4th of July in the suburbs

The past few years our 4th of July celebration has been watching fireworks on tv and listening to the booms of local fireworks displays and hisses of bottle rockets going off in the neighborhood.

This year we have two plans. Option A, ride mtn bikes in Gambrill then head west to Shepherdstown WV for a small town 4th of July festival to hear the Bluegrass band SpeakEasy Boys. We first heard this band at the Leesburg Bakers Dozen and we loved them. A great band. It would be nice to hear them live again.

or Option B, ride local maybe CCT to Wakefield, then later ride mtn bikes to Lake Fairfax to see the Reston fireworks, and maybe light some sparklers.
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We chose option B and joined up with Jen Maxwell at Wakefield for her reintroduction back to mtn biking. She did fantastic eventhough she had slicks on her borrowed bike. Watch out W@W here comes Jen - the gal I once yelled at her during a cross race and called her a "roadie".

Judd and I rode to Wakefield to meet Jen via the Cross County Trail, something we have always wanted to explore. The CCT runs about 40+miles from Lorton to Great Falls in Fairfax County. We always ride the Difficult Run and CCT around Reston, but never ventured further south than Lawyers except one or two times for a few miles.

The trail, mostly singletrack to Oak Mar, turns to wide cinder and then ride the road through Fairfax Circle area, followed by paved paths and wide cinder through Annandale to Wakefield. The whole trail except the road follows along stream paths and is flat shaded and scenic. It was a great ride and took two hours Reston to Wakefield at steady but not hard pace and taking roads to Lawyers to pick up the trail. The way back was longer because we did the whole CCT through Reston and ended at Lake Fairfax Park. Seven hours total includes the few laps at Wakefield and lap of Accotink.

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Fireworks: We scrapped Lake Fairfax which was a traffic jam of cars and people. We opted for a grassy knoll along the gas line with other locals in the know and were treated to kids with sparklers and rockets and fireworks of four different towns. It seems Vienna and Sterling have the better displays. We did notice not a lot of booms this year nor any spiraling whistlers. Of course hearing all the kids ooh and ah and pick their favorite was great entertainment as well.

My favorite were the shapes. The green circle with a red line through it and the attempts at what appeared to be heart shapes. Plus the ones that look like glitter.

12 hrs of Lodi - a long race to the finish and equally long post

12 Hrs of Lodi: Noon to midnight, race your mtn bike over 9.6 miles of single track with roots and a few small hills and enough turns and corners to make you think you are on a never ending tilt-a-whirl.....

Gripped Racing entered four 3 person teams and 1 solo. The end result was a sweep of top spot of podium for the 3 person teams in every category (beginner, sport, and expert) and 4th place in the solo and also a 2nd place in the 3 person expert team event. By the end, Gripped Racing also had the top three fastest teams in the 3 person category.

It was a last minute decision to enter the race. Judd found a third rider Justin so we entered ourselves for the 3 person expert team. I was happy to have a third rider rather than duo this time around. This meant more time (a whole extra hour) for enjoying the venue and the company of teammates rather than just enough time to eat, change, get ready to ride again.

Emily and I were both third leg on our teams for the first set of laps. We cheered our boys off to a great start, with Jason and Judd sitting pretty in top 5 at the start and finish of their first lap. When they finished their first laps they looked a little more tired and dirty than we expected. I realized this wasn't going to be as easy and chill as Baker's Dozen.

Not having had a chance to preride, some of us rode a little more conservative on the first lap, not knowing where the next corner or hill would pop up, or if the straightaways were long enough to wind up the legs. I rode as best as I could while out there, but was frustrated to be the slowest leg of the team. Every time Justin, our 2nd leg, handed me the baton tag we were in 2nd, and everytime I handed it off to Judd we were in 4th or 5th (last). Justin Riddle and team were pretty easily in the lead for a while.

Things started getting interesting around the half way point. Going into lap 6 (around 5:30 or so) only 3-4 minutes separated the top 5 of the expert 3 person teams. Meanwhile, the Gripped Racing sport 3-person team was clearly dominating their class and beating some of the expert teams as well and holding about third place OVERALL during the majority of the race.

Although we entered the event for "fun", I was delighted by the competitiveness that came through. Entering my second round, the infamous lap 6 there was a surprise as we were lined up waiting for our riders. Gripped Racing #2 (3 person expert team) was now in the lead overall. And my team (Gripped Racing) was right behind in second but a few minutes back. With the pressure on, I wanted to catch that first place. A girl beating the boys.....pretty cool and demoralizing hee heee....I flew over the roots and maneuvered the corners with ease....all was well until "CRUNCH". In my haste I power-shifted at the start of a hill and the bottom bracket ate the chain.

Eventually I freed the chain although it took some of the bike with it. I ran up the hill and then hopped on the bike and rode away. A few short minutes later, the third and fourth place team riders passed me. DRATS! I was disappointed but kept the pressure on.

As the day wore on, and the rains came around 6pm, the competition was still fierce and despite a 12 hour race, it would be a race to the finish at midnight. It had already been raining for 2 hours by time I went out just before 7:00. It was dark with the big clouds and rain. But the trails were alright. The roots were not slick at all really, and the sticky mud that was slow earlier in the day was actually now wet enough it was fast mud. The main issue that caused the time loss for me was the little little hills where a quick stomp on the pedal and you wipe out and then you try to run your way up and it is like being a kid on ice-skates for the first time.

The rain took its toll on the riders mentally. A bunch of riders called it quits and packed up. But I had a blast knowing that this experience builds up skillset, like racing the NORBA at Snowshoe in 2000 and Mt. Snow in 2007 during heavy rain storms - prepared me for this, and future adventures. This would be another great practice.

I finished my lap and handed off the baton to Judd and around 8:00 or so. A few minutes later there was a little bit of hub-bub around the finish area. Gripped Racing 2 was now in the lead for 3 person expert by about 20 minutes. The early leading team of Justin Riddle and crew had stopped racing around 6 or 7 or so.

Despite 9 hours of racing, now only 8 minutes separated the remaining 3 person expert teams for 2nd place and our team Gripped Racing was actually in second. The pressure was on and it was getting treacherous out there and anything could happen. We hoped Judd would be okay and not lose any time.

A quick calculation revealed that since I was the slowest rider on our team with my lap times, although decent, a few minutes slower than Judd and Justin were just slow enough that the team behind us could actually catch us on the last lap. Their slowest rider (also a female) was now out of the race with a broken bike and that meant one of their two guys, with lap times on par with Judd and Justin, would have to double up and would likely catch me on my lap. We had to strategize and scheme a plan to stay in 2nd.

The dilema: If I ride and turn the same lap time as I was, we would probably lose 2nd place unless something happened to the other team behind us. Solution: Judd or Justin would now have to ride my lap. Gamble: If something happened or they got too tired and they turned a lap slower than mine (about 5 minutes slower than the guys). Issue: Mud, rain, dark, light batteries running low - anything could happen. In the end, we decided there was at least a better chance to secure our place, to have Judd go out instead of me or have Justin do a double. Either way, I got to eat pizza and get out of the muddy and wet kit.

We headed to the exchange area to cheer Judd in and send Justin off on the crucial lap 10. We expected Judd around 9. 9:05. Uh oh. 9:10 he just rode slower than I did. This doesn't look good. We started scheming our game plan again. What do we do if Judd got passed. How much time do we have? Would we be able to go out for another lap after Justin's. We are running out of time. What time does the third place team have to finish the next lap by to determine if we go out for a lap 12.... 9:25 OMG we were starting to panic. 9:29 Judd rolls in. Justin takes off. Two minutes later, the team in third rolls in. They took 6 minutes out of us. They were surely going to catch us now and beat us for 2nd place. I was pretty bummed.

All of a sudden, standing there in the pouring rain, the guy on the third place team that would easily have captured 2nd at the rate they were riding, handed over the baton and said they were DONE! They were so close but just gave it all away because by god we already sent our rider out so we would beat them based on number of laps. So we had 2nd pretty much wrapped up. We might even finish before midnight and not have to go out again.

But not so fast. Now with the third place team out, we still had to worry about the fourth place team. Remember they were only a few minutes behind as well but they were gaining on us because their third leg rider was their strongest rider. Now what to do. Judd = toast after a bad fall and tired. There is no way he can go out in my place. I could go, but again my lap times were just a little too slow. And the team that was 4th and is now 3rd, their third leg was their strongest rider which means he would definitely catch me on the last lap. Justin has to do a double.

Justin finishes his lap, lap 11 around 11:48pm. There is only 11 minutes until midnight, but based on the time check from lap 10, that team is a few minutes behind. So the strategy of endurance racing comes into play. If we call it a night and do not go out again, and the team behind us comes in before midnight but goes out again, we automatically lose 2nd place. Now, if we go out and the other team goes out, both before midnight, and then they proceed to pass us on the last lap, despite the race ending at midnight, that team will beat us.

So our strategy, Justin has to go out and at least start the lap. Here was our plan: If the team now in third A) comes in after midnight, or B) chooses to not go out again, then we will meet Justin on the course at about the half way point (which is where it is closest to the main area) and tell him he does not have to finish because we would have secured 2nd place based on time. However if that team behind us sends a rider, we have to take a time check and then tell Justin how close they are to ensure they don't make up that time on the last lap and pass us. As it turned out, the team in third did send a rider, but they were a few minutes back. Which meant Justin had to finish and not get passed.

It was a long slow slippery lap and the lap times nearly doubled by the end of the event. By time Justin and the others finished, we were already eating and drinking, and some were sleeping and it was after 1am. It was a race to the finish and we were all cold and wet and muddy and covered with soon to be discovered poison ivy oil. We cheered as the last few riders came in, including Justin and Timmy our solo guy who finished 4th only a few minutes behind third.

We secured second place behind our compadres Gripped Racing 2. Our sport team actually was 2nd overall but dominated their field. Our junior team raced the beginner 3 person and they won also.

Review of training plan

I finally feel that I have been riding enough and with a little bit of intensity that I can start to consider my riding now as training. I finally loaded in all my PowerTap files into Power Agent and up to WKO+. While at it, I took a moment to glance back at what I was doing at this time last year. Wooops seems like I am about 3 months behind schedule. I am hoping the slower more laid back approach of this year will pay off in the long run and not have me burning out half way through cx season. The compromise is the lack of snap in my legs and absence of any sprint or speed - which has worked out just fine for the endurance mtn bike races I have been doing. We'll see if any of it has come back for this weekend at Ephrata. I am definitely well rested.

Meanwhile the other half of the team will be racing at SpeedWeek.

Surviving my first mini enduro

As a tune-up for the Leesburg Baker's Dozen 13 hr mtn bike race in two weeks, Judd and I went down to Ashland VA and raced the enduro 5 hour mtb event at Camp Hilbert on Saturday. This was my first enduro type event, and first race longer than 3.5 hours. I originally was going to wait until I turned 35 before I started doing the longer events, but I think I may have jumped the gun and will probably try a few more before then.

After checking out the enduro results the past few years at this event, it seemed that the woman's enduro winner could do it by riding consistent 45min laps and get in about 8 laps. So 45min laps was my time goal. The hard part would be to avoid the rush of the starting gun and to keep on the pace after a few hours. When I clocked first lap in 40min I was a little worried but then figured that maybe other year's weather was worse.

I was able to just keep a groove and ride consistent 39-40min laps by riding my pace, not getting distracted by the competition or passing other riders. But the key was to not push hard on the pedals for the hills or little obstacles, if I had a power meter, I never went over threshold. I rode right at tempo and used the granny on the climbs, and walked one short little power hill near the finish as a good opportunity to stretch the legs. I fueled with Perpetum every other lap, and used CeraSport the in between laps for the electrolytes. Add a PowerBar gel every lap and I was all set. I was impressed that 6 large water bottles later and 5.5 hours on the bike, I didn't have to pee that whole time, which was my biggest worry that it would take too much time to run to the porta potty.

After 8 laps my time was up and I clocked in at 5:20ish. 1st place woman, and top 10 for the men. Not bad. I felt alright for the event, aside from my stomach starting to feel icky half way, and the hint of leg cramps from overuse if I pushed too hard.

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The next day, I learned that I am not super woman. Attempting a crit the next day was too much for my body. It rejected racing. From the gun I was in the hurt zone, despite a good 30min easy warmup and a few moderate efforts. The muscles cringed, my nose wrinkled, the grimace appeared as I tried to stay in the race at Tyson's. Every time up the hill a whoosh of riders would go by and I would think, "Oh just grab her wheel, wait, just grab this one, darn too fast, there has got to be some more behind me...." And then at the top the field would pause and I dig deep to jump back on further digging my hole and prolonging my suffering. And the next lap around, after 13 lucky minutes, I was heart-broken I had to leave the race and watch my teammates from the sidelines.

The sun, the exertion finally got to me and my stomach turned sour. The site of an energy bar or gel or smell of an energy drink made my stomach turn.

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A day later the DOMS sets in and I am sore. Not as sore as riding or running or going to the gym in the first week of training after a long break, but enough to remind me that I need to recover still. Now that I had two days to reminisce and reflect, I think the optimism of Saturday and the possibility I may like enduro type events is now on hold for 2 or 3 more years. I think I prefer a 40min heart pounding on the verge of vomitting cyclocross race over a 5 hour long gruelling slow session any day.

Racing Like New Year's.....

The first race of the year...feels almost like a New Year's celebration to start a year...dehydration hangover included, but sans champagne.

Judd and I had a great weekend overall with riding and racing. Saturday was the first ride of the year at Schaeffer farms. Bill Short and Jim Bronson joined us. The trail was muddy at the 10:30am start because the top layer of ground was still freeze-thawing I guess. By 2:00, after we finished the jaunt out and back on the Hoyles Mill trail to Black Hills, the riders and their bikes exiting the Schaeffer trail were not muddy at all. We concluded the day at Java Shack for coffee bevs and followed up with a BBQ with the Gripped crew. Ah the life of no kids and not working on weekends.

Sunday we did the Rockburn mtn bike race. First time they put on the event and hopefully not the last. The entry fee was affordable at $20 and showed with the turnout numbers and level of competition. I am so not into paying more than $30 or $35 for a race, especially when you race nearly every weekend.

The course was very fast and all pedaling. No recovery. I had trouble with the 1st of the 2 log lops on the 5 or 6 mile loop, the only technical part.

I showed up at the start line feeling very relaxed because my expectations were not too high for myself considering how late I started my training (which was the death march in WV two weeks ago). I had come to accept that I may very well be the last person on the course, again like years ago. Yeah it sounds negative, but by accepting the worst situation, the race could only be better or meet expectations. Hmm I'll have to work on that mental edge. I did my warmup and fueled and rested. Nothing else I could do so I would throw it all out there and see what shakes out.

At the start line we had decent size field of 10 women expert mtn bikers. I knew Anna and Libbey, Kristin, and Nikki, but not the rest. Was happy to see new faces after all these years. The ref says "go" and holy crap, the field took off. I was just going to ease into the race, but noticed I was dropped in the first second. I quickly went into attack mode and locked out the lefty, shifted to the big ring and took off as if sprinting for the wholeshot. I was able to catch up to the human zoom girls and Libbey as we rode down the hill and into the woods. I tried my hardest to catch onto the train of Kristin, Nikki, and Libbey but just never really tacked on until the pace slowed a fraction. Knowing how the tactics were going to play out with the Zoom girls, I chuckled to myself and then sat in for a little bit on Nikki's wheel once she settled while Libbey attacked and bridged to Kristin and eventually just left us. I kept Nikki in my sight but started losing time on the last bit of the 2nd lap. And then I could not see her or Kristin anymore.

The biggest battle, as with any race, was with my head. The race started so fast. Fast like a cx race and then didn't slow down. I kept thinking, I was only going to last one lap of four. Then I kept thinking that everyone else would get tired too. Maybe I would quit after 2 laps if I really needed to, like if a mechanical or something happened. I hate to admit these thoughts but they are there. I kept thinking back to other first races of the year wondering if they all hurt like this. I did recall the mtn bike race at Camp Hilbert a few years ago where it was similar terrain but 70 degrees in early March. I felt the same way this time as I did then, and with every other race, tired, dead, breathing hard, and unsure if I wanted to ever race again and debating whether or not to quit, but I didn't then so I won't now. Just suffer through because sometimes (not always) it is more valiant to finish than to quit; plus you never know what may happen. After having a horrible third lap where I regretted not bringing another PowerBar Gel and not grabbing the second bottle from Judd's homemade water bottle holder, I felt the verge of leg cramps. The only other time I had muscle cramps on the bike was the hell day in WV two weeks ago where I seriously thought I may be eaten alive by buzzards. But this time no Jen Cheng to ride for help. I was alone in the woods in the suburbs. I kept telling myself, the faster I finish the sooner I can rest. That kept me motivated enough to continue to ride at 9 or so on a 10 pt scale, 10 is the hardest or at least hurts the most, 11 is that rare race when everything is perfect and seemingly 'effortless'. I rode the best I could at Rockburn. On the last lap I saw Libbey on the side of the trail. I had rode into third place, my little reward for persevering although I still ended up being the last rider on the course.

(because the other's got to stop on the same lap as the winner of the men's open expert as the men had a 10 min headstart and finished right after I had started my last lap which is a something I always wished other mtn bike races would do).

Gripped Racing and associates and friends stopped by for sausages and snacks post race at the chill and grill at the green Element near the porta potty. The team had great results and great start to the season.

And I think we may have inspired another racer to get himself a Lefty.


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This weekend, look for the Team CycleLife gals in black and green and yellow at the Jeff Cup road race in Charlottesville VA sporting our lovely new kits from VERGE sport. We love you Don.

Why blog?

Social networking for the introverts....

Yes I have been wanting to update the blog but found the instantaneous of facebook and the reading up on old and new friends to be a diversion from blogging. I was going to twitter but never figured it out. I wish there was something in between facebook and blogging. I have the urge to update my status a few times a day, but think that would be obnoxious since only a select few friends do so regularly, and you know what we all think of "those" people. Just kidding.

So then I debated whether or not to update the blog. I don't have anything interesting to report. I haven't been racing, or really even riding for that matter, so my bike friends and competitors have no reason to view the blog.

I did change the colors of the blog in lieu of a new post.

I suppose I could randomly babble about not updating the blog, but that would not be interesting reading. Why do we blog? We do read this stuff? How does it consume so much of our precious time.

So instead of hanging out with friends, I can feel social by typing away and hoping that maybe a few friends will stop by and read the latest post. It's not much different than what I'd have to say if I were hanging out with my friends anyway.....

I could always talk about my big plans/goals for the week:
- Finish an art project involving an idea, cool postcards, odd creativity, and lack of design skills.
- Get my hair done - but not sure yet in what way.
- Ride my bike 5 days this week (even if only 20min as a minimum).
- Start some seedlings to see if any survive for a future spring planting.
- Update the blog (yay did that).
- Post a bike or two or some parts or something to sell on ebay.
- Movie night on Thurs at the Draft House.
- Buy some faux plants for the house because the real ones just don't look so good brown.
- Check out a farm cooperative share since I didn't do well with fruits and veggies last year in the "garden".
- Weed the closet wardrobe.
- Find a new book to read.
- Work (yes make sure this is on the list).


Hmmm so I can either write about all these random unedited thoughts. Or post an update on facebook when I am in the middle of, procrastinating at, or just completed one of the items on my list of things to do.

Merry Christmas

I heard this ruckus, sounded like a bad country western film with awful music, and then realized it was some carollers dressed in old fashioned clothes singing and playing tinny instruments. Tis the season for lots of merriment, drinking, and animals in santa suits.

What to do next....

2008 cx Nats is over. The gun went off and 5 minutes later, the fire that fueled me with hope, optimism, wonder and excitement for the past ~365 days flickered and went out with the bitter cold winds sucking the life out of my fingers and toes. As soon as the feeling came back midrace and I was able to refocus and continue on I realized it was too late. I only had a brief reprieve of that fire as it too had froze with my fingers. By time it thawed, the race had come to an unfulfilling end and now I still have this gnawing wonder and anticipation of the outcome that will be the long dance until cx nats next year.

The night before the storm, at CX Nats....

Judd went out to fetch some Kansas City BBQ and I'm taking a moment between bouts of reading and dozing on the couch to update the blog. Once again no pictures because as luck always has it, the moment I click to take the picture (this time of the podium with Amy D and another of Wes, the battery is too low to operate the camera - what the hell).

We lucked out with a smooth sailing flight (despite some wild bumps in the air halfway to KC and horrific experiences like Beth's and Arley's delay and layover nightmares). We saw the venue as we were landing at the airport. It was really neat to look out and see the huge tents and the twittering course tape and seeing the riders of the last race of the day on Thurs go around. The venue Tiffany Springs Park is convenient to the aiport and hotels. The course, a tiring grind of a power course, winds itself way up and up along a huge hillside.

The DCCoD, and Tom McD had VIP-like accomodations with tent, heaters, and equipment set up as the Mid-Atlantic headquarters for cx nationals. Huge thank you to all those that helped in the organizing and taking the burden to make everyone else comfortable. That will be a huge god send tomorrow as the balmy temps drop to frigid during the day on Sun.

The home away from home, the Mid-A resided at the Marriott Residence Inn and enjoyed happy hour Thurs and leftovers from the Louisville kids on Fri. Thanks to all racer moms everywhere that support juniors and make sure they (and friends and neighbors) are all well fed.

Mid-A notables finishes: Diane Grimm, Tracey Lea, Fred, Cuttney, Wes with medals in their events, Jeff B and Rob Lea as national champions. (Let me know if I missed any)

Velo Bella notables so far: Anna M with a bronze, and Amy D as U23 Nat Champ.

Although not on the podium there were many outstanding battles along the way including Kris A and Adam McG with gutsy races laying it all out there. Also great races by Gunnar, Randy, Shawn, Kelly, Judd, Zach, Sid, Sam, Betsy, Laurie, Liz, Heidi......


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My master's race was a humbling battle of self preservation as I forced myself to get my money's worth of riding on the course. The pre-ride 2 hours earlier was a slip and slide and left the bikes and me a muddy mess. In 2 hours the course completely changed and was completely rideable and tacky, so tacky that after the race the bike was still clean. Although I had hopes, and expectations, that I would be able to make it to a podium finish, my past 2 week Battle of the Lung had left me more tired and deflated than I anticipated. I rolled in for 16th in my field nearly a lap down. A heart breaking race but everything in stride it's been an up and down season anyway. Sunday is a new day and I'll have a great 2nd row start. Just need to bring the lungs and legs tomorrow.

Racing across the pond

Goodluck to Velo Bella teammate DD Winfield and to Laura Van Gilder racing for C3 in the cyclocross Worlcup event in Belgium this weekend. They have worked very hard and have proven they can race in all conditions and against tough competition here in the US. The world is their stage.

This will be a nice appetizer before Nationals, Christmas cx races in Europe, and Worlds! Goodluck! The Mid-Atlantic is cheering for you.

NC Grand Prix weekend

A few links to pics from Sunday:

Christina this one is for you. Barrier technique Notice my right elbow is in between the saddle and my body, not out and flailing - you get more lift this way.

The winning attack on Sun

Cycling News - Race coverage Day 2

Cycling News - Day 1


Pics of Judy, I love JD, Sexy Carharts, great food, good company,.......

Judy is the cutest dog ever. Unfortunately we didn't click the camera in time to get her fluffy floppy eared face, so no pics after all. She looked like a living stuffed animal. The most adorable doggie ever.

I "heart" JD = a great shirt for MegA. I knew I should have bought it when I saw it. I can't find it online now. (JD = John Deere but it was in really small print).

Who knew Carharts could be sexy. At a World of Clothing in Hendersonville my quest to buy ugly brown flannel lined pants great for womaning the pits for cx, also led me to my new fav jeans. I'll be sporting them regularly until I rip the pant leg on a chain ring or something.

Great food at West First Pizza part of the slowfood movement and made with organic ingredients. Homemade italian sausage and pasta - why can't the metro suburbs of DC have cool restaurants like that. We followed that up with some chocolates from the candy store in Hendersonville and cookies from The Fresh Market.

The MABRA contingent was disappointingly small, but not surprising given the local race in Leesburg, and the MAC race in Long Island on the same weekend. In NC, Jeremiah B won both days. The Alan team was there and with a great showing from Julie. New DC gal racing for Sorella raced on day 1. The Gallaghers came down and both did really well. Judd and I rounded out the rest of the local DC contingent (unless I'm missing some others).

In the conficting races - Christina B won both days in Long Island, very impressive. And Lindsey and Betsy won their races in Leesburg.

NJ wrap-up, now on to NC

Day 2 of USGP NJ- shorter course, a little more riding, but still a lot of running. I finished up the same as the day before. The Bellas did well again and DD won the most aggressive rider award. Congrats to DD and her tenacity. Alica got another podium in the juniors race.

Special thanks to the Styers, the super-family of the Mid-Atlantic cx scene. They get up before early to get to races to secure the best location for the team tent. They even go through the routine and stress of doing their own races and then turn around and support a whole slew of Bellas. Morgan ran a marathon back and forth to the bike wash and tended to us Bellas. Hil somehow manages to fine endless energy reserves to keep everyone happy and occupied including little Ethan who never complains and splashed around merrily in the puddles all weekend. Alicia is very supportive and helpful with getting us girls prepped. They really love all aspects of bike racing from participating to supporting racers.

Thanks to the Bella pit crew for helping us girls do our bike changes 2x a lap, Buck, Judd, Hilary, Morgan, and everyone else that had a hand in catching, scrubbing, pushing bikes this past muddy weekend. And thanks to Randy, Jay, Kelly, and the other voices for words of encouragement and pointers for/during the race.

The coolest part of the weekend was feeling the energy of the spectators during the elite men's race along the money pit - spectators were sticking dollar bills in the mud and racers would pick them up as they came through. It was really a great way to turn a miserable slogging mess into a fun time, at least for the spectators.

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On to Hendersonville NC this weekend. Read the archive posts for 2006 race adventures in NC. These are by far my favorite races in the US. Best course. Best promoter. Best setup. Best town. It's really a shame that more racers don't make the trip. Unfortunately with so many UCI conflicts in the US racers are left having to make challenging decisions as to which races to do.

NC registration www.pre-reg.com
Info: www.nccyclocross.com

Good luck to the Bellas and all the other racers going to Long Island.

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Arley I hope your pinky gets better soon.

USGP NJ Day 1

We wished for mud and we got it. I think too many wished for it though.

MUD! RUN! PUSH! SLIP! FALL! JUMP! RIDE! RUN!

CONGRATS to Randy Root and Fred Wittwer for winning their races. They dominated their respective fields. Kris Auer also had an awesome race in the elite masters finishing an impressive 3rd. Alicia was the only Bella on the podium with a 2nd in her race.

In the women's race the sun had come out and wind picked up but the course was trashed although once in a while the tires could squeeze the mud out of the way. Given the conditions we ran a lot of the course, more than I ever ran in a cx race before. It was a flat course so a lot of running, no hopping on the bike to coast downhills. I chose to push the bike through the mud rather than shoulder. I actually was able to pass and catch riders just by maintaining the same slow speed of running as opposed to the stop and starts of trying to ride through the mud. We did bike changes every time past the pits because it was faster than trying to ride the race line which was all mucked up. Judd and Randy and Jay were there every time waving their hands to direct me as I deliriously rode toward them trying to navigate other riders exchanging dirty bikes for clean ones.

The Bellas did great. DD was our top racer. Amy and Kathy did great. Anna and I endured the conditions and challenged each other the second half of the race and finished 16 and 17. The Styers were fabulous as always with their support and making the Kona tent like home.

After the race, washing away the mudd on my legs revealed all sorts of cuts and scrapes I don't even remember getting. Although I do remember laughing about a few slips here and there and falling through the course tape, tripping on others bikes, getting entangled with Amy Wallace after a hysterical bout of bike derby. Looking back, the experience was fun, but at the time, I so wanted to just stop running and pause for a moment to rest. I heard Patty B got a 30 sec penalty rest in the pit for riding through the pits without exchanging bikes. She didn't have a spare bike, but it was faster to go through the pits, albeit illegally...

Tomorrow is another day.

Just a quick update

I'm wired on caffeine and it's late. Good time to update the blog.

This weekend the circus brings us up to the USGP cyclocross event in NJ. Judd spent the past week building up the new Konas and gluing tubulars. We'll be ready for some mud at Mercer county park.

Last weekend was great to be back at Beacon and Highland Park. However with the UCI conflict of the Toronto races, not many New Englanders came down as years past. At Beacon, the rain made conditions a little treacherous and many riders found transitions between mud and pavement challenging as well as navigating around trees along the course (I'll leave it at that for my non-cx racing friends that fear cx is dangerous). I was delighted they didn't take us through the mini sandpit this year where I've been known to drag my bike like it's a kid on a leash. The beach on the other hand, this year I was almost able to ride the whole thing which was pretty exciting.

Highland Park was an experience like none other for me. I've never ridden on mud that is like tape. It was clean mud and didn't clog the tires. It was not deep mud and you didn't sink in it. It was just soooo slow. I actually avoided riding "the line" because it felt so slow. I had a great start and wanted to stay with the leaders as long as possible but definitely was feeling the previous day's race in the legs. Still had great results both days and was competitive and raced Arley and Patty. Jen M had a great race at HP. She too is enjoying the upswing of the 2nd half.

It was great to see Johnny and Mandy out for the weekend. They are the Mid-Atlantic's sexiest couple.

Eventhough cx is in full swing, my road team is already planning training rides. The shop CycleLife had a lovely opening night. It was great to see my roadie teammates. I look forward to our winter team rides after the cx season.

Fairhill and Rockburn

Fairhill MAC race on Saturday turned out to be quite a surprise ending.

Fairhill was a great course, hard and fast and tough to get a tactical advantage. I ended up sitting third wheel on Kristin (Human Zoom) and Arley (Hub) the whole race content to finally "be in the race" and at the front, after a frustrating first half of the cx season full of mechanicals, bad starts, and falls. Kristin pretty much led the whole race and attacked Arley any time she came around. I decided it wasn't my race to win or lose I was kind of along for the ride this one time. I heard the announcer mention during the race that the winner gets the same payout as the men. I'll admit I thought "that's cool, too bad it won't be me".

As we rode the laps I was trying to think if there was even anyplace I could attack and get away but the course was too fast to allow anyone to get far alone. It looked like it was going to be a three up sprint however with all the turns and the barriers within 1/4 mi to the finish, it was too hard to move around, so whoever was in the barns first was likely going to win, and at this rate it looked to be Kristin but possible Arley could outsprint her. The only card I had was the element of surprise.

On the last lap, the three of us had enough of a gap to stay top 3 to the end despite Jenn Maxwell having an awesome ride and closing in on us. As we were about to come up to the barns I thought if I attack and go as hard as I can for as far as I can, maybe I could be first, or second. If they catch me, I'm still third. Oh what the hell, let's try it. I attacked around a tree that had three lines in and one line out of the corner. Sitting third wheel I watched Kristin swing tight get thrown wide into the tape and loose dirt and spin her tires. Arley rode her usual line in the middle, I went way-wide and came in tight with my front wheel hitting the exit line first giving me a slight advantage. I then just had to haul-butt and go as hard as I could the next 400 yds. I rode as aggressively as my tires could manage. As I came around the loose gravel 180 to go into the barriers and prayed I'd not crash or get stalled out. I rode the corner clean and on through the barriers. One last loose 180 turn to the final road stretch and then I was home free, sprinting against the possibility of being caught.

I was excited for my first MAC win and proved to myself that sometimes it,s worth the risk to gamble, win or lose, than not gamble at all. And the pumpkin ale was a wonderful way to top it off.

Link to VeloNews article.

Congrats to Christina B for an impressive win and for doubling up.


Rockburn

Was impressed once again at the turn out for the cat 3/4 women's race, 31 I think. The elite women only had 12 or 15, still nearly twice as many as last year and years prior for some elite women's races. And thank you to whoever pointed out that we are all a field of middle-aged women. Arley isn't. (But the rest of us are I guess if you count 30s as middle aged). I was delighted to see Christine W and Kay Tui on cx bikes, and racing. I hope they continue to enjoy and find the learning and challenge of cx to be so rewarding they keep racing year after year. Congrats to Jean for her great race to 2nd in that field.

Without a trainer to warmup on, my warmup was 4 or 5 recon laps of the course at varying speeds. Before the B men, and before the elite men, and after, I rode 1-2 laps each time and would reride sections to determine alternate lines or best way through. On this course, at first I felt very confused as to where I was on the course, what came next, and how far to the finish or pit (mind you it's only a 2.5K long course probably). With all the obstacles, corners, varying terrain, and various challenges (such as remembering to stay way left around this corner because there's a huge hole) it's key to always know where you are and what is next. During the prerides I put together my final mental cues/landmarks for the race and what to do for each section (although I don't always do the action part as preplanned)(e.g. woods--go hard, sand--run; hill--attack; barriers/corners--first; finish--two lines).

At the start, I was going to take it easy since the first corner was sketcy and a lot of loose gravel. I totally surprised myself with having an incredible start. For the race Arley, Betsy, and I rode really hard and took turns through various sections, although Betsy did lead more. We came upon lapped traffic of juniors and B women which the officials had started to long after the elite women--so for the first time I can remember, we caught a whole bunch of riders, not just a few. A lot of it was just the speed that us three were riding the course.

It was a blast riding hard together and flowing through the course like we did. Some of the corners really get greasy at speed when you have only prerode them at half speed. I was bummed to see Arley wash out her front wheel in a sandy corner with just a lap to go. The three up battle on the last lap and a three fold sprint would have been really fun. On the last lap I was about to execute my attack however we were caught up with lapped riders and it would have been too dangerous to follow through with the plan. So I went to plan B which was to attack on the lowline in the off-camber just before the finishing stretch. I stuck hard with plan B despite the two other opportunities I knew I should have gone for: near the pits or over the barriers, but didn't. In the end, Plan B didn't work as Betsy rode a slightly lower line than her usual which essentially cut off my attack line. I had to settle for trying to come around her, which I just couldn't quite muster. It was a fun battle, nonetheless.

Karma sucks

Typical double race weekend in MABRA region. Hagerstown on Saturday and Kelley Acres on Sunday. Both days had great turnout - especially the B women. Hagerstown was a decent race for me despite crashing on the first lap. I was able to get my bike back together and fight my way back to third after battling Libby shoulder to shoulder for a while with Cheryl, Terri, and Liz closing in. Betsy took the win with style and Arley second.

Sunday at Kelley Acres (the pic is from the start of the race - thanks Jeff) was a great venue and interesting course. A lot of non-traditional cyclocross racers came out from the road scene to race while the others just watched out of fear of falling at slow speed on grass. It was basically a big party. Evelyn with the champagne and women's road series prize give-away in the center (thanks E - you're the best), the Ms. Frederick and Washington county tease-queens were there, and all our best friends from MABRA. The only thing missing was a hill-billy-banjo-band.

The course was fun and surprisingly fast despite the longer than usual climbs and more barriers than modern day cyclocross races. Walking the course made it seem harder and longer than it was. On the bike I really enjoyed the challenge of the course and felt great on the pre-ride and the first 20 seconds of the race. Here's a pic of Arley and I heading into the pile-o-logs-barriers at the start. That's pretty much the last thing I remembered until I saw the handlebars under my face on the logs...and then the realization that karma sucks.
....
I do believe in Karma after all. I meant no harm when I repeated the nickname given to a fellow teammate many years ago. However just the mere fact I told other people the story of the nickname I think has come to knock me off the bike. Perhaps I have finally broken this first lap curse and in so doing have learned to never call anyone an unapproved nickname ever again. This epiphany came to me as I got up from my spectacular faceplant on the log barriers at Kelly Acres on Sunday. And thus it is only fair that I will likely here other people repeat the nickname but at me, since I have crashed on the first lap of every cyclocross race this season. I'm wondering if that one was you-tube worthy.

Now off to OHIO.

Lilypons - pond = mud

I broke my own rule of preparedness. Despite handing out a list at a clinic of what to bring to a cx race, I completely forgot what to bring to Ed Sanders. Despite telling the other girls to always be preapred for anything because you never know when the weather will change....We left VA and it was cool and sunny. I only brought a skinsuit, jersey, shorts, helmet, shoes. The bare minimum for a cx race. Yeah it's a local race, so that was my lame excuse. Judd kindly packed our mud boots and then informed after we were 20min from home that it is raining in MD. WHAT? Rain? In the end it wasn't really that bad and it was muddy in some spots, but in general, we've endured worse (which was Evo cx at the pumpkin farm years ago) or maybe Hagerstown....hmmmm mud...

Okay so the pic is obviously not from Ed Sander's cx race - it's from Nittany cx last week - which already seems like so long ago.

The drive to Lilypons is one of our shortest of the season - other than the 5min race from my house in Dec. The Styers were already at the race and set up with the Velo Bella tent and gear. Morgan was grinning and excited about his race. Alicia was getting ready to start. Hilary was excited about getting her own Velo Bella cx frame. Ethan was preparing his podium boy look. They are one of the most supportive familes I've ever known, between racing, wrenching, cheering.

I headed out for a warmup and saw Bellas Nikki and Marisa pre-riding the course and with huge smiles as Nikki exclaimed how muddy it is. The Bellas did great. DD won, I rolled in for 4th, and in the women's 3/4 cx Nikki and Marisa both did awesome and had a decent sized beginner field (twice the size of the elite).

Next up is the Hagerstown Breast Cancer Awareness race and the Kelly Acres cx race, both local MABRA series races.

Eat your fruits and veggies, but not trees

Allergies. It seems everyone who moves to DC gets them. And it seems every year they get worse. Is anyone immune?

Growing up I used to make fun of my cousins who had to get allergy shots - thinking I was superior and more healthy. They all "out grew" their allergies and me on the other hand, grew into mine.

I was the outdoorsy kid playing in the woods, running through the bushes, eating dirt. My favorite spots to play - the backyard under the Birch tree where I'd write stories on the paper bark and sometimes make birchtree-tea, and the front yard where I'd collect the pretty fall colors from the Maple tree and suck on the ends of the leaves thinking they would taste like maple syrup. I loved trees.

Allergies. It all started on a fall bike ride in college....we stole some apples from an orchard and stuffed our jerseys full of them. One of the orchard people caught us and chased us down with her truck yelling at us to stop stealing her apples and that they were sprayed with poison. We didn't believe her. We did let most of the apples fall out of our jerseys but did keep a few. That afternoon while enjoying my golden delicious, I cursed the lady as my mouth started to itch and then blistered. Ever since then, I noticed anytime I ate apples, cherries, plums, nectarines - the same thing. I thought it was the pesticides they used and my body was just too sensitive to it.

Well I swore that pesticides were the issue and was so frustrated when my recent attempt at 5 a day fruit/veggie campaign turned into a failure when even organic fruits and veggies were making my throat itch. So with no fruits left to eat, I went to the allergist to confirm that I am indeed destined to have to eat a meat based diet (despite growing up as a pseudo-vegetarian).

It figures the doctor's never heard of someone having these issues despite me hearing the same issues from other people. Even the allergist reported that I'm not allergic to fruit. WHAT? However I did find out that I am allergic to something I didn't suspect. She told me I am allergic to trees! That didn't make any sense. Then she went on to explain that whenever I ate certain fruits - such as apples and cherries, my body thought I was eating birch tree. But I told her when I did eat birch tree as a kid I didn't have a reaction. She looked at me like I was crazy. Anyway, turns out it's more common than I realized, and fairly recently is the connection being made as a cross-pollen confusion in the body. Weird.

And it also turns out I'm allergic to nearly everything else too. Nice! I just thought it was normal to constantly have a runny nose and itchy throat and trouble breathing. Oh and to break out in hives after letting a cute little puppy lick you all over......

Here's a link to an article about Oral Allergy Syndrome.

I hope this gives other fruit suffers some temporary relief.

First Weekend of MAC

Sunday - long drive to Allentown for MAC opener, UCI C2. Was thrilled to see teammates Anna M back racing after breaking her leg at Bike Jam in May and DD back to racing after a year off - being a mom again. The MAC elite is a whole new field this year with some of the New England gals coming down and with the B women that have graduated to elite and some new faces to cx like Laura Van G. It was really exciting to see so many 'new riders' to the elite (or returning riders like Alicia H on Sun and Mandy L on Sat). The race was a great reminder of how intense cyclocross racing is - nothing like road races or mtn bike races - it really is its own thing. Cyclocross is go at anaerobic or VO2 and enjoy the few short 10sec recoveries for a total of 40+ minutes; and you have to be mentally alert the whole time or you'll wipe out overcooking a turn or kill your legs by not being in the right gear going up a short little rise. Oh yeah and if you blow your start it sucks having to try to get past people in tight corners that are bottlenecks within the first 300m of the race, but that is cyclocross. And don't forget to unclip before barriers and to lift you bike up all the way. And for peat sake - don't drag your bike through the sand.

In the elite women's race Mo took off from the gun and was gone from the field for a while until Anna, DD, and LVG were able to form a little group and battle on - ending with LVG catching Mo on the last lap, and DD taking 3rd, Anna 4th. Nikki T, Arley and I made up the second group and exchanged leads for a little bit before Arley, riding a terrific race looking smooth and strong, was able to put time into us and finished for 5th. Me 6th.

In the B women's race Christina B did fantastic and finished 2nd. Hilary and Alica and Morgan all raced too. Also making the long drive was Randy R joining Judd in the Elite Master's field.

Sunday - Charm City, 400+ pre-reg'd! No UCI, but the new classic of Mid-Atlantic - dare I say more so than Granogue? Maybe not yet. Another perfect day in Baltimore, hot as usual, tons of spectators, and food, and just all around fun to hang out. Judd and I got there in time to set up our chairs and sit by the course cheering on the first race of the day. No other sport can I think of going to sit and watch it all day under a shady tree in a pretty park and just purely enjoy it - almost like being at the beach.

Saw a whole bunch of new riders in the women's B field including first time cx racers and attendees of the women's DC CX clinic Trish, Mary Alex, Kathy and a few others all did great. Teammate Marisa, who loves cyclocross as much as I, was out there too looking strong and happy this year. The Carolina twins, all grown up, came up to race. The Coppi girls started out strong with Jean commanding lead for half the race before getting a flat, Lindsey was moving up and in great position when tackled by a tree branch getting caught in her gears, and Sioban was looking smooth out there too. But as it goes with cyclocross there is a little bit of bad luck that adds another element of fun to the endeavor. In the end Kristina A took the win and Christina B, overcame a challenging start and moved up through the whole field to another great finish.

Cyclocross may seem a little cliquey but it's really not - it's more like an extended family reunion. It was great to see all the Coppi guys, the Lea's, the Wittwer's, the Wiss guys, Anderson, Erler, Randy, Masse, Buchness, Huhn, Carlson, Hunter and on and on - guys I've "grown up with" on the racing circuit for the past 9years or guys I ride with occasionaly on the Tues/Thurs group rides. Out of the women, other than Tracey Lea, Anna M, and Tammy Ebersole, I think we are the only women that are still doing the MAC races after all these years. Back in the old days there was only 1 women's field and it was about 20 women, and I consistently was finishing in the back of the pack, second to last or so, and slowly started to get the hang of it over the years and still have sooo much to learn. I wonder what ever happened to some of those gals.

In the elite women's race at Charm City, we had more pre-reg'd than the men's elite. I love it when that happens. DD and LVG quickly set pace at the front and pulled away for their own duel. Beth Mason had a great start and was riding the best I've seen her ride until she got stuck with a flat at the worst time, Arley took third by opening up time in the corners on Nikki T and I on the flats. I must admit the past few years I had been riding in no man's land and have to learn how to battle and be more aggressive for position and for the better lines. After all it is bike racing and not a grass TT. But not so aggressive I lose control. A massive slide out on one of the corners set me out for a good bit of time allowing 2 riders to pass - including Heidi, who finished 6th, who was riding an awesome race - really strong, consistent, and smooth. It was nice to have the confident Heidi back. I finished the race in 7th. Sonja made her cx race on a cx bike debut - I sware she's gonna get hooked - watch out girls the C3 empire is a threat. And Terri and Liz made their elite race debut after killing the B fields last year. Mandy snook away from Johnny (who was racing in DC) to play with us gals on the bikes. She looked great and looked happy - I hope she felt the same after the dusty suffer fest that was today.

It was a nice start to the season and fun to see familiar faces again - faces we'll see every weekend until Christmas. Great job to everyone.

Thanks to Wendy for host-housing. And a shout out to my CycleLife gals who were hanging out with the pro-men and marshalling in DC.

Thanks to those of you that donated items for the Special Olympics Juniors Day out for next week. The Lea's were much appreciative.

Cyclocross season started at 1am!

It's here. I was giddy all weekend for the transition. My bags are already packed for this coming weekend MAC CX opener - Nittany CX and Charm City. Although the bikes are still in disarray and I'm a little outta shape compared to a few weeks ago and not even sure if I'm able to handle a 40min cx race right now.

This season will once again have Judd and I travelling the east coast. The focus is on east coast USGP and the MAC series and filling in with whatever UCI races are nearby (which may mean a 10hr drive). Will pick up a few local MABRA races here and there if not travelling. The new venue for us will be opting to go to OH this year rather than the old Gloucester, MA classic. And now that Hendersonville NC is UCI again (since last I heard) I'll get to make 3 weekends of 10 hour drives to races (with Louisville and Hendersonville being my 2 favorite double venues and towns by far).

It's a long season (but not in terms of time) so I'm planning to ease into it and not burn out or get sick in November. In general, I'm looking for a good time, and staying happy, not little Ms Negativity. Although I want good results, I'm going to try to not get too frustrated if things don't go my way. Instead I'm focusing on riding a smooth hard race rather than focusing on the final placing.

Thinking long term here - hoping to score a few good USGP races worthy of enough self confidence to venture to Europe in December and January to see how the other half race and use that experience to carry me on into 2009. At which point I'll be ready to join my ladies again for an awesome road season.

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Hopefully this past weekend was the last HOT weekend of the year - a nice way to end the road season. I'll miss my teammates and friends who prefer the smooth pavement but it will be that time soon again come March.