Douthat Race

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

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

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

Pooped

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

Ugh

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

Stylin

Gave it away

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

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

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....

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

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

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

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

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

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

Look at Clarence just taunting me!

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

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

Clarence's first day at the Cove Pictures

Clarence posing

Wow...look how clean

Minor adjustments

Ewwwww look how dirty!

"Michigan" takes Clarence for a spin

Clarence's ride at the Cove

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

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

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

They ride mountain bikes????

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

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

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

Happy Halloween

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

Here Kitty Kitty

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

Deja Vu

Liberty Mountain Race Report

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here's a pic of Laura, Jeremiah & me