Lucky charms in Baltimore

Here it is - my race report. Instead of massaging my sore legs, I'm updating my blog. The race itself was all of 10 minutes, the rest of the 40 minutes was just riding hard around the course maintaining position.

Baltimore, MD hosted the kick-off event for the Mid-Atlantic region which brought out a record number of spectators and racers for the event. It's really exciting to see how many women came out with 16 in the elite category race and 18 beginner women for the earlier race, impressive.

Two Velo Bella-Konas lined up alongside local road-race standouts and the US MTB champion. The whistle goes off and out of the fury of wheels and elbows from the mad dash to the top of the paved hill and toward the finish line area, the Grasshopper emerges with the whole-shot and leads us through the first set of tricky grass off-camber turns.

Grasshopper pulls off and Champion takes over the lead. My thoughts started to wander and I wondered how the race was going to turn out and then all of a sudden Champion dropped right away into the first pit and I was in the driver's seat. I had flashbacks of watching Peanut and Barbarella work together as the Bella one-two punch of last year.


bgMy teammate and I work together to get a gap on the others. We power up the long double barrier run/ride up with the heat glaring down on us. The course takes us back towards the crowds with a fast and fun grassy decent, followed by a quick drop off a curb, cross the road, and a quick bunny hop up the other curb to proceed to the natural set of barriers.

I lead through the twisty stuff, fly over the fast flat barriers and on to the finish area in hopes of getting the prize for leading the first lap [they offered something to the previous race].



Oh well, no prize at the end of this lap. I kept going and when my teammate caught up I was a little tired and wasn't able to hang on her or Champion's wheel as they came by. And so the rest of the race was a battle with the heat, the mind, the bike, the body. All good fun.
Race number 1 is finally over. 19 to go. Next stop is to see the rich and famous on Long Island. I wouldn't even know a celebrity if I was introduced to one. I'm kinda lacking in my pop-culture knowledge.

Fall Fashion

Pencil skirts are in, this season. Too bad it's the time of year when I can no longer show off bare legs in the office. Cyclocross season has begun and with it I have my first of the year set of scrapes and bruises all over legs. I didn't crash or anything but certainly can feel every bobble or mistake picking up the bike and setting it down when the pedals fly around and nail me in the back of the leg or shin. Ouch!

My fall fashion this year consists of no new clothes for work in order to save money for travel expenses. My casual clothing this season has lots of girlie colors. I now own more pink shirts than blue and I hate to admit I own two purple ones too. It's all part of my attempt to have flare. I don't even know how to spell it - that is how much I'm lacking. I did buy some pink and silver beads to wear at the race this past weekend along with my Velo Bella-Kona tee, but didn't remember to break them out.

I'm thrilled to be a member of Velo Bella-Kona and on a team with so many women who natuarlly exude style, grace, fitness, and flair. I hope to develop my own flair as the season progresses.

Selective memory

What is cyclocross? It's that crazy thing we do when we are bored with road racing and sick of mountain biking. Cyclocross is the combination of both disciplines but with the likeness to steeplechase or a cross-country running race. It's about 40 minutes of pure indulgence on lactic acid, lack of oxygen, and mustering up the last little bit of energy from the depths of your glycogen depleted cells all while trying to be coherent enough to maneuver tricky corners and keeping tabs on your competitors' mistakes.



I hate to admit it, but I forgot all about that good stuff. All year I've been looking forward to the start of the season. After all, it is just such a wonderful sport. I don't know why I just love it. I think it may have to do with this funny thing called selective memory....

.....Imagine going on a difficult hike up a small mountain. For me, this experience occured after climbing Algonquin Peak in the Adirondacks. It took all day to trudge up rocks and narrow streambeds and trail. It was hot; it was steep; and I was a teenager. There were times I just wanted to sit-down, turn-back, and quit. Reaching the top = a huge sigh of relief. On the quick trek down the tricky descent, pretending I was a sure-footed mtn goat, I forgot about all the pain, suffering, and concentration it took to get up there. The next day, sharing the experience with others, all I could remember was the positive. Looking back, I was challenged and enlightened despite the moments that tried my patience and will.

Ladies Night Out

Tuesday evening a bunch of us local women mountain bike racers and enthusiasts met up at The Bike Lane for Ladies Night Out with Chrissy deJonge (formerly Redden) as part of her Fit for Women tour.

She brought up a lot of points that I needed to hear, to drive them home in my head. In the hour plus discussion, topics such as women specific design of equipment, preparing yourself for an event/race both equipment and mentally, and an informative Q&A were covered. Below is my interpretation of the knowledge she was trying to instill.

Alot of us women tend to ride the standard bike - not necessarily one made for or designed with women's needs and preferences in mind. We often tinker with the position of the saddle, handlebars, length of stem etc so that we "fit the bike" rather than the bike fit us.

Chrissy went on to demonstrate what many women look like on their bike - which in many cases is bad form with rolled shoulders and sitting too far back on the saddle (which sounds like me). She then demonstated a more natural bike position that is not only more comfortable, but also yields more power - as she demonstated by stomping her foot in each position for our comparison. This was a slightly more upright position allowing the back to be flat/staight rather than rolled or hunched.

Does this mean I need a women's specific bike? Okay, so the only time I ever road a "girl's bike" was my first bike - pink and white with streamers. Here I am demonstrating the correct posture.

In regards to preparing for an event she covered mechanical readiness and mental training as part of your preperation to give you conidence. Main messages I relearned - clean the bike and know how to deal with the minor mechicals that could slow you down (changing flats, fixing chains and bike parts etc).

Mental training. Something we all think about but rarely do. Lessons here - acknowldege your goals and choices you've made along the way with your training and preperation. Let negative thoughts dissipate. Visualize yourself doing well, and also visualize yourself not accomplishing your goal so that you can take the pressure and anxiety out of striving for that one thing you really want. When you are free of stress and don't have the negative energy with you, you will be surprised at the results.

coffee-chatter

Today was my first ride where Velo Bellas outnumbered the others, granted it was a very small group, but it was great to have Bella teammates to ride with.

Dark-o-thirty. I was able to get up on time, change the tires back to the slicks, swap the pedals and head out to meet the gals. For the first time I was not just-on-time, I was actually early. It was only an hour (not an hour and a half) to bike from the middle-burbs to the inner-burbs, not bad.

Our route, which I didn't map out too well, headed up over the Arlington "hills" (they are hills to us DC riders but mere rollers to the rest of the world) and on across the Potomac and out to Angler's Inn - which was devoid of the usual hottie kayaker and rock-climbers, but we did see a Bentley in the parking lot. We kept the pace tame and conversation high so we could be rested for either the hard ride or race on Sunday. Nothing too exciting and the conversation was typical ride-talk about this-and-that, work, riding, racing---you know, the usual stuff.

Back at The Shack, our conversation took a much different turn. Four single ladies, around a table on the patio of the local coffee shop drinking our iced beverages, can talk alot and about all sorts of topics, that is for certain. Very entertaining and enlightening to say the least. Tame? Not at all.

Friday ramble

Thunder and lightening, a great way to add speed to any workout...
Fortunately the rain drops didn't start until my running buddy from high-school and I were safely inside the ice-cream shop down the road indulging on a Friday evening to celebrate the end of the work-week and the start of the weekend. No girls night out. Instead I am blogging, emailing, and mapping out the welcome-new-Bella-to-DC ride route somewhere on the northern side of the Potomac River.

Ice Cream and me trivia: For some reason, I don't really like ice cream nor do I have a favorite flavor but I do eat the cold creamy sweet stuff once in a while --- which is how I was able to survive working at the second best ice cream place in the world.
Penn State Creamery

(No, that is not me in the pic)

Places to Train

Just got back from a nice jaunt around the funky/retro looking townhouses of this pre-planned community circa 1972. They at least had the common sense to include a few trees and some ball fields around this older part of "town" to allow both squirrels and children to play. To be honest I have never seen children playing on the fields anytime I've been there doing my frog leaps, monkey curls, and karaokes. Pretty neat to have the small park to myself. I wonder if the old people in the retirement condo high-rise across the street would yell at me if I rode my bike on the grass, looking like a fruit cake, practicing cx mounts and dismounts.

New training idea to strengthen abs, increase coordination, and to wow your partner = hula-hooping. I have to admit the idea wasn't my own, but I'm tempted to see if it really works as a substitute to crunches and other ab exercises.

Taking action, sort of...

Instead of complaining or wishing someone would do something about a bad road-shoulder conditions or less than safe trail-road intersection that may endanger a cyclist/pedestrian, do something. You will be surprised by how a simple email to the right people can actually produce a dialog that will hopefully lead to action to improve the situation.

A particular section of my potential bike-to-work commute route, which is in total is only about an hour long, is "dangerous" enough that I don't really want to bike to work. The 6-inch shoulder full of broken asphalt, glass, and debris is dangerous to tires in itself plus the fact that you have to ride facing traffic because it is too dangerous to risk crossing 4 lanes to ride on the correct side for 200m then waiting for a break in traffic to dart back across. Well, I finally decided to send an email to Virginia DOT, Fairfax County district rep, and the local mayor about how potential bike commuters and pedestrians are in danger in this area. If I didn't hear a response I was going to consider "louder" action maybe as an op-ed or petition. However, I was pleasantly surprised to receive thoughtful responses back from all and even a thank you for enlightening them of the issue and that they are planning to take action -- widen the shoulder during the next repavement this year and designate the route as a bike route in addition to a roadway. I think it was already planned, but it's nice to know they do listen, and they actually care. Now on to my next action item....

Grease

So changing back to the offroad cx tires today I made quite a mess. Granted I should clean my bike down more often....though every time I do, I get so dirty. Well at least I've finally found a product that can remove the nasty chain-grease and other bike goo from under my fingernails. GoJo not only works hard, it smells pretty too. I remember seeing the orange dispenser in the car repair shop my dad always dragged me to as a kid. The bottle was always covered in black car grease and used by "tough guys" so I never thought it would be okay for home use, let alone for delicate hands. It's great stuff. I wish I had started using it many years ago - when I use to actually regularly meticulously clean my bike (back when I had one, not 11)....I've also discovered that using a regular large pencil eraser can remove bike scuff marks from walls, but what do I do about the chain grease on my carpet?

A little advice

Cosmo and the typical girlie magazines usually don't offer much new and useful information in between the ads, racey articles about sex and how to please your man, horoscopes, or tips on how to look good at any age. Occasionally you may come across a little snippet that justifies your time leafing through the pages while waiting in the check-out line or even the ~$5 price tag to have something to pass the time later. The other day, I came across some useful advice, or rather a pleasant reminder on how to make your work day more productive. Simple tip - don't check your email or the internet first thing in the morning when you get to work. Doing so, you may be tempted to initiate correspondence to friends and listservs and then have the urge to check back "frequently" for replies and additions to the thread. Well duh. Solution - wait until lunch, and then eventually wait until the end of the day if you really want to test yourself.

Scheduling

Finally it's time to sit down with all the cyclocross calendars and figure out the best way to spend 80 hrs of vacation time saved up special for the fall season. I'm looking forward to racing with my Velo Bella teammates and travelling the East coast with trips up to New England and perhaps following the Blue Ridge down to North Carolina. There is always the possibility of splurging and finally making a trip out west to visit a friend in Boulder or to visit the Pacific Northwest for my first time - ofcourse to race. We'll see what the fall brings.

late bloomers

Blogging: growing in popularity as a form of self expression or becoming an old fad of the 00s???