To the dude in the orange...thank you.

It was a mere women's Cat 4 crit during the 2011 Cherry Roubaix bike fest. I had quite a learning curve last summer trying to figure out how to race a crit. FYI for my non-cycling friends: a crit is a closed course where racers do laps for a certain amount of time, a bell usually rings for the last lap, and the first across the line wins. I started out with the naive notion that if you are in the front of the race, you are the winner. My thoughts during a race- "I am out in front! I am winning! Look how long I can be in front!  Wait, now everyone is going really fast, aaaand I am last."

It really didn't take that long to learn that lesson, but it is still a trick to learn how to stay out of the wind but close enough to catch a wheel if an attack happens. The Cherry Roubaix was my last crit of the season, and I decided after learning from my initial mistakes and then subsequently usually playing it too safe, I would try some moves out and see how they fared.

The women's cycling community is small, so when a new rider races, it is noted. This poor rider played my out in front mistake right out, and I let her stay in front of me as long she could. After a few laps she got tired, and then I decided to go for it and attack. I was out in front and freaking out a bit for a few laps, hoping to get people tired. It was a short race, maybe only 20 or 25 minutes so I knew I would only have to suffer for a short period of time.  Ellie Burke bridged up to help me, and we tried to stay away together, but my legs were not there anymore, and we got caught by the group. There were a few primes (races within a race where you can win a prize), and I sprinted and won one. The final lap came down and it was an all out sprint, very close between all the women, but I got 2nd. Definitely my best crit of the season.

Jody Hofstra was there, unbeknownst to me, taking some great pictures. I have enjoyed looking at these pictures so much, because it shows an aspect to a race that I never get to see. Sometimes I will hear people cheering me on, and that is awesome, but often I am too focused to hear anything and am oblivious to anything going on other than the race. When I asked Jody if I could get copies of these pictures recently she asked if I knew the guy in the orange, but I didn't know what she was talking about. He was originally cropped out of the picture that I had seen on facebook. Opening up the picture on my computer I discovered my biggest fan of the race. I have no idea who he is, but thank you! Seeing everyone's expressions in the crowd is awesome. I can't believe how lucky I am to be able to race and ride bikes as much as I do.  I look at that picture and can hardly believe it is me. I appreciate everyone who came out that day to watch a women's bike race...or who happened to be in the neighborhood and stopped a minute to watch.

1st TNR and Good Bye Indoor Season!

Indoor season is officially over, and we celebrated with some wine and appetizers at Black Star Farms the other night. It was a nice way to wrap up class and talk with everyone who suffered together over indoor trainers through the long winter months. The next few weeks will be difficult for me as I transition from one routine and try to create another routine to get my riding in. I'm really dependent on needing someone to ride with...as in if there is no one waiting for me I am not likely to get out there and ride when I need to do it. I'll get there, it always just takes me a week or two to get the new schedule going.

I am continuing strength training at Rockbottom Gym two days a week. My shoulder and lower back have been an issue for me for the last two years, and I have pinned it down to just needing to get them stronger. It is funny how weak my upper body is. I picture myself like a T-Rex, big strong legs...tiny little arms. Hopefully I will start to balance out a bit! I have noticed a difference lately in my rides, so it is helping already.

Anyway, Tuesday Night Ride. TNR is a 40 mile loop out on Old Mission Peninsula that is one of the most competitive rides in the area. Last year it was split into an "A" group and a "B" development group. I rode with the development group, and we had some great mentors out riding with us and giving us racing, riding, and training advice. It was great and I learned a lot. At the end of the season, less people showed up and it was consolidated into one group one night. I was on for awhile, but got dropped kind of quickly and regrouped with what would normally be the "B" group.

So now for this 1st TNR of the season for me, I showed up not sure what to expect. It was a cold night. It was only in the 30's, and I was wishing for some warmer head gear and warmer gloves. I am also battling a sinus infection, so that wasn't helping my motivation for being outside. There were about 20 guys and one other woman showed, Marci, another Lady Hag who I was happy to see! No "B" group tonight, so we started out together at a decent pace and after about 20 minutes my hands warmed up. No one tried to sprint until Smokey Hollow hill, when a few went for it, and the rest followed. I tried to keep up, but my legs felt like bricks and would not move. I could still see some at the back of the group and I worked to try to catch up.  After it was clear I wasn't just going to hop back on, I decided to not completely kill myself and rode to Center Road to regroup with them as they pedaled back from the lighthouse.

I caught back on with them, and felt hopeful; it always seems I get stronger the second half of the ride. We hit the rollers off of Center Road, one of my favorite spots. As we approached the hill before Eimen Road, I vowed I would not get completely dropped again and worked very hard not to. The group split into 2, and I kept up with a group! We had 6 with us, and as we went back on the west side of the peninsula, we did a rotating paceline at a pretty good clip. The first group caught up with us (not sure where they went), but we remained together and went up Wilson Rd. Looking up that hill I thought I would ditch and just keep riding the flat road back to town, but in the end hunkered down and went up, last in line. To my delight, they regrouped again at the top, so I wasn't left behind.

Heading back to town, I was happy even though I couldn't feel my toes anymore. I made it through the first TNR and kind of survived.

No more excuses...

We are in our last week of indoor training and down to one more grueling workout on Thursday. This morning took every ounce of motivation I had to go. I have a sore throat and a stuffed up nose and I was tired. My bed was warm. I looked outside and it was SNOWING. Blech. I pushed through my laziness and got to class, and did the workout. I didn't make excuses for feeling sick, mainly because I am tired of these colds getting in the way of training well. I gave the ride my all. I surprised myself at how hard I could work despite not having all the stars perfectly aligned for a "good" workout. I am proud of myself for not making excuses and wimping out. I did it. A big victory for a regular Tuesday morning. And like the quote says, once we get our butts out there and do the workout, we never regret it! So just go do it. No more excuses!

St. Fatty's Day Bike Race

    

Last Saturday, at the last hour I decided to head up to Gaylord's Marsh Ridge Resort to the St. Fatty's Day Fat Tire Bike race. The race was originally set to be for snow bikes, but with the lack of snow, the race was altered a bit to be more mountain bike friendly. At registration I found I only had one competitor in the race, the lovely Vita Morse, who is usually seen riding around Traverse City on a tandem. As we lined up, we were told we would race for 1.5 hours, the course was about 2 miles long, and we would be told when we had one lap to go. Basically it was a long crit on a mountain bike. It was a mas start, and here is some cool footage that my husband, Russ took of the beginning of the race:

Now, I am thinking, its just Vita and me, no reason to go gunning for anything, right? Well, Vita had other plans as she hit the ground running right out the gate. She was a tough competitor and put the game on right away. I was slow to wake up, and was painfully slow at times going through  the maze of a course that was set up. There were some very tight corners to maneuver, three sand pits, a few short, steep hills, and a few bridges to ride over. It was a fun course in all, and the snow bikes definitely had the advantage in the sand pits. I opted to cyclocross style it through the sand pits by jumping off my bike and running through the sand versus trying to pedal through it. I tried once to pedal through and decided that the amount of energy that it sucked out of my legs wasn't worth it. This is where I finally passed Vita after about 4 laps. She was never far behind me though, which kept pushing me through the end of the race. In the end I did 8 laps, and overall that includes at least 16 hills and 24 sand pits.  That's pretty tough for a two mile lap race!  Thanks to Einstein Cycles, Marsh Ridge, and the volunteers for putting on the event. And thanks to Vita for pushing me out there!

2nd and 1st place finishers!

It hurts so good!

This week was spring break for the kids, and we stayed in town this year. The weather wasn't as nice this week as it has been, but that's what indoor training's for! We are in our final weeks at Brockmiller Elite Endurance, and it seems the closer to the end we get, the more we are getting tortured. The numbers in our class have dwindled, as others were perhaps spring breaking somewhere warm and tropical, but the three of us left were determined and showed up ready for work.

I am not a morning person. That's pretty well established, so just getting to the gym in the morning is a feat in itself. Knowing that I am getting up just to go sit on an indoor trainer and stare at the numbers on the computer isn't very motivating either. I usually stumble in, either just on time or a few minutes late, adjust my bike, get my heart rate monitor on, and will eventually glance over at the dry erase board to see what the workout is. I'm still not usually convinced that I am better off here, rather than tucked into my nice, warm bed. Once I get on my bike and start warming up I eventually wake up and get with the program. Previous grumblings and complaints forgotten, I get focused and make the most of the time I have on the bike. 

On Thursday, it was probably one of the hardest workouts I have done since starting with Lauri over a year ago. Two minutes going as hard as we can go, at over 110 rpm, with two minutes recovery, repeated 9 times. By the 7th or 8th interval, I was starting to feel teary, a little nauseous, and was having a hard time recovering. My legs were turning to jello. I had to dig way down deep, into the reserve that I save for special occasions. Once in awhile, when I am racing hard or really struggling along in a ride, I reflect on how this pain is almost up there with childbirth. I had a home water birth with my daughter, Nora, and at times I am digging into the same reserves I needed to get through that. Since I lived through that experience to be able to tell it again with a smile on my face, then anything else seems attainable. Now, I am being a bit dramatic, because it really wasn't THAT bad. Although, this is exactly what most women say about childbirth after our brains make us forget how bad it really was. At any rate, I suffered appropriately, accomplished the workout, and promptly returned to bed as soon as I could. It literally took me most of the day to recover from this ride, my legs were toast and I avoided the stairs in my home at all costs.

I have to say that I do appreciate how much I have improved since being coached by Lauri. She has helped me grow immensely in this sport, and I know I wouldn't have nearly the same results without her assistance. Thanks Lauri!

Permagrin! :)

Two bad cases of Permagrin.

Anyone spotted in Northern Michigan in the last week, especially those sporting spandex, has been wearing a permagrin. This comes from a week's worth of temperatures in the 70s and 80s, extremely rare in the month of March, as we all know. In March, I normally just have to get through one day at a time, impatiently and miserably waiting for spring. This March I am the lucky recipient of some faint biker tan lines and even a bit of sunburn on my face, and I didn't even have to leave my town to do it. It was an awesome week for road riding. I was able to squeak in a 50 mile ride on Wednesday in Leelanau County with a small group of riders. Seemed too good to be true! More warm riding again on Saturday, when the Lady Hags went out for their first team bike ride of the season. We headed out on the peninsula, a tail wind pushing us right along at a great pace. After the lighthouse and back into town we had quite a headwind, but it was warm and didn't deter any smiles from our faces. On Sunday, I rode in the Vasa-Burg-Vasa ride, a warm up for the Barry-Roubaix next weekend. I am not doing the race, but thought I would take my mountain bike out on the gravel roads and see how I fared. It was pretty awesome! I wasn't sure how my bike would do, as it still hasn't recovered fully from the derailer banging up at the mountain bike park. Part is on order and I just took my chances and headed out with her. She shifted great though, and I was comfortable on my mountain bike among all the cross-bikes. There was a mix of pavement and gravel roads, and some of the gravel roads were really soft and sandy, and I was happy to have some wider tires to get through it. The majority of the riders were male, with 4 Hagerty women riding. When all that testosterone gets together, inevitably the hammer gets brought down. I am happy to report that I held my own, with the help of some confusion of where we were supposed to go at times that slowed things down enough that I was able to get a bit of recovery in right when I needed it the most. Finished strong with a fine splattering of mud on me. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday morning. Afterwards, my son, Gavin, who is 11, is just getting into road riding and I had promised we could go for a ride when I got back. Not to be swayed by my tough morning ride, we headed out and took a nice easy ride on the Leelanau TART trail. Imagine my surprise (and pride!) when we got back later that day and he tells me, "I want to ride my bike a lot more." That's my boy! :)  I hope everyone was able to get some time away from work and responsibilities to enjoy this rare weather. 

fear overcome. mostly.

Chicago Skyline

Last Friday I hit the road with two fellow female cyclists to go to Ray's MTB Park for Women's Weekend in Milwaukee.  We left before sunrise, managed to get through Chicago traffic, as well as various bike rack dilemmas in order to ride with a women's only crowd with some awesome coaches. Once we arrived I realized that I lost that screw cap and spring thingy that holds the spindle and the front tire on, so I went over to the one of the resident bike mechanics and a replacement one was quickly found. Such a little item, so very necessary.  I then got suited up with additional elbow and knee pads, which I was oh so thankful for later. Time to ride around and warm up! Ray's is located inside of an old Menards store, so there is plenty of room for a lot of bike pathways (cross country loops), pump tracks, ladder sections, jump sections, foam pit, etc. As I cruised through the park, and only on cement at this point, I looked around and wondered how I might actually get the courage to do some of the obstacles they had in the park. I passed a simple log obstacle and shuddered a little. Single track has never been a strong suit of mine, which is one reason why I wanted to come. I was hoping to gain some confidence with my technical skills on the bike.

Leigh coaching at  Women's Weekend

Leigh Donavan, 1995 World Mountain Bike Champion, 2001 World Cup Mountain Bike Champion, and 9x National Mountain Bike Champion was there to share her expertise. She has great energy and a great enthusiasm for bringing more women into this sport. She started off the day with a big welcome and an explanation of events. We then split up among the 7 or 8 women coaches on hand by experience levels and spread throughout the park.  I started out with the beginners, but after realizing that yes, I know not to use my front brake when going down a hill among a few other things I thought I would venture out to some of the beginning ladders in the park. 

Each ladder path had a different challenge. Some had large rocks to go over, logs, rock gardens, teeter totters, skinny pieces of wood to balance and ride down, and sharp turns. I rode down a few of the easiest ladder runs without much problem. Then I felt the need to start taking some risks, although I didn't feel I was ready to roll over a big rock that was a foot off the cement floor just yet. I cruised through the cross country track a few times, which is a lot of fun with some quick downhills and uphills and a few obstacles along the way. It brings you up to the second floor where you ride along an elevated platform at times with wooden railings to keep you from falling down below. 

I made my way over to the pump track and observed some women for awhile. This is the first time I had seen a pump track, and it looked like a blast as well as terrifying at the same time. There were a few little hills to "pump" over and then a steep berm that looked nearly vertical to me to ride around to the next set of hills. You aren't supposed to pedal, but just push and pull (pump) your bike in a way over the hills to gain momentum. I watched one woman who had never done it go out but she didn't commit (rule #1 learned ALWAYS COMMIT) and she slipped down the berm since she didn't have enough speed. I watched and watched and grew more anxious at the thought of trying it. The fear was there, and I hated it. Finally I just went for it, heart pounding like crazy. I went over the first hills easy enough, made it to the first berm but had to pedal a few times to keep my speed up. Next set of hills and I start looking straight at the berm and felt myself slowing. The coach on the floor began yelling, "Look ahead! Look ahead!" and I realized what I was doing and forced myself to look down the track and it felt like my bike began to move on its own again. Relief, I made it through the second berm.  (Rule #2 learned LOOK PAST your obstacle). More hills and I pushed it harder to get my speed around the third berm and made sure to look past the berm down the track. Went better! One more berm to go and I landed back on the platform. Whew! I had made it and most of all I had beat my fear. That felt awesome. Knowing that I could do it I tried it a few more times, having more fun and feeling more confident each time. 

Over and over throughout the weekend, this scenario played out. I grew frustrated and angry with myself and the level of fear I had to complete some of these ladder runs. I'm no stranger to crashes, but the thought of crashing on wood and cement was awful.  I would work myself up, then finally go do it, and realize, "Thats it? That wasn't so hard!"  By the end of the first day, I was happy that I got past this and was able to hopefully develop some great new skills to use on the trail. 

Day two I got to ride more and the park was open to the public. No more coaches (although a few were there riding), just a chance to ride and practice the skills I learned. I was more confident, but yet had the biggest crash of the weekend. After going over a rock my tire veered left and hit the platform just right and my front tire got stuck and I endo'd. (Rule #3 learned, HOLD YOUR LINE!). A vision of grace as always, I was sprawled upside down with my bike on top of me and my water bottle dripping on my head. A lounge full of people was directly next to me I managed to push my bike off of me, right myself, and walk away like I meant to do that. I had one other crash on a twisty turny track with a little narrow bridge that I attempted to go over. I slipped off and fell to the right with a pretty loud smack, since my hard shelled knee pad hit the wood, and of course, next to a lounge full of spectators. (Go back to Rule # 2, LOOK PAST your obstacle). With a loud, "I'm OK!", smiling and nodding, I got up and noticed my derailer was bent. Saving me yet again, I meet with the mechanics, who were able to fix it enough to get me by for the rest of the day. Thanks so much to the staff at Ray's, Ray, Leigh and all the coaches, and all the women who came and made this weekend so awesome. Yeah, I fell a few times, and it was stressful, but it was worth the drive, because I was riding a bike! And I can't wait until enough snow melts and trees get cleared out of the way of our bike trails to try out my new skillz. :) 

And if you have nothing better to do, you can watch me conquer the pump track. It is much less dramatic that described above, and this movie must be in slo mo, because I swear I was ripping up that track.