As i am sitting here typing this, I think back to the amazing trail i got the privilege to ride on Sunday- the Gunnison Gowler. Thanks to Dave Wiens, I got into this race that filled up back in February in 10 hours when the registration opened. Amazing. I emailed him last week in attempt to get in, knowing there's a goooood chance i probably won't, cuz everyone wants to do it. That just shows how awesome this race is- and luckily i was able to experience it.
Chris and I headed up and over the pass from Carbondale into Crested Butte on Friday. We rode some trails there (they are drying out quick! pretty exciting...) and afterward met up with Rachael, who we just hired as our wedding planner- i am so excited to have someone to help me to plan the wedding- its going to be so fun!! I feel like things are on track for the wedding, and i have no doubt its going to be so amazing- with plenty of bike riding over the weekend and beautiful scenery. every time i go to crested butte it takes my breath away. I could stare at those mountains all day...
We camped out with some friends Friday night down in Gunnison off the Hartman Rocks trails which i would be racing on for Sunday. Saturday morning we did a great ride out on the trails, doing a good portion of the course so i could get a taste of what was to come for the race. With the race being about 95% singletrack, i was in for some good times for sunday!!
Saturday eve we met up with Jen Gersbach, Miles Venzara and Nick Gould for some tasty dinner at Garlic Mikes outside of Gunnison. I stuffed myself with bread and pasta- its going to be a long day on the bike! I looked at lap times from last years results- gonna be around 7 hours- yep that would be the longest race i have ever done. i kept thinking about that as i stuffed as much food in as my belly would hold. and then, i was full.
Chris and I camped out in the van with the doggies in front of the comfort inn hotel where jen, miles and nick were staying- ok so we poached the breakfast in the morning- and utilized the bathrooms. the key things in the morning of a bike race- especially when it starts at 7am! Chris pulled out the french press and whipped up some supa euro coffee to get us going. I can't say that i am used to being ready to race my bike that early in the morning. I dont usually get up until about 830am. so this was a tad rough for me.
We rolled over to the start line around 645am and it was really chilly- like 36F. but knowing it was gonna get really hot later, and stopping to strip clothes wasn't going to happen, we shivered in shorts and short sleeves (gersbach had sleeveless! crazy chick) until the symbolic gun shots rang out at 7am sharp. we had a neutral roll out for the first 2 miles through town which lead us down to the gravel and the famous kill hill first climb. this is where the race started. the neutral car pulled off, and it was on. well sort of. with over 200 people around you climbing a steep hill with all types of abilities, needless to say it was a chaotic first lap. The neutral roll out didn't exactly space everyone out, and there was a waiting line to get onto the single track. after getting rolling, we were going pretty darn slow- like painfully slow. but there was no point in passing, since you wouldn't get very far. there were just so many people all racing together that the trails were solid with racers. so, i had to be patient, and know that it was a long day, and not to get too antsy. half way through, things started to spread out more and i could finally ride without tipping over. looking back i really needed to pass more people in the beginning before the singletrack- i guess i didn't really think that it would be that backed up the course.
i finally reached the end of the first lap and saw gersbach on the sidelines- she dropped out. she had taken a serious fall and it shook her up a little bit. she was fine, but i still wanted to talk to her. looking back on this, i should have kept riding and talked to her later... not sure what i was thinking. i wasted almost 10 minutes hanging out eating, talking, etc. i would never do that in another race. funny. Chris was there, and he ended up riding with me on the second lap. This was totally awesome no kidding. having him there riding behind me helped me mentally so much. just knowing that if anything happened, he would be there- and i always love riding with him-he kept encouraging me, pushing me to go harder, go faster- i wish he could ride with me in every race! the feed zones were great- one of them had cold coke (which was perfect!) and bacon- yeah i skipped on that since i still had quite a bit left to race... but the vibe of the race was just that- fun, exciting, and hardcore. i feel like i finished strong on my second lap- i was running on low but was still able to push through it and finish in 4th place- i actually didn't know how i finished until today when a friend called me to let me know. I had no idea, other than what people would say on the sidelines while i was racing- apparently they were a little off as far as my placing- i thought i got 7th. My final time was 7 hours and 24 minutes. whew.
slightly delirious, very hungry, and sun baked i rode back to downtown gunnison (it was a requirement to ride back to officially finish the race) and they had free beer, food and a band playing- awesome! for $55, all this was included! i have to say, this was one of the best run races i have done- with all the amazing trails, volunteers, and great food at the end, i can see why so many people want to do this race! Hands down, one of my favorite races in Colorado.
Chris and I hung out for a while and enjoyed the food and caught up with everyone afterward- we shoveled in the tasty food and beer and hit the road back home. Time to rest and clean up for the next race in Angelfire! yeah!
Thanks again to Dave and all the volunteers who handed out cokes, bacon, nutella, and pb and j wraps- delicious! I will definitely be back next year!
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Triple Crown Series, Nathrop CO
A little bit of suffering during my first race of the season- as you can see, I need to put a little muscle on the 'ole pipes since I can't seem to keep my arm warmers up...
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Chalk Creek Stampede, Nathrop CO
Ahh, the first race of the season- very painful, unknowing of how things will go, and finding out how fit everyone else is. I headed down to Nathrop CO on Friday after work, driving down Hwy 24 through several inches of snow that later that evening changed to heavy cold windy rain as i reached Salida. Spring time in the mountains- gotta love it!
I met up with Jen Gersbach and her man Miles who drove up from Durango at the hotel in Salida, CO Friday eve. I was excited to be at a race for the first time this season i think mainly to see everyone again! We grabbed some dinner at a little pub next to the river- we saw Georgia and Dusty there too, fueling up before Saturday's racing. Ok ok so Jen and I did take note of what she was eating- and yes, we ordered the same :) ha! kinda funny.
The next morning we headed over to the bakery beside Absolut Bikes to grab some breakfast, and figure out what we wanted to do- Super D (which later would be called Super T) was at 10:30am, it was 8:30am and the rain was coming down in cold sheets. Mmmm.... Sit in coffee shop and be warm and dry, or ride bikes in cold rain...
so we ran back to the car and drove into Nathrop to ride bikes. yeah, we picked plan B. Jen is an overachiever- ha! thats probably why she's so fast!! Luckily the rain held off, but the wind started up- oh well. So the course for the super D was NOT what i expected- i was hoping they would do the last few miles of the xc course, which is fun, fast and runs by the creek, with a nice punchy gravel wide finish. perfect! nope, they did it TT style, where we pedaled either uphill or false flat the whole time-with maybe 15 seconds of downhill. SUCKKKKK! I was really sad about the course choice- it wasn't at all what i was expecting for a super D. Everyone rode Hardtails, i have my 5 inch travel bike. woohoo. Needless to say, I did horribly, and after Gersbach passed me i sort of gave up. I just wasn't into it anymore. Tomorrow was another day.
Sunday was the XC, and a lot more girls showed for it- every fast woman from Saturday (Georgia, Kelly, Heather, Krista, Katie Compton) as well as more fast girls who are locals here in CO. Good Times. We actually had a really good turnout, primarily since it was a Triple Crown US Cup. It was great to see everyone again- I think thats half the reason why i race bikes...
Up until the word "go" i was catching up with people on the start line, asking about how their winters went and what they have been up to- then i realized what i was standing there for when things got serious and we were hammering down the first stretch. ouch!!
needless to say, i had a horrible start- no surprise. I was off the back- uuuhhhhh! time to play catchup quick- but it being my first race, i needed to pace myself since i had no idea if my body would last at this pace- the first 2 laps were pathetic- but once i found my pace, i could hold it and just keep motoring. i didn't get first, i didn't get last. i am ok with how i did- i think i could have pushed harder, but this race is always super rough for me with all the flat power riding- not exactly my cup of tea.
I am looking towards the next race this weekend- The Growler. Oh yes, I got in! Thanks to Gersbach- i am one of the lucky ones who get to suffer on the 64 mile course this sunday in Gunnison. Ezther did it last year in under 7 hours- i am planning on 7.5 hours. Even though its only 64 miles, apparently its really technical- so not super fast. My plan is to get into my groove and just motor along. I am really excited for it, but a tad nervous too- we'll see how it goes!
I met up with Jen Gersbach and her man Miles who drove up from Durango at the hotel in Salida, CO Friday eve. I was excited to be at a race for the first time this season i think mainly to see everyone again! We grabbed some dinner at a little pub next to the river- we saw Georgia and Dusty there too, fueling up before Saturday's racing. Ok ok so Jen and I did take note of what she was eating- and yes, we ordered the same :) ha! kinda funny.
The next morning we headed over to the bakery beside Absolut Bikes to grab some breakfast, and figure out what we wanted to do- Super D (which later would be called Super T) was at 10:30am, it was 8:30am and the rain was coming down in cold sheets. Mmmm.... Sit in coffee shop and be warm and dry, or ride bikes in cold rain...
so we ran back to the car and drove into Nathrop to ride bikes. yeah, we picked plan B. Jen is an overachiever- ha! thats probably why she's so fast!! Luckily the rain held off, but the wind started up- oh well. So the course for the super D was NOT what i expected- i was hoping they would do the last few miles of the xc course, which is fun, fast and runs by the creek, with a nice punchy gravel wide finish. perfect! nope, they did it TT style, where we pedaled either uphill or false flat the whole time-with maybe 15 seconds of downhill. SUCKKKKK! I was really sad about the course choice- it wasn't at all what i was expecting for a super D. Everyone rode Hardtails, i have my 5 inch travel bike. woohoo. Needless to say, I did horribly, and after Gersbach passed me i sort of gave up. I just wasn't into it anymore. Tomorrow was another day.
Sunday was the XC, and a lot more girls showed for it- every fast woman from Saturday (Georgia, Kelly, Heather, Krista, Katie Compton) as well as more fast girls who are locals here in CO. Good Times. We actually had a really good turnout, primarily since it was a Triple Crown US Cup. It was great to see everyone again- I think thats half the reason why i race bikes...
Up until the word "go" i was catching up with people on the start line, asking about how their winters went and what they have been up to- then i realized what i was standing there for when things got serious and we were hammering down the first stretch. ouch!!
needless to say, i had a horrible start- no surprise. I was off the back- uuuhhhhh! time to play catchup quick- but it being my first race, i needed to pace myself since i had no idea if my body would last at this pace- the first 2 laps were pathetic- but once i found my pace, i could hold it and just keep motoring. i didn't get first, i didn't get last. i am ok with how i did- i think i could have pushed harder, but this race is always super rough for me with all the flat power riding- not exactly my cup of tea.
I am looking towards the next race this weekend- The Growler. Oh yes, I got in! Thanks to Gersbach- i am one of the lucky ones who get to suffer on the 64 mile course this sunday in Gunnison. Ezther did it last year in under 7 hours- i am planning on 7.5 hours. Even though its only 64 miles, apparently its really technical- so not super fast. My plan is to get into my groove and just motor along. I am really excited for it, but a tad nervous too- we'll see how it goes!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
12 Hours of Mesa Verde!
Last weekend, Chris and I (and the doggies) headed down to Cortez, CO for the awesome race, 12 hours of Mesa Verde. Originally I was going to do it solo, but looking back i am soooo glad Chris convinced me to do it on a team-Our team consisted of me, Chris, and our friend Kris Lathrop- Hi Ho Silver was our name! yeah!
The trail that we race on is Phil's World- one of the most fun, fast, swoopy trails ever- with the highlight of the course being Ribcage- yeah, you can get some serious air on those swoops if you're not careful- I rode several times on my front wheel praying that i could hold on with out crashing...
Lathrop did the first lap, which includes some running, and sprinting to get a good position. He ended up top 10 at the start! unfortunately, Kris flatted twice, and we ended up being a bit behind compared to the teams we wanted to be competitive with. Chris also had a rough first lap with his pedal breaking and derailleur hanger messing up- luckily though that was the last of our issues for the day, and the remaining laps were problem free! In between the laps, we had made a sweet campsite with a few of our friends from Durango and Glenwood- Dave n Kathy, Nick and Kara, Tim and Megan, Shannon Gibson and Kenny, Jen Gersbach and Miles, and others who came and went- I think we also had a 1 to 1 ratio of dogs to people too- I was excited to race, but it was awesome to just hang out and relax with everyone all day too!
We ended up 4th overall for the co-ed 3-4 people team- Which I thought was great! Jay Henry's team won, Gersbach and Gibson's team got 2nd, and another team I don't know got 3rd-
After racing we relaxed and killed a few beers around the camp fire. Doesn't get better than that!
The next day Chris, Kris and I rolled into Durango and met up with Jen G. and Miles and took the dogs to the river to romp and play- there was talk of doing a ride, but that quickly dissolved and relaxing was a way better idea. After dominating a couple bakeries (Absolut Bakery in Monaco, and Bread in Durango) we munched on our cookies and baked goods while driving back to Glenwood. It was a solid weekend of sweet riding/racing (whichever you would like to call it) and catching up with great friends. Next stop- Nathrop! Woohoo!
The trail that we race on is Phil's World- one of the most fun, fast, swoopy trails ever- with the highlight of the course being Ribcage- yeah, you can get some serious air on those swoops if you're not careful- I rode several times on my front wheel praying that i could hold on with out crashing...
Lathrop did the first lap, which includes some running, and sprinting to get a good position. He ended up top 10 at the start! unfortunately, Kris flatted twice, and we ended up being a bit behind compared to the teams we wanted to be competitive with. Chris also had a rough first lap with his pedal breaking and derailleur hanger messing up- luckily though that was the last of our issues for the day, and the remaining laps were problem free! In between the laps, we had made a sweet campsite with a few of our friends from Durango and Glenwood- Dave n Kathy, Nick and Kara, Tim and Megan, Shannon Gibson and Kenny, Jen Gersbach and Miles, and others who came and went- I think we also had a 1 to 1 ratio of dogs to people too- I was excited to race, but it was awesome to just hang out and relax with everyone all day too!
We ended up 4th overall for the co-ed 3-4 people team- Which I thought was great! Jay Henry's team won, Gersbach and Gibson's team got 2nd, and another team I don't know got 3rd-
After racing we relaxed and killed a few beers around the camp fire. Doesn't get better than that!
The next day Chris, Kris and I rolled into Durango and met up with Jen G. and Miles and took the dogs to the river to romp and play- there was talk of doing a ride, but that quickly dissolved and relaxing was a way better idea. After dominating a couple bakeries (Absolut Bakery in Monaco, and Bread in Durango) we munched on our cookies and baked goods while driving back to Glenwood. It was a solid weekend of sweet riding/racing (whichever you would like to call it) and catching up with great friends. Next stop- Nathrop! Woohoo!
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
Moab, UT White Rim Weekend!
This is the Delicate Arch in Moab, UT. Kris Lathrop, Chris and I went on a hike on Sunday to see some of the arches in Moab. I hardly ever get the chance to go on a hike, so it was really fun to do the 'tourist' thing and see the sights instead of riding. The plan for the day was to go sky diving, but the weather was not the best.. and riding was out of the picture since there was no way I could sit on a saddle after riding White Rim the day before.Kris, Chris and I had joined another group of people from Aspen who were planning to ride White Rim in a day, May 1st. We camped on Friday night at the top of Shafer trail (which is a long climb, especially at the end of the day) and began riding Saturday morning at 6:30am. The plan was to be riding by 6am, but hey, I am NOT a morning person. I thought 6:30am was pretty good... so we watched the sun rise on our bikes as we made our way towards the white rim trail, prepared with camelbaks, lots of granola bars and some sour patch kids. yep, i have decided that gummie candy is way better to eat for this type of riding than anything resembling a healthy bar or Gu. We started 20 miles further away from everyone else and our support vehicle (which contained our food, extra clothes and water) who stayed at hotels and began riding from the visitors center. I suppose we just like the challenge- so for the first 4 hours of our ride, we had to make up 20 miles on our group to catch up before we ran out of water- this meant going harder than I would have liked at that time of the morning but we did catch them- and it was glorious!
Now that the stressful part was over (not knowing if we would ever catch them and get more food and water) we could ride and enjoy ourselves. The views were amazing! I think thats what I like best about mountain biking- it brings you to far away places and you get to see things many people might never see-
We stopped for lunch around mile 65-70 which was cold pizza- sooo delicious! again, health bars just don't cut it when it comes to riding for that many hours- real food is essential! I was craving something real, and Nick Armano had turned us on to the idea of cold pizza last year while riding the colorado trail- pulling out a pizza from the back pocket on the top of a mountain pass in the middle of no where is the best!
After lunch we had a few set backs (Nick flatted 3 times! poor guy! sucky!) but the 3rd one held and we were off to finish our last stretch of our 100 mile ride. I have to admit, at mile 85, i was pretty much ready to be off my bike. I was riding my trusty Spot, which was great for the climbs, but when it came to the rocky sections my butt was killing me! A full suspension would be a much better bike for that length of ride- I am hoping to have my ASR-5 built up for this weekend at Mesa Verde. Chris was having an awesome day and he ended up pulling us on the long stretches of flatness on the trail- which was sweet since the wind was picking up and we were all getting tired. Finally the last climb was upon us, and we all knew once we got to the top the ride was done! our new Outside Van Sprinter was waiting at the top filled with chips and beer! oh yeah!
The group made it back safe and we all celebrated and rejoiced after getting out of our chamois and into some dry clothes while sipping some nicely chilled Tecate and BLL. White Rim in a day successfully accomplished :) This weekend is 12 hours of Mesa Verde- Cortez here we come!
Ridin White Rim...
Kris Lathrop taking some action shots on the trail! He's got some serious talent! Nick, Chris and Me. Ridin Ridin Ridin
Still Riding...And Smiling! Taking a little food break/Fixing bikes/excuse to take in some of the scenery... It took us 11.5 hours to finish (total ride time was about 9.5 hours- yep, we took some serious breaks. We finished on Horse Thief trail, which was about 1500 ft of climbing at mile 99. oh yeah. We camped at the top of that climb, so we were done after that! woohoo!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
San Fran Visit
Simon, Kristin, and Tilda Lux! She is 8 days old here, and doing awesome! And yes, we are out at a bar in San Fran, CA. Ha! she is getting used the the hip scene :)
After the photo shoot in Solvang, Chris and I drove up the coast to visit my sister Kristin and her husband Simon in San Fran- They just had their first baby 8 days before we got there! little Tilda Lux, so cute! We spent a couple days getting to know the little chickadee. I was honored when Kristin said she looks like me! Kristin and Lil Til are doing great! And with Simon as her daddy she will probably be the most photographed baby ever :) We went out for some tasty sushi to celebrate Chris's 30th birthday! Mmmmmm!
Sunny and Warm West Coast Ridin
Chris and I stopped for a little photo action on a ride in Solvang a couple weeks ago. So warm and sunny! and I couldn't believe how green everything was! we timed the trip to CA perfectly with temps in the 60-70's and flowers blooming everywhere.
Solvang, CA
Riding in Solvang! and look, no arm warmers, knees, or lobster gloves! woohoo! I was invited to CA to do a photo shoot with Trek Bikes, and in between photo sessions we had a chance to ride around the beautiful area- It was such great riding! I can see why some road teams travel to Solvang for training.
Riding in Solvang, CA
Chris enjoying the awesome weather in Solvang! It was beautiful there- flowing grassy hills, amazing flowers- there is tons of road riding there too- Chris did Figueroa Mountain, which is the climb that Lance rides on when he comes to Solvang to train- its steep!!
Its a new year!
Wow, I can't believe that the last time I wrote on this blog it was the fruita race LAST year! jeez. I need to get my act together! Ok, well I will get ya up to date on what is going on. Part of the problem is that I can't write on this at work since its blocked on my computer there so my writing time has been almost extinct- my new job (In Glenwood Springs, CO) is awesome, but the down side is that I can't do anything fun like surf the web or write on my blog :)
so right now i am sitting outside in the warm sun as i type this- it has been a rough winter though, with lots of cold weather and snow. This being my first winter/spring up in Glenwood Springs, I had to change my activities a bit to accommodate all the snow- which was great- I started doing other activities instead of just riding- more skate skiing, skinning (yes, I got converted back to skiing again..) and running. I ran my first marathon in FL in January! So although I haven't gotten a lot of riding in this season yet, I have had a chance to experience lots of different things that I might have never done.
But now its time to start riding again- I have a saweet Yeti ASR-5 Carbon frame in the basement waiting to get built up! i am missing all the parts still, but hopefully they are in the mail...
I am really excited for the season- I am trying a different approach. I am going to do more endurance racing (which i think i am better at anyway) and doing less races overall. I have about 6 races planned right now- thats about a quarter of what i would normally do!
So here is the schedule:
5/1: White Rim Moab, UT in one day
5/8: 12 hours of Mesa Verde, Cortez CO
6/5: MSC #3 Angel Fire, NM (possibly)
6/26: MSC #4 Fat Tire 40 Crested Butte, CO
7/4: Marathon National Champs Breckenridge, CO
7/17: Silver Rush 50 Leadville, CO
7/31: Laramie Enduro
*** 8/22-8/28: Breck Epic!! the big race!***
Depending on how Breck Epic goes (which is gonna be RAD) i might do 12 hours of Snowmass and 24 hrs of Moab. I am excited about racing this year- starting a little later than most years (Fruita was last weekend) but hoping to not get burnt out like last year by the end of the season.
I will attempt to keep this thing updated with pics and stuff as much as i can- Promise!
Jen
so right now i am sitting outside in the warm sun as i type this- it has been a rough winter though, with lots of cold weather and snow. This being my first winter/spring up in Glenwood Springs, I had to change my activities a bit to accommodate all the snow- which was great- I started doing other activities instead of just riding- more skate skiing, skinning (yes, I got converted back to skiing again..) and running. I ran my first marathon in FL in January! So although I haven't gotten a lot of riding in this season yet, I have had a chance to experience lots of different things that I might have never done.
But now its time to start riding again- I have a saweet Yeti ASR-5 Carbon frame in the basement waiting to get built up! i am missing all the parts still, but hopefully they are in the mail...
I am really excited for the season- I am trying a different approach. I am going to do more endurance racing (which i think i am better at anyway) and doing less races overall. I have about 6 races planned right now- thats about a quarter of what i would normally do!
So here is the schedule:
5/1: White Rim Moab, UT in one day
5/8: 12 hours of Mesa Verde, Cortez CO
6/5: MSC #3 Angel Fire, NM (possibly)
6/26: MSC #4 Fat Tire 40 Crested Butte, CO
7/4: Marathon National Champs Breckenridge, CO
7/17: Silver Rush 50 Leadville, CO
7/31: Laramie Enduro
*** 8/22-8/28: Breck Epic!! the big race!***
Depending on how Breck Epic goes (which is gonna be RAD) i might do 12 hours of Snowmass and 24 hrs of Moab. I am excited about racing this year- starting a little later than most years (Fruita was last weekend) but hoping to not get burnt out like last year by the end of the season.
I will attempt to keep this thing updated with pics and stuff as much as i can- Promise!
Jen
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