05:00

My cold is dwindling only to be replaced by allergies.
I hate allergies.

I want to ride my bike kickass tomorrow on singletrack, so please cold and allergies, not to be rude, but seriously GTFO.

New frame coming on Wed (*crosses fingers, no pun intended). I think all I need is a crank and front derailleur. I should make a list. I love lists.

Here's an awesome picture.

Friday Night.

2010-09-11T00:36:00.004-05:00

The long *ss weekend

2010-09-07T22:36:00.005-05:00

Heading out Friday night I thought for sure the mesa would be wet. I half-heartedly headed out on the paved path. When I came up to the steel bridge I noticed how dry the singletrack was. It meant one thing, the mesa is dry. I'll admit to being very surprised at how great conditions were. Not one wet spot. Perfect actually.
On my way back home from my ride my phone rang. It was Ben Popper. He and a few others wanted to give the mesa a shot Saturday morning if I was up for being a tour guide.
HELL YES.
When I got home I called my mom up right away and asked if she wouldn't mind watching the girls. Being the good sport she is, she agreed.
Mike, Ben, Brandon, Dave, Al, Paolo, John and I headed out around 8am. It's been a long time since I've been chilled on a bike ride. Once we got into the woods, it ended up being perfect. Well until Dave had a chainring mishap on the first hill... John ended up towing him back to our house and gave him th3ocon's bike.
It was a good ride. I don't think I've ever ridden Sublime that fast the second time around. I'm sure John's challenge had a bit to do with it...
Sunday we headed up to the Klugs. John and Kevin headed out to the Kettles while Holly and I gossiped while hiking and hanging out with the girls. When John and Kevin came back, Holly and I headed out to Emma. We rode Emma and the connector. It was my first time on Emma since they re-did the trails, I approve big time. I think it may actually be one of my favorite sections. However I think the connector on the way out from Emma still rates pretty darn high. Another good ride. When we were done it was brats and frog hunting.
Monday I headed out to Palos to participate in the women's only Half Acre ride. There were about 14 of us, I think. We ended up in groups. It turned out to be another great day on the bike. Fabulous weather, good company, fun trails, we saw a dude endo spectacularly on dynamite road and then a dude puking on three ravines. Nice.
My weekend ended with a beautiful breeze coming through the doors while I sat on the couch drinking a beer watching Phineas and Ferb. Awesome.
This coming weekend has a lot to live up to. It's at a disadvantage already seeing as it'll be a day short. I am however looking forward to seeing some WORS peeps. Last time was Eau Claire, I think.

Today...

2010-09-04T23:06:00.003-05:00

Meet Fucker Log

2010-09-03T22:23:00.008-05:00

aka Rachael's log. It was named after me because the first time I went over it I almost broke my neck. I crashed off it and knocked myself unconscious. 4 years later I rode it again, successfully, many times.

I am never riding this again as most of you know, because I crashed going the other way a couple weeks ago. Fucker.
I'm bitter about it.

No, I didn't try it again, but clearly you can see I'm not over it.

It's weird looking at it, you may not think much of it. It's a veritable beast, however.
You may ride it once and be like this isn't hard at all, and then 10 times after, but one day... it will get you. Don't say I didn't warn you.

My Form part 1

2010-08-27T21:01:00.004-05:00

I was never a hater of 29ers. When they first surfaced, I initially thought "they weren't for me, but for big dudes." Slowly my thought processes changed.
The color purple became one of my favorites, so of course I had to have a Rig.
I remember my first ride on it. I was cruising down Ridgeland on my way to the Mesa and right away I was like "holy shit, I can't believe how much momentum I'm keeping!" I was stoked.
I rode the Mesa. I remember braking hard into turns because I was cruising so fast into them... but unfortunately also because I had to turn that thing. As cool as it was I felt like I was driving a bus on some of the trails.
As much as I liked the Rig, I wanted something custom. I got the Waltworks shortly after. Singlespeed and rigid. It wasn't suspension corrected so it steered like a dream. It was almost too quick for me. As much fun as singlespeeding can be, and rigid... it just wasn't for me every ride.
Fisher came out with the Ferrous. I thought about that blue almost daily. The bow seatstays were beautiful. The simplicity and small little details made it the frame I had to have. With a little help from some creepy guy I was able to get my hands on one.
I loved that bike. I rode it rigid for awhile. It steered in the singletrack much better than my Rig. The Ferrous, IMO, was one of the coolest production bikes ever built. I still see the one I used to own and almost have regrets. Almost.
As much as I loved the Ferrous it was a pig. 5.5 pounds for a hardtail frame... ouch.
I wanted something light. I wanted to race a 29er. I was lucky to get a Superfly frame only and built it up rather quickly.
Right away I noticed it climbed like a goat. However I HATED how it rode in singletrack. It took me weeks to adapt to it. I didn't like it. I don't know what it was? 69 degree head angle?
I ultimately bought the Superfly to see if I dug a lightweight 29er and I'd eventually go custom.
John and I went on vacation to visit Zach and Sara a few months ago and we met Daryl from Form. After talking to him I pretty much knew he'd be building my next frame.
How cool is it to have personally met and ride with the guy designing your frame???
It's fucking cool.

I'd continue on about getting my Form... but I think I'm lucky if you stayed with me this far. Part 2 will happen at some point.

The Meltdown

2010-08-11T22:37:00.003-05:00

You totes know this is gonna be a kick ass time. Save yourself a few bucks and get yourself registered before the 15th.

Pretty rad eh?

2010-07-23T00:36:00.005-05:00

Finally. My FORM bitches!
John and I knocked it out a few hours ago. He did most of the work, and by most I mean all. I just did like rotors, tires, cages, etc.
I still have, well John still has a few things to do like cut the steerer (I was playing it safe), move my triggers (they are totally in the wrong spots, wtf?) and probably just some minor things here and there, rotate bar, levers, etc.

I'm stoked. I don't even know how to explain how awesome this bike is. Seatmast, zero stack, custom gusset, internal cable routing... sigh. I hope I can do this thing proud.

I'd like to get someone to get some good pics of this. Tonight when I went out there the camera immediately fogged (hello 78 degree dewpoint) and there was a fucking skunk. I feel like I still smell like the skunk. Made my nostrils burn.

Where to begin? Maybe in reverse.

2010-07-16T21:55:00.005-05:00

I feel like I've been gone forever and it hasn't even been a full week.
We just got back from Eagle River a couple hours ago. The drive was long and tested our patience big time.
Eagle River was nice. Totally relaxing. We made it there on Tuesday early evening. Just in time for dinner. It was a beautiful night. It was great to see the girls.
Wednesday turned into a big storm fest. I didn't mind really... it was good to just relax in the cabin and do absolutely NOTHING. I also see no point in being upset for the whole day when there's nothing you can do about it (hypocrite).
Thursday was just beautiful. We tubed the whole day away. You can see on my chest where I missed putting the fucking sunscreen- OW!
Friday came way too quick. We pretty much just packed up for our torturous drive home. Ugh.
Prior to Eagle River John and I stayed up at Brent's in Minneapolis. We've been planning on doing this for over a year but it never seemed to work out well. This time it was perfect. My kids were with my family in Eagle River already so we headed over from Eau Claire.
We rode Lebanon Hills on Monday and Murphy on Tuesday morning. Both awesome trails. I have to give Leb more props though. It just suited my riding preferences more. It just flowed so well. I felt like I was going downhill most of the time, yet I barely remember climbing? I also love rock gardens and log crossings. It was just a little more technical than Murphy.
Thanks again to Brent for letting us hang out at his house and being tour guide on the trails. If he's up for it, I'm totally game for same plan next year.
Which brings me to WORS #6. I can't believe WORS is half way over! WOW, time flies.
Eau Claire is one of the courses I really enjoy. If it weren't for that field section it'd be top 2-3 for sure. I hate that field. I suck in it... and it's not so much that I suck, but in Elite there are soooo many girls so fit and fast that makes it more dreadful.
Anyway, my starts suck ass. I just can't pull off the effort at all. The only good thing about it is it appeared that by the time we got to the rock garden switchback, the back up wasn't too bad.
Sunday was one of those races where I actually felt like I was racing. Not many comp issues (except, why the fuck would you pass on the inside of a turn that went into open? WTF?! settle down and think) and I went back and forth with some gals. I love racing with Brenda, she always reminds me that this is supposed to be fun. I spent time with Lindsey and MK off the top of my head.... Christine, Sara, Patti, Heidi... everyone shouting words of encouragement. This is why I love racing WORS.
On the last lap I caught up to Patti. I wanted to pass her in the singletrack but I just wasn't powerful enough to do so. And it was sort of intimidating, IDK why. So I just stayed on her wheel until we hit the rock garden at the end. She dismounted and I rode. I was so nervous. It was so fun to be with someone so near the finish. Those rocks sort of toss you where they want to and at the exit I always wanted to stay a bit right, but would get kicked to the left. And being so tired I thought I'd poop out. I don't know what happened after that. I kept waiting for her to pass me but she never did. I don't know if she gave it to me or what. But whatever happened I'll admit to being happy for being rewarded for riding that section and then coming out ahead.
I'm not one to usually like a picture of myself, but I do like this one that Brittany took.

I'm dirty, dehydrated, I know I'm focused, I didn't notice my sleeve fell, I'm hovering over the saddle, my arms are tense because I was holding onto my bars fairly tight- just looking at it I can totally remember riding through there and how the bike moved under me. It's funny, I always get nervous before a race riding through a "crowd section", but when racing, I don't even hear them really.

See y'all at Alterra.

It's only been

2010-07-06T22:25:00.003-05:00

a whole 6 days without rain.
Of course today we get hammered which has now put riding plans for tomorrow on possible hold.
I'm pissed. I was really looking forward to riding with Zach and Sara.

I suppose it has to rain at some point, droughts aren't fun either. But I would've liked at least one more day. One, I'd get to ride tomorrow and two, Palos would've had another day to recover from those two months.

I haven't given up hope though. Fingers are crossed.

It's going to be a rough week at home and work.
Money is super tight; I have a short week at work; we're leaving for eau claire, to MN to Eagle River in a few days. Lots and lots of driving. I hope it's all worth it.

Thank you Mom Nature

2010-07-05T20:35:00.003-05:00

The weather has been incredible the last week or so; finally dry trails everywhere.
Wednesday I headed to the mesa and ended up meeting a few peeps out there.
First it was Mike and Gina coming out of Garden Grove. We headed out and eventually ran into Chris and Tommy on hangman trail, right at the noose actually.
Thursday, the same. I headed out shortly after work. The trails were even noticeably dryer. I could feel them getting faster.
Friday I shut my outlook off early and headed out to the mesa. I thought I'd see Chris and John out there. I saw John on top of the mesa, then saw Chuck right after I slid out and did a 180 after a sweeping left turn- I actually separated from my bike, then saw Rick and Steve. Chris then ran through the ravine and caught up to us. Good times.
Saturday Zach and Sara came over. Jeremey met us as well. We headed out for a good couple of hours. We ran into John, Tim, Chuck and Chris all working on a bench cut on the new trail... ugh. I felt guilty for not being out there with them.
It was great riding with Zach and Sara. I wish they were in a bit longer, but it looks like we may get to ride with them on Wednesday if the weather holds. *crosses fingers
Sunday John headed out to do the Joliet Metric Century. I really didn't have a plan until I saw a ride posted for the mesa. I didn't have a sitter so pouted for a bit.
My in-laws wanted to hang with the girls, so score! I made it back just in time to meet the guys at 10am. Super fun ride. Afterwards we jumped in Siwinski's pool with all our riding gear on and had a beer. It felt so good.
Later that day we took the girls for ice cream; then headed out by bike to watch the fireworks. I've always thought Oak Forest put on a good show, but 40 minutes was a bit much. Zoe whined the entire time.
Today we started the day just lazing around. John said he was pretty worked over and didn't want to do anything. I couldn't imagine not riding today. Initially I thought about taking the neighbor kids out to the mesa, but that wasn't working out. So I thought about riding out to Swallow Cliffs and back.
Right when I got on my bike my upper body was tired. My legs didn't feel too terrible, it's been awhile since I've ridden that many days in a row.
I headed onto the bike path and jumped on the roads out to SC. The gravel was super deep (they, CCFPD, have no idea how to maintain gravel trails- or anything for that matter). I finally made it across LaGrange and hopped onto the singletrack. The stuff on top by the slides was mint. A couple of new log crossings. Once I crossed over and headed over by Cherry Hill woods that was pretty overgrown... but almost cool because it was SO green not to mention you couldn't see the trail. Total singletrack. Game face on.
I rode everything twice (out n back) and called it a day. Once I hit the road and a headwind, my legs were feeling pretty worked. I was glad to roll up the driveway and John be almost home from grabbing a pizza.

Family, friends, riding and great weather have made these past few days friggin' awesome!

p.s. I'm too lazy to post pics.

Happy 4th!

2010-07-04T07:32:00.004-05:00

Dudes...

2010-07-02T20:44:00.001-05:00

Palos Meltdown registration is OPEN.
Go get some.

w00t!

2010-07-02T13:11:00.000-05:00

Wheels are done!

Subaru Cup and other stuff

2010-07-01T09:39:00.005-05:00

Where to begin...
Getting to Mt. Morris on Friday morning was a fiasco. Long story that will bore you to death... even more boring than the drive from Oak Forest to Nordic Mtn. Ugh.
Anyway, we were up there with plenty of time to spare for the pre-ride.
Per usual I felt like crap on the pre-ride. I fumbled over every rock and felt like a total newb. The switchbacks for the pro/cat 1 were so awesome! I flubbed the turn right before they started. I was totally unprepared for the Trek firelane drops but still no issues. When I finished I decided to do the last section over again starting from the bridge. I'm glad I did, what a difference. Then I headed over to the start and redid that singletrack and felt on track again. I felt a lot better about things after that. Knowing that I won't finish near the top, I must at least have fun while racing and after that I knew I would.
I was looking forward to racing with no Comps.
Fast forward to Saturday morning we headed out early to get Ryan to the course.
Shortly after I got ready. Did a little warm up, headed to the start line and Don said go.
Ugh. I hate starts. I know most people don't like them... as I'm racing I think to myself you should at least work on starts so maybe they are less painful. But I never do.
Once we started heading back down I couldn't believe the back up. It was like being in the back of the sport class years ago. Back ups, people falling all over, etc.
I was breathing louder than I have in a long time once we started climbing, or I just noticed it because I wasn't wearing headphones. I really like the climbing at mt. morris. For the most part it's singletrack. It's twisty. It's just fun. It hurts but at least I feel sort of rewarded working my way around roots and rocks.
Still being behind people I wasn't able to let loose on the downhill but I knew on the second lap the gals would either push ahead of me or I'd pass them and ride by myself.
Coming to the Pro/Cat 1 switchback I could hear all the yelling and cheering.
What an awesome crowd. I'll admit to being nervous... it sucks to mess up in a section like that. I think on my first lap I put my foot down to avoid ramming a rider in front of me, but both times I was back I cleaned everything.

Which brings me to my other picture. I don't know why, but I never think about eating and wehre the best place is. So on this course I opened my gel on the open area right before the water, stuck it in my mouth, climbed that little short climb and then ate it. Which worked out well, but totally not pro.

I haven't had that much fun on a race course in a long time. Granted it was a super short race for Cat 1 and I'm sure that had a lot to do with it, but I was almost wishing for another lap.
My results were typical of me. And I'm happy with them for the type of riding I do. I know that if I want to finish any better I have to sacrifice my play time for some intervals or something.
John said he felt good but said he was mentally deflated after a crash at the start took him out. That sucks, especially when you are looking forward to something. He said he still had fun though.
I'd also like to show my appreciation for the riders of WORS. While starting my 3rd lap the Cat 1 men started to come through. I was bumped, thrown off my line and was just rudely spoken to by a number of riders- ALL OF WHOM HAD DAY OF NUMBERS. WORS racing is fun because even though it's competitive, I think most everyone is out there for fun and respects everybody else's races out there. So thank you.
Next race is Eau Claire. It's a haul but my parents will be up there vacationing with our kids so it'll work out well. I like the Border Battle course better, but Eau Claire is super fun too.
My frame may be here next week. I'm not getting my hopes up as there's a good chance it'll be the following week, which won't matter because I'll be on vacation. Still though, fingers crossed. Wheels should be in hand very soon too. Holly has my Superfly so no 29er riding for me.
No rain for 4 days in a row here. This hasn't happened since April. FUCKING APRIL!
The forecast still looks good so I'm looking forward to getting some riding in like every day. But first I have to go clean the sidewalk due to the lawn bag exploding.

The storm that just hit...

2010-06-23T18:51:00.003-05:00

I can't help but be reminded of the time I was out at Swallow Cliffs years ago out in a major storm. I remember sliding down the ravines/cliffs on our asses just trying to get to our cars. It was so scary.
Once we made it back, muddied, bloodied and drenched, we couldn't help but laugh.

What an adrenaline rush.

More rain...

2010-06-21T23:15:00.003-05:00

I'm sitting here at my kitchen table typing this post out while listening to thunder.
I had hopes of hitting the Mesa tonight for my very own Summer Solstice Ride.
When I left this morning while getting coffee I took one look at the sky and pretty much lost almost all hope that my plan would come together.

It didn't rain in the city so I thought, well, maybe the front came and left quickly.
When I got home John went out for his ride. I figured I'd go when he got back, which I thought would be 7:30.
After apparently some bad calculations on my part about 7:50 I went to put my light on my bike. Even if he walked in the door that minute I would need a light to finish my ride. I still had hopes of riding dirt at this point and I'd definitely need a light for that.
Ryan came over about 20 after 7. He wanted to go so he got ready.
We left for our ride just before 8. One look around the pavement at the park and I knew right away we weren't going off road. I still had hope though. Down to raccoon alley and it was a mess. People left large ruts and there were puddles everywhere. I'm sure that there were sections up there rideable, but my educated guess was most of it was still pretty soft. I wasn't in the mood to slip and slide around in the dark. So, as much as it pained me, we headed up to do the paved path.
We rode out to Lake Katherine and took the long way home. Most of it without lights, which of course made it a bit more exhilarating. Ryan was like 8 years old experiencing the paths in the semi-dark. I love how you can feel each of your senses come to life.
We did about 20 miles or so. I was actually kind of tired. As we made our way back to the start of the loop there was a pretty wicked electrical storm to be seen. I'll remember that along with the humidity and bugs. There were zillions of lightning bugs and the mosquitoes were vicious; my bites still itch. Something big hit my shoulder which creeped me out and Ryan got a winged something stuck in the back of his throat.
No chance to be off road tomorrow. I've pretty much accepted that. Probably not Wednesday either. I'm crossing my fingers for Thursday. Friday we leave for Mt. Morris.

I ♥ mountain bikes

2010-06-20T22:49:00.007-05:00

Saturday I opted for a road ride on my mountain bike. By road I mean some paved path and some road. I have a beautiful road bike yet I can't for some reason bring myself to ride it. Even when I'm planning a road ride.
As I got onto the path I knew it was a bad idea. Saturday afternoon on the path on probably what I would consider one of the nicest days of the year... yeah, stupid people. So I headed towards Swallow Cliffs to ride the roads around there.
While riding my mountain bike on the road I was giving this much thought.
My road bike gets most of its miles at the end of winter/beginning of spring. It just makes sense and as, it would seem, I haven't had a taste of being on my mountain bike in awhile. It seems once I get that taste, I can't go back.
As I went to do my road loop I've been doing lately I saw the usual entrance for where I enter the Swallow Cliff's multi-track. It was dry. Say what? Yeah, I know.
So of course I have to check this out! If I were on my road bike I could not do this.
I still can't believe it was dry. There were a couple of puddles, but that's it. You could tell a lot of water had come through by the large ruts. Ruts I had to bunny hop. There were also downed trees and branches and leaves everywhere.
Being out there was so exciting. It was so unexpected.
There is just something special about being off road for me. I don't think I could ever explain it as well as it deserves.
Riding today at the mesa my favorite things were the smell of honeysuckle, the suicidal chipmunks, fawns (is there anything in this world as cute as a baby deer?), families of deer, new trail that was even better than you imagined and some of it even a surprise. I love how I can ride a section over and over perfectly, but then fuck it up another day (fuck you entrance). I just love mountain bikes. I love the way they feel. I love the way they look. I love the way they ride. I just feel so at one on them.

I'm going to bed before I look at the radar.

And PRO XCT this weekend. My goal is to not die.

singletrack

2010-06-17T22:28:00.003-05:00

No way I was waiting til tomorrow to ride knowing that the mesa was probably 90% rideable. It was way better than when we were out there on Sunday.

I ended up getting a late start (story of my life) so I'm sort of glad I didn't hit the new stuff... I would've been out there still while it was REAL dark. It doesn't get super dark til after 9pm, but in the woods, as you know, totally different story.

Nearing the 2x4 that I endoed over, I sort of got a little nervous, but rode over it with ease. The climbs were all climbable (not slick and and my tires weren't clogged),just the normal mud spots were super muddy; the flat turns weren't even holding water. Raccoon alley, however, was nasty, now that I think about it. Tomorrow will be even better. I haven't even checked the forecast and am trying not to look.

Not sure what the weekend is looking like. It's father's day on Sunday. So I'll see my dad on Saturday as he works on Sunday. WEMS is Saturday as well as a DINO race. The rescheduled PAMBA race is Sunday. I left the decision up to John; he's leaning towards PAMBA- crossing my fingers it doesn't get rained out.

I'm glad it's Friday tomorrow.

Endos and FORM

2010-06-15T13:13:00.005-05:00

I endoed while riding on Sunday.
It was dumb. I've never missed the 2x4. I guess there is a first time for everything.
I knew I missed it right away and let go. As I went over I knew the bike was coming back at me so I caught it. Jumped up and was surprised at how bad I didn't feel.
Not even a twinge of "I want to cry, but won't." A bit later I had a headache and sore shoulder, not to mention a bruised knee. Still, no biggee. But today lifting my left shoulder is bothersome. Nothing to really complain too much about other than I thought about getting old. Age doesn't bother me really, but I was just thinking that if this happened to me 10 years ago I think the only evidence of it happening would be a purple spot on my knee.

My FORM is forming up nicely. I'm hoping to have it by the end of June. Probably too late to build up for the PRO XCT but hopefully I'll be able to decorate it for the 4th of July rides. *crosses fingers

hypocrit

2010-06-13T23:40:00.004-05:00

I will pretty much piss and moan about idiots who ride on muddy trails.
Well, guess what I did today... at least they were all illegal anyway.

©me

©jeremey

OMG

2010-06-08T22:44:00.002-05:00

I need dirt. Seriously.
I seem to get very opinionated without it.

More B.S.

2010-06-06T10:21:00.009-05:00

I can't decide if I'm over the rain yet or not. One moment I think it is what it is, no use getting all fired up about it, and then, I just get super irritated.
Meh.
I've barely ridden since Wausau. I got on my bike Wednesday to only turn around after 20 minutes. I felt like shit, my bike fit felt all wrong and then on top of that the Blackhawks would be starting game 3 soon. In hindsight I should've just rode.

Casey had a soccer game on Thursday so I wasn't able to get out then either. Well, I suppose I could go night riding. Must remember to charge the lights. I do have a hard time night riding by myself though. I get pretty creeped out going through some sections.

I don't even remember Friday night... oh yeah, Blackhawks loss. Again, I should've rode.
Saturday I was at a baby shower. It was for my best friend growing up. I missed Casey's end of year soccer party which was kind of a bummer. She got a trophy; she was pretty stoked. Later that afternoon I headed out on a road ride. I didn't have a plan really. I ended up by swallow cliffs. The whole time I kept envisioning someone hitting me from behind. There are absolutely no shoulders out there with cars whizzing by at 60mph. I hate that.

After I was home of course the sky let loose. So trail riding is pushed back even more. *sigh
Today I'll probably ride a bit later. John just got home from his ride.
Phineas and Ferb are on and the laundry is screaming.

OH SNAP!

2010-06-01T20:42:00.002-05:00

It's raining again.

I just want to ride. Tomorrow is rain or shine. I'll be able to get out earlier... I think. Need to check the soccer schedule.

This weekend I thought I'd finally be making the trip down to Brown County. That's a no go. Casey's soccer picnic is Saturday.

I'm holding out hope the trails will be rideable this weekend... so I'm planning a ride out there if you want to come.

Wausau

2010-05-31T10:11:00.007-05:00

I fear this could turn into a very long post; I'll try to keep it brief for you attention deficit people.
Saturday we made the 4.5 hour drive up to Wausau. We pre-rode as soon as we arrived.
I never have a good pre-ride at Wausau. I hate it. I always puke, get sick, overheated. Saturday was no different. I felt terrible. I ended up puking after the ride in the bathroom. I felt a little better but my stomach was a cramping mess for the rest of the evening. I was definitely not looking forward to Sunday.
The course had a super long lead out and what seemed like barely any singletrack and to top it off, my fork was broken. Ugh.
After the pre-ride we headed to our hotel, left again to grab some pizzas and sat in our hotel room chowing down while watching the Blackhawks. What a game. Both teams seemed a little out of sorts, but it still made for some great watching. I can't wait for tonight! Anyway lights out just before 11pm.
I actually slept really good for a change. Usually I wake up at 3am, 4am, 5am and then fall asleep til about 6 and then feel all groggy and shit.
Down to breakfast, then cleared out our room and headed to 9 mile.
Man was it hot. I bitched and crabbed and moaned about this race all the way up to the start line. And then I complained to fellow racers as we were racing, they were, however, all in agreement, it was brutal.
I hated the lead out. It was so damn long. My side started hurting before the race started. I couldn't figure out what it was; I still don't know. But it really did mess with me while riding. Every bump or rock I hit would seize my back right in that area. It actually distracted me from my normal hip issues, but I'd rather deal with my hip issue, at least that's just uncomfortable but doesn't really affect me until maybe later in the race.

My second lap I must've settled a bit. My side still hurt but I wasn't gasping for air (it hurt when I'd take a deep breath too). I went back in forth with some peeps so it was good to feel like I was actually in a race. I have to thank Brenda. That girl just keeps you motivated and makes you smile! I love her.
The majority of the comp men were awesome. My only complaint is that some of them need to call the pass. A couple times I'd be sandwiched by them passing simultaneously on my left and right and nobody called it. Hopefully it's not a disaster waiting to happen.
My third lap I'm not sure if I just got used to the pain in my side or it was starting to subside because I actually felt like I could maneuver the bike again and I could put a little bit of power to the pedals. I actually felt best on my 3rd lap, which is way weird for me. I passed, Karlene and then passed Hannah in the last sections of singletrack. I hung onto the comp guys wheels in the singletrack just hoping that Karlene and Hannah weren't right on my wheel. After getting out of the singletrack I gave it my all to the finish.
I pulled off my jersey right away; I didn't care if it was like slut move (as someone once told me they call that). Whatever. It was hot and I was way overheated.
I'm going to talk to Brent and Ryan about next year's kits being full zip. Design be damned. ;)
I hated the course on pre-ride. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that you know how much good singletrack is actually there. And when there are super long sections of open and more climbing than usual, well, let's just say it's not a fave. After racing this course, I actually didn't mind it. It didn't suit me really because of so much open, but it kicked my ass and when it was all said and done it was awesome. Someone told me, I can't remember who, just finish the race, just think, you'll be able to eat whatever you want next week and it won't matter. I won't lie, that did keep me motivated more than a few times to keep going.

Thanks to AmyD and MTBGirl for taking pics.

mountain biking

2010-05-23T09:20:00.002-05:00

Since IL has turned into some sort of rain state (soon to be the mosquito state I'm sure) I headed up to WI yesterday with Sara.
Getting there took way longer than expected. If Sara weren't in the car just in from AZ I would've been pissed. But really all it did was give me more time to talk her ear off.

We rode, chatted, laughed, gossiped, picked bugs out of our hair, and flicked ticks off our legs... good times. I can't wait for her and Zach to come in again (July I think). We'll do a day of Kettle and pick a day for the Mesa. I seriously can't wait.

Hopefully the trails around here will be given a chance to dry out. It seriously is a bummer to have nice weather and no where to ride dirt.

Rain.

2010-05-21T16:43:00.000-05:00

I'm not gonna say anything about the fucking weather.

I wanna ride...

2010-05-20T10:53:00.005-05:00

I didn't ride last night. Instead I met the fatties out at the Mesa to decide where the next trails should go. It was kind of a tease to be out there not riding. New stuff should be cool though. Some of it is a ways away however.

I'm hoping to be out later. Mesa bound.

Sara will be here on Saturday. I'm hoping we don't get a lot of rain on Friday- preferably none. We'll see. Same weather pattern as last year... rain and then the day the trails should be ride-able we get rain again. I'm hoping the pattern breaks soon.

P.S. I hope at least one of the kits I've been impatiently waiting for arrives today.

Metamora

2010-05-16T20:53:00.010-05:00

For some reason that city name reminds me of Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings.
As if my nerdiness needed to be further confirmed...
Anyway, WORS #2 was this weekend, Rhinelander. As cool as that place is, it's Canada really and Canada is a long way away from a south suburb of Chicago.
Luckily we had an alternative, The Illinois Homegrown Series. Today's race was in Metamora and put on by PAMBA. This was just over a 2 hour drive for us.
We arrived in plenty of time for John to pre-ride. I didn't want to do a whole lap, just get a feel for the entrance/exit really.
So John got back and pretty much told me what I expected. It was 90% singletrack.
Sweet.
First was Zoe's race. Turns out it was a grass race and she was riding her small wheels. John and I had to push her the majority of the race, but that was fine. She still had fun. Even though she did cry.

For finishing she received a water bottle with a full size Snickers bar! Um, jealous!
John and I started at noon. Shortly after Zoe's race I lined up. Women's Open started with the sport men. This made me very anxious. I was relieved when the women asked to start after them.
I was second into the singletrack. I was able to get by the lead girl when she bobbled after the creek crossing. So it was me and Betsy cruising through the singletrack. I know she's a stronger rider than I am, but I also know I'm a good singletrack rider. Still though, I was breathing hard and she wasn't. My hip and back were already starting to hurt, not to mention I had numbness in my leg starting (I'm beginning to think I have some kind of sciatica going on).
The course was awesome. Bench cut singletrack, whoops, bridges, multiple creek crossings, log overs, ravines. GAH! SO.RAD. Betsy got by me when we were spit out on essentially one of the only places on the course not singletrack (there and the start/finish). It was about a mile long and perfect to get some food and drink in ya.
I would say all the sport men we came upon let us by right away, barely having to ask.
I only had one problem with one dude. I'll get to him later.
Moving into the second lap Beverly creeped up on me on the switchback climbs. She is such a strong rider. So is Betsy for that matter. I had settled on my 2nd lap riding my own race, however the hip/back/leg thing was very discouraging. I don't think my result would have changed, but not having any power and just being uncomfortable sort of sucks. To add to that, I had issues with my 2nd gel. It just didn't want to settle in my stomach. Yuck.
My favorite part of the course was the beginning singletrack (all benchcut and downhill and then there was a section with a few log overs. I just love that shit.
I finished 3rd. Beverly had actually passed Betsy to take the win! WOW. How cool to come from that far back and win. Good stuff.
I sat around waiting for John to come in and trying to stretch out when I saw John come in all by himself. I knew he had won! How very cool for him. I think I was more excited than he was.
Afterwards we cleaned up and headed for awards. Ryan was 3rd age, I finished 3rd in women's open and of course John won expert. Cash payouts for both of us. After race entries paid and gas money and food, we were still up over $50.
I hit a tree once while racing. Doris took the brunt of it. Her glass dome and fist are a bit bruised.

I was going to dedicate a paragraph to the sport racer dude I mentioned above- who is the reason I'm sitting here drugged on ibuprofen and an ice pack, but I'm not. I'm super annoyed at his lack of understanding what racing is about, but, I guess, that's racing.

There's a pretty cool photo sequence of John entering one of the creek crossings.
Start here and hit the arrow forward. I'm amused easily, but it is cool.

Next up: WORS #3. Wausau.

Because I'm so not going to Canada next weekend

2010-05-09T22:29:00.002-05:00

Rhinelander is frickin' far.
I have no desire to sit in the car for that long for a 2 hour race.
It doesn't help that the kids are still in school, the drive back is hell, not to mention the next day.
PAMBA has a race scheduled for the same Sunday. I'm 99% sure we'll be going down there.

Anyone want to come? It'll be fun.

more frame talk...

2010-05-08T10:16:00.009-05:00

So to get my mind off of waiting for the Form (which reminds me, I have to finish getting my measurements), I've been looking at full suspension bikes.
I'm not big on full suspension for cross country riding 'round here, but they can be fun. My reason for really wanting one is, well, let's be honest, it's another bike to geek over, but a couple Super D's on my tentative schedule have me really thinking on what I'd want.
I've been looking at the Yeti forever. I've always had a soft spot for them since Missy Giove's days. The A.R.C. was so pretty. I can't imagine riding one now... That rear triangle screams ouch to my back. But their full suspension bikes, yum.

I love the ASR-5 and just recently fell in love with the ASR-5 carbon. Yeti is one of my customers at work, so the deal I'd get is a steal. HOWEVER, their sizing is wonky for me. Like WTF- the XS has a 15.8" seattube with a 21.6 toptube, which is essentially my Eriksen- but the Yeti has a 68° headtube. Ugh. So the small jumps to a 18.5"! seattube and 22.6" toptube. Um, I'd have like 2" of post. So I'm not going to take a chance on either size and nobody has a demo. So I'm looking elsewhere.

Elsewhere brought me to the Ibis Mojo. I have a love/hate relationship with that frame. The only thing I can't get by on the Mojo is the cable routing on top of the toptube. Ugh. The only other way they could've routed it is under the downtube and I don't like that much either. On top at least it won't get muddy, and I usually don't sacrifice function over aesthetics and downtubes in my experience get pretty darn muddy.

Now, what color?

And since this wouldn't be a blog post without me complaining about the weather, WTF Mother Nature? At least we aren't getting snow like some of our friends up in Wisconsin.

Mom's day picnic today. Errands. Blah.

New frame... again

2010-05-05T13:50:00.004-05:00

Keeping in touch with Zach and Sara since they've left, Zach has gone on about Daryl from Form. Forwarded me pics of his frames and just spoke of him as a friend in general. I had the fortune of meeting and riding with Daryl while on vacation. While we were out there, that Saturday, we spent the day essentially in Daryl's front yard- the Sedona trails.
He was riding a ti 29er that was pretty pimped out. Super clean and just beautiful, and you all know how picky I am about aesthetics.

At this point I was still on the fence about getting a custom 29er built up because I had maybe a ride or two on the Superfly. The Superfly was/is my experiment into a lightweight 29er, do I want to race one or do I just want it as a fun bike? Seeing his bike was definitely leaning me towards- yes you want a ti 29er (duh).
After getting some time on the Superfly, as much as I dislike the geometry, I climb well, it's fast and just plain fun. I love my 26" bike still, but there is just something about a 29er that is fun; I can't explain it really.
As mentioned before I've had issues with the Superfly steering and handling in general. I know I'd eventually adapt to that, but what I probably won't adapt to is the carbon. Carbon is sick light, but it feels dead. I'm not sure if I can explain it, but a ti or steel bike just feels alive; it's forgiving, yet stiff. I've been spoiled. It was pretty much a no-brainer that I would get a custom ti 29er and I've contacted Daryl at Form to do it.
So I dug the handling of the Ferrous, the climbing of the Superfly and the feel of my Eriksen- the Form will have it all, not to mention a killer headtube badge.
Some people say that mountain bikes don't have to be custom... most people who say this have never had a bike built just for them.

Anyway, it's going to be sick!

DNF

2010-05-03T17:41:00.002-05:00

First race of the year = DNF for me.
I'm sort of bummed but not.

Doc today = antibiotic and pain relief.

Hopefully I feel better in the next couple of days.

John had an awesome result. 17th overall. Very nice! I'm proud of and happy for him.

Probably no Rhinelander for us. I wish. But it's like an 8 hour drive. Casey has soccer that Saturday. There's a PAMBA race that Sunday, so maybe we can race that.

I'd like to ride today but I'm just too tired. The dumb part of me wants to go ride the mesa; the smart part is like JUST GO SIT ON THE COUCH AND WATCH TV.

Since Monday...

2010-04-30T11:17:00.006-05:00

I’ve been feeling sort of bad since Monday. It started with a painful sore throat.
It still hurt Wednesday morning but as the day went on it felt better. Mostly scratchy.
During the day I seemed to be having stomach issues too. I won’t go into details but just queasy, but not awful.
Wednesday after my ride I felt like complete shit. Almost moany groany tired and awful.
I still, on Friday, I have a sore throat and my voice seems to be in and out. It’s just dry and scratchy. I also still have stomach issues. Gas, have the sensation of feeling hungry even though I’m not and just noisy.

I don’t want to complain and say figures as Iola is Sunday. I’ve been pretty lucky as far as being sick goes this year. And even though I don’t feel great, I know I could feel a lot worse.

I’m hoping it’s just a virus and it will finish running its course any minute now… Please?

Jinxng myself

2010-04-23T00:05:00.003-05:00

Shaving my legs today I realized that I only had two, for lack of a better word, injuries from AZ, which is surprising. One I didn't stick a rock right away and trying to stop myself from rolling backwards said rock scraped my shin. The other was the Element door slamming into my calf; it's still bruised. I never crashed out there. Huh.

I'm not going to complain about the weather forecast; I feel that we pretty much lucked out the past month with unseasonably dry and warm weather. In saying that though, it kinda sucks and I can't help but be bummed I probably won't be riding trail this weekend.

The jury is still out on my Superfly. It's taking me a really long time to get the feel for that bike. It's wicked fast on the climbs and flats, however turning that thing is anything but. The Ferrous was fucking awesome. That bike just railed the singletrack. If you have one DON'T sell it. If you can find one, buy it. I don't regret selling mine really because I'll just get a custom frame at some point, and I hear Gina really enjoys it, but still, that bike was fun and didn't really give me the feeling that I was turning a 29er. Not to mention it was beautiful.

I'm told to be patient with the Superfly, that I'll adapt. I've no doubt I will, I'm mostly just making an observation I guess.

in AZ

2010-04-12T12:28:00.024-05:00

John and I have wanted to visit Zach and Sara out in AZ for quite some time now. Just never seemed to work out timing wise, well more cash wise. This year we decided to use our tax return money to score us some tickets. We haven't been on a vacation since our honeymoon in 2003. We've had extended weekends here n there but it's just not the same.

When I booked the tickets it seemed like forever before the time would come that we'd be out there. But as you know time flies and we were here before we knew it and now today is our last full day here. We fly out tomorrow morning.

We arrived Wed afternoon. First we grabbed some In n Out. It was great, but to be honest not as great as I remembered. Still though, I had no problem finishing my double. After eating we came back and got the bikes as ready as possible. It was nice of them to let us ride their spare bikes. To not ship or travel with bikes is so nice. Not only is it a pain in the ass but they also seem to get beat to shit in the process.

I didn't realize that Prescott was at altitude until the shuttle bus was struggling (or so it sounded) to get us from Phoenix to the Stanford's. It was then really confirmed on our journey on the trails that Wednesday night. They took us on a short loop that was a bit more rolling and didn't climb very steep, but man, I was winded. It was almost kind of funny really to feel that out of breath with not much effort. I was a bit uncomfortable with how loose it was here, not to mention I hate (this is for you Zach) Nanoraptors. HATE THEM. My weakness on a bike is loose fast (or slow) corners. And since I'm a princess when it comes to bike fit I was way high on the front end and a bit long. Still though, it was great to be out on trails, only a small taste of what was in store for us the rest of the week.

Thursday Sara had a test and Zach had to work. They sent us out to Granite Mountain (?) with a map. Sara said to follow 347 and then find the Mint trail or something like that. I know I'm probably mixing this all up, but whatever. So we proceeded to leave the truck without a tool or the map. We are so experienced (rolls eyes). Luckily we were fine without a tool, but the map would've helped. 347 went two directions. Of course we chose the wrong way. It was a super fun technical decent but then just ended. So we had to climb all the way back up to get to where we were supposed to go. WOW, talk about being worth it. That trail was fucking awesome. Just fast flowing whoops where you could catch air easily. We stopped a few times for photos and just to chat. It's been a long time since John and I have spent any time together just us, without kids, etc. It was nice to get back in touch with him that way- no worries, concerns, responsibility, etc. I love our kids and I miss them terribly, but I'm grateful for this alone time with just him. So back to the riding. We found the mint trail right away. It was full of cacti which completely fascinated me. I've never seen so much of it. I mean, yeah, I've seen small plants at home, but nothing like this. It was almost distracting how fascinated I was by it. I had to remind myself not to look at the cactus... it'll suck if you run into it.
The mint trail was pretty dope as well. It was a bit more technical than 347 but I so enjoy that. I had one holy fuck moment when I couldn't reach my brake lever, but that was about it. When we got to the bottom we were a little uncertain on which way to go. The trail seemed to cross a pretty decent size creek which wasn't a big deal but once we crossed it the trail seemed so different. It was very deep sad almost un-pedalable for my weak midwest legs. We came across a horse only area and began to seriously doubt our choice. The map would've come in handy about then. We had been out there for well over 2 hours at that point and wasn't sure how long that trail was so we decided to just head back to where we came. Not too much of a bummer, but still would've liked to have had the map. Over 3 hours later we made it back to the truck. I'm not going to lie, I almost cried at the top. My hands were cramping from trying to reach the brake levers (we forgot to move the reach adjust in) and my back was killing me from getting pounded by the horse tracks. But still, it was an awesome day.

When we came home we made some minor adjustments to the bikes. Hung out with Zach and Sara and prepared for another day.

Friday we headed to Thumb Butte. Their friend Brian headed out there with us. It was about a mile road climb up to the trail head. I was much slower than most of them, but not as slow as I thought I was going to be so that was sort of a relief. The beginning of the ride of course was ALL climbing. Like 8% to 12% with some recovery time in between. When it would drop to like 3% it almost felt like going downhill until you stopped pedaling and realized you were still climbing. Brian had to take off after he gave us bunk directions to one of the trails we were looking for which brought us up this gravel road which seemed to climb for fucking ever. We made it to the top and both Zach and Sara were pretty sure we were not on the right path. So we headed back down to the area they knew and of course had to climb back up in the singletrack. The trails were gorgeous. Slightly technical and fun. We saw snow! I was so fucking excited to be in short sleeves and there be snow on the ground! Just one of those things. John and Zach separated from us for a longer ride while Sara and I continued to head down. I think this was my favorite part of the day. Fast sections with slower sections that you had to pick your way through. Small drops into creeks, etc. Very good times.

John and Zach met us in town where we had some kick ass burritos and then headed over to the Raven where we had a couple of beers. Saturday we'd be heading to Sedona.

Sedona was awesome. We met Darryl from Form Cycles (which if I do decide on a ti 29er, will be my next bike- so fucking awesome) at the Bike n Bean and headed out to the trails. I'd never ridden trails like that before so it was definitely a real treat! I rode in my granny gear the entire day. It was tough but wicked. The views were amazing as well as the trail riding. It was pretty cool dropping off the slick rock, picking your lines, etc. The steps and rocks while climbing were a real bitch. It was very difficult to say the least. I walked more than I would have liked, but I wasn't discouraged or bummed. There was so much good stuff, you just couldn't be bummed about anything..
Afterwards we headed to Sara's parents (they have a winter home in Sedona). They took us out for an awesome dinner to end our day.

We thought about staying in Sedona to ride more of the trails there but opted to come back to Prescott. I'm glad we did. The trails we rode yesterday had a ton of climbing. More climbing than I've ever done in my life (once John downloads his Garmin I'll see how much), but the descent was money. It was probably my favorite of the trip. I'm not sure why. I think it had a lot to do with feeling accomplished from doing all that climbing and not crying like the whiney baby I can sometimes be. I was also super confident on that terrain, probably most used to the bike, etc. I was exhausted when we were done. It was the first ride all trip (surprisingly) where my legs were like "we're done".

Today we are headed over to Thumb Butte again. Sara wants to show us her favorite trail right now. There's a part of me that can't wait to go and then another part of me that just wants to relax and internet. But it's our last day and I'd hate not to ride.

I can't thank Zach and Sara enough. I wish I could put into words just how awesome they are; I don't think I can. They make you feel so at home and so comfortable not to mention so much fun to be around. They have seriously made this vacation an amazingly fun trip for us.

I'll miss them. Hopefully we can take up a day of theirs when they visit IL come summer.

p.s. I don't know how Sara and Zach survive with their shitty internet connection. I'll maybe post more pics once it finally completes uploading them to flickr.

Done.

2010-04-05T22:35:00.003-05:00

I'll be bringing up the rear in the CAT 1 races this year but at least I'll look pro.

John and I leave for vacation Wednesday, first time really since our honeymoon.

I'll be here tomorrow morning.

2010-03-31T22:57:00.000-05:00

My Ferrous

2010-03-29T19:50:00.004-05:00

I'm probably going to sell it.
Anybody interested?
Depending on interest I might sell it sooner than later.
As with all my bikes, you can be pretty certain that it's RAD.
It has a sussy fork on it now, white with purple robot decals. I'll sell it with both forks- Salsa rigid and Reba Team.
So let me know if you are or might be interested.

all singletrack all the time

2010-03-28T21:27:00.009-05:00

My plan this weekend was to get a lot of road miles in. To be perfectly honest I'm sort of dreading the WORS season. Cat 1. Ouch. I'm not interested in what place I take really, but at the same time I want to represent the Cat 1 category well. Ya know? Personally I don't think I'm a Cat 1 racer- skills yes, fitness, no, and I've told this story before, but I don't feel right staying in Cat 2. I don't know why I dread it so much, I mean I just have to ride my bike, right?
It's hard to explain how I feel about all this, but I know there are plenty of girls who have made the jump for whatever reason and know exactly what I'm talking about.
Anyway, I didn't help my cause any by spending these past two days in the dirt. I just can't help it. And this is why I will never be a decent Cat 1 racer. When it comes right down to it I just don't have the drive to "train". The couple races I did that last lap was a total and complete painful suffer fest- and the courses weren't that difficult as far as climbing, etc. If I want to not dread WORS so much I have to sacrifice and do rides I don't prefer. It's the end of March and I have maybe one ride over 30 miles. I struggle with all this really.
I don't care to make time to train, but I still want to race and not suffer too horribly. Yes I want it all. But whatever, I rode singletrack in March TWO DAYS IN A ROW! And none of what I cried about really matters, once May 2nd comes (or tomorrow) I won't care about any of this. I'll just do what I do.

Swallow Cliff

2010-03-27T20:02:00.003-05:00

I rode singletrack today.
Tom and I headed out to Swallow Cliffs from our houses, we met up on the paved path and took that plus the road out to the multi-track.
The multi-track was in great shape, only a couple of watery spots to keep it interesting. So of course, being out there, and Tom never have ridden the single track there, we of course went to check it out.
The singletrack had some good, some bad and some OMG, but all ride-able.
The first section we rode was practically mint. It actually all went downhill from there conditions wise, but we were still able to ride everything. Seemed weird to be off-road.
If it wasn't supposed to rain I'd be there tomorrow too, or the Mesa. Looks like it might be a wet paved path ride. But whatever, I'll be on my bike. I hope.

I do this every year...

2010-03-24T20:44:00.005-05:00

I remembered one of the links I wanted to post.
Brown County Sub-9 Super D. I so want to do this. Unfortunately it conflicts with the Border Battle, one of my favorite WORS courses. I lean towards the Super D only because it's a lot shorter of a drive and it looks like it's going to be a festival type weekend.
But who knows. I need to decide soon though as I see that filling up quite fast.
I have such mixed feelings about doing just WORS races. On one hand WORS is a lot of fun, we have a bunch of friends that we see every other weekend. But on the other hand I'd like to start riding different places again. As much as I love a lot of the WORS courses, I've ridden them over and over again. I miss riding different trails, and since there aren't many non-WORS weekends we don't travel to ride different places either. I miss that.
There are a lot of races to choose from this year in IL, IN and WI. MI too.
The new NIMBA series. I love racing Imagination Glen. But that race conflicts with Wausau24. We'll have to pick what we want to do that weekend. There is also the new IL Homegrown MTB Series. Lots of great places to ride on that schedule as well. Then there is DINO, which has a stop at Brown County, and MMBA, which has Ft. Custer (RAD course)- and of course conflicts with Iola.
This isn't even factoring in the one day races like the Cooper Harbor Fat Tire Festival- which I'd like to do this year.
So much to choose from and not enough weekends.
I also don't want to just race. I want to ride too. Brown County and Levis Trow are the destinations I'm looking forward to.

We'll see. It's still early. I have all these grand plans and then just turn into a sheep and do WORS.

Who needs water?

2010-03-23T22:52:00.003-05:00

Apparently not my dumb ass. How annoying to forget your water. Especially since I've been a bit dehydrated lately.

I'm too lazy to do my link post tonight. I wanted to get in bed at 10pm- so I've failed twice. Besides I don't even remember what I wanted to post.

stupid blogger

2010-03-22T22:33:00.002-05:00

I had to change the comments back to blogger because halo scan forced me to some other JS Kit or something and it wasn't free.
I saved my comments but don't feel like figuring out how to re-add them.
Meh. How annoying.

Nothing much over the weekend. Saturday was a shitter of a day weather-wise.
Sunday all I can remember is I was cold ALL DAY. Nothing I did could warm me up.
I finally warmed up in time just to go to bed.

Which reminds me, I should probably do that now.

I don't have much to say anyway, other than I hope the forecast for Saturday stays.
I know it won't, but I'll still hope.

Actually I do have things to talk about, but it includes finding links and stuff.
I'll save it for tomorrow.

I'll think of Sunday, but forget Saturday now...

2010-03-18T19:39:00.006-05:00

Today was pretty uneventful.
I worked from home and snuck a 45 minute ride in after Liz picked up Zoe.
I just picked up Casey straight from my ride. I sort of felt dumb all spandex-ed out.
I shouldn't have, some of the things people will wear out in public amaze me, and I'm pretty chill.
John's bike is half built. Since we are short on wheels and brakes he hasn't parted out the Ferrous yet. Luckily there are brakes here to replace his XX, but no wheels.
I went to order rims today, but of course they are out of stock everywhere. Stan's site looks to have them in stock, so I'll look into getting the pro-form tomorrow.
Then getting all the hubs, spokes and rims to someone to build them all.
I may wait on my 190s though, but actually probably not. I really want the Crest rim because of its weight. I read somewhere that it wasn't as easy to set up tubeless and this turned me off. One of the reasons I ride Stan's (main reason being weight) is how easily they set up tubeless. It's a dream really compared to other rims. So I may just stick with the 355s. I'm really not that big of a weight weenie.
I need a fork for my Superfly as well. I almost wish the Bontrager rigids were available and then I could just take John's :). Someone did me a favor for his, so now I have to figure out how to get a 51mm for myself.
I guess it's good to have bike problems.

I'm glad it's Friday tomorrow. Holly's coming by SRAM to drop off her Rock Lobster so I can ride it on the gravel trails. We're going to lunch, should be fun.

Weekend will be a little bit of spring cleaning, gettig rid of clothes and hopefully a ride. Saturday looks to be out at this point, but now Sunday is looking okay.

I don't even want to think about Sunday...

2010-03-17T20:59:00.003-05:00

I left work about a half hour early to hopefully get a ride in.
Technically it was my last Kenpo work out and I sort of feel a bit, I don't know, bad for missing it seeing it was the last one, BUT IT WAS SUNNY AND IN THE 60s! No way I wasn't going for a ride!
It was only 45 minutes but it was oh so fun. It was so nice to be out there un-layered.
My feet still froze though. Drastic measures had to be taken when I got home so I could take a shower:

Kinda can't wait for John to build up his Superfly. It's driving me mad that all the parts are here and he hasn't started. I don't blame him necessarily, we haven't really had the time, but still. I need to see a new bike built dammit!

I'm hoping my gramma can watch Zoe for a bit tomorrow so I can take advantage of the weather.

decisions

2010-03-16T13:46:00.006-05:00

Since I got this:

I'm not sure what I'll do with this:

I love the Ferrous. It rails the singletrack like a dream. I'm not sure how the Superfly will compare. The Ferrous has a pretty short wheelbase whereas, when I see photos of the Superfly, not so much. Huh. I guess I can't make a decision until I finally get it built up and ride to compare. So now, I'm impatient.

What I do know is that I don't need both. A part of me is hoping to super dig the Superfly so I can sell the Ferrous for one of these:

Chromag Sakura. I'd build it up non-race, like ith some riser bars, etc. More of a super rad trail bike (or Ray's) with their Ranger stem and riser bars, and the Juniper saddle.
I need a place for my Industry 9 wheels; they'd go well on there I think.

John still hasn't started his Superfly. He, too, loved his Ferrous and is unsure of what the Superfly will bring. He'll find out sooner than I will fortunately.

Our trip to AZ is like 3 weeks away. Time flies.

P.S.
I hope this is for real:

Sunday June 13

2010-03-15T11:54:00.002-05:00

Anyone interested in doing this?

It's a WORS weekend but it's, um, Sunburst.

Looks like men are welcome- just not part of the clinic.

I dislike DST... at first

2010-03-14T22:26:00.004-05:00

I wanted to make a point to get out of bed this morning at 7am (really 6am). I was awake, like my internal alarm woke me up exactly at that time, but my bed was too warm and cozy. I had nothing going on, no kids harassing me for breakfast and John left on a road ride, so I stayed in bed. Then... I didn't wake up til after 9am! Ugh.
I felt like the whole morning disappeared.
I dressed and walked downstairs and preheated the over for cinnamon rolls. The oven dinged letting me know it was ready but when I went into the fridge, NO CINNAMON ROLLS. Total bummer. I was too lazy to make pancakes so I just had a bowl of cereal. Talk about a let down.
I didn't feel well at all today so was pretty stoked when I actually did finish my scheduled workout (that was actually yesterday's). I even killed the ab workout, my best to date actually. I only missed about 8 moves. I planned to do some yoga tonight, but it just wasn't happening; I was too tired.
I was hoping to have some pics of John's bike done, but we didn't even get to it this weekend. He plans on tackling it tomorrow; I think his saddle will be in anyway so he'll have everything.
Essentially all I really wanted to do today was this:

Back to work tomorrow. I'm not looking forward to it. At least it'll be super quiet with everyone being in Taiwan.

random

2010-03-13T09:20:00.003-06:00

Lots of bike shit to do.
John's frame is here AND all the parts to hang on it, well, except for a saddle, that comes Monday.
My Eriksen is done. Superfly will be a bit. I have nothing to build it up with and our bank account is like NOOOOOOO!!!!!
So many things I want to get. Wheels are an issue. I need to buy rims to get shit done.
I hate buying rims; it's like a boring purchase. 3 wheelsets to REbuild and 1 to build new. The ones that need to be rebuilt are annoying; all three wheels were practically brand new when stupid shit happened that requires rebuilds. Meh.
I need to make a list. I love lists actually.
I started typing this entry at 9:42 this morning... I planned to get some pics of John's frame and some other parts but never got around to it.
There was a ride starting at the I&M trail today. I hemmed and hawed about going. Last minute I decided to go. 45 degrees and raining. I was prepared.
Wool jersey, wool knickers, wool tall snowboard socks, arm warmers and my new cutter jacket I scored on Bonktown. It was perfect gear for the day.
Towards the end of the 26 miles my feet were sloshy and my feet and hands were starting to get cold. I think I was cold more from waiting for Ryan, who bonked, rather than from what I was wearing.
Anyway, I guess what I like about the past two rides in the rain is that I remembered that as long as you are prepared it isn't so bad.
I missed my other workouts today. I have less than 2 weeks left in the program I've been doing... because of the weather and being back on the bike it may just be the hardest two weeks of them all.
The Goat and his fam traveled down from Wisco to hang out and pick up Gage's new bike.
It was nice to hang out as usual.
I'm not sure what tomorrow brings yet... I need to catch up on my workouts so I don't feel bad about it and I really want some cinnamon rolls. Riding is also of course a possibility. I'll be sure to get some pics too of John's good stuff.

meh

2010-03-11T21:48:00.002-06:00

I feel like crap. Not like sick crap, just meh. Pissy.
Earlier I was all about posting up a fun post, now I don't even remember what that was.
Hopefully tomorrow my day will be brightened. I need to work on some bike part lists. Tomorrow though. I'm going to bed; I know, it's not even 10pm yet, but fuck it. I'll only get more pissed off sitting here me thinks.

Holy Shit... and I ♥ sheep

2010-03-07T19:12:00.010-06:00

I rode outside today!
FOR REAL!

I didn't get a chance to ride on Saturday so today it had to be. I knew there was a chance of rain so I decided to run my errands later.
I hadn't been outside on a bike since the last CCC race at the beginning of December. Finding my clothing didn't take as long as I thought it would, but still.

First I have to share my shitter morning. I woke up earlier than usual to make some pancakes so I'd be fueled for my ride. I just about finished, there were 2 cakes left on the griddle, when I moved the batter bowl into my french press which was brewing my coffee. FUCKING THING TIPPED OVER. Coffee grounds and water everywhere including all over my freshly made pancakes. Surprisingly I didn't flip my shit. I just calmly put everything in the sink, cleaned everything up like it didn't happen and started over.
What a mess. Coffee grounds are the worst.

So after eating and internetting for a bit I decided to get my arse in gear to head out. I had an idea of what route I'd take in my head but it wasn't very detailed.

I pretty much fail as a roadie. To get to 76th ave I decided to take the path from 135th street. I knew it was going to be shady but a part of me wanted to have the thrill of almost falling and having to ride in the grass. Slicks on snow and grass kinda suck. But whatever. It was actually worse than I thought it would be. Really wish I had a cross bike.

Finally made it out of there and headed towards Archer Ave via Rte 83, 104th and 107th Ave. About a mile away from Archer the rain drops slowly started hitting my face. FUCK. I hated being on my road bike in the first place, but carbon rims in the rain suck. I had no desire to call John; I really wanted that road ride. I figured if it got sketchy and I had issues, I'd call him, but if not I was game to be a bad ass.

70 minutes of my 120 minute ride I was poured on. I thank the sheep that contributed to my wool clothing as they kept me insulated even though I was soaked.
About mile 26 I could feel the water splashing around in my shoe and my chamois was feeling quite heavy. At that point my only worries were to not get sick.

I arrived home, John was waiting for me, I think he expected me home way sooner (when I finally did get in the house my mtb was waiting for me in case I came back). Anyway, he snapped a pic for me... which was cool, I needed to show Russell proof I actually made it outside this weekend.
You can't tell from this photo, but the front of my socks are like a neon green.

Speaking of my mountain bike, my Eriksen is almost done. I have a few minor things to take care of (drop travel in fork, bleed front brake, and take off the white crappy stuff).

(Casey and the neighbor kids are gaming.)
This'll be my first time using triggers since 1994 or 1995. They say XX is actually a good trigger to transition to coming off twisters because of the feel of the lever... we'll see. There's rumor of us coming out with a twister in like 2012. *crosses fingers it's not just a rumor

For Sale

2010-03-02T13:41:00.002-06:00

Powertap SL+ hub:
Pro Level Power Measurement

* Wireless 2.4 GHz transmission with Ant+Sport
* Alloy axle
* Carbon/alloy hubshell
* Hub weighs a mere 412 grams

laced to Zipp 303 clincher rim.
Zipp front hub laced to the same rim. Perty.

$1600 with head unit and HR strap.
Mostly used on the trainer.

Email me spicyride at gmail dot com if you're interested or want pictures or have questions.

Trainers are lame

2010-02-28T22:22:00.006-06:00

I rode the trainer today. I hate the trainer. I do admit that it sometimes gives me the option of a cycling workout without spending a half hour to get dressed, but still I hate it. I almost with we didn't have one. I feel guilty if I don't ride especially after seeing everyone internetting about their bike/training rides.
I'm not sure whether I should be jealous of you people who can sit on it for hours... or be glad I'm not psycho like you are.
The weather was nice today but we had other plans, just no time. I need to suck it up here at some point and just find my winter clothes and head out. Our roads here are depressing so it makes it harder to get motivated.

Nothing big going on. I'm putting XX on my Eriksen right now. John has a new race frame this year so we need to start acquiring parts for that. I'm hopefully getting a new cross bike and then frame at the end of summer. We celebrated Casey's birthday party last weekend. It was amazing. John and I are going to visit Zach and Sara in AZ next month. I'm stoked. Tickets weren't too bad and we've been dying to get out there. Not only for the warmer weather but we miss them. We need to decide whether we're shipping our bikes out or riding theirs.

Other than that nothing new. I'll try to get some pics of stuff and post them at some point. Maybe update here more often.

whoa (IKR, an update)

2010-02-09T22:25:00.007-06:00

Lots of snow. It's still snowing. I knew I should've gotten a pugsly.
I'm selling my cross check; if you know anyone interested let me know. it's real perty, just not what i want. King headset, full Rival, frame looks practically new- I'd like $650 for it complete.
I'm in the mood to swap out parts on my bike(s), but I don't have all the parts to do it. So.I'm.Frustrated. Hopefully when I get the parts I'll be this motivated.
I haven't done much in terms of cycling, but I have been keeping myself busy with other things: weights, light cardio, ab work outs. I've even given up donuts. It doesn't seem to have helped though; it's only made me miss donuts.
The trainer's been on my mind, but that's about it. I tried it a couple times to see if my feelings towards it have changed... they haven't. My ass still hates it the most.
Girls are good. Casey cut her hair. She asked, I said go for it. Still, I wasn't prepared when she peeked around the corner to show me. She looks great. It's a lot easier for me too. Zoe is still OMG ZOE. John's good, he's recovering from a black eye Zoe gave him. It's pretty ugly. Looks like he was in a boxing ring. My dog is still obnoxious. So yeah, nothing new really.
I had a bunch of returns to Patagonia that I've collected over the past year or so, it was enough to get me this bitchin' pullover. It's one of those pieces that you are like, well, that'd be cool. but when you get it, it's the most awesome thing ever. I'm actually excited to wear it tomorrow. It's the little things ya know.
I'd like to get John a new race frame this year. It sucks when you want something and it's impossible to get. It'll all work out though. The ferrous is still rad. it'd be cool to get it painted though, at the very least.

Anyway, what's new with you?

p.s. I need a new header.

OMG I'm so bored

2010-01-24T20:41:00.007-06:00

And because I'm so bored I'm going to do a blog update, with really boring stuff.
My weekend was, well, uneventful. I did nothing. Saturday I never stepped out the door.
Today I didn't realize the snow was all gone until I looked out the window at almost noon. I did get out to take Casey to school though. Yeah, she has school on Sunday. It's fun school though, art and theater.
My mom also bribed me to hit the mall with her, she told me she'd buy me something. Score. So I have a new purple hoodie.
I made banana bread last night, low fat and low cal. It is pretty damn good. I've never made bread before. I almost want to bake bread all the time now. It's probably cheaper than buying it right?
I started thinking about bikes a lot lately. Like what do I want to change, what do I want to race, etc. I still have no clue but it's been fun thinking about it.
I'm slowly getting XX stuff to try out. It's so hard to get. I'm still bummed it's triggers, but I'm open to try them (again).
*sigh
I should also start thinking about riding my bike. I just saw Smashley's blog about being a Cat 1, which reminded me that I'm also a Cat 1. I too should start acting like one, or be better at pretending.
Meh.

Dudes

2010-01-20T14:49:00.001-06:00

It's still like winter and stuff. What a long season.
I've done nothing and am liking it.
The bike bug is near though; I sense its presence.

sigh

2009-12-19T10:56:00.003-06:00

I'm not even sure why I have this blog still.
I've got nothing really.
I think I'm getting a cold. I keep sneezing, I'm really tired and I have to keep blowing my nose. I also have a headache, but I think that's dehydration.
It's snowing right now. Meh.
I'm done Christmas shopping I think. Now I just have to wrap it all. Thinking about that, ew.
I'm excited for Christmas because of the girls. They are just so excited. Their excitement has made me not care about the expense, lines, shipping charges and stupid people. It'll all be worth it Friday morning.
I'm hoping to sell a bunch of stuff to afford a cross bike. My cross check will be going. We'll probably head up to Madison for the swap if we can get our shit together.

OMG! The weather didn't suck!

2009-11-02T14:19:00.002-06:00

EMO

2009-10-30T14:26:00.003-05:00

This weather FUCKING SUCKS!!!

So, yeah.

2009-10-20T22:43:00.003-05:00

It was my birthday this past weekend.
I love my birthday. It's like a day I don't feel guilty for wanting things to be about me. I have issues with making time for myself or doing things for me without feeling guilty about it every other day of the year.
I had a good day. We went to Beechwood and I rode while John hung out with the kids. I'd hardly call it racing. I overheated at the beginning of the first lap. Pulled off the trail to strip and try not to puke. Got back on the bike and was happy to have the trail to myself. I was getting super annoyed in the singletrack for my usual reasons, but whatever. I'm probably only bringing that up because I'm having a pity party for myself at the moment. I won't get all emo and give reasons why.
Anyway, lap 2 I ran into Bubba. I hung out with him while watching him fix his busted chain. Took his ass forever.
We rode the last 2 laps together. Almost conversation pace really. It was fun. Those trails are fucking awesome. I wish they were closer. I wish everything was fucking closer.
I'm getting fat. I really need to watch what I eat and get more exercise. Maybe I'll start tomorrow.

*Thanks to Brittany for the photos.

Do people read these anymore?

2009-10-12T13:58:00.003-05:00

What a great weekend.
Waterpark on Saturday with the kids and some friends. Good times for sure.
I ended up making my rib hurt on the waterslides so started to have second thoughts about Sunday. Then it being so cold I was like meh, I'll just call it a year.
We headed to the course to get Ryan ready. He was racing sport.
Sent him off and went hiking into the woods. I saw the dirt and the roots in the singletrack and there was NO way I wasn't suiting up! It helped that it wasn't as cold out as I thought it was going to be.
So hurry up and eat. Talk shit with Meg. Register. Run to get dressed. Find all my shit. Get ready. Warm up. And hurry up to wait.
Don said Goooo...
I had a decent first 3 laps. Minus the crash where I lost all my food and almost ended up in the river, the first lap was okay. Second lap I realized I lost all my food in that crash, but whatever. I wasn't going to stress about it. However the ghost shifting or stiff link or whatever it was I had going on after the crash was pissing me off. Major pressure on the pedals and it popped. After awhile I got over it and just stayed in easier gears. The third lap I was starting to cramp by the elite cut off and I still had a lap to go. Fuck the last lap. I was DONE. I don't think I could have rode it any slower. I stopped at the elite cut off climb and tried to stop from cramping. I knew I was going to be in trouble when I got to the equalizer.
The equalizer was easier to get up that time than my 3rd lap and I think that's because I stopped. Next year I have to be more aggressive there even if I'm walking. I was so paranoid about getting in the riders' way that I spent way too much time waiting and looking back. The crowd didn't give anybody any room, barely enough for two riders to get through. Anyway, I'm glad I raced. As much as I suffer in elite it is much more satisfying than sport. It would be way too hard to go back to being stuck behind much slower people (the last of the sport pack). I'd rather bring up the rear in elite any day. As much as I suffer out there, it's still fun.

Two things though about Sunday:
1. It would have been nice to prepare for racing on Sunday. I barely ate breakfast and I was totally dehydrated from not drinking good fluids. Not to mention the waterpark all day on Saturday.
2. I don't ride very much. I usually get in 1-2 rides a week. The past 4, or has it been 5, weeks after my rib injury I haven't really ridden at all. I've tried more than a few times to only have to come back home because it was too painful or I couldn't breath right. You can't not ride for a month before an elite race and expect a better result. Not that I did, but I can't help but wonder how I would have done if I had been healthy and ridden more.

One of the highlights of my race was on my last lap John caught and passed me (obviously). It's always nice to see him on the course. Anyway, Matt Gehling shortly after was behing me. He was like "Wrong Gatto" and took off. That totally made me laugh and forget about the fact that I could barely ride my bike.

Again Sheboygan didn't disappoint as the finale. I can't wait til next year.

I can't believe the season is over!

Complaining

2009-09-23T21:55:00.003-05:00

I've managed to not come on my blog and complain every day for the past two weeks about how terrible my ribs feel. And how my sternum keeps like popping. And if I raise my left arm my ribs click.
I tried to stay away from riding as much as possible, but who am I kidding... if I can do it, it'll be done. You'd think I'd be smart and ride my road bike, but no. But really I didn't ride too much... I don't want to be stupid.
Actually riding off road wasn't too horrible... it's the breathing that would get me. Trying to fully inhale was painful so it would always cut the ride short.
Not to mention there was a sort of fear of crashing that I never have. The thought of going down on my ribs wasn't a pleasant one.
The past two days were really painful. It was way worse than even the day after it happened. I woke up today and felt a lot better. I didn't even feel the need to dull it with pain meds. So I decided to ride. It still hurt and it hurt a little to breath, but I could. Too bad it didn't stay light out, I would've stayed out much longer.
I feel okay right now, not too bad... but I'll know how much better I am by tomorrow when I wake up.
This weekend.... what to do, what to do....

So....

2009-09-15T09:54:00.001-05:00

Who is NOT going to Chequamegon?

No racing for me

2009-09-13T20:57:00.003-05:00

It wasn't worth it. I sneezed a few minutes ago which pretty much sealed my no regrets. I'm bummed I didn't but I don't regret my decision. I'm more annoyed at my situation. It sucks being injured.
Lake Geneva is one of my favorite courses. It's technical and I do better at that type of climbing than I do at Palos type climbing.
Meh.

I still was able to see everyone so that was cool.

I don't even know what to write about so I'll leave it at I'm hoping to ride this week.
John'll be gone all weekend for Chequamegon.

Is there anyone not going, provided I can find a sitter, up for a ride down here?

Mesa, Swallow Cliffs, Palos? Or maybe I'll finally try to get to See Wee Kaw, depends on my ribs though.

Ow, my ribs.

2009-09-11T22:42:00.003-05:00

Fuck. I'm so pissed.
I think I may have a cracked rib.
It sucks to laugh, cry, cough and OMG don't even mention sneezing.
It doesn't totally suck to breath, only when I breath deep.
For the most part I'm just really uncomfortable.
I'm going to pre-ride tomorrow and see how I feel.

I'm going to bed now because I'm so irritated. I took some prescription pain relief to sleep. I'm hoping to be magically be better by morning.

Rather

2009-09-10T23:23:00.003-05:00

I can't even believe I'm saying this...

I have no desire to race Sunday. NONE. The weather is fucking fabulous and all the trails are MINT around here. I don't want to sit in a car. My ribs hurt. Climbing can suck it. I have lots more reasons as to why I don't want to race.

Right now I'd rather just stay home. I'd love to go on an epic mtb ride here, hang out with my kids and *gasp* watch the damn Bears' game.

ETA: I'm pre-registered which is a huge reason I feel obligated to go.
That and the majority of my friends will be there anyway, so my epic mtb ride wouldn't happen.

real quick...

2009-09-09T23:38:00.002-05:00

I rode Swallow Cliff tonight. It was awesome. A-W-E-S-O-M-E! I can't describe the feeling I had riding through the ~~illegal~~ singletrack. I was super pumped! I need to bring people out there pronto to have that same feeling.
What pisses me off though is, well, at the end of my ride as I was heading to the lot I decided to check out the creek singletrack. I didn't remember if it went anywhere or it just stopped.
So as I was looking at the pretty creek and avoiding the down tree I hit another log I didn't see. BAM! I hit the down tree hard as hell with my rib cage and hip. I knocked the wind out of myself for what felt like minutes. It hurt, but I think I was more pissed that that's how my ride ended. And then to add insult to injury there was fucking ITCHWEED!!!
My left side is getting purple. If it gets purple enough I'll get a pic.
Sneezing sucks and laughing and coughing... but it's not bad enough to stop me from riding or anything.

Wait... It's Monday?

2009-09-07T22:07:00.013-05:00

So weird... it's felt like Sunday all day.
Maybe it's because I've barely done anything this holiday weekend except get a couple bike rides in.
There were things going on this weekend, however I didn't want to commit myself to anything. It was nice not being on a schedule for once.
Saturday I ended up taking my road bike out. I hadn't been in awhile and I think I was still pretty worked over from the race last Sunday and the mountain bike rides I hit during the week. I clipped on my iPod and just headed out with no plan. It was pretty uneventful really. I felt like crap the whole ride; but I was on my bike so how crappy could it be?
Sunday... hmmm... Sunday. Yeah, I sat around all damn day. I had no desire to get up and get motivated to do anything. And I didn't even have the excuse of the internet because that was super boring all day. So finally I checked the CAMBr board and a friend of mine, Nancy, posted a ride for 3:30. Perfect. It's 2:50 now. So I quick loaded up and headed to the staging area. It ended up being Nancy, some other dude whose name escapes me, Cory and me. I felt bad the whole beginning of the ride, but by the end I felt like I shook whatever was making me feel flat off. We rode the old portion of Cemetery Hill. Holy log crossings. I love log crossings.
Monday (today I guess). I was itchin' all day to ride. I wanted to ride with John but that just wasn't workin' out at all. The neighbor kids came over to head over to the mesa later that afternoon. I thought about tagging along with them, but just didn't feel like it. I ended up taking a nap. I don't know what my deal was/is lately, but I've just felt tired. I woke up determined to get out of the house. Right away I grabbed my Twin Six bird jersey with matching socks and my iPod. I headed straight for the Mesa.
When I first arrived I felt, yes you guessed it, like crap. WTF? Anyway, I just kept riding. I started to feel really good right about rainbow bridge. Pat Benatar came on my iPOd. Coincidence? I think not. I felt really good and just started attacking the singletrack. I came into some corners WAY too hot testing my SRAM XX brakes. It felt good to push my skills a bit. I just wish I'd seen that one tree...

It ended up being a great ride. I came home refreshed and with a big smile on my face.
I didn't think it could get any bigger til I saw Zoe pimping her two wheels all by herself! She sort of had it a couple months ago but was all over the place. She hated it. She wouldn't ride anything but her Strider. Apparently today was the day cuz she was awesome. I'm so proud of her!

The Meltdown. Second ravine

2009-09-02T21:52:00.000-05:00

Palos Meltdown 2009

2009-08-31T22:22:00.022-05:00

I was looking forward to this race for awhile. Getting sick I wished it was a week later. Turns out that Saturday I started to feel better; so I wasn't bummed at all. I was in a way excited. I still didn't know if I would be affected or not.
Anyway, we've been taking our neighbor kids out mountain biking. They've gotten a few rides in so we signed them all up for the Meltdown.
So...
All of us plus Gage and Jeremey headed out to Palos to start the day. Meg and Bubba showed up shortly. Carlos and Sonia showed up after them.
What a fucking awesome day! I don't think it could've been more perfect.
We had our neighbor kids there. The 11 year old, Ryan, raced citizen and had a spectacular time. He even outsprinted a full-faced helmet dude at the finish line! He couldn't stop talking about the race. I find that so awesome! Our other neighbor Mark, who is 15, raced citizen as well. He ended up cramping on the finish hill and had to run it up for the finish trying to stay ahead of the guy right behind him. It was hysterical yelling at him to GO... He was like "I can't". So we just started yelling "RUN" and he started running. I'm still laughing about that today. Our other neighbor kid, Ryan, raced sport. He's 15 as well. He has a little more ride time than the other two kids (two WORS races and riding tons when he can). I loved watching his face as he struggled up the finish hill while we were yelling at him. He gave it his all and ended up collapsing at the finish! I have some great photos of that.
I'm proud of all of them. I know they were hurting and they stuck it out.
After laughing our asses off at their finishes we headed back to get ready for our race. I started at the back of the pack with Bubba and Meg. The first lap I struggled with recovering as usual. Megan and I rode the majority of the race together.She'd pass me on the opening stretch and then I'd pass her as we were heading to stair steps. Then I'd gap her on Turf. My second lap was awesome. I felt like I was killing it out there (whether or not I was remains to be seen, it just felt like it). I didn't see Meg until I headed down towards the green grassy hill going into the 3rd lap. When she caught me there, I knew she'd take me in the end. I barely gapped her heading down into Turf- I'm not even sure I'd call it a gap. Then I was struggling. Up Psychopath I told stories of wanting to quit right then and there. My quads hurt so bad. I was on the verge of cramping. By Gravity Cavity I let her go by. I watched her motor out. We practically could've slapped hands on the two way on the grass heading into the finish. Sweet.
I had an AWESOME time.
I don't think being sick had any bearing on my race. I felt great really. It was a long race. Someone mentioned lap distances with the grass hill were closer to 9 miles and not 8. I finished 3rd overall. Podiumed 1st in age. Holly took 1st overall, so wasn't in age group awards.

John took 6th overall in the men's race.

Little Ryan finished 65th out of 93 finishers, 5th age. Mark finished 14th overall, 1st age. Ryan finished 19th out of almost 250 riders, 1st age as well.

Good Times.

p.s. The spacing and the pictures is pissing me off, but I'm too lazy to switch it all around.

Lame... *cough

2009-08-26T14:38:00.004-05:00

I'm still sick.
At my doc appointment yesterday I still had a fever, 100.3. I was wondering why my palms wouldn't stop sweating...
Anyway, I have antibiotics, mucinex and some nasal spray. Hopefully I feel better by Sunday. I've been looking forward to the Meltdown for awhile, now, not so much.

Meh.

ETA: This fucking rain on Wednesday bullshit is total bullshit.

Very cool

2009-08-25T22:07:00.004-05:00

Claire declared the Border Battle Twin Six day. The result... lots of great photos of WORS racers and friends and families sporting the 6.

T6 day photos

There were quite a few cool ones of my husband. What a hottie.

*photos by Todd Bauer and Bruce Adelsman

From the wedding...

2009-08-24T14:26:00.005-05:00

John, me, my mom, dad, sis and b-i-l

Most of my cousins

All of my cousins.

If you don't know who these peeps are, not sure why you're reading this.

As I said before, when you have a wedding to go to, it's kind of meh. But once there, it's nice to see everyone. Life is so busy sometimes, we don't make time to get together and get caught up. Weddings sort of force us to do these things.

hmmm....

2009-08-23T22:17:00.003-05:00

The past few days have sucked ass.
Wednesday I wanted to ride so badly at Palos, but of course Mother Nature had other plans. It probably didn't matter, I hadn't felt well all that day and by evening I was pretty sick. I initially thought it was allergies but having slept early Wednesday into late Thursday afternoon, I'm thinking it was something else.
I can't believe how much pain I was in. My body ached, my skin hurt to the touch, I could barely open my eyes. My jaw felt mis-aligned the sinus pressure was so intense. Friday I felt a little better but still felt a bit off balance and my head was still on the verge of exploding. Saturday I finally felt well enough to walk around, talk, etc. I even took Zoe to her allergist appointment and the doc was more interested in me! She ended up making me fill out a bunch of paperwork so she could give me some samples and a prescription to help me feel better.
Saturday afternoon it was my cousin's wedding. I was glad to be feeling a little better of course. I'm not a huge fan of weddings, but still, I didn't want to miss it. It's weird, I didn't think I'd care at my own, but I was so happy to have my friends and family there to share my day. I wanted to do the same for her. Later that evening I started to feel more like myself. The left side of my head still hurt and I was pretty congested and out of breath. I couldn't dance as much as I wanted, but I still was able to.
John ended up getting sick on Friday night, so he was sick at the wedding too. Kind of a bummer as I wanted to dance more with him... but I'm glad he was able to make it all.
Sunday I had hoped to get a good ride in with the Meltdown next week. I'd hoped to get some good riding all of last week actually. Obviously being sick doesn't help my cause. Anyway, John and I took our neighbors Ryan (another Ryan) and Mark out to Palos to see if they wanted to do the Meltdown. It was perfect. Ryan is 11 so obviously can't go fast (yet). I was able to ride, not push myself and introduce him to mountain biking. It was a great day. I'm so happy to have made it out.

Now almost 10:30 and starting to feel better, I totally don't want to go to work tomorrow.

The Battle

2009-08-17T12:47:00.008-05:00

Hmmm... where to begin.
(WARNING! This is long.)
We left Friday afternoon for the border of MN and WI. Our newly-bitten-by-the-mountain-bike-bug neighbor Ryan tagged along with John and me for our not-as-long-as-I-thought-it-would-be haul to River Falls, WI.
We pulled to our hotel just shortly after 9pm Friday night.
We grabbed some quick grub at Chipotle and then settled into our hotel room.
Jerry and fam wouldn't be up to pre-ride til around 3 or so on Saturday, so we needed to figure out something to do with our morning.
I thought we could hang with Brent, but I didn't know his phone didn't have email; so my email inviting ourselves to his place went unanswered. So instead we went to Fleet Farm and then made the trip to Mall of America. We just walked around really. Hung out with the Bubba Gump shrimp, explained to Ryan that everything at LegoLand were really built with Legos. After getting bored with the mall we grabbed some Dairy Queen and headed to the course to meet Jerry.
I hate pre-riding. I don't know why, but I always feel like crap. I couldn't breath, I couldn't ride the singletrack. I was starting to get really annoyed. Especially since I upgraded. Anyway, I ended up only doing two laps as I felt dizzy, chilled and just all around crappy. I think I was just really dehydrated.
Afterwards we all headed out for some pretty good Mexican. Then I think everyone fell asleep, early. Except me. I was watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. It's such a different movie watching it as an adult.
Anyway, woke up at 5:30, 6:00 and then finally just before 7am. I was starving. Waited around a bit for Ryan to wake up and then grabbed some breakfast.
Then to the course. Ryan was racing Citizen and we hadn't registered him yet.
Brent showed up shortly after we did with his girlfriend Nicole, Hurl and Kelly. It was good to see them all.
Sitting around all day had its pluses and minuses. But I love the atmosphere and the people at the races so it's definitely more plus.
Ryan ended up having a great race! He finished 1st in age and like 14th overall. It was his second race ever and he's only been on a bike for just over a month. He's totally hooked.
After heckling Brent for a bit and him grossing us all out we all started getting ready to race. I wasn't really nervous, I'm not sure what I was. I know I dreaded the start. I dreaded the comp men a bit.
Don called up everyone but 3 of us girls. The start wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. However once we got to the start climb I didn't really look up. I didn't want to see how long it was or how far ahead the girls were ahead of me. I just wanted to ride my own race and finish. I caught the back part of the elite women right away. Back up from the bridge. It was nice to recover there. I still had a hell of a time getting my heart rate down from the start to settle into a pace. I didn't really settle until the second lap. Which I guess is usual; except now instead of two laps to go, I had a whole sport race in front of me.
While on lap one I thought about quitting many times. My lower arms went numb, I couldn't catch my breath, I was sweating like I'd never sweat before. I knew the comp guys would be coming soon and when they did, it wasn't as bad as I prepared myself for. 2 caught me right away and then there was a huge gap. Then a couple more and then they just kept coming. But I never stopped. I moved over on occasion and sometimes I probably yielded more than I have to, but I'll get more confident as time goes on. I never had an incident really. Only with an elite guy. More on that later.
Lap 2 was probably my best lap. It went by pretty quick. I rode with a lot of comp guys in the open sections, were on their wheels in the singletrack, it was fun.
In my third lap (which was another fun lap) near the switchbacks I knew a group of elite guys were coming. There really isn't a great place to pass on those climbs. I hesitated going up the first one and ended up having to put my foot down. A dumb moment of indecisiveness and I had to wait for the small train to go by. Not a big deal, but next time I just have to go for it. You don't necessarily lose a lot of time, but you definitely lose momentum and your groove. Later on the wicked fast awesome downhill I heard a rider coming up on me. I assumed it was a comp guy. Some of the comp guys were slower than I was on the descents so I didn't want to give going first up so I dropped in. I realized that it was an elite rider. I felt bad, but at the same time I ripped that section every time. Right after it opens plenty for a rider to get by. It ended up not mattering. So I really only felt bad because I did have a moment of indecision and he was probably like WTF woman!
I had caught Renee at one point. She was a little out of sorts from crashing on the bridge... still though, it was a small victory for me. I know how much stronger she is than I am on the ascents and open. I ended up losing site of her on the 4th start climb.
My last lap is where I made my biggest mistake. I didn't eat. I knew I needed it. I knew it was in my back pocket. But for some reason I just didn't grab it. I'm sitting her typing this and don't get my thought process. As the lap went on I felt myself fade because I needed to eat. I remember telling myself well it's half way over whatever. But really FUCKING EAT ON THE LAST LAP! I know this. I won't make that mistake again. I know not eating cost me time. Especially when it's a distance I'm not used to doing. I knew I wasn't as strong in the singletrack, etc because I was hungry. But I'm not going to beat myself up over it.
As far as the elite bullshit pass... I was climbing up after the switchbacks and an elite racer took a pass right between a tree and the side of the trail, where I had nowhere to go but off my bike. The other elite rider that was following him and now behind me yelled "Nice pass!" to him. He looked at me and was like he really could've waited a few seconds. I ended up having to walk the rest of the way as it was a little too steep to get on and pedal.
In saying that I had an awesome time. It was hard (it's supposed to be) and it was good to feel like I was racing again. Sport was still challenging for me I suppose. I mean it's not like I was killing it there; there are more then a few sport women stronger than I am. I needed a different challenge I guess. I'm not sure how to explain it. Being stuck behind the old guys and clydes was getting old. It's such a back n forth decision- the move up. Not sure if it was the right one... but yesterday was positive and I hope Lake Geneva is too.

Thanks to all the elite girls who gave their advice. And thanks to all the sport girls for cheering me on and making me feel good about my decision. It was awesome to hear my name all over the course!

Palos Meltdown

2009-08-13T09:30:00.004-05:00

The Meltdown is just around the corner. 334 racers are registered right now. Twenty some spots left for citizen and just 40 left in sport. So hurry up if you want to race those categories.
I believe SRAM is sending over $5000 worth of product, so that's cool.

A wreck.

2009-08-09T11:21:00.005-05:00

My bike and body are wrecks.
My foot still isn't fully healed from hitting the tree a couple weeks ago and yesterday I bruised my right thigh pretty good.
My bike needs a lot of crap maintained and I'm just not in the mood. The Industry Nine wheels continue to piss me off. I either get ghost pedaling or the rear wheels loose. I get maybe 2 weeks time of perfection and then back to adjust. ANNOYING.
The whole bike is creaking- housing, bottom bracket, headset. Basic maintenance. But still, boring.
As far as my body... 10 miles at the mesa yesterday with John, Bubba, Goat, Mitch, Gage and Ryan and I'm spent. It seriously made me rethink my choice of moving up.
I fell over the first log crossing. That didn't do anything but make me dirty.
Then while the others rode over the log ride I went to turn around. Tight turn, slow speed, front wheel hits root, my thigh lands on said root, saddle slams into inside of thigh and OW. I'm trying not to be a big baby about it (because I am) but it throbs, it hurts to walk and pedal. I'm so annoyed that something so stupid can be this annoyingly painful. However, I am glad I don't look like this:

I still plan to ride later. Road (that hasn't seen pavement for over a month- what a shame), MTB, who knows. The only thing for certain is I will sweat my ass off. Hello it's 86 but feels like 95. High of 96 and I'm sure will feel like 108.