Norba #3 Fontucky

I suppose that I should also write about the third norba, in Fontana, CA. This race was the next weekend after Santa Barbara, and I was not looking forward to it, since i had such a bad race there last year. All i remember is hot, super sandy and crashing. So the day we drove down, it was actually cloudy and about 65 degrees. nice.

I prerode with a few teammates, and it turned out that the course was actually sort of fun- i don't know what was wrong with me last year. anyway, i felt really good, so i was pretty excited to race again. we stayed with the host family in Redlands who we stayed with last year, and they are super nice and the house is awesome with plenty of room. definitely more relaxing than being stuffed into a hotel room.

anyway back to the race. so on saturday, the day of the cross country, i was warming up, doing some sprints, and my chain skipped and i almost went flying over the handlebars at 30mph. pretty scary, but my strong arms held me back (haha). i didn't think too much of it, or to tell our mechanic Tim about it. i felt really good, and definitely ready to race. my start was ok. i was able to get into a rhythm early on so not much pain- besides the part where i endoed over since i forgot to unlock my fork- i had sprinted up the pavement climb to get ahead of a bunch of girls, and maybe was 20th or so, and jumped onto the single track. i was totally gassed but i didn't care. i was completely into the course that i forgot to unlock the fork, and as i came up over a small berm and down the other side, instead of compressing, my fork pushed against me and i crashed pretty hard. i was ok, but the long line of girls that i had just worked so hard to pass were all passing me. suck. all i could do was get back on and hopefully catch them. as the race went on, i felt better and better. i started my second lap and i was actually enjoying it. weird. maybe i should have been going harder..

so before the last uphill (not sure if you could call it a climb) i stood up to get up a steep part, and it felt like my chain dropped, so i started pedaling to get it back on. not so much. it broke. double suck. and i was as far out on the course as you can be. figured. so i decided to ride the downhills, and run uphill. needless to say, i got pretty tired doing that. so, i cut the course and went back and dnf'd. i should have told Tim about the chain thing during warmup- that was a pretty big indicator that something was wrong. oh well, the race was good up until then.

sunday was the short track, and it was a beautiful day- i was happy to have another chance to race. i prerode the course, and tried to make it fun- but i knew it was gonna hurt- riding up the dual slalom course, you need quite a bit of upper body strength to make things easier. im trying to pump up at the gym, but im not quite there yet. so, it was a struggle in every way. i actually placed higher than i ever have- 27th, so thats something. i am slowly making my way to the front girls.. well, not quite.

Before the start of the short track- it was super HOT!!! Barb, Kristin, and me.

Santa Barbara Norba

I know its been a little while since i raced this one, but i figured i would at least get something down about it. Actually, it turned out to be a super fun race (the cross country anyway) and one of my better finishes, so thats good. So i flew into Ventura a few days before, and drove down with ryan on Friday. i have never done the race, so i hadn't ridden the course. I decided to just preride after the short track the next day (saturday). Saturday was one of the hottest days i have ridden this year. so needless to say, i melted on the short track race- i didn't have a bottle with me while racing, and that was a big mistake. i would have drank anything- even a sip from a bottle on the ground, or drool from the girl in front of me. ok, maybe not. thats kinda gross. so i stayed in longer than expected too, almost made it to the end- i didn't get to do the last 2 laps. so close...
sunday morning was beautiful- sunny skies, a cool breeze. things couldn't have been better. i decided not to preride after the short track since it was soooo hot and i figured it would do more harm than good. i am glad i didn't since the course was pretty straight forward. during my warmup for XC, i rode the first 15 minutes of the course including the first climb. i was really relaxed, and had a pretty good start. the first 30 minutes were pretty painful, but once i got things going i felt really good. i had the chance to catch up to a teammate, Barb, and we worked together for the second half of the race. i lost her on a steep climb, which is not my strong point, but i finished well, and was actually smiling as i crossed the finish line. i was happy with my finish, and looking forward to spending the next week hanging out in Ventura , doing some good riding in the sun.

Teammate Kristin and I discussing the TT

This was warm up before short track-notice the pouring rain the the background..

another muddy sea otter short track...

Sea Otter

I was pretty excited to be going to another race, and hoping to get revenge from last year's bad race at sea otter. i arrived in monterey, CA on wednesday night, and got a chance to preride the course with Kristin D. and Wendy S. on Thursday. the course was in great shape, and the weather was beautiful. i had a good feeling about Sunday, and I was really looking forward to the super fast course.
The weekend started on Friday with the Time Trial. we were preriding it the day of the race, and it was taking us around 7 minutes to do. this was gonna be a lung burner-not exactly my best event. sure enough, i burnt the hell out of my lungs and finished in 5 minutes. i ended up around 35th-ish, which is fine, whatever. the next day was short track, and it was pouring rain, seriously. my sister kristin came to watch, and i felt bad that it was on the day with the worst weather. she braved it though, and cheered in the rain and mud. another event that ended up around 33rd. i seem to be stuck in the 30ies. i just wanted to get it done so i could look forward to what i came out for, which was the cross country.
the next day, sunday, i woke up to clear blue sunny skies. awesome. it was a tad windy, but whatever, its a mountain bike race, right? we got to the venue, and i started doing all my standard prerace stuff, hopped on the bike and warmed up. The pro guys went off before us, which is nice so we don't have to deal with them trying to pass us midrace. i got called up close to the back which i don't understand, but there was a long road section to start around the leguna seca raceway so i didn't care. my legs felt good, and i was ready. the race started and after a few close calls on the road, we crammed onto the gravel road to start the real race. i was so excited to be racing, and got a little ahead of myself coming up and over the hills. with the wind was at our backs, i launched up over and down a super fast decent and barreled down ruts from previous rain storms. my speed was a bit excessive for my own strength, and my left arm decided to give out as i was picking lines downhill. needless to say, i went down pretty hard. luckily no one else went down or ran over me, which was nice. i fell onto my shoulder, and i layed there for a while and thought about things- if i should keep going, if i broke it again, if i totally ruined the rest of the season.. i got up and decided to keep riding. i raced the rest of the race- well, more like i rode the course a couple times. i finished, not last suprisingly, and very sore. my shoulder was not broken, but holding onto the bars proved difficult through the race and i had to take every downhill very slow. suck. not a good race. but, there is always another one. so, i am recovering and taking lots of ibuprofen. i leave next week for the santa barbara norba, and then the fontana norba. i am staying in CA between them and hanging out with Wendy and Barb so that should be fun, and hopefully my shoulder will hold up.

training camp 2007, Norba #1

So the season has finally started. The first race is out of the way, the jitters and the question of "did i train enough this winter" are exposed. And, to be honest, it turned out better than expected.
The week began in Tucsan, AZ where our training camp was held. The team, consisting a few of us from last year's team (Kristin, Shannon H, and Rebecca) and many new faces (Barb, Shannon G, Natasha, Alex F, Erika, and Sara J) that made up our new team. I flew in Tuesday, and my first ride back on my mountain bike was on Wednesday with the team. i was pretty nervous since i hadn't ridden the mtb since my crash back in July. But, it was just like i remembered- super fun and lots of rocks. needless to say, my back and shoulder was sore for the entire week, but who cares. My physical therapist wasn't too happy though when i got back, but thats another story.
so after a few days of training with the new team, we got to the race venue in phoenix on friday. i got my new bike built up, a hot scandium kona that turned out to be 3 lbs lighter than last year's bike. sweet. i decided to do short track saturday night under the lights- it started at 7:30pm so it was dark which was interesting, since it was downtown Fountain Hills and we raced through a dusty parking lot. i got called up last (i was #72) but made my way to midpack within the whole 8 minutes i got to race. at least it opened up my legs a bit for sunday, but i coughed up one of my lungs after inhaling so much dust during the race. On sunday, i got called up 41st, which was a big improvement, and definitely helped my start. My first lap was pretty good, sitting in top 30 (~25th) which i didn't realize until later. by my last lap, i really didn't want to finish it. i was so hot, and my lungs hurt pretty bad. all i could think about was a big bowl of ice cream with some chocolate chunks in it. that movitivated me to get across the finish line, although i hit a wall that last 10 miles and lost about 6-7 places. i ended up 36th, which i am happy about since i have only trained about 6 weeks this entire winter, and had 2 surgeries. so, hopefully this will be a good year for me..

Cross Nats

What was I thinking? I mean really, I haven't raced really this whole season, but for some reason I decided that I was going to race cross nationals in Providence RI. The only reason I had was that I had gotten some UCI points in KC, and so I wouldn't be starting at the very back. And so I did it- no expectations, other than to have some fun and try to remember what its like to race again instead of standing around watching everyone. Oh, and not to crash on my shoulder, as an order from Alex.
warming up I wasn't nervous at all, since I wasn't expecting anything from myself- but once I got lined up and looked around and realized exactly what i was doing and who was around me, I got nervous. Luckily i started somewhere in the middle but i definitely did not ride agressive- and that means there was a lot of corners I got chopped in, but i wasn't about to risk crashing over a stupid corner. that means i lost quite a few places on the first few laps. i felt pretty good overall, but there were times i got too comfortable sitting behind someone, and i would have to tell myself that i was racing and to get going. being comfortable is definitely not something anyone should feel in a cross race. i think i just didn't have that drive to risk it but i think overall it turned out ok. since i didn't bring an extra bike for the pit, i suppose from the start i wasn't super serious about the race. its funny how things change though once you're actually on the start line. Going out and "having fun" wasn't on my mind when i heard the gun go off. it was an instant flashback to the last race i did, short track in brian head, UT. i have to say i was pretty excited to be in that group of girls, racing again.
I'm glad i did it, but i probably wouldn't say that if i had crashed and messed up the shoulder. I'm going to stick to training for a while and get through the surgery in January to get the plate out. Then I should be good to go for mtb season.

I raced again this weekend, this time at the ks state cross champs. it was definitely warmer, with the temps getting up to 45 or so. with some ice still in the shady spots, it made for some muddy corners that would eventually cause me to go down, but whats new. I prerode the course a couple hours before the race, and of course it changed since there were 2 races before me. my start was bad, and ended up chasing for the first part of the first lap- i managed to get into 2nd and pretty much held that spot for the rest of the race. i felt really tired, probably since i have been working a lot and not sleeping more than 5 hours a night. those holiday parties can add up. so, for the 3rd year in a row, i am 2nd. i am definitely feeling the lack of strength in my upper body since i haven't been in the gym and i am favoring my left side more than i realize. its becoming pretty sore today as i sit here at my desk, but hopefully the ibuprofen will kick in soon. the course was pretty challenging with quite a bit of climbing and some good running sections. i had a hard time pulling up on the bars for the steep sections and it cost me about 30 seconds by the end of the race. it was good practice to get another race in before nats next weekend- it should be fun to race with my teammates that i have been watching for the entire season. i am still not 100% sure i am racing though, if my shoulder doesn't get better there might be a change in plans. but after the expensive entry fee i feel a bit obligated to race or at least start. we'll see.

first attempt at racing

so, i tried to race last weekend at the KLM UCI race in Kansas City. Needless to say, i didn't do as well as i wanted. i was really excited to race, and actually arrived way before my race which is really unlike me. it was good to see everyone again, since it has been almost 5 months since i have raced and longer since i've done anything locally. i race cross totally for fun anyway, but i still would like to do well- or better than i did. my fitness is ok right now, but not great. i haven't ridden offroad at all since the crash, so i pretty much couldn't control my bike and overshot about every turn on the first lap, which put me into last. it was nice and icy and muddy too since it was about 20 degrees with a windchill of maybe 8 degrees. so perfect cross conditions. even though i didn't do as well as i wanted, at least i got my first race out of the way and now i am super motivated to try again this weekend. state champs are tomorrow so we'll see how it goes. and, nationals are next weekend, so that should be good and muddy. at least i will get some practice in the mud tomorrow. hopefully i won't crash on the metal plate and if i do, according to the doc, it could be bad.

broken

Alright so I am still broken. This plate feels like its going to tear right through my skin since its sticking up a good inch out of my shoulder, but the doc insists that is fine. I have started riding again, but I can only handle at the most a couple hours at a time. I think I might have it taken out in January so that I can be good as new for the start of the mtb season. Cross season is starting and I am no where near being ready, so we'll see when I actually get on the cross bike. I thought I would be good to go by now, but apparently when you tear all the ligaments in your shoulder and have a AC separation oh yeah and a broken bone that is still broken its hard to race. The thought of going over super bumpy terrain makes me cringe. I am going to interbike next week- thats something to look forward to. It should be pretty fun. ok thats it for now.

Norba Nationals

Originally uploaded by the earthling.

here is a pic that Simon took in Sonoma, CA during short track. It was SUPER hot and dusty. I figured i would post pics since I am not racing for a while.

hanging out in san fran

trust me, i'm a doctor
Originally uploaded by the earthling.

Yeah, this was BEFORE the broken/dislocated shoulder

Change of Plans

Ok. So, the original plan was to drive with Kristin Danielson after Brain Head (where I totally burned my lungs but was the best course I think of this whole norba circuit) to Durango and check out the town to see of I could live there. Well, we got there all right. Then we decided to do a recovery ride and that's when the plans changed. I crashed really hard on a straight, nontechnical decent- I just stopped paying attention for a second, and that's what happened. So, I got up and realized that my shoulder was dislocated. So much for racing in Snowmass. We went to the ER in Durango and painfully set my shoulder back- but it hurt worse- so then the doc decided to do an x-ray and found out my clavicle was broken too. No wonder it hurt so bad. Anyway I went back to kristin's house (the hospital and her couch are the only things that I know about Durango) and doped myself up with percocet. We drove 2 days later to Aspen (which was not too fun- I almost puked the entire 6 hr drive over the mountain passes) where I had 2 awesome orthopedic surgeons working on me. I couldn't have asked for better care. I got a titanium plate and 5 screws put into my shoulder to hold the bones together, and a strap around my collarbone down to my scapula since I ripped all the ligaments holding the bone down. The docs at the Snowmass race knew about me and came to check on me everyday. It was awesome. I stayed in the same condo with my teammates so I had plenty of people taking care of me. I eventually drove back home to Kansas after 5 days of recovering. I am doing better everyday, and even got on the trainer yesterday to spin. Today is my first day back at work- not doing so good. I might leave soon. I knew I still needed those drugs...

Altitude Adventures

So, I am sitting here in Colorado Springs staring out the window at the mountains. Man, this is way better than Kansas. I am headed off today from my brother's house to Winter Park to do some awesome trails. Just me and my dog, Casey. Sweet.
over and out.

Racing in Deer Valley and Sonoma...

I just got back last night from a long trip that contained two Norba's- one in Deer Valley UT and the other in Sonoma, CA. It's kinda weird to be home and back at work- I almost forgot how to be a pharmacist.

Park City UT is a pretty cool place- even if it is at altitude and burns the hell out of my lungs. Luckily I raced this one last year, and knew the course, which only changed a little. I had a great start, besides all the crashes that always happen off the line of a women's race. I felt pretty good, and settled in to mid 30's in the pack. I faded a bit on the last lap, but was still ok. Then, I got a bit sloppy on one of the downhill switchbacks, took a bad line, and went down. I was ok, but I realized that I bent my deraileur hanger and my chain caught in between my cassette and spokes three times during that last lap. I lost about 6 minutes trying to fix it, which cost me around 10 spots. Oh well. Short track the next day was definitely short- I surprisingly felt really good- I had a good warmup, but an unlucky bobble cost me about 5 places and I was pulled.
After a fun weekend of racing, a few of us from the team met up with the Kona team and got a chance to relax, have some food, and experience Park City night life. Not too bad...
The next morning Kim and I were off to her house in Auburn, CA- a nice 9 hour trip. I spent the rest of the week there with her and Jesse (her husband) and rode some great rides. Kristin came in from Durango and we all headed to Sonoma for Nationals.
We stayed in Vacaville at a host house, which was about 45 minutes away- we got spoiled staying at the venue in Deer Valley. The cross country race started off with the typical crash, which left me close to the back- and after getting 3 flats that's pretty much where I stayed. I stopped after walking 2 miles back to the start/finish and called it a day. I haven't quit a race in a while. That was hard for me to do. Short track was a bit of a disaster- I forgot to take my inhaler, and it wasn't pretty. So, I think its time to rest up and get ready for the next adventure...

Nature Valley Grand Prix

So, the Nature Valley Stage Race ended yesterday in Minneapolis, and I was there but not racing. I had decided to do this stage race for 2 reasons: for the training mostly, and for experience. Coming straight back from the Norba in NC, I was pretty tired. I came home Sunday night at midnight, then worked 2 x 12 hour shifts Monday and Tuesday, and then drove up to MN on Wednesday morning for Nature Valley. I did pretty bad in the time trial, but I was ok with that since I could barely stay awake. The next day was the 58 mile road race. There were 30mph winds so I knew it was going to be hard. The racing began at the word go- there was a sprint on mile 2.7 and so we were going hard. The wind was making everyone nervous, and as a result there were 4 major crashes during the race. Unfortunately I got caught behind 2 of them, and I could not bridge back up to the pack in the wind. I was in between 2 groups, and I knew I didn't have the energy to get to the one up front so I sat up and waited for the next group- This was at mile 20, so I needed help to get this race done. I got into a group of about 12 girls that included kenda, dairyland, Look, Coltivita, Velo Bella, and a few others I didn't know. We rode hard and all rotated together well, but it wasn't enough. We got time cut, and afterward I discovered I was 1 minute off- if we had sprinted the last mile or so, I would have made the time cut. Oh well. It was fun while it lasted. Hopefully I will be doing this race again next year- I can only do better! Now it's time to rest and regroup before July's Norbas. I am really looking forward to Park City and doing well at Sonoma. I might be doing some local racing over the next couple of weeks. Who knows.