MAC Series #3 - Wilmington, DE

You could say today didn't start out peachy. First I took my A Bike out of the car and the derailleur was bent. Lovely. Thank heavens we have to 2 trusty mechanics on hand, Buck and Morgan. They rule. I wasn't worried a bit that they would have the bike up and running in no time. And I still had my B bike with me right? So one bike was working and it'd be all fine and dandy if we couldn't get the other up and running in time.

...Well that is what I was thinking until some dude RUNS OVER my Reynolds carbon wheel that was attached to my B bike laying on the ground not far from my passenger door WITH HIS CAR.

Yes, CAR.

He stops the car ON MY WHEEL and looks at me; I am doing other stuff until I feel the loomy shadow of his car and turn around and about have a heart attack. Nothing like seeing a CAR tire sitting on your bike wheel before your race. I tell him to GET OFF IT and he drives away as if NOTHING has happened. Not a care or concern in the world for him and yet he has potentially ruined my race. That was less that considerate I must say.

And, luckily the Reynolds wheel HELD UP if you can even believe it and so did the Challenge Tire! Buy Reynolds Wheels and Challenge everyone! They rock! I was SO lucky.

So those were my 2 pre race dramatics which it seems you always have whether its forgetting your GU gel at the line or having your bike wheel run over by a car. It is always something and you must be prepared to "deal" at all times.

Alright now for the race. It was super hilly for cross race. It was dry and sunny out with grass off camber FAST descents and steep pitches that were barely barely barely ridable. Overall the course was super bumpy requiring low tire pressure to take the burden off your arms. One barrier section in a very inconvenient spot.....what else is new?

Got a picture of this tower that sits on the DuPont estates that we were racing on. We climbed up to that thing on every lap on some singletrack that made it feel like an mtb race. It was fun although quite painful. I just put the pain in the back of my head on that one.


I had a first row start which I found to be very convenient heading up the pavement like a bat out of hell with everyone. And right away Mo, Deidre (my teammate!!) and I got a gap that we just kept growing and growing over then next 40 minutes.

And mid race........I became a yo yo again. Losing time over the barriers and in other "cross" sections and then closing the gap. It was well said when a reporter came up to me at the end and said "how many times did you close the gap...172". I think it was 173 though. But I did not give up. That thought and notion wasn't part of what I was thinking so it wasn't an option.

The finish line came down to a sprint for 1-2-3. Yes again. Same thing happened in Gloucester, MA last weekend. Starting out the sprint was Deidre in 1st, Mo second and me on the back. Deidre wound it up and so did Mo and I thought hey, why not be a copy cat and so I wound it up too and was able to take Mo just moments before crossing the finish line.

Velo Bella went 1-2!!!! And 5 (Barb) and 8 (Anna)!! Nice work!


Here is a picture of the area


Deidre, Barb H, Anna, Mo, some random chick.


And more pics of the area.


Here is a bit of a wright up on the race although they have the story wrong in the end. I came in 2nd.

Tomorrow is more racing up in Ludwigs Corner, PA. Yee Haw!

Boston to DE

On the road again!


And still enjoying the leaves....this time from my car.


Got to New Haven, CT and saw Yale which was a first for both. Anna, who I met up with there goes to Yale; she is an amazing athlete and scholar. Impressive.


Got to see New York City from a distance for the first time in my life. Yes, first time. This is the George Washington Bridge......and a dirty windshield! :)


And after 6 hours of driving we got to Wilmington, DE! Never been to Delaware either. We got here just in the knick of time for me to get a bit of a ride in too and it was gorgeous! The trees were so thick in sections on the road that you thought it was midnight out.


And after a long day in the car we settled in at host housing at essentially crashed almost immediately.

Still in Boston

Well, for like 5 more minutes...



I am getting ready to head to PA and DE for the next races this weekend right now. But in the meantime I have been squeezing out every last bit of a gorgeous fall here in Boston that I can!



So now off I go to Connecticut to meet up with my teammate Anna. From there we head to our host housing.

On the road again!

Whoops

Sara left Michael (her hubby) and I alone for 2 seconds and we successfully and pretty much immediately went and locked ourselves out of the house.

Sooooo, we got a great look at the moon as we sat outside on the stoop waiting for her to come home.


At least it was warm. Can't take us anywhere can you?

Nap Time

Wow I am tired today. I need super sleep right now because I can barely move. Apparently I gave it all I had this weekend so that is good. My left hand is really sore though. It will hopefully get used to the pounding that I give it every weekend soon.

But I did slowly get my stuff ready and got outside for a ride today hitting the bike path.


and some wooded trails too.


It was fun but it was more fun to get home and go to bed.


I am whooped.

CX Gran Prix of Gloucester #2-Gloucester, MA

Stage Fort Park is on the water


Yo - yo.

No, I am not saying "hi" or trying to get your attention I am simply stating the only fact from the race today: I was a yo - yo the entire race.

The race started off like a shot except for this time I didn't hear blowing tires behind me along with the clanging of metal from wrecks occurring. A much cleaner start today I must say for us all. Amy D my teammate was off like a shot and never to be seen again. Oh yeah and on that note, the UCI lady said to us on the line not to go crazy up the pavement of the start because the race isn't won there. Are you kidding? Yeah it is. What's up with these strange lectures on the line anyway? Shouldn't they be taking the time instead to calculate THIS YEARS points so that we can line up accordingly .....instead of using last years UCI points to do this? For some reason (and maybe there is a darn good one) they wait until the first World Cup Cyclocross race (October 19th) to calculate this years points that you have been getting. So we are lining up this year on last years points. Sweet guys - yeah I will be sure to go slow on the pavement. I guess there intentions of being safe are all good though.

So yeah, Amy is off like a shot and takes the lead and I am sitting around 5th or 6th I suppose going into the first grassy corner.

Today we had the same obstacles as yesterday (sandpit and barriers) IN ADDITION to a run up. This run up was like the one in Lakewood, WA that I did a few weeks ago in steepness but thankfully not in length. This one today seemed like a hop-skip- and a jump compared to the other!

The very top of today's run up


Looking down the run up. The path to it down below is right on the water.


But the problem for me today was that I felt flat running the sandpit and running the run up. I was no gazelle....lets put it that way. And that left me getting gapped after EACH obstacle on EACH lap EACH time. It sucked!! Then in between those I would have time to chase down 2nd -4th and by the time I got to them I was tired and had to sit. Then the next obstacle would come and ....you got it .....they gap me a few bike lengths. It was a constant yo yo where I was attached to the group and then would fall off after the obstacle. It was so bad that it became predicable in my head as to exactly where on course I was going to catch back on. Ridiculous. I guess I need to look at it like: at least I had the oomph and gumption to get my tail back onto the group each time. It would be really easy to give up but I didn't and it did pay off because I could have come in 2nd if I had known what I was doing in the sprint finish at the end. Of course firing off all those matches to get back on the group each time didn't help anything........

At the tippy end of the last lap I successfully positioned myself into 4th place, one gal right behind me and 2 pulling. The 3 of us got a bit of a gap on the gal behind and I decide to attack Mo (in 3rd) on a pitchy uphill section that immediately u turns back down an off camber hill and then goes up again. Successful attack? - yes but she was able to counter that and we were back at square one sitting in (her) 3rd and (me) 4th. Hmmmm? Now I gotta think quick since that didn't work and the finish line is .....oh....you know....around the corner and up paved hill and its anyones game at this point. Not much time to get it done now!

And before I can begin formalizing a plan - BAM - 5th comes around like a shot on the pavement taking both of us. I was able to follow and pass Mo but it was over. 2nd - 5th place all came across the line within a few seconds from each other. I came in 4th. Meanwhile Amy D. was already napping after reveling in her 2nd win of the weekend. You go girl!

Meanwhile Sara got the same start position on the last row, passed on any fights with hay bales and let it fly coming in 14th!! Well done considering she isn't training with any intensity at all right now since her focus is La Ruta MTB Race coming up in November. Oh yeah, and after the race today she decided to ride her bike home 35 miles back to Boston. Yeah, I think I will drive thank you. :)

The venue


Some spectators sat on that rock to watch the races


Part of the mostly grass course.


Nice views of the Gloucester Harbor from the park




And while I was out East racing, Chris just went down the block from our house and raced the B Men 35+ in the Utah Cyclocross Series. It was cold and snowy out in Heber City but he still came away with his 2nd victory of the season! Check out a picture of him here. (in blue). Yey Chris!

Oh yeah...and this thing on my arm???? It is from doing something really weird when I go to set my bike back on the ground after shouldering it. I need to stop that.... and quick!

....now if they would just make "pedal pads" for the end of your pedal that DIGS into your lower back when you are shouldering. But since they don't make pedal pads I got something that looks like that thing on my arm on my back too!

Yeah!!! Pedal pads!! :) That'd look sweet! Or maybe just encase myself in bubble wrap. That'd do the trick!

CX Gran Prix of Gloucester #1-Gloucester, MA

Geez. I never knew that the Gloucester race was RIGHT on the water. Very cool.


We were met with sunny skies and warm air for the cyclocross race today which is unbelievable on the East Coast in late October.


The race course was fairly straight forward with one curvy sandpit that for me was best to run through and one set of barriers in the most awkward of spots:

imagine flat s turns
now imagine tipping those s turn up 40 degrees or so
imagine looser ground
imagine the barriers being in the middle of those turns on that 40 degree uphill.

you don't have any momentum, you have to get off before the turn to the barriers, then SHOULDER the bike because suitcasing it just takes to much out of you (me) on an angle like that.

It was tricky but doable and at race pace it was even trickier. I wasn't scared of it like I would have been last year though which was a nice feeling. And that is not to imply that I looked "good" going over those things. Certain laps I was chaotic trying to grab my downtube, not fall, not loose positions while simultaneously running over the barriers. WAY too much going on and so much to think about!

I got off to a slower start today which wasn't surprising to me for some reason. But I stuck in there mixing it up in the top 7. And as things went on I started feeling better but it was too late by then and Mo and I were left to duke it out for 6th place. I attacked with 2 laps to go but she responded by flying through the sand pits on by me with no effort at all. I sat, I waited, I planned and I jumped on the last lap and was able to hold it this time. Sloppy sixths.

But my team mate Amy D WON!!! That girl is on fire! Good on her. I remember riding with her at one point during the race today and then looking up a half a lap later and seeing her OFF the front with a gap and remember thinking.....where was I when she did this? There is always tomorrow right?!

This was her massive beer glass that she won - FULL of beer. That thing is as big as she is! Good thing she just turned 21 last month!


Sara did awsome today too. She got a last row call up, hasn't put in one VO2 effort for months, hasn't raced cross in YEARS and was top 15 easy before she had a fight with a bail of hay. But she still stuck it out for a top 20! Yeah!

After the race I got the tour of Josie Beggs and Andy Jacques Maynes home on wheels. It is a freakin' PALACE. Unbelievable.


Traffic on the way back to Boston. HEY!!!!!! That guy is going the wrong way!


Holy moon bat man. Does this mean I am not going to sleep tonight? Rats.


Nighty night- uh- er....I hope!

Be a Pro

That is what I told myself after making lunch plans for today. So I cancelled them after much ado to take care of racing details. After all I am here for racing, not going out lunch at some awesome place. So sad when you have to be a pro sometimes but I will make up for it next week when I have some extra time here in Boston.

So yeah, why is getting settled after travel sooooooooo difficult sometimes? Good lord. Well it didn't help that last night my computer charger DIED on me. That really sucked. So I had to head to the same computer shop in Boston that I went to a few years ago when I spilled coffee on my computer and was lucky enough to find a cord there. Why does this stuff only happened to me in Boston when I am gone? Ugh. What a pain.

So after coercing Sara to drive me everywhere in gods creation to find another computer cord I got the rental car returned, got unpacked/settled, got the bikes built and headed out for a sweet ride on my B bike.

The leaves were changing everywhere and Sara was my own personal guide. We went on a mix of trail and paved trail and had a blast although we were just putt-putting along.


We hit the Battle Road looking for reenactors but found none. That would have been cool to run into the Minutemen. Maybe next week.


And we saw incredible colors too.


We also hit the Minuteman Trail




Afterwards when we got back I decided to take the A bike out for a spin in effort to make sure all was well since the races start tomorrow. So I took her for a spin and something was waaaaaaaaaaaaaayyy off. It felt like my chainrings were shaped funny or something and I could NOT figure it out. My pedal stroke was anything but smooth. Luckily Micheal, Sara's hub - bub is an awesome mechanic so I put his skills to the test.

derailleur - check
shifting - check
chain rings not loose - check
pedals ok - check
cracks in the frame - no

He then steps back and checks out the bike from a distance and says "OH MY GOD?!" and I freaked out thinking my bike had a catastrophic failure or something. But.....whoever last touched my bike had put the cranks on UNEVEN so when they were supposed to be facing straight up and down only ONE was straight down and the other was about 25 degrees off. Wow....that'll screw up your pedal stroke now won't it?

Reasons to ALWAYS check your bikes before you need them....always.

Utah to Boston

After packing last night I was able to squeeze in a ride. Rode by Deer Creek Reservoir and saw Chris kite surfing with about 9 or 10 others in the water. The wind was whipping!


And stayed out long enough to check out the moon starting to form.


Then I only got a few hours sleep because for whatever reason I couldn't actually go to sleep when I tried to. That is lame when that happens. So after 5 or so hours of weird sleep I got up and started my LONG day heading back east.

Once I made it there (uneventfully and on time!) the first thing I noticed along the highway was the fall colors. Wowzers. Very cool. We get these kind of leaf changes in Heber but it isn't as vibrant and consistent as the colors here. It is gorgeous here. I have always heard about how beautiful it is during this time of year and people are right! Also, please note the BLUE 70 degree sky. Wow - lucked out with some sweet weather.


I then navigated my way to Sara's parents - they were having a massive Yom Kippur celebration tonight and I was invited! That was so nice of her family to include me. After eating peanuts all day I practically ate the house itself along with everyones leftovers though.


Tomorrow......return rental car, unpack all my junk, get settled, head to the grocery store, ride and get ready for the races this weekend.

Packing Up

I am heading to the East Coast tomorrow for some racing and gonna hook up again with Sara B. in Boston for a while. Last time I saw her I was teary eyed and full of uncertainly with my freshly broken hand and wrist. Now I will return with my war wounds of surgery and stories of therapy. I am gonna sound like an old lady talking about my aches and pains!

Speaking of which a very exciting thing in the world of therapy.....a new toy!


And I even got bigger blocks to play with too. Oh joy.


The hand looking better overall but it's still lumpy dumpy. Hey, at least it works for the most part.....or did I just get used to not using it.....or forgot what it's like to have full function of it? Don't know but I am doing my best to get where I need to be. More therapy today...



Did some errands this week like take our recycle to the local recycle center. That place rules -they are accepting bike tubes and tires now! The sign of course has a tire around it.


It has been pretty nice in the valley for training too.


Occasionally you will need a jacket though. And the stupid one I chose to wear one day drove me bananas!! First off that thing filled with freaking air and made me look like the stay puff marsh mellow AND then it decide to flap so hard that I sounded like a helicopter landing totally freaking out others on the road who were enjoying themselves until I rolled by. But I didn't scare the bunny though for whatever reason

But I did scare the deer and then attracted 2 different dogs that decide they wanted to chase me. That really chaps my hide when dogs chase me. That is one thing, for whatever reason, really gets under my skin. Maybe its cuz they are putting their lives and my life in jeopardy with on coming cars and traffic. Not cool.

What was cool though was Chris won the Mens B Cyclocross race on Saturday here in Utah! Yey! He was able to put the hammer down in the mud and rain to come in FIRST outta 25 or so guys. I was very proud of him since he doesn't officially train unless you call kite boarding, skiing, surfing and riding whenever he feels like it training! Wish I could pull that one off!

WI to UT and the week

Traveled home on Monday. Gotta love Southwest Airlines too. I was supposed to fly back to Vegas from Chicago and then catch a completely different flight on a completely different itinerary 6 hours later to SLC (I booked WI at the last minute). But instead Chris got all smart on me and suggested that I call Southwest to see if I couldn't fly straight to SLC from Chicago, eliminating 8 hours plus of travel. So I called at 11pm on Sunday night and they were happy to accommodate me for only $4 more. Nice! So I was able to get home in time to go for a ride!



Tuesday I was up to my eyeballs in mail and things needing to get done. Always playing catch up in this game. But I sure do like playing the game!

Wednesday I went into my Hand Therapy for 3 hours and confessed to the Therapist that I hadn't done one lick of hand therapy on my own since I got on the road 10 or so days ago. In fact, the closest I got to any therapy was just massaging it a little while sitting on the plane. For the most part when I "had time" to do it, I was completely worked and couldn't even think about putting any energy into it.....uh....so I didn't.

My Hand Therapist was ok with my very true confession and said that my therapy for the last week or so was riding and racing and not too worry. And much to our excitement she did some measuring off the bat and I had improved in my range of motion in SOME of the motions. Not bad for not doing any official therapy on it except for jarring the heck out of it, crashing on it in Vegas and consistently using it to pick up my bike .

But I unfortunately still can't make a fist. That index finger (Metacarpal) that I blew apart/rotated and displaced is being a bugger. And yeah, that does suck. Sometimes I think maybe I will just have to live with limited mobility. I hope not and I will continue to work at getting it all back but my goodness...I broke my hand July 12th. Of course, the Hand Therapist keeps telling me that it will be 8 months plus till my hand is "normal". So in the meantime, I will do what I can to beat that 8 month time line! Life is always a race!



And on that note, I am still so happy that I met my goal of racing in the Sept 20th race; the first race since my hand surgery. I worked SO HARD to get there and I did. I put in so many painful hours and it all worked out in the end. Just knowing that I did everything I could to get there would have been enough to put my mind at ease if the doctor had said NO to the races. But he didn't so I took it upon myself to head to 4 different states in 9 days, compete in 5 races and to even podium! I cannot wait to tell my Hand Surgeon even though he will think I am a nut!

I still can't believe how swollen my hand is still though. But that is again....8 months plus to alleviate those symptoms too. The good news is that it doesn't seem to be at all of an annoyance while riding, racing and picking my bike up - thank heavens! This last week was certainly a test and my hand passed with flying colors!

Friday was my first (difficult) Yoga class day. I have not been to this particular class since April prior to breaking my thumb! So I went in with hesitation but hoped I could maybe pull it off without passing out on the floor or shaking uncontrollably while holding a pose. And everything went surprisingly well. Lets just say that I was happy that I did all those Yoga and Pilates classes with my casts and splints on over these last months even when I had to modify poses or just stretch when I couldn't do one because of my cast.

Funny thing too was that when I walked into the class, people said in amazement "What??? NOTHING on your left arm????". That just proves right there that it has been quite the summer and luckily the gears are changing and cross is here now. The rain clouds and rainbow in Heber suggest seasons are changing and I am the first one to say "thank heavens".



I am back. YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!