Weekend With Frank

TCB came to visit this weekend. Visiting Boston is always better than being stuck in RTP for a business trip. Lately, I've taken to calling her Frank after Frank Purdue. This came about because all Frank eats is CHICKEN. Ok, sometimes she'll branch out to a salad or pasta with maybe some shellfish on it, but really it's always CHICKEN. Or perhaps a turkey burger but hey, it's still poultry so that's splitting hairs, really. When I told her about her new nickname, she seemed pretty perplexed. Turns out they don't sell Purdue in California. Who knew? When I lived in Seattle I could have sworn the local Fred Meyer's carried Purdue chicken there but as she's quick to remind me, Seattle isn't California. Whatever. She eats way too much CHICKEN.

Picked her up at Logan Friday night and headed to the south end for our reservations at Hamersley's Bistro. Cute, French bistro with great stuff on the menu. And, of course, Frank had the "world famous" CHICKEN And not just once. Because I'm definitely not the hostess with most-ess, she had the leftovers Saturday night as we avoided the Boston rain, watched DVDs and stayed most definitely low key after a long day of 'cross racing and eating, what else, but turkey burgers at the brew pub (washed down with pumpkin ale, of course. Yum.)

Sunday I talked her into taking a pre-race spin with me on the Canton 'cross course. Luckily, she's my size so handed her the Surly, my pink flame helmet, some gloves and a jacket. Awesome kick-ass trooper that she is, she went out there with her newly chopped in half thumb (kitchen accident while slicing, what else but CHICKEN!). A third of the way in, she biffs it in a muddy section but pops right back up, jumps back on and keeps hammering. About halfway through, we stop for a bit and she says, "This is FUN! I really like it!" (More than CHICKEN, I wonder?) She finished up the lap still smiling and I think I even may have been able to get her to race if her thumb hadn't been throbbing.

Today, she asked me for a list of California 'cross races. I think I have another 'cross convert. :-D

Why I'm So Damn Slow

My team at work is currently down two developers. Being the crazy manager that I am, I've volunteered to do some coding this sprint (yeah, haven't done it in years so I'm not sure my guys know exactly what they're getting into). But anyway, I find myself with more down time since I'm waiting for compiles, files to sync and just plain brain numbness from staring at code. During these times, I start reading 'cross blogs (see previous post). So this morning, I found a possible explanation for my 'cross slo-mo speed on Simon Burney's blog. Simon says,

So if you are training hard and don't think that your race results quite match your level of fitness spend some time thinking about where you lose time, especially where people nip past you. If its before these sections then its probably technique (late braking, correct line), the need for more recovery (trying to get a couple of breaths in freewheeling before the corner/sandpit/run-up), fear (approaching hurdles too fast gotta scrub some speed off), or simply not concentrating. If its after a section then see above; come out of of it and hit it hard to get back up to speed, only then can you sit on a wheel and get a quick recovery. Finally if people are getting past you during the section, its likely to be technique at race-speed which is letting you down.

I will read that 20 times, think about the races so far this season and see what I should work on. Looks like I have some homework to do and stuff to concentrate on for this weekend's races. See you at Brockton and Canton!

Serious Ouch!

Ok, yes, while waiting for a compile to finish, I had a little time on my hands and was going down the rat hole of following links from the various 'cross blogs I read. Stumbled upon this site and posts by a 'cross racer here in Beantown. Apparently, he's taken saddle sores to a whole new level. He has my utmost sympathy and sincere thanks for a good laugh.

No Whining

It was just one of those mornings. Grey, spitting skies, I'm tired and really don't feel like riding but hey, I really need to do a 'cross workout. After my crash before one of my 'cross workouts a few weeks ago, I've changed my warm up to be on the bike path instead of Mass. Ave. By coincidence, I read about a cyclist (and avid 'cross racer) killed by a garbage truck who pulled the same bright maneuver as the minivan driver who hit me did. So, I try psyching myself up for the ride, telling my brain, "Hey, lame ass, at least you're not lying dead under the wheels of some truck. Make the most of it. Ride like you mean it. Don't squander a morning workout by whining that you're tired...i don't feel like it...wah, wah, wah."

Got my butt dressed and out the door. Decided to take Mr. Surly (who's sporting his spiffy, new graphics thanks to me and my Sharpie paint pens) instead of the Seven for a change. I think the Surly feels neglected. ;-) That was just the straw that broke the workout's back. Oh man...lugging that thing up the hill 10x was SO not fun. I can't believe how much heavier it is. The whole workout, all I could think about was, "Kill me now." and then I'd think of that dead dude in Portland, look down at the Surly's top tube with its new "Bite Me!" slogan, and ended up doing a few extra laps.

Race-free Weekend

This weekend was the only weekend in October that S wouldn't be traveling for business. That seemed a brilliant opportunity to skip the races in CT (where I probably would have done ok given the small fields). The weather was freaky for October in Massachusetts. Bright blue skies, 70-75 degrees and the leaves were brilliantly decorating the landscape. What better conditions for back-to-back days of leisure miles on a bike, taking pics, drinking pumpkin ale and post-ride lattes.

Gloucester - The Races

Despite the skinsuit woes, I did manage to have a couple of decent races at Gloucester. I'm not necessarily totally pleased with how they went but am trying look for the silver lining of any glimmer of progress since last year. You know the new Matchbox Twenty song "How Far We've Come"? That's pretty much been my theme song this season. What happens when you take a runner, take away her running shoes, and entice her to ride her bike every day instead of pounding out the miles? No marathons, no half-marathons, no 10ks, not even a 5k. Is it true? If you ride every day can you be a better bike racer? I think the jury is still out on that...

Saturday: had a nice front row start. Advice given to me was to make sure I was in the big ring for the start and given that I learned that pretty well this season, I was sure to follow it. My goal was to get a good shot, get as far up front as possible and then fade back over the course of the race. I was also hoping not to get lapped by any of the women. Pre-rode the course and while it was fun, I didn't like it. Doesn't suit me - definitely a roadies course with lots of straight-aways to power on. Not my forte. At the whistle, I punched it but I always forget how long that hill is! I was dying by the time we hit the dirt. I pretty much held my place until we hit the first quick uphill where two juniors had to hop off their bike and forced me to dismount as well. Not a happy camper. (Note to self: start racing the A race so you don't need to deal with Juniors - Oh to have a course all to my own field!) Tried playing catch up after that and eventually caught on to my teammate Lorraine's wheel. Hung on for dear life for two laps or so. On the last lap, was forced to dismount in the sand pit as some girl tried to pass me and crashed. Grrrr. Lost Lorraine's wheel but the race was pretty much done by then. 5 laps in 44:35. Ok, better than last year where I was pulled BEFORE the men's B race leader passed me. Good enough for 33rd place out of 52 starters.

Sunday: goals were to ride faster than Saturday and finish higher. And not to fade on the uphill start this time. During Saturday's race, a few of the guys from MRC were critiquing me each time up the asphalt hill (gee...that must be what friends are for.) I did take some of it to heart - "Teri - you're spinning too fast! Shift! More power!" so that was another goal along with riding the entire course in the big ring. Got a much better start this time (I did manage to sprint the entire way to the dirt and not die) and got into lots of bumping and shoving on the first few grassy turns. Lost touch with the leaders on the gravel path and then randomly hopped on someone's wheel throughout the race. Last lap, I was trading places with the one other woman back and forth. After the run up, she lost her chain so I was able to put some good distance on her along with passing one other woman in the sand pit (which I rode all 5 times on Sunday!). Finishing time: 5 laps in 42:21 for 24th place out of 42 starters. Way faster than Saturday but the course was also faster so that accounted for some of my speediness.

I'm consoling myself with the fact that I AM routinely finishing ahead of women who were beating me last season. But then again, there are those who were finishing after me last year who are totally kicking my butt. ~sigh

Oh - and I did get to watch the Elite Women's race on Saturday. Before that Lyne Bessette rode the men's 2/3 race for a 7th place finish as a warm up. Then she blew away the women's field. Wow. Just wow. I can't even fathom how that's humanly possible. Wow.

And second Oh! I'm so damn proud of my team. Lots of red/white/blue jerseys out there, lots of fun, awesome results!

Pluto's Birthday

Yes, today is my little sister's birthday. Someone please explain to me how I could possibly have a little sister who's 42 years old. I remember her more like this (the pic on the left).

Now, she's married, 3 kids, drives a mini-van, and will probably kill me for writing those details about her. She's taken up running over the past two years and I'm waiting for her to break all my PRs. It should happen soon at the rate she's going.

So let's see - Pluto trivia. 1) Where did the nickname Pluto come from? She was the littlest member of our family. When she was about 5 or 6, she was SUPER tiny and my mom desperately tried to get her to drink milk, eat veggies (none of us would do that given how she steamed the poor things beyond recognition), eat ice cream, consume anything to grow/gain weight. In retaliation to all the forced feeding, Pluto would pull up her shirt, suck in her stomach and parade around with protruding ribs that brought to mind horrible images from Life magazine and made my mom absolutely crazy.

For a little sister, she never drove me crazy. At least not to the point where I was hoping she'd disappear. When we shared a bedroom in our apartment in NYC (she was around 1, me 4) I would have to move her crib away from the wall because she'd flick the light switch on/off until she fell asleep. The floor in our bedroom was hardwood, the crib had wheels, and she'd just rock the crib so it scooted back over to where she could reach the light switch and attempt to trigger epileptic seizures in me.




I don't remember ever wanting to avoid her or not hang out with her. I did want to steal her hair. I couldn't believe I got the brown, curly hair gene and she got the silky, straight, blonde hair gene. It's still not fair! I also was not happy that she got the I-hate-food-gene combined with being naturally thin. Eating her leftovers was never a hardship for me. It was a happy day in my world the day I gave her a pair of hand-me down pants that were too small for her. Only took me 38 years. ;-)

On the flip side, I know I haven't been the best big sister. One of my favorite pasttimes was scaring the living daylights out of her. I still get tons of grief for the time I hid in her closet with pantyhose on my head. When she found me in there, she screamed so loud and so real that it made me scream because I thought Michael Myers must be standing right behind me with a bloody, dripping knife. Geez! Give me a break already! It was a joke! ;-)

There are tons more stories which will be saved for next year's birthday post. Happy Birthday, Pluto! Hope you're having a fabulous day (and make sure you check your closet before you go to bed!) ;-)

Trying To Be One Of The Cool Kids

This weekend was the Gran Prix of Gloucester. It was also the first weekend it's been chilly enough for me to wear my brand new skinsuit. I was told this would make me one of the "Cool Kids". ;-) Now, I'm more inclined to wear baggy mountain bike shorts, loose downhill jerseys or at the very least, shorts and typical 3 pocket jerseys. Let's just say that this new one piece, extremely clingy piece of lyrca has required a total change in my entire pre-race routine.

I warmed up Saturday with four laps on the course in the early morning before the racing started. After that, I thought about changing back into my street clothes but because I didn't drive the Fat A$$, I had to change in the "Comfort Castle". So I figured, why not just do it once and throw on the skinsuit. Dumb, dumb move. I throw it on and because it's still a bit on the cool side, I throw a jersey and jacket over and head out to watch the races with my super, giant sized Dunkin' Donuts coffee. After drinking the entire gi-normous cup of coffee and watching a few races, I head back to the Comfort Castle since my bladder is about to explode. Dash in, pull down my sweat pants and ....!!!!! realize I have to take off all my upper layers in order to pee! Oh geez! So now I'm taking off massive amounts of layers and desperately trying to figure out which is the driest, cleanest area of the Comfort Castle to place them. Here I come to the realization why I always see riders walking around with their bib tops/skinsuit tops hanging down. Duh.

Later on, I picked up my number and realized there was no way in hell I could pin it on unless I got totally undressed again. ~sigh. Thankfully, Cathy was sweet enough to pin it for me and careful enough to neither stick me with the pins or pin my undershirt to the skinsuit.

On my way to the start line, I picked up my usual GU and water bottle. As I reached around to throw them in my back pocket, I realized I had none. :( Hmmmm....improvisation...GU packet under the leg band of my shorts, and the bottle, well, I guess I'd just have to figure out how to ride with it in my hand to the start.

So, besides all I learned on the course (more on that in the next post), I also learned skinsuit protocol.

Midwesterners Swimming On Kauai?

We witnessed this strange behavior while sitting on Tunnels Beach on Kauai. These people did this for hours and I'm sure their skin was complete sand rash from being dragged around by the waves. Whatever. It provided hours of entertainment for us.

Don't Leave Your Camera Alone....

Killer dress from Ann Taylor - $188. Gift for the happy couple - $250. Sunless tanning creme to fix visible tan lines from Hawaii - $35. Leaving your camera unattended while celebrating a wedding with 8 of your best, closest, oldest friends and uploading the pics the next morning - priceless (I think!)

Titanium Meets Steel

After 20+ years of riding thousands of miles, it finally happened. I was hit by a car. :( Headed out Wednesday morning to do my 'cross workout. I decided to warm up for 15 min on Mass Ave so headed from home to Arlington Heights and back. Shortly after Wilson Farms a woman passed me and then made a sudden right turn right in front me as she turned into a school driveway to drop off her kids. No signal, nada. I was ALMOST able to stop in time and tried to jump the curb but couldn't quite make it. My front wheel made it up but the back of the bike got whacked good by the high, granite curb.

The driver and a few others stopped. Once I reassured everyone that I was fine (skinned elbow) I told them I was way more worried about my new bike. They, of course, thought I was totally nuts, but watched me put Orange Crush through a thorough inspection. Shifted fine, levers looked good, brakes - fine, wheels - true - it all looks good! Happy dance! The driver and I didn't even trade info since it appeared to be no harm no foul (lesson for next time - take info anyway!)

I continued up Mass Ave to do my 'cross workout at a small park near my house. About 40 minutes into the workout as I jammed on the pedals on an uphill section, I hear "CRACK! CLANG!" and the pedals lock up. Apparently, a piece of the derailleur snapped, the pulleys broke off and contined around the chain. Noooooooooooooooooo! Guess it must have taken quite a shot against that curb.

Hiked the 1/2 mile home pushing the bike, wondering if I was going to have race Saturday on Mr. Surly. Fortunately, the great guys over at the Loft had a Force derailleur in stock and threw it on in 15 min while I waited.

Happy ending but damn, that was too close for comfort. Ride smart out there.

Go Eagles!

Yeah, baby! Eagles are off to a 5-0 start! And currently ranked 6th!

Fading Fast

Today was my first 'cross race of the season. Good thing this sport so is so much damn fun because I apparently forgot how painful it is. And this race was only 30 min long! God help me when I start upping the torture to 45 min in a few weeks.

We flew back from Hawaii Friday night/Saturday morning. Thankfully, we were able to use miles to upgrade to first class. This meant I didn't have to be mashed into a middle seat with some random snoring and drooling on me. Thanks to a glass of red wine, one Sominex, and lots of legroom, I was actually able to get about 4 hrs of sleep on our LAX -> BOS flight. Saturday was a contest to see who could stay awake the longest - I did a bunch of errands (picked up my new skin suit so now I'm one of the "cool kids" - now if only I could ride like one!) and S mowed/raked/trimmed/pruned the yard so well it looked as if we had a team of 20 landscapers working the whole weekend out there. Anyway, we both managed to stay awake until 10pm or so. Pretty amazing. When the alarm went off to get ready for the race, I felt like I was getting up in the middle of the night and that's because I was. It was 2am Hawaii time but dammit, I was going to race.

Here's the race report I threw together for my team:

Since I had been on vacation and off my bike for two weeks along with being totally jet lagged from taking a red-eye the day before, my first goal for the race was simply to get to the start on time and be somewhat awake. ;-) Second goal was to finish and enjoy my first 'cross race of the season on my brand new 'cross bike. Did a pre-ride of the course after hearing about how it was sort of technical and difficult. Score one for mt biking - I thought the course was a piece of cake and way more suited to me than those long, boring grassy courses. Also did the pre-ride with too much air in my tires (50 lbs in Maxxis Larsen Mimos). Took that down to 40 for the race which eliminated some of the bouncing over all the roots. Got a nice place at the start line, first row and good line for the first corner. Decided that one thing I really learned and worked on during mtb season was starts and I wanted to really go for the hole shot. Adjusted my gearing for the slight downhill start (46 front/25 rear) and punched it at the whistle. And yes, got the hole shot! My first ever in a 'cross race! Wahoo! I led for about 1/2 lap then was passed by Roz (Luna and eventual race winner) and then passed by tons and tons of people over the rest of the race. During the second lap when I was still in the top ten I decided to ride the steep short hill after the 180 turn (had seen lots of guys ride in the previous race). Almost made it to the top....thought i was going to break my chain as I basically did a track stand right before the top, couldn't turn over the pedals and basically did a reverse endo (flipped over backwards, bike fell on me, skid backwards down the hill...a 9.8 from the Checkoslovakian judge) ;-) Three women passed me during that bright maneuver. Anyway, fun race. Looking forward to improving over the season. Hoping to see a bunch of you at Casco Bay Saturday.

What I didn't mention was how I thought my lungs were going to explode. I don't need a HRM to tell me when I've redlined, I just listen for when I start making the WHEEZING noise. I didn't start the WHEEZING until 3.5 laps into a 4 lap race. Obviously, I didn't ride hard enough. 17th out of 32 starters. But wow, I had a great start. Now if I can just hold that pace longer and not start riding backwards maybe I'll do better. Blech.