tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90038849232190087142024-03-07T15:34:39.543-08:00Confessions of a Trail DivaI race bikes. People ask why. This blog is my answer.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger89125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9003884923219008714.post-34362589831589921892014-01-19T20:51:00.000-08:002014-01-19T20:51:41.873-08:00I'm Done!Nationals was over a week ago now. So why so long to write the blog post? Well to be honest, I just couldn't figure out the ending....<br />
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I guess I should start at the beginning though. US Masters Cyclocross Nationals took place in Boulder Colorado. A place with 300 days of sunshine can't really be passed up in the dead of a Pacific Northwest winter. I was even willing to take my chances that the course would be dry and boring in exchange for blue skies.<br />
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Arriving in Boulder, we went straight to the race course to check things out. 'Boring' was not going to be an issue! Everything was still white from the snow fall the weekend before. My pre-ride was going to be 'interesting'. Some fluffy stuff on the sides, but riders had created a main track of compressed ice through the course. It would have been comical if I wasn't thinking 'this is so going to be a waste of time if I crash and hurt myself before the race!' Fortunately I remembered how to ride in the snow and started to look forward to racing in it, even though I knew by the time my race came round the conditions were likely to be very different. Melting snow usually = mud-fest. I'd be happy either way.<br />
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Moving up into the 45+ age category this year I felt like my (comparative) 'youth' might actually work in my favor. But man, these old gals are a fierce bunch to compete against!<br />
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A Good Warm-Up</div>
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An Even Better Start</div>
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Even though I hadn't raced any 'big' races this season, my points were good enough to put me on the front row - darn, no excuses for a bad start getting caught up in congestion. I made the most of my start position and sprinted hard to slot into 4th place. Didn't last long though, as once we took the first corner and started on the first climb I soon lost a few spots. Lost a couple more on the long double stair run-up.<br />
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Now just to be clear, this set of stairs is labeled the 5280. And yes that's in feet, and translates to a mile. That's not a mile long, but a mile high. My cardiovascular system is used to sea level. At a mile high there is approximately 83% of the oxygen available at sea level. I can tell you I missed that 17% big time. It was if I had a regulator on my engine. I rev'd it up, but it just wouldn't go any faster. It was only because of spectators cheering that I kept going and didn't just take a little breather on those stairs!<br />
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After the stairs, the fun then began. As the snow had mostly melted, as predicted, a mud-fest ensued. It was everything I hoped for. The off-camber descent (on a corner) was slicker than snot and just staying upright was a challenge, especially with gals crashing in front of me. With those who couldn't ride these sections falling (literally) to one side I settled into what I thought was around top ten. After deciding that a podium was far from my reach I decided to have as clean a ride as possible a just to keep it steady.<br />
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By the last lap I felt the few gals in front of me were fading so I kept my spirits up thinking I could take at least one of them by the end. I felt pretty strong coming into the finishing stretch so had a little sprint and indeed took one of them at the end. A minor victory at least, which put me in 7th place - woo hoo!
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Overall, I am pleased with my performance, and I should be really happy with 7th, but only 2 spots off the podium I've got to confess I'm a little bummed that I didn't try harder to make up more spots in the last lap. Checking the lap times, my 2nd and 3rd laps were even splits and faster than my first, whereas the gals in front of me were getting slower each lap. 5th place was only 9 seconds in front of me. So now the 'what ifs' play out in my head. 'What if I'd drilled it harder in the first lap?' 'What if there had been another lap?' I was just about getting warmed up! 'What if I hadn't settled in for a top ten spot? 'What if I'd got to Boulder early to acclimatize to altitude?' 'What if I'd started training earlier? 'What if..."
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And therein lies the problem with racing. The 'What ifs' aren't excuses, they are what make you want to do it again, so you can do it better. They keep you coming back for more. There is no perfect race, so you always strive for a better one next time. Not from a position perspective, but from a 'have I done everything I can' perspective.
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And therein lies 'my' problem. I went into this race content with the decision that it was going to be my last. I wanted to finish this blog post by saying 'I'm done' and gracefully bow out. But then I've never been particularly graceful........
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<br />Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804060173646148149noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9003884923219008714.post-79583927627376503262013-12-01T23:17:00.000-08:002013-12-01T23:17:27.676-08:00Better Late Than Never!Steilacoom is usually a roadie/climbers course, so I never really look forward to it, but for some reason I typically do well here. And this week I had a secret weapon up my sleeve.......training! Yes, a whole 2 weeks of training! And man, what a difference even just a couple of weeks of focused high intensity training makes. Yes, race effort still hurts (that never changes), but being able to hold a higher output for a longer period of time really improves your positioning (well duh!) So, my best place this season - 2nd - on a course that really shouldn't suit me! Happy girl.<div>
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So with only one more race left locally, you might be asking yourself why bother training at all? Well, I have my eye on a bigger goal and I need to get serious. A short sharp training plan should get me to a peak for January when nationals are. I'm putting it out there now, so you'll all know why I'm not going to be much fun through December. Be warned, Christmas is officially postponed.......! </div>
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Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804060173646148149noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9003884923219008714.post-37880771707056250312013-11-27T15:11:00.000-08:002013-11-27T17:22:14.178-08:00Unremarkable WA StatesUnfortunately nothing interesting to say about the WA States at Arlington. All my fears from last year's race came true this year as there was no magical ingredient (rain) to make the course fun.<br />
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Flat as a pancake field with no creative twists and turns meant a power course without recovery. Note I even chose not to run my disc brake bike......<br />
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The one technical feature, a steep descent through a woody section was over way too quickly and only left one thinking 'what could have been....'<br />
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Still, after slogging through the boredom, I managed to take 5th place, and finally have a podium moment with my team mate Andi. That made everything better :)<br />
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<br />Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804060173646148149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9003884923219008714.post-51324535801149841082013-11-18T13:22:00.000-08:002013-11-19T06:57:02.170-08:00No Slouching at SprinkerYou'd think with my own personal soigneur racing would be easy. With Chris home for a change (yippee!) I didn't just have an amazing mechanic on hand, but also a chauffeur, bell hop, cheering squad, and general lackey. But alas, racing is never 'easy'!<br />
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Racing is hard. Whether you are on form, or off, whether you are at the front of the pack, or the back, it's hard. It's hard because you are still pushing yourself to your limits, no matter where you are. If you are not, you are not racing.<br />
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My 7th place finish at Sprinker was disappointing from a personal ego perspective, but it was hard and well fought. Pretty much the entire race I battled with strong gals, that I respect, who were just as eager to pass me as I was to pass them and certainly weren't going allow me to slouch!<br />
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And with my photographer back in town, here's some shots of the suffering -<br />
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<br />Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804060173646148149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9003884923219008714.post-87817195675330553312013-11-03T18:57:00.000-08:002013-11-03T18:57:59.606-08:00 SCX # 3 - Sandy Silver LakeI have a love hate relationship with Silver Lake. I love the course - twisty, technical, short power climbs that suits the mountain biker in me. However, there are long sandy sections that may or may not be rideable. So usually I end up hating the course because of the sand. It's usually fluffy dry sand that entices you to try and ride it, but as you get weak ploughing through it it can stop you dead and the runners have a field day leaving me to kill myself to stay on the bike.<br />
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Not so this time. The downpour of rain the previous day left the course the wettest I've ever seen it. The sand was compact and super rideable. This would not be a runner's course! Also, the course utilized more of the available area and had more punchy climbs vs a long sustained climb. Definitely mountain biker friendly.<br />
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Pretty much from the beginning of the race I slotted into 5th place. I was happy with this. I knew I wouldn't make ground on the gals ahead of me because they are all super strong this year. I wasn't worried about the gals behind, because I was comfortable with all of the course and had a healthy gap on the next gal back. Until the 3rd to last lap, when I started feeling my rear wheel acting a bit squirrelly in the corners. Then it started feeling harsh, like rim on pavement kind of harsh. Damn it, it was rim on pavement. Flat tire!<br />
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This course was not going to let me love it. At the furthest point from the pits, I had to run. No sand to run, but I still had to run half a lap! My running is not pretty, my running is not fast. I tried to channel the inner gazelle in me, but to no avail, the heffalump came plodding out. After what seemed like an eternity, and being passed by what seemed like the entire field, I got my pit bike and hopped back on. I seriously didn't know how far back in my field I was as there was some mixing in with the Cat 3s.<br />
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Then came my night in shining armor - BC, the head of the singlespeed race passed me. He tried to give me a little pull, but his legs just won't go that slowly. I was secretly quite elated that I'd be pulled coming through the finish line because I figured my race would be better over sooner rather than later. Coming through the start finish, I saw '2 laps to go' and no one pulling me. This was all wrong, I didn't want to do another 2 laps. The run had taken everything out of me!<br />
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So, with 2 laps to go I figured I'd see how many places I could make back up. My pit bike was quite the zippy little thing. I forgave it for not having disc brakes as it was so darn light and was like a fresh horse under me. I picked away and burnt lots of matches overtaking in silly places just to get ahead of as many racers as possible. Then I spotted the gal who had been behind me before my flat. She was ahead by several corners, and it was close to the finish line, but still, I had to give it my all. I didn't catch her, or the gal behind her, but I did close the gap down to 30 secs and 12 secs respectively. I had made it back to 7th place. Frustrating and painful, but respectful.Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804060173646148149noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9003884923219008714.post-55425292477153756882013-10-13T19:38:00.000-07:002013-10-14T17:21:20.580-07:00Mountain Biker's Dream Come True?<div class="gmail_default" style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">
What mountain biker hasn't had devious thoughts about ripping up a golf course? Well, we got our dream today at Tall Chief golf course in Fall City. Ok, so we were on cyclocross bikes and the golf course is defunct, meaning we didn't get chased off by angry club-wielding, polo-shirt wearing dudes in golf carts, but we still got to rip it up!</div>
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Mark Twain is often quoted as saying 'golf is a good walk spoiled'. I say a golf course is green space spoiled. Today we took back the green space, courtesy of the <a href="http://seattlecx.com/news/" target="_blank">SCX</a> running a cyclocross race course through it. Kudos SCX!</div>
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Once the excitement of racing on a golf course has worn off, the reality sets in. Golf courses are kind of flat, without many exciting features, like say, woody sections or twisty singletrack. This could quickly turn into a mountain bikers worst nightmare, if it wasn't for one magical ingredient - rain! Lots and lots of it. Rain in the preceding weeks of the race quickly turned this green space into brown space. As in mud. Lots and lots of it. Energy sapping, spirit sucking, derailleur gunking, wheel stopping mud. </div>
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The other thing about defunct golf courses is that they are no longer pristinely manicured with uniform centimeter long cut grass. Things go a little bit wild and the wet, foot long grass ends up in clumps stuck around anything that moves on the bike - chain rings, hubs, derailleurs, you get the picture.....</div>
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So I'm feeling pretty smug during the race. I have disc brakes and therefore the build up of mud on my rims are not a deterrent to actually stopping when I want. I'm pitying my competition with rim brakes who really don't stand a chance in these conditions. Only trouble is, in my smugness, and ability to keep going, I do keep going. I'm buoyed on by the cheers to ride the mud alongside the pit that most gals are running. Duh! rookie mistake! I forget I can pit to pick up a nice clean bike and meanwhile my bike is picking up at least a pound of mud each lap. After 5 laps (or so) that's a lot of freakin' weight to carry around. </div>
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To cut an overwhelming long story short (can you tell I haven't blogged for a while and had caffeine today?) I was one of 4 gals who split from the rest of the pack. Each of us taking a turn to lead, but never tightly grouped together. We all had strengths in different areas and on different laps. A little back and forth during various laps, and I ended up in 4th (see paragraph above...... I guess the golf course had the last laugh on one dumb mountain biker!)<br />
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Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804060173646148149noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9003884923219008714.post-25617006885176331832012-12-02T07:38:00.000-08:002013-02-10T08:21:40.377-08:00WA State Finals - Conditions Spot On<div style="text-align: center;">
Fun mudfest! Good way to end the season!</div>
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Happy with 3rd in State</div>
<br />Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804060173646148149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9003884923219008714.post-8295615292561237192012-11-25T20:35:00.000-08:002012-11-25T20:35:08.359-08:00Monroe Mud Between the Toes (SCX finals)Mud between the toes feels good for a change! Nowhere near the epic mud-a-thon of last year, but just enough to make things a lot more interesting than last week at Steilacoom.<br />
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I was so excited by the mud that I decided to race my new disc brake equipped 'cross bike (Specalized Carbon Crux). The confidence it gave me on the descent and through the corners was worth the slight weight penalty. Mud was definitely not going to slow me down!<br />
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With double points on the line for the final race of the series, placing was going to be doubly important for the overall standings. My goal was to hang on to my 3rd overall and not have a repeat of the last couple of weeks.<br />
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To cut a long muddy slog short, I quickly settled into 3rd place and kind of just got stuck there until the end of the race. No moving up, no moving back. So, not 2nd (yay!) then again not 1st (humph!), but 3rd. Hmm, you'd think I might be a bit disappointed, but no, I was far from it. Although fairly and squarely beaten by a couple of very fast ladies, I achieved my mission AND kept my 3rd overall in the series.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thanks Jodi - my photographer has been slacking!</td></tr>
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And to top that off, a very fine day was had by the team, with these impressive overalls in the series-<br />
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Kristy Kelsey - 2nd elite women<br />
Sean Kelsey - 1st 45+ elite men<br />
Jason Jablonski 1st 35+ elite men<br />
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A very happy day on the bike!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christening the New Bike in Mud - where is my mechanic anyway?</td></tr>
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<br />Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804060173646148149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9003884923219008714.post-49299631218780143112012-11-25T19:57:00.001-08:002012-11-25T19:57:55.061-08:00StillSecondatSteilacoomA reversed course made no difference at Steilacoom (SCX#6) for our return visit. It was still Steilacoom (yawn) and the results were the same - 2nd again. My puny running legs let me down again.......Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804060173646148149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9003884923219008714.post-54208680118905405942012-11-12T21:32:00.000-08:002012-11-12T21:32:20.961-08:00You Just Never Know.......So here's the funny thing about 'cross - you just never know how things will pan out in the race, let alone by the end of the season. Woodland Park was the last race of the MFG series and through this series I've run the gauntlet of finishes from 3rd being my best finish to 11th being a race I'd rather forget. Overall I was sitting in 4th and looking at the competition and doing the math before the race that was likely where I'd stay. If I had a good race, maybe I'd scrape a 3rd overall.<br />
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I had a good start off the line, sitting in 3rd, but goofed early by being in too high of a gear coming out of the first corner, and allowed a gap to form from the lead 2 gals. Fortunately no one came around me to capitalize on this, but it left me chasing hard with a couple of gals on my tail. What felt good was that I was actually capable of this hard chase (probably the first time this season I've felt this strong). There was a little back and forth between me and the 2 gals that were with me, but we weren't exactly closing in on the lead 2 gals. But all of a sudden I'm in the lead. Not exactly sure what happened, but it turns out one of the leaders pulls out after crashing hard and the other has an untimely flat and has to pit.<br />
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So now I'm not fighting for 3rd place, but for 1st place. Game on! The 2 gals with me fight hard too, each of us taking the lead at various times. On the last lap one has dropped off the pace a bit, so it's down to the 2 of us. Each lap I lose time on the run-up, so I'm dreading this section on the last lap. I know if she gaps me here that'll be it. I visualize gazelles and springing up over the barriers and logs on the run-up, but it is to no avail, the inner heffalump in me comes out and I thud my way up the slope. She gaps me, puts in an extra effort on the next climb and I have to be content with 2nd place. She earned it, fairly and squarely.<br />
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Even though I had a great race, I couldn't help but be deflated at the end, especially knowing that a win would have really shaken up the overall placings. However, it turns out it was enough to push me up to 2nd overall, so I am pretty happy with that. As for the gal who flatted, well she fought back and took 4th place, good enough to take the overall series win. So the moral of this story? Well in 'cross, you do really never know how things are going to turn out, but you should never give up, and even bad luck in a race won't slow you down if you are that strong! Congrats Kari on your overall win :)Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804060173646148149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9003884923219008714.post-75713095979805223812012-11-06T10:08:00.000-08:002012-11-06T10:08:04.806-08:00I Like MudMud is good, it makes racing fun. Enumclaw (SCX#5) was fun! Not quite the mud swamp of last year, but enough to make things interesting. The slick, peanut buttery twisty corners claimed a fair number of victims and favored those who could maintain speed and stay upright.<br />
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I like this course so much in fact that I can forgive it for the 'wall of doom'. This is a run-up that seems to go vertically straight up and for me becomes a 'stagger-up' by the 6th lap. It's truly not a pretty site to behold and the beer garder hecklers at the top have plenty of time to comment on your progress! They show no pity and don't offer ropes to tow you up. Maybe we need a climbing sponsor rather than a beer sponsor next year??<br />
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The 'wall of doom' was really where the 1st split in the pack came in the race. I got through around 6th place, but soon pulled into 5th place after narrowly missing a gal who crashed on the descent (she was ok). The leaders were pulling away though and as hard as I tried I could never match their speed. I knew if I had a 'clean' race (technically, not literally!) and kept focused I'd keep my 5th place though. It was hard not to be demoralized each lap by the 'wall of doom' but my endorphines kicked in on the descent and I used the guys as carrots to keep me going as I worked my way through them. <br />
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I was pleased with my solid race for 5th place, and even happier for team mate Kristy who held her 4th place ahead of me and even made some ground on 3rd place.<br />
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<br />Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804060173646148149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9003884923219008714.post-6548088320053306202012-10-28T20:43:00.000-07:002012-10-28T20:43:22.918-07:00An Expensive Race at Sprinker (SCX#4)Despite not having the mud of yesterday's race, things were going pretty well.<br />
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I even quite enjoyed the sandy section. That was until a competitor (I could think of other descriptors right now) decided to re-mount her bike, crashing into me whilst severely miss-judging a pass. My problem might have been in not falling off, because my front wheel took the full force and out ripped 2 spokes.<br />
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Carbon tubular wheels just don't respond well to pedal interactions. I think I would have rather had some body damage that would have healed than this that will need to be replaced!<br />
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The only lucky break I had was that the pits weren't too far away. A short run and a new bike had me going again. Riding angry helps for a while, but it wasn't enough to catch back up with the main field. I wasn't last though....<br />
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Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804060173646148149noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9003884923219008714.post-46406715051141165682012-10-27T19:17:00.001-07:002012-10-27T19:28:01.518-07:00Marymoor Revisited (MFG#5)It's taken 3 weeks of rain, but finally the ground can take no more and has started oozing mud. The dust bowl of the first Marymoor race was completely transformed into a slick, gooey, mudfest. No more high speed drag-racing - 'proper' CX battling with an emphasis on staying upright rather than going fast. <br />
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Much slippery fun was had, and plenty of mud ingested. After the first lap I was in a strong 4th position behind my team mate Kristy and wasn't feeling too much pressure from behind. By the last lap I had a little more juice in the engine and pulled into 3rd spot. Luckily, no response from Kristy because she was saving herself for another lap - oops!Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804060173646148149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9003884923219008714.post-60427087483268639312012-10-23T20:12:00.001-07:002012-10-23T20:12:23.284-07:00Magnuson Haiku (MFG#4)<div style="text-align: center;">
At last some good health</div>
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Did not feel like crap today</div>
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Deep full breaths feel good</div>
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Only the course sucked</div>
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Too flat, no mud, plain boring</div>
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5th place, not so bad</div>
Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804060173646148149noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9003884923219008714.post-40594666692521694512012-10-14T18:53:00.000-07:002012-10-14T18:53:30.626-07:00Slinky Silver Lake (SCX#3)Finally, a 'real' 'cross course! More ups and downs than a Catholic mass and more dancing around than a Gospel choir, Silver Lake is definitely one to praise! With the weather taking a turn for the worse/better, a few days of rain was also a gift from the heavens.<br />
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I was pretty psyched going in. Until that is my pre-ride and warm-up, which left me winded and wanting to lie down and rest. But hey, better than last week when I couldn't even manage a warm-up. I would stay positive!<br />
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With that positive attitude, and not fearing the sandy section, I had a good start and 1st couple of laps, maintaining 3rd place, but on a climb on the back of the course, I lost me time every go-around. So frustrating to enjoy a course, but be let down by my cardio capacity, which seemed to be stuck in 2nd gear. I revved the engine but it sputtered and failed.<br />
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In the end I had to be content to stay upright on my bike and settled for 6th place. Better than last week's placing, but with a smaller field, closer to the back than I would have liked.<br />
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There was one silver lining to today though - team mate Kristy had a well deserved 2nd place, showing her prowess over the 'roadies' as the courses get more technical. Nice job Kristy!<br />
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<br />Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804060173646148149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9003884923219008714.post-28689921135837003172012-10-07T13:17:00.004-07:002012-10-07T13:17:55.111-07:00Haiku for Marymoor (MFG#3)Hurts so much today.<br />
Lungs on fire, it's just the start.<br />
Dropping back so far.<br />
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Hurts so much today.<br />
No air to breathe, just dry dust.<br />
Holding my own now.<br />
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Hurts so much today.<br />
My body is rebelling.<br />
Just have to hang in.<br />
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Hurts so much today.<br />
Forty five minutes pure hell.<br />
At last, the finish.<br />
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<br />Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804060173646148149noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9003884923219008714.post-69188357228110280282012-10-01T08:46:00.000-07:002012-10-01T08:46:06.174-07:00All the Tricks in the Bag - SCX#2 ArlingtonAnother flat non-technical course today. And although I'm not complaining about the glorious weather we've been having, ENOUGH already with the dry, fast courses!<br />
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I had to pull out all the tricks in my bag today - caffeinated energy gel pre-race, wet washcloth around my neck and carrying a water bottle. I also decided that the only way of surviving the straight-a-ways on the course was to make sure I was on someones wheel each time to pull me along. I succeeded in this, and felt like I was in a great position on the last lap to pull ahead and grab a 3rd spot. Unfortunately, the gals behind me had their own plans and one surged ahead in the middle of the lap on the final straight-a-way, the other passed just before the final stretch to the finish and got the sprint ahead of me and the gal I had been on the wheel of. I ended up an out-smarted and out-powered 6th place.<br />
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There's definitely a lot of young and upcoming talent in the field this year. It's great to see. The only negative side to this is that I'm seeing more and more 'sketchy' moves and unnecessarily aggressive moves to get ahead or maintain position. One of these moves took my team mate Kristy down early on in the race and I was almost taken out at the end of the race after the sprint finish by a gal who just swerved across my line and ended up taking herself out.<br />
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I think it's time we all did a little rain dance and started racing 'cross rather than crits!Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804060173646148149noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9003884923219008714.post-22438462027692019322012-09-27T07:23:00.000-07:002012-09-27T07:23:35.342-07:00Lake Sandyammish MFG #2<div style="text-align: center;">
Sand sucks.</div>
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Riding sand sucks.</div>
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Running sand sucks even more.</div>
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Not sure how I even scraped a 5th place. </div>
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That's all I have to say.</div>
Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804060173646148149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9003884923219008714.post-14297923082850137202012-09-16T22:03:00.000-07:002012-09-17T19:21:18.076-07:00SCX#1 SteilacoomSo what do you get when you cross caffeine with someone who has been free of it for 9 months? 2nd place (well that along with some notable names missing from the start line!) I guess that the only reason caffeine isn't regulated by the USDA is that most racers are so habituated to it that they don't get much of a boost from it. Now give it to a naive user (me) and bingo, it's unofficially a performance enhancing drug! I won't be sleeping much tonight, but hey, I guess at least it gives me time to write this blog.<br />
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Intense effort in 80degree heat usually leaves me with a headache. Caffeine (in the form of an energy gel) was my antidote to this. Not really giving me extra power or speed, just the capacity to keep pushing through without my head exploding.<br />
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Staying cool was also necessary to prevent the dreaded headache. I employed a couple of tactics for this - a wet wash cloth on my neck for cooling and (big gulp) a water bottle on my bike. This is almost taboo in CX, but a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do right?<br />
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I had a chance to work with my team mate Kristy for a few laps during this race. She powered away for the hole shot and pulled me for the best part of 2 laps - thank you Kristy!! I tried to re-pay the favor, but alas the hill climb took its toll on Kristy and our team work came to an end as she dropped back into 3rd.<br />
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I couldn't shake the gal who made it into 2nd place though. I knew she was climbing better than me, but hoped to keep her off. Alas, no such luck. She came powered around me on the final lap's climb and I never managed to bridge back up to her. Nicely played! Still, I was happy with 2nd. But even happier that I managed to put in place some coping mechanisms for racing in hotter weather.Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804060173646148149noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9003884923219008714.post-88605354229482234852012-09-09T18:58:00.000-07:002012-09-09T19:03:49.497-07:00MFG #1 Big Finn Hill <span style="font-family: inherit;">Wow, it's that time of year again! We kicked off the 2012 CX season with MFG at Big Finn Hill in Juanita. I've got to confess I wasn't physically or mentally prepared for today. Taking the summer 'off' to play in the mountains on my mountain bike was good for the soul, but meant that I hadn't raced in over 3 months. That long out of the race saddle and I had begun to question whether I had it in me for another season of CX. Added to that, I wasn't particularly excited by the course, which was even less technical and faster than last year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Low motivation and self doubt is not a good way to start a race, but the only way to find out where I was at was to get out there and do it! A good start put me in 3rd, just where I wanted, but it didn't last long as a side nudge through a corner had me on the ground and my team mate Kristy (who was perfectly placed behind me on my wheel) on top of me. Deep breath and chain back on, I then spent the rest of the race chasing to catch back up. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Took a while for me to work my way back up to 6th place, and then I chased up to 5th and made my way around, only to have her get a second wind and pass me again. Then I realized that as hard and painful as the race was, I really was back in 'competition' mode and I had a rabbit to chase! There was just no way I could give up and let her go. I had to play it smart though. Catching back up was one thing, but we were obviously pretty evenly matched, so I couldn't just blow past her. I rested a while on her wheel and it gave me just enough to pass when I felt good and I gave it everything to stay ahead in the last 1/4 of the final lap. She was close enough for it to come down to a sprint finish, but she wasn't on my wheel, so didn't have a drafting advantage. It was simply a matter of keeping it going to the end. It worked. I held 5th. Phew.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Much more importantly though, I found my motivation to race hasn't deserted me and my form doesn't suck too terribly for early in the season! I'll always have some self doubt, but that's a constant work in progress......</span></div>
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Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804060173646148149noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9003884923219008714.post-28793632906316119292011-12-13T20:46:00.000-08:002011-12-13T20:46:15.270-08:00Bend USGP Round 2The good thing about a 2nd day of racing is you can learn from the first and try to improve. My start position (based on random draw) was even worse than the 1st day - dead last row this time - couldn't do anything about that! My goal was to stay clear of any carnage that might happen and not end up on the ground this time. Success. I stayed on the bike, and although I was still pretty close to the back of the pack it was better than before. <div>
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As I was with the pack this time it was frustrating having to slow down going into all the corners as the racers backed up in them. Kind of a new experience for me as I just don't get to race against that many gals locally and I'm usually near the front of the pack. Everyone wants to be ahead of everyone else, so there's a lot more aggression, vying for position than I'm used to too. Sticking with my plan of not ending up on the ground I stayed as calm as I could and patiently waited for things to thin out a bit before starting to make my way up through the pack. </div>
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Slowly by surely I did pick my way through the last quarter of the pack. Each racer I passed was a small success and spurred me on to the next. I'd catch glimpses of team mate Kristi ahead of me, and I would have loved to have bridged up to her, but never got close enough to make it worth that extra effort. Racing felt harder this time - likely fatigue from the previous day, but could also have been that the temperatures had dropped to around freezing and along with the wind chill I was actually fighting to stay warm too. Now that's a new experience for me during a CX race!</div>
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2nd to last lap I made a silly mistake and went down in a tricky loose off-camber section and managed to open up the road rash I had from the crash on day one - ouch! Got back on and didn't lose any places though, just a little ego deflation as it had been a clean race until then. </div>
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I rolled across the finish line in 25th place - not stellar, better than the previous day! By pure placing, technically my worst weekend of racing CX this season, but I can honestly say I've had a great weekend stepping up to the challenge of racing against the nation's top women. It's only by putting oneself through these challenges that we can learn and improve ourselves. I've learnt a lot this season, but still have a lot more to learn.</div>
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Think I might be back next season??</div>
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</div>Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804060173646148149noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9003884923219008714.post-31210054283722874292011-12-10T22:34:00.001-08:002011-12-10T22:34:02.939-08:00Blindsided in Bend4th row call up not good.
Taken out on first lap not good.
Dead last not good.
Been here before. Stay calm. Work hard.
29th not good, but not bad either.
Better luck tomorrow?Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804060173646148149noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9003884923219008714.post-85789012682035343682011-12-06T08:09:00.001-08:002011-12-06T09:14:00.582-08:00State of PlayOk, confession out of the way first. I actually enjoyed this pancake flat, non-muddy, non-technical course in Arlington that hosted the WA State Championships. And no, I'm not saying that because it was designed and built by CycleU-PopCap Team Director Chad Berg (I think I cursed him to his face the week before) but because during a race things change big time.<br />
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The speed and chaos of racing makes seemingly innocuous turns much tighter and technical than a pre-ride can reveal. Chicanes breaking up the straight-a-way sections were evil genius - high speed had to be scrubbed quickly for the corner and then immediately you had to be back on the gas to power back up to speed. Rhythm broken, no real rest, and then an anaerobic burst. </div>
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Chad did his utmost to make the sandy section as unrideable as possible (with a rototiller at 6am in the morning) but racers just kept on packing it down to make a 6inch solid line through it. However, racers still went down and the trick was avoiding these obstacles without getting into too much trouble in the softer sand. </div>
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The morning was frosty and socked in with fog, but by the time we made it up to Arlington the sun had seared a nice little hole around the race course so everything was glowing with vitamin D. After last week's mudfest it was nice to know that clean-up wasn't going to take longer than the race itself.</div>
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I had a poor start, but team mate Kristi had a great one and got the hole shot going into the first corner which funneled everyone into a tight twist through some trees. I was sitting 3rd wheel when 2nd place went down in the corner. Argh! I really didn't want to join her down there, so slammed on brakes and narrowly averted plowing through her. I don't know if everyone avoided her behind me, but it did cause considerably chaos and as I emerged from the corner I saw that Kristi had a considerable gap on the rest of us. Hmm, my usual response would be to go harder to catch back up, but why help anyone on my wheel to catch back up? I wasn't going to slack off, but I also didn't need to kill myself trying to catch back on. I smiled as Kristi danced away. </div>
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It wasn't long before Kari came around me to go chase Kristi down and I tried to stay on her wheel, but just couldn't match the acceleration in her powerful legs. I did maintain 3rd place though, as no one else could either. Kari eventually made it around Kristi too to take the win, but Kristi (showing some of her old form returning) held on for 2nd and I made it my mission to not allow 4th place gal to catch me. This gal can sprint and there was no way I was going to let her take me at the finish, so half way through the last lap was the time for me to kill myself and get my distance from her. It worked, and I pulled in 3rd for the States. Good day for the girls!</div>
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Ok, so maybe the good race had something to do with me enjoying the course too ;-)</div>
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<br /></div>Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804060173646148149noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9003884923219008714.post-54958592807658650622011-11-27T20:37:00.001-08:002011-11-27T21:21:59.642-08:00Mud, Mud, Glorious MudAt Evergreen State Fairgrounds today the animals were were let loose from their pens to play in the mud for the SCX finale in Monroe.<br />
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All the right ingredients for a great race for me today - sloppy conditions, no mechanical, no technical blunders, feeling good in the legs and head. Just one problem though - faster gals, all wanting the same great race! I gritted my teeth (or was that just grit in my teeth?) to get 3rd place gal in my sights, but came in a few seconds back to take 4th. It was good enough to secure 3rd overall in the series, so no complaints from me!<br />
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The pictures tell a much better story of the race than I can......<br />
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<br />Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804060173646148149noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9003884923219008714.post-76548915684721583832011-11-20T19:47:00.001-08:002011-11-20T21:18:27.567-08:00No Spring at SprinkerQuite the opposite of spring in fact, with clear skies overnight leading to a frosty morning and temperatures struggling to get above freezing. Numb fingers and toes were the order of the day for <a href="http://seattlecyclocross.com/about/race-venues/sprinker-park">SCX #6</a> at Sprinker Park, Tacoma.<br />
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Despite feeling cruddy this last week, fighting a head cold that just won't go away, I felt optimistic going into today's race. The course was fun, and a couple of changes from last year made it a little twistier and all the sand rideable. They added another run-up, but overall I was fairly confident I could have a good race here.<br />
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I took the hole-shot, but by the first run-up I was fading and just couldn't sustain the high intensity required to stay with the leaders. I watched as team mate Kristi left me behind to sit strongly in 2nd. To add insult to injury I dropped a chain. Not once, but twice. It would be nice to blame this for my getting dropped, but in reality I only lost a few seconds each time. I just didn't have any spring in my legs to power through anything.<br />
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A couple of laps to go, sitting in 7th, I wasn't losing ground anymore, in fact I was gaining a bit. Seems like although I had no spring, I did still have endurance. I was closing in on Kristi who had taken a hit with some mechanicals. Maybe we could work together to catch 5th place? No such luck though, as I couldn't hold her wheel to start with and then when I did get back up to her she couldn't hold mine. I think mentally she had just had enough. With my legs feeling a little better I did get 5th place in my sights, I fought hard, but she took me by 3 seconds at the end.<br />
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Not a good day for me, or any of our team. Crashes, mechanicals, sickness, all took it's toll today. For SCX we all get to drop our worst race, this might just be the one for everyone today. So looking back on the week, today's result shouldn't have been a surprise for me. In an effort to give my body time to recover and shake my head cold, training time totaled an hour and a half this week - all pretty close to the race. Too little, too late.....<br />
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<br />Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804060173646148149noreply@blogger.com1