have bike, will travel

Although I am not traveling very far ON my bike, she is keeping me company when I am away from my family this week. This room actually worked out very well and my bike fits in nicely! I even have a nice LCD TV to watch while riding to nowhere. I am on a build week for training, doing under/over's and climbing repeats. CRs are probably the hardest workout for me to do, and as my legs are screaming for me to stop, my mind often takes me to a typical summer ride and the hill that I am "climbing." As I am climbing, I am heading toward the back of the pack. Then a gap forms between me and the last rider. Then the gaps widens. Then I am dropped. 

Getting dropped sucks and it happens to me all too often on group rides. Sometimes there is a kind soul who drops back and helps me catch back up to the pack. Sometimes the whole group will stop to regroup, and other times I am left on my own to find my way back. Often when I have gotten help to catch up to the pack, it is the last thing I wanted. What I really wanted was to just mosey on home at my own pace, shrugging off the day as a loss. Then comes along someone for me to catch their wheel, and then dammit, then I have to try like hell to catch up when I really just wanted to give up.  This is what I love about cycling and group rides, the way everyone pushes each other to try harder, work harder, and do better each ride. Even in the winter, when group riding is months away, I am still working hard to keep up with the "group".  

Women's Weekend 2012





 Ray's Mountain Bike Park hosts two weekends where Pro-Women racers come in and coach a women's only crowd on technical mountain biking skills. The park is closed to guys for the day, and women get free reign! The Cleveland event happened already, but it isn't too late to head to Milwaukee for the event on March 9! Check out this video from last year's event. I'm excited to be heading down with a few women who recently went to the Cleveland event and loved it so much they just have to do it again. Those are my kind of gals! Soooo looking forward to this road trip!

Work is interfering once again in the upcoming week with my workout schedule. I am heading out of town and will be stuck in a hotel. What kind of equipment will the hotel have in their workout closet? I am not even going to look, as I have decided that since I will be gone a full week, I am going to bring my bike and trainer with me to the hotel. I have some good Sufferfest podcasts to ride along to, and I am determined to keep on keeping on, even while stuck in the hotel.

100 Year Old Sets Cycling Record

100 Year Old Sets Cycling Record

"I could have gone faster, but I didn't want to" is the statement made by 100 year old Robert Marchand after setting the world record for riding one hour in an indoor track, in the first ever "100 and up" category. Three things come to my mind about this that inspire me. The first is the obvious one that he could actually do this, and it gives me remote hope that I may be cycling in my 100's someday. Two is that cyclist(s) still talk smack in their 100's (is there more than one?). Three is that his legs look great, and I wonder if he still shaves them regularly? Seriously, kudos to Robert, for this incredible achievement.

On the home front I have been trying to stick to a good regime as I get my strength back up and am getting healthy again. It feels great to not be sick!  I finished my recovery week on the trainer, and continued strength training. I also signed up for my first road race of the season, the West Michigan Stage Race. I am really looking forward to this race as they have combined women's Cat 3/4 together, so it will be my first time racing along with Cat 3 women. I am excited to have a road race on the not-so-distant horizon! There is also a Time Trial and a Crit during the weekend, so it will be a great way to start the road season. I am also signed up for  Mud, Sweat, and Beers on May 5, where I will be racing Expert for the first time. This is a great local mountain bike race to benefit Mt. Holiday, and it features my favorite trail, the VASA.

With actual races on the calendar, it is helping me start thinking twice about that extra cookie, and I am realizing it is time to back on track about losing that winter weight that I swore I would not gain back again. I try not to take everything too seriously, but racing is a nice incentive for me to live a healthy lifestyle.  Heck, perhaps even healthy enough that I could be cycling into my 80s, 90s, and 100s.

dreaming of mountain biking...literally.

After a few grueling rides on the trainer last week, this week is officially a "recovery week" for the legs. Which couldn't come at a better time! As soon as my first cold was almost gone, a fresh new virus invaded last weekend that left me hurting yet again. Very disappointing, as the weekend was beautiful and I was looking forward to spending sometime outside downhill skiing with the kids. I have been sick a lot this winter, and need to think more about eating healthier and taking some supplements (or start using hand sanitizer excessively).  Both of my kids have this cold now as well, and spent the day home from school trying to get healthy. I have been really hungry during both of these colds, so I don't even get the slight benefit of some weight loss during these illnesses. :)

I am dreaming about spring lately. I have had at least two dreams in the past month of me hitting the trails on the mountain bike, in which I am riding some great little hills with jumps, bombing down big hills, and cruising along in perfect bliss. I love those trails rides where everything goes just great-conditions are perfect, stamina is great, bike is shifting perfectly...you know those rides. These dreams have been so vivid and realistic, its been great! I know the real thing will be here before we know it. In the mean time, just keep pedaling!

ouch!

Its suffer now or suffer later and get dropped, right? Back indoors this week doing interval power training on the bike and started a strength class. My legs were still recovering from the weekend rides, but I jumped right in and gave it my all on the "under/overs" we did in class. 12 minute sets of pure giving it all you got. One rider in the class thought her water bottle was dripping, so she righted it, only to discover the dripping was coming from her. No, it wasn't me..this time.

The strength class I took must also be working since I can't cough without wincing or lift my arms above my shoulders. I'm going back again tomorrow to work on whatever isn't hurting right now.

february is full of surprises

The roads are CLEAR! They are free from snow and ice, so I made it a goal to get out and RIDE this weekend. Saturday I went out on a road ride with two fellow woman riders. We all spoke about how wonderful it felt to be moving while pedaling, stretched our legs, stood up, and soaked in the wonderfulness of it all. We rode the TNR loop on the peninsula, but cut off the lighthouse, so did about 35 miles and rode around 2 hours. It was a beautiful day.  The sun was out, it was 45 degrees, and I hoped that the circle of skin showing around my face was getting some sunlight and Vitamin D while riding. I was very warm, except for my feet (despite wearing booties over my shoes and wool socks).  Clear weather again for Sunday, when I met a small group of people and we rode out to Cedar, did a loop, and returned. It was colder, 38 degrees, and cloudy, so not quite as nice. Roads were still dry though, and the riders mostly rode single file, and were quiet. It was a reminder to me of how meditative cycling can be. After settling into a rythym, my gaze softened as I watched the tire and the back of the person in front of me and the blur of the road whizzing by underneath. Once this happens, the other worries in my life seem to start to blur as well, and not seem as important or consuming. I usually have a good few deep breaths that clears out some more junk, and start to feel at peace. This is what I love about cycling. It was a long ride though, and I was ready to get home after about 30 miles. My shoulders and back ached from lack of use over the winter- my hands, feet, and everything else pretty much were damn cold. Like a horse heading back to the barn, once I recognized where we were and knew we were close to home, I had a hard time staying below 18 mph. After I got home, I scarfed down lots of food and took such a long hot shower that I almost ran out of hot water. It felt great though, and I love that I got in over 70 miles of riding outside in a weekend in February.

The next surprise, after checking into my huge Facebook addiction, was I found that I was featured as the "Surprise Rider of the Year" in an article by Cody Sovis for Northern Motion Magazine, produced by the Grand Traverse Mountain Bike Association.
http://issuu.com/gtmtba/docs/northern_motion_winter_2012/21
Check it out!

snow? who needs snow?

Last fall as I thought about the upcoming winter, I tried hard to keep my heart light and not despair over the thought of endless snowy and gray days, in which only memories of flying down hills on a bike in warm, glorious weather would get me by. As others have been despairing over the lack of snow and unseasonably warm days, I have been not missing the snow one bit. I know that we need snow, and its not normal to have a winter like this, but since I can do nothing to control it, I'm ready to head out again on my bike in February! Although it is still cold outside, I am beyond excited to start riding outside again. I have been training inside a few days a week, but it is so mentally hard to sit and pedal inside for 90 minutes.

Two weeks ago Monday the kids had a snow day, and I was sick. Bad cough and no energy. It has taken awhile to get over it, and I still have a cough. Some fresh air will be great!