Trainers are lame

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)

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

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

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

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!

EMO

This weather FUCKING SUCKS!!!

So, yeah.

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?

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

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....

Who is NOT going to Chequamegon?

No racing for me

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.

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

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...

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?

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

Palos Meltdown 2009

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

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

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