Just what I need...more gear

Ok, this time I'm a go for the motorcycle training class! I just ordered my jacket, gloves, and helmet and I'm signed up to take classes Oct 5th, 7th, and 8th. Woo! Just what I needed...another hobby requiring expensive gear.

I'm really excited but after checking out bikes at Renton Motorcyles I started getting scared again. Every time I realize how much bigger a motorcycle is than a bicycle I get a little worried. At least the class is on tiny 250cc bikes. Oh well, no turning back now!

I need another bike

No, not that kind of bike. I've been contemplating a motorcycle for some time (actually, about 5 years now) and I've always talked myself out of it. I'm finally getting to the point where I'm realizing that I really would like to learn how to ride and I should just bite the bullet and sign up for the Evergreen training class. In fact, there's one in two weeks, which just so happens to be the weekend where there isn't a cross race. It's also close to work. Is that fate or what?

And just yesterday I sat on my favorite bike in the whole wide world, the Ducati Monster. It fits perfectly and is so very cool. I just really must get one. With that being said, I find myself nervous as hell to sign up for the class. I figure I'll be the one who drops the bike, or crashes it, or smooshes myself, or something else stupid. But hey, I race bicycles so I must be able to ride a motorcycle right? And at least on the motorcycle if I hit the pavement going 30 I'm wearing protective gear. I'm not yet contemplating highway speeds :)

Ok, here I go, I'm really signing up this time...

Cross f***ing rocks!!

I was at Marymoor last night for the first cross practice of the season and it was awesome! Surprisingly enough the rain held off for us. The turnout was huge; there looked to be about 80 people there. Crazy.

I joined a group of about 10-12 newbies coached by Craig and Kristi from CycleU to learn how to mount, dismount, and carry my bike. In the beginning I was like, "You want me to do what?" Kristi and Craig do it so effortlessly. My first few attempts hopping on the bike weren't so graceful but I got better the more I did it. It's also easier as you add some speed. Before long I had no trouble hopping on the bike but getting off was another story. I struggled for a long, long time trying to step off the bike, grab it, and keep running. My first try I nearly biffed it.

Craig put down some barriers for us to hop over and pretty soon I was mounting and dismounting correctly and not killing myself. It was fun to keep going faster and faster and see how close I could get to the barrier without running into it. I think I'll definitely have some bruises today.

It was fun to see the group progressing and giggling like little kids. Everyone had a ton of fun. I think I feel confident enough to try to race this Sunday. What the hell? I might as well just hop in and give it a try.

Returning from death

I think I'm finally starting to energize and get back to my old self. I took a little 2-week athletic break and I'm finally falling back into the gym/running/biking routine.

Sunday was the first "Meet the Women's Teams" ride and it was the first time I had been on the bike since the Eugene Stage Race. It was sooo nice to ride again. The turnout was great and I was able to talk with a lot of gals about racing, answer their questions, learn a bit about them, and talk up the team. I'm hoping to see a few girls turn out for our Zoka team ride this coming Saturday. Unfortunately I can't make any more women's rides since cyclocross officially starts up this weekend and conflicts. Speaking of which....

...it's cross time! The first race in this Sunday and I don't have a clue what the hell I'm doing -- haha! Cross practice starts tonight at Marymoor and I'm heading over to suffer in the rain and hopefully learn how to mount and dismount from the bike while sliding down steep hills. If nothing else I'll get my crashing out of the way early. At least mud is soft.

On a side note, it looks like I've stepped into a new volunteer role to crusade for women's cycling. I have no idea what I'm getting into to. I volunteered to run the NWWC Women's Cycling race series next year. There's really not much to it. I just need to figure out the series races, coordinate with promoters, get sponsorship, swag, publicity, volunteers. Yeah, not much to it at all really.

Fatigue caused by exercise cured by....exercise?

Well, I didn't end up doing Escape from the Rock this year and I'm only a little sad about it. Usually I beat myself up if I skip a race I'm signed up for but this time it really didn't bother me. I usually have no trouble getting amped for races but I just couldn't get myself into it this year. I decided to just listen to my body and scratch it.

I'm not sure if I've been suffering from some sort of burnout but I have been absolutely dead and unmotivated since the Eugene Stage Race. I even had my doctor check me out to make sure I don't have the hypothyroidism problem I had before. A few years ago I was diagnosed with it and it started with just a general rundown, tired, fatigued feeling. It mysteriously went away and I quit taking the medication for it. Hopefully it's not back. Results pending...

I finally got back to the gym last night and I was convinced that after taking a little over a week off I would be hurting bad, but I surprisingly had the best leg workout I think I've ever had! I was dragging when I walked in but after a few minutes on the Precor I was feeling energized for the first time in days!

I was supposed to get back in this morning but unfortunately I fell prey to the cozy bed and just couldn't summon myself up at 6:45. Oh well. Maybe I'll head in tomorrow. It's a sure sign of Fall now since bowling started up last week. I'm off to league shortly...let's hope it goes better than last week. Taking the summer off combined with learning the shot at a new bowling alley doesn't do wonders for your average.

What am I thinking?

I've been a bit burned out the last few days so I took the week off from cycling, biking, and going to the gym. Friday I felt a bit motivated and went for a short run, which is my first in about two weeks. Somehow I convinced myself to head over to Mercer Island for the packet pickup for Escape from the Rock. I figured I already paid so I might as well do it.

I slept in so late today that now it's nearly 1am and I'm finally just now getting tired. I have to get up around 5:45 or so to grab breakfast before the triathlon. Haha! We'll see how I do on four hours of sleep. I haven't swam in about two weeks so this should be interesting!

If I even get close to last year's time I'll be impressed! Here goes nothing...

Eugene Stage Race Day 3: Is it over yet?

The entire weekend I had been looking forward to this day: the day of the hill climb! When I woke up Monday my body was not agreeing with me. My legs were tired, I felt a little less energetic than usual, and my neck and shoulders were really tight and sore.

I didn't execute the best recovery plan after the crit and decided to go to bed rather than eat some extra food when I got hungry. Oh well. Monday's course was 34.3 miles total and consisted of 2.5 laps around this circuit. The first big hill climb was 2.5 miles long. The finish was at the top of the large hill so we would have to climb it three times. Ouch.

Two more riders opted not to start the race and the Women's Cat 4 field was now down to 6 and the Cat 1/2/3 field was down to 7. This bumped me up to 6th place in the GC. I figured if any more dropped out I would get a top 5 finish - crazy!

Our race was delayed 35 minutes while the officials found the necessary follow/lead cars which pretty much negated the nice warmup I had done. Once we finally got rolling my legs weren't feeling chipper. We had a nice easy pace to the base of the big hill climb, where Martha Walsh and another rider took control to keep the pace even to the top. If I had been fresh I really wouldn't have had any trouble but halfway up I was concerned. My legs weren't working for me.

I hit a wall hard and got dumped off the back about 1K before the top of the climb. Damn! I very nearly pulled off at the finish line and called it a day but I decided I had come here to finish the race and finish I would. I kept reminding myself that if only one other Cat 4 rider didn't finish I'd be in the top 5. So, around I went again. The second time up the climb I asked the official if I should keep going since I knew I was probably 25 minutes behind the rest of the pack. He told me to go so I went.

Once I was passed by some straggling men from the 1/2 field I started to get worried I was the last one out there on the course. I asked a corner marshall if I should pack it in and head back to the start and he encouraged me to keep going as well. I honestly have no idea how I made it up the hill the 3rd time. By this time all I wanted to do was invent some nuclear device to blow the damn thing up. As I was heading up riders were coming down to the finish and most were cheering me on and yelling encouragement. At this point I knew I had to have been the last person out there.

I got across the finish line and there were two officials waiting and everyone was pretty much cleared out of there. On one hand I felt elated to have finished but on the other I felt a little embarassed to have been so far behind and to have kept so many people waiting. Maybe pulling out of the race would have been the best decision in this case. Hey, I finished though!

As I rode back down the hill to the start one of the officials pulled up next to me in his car and handed me an Energizer battery. He said it was the only thing he could think of giving me. Haha! I told him I felt bad to be the last rider in and he just shook his head and said, "Didn't you see the number of women who dropped out?". This really was a race of attrition.

I lost 35 minutes in this race and ended up 6th place in the GC about 48 minutes down. I guess I finished about 15-20 minutes behind some 1/2 men and some other women so it wasn't SO bad. I have to remind myself that of the 20 women that started only 12 finished. And most of the ones that dropped out were Cat 4s. It turns out that the other 5 Cat 4s that finished are on the verge of upgrading, so I was out there racing with mostly a 1/2/3 group. No wonder I got my butt kicked. I think I was the only true beginner out there that finished.

Anyway, it was a phenomenal race, I had a great time, and this was a perfect end to the road racing season. It's the first time in a while I'm not eager to hop back on the bike for a few days, though I *am* signed up for Escape from the Rock on Sunday. Hmm...we'll see how that goes.

Eugene Stage Race Day 2: Holy crit!

I had a nice break before the crit to go back to the hotel and stretch and be lazy. I decided to roll out early and get in a good warmup but somehow I didn't end up warming up as much I wanted. The course had two real corners and two big sweepers and was more like a circuit race than a true crit.

16 women lined up for the start and the official told us that lapped riders weren't getting pulled, so we would have to keep going or we'd get a DNF. This is by far the fastest crit I've ever done. The first few laps I kept glancing at my computer and we were regularly pushing 30mph. About three laps in I was angry at myself for not warming up more as my legs were starting to crack. I was sad to see Monica pull off shortly after being dropped which meant she wouldn't be riding Monday. After a few more laps I got gapped off the back with two other riders and that was all she wrote.

After a few more laps I made sure to catch the back of the pack as they came around and not lose them again. By this time two 1/2/3 women had already lapped the field and caught back on shortly after I did. Crazy!

Surprisingly enough the crit was over pretty quickly. They usually seem to drag on but this one went by really fast. After the crit I was still sitting last in GC but since Monica dropped out I bumped up to 7th place about 13 minutes back.

Eugene Stage Race Day 2: 3 miles of pain

I've said before I'm not a good time-trialist, so there's a lot of things that make me happy about a 3-mi time trial.

#1: It's over quickly.
#2: I can't lose that much time in 3 miles.
#3: Did I say it's over quickly?

As seems to be the case in nearly every race I was the first rider to go again and had no carrot, so I just tried to focus and go hard. The course was slightly uphill to the 1.5-mi turnaround and I actually had to drop into my small chainring to keep up my cadence. What goes up must come down and the 1.5 miles back to the start were fast. I just made sure to keep cranking hard since sometimes you get complacent going downhill.

For the first time ever I didn't get passed by the rider 30 seconds behind me - saweet! I did get passed, but only once from someone a minute back. Monica, the woman I finished with yesterday, was the one 30 seconds behind me so we're still probably pretty close in the GC.

See, you can't lose that much time in 3 miles! I'm still likely in 8th place about 10 minutes or so behind everyone else, but I'm hoping I can put out a good effort in the crit this evening and gain back some time. I'm off to carbo load...

Eugene Stage Race Day 1: Bathwater

I left Seattle late Friday night bound for Eugene, OR. The Eugene Celebration Stage Race kicked off today with a 52.4-mi road race stage. The temperatures for this race were soaring into the 90s so I made sure to take TONS of water and accelerade with me. I had water stuffed everywhere. I knew there was a neutral feed zone but I don't like to take my chances.

20 women lined up for the start: 12 Cat 4s and 8 Cat 1/2/3s. The women's race is combined but scored separately. Michelle Conrad from Ti-Cycles and Martha Walsh are both here racing, so there were a few Seattle faces in the crowd. The race consisted of 2 laps around a 26.2-mi course. As expected no one was really interested in pushing the pace much the first lap and the pack pretty much stuck together. One or two ladies were dropped pretty early on a hill climb about 5 miles into the course. Halfway through the first lap a rider careened off the road, down into tall grasses and across gravel, but somehow managed to stay upright and get back on the road. I have no idea what happened but everyone cheered when she made it back on the road. She said she thanked her cross training.

I knew as soon as we hit the hill the second time around everyone was going to surge and sure enough, the pack picked it up a bit. I was doing fine and hanging right there until all of a sudden about 200 ft from the top I started feeling REALLY sick. I had goosebumps all over me and was getting the chills and a bit of nausea. I knew I was starting to suffer from the heat and I just couldn't push myself so I dropped off the back a bit. I very nearly pulled off at the top of the hill but I couldn't concede driving 4-hrs to do only one stage in this race. "Just finish!" I told myself. I grabbed some water in the feed zone and dumped it all over me to try to cool down.

As the pack slipped down the hill I tried and tried to get going but my body was just not working for me and I continued to feel really sick. Thank goodness for this rider behind me, Monica. She asked me how I was feeling and told me to grab her wheel for a bit and recover. She pulled me a good mile or two before I finally started to shake it off. It took me 8 miles to shake the goosebumps and nausea but I finally started to feel better.

Monica and I never caught the pack again but managed to tough it out together to the finish and lost 10 minutes overall. The heat took it's toll and only 8 of the 12 Cat 4 riders finished. One problem with riding in heat like this is that your water becomes bathwater after about 30 minutes of riding. It seemed that no matter how much water I kept drinking I just could not cool down. 10 miles from the finish I finally ran out. Not soon after that a support car came along handing out water and boy was that the happiest moment of my life. Not only was it water...it was ICE COLD water! I dumped half of it all over me and instantly felt refreshed.

The support for this ride was awesome! Without all of the extra water I'm not sure I would have finished. When I got back to the hotel I soaked all the bath towels in cold water and layed on the bed with them all over me. That was the best feeling in the world...ahhhhhh!

Tomorrow is the 3-mi time trial and crit. The next few days will still be hot but not quite as bad as today. Time trialing isn't my forte, so I'm hoping I can just stick in there and not lose too much more time and put in a good effort in the crit. If I can outlast a few riders in the crit maybe I can bump up a few spots.