Month: September 2012

Andrea

Cross Hiatus and Winter Plans

It wasn’t until I was making a fall/winter race schedule out that I was reminded that Master’s Worlds aren’t until the end of January. Last year, the season felt like it went on forever while I was getting ready for The Race at the beginning of January. Also noted while I was compiling my schedule- there’s a plethora of regional mountain bike stuff happening in October.

With the exception of the “undecided” weekend of the 11th, I’ll likely end up not racing cyclocross until November. Here’s what October’s looking like so far:
-13th/14th: Cyclocross in Little Rock or the Six Hours of Herb race near Memphis on the 14th. I can’t decide which I’d rather do. I get kinda bored with long lap races and the amount of prep they take in their execution, but it wouldn’t involve traveling.
-21st: Race to the Canal in Kentucky. I’ve never done a point-to-point race. It looks like a bunch of fun.
-27th: Berryman Trail Epic in Missouri. Never done it before, but it’s always been on the radar. There is always a strong women’s field, so it should be tough in a good way

Now that I’m sitting down and typing this out, it seems to make more sense to race cyclocross the weekend of the 13th- mostly because the recovery period following a weekend of racing cyclocross is much shorter than racing the hell out of a 6 hour race. The last thing I’d want is to line up for the final weekend and feel like I’d rather be at home in bed.

Also on the mountain bike horizon: The Eagle Rock Loop. A long time ago (in a galaxy far away, no less), I ran the Athens-Big Fork trail marathon. It is, to this day, still one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done. I remember thinking afterward how impossible the trail seemed for a mountain bike (at the time, I hadn’t ever really ridden a bike, though). Now, Todd “Antique Gun Show” Henne and I are in the “yeah, that sounds cool” phase of planning an adventure that includes riding the A-BF trail as part of a 27 mile loop. It should be almost impossible, but not quite.

 

Also a goal this winter? Help the Syllamo trails. I’m feeling compelled to get in touch with IMBA and see what can be done in the winter to help the poor drainage and overgrowth that plagues much of the trail as it ages. Busy times ahead.

Andrea

Clear Creek Challenge Race Report

Based on how sleepy my legs felt on Saturday after taking nearly a week off of the bike (including Interbike: 3 nights of sleep deprivation, 2 days of flying, and 2 days of walking/standing around on concrete), I knew that racing Cross Country on Sunday carried a strong risk of being a partial to total shit-show. However, Ryan and Poolboy Matt were looking forward to going down to Oxford for the Clear Creek Challenge race, and I didn’t want to disappoint. I figured at the least, it’d serve as a high intensity jump start back into training for Cyclocross.

The race course is largely rolling and flowy with a few bigger hills and a couple of lightly techy spots. Because of the rolling nature of it, the downhills and turns have a high ratio of reward for risk, and people who are familiar with the trail definitely have an advantage. I have ridden it a couple of times, but it’s been at least a year since then. I wasn’t sure how much the four other women had ridden it, but the group at the line included Laureen Coffelt, who never goes anywhere unprepared.

When the promoter gave us the “GO” signal, I momentarily attempted to implement my usual XC strategy of letting whoever thinks they’re fastest get the holeshot and going into the woods 2nd wheel behind her. However, the other women rolled it like they were starting a 50 mile road race, so I threw down the hammer and took the lead.

The initial portion of trail is twisty and fun. I don’t know what went on behind me, but I was able to build a lead by trying to stay way off of the brakes. I could still hear that the other women were close, and the trail constantly doubles back on itself, so there’s no “out of sight, out of mind” until you’ve got a heckuva lead. I kept pinning it until the trail was a little quieter. About 30 minutes in, the singlespeed leader (who had started a couple of minutes after me) caught up to me and let me know that Laureen was deep into 2nd and was a good bit behind me. I’d decided that I was going to chase down cat 1 men (who started 4 minutes ahead), so I didn’t let up.

The rest of the first lap was uneventful. I did my best to tune out the burn and stay off the brakes and eventually caught a cat 1 man. I passed through the start/finish area at just under an hour & 10 minutes for the first lap. I wasn’t sure of my lead until I re-entered the woods and heard someone yelling for Laureen as she was coming in to the pit area. Holy CRAP she’s close!

Pace-wise, I couldn’t push much harder. I was keeping up with nearly the same effort I’d started with, and still felt like I was flying up the hills. Feeling a little more confident with the dirt on the course, I kept trying my best to maintain speed and momentum. I kept seeing Laureen on the double-back parts of the course, and figured she was about one minute back… if I slowed down, I was dead in the water.

Thankfully, I didn’t slow down. Well, actually, about 1/2 a mile from the finish, my quads started to cramp like mad. Luckily, though, I fought through to finish in front, and was able to polish off another 1:09ish lap…

 

So, it was a good day. I like being pushed. I hope Laureen has plans to race some cyclocross.

Andrea

Interbike #3- Nothing to see here…

Last night, after I made my #2 post, Amanda and I took off in a cab for Lotus of Siam, a Thai food place on the seedy side of “off the strip” that Dejay Birtch had picked out. It was pretty boss.

 

There was a huge after party to go to. Everyone wanted to check it out, including myself. However, I’ve had enough hangovers to know better than to go out and have an awesome time the night before I get on a morning flight back to Memphis. I don’t consider it a sign of getting old, I consider it a choice based on a lot of experience. Why didn’t I just go and say hi, skip the drinks, and still get back in time to get a few hours’ sleep?

 

As a result, I slept 6 whole hours and awoke feeling like forty bucks (I’ll feel more like a million once I’m back home and sleeping on my own memory foam). I packed, had a leisurely breakfast at Denny’s on the strip, and caught a cab in time to get to the airport just ahead of the crowds.

Once I’m home, it’s time to get to business. Post-season is over, and it’s time to get to cyclocross training.

Andrea

Interbike #2

Wow… it’s been good! Sponsor-hunt wise, there’s still a huge air of uncertainty left with many irons in the Interbike fires. So, I can’t really talk about any of them.

 

Last night, we hitched a ride out to Crossvegas. The race was cool, and I gave Georgia Gould a random high five when I spotted her winding down in her team tent afterwards. She looked a little confused, but played along like the champ she is.

This morning, I woke up feeling kinda like I was in the middle of a stage race. I mainlined some coffee and got a cheese omelet at the Palazzo food court before heading out to day #2 of the shmoozefest. Like I said, things went reasonably well.

Photos!

 

 

Andrea

Interbike #1

Yesterday, I began my first Interbike journey (pilgrimage?) I spent most of the day crammed in planes, but soon enough, arrived in Vegas…(prepare yourself for a day’s worth of blurry camera phone photos)

 

The plane ride here was long enough that I made it through about 2/3rds of Tyler Hamilton’s Secret Race. It’s pretty fascinating, and (aside from the drug use part) makes me feel a twinge sentimental for road racing. While my time on a “real” team was brief, I could still relate to the dedication and willingness he describes to work and suffer for each other to win races.
From the air, the desert area outside of Las Vegas looks fascinating. While there appears to be very little in the way of population, there’s a spiderweb of what looks like dirt roads/4×4 trails that criss-cross the landscape. I could see myself getting intentionally lost out there for days.

Once I found my bags and favorite roomate, Amanda Carey, we shuttled to the hotel and sat around waiting for stuff to happen. Nothing happens here at a reasonable hour. It’s always winding up about the time I’d be winding down and drinking chamomile tea while Ryan and Matt are doing the dinner dishes. Last night was no different. After having a kickass dinner at Spago with Joe (President of Outdoors) and Joel (head bike buyer of Outdoors), I met back up with Amanda, and we found Hollywood Jeff and his lady-friend Julie.

 

The next few hours included a trip to the SRAM after party (stupid crowded & noisy, so I had a martini and bailed) and a much more low-key, successful from a networking-standpoint, gathering at Treasure Island. I didn’t leave until 1:30 or so. The sidewalks were packed outside…

 

This trip might be slightly more exhausting than going to an actual bike race.

 

Andrea

Stuff that Kicks Ass- 2012 Season Edition

In honor of leaving for Interbike on Tuesday to see lots of new stuff, I figured I’d go ahead and lay out there some not-new stuff that I’m inducting into my personal “stuff that kicks ass” hall-of-fame. In no particular order…

1. Misfit Psycles. I can’t say that I’ve ever ridden one, but, even though Peter Keiller is a big, scary Canadian with veins popping out of his forehead, he is generous enough to help me out in my Interbike quest this year. He also carried Dicky around in his jersey pocket for the entirety of the Breck Epic. F-ing Heroic.
2. Maxxis Tires. One of the companies that I really liked prior to asking them if they’d be a sponsor. Their tires are some of the best in balancing tread/weight/durability, and they’ve got something for every condition. I’ve been riding a prototype tire on the front of my bike since June, and I can’t wait for the production version to come out.
3. Shimano XTR Brakes. Sure, the rest of the group is good, too, but when you compare the XTR brakes to their SRAM XX competition, there is no competition. They work great, aren’t finicky to set up and maintain, feel awesome, and don’t howl when you’re going downhill. If you’re going to spend $800 on brakes, do it with Shimano.
4. XXC Mag. One of the most visually pleasing, no-fluff periodicals you’ll ever pick up. It’s kinda like National Geographic got in to mountain bike endurance racing and removed 90% of their ads, but better. The guys that run it are pretty freakin’ cool, too.
5. Gu Roctane and Clif Turbo shot gel. I can’t decide which one I like more, but both will hit you “like a freight train like a wet paper sack” (thanks to Forrest Owens for that one).
6. Yoga. Yoga is awesome. It makes you stronger and more flexible in both mind and body. Favorite yoga “thing”? This mat: Prana Revolutions Yoga Mat
7. 2×10 mountain bike drivetrains. It should go without saying that singlespeed kicks ass, but if you are going geared, this is the hotness. SRAM and Shimano both do a good job. My personal preference is Shimano because I like the shifters and the look of it a little more than the SRAM stuff, but they both function well.
8. ENVE Carbon Meh.
9. Joe Stamp at No Regrets Tattoo. He does amazing work. Everyone should go get a tattoo from him.
10. The Arundel side-loader bottle cage. I originally got one for my Jet because the frame clearance is tight. Lo and behold, the damn things NEVER drop a bottle. I now put them on everything- including bikes that don’t need side-exit cages.
11. Thomson stems & seatposts. No frills, nothing really expensive, nothing proprietary or cheesy- just really, really good stuff that looks classy as hell on any bike. I haven’t tried the handlebars yet because I’m kinda in love with my Niner bar. Hopefully I’ll get my hands on them at Interbike, though.
12. Sodastream. Damn you, Amanda Carey, for getting me hooked on carbonated water…
13. Feeling like a rockstar when total strangers stop in Whole Foods to ask if you’re the cyclist with the blog and congratulate you for doing well in your races. Thanks, Zach… I needed the pick-me-up.

Is that all? Probably not. I’ll make another post of great things once I’ve remembered all of the cool stuff I forgot.

Andrea

Fool’s Gold 100 Race Report

Like I mentioned before, I went into this race with nothing to lose. Even though I recovered physically from my adventures out West, I’ve been an emotional sh*tstorm ever since coming back from Breck. I did, however, feel ready to face another 100 miler following my 100 mile breakup following Mohican back in the early parts of the season. It was the same weird combination of emotional exhaustion and magical leg power that I got during the latter part of the Breck Epic that propelled me upwards in a way that I even found surprising.

This feeling was confirmed on Friday afternoon when we pre-rode some of the first climb. I kept having to rein myself in because I felt like breaking the cranks off of my bike. Save it for tomorrow…

Too bad 100 mile promoters can’t allow a “late start” option for the racers who won’t be battling cutoff times on course. Ryan (who raced the 50 mile version) and I were up for 5am breakfast and out at the winery for a 7am start. The course began with 2 miles of neutral rollout. Surprisingly, it was neutral enough (my frame of reference is whether or not singlespeeders can keep up. I was riding geared, but I watched a large singlespeed pain-train develop behind Gerry Pflug during those 2 miles).

I wasn’t far behind Amanda and Cheryl when we reached the course, and, surprisingly enough, I was able to pace them with a non-heroic effort. I had no idea where Brenda and Lee Simril were, but I figured that if I was watching Amanda and Cheryl race, that I was doing alright. We reached the turn up the first climb, and I fell into a great rhythm. I’ve come to realize that, even though I’m not on a singlespeed, I can always pretend. I found a comfortable gear to stand on, and never looked back. It wasn’t until we were several miles up into the steeper sections of the climb (about 35 minutes in) that I lost sight of Cheryl and Amanda (it looked as if Cheryl turned the screws and Amanda made efforts to follow). I kept my own very awesome-feeling pace.

I stopped briefly at the first aid station (18 miles in) and took off down the road to the first section of awesome, zoomy singletrack. The next few hours would me more of the same. I felt great. I kept up with the same strategy- eat, drink, and don’t go too hard. There’s still another lap to do. Other than that, I didn’t think. I felt like robot programed to steer my bike through a 100 mile bike race. I finished the first lap in 4 hours, 30 minutes (looking at women’s 50 mile times, it could have been a helluva fight in that race). Then, my brain woke up.

Once I was started back up the hill to the next aid- a cooler drop, I felt tired. My head was listening this time instead of tuning out the fatigue. I made the mistake of thinking about how I could be back at the car, having a beer and eating lunch. I thought about the prospect of riding another 40something miles. Then, I remembered how I’d sworn off 100s earlier in the season for the same reasons. I loitered around the cooler drop long enough that Brenda, Lee, and another one of their teammates were pulling in as I was leaving. Well, damn.

The next hour or so, I swung wildly from “screw this” to “stop thinking and keep doing what you were doing when this didn’t suck.” Then, Brenda, Lee, and the other guy caught back up to me at the horse trail before the Bull Mountain loop. I didn’t put up much fight at that point. However, as I rode through one of the meadows that punctuated parts of the trail, I noticed that I was headed for a large, black cloud on the next mountain.

If you’ve never heard the horror stories of the 2010 Fool’s Gold race, I urge you to start poking around the internet for photos and race reports. The mud on course is a special type of wonderful- when it gets wet, it turns into liquid sandpaper. It destroys any moving bike parts it touches. So, when I saw the cloud, I decided that I needed to HTFU and get through the Bull Mountain part of the course ASAP so that I could avoid the worst case scenario.

When I arrived at the aid station at the base of the Bull loop, there were ambulances. I didn’t think much of it, but as I was filling bottles & having a snack, I caught wind of a guy who had wrecked, broken his pelvis, and been laying out there with paramedics trying to reach him for several hours (Bull Mountain isn’t really hard, tech-wise, but it’s got some sketchy downhill spots that can eff you up big time). As I started the climb, I realized that the timing of the guy’s wreck was just right for when Ryan passed though. I started envisioning Ryan wrecking and breaking his pelvis. Then, it started to rain.

I was in “chase down the guy with a broken pelvis” mode. I made it to the top of the mountain and started to pick my way down. I was rolling along at a good clip (not edge-of-control fast, but not holding back, either- maybe about 10-15mph?), when I rolled over some off-camber roots. Before I could even register the noise of a sliding front tire, I was flailing through the air and watching the ground approach my body at a high rate of speed. My right knee whacked into the base of a pine tree, and the rest of me landed on various other roots and ground-bound objects.

Ooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwww

(That’s all I could think for about a minute)

I thought I’d broken my knee on the pine tree. Blood was already running out from under the mud on my knee and shin, and it hurt to wiggle my toes inside my shoe. I poked around on my torso to make sure that my ribs felt intact. When none of them hurt, I decided to get up and get back on the horse. My right bar-end had twisted itself straight up, so it took me a minute to fish my multi-tool out and re-position it. Luckily, the bike was OK. I was hurting.

Eventually, I caught up to the guy who had wrecked. He was being gurney-ed out, and a train of about 4 guys was pushing bikes behind him. I saw a bike the same color as Ryan’s (it’s an odd blue-ish turquoise that’s not very common) and my heart made it nearly to my toes before I realized the fork was white and the guy in the stretcher was balding. I made my way around the procession and finished the last mile or so to the aid station.

The next section of trail is slightly downhill and lots of fun, so it helped get my head back on right. My knee was aching, but I figured it’d hurt just as badly whether I went fast or slow. I finished the last 15 miles back in my “groove.” I ended up coming in about 9 minutes behind Brenda with 9 hours & 1 minute. Fourth place, and, surprisingly to me, good enough for 5th in the NUE series.

 

Here’s the post-race interview. It’s long and full of inside jokes and innuendo, but it’s also the only one I’ve done following more than one post-race beer. Enjoy:

 

Watch more video of 2012 Fool’s Gold 100 NUE Series Final on thom.cyclingdirt.org

 

It’s not often that I let my head get to me during a race. It gets to me during 100s. Shorter races, I can destroy myself. I can ride outside myself and find new levels of pain and enlightenment. Through this season, I’ve realized that 100 mile races, for me, are an exercise in boredom and extended fatigue. My future in racing is not in the 100 mile distance. I’m OK with that. I’m glad that I gave them a hard run and figured out that my strengths lie elsewhere.

What’s next? (other than a break from training while I take on LasVegas and Interbike) a few beers, a couple of late season regional XC races, and prep for Cyclocross.

Andrea

Missing a good time

Judging by the photos and videos I’ve seen from face-friends, I missed a good time at the SM100 race.

This makes me a little sad- Shenandoah has always been a great race with an even better post-race party. Even though the race lost its  “final of the NUE series” billing, this year was no different. However, I’ve been in a slump since Breck. My legs felt fine within a few days of being home, but mentally, I’ve had little more motivation than to sit around and stare at the walls. I couldn’t bring myself to pack the car and get to the race. Maybe if I could have teleported myself and all my equipment there on race morning? It’s possible… there’s still that whole “Ride 100 miles” thing to get through, too.

This weekend, Ryan and I are going to Fool’s Gold. He’s gonna race 50, and I’m going for 100. I’m almost looking forward to it- the singletrack on course is a lot of fun ever since the trails were re-worked following the storm/mud debacle two years ago. Right now, there’s a 50% chance of rain on Saturday. My plan is to ride the geared bike, but the singlespeed is coming along as backup.

My bad start to the season, results-wise, kinda screwed me up for NUE series points. I’m going into this race with a similar feeling that I had before the super-awesome Wheeler/Stage 5 of Breck Epic- mentally vacant, physically unsure, and with absolutely nothing to lose.

Andrea

Race relations and cycing in the greater Memphis area

First off, yeah, I’ve been bloggingly absent for a while. Isht happens, and sometimes I just don’t post. I’m sure you all understand.

This post is mostly about a revelation I had while riding with the guys from 901 Racing on Saturday.

 

If you’ve never lived (or spent some appreciable time in) The South, this might make it sound like everyone here is racist. We aren’t. However, The South has historically been a hotbed for racial tension in the United States. Warning- broad generalizations ahead: Because of this, the relationship between Caucasians and African Americans has an undertone of “us versus them.” It’s as if every person of one race defaults to “do not trust” until someone of the other race proves themselves to be “one of the good ones.” It goes both directions, and, in Memphis, is why there is a large amount of voluntary segregation in neighborhoods, churches, political districts, restaurants, and the like. As a (continuing) broad generalization, one group just chooses not hang out with the other one.

What my revelation?

Well, as a cyclist who often times trains on the road, I see my share of a-hole drivers. I’ve been yelled at, had things thrown at me, and, occasionally, someone threatens to hit me with their car. The people who do this are (whenever I can see the driver) white people. Also, as a cyclist who often times trains on the road, I’ve encountered some very kind people. While stopping for a water break, I’ve been offered breakfast, received invitation to join a church service, offered a ride when it was cold and rainy, and waved to/ cheered for by kids. All of those nice things? All black people.

Why? I have no idea. I didn’t post this to make speculations, I merely thought it was a very interesting observation. I like traveling out of The South because I like going to places where ethnic background is an afterthought when going through everyday life. I try to be that way wherever I am. I guess I wanted to post this because it makes me feel warm & fuzzy that when I ride my bike, some people’s kindness makes up for the abuse that other people see fit to dish out.