Cars Vs. Bikes

This morning's ride was a vivid reminder that when cars hit bikes, the cars never lose. S and I headed around 7am for what we thought would be an uneventful ride. The plan was to head out toward Hanscom together where I would take off to do some of my threshold work and meet up with her at Peet's for a post-ride coffee. It was a beautiful morning to ride - bright blue sky, little wind and about 65. Couldn't get much more perfect than that. After the downhill at Hanscom, I picked up the pace for my first 15 min segment. Turning off Virginia Road, I saw a few bikes down, an ambulance, Concord police and a few cars stopped in the middle of the road. As I passed closer to the ambulance, an older gentleman was down on the pavement, face full of blood and one mangled bike on the road. Could really tell what happened, and I didn't stop to ask as they were loading him onto a stretcher. Silently, I said a little prayer for the guy and reminded myself to ride like a Sicilian (don't trust anyone, watch my back and be super aware).

The 15 min segment takes me approximately to the National Park. S took the short cut through Concord Center so I was hoping I'd catch up with her soon. As I approached the 4-way stop at Barrett's Mill Road, I see S already there and talking to another cyclist. As I rode up, I noticed his bike. One leg of his carbon fork was broken off. He looked fine, though. No blood. Pointed out how his the seat tube was pretty busted and he described the accident. Luckily, he ended up on top of the car hood and at slow speed. He fared much better than this bike. As we were chatting, the other leg of his fork, made a sad creaking noise, broke off and the bike slowly crumpled on the sidewalk. Ow.

Ride safe out there.

Crashing in Vermont

Headed north yesterday to ride the Coyote Hill Classic in Vermont. Vermont is supposed to have some of the best mountain bike riding in the northeast. While I don't know if it's the best, this course was definitely the most technical I've ridden yet. And as the video shows, I even managed to endo while checking out the course during the pre-ride.

We arrived at the race two hours before the start. S had planned on riding the First-Timer division but hadn't yet registered. Headed over to registration for me to pick up my number and well, turns out, no First Timer division so they threw her in my race. Uh oh. The Luna Chick who had talked her into doing it had ridden the course on Saturday and later told us, if she had our phone number, she would have called to say, "Yeah...may not want to do this course as your first race." Hey...we're tough. Who cares?

I remembered to bring the helmet cam with me this time so I strapped it on my helmet, found out which way the course headed out, and S and I went out to do a pre-ride (you can view the video here). It started off in a grassy field (I HATE grass...even in cross....it just annoys the crap out of me), then into a short single track and back into a grassy UPHILL field (source of much grumpiness). Next, a short section on a dirt road (still uphill but what did I expect? This was Vermont!). Finally, a hard right turn into the woods on a very fun, fast, downhill, twisty single track. Loved that part. The course had a few steep downhill sections, more than a few stream crossings, lots of roots (my fave - NOT!), lots of twisties, ups, downs, 180s and just simply a total blast. Fortunately, it wasn't wet because that would have made the roots treacherous.

The course was supposed to be 6 miles long. About one mile into the course, I hit the first steep downhill marked with 3 red arrows. I'm not quite sure what happened because it wasn't that steep, didn't have wheel traps, loose rocks, etc but 3/4 of the way down, I totally planted the front wheel and catapulted over the handlebars. (That's the video at the beginning of this post.) A quick check and neither I nor my bike was broke although I was sure I'd be getting a few more bruises and a trickle of blood was running down my right leg from a cut on my knee. A quick look around and I was certain no one had witnessed the event. Whew!

After 2.25 miles, it was 45 min before the start and I couldn't decide whether to finish the loop or backtrack in order to make it back before the start. Chose to backtrack (bad choice - I was much closer to the finish than my computer told me) which meant climbing that sweet downhill section. Nothing like a good warm up.

Rolled up to the start with about 10 other women (including S who was being a great sport about the whole thing) and like my previous races, I was muddy and bloody. This is beginning to become quite the trend for me. I'm uncertain whether it's such a great habit. Goals for the race were as follows: 1) don't get hurt 2) get a great start 3) finish 4) keep the leader's jersey

The officials give last minute instructions, the whistle goes off and I punch it. I'm second into the first singletrack which is just fine with me since I'm planning on ripping everyone's legs off on the climb before the first turn. I know I'm in better shape aerobically than almost anyone in my division (it's my technical skills that suck) so I figured if I could blow them away on the hill and be first to the turn into the woods, I could recover on the downhill, twisty section. As soon as I hit the road (second one on there) I locked out the shocks and rode that bike like a it was a road bike, jamming up that hill and catching the one girl who was in front. Yeah! Hole shot into the woods and I never gave it up. Just totally enjoyed the ride, pushed hard the entire time, caught two guys (one riding a full rigid single-speed so he doesn't count ;-)

Best part - didn't crash once in the race. I think I'm actually starting to get this mtb thing. Finished first overall and first in my age group. Kept the leader's jersey and received a very cool Coyote Hill jersey as my prize (along with a gold medal). Took home a few bruises and scratches as well.

And, btw, S finished as well. Not too shabby for someone with what I believe is a broken wrist (from Wednesday night's ride) and a hurt ankle. Awesome. That was the real achievement of the weekend.

Death of A Blender

Oh, what a sad morning...my favorite blender died. This baby has been making smoothies almost every morning for the past 6.5 years. Today's breakfast started off like every other one. Threw in the OJ, banana and berries. Blended it up. The motor sounded a little off but it's been sounding a little odd for a few months now. Threw in some ice. Started blending. Ok...something is definitely not sounding right. But hey, seems to be working. I assume it's just getting closer to death's door but we're still good. Poured the smoothies, took a few sips, yum. Morning happiness.

Started doing the breakfast dishes and Whoa! One whole blade in the blender is gone! OMG! I think the blender self destructed and now not only do I have a radioactive chest but apparently after drinking that smoothie, I'm full of metallic bits. I am slowly achieving super hero status. ;-)

I think I'm to blame. I killed it. A few weeks ago, I stuck a spoon in while blending since some of the ice was jammed. CLANNNNNK! SPLATTER! Smoothie all over my face, my glasses, the cabinets, the ceiling, refrigerator, floor. I'm still finding specks of smoothie from that moment of stupidity. Two days later, I dropped the motor part on the floor. It started sounding like loose parts would be flying off any minute but somehow, it just kept on chugging along.

So, after approximately 2,300 smoothies and a few hundred frozen margaritas, it had enough. I gingerly placed it in the trash complete with all it's Chiquita Banana stickers. And as only a true smoothie addict would, I have a spare in the basement ready for tomorrow's smoothie.


First it was PBJs and now I'm blogging about smoothies. I think I'm losing it. ;-)

A Weekend of Watching....

I've been training like a crazy person the past few months and just completed four weekends straight of racing. Adding up the fact that I've been feeling kind of tired plus a lousy weekend forecast and the fact that I didn't visit Mom on Mother's Day, I chose to head to CT with Mother's Day presents instead of a bike. An added bonus was that my niece Michelle had a weekend long softball tournament close by. For the first time in recent memory, I got to be a spectator rather than a participant.

Let me just say that given the 50 degree weather, wind and drizzle, it was way harder being on the sidelines than playing. See the pictures of me and Sue for proof. The aluminum bleachers made our butts numb in 2/3rds of an inning. The drizzle besides being bone chilling made life dangerous as Sue would move the umbrella around coming close to poking my left eye out.

Michelle played two great games. It's such a strange feeling to see this 11 year old out there playing a game I love. Stranger yet, remembering 10 years ago when we'd sit on the floor and roll a ball back and forth to each other when she could barely sit up. She plays catcher as I did and she barely fits into the equipment. Worse yet, as one of the younger and lighter players, it was difficult for me to watch her get ready to block the plate as a girl twice her size was racing the throw home. (She did block it, she did hold on to the ball, but the throw was late. Bummer.)

Two last thoughts: 1) I REALLY wish we could be playing on the same team right now. I think it would be a total blast and I think we'd kick some serious butt.

2) I still haven't thawed out from those damn bleachers.

Nice People Rule!

Dreary, drizzle, 45 degree morning here in Boston. I have a bunch of weekend plans that don't include riding so I figured I'd get some miles in this morning. I've ridden in worse, no biggie, it'll be great once I'm out there....yada yada yada. Definitely a beanie and bootie kind of ride. While pumping up my rear tire, I noticed the valve acting a bit funky - leaking a bit of air when I screwed on the valve cap. Hmmm....weird...oh, well, let's leave the cap off. Seemed ok that way. Famous last words.

The weather deteriorated the further and further I rode from Lexington. By the time I hit the top of Strawberry Hill 15 miles into the ride, there was a steady drizzle coming down. Still....no worries...everything was fine. Jamming down the fun downhill section on Pope St. I start feeling something a little weird with the back wheel. Eh. Whatever. Another 1/2 mile and I look down at the wheel, and yeah, I had to admit it, it was flat. Pita!

I seem to be doing a lot of this lately so fortunately I'm setting new records at fixing a flat. That came in super handy this morning as my fingers were losing feeling when I took the gloves off. So I got it fixed and finished up a 30 mile ride

But the best part, in the brief time I changing out the tube, no less than four (4!) drivers stopped to help, offered me a ride and their sympathy! Nice people rule!

Hey! What Was That?!?!

It's always an adventure. Always.

Today, S and I were on the road bright and early at 6am. Typical pre-race morning - we threw the bikes on the car, grabbed giant to-go cups of coffee and settled in to watch the sun rise. Beautiful, crisp, clear morning and we had the road all to ourselves for the most part. Only other cars cruising out on the Mass Pike were wackos like us or those with a super long drive to visit mom. About 30 min into our drive, cruising in the middle lane around 80mph, I hear a THUMP that most definitely was NOT coming from the stereo. "Hey! What the f*&^&% was that?!?!" Instinctively, I check the rear view mirror and much to my shock and horror, I see one mtb wheel bounce off the hatch, hop a few times in middle lane, and just keep rolling down the pike. Eventually, it crosses to the high speed lane and flops down next to the jersey barrier. Immediately, we pulled over to breakdown turned and looked at each other, eyes WIDE, "What do we do?!?!?!" The other thoughts going through my mind were, "Whose wheel was it?!?!" quickly followed by, "If it's mine, will hers work on my bike?" While S called the Staties, I opened the sunroof and saw my wheel sitting there safe and sound. The trooper on the line said they'd send someone to help out and while we waited I watched the wheel in the rearview mirror, mentally steering approaching vehicles away from it. I was certain it was going to be smashed to bits, or worse yet, hurt someone. Within five minutes, a trooper arrived and after briefly chatting with us, flicked on his lights and siren, drove backward, crossed three lanes of traffic and retrieved the wheel. Inspecting it upon return, it looked practically perfect - just a tiny scratch on the skewer handle. Rather than throwing it back on the rack, we threw it in the backseat, safely on suicide watch (S was certain that the wheel threw itself off the car in despair since she wasn't planning on racing.)

The race got off to the same kind of start. Arrived early enough to pre-ride the course but should have asked which direction it went as I ended up missing the first part of the course. Then there was the fact that I found myself somewhere in the middle of the woods, no idea how close I was to the Start/Finish and less than 30 min to the start. Oh, yeah, and I took a swim in the mud pit as well during the pre-ride along with a few good falls. The overall result: I arrived at the start line slightly out of breath, muddy and bloody. I'm not sure if that intimidates the other riders or if they look at me, think "LOSER!" and decide to ride no where near me.

As we're waiting for the start, one of the riders mentions the first part of the course (missed in the pre-ride) and the wet roots (Hate roots. Just hate them!). Uh, oh. Quick shuffling of goals: #1) get the hole shot or close to it. REALLY didn't want to be in the back of the pack with tons of riders down in front. The red head who won the 19-34 division at Farmington was in the pack. I knew she was a good rider - fast and fluid over even the more technical stuff. Figured she'd go for the hole shot so I decided I'd jump on her wheel and hang there as long as possible.

Whistle goes off, she jumps out front, and as planned I'm right on her wheel, second into the woods. I keep telling myself to floor it over the roots, keep up my speed and momentum and DON'T THINK, let the bike find the line, don't force it. And it totally worked. Skimmed right over the dreaded roots and while I was dusted by the red head, I seemed to have put quite a serious distance between me and the rest of the pack.

I rode the rest of the race pretty much on my own. Early in the first lap I had one nasty fall, lost the chain and ended up getting passed by two women. Every time through the deep mud pit, I fell, one of the falls being a spectacular endo. My bike and I looked like we'd been dipped in chocolate. Delicious! Toward the end of the first lap, I was feeling pretty tired and actually began to doubt whether doing a second lap was wise.
Headed out on the 2nd lap. Ate my GU in the feed zone which was followed by a swoopy up and down, fast section of the course and I was totally revitalized. Rode the second lap better than the first (seems to be the norm with me.) With 10 minutes to go, I jammed my middle ring with a chunk of wood and the rear derailleur was so coated in muck it wasn't shifting too well either. Between that and the fact that my rear tire was flat (didn't notice until I returned to the car at the end), I felt pretty slow going into the finish.

I really enjoyed the course. Slightly less rocky than Glocester, more stream crossings, more mud and I really liked all the practice on the roots. I feel like I'm riding better and stronger.



Final result: 1st in Beginner Women 35+, 4th overall. Oh, yeah, and I captured the Series Leader Jersey!

Here Comes Summer!!!

70 degrees and sunny today in Bahstahn. 82 and sunny tomorrow. Wednesday's forecast - sunny and 81. Just renewed the sailing membership. Need I say more?

(New dilemma: how to race boats and bikes simultaneously. Someone, please, give me 36 hours in a day!)

Trading One Form of Torture For Another

This has been a very difficult week. First, my project at work is on the slippery slope to falling behind schedule - we have zombie bugs that won't die, a serial number fiasco and way more work to do than we'll ever fit into the time remaining before we ship. That's meant late nights and working weekends as we attempt to claw our way to an on-time release. On top of that, S has been traveling all week which leaves all the domestic duties to me. Usually, that's not enough to even make me blink but this week I've barely had enough time at home to buy groceries let alone finish the yard cleanup work that I had planned. I'm feeling pulled in way SO many different directions (does drawn and quartered seem a more appropriate term?) that my brain just won't shut off.

With all that going on, I was SO looking forward to today's race if only to push all that swirling brain stuff out and just focus on feeling my legs and lungs burn and keeping myself upright on the trails. Trade one from of torture for another. ;-)

The torture of the week was the Glocester Grind in Rhode Island. Lately, the weather has been pretty ideal New England spring happiness. Today, it more matched my mood: 40-ish, grey skies, passing showers, and a gusty wind. Blech. Arrived early enough to pre-ride half of the 5 mile course (we'd be doing two laps). WAY different than last week - a bunch of stream crossing, areas I started calling "Rock Gardens", lots of mud sections, and aluminum bridges that I was sure I was going to slide right off given the wet conditions and end up even more soaked laying in the streams underneath. Hmmmm....this should be interesting. Taped my GU to the stem (this will be an important detail later) and I was ready to roll.

Goals for this race: 1) Don't get hurt 2) Get a better start 3) Finish 4) Learn more about mtn biking.

There were 12 or so Beginner Women lined up at the start and again, we would roll about 1 min behind the 50+ men's division. I punched it at the the whistle and was third going into the woods. Probably could have been first or second but wasn't riding aggressively enough (put on list for next race's goals). Without going through a blow by blow account of the ride, let's just say I stopped counting how many times I fell on that first lap. Some of it was caused by other riders but more frequently is was me just slipping in mud, bouncing on rocks, sliding on wet roots. Almost endo'ed in one huge, water-filled hole that I believe was bottomless. And despite all that, it totally rocked! (no pun intended). With all that falling, I was still ahead of most women, and behind at least three. Started targeting them and picking them off.

Here's where an amusing (for others, perhaps) thing occurred. Sometime during that "Lap o'Crashes" I managed to fall on the top tube/stem (I think it was the Endo That Almost Was). Ouchie! For those of you reading closely, you may remember that that was where my GU was taped. So, yes, unbeknownst to me, the GU exploded all over my shorts and bike. It wasn't until I tried to figure out why my fingers where sticking to the bars like a gecko that I realized it. That was also the time I started getting hungry. Great...this race is going to be 1.5 hrs and I have no GU. Not happy. Thought goes through my mind, "Would it be bad if I stopped to lick the GU off my bike?"

By the end of the first lap, I was the 2nd woman, making progress against the leader but could never quite get there. I was starting to pick up some of the men (7 total by the end). It became a game of "Pick a jersey and catch 'em". Around the end of the first lap, I passed one of the men and while I was quicker than him on the dirt, he was better technically. I yielded the trail to him and then followed his wheel. Wow! Best way to learn. He encouraged me through some of the gnarlier sections and somehow things just clicked. Got more relaxed, more confident and it showed on the second lap where didn't crash at all. Nice!

Finished the race, changed and then checked the results. 1st Place, Baby! (ok, in my age group but 2nd woman overall) Yeah! Sweet! Happy Dance!

I think I managed to accomplish all my goals but that depends on your definition of hurt. Mine, BTW, is "season impacting injury" so the gash below doesn't count but it makes me feel like a real mountain biker!

Will Ride Hills For Coffee....

This morning's scheduled workout was for hill repeats. I'm not sure exactly why but I LOVE hills. There's something about getting into a groove, grinding it out, powering up, dancing on the pedals and just rising above everything and getting the view. In my case, the view is of downtown Boston from Arlington after climbing Eastern Ave. There's an elementary school on that street so on my way up and down today, the crossing guard was my personal cheering section offering all kinds of encouragement, some of it making me laugh which isn't easy when you're in the middle of coughing up a lung.

You're going up again?!?!
You're slower this time! Pick it up!
The kindergarteners can beat you to the water tower!
Mmmmm....no thanks, I'd rather watch you and drink my coffee. (when asked if she'd like to join in the fun)

But best of all, my friends Richard and Sally live at the top of the hill with Grady the Sheltie and since it was trash day on his street, I ran into him as he was hauling out his recycling. He's promised to leave a steaming mug of coffee on top of the hill next week. Now, if I can just convince him to leave a chocolate frosted donut with sprinkles alongside....I'll be just a blur to that crossing guard. ;-)