Abs of.....not steel

This is the look of pain in the off-season...this particular exercise you lay on your side w/ your legs at a 30 degree angle, then push up to a straight arm. Do max reps on this puppy. OUCH!

Look at Clarence just taunting me!

I've put on a few extra pounds over the past couple of months...not riding for 5 weeks will do that. I've tried to watch what I eat...but sometimes it's hard.

We've been doing lots of core work, plyometrics, biceps, triceps, etc. Hopefully I can drop those extra pounds once I start base mile training in January.

Clarence's first day at the Cove Pictures

Clarence posing

Wow...look how clean

Minor adjustments

Ewwwww look how dirty!

"Michigan" takes Clarence for a spin

Clarence's ride at the Cove

Christmas morning arrived & we stumbled down the stairs to see what Santa had brought. Hiding around the corner was a nice, shiny, root beer colored, single speed, 29er! Wow what a surprise! My initial reaction was "holy crap" That's about all I said for the first five minutes waiting for the moment to truly sink in. Hubby & I had talked about upgrading me to a 29er for the upcoming season. I thought we would just piece one together, get the frame & fork first, then ebay some stuff, then buy wheels, etc. So you can imagine my complete & utter shock when I saw this complete bike sitting by the tree. (it was a little large to go underneath!) Hubby did good. I had no idea.....he's good at surprising me...sneaky, but good.

Now that I had a new bike..I had to take him for a ride. Hubby changed out the rims & tires to lighten the load by 3 lbs or so. He also put my stem & handlebars from the Kona on this bike. A few more adjustments to the seat height & position & I was ready to go. I zoomed up & down the alley behind my house a few times on Saturday, just to get the feel. It felt good, very stable. Although it took a little getting used to how big the front wheel was. As I zoomed up & down, I decided my bike needed a name. Normally I don't name my bikes...but this one seemed like he wanted to be named. I first thought of "beer" because it's color was root beer. Then hubby said what about "Clarence"? I immediately thought of the guardian angel in the movie "It's a Wonderful Life". (which is one of my all time favorite movies)...so I thought..yea...Clarence...Kind of catchy & the bike was a Christmas gift.

I sent a message to my buddy Jen to see if she planned on riding on Sunday. Sure enough, the chickies were set to ride. We met at the Cove. when I arrived, Jen was on the trails making some adjustments to her fork. She cruised into the parking lot. I introduced Clarence to Ritchey. Just about that time, "Michigan" aka Surly Girl, aka Laura rolled up.
We ventured down the road chit chatting as us gals do, then onto the trails.
We did our usual loop Songbird to Arrowhead, to Schoolhouse, to LIttlebell, to Enchanted Forest, to Coment.
As we rode up Songbird I mentioned to the girls I felt like I was in slow motion. Laura said it was because I had to turn the cranks less to move the bigger wheels. At one point I caught Jen's back wheel. Sorry...Clarence was being a little feisty!. Conditions were rather peanut buttery. I felt guilty for being on the trails in those types of conditions. It's not good for the trails...but we weren't the only ones out there.
Anywho, I zoomed through the fun part of Songbird and we met back up on the fireroad. Onto Arrowhead. I was feeling a little spunky so I tried to enter the steeper trailhead of Arrowhead. Couldn't do it. so I walked up this little section. The bike climbs well..It felt a little lighter than the Kona. I was picking bad lines just to see how the bike would do. It cruised over the little bumps & tracked quite well. I was getting tired on the climb though. I hadn't been on the bike in 4 1/2 weeks....and i was feeling it. My bike fitness was toast. We continued along Arrowhead. I cleared the first little creek crossing, the second one, I forgot to pedal through, the third I ended up sideways b/c I took a horrible line & the fourth had too much water & wet rocks so I decided to walk it. I noticed I was descending a little more recklessly than usual....I guess that's because I felt really stable on the bike.
Onto Schoolhouse. there's a small section on this trail where if you hit it just right, you can catch some air. Once again, I was feeling a little spunky so I gained some speed coming up to this section. I launched and actually caught some air. I felt very confident that the bike would track well after the jump...it was fun....I don't think I got that high...but I still was airborne.
We crossed some of the creeks & contined on. There are some log piles on this trail & on Little Bell trail. I thought about attempting a couple of them..but they were wet & slick...so I'll have to try those some other day.
I mentioned to the girls that the bike felt very nimble even though it was bigger than the Kona. We finished up on Comet. Jen started singing "Jingle Bells" ..just about that time a deer ran in front of me. I told Jen we needed a new song b/c Jingle Bells was stuck in my head. We both started singing Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. Laura must have thought we were nuts. The funny part was we were singing Rudolph while on the "Comet" trail....
Anyway..we had a great time. I think Clarence enjoyed his first day out. I had to take him home & give him a bath b/c he was filthy.
I'll post pics later.

They ride mountain bikes????

Yea, we rock bikes but we also clean up nicely.

Had a fun time at the BRBC (Blue Ridge Bicycle Club) Christmas Party. Got to meet some new chickies and are already talking about spring rides!

Got a few more weeks of "down" time off the bike. Been doing other core exercises & cross training, but very little riding. Hopefully all of this cross training will pay off next season.

Happy Halloween

Watch out for all of those ghosts & goblins & things that go BUMP in the night!

Here Kitty Kitty

Our neighbor has 2 kittens..they're close to 7 months old now. The black one has no fear, is very inquisitive and personable. The grey one is a bit more timid but will follow the black one's lead. They come over to visit quite often. They came over a couple of weekends ago to taunt the dog. If I wasn't allergic & if we didn't have a Kitty Crazy dog, I'd adopt them in a heartbeat.

Deja Vu

Liberty Mountain Race Report

I was hoping to have a better race than last week's but it was not to be. The course was 18 miles w/ close to 5000 feet of climbing...most within the first half of the race. It was another mass start but the field spread quickly. Laura got out ahead of me from the start...but I was only a couple of riders back & figured we had a long way to go so I was content to hang there.

As we came upon the first bridge crossing, I hollered to Laura.."go...you got it"....Unfortunately she thought otherwise. As she's pulling her bike out of the way I heard this tiny voice say "I can't".. She soon caught back up & then proceeded to blow by me on the first fireroad climb.

I wasn't worried..my goal was to just keep her in my sights through the race & we'd be fine.

About 6 1/2 miles in, we started a descent. As I bombed down the hill I noticed Laura off to the side of the trail wrapped around a tree facing the other direction. She was ok..just a bit twisted up. I continued bombing down until the intersection. I came to a complete stop...the course ribbons were down & I wasn't sure which way to go. My instinct told me to go left..which I did...I pedaled about 10 pedal strokes when some dude came flying the other direction. I figured I went the wrong way so I turned around & followed him..went back through the intersection and pedaled on. As I went..I had a feeling it was incorrect, so I turned back around & pedaled the other way...again. As I came to the intersection, the course markings were back up & I had to crawl under the course ribbon. Two guys were coming down the hill...I asked if I was going the right way & they said yes. I was pretty upset b/c I probably lost 4 minutes going back & forth. One of the guys told me...well just hope for a mechanical & you might catch your competition.
I thought..fat chance buddy...Laura never has mechanicals.......We rode on...at one point the trail parallels a fireroad climb...that's where I saw Laura climbing..I was going to yell to her to back off since I was behind her...but I didn't have time.

I plodded on..hoping to catch a glimpse of her..but it was not to be. Around 12 miles in, we crossed a ridge & I heard a strange humming sound...Power lines? No...swarming bees...they were about 20 feet off of the trail....I went as fast as I could to get away....I still have bad flashbacks to Danville & the bee incident.

Around 15 miles in, my legs were seizing up. I had to stop at one point to get a gu down & drink some fluids....the climbs were killing me..I was on the verge of cramping most of the race...towards the end, I walked every climb b/c I was so tired & I knew I wouldn't catch Laura.

At the end w/ less than a mile to go, the course tape was down again...I ended up going the wrong way again!!!!...Very Frustrating. I finally made it back in..I have no idea what my time was I know I lost close to 5 minutes, maybe more as a result of being misdirected again.

The cool part was I got to rub elbows w/ pro rider Jeremiah Bishop..Too Cool

Here's a pic of Laura, Jeremiah & me

MW race...

Blech...today was the 4th installment in the Virginia Derailer Series. Weather was hot...90's and it's mid-September!..Geez.
I wasn't feeling it this race. I went for an easy spin yesterday on the road bike & my legs were killing me. I don't know if it was a result from my riding earlier this week..(Mill Mtn Tuesday..lots o' climbing, intervals on the trainer Wednesday, Cove ride on Thursday going a little harder than I wanted too.....a lot of time on my feet on Saturday (shopping & other errands.....I noticed my legs hurt then too).. or it could be I'm still getting over my case of "walking bronchitis" which started over Labor Day weekend...I coughed for 7 nights straight, finally saw my doctor, got some good anitbiotics..but my chest still isn't clear.
Anyway...you have good races & not so good races...this was to be a not so good race. Boo!

We started off and immediately climbed..and climbed...and climbed. I had forgotten how much climbing was at the start of this race. Then, myself and about 5 or 6 others were told to go the wrong way on course. We did not realize our error until we had ridden an extra mile & 1/2 or so and we were getting passed by experts pretty early on. This would affect the outcome of the entire sport women's race...as the majority sport women were with me when we were misdirected. 2 of the sport girls & I debated on what to do at the end of our 1st lap. the officials told us we had to finish but we explained to them at that point we had only done 1 official lap. We decided to be "official" we should do a second lap. At this point I mentally checked out of the race & went into "just ride" mode. plus I was overheated, and my legs had no power.
As the three of us rode, we chit chatted as girls do...we decided at the end of the race we would all finish together to get the same time...and to basically "protest" (I don't know if you can do that in our little series...but we let them know we were not happy)
Our total mileage was around 10.62 miles...where as the regular race was 8.85 miles..(that's according to the readings on my Garmin & my hubby's Garmin)..so we did a little extra..close to 2 miles extra...
Overall I got 2nd in Female SS.....Surly girl was riding waaaaaay strong...killing it on the 1st climb so she got a much deserved 1st place. I didn't get to see her the rest of the race once we got off course .
In hindsight I should have followed my instint & turned where I thought we should turn instead of listening to the race "officials"...I've done this race for a few years now...so I knew better. Oh well..hindsight is 20-20....no biggie....just gotta put this one behind me & prepare for Lynchburg next week.
I think I'll go have a beer now.
Cheers!

18 hours race report

18 hours of racing seems like a long time but honestly, it’s more fun than racing a regular event. After weeks of preparation we were finally ready to do the Scout’s Honor race held in Goochlands, VA (just outside of Richmond)…

The week leading up to the race I got a message from one of my fellow chicky teammates. Her poor doggie was very ill and she was going to have to drop out of the race. We asked everyone we knew if they’d be interested in racing & no bites until our friend Moe stepped up. Moe rides some but has never raced…ever! Woo Hoo..back to 4 Chickies!...

We caravanned out to the venue, Hubby, Chas & me in the Outback. …about halfway there, hubby’s phone rings…”dude..you may want to pull over, your wheel is working itself loose from the wheel fork on the roof of your car”…No sooner had we hung up the phone when we see the wheel bouncing from the roof onto the side of the road!..Thank God we had exited the highway already. Chas opened the car door, grabbed the wheel & held it in his lap until we got to the gas station. It was pretty comical..but could have been a more dire situation. We were truly lucky…
We arrived at the venue & checked on the status of rooms. There were 2 more cabins available near the girls cabin..with showers, running water, etc!..we decided it would be better for all 3 teams to stay nearby….

We unpacked, got the bikes ready to go & headed over to the racers meeting. The organizers said to watch for surprises through the night & the usual race stuff..stop to help others in trouble, yield the trail when the opportunity presents itself, watch out for trail tramps (more on this later).blah, blah, blah.

I was the first in our rotation. The first lap was good..not the blistering pace I expected..probably because we were led out by a guy on a unicycle…yes I said unicycle. We circled a gravel road, then dumped into the singletrack, rode through the transition area & then we were on our own. I paced with 5 or 6 guys for the first 3 miles or so…The course was fast, and dusty…As I continued w/ my lap I wished I had a harder gear. It was ok on the up hills but I just spun myself silly on the flats. It was frustrating to get passed by other females on other teams simply because they had gears. Oh well..that comes with riding a single speed. I finished the 9.5 loop in about an hour. Handed off our “baton” to Mackenzie & headed back in to recover. Mackenzie finished her lap, then Moe headed out followed by Kristin.
Our team stayed strong through the evening. From 10 pm on, we had Moe take a break…so the remaining 3 of us raced through the wee hours of the night.

During my midnight lap, I noticed the first “surprise”..there were lots and lots of rubber chickens with glowsticks in their beaks dangling from the trees. Weird…I said something to the race people & they were using those for prizes on the upcoming laps. Apparently if you brought in a chicken, you got a prize.

During my 3 a.m. lap I encountered the trail tramp. She was this short little blonde, dressed in …well, I don’t know how to describe what she was dressed in. She was standing by the side of the trail just inside of 2 miles to go. I could see a glow in the distance as I approached but I didn’t know what it was. As I zoomed past, I noticed 2 guys with her. They yelled at me to stop and to sign her. Huh? I stopped, grabbed a pen, and wrote my name on her shoulder. As I was leaving, 2 more guys pulled up behind me. I told them to stop & say hello.

After my 4th lap around 4:30 -5 a.m...things started to fall apart for our team of chickies. I felt ok when I came in but I must have chosen the wrong type of food to refuel with. Within 20 minutes of refueling, I was close to puking it all out. I would need to rest. Kristin was also a little woozy. We decided to take a break and rest…..Mackenzie came in & I don’t remember anything until around 7 a.m. when Mackenzie woke me up. She asked how I felt…I wasn’t sure but I wasn’t nauseated. She said Moe had gone back out on course & was completing her lap. She had checked on our place in the standings…we were currently 3rd!..even with taking a 2 hour break….The only problem…It was close to 7:30..the 4th place team had a girl on course before Moe & had 2 waiting in the wings. We only had until 10 a.m. to complete our laps. We calculated & recalculated to see if we could retain third….unfortunately it was not going to happen. Even if we got Mackenzie & I back on course, we would still be a lap down. Bummer!!! We decided to forgoe the laps. I went over to the 4th place team to let them know we were stopping. They decided to continue racing to make it interesting for the 2nd place team.

All in all it was a great time, hanging out w/ good friends & making some new ones.
Here are some quick thoughts/ thanks/kudos
Mackenzie & Barry – thanks for racing w/ us. You both did awesome for being so new to the sport
Moe – you totally rock. When you were not racing, you kept all three teams in their rotations throughout the wee hours of the morning. You go girl!!!
Kristin – Watch out for those trail tramps!..thanks for racing on my team…
Team 4 brothers from different mothers – you guys rocked the house..taking 1st overall…way to go
Team Sasquatch – thanks for the laughs…& congrats on your 7th place finish.
Dave & Gordon – thanks for checking the “clunking” noise on my bike
The chiropractic/massage dudes: THANK YOU…you were my saving grace…coming in getting my neck/shoulder/back worked on after laps was wonderful!...It kept me pain free during my laps.

18 HOURS ON FARM

Race report coming soon.....

55 miler….

Got up early on Sunday to get a long roadie ride in before it got too hot. Hubby & I ventured out towards Troutville & beyond. We started from the house, cruised through downtown, then out Hollins Road, Plantation Road & eventually ended up on Read Mountain Rd. From there we turned on to Rt 11, stopped in Troutville for a potty break, then made our way out towards Nace & Lithia. This is such a pretty ride out through here. Lots of field/pastures…the ride is relatively flat, there are a few rollers but not like Bradshaw Road. We kept a good average pace heading out Nace Rd…probably around 22 mph. We passed quite a few people out on their road bikes today too.
As we approached the end of the road, we encountered two riders taking a quick break. We said hello…turns out they know one of our sponsors from Mail It Plus. As we chatted a bit, we learned they had a flat at the start of their ride. It took them 50 minutes to change it! Ow!
We took a quick snack break then headed back the way we came. It was a bit tougher heading back b/c we had a head wind...Yuk!...we still averaged close to 17/18 mph heading back. There were a couple of points I stared to fade so we slowed the pace down a bit. All in all it was a good ride.. I think we ended up doing 55 miles in a little over 3 hours.
Got back, had a smoothie (YUM), grabbed lunch, then snoozed on the couch off and on while watching the Olympics. I saw bits and pieces of the women’s road race. They raced in horrid conditions….hard rain most of the race. There was this rider from Korea who crashed & took out a couple of riders w/ her. She ended up in this ditch…pretty scary to watch. The finish was exciting w/ a gal from Great Britain taking gold. There was also a 49 year old from France racing!!! I hope I’m still racing at 49!

Girlz night out…

Went out to the Cove Thursday night for the regular group ride. Got there a little late b/c I had to let the spoiled pooch out…she had been home all day & I didn’t want to come home to any little “gifts” . I also tried to locate the bottom bracket puller for Chris’ new fancy Rig…but could not locate it quickly amongst the unpacked boxes which remain in our basement.

Upon arrival Laura (aka “Michigan”) greeted me in the parking lot. She said the boyz had already gone on their way. She had already ridden for an hour & came back to wait for Jen & I. Plus the boyz were climbing up Hi Dee Hoe or Buck..whatever it was, it didn’t sound like fun.

Jen arrived & we got ready to go. There was another group out there & we checked to see what route they were taking…they had not decided yet, so we decided to go on our way. We did the usual low lander meander route. Songbird to Arrowhead to Little Bell to Schoolhouse, to EF, to Comet, to Connector.

I was still riding pretty conservatively b/c the neck is still stiff. I have more range of motion but still can’t turn completely to the left to look over my shoulder. I tried not to push it too hard on the climbs..and some stuff I walked which I can normally ride…..I guess I’m still hesitant b/c I don’t want to risk further injury. Other than that my legs felt good. I could definitely feel the effects of being off the bike for 2 ½ weeks.

Jen led most of the ride As we got to Arrowhead trail, I tried some of the creek crossings ..I think I got through the first one & that was it. The others I footed out..and I didn’t try the last one b/c the rocks in the middle were wet & I didn’t feel like crashing.
We continued on to Schoolhouse & Little Bell. When I got to these trails I felt as though I needed a steeper gear b/c I was spinning myself silly. However, when I got on the climbs, my gearing was just right. I think I’ve gotten stronger from riding the single speed but I don’t know if I’m ready to go into a higher gear….. Laura rides a SS too….I asked what gear she runs b/c she is really strong, yet stays seated on everything & makes things look effortless…she runs a 36-20…equivalent to a 32-18…..I think that’s too steep for me right now..but maybe one day.

We dumped down to EF….saw a bunch of deer hanging out where the water used to be. There was a large buck among the deer. I think we saw him the last time we rode through there. He’s probably around an 8 pointer. As we approached the creek crossing, we heard lots of voices. We stopped for a bit to see which way the riders were heading. While we waited, I noticed a large spider web on one of the trail signs. I grabbed a stick to do some further investigation. When I saw the legs, I knew it was a Black Widow….I looked a little closer & saw the red hourglass on her belly. Yuk!! Fortunately this one was smaller than the one my hubby & I killed a few weeks back…but it was still scary.
Once we got started, we ran into the boyz. We heard one of them remark..oh, they’re not riders..it’s just the girlz….or something to that effect. We jeered as they past by us….saying “we don’t need no stinkin boyz” They just laughed at us.

We finished Comet and dumped back out on the fire road. We contemplated whether to go up the climb to Connector or head out the paved road. We opted to climb. I took it really easy up the climb. Laura took off…seated the entire way..it was awesome. We met back up w/ her at the entrance to Four Gorge…and proceeded down the trail. Laura & Jen took off…I just paced myself b/c my back was stiffening up. At one point Jen waited for me…I told her not to worry about it.but she said “I never drop riders”….We descended down Hi Dee Hoe, back to the parking lot.

It was a fun ride..w/ great company. I’m looking forward to the next ride w/ the girls..we might to a roadie ride to mix it up a bit. Plus Jen & I need to get ready for the next derailer race to be held at Candler’s Mountain in Lynchburg. I told Jen lots of road riding will get us ready. Woo Hoo!

Ramblings about nothing….

Been keeping busy lately w/ working, finding a new job (yes, Trane doesn’t have a role for me so they’re letting me go Aug 15 L) , working through an injury, volunteering at RCO events, travel, blah blah blah.

Riding had been going well….up until early late June, early July. Shortly after doing my first patrol ride at Mill Mtn., I was riding at the Cove w/ hubby on a weekend. It was after we had some rain so there was a lot of wash out on the trails. We were descending the fireroad where Jacobs drop & ??? (forgot the name of the trail) intersect. I got caught in rut & couldn’t pull out of it. I crashed hard….bruising my hip, and landing partially on my head….. got back on the bike & kept riding…didn’t think much about it.
The next week, I was on a road ride. We entered the Greenway near the hospital. Upon entering my hubby turned around & exclaimed “hey , that’s not allowed on the greenway”…I turned to see what it was & a dude on a moped was cruising along beside us. When I turned back around, hubby was stopped dead in front of me. I tried to avoid him but I crashed into the back of him..flipping over the bars, landing on my head & shoulder..yes…same side as the Cove crash…the only thing which hurt was my thumb.
Got back on the bike…continued the ride….blah blah blah.

The next week or so was good, no crashes or incidents, feeling fine. Worked the RCO ID3 races. Hubby & I rode on a Sunday up at the back side of Dragon’s Back…lots o climbing but felt good. That following Monday I was reaching for something & felt this awful muscle pull down my left shoulder blade in the middle of my back. I couldn’t move…..It hurt to turn my head in either direction. Took some advil, iced it down…figured it would heal. That Tuesday, I went to ride w/ my buddy Jen. As soon as I got on the bike, instant pain. I rode about 50 feet, turned around, loaded the bike into the Jeep, muttered a few choice words, bid Jen adieu & pouted all the way home.

The next day I contacted a chiropractor friend who races w/ us. He did some temp/muscle scans…my middle back was way messed up. The pain was where the rib cage & spine come together so it’s a slow spot to heal b/c the ribs are constantly in motion. He did some work on the area….scheduled a couple more visits & sent me on my way. I was sooo sore after that.. Lots of ice & massage would be in order.
While all of this was going on I was having a super stressful week at work too. I’ve been helping in a dispatching role for the past month or so…but never had a headset. So that meant lots of holding the phone against my shoulder w/ my ear…not a good position to be in. I finally begged for a headset.

In the meantime, the RCO Mountain bike events were coming up. I desperately wanted to race them…however, it was not to be….the neck/back were still really stiff. I decided to rest to reduce the risk of further injury. A couple of more adjustments from the doc were in order.

We did some travel to PA last weekend to visit w/ family. Hubby & I played golf…..this was the first real activity I had attempted since the weird injury 2 weeks prior. I felt surprisingly ok. A little twingy here & there but nothing major. The next day I was a little sore again but had more range of motion.

Hubby & I did a patrol ride last night. I was waaaaay slow b/c I didn’t know how I would feel. Climbing was a chore b/c I had lost a lot of my fitness and I didn’t want to stress those muscles. We rode for close to 2 hours. I felt awful afterwards & thought I had taken another 4 steps backwards. I iced it down & had hubby massage the muscles again. This morning I felt surprisingly ok….a few twinges here & there but had good range of motion & little pain…. Gonna ride w/ my buddy Jen this evening. We’re gonna do a road ride…so hopefully there will be less stress on the affected area.

Hopefully I’m back on the road to recovery. I’m trying very hard not to be so tensed up in that area. I tend to hold all of my stress between my shoulder blades. It’s not pretty. We’ve only got 3 weeks until the 18 hour race..so hopefully I’ll be good for that.

I’ll try to keep this updated to see how I progress.

My First Patrol

Wednesday June 25.

I headed out for my first patrol of Mill Mountain. Met Jen at the house to show her the new/old house, Gretta greeted her in the usual, spastic, I don't get any attention, way. We headed out through the neighborhood, up some alleys, through Wasena Park, on to Ferncliff Park. We had to walk the little section of Chestnut Ridge, then onto Fishburn Pkwy and from there to Woodthrush trail. We zoomed along Woodthrush...this trail is so much fun to ride. Fairly wide open, not many technical sections. We paused for a photo opp to show we were patrolling.

Nice Socks!

We headed down the remainder of Woodthrush onto Lower Star. This lower section really needs to be multi use as it is very wide & you can see far enough ahead in case you need to dismount. We hiked up the remainder of lower star to the parking area off of Fishburn Parkway. From here we debated on what to do. Neither of us was feeling great so we knew climbing Monument would not be an option this evening. We decided to head down to Sylvan Road, then climb back up to Car Trail...I mean Big Sunny Trail. I was climbing at a turtle's pace..I think Jen almost plowed into me I was so slow. We hopped on to Ridgeline or Riser..(I get the names confused)& got to the switchbacks. I coudn't do the first left hander so I moved to the side. Jen came riding up & cleared it like a pro! Wow...Where did that come from? Someone has been practicing her skills. Off she pedaled to leave me in her dust. It was ok..I needed a little break.

We continued up and came to the next right hand switchback. Once again, Jen the pro mountain bike chicky cleared it!....I've never seen her clear both in the same ride. It was awesome. I know I have switchback work to do!

...As we pedaled on we commented on how there was no one to Educate, Assist or Inform....as the placards on on bikes instruct us. As we pedaled out of Zoo Poo (Ridgeline) we happened upon a wayward turtle. I almost slammed into the back of Jen b/c she stopped so quickly to assist mr/mrs turtle. Here was our opportunity to educate, assist, and inform. Jen let the turtle know he/she was on a busy thoroughfare for mountain bikes & it would be best to stay to the edge of the trail so he/she didn't become the main ingredient for turtle soup. We asssited the turtle in getting safely to the edge of the brush. We informed him/her we'd be back to check on it. It was pretty funny. The turtle just looked at us like we were crazy.

We climbed up the path to the Star. It was pretty busy for the middle of the week. Probably 25 people or so in the 5 minutes we were up there. We met a firefighter from Turbeville (home of VA canteloupes)...Took some pics & headed back down the mountain. We had to avoid wayward turtle b/c he/she did not listen to us. We took a slight detour to go up the path to the zoo. Jen asked me if I knew there was a time capsule buried there. I said I never knew that...but then again have lived here for 10 years & have never set foot in the zoo either. We pedaled over to the time capsule. I took a couple of pictures.

Then we headed back down zoo poo to the four way. We then took monument trail the rest of the way. We encountered 2 other bikers on their way up. I knew who they were so they would not need any help from us. We zoomed down the rest of monument, back out on pavement, then headed past the hospital to the greenway.

While going through the hospital Jen said hello to a coworker who's shift was ending. We decided to check out the progress on the bridge which Carilion was building.

While were were hanging out we ran into a couple of guys who work for the railroad. We discovered one of them knows Jen's dad who recently retired from the railroad. Small world. We bid them adieu and pedaled back the greenway/neighborhoods to return home. It was a great ride. We did close to 17 miles when it was all said & done.

Burn - 24 hour race D List Team final standings

I went back out for another lap in the morning hours. After I completed the lap we were trying to determine how many more rotations the team would get in before the 11:59 a.m. cut-off. We were in contention for 7th place with another team. As we gathered more information on the results, we learned the other team was 20 minutes ahead of us in time and they planned on sending another rider before the cut off. We knew we could not make up 20 minutes so after hubby did his last lap, we called it quits.

Turns out we secured 8th out of 23 (?) teams in our division and we wound up 21st of 115 teams. Not to shabby for a bunch of 24 hour race rookies. Our saving grace was the RV and the fact we went into the race with no expectations except to have fun! I would definitely do another 24 hour race..provided I had a hooked up RV w/ a nice warm bunk and a great team.

Burn 24 hour Race - next report

After lap one concluded, I headed back to the RV to refuel & rest. I refueled with something..can't remember what it was..either pb&j or some type of energy bar. Then I laid down in the bunk to put my feet up for about an hour or so. When it was time for hubby to get ready for his lap, I decided to start getting ready for mine as well since I followed him in the rotation.
Got some more food, hyrdated, changed back into my riding junk & warmed up. My warm up consisted of riding around the pea gravel track & also riding up & down this hill which led into the campground. Hubby came through & handed me the baton . This was a much better lap because I had a feel for the course & the legs were ready. Surprisingly my legs felt better than they did prior to my first lap. Maybe riding helped get whatever junk was in them from the previous week. At the beginning of the lap, I still bobbled on the rock section covering the culvert. This was to be my nemesis all weekend on the course. I could do all of the other rock gardens which were more technical than this one. I don't know what it was about this spot but I just could not ride it.
I was able to pass a few riders this lap, thus maintaining or gaining position from my teammates earlier efforts. Towards the second half of the lap, I was trailed by a solo dude. He recognized my team taco jersey & we chatted for a bit. Turns out he reads hubby's blogs pretty regularly and when he asked my blog name, he recognized me as well. It's always fun to run into people who know you by your blog. Sometimes it can be a little unnerving but for the most part it's cool.
Nothing eventful happened in lap 2..I raced a clean lap and felt a little stronger. Passed the baton off to Skippy & headed back to the RV for more rest, refuel. As I rested in the RV, one of the gals put in a DVD to watch. I wish I hadn't watched the movie because it caused a song to get stuck in my head for lap 3. Alvin and the Chimpmunks Christmas song!!!!! AAAAAAAH....I still want a huuuuula hooop. It was a cute movie though.

Lap 3 would take me into the night. Somehow I ended up w/ the dusk lap. Riding into the evening w/ the transition from day to dusk has always been a challenge for me. I don't see very well at night to begin with. The transition time always seems darker for me. For this lap I decided to don my flower bra (Over my jersey of course). I was also going to wear my grass skirt but it kept getting caught in my spokes. Got my light ready, refueled & warmed up. HUbby passed the baton & off I went. As I started my lap some folks from another tent hollered "go get 'em girl!"...that was cool b/c I don't know who these folks were but they were cheering for me. Lap 3 was also a good lap for me. I don't think I was as fast as lap 2 because once nightfall came, the lines got really weird. I mentioned the log jumps & rock gardens on the second half of the course...if you weren't careful, you would end up on top of a log jump where you didn't want to be but the lines took you right to them. I ended up on a couple of bad lines and had to dabble to get back on track. The night time transition really slowed me down as well. I still was able to pass some folks though. Most of the ones I passed were the solo dudes...they were starting to tire. I made it back in w/ out incident & handed off the baton to Skippy. Back in for more food and extended rest.

For the overnight hours, I had expressed my desire to not do any early morning laps...for some reason the thought of riding at that time of night/morning just creeped me out a little. The boyz were great & doubled up on their nighttime/early morning laps to allow me time to rest. I went to bed around 10...woke up at 1:30 a.m., then back to get more shut eye. I was awakened around 4:30 A.M. by Moe (Skippy's wife). She said the guys were beat & I would proably need to go. She asked how I felt & I said "ok"...a little sleepy but the legs felt fine. Hubby also got up b/c he was supposed to do the next rotation. We were trying to figure out who was gonna go thinking the rider on course would take an hour. I ate something & changed & tried to get ready as quickly as I could. Unfortunately our rider was back at the RV before I could get to the transition area. We probably lost 10 minutes or so because of this. I felt really bad about it. I took the baton & rode back to the transition area, then back on course.

It was cold & dark on this lap...and not too many people out there. Those who were out were moving slowly. This was my hardest lap. I was not awake & not warmed up..not to mention the fact I was quite chilly. I had to push in some areas which was really frustrating. As I neared the check in point I noticed what looked like a beach ball on the side of the trail. Earlier in the race, the promoters mentioned something about the 3:00 a.m. hour being the magical hour or wonder hour...or something. As I continued, I noticed more beach ball looking things. They were grayish in color and became more numerous. At one point I looked up and noticed green Christmas lights in the trees. I thought..hmmmm Christmas in May. As I progressed further, I noticed streamers hanging from the trees and then a whole bunch of Aliens lining the trail. They were having a party & those of us riding in the wee early morning hours were invited. Now I know why Adam was so upset earlier in the evening. He had forgotten his tin foil to line his helmet so the Aliens wouldn't abduct him!....That made my night!...I thought that was the coolest thing. I was laughing out loud (no one was around) because it was quite a sight. As I continued down the switchbacks I noticed orange/pink pencils outlining the edge of the turn..I guess so folks wouldn't go over the edge.
I continued on through the checkpoint, greeted the fine folks out there w/ a chipper "good morning". They responded."where have you been, we've been waiting all night for you"...I said "I'm here now..let the party begin"....It was a good laugh. I told them I loved the Aliens..it was a nice touch. Through the second half of the lap, I got passed by a chicky who was absolutely flying. The best part is she had white handlebar streamers!...It rocked.
I also passed another 24 hour solo dude who was pretty out of it. I felt bad for him.

As I neared the end of the lap, the sun was starting to rise. The rooster was crowing again. Once out of the woods I felt re-invigorated....the fog was rising off of the lake & it was a really cool scene. As I came throught the transition area, I greeted the timekeeper w/ another chipper "good morning"...They probably thought I was nuts b/c I had a lot of energy for so early in the morning. I handed the baton off & told Skippy I can go again after his lap & let the boyz rest more.
more to come in another post

Burn 24 hour Race - Part 1

A few months back our friend Skip had the notion of competing in a 24 hour mountain bike race. At first I wasn't too keen on the idea but Skip pleaded with me. He said they needed someone with boobs to complete the team of 5. I reluctantly said ok....I didn't want to be the slow poke on the team and hold them back. Skippy just wanted to race for fun to see how we would do.
We assembled our team of 5....Skip, Chris, Adam, Hubby, and myself.
As time drew closer, we put together our list of stuff to take. Lots of food, water, Cytomax, snacks, more food, sleeping bags, camping gear, bike stuff (extra jerseys, shorts, socks, cool weather gear,helmets, lights, chargers, extra lights), bikes, tubes, tools, chain lube, ibuprofen, etc etc.
I generally stress out over details and this was no exception. It seems like it took a week to pack & get ready. Here is a pic of some of the stuff we had prepared:

Around Tuesday or Wednesday of the week of the race my hubby informs me that we will not have to bring tents. I asked how was that possible. Adam hooked us up w/ a 36 foot RV... Up until this point I was still not too thrilled with the idea of doing this type of event. When I heard about the RV..I was stoked! No sleeping in a tent on the hard ground w/ lots of noise all night, cold temps, no where to keep clothes dry& warm, etc, etc. This RV was the shiznit. It was so nice that we didn't want to race...we just wanted to hang out in the RV all day and watch dvd's. This thing slept 9 people comfortably, had a toilet, microwave, a/c, sheets, fridge. It was hooked up! When we arrived at the sight...I was a little on edge. My legs did not feel good all week. We had raced in Bedford the week prior and I just didn't recover right. When I rode Tuesday, the legs felt heavy and on Thursday they felt even worse. I was really dreading having to go out there & race for 7 1/2 miles at a time. My biggest fear was I would not be able to recover in between laps and my legs would just plain give out on me.
The racers meeting was at 10:45a.m. with a noon start. We decided our rotation would go as follows: Hubby, me, Skip, Chris, Adam. We would each do one lap until the overnight hours where Hubby & Skip would do 2 laps per rotation. The race started as a lemans start..meaning you have to run to your bike. We were allowed to designate a runner for this portion. Skip would be our lucky runner. Starting the race this way enabled some distance to be put in between the riders before entering the singletrack. Most people jogged lightly around the path before handing off to the riders. Most teams knew you can't win the race in the first 1/2 mile...but you can lose it!

Each team member was equipped w/ a timing device which we wore on our ankles. We also had to keep track of a baton. Each rider kept the baton in their jersey pocket. At the conclusion of each lap, you would enter a transition area where your time would be tracked w/ the ankle bracelet & then the rider would pass the baton on to the next rider .
Hubby was the first one off. I'd be next. We gauged each lap would be roughly 40 -45 minutes so once he took off, I ate, changed, hydrated & started to warm up. I kept track of the time so I would be in the transition area as hubby came through. Skip & Moe spotted hubby coming through so I got ready to go. The lap started off in a grassy area which turned into a woop section. They a slight uphill over a culvert. The culvert was lined w/ rocks which I stared too long at and ended up having to foot out. It caused 2 guys behind me to get all screwed up. They were not at all happy with me...I apologized profusely to them. Then I quietly reminded myself that you cannot win a 24 hour race in lap 2. We took a left hand into the singletrack. The left hand turn was pretty loose so you really had to be careful. It wound back & forth along a creekbed, then it seemed like switchback after switchback. The first section was a gradual climb. I wasn't quite warmed up so it was a bit of a struggle at first. Eventually you dump out on top of a hill where you can look out & see the campground. Then down a fun downhill, through some berm turns, a crazy rock garden which really wasn't bad if you kept up your momentum, more switchbacks & burm turns. Then more gradual climbing. I kept getting passed by people so I was feeling bad b/c we were losing ground. My legs still didn't feel great so my pace was a little slower than I wanted.
About halfway there is a checkpoint where you called out your number. Then comes the second half of the course. This was sooooooo much fun. All of the gradual climbs & switchbacks paid off. There was some fireroad, more switchbacks, rock gardens, log jumps, etc. This is where you could really make up some time. You had to be careful though because some of the turns put you into obstacles & things that if you were not paying attention, you could really get hurt. At one point I ended up on this log ramp when I wanted to go around it. That's how quickly some of these things came up. The second half of the course took you down near this lake. There was this deafening sound the whole time. I thought they were spring peepers...but spring peepers stop peeping from time to time. This noise was constant, loud & deafening. (I think I said that already)...Turns out they were the 17 year cicadas..& they were everywhere.
There also must have been farm nearby because I kept hearing a rooster in one section. Weird. Towards the end of the lap, the course was winding and fast. more burm turns & you could get some serious air on a couple of jumps. Then you dumped out into the camping area, rode a pea gravel road which dumped into the grass...then you meadnered for a bit on the grass until approaching the transition area. The last couple of miles was my favorite part of the course because it was so fast. As I neared the transition area, I grabbed the baton out of my jersey & handed it off to Skip. Off he went.....Now I had to rest and get ready for lap 2 in a few hours.

Fat Tire Frenzy Race Report

Saturday marked the 2nd race in the VA Derailer Series. This race is held at Falling Creek Park in Bedford, VA. We couldn’t have asked for a better day for racing. Light breezes, sunny skies and temps in the low 70’s.
We arrived at the parking lot to find more cars than usual. We met up w/ the clan from Team El Toreo, registered, changed, warmed up. Etc. When we lined up for the start, they decided to start all of the sport class w/ the single speeders. I was the lone chicky single speeder again. I joked w/ the guys that the smell of testosterone was overwhelming. I decided to start behind the sport guys b/c I knew I could not hang w/ all the geared dudes on the grassy, slight uphill start. As we dumped into the woods it became a bit of a cluster b/c there are a couple of sections which are steep causing riders to dismount. Conditions were slightly muddy but it was the type of mud that makes you slide everywhere…sort of like peanut butter.
As we continued in the woods, I caught up to 2 Vet Sport men. One let me by but.when I got behind the other, he was just piddling. I asked if I could pass….he responded by speeding up to pull away from me. Must be something about the male ego & not wanting to be beat by a girl! We dumped out onto a gravel fireroad. This was slightly uphill but nothing major. I decided to pull up alongside the dude who wouldn’t let me pass to see if I could get a reaction. I did not utter a word..just pulled up slightly ahead of him and kept a steady pace.….sure enough..he took off again. I love playing mind games w/ some of the men b/c their egos just can’t handle a chicky riding stronger than them.

We twisted and turned down through the woods, up & over a couple of logs (I chickened out so I hopped off the bike to get over these), more woods, creeks, switchbacks. Climbs. At one point we climbed up a trail which dumped out into a fast, fun downhill section. The other Vet Sport who I passed caught to me up before the downhill. I let him go ahead of me since he had gears & was about 50 pounds heavier than me. I didn’t want that following me down the hill. We then rode through another field, then back into the woods for more twists, turns, climbs, creek crossings.. At one point there was a nasty, muddy creek crossing. I caught up to the first vet sport who had sped off. He looked like he was slowing so I took advantage of an opportunity to pass him in the muddy creek.
I did not see him the rest of the race so I’m not sure if he had a mechanical issue or what. He seemed to be riding strong up until this point.

My second lap was a bit slower than the first lap. My legs tired & I walked many of the uphills. I came in right at 2 hours…a little slower than I had hoped but it’s all good. At the end of the race I went back down to the start/ finish to catch the end of the female sport race. My buddy Jen was flying down the hill w/ another chicky friend, Gina. Everyone was screaming and cheering..telling Jen to pedal & telling Gina to catch her!. Jen won by a mere 4 seconds. It was quite a finish.

Team Taco had a decent showing this race:

Me – 1st place (and last J ) female Single Speed
Hubby – 2nd Place Male Singlespeed
Jen -1st place women sport
Yenski -1st place male expert 36 -49
Adam (adopted team member) – 1st place Clydesdale.

Next up: Burn 24 hour race….yup..24 hour race!

Va Derailer Series Race #1 - Danville

Southside Scramble May 3, 2008

This was the first race of the year for me and the first in the VA Derailer Series. I wasn't sure how I felt about doing this race. It seems the past couple times I have been down to Danville, some type of bad omen goes with me. A few years ago during a pre-ride, I was attacked by yellow jackets & stung 4 times. Then two summers ago at the race I had heat exhaustion following the race. At least this year it was held in May, not August when temperatures can get in the 100's.

The day was gorgeous when we got up. Sunny skies, mild breeze, low humidity, cool temps....Perfect for racing. When we arrived in Danville, their weather was much the same...maybe a little more humid.

Met up w/ team El Toreo, then we got registered. At this race they write your class & age on the back of your leg....for some reason they decided to make my age really HUGE on my leg so everyone who came upon me in the race would know to get away from the crazy old lady on the single speed. All our buddies back at the staging area got a kick out of it. Ha Ha...wait til you get to be my age!!!...Anywho...got a bite to eat, got changed & ready to go. Met up w/ the newest team member, my buddy Jen, and we rode the beginning & the end just to get a feel for what to expect. She came back in to get a bite to eat, I made a pit stop, then continued to warm up a little more.

We lined up for the pre-race meeting and once again, I was the only female in my class!..There was one expert chicky, one single speeder chicky (me), and 4 sport chickies and a few beginners. There were probably 8 or so singlespeed boyz....so it was me and the boyz again.

Really the only time I hung w/ the other singlespeeders was at the start...after that, I was all alone.

The starter counted us down and off we went..down the gravel road, right hand turn into the grass to the left hand turn into the trails. Down some dips, back up, down a few more, then twisty turny trail til we dumped out onto a gravel fireroad. I heard the siren sound again to start the sport men...I thought..uh oh..here they come..time to get passed. Sure enough once I was on the fireroad the first group of sport guys came upon me. There was plenty of room to pass to I let them on through but kept moving. Back into the single track where I stayed free for a bit but then another bigger group passed me. Oh well...I just focused on keeping a steady pace and doing well technically. I knew I would be passed my many others but it was ok.

Danville is the type of course where you are on the gas the entire time. It is tough in some spots because there are short grunts, followed by longer gradual uphills, then a downhill, then a steady spin again. Lots of tight twists & turns, creeks, wooden bridges, etc..then more uphills which open into wide open fields of nothing, back into singletrack, etc. etc.

At one point approximately 3 miles in I heard something barreling through the woods. I checked behind me to see if it was a biker but there was no one there. Out of the corner of my eye I saw it. It was a deer moving pretty fast..maybe 30 mph..scared out of its mind. I wasn't sure which way it was going to go, so I stopped to watch it. I've never seen a deer run so fast. There were 2 more behind it...one ran in the opposite direction & the other just stared at me as I went by. Yikes!.....

I plodded on..at some points I felt great, at others not so great. I had to walk some of the uphills simple because I could walk them just as fast as I could riding them & I wanted to conserve my legs as much as possible.

At 9 miles in, my legs started to cramp but I was able to keep well hydrated so while it was uncomfortable, it wasn't race ending. Towards the end of the course I got passed by a couple of beginners. GRrrrr. That was embarassing..but then again they had a shorter distance so I guess it really didn't matter.

I did finish so I got first in my class....(also last in my class since I was the only one!)...I felt great at the finish & finished strong. I think my average time was around 8 miles an hour which surprised me because every time I checked my Garmin it hovered around 6 mph. Oh well I"ll take it.

Hubby didn't fare so well. Apparently he crashed & got a mystery scratch/gash on his thigh. It's weird looking.

As they wrapped up the award ceremony, they called my name ..I didn't know what that was about until they handed me this huge trophy. Apparently I got overall Sport female winner since I raced the same distance as the sport women & came in ahead of them. Cool!..although I don't know what I'll do w/ this big friggin trophy.

All in all I was pleased w/ the result. I didn't have any weird omens take place this year and I got a goofy, anotomically incorrect trophy to boot. I may have also gotten some more chickys friends to ride with.

Ridin' w/ the boyz...

I've chased away the crickets from the blog & dusted off the cobwebs. Trying not to be a slacker on the blog thing but I sit at a computer all day typing...so the last thing I want to do is sit at a computer at home & do more typing. Yeesh!

Anywho...rode w/ the boyz on Sunday. We were planning a Cove ride but after all of the rain we figured that would be a muddy mess, not to mention the stream crossings being up.

Donnie met hubbie & I at the house. We single speeded it through some streets and alleys over to Wasena where we met up with Ron on his cross bike. Headed down the greenway towards the hospital. I was managing to keep a pretty good pace w/ the boys but was getting really tired quickly. I sat up and adjusted my pace to where I could breathe. We crossed over through River's Edge park, through the tunnel, out the other side and took more streets & alleys to Ferncliff Park. Rode up that trail, then up to Fishburn Parkway to hit Woodthrush on the other side. Woodthrush had a little mud on it but not much. The boys were riding very fast today. It felt like "race pace" to me, but then again, everything always feels like race pace when you can't breathe (asthma sucks sometimes) Donnie was such a good sport & kept slowing down for me. I told him to go on, I was quite used to riding along. As we continued, we passed quite a few hikers. When we got to the gradual, loose rock hill, then the steeper grunt, I noticed Donnie was hiking. I thought to myself...if I can do it, surely he can. As we crested the hill & got to the next downhill, we paused...Donnie's chain was very loose and every time he torqued on it, he was worried it would come off. We took some time to fix it..got passed by a hiker who we had just passed us After we got it fixed, we debated for a minute on our route. We decided to continue down to the Star trail and back up to FB Pkwy

Rode down FB Pkwy, took a left on Sylvan. As we turned, we noticed another mtbkr coming up the road. I told the boys the jersey looked like my fellow chicky rider, Jen, but I wasn't sure. We waited and sure enough it was Jen!...we rode up the road a bit until Monument Trail. I mentioned how the boyz were kicking my butt today. She had a ride planned in her head & was jamming to some tunes so we split off at Monument. Continued up the trail..had to walk one of the short grunts b/c I was getting tired. Let a couple more hikers by the fun zoomy part before you jump the sidewalk. Caught back up to the boys. We proceeded on to Car trail..then climbed back up the old road to do the zoo poo trail. then back down Car trail again, to another side trail which dumped us out at Ferncliff park.

We zoomed back through the neighborhood streets, back through River's Edge Park, through Wasena. When we got to Wasena, we took a different route because we wanted to head to Fishburn Park to see a new bridge being constructed. On the way we took 2 steep alleyways and the steep road which runs past Wasena E.S. Leave it to Ron to find the steepest climbs towards the end of the ride!...Oh well, that's what makes you a stronger rider.

Made it over to Fishburn...the bridge is really ugly. It connects the greenway coming from Patrick Henry HS, crossing Brambleton to Fishburn Park. They could have kept the area natural by cutting in a side trail and looping it around this ditch. It's an eyesore.

Not sure how many miles all that was because I left my Garmin at home. Doh!!!
Good ride...I"ve done more climbing this season than I did all of last year.

1st race is this weekend...Danville......At least it's not in August so the chances will be slim of high temps. Phew...tired of typing....

Moooving

Have been slacker again in the blog dept. We've been a little busy. We just completed moving into our new (old) home. Spent all of last week packing boxes, lifting heavy stuff, loading vehicles, driving to the new home, unloading, unpacking, moving the same box 50 different times. Phew.. It didnt' leave a lot of room to ride.
On Sunday, Chicky Jen and I met up for a nice spin at the Cove. Weather was rather chilly in the low 50's which really isn't all that cold but when we had 80 degree temps just a few days prior, it felt pretty darn cool. We stuck to the lower trails & did our "usual" loop.. Rode the road to the gate, onto the Fireroad, up Songbird, up Arrowhead, across to Little Bell, on to Schoolhouse, Enchanted Forest re-route & road back to the parking lot. Water was up in a lot of places. It was good to see water flowing in the creeks again. Made for a really nice, soothing ride. We stopped to take lots of pics along the way since it seems like forever since there has been water running.. We attempted some of the creek crossings but played it safe on most since the weather was a bit cooler. Had it been 70 degrees, I'm sure we would have blasted through those which we walked.
No real mishaps....although I was pretty kicked through the ride. I guess that's from all of the work I had been doing this week through the move.

It will probably take months to get situated in the new house but at least the kitchen is functional, we have a place to sleep, we have a washer/dryer so I can catch up on laundry and most of the clothes are organized and easy to find. We'll probably work room by room in between training, working, doing trail work, etc. etc.

Off to ride tomorrow at the Cove

Bike Sherpas

Saturday we headed out to Carvins Cove to rake leaves off of Hemlock Tunnel (formerly Clownhead). Approximately 10 folks showed up to lend a hand. 1/2 of the group had bikes, the other half hoofed it. We got down to the really steep section....I expected to find a huge rut under the three feet of leaves...but to our amazement there laid smooth, wide trail. Who knew after all of those years of riding the outside line that there was such gorgeous trail underneath.
Once we finished that section, we headed down to meet up w/ the crew who biked down. We came upon the bikes...but no people....weird...It felt like a newer version of Blair Witch Project. Being the nice people we are, Moe, Gary and myself decided to take the bikes down to where the crew was working...they had made such great progress that it would have been pain to walk all the way back to get their bikes. We each picked a bike and rode on. I had a bike which was waaay too tall for me and I couldn't reach the brakes. Moe rode someone's dowhnill bike which weighed around 500 lbs..not to mention the 100lb backpack that the trailworker had brought., Gary picked the bike w/ the bob trailer & rakes attached.

We caught up to the group....we all continued to rake..then Moe & I realized the bikes were waaay back on the trail again. So we decided to take a break from raking again and go retrieve the bikes. This time we had to make 2 trips because there were more bikes left. AFter the second trip we found a central location to leave everything so we didn't have to sherpa more bikes.

Once at the bottom of Hemlock Tunnel, we moved on to Araminta...this is a trail which has been neglected for many years. Fortunately we were able to find the trail bed easily...so we raked, chopped, and raked some more. We were cruising along until we came upon the creek. We had no clue which way to go. The trail just disappears. We sent a couple of scouts out to see if they could find it, but after about 1/2 hour of searching, no luck. A GPS and map will be needed along w/ some flags so we can mark the rest of the trail. THat will be for another day.

After the scouting mission, we decided to call it a day. We had been out there close to 6 hours and were pretty beat. The worst part was those of us who hiked..had to go back UP Hemlock Tunnel. After 6 hours of raking, hiking, sherpaing (that's a new word!),scouting, we were cooked. It took a little while to get back up the trail but we did it. I can't wait to ride it!

Crappy, Creepin, Coughin, Crud, Crap!

I thought I'd avoid it...I've been so good about washing my hands, disinfecting my work space just about daily, disinfecting the house, blah blah blah. So last week 3 people came to work coughing and hacking all over the place. One had the flu & was out until yesterday, the other had a sinus infection but is still hacking and the third never went to the doctor and was out Monday & Tuesday but came back today...still coughling...
So Monday I'm feeling good...then it starts creeping into my chest...little cough here,,,little cough there...I chalked it up to the carpets being cleaned at work over the weekend. Tuesday....a little more coughing..no head congestion though...weird...start taking dayquil/nightquil. Went for a ride...felt like crap. Got home, felt wiped out...went to bed. Wednesday...coughing more....hacking up stuff..gross, I know...took more niquil.....
Thursday 5:30 a.m......woke up coughing/choking/asthma attack....not good...haven't had an asthma attack in quite some time..let alone one that wakes me up in the middle of the night. They are awful b/c all I kept doing was coughing/choking & could barely get air in. Finally it subsided but having one feels like someone just beat the living crap out of you. Got back to sleep in time for the alarm to go off....
Downed some Dayquil, off to work.....felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest all day...had another coughing fit around 10....Called the allergist & was able to see him today!...

It's not the flu b/c I don't have the achiness although I did have a low grade fever 99.7. For now he doesn't want to put me on antibiotics...instead we're upping my asthma medication dosing for a few more days to see what happens there. If the fever persists (which it won't b/c it's already back down) then I go onto the drugs..... it's more of a croupy cough....he said it will probably take about a month to go away!...Yikes.. I hate being sick. I get angry when I'm sick . I get angrier when people are sick at work but yet they still come in. (I guess I could have stayed home today too...but they're already sick so what does it matter now..)...ok that was ugly..see I get angry when I'm sick.

Anywho...gonna up my asthma meds & see how we do. Creeping Crud sucks

Single Speedin....

Thursday night we met up at Explore Park..The weather service was predicting freezing rain so there was a winter weather advisory out. I think this scared some folks from even venturing out after dark. I got to the parking lot & Skippy & Chris were already out riding.. My hubby showed up and we prepared to ride. Weather was chilly but not unbearable. Skippy & Chris rolled up to meet us...Chris got a call from work so he had to leave but the 3 of us who remained rode. I wasn't really feeling great on this ride but I figured I'd plod on. As we ventured towards the inner loop, my bike kept making this weird cha-chunk noise whenever I stood up on a hill. I was scared my chain was going to break. When we inspected my bike, we noticed the chain was really loose. None of us had any tools w/ us to try to fix it so we decided to head back. On the way back, Skippy kicked up this enormous stick into his frame. Luckily it didn't break anything. It was bigger than my forearm. As we descended my chain kept making the same noise. I was really worried b/c my hubby mentioned that I needed to be careful on a climb b/c the chain could come off, then I'd bang my knee into the top tube & stop dead in my tracks.

Shortly after he issued this warning, I had crossed the big wooden bridge and was starting the climb up the int trail....sure enough I took a pedal stroke, the chain came off, and I banged my knee on the top tube!...I shouted something about what a fine bike I had, then let out an "ouch!"...my hubby asked what was wrong....I told him I had broken my bike....He said "well wheel it up here so I can fix it"...I said "I can't, it won't move".... The rear skewer must have been lose and on the pedal stroke I pulled the wheel from the drop outs.....

We were able to get it fixed and we returned to the parking lot. By this time Skippy was cold and had already gotten in about an hour & 1/2 of riding so he was done. Hubby & I continued to explore some stuff on the closed portion of the park. We only rode about an hour & it wasn't much fun this night.

Saturday I took some pics of my hubby at the Falling Creek Bike Race hosted by Bedford County. It was a neat format, with less skilled riders getting a head start on the more experienced folks. THe course looked fun....I knew I wasn't going to race based on how I felt on Thursday..just wasn't into it...Hubby came in 5th overall..not too bad.

Sunday we ventured our for a ride at Mill Mountain..the plan was to do 3 hours..but we only ended up doing 2. We did some exploring on this ride as well..so we probably spent 20 minutes hiking, plowing through hub-deep leaves, and bushwacking. I was able to finally conquer a climb on the Woodthrush trail. I was so pleased...it's the first time I've done that complete climb on any bike..let alone my Single Speed. I guess I'm getting stronger which is good. The ride got cut short b/c we had to high tail it back to the house b/c we had a realtor coming to show it. I guess it wasn't too bad of a ride.

bummer

Been keeping a close eye on the news coverage of the fires in Roanoke County. When we hiked at Mill Mountain on Sunday we could see the plumes of smoke from the raging blaze. Monday night we took Gretta for a walk and could see one of the firelines from my house. I felt an overwhelming sense of sadness. As of this writing, the fire is only 30% contained and the wind has returned. We had some rain earlier today but I'm not sure it did much to help things.

The news release at 4:45 p.m. today mentioned that 50 National Guard members hand dug a fireline along......Gauntlet... which probably means everything on the Timerview side of the Cove has burned or will burn...which potentially could mean Trough, upper Hi Dee Hoe, Buck, Horsepen, and Gauntlet may no longer exist....ok..that's all speculation but it really puts a sick feeling in my gut...and to think at one point we were joking about the bears tearing up the signs. I hope they came out of hibernation to get the heck outta there!

Yes, I realize they are only trails and this is nature's way of taking care of things.. Fortunately no homes have been lost, nor have any individuals been injured. We have to thank the brave folks who have been out there battling this blaze which has burned over 2400 acres thus far..yes 2400 acres...that's a lot of land, trees, dirt, grass, leaves...

Don't know when the Cove will re-open so we can assess what's happening with the trails. At this point we can only wait and continue to keep the firefighters in our prayers as they battle.

I'm sort of rambling about nothing in this blog. I guess I just needed to write down how I'm feeling about it. Pretty bummed out....

things that go "bump" in the night

Ventured out to Explore Park this evening for our weekly ride. Since the temps have gotten colder, our numbers seem to be dwindling...tonight's temp was 33 when we started & 28 when we ended w/ high wind...fun.
Hubby, Adam, Brian (aka Snuggletruck), and myself headed out this evening. The pace was set by my hubby and was super fast at the start. I don't thing he realizes how fast he goes on his Single Speed since he's started training w/ the cross bike. You'd have thought he was racing.
Anywho..went out beginner loop, crossed the road & headed down the intermediate trail. The big wooded bridge had some snow on it but was very negotiable. I had some trouble getting up the other side this evening. I don't think I had recovered from Tuesday night's 2 hour ride at Fishburn...in the cold...... Anywho as we trudged up the intermediate trail I heard something in the woods which sounded like the cog of a bike turning. I stopped to shine my light in the direction of the noise & it stopped...weird...so we kept riding.
As we continued on the inner loop, we got to the section just before crossing Rutrough when I heard a fluttering sound in the trees. I was too scared to stop & look so I kept going. I asked everyone else if they had heard the noise & they just looked at me like I had 2 heads...
Proceeded on to the lollipop loop....climbed the big hill, yada yada yada.....
As we came back from the lollipop loop and crossed over Rutrough, Hubby stopped and was looking up in the tree at something looking down at us.....It was a big owl!.....it just sat there wondering why we kept blinding it w/ our lights. Finally it flew but did not make a sound. Eery. It's wingspan had to have been around 4 feet....He was big.

We reluctantly decided to take the outer loop back. I was having a heck of a time seeing the trail tonight. Adam was barreling down behind me so I had to let him go. I told him he was freaking me out too much!....as we proceeded up the babyhead section of the endurance loop the "woosh woosh" sound was back...only it was much louder & someone else heard it too!....Very freaky b/c we couldn't see anything in the trees... I think it was a terydactyl or maybe it was a sasquatch w/ wings.....I was scared it was going to pick me off of my bike & carry me away!

Headed back on the intermediate loop & heard the same "cog" sound in the woods....I think it was the trees rubbing together but it was another spooky sound.


Made it back to the car.....ate pizza, went to bed...The end
(will probably have nightmares tonight)
The end

brrrrrrr

had to get out of the house on Sunday...I feel like I"ve been couped up all week..hadn't been on the bike since last Saturday...so I braved the cold and rode for 2 hours w/ my hubby. We headed out down some alleys in the neighborhood..then rode the Rke River Greenway through Wasena Park. Headed over towards Rivers Edge & rode through the tunnel to the other side. Took another couple of alley ways to get to our first part of the ride..Ferncliff Park. We rode up this trail then crossed over Fishburn Parkway to tackle Woodthrush Trail on Mill Mtn. As we headed down Woodthrush I noticed a rolled up mattress stuffed inside a garbage bag.....there have been some homeless people setting up camp on this part of the mountain. My friend Paul Chapman, Mill Mtn Supervisor, has been working diligently to get these people off of the mountain....you're not supposed to camp out on city property...luckily we didn't see any of these folks..
We continued on..climbed the loose steep part..(I had to walk 20 feet or so), then jumped on the lower portion of the Star Trail so we could get back to Fisbburn Pkwy I had to walk part of this trail too.. We descended down Fishburn Pkwy, then turned left on Sylvan Rd and climbed the road to Monument trail where we started to ascend. This was very difficult for me for some reason. By the time we got to the Star trail intersection, my back was in agony. I kept plodding on, slowly......Finally made it to the zoomy part which makes the climbing worth it. We crossed over the road and headed on to Car trail. From Car trail we climbed back up the old road to the Discovery Center. Then we headed down the Zoo trail. I goofed on the switchback & had to walk it straddling my bike. I hopped back on..& kept going.
When we got back to the intersection where you can go right on Car trail, left to go to the road, or straight to climb..we decided to climb. so we could take Ferncliff trail back. ...That didn't last long...it was so icy & snowy that we made it about 40 feet & decided to take the road back down to pick up Ferncliff Trail (I know it's named something else but I can't think of the name so Ferncliff will have to do).....We dumped back on a small section of Chestnut Ridge Loop (shhhh!) so we could go on to Ferncliff. I sure do like the Ferncliff trail better in this direction..not as much climbing. We took a few more alleyways to get over to the Greenway and headed home. My legs started giving out on the Greenway...I was cooked so I pedaled the best I could to keep moving.
Total ride time was roughly 2 hours 15 minutes. My hubby continued on for about another hour. I didn't start to get a chill until my legs gave out....so I was dressed appropriately for the weather. I wore ski gloves b/c my other gloves just don't keep my fingers warm..surprisingly the ski gloves seemed to do the trick. They were quite cumbersome though. I need to get some warm winter riding gloves....
It was cold but it beats sitting on the blasted trainer for an hour!

Cylclocross w/ Team Taco

Went to Davidson, NC on Sunday to watch the boyz from Team El Toreo race cyclocross.. It was a looooong day in terms of spectating but the guys seemed to have a good time. Ron & Frank raced 2 races each while my hubby (the former Grizzly Adams) raced one.

It looks hard b/c each race is an all out effort from the moment they send you off the start. There were some gals out there too!...Go Chicky's....I give them a lot of credit...

Here are some pics.

New Year's Day ride

Met up at the Cove for the annual New Year's Day ride. A bunch of folks left from the boat dock side after a few photos, etc....probably 60 or so on this side & another 30 left from Bennett Springs. I rode w/ Grizzly Adams (hubby w/ a big stubbly beard), Chas, Brian, a few folks from East Coasters, and some guys who I've seen before but could not place their names...We probably had close to 10 or so in our group.

Headed out the fire road from the Boat Dock...felt like crap the initial 2 miles in...legs were really "thick" and the cold air was hurting my lungs. Once we hit the trails, I felt a little better...We rode Schoolhouse to Little Bell. When we came upon the intersection to Little Bell, we caught up w/ another group & waited for one of the riders to change his tire...This took a little while so my legs started tightening up . We got moving again and once we got off Little Bell, I was pleading w/ the group not to do EF. I was worried the stream would still be up. I won my case & we rode on to do Songbird backwards....felt ok on this trail..then the legs started getting heavy again. I don't do well with a lot of stopping & starting..I ride better when I go continuously.

I passed by my buddy Jen coming the other way...I shouted "having fun?"..she said she was having a blast....my crew continued on. Dumped out on the fireroad..hung around again...then on to Comet. When we got to the 4 way intersection, we met up with another group of our riding buddies...they started out on the Bennett Springs side and had been riding for a couple of hours. They followed our group for a bit..then we split off..they took Songbird and we went on to Arrowhead.

The group set a blistering pace up Arrowhead...I thought I was the last one but lo and behold, 2 more riders joined up behind me..On we went....I attempted a couple of the creek crossings & managed to stay dry..until the last one. I was feeling extremely confident in my bike handling skills so I decided to try the last crossing. I picked a good line..but was surprised that I had such a good line that I quit pedaling....I proceeded to "foot out" into the water BRRRRRRRR!...come to find out only me and Grizzly Adams tried the creek....I felt pretty good about that...the only chicky in in the group & she outdoes the boys...well almost!....On we went descending down the bumps and rocks back to the fireroad.

By this time the sun was ducking behind the mountain and the temps were dropping. We plodded along the fireroad....I thought we'd never make it back...my toes became numb but we kept plodding. We came upon a group we rode with earlier in the day..2 were riding bikes, the 3rd was walk/running.....Turns out he had major mechanical issues & a buddy of his was carrying the bike back!...Hope he compensated him well for all that effort.

Finally we made it back to the vehicles..Changed into DRY socks!!! and put on warmer clothing. Stopped for a bite to eat on the way home. All in all it was a good day for a ride! Happy New Year!