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I kinda make fun of triathletes a lot.  Granted, I think the whole world does.  They’re a special breed.  So when I got a TT bike, some of my cyclist friends make tri jokes.  When I started running I was told it was fitting since I owned a TT bike.  I still swore I’d never do a tri.  Then Kim and I went swimming and I discovered I can swim okay enough, so I registered for a tri.  And so I’m here today…  My line of thinking fell kind of into “well, I might as well do a triathlon since I do all sorts of crazy things I never thought I’d do, and at least I can hopefully kick ass on the bike, and its held a few blocks from my house.”

I entered the Cheyenne Sprint Triathlon, which has a pool option.  See, I would never do a tri without a pool option because I have a huge fear of water so open water swims are out for me, and my microbiology degree tells me lakes are yucky anyways (not that pools aren’t, but there shouldn’t be as much nasty stuff in them in theory).  I arrived promptly at 6:30am, quite enjoying the fact it was less than a 5 minute drive from my house after a summer of driving hours, and sometimes to other states, for races.  I was kinda lost, as the whole pre-race procedure is very different than my normal mountain or road races.  I wandered over to pick up my chip but they weren’t ready so I took to preparing my transition area.  Not like I had any idea what I was doing, but I spread down my T-rex dinosaur beach towel, and placed my aero helmet the incorrect way on my bike.  I folded and refolded my bike shorts on top of my road shoes.  I gave up on trying to make my water bottle stay upright.  Wandered back over for my timing chip.

Finally some of my teammates started showing up.  I knew them (I write the team blog/race results), but they didn’t know me which is always awkward.  At least it gave me some conversation.  Amy finally wandered in and I tried to convince her to set up her transition area next to mine, which didn’t work, but then I recruited Bob.  Who also didn’t know me.  But we remedied that with some conversation about the LMBS!  I asked Amy if I was expected to run from the pool to the transition area (quite a ways away… almost like a secondary run leg if you ask me) barefoot.  haha, such a noob.  I was realizing that I am far too much of a cyclist to be in an episode of “Shit triathletes say”

Soon enough us pool swimmers were wandering over to the Municipal Pool to get our swim on.  I was super nervous about having to swim with 4 other people in my lane.  They asked us to group ourselves by similar times.  These guys went “we’re slow, we swim 9’s.”  Well, my 400m estimated time is 12-13 minutes so I avoided those guys.  Luckily I found a group of 3 men with similar times to me so we teamed up for the Slow Lane of Awesomeness.  They sent us off semi-time trial style, every 5 seconds in the lane.  I was third to go, but soon was touching the feet of the guy in front of me.  I knew I didn’t have the energy to pass so I just stayed there behind him hoping a foot wouldn’t meet my face.  About 4 laps in or so I tossed my goggles off as they were all fogged up.  I refuse to put my face in water, so it worked out.  Yes, I do have a very turtle like atrocious swim technique, but hey, it gets me through 400m so whatever!  The last 100m were killer and I could feel my pace dropping horrible.  I was very happy when I could finally get out of the pool and onto my favorite thing ever – a bicycle!

Running the half marathon (ok, it wasn’t that far, just felt like it) to the transition area I felt so wonky and floaty.  I didn’t run fast, but fast enough to get me there quickly.  My poor tender feet were like “Why are we running barefoot?!   Didn’t parasitology class teach you anything about grass in city parks?!” Haha.  During the transition I learned that bike shorts are super hard to put on when you’re wet.  And a standard bike chamois does an incredible job at wicking all the water up from your swimsuit… but I did indeed get them on, along with socks and shoes (BOA dials are hard to turn with wrinkly fingers, for future reference), helmet, and sunglasses.  I started my Garmin 510, even though I had my FR910XT on as well.  I doused myself with some lemon water, as more went on me than in my mouth and I was off!  Of course this was the time I struggled with clipping in and I was an idiot and tried to get on my bike from the right side, which I can’t really do as I always mount from the left side.  Lessons learned.

I was so happy to be on the bike and in my element.  The  Cheyenne Police Dept. and race volunteers did an amazing job controlling traffic, so I ultra enjoyed blowing stop signs and stop lights on the course.  I started picking off other people immediately on Central Avenue, which added to my happiness.  I’m never strong on the road, so it was nice for once being the one dropping others!  Everything was going great, and I was heading towards the first big climb, which is up Bishop Blvd. to the Vandehei roundabout.  I tried shifting into my big ring granny gear and the bike made a horrible clatter and it wouldn’t shift.  I tried again, same results.  Not willing to get off and see what was wrong, I grunted and mashed out the climb.  Apparently something is messed up with my bike, which left me with about 3-5 hard big ring gears to work with on the hilly course.  And I couldn’t go into the small chainring as my front derailleur will not shift back into the big ring.  The whole race I had a terrible rattling coming from the rear end of my bike and all I could do was hope everything stayed in one piece until the end.

And that it did!  The course flew by, and so did the hills.  I continued picking off other racers and soon knew I was in the front of the pack (though it didn’t mean much since it is a time trial type of thing).  The volunteers were amazing and cheered as everyone went by, which was great motivation.  A lady yelled out that she loved my bike, too!  The turn around was at Little Bear Inn, and I was able to pick up speed for the climb back super well.  The wind was pretty nonexistent, an added pleasure.  I dropped down Bishop Blvd off the roundabout at 40mph, which I realized was 10mph over the posted speed limit and probably explained why I almost had to pass a car – making me realize that I am way more comfortable with speed on a road bike than I ever will be on a mountain bike!

Coming down Central a volunteer told me I was in 6th place, woohoo!  I cruised back to the park and into the transition area.  This transition went a lot faster, as all I had to do was change shoes and take my helmet off.  Then off to the run… the horrible, miserable run.  I managed a strong first quarter mile and then started to quickly die.  I would say I probably did about half walk, half run.  My right knee was screaming in pain and I had a side ache.  It was hard not to feel miserable, though I was still giddy about how well the bike portion went.  My average speed was a little over 19mph for the 13.3mile course!

3.1 miles of torture later and I saw the finish line and heard the announcer calling my name.  I put in a decent sprint effort and sat my butt down as soon as I could after the finish line.  Whew, I finish a triathlon!

My official overall time was 1:33:29.8.  Which…drumroll… was 2nd place in my age category!  YAY!   I finished 14th overall in the pool swim category… not too shabby for winging a triathlon with no training, eh?

Unfortunately I had to impatiently wait until later in the evening to see all the splits (which I guess wasn’t too bad, I crashed out for a few hours on the couch anyway!).  I really wanted to see my bike time and compare it against all the others.  It was worth the wait!  I had the fastest bike time of any pool participant – male or female!!  To boot, I had the 5th fastest female bike time of the day.  Sometimes being a cyclist pays off 😀  The bike portion is what saved my butt, in all honesty.  My bike time was 11 minutes faster than the 3rd place finisher of my category who had way faster swim and run times, to show much it helped out.  And hey, it felt good to finally kick some ass on skinny tires!

I really doubt I’ll be doing any more triathlons in the near future, however.  First off, I need pool swims.  Second off, as much as I had fun it’s still really not my “thing.”  The bike portion was the only super enjoyable part, and I can look to time trials to accomplish the same thing.  I’m super proud of myself for registering and finishing a tri!  Maybe next year for the same event… 😉

Sorry for the never ending lack of updating… I’ve had a lot of blog ideas in mind, half written during my bike rides in my mind, only to never be written on the computer.  Which is sad, because I’ve gone on some pretty cool adventures, like Matt and I biking up Highway 130 to the Snowies!  And of course, I completely (purposely) did not do a race report (gasp!) on my LMBS Race #2, because it was spectacularly crappy from the start thanks to handlebar locking with two girls at the get go which caused me to never be part of the lead pack, and me blowing up chasing said lead pack after I unlocked myself from the gals at the start (I finished 7th out of like 22, ok ok, I know, it wasn’t that bad).

So here’s to make up for all my laziness!  Matt and I have been talking about riding this trail since last summer, and the idea popped into my head as we were debating riding up Mt. Evans yesterday for our day off together.  We both decided we didn’t feel like the long drive to Colorado, so I suggested the Medicine Bow Rail Trail instead, which is roughly 30-40 miles west of Laramie.

One of our first ever huge bike rides (for me at least) was on another rails-to-trail in South Dakota – the Mickelson Trail.  So we were excited to explore a similar trail in our own backyards!  What’s even neater is that as a kid I rode on the Excursion Train from Laramie to Fox Park, so who would’ve thought that many many years later I’d be biking it, right?  Always neat when your past crosses paths with your present 🙂

We arrived at the Dry Park Trailhead about 11am.  This trailhead is the only one on the trail system that doesn’t require a parking fee, but it is also the only one that is not marked, has no bathrooms, and honestly does not look like a trailhead.  It’s more of a large dirt parking lot off the side of the road.  I briefly drove past it, only to see the start of the trail to my left, so I put it in reverse!  This is the northernmost trailhead, and is 21 miles (though not exactly, it’s more like 22.5 miles due to the detour around Fox Park) from the southern end at Pelton Creek.  We changed into our cycling clothes and hit the trail.

Initially, we were not impressed or amused.  Sand greeted us.  Lovely lovely lovely sand.  We pedaled along at 7 miles per hour, and Matt and I agreed that if it stayed like this there was no way we would ride the whole trail.  Spoiled we were by Mickelson and it’s glorious hardpack gravel.  We chugged on through the sand and two miles later arrived at Lake Owen, where thankfully the trail turned to fast-rolling packed gravel.  YAY!!  At Lake Owen there were signs about the trail and also a caboose.  It’s clear that this is the more established northern trailhead, almost like Dry Park was an afterthought.

Without stopping we pedaled on.  There really was a complete lack of stopping and photo taking on this.  This was very much a “keep pedaling towards your goal” kind of trip.  Not to say the scenery is not gorgeous as you wind through the Medicine Bow National Forest!  The trail itself ranged from smooth packed gravel to softer areas nearly obscured completely by grass and wildflowers.  There are numerous ATV trail crosses with yield signs, and also the trail crosses Highway 230 one time.  Several gates are along the way as well to open and close.  Cows are here and there, and their poop is even more present.

The trail takes a detour when you reach Fox Park due to property rights disagreements.  I managed to get Matt and I lost during this time.  The map they provide is upside down from how you’d really want to read it (to me), and there’s a lack of signs when heading in the southern direction.  I took us in the completely opposite direction on FSR 512.  Luckily my little detour from the detour only added about 3 miles total, haha.  Soon we were back on the trail and cruising along.

For it being a Sunday/weekend, there was a refreshing lack of humans on the trail.  South of the Woods Creek Trailhead we encountered two equestrians, who we politely yielded to so they could pass.  And… well, that was all on the southern trip.  At Pelton Creek we gobbled down a McDonald’s apple pie each, and some Honey Stinger chews as the clouds spat rain drops on us.  Our nutrition on long rides is fantastically terrible, clearly.  I groaned when I had to get back on the bike, as my right knee ached (for the first time in months sadly) and I was tired.  Considering we were in BFE with no cell service, clearly the only choice was to get back on the bike and pedal for another 22.5 miles.  And that we did.

The return trip seemed to go by a lot faster, though it involved a lot of climbing from Pelton Creek.  That is one thing about rails to trails is the fact the climbs and descents are so gradual they’re really tricky in distinguishing sometimes!  (Unless you’re doing Mickelson… oh, I can tell the climbs beween Mystic and Hill City just fineeeee.)  We encountered our second group of humans just south of Fox Park, on ATVs no less… which are not allowed on the trail.  Ugh.  I made sure to hold my line, and they politely gave a wave and wide passing berth.  But still.  Ugh.

Matt and I got into a rhythm of just turning the pedals as the clouds turned darker.  Luckily we were never heavily rained on, considering the storm that pounded Laramie later rolled right over us.  The last two miles of sandy nastiness was made slightly better by the fact we were rolling down hill this time, but it still made us keep a tight grip on the handlebars as we wrangled our bikes through it.  All said and done it was a 47 mile round trip, and took 4 hours 31 minutes (including stop/rest time).  My Strava/Garmin showed I averaged 11.6 mph, which isn’t too shabby!

We enjoyed our little outing, and getting time in the saddle in a lame sense for Laramie Enduro training.  It was nice to mark something off the bucket list of places to ride, as well!  But mostly it just made Matt and I really eager to return to South Dakota for another go at the Mickelson Trail, which still remains our favorite.  Medicine Bow Rail Trail is good for that “OMG we’re in the wildness” feeling and feeling like you’re “roughing” it a bit more.

My Medicine Bow Rail Trail tips:

• Bring all the water you’ll need as there’s no place to refill along the trail except at Lake Owen, which may or may not have the water turned on.
• No road bikes.  This should be a given, but just in case someone wonders… cyclocross bike is doable I’d say, though there are some rough spots here in there, forging through grass, fallen trees which lead to either off roading it a bit or bunny hopping, and the roads in Fox Park in the detour are washboard.  I rode my full suspension Specialized Epic mountain bike.  I liked the squish, and don’t foresee a cyclocross bike excursion on this particular trail in my future.
• Bug spray and sunscreen.  Neither of which Matt nor I thought of using.
• Along the lines of the water, bring all the food you’ll need.  Plan ahead.  You’re really in BFE unless you jump on the highway to WyColo or bang on a cabin door.
• Start early to avoid the summer storms.  We lucked out and didn’t really run into much, however we did have jackets packed just in case.

Oh, and wildlife seen?  A single fox.  At least there were no scary moose encounters!  Or angry cows… these cows were totally terrified of me, for once.

I took today as a rest day as I was completely wiped out from the ride.  We ate at Texas Roadhouse for dinner and I completely annihilated Tater Skins, 4 or 5 of their rolls, 8 ounce steak, green beans, and mashed potatoes.  First time I’ve left without leftovers in a long time!  I was in bed asleep by 8pm… Today my legs were still a bit tired, sit bones still a bit sensitive so no bike.  I rode 100.3 miles last week, which was my second highest mileage week ever, and my body is telling me so!

And so things come full circle… A year ago next week I got the notion to do a mountain bike race.  Little did I know it’d be the start of something rather obsessive that would eat up my free time and day off requests.  I chuckled about this as I pulled into the Tie City parking lot last night for the start of the 2013 Laramie Mountain Bike Series.

The feelings of wanting to puking and run away?  Yep, they were sure there this time around!  I find it strange in a sense that I put so much importance on my local races, and therefore have such an increased nervousness about everything.  Maybe it’s because I know a lot of the people and have a certain expectation to exceed?  Who knows… but as usual I got there way too early.  At least this year I looked like a pro as I flipped over my bike and lubed my chain.  Last year I was sitting there thinking “Whoa, am I actually suppose to do that?!”  I made conversation with the guy that parked next to me.  Someone asked if I was racing Open, and I silently cursed my team kit for making me look like an Open class racer.  I sized up my female competition, recognizing some faces from last year and hoped I could hand them the butt-whooping that I so desired to.  I put on my number plate, horrified to find that it has 4 holes to attach it with, and I grabbed only 3 twist ties out of habit. 

Rode up to the outhouse, and then around the campground for a warm up.  Then back to the car for my gloves and glasses.  Then up to the starting line.  Nervous energy.  Impressed people with the 300 miles that I’ve put on my Fast Track tires as they were talking about their tires wearing out in 50.  Realized the Open gals also had yellow number plates.  Whew.  Before I knew it they were calling up the Intermediate/Advanced Women.  I got a second row line up and let out a big sigh.  It’s hard to be racing against the Big Girls when I only managed mid-pack Beginner results a year ago. 

GO.  I jumped out rather quickly without even trying.  Soon it was me and a gal named Wendy (who never finished lower than 2nd last year at the races) battling up the campground climb, which I mashed at a high cadence in my big ring.  Go me.  I took the lead and was the first through the gate onto Meadow.  What the hell… but what was refreshing is I didn’t have any of those doubt-filled feelings of my position like I have had at many other races this year.  Yeah, bee-yotches, I’m in first!  I remained in the lead until Upper UW, where Wendy zipped around me.  No feelings of panic and I settled in.  I could immediately tell she could actually descend, unlike me.  I’m still my brake-loving-take-the-corners-like-a-granny self, and I’m fine with that.  I knew there was lots of climbing to come.

We hit Aspen just about the time the Advanced Men started catching us.  Oh great, a bunch of adrenaline filled men with better skills than me zipping around all crazy on a technical descent.  One guy did wreck right in front of Wendy and I.  See, there’s a reason to descend like a granny…  we went to climb one of the hills on Aspen and my legs spun like crazy and it felt like I dropped my chain.  I let out some swear words (I’m quite the sailor when racing, even though I try not to be!), and stopped to look at my chain.  It was fine.  DAMMIT!  Two girls in my class got in front of me.  I was sad.  Stupid mistake.  I hopped back on the bike and pedaled like crazy to keep the girls in sight.  The descent was fast and I was holding on for dear life, trying not to look down at my Garmin at my speed.  No one needs to know they’re going 17mph on singletrack through a forest.  ‘Tis not necessary!

Before I knew it I splashed through the creek at the end of Haunted Forest and was on Old Happy Jack Road.  Two more stream crossing soaked my poor left foot and my butt, which left me really conscious that my kit might turn see through when wet.  I mean, no one wants to see a transparent blue kit with my uber white buns hanging out with a license plate across it announcing Spradley Barr Auto Group.  Considering nobody was giving me odd looks, I decided my blue shorts do not turn transparent, and I was safe.  I caught one of the girls that passed me, and I had a sigh of relief knowing I was sitting in 3rd.  Old Happy Jack Road is a light climb and then flat gravel road, so it was a good place to mentally prepare for the 7% grade climb of Middle Aspen coming up. 

I caught the 2nd place gal at the beginning of Middle Aspen and made a pass.  She passed me back.  I passed her again.  And finally it stuck.  I had to come off the bike twice for climbs due to the trails being littered with too much traffic to try to grunt out the climbs.  Major props to the dude on the singlespeed next to me, though it sounded like he was in utter pain with every pedal stroke.  Yeahhh, I’ll keep my gears, thank you!  I had a strange sense of “this climb isn’t really that bad” come over me, and I pushed through every pedal stroke.  I may or may not be guilty of eying my Georgia Gould autograph on my top tube for motivation.  At the top of Middle Aspen I was almost delusional as to where I was on the trail system, and didn’t even realize I was on Alder and on the home stretch of Lap 1.  Adler, Campground Bypass, it all flew by.  I powered up over the cement to the parking lot and was on my way for the second lap.

Proving my Big Girl status, I successfully drank from my bottle and stayed pedaling.  Damn, if that ain’t pro, I don’t know what is!  (Seriously, it’s so hard for me to coordinate my body to drink and pedal at the same time, don’t laugh!)  My legs screamed with more protest but I forced them to climb the Campground, Meadow, and the first half of Upper UW.  I felt some of my descending badass-ness coming back from last summer, and used the brakes a smidge less.  The second lap utilized the “short loop” so I had to cut off onto Rollercoaster and then down to Adler and yadda yadda.  I love Rollercoaster, and am in all intensive purposes the Queen of the Mountain on this segment Strava.  It is MY trail, dammit!  I kept playing cat and mouse with the same men from the their intermediate class, back and forth we would pass each other depending if it was a climb or a flat or a descent.  I didn’t have any women in front of me or behind me.  Coming up to Campground I saw the girl I had passed on Middle Aspen and briefly panicked thinking that she was on her final lap. 

The third and final lap was a repeat of Meadow, Upper UW, Rollercoaster, Adler, and Campground Bypass.  I almost ate it into a bush entering onto Rollercoaster, but saved it.  Whew.  I knew I was on the home stretch and it was all about staying on the bike in the upright correct position.  I briefly saw a girl in my class within eyesight behind me, and as I turned onto Campground Bypass I saw the look of seriousness from her.  Oh no, time to kick it into high gear!  I mashed the Bypass, scared she was catching me, though I heard male voices behind me.  I scrambled up the climb to the parking lot and went into panic sprint mode (still amazing how I can make my body do that when it’s clearly saying to me NO MORE PEDALING).  I crossed the finish with no other females in sight, nearly falling off my bike in an attempt not to puke everywhere. 

My stomach had the most horrible cramps and I didn’t want to move.  I was sure I was in 2nd, but not sure.  I didn’t want to celebrate too early.  I chatted with new-found friends, including the guy that hooked handlebars with me on Middle Aspen for about ten feet.  I told him no worries, it was like we were a side-by-side tandem bike!  People asked how I did and I hesitantly answered 2nd.  The guy parked next to me said he was pretty sure I was 2nd since he saw us all come around while trying to fix a flat tire.  I hobbled over to my car and readied the bike to be put away.  Then the death coughing started.  It was a rather dusty race, and my lungs were letting me know.  No one told me I had a very dark dirt streak connecting my eyebrows into a scary looking unibrow.  Way to go everyone, way to go…

I grabbed a DELICIOUS burger and corn on the cob from the Pedal House and settled into eating.  No more taking 2 hours to eat a burger like last year, as I devoured this one like a champ, or a pig.  You pick.  I was covered in dirt with a unibrow, ladylike features go out the window in these situations!  I hung out with Travis and fellow teammate Dave while waiting for results to be announced.  It started raining. 

Being the ever-professionals that they are, the organizers had the results loaded before they even did the raffle awards!  Indeed, I was called out as the second place finisher and I avoided doing a happy dance.  Holy crap, how did I go from midpack Beginner to 2nd place in Intermediate/Advanced?!?!?!?  I kicked major butt, including kicking the butts of the girls who kicked my butt in Beginner last summer.  I’m still confused by this.  I confided in Matt that I hope no one thinks I’m a doper.  He snickered.  LOL.

So there it is, a successful start to the LMBS.  Next week is race #2.  I should be at every race except for the one at the end of July that comes between Nationals and the Enduro.  I’m excited, but still nervous.  Admittingly, I feel like poop today and slept until 9am.  My lungs burn and are clogged with mucus, and my stomach still feels a bit wonky.  I was going to ride, but not sure that will be happening before I head back up for my work week.  Laundry calls to me, and the cat is swearing her food bowl is empty.  Such is a life of a fairly decent probably should upgrade her license to Cat 2 mountain bike racer chick 🙂

Oh man, what a crazy week it has been!  My BFF Kim flew out from South Carolina for a whole week of Wyoming shenanigans, and we indeed managed to keep quite busy!  We drove up to the top of the Snowies to Libby Flats in a horrendous wind storm, ate cake at 10,000 feet, fed buffalo at the Terry Bison Ranch, and stood in the parking lot of Casa Bonita.

Biggest thing we did all week was keep super active.  Kim goes to the gym daily and is a runner, so that made a good combination for keeping us both active.  We did a 3 mile hike on the Turtle Rock Trail in Vedauwoo.  I was able to test out my new Keen hiking shoes on that hike, and so far I am liking them!  I found a TYR swimsuit for an amazing deal at Sports Authority, so Kim and I hit up the pool twice.  I hadn’t swam in about 10 years, but found it was *LOL* like riding a bike.  Affirmed that I can actually swim 400 meters, I ended up registering for the Cheyenne Sprint Triathlon in July (eep).  We also did a few days of run-walk intervals since Kim’s half marathon training began the week she was here.  I managed to squeeze in one night on the bike, doing the Cheyenne Cycling Club’s time trial on Little Bear Road.  I came in dead last, but I met my two goals of beating my personal records (which I did by 7 minutes) and not letting my beast of teammate Shareen catch and pass me (sorry Shareen, but you’re just good motivation!).

We topped everything off with a 5k run in Westminster – the Blazing Bullets Trail Run.  I had no idea how it would go, but I figured at least I wouldn’t be winning anything.  I’ve never run 3 miles straight in my life, not even when I was running track (I was a sprinter and hurdler anyway).  Nearing the turn-around at 1.5 miles I was feeling good, and still running.  Kim told me to go on without her, and I did just that.  I kept going and going, telling myself that “after such and such I can walk.”  Well, turns out I never ended up walking and I ran the whole damn 5k!  My time was 33:50.85 officially (I was pretty jazzed, this was my first race of any kind using a chip timer and they had a kiosk where you could print your instant results – classy!).  Not fast, but I think pretty good for someone who just bought running shoes a month ago, right?  Well get this… I ended up 2nd place in my age category!! 19th among females, and 44th overall.  There were 93 entries in the 5k, so top half… I’ll take that!  I ended up getting a spiffy silver medal, which is the first medal I’ve ever earned – surprising it wasn’t on the bike, though!

I also ate a veggie burger for the first time while Kim was here (she is vegan).  I actually really enjoyed them!  I had a homemade one at Sweet Melisssa’s in Laramie, and then a Boca one at Red Robin.  I love how the veggies burgers didn’t leave me feeling lethargic, so I think it is something I will indeed add into my diet.  We also ate some amazing pizza at Mellow Mushroom in Centennial, CO on Kim’s last night.  I had a pizza with olive oil/garlic sauce, mozzarella, red potatoes, broccoli, onions, and cucumbers.  It was AMAZING.  I seriously could it it for every meal!  So food was definitely a highlight of the week, as I love food and it loves me and I got to eat lots of Mexican and yummy pizza.

Of course we sprinkled in the usual shopping and lounging.  I had 18 empties to trade in at MAC Cosmetics, so I netted 3 free eyeshadows.  I never wear makeup anymore aside from mascara, but still cannot resist all the pretty things inside of MAC!  though I’ve come to realize that I own most all of their permanent eyeshadow shades… I got to take Kim to REI, where I bought a Garmin Forerunner 910XT watch for swimming/running/walking/triathlons.  We also stayed up super late watching My Strange Addiction and Untold Stories of the ER episodes.

 

Overall, it was a super awesome week and I was so sad to drop Kim off at the airport!  I think she’s one of my few friends that “get” the cycling thing, and also still has other crazy interests similar to mine.  I miss her face!

 

After getting back from Denver, Matt and I headed up to Happy Jack for our first mountain bike ride of the season up there.  I felt like absolute crap.  My right sit bone has been incredibly painful since the TT, and it hurt to sit on my bike, along with the fact my legs didn’t want to work.  We still banged out 13 miles, including Death Crotch.  I was super pleased that I cleared the kicker of a climb that begins Death Crotch (when ridden west to east) along with the hhuuugggeee climb up to the summit.  I’ve never been able to ride those before, so it was quite pleasing!  I also set a new PR on the Pole Creek Trail climb.  Yesterday I decided to be a bum, and the hot weather wasn’t helping one bit.  Today I was ambitious and headed towards the mountains to escape the 90+ degree weather in Cheyenne, and was greeted by cool winds at Happy Jack and temps in the high 70s.  I pounded out 18 miles, and only really stopped because I was worried I’d get hungry and bonk.  Turns out I wasn’t as fast on the bike as I mentally thought I was, so I am still struggling with getting back into the Happy Jack terrain mode.  Funny, I end up becoming fast at Gowdy, and lose my fastness at Happy Jack…

Tomorrow night is another CCC time trial, and then back up to work I go.  Having 12 days off hasn’t done me any favors in wanting to return to work!  Luckily I know after my three shifts I have 4 days off and get to start racing in Laramie (and I am currently debating entering the KMC Classic in Colorado Springs on Sunday for one more USAC race) But I know the weeks will fly by, and soon we’ll be road tripping to Pennsylvania for Nationals – yikes!  Where has this summer gone?!

Oh boy, what a weekend!  I decided to combine the race reports, as I don’t have a lot to say about the PV Cycle Derby, and don’t have a lot of race photos from the Beti Bike Bash.

The PV Cycle Derby was another RME race, this time taking place at the Peaceful Valley Scout Ranch.  Yay for private trails on a boy scout ranch!  Definitely one of the more scenic races I’ve done, as it lacked any sort of suburbia feel and little boxes everywhere.  Instead you got pine forests, open prairie, and Pikes Peak.  I’ll take that!  I entered the 22 mile long cross country race, which was an early morning start for once. Therefore, I drove down to Denver after work, because who doesn’t like insanely long drives after work, right?  Stayed at La Quinta, and got to “sleep in” until 6am.  Sure beats 4am, I suppose.  I left my Garmin 510 at the hotel, which I realized halfway through the hour long drive to the scout ranch.  Racing unplugged, ok!

Right from the start my body said NO.  I felt slow and sluggish, and the apple cinnamon Hammer gel I ate wasn’t playing nicely with my gastrointestinal tract (yeah yeah, don’t try new food before racing… I know…).  The pace was silly fast right from the start, unlike Battle the Bear.  So I settled back and just started treating it like a ride.  I had no idea where I was placement wise, but I knew it was off in the back, though I would pass some XC men time to time.

Race was on gravel roads, two track, and singletrack.  A lot of of the technical singletrack was really loose and powdery, which sucked.  I ended up off the bike more than I felt like I should’ve been.  I started to get really clumsy and tired feeling.  The type of feeling that causes me to run into trees for no reason.  I really felt like a spazz, haha.  One girl that was behind me for over half the race I finally let around me in my delirium, even though she didn’t want to because she said I was too powerful on the flats to keep up with 😀

I finally managed to eat a gel while riding the bike, giving my left brake handle some gel to munch on too.  Finally I was on the home stretch, and I knew for sure as I passed a guy with a Garmin so I could ask him how many miles we had ridden (it was driving me nuts not having a GPS in front of me!).  Last 3 miles were actually some fun stuff, but being so tired I found myself walking a lot of otherwise rideable stuff.  I didn’t even have the energy to do my normal happy sprint to the finish.  I cross the finish in less than 2 hours 30 minutes, and immediately ate watermelon and stumbled off to my car.  I figured I was way off the podium, so no need to stick around.  Turns out I got 2nd in my age category and 8th overall.  Boo!

Sunday was the Beti Bike Bash, which is hands down one of the best races I have ever attended!  The Beti Bike Bash is in it’s 4th year and is an all-women mountain bike race held at Bear Creek Park in Lakewood.  Awesome vendor tents, pink outhouses, fast trails, and Georgia Gould.  Woohoo!

Teammate Amy and I signed up for the Beginner’s 30-39 race.  I was unsure if my body/legs would show up after the previous days torture fest, so 8 miles sounded good.  I told my fellow Fort Follies I’d either sandbag the crap out of the beginner’s race, or totally get my ass kicked.  I got a nice front row starting spot, after they tried to put me in the 19-29 race, saying my age was wrong.  After assuring them I was 30 in race age (at Peaceful Valley they also questioned me being 30, so it was beginning to creep me out… seriously, I’d rather race 19-29, they’re slower!), we all lined up.  Immediately a girl took off like a bat out of hell, so I stuck myself to her rear tire, and we effectively demolished the rest of the field at the start of the race.  Happy to be racing on trails that I had already raced on, I jumped around her on the first double track chance for the lead.  About half the first lap she stuck to me and then I lost her.  And that whole strange “I’m leading the race” feeling set in.  I almost biffed it coming onto the gravel road for the big climb to the start line, but saved it with a quick foot.  I saw Lauren from Fort Follies and yelled “I’m in first again, and still don’t know why”  LOL

Second lap started and I was alone in regards to people from my class.  I passed quite a few racers from the Never Ever class on climbs, and soon enough my 8 miles were coming to an end and I was on the final gravel climb.  At the top of the hill my legs screamed and I struggled to get started on a sprint.  Finally across the finish line in a bit over 37 minutes, and I grabbed my finisher’s socks.  I love socks!

Awesome race, and I was pleased with my results.  I must admit, halfway through  my race I really felt like a sandbagger.  Team kit, expensive bike, 56 seconds ahead of the field…

Amy rolled in at 6th place.  We were hanging out and Amy nudged me and said, “Look right in front of you.”  I started looking all around and had no idea what Amy was talking about.  So Amy finally went “Oh my god, Georgia Gould is standing in front of you and you have no idea!”  OMG OMG OMG.  LOL.

Georgia Gould is hands down one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met.  She is super friendly and down to earth.  I actually managed to form some sentences and tell her how she’s a big inspiration to me and asked for a photo and to have my bike signed.  Usually I can’t do that around people, haha!  Then I was talking about my race, and she called me a sandbagger.  Which was awesome.  Because we all know I need to upgrade to Cat 2 and do intermediate+ level races.  So now I gotta, cuz Georgia called me a sandbagger!  She told me a story about how she entered beginner in her first race and blew everyone away.  Even more awesome, Georgia knew some things about me from Facebook, like that I lived in Wyoming and raced the day before.  LIKE WHOA AWESOME!  I whipped out the Sharpie I actually raced with in my back pocket, and she autographed the top tube of my Epic, and told me anytime I was struggling I could look down and know that she has been in the same place many times.  Now how cool is that for motivation, right?  My front tire went flat during all of this, so once again the goatheads stuck at Bear Creek Park…

My life now complete due to talking to Georgia, Amy and I waited around for podium.  Which was a sketchy cooler I would have to stand on.  I was super jazzed, as I was finally sticking around for the podium (IHBC didn’t have one, and at Ridgeline Rampage I took off early).  I got a winner’s swag bag, and awesome wine glass trophy.  Which was slightly scary, as I’m clumsy and it was fragile, but I did make it safely home with it.

 

 

 

So Beti Bike Bash… I will DEFINITELY be there next year!  Super awesome event, awesome goodies, awesome course (minus the goatheads), and awesome environment.

ALIENS!!  *motions hands like the guy on History Channel*

Seriously, aliens are awesome.  Mountain bike trails built around alien crash sites are even awesome-r!

Anyways, I’ll start from the beginning… since racing didn’t begin until Sunday, we were not in a rush to get out of town on Friday, as much as vacation was calling to us.  I enjoyed a non-frantic pace of packing up the last of what we needed and headed to the Bicycle Station for last minute tubes and to get my TT bike’s aero bars fixed since I decided to yank them out of whack trying to shift into my big chain ring (lession learned:  pulling harder won’t make it shift.  nothing will make it shift, stay in the big ring and deal with it).  Car loaded up, goodbye kisses for Sammie, and we hit the road about 11:15am

Luckily I found a route that could forgo the interstate highway system once we arrived in Denver.  Nothing against I-25, but I had no interest in driving through boring southern Colorado on it!  We cut off onto Highway 285, which wound us up through the mountains, dumping us in the high Rocky Mountain valleys.  Absolutely gorgeous!  We oddly enough found ourselves in South Park, which we eagerly checked into on Foursquare. Soon we were in Buena Vista, surrounded by 14ers, and I giddly pointed out all the road signs that marked all the different peaks.  It reminded me that Matt and I really need to try to summit a 14er sometime this summer… life can’t always be about the bike!

A few more mountain passes later, and we were by the Great Sand Dunes National Park, heading towards Durango on 160.  We goofed off at a rest area for a little while, stretching out our legs from the long drive.  Once again we were back in the mountains, climbing up over Wolf Creek Pass, which tops out at 11,000 feet.  Matt had an empty 2-liter Mountain Dew bottle, which he opened and then sealed at the peak so we could see how crunched down it would get as we dropped in elevation.  Sometimes it’s the simplest things in life, eh?

After stumbling upon “Canada Laughs” on Sirius XM (a Canadian comedy station), we rolled into Durango and jumped on the 550 that would take us into Farmington, NM, which would be our home for 5 nights.  Hotel prices were just a wee bit too insane in Durango for the weekend, and we’re partial to La Quinta anyway, so New Mexico it would be!  Upon rolling through Aztec I noticed the small diner that I ate at probably 20 years ago, where a little boy went around and stole all the salt and pepper shakers off the tables.  The damnest things I remember, right?

We found our La Quinta, and hauled the bikes and luggage into the room just about sunset, so it was indeed about a 9 hour drive with stops.  475 miles according to the google map print out I had.  Yeesh, sorry Mr. Fozzy.

Since it was Matt’s birthday weekend, I agreed to Red Lobster for dinner.  Ya’ll, I do NOT like seafood, fish, anything from water… so this was quite the compromised!  I found a half decent chicken breast and alfredo on the menu, so I can’t really complain.  Matt happily dug into his shrimp combo plate .

The next morning we slept in slightly and enjoyed our free breakfast at the hotel.  Our big plans was riding the Alien Run trails, and then sightseeing at the Aztec ruins and Four Corners.

Alien Run.  AMAZING.  Sometimes it can take a lot to impress me when it comes to trails, since I live in such an epic trail-heavy area of the west.  Needless to say, Alien Run did not disappoint and I rank it up there with some of the best stuff I have ridden!  We easily found the trailhead using the hand drawn map off the website, and enjoyed the fact it was not crowded with cars like Gowdy is on summer weekends.  What’s super awesome is that the Aztec Library commissioned mountain bikers to make this trail so they could hold a fundraiser race on it, and therefore it’s the only trail I’ve been on that cyclists have the right of way and do not have to yield for hikers.  Not that I still wouldn’t yield, I just enjoyed this sort of signage.  Made me feel important 😛

So about the aliens… supposedly in the late 1940s an alien spacecraft crashed here with humanoid bodies inside.  The US Government came in disguised as oil field workers and removed the debris.  What’s left now is a plaque marking the area (that we managed to ride right past and not see…) and higher than normal levels of radiation (supposedly… I did not test this out with a Gieger counter, LOL).  How cool, right?  The trail builders really play up the alien theme with the signage, and even on the slickrock the way is marked with little green alien heads.

We took off on the one way trail that runs counterclockwise, unsure of if we would do the 10 mile or 19 mile loop.  I had my reservations about high miles since we raced the next day.  I was soon smiling and swooping through the desert terrain, and it took only about two minutes before I declared this one of the best trails we have ridden.  The singletrack winds through the trees and sage, and there are no long, sustained climbs.  There are slick rock portions.  I found everything to be easily rideable except a narrow drop off part with exposure.  The only negative is that the trail was quite sandy in portions, which slows your speed and if you’re me, makes you do a flying belly flop into sage.

There is a well marked 5 mile cutoff loop, which we passed by and continued up the trail.  There is 9 miles of newer built singletrack called the Outer Limits that comprises the 19 mile loop, which we started up.  I wasn’t too happy, as it was loose rocks and nothing really amazing.  After a few miles we turned around and returned to the main Alien Run trail to finish it out.  This is when I took my impress flying belly flop into sage, landing flat on my belly with arms outstretch, face in the sand.  Whoops!  I somehow cut up my right butt cheek while doing this, which I noticed after I saw the blood on my kit.

We weren’t ready to call it quits after 10 miles, so we started down the trail again, this time cutting off at the 5 mile loop marker.

I have read reviews where people complain that you can’t enjoy the trail or scenery due to all the noise and sights from fracking rigs that dot the landscape.  I beg to differ on this.  Sure, when you’re right next to the rig, which happens only once or twice, it’s loud.  But otherwise I do not think they ruined my experience at all!  I’ve never been around fracking rigs before, so it’s not like I’m “use” to them or anything as well.  Just don’t let them discourage you from checking out these trails, as it’s really not that big of a deal!

There is a slick rock playground called the Black Hole that we didn’t get to try out.  The trail system is ranked intermediate to expert.  I consider myself intermediate, and I had no issue riding this trail at all!  The drops were good enough that I was willing to ride them, if that says anything at all, and there’s only about 2 major ones I can recall, all occurring in the slick rock sections.

We made our way back to the car to find the parking lot empty except for two guys from Wyoming.  Go figure!  It was back to the hotel for a shower, and then on for the rest of our adventures, which I will write about very soon!

So I’m trying to think about how to write this race report.  The race itself was great.  The resulting aftermath with timing/organization was not so great…

Matt and I registered for the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic mountain bike and time trial races back in December, so it was a long planned event.  We figured we’d turn Memorial Weekend into a mini-vacation, staying in New Mexico and squeezing in time for exploring (which will all be happily described in an upcoming blog post once I finish photos!!!! 😀 ).

First up was the MBS Mountain Bike race on May 27th.  I entered Cat 3 (as expected, especially in December), which would be a 6-7 mile long race, or one lap.  We showed up in the morning, readied our bikes and found the starting line in downtown Durango, which was intermixed with the criterium course.  Whole layout was pretty darn cool.  Matt went off at 8:30 with the Cat 3 Men, and I was first to line up for the Cat 3 Women’s race.

I was joined by Tricia, who was inquiring if she got added to the Cat 2 race like she wanted.  That immediately made my stomach turn.  For awhile it was just 3 of us, then some other women straggled in.  Definitely not the field that I had counted up on the website the night before (which painstakingly involved hovering over every single entry in the MTB race and see what their class was!).

Start went off, and Tricia and I leaped out front.  First part of the race was on pavement to get to the trails.  I tucked in behind her rear wheel, as anytime I can feel like a super awesome roadie is a good time!  We were going about 25-27mph up this pavement, so it really did feel like a road race!  We got to the trails, and Tricia immediately jumped off her bike to start walking.  I made it about a foot up the loose, powdery dirt and also had to bail.  OK, cool, insane climb.  Duathlon involving hiking once again!  Once again I had one of those eery moments where I realized no one was catching and passing Tricia and I, similar to what I felt at the Gowdy Grinder.  We hiked up back and forth on some switchbacks until the grade of the trail was actually rideable.  Lots and lots of climbing, and I was stuck to Tricia’s wheel.

First descent and Tricia zipped off, since I am still a scaredy-cat descender for some reason.  Course marshalls warned us about slow moving men racers, which was nice.  I definitely liked how all the course marshalls cheered us on!  We descended a little ways and then had another tideous climb back up the mountain (the course is up the mountain that Fort Lewis College sits on, and around the college, and then back down the mountain, in simple terms).  Tricia bumbled on the climb, and I was able to take over first, with Liz not too far behind me.  There was some sketchy washed out parts, and tons of exposure, so I found myself saying “Don’t look over there!” a lot!

Soon the course crested and there was zippy singletrack.  Fun, and I was still leading.  Then came the most bizarre stuff I have ever seen on a cross country course.  Literally a maze in the trees out of stupidly powdered dirt that made you dizzy instantly.  I fumbled on a switchback in the soft dirt, and Tricia and Liz were able to jump around me.  OK, so there went winning the race.  Liz pointed out that someone should be taping us, because of all the sound effects Tricia, Liz, and I were making, LOL! I was dazed by this whatever you wanna call it course, and relieved when I finally got back on the singletrack for the big descent back into town.  Tricia and Liz are fast descenders, so I lost sight of them,and had the trail to myself, which was nice, though I had no idea how close anybody was behind me.

I found the descent to be “east coast-ish” with roots and trees and rocks.  Good practice for PA maybe, no?  After fully utilizing the capabilities of my brakes, I was back on pavement and screaming towards the finish.  But wait, first there was an obstacle course!  Because who doesn’t like those in a middle of a cross country race?  I don’t mind technical courses, but damn, I’m not a trick rider.  I think this was more for public amusement than the racers.  I turned it into cyclocross with the amount of time I spent dismounting and hoisting my bike over stuff.  Which was a lot.  A LOT.  I can’t bunny hop over stuff (OH NOES) so all the log piles I had to get off the bike.  I rode one foot of the skinny before just riding off of it, haha.  I did however make it out alive on the teeter-totter.  These obstacles seemed to drag on forever.  Ugh.  Finnnalllyyyy they were all done and I was sprinting towards the finish.

Tricia, Liz, and I hung out at the finish a bit, reliving the race.  Turns out I apparently rode way more of the obstacles than Liz did.  Go me.  We wondered when awards would be, and that’s when Tricia pointed out that we all won prize money.  Oh snap, I’m a pro now, winning money!!!

Matt and I went to see when awards would be, and found out that they do not do awards, and just mail checks.  No one could tell me how much my check would be, or if I would even get one.  I was told to “look on the website.”    Some results were posted, but were really odd, and random people stated that it would take awhile for results to come out.  Disclaimer:  I am VERY VERY VERY VERY spoiled by RME and Laramie Series races were timing is instant, and results are uploaded like within an hour, even in the mountains, so I had a hard time digesting that even 1-2 hours after my race there were no results…

 

Since results still appeared to be wonky (9 hour finish times, Matt missing…), we hung out with Specialized and demo’d their new Turbo bike, and walked around the vendor area.  We decided to grab some pizza at the Fired Up Pizzeria (totally blows Hot Tomato out of the water for Colorado pizza places!!).

Matt noticed that the results had finished posting to the website (which is where another person told us to look, apparently that’s the default answer), but both him and I were missing.  Since I was in a podium, and therefore money winning spot, I admit I got a little panicked.  After finishing up our meal, we made our way over to the timing tent since no one else seemed to have any answers about anything (a lot of “Go talk to those people over there,” who then would go “We have no idea.”)  The timing lady looked up our bib numbers and frankly stated “you were disqualified for racing in the wrong category.  We were concerned about this when you were at the starting line, as it wasn’t your proper category.  You’re Cat 2.”  OK, first off, why wasn’t something said AT THE STARTING LINE?  That just seemed odd.  Second off, I NEVER registered for Cat 2, why would I have done that?  I had the email receipts saying Cat 3 for both Matt and I (thank goodness for smartphones), and also the IHBC website shows Cat 3 when you hover over our names.  The timing lady honestly didn’t really seem to care, and just said I had to find a race director.  I seriously wanted to cry at this point.

Matt and I started wandering towards a vague tent that in which was suppose to hold a “race director,” when another volunteer chased us down and pointed us to a race director, who was apparently already getting an earful about us from the timing people.  (Yes, I can get frustrated, but we did pay out $100 each to race this weekend not including gas, hotel, food, etc, and it’s upsetting to find out we were DQ’d for nothing on our part…)  I showed the guy my phone with the email, and he spent about 10 minutes with the timing people.  Finally he walked back, saying the results were fixed, and that I should be seeing a check in the mail with my prize money.  Shook some hands and was off.  OK, so they made right… we think.  We’re actually unsure Matt’s result will get added in, but thankfully for the Garmin file we can figure out where he was (7th).  The results on the website still are not fixed, so I’m worried there will be an angry girl from Arizona mad she won’t be getting prize money…

We were kind of disillusioned after this, and I looked at Matt and stated “I’m not doing the time trial tomorrow.”  Matt agreed, pointing out that racing and then an 8 hour drive would not do us any favors.  So the TT was out.  We wanted to do Mesa Verde, but then realized it wouldn’t really work due to drive time… dammit!

Will we be returning to the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic next year?  I say highly unlikely.  The course was nothing I was too fond of (singletrack and climbing was fine, just not the maze and obstacles – just not my cup of tea, and not really worth the 8 hour drive), and there are so many other races to choose from over Memorial Weekend that I don’t want to commit to this one again.  The organization, timing, results, etc definitely don’t add to to it.  I’m super pleased that I placed well in a Colorado race on trails I’ve never been on, and especially pleased at how well I climbed, so it definitely wasn’t all negative!

HOLY CRAP I WON THE RACE!

I’m not sure I really need to write more of a race report than that!  I’m honestly still in shock and confused about how I won.  I raced in Intermediate Women against women that scared the crap out of me last summer at the Laramie series.  I was racing against the girl that always beat me in the Laramie races.  Hell, I wasn’t racing beginner.  So how why huh… it’s still processing in my head.

So back to the start… I originally registered in the beginner’s class, then I realized I wanted to race for longer than 25 minutes and longer than 3.5 miles.  So I bumped myself up to the Intermediate Women, and figured I’d give it my best shot.  I practiced the technical parts that give me trouble on the course, and wished for the best.  With 18 registrants, I hesitantly decided on a goal of a Top 10 finish.

The course ended up having a few changes that I overlooked on the tiny course map.  We would start on two-track equestrian trail, cutting out about 1/3 of the technical Stone Temple Circuit singletrack.  And instead of Ignouramus, we would have to hike a bike 2%.  I found out about 2% the night before, and was kinda freaked out because I had never been on the trail.  I did about a mile of warm up on the two-track start, and my legs felt strong.  Unfortunately, it was super windy, and it was cold.  So I knew I would be battling wind.

Amy and I were too busy chatting and made it to the start about a minute or so before line up.  I positioned myself in the second row.  Start went off and soon I was at the front on the first climb.  Not unusual, I’ve been there before just to have the entire field fly past me 30 seconds later (ahem, Battle the Bear, Rumble at 18 Road, hell my first ever race in Laramie last summer…).  Oddly enough, it didn’t happen.  Ok, cool.  I kept it in a granny gear, and hunkered down against the wind and just spun.  A 1st City Cycling Team girl (Gretchen), passed me, and I ducked behind to draft roadie style, knowing it was saving some energy in the terrible wind.  Didn’t last for long as I got impatient and retook the lead. Sam, a fellow Fort Folly, took my lead and I glued myself to her back wheel, and we hit the singletrack on Stone Temple Circuit.  I was damn happy to be second onto the singletrack, as passing chances are super rare.

This is when I discovered that riding Stone Temple Circuit with a huge group of people sucks.  What I can easily clear by myself becomes a traffic jam when noobs or those unfamiliar with the trail stop/fall/whatever.  I was getting annoyed.  Gretchen, Sam, and myself separated ourselves as the lead women’s pack, and we were battling the stragglers of the Intermediate Men class.  One guy couldn’t power over a tiny dirt hill, log jagging the rest of us.  I jumped off my bike and sprinted past him, just to get hung up on the next technical feature because I wasn’t clipped in and didn’t have enough speed.  I was in 1st, and dammit I wanted to stay there!

Bobbles and stops aside due to other racers, I held my lead on the descent of STC.  I really was in awe, and yelled to Suzie as I passed her “I’m in first, and I don’t know why!”  I came into the start/finish area, momentarily confused by all the cones, and sprinted back up to speed.  I prepared myself mentally that I would probably get caught on the second, longer lap, but as long as I maintained a podium spot I would be happy.  I honestly questioned my stamina and technical prowess I would need on 2%.

Strangely enough, I found myself without someone on my wheel going onto STC.  I continued to catch and pass the Intermediate Men racers, this time with a little better luck.  Only anger moment happened when a guy bobbled on a 5″ high rock and just stood in the middle of the trail as I was flying down.  I started yelling “Move please…move… MOVE MOVE MOVE” followed by a sweet “Thank you!”  LOL.  Just was hard, as I was trying to widened my lead, and this guy was apparently unaware that some people were still racing a race.  OK, now I know how other racers feel when they zip around me and get frustrated.  I definitely won’t get as offended now the next time someone yells at me “that’s the 1st place guy ahead of us, move out of my way!”

I reached the cut off to Ignouramus/2%/Rock ‘n Roller.  Evan let me know I was the first women through.  Powered up the climb and leaped off the bike for my hiking section (what is this, a dualathlon?).  A guy racer praised me, saying he would love to have my climbing stamina!  Likewise, I would like to have his downhill skills, but I’ll take what I have!  After getting my bike pedal stuck on a rock and yanking the bike until it came loose, instead of being a rational person and lifting it up, I was off of 2% and cruising on Rock N Roller.  I heard Gretchen not too far behind, so I knew she had made up some time.  Rock N Roller is sketchy and loose, so it was hard for me to really haul through the corners.  Not to mention the wind was there again.  Gretchen was on my rear wheel as we jumped off to the hike the “overlook” portion (seriously, there’s a “go around” for this… why didn’t race promoters use it?).  I jumped back on and pedaled like crazy, relieved no one was in front of me for the technical downhill of Ignouramus to STC.

Final corner of STC to the downhill, down home stretch I heard Gretchen say behind me “OK girl, this is it!”  I knew she couldn’t pass me on the single track, so I played it safe, not wanting to crash out.  Up and over the cattle gate, 90 degree turn (argh) and there was the finish oh so close.  I stood up and sprinted, giving it everything I had.  Cross the finish line, and pumped my fist in the air like I’ve always wanted to do.

I HAD WON.

By one second 😀

Gretchen and I immediately hugged and congratulated each other.  Awesome race, awesome competition.  Sam rolled in at 3rd place.  Someone thanked me for not entering beginner.  And the whole time I was like OMG OMG OMG.

I talked to Dewey (he told me “nice bike” but not to tell anyone he said that, whoops!), and he said it’s time to race advance.  I kindly reminded him the LMBS is still a combined intermediate/advance women’s class 😛  We laughed about how last year to the day I hesitantly rode off road for the first time, scared and timid and now I just won my category at the Gowdy Grinder.  Someone else joked that I sandbagged intermediate and I’m like….nooooo.  Haha.  I had no idea!  Maybe it’s the 750 miles I’ve pedaled since January 1st, or the bike, or the fact these are my home trails… I dunno, I still don’t know the answer.  Wendy says it’s because I’m good on a bike.  I still don’t believe that one!  I will admit to being a great climber, though!

If anything, this race and win was a massive confidence boost!  It’s nice to have a win that was actually a win, and not a default/easy one like Ridgeline Rampage.  The field was 15 strong, so that is 14 other women I beat!  It also makes me feel a lot better going into the LMBS in June, and hopeful for future races!

On May 15, 2012 I walked into the Pedal House in Laramie with Matt.  I slapped down what I felt was an absurd amount of money on a shiny silver and pink mountain bike.  I rode it around the block, shaky and unsteady from 14 years of not touching a bike.  My quads burned.  I was uncertain.  The shop owner asked me how it felt and I answer “umm, alright?”  I didn’t know what a bike should feel like.  It honestly felt like scary hell.

Matt and I took our new purchases to the Laramie Greenbelt.  I think I made it about a quarter of a mile before my legs wanted to give up, and I couldn’t catch my breath.  I think we did about 4 very slow miles before heading home.  The next night I started crying when I couldn’t pedal up the gentle incline on the Greenbelt.  How was I ever suppose to get good at this whole bike riding thing, especially compared to Matt who had two years of being a roadie behind him?

What I didn’t know at the time is how much that “absurd” purchase would end up changing my life.  I lost 20 pounds, that’s the obvious.  What’s more important is that I feel and look healthier at my today’s weight of 145 pounds than I did in my “skinny college girl days” when I weighed 130 pounds.  I’m toned, and have scary quad muscles, and barely anymore love handles.  While others around me hop from one diet fad to another, all while sitting on the couch and complaining about not being toned, I picked up a bicycle and just pedaled.  By doing this I alienated many of my “close” friends, who deemed my new hobby childish and a waste of time and money.  “Why would anybody spend $1100 on a bicycle?  That’s a child’s activity.”  That was actually said to me.

As other friends faded away, I’ve been blessed with making many other friends through cycling.  In November I connected with the Fort Follies, a women’s cycling club in Fort Collins.  I love the fact I have other girls in my life who are cycling nuts just like me!  Matt and I also could share a passion, and as I became better I also became funner to ride with (bless Matt’s heart for putting up with my putzing along in my earlier days!).

I’ve noticed other aspects of my life have changed, too.  I still eat rather unhealthy (I strongly believe carbs are complete meal – yum, potatoes!), but am acutely aware to add in more fruits and veggies, and I seek out organic/unprocessed foods when I can.  I can actually down an energy gel with minimal gagging these days too.  And weird green veggie fruit smoothies?  Yeah, I have the stomach for those, too!

I think one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned comes from not giving up.  I tend to give up on things when I don’t get the instant results I want.  Hence the 400whp Nissan Sentra in the drive way with the dead battery that hasn’t been driven in years.  It didn’t instantly run a 12 second quarter mile  on the drag strip, so I gave up on it.   I think this is the most surprising thing it comes to me with the bike.  I don’t win many races, and I haven’t instantly become a pro mountain biker, and yet I still do it.  I’ve learned to refocus my goals, and set real, obtainable ones instead of just aiming straight for lofty ones that need the baby steps completed before getting there.  So instead of saying “I want to win the 20 mile race” I say “I want to finish the 20 mile race.”  So far it’s working and I haven’t stomped away and sworn off bikes forever (though the Deer Trail Road Race made me want to never enter another road race!).

This is quite the rambling blog entry.  But it’s quite the anniversary to celebrate.  Buying that mountain bike (which I oddly enough posted up for sale yesterday) was perhaps one of the best things that could’ve happened to me.

Man, check out those sweet tan lines!

Ok ok, down to business… my BFF Kim is coming to visit in just a few weeks, and being the run-nut that she is, she found *us* a trail run 5k to do in Westminster.  Matt jumped on the idea, and ran out to buy running shoes.  I’m a girl, what can I say, so all the pretty, bright running shoes caught my eye so I figured “what the heck” and picked some up for myself since I will be “running” (I use that term so lightly) the 5k as well.

So I suited up my new fancy minimalist running shoes (the high tech speak regarding running shoes is like a foreign language to me!), and my $6 running shorts from Walmart, and Matt and I headed out to run a mile loop around our neighborhood.  1/4 mile in and I was dying.  IT HURT.  My calfs protested, my lungs protested, and my stomach started cramping.  My whole body was doing one big WTF.  I kept up my “running” pace (it was equal to Matt’s walking pace…) for about 3/4 of a mile, then walked a bit.  Made the final effort to run down the alley back to the house.  Yeahhhh, ouch.

I can get on a bike and ride 70 miles, yet I can’t run a mile.  Funny how that works!

It’s seriously been about 15 years since I’ve truly ran.  Not the type of running I do down the hallways of the hospital to an urgent situation.  I mean running.  Which is sort of sad, as I was a pretty darn good hurdler and sprinter in my younger days, but it all sort of fell off when I got lazy.  I still have my concerns about picking up running, as I have such finicky knees.  Luckily I have a huge fear of water and can’t really swim, so I can’t morph into a triathlete…

Will be I be running a whole 5k in two weeks?  Hell no.  But at least I have the shoes to give it a good waddling try.  And hell, I suppose it’s another way to burn some calories, especially in my time crunched evenings after work!