Winter Park Point to Point

So, i raced this race not because i needed to or should have, since technically i am supposed to be resting. but i couldn't help myself- winter park has some of the most fun trails ever, and i couldn't pass up the opportunity to burn my lungs while experiencing some of the best mountain biking around.
i drove up saturday morning at 6am to get there in time to register. after drinking 2 cups of coffee on the drive up, i topped it off with a 3rd as i found a parking spot to unload and get ready. unfortunately i couldn't convince anyone else to come with me, since everyone is "resting." so i was flying solo, but there where plenty of girls who showed so it ended up being a pretty good race. i rode to the start line, which is about a 40 minute ride. the temp was about 50 degrees, so i had to peel off clothes as the sun came up and hide them behind a tree to get later.
the first 3 miles of the race is on a gravel road, and before long we had dwindled the group down to about 7 of us before the first climb. i paced myself pretty easy at the beginning, thinking back to the last time i did this race- and remembering how i blew pretty quick. to my surprise the climb was a lot easier than i remember- and that would apply to many other parts of the course too that i had thought were hard or tricky last year, but once i got to them it was no big deal. i guess thats a good sign- i must be getting better on technical stuff.
and then it happened again- i flatted. before the first rocky decent, which was pretty fast, i felt my tire bottoming out on the rocks. i rode it as long as i could, and finally stopped to put a tube in. i am pretty sure that tire is defective, so i am putting a new one on before keystone. i lost about 5 minutes, which was the gap that melissa thomas had on me at the end. suck. i ended up 5th- so i rode back to the car, cleaned the bike and headed to dillon lake to meet my brother Jay and his family for a little sailing. definitely a good way to end the afternoon- the weather was perfect, although we could have used a bit more wind- no complaints here though, the boat was a nice way to relax after the race, and surrounded by mountains, it doesn't get much better than that...

, originally uploaded by the earthling.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

so, you would think that i was going so fast and thats why this pic is blurry, but actually i was trying to catch the back of the pack after crashing.... not going so fast.

Supa FAST!!!!!

Sara rock'en it to 9th place in snowmass...

here is Sara Johnson (wicked fast DH'er) and i getting our asses kicked in at foosball by Georgia Gould and Leah Davidson. had no idea Georgia was so good- she's gotta be bad at something...

finals at snowmass

the season has finally come to an end. i just got back from snowmass, CO this morning and now its back to reality and work. It was a good season up until i got sick right after deer valley, and i am still taking antibiotics to help kill the stuff messing up my intestines.
i knew racing this past weekend was not going to be easy- the course had quite a bit of climbing in it, and some good technical single track thrown in. actually the course should have been good for me, only i haven't been training really and thats not good for a race like this. but thinking that its the last race, i went out super hard on the start of the xc- thats not what i usually do. i blew up pretty hard, and got passed all the way up the second climb. after the first hour, i started feeling better, and by the second lap i found my rhythm and began picking girls off. by this time though i needed to really make up some lost time, and i rode the decent on the second lap sloppy and burped my tire. i had one CO2 in my pocket, and decided to just put some air in instead of putting a tube in. bad idea. the tire went flat again, and i had to ride it down the entire decent flat. i am pretty sure i ruined my rim, and got passed by most of the girls i had worked to pass earlier. needless to say, it was my worst finish of the season.
for the short track the next day, i was ready to go- i had a great warm up and felt good considering the suffering i did the day before. i had a great line i was looking to take off the start on the inside corner. i got there alright, but instead of moving up, i was flipping over a kenda girl who wiped out in front of me. not cool. as i picked myself up and ripped my bike from the pile of carnage, my adrenaline took over. i looked up the climb and realized i was already almost a half a lap behind. thats not good. i sprinted up the hill and caught the tail end, and began passing girls while feeling like i was breathing through a tube. im not sure if i have ever heard myself breathe that hard before. anyway, i got pulled pretty quick since i was so far back. i got a good 12 minutes in- a good opener for super D in a couple hours.
i rode the chair lift up for a super D practice run for the first time in my life without a snowboard attached to my feet. after experiencing the beauty of the mountain and the ease of getting to the top, i might have to do that more often-
for super D, i rode my hard tail. only because that was the only bike i had. a dual would have been MUCH more comfortable to say the least. but whatever, i was doing it for fun- it was the last race of the season and why not show off my lack of downhilling skills. the start was interesting- we had to lay our bikes down about 20 ft away, then lay on our backs. when the guy said go, we jumped up, ran and grabbed our bikes, ran with them up a hill around some cones, set them back down, ran to touch a line about 30 ft away, then run back to the bikes and ride up a gravel road. i was tired just from that- i could have run faster, but i was laughing too hard. i suppose if i took the whole thing more seriously, i could have done better.
after all that racing, it was time to have a little fun. at a local restaurant in snowmass, there was a themed 80's party with a DJ where everyone who was staying that night in town attended. i haven't danced that much since college- it was a great way to end the season. it was sort of sad though since i probably wont see some teammates until next xc season. but, the end of xc means the beginning of cross, and thats something to look forward to. look out. here i come.

Here i am after the finish of NC- i was laughing at the pathetic decending i had just done on the last lap of that race. glad to have that one done. pretty fun though.

Mt Snow Vt Nationals

not even sure why i am writing about this race- i didn't do it. but, i flew out anyway since i was planning on seeing my dad in between VT and NC and i was really looking forward to that.
So basically i stood on the sidelines and watched my teammates suffer through the muddy course. I prerode the day before with the team, and actually really liked the course, but i felt like crap if i tried to go hard. watching from the feed zone wasn't fun, but it was kinda cool to see all the girls at the front suffering as much as i usually do. that was good to see. Mary won, which wasn't a big surprise, since she races well in those conditions.
we drove away that rainy monday morning towards Hershey, PA where my dad lives. Natasha drove, and Erika and i navigated. my two older brothers Jay and Lenny were there monday night, which was pretty cool since i hadn't seen lenny in years. tuesday we went for a great ride with my dad, who took us to some trails by his house. i was a bit worried since my dad hadn't been on the mountain bike in a year, but he totally tore it up- i was so proud of him. the trails were in great condition, and we played around on them for a good 2+ hours. we went to his favorite ice cream place after dinner, and i got a death by chocolate sundae. if your gonna go, go big. we stopped by the local farmers market and got a lesson from a local guy about picking the right watermelon. east coast people are definitely a little different..
my dad stuffed us full of good food (his famous pancakes, which were EXCELLENT!) and sent us on our way wednesday morning, headed down to NC for the next race. back in the car.. woohooooo!

Still sick

so, this whole sickness thing is really getting to me. I have to restart my antibiotics again since it didn't work the first time. So, i have another 10 days of drugs. suck-o-rama.
just got back a couple days ago from the last 2 norbas, nationals in VT and in NC.

thats all for now. kinda tired. write more later.
jen