Saturday, May 31, 2008
Lamo for not updating el blogo
ok so i know i need to keep up on this better- since the races keep happening and i am getting further and further behind on my posts...i have lost my camera (well i left it in san fran and haven't seen it since) so no good pics either. i will just steal some from the intranets...
this is the start of the santa ynez NMBS race. notice how there's only like 30 women. huh. and here is a pic from the start (thanks to Dave McElwaine who takes the best pics http://www.trailwatch.net/) and how cool and calm Georgia looks... awesome. i am already suffering in the back with my head to one side- little did she realize what was gonna happen later in the race. i saw her on the trail laying down, and i stopped to ask if she was ok, she said yes- by that time there were medics there helping her in the shade. it was deathly hot that day- someone said it was 103F while we were racing. there were many casualties (girls cramping, swerving on the trail) that i saw during the race. it was like a war zone. when i saw Georgia on the ground i realized how hot it really was- it kinda scared me a little. but by that time i was close to the end, and after seeing my HR higher than i ever have, i was ready to finish that race.
i have to admit i was a little disappointed in the showing for the pro women- i have been doing the mountain states cups this year for the first time, and there are nearly the same amount of girls at these local races as there was at a national. perhaps we are lucky to have a local series that the top girls go to- kelli, katie, Georgia (when she's not racing the men :) jenny smith, etc who we get to race with close to home. but it is a shame that the numbers are dwindling at the bigger mtb races it seems...
i would say more about the race itself, but there is not much to tell- other than i had 2 great starts where i was in top 12-15 or so but melted and drifted back as the race went on. it was good to hang out with my teammate shannon gibson before she left for Hawaii for 6 weeks- we stayed in solvang and embraced the strange touristy town- i will say that they do have excellent pastries at the bakery, which fueled me every morning.. Mmm tasty. i did get to see the ocean too down in LA before we flew home- i wish i lived closer to the ocean sometimes. but the traffic and people in CA are too impossible to deal with. excluding all my friends and family that live there :)
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Mountain states cup, Nathrop, CO
I had heard bad things about this race- super sandy, not a fun course, not worth the drive, etc. but hey, i figured it would be more fun than crashing in the Gila, so i chose the mtb race. i drove down with the spot girlz again- megan m. and jen g. which made the trip worth it, even if the race did end up sucking. i got up saturday morning, picked up the girlz and we headed down to nathrop. i didn't even know where it was- if you don't know either, its right by buena vista and about 20 min north of salida, where i would be staying-
so the xc for us started around 2pm, with the guys going off about 15 minutes before us- well, then it got delayed an hour- so we went off at 3pm instead, which allowed for an hour of socializing which was fine by me. until the race actually started, and then i was in the hurt box- i should have warmed up better- we went from zero to supersonic off the gun, and i was pretty much at the back. the race was almost like a road race- long, flat open sections that had mini-t0rnados (no joke). it was sooooo windy. so having a wheel to suck was important- good thing i didn't for 2 of the 4 laps. so on lap one, i was in the back. sweet. and didn't preride and crashed hard on the loose descent. supa sweet. but jen g. had a bad start too, and thankfully she pulled me up to the next group (i know, weird hearing that about a mtb race, but i am telling you, it was a road race) and got in with megan m. and lisa. the 3 of us duked it out for the next 2 laps, and finally on the 4th lap my legs came around and i surged passed lisa and was able to ride the technical section alone, which was nice since i was faster that way. i ended up 6th, coming in behind jen g. i was pretty happy about, since i had had such a rough start. so hopefully the fitness is coming around- i just need to warm up better i guess.
sunday was the short track, and i woke up in Salida to a beautiful sunny morning. i went down to the local coffee shop (beside absolut bikes) and enjoyed a very tasty breakfast burrito with chicken, eggs, potatoes, cheese, avocado and red peppers. i sat with a coffee and listened to the river behind the shop for a good hour, reading the sunday paper. i love salida. i could definitely live there-
back to the race. so my legs were really tired from the xc, but figured once i spin i would be fine. the course was pretty fun, it had part of the dual slalom in it so a few tall rollers that broke it up. overall though most of the course had one good line while the sides were thick sand which stopped the bike quick- i had a bad start again, and got stuck behind a line of girls that weren't going very fast- i gave up halfway through the race for a few laps waiting for it to be over. but then i figured i paid $40 for it, and i needed a workout, so i should start going. so i did, and passed a few girls in the last few laps. i ended up 9th. oh well.
overall the weekend was fun, with a reasonable finish for the xc, and as always great company- the next race is the Norba in CA- another fast rolling course. i had an ok race there last year, racing with teammate Barb but she won't be there this year unfortunately- sigh. but it should still be a good one, so i will let you know how that goes-
so the xc for us started around 2pm, with the guys going off about 15 minutes before us- well, then it got delayed an hour- so we went off at 3pm instead, which allowed for an hour of socializing which was fine by me. until the race actually started, and then i was in the hurt box- i should have warmed up better- we went from zero to supersonic off the gun, and i was pretty much at the back. the race was almost like a road race- long, flat open sections that had mini-t0rnados (no joke). it was sooooo windy. so having a wheel to suck was important- good thing i didn't for 2 of the 4 laps. so on lap one, i was in the back. sweet. and didn't preride and crashed hard on the loose descent. supa sweet. but jen g. had a bad start too, and thankfully she pulled me up to the next group (i know, weird hearing that about a mtb race, but i am telling you, it was a road race) and got in with megan m. and lisa. the 3 of us duked it out for the next 2 laps, and finally on the 4th lap my legs came around and i surged passed lisa and was able to ride the technical section alone, which was nice since i was faster that way. i ended up 6th, coming in behind jen g. i was pretty happy about, since i had had such a rough start. so hopefully the fitness is coming around- i just need to warm up better i guess.
sunday was the short track, and i woke up in Salida to a beautiful sunny morning. i went down to the local coffee shop (beside absolut bikes) and enjoyed a very tasty breakfast burrito with chicken, eggs, potatoes, cheese, avocado and red peppers. i sat with a coffee and listened to the river behind the shop for a good hour, reading the sunday paper. i love salida. i could definitely live there-
back to the race. so my legs were really tired from the xc, but figured once i spin i would be fine. the course was pretty fun, it had part of the dual slalom in it so a few tall rollers that broke it up. overall though most of the course had one good line while the sides were thick sand which stopped the bike quick- i had a bad start again, and got stuck behind a line of girls that weren't going very fast- i gave up halfway through the race for a few laps waiting for it to be over. but then i figured i paid $40 for it, and i needed a workout, so i should start going. so i did, and passed a few girls in the last few laps. i ended up 9th. oh well.
overall the weekend was fun, with a reasonable finish for the xc, and as always great company- the next race is the Norba in CA- another fast rolling course. i had an ok race there last year, racing with teammate Barb but she won't be there this year unfortunately- sigh. but it should still be a good one, so i will let you know how that goes-
Monday, April 28, 2008
Friday, April 25, 2008
its been a while...
ok, so have been horrible at updating this thing- the race season has started, although i think my body still thinks its winter for 2 reasons: i didn't start riding again until march, and its still only in the 40's and almost May. what the hell. i went riding today and put on all the standard winter weather stuff- leg warmers, long sleeve base layer, wind jacket, ear cover, extra gloves for the downhill. uhh. no wonder the races have not been going so well-
so, the first one was in Phoenix, AZ (2nd norba national) and drove down with the spot girls (jen g. and megan m.) and erin huck. we met up with dell starr and i haven't had that much fun over a race weekend in a long time- i mean, the racing was ok, but that group was a blast to hang with. ok so maybe i should mention the race- i did the super d, and yes i suck. its ok. i have done only one before, so no expectations. then short track- which actually was ok, midpack somewhere, (a whole 18 minutes- hellz yeah) but wanted to save some for the xc. so i started the xc on sunday last into the singletrack. yep, probably the worse course to do that on- i was behind melonie myers and i watched her endo so hard trying to pass some girls- i never saw her again. the first lap was a joke, trying to weave around everyone- finally second lap i got free, but it was only 45 min. long so i ended up 20 something. not too bad i guess considering... then we drove home, and went from 90F heat to snow in boulder. yay.
the next race was fruita, CO. i wasn't sure if i was gonna make this one, but i had never raced there so i ran out of work on saturday, hopped in the car and got in at 11pm that night- stayed at my teammate Noel's place and teammate kristin was also there- getting the old school band back together! we were the originals of the velo bella/kona pro team. ahh memories...
anyway, so no preride on the course, but everyone said it was fine and super fast- so i took off hammering past katie compton and 10 minutes later cracked hard. uhh. i recovered and started downhill- i launched myself over some rock dropoffs that looking back i am not sure i would have, but i was wedged in between the semi-pro guys and couldn't see in front of me- it was some of the coolest single track i have ridden i a while- i wish i could have enjoyed it more- instead of trying not to kill myself and pushing as hard as i could. i will have to go back there someday and really ride it. overall it was a good race day, but preriding for me seems to be mandatory... but i am happy i didn't loose it on some of that stuff- as i was flying through the air-
next and last, sea otter. well, what can i say, i always have a bad race there. this marks three years in a row. but again, the company was great, and to me that seems to be more important these days. i flew into SFO and met up with teammate barb howe where we made some excellent dinner (with lots of strawberries thanks to her new special friend who rides for them) in berkley. the next day we drove down to Salinas and stayed with Laura Sanchez (one of the origional starters of velo bella, no kidding) in her zen room- it has a vortex, and i think thats a good thing... and each day went to the venue in Monterey to preride and hang at the VB booth. i didn't do the short track since it was $90 and thats just ridiculous. so i prerode for free and met up with a lot of people at the venue i hadn't seen since last year. good times. oh yeah and then i 'raced' sunday. if you could call it that- i started well, and then it went downhill from there. i got stuck behind people that descend worse than me- unbelievable. lost a lot of time, then i cramped in my left leg (the one i fractured) and then i almost quit, and then i finished. woohoo. but afterward i met up with my sister kristin and we drove back to san fran and went shopping and to the MOMA and then had awesome sushi with her husband simon and got really drunk and took stupid crazy pics with damian who decided to shave his beard except for his mustache which made him look like the guy from reno 911. pretty funny. there seems to be a pattern so far this year- i am having way more fun traveling and doing the social thing than racing- but this could be too that i am sucking right now since i haven't really gotten in any good training due to the crappy weather in boulder. if only it would be warm, things would be much better. more motivating. more enjoyable. nicer. well you get my point...
oh and i really miss tasha. its not the same around here without her...
so, the first one was in Phoenix, AZ (2nd norba national) and drove down with the spot girls (jen g. and megan m.) and erin huck. we met up with dell starr and i haven't had that much fun over a race weekend in a long time- i mean, the racing was ok, but that group was a blast to hang with. ok so maybe i should mention the race- i did the super d, and yes i suck. its ok. i have done only one before, so no expectations. then short track- which actually was ok, midpack somewhere, (a whole 18 minutes- hellz yeah) but wanted to save some for the xc. so i started the xc on sunday last into the singletrack. yep, probably the worse course to do that on- i was behind melonie myers and i watched her endo so hard trying to pass some girls- i never saw her again. the first lap was a joke, trying to weave around everyone- finally second lap i got free, but it was only 45 min. long so i ended up 20 something. not too bad i guess considering... then we drove home, and went from 90F heat to snow in boulder. yay.
the next race was fruita, CO. i wasn't sure if i was gonna make this one, but i had never raced there so i ran out of work on saturday, hopped in the car and got in at 11pm that night- stayed at my teammate Noel's place and teammate kristin was also there- getting the old school band back together! we were the originals of the velo bella/kona pro team. ahh memories...
anyway, so no preride on the course, but everyone said it was fine and super fast- so i took off hammering past katie compton and 10 minutes later cracked hard. uhh. i recovered and started downhill- i launched myself over some rock dropoffs that looking back i am not sure i would have, but i was wedged in between the semi-pro guys and couldn't see in front of me- it was some of the coolest single track i have ridden i a while- i wish i could have enjoyed it more- instead of trying not to kill myself and pushing as hard as i could. i will have to go back there someday and really ride it. overall it was a good race day, but preriding for me seems to be mandatory... but i am happy i didn't loose it on some of that stuff- as i was flying through the air-
next and last, sea otter. well, what can i say, i always have a bad race there. this marks three years in a row. but again, the company was great, and to me that seems to be more important these days. i flew into SFO and met up with teammate barb howe where we made some excellent dinner (with lots of strawberries thanks to her new special friend who rides for them) in berkley. the next day we drove down to Salinas and stayed with Laura Sanchez (one of the origional starters of velo bella, no kidding) in her zen room- it has a vortex, and i think thats a good thing... and each day went to the venue in Monterey to preride and hang at the VB booth. i didn't do the short track since it was $90 and thats just ridiculous. so i prerode for free and met up with a lot of people at the venue i hadn't seen since last year. good times. oh yeah and then i 'raced' sunday. if you could call it that- i started well, and then it went downhill from there. i got stuck behind people that descend worse than me- unbelievable. lost a lot of time, then i cramped in my left leg (the one i fractured) and then i almost quit, and then i finished. woohoo. but afterward i met up with my sister kristin and we drove back to san fran and went shopping and to the MOMA and then had awesome sushi with her husband simon and got really drunk and took stupid crazy pics with damian who decided to shave his beard except for his mustache which made him look like the guy from reno 911. pretty funny. there seems to be a pattern so far this year- i am having way more fun traveling and doing the social thing than racing- but this could be too that i am sucking right now since i haven't really gotten in any good training due to the crappy weather in boulder. if only it would be warm, things would be much better. more motivating. more enjoyable. nicer. well you get my point...
oh and i really miss tasha. its not the same around here without her...
Monday, March 24, 2008
Thursday, March 06, 2008
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