Tour of Elk Grove, Prologue TT

I have had a great summer of racing. So much racing that I have let the yard go, the dog has been ignored, and I am losing my gourmet cooking skills. But it's only summer for about two weeks in Michigan so I need to race and ride while I can! I recently made the plunge and requested an upgrade so I am now a Category 2 racer. This enabled me to race Tour of Elk Grove, which my friend Sarah encouraged me to try as well as my coach Chris Fisher. Nothing like just jumping right in! It is a very prestigious race where the top women's teams and pro's come to duke it out and it has a huge payout for the winners. I was just hoping at best to hang with a very large group of the best girls in the country that are racing now.

I was terrified as well as completely excited to go and try this out. A new, huge challenge. There are three races in this stage race, the Prologue TT, and two circuit races, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. I also signed up for the women's amateur open crit on Saturday morning. Why the heck not, right? Get as many races in a weekend that I can.

I left in the early hours and headed down for the TT at 4:30 Chicago time. Which I forgot is 5:30 our time. I got there pretty early, somehow missed that this being a big deal and a big race that there is a meeting that everyone is supposed to attend and pick up their numbers. I panicked as I was not on the start list, but was able to get it worked out in time, and started at 4:29. I would be the first to go off. I realized I have a lot to learn but Sarah was there to help.

The time trial is only 4.5 miles, since it is a prologue, which is about 10 minutes of riding as hard as you are physically able. I brought my bike in to check it in and make sure it met USA cycling rules, and the seat was too far forward and tilted up too high. Made some adjustments and I was good to go. I sat in the staging area, hoping my legs would feel ok. I had been battling a nasty cold that still was lingering and I had not been on my bike as much as I would have liked going into this. I was the most hopeful about this race of any though, as I have been doing well this year at time trials.

It was something to see the women from Pro-Optum and Tibco walking around, with their team cars and support team. Must be awesome to have that support! Myself, I parked on a side street, got dressed in my van, and warmed up with Sarah by my side on our trainers. It was nice to have company at least!

Anyway, I got on the ramp, they counted down and I was off. It was a nice, flat course and I just gave it all I had. Maybe a little too much at the beginning, because my legs were screaming when I was about 3 minutes in and when I could have been going over 30 mph on a slight downhill with a tailwind I could barely muster high 20s. I took a right turn, and my legs were adapting and I was able to tell myself to push my legs harder and they responded. 180 degree turn, into a headwind, and I buckled down and started feeling better. I had two more turns, and came into the finish, mouth completely dried out, swung off the course, and lost my lunch. A father and son walked by and looked a little disturbed, but hey, these things are normal if you are racing. It ain't always pretty.

Sarah finished up, and we headed off to get some rest. Later I saw the results and I was 50th out of 64 women, with a time of 10:50, 1:31 behind Alison Powers who won, average speed 24.5 mph. I was pleased with that, but as always....thinking I could have done just a bit better. Here are the results. And here is my Strava of the ride.

I don't have many pictures as I was here with Sarah, who was also racing and my phone battery died on Friday. But here is a great picture of me with Meredith Miller, who was racing her retirement race, it was a great honor to be with her this weekend! I will have more posts about the later, more exciting races that happened this weekend. It was an awesome experience that I will remember forever.

Peak to Peak 2012

There was a time, long ago, when a high school friend of mine, Becky, lived on a dairy farm.  One weekend when I spent the night at her house, she warned me that I probably shouldn't come because they had to "pick up rocks" the next day. She gave me the option of just waiting for her while they worked, but I was desperate for money, and I thought-how hard can it be to pick up rocks out of a field? We headed out early the next morning, and as her dad drove a tractor with a trailer behind it, the kids followed, picking up larger rocks from the field and throwing them in. It was hot and windy (picture a dust storm complete with tumbleweeds), and the field was a lot larger than I imagined. I had pictured a large garden, this was larger than several football fields (that's how I remember it anyway). My shoes filled with dirt and I wasn't sure if it was better to keep wearing them or take them off. I changed my mind several times, thoroughly irritating Becky's dad, since I was slowing down the process by messing around with my shoes. By the end of that eternal day I was covered in dirt from head to toe- even my teeth had dirt in them. I earned $5. Becky's dad called it a "good experience" for me, which, of course is "priceless". I didn't think there was any way I could ever get much dirtier than I did that day.

Then there was the Peak to Peak Mountain Bike Race, 2012. The weather was calling for rain early in the week, and it was the kind of forecast that held little hope for change. Sure enough, day of the race was about 40 degrees and about 12:00 the drizzle turned into a solid rain that downpoured at times. My race began at 12:30. I was about to begin my first Elite/Pro race, making a big jump up from Sport last year. This was my 4th year doing P2P, and I wanted to give the Elite class a good try. We huddled around, waiting impatiently for the race to start in the rain. There were issues with the number plates. They were made of cardboard and were disintegrating and falling off of the bikes, so we were told to remember our numbers and shout them as we crossed the line if they fell off.

Finally, the Elite Men and Women lined up, and we were off! Like a rocket, everyone took off. I was a little stunned at that start. I heard gears grinding next to me, and it kind of snapped me out of it and I kicked in, and tried to catch up to the pack. Heading into the golf course, I heard someone come up next to me and it was Johanna Schmidt. I caught up to Amanda Schaap and passed heading into the course. Rain was pelting down, and the course was very slick. I tried my best to take a good line and keep my speed up. Mud was flying onto my face, and it was so hard to see anything. We caught up to Amanda Ryan a few miles in and we rode together for awhile. I was surprised to not see Johanna with us, and assumed she was having more bike problems.

Thanks to Jody Hofstra for the great pictures!

The first real climb of the day came up, the steep single track that is pretty tricky, and I was able to get some distance from Amanda Schaap here. Heading into the next big climb up the back of the ski hill, I went as hard as I could and got some distance from Amanda Ryan. I spotted Erin Vicary not too far ahead of me. My favorite part of the course is the round of roller coaster single track at the top of the ski hill, and it was a whole new trail with it as slick as it was. My bike was thoroughly covered in mud, brakes making a grinding sound the entire time, each pedal stroke an effort. I made it through the single track, dodging a few who went down, and came out on the ski hill. Heading down as fast I could I came through the start/finish area.

Cody Sovis had caught up to me and I tried to catch his wheel, but I couldn't get my bike to shift back up to the big ring. Heading back into the trail, I was amazed to see how much worse it was this time around. The rain was still falling, the wind was picking up, and I still couldn't see. I took my glasses off because they were so dirty, just to have dirt fly right into my eyes. Blinking it away I would ride a bit longer, before I resorted to putting them back on. They promptly gunked right up again and trying to wipe them clean with an equally dirty, wet glove was not helping. Meanwhile, the trail was completely under water, or rutted out with wet, slick mud. I caught up with Erin, who told me she didn't have any brakes and let me go down a hill before her. My mind had to really just focus on pedaling to be able to keep going. I was steadily getting colder and my bike was getting louder, and I wondered how this could keep going on for another lap. Erin caught up to me and passed me, and I headed into the last single track climb and came again onto the climb up the back of the ski hill. Kim Thomas was out on the hill, and let me know that this was to be our final lap. It was the best news I have ever heard and gave me some spark to finish that last climb. I guess many had dropped out of the first lap because their brakes or bikes were failing. I headed into the finish relieved that it was over and happy to have finished. I came in 4th overall that day. Mackenzie Woodring came in 1st, Sue Stephens 2nd, Erin Vicary 3rd, and Amanda Schaap 5th.


The local ski club offered some help by way of having a hose of warm water there, originally intended for cleaning off bikes as a fundraiser. They ended up also cleaning up riders, and I am grateful that I was able to get hosed off before changing. They also did a fantastic job of cleaning my bike. I was so grateful not to have that chore to take care of when I got home! Dry clothes and some hot chili did a lot to warm me up again. It was quite a race, and I can hear Becky's dad  nodding and telling me that it was a "good experience." At least this time I made more than $5.

As always, it was great to see all the racers out there and to catch up with those from around the state. Thanks to P2P for putting on a great race, and to all of the volunteers and spectators who also endured that weather to support a bike race.

Crybaby Classic 2012

I headed up to Harbor Springs Friday night with my daughter Nora and we stayed with my sis-in-law, Victoria Ryba Holt, who lives just down the road from Nubs Nob. Nora got to hang out with her cousins while I rode my bike, so we were both happy. I registered Friday night and enjoyed the spaghetti dinner, which had some really good veggie lasagna and chocolate chip cookies. I could go for some of that lasagna right now....Anyway, Saturday morning I still got up before the sun to start the pre-race rituals. The race had a pretty early start at 9:10. I slipped away before anyone was even awake. Such slackers. :)

It was a gorgeous day. The sun was shining, it was cool but not too cold. There were lots of people from Traverse City racing that day so it was fun to see everyone in the parking lot getting ready for the race. I put my headphones on and warmed up, trying to get rid of some the jitters. Before I knew it, it was time to line up. We had 7 women in the Expert field, and all of them are great riders. I was so nervous to compete against them! No matter what though, racing 3 laps with about 1200 feet of climbing per lap was going to be good for me, right? I also was a part of the team competition, the Kolo TC Gentlemen's Club (I didn't pick the name) so I knew I had to try as hard as I could to at least dominate on one lap. The competition took the best lap time of all the riders on the team. 

The gun went off, and I went as fast as I could out of the gate. I hit the trail and attacked on the first climb, and when I looked back I didn't see anyone. Not quite believing that this could be true, I kept going as hard as I could, sure that the whole group would over take me at any minute. Kati Krikke did find me pretty quickly, and we rode together for awhile. When the Crybaby Climb came up, I knuckled down and made it up, losing Kati for awhile. I got to the single track first, but not before too long I heard Kati behind me. Not too much longer after that I heard the sound of another rider joining us. Whenever we came out into the open, I would go as hard as I could. I was completely freaking out, and in unfamiliar territory to actually be out in front! I was sure that Kati would fly by me at any minute and leave me in the dust. At the top of the hill, right before the chute (a fast, steep downhill singletrack that spills out onto the ski hill), Patty Devost, our third rider, tried to pass. I attacked again and made it to the chute first, which is such a blast to go down. I cruised as fast as I could go through the start/finish area and hit the trail again. I was alone for a minute or two and then Patty caught back up with me. We were together until the Crybaby Climb, where she passed me. My legs couldn't grind up the hill again so she gained some time there and she is also pretty fast on the singletrack. 

I kept up a good pace, but slowed down a lot from the first lap. After I lost sight of Patty I occasionally saw some of the women elite riders going past, but other than that it was the men racing. Knowing I was in a solid second, I just tried to maintain my pace. Knowing that there was another lap ahead was very intimidating at times, and I tried hard to keep focusing on that moment, and not get worked up about what was ahead. 

Going into the third lap, my legs were getting tired, but I told myself that I only had four more miles of climbing, and then it would just be single track after that. Once I got to the single track I told myself I just needed to get to the chute. The closer I got to the chute, the faster I started racing again, happy to know that I had made it and it would soon be over!

I went through the chute one more time, and it was all just down hill from there. At the top of the ski hill I noticed my vision was getting blurry, which kind of freaked me out, but luckily there weren't any obstacles I needed to go around. I made it through the finish and had to stand there a minute and recover before I went anywhere else. 

I finished 2nd in women's Expert, with a time of 2 hours 34 minutes and Kolo TC Gent's Club also won the team competition. It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon and I enjoyed a beer while soaking up the sun and the satisfaction that I had a great ride that day. Thanks again to Vicky Holt who watched Nora and kept her well entertained while I was pushing the pedals. 

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.