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!

Mud party!

The 4th race in the BuDu West Side MTB Series took place Sunday at Soaring Eagle and one word describes it: MUDDY!

The course was the same as last month's race but conditions made it completely different. I lined up for the 11am women's sport division with my teammate Leigh and about 10 other gals. We spent the next hour slogging through mud at a high rate of speed: 6mph. I know a few people weren't so thrilled with the conditions, but for me, mud is the funnest! As is usually the case, I had a much stronger second lap than first and was pretty stoked to ride up all the hills after stumbling on them the first time around.

I didn't finish fantastically but I had a much better race than I did in early March. I haven't done a ton of riding, but at least I've been getting out and slowly finding the legs again. Mad props to my awesome team, uBRDO Team Project. Scotty and James gave my bike a quick once-over right before the race and quickly found and fixed some issues. Probably the reason I haven't been climbing well is because my rear shock was completely out of air. Duh. They pumped it up and readjusted my tire pressure so I was all set for the mud. Talk about awesome support!

Once I got home I had to spend the next hour or two running everything through the wash: bike, car, clothes, me, and the dog. And as you can see from the pictures, white isn't the best choice for mountain bike shorts.

The weekend rally

I said I needed to kick my butt into shape so away I kicked. Saturday I packed up the mountain bike and hit Tokul with a fun group from uBRDO. We spent the day climbing fire roads and winding through single track on our way to logging 25 miles. My Garmin shows over 5000 ft of climbing. Can that be right?

It was a pretty ambitious undertaking for me considering it was my second mountain bike ride of the year. Turns out it's the furthest ride I've ever done. The epic ride over 4th of July weekend last year at White River is the closest I've come to that many mountain bike miles: 19.

The trails at Tokul were a fun mix of fast singletrack, steep descents, overgrown vegetation (is that really fun?), and some fire road climbs. One thing is for sure: I've lost my climbing legs. I need to find them fast because dragging bricks uphill is just not fun. Saturday's ride put the Cream Puff into perspective. Hmm, I need to be able to ride 4x that distance by July with about a quarter of the lactic acid legs. Lots more 25+ mile rides in my future.

I woke up this morning surprisingly not too sore, so I set out for the Arboretum and shocked myself by running just shy of 5 miles. I haven't run over 4.5 since my injury three years ago. Maybe I should kill myself on the mountain bike more often! Sure, that first mile sucked and the legs were screaming, but once they loosened up I got into a nice rhythm. Maybe I can finally start dialing up the mileage and getting myself back on the Boston train.

After the run I hit the Ashram for a power yoga session, then managed to eek out just enough energy for a climbing gym outing. Thursday I flailed horribly after not having climbed for a few weeks so I wasn't really sure what to expect. Today felt great and I climbed better than I have in a long time. I even managed to flash two new routes. I think I was too tired to try anything clever so I just went with it. Good strategy.

Even Jake got in on the weekend rally. He always runs with me but got an extra special solid hour at the Marymoor dog park after climbing. I swear I have yet to find another dog that can outrun him when he's got a tennis ball in sight. Jake cracks me up. Just like mom, he's all out 100% of the time :) Both of us are happily exercised and tuckered out, so it'll be a quiet night for sure!

The best mountain biking trip ever

This past Sunday I headed over to White River near Rainier with some kick-ass mountain biking guys to do some camping and epic riding. I had more fun than I've ever had on a bike!

We started Sunday with a brutal 6-mile or so climb up to Palisades and Noble Knob, threw in a long hike-a-bike in the snow, and then got to experience some fun, fast singletrack on the descent. At one point we were forced to take a mechanical break as Dan found his pedals at 3 and 5. Ooops! It took some magic to get the crank off and fixed, but we were underway again shortly. (Picture of guilty crank at right...)

The guys I rode with were unbelievably fast, so I was definitely outmatched all weekend, but it was fun as hell. I hiked a few of the the more technical sections of trail, especially a rocky, tight switchback section after some stairs. Those of you familiar with the trail probably know where I'm talking about.

The fog and clouds obscured our views but definitely didn't take anything away from the awesome ride. We were out there pretty much all day Sunday and I didn't do the best job of nutrition, so I bonked hard about an hour or so before the end. Somehow I managed to rally and make it, but barely. I crashed over during the last quarter mile and nearly couldn't get up I was so tired! I haven't been that wiped out in a long, long time. What a killer workout! We hit the Naches Tavern for some much needed fueling and beer and then set up camp near Skookum Flats.

Monday we hit the trail again and did a 7-mile climb up to Suntop. My legs were pretty unhappy the first mile, but it's amazing how the body finally settles into a rhythm and resigns itself to hurting for the next few hours. Then it's not so bad! Unlike Sunday, we had an absolute blue bird day, the temps were warm, and the views were incredible!

We stopped a while for lunch at the Suntop Lookout, but shortly after heading out my knee started giving me some trouble on the climbs. I called it a day rather than risk pushing it too far, and rode back down to camp to sit in the sun.

Dan went on to finish the ride and do Skookum as well. I've never done that much mountain biking, so I was happy to have made it that far! I think Skookum might have been a bit technical for my ability anyhow, so I felt good knowing Dan could haul ass through and not be hung up waiting. Sitting in the sun was heaven, especially after all that awesome riding.

Again, we topped off the day with a visit to the Naches for food and beer. Cheers to an awesome weekend! And thanks to Dan and Milos for being great riding buddies! You guys rock!

Tapeworm hell

Last night I should have stayed home and watched a movie. Instead, I had the most horrendously awful ride on Tapeworm I think I've ever had. Two of my friends bailed due to traffic, so it ended up being me and my friend Ben riding. When I pulled into the parking lot, I found Ben standing over his bike with a confused look and figured this wasn't a good start. Performance had installed a new rear hub and cassette on his bike and somehow turned it into a fixie. Awesome.

He took a quick jaunt down to Center Cycle to get it fixed while I did a warm up and then we met up a bit later to ride Tapeworm. I knew the night was off to a bad start when I wiped out in a flat sandy area trying to practice track standing. That should have been a sign. I just couldn't get into a groove and areas I usually ride gave me all sorts of trouble. Ben was having a rough night as well, so I didn't feel so bad.

About halfway through, something felt really wrong with my right shoe. I stopped and found out my cleat had come completely unscrewed and was sliding all over the place. Naturally, neither of us had brought any tools, so I had to suck it up and finish the ride that way. As we were nearing the end, I came around a corner and crashed HARD. It was one of those crashes where you find yourself laying on the ground thinking, "WTF!? What the hell did I just run into?" Seriously, the trail was dirt. There was nothing there!

The side of the trail sloped downwards, so I took a pretty good tumble. Of course I landed right on a tree stump that bruised up my right thigh and managed to jam my handlebar straight into my calf. When I got up it was cramping so badly I didn't think I'd be able to ride. Handlebar into the calf? I don't know how that happens. Once I got up, I found the crash culprit: a little stump on the right side of the trail covered by foliage. I must have caught my rear tire on that thing and just washed out.

As much as I would like to ride Tiger tonight, I'm taking the night off. I've got my calf wrapped in a compression bandage because I have a massive knot and every time I flex the muscle it cramps. Between softball and mountain biking, this week has beaten me down badly, so I'm having doubts about racing the Des Moines crit on Sunday, but we'll see.

Leavenworth Bike and Brews Fest!

The Leavenworth Bike and Brews Fest took place this weekend, which is the third mountain bike race in the Indie Series. I drove over Friday night with my camping gear to secure a spot at the race site. Many thanks to the land owner who let everyone camp out -- it rocked! I even enjoyed sunshine and warm weather, making the trip completely worthwhile!

I don't even have words to describe how insanely fun this course was, but damn I'm sore today. The first 4 miles were straight uphill, then the last 4 miles were straight down. The women's beginner class had a fantastic turnout of over 20 riders, so I knew I needed a good position at the start for the climb. Until nearly halfway up I rode solidly in the top five but then lost it. My endurance isn't so great right now, so I slowly started falling back and getting passed. I'm usually a climber, so this frustrated me, but I hung in there.

Once at the top, we were rewarded with a fantastic 4-mi downhill complete with waterbars, which are perpendicular dirt mounds that help prevent erosion. The first couple I took pretty easy but then started hitting them faster and faster until I had a near death experience on a steeper one towards the end. A few more pounds shifted to the front would have endo'd me for sure, but I saved it and continued on down to take 10th place. My climbing disappointed me, but given my sporadic and limited training this year, I'm happy with my finish.

I wish I could say I had an accident free race, but the third creek crossing sent me for a shallow swim. The trail dropped down a bit into the water and caught me off guard. My weight was too far forward and then I had a big no-no and grabbed a little front brake. I tried to pull off the "jump over the front of my bike and push it under me maneuver" but got my left foot caught in my cleat and took a hard tumble right into the water. Damn that was cold! My shoulder is a bit angry at me today so hopefully it heals up in time for softball tomorrow. Ugh.

The fourth creek crossing was nearly identical to the third and I managed to do the EXACT same thing on that one too. Nice job. Too bad there aren't any photos, but maybe that's a good thing! After the race I supported some teammates, drank lots of Fat Tire, then hung out at the beer festival. After heading into town and grabbing dinner with friends, I crawled back into my tent around 10pm and slept better than I have in weeks.

Cucina Fresca had a great weekend, taking home three podium spots and several top 10s. Way to go guys and gals! Cheers to a fantastic weekend of mountain biking, drinking, hanging with teammates, and meeting tons of new cool people!

Indie Series Seatac Shuffle pics

Here's a few good action shots from the Seatac Shuffle last Sunday. Did I mention how much I love my new Kona?

Today I got shelled and annihilated at Volunteer Park. Yep, knew that one was coming and my only expectation was to hang for at least a lap, which I did. Yippee. Funny thing is that I died today after only 3 minutes in Zone 5. Most of VP was Zone 4. I spent nearly an hour in Zone 5 for the Seatac race and faired way better. Guess hammering my legs at the gym this week wasn't such a good idea. The VP race report to follow....

The Indie Series crit at Seatac

I just woke up from my post-race nap after the opening Indie Series MTB race today at Seatac. Yep, it was so good it required a nap. Awesome!

To be honest, after suffering at Budu's technical Black Diamond race in February, I lost some excitement for this new mountain bike racing thing. I'm really glad I raced today though, because it was fun as hell. I fully expected it to be pouring, but there were blue skies and the sun was even out for a bit this morning. I lined up at 9am with a good turnout of 11 gals in the beginner field.

The course wasn't technical and was really fast, which was a fun change. It had some nice climbs that taxed the legs, a few mud puddles to make you dirty, and some short, fast descents. The corners were a bit slick, but by the second lap I was fully comfortable with fish-tailing around them. I got a good start and hung with the lead gals for a bit, but finally started loosing them mostly due to lack of fitness. I fully expected to be bringing up the rear, but instead I was near mid-pack, which motivated me to keep riding as hard as I could to get some distance.

By the second lap they were a ways behind me and I eventually started catching the 6th place lady. Every time the trail turned uphill, I would catch her, but had nowhere to pass. Then once it pointed back down she was off ahead of me. We played this little game for a while and close to the finish, I got jammed going up a hill and had to get off my bike. For the life of me I could not get clipped back in (damn SPDs) and lost too much time to pass her at the end. Oh well.

I knew I was hauling ass the whole race and when I downloaded my Garmin data I found I was in Zone 5 for pretty much the entire hour! Whoa. No wonder I felt wiped. This wasn't a mountain bike race, this was a crit! That's the most time I've spent over Zone 3 since last October! :)

I finished up 7 out of 11. My teammate Josee got 3rd - woo! I'm sure they'll be some good pics shortly, so I'll post some when they're up. I'm off to hunt down some food....