My first cyclocross race report!

And not my last. It was even more fun racing than it’s been cheering for racers these last couple of seasons.

I was a little nervous about my first ‘cross race. I made the butterflies smaller by keeping my expectations low; don’t come in DFL, and try not to break any bones. The miniaturized butterflies didn’t keep me up too late, and I managed to get a pretty good night’s sleep.

Gregg’s race was a full two hours before mine. But I was pretty anxious, so I started warming up during his race. We were parked near the course, so we set up the trainer next to the car, and while I warmed up I was ringing the cowbell and cheering for him and some other friends as they raced by the car. In past years I’ve hiked all over the course taking pictures. Also fun. But I’ll have to do a couple of races before I’m comfortable wandering around being a spectator a couple of hours before my race. I’d burned myself out so badly at Kruger’s a couple of weeks ago that I was kind of freaking out about the warm up. I was determined to get my heart rate up during warm up this time. I have trouble doing that on the trainer, but I did manage to get a couple of pretty good intervals in.

But since I’d started warming up so early on the trainer I had almost an hour until my lineup. So I rode around Alpenrose trying to stay loose and warm, and chatting up other friends who were out for the race. It’s really cool to finally be seeing people I know; some of them from Portland I’ve met at other races, and actually a growing number from Corvallis. It’s good to be around friends when you’re putting yourself out there.

Finally I got around to lining up, and discovered that I was about 20th back in the beginners. Not the start I’d been hoping for. And then they had all the beginners move to the other side of the rope. Somehow I lost some positions there. And then they had us move back?! By the time we started, I was probably in 35th – 40th position in the lineup. It was an impressive lineup … 75 beginner women?! Amazing, and wonderful. And because my expectations were low, I didn’t actually mind being so far back in the pack. Those roadies always kick my butt, and there are a LOT of roadies into ‘cross racing.

From 2008 Cross Crusade #1 - Alpenrose

It was looking pretty rainy when we arrived, but during Gregg’s race it was actually starting to dry out a little. Perfect conditions in my mind … muddy, but not actually raining. By the time the women’s race started the mud had actually dried out a little. So it wasn’t actively raining on us, and the mud was pretty tacky. I couldn’t have hoped for better conditions!

It took a few minutes to get through the initial clump of women who were slower than me. We were pretty tightly packed. But as soon as I had an opportunity to pass I hammered! We had a little mud about two minutes into the race, and I found my first opportunity to pass. A nice section of double-track; most of the women in front of me took the nice packed path to the left, which left a less traveled path to the right totally open. I hadn’t had a chance to pre-ride, or even walk the course. So everything was a surprise to me. Including the off-camber uphill right turn at the end of that section. Quick shift-down, and pass another rider on the inside.

On to the one and only tiny section of single-track on the course, and naturally there were about 5 women in front of me; some of them actually stopping on the hill! Noooo! What are you doing to me?! Another section of downhill double-track, and the roadies are slowing down again. Pass some riders on the left, and get around the U-turn at the end.

Another nice long straight section; oh my god, this is steeper than it looks, and rough, damn, it’s harder than it looked when I was watching the men’s field race by. Another twist, and a turn, and … wow, avoid the riders going down in front of me on that sharp left. I hop off the bike in the corner and run to the barrier … and … I’m not doing that again! For a non-runner, this is too far to run; the roadies might not be willing, but I could have made that corner and ridden there instead! Make a note for the next lap.

From 2008 Cross Crusade #1 - Alpenrose

The bike that I didn’t think I could shoulder flies onto my shoulder, and I run up the hill. Re-mount? Are you kidding? Even on a good day this is ugly, and it’s not looking good in race conditions. But now into the Velodrome. Cool. Over a couple of barriers. Another embarrassing re-mount (I really need to work on that), and then onto the track. The women in front of me don’t seem to realize they can use the side of the Velodrome and make the corner unnecessarily sharp (and slow), so I sweep around the outside and up on the side of the Velodrome (following the path of mud left by the men before us), passing another couple of women.

I’m thankful all this time that I decided to keep my heart rate monitor in front of me. I know it’s totally un-cool, but I have such a hard time managing my heart rate. At Kruger’s I let it get out of control, and burned myself out in the first 15 minutes of the race. Not cool. So this time I managed my warm-up better, and kept a closer eye on my heart rate during the race. It seems like the magic numbers are … don’t let it get above 200, and when it does get around 200 follow with a quick “recovery” by letting it drop below 190. Crazy, huh? But I was able to maintain this for the duration of the race, and didn’t actually get the light-headed, seeing stars, think I’m going to vomit thing until the end of the race. Perfect timing, right?

From 2008 Cross Crusade #1 - Alpenrose

Oh yeah, I came in 15th! Not bad for starting in about 35th out of 75 riders.

This was really a good race for me, and I don’t know if I’ll get this lucky again. It was technical enough to slow down the beginners who are coming from a roadie background, but not so slick that it slowed me down at all. And minimal barriers … god I’m awful at getting over those things. But this year’s Crusade season is all about fun for me. I’ll practice a little now and again, and I’ll absolutely give 100% on the course. But the riding I’m doing during the week is all about having a good time with my friends, and is not focused on training for any specific goal.

But next year, after the next big exam … well, I think I could really get hooked on this and want to train for more. Time will tell, eh?

Next installment … maybe I’ll finally get around to chatting about our mountain bike vacation back in July!

San Juan Island for Christy's birthday

As always, I'm a "little" tardy writing about my life. So, a little over a month ago, on July 3rd ...

Gregg and I hopped in the car to drive up to Seattle. What on earth were we thinking, driving to Seattle on the 4th of July weekend! Traffic sucked! Bad, messy, horrible traffic. But Christy's birthday on the 5th was a persuasive reason to put up with it. And it was worth all of the traffic headaches to be able to enjoy an adventure with her on her birthday.

We started by meeting up with Christy and Hathan in Bellevue. We loaded everybody in our car and made our way to Mukilteo to catch the ferry to Whidbey Island. Carol & Bill have a new place now, a little further south on the island ... as I hear it, they're "livin’ in the free-land" now :)

Since we got there the evening of the 3rd we had a full day on the 4th to just hang out on the island with the parents, go for a walk, lounge on the deck, drink, watch fireworks ... an AWESOME way to start a vacation.

We got up early on the 5th to head up to Anacortes, and took the ferry from there to San Juan Island. Not surprisingly, random misadventures and poor timing left us running for the ferry. Again. This is beginning to feel really familiar. No matter how well we plan to arrive on time, we seem to be doomed to be the poor saps running for the ferry.

When we got to the island we grabbed a bit of breakfast, and then wandered around looking for the moped rental place. More misadventures. But we finally made our way to the mopeds!

We got quick lessons on riding a moped, a brief overview of the driving tour of the island, and we were sent on our way. These women have their routine perfected, right down to the drawing of the identical whale that they draw on each of the maps. It took less time to get through this process than it had for us to find their shop in the first place, and it's located about two blocks from the Ferry!

I was under the impression that since San Juan Island was so small, we'd burn through all the tourist opportunities quickly and end up with time to kill at the end of the day. I was surprised at how much there was to see. It would be easy to spend a couple of days there. More if you added a sea kayaking adventure.



We stopped at the Pelindaba Lavender Farm first. There were some really cool sculptures in the middle of the lavender. My favorite was a giant Pi! I love random math. And I've never seen as wide a variety of lavender products as they had in their gift shop. I was pretty curious about the lavender ice cream cookie sandwiches, but wasn't hungry at the time, and ice cream doesn't travel well. So I'm still curious.

The next stop was the Lime Kiln Point State Park. We watched the sea kayakers and the sea lions, and hiked out to the lighthouse. And for a while we lost curious Christy.

Having never operated a moped I at first assumed they all ran as badly as mine. They are under 50 cc, after all, so I wasn't expecting much. But judging by how difficult it was for me to keep up with the rest of the crew I was getting increasingly suspicious that I had a lemon. So my amazing guy swapped machines with me as we left the park. We pretty quickly proved that it was in fact the bike, so Gregg heroically decided to put up with my finicky steed for the rest of the day.

We went a little further down the road to the Alpaca Farm, and stopped for a picnic. There were some new alpaca babies in one of the enclosures ... completely adorable.

While we watching them the most interesting thing happened. All of a sudden all of the Alpacas started clumping together into a mob, and rushing toward the fence. We turned around and noticed that the alpacas in the other two enclosures behind us were doing exactly the same thing. All the alpacas in each of the fenced in areas was clumped together, and rushing the fence nearest the parking lot. They didn't make any noise, but they acted like they were all on the same page about something.

Apparently someone had brought a dog on the premises. We were told that the alpaca's are very frightened of dogs, and from what we saw they seem to react in an aggressive, violent, "we're gonna kill you to protect ourselves" kind of way.

There wasn't enough time left in the day for us to visit Roche Harbor, but we did want to visit the sculpture park just outside of town. We were expecting something pretty small, and were pretty surprised when we saw how big it is. I'm not sure how much of it is populated with the sculptures but apparently it's a 19-acre park. The walking tour of the sculpture garden probably covered a couple of acres, and we could have spent quite a bit of time there if we'd had any time left.

But it was starting to get late and we needed to get the mopeds back. We made a quick stop to on the way back to see Mona, the Camel. Apparently she's often near enough that you can feed her; a tourist tradition I'm sure she loves. But when we got there she was fenced in away from the road. We'd forgotten to get anything she could eat, but it would have been kind of cool to pet her.

This is the second trip I've made to San Juan Island. And again, the ferry ride from Friday Harbor to Anacortes was awesome! Somehow it's better on the return trip than it is on the way out; it's a relaxing 45 minute cruise after a long day ... made more relaxing, because we didn't have to start the return trip by running for the ferry!

Check out the giant wheel on that mountain bike!

The Oregon Velo guys got a few good pictures of Gregg racing the Test of Endurance last weekend, but I really like this one. What a cutie, huh?

I finished the TOE!!!

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Warning for the boys ... there's a tiny bit of girl talk ahead.
But if I can live it, I'm confident you'll live through reading it :)
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I slept a little better than I had Friday night, but I still tossed and turned all night. Mostly nerves I'm sure, but I wasn't as rested as I was hoping to be on the morning of the race. My knee is aching, and I'm already getting cramps (mm hmmm ... perfect timing ... I couldn't have planned this better). All of this just makes me a little more nervous about tackling the challenge ahead.

But this is my one big goal for the year, and I'm ready to suck up the aches and tiredness and "kill it, kill it, kill it" as advised by my hero Heidi.

Gregg made us some very tasty whole grain french toast, with strawberries from mary's garden. Tasty, and a perfect breakfast for today's ride. We pack up the car, and drive out to Blodgett. And as I get out of the car I hit my head on the roof rack hard enough to give myself a lump on the head. Awesome. I'm so smooth. And apparently determined to add a concusion to the situation.

I pop some ibuprofen and sport legs before we unpack the car. We're early enough that there aren't many people there yet, but we see a few familiar faces and spend a little time socializing before I head off for an easy warm-up ride.

The TOE has a rolling start from the school. Similar to the Mudslinger, except that in the Mudslinger we stop to re-group at the bottom, and then get sent off according to our racing category. This time we're really racing from the beginning, so the pace is a bit quicker. But it's a 50 mile race, so nobody's sprinting either. Still some jokes and conversation along the way, which makes it feel more friendly and social than the shorter races.

But as soon as we hit the singletrack, I can't seem to pace myself. I'm looking at my Garmin, and I can see I'm working too hard. I just can't seem to make myself slow down! Melissa is right there with me, and we chat the whole way. The pace feels manageable for a 2 - 3 hour race, but I know even in the moment that I can't maintain this for the duration. And yet I just ... can't ... slow ... down. I do this for about an hour and a half before I'm finally able to get control over that adrenalin and start managing my efforts again. I manage to do pretty well for about the next three hours, and after that my legs were lead (like they each weighed 100 pounds!) and I don't think I could have done much to increase my heart rate if I'd wanted to.

I wreck a couple of times too in the first couple of hours. Nothing significant ... a new bruise where I fell into a tree going about a mile per hour, and another scrape and bruise where I toppled over at about two mph. And while it's fun to push myself when I'm riding recreationally, I decide I'd better start riding a bit more cautiously for the race.

So finally, about two hours into the race, I'm pacing myself to last for the duration. And I'm also trying to ride within my technical limits and avoid injury.

In the first half hour of the race my knee starts screaming. I'm getting shooting pains whenever the elevation takes a steep climb. I've figured out pretty early that will-power alone may not take me through to the finish, so I take the Rx provided by doc for the swelling knee. I take more ibuprofen at the mid-point too, and try to stay about as doped up as I can without causing myself to vomit. I still end up getting shooting pain in my knee on every climb (and there was a lot of climbing), and on the bumpier descents. And for about the last 15 - 20 miles I wasn't able to keep my left leg bent while supporting body weight. It kept shuddering and collapsing. I had to totally over-compensate by making my right leg do a lion's share of the work. Now a smarter person might have been convinced to give up ... "know when to say when", as they say. But I'm not a smarter person. This is the ONE THING I'm absolutely going to accomplish this year, and if I can move I'm going to accomplish this. So instead of being a smarter person, I'm being a goal oriented, focused, committed person. "It's a blessing ... and a curse".

The cramps also kick in within about the first half hour, and continue to pop up every hour or two throughout the race. It's aggravating, uncomfortable, a little painful ... but nothing compared to the knee pain, and surprisingly also nothing compared to my body's usual behavior. I'm halfway to being a believer in the crazy new diet I've undertaken to manage my "girl" issues. In past rides, this alone would have had me on the ground unable to move. So despite the little extra aches and tummy issues, I'm feeling pretty lucky! Seriously, you should see me on a bad day!

And this really was a great day. The weather couldn't have been better. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the wild irises were in bloom all over the place, the forest smelled wonderfully "forest-ey", and there were beautiful meadow and mountain views all around. There were so many times I wished I could just snap my fingers and get a photo of what I was seeing. I wish I could share with you all just how amazing it was. And it had been dry for days, so the trail conditions were the best I've ridden out there. There was some fantastic new singletrack, and since I was riding near the back, all the new singletrack had been "established" by the first 145 or so riders before me. Some of it was brand new and pretty rough before they came through, so they really did me a huge favor.

The guys at the Peak Sports aid station did a great job of cheering me on. It felt really great to see some friendly faces out there cheering for me during the race. And after Gregg finished his race (at about 6 hours) and changed clothes, he got back on his bike and rode back to the aid station to cheer for me and take photos, at about mile 40 for me. What a guy, huh?! He also showed up later on the course, and then rode in with me to the finish. My biggest fan :)

By the end of this race I had been so exhausted for so long, and in pretty much constant pain in those last couple of hours, that i just about broke down crying a couple of times. Not the shedding tears kind of crying. More like the "I'm having a breakdown" hyperventilating crazy laughing/crying thing. First trying to talk to Gregg on the way to the finish (Oh no ... no pictures of this please), and then trying to respond to the woman pulling my number at the finish. I'm a girl, and I'm also old enough to not care so much what other people think, so I guess it's probably okay to admit that I just about lost it! And and I managed to mostly hold back the sobbing and hysterical laughing when there were people around, so I think I might have pulled off acting like a normal person ... and I don't believe there's any photographic evidence that I was being a freak.

I was one of the last riders to roll in to the finish line, and most of the rest of the riders were seated on the grass waiting for the awards to start ... and facing the finish line. So I got a bunch of cheers when I came in. I felt like a bit of a dork, but loved the comeraderie, and gave a big wave to the crowd.

Everyone was amazingly supportive. Gregg knows "everybody" (a very small exageration) in the local mountain biking community, and I've met and spoken with a number of them. So several guys came up to me to shake my hand, congratulate me, and talk for a few minutes. It felt awesome to hang in there, do my best, and finish! And even though I was really just doing it for myself, it felt really great that they recognized and respected the effort they knew I put in to get there.

I really enjoy the 50 mile race distance, and if there were more of them around I might specialize in that kind of race. There's a unique feeling of comeraderie. Racers have the time to talk to you for a minute or two, because most of them are in a position where they know they need to pace themselves for a long day. It's not like the little two hour races where it's every man for himself. For the most part, I prefer to ride for the love of it. And I don't see myself every really "being" a racer. But I do enjoy the mountain bike race scene too, and committing to racing is also committing to improving my fitness and technical skills. The Test of Endurance combines a little of both ... a long ride out in the woods, just (wo)man and machine, but with the adrenalin and motivation that helps you to push yourself a little harder and stretch your limits.

I LOVED IT! It's a great event, and if I can't race it, I'd love to at least help to put it on. I'd love to race the TOE every year. But next year is already setting up to be unlikely, as I'll be back to studying for an actuarial exam and unable to put in the training time necessary to prepare to race the distance. But I want to try to stay at least fit enough to volunteer to ride the sweep.

'twas the night before the TOE ...

... and I'm freaking out!

My knee (the "good" one) has started bothering me recently. It started getting achey a couple of weeks, but it wasn't really bad. Before one of my training rides I was concerned about it, so I tried to tape it the way my PT had shown me. I'm pretty sure I made it worse. So I started icing, elevating, and taking Ibuprofen.

And yet, despite all that TLC, it persists in being a problem. Now I'm getting shooting pains when cycling or clutching the car. Bad news. So, three days before the race, I show up on the doctor's doorstep in an urgent state, and say "I need a miracle!" Well, there are no miracles. I got a prescription, and some worried looks, and he tells me to come back if it continues to be a problem. I'm pretty sure he knows I'm going to be getting myself into trouble with this knee.

But I take it easy. I skip the Thursday training ride.

On Friday morning I take the Rx, which makes me jittery, messes with my stomach, and seems to contribute to a sleepless night Friday night. Just what I need, to be sleep-deprived, jittery, and unable to eat before my biggest ever endurance event. But it does seem to be helping with the swelling in the knee, so I'm giving it a serious shot.

But because of the side-effects, on Saturday I decide to skip the meds and just stick with icing and elevating. I also pick up the neoprene knee brace recommended by the doc. I take it easy in the morning; going down to the Farmer's Market, picking up coffee and a home-made danish at the local coffee shop, stopping in at the bike shop for some quick conversation. And then I get ready to head out for a nice easy spin on the road.

I slap on the knee brace, get geared up, and head out the door. Within 12 minutes of riding my HR monitor completely quits! Damn. I've been relying on that thing for training, so this kind of sucks. But I've got all my other data (mileage and time), and I need to finish my ride, so I keep going.

I'm still a little twitchy, now just from a sleep deficit rather than the meds. So when the little creeps in the station wagon lean out the window and yell (or rather, bark) in my face as they pass by I just about end up going off the road. Nasty little buggers.

About halfway through my ride the knee brace starts sliding down, and the "doughnut" starts pushing my kneecap down and out of position. That's the opposite of better!

And shortly after that I start getting cramps. Yeah, that's right. Looks like I'm going to be starting some unpleasantness tomorrow. Perfect timing.

Okay, this all sounds like a bad "start" to the race, and it certainly isn't the stress-releasing easy pre-race spin I was looking for. But I'm determined to do my best with this race ... so we're all about silver linings here:

• I replaced the battery in my chest strap which, if it hadn't died today, might have failed during the race tomorrow.
• I'm going to bed early, and without the side-effects of the Rx hoping to get some good my sleep tonight!!
• I know the brace is out of the question for the race, and better to find that out now than during the race.
• The cramps? Well I'm having a harder time spinning that, but with my normal weight fluctuations, this is my "lightest" point ... so I'm carrying a pound or two less up the hill. That's good news, right?

Now, I'm off to brush myself off and get busy looking forward to the task ahead of me. Time to start packing for tomorrow morning!

Two last TOE "pre-rides"

It must be old news by now that the Test of Endurance 50 was my only personal goal for this year. My one, giant, monumental achievement for 2008. So I've been doing a ton of training to get ready. And since this is also a local race I wanted to take advantage of having the home-court advantage. I'm a terribly slow climber, so I need to try to make up a little time on the descents. And since I'm not a super fast descender either, I need to get to know the trails ... as well as I can, anyway.

Naturally though, the course is dynamic until the last minute ... always in a state of change. Winds blow down trees. The logging company comes through some areas. New trails appear (with a lot of hard work by the promoter and some friends). So really, the only way to do an honest pre-ride of the course is to be involved in trail work up to the last minute. But Gregg was able guide us on a route that had similar distance, elevation gains, and some of the singletrack I'd be riding in the race. So it was enough to give me a good sense of where I stood, and gain some level of "comfort" with the challenge ahead.

In mid-may we invited a couple of friends from Portland to come down and ride with us. Heidi and Sal grabbed a Portland Velo teammate of theirs, Javad, and we grabbed another friend, Melissa, and the six of us went out for a pre-ride.

And after all that training I've been doing, this is how the ride started out ...
(Heidi) "Hey, where'd Stephanie and Melissa go?"

(Gregg's voice, echoing down to us from the top of the mountain) "There they are."


Naturally, all that work and I'm still getting dropped in the first mile. And poor Melissa had just done a race the day before, and was really feeling the fatigue from that. Bummer for her, but good for me ... I had myself a riding buddy :)

The conditions were about perfect; mostly dry with a few muddy spots, and a little overcast and cool but not raining.

The ride had a little of everything. Several of the trails are now well established and hard-packed. Some of them are barely recognizeable as trails, and a little tougher for us less-skilled riders to navigate. There was some hiking over down trees, Heidi's favorite part. And lots and lots of climbing. (Heidi's second-favorite part, I think).

We had some getting separated in the woods shenanigans, preceded by a little trailside bike maintenance.

So the day had practically everything you'd expect from a day of mountain biking. Including a well-earned post-ride feast at the local McMenamins. Yumm! Cajun-ized tater tots!

I really wanted to get out one more time though, without all the stops, so that I could get a better idea of what it would feel to ride constantly for the 25 miles. Can't really be taking so many breaks on race day. So I invited Carrie to come out with me again in June.

Originally Gregg was going to come along as well, and possibly bring another guy from work. But Gregg ended up having to work. so it was up to me and the Garmin to navigate. That was challenge number one.

Challenge number two was the spring weather. It had also been raining since may, so things were a little wet. It's surprising how much more work it is to ride in the mud, even when it's just a little bit of mud. It's like running in sand ... it just absorbs your energy. Not so noticeable if you're doing a ride that's well within your limits, but if you're riding at the edge of your physical limits it can make a significant difference. And even now, a week before my 50 mile race, a 25 mile mountain bike ride with about 3,700 feet of climbing is a challenging ride. So there were some fairly muddy spots, which should have slowed us down.

The logging company has also been in there, and it looks like they're getting ready to do some work. Some of the stuff that was part of the course is now torn up from a CAT, and there are more down branches on the trails. Navigating the now horribly muddy CAT tracks, and removing down branches should have slowed us down a bit too. Check out the wall-o-mud on the rear tire, and the remains of the pine tree in my chainring.


But the third, and most significant challenge for me, is pacing myself! I find it difficult enough when I'm staring at my heart rate monitor. And when I'm staring at the course on the GPS unit and can't see my HR, I really tend to let work too hard. So although this was a much more difficult ride, we finished in almost exactly the same time. Seriously, fractions of a second different than the much more casual May pre-ride. My average HR was 10 bpm higher today, and at the end of the first lap I was not feeling like I could have turned around and done it again. No way.

Good news ... Mike changed the course to avoid the newly torn up stuff, add some singletrack, and take out a couple of road out-and-back sections ... it sounds like a great course, and the weather report is looking promising. It should be fun!

I've just gotta remember to pace myself!

(pictures from both rides)

Newport Sprint Triathlon

Well I'm still getting caught up on the blog ... so this too is over 2 weeks after the fact ... but here goes.

Earlier this year I decided to make my gigantic, over the top goal to race the Test of Endurance. I think Gregg was high on my fumes when he replied that he wanted to challenge himself too, and he might try a Triathlon. I latched onto that instantly, and tried to be his cheerleader for the next few months. We got him fitted for a good pair of shoes. We called on the help of a friend for some swim lessons. We got a gym membership. And I've been so proud of my guy for doing stuff completely new to him, and challenging himself to accomplish this goal!

When Gregg decided to do the Newport Off-road Sprint Triathlon, I wanted to join the fun. I might have been able to learn to swim. Badly, but I wouldn't have drowned. But I'm having enough trouble keeping up with my injuries without starting to run right now. So I couldn't do the Tri myself. I'm a terrible spectator, and generally hate just standing around watching other people do stuff. So I took the only option remaining for me: I reached out and grabbed some talented friends, and we created a relay team. Awesome!

Heidi and Sal were going to come down from Portland so that Heidi could do the run, and Sarah and Colby were following us from Corvallis so that Sarah could do the swim leg. The six of us planned to stay over in a house outside of Newport the night before. Things never go quite as planned; unfortunately in this case the unexpected came in the form of Sal got super sick, had an awful fever, and couldn't travel. And without her navigator, Heidi had some trouble finding the place. But by the end of the night we had the whole team (and Gregg, our solo competitor) tucked in and ready to get up early for the Tri.

Gregg's heat started before ours, so he left the house a little earlier to get registered. The Newport Tri course is a lot of fun, but I think it's a fairly new Triathlon, and their administrative processes don't seem to be exactly nailed down yet. Registration is a bit slow, and a little confusing. And although they've got an impressive number of course volunteers, most of them are high school students who are bored and distracted either talking to each other or texting their friends.

After registration and getting geared up and organized, I didn't have a lot of time for warm-up. Gregg had pre-ridden the course already, and told me that the first hill is steep but short ... just stand up and grind. I rode enough of the course to confirm that Gregg's kind of a liar, but not enough to actually get warmed up. Sarah made quick work of the swim and ran out to tag me. After a little confusion on my part about whether or not I was allowed to ride on the green stripe (there was a little inconsistency about that) I was off.

The first hill about kicked my butt. I could hear somebody coming up behind me, but just couldn't muster any more speed on the climb. I was a little less embarrassed when he finally passed me and I saw that he was a super fit Tri geek, complete with one piece tri suit. There was another guy who had started just in front of me, and I chased him down for the entire bike leg. I was never able to catch him, but the effort to catch him kept me focused. That, and knowing that my team was depending on me.

The description of "off road" is a little deceptive. Most of the course was either paved or gravel road. But there were areas of pretty deep gravel on the road, and one section of dirt double-track. The 'cross bike would have been perfect on the packed road and the dirt, but I was pretty happy to have my Niner for the gravel. And I was ecstatic to have the chance to get a little muddy in the double-track section. Dirt makes me happy.

Gregg was done much earlier, so he came down and stalked me with the camera for a while, and met up with a couple of other local friends who were out racing in the Tri. Toward the end Gregg told me that I was near the finish, so if I'd been saving anything this was the time to sprint ... yeah right. Saving anything. At that moment I couldn't have given any more. The finish is up a hill, and I was giving it everything, so by the time I got the the transition area my eyes were a little wobbly, and I had some trouble spotting Heidi. And then I forgot we were racing, and started chatting with her. But despite my best efforts to drag down the team results, Heidi took off like a bolt of lightening. You can read about her experience on her blog, but it's safe to say she suffered for the team.



And between Sarah and Heidi's rock star finishing times, and my admirable effort, we took first place for the women's relays! Yay!

Keeping up with the discipline of a training schedule turns out not to be Gregg's forte, but luckily he's a gifted athlete. So despite starting out as neither a runner or a swimmer, spending at most one night a week at the pool for a few months, and running once or twice a week for the same period, Gregg came in second in his age category!! Amazing! And he had a good time. Now he's talking about training for an off-road triathlon with an open water swim! For next year of course.

The Test of Endurance is just around the corner

... and I am COMPLETELY freaked out about it. I spent a couple of weeks beating the bushes for advice about training. In my case, my legs were super strong, but my heart worked so inefficiently that I couldn't use them. And I'm training for a 9 hour mountain bike race? What was I thinking.

So after getting a lot of advice to do V02 Max intervals, and conflicting advice from a couple of friends saying that I should do long steady distance rides, and Googling all over the place trying to find some troubleshooting advice ... I finally stumbled upon a coach who was able to give me some advice.

So now a shameless plug for Trek's Women Who Ride Club:

My first downhill mountain bike race?! WooHoo!

That Mudslinger about did me in! Well, let's be honest. It probably wasn't really the race. I was probably already coming down with 'sick' during the race, which would explain both why I could barely haul my sorry butt to the Mudslinger finish line, and how I managed to be totally sick by the time I woke up the next morning.

"But surely", I thought, "I'll be in fine shape for the Spring Thaw, a full two weeks after the Mudslinger". Even a week after the Mudslinger, when I was still sick, I was optomistic. Which explains why I pre-registered for a 20 mile XC race, while coughing up a lung, less than a week before the race.

I finally got out for a ride a couple of days before the Thaw, first ride since the Mudslinger, and suffered. Badly. I was feeling defeated and thinking about sitting out the whole event, when Gregg suggested that the race organizer might let me bump down to the 9 mile Beginner course. 9 miles? No problem. I could be throwing up the whole way and still make it 9 miles, and this is just a bunch of pesky congestion in the lungs. It was my lucky day ... they let me bump down to Beginner! Well it wasn't really a tough argument to make. I mean, let's face it, I am a beginner!

Race day was good. The weather was excellent! The climb at the beginning of the course was a little rough for me ... and I was very happy that I'd decided to do only half of the climb! I had legs to spare, but my heart blew up pretty quickly, and I watched a TON of people pass me up the hill. I was a little happier (practically giddy, actually) going downhill, when I was finally able to gain back a place or two. I missed a lot of the singletrack by deciding to do the shorter beginner route, but I had a couple of minutes of fast swoopy fun. I've got to get my heart into shape to be a lot more efficient. Hopefully that'll come with hours and miles on the saddle.

While I was suffering with the climb I noticed several Black Sheep jerseys passing me. I love them! And I want one. I normally hate jerseys. They're not made for people with hips. No, most of the "women's" jerseys don't account for hips either. So the jersey ends up popping up over my hips while I ride and bunching around my waist. Totally useless and uncomfortable. But I used to LOVE hanging out at the Black Sheep with friends when I was living down there. And I like the design of the logo. I may actually pay $$ to wear their jersey. Of course I'll still have to get it altered to fit the way I want, but I like this jersey well enough to make it work.

Gregg had to leave after the XC race so that he could be back at work in Corvallis the next morning. I really wanted to stay over in Ashland for another day. So I swapped places with another local. Gregg drove home with him, and I stayed over for another night to catch a ride back with Melissa.

Melissa has decided this year to do a race in every discipline. So, with very little offroad experience, and a borrowed bike, she was doing the XC on Saturday, and the downhill race on Sunday! Well if she's willing to do it, surely I can too.

I had no idea what to expect with the DH race. I've never seen one, so everything about the event was new to me. I absolutely loved everything about it. And since there were only two women in my category, I even placed on the podium! 2nd = last. Hey, I'll take it. I learned a few things, talked to a bunch of people (everyone there was exceedingly cool), won some cool stuff, and just had a blast. I'd super, duper love to have a full suspension bike. I don't honestly think it would have done much to make me faster, but it would have been fun.

Here are a few pictures of the event.

Gregg

Me warming up on the DH course

And for a couple more of Gregg, you might need to go here first, and then you'll be able to see: More Gregg, and Gregg Again

2008 Mudslinger … finally, a finish!

Not a great finish, but a finish, which is an improvement over my experience at Horning’s Hustle.
Well it’s certainly springtime. And spring weather means … anything goes. Last Sunday the weather was fantastic, and the trails were dry. This morning we woke up to snow; snow on the ground, snow covering the car, and snow continuing to fall. I thought it was very pretty. And since I’d already packed my heaviest tights, my Lake mountain bike boots, and foot warmers … I was down with the snow. I was a little excited about it, actually.


But as excited as I was about getting out and riding in the snow, my body was struggling with the idea of just getting out of bed. Naturally we’d choose today to be in disagreement. My back was completely locked up, and I could barely sit up straight enough to reach my shins. So I took a bunch of Ibuprofen, put an Icy-Hot patch on my back, and told my body that was all the baby-ing it was gonna get, and it had better straighten up. Naturally I plan to let Gregg do all the heavy lifting, but when I get on the bike I need my body to perform!

Quick breakfast, check; knee taped, check; anti-inflammatory and Icy-Hot patch, check; post-race PBJ, check; quick check of the bike cube I packed last night, and I’m ready to go. Grab a cup of coffee on the way out the door, and we’re on our way.

It’s always exciting to see other bike-laden vehicles going your way. We passed a few on the highway, and by the time we were parked at the race there were bikes all over the place. Naturally Gregg recognized about half the people there, but by now I’m recognizing a few of them too!

Today was Amber’s turn to race while dad watched the kids. And her daughter got to use the bike during the kid race while her brother sat this one out. They’re still fighting over who gets which races, but the whole family takes turns and it seems to work out pretty well for everybody.


For this race, Melissa traded in her ‘cross bike for her sisters FS mountain bike. She didn’t need a FS bike for this race, and the fatter tires probably didn’t give her a significant advantage, but the disc brakes were destined to be a distinct advantage! I love seeing my friends out there!

We didn’t arrive early enough, and I didn’t use my time well, so I didn’t get enough warm-up. So I knew I’d have a bit of a painful ‘warm-up’ during the first climb in the race. The race has a ‘rolling start’ … everybody leaves from the finish line and rides together a couple of miles down the road to the start line. Riders are then sent off in staggered starts from the start line. The rolling start was fun. Everybody’s excited, anxious for the start, but not racing yet. It’s a pretty relaxed pace, but very high energy and with a feeling of camaraderie. Just fun!

The sport women all started out together. There’s a teeny weeny climb right at the beginning, and I was already feeling the insufficient warm-up time. But I knew I’d need to ease into the big climb, so I tried to keep my HR low enough that I could finish the climb. The stair-step was still a nightmare. But I was able to keep spinning my legs. I passed quite a few people who were walking up the climb. Before I reached the top of that final climb my HR had peaked at 197 (I didn’t even know I could do that anymore!), and my whole body was feeling the pain. Somewhere out there, there’s a photo of me actually riding the last bit of climb. Evidence that I made it! A small victory in the scheme of things, but I’ll take it.

I’m glad I’d had a chance to pre-ride the course. It was totally painful anyway, and most of the singletrack was completely unrideable for me. In fact I could have saved myself a bit of time if I’d given up earlier and started running the singletrack. Sadly, the only advantage I might have over my peers would be a few more miles of technical riding under my belt. And since the singletrack descents were all too muddy to be rideable for me (especially that last section of newly cut trail), my limited experience didn’t give me any kind of advantage today.

And since I have the fitness base of a cubicle jockey, instead the base of a cyclist, or any other kind of athlete, I was lagging toward the back. A couple of years of fair weather, weekend warrior mountain biking hasn’t exactly whipped me into shape. Melissa just flies by me on the climbs! She’s amazing! If she can get a bit of singletrack experience under her belt she’ll be winning our category. Me, I’m totally outclassed by these women. But I like being surrounded by people who inspire me, so taking position at the bottom of that class of women is still a great place to be. And it certainly gives me something to work toward!

By the end of the single-track, my legs were DEAD, DEAD, DEAD. And I was just physically exhausted. I couldn't keep my HR down, and I was sure I was going to throw up. I was questioning whether or not I was even going to be able to make it up that last little road climb when I saw Gregg at the top of the hill. Gregg was still flying high from his win

... all that excitement sometimes causes his brain to shut off. So as we met up, and I was struggling to stay upright, Gregg started chattering like a poodle. I caught something along the lines of "where have you been? I was starting to get worried about you." Where do you think I was?! If I'd had any energy at all I'd have smacked him upside the back of his head. Smart ass! I actually finished quicker than I told him I would by about 10 minutes.

In my opinion, we both did great. He did great enough to win his category! I did great enough to finish in my category :)