Snake, Rattle & Roll

Thursday, May 25, 2006
I gathered with the boyz for our weekly "get dirty at the cove" ride. We had a HUGE group this evening...16 people! Wow! We were so big we decided to split up. One group of 6 decided to climb the 1000' climb to Clownhead, and some of the upper trails. The remaining 10 of us decided to stay on the lower stuff.

The ride was filled with lots of excitement. If we had brought the camera, I don't think we would have had the opportunity to play Jeff Corwin. (he's the other wildlife dude on Animal Planet who loves to play w/ snakes and other assorted slithery creatures) Anywho...As we rode through the Enchanted Forest, thoughts of big black bears kept running though my brain. We saw one last week along the same trail & my hubby ran into one on the 1000' climb the other night. (in case you did not know, I'm not too fond of bears...I think it's from watching too much drama on tv) As we cruised on the trail, Warren was frantically waving us along, shouting, Don't Stop, Don't Stop, Keep Moving. I thought to myself...Mama bear is near & he is making us ride away from her. No problem. After most of the group rode past Warren, a few of us stopped to see what all of the commotion was about. Bear? No..worse....Snake...not just any snake...Rattlesnake!!!!!!! What is it w/ snakes this year? First at the WV race, now the Cove!...Oh did I mention I'm not too fond of snakes ?


Well they scared him far away from the trail...Warren even tossed a rock at him which hit him on the head.. He was not a happy snake. He rattled the whole time. As Mark & Curt rode up I was screaming Stop!...Halt!....(I don't know if it was some deep rooted maternal instinct to protect or what...but I didn't want anyone getting near this thing)

I can honestly say that's the first time I've ever seen a rattlesnake in the wild..and hopefully the last. What's in store next week? Bobcat? Stay tuned

Thc chicky's rocked

As the chickys have been doing their weekly ride at Explore Park, I've observed some tremendous improvement in everyone's riding. From handling the technical switchbacks, to barrelling downhill, to grunting up the climbs everyone is doing great!...this week we decided to go straight to the intermediate stuff and test our skills.

Prior to the ride, I thought I'd sneak in a quick lap just to get the legs going and the heart pumping. Skippy arrived just as I was about to depart. I told him I was going to do a quick spin so he joined me. We took off for the intermediate trail and did the first downhill loop section before going back to the parking lot. Man he's fast. I hope/pray one day I can get that fast on the bike. I was able to hang w/ him on some parts, but others, he kicked my butt. No worries though. I was able to do a couple of the uphill switchbacks which gave me constant trouble on the night rides in the winter...so I know I'm improving. After getting back to the parking lot, I felt kicked....I guess that's why I normally warm up first before riding that hard...this o' gal can't get going that quickly anymore.

Oh well, I met up w/ the other gals and the 6 of us ventured out. I thought for a change of pace, we'd try the outer loop. Parts of the outer loop are a little tricky but nothing too overwhelming. Everyone did fantastic, especially the downhill sections. Angelia was flying through the downhills ! We cleared logs, rocky sections & some of the gals even attempted the "technical" rooty section. Woo Hoo! Once we got to the road, we rode back up to the back entrance of the park. We are not quite ready to tackly the steep, rooty downhill on the other side of the road..maybe later this year. I think Jennifer was feeling quite energetic as she sped up the hill to the entrance. I did a couple of sprints just to get the blood flowing, then went back to check on everyone. Everyone was doing great.

As we got back to the park, we decided to do the inner loop. We went back down the steep downhill, and started to climb. I think everyone cleared the climb where the large wooden bridge is. Awesome job ladies! As we continued, we had a couple of bobbles here & there but that's proably due to the fact we were a little tired. We continued on the inner loop w/ the ladies looking like they had been doing this all their lives. We all cleared the next log in the trail & continued on. Man We Rock! Maggie had a couple of bobbles one of the uphill switchbacks. I encouraged her to try it again...the third time she aced it all the way up the climb to the main intersection of the inner/outer loop!.. She even did better than the guy that passed us..he had to get off & walk!

We made our way back to the road, then did the beginner loop in reverse. As we made our way down, Jennifer had to once again eradicate the stick of death. It has a way of sneaking back onto the trail when you least expect it. Maggie & I stopped near the stick of death to work on the downhill switchback. After a few attempts, she cleared it again! Way to go girl.

Upon return to the parking lot, everyone was in great spirits. I kept hearing "man this is soo fun" ! That's what it's all about! Nex week....inner loop, then outer loop. Who's up for it? :)

Let's go Racing!

Sunday, May 14, 2006
The Hancock 100..formerly known as the Tour De Tomlinson. was held at Tomlinson Run State Park in West (by God) Virginia. This was my first race of the year & a good test to see how the rehab has gone for my knee. In a previous post I talked about how I sprained my knee so I’ve been on hiatus doing rehab & getting back into the riding.

Anywho. This course was to be a good one for the first race of the year. Not too technical, fast in some spots, huge hike a bikes sections, some fun downhills, and even a snake!...Yes ladies & gentleman, a snake. I’ll get to that in a little bit.

The race was timed. Expert class rides for 100 minutes, Sports/Vet Women race for 75 minutes & Beginners/Jrs race for an hour. (In West Virginia, the Vet women (35+) are all lumped together in one category..sports & experts alike. (I knew one of the girls was a expert so it would be some tough competition). The timing was sort of screwed up…if you came in past the checkpoint under your allotted time, you got to do another lap. So in actuality you race for longer than the allotted time. If you came in over your allotted time, you were done.

Expert Class started first, then there was a 1 minute delay before the sport class, then another minute, beginners/juniors. They do mass starts in these West Virginia races which basically means the women and men start together. What a mess! The sport class is the biggest class of all so imagine if you will, 60 -75 people all vying for position to get into the singletrack. We have about 100 yards of road before the singletrack section. There were bikes & people everywhere. We had to hike into the singletrack b/c everyone was soo bunched up. There were about 6 of us in the Vet Women’s class. I was going to have my work cut out for me. I kept most of my competition in sight at the start but then got bogged down once in the single track section & did not have a clue where I stood. As the first lap went on, I found places to pass some of the sport men and work my way up. Then came the snake…..there was this steep, winding downhill section towards the end of the lap. Along the first curve, there was this black snake…he was in what looked like a defensive/strike position. Oh Crap…he’s eyeing my leg! We’re all shouting snake, snake! As I went by him, I prayed he would not bite me. Yikes! Although we had that bit of excitement, it still seemed as though the first lap took forever.

Into the second lap, I was able to get into a groove. I soon caught up with 3 of my competitors. We traded places back & forth through most of the the second lap. We were riding together when one of the girls in front of me went down on a steep descent. I checked to make sure she was ok then put the hammer down. I soon got to another steep uphill when I say another girl hiking. As I got closer to her, I realized she was in my class. She wasn’t moving real fast so I could either keep her pace hiking up this thing, or hustle up the hill and get going. I chose to hustle. I wondered where the other ladies were & what position I was in. As I continued I noticed another person on the side of the trail…It was Ruthie..(the really really strong fast one!) She had flatted. She was bummed but shouted a word of encouragement as I zoomed by.


As I neared the checkpoint, I checked my clock….cool 3 minutes under..I can do another lap. I know the other girls were not far behind so I had to keep the hammer down (or so I thought) I slowed somewhat in the third lap…the pack of riders had stretched out so I could maintain an even pace but I could tell I was getting tired. As I continued, some of the expert men started passing me. I made sure I gave each of them enough room to negotiate around the “old lady” shouting words of encouragement as they went by. Boy those guys are fast..how do they do it? After the climbs, descents & climbs again, I neared the location of the feared snake. I did not see him the second lap but he was back on lap #3, although he was not looking too good. He was on the ground, writhing. He still had his mouth open but he was hurting. I alerted one of the course marshals as I completed my descent. Finally the finish line was in sight. As I crossed, I checked my time. 1 hr 47 min. I noticed one of the other ladies whom I had passed was already at the finish..I was a little confused. I thought she was only 30 seconds behind….When she came through the checkpoint at the end of her second lap, she was over the time limit..so she could not continue. I still did not have any idea if I even placed. We stuck around for the awards. My nephew TJ Platt won the Expert category… He’s crazy fast. I actually ended up with a second place finish in the Vet Women category. Woo Hoo! Did not see that coming but I’ll take it! Oh..the knee held up well for the most part. A little stiff afterwards but nothing that some ice & a beer won't fix!

Ridin w/ the boyz

Thursday, May 4, 2006
Tonight was our first night back at Carvin's Cove. It's been a loong winter riding most Thursdays at Explore Park. I think we were all ready for the change of pace. Here are some pics from the evening. We had some mud & some blood but it was a blast! For a complete story check out: http://bicyclesoup.blogspot.com/














Pookie & the boyz

Traversing the gorge

Ewwwww Blood! Yuk

RAINBOWS & STICKS OF DEATH

Tuesday, May 2, 2006

Aaaah. Another beautiful night for a ride. Temps in the 70's, partly cloudy, chance of rain but that's ok..we won't melt! 6 riders joined this past weeks "Chicky" ride. We had the 4 regulars ....Angelia, Jennifer, Moe, and myself & two "newbies" who joined us halfway into the ride: Jannie (who rode w/ us last week, too. sorry if I mis spelled your name) and Meggan. (who was sporting a very chic skort made by Terry www.terrybicycles.com ) Skippy & Aaron from the Thursday night ride also came but they were doing their own ride. Skippy's Rig was sporting a new magenta/purple color chain. It was actually a BMX chain but he was trying it out on the single speed. I wanted one..it was really cool.

Angelia, Jennifer, Moe and myself ventured out. We started out the beginner loop. I pushed the pace a little harder than normal just to see where everyone was on their skill/confidence levels. As we made it to the first clearing, everyone was together. No spills, tumbles, maybe one mechanical, but other that we were in good shape. We proceded on to the end of the beginner loop. As we completed the loop, I wanted to make it a little more challenging. I suggested riding the first part of the intermediate loop again. It's all downhill for the first part until the wooden bridge..then we start climbing. I wanted to do it early in the ride while everyone was fresh..plus, everyone is getting faster each week so I felt it was time to kick it up a notch and offer a bit more of a challenge.

Down we went, through the right hand turn..down to the tight, left hand switchback. As I went through I noticed Moe heading straight. Where ya going???? Moe said as she came up on the turn she decicded to take the scenic route instead. It was a little too hairy to negotiate. No worries though. We continued down , over the two small bridges & on to the longer bridge. We crossed the bridge & started up the hill. negotiating the roots as we went. I rode up to the first left hand switchback after the bridge & took a break. Everyone did great getting up that first hill. I decided..ok..far enough..let's go back & see if anyone else is in the parking lot. We turned back around & headed back up the hill....ugh. As we got back to the road...I mentioned to a couple of the girls..."I'm not trying to kill you...I just want you to get better & I think you are ready for it based on your skills"
I figured the only way we are going to improve is to try more things.

After a quick check of the parking area, we rode the beginner loop backwards....just for a change of pace. It's much different going that direction. As we came through I noticed I kept getting too close to some of the trees. At one point, I clipped my handlebar on a tree but was able to stay upright. About the same place I clipped the tree, Jennifer mentioned there was a "stick of death" on that part of the trail! It almost took her down as well...Yikes!

We met up with Jannie & Meggan & started back up the beginner loop. Both ladies were still getting used to their clipless pedals . Meggan was a little scared but she would do just fine. I stayed towards the middle of the pack as we rode just to be sure everyone was ok. Everyone sailed through. We decided to go backwards again on our return to the parking lot. Before we got started, Jennifer rode ahead to eradicate the "stick of death". We started back down. the eradication must have worked b/c this time through, I did not come close to clipping that tree near the area of the dreaded stick.

As we completed the lap, it started raining. the brief shower felt good. The temps seemed a little warm as we rode throughout the evening. When we got to the parking lot we noticed a beautiful rainbow. then it turned into a double rainbow. (man I wish I had brought that camera) What a great way to cap off a great ride. Thanks ladies..As usual you all rocked!!! Off to ride w/ the boyz at the Cove on Thursday.

The boyz ride in Poor Farm Cup race

Ashland, VA April 2006

After what seemed like an eternity of winter and many months of winter rides, the first big race of the season was finally upon us. The Poor Farm Cup hosted by Richmond Multisports. The weather forcast was not looking too promising for Saturday...rain, heavy at times w/the threat of severe storms, hail, etc, etc. Great...perfect weather for driving!... We awoke Sat morning to a thunderstorm. Things subsided by 9:30 a.m. or so. After dropping off the spoiled pooch, we met Skip & Moe, piled into the Jeep and headed for Ashland. As we drew closer to our destination, the rain got heavier. We thought it may stop once we arrived so we could pre-ride. Mother Nature had other things in mind.

We arrived in Ashland approxl 4 hours later. Still raining hard so the pre-ride was not going to happen. Plan B. - Find a bike shop. We dropped in on a local bike shop by the name of Agee's. Skip wanted to get a fender and some 29r tubes. Warren & I needed some tubes as well. I had a flat on my bike from the Thursday night ride w/ the boyz at Explore Park so I decided to get a tube to fix the flat just in case I decided to pre-ride. Back to the hotel we went to start fashioning fenders and fixing flats. After the bikes were ready to roll, we wandered over to Applebee's so the guys could load up on their pre-race meal.

Upon returning to the hotel, the skies opened up again. Yuk more rain! Sunday was looking more more like it would be a soupy, sloppy mess! Boy am I glad I'm not racing this one. (previous post..Stupid Knee, yada, yada, yada...can't race the first race) We settled in for the evening. We flipped between the NASCAR race and the NHL playoffs to pass the time. The hotel was hooked up w/ internet access, so Skip kept us informed on the race status. Lights out. I don't think anyone slept great that evening. Around 3:00 a.m we were awakened by the loud people in the room next door! Great..don't you people understand that these guys have to race in a few hours? They need their rest! Geez.......

The alarm went off way too soon Sunday morning. We awoke to foggy skies, temps in the 50's and mist. Skip went downstairs & ran into some folks organizing the race. They needed people to preride & check the course conditions. Skip volunteered himself & Warren. After breakfast, we loaded up and headed to the race course. Skippy & Warren pre-rode while Moe & I hung out in the Jeepster. We did some reconiscance to locate a hose but that was about the only time we left the vehicle. It was pretty nasty out. Skippy & Warren came back with a full report. Surprisingly the conditions were not too bad. The race should be pretty fun. Skippy even said I might be able to race! Nah..not this day...I know I'm not quite ready to race & did not want to risk another injury. Instead Moe & I headed back to the hotel to check out and returned to meet back up w/ the boyz.

Ron & Todd met up with us. The boyz went on to warm up while Moe & I staked out our viewing spot among the other wives & girlfriends. I told the guys I'd play water girl. Moe was their timer. I had pre-race jitters waiting for the start & I wasn't even racing. I can't imagine what the boys were feeling. Although they all seemed pretty relaxed & ready to go. My advice to them was "Go get em!"

Expert class went off first. They did a LeMans start. This is when everyone lays down their bike on the ground & then they line up approx 20 feet or so behind their bike. They count down, tell the racers "Go" and everyone runs to their bike, hops on & gets going. Ron & Todd looked very strong at the start. Ron got tucked into the 1st half of the pack but he would work his way up.
The Single Speeds were next. "Go" Skippy got a great start running but once everyone was up and running, it was clear he would have his work cut out for him. Warren also had a strong start.
Following the Single Speeds were the Expert Women. I knew a couple of the girls racing. Celeste from Conte's & Dilcia from Innova Sports (not sure of the team name) I had raced with these girls in the Virginia State Championship Series in 2004 and at Douthat in 2005. I hoped they would place well in the field of 8 or so women. They had some stiff competion so they would have a tough day ahead of them.

Approximately 35 minutes into the race, the announcer started rattling off numbers of some of the experts coming through. We kept our eyes peeled for Todd. Sure enough, up he came. looking very strong. I handed off a bottle to him & Moe shouted his time check. He was looking good. Ron was along shortly after. He was looking very focused. He did not take water & I'm not even sure he heard the time check b/c he had his headphones on. We waited a little while longer and up came the single speeders. Skippy was in second and looking very strong. After Skippy went through, we thought Warren would be along shortly. 2minutes, 3 minutes, 4 minutes, 5 minutes...where is he? Finally he came along. As I handed off the bottle, Warren informs me he had a crash. I look down to see his knee bleeding. Ewwww...Just hang on honey..keep moving! On came some of the women. The first few looked strong & fast. One was even riding a Single Speed. You go girl! When Celeste & Dilcia came through, they looked spent. Maybe the course was tougher than anticipated. EEEK

After a couple more laps, time checks & fresh bottles, the leaders start coming in. At the last time check, Todd was in 3rd but we were not sure how far back. As the leaders came in, it turns out Todd was able to get into 2nd position which is where he finished. Rock on! Ron came in around 6th. Skip came in 2nd for the Single Speed dudes & Warren placed somewhere around 14 for the Single Speeders. Not a bad day for our first major race of the season. 2 on the podium. Woo hoo. Great job Boyz! Next up for some of the guys...Greenbriar, MD. Warren & myself are working towards the Tour de Tomlinson to be held in West Virginia in May. I've got lots of base miles to go to get back into shape from the knee injury but so far so good. I think I'm right on track.

Tape sabotage

Well, another beautiful evening for a mountain bike ride. We assembled in the parking lot & started on our 2nd chicky mtb ride. We had 4 ladies in attendance. Sorry I forgot the camera so no pictures here.

Before we started to ride, we noticed Angelia's bike looked a little different. " Hey, what happened to your bar ends & your kick stand?" Apparently Skippy gave her too much grief about the bar ends, so off they came along w/ the kick stand.

Upon closer examination, I noticed an excessive amount of electrical tape wrapped around her grip shift on the left hand side. What in the world? Apparently Angelia's husband didn't want her to have to focus on shifting gears..so he affixed the gearing so it remained in the "granny" gear all evening.

Anywho..after a good laugh about the electrical tape, off we rode. We did two laps around the beginner loop. Very smooth. Everyone cleared all obstacles, switchbacks & hills w/out a hitch! All shifting was working smooth,...well except for Angelia's b/c HER BIKE WAS TAMPERED WITH SO SHE DIDN'T HAVE TO SHIFT!!!!!!

We checked back in the parking lot for late arrivals, but it was to be just the 4 of us. Since the beginner loop gets old..I asked.."who wants to try part of the intermediate loop?" Is it hard? Is it scary? Nah..we'll be fine. So off we started down the first part of the intermediate loop. We rode the first downhill which was mostly smooth..a few bumps here & there. The left hand switchback gave a couple of the girls a bit of a fit...it was quite a sharp turn at a funky angle. A little scary but not bad. On we rode until we got to the large bridge before the first climb. Uh OH..are we gonna climb THAT? I started up it just to test my knee. I decided we would save this for a future ride. So we turned around and headed back up the climb. Once again everyone did an awesome job negotiating the roots, rocks & turns. We ALL DID THE RIGHT HAND SWITCHBACK ON THE WAY UP! WE TOTALLY ROCKED!!

Up we climbed. Jen led the way follwed by Moe, Angelia & myself. Angelia started to tire about 3/4ths of the way up. She dismounted only once, pushing a mere 50 feet before getting back on and cruising up the to road. Way to go! We rode back to the parking lot. Angelia was kicked..but a real trooper. Jen, Moe & myself decided to do the beginner loop backwards for our final lap. What a trip. Things are waay different going that direction. Once again, everyone negotiated the trails like pros. Another fun evening was had by all. Maybe we'll try the int loop again. See ya next week!

Chickys explore Explore Park

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Tonight was our first night for the all women's ride at Explore Park. Weather was perfect. Low 70's, low humidity, light breeze. A perfect evening for a mountain bike ride. This ride was "geared" for the 1st time mountain biker or female biker who is intimidated by riding w/ the boys. We had 6 riders attend of all ability levels. Some had experience riding trails while some were back on the bike for the first time in many, many years.

We headed out on the beginner section at Explore Park. When you hear "beginner" you think..oh..flat, rolling, no roots...piece of cake! Well not so at Explore. While the trails are not super hard, they're not super easy either. Especially for the cyclist who has done most of her riding on the roads. Those doggone roots, rocks, and switchbacks can be darn-right terrifying!



Well we were not going to let this spoil our fun. Angelia, Moe, Jen and I started out for our first lap. We ran through the first section w/out a hitch. Then came some of the slight ups & downs. No problem. We dogged a little bit on the climbing switchbacks but everyone was still upright & smiling. (breathing a little hard, but still smiling) We re-grouped in the clearing before the last section. Everyone did great on the last section, despite the roots at the beginning. We decided to go back to the parking area to see if anyone else was coming. Sure enough, two more joined us...Kimberly & Missy.

After brief introductions, minor helmet & seat adjustments, we were on our way. We went on through the first section. Jen & Angelia went on ahead as Missy & Kimberly worked their way through the first section. Kimberly has been riding mostly road & Missy had not cycled in a looong time. They had super attitudes about tackling these trails. It was not easy but no one complained & they both smiled (most of the way) I went back to assist Moe w/ her chain..for some reason everytime she tried to shift before the steeper sections, she would throw the chain. No worries though, she snapped it back on & away we went. After finishing out the section, one of the first timers exclaimed "That was fun!" . (woo hoo..do I hear the words of a convert to mountain biking?)

We decided to do some exploring on the roads...(this was a bad idea) I remembered from our night rights in the winter w/ the boyz going down a gravel road that paralleled the river. Well I failed to mention to the rest of the girls that I am directionally challenged...not to mention the fact that we rode these gravel areas in the winter time in the pitch dark w/ headlamps to lead our way..so things looked totally different w/ daylight. Anywho we started down the road towards Mt Union Church. Jen went down first. I took my time & noticed Moe & Angelia waiting at the top of the hill. I hollered to them to come on...it won't be that bad....No sooner had we gotten down to the bottom of the hill when we realized..it leads to nowhere. Now I felt horrible. We had to climb up this steep hill! Well we all did just fine...spun up the hill, no biggie. We then decided to go down a different road that I thought would take us down by the encampments & the river. We cruised on down & lo & behold....a bathroom!!!!! Woo Hoo..no woods for these chickys! After our stop we started to head down to the river when the sign said...No Bikes beyond this point......Crap..that' means we gotta climb again. Back up we went.
Moe threw her chain again...no biggie, we can fix that. We spun back up the hill again. (I'm sure everyone was cursing me at this point...what's this crazy girl trying to do? Kill us?)

We decided to stick to the trails. Whilee Angelia, Jen, Moe & myself were busy climbing these hills, Missy & Kimberly were just cruising around the parking areas...they had the right idea. We met back up w/ them. They decided to call it a night but said they would definitely be back. The remaining 4 of us decided to do one more loop before daylight turned to dusk. Everyone went through the last lap much quicker & no falls or crashes! Way to go ladies..You all rocked!

Next week we'll be back at it again. Thanks for the comraderie & the fun ride!

STUPID KNEE

I was sooo excited to find Diadora Chili Women's MTB shoes that when my 2 pairs (on sale at a huge discount from the Performance catalog) came to my house, I could not wait to change out my cleats and try them out on the bike. In the middle of markng my shoes for the correct cleat position, CRACK! followed by the inability to straighten my leg and put my full weight on that knee, not to mention the gut wrenching pain. Oh Cr#@! This is not good...what have I done? (if you ask my husband, this part was a tad more dramatic than the way I've described it here)

Well after a trip to the Orthopaedic doctor the next day, a few manipulations of the knee by the doc,and lots of x-rays the verdict was in. A sprained LCL. (lateral collateral ligament) This connects your thigh bone to your shinbone along the outside of the leg. Well the good news is it was only a "mild" sprain..Grade 1 on a scale of 1 - 3. And it wasnt' the cartilage which I thought is was...(old injury, surgery 18 years ago to repair it, yada yada yada)

The bad news...no biking - at least for a little while. The physical therapy is coming along well. They've upped the weight on my exercises and increased the reps. I rode w/ Moe on Sunday. We did 21 miles down to Greenhill & back. I had a very minimal amount of discomfort. I can't hammer through hills just yet..but that will come. It just felt good to be back on the bike after almost 2 weeks of no riding/spinning at all.

This was certainly not the way I wanted to start out my season..but that's the way the cookie crumbles..(or my knee in this case).