Biker Chicky Pookie

Middle Mountain Mamma Race Report

2010-05-05T16:21:00.000-07:00

Temp was 88...humidity 90%..It was going to be a tough race. This was the first day of real heat & humidity we've had. I knew it would be a tough day in the saddle, but I didn't realize just how tough. I was the only Master Woman over 40 so all I had to do was finish. My class raced with the other sport chickies so usually I try to stay competitive w/ them. Not this day. At the start I led the pack out the gravel road into the trail head. I climbed as best as I could to stay in front, but one of the other sport chickies was younger & stronger so I let her go. She sped off into oblivion. I settled in & just rode to the best of my ability. I forgot how much climbing is in this race. I've been doing short, fast stuff for the past few weeks so the long climbs really took their toll.
At one point 3/4 of the way up, I started getting chills. I knew my that wasn't good especially since the temps were near 90. That meant I was dehydrating. I decided to keep plodding on. When I got to the campground area I considered bailing out but decided to keep going.
It was tough, I walked most of the back side. I kept wishing I had one more easy gear but the 1x9 was all I had. Through the race I stopped alot, took a lot of electroytes and fluids, and kept regretting my decision to keep going.
I finished the race but was in a world of hurt. I crossed the finish line in tears and basically had a melt down. After lots of water, electrolytes, more water, and more electrolytes I started feeling betting about 4 hours after the race. It was ugly. I think my time for the 21 miles was somewhere around 3 hours & 21 minutes. Next time I'll listen to my body.

Bedford MTX #3 race report

2010-03-11T17:33:00.000-08:00

Fun, Fast, Frenzied...did I mention Fun?
That sums up the last installment of the 2010 Bedford MTX Series. Coming into the race I was in second place in the standings...not t0o shabby for an old lady.

Earlier in the week I wasn't thrilled about racing..I'm not sure why, I just wasn't feeling it..that is until Friday evening. We joined some friends to celebrate a birthday in the group. A little birdy told me that one of the riders who was in contention for a podium spot was out for me. (all in good fun)...That's pretty much all of the motivation I needed going into Sunday's race.

Weather was perfect..mid-60's, slight breeze. The course was pretty dry with a few exceptions. We did a practice lap to get a feel for the course..It was gonna be fast...Kenny Palmer (race organizer & overall good dude) mentioned the expert men would probably pull 8.5 minute lap times..that meant I'd pull closer to 11 to 12 minute laps....it was gonna be a close one.

My buddy Jen & I took off at the start. We headed up a paved area, then dumped into a grassy area, then into the singletrack...yes..this race had singletrack...It was great!...After the singletrack section, we went back into the field where you could put it into high gear & just go. I loved my gears for this race.. Once out of the field, we went into another singletrack section...twists, turns, berms..fun fun fun...then back into the field....We crossed over a bridge and rode the semi-muddy/tacky section of the course. This is where I lost time b/c I was getting slightly bogged town. After the boggy section, we crossed another bridge & had to climb up a grassy hill.
I was hauling butt on my first lap. My goal was to hold off the "pain train" for as long as I could during the race. Getting 2-3 laps ahead of them would be ideal...As I came through the start/finish area on my first lap I checked the clock and came in just over 10 minutes. Wow! And the pain train had not started yet.

I hammered as hard as I could on my second lap then on to the third lap....I was riding hard but felt something bearing down on me...Pain train...or at least part of it. 3 of the boyz zoomed by me...then I rode alone for a bit...then the next one came by..then alone...then hubby went by, then alone,.then the last pain dude went by. It was more like the Pain train...followed by the "vomit comet"....Ok that's gross...but the last 3 members of Pain Train were hurting a bit.

I was starting to tire on laps 4&5....Just keep pedaling..no matter how much it hurts....That's what I kept saying to myself. As I headed down the grassy hill before the bridge, I caught a glimpse of my teammate Laura...Was I going to catch her? I pedaled harder to at least grab on to her wheel. As I got closer, we both caught up to Jen.....she was riding her new 29er..and looking good...we both passed...Laura pulled away up the hill..I eventually caught her on my 6th lap.....I passed by & she grabbed onto my wheel. We rode together for the last lap. I would pull away in the sections where I could gear up...but she would catch up each time once we hit the hillier sections. She rode my wheel all the way until we hit the last grassy hill. As a way to keep me moving b/c we didn't know where the Pain Train was..she said "race you up the hill"...I held her wheel for about 5 pedal strokes..then I was done.
As I crested the hill I noticed the pain train hanging out at the top....That meant I got 6 laps in & held them off....which meant I won the day's race! Woo Hoo

As Kenny tallied the results...he asked me how many laps I did...I honestly couldn't remember...it was either 5 or 6....but the pain train only passed me once...so I stayed 1 lap up on them. It turns out I was the only racer who completed 6 laps...That extra lap gave me the championship!..Woo Hoo! (again)....

If it wasn't for the handicapping format I wouldn't have had the opportunity to do as well as I did...I love the format as it gives slower riders the same opportunity as the experts and levels the playing field.
Fun race series this year..we had all types of conditions to contend with...snow, dark of night, and fast. I can't wait to do more of Kenny's races...Hopefully I haven't peaked too early in the season...

Bedford MTX #2 race report

2010-02-28T12:31:00.000-08:00

Deja Vu? - Well sort of...the result was deja vu from last year's 2nd Bedford Mountain Cross race http://bikerchickypookie.blogspot.com/2009/02/bedford-mtn-cross-2.html but the conditions were very different.

I was not at all motivated to race. The weather was a far cry from last week's 60 degree temperatures...although the course conditions were much better. Weather was in the high 30's with a head wind on much of the course. This week's race was run at night. The course was just over a mile...We started on paved road, then climbed up into a section of singletrack, back onto the road, then onto a fast, fun, field downhill which crossed a stream, then a gradual mudclimb, onto a grassy climb back to the start where we had to dismount & cross 2 barriers on the way through the start/finish area.
My stomach had been doing flip flops towards the end of the week..Each time I ate on Saturday, I would get major stomach cramps....After talking to a bunch of the racers from last week..many people had been fighting the same symptoms..some worse than others. I think we all picked up something from riding in the mud the previous week, then trying to drink from our water bottles...(note to self..wear a camelback next time conditions are like that). I figured riding would help purge some of it from me.
Warming up was tough....It was so windy & cold that you couldn't really get warm. I did one lap to check the course..then decided I wasn't going to get warm so I'd just wing it..
Jen & I lined up at the start & off we went. Down the road, up into the singletrack, back on the road, onto the field, etc, etc. At the start of the race, I decided to wait to turn my light on since there was enough daylight. When I got to the grassy field section I attempted to turn it on and nothing happened....tried again, nothing. This went on for the entire grassy section.
As I came through the start finish, I was in a bit of a panic...I whined "I can't get my light on!!"...luckily Dave from East Coasters had not started yet..so he helped me...He asked "is it plugged in??" I said yes..I tested it before the race...Luckily he got it turned on for me & off I went.
As I started my second lap, I noticed Laura just up ahead of me. She was going the wrong way so I figured she was on a warm up lap...come to find out she wasn't really paying attention at the start & got a little misdirected. I continued on the lap & entered a section of trail which is little rocky & technical. As I got through the first part of the trail, I attempted to pedal & my pedals wouldn't go. I looked down & realized I had thrown my chain....I rolled through the next section then pulled over to fix it. When I pulled over, a bunch of the sport men passed me...I didn't realize my buddy Laura was in that group too....I got the chain back on & followed the group...As we hit the road, the group went straight .(this was the wrong way).....I shouted to them but no one heard me...I hammered back down the road & continued w/ my second lap. When I got mid-way through the grassy field section, the "Pain Train" caught me. This group consisted of Clif, my hubby, and a couple other fast guys. They caught me on my second lap..they were only on their first so I knew I had to do everything I could to hold them off. I decided to start riding like I had my single speed...I didn't use the easy gears...stood up each time through the field, etc.
On my third lap, Adam caught me..I tried to hang on his wheel until we got to the field downhill..then he was just gone. I started passing people who were walking in the field section...why are they walking when they have gears?? I kept hammering through...laps 4 & 5 went well..
When I came through the start finish for lap 6 I looked at the clock & tried to calculate if I could do the lap in enough time to get a 7th in. It was going to be close. I went hard through the first half of the lap but once I hit the mudclimb & the grassy field, I could feel myself getting tired.
I tried to put it in a harder gear & mash the climb...When I hit the barriers I only had 5 seconds to make it to lap 7....it wasn't going to happen...bummer. Throwing the chain earlier in the race cost me that little extra time to start the 7th lap. I wasn't sure where the pain train was in relation to my finish so I figured I placed top 10...
When I came in, the timers informed me my buddy Laura stopped after 1 lap. Apparently the stomach boogers got her good & ended her race short...so she got to stay warm & dry all night...
After the race we hung out while the remaining racers finished up. My stomach was giving me fits again...so I couldn't eat anything. I grabbed some pretzels & a coke...Kenny (the race promoter) wanted to see me...I thought Oh no....did I do something wrong? He asked me if I remember the Pain Train passing me a second time in the race..I said I didn't think so b/c they passed me on my second lap & I didn't remember seeing them again, but I couldn't be sure..
Turns out..I ended up winning the race...None of the Pain Train had passed me again...Woo HOO! I caught a bunch of grief again for Sandbagging....but once again..when I have a 20 minute head start...all I had to do was ride hard, and clean.
One more race next weekend...Can't wait to see what's in store.

Bedford County MTX #1 Race Report

2010-02-23T17:05:00.000-08:00

Clean!

dirty!

Bedford Mountain Cross Race #1
Finally a chance to ride outdoors! Sunday was the first of this year's Bedford Mountain Cross series. The course had to be shortened due to the fact we've had an abundance of snow this year. This was only the second time I've ridden outside this year & the first race w/ Clarence & his new gears. (1x9) They would come in handy on this course. We started out on pavement, then a left turn into the first part of single track...more like peanut butter track. it was muddy but rideable. Then a short run up..this would be a mess by the end of the race...then a crazy downhill loaded w/ mud, rocks, snow...I ran this the first 3 laps, then was able to ride it the last 3. Then we crossed a bridge, rode through a field, cross a stream, up the next part of the singletrack which was super muddy & got worse each lap, then back on the pavement to do it all again.
The format of the race was a handicap system. Beginner riders, or slower riders go off first and have more time to do as many laps as they can in 1 hour. They are chased by faster, more experienced riders who have less time. I raced in Vet Women which meant I had 57 minutes to do as many laps as I could. My buddy Jen raced in the same class... When we came through the start/finish area, all of the experts had not started yet. our first lap was slightly over 10 minutes....I knew we were in trouble. Sure enough..at the start of my second lap, the "pain train" passed us. These were all of the super strong, expert males.
I decided to just have fun this race & not worry about lap times. It was going to be a test of my technical skills. Normally I do not race well in slippery, peanut buttery conditions. I averaged just over 10 minutes each lap..but got slower as the race went on. Conditions improved in some areas while others deteriorated quickly. I was very happy with how I rode...I handled the bike very well in the slop. At some points I was riding sideways..it was pretty funny.
I did rely on my lower gears a little too much..that accounted for my slow lap times...but I'm glad I had them. I need to learn to ride the bike like the single speed and not rely on the easier gears so much.
I was in second place for most of the race until the "pain train" caught me again..then I was done. I ended up in the top 10..but that's only because of the handicap system. Had it been a normal race.. I would have been close to the bottom.
Overall I had a fantastic time. Normally I don't like mud but I think I was suffering from a serious case of cabin fever so I didn't care about the mud & slop.
Next week we'll race in the dark....it will be interesting

Montvale Mahem Race Report

2009-10-10T15:27:00.000-07:00

I had to do 2 posts..my pics are pulling in weird to blogger.

OW!!!!! That about summarizes the Montvale Mahem Race. It's been 3 months since my last cross country race. During that time I was riding fairly strong until about a month and a half ago. Hubby dislocated his shoulder...so I sort of lost a little motivation to ride.. I felt guilty every time I went out w/ out him. I haven't been putting in the long road miles to keep up my endurance & although I've been riding..I haven't felt really strong. Laura keeps getting stronger & stronger since she healed from a crash earlier in the fall. She's been focusing on the Iceman coming up in November all the while practicing short, intense, fast stuff. I knew going into the race it was gonna be a close. I was totally up in the air about racing until about 2 days ago when I saw Laura & Kristin had signed up to do expert. Sport, Singlespeeders & Experts all did the same length..so I decided if I'm gonna race, I may as well sign up for Expert too...just to make it interesting & possibly get some cash out of it for my effort.I had not ridden out here since February. Back then the trails were still fairly new. Much more has been added since then. I had heard folks talking about the course..how fast it was, where the log crossings were, the long climbs...Basically it was a course where you're on the gas the entire time. I would be riding "blind" as I had not pre-ridden the course so I had no clue what was in store.
When we lined up at the start, the girls were quite "whiny"...It was pretty comical to the boyz...they probably thought..."geez, what the heck are they racing for w/ all that whining...were's the cheese??? "
The start began w/ a gravel road climb.....great way to start for someone who hasn't been climbing real well. Laura pushed the pace right out of the gate. If I was even going to have a shot at doing well, I knew I had to stay on her wheel. We climbed the road, then onto the grassy section...then through the freezing cold creek into the singletrack. We ascended Yellow Drum trail..lots of leaves, roots, climbing. Laura was going so hard...I wondered if I would be able to stay w/ her. We got to one of the switchbacks & she pulled off...I took over the lead as we continued up. I thought to myself..oh no...I'm gonna pace the whole race and end up losing in the end. (nice positive self talk huh?) We continued on...up Bealle's Treasure, twisting turning, climbing, descending. A few of the sport boys caught us as we continued.. I had a slight gap going through the second half of the course. It was a ton of fun...very fast downhills, a few bermed turns..the only weird thing was the course went back and forth on itself so much, you could see your competitors but could never gauge how far in front you were. As I descended this super fun section, I must have hit a root the wrong way. The next thing I knew, I was in a heap of leaves on the side of the trail. One of the other riders who caught me said I was riding soo fast..next thing he saw was the lump of Paula laying in the leaves.
I got back on & continued. Little did I know I had the start of a nice bruise on my thigh...OW #1. As I continued, I encountered the log crossings. I was so hesitant after my crash that I ended up walking over all of them. It was pathetic. I have a bike w/ big wheels & couldn't do the darn logs!
I continued to push my pace b/c I figured Laura was right on my tail....Lap 2 was harder than lap one. On the climbs, I could feel twinges in my legs...never a good sign b/c I could tell I was on the verge of cramping. I kept drinking & eating my Shot blocks...but all the while telling myself..push the pace, she's gonna get you.
I crashed again in a different spot on lap 2. It was a sandy switchback where I had too much speed & just washed out. I did a 180 degree turn before falling. Argggh! OW #2.........Through Lap 2 I caught a glimpse of Laura in the same area as I was. I pushed it a little more b/c I didn't know how much time I had on her. As I came through the check point, the marshals were encouraging me on. I was running out of gas. The first part of the lap is mostly climb. My legs were starting to cramp...not good. I continued to push through it. Lap 3 was clean...slow, but clean. I still hiked all of the log crossings but I did not crash & maintained good control. I was flying the downhills b/c I knew I could make up ground there since I was labored in my climbing. Came through the last section & then followed the directions to head in. Another sport buddy of mine caught me. He said I had at least 2 minutes on Laura...I said "are you sure..b/c I think she's right there"...he said I was fine. By this point my legs were severely cramping. I didn't think I could make it back b/c there was one more climb. Going through the cold stream didn't help b/c I tensed my muscles ....as we headed back out the grass, I tried to spin & pace w/ the sport....he paced me up the climb....I was groaning & in a serious world of hurt. I tried to spin fast to the finish and that's when my right calf quit. It seized up & I couldn't get my foot out of the pedal to stretch it. Finally I got it out. I hit the finish line screaming. OW #3 Kenny (race promoter) was giving me a hard time for not taking my Sport Legs..when in fact I had taken my pre-race supplement (race caps)....I think I was a little dehydrated going into it & the constant up/down contributed to the cramping. Laura was only a few minutes back..she finished strong.

Overall I'm pleased w/ my effort.

..I wasn't happy about the cramping but I think I know how to fix that.

RoanokeOutside.com/Mail It Plus had a good showing at today's race

Expert Female: 1st- Paula Schimizzi, 2nd - Laura White

Sport Female - 1st - Jennifer Divers

Sport Male - 2nd - Adam Caldwell

Montvale Mahem Race Pictures

2009-10-10T15:04:00.001-07:00

2009-08-30T19:09:00.000-07:00

NEW TEAM SPONSORS CHECK 'EM OUT AT WWW.ROANOKEOUTSIDE.COM

Cove Trail work & creature sightings

2009-08-16T11:41:00.000-07:00

Been a blog slacker again.....sorry...

We did trail work at the Cove on Saturday to fill in some really muddy spots on Songbird Trail. I spent most of the time helping to sort out rocks. After a while the rocks started looking the same. We rode today to try out our handywork. It rode much smoother...flowed well & our line of sight is much better now. The trail looks a little wide

where we had to dig...but that will get overgrown again in time.

Thursday night I finally saw my first bear of the season. A mamma & 3 cubs. ..We kept our distance...the cubs were very cute.

Saturday we saw a rattle snake while working on the trails....he wasn't so cute.

here are some pics..(borrowed from Laura...thanks!)

Carvin's Cove Race Report

2009-07-22T15:49:00.000-07:00

Sunday was the second installment of the Roanoke Moutain Bike Challenge (RMBC)

The time trial up Mill Mtn was Sat. I felt good & had a decent time.

Sunday I was the only single speed chicky..but I started w/ the sport women & would do the same course as them. I think there were 6 or 7 female sport riders.. a few of whom I knew would be strong riders. My goal would be to finish among the t

op female sports..

When the riders lined up to the start, they had all of the sport men, women, clydesdales, and single speeders starting en mass. We had a "neutral" rolling start to the gate, once through the gate it was every person for themself. The neutral start was a little squirrelly. I tried to stay towards mid pak...I knew I wasn't fast enough to be in front, but I didn't want to be the last into the trails either.

When we arrived at the gate, the riders actually entered through in a single file, orderly fashion. They we hit the fireroad & took off to be some of the first into Songbird. This was a bit of a cluster getting in because people were already getting of of their bikes. I traded places with one of the clydesdales back & forth...I ended up having to go around him....then I ended up behind someone else who would stop at every technical section. (Songbird isn't very technical..one creek crossing, a few rocks embedded in the trails, etc). I knew if I wanted to gain any ground on the other chickies, I had to get around this dude.

I passed him in the cree

k because he stopped in the middle of the trail!!..I continued on..weaving & bobbing, pedaling, just having a blast. As I exited Songbird, my friend Skip was there encouraging me on. We then dumped into Enchanted Forest & on to Lower Comet. I was already running into people breaking chains & getting flats. I just kept praying I would have no mechanicals.

After Comet, we dumped back on the fire road & started the first ascent on the 1000' climb. I passed two guys who had passed me earlier on Comet. I continued to pedal & tried to get into a rhythm. I approached the feed zone where they were passing out bottles of cold water...I passed b/c I didn't have anywhere to put the bottle. I continued on up..mostly climbing alone...although I never looked behind me to see how far back the girls were. In a way I didn't want to know so it wouldn't put more pressure on me.

As I got near the intersection of Jacob's drop, I caught my teammate Chris. I was shocked I caught him..so I figured somet

hing must be wrong. I asked if he needed anything & his response was."Geez I must really stink today since I'm getting passed by you!" Thanks alot, Chris. I passed him & entered Hemlock Tunnel. I knew I didn't want Chris behind me so I slowed a little so he could catch up & pass me. I never saw him after that. A little motivation every now & then is good. As I started to descend Hemlock Tunnel, I started talking out loud to myself...I guess I was coaching myself down..."feather your front brake, let off of the back brake, get your weight back, look out ahead, keep a good line, relax, breathe" Luckily no one was around to hear all of this chatter, but it helped & I got down safely without dabbing on any switchbacks.

As I continued on Hemlock Tunnel, I started trading places w/ an expert dude. He'd dust me on the downhills, but I'd catch back up on the climbs. Once out of Hemlock Tunnel, we climbed up the fireroad...there's a stiff climb at the top & I was determined to make it w/out walking....and I did!! Yea me!. All the while I still had no idea where the girls were. I figured they were close to 1 minute or less behind me....so I kept giving it all I had.

Onto comet..got through safely..had a couple of hike a bike sections but kept a good pace..

Once through comet, it was back on the fireroad & back up part of the 1000' climb. I checked my time & realized I had a shot at finishing in under 1 hour 45 minutes. I decided to go for it but had to get up the second climb. It w

as pretty tough..especially w/ one gear. I settled in & rode steady..Once on to Connector(Four Gorge Trail)...I rode w/ another expert. He was pretty banged up..had crashed a few times & flatted...not a good day for him. As we continued, I decided I couldn't hold his pace & passed him. I continue on but the trail seemed to take forever to end. I caught up to a beginner girl & shouted some encouragement to her...she looked like she was going to have a meltdown at any time...poor thing.

I checked my time at the intersection of Hi Dee Ho...1:38....I can do this I thought to myself....I put the hammer down & rode as fast as I could to the finish.

Final time 1:40 and some change. I waited & waited for the strong girls to come out. Finally the first one arrived 9 minutes after I finished!...Wow...I knew I was ahead but didn't think I had that big of a lead...I was thrilled.

All in all it was a great race (of course it is when you do well) There were a few factors that contributed to my good race...Great Weather ( mid 80's & low humidity...I don't do well in heat), I knew the course well (ride out there every week), stayed relaxed, no mechanicals & just went out to have fun. Thanks to RCO for putting on another fun event.

MMTT

2009-07-18T14:10:00.000-07:00

Mill Mountain Time Trial

It was hard, and it was all up...except for a little section on Monument.

We started a 1:00 intervals, up the alley, then right on Sylvan road, then climb a little bit of Sylvan to the trailhead at Monument. The alley was steep...I wasn't feeling great on the alley or the road. Once I got on to Monument, I felt a little better. I settled into a groove & pedaled away. I soon caught one of the boyz up ahead...pedaled a little longer & caught a second boy! Woo hoo..I was stoked b/c I didn't think I catch the second one. Then there was a third just before the fun downhill part on Monument. Got around him & put the hammer down....Came out flying & took the right hand turn up ridgeline. I could tell someone was behind me but wasn't sure who. It turned out to be my teammate Adam CAldwell who started 2 minutes behind me. He was absolutely flying. ONce he got around me, he just flew up the hill. All that road biking he has been doing has made him super fast.

I got to the switchback on Ridgeline & passed one more person. Then I had to walk the switchback..this is where I lost a little time b/c I couldn't get clipped back in. I continued up....came out in the grass, got on the path & back into the grass. I got passed by 2 more really fast boys...one started 4 minutes back, the other 5 minutes....they were flying. It was all I could do to keep my pedals turning. It was so steep on this section. I lumbered through.

Total time 23:18......There was only one other chicky...she did it in 22:54..... I'm pleased w/ my result. I could sit here & go shoulda, coulda, woulda, but it doesn't change the final results. I gave it my best & that's all I can ask for. I did beat some boys so that's always a plus....

Tomorrow is the Carvin's Cove cross country.

Burn 24 hours

2009-05-27T15:49:00.001-07:00

This was our home away from home for the 2009 Burn 24 hours held in Wilkesboro, NC.

The course was the same as last year...a little climbing on the front side & lots of fun, fast, bermed turns, downhills on the back side.

350 riders were signed up. Roanoke Cycling sent 2 teams of 4 riders each down for the event.

Our team did a rotation of 1 lap each, then Skippy pulled doubles. I felt good on my first couple of daytime laps. As we progressed into the nightime hours we decided we'd all pull double laps. When it came to be around 1:30 or so, I was hanging out waiting for my turn when the skies opened up & dropped some nice rain showers upon the riders. I decided to head back to the tent & get my jacket. I ventured back out on course and had a really rough time. The roots were slick, I was overheated, & I had a rock in my shoe. At one point I sat down off of the trail to get rid of the rock when Dave (he was on the other RCO team) came by & asked if I was ok....I said I was, just having a rough lap. The following lap was much better as the rain had subsided & I could lose the jacket. I headed back to the RV to sleep until my next daytime lap. I don't really know if I slept all that well...I never sleep well in new enviroments and this would be true for this race. I headed back out for my 7:00 am. lap. This was probably my fastest lap. I felt great..legs were strong I was flying. I should have pulled a double when I got back & my teammate was having mechanical issues...We got him fixed up & off he went. We debated about sending a last rider out before the cutoff, but we realized it would only move us up one place in the standings & it had started to rain again..so it wasn't worth risking injury.

Overall we had a great time. Our team came in 9th while the other RCO team came in 4th. Dave pulled the fastest lap of all of the RCO gang...something like 38 minutes...That's moving!

I can't wait to do another one...(as soon as I get over the crud I caught from riding in the rain all night...yuk)

Ah, this is the life

2009-05-13T16:31:00.000-07:00

When the time comes for me to "retire" from racing this is how I'd love to spend my days. Relaxing on a quiet beach or pursuing my other passion: Golf

Douthat Race

2009-05-05T16:22:00.000-07:00

This is how I spent my day on Sunday at Douthat.

It was rainy & cold & the trails were a mess. The double XC race was delayed by 1 hour. Then the regular XC race (the one I was signed up for ) was postponed for a later date. I had about 5 hours to kill so I hiked a little, then I came back to Adam's Winnebago, read a little, and slept for an hour. I woke up in time to see the first finishers of the double XC.

Hubby had 4 flats..not a good day.

Enjoy the pics.

Pics from Roadie Ride

2009-04-14T19:35:00.000-07:00

We headed out the parkway on Saturday for a climb up Bent Mountain. There are some great views this time of year....although it was proably 10 degrees colder at the top.....made for a chilly descent down the mountain...brrr. Total Miles: 42

6 hours of Warrior Creek

2009-04-05T12:45:00.001-07:00

Packed in tight

Clarence gets ready for bed

set up camp

Team RCO - what a motley crew

Laura & I on the first lap

Transition to Gina

Chillin between laps

Jen getting ready to go

Gina down the home stretch

Pooped

Chicky's Rock! 1st place 3 person Female team!

Ugh

2009-03-29T08:56:00.000-07:00

spent 2 hours on the trainer yesterday. It's been raining for the past few days. Usually my limit is 45 minutes. I was amazed I did 2 hours. Watching movies on the computer really helps pass the time. 2 weeks ago I did 2 hours on Saturday & 2 1/2 on Sunday. It's just not the same as getting out there & riding. We'll try to do Mill Mountain today...sun is out, temps are in the mid 60's...it'll be muddy but at least we'll be outside.

Asheville Pics

2009-03-29T08:49:00.000-07:00

Stylin

Gave it away

2009-03-01T13:55:00.000-08:00

Today was the 3rd & final race of the Bedford Mountain Cross Series. It would be a muddy mess given the fact it rained all day Saturday & when I got up this morning, it was snowing & cold. We checked the web site & the race was still on. Unfortunately I would not be participating. I've been fighting this upper respiratory thing for about a week now & today it decided to move up into my head. Took an antibiotic the first 5 days of it,...but it did nothing. Now I've moved on to Dayquil, Niquil, and started Theraflu today. Nothing's working. Can't get in to see my doctor until Thursday (that's the first "sick visit" she has available) Yuk...coughing, hacking, sneezing, taking inhaler shots...repeat sequence. I wanted to race but like my hubby said...it's March...It's early...why risk getting sicker than I already am. I probably would have had the series wrapped up...although hubby insists he would have caught me today. Oh well...I guess I'll never know.
My buddy Laura called me on her way home wondering what happened to us. She said it was a very short course, but extremely muddy. Basically you'd climb, then descend, then climb, then descend. I think Scott Schleckman (sp?) ended up winning the whole thing......
I'm not happy about it....but what can I do? I've been pouting all day...just ask hubby. He's taken the brunt of my grouchiness..... Oh well...back to the couch...for a bit.
Congrats to the participants who braved today's weather. There's always next year's series...

Bedford Mtn. Cross #2

2009-02-16T17:44:00.000-08:00

What in the world is that? Yes, my friends, that is a bag of sand.

The second race in the Bedford mtn cross was Sunday...and I was a major sandbagger again. I ended up doing 5 laps on the 1.5 mile course. It was fun, fast & furious. I completed my first lap before many folks had gone off so I was a lap up on most of the expert boyz......got passed by hubby & some others but I was able to hold them off to take the checkered flag...or bag of sand....

Oh well...I guess that's what happens when you get a 20 minute head start. I felt much like a mechanical rabbit at a greyhound race. I didn't know where the riders were behind me...but I knew they were there....All I had to do was keep pedaling...or shoveling as the case may be!

Sandbagger

2009-02-05T18:36:00.000-08:00

Sunday was the first race of the Bedford Mountain Cross Series This isn't a really serious race..but more of a way to gauge how your fitness level is in January. I hadn't really even given the race much thought until Sunday morning. I didn't even decide what class to race until we got there. I chose to race in my age group this time...Vet Women I knew I wouldn't be fast enough to even attempt to race expert class. The race was a bit different...there was more of a handicap system in place where the slower riders started first. The more experienced/faster riders started at a time deficit. You had to do as many laps as you could in your allotted time limit. I had 53 minutes to do as many laps as possible. I think the expert women had something around 45 or 42 minutes, vet expert men..38.5 minutes, and so on.
There were a couple of run ups on course and a few barriers. The course was waaaaay muddy. When I rode my practice lap, I had trouble keeping the bike upright. When I came in from the practice lap, my bike was already caked in mud....Fun!.

As my group started, we had to ride past the other riders waiting to go. As I approached the singletrack, I was greeted with a chorus of "sandbagger, sandbagger!". Thanks hubby!
I rode w/ another younger rider (age 16) for the first & second laps. We would trade places back & forth, he'd get ahead, then I'd pass, then I'd fall or slide out & he'd go around.
I slipped & slid all over the course.....in some sections, I'd stand up to pedal & would remain in the same spot just spinning my back wheel. It was a little freaky.
The course was pretty fun..had it been dry it would have been extremely fast.
on my 3rd lap, Kenny (race promoter) let me know I still had enough time to do a fourth lap!..Woo Hoo....My goal was to not get caught by all the faster riders behind me...and I really didn't want to get caught by my hubby who started 15 minutes behind me.
As I was finishing up my last lap, I heard an all too familiar sound of someone's hub.....I turned around to see my hubby fast approaching. I tried to hold on for as long as I could, but he passed me on the last up hill section. I almost caught him on the very last climb...but just couldn't stay upright. Turns out he beat me by 14 seconds..and he turned the fastest lap time on the course. He was going all out to catch me...pretty darn good for starting w/ a 15 minute deficit.

I really didn't know how I placed at the end. I felt really good on the bike & my legs felt strong.
When they did the awards, it turns out I got second place!...not too shabby for a sandbagging old woman . Pictures & results are here.. in 2 more weeks I'll race again.

http://bedfordtrails.wordpress.com/upcoming-trail-events/

Arcadia....

2009-01-26T17:01:00.000-08:00

Hubby, Adam & I decided to head out to Arcadia for a ride on Saturday. Temps were in the low 40s and were predicted to drop throughout the day. As we traveled the road towards the parking area, we noticed many of the smaller trout streams still had a 3-4 inch layer of ice on them. It was quite scenic but we knew it was gonna be cold.

We got dressed & headed up the road towards the first climb of the day. As we approached some houses, we wondered if we would run into our golden retriever friend, Baden. A couple of years ago he came along with us on a ride. We thought he would turn around & head home.. but around 18 miles into the ride, we finally called his owner to come pick him up. Surely we wouldn't see him & if we did, he wouldn't remember us. As we approached his house, he came bounding down the driveway barking his head off. We called to him & his bark turned into a friendly greeting session...he seemed to act like "Where have you guys been?" "Are you ready to go? Huh? Huh? Huh? " We knew we didn't want him to come along today because we planned another epic ride. While we were stopped, I decided to change my jacket so I would not get overheated on the climb. I dropped my El Toreo vest on the ground & Baden picked it up and started to run away w/ it. Fortunately he brought it back & dropped it at my feet. It was all a big game to him. Baden's owner called for him....He seemed a little torn because he really, really wanted to go with us....Finally hubby rode up to the house & Baden followed. Hubby mentioned to Baden's owner the adventure from 2 years ago..His owner remembered us.

Once Baden was safe & sound & I had a lighter jacket on, we started to climb...and climb, and climb.....and climb some more. I think the overall elevation gain for the ride was around 4400'....That's a lot on a single speed. Upon reaching the top, I put my dog slobbered vest on over my camelback. I looked like the hunchback of Arcadia. It was quite funny....but I was warmer.

We descended this horse trail. It was pretty rough going because the ground had frozen, then thawed, then was frozen again. Plus there were a ton of leaves on the trail...in some places it was hub deep so you had no idea what was beneath. Big rocks were hidden in the leaves so you got a jolt each time you hit one. We approached an area where there was a big hole covered by leaves. Adam & Hubby rode it. As I got closer, Hubby exclaimed: "Get your weight back, there's a hole!".....I thought, I have a 29er, I can do this..there's no way I can endo!......I rolled up to it, put my weight back, and BAM!....my front wheel stopped dead....and......yup...you guessed it....I endoed! I was in a beautiful swan dive position, ultimately landing on my left shoulder, all splayed out!.....I thought...so you CAN endo on a 29er! Wow! Except what came out of my mouth was rather R rated....let's just say I wasn't very happy. I guess I didn't have my weight back far enough. Oh well....I jumped back on the bike, but was pretty tentative on the rest of the leaves, etc.

As we continued riding, we noticed the temperature steadily dropping. My toes were getting colder as were my fingers. We started up another fireroad climb in the hopes of getting warm again...Unfortunately we got about 1/4 of the way up & were not any warmer. We decided to abandon that part of the ride & come back down. We headed back to our vehicles.....on the way back, we saw 2 coyotes. We had noticed lots of coyote poop on the way up so we knew they were in the area. Seeing them was a little spooky. I'm sure the farmers in the area are not too happy about the coyotes.

We ended the ride around 3 hours later...we ended up doing 20 miles. We stopped in Buchanan for some chili & grilled cheese sandwiches...mmmmm....It was a fun day but a little cold....hopefully we can go back in the early spring when the temperatures are a little warmer.

Brrrrrrr

2009-01-18T07:49:00.000-08:00

It was Saturday...hubby had already done his "no excuses" ride. I had to get froo frooed up in the morning so I could not join him. I had the itch to ride...even though it was only 20 degrees or so. Quite a bit warmer than when hubby went out. Around 12:30 I called my buddy Laura & asked her if she had already ridden.....she said she was still in her pj's watching CSI dvds....I asked if she'd be up for an urban assault, local trail ride...she said sure..she could get motivated.....She had originally planned to ride the trainer...yuk!...I figured this would be more fun.

We met up at PH around 2...At this point the sun was out & I was thinking I was a bit overdressed...especially when we started the short climbs. We ran into a gentlemen walking his pooches....he bid us a good day & mentioned it was getting warm enough to start taking off the layers......almost... We continued over to Fishburn and explored the trails there...I was trying not to do too much climbing b/c I was really feeling tired from the previous nights P90X Core Synergistics workout. I didn't think it would affect me that much...but I was hurting on the climbs. We went through some of the more "technical" sections of the trail...lots of roots, a few rocks, . I mentioned to Laura this is a great place to work on technical skills.

We continued on and ran into our friend Wake from the bike shop. He had his adorable 9 week old little puppy with him....a Brittany named Kaya......very cute, very cuddly, all puppy. After we chatted with him for a bit, we decided to venture over to Mill Mountain. We cut through lots of alleys as we made our way to the Roanoke River Greenway. Once at the Greenway, I hopped up on a small median & rode alongside Laura...I did have to bail because I was headed for a trashcan.

As we continued on the greenway, the wind had picked up a bit & the cloudes rolled in. It was starting to get cold...Laura mentioned her fingers were getting a little cold because they had gotten too warm on the initial part of the ride and the inside of the gloves were now damp. I was having the same issue with my thumbs.

We cruised past River's Edge where there were a few folks out jogging & some others playing soccer. We rode through the tunnel under the railroad tracks to head over towards Chrystal Spring...There was actually ice in the tunnel.... When we emerged on the other side, we noticed our friends Chris & Angelia waiting in the parking lot. I noticed a Trane HVAC truck there as well..I asked Chris if he was on call..he said no, but his co-worker was..but ran into an issue. He had called Chris for a little backup & Chris was nice enough to oblige. We chatted w/ Angelia a bit...As we chatted, the winds increased & the temps felt like they were getting colder. We decided to forgoe Mill Mountain today for fear that once we climbed, we'd be chilled to bones trying to ride home & that wouldn't have been any fun.

We bid Angelia adieu & headed back through the Greenway, onto the alleys & finally parted ways near PH. It was fun just to get out & get a decent ride. I wanted to do 2+ hours, but the colde got the better of me. I ended up with 1:45 which I guess wasn't too bad considering the conditions.

Ignorance

2009-01-16T11:10:00.000-08:00

Went out this morning to start the car so I could warm it up in the 8 degree temps. I entered through the passenger side, stuck the key in the ignition, & started her up. As I shut the passenger door, I heard what sounded like ice sliding off of the roof.....I thought to myself..we didn't have any weather last night. I circle to the back of the car & the back window had completely shattered. Holy Crap! I shut off the car & ran back inside to tell hubby what had just happened. We forumlated a plan. I went back out front and noticed my neighbor's car had paint all over the driver's side window & their side mirror was busted out. Shooot!...some )@($* idiots decided to vandalize property over the frigid evening. Stupid, just plain stupid!

I ran back inside & told hubby we needed to call the cops in addition to the insurance company...

Here's a few pics...nice Huh?

When hubby was on the phone w/ the police, he noticed one of the neighbors driving up the street. They had paint on their car too. I don't know what possesses some people to do such destructive things. Funny thing is you'd think the car alarm would have gone off in the middle of the night. We didn't hear a thing...even the dog slept through the night.

Anwyay..she's in the shop right now getting some new glass. I'm home...I worked 1/2 day this morning, then met hubby at the glass shop so he could take me home and go to work for the other half of the day. It's just a car & it can be fixed. But it's just really stupid the mentality of some of the people in this world!

question: what do you do when it's 10 degrees outside

2009-01-16T10:39:00.000-08:00

You have a "spin' party! Note the twinkling Christmas lights!

requirements: Some type of cycling training dvd, bike, trainer/rollers, good friends, good attitudes

I never enjoy riding the trainer...but had to get a workout in. We decided to host a "spin" session in lieu of the Thursday night ride. Our buddy Laura, aka "Michigan" joined us for this time trial workout. I thought I would die during the 2nd 5 minute high intensity phase. If it was just hubby & I, I don't think I would have pushed as hard.. It was nice having Laura join us...I felt like I had to be accountable for the workout I was doing. Thanks Laura...you totally motivated me w/out even knowing it

New Yrs eve/day pics

2009-01-02T18:19:00.000-08:00

Hey, put me down...my beer......I mean bone is down there!

Should old acquaintance be forgot...........

One day soon, I will conquer this log pile

Abs of.....not steel

2008-12-30T14:20:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-30T14:03:00.000-08:00

Clarence posing

Wow...look how clean

Minor adjustments

Ewwwww look how dirty!

"Michigan" takes Clarence for a spin

Clarence's ride at the Cove

2008-12-28T11:21:00.000-08:00

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????

2008-12-06T17:10:00.000-08:00

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

2008-10-31T15:58:00.000-07:00

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

Here Kitty Kitty

2008-10-31T15:51:00.001-07:00

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

2008-09-24T19:33:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-09-14T14:12:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-20T15:25:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-19T09:33:00.000-07:00

Race report coming soon.....

55 miler….

2008-08-11T06:15:00.001-07:00

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…

2008-08-01T12:16:00.001-07:00

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….

2008-07-29T12:15:00.001-07:00

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

2008-06-28T05:20:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-02T11:28:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-30T14:54:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-26T18:39:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-21T07:06:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-04T11:22:00.001-07:00

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...

2008-04-28T17:59:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-14T19:00:00.000-07:00

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

2008-03-30T08:32:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-03-20T15:31:00.000-07:00

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....

2008-02-24T15:15:00.000-08:00

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

2008-02-13T16:37:00.001-08:00

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

2008-01-24T19:16:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-21T18:03:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-17T13:03:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-02T14:46:00.000-08:00

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!

Spoiled one

2007-12-30T10:48:00.001-08:00

Tomorrow 12/31 is my "spoiled one's" birthday. Actually it's the anniversary date of her adoption from the Roanoke Vally SPCA. She was born sometime in October but we don't know when..so we use her adoption date as her birthday. She'll be 8. Hard to believe we've had Gretta 8 years now...where does the time go? Here's a pic of her chewing on her "birthday treat" and then chilling out afterwards.

bucks, trees, graves, creeks, rock sculptures and trolls

2007-11-27T11:21:00.000-08:00

Went for a ride this morning w/ Jen at the Cove. Temps were hovering in the high 40's, low 50's along w/ a bit of wind....It would be chilly on the road but we'd be out of the wind on the trails. I didn't feel like climbing so we stayed on the lower trails today. My legs are still feeling the weight workout from Saturday and riding at Panapas Pond on Sunday. We headed out the road and made the left onto Songbird. About 6 1/2 minutes into the ride we had to do some log clearing on Songbird. With all of the wind, there was a bunch of stuff down. We laid the bikes down & started moving the log. I'm such a weakling..Jen was using her brute strength gained by moving patients at the hospital to push this log off the trail. It took a little more effort on my part but we got the thing moved. Jen then decided to act like a tree, so we captured a photo.

Onward we went...twisting, turning, through the leaves. We got to a point where a log used to cross the trail....I was getting ready to dismount when we discovered it has been moved! Woo Hoo. Down through the zoomy section we went...We came upon the tree that is across the lower section of the trail. I think Jen underestimated the angle to get around this log & here's the end result:

We decided to go up Arrowhead...before ascending we took a detour to check out the Confederate grave. I'm curious to know the history of this person...maybe one day I'll do a little more research. The setting is quite serene...with the minor exception of the crazy mountain bike chicks taking pics of the headstone.

We got to the first crest on Arrowhead & took a short break. I had forgotten what a pain that climb can be. As we sipped from our water bottles, I could see a large buck in the distance. We continued down the trail. I tried to ride slow b/c I knew buck would be hanging out. I came upon him too quickly & he took off. He was around 4 -6 points.. and he was chasing a doe. They scurried up the other side of the trail. We plodded on. Soon we came across another buck which was larger than the first. He was afraid of us too & took off. Got to the creek crossings...I was able to do most of them.....I cleared the one at the end....Jen commented "Well aren't you special"...that's only the 5th time or so I've been able to ride that creek and I took a bad line. Jen walked it..the entry is a little sketchy so I don't blame her at all for walking it.

We came out on the fireroad..on to Schoolhouse & Little Bell. I was starting to fatigue at this point...not enough carbs a few days prior to this ride. We rode along and came up to the "vista point" there's not much of a vista b/c there's no water in the cove! We continued on..debated on going down Enchanted Forest...we opted for the fireroad for a little bit, then decided to dump back down to EF. I'd much rather do the logs, roots on EF than ride the boring fireroad.

Once we jumped on Comet, Jen pointed out the rock sculpture in progress so of course I had to take a photo.

We continued on..my legs were shot so no Four Gorge trail for me. We rode back on the road...I noticed 2 trolls on the trees....I had never noticed these in all the times we've ridden by them. We rolled back to the vehicles..Jen had to go to work...I headed home to grab lunch & hang out w/ the pooch. Fun morning at the Cove!

Ridin at the Cove

2007-11-14T10:21:00.000-08:00

I decided to take a "mental health" break this morning & joined my friend Jen for a spin at the Cove. Weather was great...high 50's, low 60's, slight breeze. We had tinkered with the idea of doing Hemlock Tunnel aka Clownhead. Jen had not ridden this trail before so she was up to the challenge. We headed out the paved road then started up the 1000' climb. I forgot how tough the first part of the climb was with only 1 gear...we trudged on...I stopped once or twice to snap some photos but we got to the trailhead in roughly 30 minutes. At the top someone had added a nice rock formation to the top of the sign:

We were a little pooped out from the climb but we ventured on. The top of this trail is a little loose in spots and it's covered in leaves..although you're not knee deep in leaves just yet. I managed all the switchbacks this time around. Jen walked a few but they were a little narly...we proceeded down to the really steep section. There was a friendly little sign on the tree warning us to turn back...Ha.

I could see the line to ride in this section but I could not manage my bike to get there. I kept ending up in the rut and the leaves were a little slick so traction was a bit of a challenge. We hopped off & walked a bit. We had to climb over a big tree which has fallen across the trail but were able to get back on the bikes at this point.

We proceeded down to the bottom of the trail.

There was some old caution tape on the trees left over from the Commonwealth games race. Why this was still out there after all these months, I have no clue. We decided to be good stewards of the trail & clean up this stuff. We contined on, crossing a couple of semi dry streams. We picked up more caution tape along the way. As we came out to the fireroad, we turned left and headed up towards the trailhead for Comet. When we arrived at the trailhead we debated on continuing up the fireroad to Tuckaway or tackling this section of Comet. We opted for Comet...Jen had not ridden this section of trail yet so it would be a good challenge. We descended quickly. There are a few spots in the trail which are very technical..I stopped along the way to let Jen know which line to take. When we got towards the middle of the trail, it makes a tight left hand switchback with no where to bail..so once you commit to it, you have to ride it out. What was funny is when I arrived I blurted "Oh Sh#^"...I made the turn..then watched Jen try it. She also blurted out "Oh Sh#^"at the same exact point I said it. Too funny! She made the turn like a pro. We encountered more caution tape tied on the trees so we proceeded to take it down. We ventured on and at one point we inhaled the sweet scent of bear poop & decaying leaves....It was quite aromatic! Jen reminded me we were approaching the area where she encountered 3 bears earlier this summer...so we kept calling for the bears as we rode throught this section of trail....we also joked that we had caution tape & we weren't afraid to use it!!!! (ok..it's no so funny now but it was funny when we were riding)

We continued on to the end of Comet & dumped back out on the fireroad...we headed back to the cars...Jen had to be at work at 2 and I had to spend the rest of the afternoon to continue my job search. It was a great ride..Jen did very well on the trails...maybe next time we'll do Gauntlet???

Ahhhh..the rewards for a fun ride....mmmmmm Smoooooooothies...

more spoiled dog pix

2007-11-14T10:13:00.000-08:00

Since Gretta had chosen her "favorite" toy from the many I brought home, I put the remaining toys back in some bags & took them to the basement. I went down the other day to get something and Gretta proceeded to rifle through the bags and pick out another toy. She brought it upstairs with her...later that evening....

she fell asleep w/ it in betwen her paws...once again..the cuteness factor was raised another level.

Spoiled Dog

2007-11-11T13:45:00.000-08:00

So Friday was my last day at the paper.. did the whole cake, & cookie thing & we'll miss you schpeel....as I was conversing w/ some of my soon to be ex-coworkers, someone asked me what was up with my desk? I was not sure what they meant...but when I came back to my desk, a whole sea of stuffed animals had appeared. One of my co-workers brought them to me as a going away gift.

I bagged them all up, brought them home, and proceeded to dump them on the floor for my dog. It was like watching a kid at Christmas...she didn't know which one to pick so she proceeded to "mouth" all of them before settling in with a Frankenstein doll. It was quite cute! Here are some pics of the spoiled one:

Making lemonade

2007-10-27T11:41:00.000-07:00

Have been really busy w/ personal stuff going on..sorry for the lack of blogs. Here's what's been happening. Towards the middle of the summer, my hubby was approached by his company to become a Territory Manager in Pennsylvania. His future boss told him it didn't matter where he lived, so long as business in the territory grew. We were thrilled b/c it meant we could move back to his hometown outside of Pittsburgh, PA. So we got the ball rolling and over the course of the past couple of months, we have done a whole bunch of work on the house to get it on the market, started looking at homes up north, informed the family up north we were returning, broke all the bad news to our dear friends down here that we'd be going. His start date was to be the Monday following Thanksgiving. I gave my resignation at work, blah blah blah.

So we're in Florida last week visiting my Dad and his lovely bride. Hubby's phone rings...it's his soon to be boss. Here's what he has to say...."Warren, Al Morris here....I've been in meetings w/ the CEO and National Sales Manager. They feel it's important for the eastern Pennsylvania area to grow so they want you to move to Philadelphia/Lancaster area....." Huh???? In all the dealings and conversations regarding this new opportunity, knowing we've been looking in Pittsburgh, this NEVER came up. Imagine my husband's surprise & extreme disappointment. It didn't take long to make the decision about the new position. The whole point of taking the job was so we could be closer to his family. Why the hell would we want to move to someplace we have no knowledge about to be only 5 hours from family vs the 6 hours it takes now!.

Warren called his old (current) boss back and fortunately can remain in his current position. I on the other hand did not fare as well. I had given my resignation at my current job b/c all signs indicated we would be leaving Thanksgiving week. My last day is Nov 9. I called my boss, explained what was going on...the reply was I'll have to talk to HR. I knew from the tone of my boss' voice it was not good. I called HR..they informed me they had completed the interviews for my position and had offered the job to someone. They do not rescind resignations and the only option left was to look on-line at the current openings in my company and apply for something that might be a good fit. In summary: I'm unemployed after November 9th. I'll go back to work these next 2 weeks to train my replacement, then I'm out of work. Ain't that something? I'm deeply dissapointed and understand completely where my company is coming from but it's still a real bummer. What's the old saying..When life throws you lemons, make lemonade.

So, for all of you fans who read this blog, if you know of any companies in the Roanoke, VA area who are hiring, let me know.. My degree is in Recreation, Sports Management...most of my more recent positions have been admin support type jobs...I'm open to exploring new opportunities. I can send along my resume, or if you're interested in seeing my resume, contact me pschimizzi at cox dot net and I'll send a copy along.

For the full story you can check out hubby's blog at http://www.bicyclesoup.blogspot.com/

For some cool Florida picks including the recent space shuttle launch check out http://www.skmeetzworld.blogspot.com/

Bedford - Falling Creek Race

2007-09-30T17:46:00.001-07:00

Sorry.haven't had a chance to blog about the race. Here's a quick summary

1. Borrowed a bike (when we pre-rode I knew the full suspension would not be necessary) My other hardtail is still in a single speed state, so I borrowed a buddy's Kona Hot. It had v-brakes so that was a bit different!

2. Before the warm up I saw one of the Sport Chickys who I raced with last year...she had a horrific accident the week before the race involving an endo and losing her front teeth! It was bad...I felt horrible for her.... I hope she recovers soon!

3. Start of the race...not a big field..only one other expert chicky & she was in the younger age group. She raced derailer last year...really strong rider! My other competitor in my class was a no show so all I had to do was finish.

4. Start goes off....I immediately have an asthma attack...could not breathe..had to back off....the experts were gone.

5. Got passed by a whole bunch of people....even some junior beginners towards the end of my first lap. Caught back up w/ a couple of sport guys..really nice dudes..one told me I was a celebrity b/c I had a blog & all...He knew my name but I had to ask him his....Kind of scary when people know who you are b/c of your blog. Oh well..

6. Course was tons of fun..Bedford has done a phenomenal job in getting the trails & park constructed just in the past year. Roanoke should look at how efficiently Bedford gets stuff done! Definitely a place I would ride just to ride for fun.

7. Had a meltdown on lap 3...Hubby was the sweep & he came upon me sitting in the middle of the trail sobbing. Not pretty. Got myself back together & continued on.

8. Finished the race exhausted & dead last (or first in my class). Having an asthma attack at the start really made it difficult to ride this race....I just wanted to survive.

9. I think I'm done for the season. No time to train & I've done the hillclimb 2 times before and really don't need to prove anything for the remainder of this season. I'm pretty burned out on the whole race scene this year. I'm ready to get back into the gym & start on the weights.

10. The end.

Peaksview Park.......

2007-09-10T17:31:00.000-07:00

Sunday was the Peaksview Park race in Lynchburg. I didn't really feel motivated going into this one. I guess I'm really tired of all the heat & dry weather. This time of year is really tough for someone w/ allergies to ragweed & grasses and with chronic asthma. Makes riding a real challenge b/c when you breathe, it feels like you're breathing through a straw. When you race, it's worse...

Anywho...warmed up a little big on the start area & finish area to get a feel for the trail conditions. Things were dry so the course would be fast. Lined up at the start. There were 3 chicky's in the expert woman's field. One younger chicky who was super fast, Kim, my fellow competitor from MW & Mountain Lake race & myself. All I needed to do was finish today. I wasn't feeling good in the warm up...had to race back to the car to do an inhaler shot before the start of the race, then race back to the staging area. When the starter released us, it was a super fast pace again. That's the big difference in racing in the expert field...these guys and girls are fast right from the git go. I'm not fast so I just about blow up trying to keep the pace w/ these guys. We went into the woods and sure enough it was a big cluster at the first switchback. Trying to dump 30 some odd folks into a 2' singletrack section is a joke. People were bobbling all over ther place. I tucked in behind Kim & let her pace the first section. She's a super strong climber & really smooth. As we started to settle into a groove I heard the single speed guys coming up behind. Skippy got right on my wheel and started taunting me. We were right in the woop section when they caught us...Skippy knew how much I love for him to ride behind me & he let me know about it..(it's a running joke with us....I hate it when he rides behind me...I get really nervous)...I was finally able to let the Single Speed dudes by..... not too much later a bunch of sport dudes caught us. Once again I had to let them by. Fortunately Kim let them by also, so there was not much of a gap between us & I was able to quickly pace back up to her. We continued to go & I knew more guys were back there. I made sure to shout back to them to let me know when they needed a line & I would gladly move. One dude was a total jerk though & decided to make his own path through the woods about 15 feet off of the trail. I shouted to him "hey..I would have let you by!" I didn't see his number..if so I would have said something to the race officials....I don't think he had a shot at placing..maybe he did but he was kind of riding like an idiot. Oh well

After the guys got past us, Kim started screaming...I looked up and a big black snake slithered under her wheels and into the brushy section next to the trail..Eee Gads....It reminded me of the snake in a West Virginia race last year. Then we encountered a turtle hanging out of the trail..He was probably wondering what in the world was going on!...As the first lap continued, I was descending and handling the technical sections quite well. Kim let me by 1/2 way through the first lap & we continued on. At some point some of the CLydesdales passed us. I can't remember if it was the first lap or second lap...I just could not get into a rhythm on this course..I start hammering on a downhill to have to gear down for some of the short uphill parts. I kept footing out on some of that stuff...very frustrating. With about 3 miles left on the first lap I came to an intersection where the course tape was torn down...I stopped & waited for Kim..we looked at each other & asked which way? We chose to go straight which was the correct choice. I came out onto the road...tried to keep a relatively high pace but couldn't breathe. Kim passed me so I tried to pace behind her. She got a little ahead going into the second lap. She started to pull away on the climbing sections...I just maintained a steady pace....as soon as we got to more of the technical down parts, she allowed me to pass..we sort of ping ponged the first 2 laps, she'd lead, they I would lead, then she would lead, etc. 2 Sport chicky's caught us..they were flying, but then again, it was their last lap..we still had another to go! About 1/2 way through the second lap, there was a section of trail which dumped out into doubletrack. It was a slight left hand turn with a tree branch sticking out. I took the turn a little wide & knew I was in for it. Sure enough I clipped my hand on the tree and down I went. OUCH! I noticed my left pinky sort of hurt but didn't think much about it. I picked the bike back up, checked to make sure everything was working & went on my way.

By the end of the second lap I was really laboring...my breathing was not good and it was really hot. I drank the contents of my camel back so all I had left was a warm bottle on the bike...Yuk..Cytomax is really horrible when it's warm..but it was wet & had electrolytes so I forced it down. As I was finishing the second lap on the road I saw one of the Single Speeders hanging out on a park bench..He was done! I still had another lap! *sigh*

Lap 3...I can't remember where Kim was at this point...I think I was ahead but not by much....just needed to race a clean 3rd lap. I wasn't moving fast which was frustrating for me...but I was moving. I came to this one trail which had 2 very small logs approx 3' apart from each other. I rode this part clean the first 2 laps...I brain farted this time...Got over the first one w/ my front wheel..then tried to stand up & pedal Nothing happened...I think I just spun the back wheel out on the log..next thing I knew I was slamming into the ground on the same side I had crashed on the 2nd lap. Yikes! I was pretty slow getting up but dragged myself back on the bike & plodded on. I was able to hammer the downhills but could feel my body temperature rising....I even contemplated quitting but figured I should finish to get points. I knew by then Kim & I were the only ones left on course. Even the marshalls left.

As I dumped out on the road, my hubby was waiting for me along w/ Jen, my fellow chicky riding buddy. He started to say something to me about my pace & timinig when out of nowhere, the Evil Pookie reared her ugly head. She blurted out "Protein shake...I need a protein shake!" I was tired & beyond frustrated. I did not know how far back Kim was..it was all I could do to keep the legs turning the pedals on the road. Jen rode out next to me encouraging me all the way..come on, you can do it! When I got to the finish area, there were 2 people there....very demoralizing..even the awards ceremony was done! I rolled back to the car, subdued the Evil Pookie with a protein shake & got cooled off. I downed a bunch of electrolytes to start the recovery process. I finally mustered the strength to see if there was any food left. Turns out I ended up getting first in my age group...so that was a nice surprise. Kim finished too....not sure how far back.

Gretta sporting the 1st place medal

As I took off my gloves, I noticed my left pinky where I hit the tree was pretty swollen & bruised. It looked like a sausage. I iced it down all night and now it's purple I thought I had broken it b/c I've broken fingers before & the feeling was the same. I'll probably just tape it ot the ring finger if it gets any worse. Hopefully it won't hurt my golf grip.

My hubby DNF'd the race..he had breathing issues too severe to allow him to continue racing. He mentioned he's done for the season. I'm gonna finish it out just to prove to myself I can race expert. I'm getting to old for this racing stuff. Hopefully it won't be stifling hot at Bedford in 2 weeks.

not risking it...

2007-08-24T07:05:00.000-07:00

Saturday is the 2nd race in the Derailer series. It's in Danville. The forecasted temperature for Roanoke is 98 at last check...Danville's usuually a few degrees higher than us...so that means it will hover near 100. I'm not going...remember last year? In case you don't here's a quick reminder:

Pretty, huh? Not going through that again this year. If there's one suggestion I would have to the race promoters is to hold the series in the fall...start it in mid - late September and run through the first 2 weeks of November. You're less likely to have heat related problems.

Good luck to all those racing... remember to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. I'll be home fixing a leaky toilet!!!!

18 hrs on the Farm..

2007-08-18T08:29:00.000-07:00

Friday morning I get a frantic call from my husband, then a copy of this email is sent:

We regret to inform everyone that the 18 Hours On the Farm Mountain Bike Race will not be held this weekend. The storm that hit the Goochland/Richmond area last night left the Boy Scout Camp looking as if Hurricane Isabel had been there. This decision was not made lightly and was in conjunction with recommendations made by all those associated with the host camp and the event. There is no power, thus no restrooms; conditions at this point are not sanitary, regardless of the trail conditions (trail conditions will be addressed by the work crew once we can get to them). We are doing our best to reschedule the race, as there is an incredible group of you riders that have pulled teams together/registered solo and duo/volunteered to help! Please watch your email for further information. We wanted to get this email out ASAP and sincerely apologize for not being able to control the circumstances. Thank you for your patience and please share the word with others!

so..no 3 and P team to race together ..oh well..I'm not too conernced...I look at is as though we were not supposed to race this event since it took an act of God to prevent it. Will probably ride down near Mountain Lake tomorrow.. then prep for Danville (ugh!) this coming weekend.

Off to wash the dog!

Va Derailer Series Race #1 MW Windows

2007-08-15T10:01:00.000-07:00

Sunday Aug 12...
This was the first in the Derailer Series races. I wasn't even sure if I wanted to race this event. We spent all day Saturday at Roanoke County's Summer Blast event hosting kid's races...it was hot & dry...being out in it all day tends to sap your energy. Anyway, Ron & Skippy convinced us to race.

We headed down to Franklin County's Waid Park. The folks down here do a great job putting on this race...There's always a ton of volunteers & things seem really well organized.
Got registered for the series & did the whole pre race routine (food, drink, bathroom, warm up, more drink, bathroom, good to go!)

The field seemed much smaller than in previous years. This year I moved up classes to Expert. I'd have to do 3 laps instead of 2. I was up for it. We lined up at the start & there was only one other female in my division. She raced at Mountain Lake in the spring and I remember she was a really strong rider. I wasn't out to prove anything today..just wanted to get a good ride in with little mistakes. The starting horn went off & the pack flew off the line. The first part of the race climbs up this grassy hill..total pain. Everyone was gone. I tried to keep the other female in my sights but she was waaay strong. Oh well..time to sit in & do my thing.

I rode steady..I didn't feel strong but I didn't feel weak either. I knew this course from previous years and knew I needed to conserve at least for the first lap or so....as long as I kept the other expert chicky in my sights, I had nothing to worry about. As I descended down the gravel road to the first creek/river crossing, Skippy & Gordo passed me on their single speeds. They were flying...I just stayed in my steady pace & kept on going. I attempted to ride the creek crossing but ended up drifting away from my chosen line & finally had to dismount & run through it. Back on the bike, up the cornfields to the first hill! I managed to ride this hill with no problem. other expert chicky walked it..I thought it was strange for her to be walking so early but maybe she was conserving too. On we rode.

This course was really hard to get a rhythm going. Once you climbed, you descend a little, only to have to climb again. I kept riding keeping her in my sight....as we approached the 2nd river crossing, I caught up to her. We both looked at each other and asked.."are you gonna ride it?" "I'm not gonna ride it"....we pushed across. The river was much lower this year..only up to my hips rather than my stomach. Many guys were riding it this year...even the mud on the banks was negotiable....As we crossed the river, we remounted and I took the lead for the second half of the first lap. She stayed with me....I walked the rest of the climbs to try & conserve...many of them I realized I could walk/jog the cimbs quicker than I could ride them.

Second lap was much the same as the first.. expert chicky stayed w/ me....after the 2nd river crossing, I noticed I was starting to gap from her..I think I was making up ground on the descents. I rode the full suspension bike for the race..this bike just holds the lines on the descents and I am able to hammer on them. I rode hard the 2nd half of my second lap continuing to try to distance myself....I still ran the climbs. I passed a couple of beginners & shouted some encouragement to them....

The third lap was uneventful as well. I tried to ride the first creek crossing again, only to drift off line & have to dismount....I could not figure out this stupid creek. pedaled on up the first climb..continued on. I did not want to look back b/c I was afraid she would be right with me...so I kept my focus on the remainder of the course ahead.
I tried to ride as hard as I could on the descent to the finish line...hoping not to flat.My legs were starting to tighten but I continued to pedal hard. I threw a look back over my shoulder just to see..but there was no one back there. I cruised on to the finish line completing the race in 1hour 42 minutes & some change.

During the post race meal they had a raffle...I heard my name called..I got a nice gift cert to REI...sweet! I never win raffles or door prizes so this was a nice surprise.
They did the awards & I finished close to 10 minutes ahead of the other chicky...I asked her what happened...she said she blew up....It could have been the heat & the fact you're constantly pedaling on this course.
They did one final award...best overall male & female...I won that award (for the female) as well as some cash..totally unexpected!.... It turned out to be a productive race....got an award, got some dough & got a door prize...& to think..I wasn't even going to race 24 hours prior. Yeah!

Up next..18 hours on the farm race... I'm in a 4 person team Our name is 3 and P....It will be interesting!

Showdown at Sugar

2007-08-05T14:10:00.000-07:00

Here are some random pics from the Showdown at Sugar last week. It's fun to watch the pros ride stuff that seems impossible to us regular folk. Enjoy.

women's pro winner Georgia Gould

5th place finisher Mary Mcconneloug

Sue Haywood heading up the climb

Weeee!

RANDOM B-DAY PICS

2007-07-30T19:29:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday part deux

2007-07-25T20:35:00.000-07:00

So I get home from work and plan to spend a quiet b-day w/ my hubby..going out to dinner, no big plans. When my hubby arrives, he asks if I want to see my b-day gift. I said sure!..(in my mind I was thinking it would either be bike stuff or a new golf bag I've been eyeing) He can't get the gift downstairs so he leads me up the stairs telling me to keep my eyes shut. I enter the room & lo & behold....a brand spanking new set of women's golf clubs. Not just any old clubs..Adams Golf clubs..complete w/ the hybrid clubs, a big ol driver & everything I need to improve my game.....oh..the set came complete w/ a really cool bag.... I was floored! totally unexpected! I even cried a little....

So off to dinner we went. We ate at this new place downtown called Trio Bistro. I had many co-workers raving about this place so I thought we'd give it a try. It was pretty underwhelming. Places like this are quite fancy..high dollar menu items, blah blah blah..you'd expect the royal treatment when dining at this type of establishment...We ordered our entrees to find out they don't come w/ salad..you have to order that separate. So we ordered the $9.00 Greek Salad and split it. The salad was not so great...they didn't put any dressing on it. Next came the entrees. Hubby ordered a Salmon dish w/ a horseradish vinagrette dressing. The portion was huge and pretty tasty. I had crab stuffed shrimp...this was also good, very filling. The bill came to a total of ...well, let's just say I would never go back to this place. The bill was high for 2 salads & 2 entree's and water!...the service was lacking. When I go to places like this, I want to be wowed! I want to be treated like I'm the best guest ever. This fell far below my expectations. The waitress barely came over to ask how the food was or if there was anything we needed.. She didn't even recommend anything from the menu....underwhelming.

On the way home I got to talk to my dad & his beautiful bride..I told him about my day so far..getting the call from my brother to extend his deepest sympathies on the loss of my youth and so on. Dad asked if we had any other plans..I told him no..we were just going to go home & hang out w/ the dog & call it a night.

We got home & opened the door to the house. The light looked really weird...really dark and I thought something was wrong with the light bulb. Then the eruption of screams & "surprise!!" "Happy Birthday" It actually scared the crap out of me & I went back outside. I headed back in to a room full of close friends singing Happy Birthday!....Tears again...jeez I'm sappy...anywho, my sneak of a hubby planned a surprise party & kept it a secret for a week. Originally he was going to be traveling to Charlotte, NC for a trade show and would have to leave on my b-day. I was bummed out but understood. The plan was to go to dinner Tuesday night. Well Tuesday night came...the phone rang & he took the call outside. When he came back in he said "guess what?" I said "You don't have to go to Charlotte!" He said..I still have to go..but not on your birthday...so we can celebrate on the regular night. Little did I know that he had concocted this story to not have to go to Charlotte. and he had all of our friends in on it! How they kept it a secret from me, I'll never know. I kept asking everyone where they parked because I did not see any cars on our street.

What a great day!...I never expected to be getting a brand new set of clubs..let alone having a surprise party to boot! Wow! I'm still a bit overwhelmed but really enjoyed this milestone day! Once I get pics up I'll post em'

Well, gotta run..I'm tired & now that I'm older, I need my beauty sleep.

Hippo Birdie Two ewe

2007-07-25T12:40:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to me
Happy Birthday to me
Happy Birthday dear me-e
Happy Birthday to me....

Today celebrates a milestone b-day for me. I've been pretty low key all day..then some co-workers found out & had to sing to me at the tops of their lungs. It was fun seeing the reaction on their faces when they found out my true age! Biking keeps you young.

Heading to Sugar Mtn NC this weekend to watch the pro guys and gals duke it out at the NORBA nationals. The course is 3 miles straight up & 3 miles straight down. I don't see how they handle the climbs..but then again they're paid to ride! Hope to have pics up after the event.

Off to eat some b-day cake!

Commonwealth Games Race Report

2007-07-17T08:34:00.000-07:00

Carvins Cove…Sunday, July 15

Today was going to be a big test for me…it was my first single speed race ever! I tried to stay hydrated all week and rested as much as I could the day prior to the race. The morning of the race I was a bag full of nerves. I couldn’t figure out why I was so nervous…it’s my “home” course, I’ve ridden the trails tons of times, I was probably going to be the only single speed female so all I needed to do was finish.

I thought the nerves would go away during my warm up but they never subsided. I ventured out on the road and immediately noticed something was not quite right with the bike. I thought it was an underinflated tire…checked the tires..everything was ok. I rode a little further and discovered my fork had completely lost all of it’s air! Oh Crap….I spun back to the parking lot & had my hubby do a little last minute maintenance. We got it re-inflated so off I went to finish the warm up. The weather was quite toasty..high humidity and temps near 90 degrees.

I came back to the starting area where we waited for 10 minutes while the experts were escorted down the road in the neutral start. The nerves were still there & I was not having a good feeling about things. I knew I had to pace myself because I’d have to ascend the 1000’ climb in 1 gear….the “pace car” came back & off we went. I hung with the group for most of the way but I had to spin myself silly to do it. About 500 yards from the entrance to the Cove, the group got away from me. I was killing myself trying to keep up so I decided to let up a bit to save some energy.

Through the gate, onto the fireroad and hard left onto Songbird. I kept 5 riders in my sites through Songbird. I absolutely love this trail. It’s not too hard and has a good flow to it. I zipped through all the downhill sections, and came out on the fireroad to make the hard right to continue down to Tuckaway. I got really confused because I thought the trailhead would come up quicker than it did….In fact, I turned around & pedaled back about 20 yards before I turned back around to get my bearings. The worst part is I helped mark the course so I should have known where this turn was. I pedaled in the correct direction & saw a couple riders up ahead turn down Tuckaway. I thought I could still hang with them so no worries. Through Tuckaway to lower Comet. I was flying through lower Comet..starting to feel ok when all of the sudden WHAM! Somehow my handlebars clipped a tree and I went slamming hard into the ground. It happened so fast that I was still clipped into the bike. I landed hard on my left knee & shoulder. It took me a minute to get clipped out of the bike. I had to be careful with my shoulder because I hit the ground with such force I was scared I may have done some serious damage. I moved my arm & it felt sore but not broken. I got back on the bike but had bllood dripping from my knee & I was feeling a little dizzy (I think I hit my head but I’m not sure)…

I came through to the fireroad. Donny & my hubby were cheering for me…I was laughing at my crash & they said I wasn’t far behind . On to the dreaded 1000’ climb. As I started the climb I was feeling a bit tired and overheated. I tried to keep drinking all the way up. Out of the saddle, in the saddle,,,on I trudged. I saw 2 sport guys just up ahead..I pedaled on but I did not feel strong. I think the early morning nerves & the recent crash were sapping my energy..not to mention the heat. Tuesday when I prerode, I was much stronger….I caught one of the sport guys & asked him if he wanted to trade bikes….he said “no deal”…rats!!...On I went…I almost caught the second rider as we entered the trailhead for Hemlock Tunnel (aka Clownhead)…The top of this trail is loose and rocky & full of ruts. I was proud of myself because I rode most of the top. I only had to walk about 20 feet or so. Down the steep section, through the lower woods. My legs felt heavy…like I could never really get them going. Almost to the end of Clownhead, I had another crash. Somehow a giant stick got caught between my fork & front wheel & slammed me to the ground..this time on the other side. Ouch!! I sat there for a good minute, frustrated at my ride and puzzled how this stick ended up in my wheel. I hopped back on the bike but I could tell the rest of the race would be a struggle to just finish.

I turned up the road to head towards Comet. There’s a wicked climb along this road which I had to walk. I turned down Comet & descended. I rode this very clean. As I continued to plod on all I could think about was laying down and taking a nap…right there on the trail! I was sooo drained. I tried taking in my gel..but it never kicked in.
I just could not get it going today. The heat was getting to me to. I kept drinking. I did not want to have another Danville incident (heat exhaustion) I continued on, remembering the spot I crashed on the first lap & took care to stay away from that tree!

Back to the fireroad & up the 1000’ climb for the second time. I had to walk about 100 yards towards the top because I was just exhausted. I was dizzy & my head was pounding. I wasn’t having fun & contemplated quitting altogether. I stopped at the trailhead for the Four Gorge (connector trail) and drank some water. I just wanted to get it over with at this point. I hopped back on the bike & rode Four Gorge. There were spots I was walking because I had nothing left in my legs. I came to the bridge crossing where Smiley & Brian were doing bike passing duty. As I rode away I heard hammering..Brian was also doing bridge work!! Too funny! On to Hi Dee Ho for the last descent. I think this was the fastest part of my race…I passed my buddy Jen (who got a gold for beginner women –CHICKYs ROCK!) I muttered something about the race not going so well…finally to the finish. My clock had my ride time at 2:04:00 the timers had it at 2:07:00…must have started early from the gate or something. AWFUL.. I was sooo disappointed…I really wanted to do better than this but it was not my day. I was thankful to just finish. Heat & racing are not a good combination for me.

I went back to the vehicle & stretched. My buddy Jen came over & tended to my wounds..my hand was tender from the fall so she hooked me up w/ some ice. She also took a pic of my bloody knee for posterity reasons (I think)….ewwwww. Thanks to El Toreo for hooking us up with some wonderful food..thanks to all the volunteers who put in a lot of effort in getting the course marked & ready to and for cheering us on. I medaled but it was only by default….there were no other chickys crazy enough to go out there on a Single Speed. Oh well, at least I can say I did it!....

Commonwealth Games Pre ride

2007-07-11T16:43:00.001-07:00

Chris Clark (fellow team El Toreo member) and I pre-rode a portion of the XC course in preparation for the Commonwealth Games Cross Country race at Carvin's Cove this Sunday. I wanted to see how bad the 1000' climb to Hemlock Tunnel (of death...aka..Clownhead) would be on the Single. The climb itself wasn't so bad.. We got to the top of Hemlock Tunnel in 25 minutes..that's moving for me. The top of the trail is very sketchy. In past years I have been able to ride it..this year..I'm gonna walk it. The trail is very washed out with lots of loose, big rocks. I'd be quicker running it than trying to kill myself staying on the bike. I was able to do the rest of Hemlock Tunnel no problem...we then ventured on to Comet...I forgot about a couple of the tough climbs on this trail. I walked those as well. We went back up 1000' climb to the Connector trail (Four Gorge)..this trail is a ton of fun running from the 1000' climb. I'll be able to make up time at the end given the flow of the trail. It wasn't too bad of a ride..but it helped me finalize my decision about the Omnium in the Commonwealth games...I'm only doing 1 of the 2 races. I'm gonna try the singlespeed on the XC course. There's no way I could climb for 30 minutes the first day, then ride 18+ miles the second on the Single. Today I'm exhausted and my legs feel like rubber. I think the heat also played a factor in my fatigue today. It was around 90 yesterday & high humidity when we rode. Hubby is going to race too..but he's doing the hill climb on his Single...So I guess it will be "team Schimizzi" on Singlespeeds..just different days. Stay tuned for results.....

Single Speedin' at the Cove

2007-07-06T06:24:00.000-07:00

They’re trying to kill me!.....

That’s what I thought to myself as I ventured out on the Thursday night Carvin’s Cove Ride. I took the “Hottie”..that’s my Kona Explosif reincarnated as a Single Speed now. I’ve got a sticker on it that says “Hottie”…Anywho…we started out the road, on to Comet, through Enchanted forest, on to Schoolhouse/Little Bell, then Arrowhead backwards. I was doing ok for the most part but felt like the pace was really, really fast. At one point on Schoolhouse, I looked down at my average speed and it was about 9.5 miles per hour!..that’s cookin! I thought is was because I had the Single Speed & I’m normally faster on that..but not 9.5 mph average fast!...I was ok until we started heading up Arrowhead in the opposite direction!...the first part is really loose rock & sand..I was spinning all over the place. Then through a big creek crossing, up another couple of huge hills, more creeks, more hills. The group was long gone and all I could think was that they are trying to kill me. The hills are “doable” on my geared bike but on the Single Speed it’s a whole different enchilada. I walked a lot of the steep hills b/c I did not want to blow out any knees or anything. That would be messy.

I caught back up w/ the group..My hubby mentioned he wasn’t feeling too good. I said it was probably because of the hammering pace he was setting. I think it’s an innate thing w/ men that whenever they get in a group & ride, they have to go fast to outdo one another. They don’t even realize they’re doing it. It’s weird.. Oh well..

We continued on to Songbird in the opposite direction. This direction is fun but a bit more challenging because there’s more climbing involved. After Songbird we went back up the fire road, to the 1000’ climb, to Four Gorge, back to the vehicles. Phew! I was tired. I definitely get more of a total body workout on the Single than I do on the geared bike. I’m enjoying the Single Speed for the most part..I may even race it this year…stay tuned……

Frustrating

2007-06-09T14:14:00.001-07:00

Been riding here & there but not doing the usual training reigmen I would normally be doing this time of year to be in peak condition for upcoming races. My hubby has been dealing w/ some mysterious health issues for quite some time but the severity and frequency has dramatically increased over the past month and 1/2. Check his blog for what's going on at: www.bicyclesoup.blogspot.com.
Needless to say, priorities have shifted a bit. The focus is on hubby & his health...racing/training will have to wait.

anywho..he'll have a few good days in a row, only to be sidelined & out for the count by the 3rd or 4th day after his "good days"....It happened again today. We were working on the sign project at Carvin's Cove...I could tell immediately he wasn't well...he gets this disconnected "dazed" look about him right before he crashes & burns. It's not pretty & the symptoms come on quickly. sometimes they pass quickly but more often than not, they linger. He gets really dizzy, dehydrates way too much, gets nauseated, and becomes extremely tired..to the point where he just sleeps all the time after an episode. He's also very irratible which makes things really fun at times. He's seen the heart doc...nothing wrong there, had an MRI which revealed he's the picture of perfect health. Fortunately he has an appt w/ an Endocrinologist but it's not until the 18th!!!...I don't know if we can do another week of this but we'll have to. We're thinking it's something to do with how his kidneys are processing waste...or it could be thyroid/hormone related.

It's been agonizing & frustrating for me because there's nothing I can do to help him. It's starting to take it's toll on me too. I got the creeping chest crud last week...still getting over that & this morning I noticed a rash on my torso....I had shingles about 9 years ago & it looks and feels just like that....I'll keep a close eye on it & get myself to a doc if it starts spreading. Shingles is extremely painful..usually ederly people get it but anyone who has had chicken pox can get it. Stress can bring it on. Lord knows I've been really stressed out worrying about all this stuff!

I guess we'll just have to take things day by day..still plan on doing the Chicky ride & the Thursday ride w/ the boyz...but that's about it until we can start to get an understanding of what we're dealing with. If you are a praying person...send some prayers our way....If you're not...just keep sending good thoughts & positive energy our way. We'll get through it.

feeling good

2007-06-01T12:08:00.000-07:00

Thursday I ventured out for our weekly ride at the Cove. We had a small group and the pace was perfect..not too fast, not too slow, no hammering, no testosterone..ok maybe a little but not the high volumes we usually get ;).

We did basically the same loop as I did on Tuesday but we added the trail which I could not remember how to get to or where it dumps out when I did my solo effort. I felt really good (finally!) I think early in the season I was way overtrained and my body could not handle it. Ever since the Douthat race in early May, I've taken a break from the training regimen. I mainly ride 2-3 times per week. one ride I try to make a longer ride (+2 hours)..although that hasn't been going too well,,the other rides include climbing one night and recovery, easy pace the other.

Thursday's pace was perfect. Normally the boyz hammer from the parking lot onto the Four Gorge Trail. My heart rate usually is in the "you're a complete idot" zone the whole time. Thursday was different...I actually stayed in a comfortable zone...I was still working hard but I was more relaxed and not overtaxed. I actually did alot of my climbing in the middle ring b/c I felt so good. Maybe there's something to this rest thing. Also, I was really relaxed the whole night and things just flowed. I love when I ride like that b/c I stay in the moment and it's the most peaceful feeling. There are no worries, no distractions, just me on my bike enjoying the trails. Hopefully I will continue to have more rides like that. Just need to remember to be relaxed & have fun with it.

SOLO

2007-05-31T08:13:00.001-07:00

Tues evening I ventured out to the Cove for a quick spin. I’ve been feeling a bit couped up so I needed to just get out. I was hoping to “tag along” with some of the Thursday crew who sometimes ride on Tuesdays. Unfortunately, that was not to be. I got to the Cove & waited until 5:40 for any familiar faces to show. None did..so I went solo.
I headed out Hi De Hoe, to Four Gorge (connector). I actually enjoyed it because I wasn’t trying to hammer from the start like I do on the Thursday ride. I was able to set my own pace & get a good warm up in. I then headed down the bottom portion of the 1000’ climb and on to the fireroad. Then a quick left up the newly re-routed Songbird Trail. This new re-route is sweeeeet!. It climbs for the first portion but then you get to some awesome burms, and turns and the flow is incredible. I was having so much fun that I almost took another rider out who had pulled off the trail but was behind a tree. I didn’t see him until I was right on him! YIKES!
Crossed over the smaller fireroad & completed the trail. Then it was on to Arrowhead. This trail climbs for a while…but I did really well on the climb. Kept it in middle ring and kept a steady pace the whole way. Then descended into the creek crossing..had to dab, climbed up the steep hill, then traversed my way over to the harder creek crossings. I walked these….descended down the loose section, then dumped back on the fireroad. I was debating on continuing on to the trail we normally do on Thursdays but I wasn’t completely sure where it would lead to. So I took the safe route. Back down the fire road for a few miles & up the 1000’ climb to the Four Gorge trail again.
I kept it in the middle ring again up 1000’ and for most of Four Gorge. I think I enjoy the Four Gorge trail better coming in from the 1000’ climb side rather than the parking lot. It could have something to do with being warmed up by then..but it just seems to flow better.
Back down Hi Dee Hoe to the parking lot. It was about a 1 ½ hour ride..almost race pace with little stopping. When I got back to the parking lot, I recognized 2 of the guys vehicles from our Thursday ride.
I guess I could have waited to join the “boyz” but I enjoyed the serenity of my solo ride. I was able to keep a steady pace with little to no stopping (I hate stopping) I kept a close eye out for bear & didn’t talk to anyone I didn’t recognize..(they probably thought I was a little rude..but you can never be too careful out there..esp being a lone female rider) Saw lots of deer & chipmunks.

I really did miss my riding partner. Just hope we can get him in front of a doc who will work with him & stop trying to diagnose his heart when it’s something else! Frustrating but we'll get it figured out.

Tues evening cruise...

2007-05-16T18:31:00.000-07:00

Tuesday I met my hubby after work for a spin around Green Hill Park in Salem. This is a fun little park..not too many trails though. The trails which do exist traverse across private property so we had to be a little stealthy in our ride. I forgot how much climbing there was at this park. Had a good ride...suffered a bit on the climbs..but we got to eat at Mama Maria's afterwards so it was all worth it. Here are some pics.

MP this face is for you!! :O

ok..Gretta didn't go riding w/ us but she got a new toy this weekend & carries it everwhere...Isn't she the cutest thing?

The hills are alive with the sound of wheezing!

"Have we done this trail before 'cuz it's really kicking my a@#"

2007-05-15T09:40:00.000-07:00

That was the comment made on the trail as we ventured out for our weekly Chicky ride at Explore Park. 4 of us ventured for this week's ride. Since we've been doing the same trails for a few weeks I decided to mix it up a little & see if we were up to the challenge of the "Endurance Loop".

We skipped the beginner loop and headed out on the intermediate trail. There was an awful lot of grunting and moaning as we climbed the hill after the wooden bridge...that's when it dawned on me we usually do the beginner loop as a warm up. Having skipped that and heading straight downhill for the first part of the ride, no wonder the gals were making so much noise!...we headed on our way. I decided to do the endurance loop backwards so we wouldn't have the giant climb w/ the 2 switchbacks. As we descended down the fire road, there was a giant tree in the middle of the road. We hike a biked around it & turned on to the Endurance Loop trail. The first section is littered with baby heads (small rocks)..and climbs a little. I was worried about Kirsten with her hybrid bike and slick tires. She skidded quite a bit but was a trooper.

We contined to climb and twist and turn along the trail, as we journeyed farther, that's when Kirsten asked...."have we done this trail before because it's really kicking my a@#". We all chuckled...then I informed Kirsten..no I've never taken you on this trail before. We continued on..doing a little hike a biking as we went. Moe & Jannie were even trying log crossings that I was too chicken to do! Way to go gals! We eventually came back to the intersection of the endurance loop & the first intermediate leg of the trail. We descended back down working on our switchback skills. Finally back to the parking lot.

It was a great night for a ride..not to hot, not too cold, Just Right!..Hopefully the gals weren't too upset that I tried to kill them....we'll save the endurance loop for a little later in the season when we have more riding under our belts. Everyone did a fantastic job!

If I remember to bring the camera, I"ll post some Chicky ride pics soon!

Why do I do this?

2007-05-06T19:20:00.001-07:00

Because it's fun...at least that's what I kept trying to convince myself at this year's 10th running of the Middle Mountain Momma at Douthat State Park. We had terrific weather for this year's race. Clear, sunny skies, light breeze, no humidity and temps in the high 50's low 60's.
We had some rain earlier in the week so parts of the course were going to be sloppy and downright slimy in one particular spot.(I'll get to that later)

We arrived in plenty of time to hang out, then warm up. I felt really good in the warm-up..legs felt like they had plenty of power, etc. Last Saturday when we pre-rode, I struggled up every climb..and could not figure out why I am slower this year (ever since I got the new bike, it doesn't feel like I get the power on my climbs as I did with the hardtail.) On the pre-ride, we figured out why I'm slower...because the rear cassette is configured as a 32, not a 34..which basically means I was running harder gears!!! So we ordered a new cassette before the race & had it on in time for today.

Warmed up for 40 minutes, then lined up for the start. We had some confusion w/ the Master Women's classes. These are not specified by ability (sport, expert) so we did not know where to line up at the start. Finally one of the other Master ladies & myself moved up to where the expert women were and asked the officials. They said..sure, you can race w/the experts. One of the other Master women did not hear him announce that, so she was 2 classes back with the other Vet and Sport women. Which meant she started 4 minutes back....(more on that result later)

Off we went...grinding all the way up salt stump. This is a fairly technical trail w/ rocks, roots and some stream crossings as you go. It's right at the start so everyone was on the gas. I don't do well with fast starts...might have something to do w/ my asthma and going immediately anaerobic in my efforts which in turn causes my heart rate to go above my lactate threshold of 184 beats per minute. Basically my heart rate was around 187 beats/minute the whole first climb..that cannot be good! I kept the other master woman in my sights and we both ended up walking quite a bit of the first 1/2 mile...getting passed by quite a number of the sport guys as we went. We turned left up the next trail where it smoothed out. I was able to put it into middle ring and spin much quicker. We continued to climb, and climb, and climb, and climb. We got to one stream crossing along the waywere I was able to pass the other master woman. More climbing..

I reached the top of the ridge in 1 hr 14 minutes..not very fast at all. had a great descent down Middle Mountain trail...I did have to bail to let 4 sport guys past..but that's ok because they were breathing down my neck. Hit the road to the campground and tried to get some extra fuel. I struggled to get my shot blocks out of my jersey pocket. so I gave up & tried some Hammer Gel instead. My race jersey fits very tight and the position of the pockets makes it very difficult to get stuff out of them...especially in a race. I lost some time messing w/ the stupid pocket

As I spun through the campground, I heard another female voice. It was the other master who started 2 classes back from us! She was riding incredibly strong w/minimal effort. When we made the left hand turn to do the harder side, I let her go. As I followed her, she was smooth through the streams and rocks and climb. I was in awe of her technical skills and a bit jealous. There was no way I could hold her wheel so I did not even try. She continued up the climb picking off many sport guys as she went! It was completely awesome!

As I climbed I could feel my legs losing power. As I got midway up the climb, I noticed my hubby sitting on the side of the trail. He said his race was over but he could not quit...so he thought he'd wait for me & ride w/ me the rest of the way. He also mentioned he lost his contact lens, but found it again...He was not having a good day. As we continued to climb...I had to finally get off and walk the bike. I was soooo frustrated. I felt like I had no juice left and I knew we had a ton of climbing left. In my mind I had quit...just given up completely. didn't even want to be there but knew the only way back was to finish this climb. Off and on the bike I went...I'd pedal 100 ft, then get off and walk, then get back on & ride, then walk....then curse, then pedal...vicious cycle......Finally we made it to the top & on to the descent filled w/ tight switchbacks.

I descended quite well with more speed than usually and was doing very well on the switchbacks...I could do the right handed ones but had difficulty on the left handed ones. I even toppled over on one of the lefties. On one section near the bottom, it was quity swampy...I thought I had a good line so went for it. As I pedaled, my bike just stopped...then I toppled over into shallow water filled with leaves and slime and God only knows what else. somehow I ended up sitting on my frame w/ my right leg stuck underneath!...Ewwwww..it was really gross & really cold. I got back on the bike and kept pedaling. Towards the bottom we ran into our good buddy Dale Heath (aka the "mayor" of Douthat) He had a device strapped on his helmet...I did not get a good look at the time but then realized later on it was a video camera...he was getting race footage all day. My hubby stopped to chat...I said I was still racing (ha ha) and continued on. Normally this section is rolling & you can get good speed towards then end. I was done...physically I was spent and mentally I had already checked out. I just decided to keep spinning at a comfortable pace. A couple of minutes later my hubby caught back up...we came to the last section of trail we had to climb at the start. I did very well descending this section as well. It was hard to get a lot of speed because my eyes kept watering...allergies.

As we rolled into the final 100 yards, my husband and I held hands as we pedaled to the finish....yea..we're pretty geeky but we had to make it fun since we both had crap days.
turns out I placed 2nd in Masters 40 and over class. The other master woman rolled up about a minute behind me......

I checked my time from 2005 and I believe I beat it by 5 minutes....so I guess it was not all that bad....well actually it was.... This week will be a light week for me.

Don't we look happy?

Explore Park Chicky ride

2007-04-26T10:16:00.000-07:00

Monday, April 23, 2007

We had 4 chicky's (5 including myself) come out for the first "Chicky" ride of the season. Temps were a little on the warm side...close to 80 but dry conditions for the ride. We had 2 "newbies" on the ride this evening, one who I knew from the gym where I do my winter work-outs, and another new to Roanoke. We stuck to the beginner trail, completing 3 laps this evening. No crashes to report (always a good thing) and the ladies had fun. One of our gals had so much energy left, she decided to get a run in! Whew..that's too much energy for me.

A few of the boyz were there to do some trailwork also. I wish I had brought the camera because one of the guys had a chainsaw strapped to the back of his bike w/ the blade facing backwards. It was quite a sight.

I'll post pics over the next few rides if I can remember to bring the camera. Ladies, come on out, we have a lot of fun & it's a great way to meet other ladies & ride w/ out the intimidation factor of the guys!

No words

2007-04-19T11:03:00.000-07:00

Not gonna do it

2007-04-15T07:54:00.000-07:00

It's now 10:53 a.m. on Sunday, April 15. A little more than 1/2 hour until the start of Dragon's Back. I'm not racing today. Normally if I were racing, I'd be in the warm-up phase of my race day routine Weather has been cold, heay rains throughout the morning and high winds later today. So I lose my entry fee, no biggie. It's better than getting sick, injured, or breaking the bike trying to ride in this junk. Here's a snapshot of the radar at 10:34 this morning. The sun is starting to peek out as I write this entry. It looks like it will clear..but conditions will be quite nasty. Plus I'm quite comfy, with the dog at my feet. At least I can get caught up on some stuff at home. There will be other races.

Dirty Dawg

2007-04-02T13:42:00.000-07:00

Sunday, April 1, 2007

Mother Nature played a cruel April Fool's joke on the racers and volunteers at the Dirty Dawg Mountain Bike race Sunday. As we ascended the mountain, it got foggier and foggier. No rain to speak of (that was to come later) but let's just say conditions were'nt exactly ideal for our first race of the 2007 season. No worries though. We've ridden in worse and the temps were hovering in the mid 50's so we should be ok. To the left is the view of some of the little shops at Mountain Lake. Nice fog huh? As we set up our tent, the rains started. It rained off an on until the start of the race. I was a little nervous but confident going into this one. It was my first "expert" race so I knew I'd be racing w/ the big dogs. I knew the pace would be fast & furious & only hoped I could hold on. With very little warm up time, we lined up at the start. The gals decided they would go at the same time as the men. As we started, the folks at the front took off. My heart went immediately into the "you're an idiot" range on my heart rate monitor. I hung w/ 2 of the expert ladies but the rest were gone. No worries..we've got 16 miles & lots of climbing so no one is going to win this thing in the first 2 miles.

As we barrelled into the singletrack, leaves, wet rocks and mud awaited us at every corner. It was very negotiable though. we then dumped out on a paved section which ran behind the hotel and up by the cottages as seen in the movie "Dirty Dancing" This is where most of the field blew up on this climb. I kept a good steady rhythm though I wheezed the entire way. We then went into a section of very rocky but negotiable trail. This was a great test for my new Full Suspension Kona King Kikapu. The bike did not let me down at all. I was able to negotiate the rocky sections like they were nothing. Woo HOo! my confidence was soaring & I was having a blast. Then came the Flat Tire Central portion of the trail. First I passed 1 dude..hollering "you ok?" Yup..cool keep going..then came another, then another, then a fourth, then a fifth, then my hubby!!, then a sixth...I thought..man am I lucky...I'm just floating through this section. All of the sudden....shhhhhhhhhhhhhh.......The sound of my tire going flat. Followed by the sound of shhhhhhhh.........out of my mouth.

Ok..no problem,,I can fix this. Flipped my bike over, got the tire off, old tube out, new tube in, tire back on..when up walks my husband. He could not believe I flatted! Since you cannot get assistance from anyone on the course, my husband shouted "HURRY UP" about 6 times to sort of lend encouragement. I just laughed. The 2 other experts I had pulled ahead of had caught & passed me. My race was over as far as being competitive. I inflated the tire, got it back on the bike & took off. My hubby's race was over...he sliced a gash in his sidewall which rendered his bike useless.. :(

I probably lost a good 15 minutes changing that stupid tire. So I decided to just ride smart & not try to catch the other 2 ladies. Rode through the rest of lap 1 fine w/ no problems. As I came back through the start/finish area there were lots of sport guys who had finished hanging around. I thought...wow that's a lot of people hanging around on such a crappy weather day. Then I also had the dreadful thought that I was probably the last one out there!...UGH

I zipped through the paved section back past the cottages. At one point I thought I saw Patrick Swayze hanging out in front of one of the buildings....oh wait..that was just the fog from my glasses creating a blurry line of site. Oh Well!....I pushed on & saw my teammate Bob O Taking some pics. I smiled really pretty for him, then informed him my hubby was out!

As I got up on the ridge, it was so foggy you could barely see 3 feet in front of you. pretty scary too when you could not see the trail...but the bike kept me going where I needed to be. Midway through the second lap the rains started. YUK!....I was wet and miserable & just wanted it over. Even the volunteers who were supposed to be at various intersections had abandoned their posts. I'd have to ride on memory and hope the turns I was taking were keeping me on course.

I came upon the rocky section and came across another guy who flatted. Unfortunately I did not have any air to help him so I kept on rolling. All the while I kept praying...please don't go flat, please make it through these wretched rocks. Phew..through safely, across the slippery wooden bridge & back on up I went. The second lap seemed like it would never end but I did finally make it back. Cold, wet, frustrated, tired..but glad I finished!.....
My overall time was 2 hours, 22 minutes. Which wasn't too bad considering I lost a lot of time fixing the flat. I was the last expert lady in :( but as least I finished. w/out the flat I probably would have placed in the top 4 -5 of the expert ladies...not too shabby for my first time.

Glad that one is out of the way. Gotta work on starting faster. Still had a great time though!
To the left is my trusty steed which carried me safely through those rocks. This bike ROCKS!!!!!

New ride

2007-03-11T15:05:00.000-07:00

March 09, 2007
Congratulations! It's a slightly used full suspension Kona King Kikapu for the 2007 race season. My new little bike arrived on Friday evening. I'd been shopping for a new race bike..and found it! Well, actually Skippy found it.
This bike is HOOKED UP! I don't think the previous owner rode it very much. It was in superb condition as I unpacked it. Not a scratch, dent, ding, or spec of dirt on the thing!!! It has a Marathon XC front fork w/ a ton of travel (120mm)..I'll probably never need than much travel but you never know. It's got a Fox Float R rear suspension shock, all Shimano XT stuff, onyx hubs,Chris King Headset, blah, blah blah. It actually weighs a little less than my hardtail. We switched out the stem from my Kona Explosif hard tail..it was a little too long. Other than that, a few tweaks here & there, & I'll have it dialed in in no time flat.

I took it on it's first ride today at Fishburn. Wow was it smooth! Like butter! I bombed over stuff I usually hesitate down. I did dump it once b/c something tied up the back wheel on a climb. Speaking of climbing..I do have to adjust my position a little more forward when climbing because of the higher travel in the front fork. I think I'm gonna like it!

Climb on!

2007-02-18T12:20:00.000-08:00

I've been a major slacker in the blog dept so I thought I'd post something. Been working on hitting the weight room and doing long base mile rides on the weekends. The past few weekends have really sucked because it's been really cold and super windy. Luckily this past week, we had a light week as far as workout hours. Our THursday ride has been canceled the past 3 weeks due to rain, ice, snow and overall cold. This past Thursday our regular crew traded their mountain bike gear for some indoor rock climbing gear. We went to an undisclosed location to hone our skills. When I lived in Maryland, we had access to an indoor climbing gym at The City of Rockville, Department of Recreation and Parks. My hubby & I climbed quite a bit up there. It's been about 10 years so I was a little out of practice. A quick refresher on belay techniques and top roping and we were good to go. I did more belaying than climbing but I still got a good workout...that is..until the stomach gremlins decided to rear their ugly heads. That cut the workout short. That's ok..hopefully we'll get to do it again. It's a great way to cross train.
Enjoy the pics!

strange encounters

2007-01-21T08:00:00.000-08:00

Been slacking in the blog dept again so I thought I'd do a post. We're in the base miles phase of our training which means long rides (2.5 - 3 hours) but at a slow pace. I'm enjoying the slower pace and I think our Thursday night crew apprecitates it also. Last year it always seemed every group ride we'd go out & put the hammer down. This year we're more focused on getting a good base. The hammer rides will come soon enough. Our rides so far have been full of fun and adventure. Here are a few pics of some things we've encountered along the way
(no animals, trees, or humans were harmed in the taking of these pictures)

"Oh how I love being a girl"

2006-12-03T12:43:00.000-08:00

As some of you know from my blogger profile, one of my little indulgences is getting "froo frooed" up from time to time. It seems I spend most of my time hangin' with the boyz, riding bikes through the mud, muck, water, slime, etc. When I get the opportunity to be all girly, I take full advantage of it.

Case in point...my hubby's work Christmas party held Dec 2. I decided to get majorly "froo frooed" for this one. Made an appointment w/ Cathy (my hair stylist) to get what's called an "up-do". Picked out a little black dress, put on some strappy sandals, draped myself in some extra bling we were off for a fun night. Here's a pic:

The fun part was taking out all 58 bobbi pins after the event. It took almost as much time to take those suckers out as it did to put them in!

Bare Bones - Part Deux

2006-11-22T10:03:00.001-08:00

Sunday, November 19, 2006
The second installment of the Bare Bones Mountain Cross series took place in somewhat cooler temperatures & a nice little headwind through the field. We had a smaller group of riders this week, although 2 newbies raced.
Once again I was the only female...Oh well...What are you gonna do?
Anywho...my main goal this race was to have clean runs each lap and maintain a steady pace. If I knocked time off, that would be a bonus.

We arrived to find out the bridge at the 3rd water crossing had been washed away due to the heavy rain that pounded us earlier in the week. A few of the racers got together to examine the crossing & determined there was no way to negotiate the crossing w/out getting completely soaked. It was at least 3' deep with no way to ride up the other side of the bank. We proceeded to gang up on Wendy & Dick and proposed an alternative route which was about the same distance but would keep the riders somewhat drier.

The race started & my teammates took off. Ron was leading the first pack of riders which included my husband and it turns out I led the second group of riders out to the first stream crossing. I had a decent first lap..only had one minor bobble through the woods when I threw my chain at the log crossing. I cleared the 2nd creek crossing but got totally soaked in the process. Lap 2 was stronger than the first but I again had chain issues. This time I experienced some sort of weird chain suck when shifting from my big ring to my middle This happened just before the 2nd water crossing so I lost all momentum coming across the water. Fortunately I cleared the creek before stepping off my pedals. The 3rd lap was clean for the most part. I think the 2nd stream had it out for me. As I rode through it, my foot came off the pedal but I had enough speed to roll up on the bank and recover my cadence. Lap 4 was a clean run and I had a good line through the stream so there were no problems. Teammates Ron & WArren greeted me as I made the turn for the finish.

Final results: I took off 3 minutes from my previous week's time! Just about every racer turned faster times this week than last. I think knowing the course really benefitted the riders. Teammate Ron Glowczysnki took the overall series title.

Thanks to Roanoke County Parks & Rec & Dick Howard for putting on such a fun-filled, low key event!

Bare Bones #1 Race Report

2006-11-13T12:04:00.000-08:00

Bare Bones #1 - Greenhill Park, Salem, VA
November 12, 2006

Today was the first of 2 installments of the Bare Bones Mountain Cross series. Bare bones is just like it sounds, no frills, no thrills, no classes, no prizes. Just come on out & have some fun. The course description read 200’ of climbing per lap w/ 3 water crossings each lap.

200’ can’t be that bad….I was more intimidated by the thought of water crossings given the fact that it rained cats and dogs the night prior to the race and temps were not expected to get out of the 40’s.

15 of us lined up for the start….and yes, once again…I was the only girl!!! I wasn’t too worried about it though seeing as how I’m in “off season mode” and only riding once per week. I did not have high expectations except to just go out for a fun, Sunday ride.

The course was laid out nicely. The first part takes you on a 2 –way fireroad which eventually crosses a small creek, then dumps into a large field. This is where the 200’ climb started. The climb seemed to never end and by 4 laps, the riders would be well spaced out. At the top of the climb, riders drop down into some fun, tight singletrack. After finessing our way through some tight turns, we enter back into the field and start a fast descent. Then the riders cross the 2nd of the creeks. This one was deeper & more challenging than the first. Riders needed to pick a good line to stay somewhat dry. After the creek, it’s over a small wooden bridge to another open, grassy area. Riders could hammer through this section because it was relatively flat and smooth. A quick right turn took us across the last water section, then back past the timers to start all over again.

The pack seemed really tentative at the start. No one wanted to jump out in the lead until fellow teammate Ron Glowczynski finally made a move. Nobody jumped on his wheel once he took off. Maybe the pack was conserving for the climbs. All the riders spread out quickly once we started climbing. For the first lap I stayed on the wheel of two fellas on cyclocross bikes. They were strong climbers but the pace was manageable. After the climb we dumped into some singletrack for a bit. Once through the singletrack it was back into the field where we faced what seemed like a 25 mph headwind. I tucked in behind one of the cyclocross dudes to draft a little. I also shared my usual “motivational” speech with him…It consists of “come on now..you don’t want to be passed by a girl!” It seemed to do the trick until we got to the steepest part of the descent. It was a bit tricky for the skinnier tire bikes so I went around him to the right and continued on. He would catch me though as we started climbing again.

I was pretty happy with how I rode. I held a very consistent pace each time I climbed and negotiated the water crossings fairly well. Along the course you could see the other riders finishing or starting their laps. I had fun encouraging fellow team mates & folks I’ve ridden with as I saw them zipping along. On laps 3 & 4 I had a little bit of trouble on the second water crossing. I picked bad lines and ended up wetter than anticipated. By the end of the race, I could not feel my feet! Overall I think I finished 13th. El Toreo teammate Ron Glowczynski took first & my hubby took 4th (on a singlespeed, thank you very much) Great job guys!

All in all, it was a blast! Thanks to Dick Howard & Roanoke County Parks & Recreation for hosting such a fun event! See ya’ll next weekend!

Ramblings about nothing

2006-11-03T10:08:00.000-08:00

Been slacking in the blogging department. Not sure what I'm posting here..just update on stuff.

Went to Florida the 2nd week of October to visit my dad & his new bride..(yea he got married again at age 81...pretty cool huh?) Weather was hot. mid 90's by the midpoint of the week. Ate a lot of seafood, drank a lot, rode a little, had a great time. Celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary.Time sure does fly!

Haven't been on the bike much. Maybe once or twice a week Definitely still riding with the "boyz" on Thursdays...although this past Thursday was cut short b/c a couple of light issues..(not enough run time, so we cut our portion of the ride short so they could get back safely)

The break is nice..we'll start training for next race season soon enough. We've been doing stuff around the house, taking the spoiled pooch for hikes, and relaxing a bit. We've also started back at the gym to get the weights going.

Been having neck issues...(shooting pains, etc. but getting that worked on and so far so good)

Also helped hubby w/ getting pictures taken at trail intersections at Carvins Cove for a sign project he is working on. Hopefully we'll get some trail signs out there soon so folks don't get lost. He's put a ton of time and effort into this project. It needed to be done for a long time and he's definitely a good one to have working on it. Speaking of the Cove, IMBA has been doing work out there w/ some re-routes on a couple trails. Haven't ridden much of them but heard they are pretty good.

Went to the dedication ceremony of the Lick Run Greenway. It connects downtown Roanoke out to Valley View Mall. Very pretty greenway w/ some great views of the Mill Mountain Star & Wachovia building as you come back from the mall on the trail.

Got 2 more races coming up in November. They are mountain cross races, very low key..in fact, I'm not really training for them. I'm just gonna go out & ride & have fun. Check it out on the Roanoke Cycling Organization web site....It's the Bare Bones Mountain Cross Series.

I guess that's my update for now. I'll try not to be such a slacker w/ the blogs.
Peace Out.

Poor Mtn Hill Climb race report

2006-10-02T11:17:00.000-07:00

Poor Mountain Hill Climb Report – Sunday, October 1, 2006

The last race of the Va Derailer Series! Woo Hoo! This was gonna be a tough one. Having raced this one last year, I knew what we were in for and I was not looking forward to the climb. The course is very long, all uphill, and deceivingly tough at the end. If anyone has ever ridden the 1000’ climb at Carvins Cove, take that climb, steepen it a little, throw in more rocks than you can shake a stick at, and double the length.

The atmosphere was pretty relaxed when we arrived. I was on the alert to catch a glimpse of Jeremiah Bishop, Pro mtb rider for Trek Bicycles. He was set to make an appearance at this race and take a shot at beating his course record set in 2003. It think the record was something like 40:13…yes that’s right..under 1 hour! Insane.

It was hard to warm up for this race as there are no real hills in Camp Roanoke. A couple passes up & down the entrance road would have to do. Racers assembled together & were escorted on a somewhat leisurely pace for approximately 2 miles to the start. I had an opportunity to chat w/ the other sport chickies as we were waiting. Then it was a mass start along the 2 miles of paved road to the base of the climb. The other chickies shouted “go get em”…I said “I’ll try” and off I went.

My goal in this race was to better my time of 1:03:00 from last year. As we pedaled these first few miles of pavement, I did not want to “blow up” so I was able hook up w/ fellow Team El Toreo rider Chris Clark and another guy in Chris’ division. Together we rode to the base of the climb. The pace was good so I tried to stay on their wheels as much as possible.

Once we started climbing, Chris pulled away. No worries I thought..just get in a rhythm and spin. I couldn’t gauge my average pace b/c my stupid computer decided to take the day off. Maybe that was a good thing. The description on Roanoke County’s website reads “No Bike Technical Skills are Needed”. Whoever wrote that needs to come ride this course. This year it seemed to have more exposed rocks than I remember. Maybe the dry summer combined with a couple of torrential downpours early spring caused more erosion. I struggled to keep my momentum through these sections. Ultimately these rocky sections would cause me to lose time. I felt bad for the beginner cyclists, especially the women because these areas were extremely tough to negotiate.

As I climbed I was able to tuck in behind 2 other sport male riders. They were picking excellent lines as we worked our way up the mountain. I hung on their wheels for a little while, then had to pull around them to increase my pace a bit. One of the riders knew the course well so he warned me about the upcoming last ¾ of a mile of hell. All the while I was riding, I kept Chris’ group in my sight. In that group was another female expert rider. I was hoping to catch her along the way. At one point I looked at my clock an noticed it said 11:45…I thought to myself…”hmmm Jeremiah must be done by now….Lucky….I’ll still have 15 minutes of hell to go!”

I rounded the last turn which was the hardest part of the course. It’s pretty rocky and the gradient must be around 14% or so. Although I negotiated it a lot smoother this year than last year. Then comes the last ¾ of a mile….it’s gravel but deceivingly steep. The grade is around 16%....just when you think you can hammer, your legs are screaming from all of the climbing you’ve done. At this point, you just want to survive. I can hear cheering at the finish line so I know there’s not far to go.

About 500 meters left I see my husband off the bike, pushing. I thought “uh oh..his back is giving out…not good for him…but maybe I can catch him!” I can also see Chris’ Clark’s group including the expert female….maybe I have a shot! I try to crank up my tempo a bit but my legs are fighting it. I settle back into the saddle and spin. 200 meters…I see another teammate Ron Glowczynski who was finished…he shouts to me…”go catch your husband”….I can also hear the cheers from the spectators gathered near the finish. Finally a little bit of adrenaline kicks in and I stand up & crank as hard as I can. Pedal, pedal, pedal…one more stoke, another stroke, almost there…..and finally I cross the finish line. I felt strong at the finish…but I was not to beat last year’s time. I think my overall time was 1:04:00 or 1:05:00. I soon find out that many riders are slower than last year’s pace so I know. I wasn’t the only one struggling this day. I didn’t catch the other expert female but that’s ok….I was 3rd woman in overall, first in sport division. Oh and Jeremiah...he beat the record....I think he did it in 48 minutes or so....Unbelievable!

We descended back down the mountain for the ride back to Camp Roanoke. Descending was worse than climbing. You’re constantly on the breaks, watching out for riders who are still working their way up. We had to take lots of “hand breaks” to shake out our hands from the cramping endured on the descents. Once we hit the pavement, we were able to settle into a nice recovery pace. As we rode, Jeremiah Bishop joined our small group. At one point I was setting the pace back to Camp Roanoke. Hey…I paced out Jeremiah Bishop in a race!...well not really but it was still really cool!.. Jeremiah chatted about some upcoming fall Cyclocross races done in the Harrisonburg area as well as some other races he competes in. I think that was the highlight of my day…having a pro racer who just came off one of the best finishes for an American in the World championships riding w/ a bunch of local folk who have a passion for racing..just on a little bit smaller scale. How cool is that?

Back to camp to chow down on some pork bbq, baked beans & cookies….mmmm cookies. Then they handed out awards for the day & for the series.

Team El Toreo did very well in this year’s Derailer Series.
Expert Male 36+ - Ron Glowczynski 1st place
Expert Male 18 – 35 – Todd Reighley – 1st place
Single Speed Open Male – Warren Schimizzi 2nd place
Sport Vet Male 36+ - Chip Camper - 2nd place
Sport Vet Female 36+ - Paula Schimizzi 1st place
Beginner Male 36+ - Chris Clark – 2nd place.
Vet Sport Male 36+ - Warren Carwsell 4th place (1 point out of 3rd!!!)

I guess I gotta move up to the Expert class next year…It will definitely be much harder.

Off to Florida next week for some much needed rest & relaxation.

Va Derailer Race #4 - Falling Creek Park, Bedford, VA

2006-09-25T05:22:00.000-07:00

Sat, Setpember 23, 2006

This course was a 4.25 miler complete w/ grassy field sections & lots of singletrack, some of it freshly cut. I’m so glad we pre-rode this course the Sunday before the race so we knew what to expect. Last year’s course was a 50/50 mix of long doubletrack (aka grassy field) and single track sections. The folks out in Bedford have been putting in a lot of time in the off-season to change the look of this course. It’s still just over 4 miles but it’s probably 90% singletrack.

The sport chickies started at the same time as all the sport men & Clydesdales. Knowing the course, I suggested to the gals we start behind the guys and just sort of pace ourselves. The course starts w/ about a ½ mile prologue around a grassy field w/ a slight climb towards the end just before dumping into the singletrack. Since we had to do 4 laps, I decided I would not go out hard on this prologue. I thought that some of the other ladies would do the pace setting but everyone felt content at the pace being set so we cruised along together. I mentioned to the ladies that things were likely to get backed up as we entered the first section of trail. Just before entering the singletrack, I noticed one of the sport gals in the 18 – 35 category along side of me. I asked her if she wanted to go first & she said “no, no…I’m good right where I am”

Everyone negotiated the first right hand switchback, then we twisted & turned down the trail to the next switchback. This one was a bit tighter & turned left. I consistently bobbled on this one on the pre-ride & did the same in the race. We continued on to a section of newly cut trail…slick, uphill, rooty. I didn’t quite have my legs to climb this so I hopped off & ran it. Back on the bike to descend through a chute between 2 trees before turning left into a small open section before the next round of singletrack. Along the way I was already noticing riders on the side w/ chain issues. I kept telling myself, “please, no mechanicals, ride smooth”

The other sport ladies were not far behind. The next section of trail includes another steep, slick uphill section. Once again I was off my bike running up this. I noticed the other sport lady tried it..she almost made it until at the very top, lost momentum, then slid all the way back down. She was laughing because it looked like someone had hit the “rewind” button the way she slid down. I hopped back on the bike and prepared for the right hand turn on the slick root, and climbed up the rest of the way.

Next we dumped into more twisty singletrack. Here’s where you could start gaining time. This section of trail is not terribly technical so you can gas it a bit. It eventually turns right and parallels a pond before getting to a series of logs. At this point, some of the beginner men were starting to catch us. Just before the first big log I knew I two guys behind me. I could not do this log so I let the guys know I was getting off on the left & to pass me on the right. They shouted a big “thanks” and were well on their way. I continued through the rest of the logs, onto another section of trail which was smooth & fast. A couple more beginners got behind me just before a twisty, turny section. I shouted “just let me get through this twisty, turny part & I’ll let ya’ll go” They said no problem. This section dumps out to a fast, grassy downhill. I moved left & let the boys go.

Next came a left turn over a bridge into more singletrack. I was very confident entering this section. We paralleled a stream for a bit, then take a left hand turn up about 100’ more on the hill. We cruise back the way we came on this for a bit. Then come the woop de woos. Riders had a choice of doing the more moderate trail or the whoops. I inadvertently chose the woops but they were fun & manageable. One way was not quicker than the other. The last downhill of the whoops was a little tricky. Back up the hill, right hand turn, more climbing through some loose rock, then across the ridge. Here’s another place to make up more time. You could look below you to see the other riders. The other sport lady was traversing across but I knew she still had to climb so I gassed it a bit more. I negotiated more tricky dips and roots, crossed another bridge & made the right hand turn back into the field. Here’s another place to put the hammer down before entering the last stretch of singletrack that winds you back up to where you started.

Ok 1 lap down, 3 more to go. Lap 2 was pretty uneventful. I maintained a good distance between myself & the other ladies. Lap 3…was a little unnerving. I managed the first 2 switchbacks on the beginning part of the trail. I was preparing for the slick, greasy, off camber section when I heard an awful noise coming from my derailer. Uh oh..Off the bike & tried to run, except my back wheel was completely locked up.

I had thrown my chain on the back to the inside! I was freaking out on the inside knowing my competition could not be far behind. I flipped the bike over, got the back wheel off and freed the chain. Now comes the fun part..I was shaking so bad that I could barely get the wheel back on & lined up correctly. About that time, Todd Reighley (aka Speedracer) asked if I was good. I said yea..go ahead (when in all actuality I was freaking out!) Fortunately Ryan, a friend of Rev, one of the El Toreo crew came along & asked if I needed help. I told him I couldn’t get the wheel lined up. He checked it for me & helped me tighten it down. Thank goodness…..Ryan, you’re a lifesaver! Back on the bike…at this point I was so frazzled that I kept bobbling every few feet or so. I just needed to calm down a bit & I’d be ok.

I settled back into a groove & was careful on shifts to ensure I did not throw the chain again. Towards the end of lap 3 I realized all of my Hammer Gel had spilled out. Luckily another teammate had some extra Clif Shot for me which kept me going.

Lap 4 was clean & I finished strong. The 18 -35 sport lady finished just a few minutes back from me. I came in 1^st sport woman overall. One more race to go..the Poor Mountain Hill Climb!

Peaksview Park Race - Lynchburg, VA

2006-09-13T14:44:00.000-07:00

The third Va Derailer Series race was held this past weekend in Lynchburg. This course is very twisty w/ tons of switchbacks & trails which double back on themselves. No huge climbs..but very challenging nonetheless.

We had a staggered start w/ the female sport riders starting behind the "big boyz" a.ka. Clydesdales. I was glad we got to start together. 6 sport ladies lined up. 3 of the ladies were in the younger sport class & 3 of us were in the "old lady" category. The first 3/4 of the course was on a paved road, then you go around a soccer field until dumping into the singletrack. I took off at the start knowing there were a couple strong ladies who could hammer the road. I kept the pace high, maybe a little too high, but I really wanted to get into the woods first. As I pedaled like crazy I thought someone would certainly take the lead, that's when I heard one of the ladies exclaim "I'm just gonna sit back and draft off of you" I glanced back & sure enough, the ladies were lined up single file w/ me setting an 18mph pace. Great, I thought, I'm gonna blow up on the first mile!

We rounded the soccer field and then took the left hand turn into the first climb on the singletrack. I knew what was coming b/c I had pre-rode in the rain earlier that week. I geared down slightly and hammered on to the first climb. I heard the sound of chain suck behind be & was thankful I did not get tangled up behind the mechanical problem one of the ladies had.
As I climbed the rooty trail, I heard some of my fellow Tuesday night "chicky" riders cheering me on! I shouted back " Chicky's rock" and continued twisting and turning my bike through the trail. I knew the girls weren't far behind so I kept the pace high.

Midway through the first lap I let some of the beginner men go by me. They were hammering pretty good & I did not want to hold them up. Chris Clark, one of my Team El Toreo teammates was in this group. I jumped on his wheel & kept their pace for a little while. At one point, the trail leveled a bit. I shouted to the guys "come on, pick it up, let's go". They picked it up slightly but not to my liking. I thought I'd "motivate" them a little more. I then shouted..."come on guys...you don't want to get passed by a girl...do you?" That's all it took...they increased the pace and were soon out of sight. As they drifted out of sight, I encouraged Chris a little more to stay w/ them.

I was feeling great on the bike and tried to maintain a steady rhythm. I also made sure I stayed well hydrated, drinking every chance I could get. I did have a bobble on the Roller Coaster section falling on some slick rocks...Ouch. Towards the end of the 1st lap, I followed another sport male rider..His pace was somewhat slower than I wanted but it was good because it kept me in check. Then I heard a female rider shout "finally, another female" I realized it was Kelly, one of the younger sport women....Kelly's pretty strong & she had ridden this course before so I knew she would hang tough this second lap. I asked her where the other ladies were..she said one had a mechanical as we dumped in the trail, but was not far back. We descended down to the road. I passed the sport male and turned up the gas. Kelly was not far behind. As I made the turn at the soccer field, I could see her fast approaching..maybe 15 seconds.

I rode as hard as I could on the second lap. Continually looking at the trails and listening to see how far back the other chicky was on the course.. I caught a couple of glimpses on some of the trails which double back...I kept my pace high while still maintaining control of the bike. I had a few more bobbles as I started to tire but nothing too major. Just before entering the roller coaster for the 2nd time I caught up to another El Toreo Teammate, Frank. I asked him if he had any gel b/c I was starting to cramp & forgot mine Doh! Fortunately he did...what a lifesaver...problem was the next mile or so of trail was so twisty & turny I could not take my had off the bars so I rode on, gel packet dangling from my mouth. I looked like a cat w/ a fresh kill, it was quite the site!
Finally, a straightaway so I could get a swig of the gel...I reached for my water bottle to wash it down and ....aaaaaaaahh No liquid! Oh well, I swallowed as best as I could..Yuk!!

As I continued the second lap, I kept listening to see if any chicky's were coming. I couldn't tell so I just kept hammering. I crashed again on those stupid rocks on the Roller Coaster...I fell in the same spot & landed on the same hip..now I have a beautiful, multicolored bruise...pretty.
Out of the trail & onto the road. I put it in my big ring & pedaled as hard as I could. W/ the finish line in sight, lots of my teammates were already in. They were screaming & yelling. I get such a rush from folks cheering that I get an extra adrenaline boost. It's pretty cool. As I went by my hubby, he exclaimed "You're the first one in"! Woo Hoo I crossed the finish line & waited to see where Kelly was....Here she came..under 1 minute behind...I cheered for her as she neared the finish....Great Job Chicky!

Overall time was 2 hours 3 minutes & 8 seconds..not too shabby for an old lady.

Next up: Bedford....
Hopefully I'll get some pics up soon

DeRailed in Danville

2006-08-27T15:16:00.000-07:00

Sat, Aug 26, 2006 Southside Scramble, Danville, VA

This was the 2nd in the Va Derailer series. The course is full of twisty turns, "whoop" sections, and short climbs. This is the type of course where you're on the gas from the minute you start...no real good sections to rest...or take time to take a swig from the water bottle which would have an awful effect on me later that day. Temps were in the mid to high 90's. Normally I do okay in the heat...it has some effect on me but generally I can stay pretty well hydrated. I felt good in the warm up but felt a little "off" once we got to the starting line. I seemed a little more on edge than normal. I just chalked it up to pre-race jitters.

I felt ok on the first lap. One of my comptetitors had gotten in front at the start but I figured I would just let her set the pace. Unfortunately she went down hard on one of those rollers. It was a tight left hand turn into a steep drop, followed by a steep, but short uphill. As I eased past her, I shouted "you okay?" she indicated she was..so I continued on. I was sure my competition would be back up on the bike so I pushed a little harder on this first lap. The key to this course is maintaining your momentum so that's what I tried to do. I even had a little help from the rider behind me. He had ridden the course many, many times so he knew every twist, log, turn, uphill, and even places to pause & take a sip fromt he water bottle. It was almost like having my own little coach in my head to let me know what was coming! We continued on..about 3/4 of the way through my first lap I had to clip out to dab through a short uphill section. As soon as my foot hit the ground, horrendous cramping started in my calf. I never cramp so I knew something was not right. The "coach" passed me but I soon caught back up. I thought..keep drinking wherever you can.

The second lap was a little slower than the first. Towards the middle of the second lap my buddy Todd Gilley caught & passed me. Todd races Clydesdale class. Somehow we always seem to end up riding together in the second half of the races. I followed Todd through the series of S-turns, then out into the open field. I asked him how far back the ladies were...He said he passed one on his first lap but was not sure of the rest. As we dumped into the downhill section, Todd was gone....so I plodded on but now the stomach cramps, nausea, and headache were beginning. Towards the last 2 miles or so, I caught up with one of the expert women..I asked her how she was feeling..her response was "not too good" I knew how she felt, except she had 1 more lap!

As I completed my second lap I felt extremely nauseated! After they took my number, I rolled over to the area where my teammates were. My hubby gave me a bottle of water & said "drink this,you'll feel better." Well I drank the water, then my recovery drink, then another bottle of water..still no better. Jannie put an icepack on my back..1/2 hour passed...Ok I think I feel a little better. I decided to stay under the tent while the rest of the team got some grub. That's when it hit me ....instead of feeling better, I felt worse. My breathing shortened and the nausea increased, although I never could puke (sorry, I know that's gross) One of my teammates ran to the food area to get my husband & a couple of EMTs...Seems I was in the begining stages of heat exhaustion and was dehydrated. They quickly put icepacks under my arms & on my neck to get my core temp down. They also gave me some extra oxygen to help w/ the shortness of breath. I put my legs up, continuted to drink lots of Gatorade & water. I forced down a piece of pizza to get my blood sugar back up. Finally after about an hour I was able to summons the strength to move to the air conditioned Jeep!

Here's what WebMD lists as the symptoms of Heat Exhaustion: Fatigue, Nausea , Headaches , Excessive thirst , Muscle aches and cramps , Weakness, Confusion or anxiety , Drenching sweats, often accompanied by cold, clammy skin, slowed or weakened heartbeat, Dizziness, Fainting , Agitation. I didn't have all of these but I had the majority of them. I may have even been on the verge of heat stroke b/c my skin was hot & dry rather than cold & clammy. That's pretty serious. Thankfully there were EMT's there to help the riders. I know I wasn't the only one that felt awful...I think it just hit me harder than others. Next year for this race, I'm definitely wearing a camelback so I can drink more during the event.

I did come in first in my class..but it definitely was not worth the pain & suffering. Turns out the competitor in my class who went down early did not finish....I think lot of riders did not finish..The heat was too much! Team El Toreo did well again. My hubby took 3rd in Single Speed...only 30 seconds out of second place, Chris Clark took 2nd in the Beginner class, Ron Glowczynski took 1st Expert Male over 36 and 3rd overall in Male Expert, Jannie took 3rd in Female Beginner! Way to go Jannie...you rock girl! One of our other teammates had a tough time w/ the heat as well..that was Aaron..he placed 4th in Single Speed but was just happy to finish the race.

Lots of liquid & rest & I'll be back to my old self in no time.

Feel the Burn

2006-08-21T14:13:00.000-07:00

Saturday, Aug 19

A group of us headed down to Danville to pre-ride the course for the Southside Scramble. As we entered the trailhead, I felt good, legs felt strong, I felt confident in my handling skills, etc. This course is full of rollers and some fun singletrack. As we entered the first rolling section, I felt a horrible burning sensation on my leg and my backside. I thought "man these horseflies are relentless" Only.they weren't horseflies. The burning/stinging worsened as did my screams of pain! It was then my hubby said "BEES! GO GO GO" I was sobbing at this point b/c the pain was unbearable. I took off on my bike....crying the entire way... Once we were away, I could calm down. Turns out the riders who were ahead of us stirred up a nest of yellow jackets..The bees thought I'd be a good target. I was stung at least 3 times...once in the leg and a couple on my backside. Moe was also a good target .she got stung 4 times! Later on the ride my hubby got stung on the back of his head!

Fortunately I did not have a serious reaction to the stings other than some pain, itching and large swelling at the sting sites. I've been doped up on Benadryl the past couple of days to help the itching subside. I hate Benadryl b/c I feel soo out of it..Hopefully the swelling will go down in the next day or so.

My hubby said he's never seen me ride so fast. After I was stung, he couldn't keep up w/ me through that first section of trail! I guess the adrenaline was pumping. Worst part is, I don't remember anything about that first section of trail in terms of the technical aspects or climbs.
I sure was exhausted afterwards!

Fortunately there were a couple of folks who work on the trails in Danville. They've been alerted to the bees..so hopefully Saturday, we'll have a bee free race!

Big turnout for Tues Chicky Ride

2006-08-21T13:59:00.000-07:00

Tuesday Aug 15

We had our largest turnout so far for the Tuesday Chick Ride. 9 chickys came out to participate. We went out the outer loop to the road and back into the entrance. Everyone did great! I was a little worried w/ some of the roots, but the ladies rode awesome! Pretty soon we're gonna exceed the number of riders that come on the Thursday ride!...

We'll be out there again this Tuesday so come on out & join us ladies!

Mw windows race

2006-08-20T08:46:00.000-07:00

Sunday, Aug 13, 2006 MW Windows Race, Franklin Co, 1st in the VA Derailer Series.

Approximately 125 riders turned out for the first in the Va Derailer series. Team El Toreo had 6 riders on the podium for this race! Rock on team Burrito! The course was a combination of wide double track, some single track, cornfields, gravel roads, a creek crossing, and a deep river crossing…oh yea..and one very slippery bridge which I would find out about 4 miles into the race! Racers started with a staggered start..meaning experts, first, then single speeders 2 min later, then sport folks 2 minutes after the single speeders, etc, Thank you to the race promoters for doing a staggered start. Things were much less chaotic and you could work your way through the group much easier. I raced in the Vet sport (35+) division. In early spring I had entertained the idea of moving up to expert class. I decided against it because most of the races last year, there were few if any other racers in my class. Also with injuring my knee at the start of the race season, I did not think I would be ready to tackle the expert level just yet. I hoped more women would race this year and I would not be disappointed for this first race. There were 2 other ladies in my class, and 2 younger female sports….Woo Hoo..someone of my gender to race with!

I decided to line up towards the middle/front of the sport pack. In previous races I’ve lined up behind the guys and always seem to lose time because I’m in the back of the pack. It was a little nerve wracking when we started b/c everyone was jockeying for position before getting into the singletrack. Fortunately I was able to hold my own and maintain a sustainable pace on the first grassy climb. The pack spread out as we entered the singletrack..until we got to Still Hill. I jumped on another guys wheel & climbed behind him all the way up. We had to holler at a few folks who were walking, but no worries..cleared the first hill.

As the race continued, I felt strong. It was really hard to get into a steady rhythm because of the creek crossings and a couple of steep, slippery hills where you either changed your cadence to make the climb, or got off & hiked. As I approached one of these slight uphills, there was a mossy, slippery wooden bridge just before the turn for the hill. I was in a groove, pedaling a steady pace, and getting ready to gear down one ring to spin the climb. As I geared down, leaned into my turn and took a pedal stroke BAM! I was off the bike in an instant. In fact, my bike was about 3 feel below me just on the other side of the bridge! OUCH…I felt a little pain shooting up my backside as I mounted the bike to continue…I remembered that for the next lap.

I continued on….crossed the river a lot better this year than last. I kept my bike on my hip this year & plodded through water waist deep in some parts. Coming through the transition area, there was a small but LOUD group of folks cheering the riders on. I was so amped from this that I almost missed my turn and just about took out the marshall directing the riders OOPS..sorry about that. As I raced my second lap, I could see one of my teammates just up the trail. I came close but couldn’t quite catch up to him. I think I finished 15 seconds behind him. My overall time was 1 hour, 9 minutes, beating last year’s time by close to 4 minutes! And coming in first in my class.

Here’s the site for the overall results I'll create the link later so you'll need to copy & paste this to your browser for the time being. http://vaderailerseries.com/results/

18mph

2006-08-06T10:53:00.000-07:00

Saturday my hubby & I did a 50 miler along Bradshaw, down to Shawsville, then back. Temps finally weren't scorching hot in fact it was quite nice w/ temps in the mid 70's, a slight breeze & not much sun. I decided to go hard on this ride....instead of sitting and spinning through the climbs, I decided to attack each one & sprint as hard as I could. Warren did all of the pulling so my goal was to hold his wheel as much as possible. I was able to hang with him for the most part. My legs were a little tight through some of the sustained, gradual climbs. I continued to check my average speed through the ride...16.5 mph, then 17.5, 17.8, 17.9...as it ended up I had an average of 18 mph!!!! That may not seem like much to all you hammer heads out there,but for me it was a new milestone. It was the fastest road ride I've ever done! Woo Hoo!

Scorcher

2006-08-02T15:13:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, Aug 1, 2006
100 degrees

That's what the temperature read in Jen's vehicle as we prepared for our weekly "Chicky ride". Yup, we really rode in that heat! I think a lot of us were debating on riding. But as it turned out, our core group of 5 showed up ready to sweat. We headed out the outer loop to the road w/ lots of breaks in between. It was actually hotter when we stopped so we tried to keep moving. Once we hit the road back to the park, two gals stopped and the remaining 3 of us tried our hand at the endurance loop. We did pretty good..even got close to conquering the uphill switchbacks (way to go Jannie!). Back to the cars to load up the bikes & off to get something cold to drink.

Bizarre

2006-08-01T18:38:00.000-07:00

POW! PSSSSSSSSST, KATHUNK, PSSSSSSSSST, KATHUNK, KATHUNK, KATHUNK...

What in the world? My hubby & I were cruising along doing an urban assault ride. (basically an ubran assault ride is anything goes....you ride trail, streets, alley ways, etc.)
I was riding the flaming green booger commuter, cruising down an alley following the same line Warren picked when all of the sudden, I started hearing the noises listed above.

I knew I flatted when I heard the "pow" and the "pssssssst" but what in the heck was causing the "kathunk"?

Then it appeared..a masonry nail of some sort. Not only did it puncture the tire and the tube..but it went clear through the rim. I've never seen anything like it and never had anything like that happen before on a ride. How it went through the rim, I'll never know. I'm not a very big person. I weigh less than 115 lbs...I guess the force and speed caused it to go right through. All you engineer types, see if you can figure that one out!

Here are some pics:

Trailwork - It does the body good

2006-07-30T08:11:00.000-07:00

Sat, July 29, 2006

Decided to spend part of my Saturday volunteering some hours to assist w/ the ongoing work out at Carvin's Cove. This is the site of our weekly Thursday night ride, or as I call it, the "ride w/ the boyz".. We're working on the final phases of completing the >2 mile loop which Connects Hi Dee Hoe to the 1000' climb, thus eliminating the need to ride the road to get to the trails from the Bennett Springs Parking Lot.

We started work on a "rolling crown" switchback near the middle part of the trail. Thankfully we were able to drive in for part of the way and then hiked close to mile in to the work site. This is the only switchback on this trail. It was lots of hard work..mostly digging and clearing small rocks to create a level platform on the turn of the switchback. We made good progress on this section of the trail but there's still a little more to go.

I think trail work is harder than racing mountain bikes. You use muscles you never knew you had but you get a great workout. It's even better when you have a fun group of folks you are working with like the group on Saturday. If you've never built trail, I recommend you try it at least once. It's a good way to "give back" to the mtb, equestrian, and hiking communities. You also learn not to take for granted the trails you ride. At one point in time, people put in backbreaking hours to make the trails what they are today. We are fortunate to have such great trails so close to us here in the Roanoke Valley. Next time you're out there & you see a work crew, take a minute to stop & thank them for their hard work & effort!

For more on trail building or to get involved check out this website: http://www.blueridgebicycleclub.com/trailworkdb/index.asp