Dog Days of Summer

With the major Michigan road races over until Cherry Roubaix, riding my bike this past month has been a little less exciting and left me wondering what to train for next. It has been difficult to train this last month. I have a shoulder issue that started early on in the season and got steadily worse, culminating in a painful end of the race in Mt. Pleasant. That race was painful in many ways. :) But anyway, I have been trying to get it resolved, but it is slow going and definitely limits my riding. Rides longer than 2 hours are painful on my road bike. I have been going to physical therapy, getting medical massage, and rediscovered how much I love yoga. I also have been spending more time on my mountain bike, since this does not bother my shoulder. I have loved returning to mountain biking and I think last summer at this time I spent all my time on the road bike. I am learning the unmarked singletrack on the VASA through the help of some friends and having a blast! I did start out as a mountain biker, and think I will always be one at heart. There's just nothing like twisting through the woods and seeing the nature. I love flying down the hills-nothing beats it. No worries about traffic going by-just you and your bike and maybe a snake or chipmunk or two crossing your path. My friend Rich said he saw a bear on one of his rides near Kalkaska a few weeks ago. I don't think I want to see that much nature anytime soon though.

Mountain biking bliss aside, I am still trying to keep some road biking skills going and will be doing the Miller BTR Crit this Saturday. I hated crits when I first started out, but I they are growing on me. Its also a race I can do now since they are shorter and I am not bothering my shoulder as long. Next race will be Cherry Roubaix, as I will be heading to the Big Apple next Friday for two weeks. I am excited to see where my bike takes me while there! It's hard to leave Traverse City during the summer, but this should be a great time.

And if your into le Tour, my vote is for Wiggio. And I love to read Jens Voight's blog, Hardly Seriouswith Jens Voight, he is just such an awesome human being. Keep on pedaling!

Wednesday Night Youth Development Ride

Wednesday nights through July kids ages 10 and up can join in a guided road ride with Hagerty Team member Frank Tafelsky and myself and any other Hagerty members that come and volunteer their time for the ride. We meet on the TART trail near the Cherrybend Animal Hospital and ride about 10-20 miles depending on the skill levels of riders. Kids aged 10-13 need to have a parent attend with them for safety reasons. Introductory group riding skills are covered as well as riding safely on the road. Come join us! Email me if you have any questions.

Kolo TC

In case you have missed it, Kolo TC is a great blog for those who like to pedal. Last month, Kolo TC author Cody Sovis did an interview with me-A Few Good Questions with Melissa Ryba. Cody has interviews with Michigan racers periodically on his site as well as the latest local and international racing news, recaps, and bike reviews. Check it out if you haven't already!

Currently I am taking some time away from the bike as I am desperately trying to recover from an ongoing shoulder and back pain issue. I was spotted out on a trail running yesterday, as I try to keep up some fitness while giving my shoulder some time to heal. I appreciate that there are runners out there who really enjoy the sport, but I have to say that in my view, it pales in comparison to flying down a hill on a bike.  Or even slowly crawling up one. Hopefully I will be back soon!

Over the Hill...

Women's Cat 1/2/3 Field in Mt. Pleasant

What a difference a week can make. Living in Michigan can be really annoying some days. The weekend of the West Branch Classic was cold-hovering around 50 degrees, windy, and rainy. The following Sunday the Mt. Pleasant Road Race was a scorcher, sunny, again windy, and in the 90s. I had planned on racing all three of the Mt. Pleasant events, but my sister was in the hospital, and I was taking of my nephews. I didn't feel quite right leaving Russ home with four kids all weekend, so I opted to just ride the road race on Sunday. We had a strong showing of Hagerty women at this race, with 6 of us represented in the Cat 1/2/3 race. Lauri and Susan were doing well in the omnium, so it was our job to protect them and try to get them on the podium. We all worked hard and eventually Bridgett got away in a break with about 6 riders. The race picked up to try to bridge the gap and bring the rest of the racers up to the break, and that is when I was done. I had worked a lot at the front and attacked twice and my legs were not able to attack again. A few others were dropped as well, so I at least had two people to ride back to town with. It was still a very long 20 miles, and I don't think I could have been much more miserable. I drank a bottle of water on the ride down, and had three bottles with me, and it still wasn't enough. I was getting chills from getting dehydrated and the only thing to look at was flat farmland. I really don't know what is worse, riding in cold rain or the hot sun. I made it to the finish though and I came in 12th overall in a field of about 25 and 4th for cat 3 women. Susan made it to the podium with a strong 2nd place finish. 

My biggest victory over the last few weeks and perhaps my whole cycling experience is....I MADE IT UP SMOKEY! With the group. Didn't get dropped. Mark the date, it was June 5 on the fateful Tuesday Night Ride that I made it up Smokey Hollow, to the lighthouse, and all the way out to 7 hills. I did get dropped there, but that is ok. I made it farther than I ever have, and hopefully one of these days I will make the whole ride. But just the fact that I made it that far was so exciting, that I was shouting for joy at the top and probably everyone around me thought I was a bit crazy. It really felt awesome though, and I can't even think of a finish in a race that felt like as big of an accomplishment as this. 

The following Tuesday was windy again and I have had just about enough of riding in the wind, so I finally took the number plate off of my mountain bike from the Mud, Sweat, and Beers race and revisited the woods. It felt great to be back mountain biking again! It's been nice having a few Saturdays at home and relaxing after four busy weekends of racing. Nothing is on the calendar right now for races, I will see what happens in the next few weeks. Thanks for reading!

Against the wind...

If anything, cycling is a very humbling sport. You can feel great and ride strong one day, and fall flat the next day. Heck, you can even feel great on a single ride for a solid 30 minutes, and then find yourself suddenly riding solo, against the wind, wondering why the heck you (I) ever even thought this sport was so great to begin with.

Jane Van Hof, Katie Whidden, and myself at the finish. 

I had a good weekend in Frankenmuth, riding a road race with some really fun women. We made the best of the cold, rainy conditions and had a great race. I enjoyed myself, and took home 3rd in that final race as a Cat 4. For a race recap, click here. Taking the plunge I requested to upgrade to Cat 3 and it was approved. Tuesday Night Ride, I decided to hit the A group again, and see how long I could hang with them. It was very windy, and a very fast pace out to Smokey Hollow. I did well and was in front of the group for the ride out there. When ole Smokey came up, though, I realized I had nothing left to climb that hill at the pace everyone was hitting. Well, this being no stranger to me, I headed out to regroup with them. Shortly after regrouping, I was dropped again on the long, gradual climb just past the lighthouse. I pedaled my ass off trying to catch back on, but knew I had a snowball's chance in hell as I was riding into a headwind. I lost sight of them after the Eimen Rd climb. After they crested the hill, they were long gone. I look around and see no one ahead of me or behind me and I am out pretty far. There is a strong headwind beating down on me and I launched into a huge pity party for myself. I was swearing up a storm and talking out loud to myself. I just did NOT want to ride all the way back home alone. Again. Just as I wiped the last tear away and told myself to harden the f up, I came upon a rider who had a flat tire, and who was just finishing up fixing it. I skidded to a stop, relieved to have at least one person to help ride back, and shortly after two others came up who were behind me. Now we were four, and I was grinning ear to ear. We had a great ride into town, fighting the wind together like cyclists do. 

Onto West Branch Road Race. It was again cold and rainy. I was nervous about doing a 44 mile hilly course as my first Cat 3 race. I had Bridget with me again, who is a great climber. I set out to do what I could to help her. I was feeling preetty good. Then I wasn't. I couldn't climb those hills the way the others were and got dropped at mile 13. There were just ahead, so I didn't give up and tried again to catch back on.  Chasing being too familiar, I decided to pretend for awhile that I had attacked, and was going as hard as I could to win. Not able to fool myself for very long, I kept chasing as I had them in sight until the long climb right before the finish line. They attacked on that climb, and set up to go around for the next loop. As I rolled through, I tossed around the idea if I should quit or do the next lap alone. Nate Shuff from the Hagerty U-25 team was also dropped as he was having knee issues, so we decided to at least rally each other for the last loop. I figured it was at the least a good training ride, if not a good life lesson to finish what you start. So, almost deja-vu like, there I was again, far out without anyone to ride back with in the wind. This time there was no one for me to draft off of though, so I did harden up and battled it out alone. I am proud to say Bridget did awesome and got 1st place. I had plenty of time to think during those 22 miles and was trying to send her winning vibes from where I was. I think it may have worked! Great job Bridget! One other woman dropped out of the race,  and we didn't have a big field to start with, so I ended up with 5th. 

Next weekend is Mt. Pleasant, a nice, flat course. If it isn't rainy or windy I don't think I will know how to ride. 

Its a Love/Hate Thing and WMSR

Race season is here. The season I have been pedaling for all winter and spring. I was looking so forward to it! So why then was I a bundle of nerves with a side of nausea throughout the week before the West Michigan Stage Race? And any race for that matter? As much as I tell myself to “relax, we are just doing this for fun anyway, right?” I can't help but get the jitters before every race. It gets so bad at times that I wonder why I even put myself through this. I need to learn how to “wooshaaa” away the anxiety, as a fellow co-worker puts it. Friday night before the race a few things were weighing on my mind, so I did not sleep well. I was awake at 3:30, out of bed at 5:00 to get ready for the first race of the weekend, the time trial. My jitters were not improved by the fact that I pulled another classic Melissa blunder by forgetting my shoes at home. In Traverse City. Over 2 hours away. The cycling community in Grand Rapids is great, as some hard work went into finding shoes and pedals for me until I could go to the store once they opened and buy a new pair. After all of the effort that was put into finding me shoes I felt obligated to do the best I could. It seems the shoes were good luck, as I placed 6^th in the time trial that morning, out of about 30 women in a cat 3 and 4 combined field. Sweet!

I'm on the inside, taking a "shitty line" as Amy Jenema succinctly put it.  

The crit was scheduled for 1:30 that afternoon, and after buying some new shoes, Bridget and I went out to warm up and scout the course. We had 7 people represented from our team in this race. We tried to figure out how to best use our numbers to our advantage, and set up some strategies. As the race started the pace was fast, and it was so hot and dry out. My mouth dried up almost immediately, and the pace of the race was so intense I couldn't reach for my water bottle. I had never raced a crit before with this many women and I was overwhelmed. I was bouncing off the back of the pack, wondering how the heck I was going to be able to get up front. The course had lots of tight corners and hairpin turns, testing all of our biking skills. It was a fun course. I can say that now...now that its all over. During the race I was gripping my handlebars with all I had, praying to stay rubber side down, and in the pack. At one point I almost asked a teammate how much longer did we have to go, because I hadn't set my computer. I rather not know sometimes, and I think in this case it was better that I didn't. I heard the shout for the last lap and was so happy to know that it would be over soon. The pace picked up even more, and as we rounded one of the corners, a racer ahead me skidded her back tire out and crashed. The rider behind her crashed but I was able to get by. A few more corners to go and at the last corner I gave it all I had. Another 6^th place finish. (Bridget got 3^rd!) I almost caught the racer in front of me, but not quite. I was happy with it, the women in this field were some awesome competition. I sat back and watched the rest of the days races, happy to be done with mine, and with the results so far.

Saturday night we had a great meal with our team, and we rehashed our stories of the day. I was starving after the days events and we had some great food to eat. This is a "love" of racing. Spending time with some great people, talking about something we all love to do, and eating! We headed to bed early, and got ready for the road race the next day.

The road race was ok. I still felt nervous riding with so many people so close together. We tried attacks, they tried attacks. Nothing stuck. The leader of the overall standings, Kaitlyn Patterson, had a bad crash that further rattled my nerves. I don't think I have witnessed a crash that looked as bad as hers. I heard she is ok though, thankfully. In the end, I realized that I made a big mistake by not scouting out the end of the race. I could have taken the clues of the pace that the people were hitting around me, but in my brain it didn't sink in that this was IT. When I looked up and saw that it was, there was too much of a gap to be able to make it up in time. I came in about 18^th. Live and learn! I have to say that I do learn something at every race. My TT time kept me high up in the rankings though, and I ended up 5^th overall for the weekend. The pre-race anxiety is now forgotten, the pain of the work and the race a subtle memory. Now bring on the next race!  

Mud, Sweat, and Beers 2012

First big race of the season and my first race in Expert Class! It was a big day, and after scouting the rumored single track portions earlier in the week, I felt that I was ready as I ever was gonna be. Not a fast single track rider, I realized the race had changed a lot. If it would affect my time was debatable, as they took out two of the biggest hill sections and I don't exactly fly up those either.

We lined up and I was surrounded by a lot of blue. I think all of our Hagerty women were out today in force. Julie Whalen from Grand Rapids area was also there, one of the women that I participated in the Ray's Women's Weekend with. It was great to see her and and the other women out to race!

A few Lady Hags before the race. 

We lined up at the start, and I was behind Susan Vigland and Bridget Widrig, thinking these were perfect tires to be behind.  I was behind them for about 5 seconds! Ha. At the start I watched a lot of women pedal away, and one person next to me hit the fencing and went down. I trudged through and ran up Willpower Hill and got out to the neighborhood and tried to hammer it as hard as I could to make up some time. As I entered the trails again, I was doing ok, and hoping to see someone ahead sometime soon. I then followed behind two men who took a wrong turn. Doubling back, I jumped back on the single track as quick as I could. Amy Jenema was near me at this point, and we headed into the highwaters area of single track, where we saw Lauri Brockmiller down, and who told us we weren't too far behind and to go!

Amy and I rode together for awhile, until going up the gravel hill past the bridge her chain gave her trouble. I had just started recovering a bit from the start and started to feel stronger. I kept going and not too long after Lauri caught up to me. I was surprised to see her as she looked like she was out of the race when I saw her. Down, but definitely not out! After endo'ing her bike, and nursing some good injuries, she was hauling ass. I rode with Lauri for awhile until her chain fell off. Trying to beat the odds, I kept on going. I did ok on a lot of the single track. I am still slow, but I was able to maneuver through it without falling or having to unclip. That in itself is a big improvement for me! There were a lot of guys through the single track right on my wheel, which stresses me out, so I would move over and let them go by.

At some point I got off the single track, and was supposed to take a sharp right, but didn't see the sign and followed the same guy who led me astray the first time down the wrong way. This time it took out a LOT more time. Lauri had seen me going the wrong way and shouted my name and a warning, but I didn't catch it. After heading down a sandy hill and noticing there were no other bike tire tracks, I told the two guys who went down that way we were going the wrong way and I had to walk my bike back up the sandy two track and get back on the route.

Lauri was long gone now, I just did the best I could to hammer it out for the rest of the ride on any of the flats. I was feeling good and pretty strong. Two guys were drafting each other and I caught on their wheel for awhile. Between them having to pass people though and going pretty fast, I didn't hang on as long as I would have liked, but it was fun while it lasted.

After Timber Ridge I saw Amy Jenema again ahead of me. The last few hills coming into Mt. Holiday were killer on my legs, but I pushed through and came ripping down the hill so fast through the sand that I almost couldn't stay on the route. I went through the mud pit at the end and was happy to call it a day! I finished 10th. I feel that I had a good race, despite the few setbacks I had. Racing is a lot about luck, as this race proved for many.

Johanna Schmidt held onto her reign as champion, Susan Vigland came in second, and Julie Whalen came in third!  Special kudos goes to Michele Howard who stopped her race to help John Leach of Einstein Cycling. John had a spill and once again she stuck by the side of someone with a head injury until help arrived. Great job to everyone who raced! For full race results click here.

Kandace Chapple added 1 mile to her race after getting lost in the woods with 20 other racers;
Cassy Stone also did an endo; and I went off route two times. Still smiling at the end!