Arcadia Grit and Gravel 2013

I was originally scheduled for the West Michigan Stage Race the weekend of Arcadia Grit and Gravel, but WMSR was cancelled. That was a really fun race last year, and I was looking forward to the time trial, so I was disappointed. I decided to do a local mountain bike race instead. Arcadia has a beautiful, fast, flowy trail that I have ridden a few times and love. I registered for Elite women, and despite knowing I am not great at single track...there were some miles of gravel road that I thought might be my saving grace, so I thought I would give it a try.

The weather was great the morning of, and there were some great ladies there racing. Sue Stephens and Erin Vicary were there from team GRIT, Lauri Brockmiller my teammate from Hagerty, Chelsea Strate from Einstein, and Kati Krikke from Freewheelers.  All great racers!

We started along with the Elite Men and in the first mile or so we had paved road and the pace was easy. We turned onto the first gravel road that had a few hills off the bat and the race was on. Lauri took off and I saw Sue go as well. I slowly made some progress on the hill and came out on the top behind Lauri, Sue, and Kati. I could see Sue up the road and asked Kati if she wanted to work together to try to catch her. We took turns pulling and I wondered how we could get by her without her catching on. I didn't time it very well, and when we caught her there was a turn with a descent and I thought that it was now or never. I thought since I am bigger I might be able to drop her here but she just tucked in behind me and took the ride down the hill. I think I topped out at 38 mph down that hill. :)

I let Sue work and we eventually caught up to Lauri and rode together for awhile. We had another long, gradual climb on the gravel road and stayed together. We took a left on the flats again and were cruising down the gravel roads pretty fast, with Sue out front. I was third in line when it seemed to me that Sue slammed on her brakes and then Lauri reacted, and then I had less time to react. I didn't realize there was a turn coming up, I didn't hear any call out for it, and from where I was couldn't see any signage. I thought someone's tire may have even blown. Needless to say it was pretty sketchy with an almost crash along with some words. Sue took off on her bike with Lauri following hot on her tail. I entered the single track determined to hang on as long as I could. 

Lauri had a great race and came in second for Hagerty.
Sue and Erin came in 1st and 3rd.

It wasn't long before they were out of sight and I was riding alone. Some expert men started coming through, then Kati Krikke, and my timing was off again and I wasn't riding smooth. I started pulling over to let others go by- pretty much the entire race. The woods were beautiful with Trillium in bloom, but all I felt was irritation and frustration. One by one all of the women passed me. After the 10 miles of single track I finally emptied out into the gravel roads again and took off. I was able to take back one position before the finish. 

What I did like about this race was that it was smaller and more intimate than a lot of races I have done. Sitting and enjoying a beer after with lots of friends from Traverse City was great. You can't get a much more beautiful venue than Arcadia either. 

It has been said Nora is better at
 singletrack than me. Could be true!

I decided I need to get a lot better riding single track before I race it again. We went back to Arcadia today to ride as a family, and to enjoy the trillium at a slower pace. Gavin and Russ went off on their own, and I rode with Nora on the short Chestnut Loop. Nora is a force, and I am sure she is going to be a great rider someday!

Thanks to Endoman Productions for a great race!

The Great Escape- NC 2013

I had a great week in North Carolina mountain biking with my friend, Kim Thomas. While riding some pretty cool trails I would think about what I might write about in my blog, only to come back each night so exhausted that I was about as functional as a toddler past bedtime. Finally, after settling back into the routine at home, I have some time to blog about it. It's impossible to cover all the fun I had, but here are some things I learned whilst there.

Start of Women's Tandem Road Race

1. Para-lympians are very awesome people. I watched the UCI Para Cycling Open in Greenville, South Carolina (great recap here) with Kim and met some athletes that made a lasting impression on me. The race is open to anyone with defined disabilities such as blind or visually impaired, cerebral palsy, amputees, and wheelchair athletes. Some rode tandems as a stoker, handcycles which they propelled with their arms, or adapted bicycles which would allow them to shift and brake with one hand. The athletes competed against others who have the same type of disability. I was humbled by their level of commitment and I hope someday that I have half of the talent and ability that they have. The World Championships are happening on the same course next year, which will be some awesome racing to watch. Kudos to Mackenzie Woodring who pilots a tandem and had an awesome road race-she was on a solo break and working with her stoker, Kara for almost half of the race on a windy, technical course. It was impressive to watch!

2. You can have too much downhill. Kim was an awesome guide, she had ridden many of the trails before and had maps, food, water, and a camelpack that produced almost anything you

Kim Thomas, Guide Extraordinaire

needed. She is part Dora the Explorer, part Harry Potter. One run that sticks out is the Greens Lick descent at Bent Creek that she promised was a blast. Greens Lick was an almost 2 mile descent over rock gardens, drops, roots, gravel, and berms. I love speed, but I rode this down with my brakes on the whole time, and by the end my hands and feet were killing me from standing, holding on with a death grip, and muscling through this stuff. Did we do it again? You bet we did. :) My average speed was about 12 mph, and I felt like I was just FLYING down this hill. The top woman on Strava did it at 16 mph, the top guy 22. That is insane. 

3. Don't get in Kim's way when she is hungry. We spent more time in the saddle this week than I ever have in my life, about 5-6 hours a day. Strava reports that I did about 20,000 feet of climbing and almost 200 miles of trails. After one six hour day, Kim proclaimed that she is starving, and we stopped at a great authentic Mexican place for dinner. Two fisted took on a new meaning as I watched Kim out of the corner of my eye rake in the tortilla chips.  I didn't dare reach in for one until we (she) was on our second basket. Lots of riding does make food taste SO good though, doesn't it?

4. Always, always, always protect your phone. I wish I had a picture to demonstrate this spectacular fall-but other matters pressed us to act quickly and not take a picture. That is, my phone was under water. There was a small creek with some large stones placed across it as a bridge. The stones were not smoothly placed, and there was a gap of about 5 inches between the middle of them. Kim advised me to go through the middle of the gap. This is probably one of my

This is not the small creek I fell in-this is a big river
that I did NOT fall in. Really.

bigger fears- squeezing my tires through things like this, and instead of looking ahead like I am supposed too, I stared right at the gap in the rocks and so my tire hit the side of the rock and did not roll through, toppling me over to the right, and upside down into a creek. My bike was on top of me, and as I was laughing and calling for Kim's help to pull my bike off of me I was worried about my phone since I had just replaced it under warranty. I am pretty attached to my phone, and it did get wet, but it dried out and functioned fine, thankfully! I made sure to wrap it in plastic thereafter. There might not be a large body of water for miles, but leave it to me to fall into a tiny creek in the middle of nowhere. I got away with just some bruises on my back, but that fall did make me more wary when I was riding.

5. XX1 is shifting for dummies, perfect for me. This is the first go with the new 1x11 drivetrain, and it was awesome. The first day out there was some cable stretching, but once it was adjusted it ran perfectly. I was able to crawl up climbs with ease as well as put the speed on when I needed. Didn't have to worry about cross-chain issues, and let me think about other things like what line to take more and less about what gear to ride in.

Rat Snake!

6. The mountains are full of life.  After a looooong, dreary winter, it was great to see green grass, green leaves, flowering bushes, butterflies...anything with life. Sometimes we saw a little TOO
much life, as there was a 3 foot black rat snake on the trail one day. Kim was riding ahead going down a hill and was screaming something I couldn't make out. I slowed down though, and came up on this big ass snake on the trail. I stopped because I didn't know if it would lunge up and bite me as I went by, and I threw a stick at it to get it to move off the trail. It didn't budge. I got off my bike and  began to move into the woods and go around and then he decided to move the other way. He was moving pretty slowly and didn't seem to care too much about me, so that was good! On our last day we rode some pretty technical trails in Pisgah, which felt more remote and it was the first time I wondered about bears...luckily we did not run across any.

Willow TT, thanks to Scott Kroske for the photo!

7. There's always time to squeeze in one more race. As much as I hated to leave the warm weather and mountains, I had heard weather up north was getting better, so that made it easier. I also really missed my family and needed to get back to work so it was time to head back. But first, on Saturday there was the Willow Time Trial, the first Michigan Bicycling Racing Association Series race. I stopped on the drive back with Kim and she was going to ride tandem with Mackenzie. I was worried about how my legs would do after the long week of riding and then sitting in the car for 12 hours, but turns out they were fine as I got first in my age group, second overall woman. Getting on a TT bike after mountain biking all week felt pretty weird! But I have to say I love the TT races. It is awesome to go so fast on a bike. I think I'm hooked!

8. You can not ride your bike too much! Just had to say again that I had a great time, it was one of my best vacations ever. Thanks again to Kim who invited me and showed me some great trails. She is one non-stop girl that I could barely keep up with, on and off the bike. I can't wait to go back!

XX1. Will it be worth it?

I just got a major upgrade on my mountain bike and will be running a 1x11 set up this year. If you look closely it looks like it it's glowing, and it should be. It was raining buckets when I picked it up from Einstein cycles and there is still snow on the trails so I haven't had a chance to ride it yet. I don't know if I can handle getting it dirty. In 10 days I'm heading to North Carolina to ride some trails, really excited to try her out!

Viva Las Vegas!

Russ and I took a rare 4 day weekend together and headed to Vegas (Yea!) and I was able to fit some biking in while we were there. I looked up Bicycling.com's recommendations for tours in Las Vegas and made a reservation online with McGhie's Ski, Bike, and Board for a mountain bike ride a few days before we were scheduled to leave Michigan. Within an hour a bike tour guide, Amy Farnsworth, called me to check and see what kind of ride we were looking for. I gave her some info on Russ and I and we were set to ride on Saturday. As luck would have it, it rained Saturday, but Amy was very accomodating and we rescheduled for Sunday. 

Amy, Tour Guide Extraordinaire

Amy picked us up from our hotel and took us out to their rental shop which is conveniently located by the Blue Diamond trailhead. This was the first time I had left the strip and it was nice to see the mountains and terrain of Nevada on the drive there. It was a nice break after all the insanity on the strip! Chris Tuma was in the shop and had our bikes ready for us and told us his fascinating theory of the "spirograph". He also had homemade espresso and homemade bread ready for us to eat. Talk about some great hospitality!

Chris Tuma, Happy Guy

The weather was better than on Saturday, but it was very windy, with gusts of about 30 mph at least. In the mountains where we were there wasn't a lot of shelter from the wind, like we have in the woods here. It was also a tad colder than I had anticipated, around high 50's low 60's and all I had was a short sleeve jersey and arm warmers. As we were getting on our bikes and ready to head out, I shivered and wondered if I would warm up enough on the ride. Amy then literally offered the shirt off her back, her base layer, to me. I accepted it gratefully, and it made a huge difference since the wind wasn't cutting through my clothes so much.

Finally we were ready and we headed out. It took a few minutes for me to get used to the bike, and the trail felt really soft and unstable to me. I struggled a little up the first hill getting used to the trail, the bike, and the conditions. Amy did a great job of prepping us as we came across some obstacles and coached us right through them. There was a large rock, about 4 feet tall that we stopped at and she showed us how to ride over it. The old fear started to creep in as I wondered if I could really do it. I was already feeling shaky on this new terrain, and that rock looked huge. Russ also encouraged me and told me I could do it. After watching them both go over it, I went for it. I know that once you go, you have to commit and can't change your mind. I kept up my speed and pretty much just rolled over it like Amy said I would. With a smile on my face I was ready to see what else was out there.

There were a few areas where we were very exposed to the wind, and as I came up a hill, the wind rushed down it and almost pushed me off of my bike. I waited at the top of the hill for Russ and Amy for a few minutes and the wind was just insane. Russ was struggling and I asked him if he was ok- he said was having problems with the wind because he has holes in his eardrums and the pain of the wind in his ears was making him nauseous. Super Amy to the rescue again- in her handy dandy backpack she had a first aid kit with some scissors and gauze and Russ packed his ears with the gauze to block the wind. We started riding again and Russ felt immediately better and started flying past us on sections-he just couldn't contain his happiness.

Eventually I got used to all of the rocks and remembered how to roll through, look ahead, and ride with soft arms. I was enjoying myself even though we were often fighting through some wind, but Amy took us through the headwind first so that we could have a tailwind on the way back. She promised us the work would be worth it as she was going to take us on some of her favorite trails, and that we would even forget about the wind by the time we were done.  We soon came up on them, and they were hard packed dirt that just flowed through the desert. It was a blast! We came up on some roller's and some technical downhills with larger rocks, and I was thrilled that I went through them without a hitch. Amy was a fantastic coach, and did a lot to help my confidence on the bike. We finished up our ride and headed back to the shop. We were out about two hours. Between the wind, and a nagging naseous feeling I had in my own stomach, I was ready to be back. Russ said he could have rode all day.

Back in the shop we were again greeted with gatorade, espresso, and homemade bread by a smiling Chris. A 12 year old volunteer who likes to hang around the shop took our bikes and I watched him ride my bike up the 5 cement steps to the shop. Impressive. I took some gatorade, but didn't feel I could eat anything. Amy took us back to our hotel, after stopping by the main McGhies shop, which was awesome, but I was feeling increasingly worse. Turns out I had a stomach virus, and my daughter was struggling with the same thing back at home with Heather, her Godmother who was watching our kids for us. Last day in Vegas was not a whole lotta fun, but I was at least able to fly home ok.

I think it goes a long way to say that I was able to have a great time on my bike despite high winds, and coming down with a pretty nasty virus. It was absolutely beautiful there, which you can see in the pictures. Hard to not enjoy that! Amy also did everything she could to make sure we had fun and that we were taken care of. She is a great human being (as well as photographer, she took all of these pictures!) and I am happy to have made another cycling friend in a new town. The whole experience with McGhie's was seamless, and made getting out to ride on vacation so easy. I will definitely be looking them up again on our next trip out to Vegas! Hopefully next time I will be a little more lucky in weather, health, and in the casinos.


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And that's a wrap....Season 2012

Iceman is over, marking the end of another cycling season for me.  Yes, there was snow this year, making it a true Iceman. I get more nervous for this race more than any other. Not sure why, is it the thousands of people? Is it that it's right out our back door? Not sure, but I think all week prior to the race I had the jitters, was on edge, and probably just unbearable to be around.

The kids and I with Georgia Gould

The Iceman Expo is always fun. I went to pick up my packet with the kids and was excited to meet a couple of the pro's- Georgia Gould (Olympic Bronze 2012) and Emily Batty. I spoke with Georgia for awhile (yeah, we're on a first name basis) and thought that she was down to earth, funny, and just awesome. It really made my day. I spent the rest of the day delivering the kids to friends' houses for the night (thanks Kati and Maria!), cleaning my bike, and packing for race day. All night I dreamed about racing. Didn't make for a very restful night

 of sleep.

Emily signing a poster for Nora

At about 7:15 a.m. Russ and I headed to Kalkaska and it was snowing heavily in TC. At this point I was freaking out as I became even more anxious about the race. "Why do I do this??? Why are we racing in the snow??? This is stupid!! It is freezing out! I just want to go home and go back to bed!" Russ is so used to this by now he doesn't even listen. Once we got to Kalkaska and started preparing, it gave me something to do and less time to think about being nervous. Once I got on my bike and started warming up it helped even more. 

Time went by quickly and it was time to line up. I was with Bridgett Widrig from Hagerty and Julie Whalen was also in our wave. We went off hard, but I lost some position due to some hesitancy on my part and lost some spots going into the trail. On our first hill, my shoe came unclipped and I lost more positions. Julie and Bridgett were then ahead of me. I then passed Bridgett on the side of the trail and asked if she was ok-she said she was and she caught back up to me pretty quickly. Bridget then started picking people off pretty aggressively. She really helped me out here, because I tend to just stay on the wheel ahead of me instead of moving on once I realize they aren't going the speed I need to be going. I started lagging a little, but I always had Bridgett in my sight until we entered the new single track. I had heard post race that there were some major back ups through this, but although it was very slow, we were still moving through it. I saw Julie about 30 seconds to a minute ahead of me when we came out, and tried to catch her. She is just as strong as I am on the flats though (if not stronger, go Julie!), so there was no catching her. I didn't see Bridgett anywhere. 

Coming into the finish

When I came onto the VASA, I was tired, but knew this is my best section yet. I went flying down the first gravel road, making good time and looking forward to getting this over with and going down some of my favorite hills. My chain started acting up about now, getting stuck at random times when I was usually in my lower chain ring. In the hardwood section of the trail, one of my favorites, I was able to look up and around to notice the scenery. The snow was sticking to all of the trees, and everything was white except for the dark ribbon of trail. I thought, very pretty...too bad I really can't care less about it right now. Going up a long, gradual hill my chain came to a halt again and I had to get off and run up the rest of the way. It kept happening over and over again and it was very frustrating. I knew I didn't have any time to lose and here it was gettin' lost. Conditions due to the snow were wet and mud was sticking to my drive train. There were a few riders that I kept passing to only have my chain lock up when I was climbing a hill in front of them. They were very nice and understanding and didn't give me any grief about it thankfully. 

When it was 4K to go I realized I had some juice left so I went as full out as I could go, but there were a lot more riders on the trail.  I was hesitant to start passing aggressively, mainly because this was about where I crashed last year. That was definitely on my mind as I loudly proclaimed that I was "passing on your left!" to all riders this year. Maybe a bit too loudly, but hey, rather be safe than sorry, right? Coming into the finishing chute, there were quite a few guys chugging along when I needed to be ripping it up. I got held up by one man for a few seconds as he navigated a small down hill. It was impossible to be patient at this point. I went through the finish knowing I had a time of about 2:16 on my Garmin. A little disappointing, I had hoped to do a bit better but the glitch with the drivetrain put a kink in things. 

Kathy Everts (5th), Melissa Ryba (3rd),
and Jan Van Hof (2nd)

After changing, eating some delicious white chicken chili, and chatting with some other racing friends, I went to check out the results. Bridgett had nailed our age group with a time of 2:10, and I saw that I had missed 2nd place by 6 seconds to Jane Van Hof. Man, that hurt! 6 seconds. I could think of 100 different ways I could have made that time up over the past two hours. That is the hard thing about Iceman though, it is a time trial, and unless you are racing pro-you don't know how you are doing against your competition until the end. But, still a podium! I'll take it!

I spent the afternoon hanging out, waiting for Russ to come in and looking forward to the pro race.  Russ had a tough race as he started in wave 43 and was in the back-logged trails. He went renegade and tried to cut through the woods to go around and had people screaming at him that there was a line he was supposed to be in and he should wait like everyone else. Doesn't sound much like a race at that point to me, and I am happy I wasn't in that mess. 

Now, watching the pro's come in was the most exciting thing that I did all day. It was awesome to be a part of the energy of the crowd and cheer them on. The men came in first, and Jordan Wakely was right up there with them, coming in a close 7th place with men who just competed in the Olympics. Just awesome! Nothing against the guys, but I was really looking forward to the women's race and Georgia (my new BFF) came cruising in ahead of them all, with a 1-2 minute lead. Next came Heather Irmiger, Emily Batty, and Mackenzie Woodring battling out the next 3 spots. I went crazy when I saw Mackenzie up there with them! She came in 4th, missing 3rd by half a wheel. Such an incredible race! I am so proud of all our local women who raced, they definitely held their own. 

Me, Georgia, and Rich (arch nemesis/riding partner)

Despite being pretty tired, that night we went out to the Bell's after party at the State Street Grill and Georgia (mi amiga) was there. I stalked her We all hung out, I heard her recap her race, and was just absolutely geeked. Talking bikes and racing, drinking beer, and knowing I had a good season made for a very nice night. The next day, I realized that, yes, indeed I did give that race about all I had because I could hardly move. Literally. 

Can't wait til next year! (Georgia did say she would be back!) 

Iceman Cometh. Let's get this over with.

Evidence that I finished...2011

After lots of chilly out and backs to Kalkaska testing the Iceman course, races in cold, wet, and windy weather, and a long season of bike racing, I am ready to call it a season. It's not so much that I am tired of riding my bike, but rather the 30 minutes of deciding what I should wear on each ride to stay warm, or warm but not too warm. It is rare that I get the combination just right. I love the days that I can just put on my jersey and shorts and head out the door. Those days are long gone now, and unless I can find a way to get away this winter, it will be a long time until they are back. I am not a cross country skier, so I am not looking forward to snow in any way this winter.

Iceman is but a few days away, and although the start is always too cold for my blood, once we get going it is a fun race. This will be my third year racing and I am hoping for my best race yet. Last year I had a great race...right up until I crashed and landed on my head. I will try to recall the events the best I can...

I was feeling great, probably the best I had felt in any race all year and was making awesome time, and had but a few miles left to go. I was passing a line of people in a narrow section, and my mistake was not calling out along the way that I was passing. A rider moved out to pass and I saw his handlebars hit mine. The thought "Crap, I'm going down" crossed my mind and that is about all I remember from that point on. I was knocked out cold, and Shane Vandekerkoff stopped to help. I came to, and didn't know where I was. I guess I sat there for about 5 minutes with Shane, then got up and took off on my bike.

There are a few images of events that I remember from this point, and one was that at the time I couldn't remember anything about the race previous to that moment. I have to say I was happy when I got on my bike that I saw I was almost done! Nothing like "waking up" at the end of a race. Another moment was passing someone that I had already passed. That freaked me out and clued me in that something not quite right going on. I remember then crossing the finish line and someone asking me if I was ok. I think I answered that I didn't really know what just happened. I didn't really know how bad it was until Gary Chastain came to me after the race and told me Shane had talked to him and said I had a bad crash. I asked Gary if Shane had seen it. Gary looked at me like I was crazy and told me Shane had stopped to help me. Russ then promptly took me to the hospital, and we found that I had a concussion, (no surprise) but was otherwise ok.

Needless to say, I am hoping for a great, crash free race this year. Iceman is one of the biggest races of the year for me, and it is just awesome that so many Pro's come out to race it.  It's a goal for me to race the pro category next year. This year I'll be starting in wave 10, my best wave yet. Updates on my race will be posted automatically to my facebook page, or you can get them texted to you. Hopefully this Iceman is one that is so boring that I don't know what to write about. Good luck to all racing the Iceman this weekend!

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.