Andalucia MTB Stage Race - Stage 3

STAGE 3:  Eastern Cordoba

What a mess.  Today after hitting the first mud puddle my rear brakes decided to work just barely.  Sweet…only 45 miles to go on unfamiliar terrain!!  UGH.  At least when I kept them dry I would get a bit more out of them.

This was the day that I knew would likely come but I didn’t know when.  I could barley turn the pedals over.  A sufferfest at its finest for me.  Luckily it was only 5600 feet of climbing on this day but that was about 5599 too much.  My body had a complete melt down and I know it was screaming “REALLY?? AGAIN???”   It was an excruciatingly painful 5 hour day of dare I say, hell. Towards the end I almost lost it completely but didn’t let my mind go there.  Told myself I HAVE to get through this because there kind of really is no choice when you don’t know where you are.  You aren’t really just going to stop.    Instead I chose to enjoy the captivating views as I slogged every foot of that stage to the very end.  And it was odd, I didn’t want to stop racing or riding I just needed to get off the bike and recover the best I could.  Oh and maybe not see another hill in a while too.  Yeah right, fat chance on that one.

Perhaps I chose the wrong kind of coffee this morning

But with Jenny pushing me around all day we came in 3rd.  Here’s to an understanding and wonderful race partner!!!  We were still sitting 2nd overall in the race too!

Note:  After the race I summoned the help of Julian Absalon’s (2 Time Olympic Gold Medalist and multi-time World Champion) mechanic for my 29r Alma Team Orbea.  They totally dialed my bike and did WAY MORE than I even asked for.  Those guys were incredible, did an amazing job and were SO NICE.  Thank you for keeping the bike purring!!!!

Olive farms can be seen forever

Andalucia MTB Stage Race - Stage 2

STAGE 2:  Western Cordoba

What a crazy way to start a race…..take 170 riders up a 10 second sprint on a dirt road and pinch them all through a 2 person wide hole in the fence which sends everyone STRAIGHT down a steep loose rocky hill.  It was tempting to ride that steep part but with all the mayhem, carnage and people slipping everywhere (on foot and on bike) I chose to think about the bike and the rest of the long 4.5 hour day we had ahead and run the sucker. 



Staging just outside our hotel Ayre



It was a good move because whatever Jenny and I did allowed us to jump on Mads and Henricks wheels (current Masters Leaders) across the flats.  They were drilling it to get a gap on their competition while Jenny and I held on strong behind them before going our own pace up the long climb.  We were doing well at this point.  So well that we were in the lead! 

The leaders caught us towards the top and we continued to put the pressure on when Jenny said “We are doing GREAT Kathy”.  And (not even kidding) a second later she says “OH NO!!”  Jenny had chain suck BAD.  So bad that she had to take the chain apart to repair.  I was calm as I didn’t want to rush the repair job.  I was confident in our ability to get back in there if we could do a solid fix.  The real thing I was worried about was what seemed to be an angry bull headed our way.  He got close but didn’t bother us (amen!).  15 minutes later we were back on the bike and riding our own tempo in 5th place now.  Such is bike racing!

It took us about an hour to catch up to the next competitors.  As we made our way through the field, fellow racers were cheering, giving us time gaps and letting us draft off them.  Pretty neat to see the excitement and enthusiasm everyone had to race a bike and help us get back up front!

Spain is hardly flat!

I think we ran into almost every kind of scenario on this day.  From the mechanical to horses merging onto the path that we needed to take, some random hike a bikes on the river (it was NICE change to get off the bike), some missed turns (discovered quickly – no time loss) and a few dropped water bottles (which must be collected in a race like this) but we found our way to back up to 2nd place and 2nd overall in the race!!

Note:  I think I am already getting as good as those competitive eaters are at powering down bananas and figs in the feed zone. What a sight!!  It’s something you’d not want to be caught doing at the dinner table!

Andalucia MTB Stage Race - Stage 1

Getting ready

The next morning we got up around 6:30am for what turned out to be an excellent buffet breakfast by the hotel.  Pretty much everything you could ask for to include the thickest black coffee ever along with salty meats and cheeses galore. Olive oil was abundant as we were in the olive oil production capital of the world. And, In case you are wondering what the current MTB World Champion, Jose Hermida, chose as his pre race food it was a fresh baked baguette with olive oil drizzled all over it.

Now it was time for the real test for me…..to figure out what to eat on the bike.  What was I going to want to eat?  I don’t know!!!  I rarely eat on the bike and usually only fuel with sports drink but now that we were going to be on the bike for 60 + miles I HAD to eat.  I just packed it all (gels, blocks, bars, etc) so that I had a choice.  Better off with some food that you will actually eat because what sounds good now may not sound good at race pace. I was ALREADY thinking about Stage 6 and how I could make it that far without depleting my body or getting dehydrated so I really wanted to be careful.  I also settled for carrying 2 sports bottles and no camelbak because there were going to be plenty of feed stations along the way.

Neutral Start:  CRASH

Before the race started I was on my head.  There was a neutral roll out from the hotel to downtown Cordoba before Stage 1 began.  I knew jitters were in the air and I told myself to stay out of trouble.  I purposely put myself ALONE in the extremely large pack when from out of nowhere a guy swooped in, crossing bars with mine!!  We fought it for a while and I ended up going down hard on the pavement.  Everything flew out of my pockets and no one hit me thank heavens. Jenny was luckily right there to gather everything that had launched and get us back up to the group before the stage start.

Downtown Cordoba

The bike was fine and I was fine- more just annoyed. Got the first war wound on my bike from that one.  Can’t believe everything was ok aside from what turned into a sore left arm for the rest of the week.  To think that my (our) race could have been over before it even began!!!

STAGE 1:  Córdoba–Cerro Muriano

Jenny and I rolled up to the start of the race only having a few minutes to shake off the shock of the crash.  The gun goes off and I send my body into more shock racing from downtown Cordoba towards the hills for 6400 feet of climbing.  That kind of intensity trying to get a good position in the pack made me feel like I wanted to barf for the first 2 hours of the race. Awesome feeling. 

But my mind was easily diverted as all the Andalucía Bike Racers had been started WITH a separate Marathon race that had 1000 starters.  It was flat out mayhem as Jenny and I rode with groups for the first 2.5 hours of the race. Still at that point there was only about a 10 second gap to the next person.  I even gave some poor guy begging for food as I rode by my sports bar. When you are out in the middle of nowhere like that, you are all in it together.  

We headed up paved roads, through tight singletrack, into tiny towns, and down some of the sketchiest descents that I found myself riding thanks to my Nobby Nic Schwalbe Tires!   We passed some amazing ruins during the stage too.  It was truly breathtaking out there.  But it wasn’t completely dry.  There were MANY stream crossings that were ridable but left you with a cold, wet, and frozen foot for the rest of the race.

At about the point we thought the race should be ending it just kept going and going and going.  Oops, they forgot about that last hellish 7k.  And it’s not that the last 7k was that bad but when you expect it to end and it’s not, that’s when the troubles with the head begin.  But Jenny and I kept trucking along even pushing ourselves up one hideous climb only because people were lining it screaming.  It just about cracked me.  That is what you call peer pressure and we succumbed and both decided after maybe that wasn’t the best idea in the world. 

When we finally crossed the line we were told we had come in 2nd and I really thought that they had made a mistake.  But after a few interviews for Spanish TV and a bunch of pictures, it was reality that we had indeed really come in 2nd!!  Wow, in my first stage race ever. I think I could like this stuff!  : )

There was more media coverage than can be imagined

Notes:  I am loving the international feel of this race!!  14 countries are represented and it’s a hit or miss if the person speaks English or not.  Even have some heavy hitters from the pro road arena (Heras and Beltran) mixing it up in the dirt and dust!

Cars are encouraged to park on the sidewalks to make room

Riding home from the grocery store

Many home have a sturdy door that leads to the courtyard

Andalucia MTB Stage Race - Cordoba/Jaen, Spain

Jaen, Spain

Never say never.  I should know that but I had always thought that Mountain Bike Stage racing just sounded like something I would never want to do.  Putting that many hours on a bike some of which can be grueling just had never appealed to me, that is until Jenny Smith (Alpine Orthopaedics/Giant), successful Xterra and MTB Stage Racer, called with an opportunity of a lifetime. 


A paid “vacation?”  Geez, who can say no to that really. Hotels?  Eating off china plates as though you were actually normal and civilized? Free Massages after the race?  Accommodations paid for?  Transportation and Transfers included?    Well “DUH”, of course I want to go!!!  I think?!?! 


Jenny and I made sure we were on the same page before signing up as a team.  The goal?  Get some ripping base training and mileage in. Never mind the fact that I have yet in my lifetime to put in 4.5+ hours on the bike (that may even be a stretch) let alone doing that 6 days in a row!

SLC to ATL to Paris to Malaga, Spain

Let the mishaps begin:   No luggage

Ah heck, who needs luggage anyway?  Well at least the Air France Pilate warned us to “Not smoke IN the toilet”.  That mean I can smoke outside of the toilet??? Just wondering.  : )


I probably should have been a little more alarmed than I was without luggage, being alone in Spain and hoping that my ride from the race organizers was going to be there. I don’t speak Spanish and my husband Chris (aka Pepe) who does, was flying in the next day.  Oh boy.


My luck turned around as a gal I started talking to in Paris, was native to Malaga, spoke English and Spanish and knew exactly what to do about lost luggage. She waited patiently with me at the luggage carousel to make sure my bags were indeed not there and then walked me over to the “window” to file a lost luggage claim.  This was taking time and I was sweating a little that my ride (that I hadn’t seen yet) would leave me since I was officially late for the pickup.  Ok, getting nervous.  And I couldn’t go outside and get the driver because they wouldn't let me back in!!!  So I made a few calls (that’s gonna hurt!!!) and found out that the van driver was there and would wait.  Relief.

Next mishap:  Towed van

Secretly I didn’t mind not having to lug my luggage around the airport to the van.  Only thing was that our van wasn’t there.  The driver, Pablo was, but no van.  Apparently he parked a bit too long waiting for me and the van was towed.  Oops.


In the meantime myself, Jenny who had appeared on scene from another flight, and newly formed acquaintances Thomas (Specialized), Henrick and his race partner Mads (eventual Masters Overall winners) hung out at the airport Starbucks.  Yep, Starbucks is near the Mediterranean too.

Mishap #3:  Got insurance?

Once Pablo figured out the van situation and paid the fine we packed and were off…..well until he scraped the side mirror on the concrete parking structure.  Poor Pablo!!  And once he got going again Henrick took his fist and hit the side of the van to make Pablo think he hit something else!!  Pretty funny but I think at that point Pablo was ready to abandon ship!

 I could see clearly that this was going to be quite the experience! 

Malaga to Cordoba

Spain was super green as we made our way through the hills, expansive olive groves/plantations and even some bull fighting arenas.  To make the area even more beautiful there was a dam nestled in between the mountains. Incredible area.

An olive grove

Small white cities were nestle in between olive groves as we drove

Getting settled

A couple hour drive to the beautiful hotel in Cordoba and a frantic trip to the quick mart (think 7-11) that had a BAKERY in the back of it and Jenny and I were feeling like we could start getting settled. 

Jenny at the mart with Bakery in back!

Well that was after rearranging the room, identifying that thing in the bathroom as a bidet and laughing about the hairdryer that looked like a hose vacuum.

Remodeling

Opening ALL my luggage

The next day my bike showed up and I got it built just in time to join Jenny for a ride.  The ride felt great after 2 days of no riding and the warmth felt exceptional. Even got a sneak peek of some of the singletrack in the area.  Hard packed smooth dirt-loving it!



Just around the corner from the hotel was a cute neighborhood

24 Hours of Old Pueblo - Tucson, AZ

Going to Tucson, AZ mid winter is not the worst thing in the world. But only if Tucson holds up its end of the bargain!!!

It at first sucked me in with its 60-70 degree days. Zephanie my teammate took me to a ripping place to mountain bike called Fantasy Island. And it was just that, with rolling, swooping singletrack through cactus. It was fun but I couldn’t help but think it was called Fantasy Island only if you fantasize about cactus!!!



It was time to hone in those mtb skills of looking at something like a broken off cactus in the middle of the trail and teaching your brain to NOT to go right towards it. This was the maiden voyage ON DIRT sitting in the saddle of my brand new Orbea Team Alma 29r and Stan’s Crest 29r wheels. What an unbelievable ride! I had the bike working for me in no time. I sat back and put it on autopilot as it took me down steep rock drops, fast tight turns and up and over the punchy climbs that make Fantasy Island what it is!



After that we met( where else!?!!) at Trader Joes with our team manager, Shannon, to start thinking about the needs of the weekend and pick up our sparkling fresh and clean team kits and wardrobe. Pink and white! I love it and its super well done. I think I have enough stuff for 20 people though! Wow, Verge clothing really dialed us in and set us up really nicely!

Then in no time it was time to head up to the Old Pueblo course, check it out and get our camp (of tents, cars and one box truck) set up. The course was mostly fast hard pack singletrack in the beginning, a bit of fire road to break it up and at the end there was “the climb” which was actually quite gradual and nice. The sun was still out and it was still relatively warm when we pre-rode. I should have reveled in it when I could have not knowing what was to come for the weekend.

Team Camp


After taking a bunch of team photos along with filling some sponsor obligations, our team of 4 (Zephanie Blasi, Kaila Hart, Nina Baum and myself) in our total and complete seriousness met at about 11:59pm before the 12pm start on Saturday to figure out who was going to do the La Mans Start (a race start when a person has to RUN to their bike). Luckily Nina was the winner.

And she was the right gal for the job because once the race started I have never seen someone looks so “together” as I did when I saw Nina near the front of the race, daintily jog up and delicately grab her bike and go hit the course for the first race lap. It was truly impressive.

The bikes lined up waiting for their owners to come grab them after a nice run


I was up next after her lap and the wind was fierce. I was fighting it all the way out to the end of the course waiting patiently for the moment I would reap the rewards of a tail wind back through the cactus. Ahhhhhh….

I unfortunately passed a few people that had gone down hard and were being taken off course by medical. The word was that one person face planted and had a new feature in his cheek (a marble sized rock) and the other gal reportedly hit a cactus and the 4 inch prongs were only sticking out of her skin maybe an inch. Oh my!!! For me as I meandered thru the same cactus, it served as a HUGE reminder to BE CAREFUL out there. All my best to those athletes and I hope they are on their way to good health soon.

But that is all it took for me. I turned the “I don’t want to hit a cactus” mantra into “I WILL NOT hit a cactus”. I made that happen thank heavens.

By the time Kaila and Zephanie did their laps and Nina did another it was time for my first night lap (2nd race lap). It was just as fun as I remembered too not having ridden at night for about 7 years when I last did a 24 hour race (24 Hours of Moab). The lights helped out extremely well with that one – thanks Light & Motion!!!

Zephanie and Kaila ripped some awesome laps next and Nina even rolled in a great lap after having a bit of a mechanical. The rain had started in and the temperature was plummeting.

We were ahead in 1st at this point!!

And...that’s about when I got to head out in the pouring rain. Well, I guess it was good to have the cyclocrosser do the nastiest lap to exist in the 24hr race because I ripped one of my fastest night laps!!! What is seriously wrong with THAT picture? I mean really.

Throughout the night I would return to my tent to either find that I needed a dust buster from the high winds that had completely loaded my tent with silt or that I needed a shop vac to get rid of the water that had poured in.

Luckily for us Verge clothing had set us up with so much race gear and I had to use every last piece. I had to start really planning ahead and picking and choosing what I would be wearing each lap because things were NOT air drying in the AZ humidity. I couldn’t believe it!! Thanks Verge for the support!!

The “Baum Bros.” and Alex (mechanic) served as our race support, logistics coordinators, alarm clocks and cooks throughout the night and they were absolutely positively invaluable to “Operation we want to win”. Could NOT have done it without their support and help. They also stayed up all night long getting our sorry buns out of the respective tent at the right time. On that note, I NEVER EVER went to sleep and was up all night. Too hyped up I think.

Alex working hard


Jack B. after supporting us all night long


During the 4th lap at around 4am I pulled a rookie move and didn’t check my tire pressure and by the 2nd turn on the singletrack race I was bottoming out. Oops – ee – daisy. That was a moronic move on my part. But that’s what the first race is all about-working out and remembering all those details.

If that could have been the only thing to go wrong on that lap I would have been happy BUT my light started flickering about 20min into the 1hr 10min lap. Great…..I think I remember what that means from racing Moab ages ago….low battery!! It must have somehow not got charged in between laps. DOH!!! So I really picked up the pace not knowing how long I had and yep, the main light on my handlebars went out with about a half hour to go. At least it faded out and didn’t just go dark on me. And also thank heavens I had a helmet light still that weighed as much as a paper bag. That Light & Motion “back up” light could have been run on its own really. It was a strong light. On that note our lights from Light & Motion made it so that you didn’t even really notice that it was dark out! Pretty amazing how far the technology has come!

In between laps it was KAH-KAH-KAH KOLD!!!!! I was hanging out in my knee length down jacket that I use for Cyclocross, rain boots, wool base layers, hat, etc. IT WAS NOT WARM by any stretch but thankfully there were a few camp fires around to get some heat from.



By the time my last lap came around at 9am I was excited to do one last lap in the daylight. It was a blast!

Kaila Hart brought in that last, final and winning lap effortlessly! The award ceremony was freezing and windy but well worth hanging around and celebrating with everyone to a job well done!

Stans NoTubes teams take two 1st places in Single Speed Solo Female and 4 Person Women's Open and 2nd in the 5 Person Co-ed 200+ Comined Age!!!!

About Those Doors.....

New Team Alma Orbea 29r


You have heard it a 1000 times: One door closes and another opens.

I didn’t make the Cyclocross Worlds Team. Bummed, yes, Heartbroken, no. Gonna make myself into a little ball and cry??? Heck no but am I bound and determined to make the team next year? Yes!!! Of course its not going to be easy but I am REAL good about making lemonade outta lemons so here I go again at what I do best!!! I have already scoped out the CX World Cups and have a soft Cyclocross schedule for the fall/winter and I can’t WAIT.

That said, I am going to have to wait. In the meantime though I have been had the privilege of being picked up by a newly formed mountain bike team, Stan’s NoTubes Elite MTB Team. I can’t tell you just how honored I am to ride for Stans NoTubes, Orbea, Sixty-Five.12, Schwalbe, Ergon, Rotor, Genuine Innovations, Sram, CrankBrothers and Verge. Zeal optics even threw in a slew of sunnies at me for on and off the podium.

The Stans NoTubes team will be seen doing the Pro XCT’s, World Cups as well as many races around the USA and globe. See press release HERE.

As for the open doors…..24 Hour racing and stage racing. Say what?! Yep, I am committed. First up will be the challenge of jumping back into 24 hour racing. It has been 8 years since I did a 24 Hour race (24 Hours of Moab) and I am looking forward to checking back into the scene for a weekend. Our team is doing its team launch at the 24 Hours of Old Pueblo in Tucson, AZ as a team of 4 women. And immediately following (2 days later!) I will be heading to Spain for a mountain bike stage race to race as a 2 person team with Jenny Smith, consistent Xterra and Stage Race podium finisher.

What what what?!!! Yeah tell me about it. These are the wings of change it seems. Or maybe it’s that thing called……..I am actually enjoying riding and racing for the first time in my life to such a degree that I am willing commit to these things now knowing that I am fully in and excited about doing them!!

Oddly enough, if I had made the worlds Cyclocross Team I would not have been in a comfortable position to commit to either of these races. Guess that's where the open door comes into play!Not that it is an extremely comfortable position because I have no idea what to expect from my body and mind for either race!

I am looking forward to what adventure lays ahead. I am also looking forward to learning even more about myself as I master the art (hopefully) of pushing through when you just want to stop and think you can‘t make it or think you can’t even turn another pedal during the mtb stage race. It’s called a challenge and I am looking so forward to it. Bring it on!!!!!

Getting down to St. George to train for the upcoming stage race with Bob Saffell and stage racers extraordinaire, Jen Hanks and Shannan Boffeli.



Ya DON'T want to see this (a helicopter) in the middle of the desert when you are riding.

2010 Season Recap

Who would've thunk that I was going to go from being sick as heck in January for a month while mourning the loss of my parents to standing on this the podium at US Cyclocross Nationals in December?

I have always believed in myself but after such a turbulent 09, I wasn't sure what 2010 was going to bring me....life wise or fitness wise.

But all that said, I have wanted the podium at cross nats for a long time. The hunger started when I came super close in my first big season of racing cross in 2007 at the snowy, ice rutted Kansas City Nationals when I was knocking at the door to the podium with 1.5 laps to go and then promptly put an end to that with a slashed sidewall. I have never felt disappointment like that. To be so close to seeing a dream becoming a reality and then bam...it was all over in a blink of an eye.

In 2008 I had the fitness but not the mind. After having a great cross season I was dealing with what was the start of super sick parents right before nats. I placed 12th that day but wasn't expecting much from myself do to life circumstances which of course was part of the problem (not expecting much).

And last year of course, I showed up for the US Nats race in Bend 5 weeks after dad passed and that would be the only UCI race I would contest that season. I had no points, started 67th or something and made my way up to 21st by the end. But that is the race when I got hungry again. I could feel it. I knew I could do it and most importantly I knew I wanted to race full time again!

The immediate trauma of losing my parents was over by then although the wounds were still wide open and would take almost a solid year to really heal up. And guess when that year mark was? You guessed it, at the beginning of the Cyclocross in Sept.

I have never felt like myself (and beyond really) until this year in cross once the wounds had a chance to mend. I never knew what it was like to race at this level without having ill parents to worry about. Dad was sick when I was just starting to show my face in the Top 5 at big XC races in 07 and I worried about him and mom all the time. The worry started to wear on me especially in 2009 when both mom and dad took a big turn for the worse.

When my parents passed last year during the cross season, it was 2 of the saddest moments in my life so far. But I was happy for mom that she found her rightful place, a place she wanted to go and I was happy that dad was no longer suffering silently. I was also oddly happy for myself, that I too was now able to move on since they had already done so themselves. Now it was my turn to move forward knowing full well that it was going to be a long road.

And it was.

But now here I am. Healed, happy, doing what I love and dare I say doing it well.

I have never felt like this EVER on the bike. Even in the days that I started getting on the podium at NORBA's in Cross Country, I never felt like I do everytime I ride or turn myself inside out racing. I look forward to whatever the training is that day, easy or difficult and to just be on the bike is more fullfilling that it ever has been. I am happy and I am loving every single second of what I am doing, even on the bad days. I don't just love the training and racing part either. I enjoy the whole thing: the travel, the people, the experiences- everything. Even packing! And that says a whole lot because if anyone knows me they know that packing is my least favorite thing to do.

I have been set free from my emotions and from my life that has drug me down with it these past few years.

Looking back on it I was merely floating along, just getting through, dealing with the most important part, my parents and their health while trying to race.

They are now both gone bless their hearts and I am pursuing the dream that has been in me all this time to pursue: To race, be successful in my mind and to enjoy it!

I am now doing that and every fiber in me tells me that this is why I am standing on that podium in that picture. I love what I do and I am willing to take risks to get there.

No, I did not win, I came in 4th but to me that is my win. It is something I wasn't expecting until I got further into the season and saw just what I was capable of physically and how strong I now was emotionally. Nothing for me has ever been as hard as losing both parents in 8 weeks time and it has made normal life seem like a breeze now. It has made racing and the pain associated with digging deep bearable.

The pain I went through last year was excruciating and it lasted a long time, not just a few hours like a cross country race or 40min like a cross race. The pain was all day and all night as I worried and cried most days. Now the pain is simply a 40 minute race? I will take it! I think I can give 40 min of crushing myself pretty easily after years of mental pain.......its all tied in. I think that is what the difference is now.

I am a changed person from that experience. I see things completely differently now. I see other people completely differently. I see life different. I see people's actions differently. I forgive easier, I am not as quick to make judgements. Its all for the better and I have come out on top of a hugely awful experience somehow. I don't know how it morphed into a positive experience but maybe that is what you do when you are so low and you are an athlete that plays mind games with yourself all the time in racing, training......and in life. Maybe that translated into life and making a good thing out of the bad. Whatever it was and however it went, it worked and I stand on that podium with probably the biggest proudest smile that I could ever have.

Happy with 4th place, not sad that I didn't get third. Happy with 4th. Sure the athlete in me asks what I could have done to get third but there is a time and place for everything and this whole season has been a process for me of learning the courses again, learning who the girls are again, learning what I am capable of, what my and their strengths and weakness are and most importantly learning who I am again as a different racer and person.

What a year!!! I am certainly hoping it's not over as I have put my bid in for the Cyclocross Worlds Team and have been training my butt off ever since Nationals. We will know tomorrow who made the team.

But seriously, I am just simply happy to be in the running for a spot. I couldn't ask for more right now really. I am just..........plain happy!

Obviously I would be honored to go to Germany at the end of January. If it's meant to be it'll be and if not, there is a reason for that too. If it's not meant to be I will simply look to new goals for the mountain bike season ahead with my new team (more to come on that).

Cross your fingers....or don't....because whatever is supposed to happen WILL.

US Cyclocross Nationals - Bend, OR

After the USGP in Portland I was able to hang out a bit before heading off to the next race. Got a nice non rainy ride in with Sue one day and then it was back at it as I made my way toward Bend, OR for US Cyclcoross Nationals.

The lead up to that race was VERY different than I am accustomed to travel wise. I kind of let the ball bounce where it wanted to and let go of the reins a bit. This was probably a real first for me in my whole career. I usually am super self sufficient and book hotels, cars and all the rest far in advance and will do so sometimes just as back up in case something doesn't work out. But not this time! This time I rolled with it, getting a ride to Bend, not knowing as I was making my way there where I was staying and even how I was going to get around once I was dropped off by my lonesome (the rest of the team was coming in on Thursday). It was an interesting experiment for me and everything turned out just fine as I lived to tell the tale. I can't believe now looking back at it all that I wasn't a little more concerned about where I was going to be sleeping that night in Bend as I was making my way there. But it was all fine!

Once in Bend Shannon, Kenny and I road to the TT course from their host housing then we road the (TT) course itself. It was a good ride but we had to get back ASAP because it was going to be dark soon!! So what did we do? We went the complete and toal wrong way home getting "lost" on our bikes in the dark, cold snowy and sometimes icy conditions. Ah heck yeah, that is certainly the way you want to prepare for nats! Hahaha. Our 45 min quick ride turned into hours. It was a mini epic ride. We almost called a cab but figured it was better to keep moving because the temp was dropping fast. It was actually pretty fun but just slightly chilly and perhaps a bit dangerous at times too!!!!

The reason I got to Bend early was that I thought I may do the Masters race on Thursday (Time Trial for call up purposes) and Friday (the actual race) along with the Elite race on Sunday but my body had other plans. By the time Wednesday came I still had no idea if I wanted to really do the TT and the Friday race and I was really struggling with the decision. Something was holding me back and that was that I was thinking I really wanted to put all my eggs in one basket and really go for it on Sunday in the Elite race. But I was already there, signed up for the races and blah blah blah so at bedtime the night before the required TT I asked for a sign if I should race or not.

And....I woke up with a soar throat that very next morning. Ask and you shall receive I suppose. Yikes.

So problem solved there...no Masters race for me but new problem created....don't need a full blown head cold before Sunday now do I? Oh brother, now what?

Guess I just lay low. I had told myself adamantly that I will NOT get sick. I can't and I won't. I told myself that after the race I can get as sick as I wanted but not until then. I was really dead set on this too. I gave my body no option and went nowhere which really sucked since I wasn't full blown sick and there were plenty of parties going on. Instead, I took a day off then road the course the next day and because the course wasn't easy to spin I put out some effort to do so and woke up Saturday with even more of a sore throat (but not full blown one yet). Great. I nursed my body again the rest of that day still getting on the bike but not doing anything too crazy. I was treading the thin thin line of completely overdoing things and showing up on Sunday with a head cold now!!

Racing with a head cold is doable but so is racing with a fracture right? Its not something you really want to do if at all avoidable and I was doing everything I could to avoid it including downing my new favorite tea discovered at our host family's house, Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride. Yep, they got everyone hooked to that. So much so that I couldn't even find it at the Newport Market (the best market ever - a must go!) anymore!!

But it all worked. I woke up Sunday not even thinking about how I had been feeling the last few days, got to the venue and started warming up. I was already in the zone. SWEET.

This was looking to be one of the nicest days yet this week for racing too. Temps were in the 40's and the course was still sloppy in areas (see pic)...


...wet boggy grass in others (see pic)


...and of course there was still the massive mud puddle (it was a lake earlier in the week) that we got to ride through just ensuring that you got totally wet during your race.


Some of the course was even tacky!


In addition to that there was a flyover that you got to ride up, over...


...and back down.

There was also a set of barriers (of course!) and that was followed by a "Get in your pedals now and go as hard as you can section" in order to get up and over the steep hill that immediately followed. That hill took everything to get up it each time. You HAD to be in the correct gear before you went through the barriers. Just one of those Little extra things you must think about in your race while pinned. Lovely!

Before the race, the women lined up on the line 8 across and well over 10 rows deep. I was the start of the third row as you are called up by your UCI ranking, which of course depends on how many races you did that year, how well you did or maybe how well you hit those races knowing that no one was going to be there and you could clean house. It's all about the points. This year I didn't go points crazy like I have in years past. I did what I wanted to do and kept it at that. If you are strong enough, you will prevail although it will take extra work and determination and maybe even some extra risk taking to get there.

I got my call up and took my calculated position on the line and I was ready. I got a great warm up in, and I was soooooo excited about the course that I could hardly wait to race. I was ready to rock.

Here is the 3min version video of the race where you can see all the conditions out there.

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The whistle blew and the mayhem of 100 plus women all wanting the best possible outcome at the end of the fast and furious 40minutes started their race. We all sprinted up the pavement and all rounded the corner hitting the downward muddy straightaway in mass.

I was able to start escaping at that point and was around 12th after the pits, halfway through the lap. I wasn't worried as I just pressed on. The confidence has been with me this whole season and it has been such a wonder!!! It is amazing how much more you relax when you know you are capable of something, your bike is working, your body is working and everything is just flowing at that moment. What a great feeling.

I continued to chomp away at the field making my way towards the front and eventually up to 3rd place! That was short lived though as, Meredith, who would eventually take 3rd that day had no intentions of letting me stay there. She is right behind me in this picture getting ready to make her move with a few laps to go.

Once she got through the fireworks really started happening as our team of 3 Hudz-Vista Subaru riders (me, Sue and Nicole) all came together.

This was a good thing because we are teammates but its also a bad thing. You do the math. 1st - 3rd were up ahead and then there was us three. ONE of our team members would not make the podium. Ugg.

It was time to be smart, be calculated and to not let anything hold you back. We all wanted the podium....and bad. You wouldn't believe how bad I wanted it. I was so determined that I told myself that it will happen and to just let it play out. I had no ultimate plan to attack here or to attack there...yet. I just went and watched for the moment. The 3 of us traded places leading, attacking each other, and just plane taking blows at each other for the remainder of the race. It was downright dare I say, fun as we were letting each other have it.

And with not even a minute or two left in the race, everything came apart. Nicole was first up and over the flyover with me behind her and then Sue. We were all slightly separated at that point but not by more than a few seconds. The race was coming to a close. We just needed to get over the flyover, through some boggy grass, a set a stairs, an off camber muddy rutted corner until we hit the pavement straight to the finish line. There wasn't much time!

And it was right after the flyover that Nicole hit the deck and that is when I knew it was "Go time". Pin it to win it. I am taking off here around the corner as Nicole tries to remount and Sue is closing in behind us both!

I get through the boggy section and up the stairs......barely.... and Sue is now right behind me seeing her opportunity to snag and pass me. She takes that opportunity right before the off camber mud section and is now in front of me. I bomb through that section, no brakes in order not to let her go. We were going to be in a perfect position to sprint each other now as we rounded that final corner to the straight when all of the sudden I see her look back and hesitate for 0.3 seconds. And I was faced with another pin it to win it moment. And I did, coming across the line in 4th!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sue then came across the line right behind me for 5th and Nicole 6th.

What a (good!!) day at the office for us all. That was one of the most exciting races that I have been involved with this year.

Sue giving me a big hug at the end of our race.

Post Race interview:

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The Elite Women's National Cyclocross Podium (me, Georgia Gould, Katie Compton, Meredith Miller, Sue Butler)

Afterwards before heading back to Portland and then finally home the next day our team got together and (Sue and I) had a big ole burger and beer at the Deschutes Brewery.

A GREAT job well done to all!!!

(Our team at Nationals, clockwise: Jake Wells-23rd Elite Men, Jon Baker-Masters 35-39 National Champion, Nicole Duke-Masters 35-39 National Champion , Matt Pacocha - Masters 30-34 National Champion and 21st Elite Men, Sue Butler -5th place Elite Women, Tom Hopper - our trusty team mechanic and me with the uh.....devil eyes)

What a downright fun season!

USGPCX #8 - Portland, OR

It's funny how a mere 22 hours can change everything about your racing....thank heavens. Today I felt GREAT. It was such a better day than yesterday. Yesterday I had the mental fire but seemed to not have the legs to back it up and today I had both. Oh joy! That can make for some super fun racing when it all comes together like that. The confidence comes through and life is good!

It's amazing how strong everyone is right now. Everyone is getting ready for US nationals next week in Bend which means most people are trying to peak around now......and it shows. Suddenly there are 20 people in front of me in the first turn instead of around 10. That can be mind boggling 1 min into your race thinking that maybe you are going well but luckily I never had that thought! The confidence was there and I knew it so I just kept calm and steady and passed when appropriate.

Overall the course was the same, it had dried out a little bit and the wind was howling. The thick mud was now fudgey where you would ride thru it and the line would stay there. The back section of berms was getting pressed out and seemed to have more but deeper lines in them. They would throw your bike a little but that made it fun! There were still power boggy sections through grass and such but overall a dryer course and luckily my body was ready for it.



I simply stayed on the gas and was determined today. I even fell and slipped (see knee above) losing a few spots but I didn't let that affect anything as I chomped my way back thru the girls that took advantage of my fall. Kind of annoying that I did that but oh well. I decided early on I wasn't giving anything away today and that people would need to earn their spots so I kept on it.



I was super aggressive in the corners taking inside lines that were less traveled and more risky. But you gotta do what you gotta do to get up there and today I was confident enough and willing to really bank everything on my skills in those corners. And it worked. I gained seconds in each corner and made my way up to 6th in the end!!



This was the final USGPCX to be contested this season and my 6th place finish put me in 5th Overall for the USPGCX Series. Given that I had no idea how this season was going to turn out after having miss all of last season racing against the nations best, I am pretty darn happy!!!

USGPCX #7 - Portland, OR

I got to Portland safe and sound and the weather was unseasonably shall we say.....nice. The course was pretty boggy thick with mud in sections. Half of the course was tacky and the other half not so much. But either way it was a blast because the mud made it so technical on that other side of the course. Mud ruts were forming (my favorite!!!!) and I was gonna have a blast on that techy side. Or so I thought......

Had my body not felt like it had shut down from not racing (GASP!!) a whole 2 weekends in a row I would have had extreme fun on that backside instead of just some fun. And actually I know what "shut down" feels like for me and really I wasn't quite in that particular pain cave but I was indeed in this one which was a step better:



The pain cave really speaking its mind


I honestly don't think I have worked that hard for 8th place in a while. OUCHEE - MAMA. This realization started to hit me about 2 laps in. I was like "Wow, I really am not feeling the love right now." Not something that you want to find yourself saying mid race either and usually I am really good and nipping those thoughts in the bud but this was hard to not truly realize! But that's when you REALLY do need to step in and mix those thoughts around to play mind games on yourself to get you thru.

And at that same moment of realization that I was hurting, I by accident got a look back and saw that only 4 bike lengths behind me there was a train of 6-7 girls sitting on each other. Where'd they come from!?And there I was in never never land all by my lonesome.

The thought then was "Catch or Be Caught and to go like hell". Had those women caught me I would have been effectively been in no better position than the last girl in that group which was around 15th and I was going to do everything it took, EVERYTHING to stay away by what small gap I had already formed on them. God that was painful and hard mentally too.

I also thought I was going to puke mid race and actually thought I might have to stop mid race to do so. I raced my heart out, somehow broke the group behind me, passed a few women and came in 8th at the end. And this is just what it felt like that whole 40 minutes. Eeeek gad.



And in proper fashion for this cyclocross season, I crossed the finish line and started barfing. This time though, it really didn't feel relieving as it always has, instead it felt pretty yucky. Just par for the course I guess.

Santa Barbara

Because I hadn't travelled every single weekend the last 5 weeks to WA, KY, CO, CA and back to CO, we decided to head to Santa Barbara for Thanksgiving. I mean really, do you have a house to live in? I think that may be over rated, plus we have super good friends, Kristin and Eric who live in SB and we love seeing them!!

As if the company, the weather and everything else wasn't already great in SB, on one of my training rides I saw a baby bobcat! I was cruising along on my cross bike on some trails when all of the sudden this what I thought was massive house cat started running down the trail in front of me. Then I figured out that is no massive house cat! That's a bobcat!

And upon acknowledging that fact, within a blink of an eye I had dismounted, turned the bike and heading away from the bobcat. I went the other way to the street and to my surprise when I looked back up at the trail he had been on, he was still on it, only further down now and stalking out his meal. It was amazing to see all that especially in a local Santa Barbara and very populated neighborhood!



The training over the week was great though and getting away allowing the body to recoup some was a nice benefit although during the car ride on the way out my legs thought differently. On the way out my legs were not happy campers. They were achy and fussy and it felt like I had restless leg syndrome while my hubby drove. I was a squirmy mess the whole way which I have never experienced. It was all the racing and travel I am sure of it. Luckily there is a GREAT massage therapist in Santa Barbara who has tons of experience working with Pro Cyclists and he got me in. That did wonders as I was a new person the next day.

Santa Barbara was a blast but immediately upon the close of our quick vacation I had a few days to turn it all around and head up to Portland and Bend, OR for the next 11 days for the final races of the series and year.

A view of the Pacific Ocean out of SB