New location!

I'm now running a WordPress blog where I'll be chatting about technology, all things web, and of course the usual bike races and adventures! Thanks!!

Indie Series Tucker Classic at S Seatac

Last year this race was my second ever mountain bike race and I remember calling it a 'crit on dirt'. Yep, it hasn't changed. After seeing the weather forecast a few days ago I fully expected another muddy and wet race. What a surprise to have sunshine, warm temps, and a mostly dry course!

I didn't race strongly on this course last year and stayed true to form this year too. With no long climbs or technical sections I think it favors the power rider who can just drop the hammer and time trial the whole thing. Definitely not me. And definitely not with my legs totally wasted.

Yesterday I didn't think I'd be riding, so I did a tough track workout in the morning. Then a friend called me later and said the T-word: Tiger. Between Tiger and the track I woke up with some pretty damn tired legs today. They felt like lead on my warm up lap and never really came out of it.

We had a great turn out of women and actually staggered our start into age groups for the first time. Way cool! I managed a 3rd place start going into the single track only to lose it in under 5 minutes. I pulled out of my left cleat on a little uphill kicker and nearly crashed. Nice job. Note to self: fix that damn loose pedal.

I probably should have fixed my front derailleur issue too. I had to stop more than a few times to put my chain back on. Just recently it started falling off when I hit any kind of big bump or sizable obstacle and no matter how hard I try, it will not suck back on the ring. On the third lap my derailleur got a little too snugly with the chain and added some nice musical ambiance to the race. At least I wasn't having a strong race or that would have big time sucked.

So overall, not a great finish for me today. I was way too near the rear. In fact, I might have been the rear. Meh. But the race was fun, the weather was beautiful, and I got a good 15 miles and 1:48:08 of high intensity training. Any riding in the sun is good riding! And my teammate Mercedes killed it out there and took home the win. She is amazing! I told her I'm tying a rope to her bike at the next race.

Mt Si Relay

What beautiful weather for the Mt Si Relay today! At least a gorgeous 70-degree sunny day can somewhat mitigate a 5am wake up call. I joined up with several other members of the CycleU triathlon team in the recreational relay. Our 8-person team has been decimated by injuries so our only expectation was to enjoy the sunny day.

My leg of the relay (#4) started at Remlinger Farms and headed out the Snoqualmie Valley Trail to Fall City. I completed a long run of nearly 5 miles last weekend and felt ready for the 5.5-mi leg. Then due to last-minute course changes the officials lengthened it to 6 miles. There goes my strict 10% mileage rule...

I quickly forgot about it as the excitement of running again in a race hit me a mere second into my start. A mile down the trail I checked my watch and whoah doggy! I clocked the first mile in 7:59, a bit off my 10-min/mile goal. I slowed way down but that first mile already did the damage. At the 3.5-mi mark the IT band tightened and then off and on between mile 4 and 5 I had to take some short walk breaks just to keep it in check.

The last mile of my leg turned downhill so I used caution since any semi-steep downhill grade really sets off the IT band. Surprisingly, it hung in there. The last half-mile flattened out and I sprinted the rest to finish up at 1:01:58, just 2 mins off my goal. I can live with that!

I have some worry about aggravating the injury. I did push pace and distance though so it's not completely unexpected. At least it recovered and I'm due in for PT this week. I'm pretty damn stoked I finished the 6-mi run though. My first in nearly 3.5 years! Now it's back to building some hopefully easy miles for the Rock 'n Roll Half in June.

Ah, the day after.

I'm moving a little slow today after yesterday's crash, but considering how hard I went down, I'm relatively unscathed. Just a bit of gravel rash, a sore shoulder, and a bump on the forehead and cheek. Yay! So far I've gotten up from every stupid stunt I've ever done and found them all funny. What can I say? I bounce well! The day that gift stops giving I need to worry.

Ironically enough, my mom is a wound care specialist, so I can thank her for actually getting all the dirt out of my scrape this time. I'm horrible at cleaning that stuff. Thanks mom! Now I just need to learn how to fall on my left side for a while. My right shoulder is already screwed up and could use a break.

Some more great pics from yesterday's race:

Indie Series Opener!

I can sum up today by saying: I think I broke my face. Yep, it was a great day! Big kudos to my awesome kick-ass teammates though! The uBRDO gals are a force for sure! Mercedes tore it up out there and won the Sport class with some fantastic riding. And Leigh rode strong and finished a very tough, wet, and muddy course. I love these pictures of Leigh and Mercedes with their $30 mud facials. Ha! Nice job ladies!! Ya'll rock!

The steady downpour created a muddy and slick course that became an exercise in controlled sliding. Nothing on the course was very technical, it was just a matter of slogging through mud and trying to find traction on some steeper pitches. I don't have much sprint in me so I didn't get off to a fantastic start. A few gals seemed a bit tentative going downhill on the slick mud so I stayed off the brakes and used it to my advantage to pick off a few people.

Ironic really, because brakes, or lack thereof, are what lead to my rather spectacular crash towards the end of the 2nd lap. Headed down a longer downhill pitch shortly before the start/finish line, I grabbed my brakes to slow for the corner at the bottom. The brake levers went straight to the handlebars and I wasn't slowing. I pumped the brakes to no avail and then had that fantastic "Holy shit, this is not going to end well" moment.

I should have made the corner, but by the time I wrapped my brain around the situation it was too late. I slid out hard on the gravel trying to make a fast turn and hit the ground first with the right side of my face followed by everything else. Not a good plan. I immediately saw stars and things were in trippy 3d vision. Sorta cool but not really. Thanks to the girl behind me for stopping for just a sec to make sure I was ok.

I sat there for a bit and then got back on the bike. I had just gotten into a good rhythm and really wanted to finish the last two laps but the rest of the ride to the start/finish line I couldn't shake off the stars. Pretty wack. When I crossed the line I asked the announcer if I was going the right direction and then thought it might be a good idea to not ride anymore. I wasn't even sure at that point if I had brakes or what was going on.

Shortly after I finished I shook off the head fog and felt ok, so I really wish I had just kept riding. Ah well. Not really the finish I was hoping for today, but there's always next time. With as hard as I went down on the gravel, I'm pretty surprised that I only have a shoulder scrape and some gravel rash and bruising under my knee. My head hurts and my eye socket and cheek are pretty sore. It will be funny if I wake up with a black eye tomorrow.

I have no idea why my brakes failed. Sure, conditions were crappy, but I've never had that happen before. I run Hayes Sole and Scotty said he's heard of them failing. Seems pretty widely reported in some online forums. Anyone else had that experience? Very weird. I think I see a new brake system in my future because that big time sucked!