Turning 45

What's the most fun way to celebrate turning 45? That was the question S kept asking me all last week. My first idea was to head to the north shore with our kayaks, paddle out the Essex over to the front side of Crane Beach. A quick check of the tides, though showed that nature would be making our lives difficult - the timing of the tides was the worst possible. Scratch that option. Ok, how about sailing to some of hahbah islands? Weather was looking a little chilly to be out on the water. Not to mention the serious risk of S turning green out there. Not such a good idea.Only one thing left to do - long bike ride!

This weekend also happens to be the Fitchburg Longsjo bike races and Sunday was the downtown criterium. We picked that as our destination. The plan - ride out there, take a shower at the firestation, leave our bikes there, watch the races, then take the commuter rail home. Saturday night, PFFC came over for dinner, we pulled out the maps and planned our route.

The weather was almost ideal for cycling. Sunny, cool, but an annoying headwind. Can't have everything, I suppose. Started out wishing I had my knee warmers but after a few miles was peeling off the arm warmers as the sun started heating things up. The route we planned turned out to be great. Quiet roads, nice pavement and some fun hills as we neared Fitchburg. Only made one wrong turn but ended up on some nice roads because of it. "Meant to do that!" ;-)

The fire station in town was offering showers to the riders and racers so we took full advantage. The guys there were super nice offering us ice cold drinks, a perfect place to store the bikes, and even were sure to tell us where the extra toilet paper and soap for the ladies room/shower were. Even got to hang out in one of their lounge chairs watching tv while waiting for everyone to finish up.


I really enjoyed watching the races. I haven't done many crits and it was super interesting to see how much positions changed on every lap. I love XC mtb racing but I really do miss the tactics, strategy and boost you get from racing with teammates. Observing the races with S and PFFC, I also realized just how little real race time I've had. We were spectating from one of the tight corners. As the pack goes by there's lots of noise - riders yelling to one another, wheels running over loose manholes, the steady hum of the tires and chains. And then I heard one loud scrape. "What was that?" "Scraping pedal." says S. "Can't believe that guy scraped his pedal and didn't fall!" says PFFC. Apparently, they've been in that position way more than me. Second nature for them to recognize the sound. Me - clueless.

After watching the women's Pro/1/2 field race, we headed to the train station to catch our ride back. Found out they were running the special bike car on the route (typically it goes to the north shore on weekends). Who knew the MBTA was so with it and actually has a car outfitted to carry a bunch of bikes? I was so incredulous I had to take a bunch of pictures. And of course, we started planning our next ride to take advantage of the train. Next ride - Newburyport.













Finished up the day with presents, pizza and champagne. I like 45.

Riding and Smiling...

Two things made me smile on this morning's 30 miler. After finishing my second tempo piece, I slowed up right near the Attack Duck. I have no idea what it means, why it's there but think whoever put it there has my sense of humor. Every time I do this route, I laugh when I see it.

Second thing: waved to a guy on 225. Got a happy bicycle bell "DING!" in return. :-D

Riding The Tsunami

For me, cyclocross is the absolute best kind of racing. I love it and my entire training this year is focused on having a kick-ass cross season with a top ten finish in my age group race at Nationals in KC this year. This also has me thinking about retiring the Surly as a pit bike and replacing it with something a little lighter and snappier. Given my size it's somewhat difficult to find a stock bike that fits well. Sure, I can futz around with stem length, etc but all that jury-rigging means a trade-off in handling, power, and just plain comfort.

So I'm contemplating going custom and if you're going to go custom, why not go the best? Thanks to a friend at Seven, I've been picking their brains and trying to decide between the Tsunami and the Mudhoney (can you buy a bike just because you like the name?) And they've gone totally above and beyond and managed to get a bike for me a week or so test ride. Sweet! They totally rock.

Today was my first ride on it. Despite the fact that the top tube is too long for me, it was still a total blast to ride. Decided a 20 mile ride on dirt would make the bike feel right at home so I headed out the Battle Road Trail to Concord Center then back on what I call the Slug Trail. First impression, the bike felt super light and FAST. I think part of that is because most of my trail riding lately has been on my full suspension mtb. I'd forgotten how quick and nimble a cross bike is on trails. Pretty much felt effortless to fly on the hard packed dirt of the Battle Road trail. Once I got to Concord, I punched it on the rockier Slug Trail. It handled the rocks and roots on that trail smoothly and despite it not being the right size for me, still a piece of cake to handle. I think I had one of those rides where I'm smiling so much I need a toothpick at the end to get all the bugs out of my teeth. ;-) Wow. It'll be a privilege to race one of these machines this fall. Look out, Nemesis!

Along the route back, saw an odd rock in the middle of the trail. Looked slicker than the other rocks (kind of wet?) so I decided to avoid it. Didn't want to crash a bike that wasn't mine, after all. Took a closer look and discovered it wasn't a rock at all. Sunday I was racing a deer, today a turtle. :)

Racing Bambi

Sunday was another Root 66 Series Race - this one in Putney, VT. I've only been to Putney once before and that was to watch S do a 70 road race that pretty much destroyed her. Let's just say I don't have pleasant memories of Putney (still have to do that epic cross race that's held there) so I registered for the race with much trepidation.

Google Maps said Putney was a 2.5 hr drive from my home. Apparently Google and I drive vastly different speeds. Up at 4am, on the road by 5, and zipping along a deserted Rt. 2, I made it to Putney by 7am. As I crossed the border from MA to VT, my thoughts turned to snowboarding and snow - things I usually associated with the Green Mountain state- so I checked the outdoor thermometer in my car. OMG! 39! It was a beautiful, blue sky morning so I was hoping the sun would warm things up, along with burning off the fog hanging in the valleys.

Since I was there so early, I had ample time to do a leisurely pre-ride of the course. Got the bike ready, had ALL my gear this time since I packed the car the night before, checked with the organizers about which way the course started and headed out. Super nice morning to be out in the woods - cool enough to discourage the bugs, quiet except for the birds and me. The sun wasn't totally over the surrounding hills yet so the dense foliage made it pretty dark which reminded me of getting lost in the Fells with the Luna Chix. And that in turn reminded me of my Luna Chick buddy who wouldn't be riding that day. I reminded myself how lucky I was to simply be able to ride, remembered what it was like to be in her situation and thought I would have to ride hard enough for two of us - today's race would be for her.

This was probably my most favorite course I've done this year (ok, ever, since I've only been mountain biking a year.). The race started in an open, grassy field going slighly uphill with a before it entered the woods onto a short single-track section that swooped down, leveled out and popped up a short, steep climb. A left turn at the top dumped you out on a wide, rolling xc ski trail that then turned into the first real single track. The next sections were mixes of rolling xc ski trails, single track and just a blast. No crazy rock gardens, not too incredibly rooty, no stream crossings (actually, I did miss those!), a few logs to ride over, and LOTS of hills. As I finished the first climb and headed down, I saw a deer ahead. She saw me, turned, and headed running down the trail but only fast enough to stay just a bit ahead of me. I swear, that doe was racing me! As I reached the bottom of the hill and slowed down, she stopped, looked at me and took off - white tail bobbing through the woods. :)

Back to the course, did I mention the hills? One even known as Heartbreak. There were three tough hills, one super long climb that I couldn't figure out if I should walk or ride. It seemed I went the same speed no matter which option I chose so I figured I'd be best doing whatever took the least amount of energy. Best thing about climbing though are the downhills. They were fun, fast, with some ruts and off-camber rocks to avoid. One big berm which was totally killer at high speed, a big grassy hill that reminded me of the hills in CA (no cows, though). The last hill was Cemetery Hill up to the finish line. Ow.

As for my race, my plan was to get the hole shot and go. Just go. Ride as hard and fast as possible. They did the usual wave starts and we started last behind the juniors. The whistle went off, I rode as hard across the grass as possible since I hate it so much , hit the woods in first and just flew down the single track making sure to carry enough speed for the short, steep uphill on the other side. Never saw a another woman after the start. Caught 4 junior riders and 3 50+ men riders (always makes me feel good to catch those guys who have a 2 min head start on us).

Second race in a row where I didn't fall! The hills killed me but simultaneously felt great (if that makes any sense). Lap times were around 36 min. My technique is improving, especially descending and that really helped on this course.

1st Place beginner women overall
1st Place beginner woman 35+
Still have the leader's jersey :)

Running From The Storm

Since yesterday was the Summer Solstice, Dave and I thought we'd take advantage of the extra daylight and sail around the harbor islands, enjoying the latest sunset of the year. Unfortunately, Boston is in its typical summer weather pattern of late day/early evening building of clouds and thunderstorms. Last night was no exception.

Checked the radar at the sailing center before heading out and it looked like we'd be ok. The storms appeared to be moving north of us. We rigged the sails, ticked off items on our mental checklist, and headed out. As soon as we were far enough out, we headed into the wind, cut the engine and raised the sails. Uh. "What's up with that jib?" asks Dave. "It looks weird." Hmmmm.. "Yeah, it looks weird for a jib because it's not a jib. That's a genoa.", I say. "And we don't have the sheets rigged right for it. Besides, there's too much wind for the genoa."

The only way I can tell the difference between the sails when they're folded is by side by side comparison. He had simply handed me the sail from below deck, I rigged it and we didn't realize until we raised it that ooops, wrong sail. So I got the fun job of going out on the bow, taking down the genoa, stowing it below, bringing up the jib, rigging it, tying on the sheets and getting it going while Dave held us steady and tried not to dump me in the harbor. Finally, success and we were off sailing.

During all this, the storm clouds continued to build but still seemed far off. The wind really picked up and soon we were doing about 7 kts out of the harbor. Took us 45 min to cover what took 2 hours the other afternoon in light wind. Zoom! Then, the wind just died. Zip. Nada. We joked about the calm before the storm. The weather gods took that comment as an opportunity to mock us and sent bolts of lightening over Logan Airport and grumbled with thunder at us. Dave and I looked at each other with the same wide-eyes, both thinking, uh oh...what do we do? Hide behind Spectacle Island, of course. Fortunately, the wind picked up at that point and we set our course to the channel behind Spectacle. The clouds continued to look threatening, the wind continued to be a steady 10 kts or so, gusting to 15. As we came around Spectacle, the wind totally died again. We watched a rainbow appear over Long Island, bobbed around on the glassy sea, waiting for more wind. And waited. And waited. And waited some more. Ok, pull down the jib. Start the motor. ~sigh

And what happens as soon as we get into the harbor? Wind picks up again like crazy. The Solings were out racing and zig zagging across the harbor with some nice speed. Too bad the wind was right out of the west and in the direction we were headed. Grrrr...... Also made folding up not one, but two sails, all that more interesting once we docked.


Whatever. Just so happy to be out on the water. Great evening. And check out the chart below for a graphical pic of what our wind profile looked like last evening.

Blowing Off Meetings

Gotta love Massachusetts. My friend Dave had today off due to Bunker Hill Day. And since it was 80, sunny and just plain damn delicious outside (and he was planning on sailing), I decided I needed to honor Bunker Hill Day as well and join him. Blew off four meetings, one expense report and a round of bug fixes. It'll all still be there tomorrow. Enjoyed a fantastic day on the water.

The Merlin Gets New Shoes

How often do you find a decent 650c wheelset on sale for 50% off? Almost never. The Merlin's current wheels (deliciously light Rolfs) while awesome are about 6 years old now. Picked up these Mavic Ksyrium Elites at Performance. I think I'm one of 5 people out there who actually ride 650's so I'm sure Performance was just dying to get rid of them. I took the opportunity to put a 11-21 cassette on these - should team up quite nicely with my compact crank set.

Took them for a short ride today. People always say wheels can make a big difference on how a bike feels/ride. Felt the same to me. Perhaps I'm just not perceptive enough.

Martini says, "Right!"

Today I was supposed to be riding the 136.3 mile Harpoon Brewery to Brewery Ride. Due to a variety of reasons (tired from travel, haven't spent a weekend home in a long time, no friends who would ride with me - poor me!) I bailed on the ride. I think it must have been the right decision because I didn't have that usual feeling of "I'm a lazy slacker" or the all day craving to be out there on the course. And it was an absolutely perfect day for it - bright blue sky, 75 degrees, no humidity and little wind. 100% glorious riding weather. ~sigh... Ok, perhaps there is a tidbit of me disappointed that I didn't do it. Next year.

So not to be a total loser, I did get S and PFFC to commit to doing a 50 miler (was going to be a 70 miler but PFFC had to head north for her nephew's graduation). It became my action item to plan the route mostly because if I left it up to them, we'd be doing the same ol' loop we always do. Much to their credit, they didn't whine about having to do something new. The route that I chose came from the Charles River Wheelmen site. Bless their cycling-trained hearts, these guys and girls go out there, scout new routes, mark them, post cue sheets on their site, etc. Wonderful cycling resource here in the metro Boston area. Usually, we head northwest of Boston. This time, I chose to head a little more south - almost directly west of the city to Sudbury, Wayland, Weston, Concord, Lincoln, etc. While I thought it was pretty, S and PFFC weren't too impressed (geez guys, branch out already!). I have to admit our favorite part about the ride, though, were the route markers. The cue sheets said they looked like coat hangers without the hook. To us (and our derelict minds) they looked more like upside-down martini glasses. And so this created 50 miles of someone shouting when they saw a marker indicating a turn, "Martini says Right!" or "Martini says Left!" And now I really can't get that out of my head - I'm even saying it while driving.

So it ended up being a fun ride. Stopped at Whole Foods along the route for some ice coffee. More coffee and half a hekla at Peets as a reward. There's definitely something to be said for keeping it fun. A ride with goals simply set to be only caffeine, pastry, ice cream and enjoying a beautiful day outside is a super refreshing break from all the structured training and racing. Martini says, "Drink!" ;-)

Things You DO (and Do NOT) Want To Hear...

The plan for this morning was a ride with the guys but it turned out to be just me and The Columbian which is always just fine with me. It's always an entertaining ride with a conversation that makes the miles fly by. Today's highlights:

Good To Hear:
"Yeah, I can tell you're in much better shape this year. Your ass looks HARD! Can I touch it?"
"NO!"

Bad To Hear:
"Careful, Darling, twisty, steep downhill. Don't biff it!"

Good coffee and muffin, too!

Smashing Cupcake

Haven't posted in a while. Traveling for work will do that to you. As usual, I timed my trip to coincide with an event on the west coast. This time is was the Muddy Buddy to be held on Sunday in San Jose. TCB and I had been planning this for an entire year since I had to pull out at the last minute and left her searching for a new teammate. This year was going to be different. We had the Gary Fisher Cake (a.k.a. "The Cupcake" since it's a size small) she bought especially for last year's Muddy Buddy. We (well, she) ran hills, we rode hills, we designed cool post-race T-shirts. WE WERE GOING TO KICK BUTT!!!

I spent Monday and Tuesday in Seattle. Didn't travel with a bike so resorted to running around Greenlake. Thought about doing THE WALL up Queen Anne but given that I have been focusing on cycling and hadn't actually run in months, I figured Greenlake was a safer idea. Felt like a plodder. Wonder how long it'll take me to get back to my 7:15 min/mile pace...

Flew down to San Jose Tuesday night. The real reason for my trip - my product was going GM on Friday and it's way easier for me to manage my team from the west coast than the east. So while I was incredibly busy with that and hustling between the SJ and SF offices, I was more focused on preparations for the race on Sunday. But Friday came, we hit our deadline with 43 minutes to spare, and popped the cork on some champagne. Couldn't wait to do that Sunday after our race.

Finally, it was Saturday. TCB picked me up that morning and we headed off on our race errands.

• Buy matching outfits to compete in.
• Pick up race number at REI
• Swap out clipless pedals for pedals with toe-clips (have to ride in trail shoes - can't run in cycling shoes)
• Fix rubbing rear brake
• Lube chain
• Eat chicken panini and drink margaritas (Muddy Buddy traditional lunch)
  

We took a detour to see TCB's new house. Totally awesome and right in the midst of some of the premiere cycling routes in the area (if not the country). Thankfully, the house comes with a huge garage. Now I just need a bike to store there!

Dinner time rolled around. We carbo loaded on pasta, did a mental checklist of gear to pack that night, discussed strategy (like who would pick up the coffee in the morning) and what time she'd pick me up. She dropped me off at the hotel in SJ and headed home.

I started getting my gear ready (pack the helmet this time!!!!!) and organizing all my crap. About 15-20 minutes later, TCB calls to remind me of one last thing. While chatting with her, I suddenly hear, "SCREEEEEEACH!!!!!!!!!" Then silence, then a string of expletives that even would have made her sister blush. "F*&^%$!" "Oh, F(*&^^%$!!!!!!!!!!" And other stuff I can't even abbreviate here. I didn't hear any crashing noises so I didn't think she hit another car. I couldn't get her to tell me what happened. Just more swearing, starting to cry and my mind goes off in the worst possible direction - she's hurt or she's hit a person or dog. Finally, she calms down and her first type-able words are, "I don't think we're doing the Muddy Buddy."

Turns out that after a long day of driving around with the bike but not actually riding it she forgot it was on rack on top of the car. Plus, I distracted her on the phone. And oh yeah, apparently she's Mario Andretti when pulling into the garage. So yes, she pulled the one thing that every cyclist hopes they never do and yet seem to do at least once in their cycling career - she had the bike on the car rack, driven into the garage and now had it wedged between the car and the underside of the garage door. Uh oh. I was SO relieved to hear that nothing serious had happened, heard her start to laugh and I couldn't stop laughing. Told her to call me back and try to get the bike off the car and give me a damage report.

Ten minutes later she calls back. Can't get it off the car alone, no one else is home, neighbors are out, HELP! I tell her I'd love to be there but I dropped off my rental at Hertz earlier that day and I figured they were closed now so I was hosed. "TAKE A TAXI!" Oh, yeah. Didn't think of that. Be there in 20 minutes. ;-)

As I walked down the driveway, I saw the sport wagon half in the garage, the Cupcake twisted and smashed with the handlebars stuck under the garage door and the Yakima rack bent into a "L". Ouch. (There are no pictures of the incident to protect the reputation of those involved. ;-) With me standing in the car and pushing the garage door up and TCB holding on to Cupcake, we managed to free it and start checking for damage. First obstacle, rear wheel wouldn't spin but wait...hey, it's just the chain that fell off. Ok...fixed that. Checked out the shift levers and while the the "Idiot Indicators" were sheared off in the accident, the levers worked great. Hmmmm....maybe we'll be riding after all. Throw on the front wheel (this was a front fork mount rack) and it's rubbing a bit but hey, no biggie. It's looking like we may be able to ride! We turn our attention to the car - except for a small scratch on the rails, it was absolutely fine. The bike carrier/tray was trashed and the garage door was dented and slightly off the track but appeared easily fixable. I was just about to do my "We're Still Doing The Muddy Buddy" happy dance when TCB grabbed the bike by the stem and the fork moved in an entirely different and unnatural direction. Ewwwwww....not good. Perhaps the headset was trashed, or the fork, or both. Sadness. Didn't think we should risk bombing down trails on a bike that was suspect. Wah!!!!!!

So instead of racing the next day, we did a fantastic trail run, hung out at the pool and brought Cupcake to the shop. They pointed out one more thing we didn't notice. The frame was cracked right where the top tube was welded to the head tube. It was toast. Kaput. Done. Flat-lined. Destined for the heap. Trashed. With much sadness, we rolled it out of the shop and into the sport wagon for it's final ride home.

There's always next year. Or maybe LA in November. :)

BTW, I managed to take home a part of Cupcake. It's the Idiot Indicator from the rear derailleur shift lever that was sheared off. RIP Cupcake. :(

Just One Of Those Days

Sunday was one of those days that makes you believe that there's some higher power out there thinking he/she/it's going to have a little fun and it just happens to be your turn to be the object of their amusement.

The plan: head down to CT for a 9am mtb race (Channel Three XC Race). S was going to head down with me so I told Luna Chick (one of the ones who got us lost in the Fells a few weeks ago) we couldn't carpool.

Reality: Alarm triggers at 5am, roll out of bed, down some coffee and cereal and start getting my gear ready. S decided that her ankle really was hurting too much and it wouldn't be wise to stress it further in a race so she bows out to workout at home and do some chores/errands.

Pack up the car and head out. About 5 min from home, I realize I never put the pump in the car. (PITA #1). Return back home, pick up pump. On the road again. Usually, while driving to a race, I'm fired up, bopping to some tunes, and on the edge of my seat. This time, I was pretty low key - figured I was just tired and shouldn't have had that Mike's at Marta's the night before.

The weather has been a little unstable over the past few days. On my 90 min drive to the race, I saw blue sky, sun, drizzle, low clouds and just as I'm getting off on my exit, the sky opens and dumps so hard we're all going 30 mph and can't see. (PITA #2).

Next, apparently the gods have been playing with Google Maps. The directions I had had me turning right onto a non-existent street (PITA #3). I drove around in circles in the CT backwoods for a half hour until I finally found someone out for the morning walk and who fortunately could direct me to where the race was located.

I arrived at the race, found Luna Chick and chatted as we got our bikes ready. Pumped up the tires and shocks, donned shoes and then started searching for my helmet bag which besides my helmet, contains my gloves and glasses. Not in the back of the Fat Ass, must have left it in the front. Nope, not there either. Behind the seat? Nope. F*&^%$#@! Left it at home. (PITA #4)

Ok, well, let's at least tape on the GU so assuming I find a helmet, I'm good to go. Black electrical tape is also in helmet bag. ~sigh. But, Luna Chick to the rescue with some duct tape! Yay! I pull off a strip and use my teeth to rip it. Somehow, it sticks to my lips and when I rip it off, I draw blood. (PITA #5). Un-f(*&^!-believable.

Here's where the gods stopped playing with me (somewhat) and my luck changed. Headed to registration anyway thinking I could bum a helmet from someone. Chris, the race director, didn't have any spares but since he would be racing Expert hours later, he offered me his. It was way too big but if I left my sorry excuse for a ponytail in, it snugged up the helmet just enough. I also had to really shorten the straps so now I truly looked like a dork with a huge amount of excess straps hanging down.

By this time, it was 8:30 which meant no time really to pre-ride the course or warm up. Went out 10 min worth on the course and 10 back. Roll up to the start line - this time not muddy but still bloody from my encounter with the duct tape. The other girls also admired my combination of mtb and paintball bruises on my legs. Wasn't sure whether to say, "Bite me!" or "I'll rip your legs off so quit picking on mine." :)

Anyway, oh, yeah, the race. There were about a dozen of us at the start, 5 or so in my division but only one woman who I thought I'd need to worry about. "Pinky" had won my first mtb race and seemed to be in decent shape. She was starting in the front row, I was in the second directly behind and not worried since there was a good amount of trail to catch and pass the other riders. Sure enough, the whistle goes off, and it's Pinky off the front, followed by a 19-34 year old rider and about 5 riders then me. Slowly, I picked off the 5 riders, the younger girl passed Pinky (never to be seen again - we were dusted) and I was on Pinky's wheel. Coming to the first bridge she took a bad line, hit the bridge hard and endo'ed. Ouch. I passed her. She then passed me on the next big uphill. I passed her on the downhill (fascinating to see the battle between hardtail and FS in action). We traded places all through the race. This course was way hillier than any I've done so far - at least 3 big climbs, two of which I couldn't do even in the granny. And riding with sweaty hands and no gloves really made life exciting. ;-)

By the end of the first lap, we were still riding together and here's where I made my first tactical mistake. I ripped the GU off the handlebars thinking I was in the feedzone but I wasn't - ended up trying to eat GU, drink some water and climb a hill at the same time. This broke up my rhythm just enough to slow me down and allow Pinky to get a lead that I couldn't make up. She ended up beating me by 30 sec or so.

The good: I rode really well. First race that I didn't fall or add to my bruise collection. I rode everything except the two very large downed trees. There were lots of roots, rocks, short climbs, steep descents (one I handled so well the marshall was applauding, yelling "SO SMOOOOOTH!!!"). I rode a couple of tricky bridges that had either logs or rocks leading up to them, 8" planks across water, all kinds of fun stuff. I loved the feeling of riding the off camber section fast, feeling/hearing the shocks working hard, the bike doing what I tell it and just feeling more confident on the bike - I've learned how to use the sliding rear wheel on turns rather than freaking out or fighting it. Really loved the course. And I'm thinking I want to do sport and be out there for one more lap.

Lessons learned: Make sure all the gear is in the car, don't trust Google Maps/MapQuest/etc., don't get duct tape stuck on lips (or if it's already too late, remove gently). Oh yeah, pre-ride the course if at all possible. And try a little bit harder. 30 sec isn't all that much.

Final result: 3rd woman overall, 2nd in age group

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. ;-)