Va Derailer Series Race #1 - Danville

Southside Scramble May 3, 2008

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ridin' w/ the boyz...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Moooving

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

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

Off to ride tomorrow at the Cove

Bike Sherpas

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

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

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

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

Crappy, Creepin, Coughin, Crud, Crap!

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

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

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

Single Speedin....

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

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

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

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

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

bummer

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

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

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

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

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

things that go "bump" in the night

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

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

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


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

brrrrrrr

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

Cylclocross w/ Team Taco

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

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

Here are some pics.

New Year's Day ride

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

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

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

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

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

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

Spoiled one

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.......

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...

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!!!!