At the Rolland Cyclocross race in Laramie a few weeks ago I was introduced to Amber Travsky, an outdoor writer for both the Laramie Boomerang and the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. After chatting awhile she asked if she could interview me for a story about cyclocross for WTE. I excitedly agreed! Well last Sunday, October 19th, the story ran as a one and a half page spread! Eeek, so exciting! I’m so happy I could be an ambassador of the crazy sport of cyclocross, even if I have a love-hate relationship with it at the moment!
Cross of the North. Hands down the funnest 3 days I’ve had doing cyclocross in a long long time (if not ever?)! Held at The Ranch complex in Loveland, I thought all three courses were fantastic, even with all the thick, gloopy clay mud that sapped the power from my legs and made my wheels hard to turn.
Day 1 – Friday:
Well, I was in the mixed for the first half of lap one… that counts for something, right? 😀
I had a stupidly good start, even clipped in right away with sticky peanut butter mud on the bottom of my shoe. I followed Ashley (way too fast junior) out of the start and was 2nd leaving the starting straight away. I hung right on everyone, and was 6th place going into the huge sticky mud bog by the pits. This is when everyone else, who has running skills, let me in the dust. And then began my solo “race.”
I’m not sure I was giving it my all, I’ll admit that. I know that because I sprinted the entire finishing straight on my last lap without feeling tired. I think mentally I have just stopped pushing myself. Which I guess is ok. I had fun during the race. Second lap I attempted to ride the sticky mud bog and just ended up stopping up my wheels with the mud. But there was my collection of fave photographers egging me on, so I gave it the good ol’ college try! I had my friend from Cheyenne, Robert, crewing for me in the pits and he asked if I wanted the B bike, and I just decided to ride my S-Works (Hank Jr) that was barely moving. Third lap I swapped out bikes, and it went amazingly well! I dismounted, ran, and remounted the B bike (Hank Sr) quite well! I just had the bike in too hard of a gear which sucked at first. It helped having the granny gear for the sticky boggy surface, though I noticed the weight difference (roughly 3 pounds) between the two bikes. Deb, Suzie, and Terri were cheering me on very enthusiastically, and I whined that I wanted my carbon bike! We were racing along with the Master Men 45+ for some odd reason, and I was worried I was going to get lapped… Tim the Official let me know it would probably happen on the 4th lap and I said it was only because I was on my slow bike (when in doubt, always blame the bike, right?).
Hammering on the rarely seen “B” bike! (Photo by Erin Hooley / The Coloradoan)
Robert had Hank Jr washed up for the last half of the fourth (and my final) lap, and it was great to be back on the lighter bike. I did end up getting lapped by about 4 of the men, so my race was over. I told Tim it wasn’t fair because I was back on the fast bike! LOL. I’m pretty sure I almost raced nearly 40 minutes, so it was alright I got pulled. I just don’t know what to say. It was almost embarrassing how bad I did, but I had fun. I finished in 7th place. (Shhh, nobody has to know there was only 7 of us!)
The only hiccup was my Garmin, which remained on Hank Jr. I’m OCD about my mileage and time ridden, so I freaked out a bit on Hank Sr when I realized I didn’t have my Garmin. And then while Hank Jr was getting washed the satellites got turned off somehow, so when I was back on that bike distance wasn’t recorded. I did some manual entries in Strava, but my OCD tells me I have to figure this out for next time when I might be swapping bikes. I guess I might just have to put the 510 instead my skinsuit somewhere, haha! First world problems of a wannabe bike racer…
The muddy aftermath (Photo by Erin Hooley / The Coloradoan)
Day 2 – Saturday:
The course dried out a bit, but the mud bog seemed to have extended itself (I blame the power washers in the pit). There was a larger field, 16 of us this time. I didn’t have a great start this time, I didn’t clip in right away so I was off the back-ish right away. I did use the chance to take some more unpopular lines, which is always good, when there was traffic.
Over the edge… (Photo courtesy of Steve Urlocker)… And weeeeeeeeee (Photo courtesy of Steve Urlocker)
Coming through on the second lap Malcolm yelled to me that Amanda’s tire was flat, and that I should go catch her. I had been keeping Amanda in my sights, but I had no idea if Malcolm was telling the truth, or just trying to motivate me! I slowly started to reel Amanda in, and finally I caught her wheel and did see that she had a rear flat. I yelled out to her asking if she knew (sometimes it’s hard to tell, especially in peanut butter mud when tires always feel flat), and she did. I followed her through the downhill/uphill twisties and got around her before blasting down into the mud bog. Amanda is a strong rider, and faster than me, so I knew I had a limited opportunity to not be in last place for a little while, so I took to trying to hammer as much as I thought I could.
I stayed in front of Amanda for one full lap, and she recaught me in the mud bog. I got lucky and she fumbled in the mud when she remounted, and I remained in front until shortly before the second set of stairs. I watched her run (literally) off into the sunset and I settled in to just finish the race. I’d end up in 16th (shhhh, nobody has to know there was only 16 of us! 😛 ), but for what it’s worth I caught and beat about 4 of the MM45+ Cat 4’s in the duration of the race. 😀 Woohooo, beating the boys! I can get down with that!
I like high speed cornering in tacky mud. (Photo by Karen Rakestraw)
I was oh so thankful to have some motivation for once in a race, even if it was a bit of bad luck for Amanda and her tire. It was nice to finally feel like I was really racing, even if it was just for 2 laps or so. I hung out for several more hours, had some yummy food truck pulled pork tacos, had Amy the Amazing Physical Therapist work on my lower back (it hasn’t hurt since!), and watched #rockstar Suzie Q during the Women’s Open race.
The awesome Cat 3 gals of Naked Women’s Racing!!! (More on that coming soon!!!) (Photo courtesy of Rachel Scott)
Day 3 – Sunday:
Whew, third day of racing. My legs were protesting a bit, and it was definitely colder, windier, and cloudier when I arrived at The Ranch compared to the previous days. I had foregone pre-riding all three days, partly to avoid mud on the first two days, and out of laziness the third day. I had forgotten my pair of “cross” shoes at home, but luckily had my Motodiva MTB shoes (the one I had a long blog complaining about, LOL) in the car, sanes insoles. Felt a bit weird, but I was happy to have shoes to race in nonetheless. I putzed around a bit, and lined up with the other ten brave SW3’s.
I had a pretty bad start, and couldn’t clip in my left foot for the duration of the starting straight, which is pretty darn long. I blame the unfamiliar shoes (actually, I tend to be wearing these shoes when I have start line clip in issues…), but I let it get me more frazzled than I should’ve. I finally got attached to the bike about 10 feet into the bumpy, grassy dirt. I hung on the tails of the fast ladies as best I could, and started to find my groove in the significantly firmer trails.
They changed up the steep off camber drop in to one way steeper and way more off camber with a whoopy-whoop at the bottom that could launch a person going too fast or who is caught off guard. Just as I was about to drop in I saw Deb endo, and in turn I yelled out a bad word and almost came to a stop. Spectators yelled at me to just roll down it, and this was when I regretted not pre-riding at least that section. I made it down just fine, but it was definitely scary during the first time!
One of the fast downhill sections (Photo courtesy of Cross of the North)
The field spread out, and I was pretty much solo. I knew there was a gal behind me, so I just worked on staying on the bike and avoiding the wind-whipped course tape. The mud bog was finally rideable, though it did take some power, muscles, and bike handling to do so. I was just happy to be keeping my feet clean for the first time in 3 days! I was proud of myself, as I was actually “running” the run ups and stairs/barriers. I kept hearing people cheering for me on the course that I had no idea who they were, but they knew my name, and this made me happy!
As I came through on my 3rd lap (I think it was 3rd…) my fave photog Shawn pointed out that Deb had started to fade a bit, and encouraged me to go get her. Finally I had another rabbit to chase down! I did shorten the gap, but never caught her wheel. Either way, it was nice to have someone to chase, once again!
Deb, me, and the gal behind us got pulled after the fourth lap, which was fine by me. My legs were cooked from the three days, and especially the past two of actually pushing myself a teeny bit more than I would’ve (and running up a lot more hills than I ever do). I finished 9th, so definitely not last! (Still okay to shhhh on the fact there was only 11 of us!) Woohoo! Alan was a crossing guard at the end of the finishing straight and was taking my photo so yes, I did “post up” all silly like. LOL! Tim the Official laughed and asked if I had fun… YES!
I booked it down to the pits, got the B bike, and back to the car where I drove straight to the Cheyenne Cyclocross race. My legs were done, so I rode 4 or 5 laps at a casual pace during the advanced race…. two races within two hours in two different states… booyahhh!
So that was my COTN weekend!!! For the first time this year I actually felt “competitive” (I use that term loosely) and had a ton of fun every race! The courses were kick ass: technical, twisty, elevation changes, and muddy! And there’s no way I can complain about USAC races 45 minutes from my house! I’m already looking forward to next year!
Now to de-mud, de-stink, and dry out THREE pairs of shoes. Yes, THREE. Thank goodness I’m a bit of a mountain bike/cross shoe snob and have this many pairs to go around…
(And as a final note, I think I have 100% tested the Wolf Tooth Components single front chain ring set up in a variety of conditions, including thick mud, well enough to say that I fully trust it, and have had zero issues with my chain dropping off when paired with a SRAM Force CX1 rear derailleur!)
The unique fly under/over during Rolland CX in Laramie (Photo: Rolland Cycling)
I’ve done my fair share of races to shake out which ones are worth the money/time/drive, which ones aren’t, which ones are well ran, which ones need a lot of guidance, etc. And out of everything I’ve done, from nationals to races in middle of nowhere Wyoming, from USAC sanctioned to ones that definitely will never seek out sanctioning, from the ones with slick promotion and insanely expensive entry fees to the ones with a simple Word file flyer and $10 fee, I always come back to saying that the Laramie Mountain Bike Series (LMBS) and Gowdy Grinder are the two best run, best timed, best “put together by people with their poop in a group” races I have ever done – ones with very cheap entry fees, free food for ALL racers afterwards, cool prizes, great course markings, and promoted by a couple of locals who actually manage to upload live results on Wifi in the middle of the woods. To say in the least, I am spoiled by the local, grassroots level of racing in southeastern Wyoming.
I started out by racing at the LMBS, so really they’re to blame for all this craziness! Of course I naturally found out how awesome racing was at LMBS and wanted to see how much better all these fancy races with $80 entry fees or USAC sanctioning must be. 2013 was definitely the year I sorted out what events I would go to, which ones I would avoid, which ones I would still go to out of force of national qualifying, and which ones I would limit how many I would do due to fees and return. I continued this into 2014, and have really come to realize sometimes there’s no place like home!
Rolland Cyclocross in Laramie this past weekend didn’t have a large turnout. But that didn’t really bother me as I pinned on a race number for my first race back since getting sick. I was excited for the course, which was better (in my opinion) than some courses I pay the big bucks to race on in Colorado for a mere 40 minutes. Also, who can turn down racing in their hometown, complete with their dad heckling them on? Made me feel like a member of Boulder Junior Cycling, having my parents there telling me to ride faster 😀 I had the chance to spend about $70-80 on entry fees for Colorado USAC cross races this weekend, along with the $50+ in gas. It did kinda make me sad for a second to be missing Primalpalooza when I made the decision not to go, and just take a Saturday trip over to Laramie and pay my $10 under a small tent in windswept Laprele Park. I pretty much forgot about that once I hit the thin air of Laramie, and rode the off camber switchback up and under a bridge over Spring Creek that lead to a punchy climb out and a run over the bridge to the grass on the other side. This was fun, an awesome course feature, and it was in my neck of the woods, not a 130 miles south in Colorado.
I’ve been quick to dismiss some local racing, especially cyclocross, in the past. Sometimes, it isn’t all great (nothing can be perfect all the time), but I think the overwhelming majority of grassroots local racing is something worth hitting up and doing! I’m happy I gave Rolland CX a chance, and without a doubt I’d do more of their events!
Sometimes we all need to just curl up and chill out like Sammie does!
In the past two weeks my body and life threw me the biggest curveball that caused me to do something for the first time in two and a half years: not ride a bike for 12 days. It was the longest break I have had since I began riding a bike in May 2012.
It first started with a rest day to regroup for beginning my new job the next day and life as a Monday-thru-Friday-er with normal hours. Then a day or so later I woke up with a severely sore throat and cough and fever (NOT ebola, I swear!) that got progressively worse through the week. The Saturday following all of this I didn’t get out of bed until 4pm, and it was only for a handful of hours of laying on the couch. By this past Tuesday I finally decided to go to the doctor since it had been a week and I didn’t want to deal with bronchitis or anything long lasting and received antibiotics and non-narcotic cough medicine I could actually take at work. I started feeling better, but then I lost all motivation. It was kinda freeing just laying around being lazy and not sweating it out on a bike.
Finally today, day 13 of the “bike strike” I suited up and headed out on the cross bike. And you know what? It didn’t hurt. The legs felt snappy, and my residual cough didn’t act up too bad. Even the 30mph headwinds I had at times really didn’t damper my mood. For the first time in many weeks I was happy to be out on the bike!
Enjoying the late afternoon autumn sun and 30mph tailwind!
My body needed this. I was suppose to take a week or two off after MTB nationals per my coach’s instructions, but I proceeded to continue racing and riding long hours and miles on the road. I threw myself into a mishap of a cross racing season, and quickly started hating anything involving cycling. My brain needed this. Sure, it sucked being sick, especially for the first week and a half of my new job – the irony is I am in infection control to boot – but it all worked out I think. Since I wasn’t being active I had time to sit around and think about what I wanted from cycling and goals for the future. I also refocused what I wanted from cross this year and what races I would do.
Overall, it was good. I was worried I’d suddenly gain a bunch of weight, or wouldn’t be able to pedal a mile without being tired. None of that happened, and I feel refreshed… woohoo! Taking a rest… who would’ve thunk? Too bad it involved getting sick, but if that’s what it took… Tomorrow I head to Laramie for the Rolland Cycling Cyclocross Race. Excited to try some local Wyoming cross, and even more excited I took the pressure off myself to spend a lot of time and money every weekend at USAC races in Colorado.
There’s a crispness to the air, leaves are starting to change at the higher elevations, and days are shorter. Summer’s gone!
I’m actually pretty excited for this fall, mostly because I’ve been waiting all year for cyclocross season. Plus I just like fall… the cooler temperatures, frosty mornings… NOT that I’m a fan of snow and super cold, but I do like not having to suffer through 90 degree days. This fall is also bringing about a rather big life change – after two years of being on the hospital floor as an RN I have accepted a Monday-Friday “9 to 5” (it’s actually 8 to 4:30!) job at the hospital on the more administrative side of things. I’ve grown really use to working 3 days a week, and for the past year, working night shift. So needless to say a job with “normal people” hours is quite exciting and daunting all at the same time! The biggest thing I can’t get over is the fact I can do any and every bike race my heart desires now with no requesting/fighting/bargaining for time off… eek! I think it’ll also help make my training a bit more routine as now a Tuesday on my training plan can literally be a Tuesday!
Skinny tires and singletrack… perfect way to spend an afternoon!
In other news… I took the ‘cross bike up to Happy Jack the other day to see what mountain biking is like on skinny tires and with no suspension and canti brakes…. holy crap, so much fun! Definitely made my trails seem totally new, and it was a bit more challenging on the cross bike with picking lines. Even rode a few rock gardens, albeit super slow and carefully. Did just shy of 11 miles, and had a blast! I do have concerns that the 40t chainring I chose for my 1×10 set up is a bit too big, though I think it will be fine for most cross races. Might have to order a 38t depending on how the first few cross races go.
Speaking of cross… the season starts this Sunday!! Saturday will be a Cross of the North Kick Off Party in Fort Collins, so I’ll be doing a big group cross ride, and then teaching a clinic later that afternoon, and then Sunday is Kick It Cross down in Castle Rock on one of my favorite courses at Rhyolite Park. I am a bit nervous about being a Cat 3 now, but hopefully I still have a lot of fun, even if I’m bringing up the rear!
The mud, knobby tires, and stupendous fun is coming! (Photo by Heidi Gurov / hmgphotos.com)
CROSS IS COMING!!!
Yes, that required bolded caps! So excited to get the most fun you can have on two wheels under way… just a short 3 week until the first cyclocross race on the calendar and I’m antsy as all get out!
This season will see me riding a whole new set up on my 2013 Specialized S-Works Crux. Initially (last year) I had cannibilized my 2012 Specialized Crux for its group set to build the S-Works frame and that’s what I raced on last year. This year I decided to upgrade, and did SRAM Force derailleurs and cranks… and then SRAM released it’s CX1 group set literally a week later. I knew I wanted a 1×10 set up since it would mean losing one more mechanical part that could get messed up by mud, grass, ice, whatever. So I saved my pennies up and a few weeks ago finally got the S-Works frame how I want – except for wheels, which are so expensive right now the budget cannot afford upgraded wheels. Whatever, I’m not that fast.
Obviously I’ll lose the bottle cage and tools/tube for race season
To finish the build I added a SRAM Force CX1 rear derailleur. This is a 10 or 11 speed clutch derailleur, and it’s very similar to a mountain bike one. The clutch will help reduce the chain bouncing around and potentially bouncing off the front single chainring. To (hopefully) get me the right gears, I used my old SRAM 11-32 10 speed cassette from my road bike’s old group set. Up front in a now very sleek set up is a Wolf Tooth Components 40t cyclocross wide-narrow chainring paired to my SRAM Force 130bcd carbon crankset. I am still using SRAM Apex shifters, though obviously the left one doesn’t do anything. To top it off, I switched out to a DT Swiss Axis 4.0 wheel set to save a tiny bit of weight. The bike is now down to 18.8 pounds with the bottle cage, from 19.1 pounds with the original SRAM Force set up and Axis 2.0 wheels.
Freeing up all of the original Crux’s parts only meant one thing… the ’12 Crux could come back to life as a pit bike! I figure trying to change a tube in a cross race is futile, and I didn’t want to buy another cassette to have a spare wheel set, so having a whole complete bike for the pits just makes the most sense in my mind, especially since I had all the parts minus handlebars and pedals! “Hank Senior” is currently at my mechanic’s house getting built up, and I’m excited to have two bikes with obnoxious bar tape to rock at races. And hopefully it’ll mean less chances of issues in some of those races with goat head thorns.
Turns out my backyard is a really good place to practice cross skills… and it has high fences so the neighbors can’t look at me like I’m a lunatic.
I’ve gotten out to North Park a bit to practice on the bike, getting use to skinny knobbies on the dirt and maybe “chicking” a few guys on mountain bikes down the slalom drop lines. The hardest thing for me remains remounting, which hopefully I maybe get straightened out by December. You know, the end of the season! I do need to get more practice in on my skills, as the wonderful Suzie and I are hosting a Fort Follies ladies’ cyclocross skills clinic in September and I kinda need to look like I know what I’m doing, right?
And finally… the best news of all is I have a skinsuit to race in for this year! What is more pro than a skinsuit, right?! No more jersey half way up my chest for the win! Skinsuits are definitely weird and make me feel lumpy, but I have a feeling I’m going to love it, though pinning a number on will be harder if I get dressed before I go to the race… I foresee even racing mountain bikes in a skinsuit for comfort. My adult sized onesie and I will have grand adventures!
Whew, it’s over. 15 races and 4 months of racing in the books for my 2014 mountain bike season.
I couldn’t be happier.
Though I didn’t burn out as early and as bad as I did in 2013, after Nationals I had that sort of “let down” of completing my A race for the year, and I did realize I was tired. Last Tuesday’s final Laramie Mountain Bike Series race was a struggle, mentally and physically. I was just over it mentally, yearning for cyclocross and just wanting to get the race done as fast as I could. Physically, I was coming off my highest mileage week of cycling in my life, and I had little in the tank between that and not taking much recovery after Nationals. Probably 0.1 mile into the race I was cooked. I had no power in my legs and it showed as I moved back through the advanced men, intermediate men, and even some of the advanced women caught me. All I had to do was finish and I’d get 3rd overall for open women in the overall series points, so I put one pedal (or one foot) in front of the other. I didn’t even have oomph for the finish line! But the wave of relief I felt when finishing was a huge weight lifting off my shoulders. It was over.
Overall, I am super happy with how my season went. I only had one DNF, which was really no fault of my own since it was a mechanical issue (thanks Fruita mud). I’m mentally a lot more strong and pushed myself through some ridiculous situations, like the horrid hellish heat of the US Cup and the final LMBS race. I made gains with my endurance on the bike and I almost feel like my technical skills are a night and day difference from last year. And woohooo, I’m racing open and cat 1!!
Overall podium for the 2014 Laramie Mountain Bike Series in Open Women
I think I worked out a good schedule of racing for this year, picking more carefully than in 2013 when I just raced at everything I could get my hands on. 2015 will probably follow a similar pattern of both the local racing (LMBS, Gowdy Grinder) with USAC mixed in (I actually have to qualify for Nationals now, so Rumble @ 18 Road and US Cup) along with Battle the Bear if it works out. I’m also tossing around the idea of giving the Laramie Enduro another go… because I am crazy! It’s funny, because cyclocross is my favorite discipline, but mountain biking is the focus for racing.
I’ve talked about my love affair with Specialized Motodiva mountain bike shoes before so I was super happy when for this year they released a version in black and pink that had BOA dials. Pretty much I thought the world would be perfect and I’d have to buy up several pairs.
Ugh.
Specialized, you ruined my favorite shoes 😦
More on that later, first some quickie details from Specialized on the 2014 Motodiva shoes:
Combining trail durability and traction with phenomenal Body Geometry and Boa® comfort, the redesigned Motodiva is an ideal choice for a do-it-all women’s shoe.
Contoured women’s fit
Body Geometry outsole and Footbed optimize alignment, improving rider comfort and performance
Injection-molded nylon composite outsole with rubber tread for moderate pedaling stiffness and phenomenal trail traction: 6.0 Stiffness Index
Single Boa® S2-Snap dial micro adjusts on-the-fly
Dial/lace assembly is fully replaceable in seconds with Snap cartridge system
Hard molded toe kick for protection and durability
Stitched synthetic and mesh upper with asymmetric strap closure for comfortable fit
2-bolt SPD-style cleat pattern, compatible with all major MTB pedals
Approximate weight: 335g (1/2 pair #39)
Retail Price: $160
My Thoughts:
Tread Durability: I got my 2014 version in April, and by the end of May it was apparent that the tread lugs and soles were wearing away too fast, especially for shoes that aren’t really walked on like normal shoes are. The tread by the toes were almost worn flat, leaving little to grip on steep or slippery inclines. A rep from Specialized even photographed my shoes at a demo day when I brought it up. I still carried on with them, but while racing in Iowa in July where there were several very muddy and slippery hills I had to run up it became very apparent that I couldn’t make due with these shoes come ‘cross season. Very very very disappointing as my 2013 versions still show little wear aside from a broken ratchet and have way more miles and use on them.
Ease of Use: Well, you’re not going to slip into these shoes quickly… the tongue is sewn in, which usually leaves me doing a two handed dance to yank them on my feet. Definitely no slip on and go… this is barely redeemed by the ease of using BOA dials.
BOA Dials: I LOVE BOA dials on my road shoes. I won’t own road shoes without BOA dials. But my excitement faded when it came to mountain biking. I realized that with mountain biking and cyclocross I don’t want my foot tightly held down in my shoe, as it feels uncomfortable when walking, running, and also just during general movements on the bike that you don’t necessarily do when road biking. So if you need some wiggle room in my mountain biking shoes, BOA’s aren’t exactly a selling point because ratchet strap systems accomplish the same thing. I think if the shoe had BOA lacing for everything it would be better instead of just concentrated across the top. However, I will never complain about BOA technology trickling down to the more affordable options!
Fit: I ordered them in a 41, which is what my old Motodivas were, and the fit was still true. Even with Specialized BG green +++ high arch foot beds I felt like the fit was comfortable and I really didn’t have to break in the shoes.
Construction: These are some sturdy shoes, which is awesome for me because I’m always pedal striking on stuff. They are a built bulkier, and therefore heavier, than their earlier counterparts. They’re not touted as lightweight XC race shoes, though, so I wouldn’t expect anything different. I like the protection they can provide my feet. They also wash up nicely when sprayed off with a hose 🙂
Toe Spikes: Earlier Motodivas have screw covers over the holes where toe spikes (most commonly for cyclocross) can be installed. You do not find this on the new models, so I *think* you can cut out circle and the threads will still be there. *think*
Comparison to the 2008-2013 style of Motodivas
The older versions have greater recesses in the tread, which I think improves traction, especially in conditions like mud, snow, etc. Also note the differences in ease of installing toe spikes.
Final Thoughts: I just can’t bond with these shoes apparently! I ended up wearing my old 2013 versions when I raced at Nationals in July, broken ratchet strap and all and have continued wearing the old shoes for rides and my remaining races.
So on Ebay I went… and I picked up a good deal on a 2008-2012 version that had barely been used! Woohoo! I also went up a size to 42 since I plan on using these for ‘cross and want to be able to wear thick socks (my road shoes are 42 so I knew they’d work). Ahhh, it was heaven slipping my feet into these! And surprisingly, the ratchet straps tighten down wayyyyyy tighter than my 2013 versions! I quickly installed my toe spikes into their designated holes and now they eagerly await ‘cross season (which really can’t come soon enough). Now I’m kinda in a frenzy to buy up earlier Motodiva shoes before I can’t find them anymore…
Specialized had me so excited for the 2014 versions, and I’ve just been super disappointed. Of course I still wear the shoes and raced in them plenty, but I’m thinking they might fall into a more “general riding” shoe choice and I’ll just repair the ratchet on my 2013’s and continue using them for racing since they still have plenty of life in them!
The biggest flaw is the tread wear. Two months of mountain biking should not wear out the soles of shoes! And this also hampers me using them in cyclocross as well, and versatility is important to me since I do both disciplines.
Disclaimer: I purchased this product as a member of Specialized’s Brand Ambassador program at a discounted price. However, all comments and opinions are my own and I was in no way compensated for the review.
I’m a sucker for those things that go around Facebook like “30 Things that Prove You’re Getting Old” and lists telling me how far away the 1990s are (huh, that was like 5 years ago, right?!). I remember reading one listing out things that everyone should do once in their life. “Going on a vacation by yourself” was on that list, and I know it sounds crazy to a lot of people. But now after my 10 day excursion across the US for the mountain bike nationals by myself, I realize it is something everyone should do!
Roughly 1,700 miles each way from Cheyenne, WY to Allentown, PA (with pit stops along the way that I’m sure added in more miles), and then another 100 miles from PA to Lakewood, NJ, and then alllllll way back to WY made for an interesting adventure. My parents and friends and others around me did express concern over me taking this trip by myself, but I didn’t have anyone to go with me and life (aka mountain bike racing) doesn’t stop because I don’t have a travel companion! I did wonder how stir crazy I’d go in a car with myself for hours on end, and what would happen if something was to go wrong in a far-away state. Luckily, my 10 days were mostly hiccup free, and I have come to love solitary travel. Your own schedule, your own plans, your own crazy music choices!
I mostly wanted to document my trip for myself… so here it goes!
Day 1: Cheyenne, WY to Adel, IA – July 11th The day is here! Unfortunately I didn’t get the best of sleep and when my alarm went off at 6:15am I almost considered pushing snooze. Then I remembered I had a 9-odd hour drive ahead of me to get to that night’s destination, and my car wasn’t going to drive itself to nationals! I had loaded up most of my stuff in the car the night before and only had my coolers and bathroom bag to load up, along with the bikes. The bikes took longer than I though as I had never used “bike bras” before and it took me a few attempts to get them on (key thing: put them on BEFORE putting the bike on top of a Subaru Forester, unless you’re a giant). Then I had to figure out how to wrap my lock cable through the 3 bikes and still have the two ends meet so I could lock it. I skipped breakfast, and hit the road just shy of 7am.
The drive was pretty uneventful. Somewhere in the midden of forsaken Nebraska I downloaded an app that gives current elevation so I could marvel at the elevation drop that occurs once you head east from Cheyenne. Traffic wasn’t bad, but I took to pounding my head on the dashboard over the miserable fuel mileage I was getting. I found an XM station that had a top concussion expert on talking about concussion injuries, and then some other sports medicine topics that were fairly engaging. I hate Nebraska… Crossing over into Iowa was a relief, and I have always kind of liked driving through Iowa and find it pretty, though the rolling hills didn’t play nice with my already sucky gas mileage. I ended up getting a meatball sub from Subway a few miles from my campsite, and I rolled into the KOA campground in Adel, IA at 5pm on the mark (I “lost” an hour in Nebraska when I crossed into Central Time).
Here it goes… first night ever camping by myself, even if it was in a modern campground with bathrooms and showers. I picked out a nice site with a big tree, as it was cloudy and I had passed through rain in NE so I knew it was headed my way. Jim had walked me through how to set up my tent efficiently before I had left (whoa, who knew it could be so easy?!), so I was semi-confident I could get it up quickly. Which I did, and I did a little happy dance. I got my bedding situated (1000 thread count sheets while camping, don’t judge!), and set up my chair which promptly broke. I needed to use the restroom so I got the Fate off the roof and rode it around for a few miles in the horribly thick air. Then I hung out, reading stuff on my phone since I couldn’t pick up the wifi from my site. I was quite exhausted so I ended up passing out in the tent about 8:30pm
At 3:30am a pretty decent storm rolled through with wind which woke me up. It rained but the tree I was under helped shield me from most of it. I woke up by 7am or so and marveled that I survived my first night alone in a tent alive, dry, and well rested!
Mr Fozzy loaded up and ready to head on out!A car I saw in Nebraska… they had me beat on number of bikes, clearlyWindmills in IowaMy campsite at the KOA in Adel, IAHanging out and relaxing in the thick airFirst meal of the day, which was also dinnerS-Works Child of the Corn
Camp set up: REI Camp Dome 2 tent (amazinnggggg), and then two Walmart sleep pads (suckyyyyyyy), a simple sleeping bag, two fleece sleeping bag liners – one on the bottom and one as a blanket, and a 1000 thread count sheet, and a pillow from home! Nice and snuggly!
Day 2: Adel, IA to North Liberty, IA to Riverside, IA to Rock Island, IL – July 12th
I was a bit stupid in the fact I figured my Iowa mountain biking trails would be like they were last year – above water, dry, and open to ride. Eeek, I was wrong. Lots of rain leading up to my trip and also during this leg of my trip meant my Day 2 plans for Iowa mountain biking adventures were pretty much out the window. Since I was planning on racing in Davenport the next day, I had to stick around the area. So I continued onto Sugar Bottom Recreation Area outside of North Liberty, hoping maybe I could ride the fun trails there like I did last year, even if it was from a high water entrance.
Um, no. Not happening Heidi. The bike wash station was actually under a lake. Literally, Coralville Lake. The sign going in said the trails were open but when I called the ICORR hotline they said the trails were closed and you could get ticketed for riding. I looked around, the sole dummy in the parking lot with two mountain bikes on the roof of their car. It was still early in the day, and I had to do something… so I suited up, and got my road bike off the roof. Gotta make lemonade out of these lemons!
Iowa, you impress with the steep grades and elevation gain! The road in and out of Sugar Bottom is punishing, I think I saw a 35% climb on my GPS file. I rode out of the recreation area and got on the road towards Solon. I didn’t want to stray too far as I was a bit anxious about leaving the mountain bikes on the roof unattended (even though they were locked), and plus I didn’t want to get lost. I rode out 5 miles, enjoying the abundant oxygen. I unfortunately inhaled a bug into my lungs which caused a 5 minute reflex coughing fit I couldn’t control. I also saw a farm that had an enormous (aka “world’s largest” type sized) dining table and chairs on the lawn… no photo 😦 I conquered the steep climbs back to the car, impressed with Iowa road biking as much as I was impressed with the mountain biking last year.
I cleaned up in the park’s restroom and made myself presentable. Damn, still early in the day. I checked the site for the race, and the trails were closed for pre riding due to the rain so another kink was thrown into my plans. So the next logical thing to do was go visit the Future Birthplace of Captain Kirk!!!! (Yes, I’m a Trekkie). Google maps veered me to the wrong town originally, but soon I found Riverside, IA which had a small sized Enterprise parked in a parking lot. I could never find the plaque commemorating the future birthplace and for some reason I was really self conscious in the town (3 bikes and Wyoming plates does that to a vehicle). I did find a cool church which I snapped a photo of, and fueled up on Enterprise Drive. Not all was lost! Here’s to Captain Kirk’s birth in 200+ years!
Sunderbruch was still closed, so off to my night’s campground I went, which was the KOA in Rock Island, IL. This folks was the night that almost broke me. I was miserable. HUMID HUMID HUMID. My campsite had no shade. It had giant blood sucking flies that were immune to my Off Deep Woods. My camp chair continued to break in 3 other areas. I called my mom with my woes. I looked up when sunset was and started counting down the hours to cooler temperatures and no sun. I sat in my broken chair in the shade of Mr. Fozzy, refreshing Facebook to see if my race would be canceled, and ate a pizza Lunchable as my dinner (my appetite literally disappeared on this trip). I soon began to search for hotel rooms. Literally EVERYTHING in Davenport and Rock Island was booked except the crappy La Quinta Inn I stayed at last year which was $150 for a room. I knew that place wasn’t worth $150, and that I needed to pull on my big girl panties and stop being a girly wimp and make due with what was happening. I mean, it was my idea solely to camp in humid ass Illinois!
When the sun relented I set up my tent (which had no shelter) and went and showered – this KOA actually had nice private shower rooms, which was about its only redeeming quality. I once again zonked out asleep by 8:30pm.
At 9:30pm I woke up and realized my hair was soaking wet. I swore it had dried before I went to sleep, and that’s when I realized there was a big storm going on. Captain, we’re taking on water!!!! My rainfly was resting up against the tent (Lession learned: buy more tent stakes and stake out the rainfly away from the sides of the tent) and the seam of the tent was soaking in water in the big storm. I first posted my woes on Facebook like any rational person would do, and instantly people were urging me to go to a hotel, sleep in the car, or even offered up their mom’s houses as shelter. Then I took one of the fleeces I was using as a blanket and padded it along the seam to soak up water and went back to sleep among the storm. I think some people call this “character building.” LOL
Uhhhh, I don’t think I was going to be using the bike wash station or looking at the trail map at Sugar Bottle…Live long and prosper in Riverside, IA3rd state in 2 days!Campsite in Rock Island with the giant bloodsucking flies and unrelenting sun. Which is funny, because it’s not sunny in this photo. Just trust me on this one.But hey, I did have my own private dock. Great thing for a girl with a massive fear of water to have!I had to kill time so I reacquainted myself with my D300 DSLR!This lil’ guy hung out with me for awhile as wellThe doomed chair. It only stayed up because I “staked” the legs into the groundThe blue dot was me. Yay!
Day 3: Rock Island, IL to Davenport, IA to Middlebury, IN – July 13th
I awoke to a gorgeous morning that was almost “chilly.” The rain had stopped, it wasn’t humid, and I was happy. First thing I did was check my phone, and indeed my race was still happening, just with a two hour delay! Woohoo! Of course I was up too early, so I took my time eating some cereal out of my $1 “camp” bowls I bought at Walmart and putzing around my campsite. My rainfly dried super quick so I left my tent set up while I went to shower so it could dry out as well. I had survived the night, and I was happy (and $150 richer for not breaking down and getting a hotel).
I stopped for some baked potatoes at Wendy’s and then headed to Sunderbruch park for my race. My race adventure can be read here: FORC Side Thrill Ride Race Report. It was a good race with good people, and luckily the temperature was mild and the humidity wasn’t sky high. People marveled that I was from Wyoming, though sometimes in a rude-ish manner – I had two different people say “Not to sound rude, but why are you here?” I mean, I get that I do live next to the best mountain biking in the world or at least within a 7 hour radius (not to discredit Moab and Fruita), but why not explore the world?!
After the race I had a frantic 4 hour drive across all of Illinois and nearly all of Indiana to get to my campsite in Middlebury. I wanted to arrive before dark, and knew crossing into Eastern Time would cause me to lose an hour on the clock. Luckily traffic on I-80 through Chicagoland and Gary wasn’t not bad, and I learned from last year’s mistake and didn’t miss the tiny exit for I-80/90 in Indiana. EZ Pass also sped things up! I also was awesome and timed “All You Can Ever Learn You Already Know” by The Ataris to come on exactly when I got to Indiana. Don’t ask, it’s just one of my Ataris-isms that I must do! I think it has something to do with Indiana having “Crossroads of America” on their welcome signs, and that song having the line “Dashboard of America.” I also saw the final fellow Wyoming plated vehicle of my eastbound journey on this part of the drive!
I arrived in Middlebury exactly 4 hours after leaving Davenport at 9pm, woohoo! The KOA’s office was closed but they left my reservation at the after hours check in with a nice map telling me where my campsite is. And wow, I was amazed. I was happy, content! It was tucked into the trees and private, and I could hear the sound of horse hooves pulling Amish buggies on the highway next to my site! The weather was downright gorgeous, the leftovers of the Super Moon was rising, and the fireflies were coming out to play! And I could even pick up the wifi!
I think this was the point that I realized how awesome my trip was and how fortunate I am to have the ability and means to travel like I do around the country. I ate the second cold baked potato from earlier in the day under the waning sun and excitedly checked in with my parents with the news of an awesome campsite in Indiana Amish country. I made sure I had my camp set up before dark – since I was at the western edge of eastern time it was light to nearly 10pm, and then showered and headed to my tent. I was only 2 miles away from Michigan, which was a state I had not visited (I’m a bit of a “state-bagger” and MI was one of the few I’m missing) so I stayed up late planning out about an hour long road ride for the morning to visit Michigan. Only hiccup was a little rainstorm that came through at midnight so I had to scramble to put my biking clothes and towels back in the car that I had hung out to dry. I took that chance to snap a photo of the moon before it was covered by clouds.
Life is good.
I saw these flowers in the drive thru at Wendy’s in Davenport… I think they’re so pretty!The campsite that saved me!Not too shabby for hand held and being out of practice with photography!
Day 4: Middlebury, IN to Bellefonte, PA – July 14th
I woke up at about 7:30am and set to planning out my road ride in Indiana/Michigan. I created a course on Strava, and wrote out a cue sheet to tape to my top tube, and ate some cereal and set out. Road riding at nearly sea level is so strange. I breath a lot easier and it’s almost like my body doesn’t know what to do. There was also a distinct lack of wind to either aid or hinder the pace. I had to remind myself to occasionally slow down and just enjoy the scenery (though I must brag that I took two QOMs on Strava!).
And gorgeous it was. I rode through the corn fields and farms of southern Michigan, and among Amish farms in Indiana. I laughed at the amount of horse poop I rode through – people always think Wyoming has nothing but horses everywhere, but I never ride through horse poop on my Wyoming road rides! Drivers of cars were extraordinarily polite when passing, and I could only guess that this was due to having to pass the Amish buggies frequently. People waved and called out good morning as I rode along the quiet county roads. I was at such a personal peace I could not even begin to describe it. It was almost overwhelming, and I remembered thinking that for all the crap I’ve gone through in various dramatic episodes of my life, here I was riding through gorgeous farmland in the midwest and it was all worth it. It was seriously one of the best, if not best, road rides I have ever done. If I didn’t have a nearly 6 hour drive ahead of me, I probably could’ve stayed out riding all day, or least until the humidity got to me! But I called 18 miles and an hour good enough and rode back to my campsite to pack up and prepare for another day of driving.
I left Middlebury about 11am and continued the drive east. I stopped at a Red Burrito at a service plaza for what would be my first real “meal” in days – two tacos, chips and salsa, and for the first time in my life, refried beans! I was soon in Ohio, which I made good time across, and then into Pennsylvania – woohoo, the final state in my trip (not counting New Jersey)!! Pennsylvania is another state I find very pretty, though all the trees get to me in a claustrophobic kind of way. I’m use to seeing stuff miles away and having mountains as a reference. In PA you have trees and hills all over the place. It’s very discerning and disorienting to me. We (aka Mr. Fozzy, Ruby the road bike, Fa-tay the Fate, Georgia the Epic, and I) climbed and descended the mountains, and even crossed the highest point on I-80 east of the Mississippi River! I grew up 10 miles away from the highest point on I-80 in general, so I had to chuckle at the 2200 feet in elevation.
The trip into Bellefonte was pretty uneventful and I think got to the KOA about 6pm or so. I once again had a nice secluded campsite, though a bit muddy from all the rain that PA had been receiving. I once again had fireflies, so I was a happy girl!! I set up my tent for the final time for a few days, and one handed to boot since I was talking to my mom on the phone. That’s how I knew I was becoming a pro at this tent thing! I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and sat down to enjoy it on my pathetic chair… then I felt something crawling on my chest… I looked down my shirt and I kid you not there was a tiny worm on me! I screamed, tossed my phone into my sandwich (yay for Life Proof cases that are jelly proof) and did that whole frantic jump up and down and brush yourself off dance. SCREW THAT. I quickly dived into my tent for the night to keep myself safe from the scary nature outside. Oh man…
Selfie in Michigan!!Michigan farmlandBob Evans is the best stuff ever!! And this truck is filled with it!
Heavenly at that point in time!Can’t see the forest through the trees in PennsylvaniaAlways weird to see the first sign with New York City on itNext million miles!!!Awww, still sea level to me!Final eastbound campsite!!!
Day 5: Bellefonte, PA to Macungie, PA to Allentown, PA – July 15th
The final day of driving! The fun is over, time to get down to business! I had about 3 hours to go to get to Bear Creek Resort in Macungie for a few hours of practice. It was raining the whole drive, so I detoured to Wawa for lunch before heading to the resort. I haven’t had a Wawa hoagie since August 2011 which is FAR TOO LONG!!! I just might’ve been more excited to put Wawa in my belly than to practice on the nationals course!
Practice went well, though it was raining the whole time. All the rocks were deadly slippery, and I did have a minor wreck where I was coming down an off camber rock face and my tires slid out and when I went to put my foot down it slid so I belly flopped down the rock. Didn’t think much of it until I was showering and discovered my “minor” wound could “talk” and I could almost see bone. Yuck. Nothing some ointment and a bandaid couldn’t fix, haha! I don’t want to write too much about the Nationals stuff, as I don’t think it pertains to the overall trip adventure. But it was good practice in the rain, and I got in two laps and even got to talk about how marvelous Curt Gowdy State Park is to a guy from Missouri who seemed annoyed that his friends keep saying to ride there!
I got to the Red Roof Inn in Allentown in late afternoon, which is where I stayed last year. Cheap rates but pretty nice rooms! I unloaded the car and after cleaning myself up hung my tent up to dry in the bathroom. It started raining again so I drove to the Red Robin that is next door to the hotel. It’s next door, but requires like 2 miles of driving to get into the parking lot… ridiculous! Oh east coast… how funny you are! I have a huge dislike of eating alone in public, and this is the first time I’ve actually eaten at a sit down restaurant alone. Got some stares, but I enjoyed my big chicken salad and spinach artichoke dip! I then went to Target for supplies for my shin. Tucked myself into the king size bed with a real mattress with no fears of worms (hopefully…) or rain ruining my sleep!
3 long years in the making!I did clean up before going to the hotel, I swear!Civilized living quarters!
Day 6: Nationals Practice – July 16th
This was the day of packet pick up and official practice at Bear Creek Resort. Full details involving that here. There was also the much anticipated pasta dinner! Funny enough, I didn’t get full enough from this pasta so I ended up going to Panera Bread back in Allentown for a bowl of broccoli cheddar soup and a big salad. At the pasta dinner I chatted with a pro from Vermont that surprised me with “Wyoming… the Equality State!” when I said where I was from, and then 81 year old national champion Fred Schmid and his wife joined us at the table which was great! My friend that I met last year at nationals, Kim (not to be confused with BFF Kim) found me so I spent the rest of my time with her and her husband talking shop and talking shit. 😀 It was a good evening to end the day with, and I was back to the hotel to collect myself for the big day coming up in the morning.
Free pasta! Well, I paid $65 to race so I’m sure this pasta wasn’t free. Whatever!
Day 7: Nationals!!! And then onward to Jerseyyyy- July 17th
Everything related to my race at Nationals is here!
After awards I said my goodbyes and hightailed it back to my hotel in Allentown to pack up and head out to New Jersey to spend the night with my best friend! Unfortunately I came about the brilliant idea to stay with her after I made nonrefundable hotel reservations so I just had to eat the bullet and check out at 6:30pm on my final night at the hotel, but it was oh so worth it for a quick trip back to my old Jersey stomping grounds and to see Kim!
Traffic on the Garden State Parkway aside, I made it to Lakewood, NJ in about two hours, and was able to unpack and throw some clothes into wash (thank goodness for Kim offering up her washer and dryer! My bike clothes were growing stuff I swear) before my old favorite, Chinese food from Sultan Wok, arrived. We chatted and I was able to submit my cat 1 upgrade request and get caught up on the internet world. Then we decided to cruise up to Sonic in Howell to get drinks and then just drive around. We enjoyed singing along to Garth Brooks at Sonic, and decided to go drive to the Point Pleasant Beach Boardwalk. Yes, I would make it all the way to the edge of the country on this trip! Kim and I walked along the boardwalk in the moonlight, how romantic 😛 It was great to hear the ocean and see the cutesy beach houses again! I really don’t know when I’ll be back near NJ again, so I always kinda treasure the time I get to spend there, no matter how much the other drivers drive me nuts and how much I find jug handles to be impractical, along with the whole “you can’t pump your own gas” nonsense. Whew. We topped off our late night by serenading some young guys at a stoplight with Garth Brooks’ “Shameless.” I’m sure that was quite the sight, if not pretty scary… two girls in a yellow Beetle screaming along to Garth Brooks at 2am…
Atlantic Ocean! No idea why there’s two moon like objects in this photo!!
Day 8: Lakewood, NJ to Macedonia, OH – July 18th
Long ass day. I headed out from Kim’s around 11:30am, detouring in Howell to get my final Wawa for the road (and for breakfast). I’ll miss you sooooo much Wawa! Realized that even though it’s been 8 years, the Wawa in Howell still makes my hoagies weird and soaks the bread in vinegar and oil instead of putting in on the toppings. Some things never change… unfortunately I didn’t have my handy bottle of red wine vinegar with me to remedy the situation like I had all those years of living in NJ. Shucks. Whatever, the Wawa filled my belly! I also loved the bottle of Mango Green Tea I got. Damn, should’ve loaded up since I can’t get that in Wyoming!
I turned Mr. Fozzy west and away we went! Traffic wasn’t too bad, but it was one long trip to my stopping point in Macedonia, OH. Pennsylvania is a long, and expensive state (toll wise and gas wise), to drive through. Even the 3 tunnels couldn’t make me smile. The “I wanna get home, and I wanna get there now” mood had set in. I was originally planning on staying in Willow Springs, IL on Saturday night and racing there on Sunday, but I had no desire to race anymore. I was sore in places that hadn’t been sore all season and the mental fatigue had set in from my race season. Though I was better off mentally than where I was last year, I had the waves of burnout start coming over me. I just wanted my couch and my kitty and to be back among my dry rocks and thin air.
I also pretty much stopped taking photos. It was just go go go. Luckily I got to La Quinta Inn in Macedonia about 7 or 8pm, and quickly got the bikes tucked into the room so I could head over to Bob Evans! Woohooo! I had a cool waitress, she saw my RoadID and asked if I was a cyclist because she was a cyclist! I had a big bowl of vegetable beef soup and a massive salad. Felt good to fill my belly (my appetite that was lacking on the eastbound leg had returned with force for the westbound leg). I spent the rest of the night uploading photos and planning what to do the next day. I wanted to check out the trails at Royalview in Strongsville, OH so I planned to do that in the morning before trying to get as far west as I could push.
Day 9: Macedonia, OH to Adel, IA – July 19th
Damn you rain! Oh so rainy when I woke up… it was actually pouring buckets. No mountain biking, and no road riding either. Sad… I think that rain zapped any remaining motivation to try and ride anymore on my trip from me. So I grabbed breakfast at the hotel, packed up in the rain (people had a really weird tendency to tell me it wasn’t biking weather every time I rolled each of the 3 bikes individually out to the car… no, really? Doesn’t mean I just leave my bikes at the hotel! Hahaha… I was bitter. I wanted to ride!), and headed out for what would be my longest day driving of the whole trip.
I had a disgusting service plaza experience in Howe, IN, shoved McDonald’s in my face somewhere else in Indiana, flew across Illinois, and got lost along the Mississippi trying to find a rest area that I swore was there back in 2001. I almost considered stopping at Illiniwek Forest Preserve for some mountain biking, but I just wanted to keep pushing west AND I didn’t want anything to do with the Rock Island area again and their big bloodsucking flies. So I pushed on past Des Moines and decided to stop to stay again at the KOA in Adel, Iowa since I had a good experience there on my way east.
I found a different tree for my tent and found myself to be a curiosity in the campground. My neighbors came over and asked if I was in Iowa for RAGBRAI. They weren’t the first to ask that (which means I should really do RAGBRAI sometime!). They kept talking to me like there were more than just me in my party, which I realized was caused by 3 bikes. No single girl has 3 bikes with her on a trip, haha! They were nice and went on their way, and then another lady from across the tent sites came over and asked if I just drove from Laramie. She said she was just coming back from camping at Vedauwoo for a week! She asked what I was doing since I was holding my Epic in my hands with my number plate still on and I explained I was at MTB Nationals and she asked if I was a competitive mountain biker and how I did, and was super excited about my bronze medal. Yay for single serving friends! Kinda crazy all the experiences you can have with people, even if it’s just for minutes or days at a time! Wyoming license plates are always a curiosity, which I don’t quite know why. People on this trip always liked to tell me I was far from home. it’s weird, because growing up in a college town, and now living in a military town I don’t think twice about license plates I see. But go somewhere with WY plates, and you’re the hot topic! Apparently we’re a rarity, us Wyoming folk 🙂
All the junk I ate made me feel like a bloated pig so I had a bottle of chocolate milk for dinner. Seriously.
Back among the corn in Iowa! I grew to like my tent so much I wanted to set it up in my backyard and sleep out there once I was home…
Day 10: Adel, IA to Cheyenne, WY – July 20th
There’s no place like home!
Probably worse part of this trip is knowing that to get home I had to endure 7 hours of Nebraska. Nebraska sucks. I’m not going to sugar coat it. It’s hot, humid, and boring. Combine that with construction and busy traffic, and it was just a headache. My music choice reflected this as I listened to solely Nine Inch Nails the entire state. Mr. Fozzy was NOT happy in Nebraska, either. It was 100-105 degrees for the entire state with a bad headwind. Outside of Sydney my temperature warning light started flashing and I panicked. No trees for shade, 105 degrees, and a very grouchy hot turbo’d vehicle that was getting 10 miles per gallon (there went staying on the gas budget). I slowed to 65mph, took it off cruise control, and just hoped for the best. I was 100 miles from Cheyenne and it figures the trip would all start to go wrong. Luckily Mr. Fozzy pulled through and got happier the closer we got to the Wyoming border and the higher we went in elevation. We hit that Wyoming state line, saw the 80mph speed limit signs, and made a run for it! So close, time to fly!
3:30pm I pulled up to a welcomed sight for travel fatigued eyes. The only thing missing was Sammie, who was away on her cat-cation with my parents. It just felt so good to go inside my house and sit on my couch. Surprisingly enough I unpacked my entire car – yes, even the bike stuff that always seems to stay in my car! Jim arrived in time to help with the bug and spider web covered bikes. I showered, placed my new medals on my medal hanger and my FORC oak chunk on the trophy shelf, scrounged up food in my kitchen, and planted my butt on the couch. HOME SWEET HOME!
Well…
This girl who likes fancy sheets and pillow top mattresses and who absolutely hates bugs survived 5 nights of camping throughout the US. I survived nearly 4000 miles of adventures, just me, 3 bikes, and one gas-hungry Subaru Forester. Just about the worse thing to happen to me was a tiny worm in my shirt in Pennsylvania! And now I’m firm believer that everyone should take an adventure by themselves. I don’t think it has to be a massive cross-country road trip like I did, but even just a small weekend. There’s a lot of world to see, and really it’s not as scary as the 6 o’clock news makes it out to be. I’m happy I made the trip, despite peoples’ concerns and worries, and even my own worries about safety, cost, and if it would be worth it. YOLO. Haha.
When I initially started riding and racing in the summer of 2012 and finally figured out the foreign language of USAC’s categories and what they meant, I remember making the comment “Wow, that’d be so cool to be a Cat 1 mountain biker some day! Maybe I’ll aim for that by age 35!” I was 28 at the time, placing mid pack in the local mountain biking series in the beginner level, and really had no idea about racing, training, and really riding in general.
I took 2013 seriously, traveling all over to race, placing 2nd at US Nationals in cat 3 in PA, having some wins, and burning myself out before cyclocross saved the day. Hell, I even threw a triathlon in there for grins. I didn’t really train, but I still started stepping up to intermediate/advanced races and went to cat 2 immediately after nationals. I was pretty lost, but the ideas started to creep into my head that cat 1 could happen a lot sooner than 35! In the fall I hooked up CritFit and my coach Tony Diede, and aside for some set backs due to changing jobs/buying a house/life, got into the training groove.
2014 became about racing smart, choosing races wisely, and getting that damn cat 1 upgrade! And piece by piece the plan fell into place, with solid winter and spring training leading into a planned mountain bike season built upon some fun times road racing. The mental game began to change for me, which helped the physical aspect. Unfortunately riding faster means wrecking harder, and it seems like I was walking a fine line all summer between injury and wellness. Luckily nationals came and went without a hitch, and I had a solid performance that exceeded my expectations, and had a dominating race in Iowa to seal the deal. I hesitantly sent off the request while sitting on my best friend’s couch in New Jersey.
And waited… and waited. Then the email came. First for mountain bike. Approved! Oh sh!t, I’m cat 1! What the hell did I get myself into?! Within a half hour later, the cyclocross cat 3 upgrade came in – approved! Woohoo, but what the hell did I get myself into?! I’m not even 31, I have 4 more years, dammit! EEEKKK! Then excitement and elation at knowing I achieved something I kinda really wanted. Sure, I’ll be working my way up from the bottom, and it means more training, more time on a bike, and more conquering my hang ups. But it’s nice to be at the bottom of the top!
Some people ask if the new goal is a pro upgrade, and I think I can give a big solid NO to that one. Right now I just want to focus on moving up through cat 1 and eventually find a comfortable place at the top of that category. Pro is a lot of time and money and talent that I am not sure is worth pursuing. However, I would like to move up through cyclocross and become a cat 2 sooner vs later!
Here’s to the kicking of my ass known as cat 1 racing! Cheers!
Heidi Rides Bikes 