The Competitive Gene

Last Friday my son, Gavin, had a swim meet. He is 12, and every time he competes in anything he gets really worked up and anxious. We only do the low key home meets, as we really encourage him to do this more for exercise and fun than competition. Well, try telling that to someone who is competitive and they can't even comprehend the idea. The last home meet he did not "win" any of his events, and he paced around unhappy and irritable all night between events and really kind of drove me crazy. I mean, really, where does he get this from?  I always model calm, cool behavior at all my races. Ha!

I was kind of dreading the meet because I was expecting a repeat from last time, and I debated if I should not let him compete again or let him go and work through this. It is hard for me as a mom to watch him struggle and get upset when he doesn't do as well as he wants to. I just want to protect him from the world. In the end, I left it up to him and he wanted to go. I encouraged him to sign up for a 200 meter freestyle to see how he did on the longer endurance races and it was his first event of the night. He had high hopes and as the race went on he struggled more and more and I could see he was getting tired. He got out of the pool at second to last, a good lap behind the first place person. I could see the tears forming, the slumped shoulders, the nervous hands and I quickly went over and talked to him. He said it was hard, and he was tired but he thought that he could do better at the 50 meter events. I congratulated him for finishing this one up. A little while later he said with the eye of the tiger look in his eye..."If I just win one, then this whole night will have been worth it." I asked him, "what happens if you don't win?" He lets out a big melodramatic sigh, "well that will just be too bad then."

Great.

Now I am getting ramped up and worried about the pressure he is putting himself under. Outwardly I fake a positive attitude, tell him to visualize himself winning and to just try his best. His next event comes up, the 50 freestyle. I watch apprehensively as he starts and he comes in third. Better than last race, but not the win he was hoping for. He looks a bit more upbeat, and says "I think the 50 backstroke is going to be it."

Hmmm. I mean, I know he can do it, but he hasn't ever yet. I don't know if he is going to break through this or come home sad again at this point. I gave him a cookie, told him to think positive and crossed my fingers.

They lined up and jumped off the blocks. Down the first lap he was about third, and then coming back he kicked it in and passed one person and then came even with the next. As they approached the finish he crept out in front and I was jumping and screaming "GOOOOO GAVIIIN!!!" and he won. He came out of the pool with a smug grin and quickly went over to the table of little prizes they get when they win. He picked out a little gummy hand that slaps and sticks to things which he lost before he even got home. But the smile stayed all night.

So, I guess the night was worth it. It was awesome to see him achieve what he set out to do. And I am glad that he finally got to feel that sweet feeling of victory after lots of hard work. Good job Gavin.

Fat Tuesday Fat Bike Race

I am laying here, after this event, my entire body sore and I am wondering how to describe this race. People ask, "did you have fun?" Hmm. Did I? Not sure yet. Do I want to run out and do a race like this again? Hmmm, not sure yet. Did I survive a long two hour mental battle of wanting to call it quits, lots of slippery falls, a lot of frustration and still stay determined to not give up? Yes I did!

I am stuck in the doldrums of winter and starting to hate riding my bike on a trainer to the point where I would rather clean a house, shovel snow, pick up dog shit, or just about anything to avoid going down into the basement and get on that bike. What is one way to beat the winter blues? Buy new bike stuff...which led me to Einstein Cycles, and whilst picking out my new TT bike (schwing!) Jason W encouraged me to race Tuesday. The idea grew on me, and the thought of doing something different on a bike seemed like a good way to get some new time on a bike. It was being held just a few blocks away from my house, and seemed like it would be a good way to test out a fat bike race.

I showed up tonight, ready to ride after thinking extensively about what I would wear this time on this ride. Still trying to get the perfect cold weather outfit together. The course was laid out kind of cyclocross style across the civic center grounds, and after all the rain we got yesterday, the snow was deep and crunchy in areas, slushy in others, and icy in still others. There were a few mounds of piled snow that we rode through. The first one was my favorite because you went up a small hill and rode through about 10 bumpy feet on top of the snow drift before you went back down. On most of the route, there was only a single bike rut to ride through, and if you wandered off it at all, you had to pretty much get off your bike.

At the start of the race there was a bottle neck as some people navigated the rut of track, and others got off and ran. Which I did, but then ended up waiting anyway as the long line of people went on by when I was ready to get back on my bike. No worries, I figured I had two hours of riding. It was really intense as there is no coasting or any rest during this kind of riding, I soon figured out. You have to pedal every single stroke to move forward. I was amazed at how hard this was. It took all my concentration just to stay on the bike and move forward, and I felt that I did pretty well for my lack of experience in the beginning.

As time went on though, I got more and more mentally tired and started sliding out as it got more slippery as the night went on. At one point I hit some ice from a huge frozen puddle/lake and I pretty much had to crawl to get out of it. I noticed that if any errors were made on this terrain there was very little room to recover from it, and that I usually fall. The more I slowed down, the more often the faster guys came through, and being that there is only one lane of rideable track, it was expected that you move the hell out of the way. I frequently waited by the side of the trail, letting whole groups pass so that I could get back on my bike and ride along without slowing anyone else down. I understand that it is a race, but it did increase my frustration as it makes a hard ride even harder when I am struggling to keep going and then I have to lose my momentum, pull of the trail, and then get going again when I let someone pass. Kudos to Jorden Wakeley who always did this with class and courtesy, and was good at letting me know what side he was passing on and picked a decent place to pass. He even ventured off the beaten path to go around on occasion, he's just that good.

It really felt like the longest two hours ever. So what do you do when time slows down, you start f-bombing the entire world in your head, and know that to give up means failure and you just can't do that? I started hearing the voice of my bad ass yoga teacher Liz Graves-yeah...yoga. She kicks our ass in that class and I encourage anyone to try her 90 min Inspire class at Yen Yoga. She brings us to the edge of pain, and challenges us to go farther. She has said on occasion that if you are throwing f-bombs in your mind then you are ruining your own experience and that pain is only what you make it, or something like that. That we determine our attitude. So I made an attitude adjustment and reminded myself that I am in this for fun. I noticed people's smiles, the people cheering us on, the people handing us beads for mardi gras, the silliness of the whole experience. Keith Conway kept going even with flat tires and despite being close to bonking after riding flat tires for three laps. I saw some very strong women out there giving it their best, and they inspired me to keep going. I saw a dad with a very colorful feather boa and his daughter who was so excited to be there and has a love for cycling already. I saw lots of people encouraging each other as we rode along.

So, in all it was a good night. It is always good to push yourself to do something new, even though  it can be pretty damn hard at times. Kudos to everyone who got out there, and hey-I got 2nd place in my first Fat Bike race. Not bad for a Tuesday night.

Chelsea Strate is the Fat Bike QUEEN,
in case you didn't know

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.


Add caption





How long is your wish list?

I think every avid athlete has a running list in their head of what gear they would like to get next, what big goals they dream of achieving, and how they can do more of what they love.

This is my wish list, which is NOT all inclusive, necessarily realistic, or in any particular order:

• a TT bike
• a Cross bike 
• a new mtn bike, at the minimum a new drive train
• an old schwinn cruiser bike for the TART trail/commuting/tweed ride
• a power meter
• Rapha gear
• a trip somewhere warm and hilly to ride my bike
• to watch a pro race in Colorado, Utah, or California
• to go watch the Tour
• to be able to quit my job and just ride and race my bike
• to weigh 10 pounds less (this is about always the case, no matter what I currently weigh)
• to ride across the country
• new helmet
• new glasses
• to race in a National race
• to actually win a race!
• to finish a Tuesday Night Ride
• for my shoulder to stop hurting

Donations, sponsorships, and go-get-um's greatly appreciated. :)

The fun never stops...

Bella...wondering what could be out there...

Although I have been riding less outdoors, I still have been going out about once a week to ride. One night was inspired by my hyper dog Bella, who was really overdue for some exercise. Bella needs to RUN so I hopped on my commuter mountain bike and rode the TART trail from the Boardman Lake Trail to 3 mile rd. It was going so well and I was priding myself for being out in the dark, riding in the snow, on regular mountain bike tires. About 5 minutes later I hit some ice under the snow and went down. I learned not to be quite so confident, slowed down a bit, and did better on the way home. Bella was the happiest dog on the planet that night, so I guess it was worth it.

I hit the pavement on my mountain bike last Saturday and it was a beautiful sunny day out in Leelanau county. Seeing the orchards in the snow was definitely not a perspective I've seen from my bike before. Riding my bike throughout a northern Michigan winter isn't something I had ever thought I would do, but it's growing on me.

2012 Year in Review

"Winning doesn't always mean getting first place; it means getting the best out of yourself." Thanks to Walt Hundley for sharing this picture on Facebook. This quote is pretty important for any athlete, as we all know there can only be one winner of every race, and actually winning a race is pretty darn hard. Well, for most of us anyway. I thought I would take a moment and look back on 2012 and note some personal accomplishments and set some new goals for the upcoming year.

In 2012 I raced 15 races, which includes 6 mountain bike races, 3 crits, 2 time trials, and 4 road races. I started racing Expert in mountain biking, and even ventured into the Pro/Elite category for the Peak to Peak race. The biggest change in racing Expert instead of Sport is the longer length of the races and how darn fast everyone is! The course is also a lot more open as Sport Women always start at the very back of all the racers. I requested an upgrade on my USA cycling license to Cat 1 for mountain biking and was granted it at the end of the year, so I will be able to race the Pro category next year at Iceman. I did well this year at Iceman placing 3rd, but was hoping for a better time that didn't happen due to some bike malfunctions. My two best mountain races were the Crybaby Classic, where I placed 2^nd, and in Peak to Peak where I placed 4^th. Peak to Peak will be a race to remember...those were some nasty conditions that I hope to never have to race in again.

I really started to enjoy mountain biking even more as my single track skills are improving, slowly but surely. I also started focusing more on mountain biking, as shoulder pain issues that showed up early on in the road racing season didn't subside, and mountain biking was the only riding I could do relatively pain free.

I moved from Cat 4 to Cat 3 in road racing, after getting 3^rd place at Frankenmuth, and 5^th for the GC at the Cat 3 and 4 women combined West Michigan Stage Race. It is a big jump for women to cat up from 4 to 3, since we are then racing with all Cat 1,2, and 3 women. I struggled to hang on in my first few races and was dropped. For my first Cat 1, 2, 3 crit at BTR my goal was just to hold on, and I was able to and placed 5^th. I was happy that I felt strong and that I was a contender for the 1^st time in this category.

Perhaps my biggest accomplishment was finally making it up Smokey Hollow with the group on Tuesday Night Rides. Here is the ride on Strava. I think I was more pumped about that than any race I have ever done. The farthest I made it on a ride was Seven Hills, hopefully next year I will make a whole ride! Also Strava data shows that I rode about 850 miles on my mountain bike and almost 2000 on my road bike. Not all rides were recorded, so its likely I rode over 3000 miles this year. My biggest year yet!

I was able to lose 23 pounds this year from my heaviest winter weight. I definitely noticed my riding and hill climbing improve as I dropped the weight and hope to keep most of it off this winter. This is my third winter riding at Brockmiller Elite Endurance, where I am able to train with power meters. My power tests have continually been improving, and I have gained 25% more power since starting in 2010.

This year was the first year I have worked full time since becoming a mom in 2001. I am happy that I was able to keep up with cycling and continue to see improvements despite definitely having less time to train and more responsibilities to juggle. At the same time, cycling has become a necessity in my life that helps me alleviate stress and build my self confidence. I continue to meet the best people on the planet through cycling, and I am sure it will always have a place in my life, no matter how busy I get.

In the upcoming year, I hope to try racing a few longer races than I have ever done before to test my endurance. So far, I am entered in the 62 mile Barry Roubaix in March. I am still working on the rest my 2013 race calendar, and am very excited to start a new race season! I also hope to cure my shoulder issues once and for all, it's been pretty annoying and frustrating. Another goal is to be a strong team member and be a solid part of any races that my team enters together this season. It's a long time until summer, but thankfully there is some fun that can be had in the snow, I guess. 

Thank you to everyone, from the women I race against to the people I ride with, to the bike shops that fix my bike and those that read my blog. Thanks to Hagerty Cycling to allow me to be a part of the team and helping so much along the way! You have all made 2012 an incredible year, and I look forward to a great 2013!

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!)