Killer Ride

Almost literally…

Yesterday I decided to get in a good, long ride. Unfortunately the Fuel is back in the shop, and I wasn’t in the mood for a road ride, so I took the SS out. I left from my house around 8 and hit the dirt trail across the street that goes along Bear Creek. I followed this into Morrison where I then headed up to Mt. Falcon. So far the riding was great, and the gear I had was good. I had not taken the SS on Falcon yet, and knew with the gearing I had, it would be a tough climb. It was tough. It kicked my ass. I usually spin up nice and easy on the Fuel in a low gear, not the middle ring in front and the 4^th cog in the back… I failed making the waterbars, which I expected, but I also had a hard time going over rocks. I got so used to the full suspension that I didn’t know how to take the rocks on a fully rigid. After almost falling off the bike quite a few times, I started to get the hang of it. I never could ride very far without stopping for air- I never knew this trail was so steep! I did manage to ride most of it, with all the stops I took… I was discouraged at first, and then thought of the very first time I took the SS out. I almost died on the first hill of Centennial Cone! Now I can blast up that without stopping or breathing that hard. So Falcon will just need some practice with the SS, and probably a different gear…

I had not done Falcon since they redid the top, although I heard about it, a lot. It was very disappointing to see. The only upside is that it made it more possible for me to ride the whole way up.

I got to the gazebo and had a snack, and then headed on to get in Lair ‘o the Bear. I have done this trail on the SS, so it got a lot easier after this. Even the uphill on the way back up wasn’t too bad. I guess I was warmed up and my legs were getting used to it.

I was out of water by the time I got back to Falcon, so I wanted to get home as fast as I could. This is where full suspension comes in handy! I am not sure what kicked my ass more, going up Falcon, or coming down. I did my best to pick good lines, but I was getting jarred everywhere. It was painful, and I was about ready to die when I hit the parking lot. I stopped briefly and my body still felt like it was shaking all around.

The rest of the way home was uneventful, but I will say, that was one of the hardest rides I have ever been on. It ended up being about 40 miles, and took me 5.5 hours. I still like my SS, and my goal still is to race it next year, or the year after, but I need to get used to it, or it is really going to kill me!

WP Races #3 and #4

Saturday: Valley Point to Point

Most of my team headed up Friday night to stay at Michelle’s family’s home in Frasier (thanks Michelle!). We relaxed, chatted and enjoyed looking at a magazine of child starts, then and now. It made me feel old… Who knew that Mark from Home Improvement was going to someday make cheese???

The next morning we all got up and had a yummy egg sandwich that Chris made everyone, before heading over to the resort. Once the bikes were ready to go, Marni took me on a long warm up ride. I have never done a long warm-up before, I was always afraid it would make me tired before the race even started. I wasn’t sure if it was going to help me, or hurt me, but I went along anyways.

We went to the start line with enough time to get in front, although I am not sure why… They sent us off, and I took off up the hill. Too fast. I have seen so many people take off too hard and burn out quick, shaking my head at them. Well, that day I was one of them, and I did shake my head at myself. I burnt out before the single track, feeling like I was going to puke on the side, not sure if there was anyway I could continue. I was mad at myself, and told myself there was no way I was going to quit because of my stupidity, doing something that I knew not to.

Another girl and I were pushing hard to fight for the lead when the single track came. She beat me to it, which actually wasn’t too bad, we were about the same speed. Not too long into the downhill we came across a girl who had wiped out around one of the corners. A guy had stopped for her, we asked if she was ok and kept going when she said she was. Eventually I knew I could ride faster than this girl, so I started to work on a strategy to pass her. She wasn’t having any of that, and refused to let me by. During a flatter section I saw her start to wobble, and lose control. I knew what was happening, and just watched as her back tire went flat. I flew past her, not feeling too bad at all.

Once the uphill started again, I felt the pain from the long warm up and stupidly fast start. My energy was already gone, and I started to curse myself. It was at this point that my mind started getting to me, I was getting frustrated, and I was mad at myself for feeling like I did. I tried really hard to stop those thoughts, and just work on enjoying the ride, which worked for a little while. I got to the top of the hill where originally we were supposed to go right and cross the river, but the re-routed it since the river was running too high. I was overheating by this point and really wished we were going through the river. There was a nice long downhill on a road where I caught another girl, so my spirits started to lift a little. But then we turned onto D4 where more climbing started. My bike was fighting with me, not shifting when I wanted it to, and then shifting when I didn’t want it too. Frustration sank in again, and I was having a hard time concentrating. I was still feeling like crap, still no energy, and I could not focus. More than once I went to shift down to make it up a steeper section, but ended up shifting into a harder gear instead, so I ended up having to walk those sections. Frustration got worse at this point. When I turned around at one point I saw Marni coming up the hill. She looked strong and I knew it was only a matter of time before she passed me. I was looking forward to her catching up, I thought some chatting with her would lift my spirits. I was on the verge of throwing my bike off the trail and sitting on a stump crying.

Eventually I made it to the turnoff onto WTM, a very steep lose downhill. It was fun, but still hard to navigate. The trail continued to rollercoaster a bit through the forest, the ups hurt, the downs were a little better. I saw another girl on the side of the trail trying to fix a flat. I could tell she was frustrated, she started to smash her tire on the ground. I was about to tell her I know how she feels, but thought that would be inappropriate since I was still riding…

I eventually popped out onto a road where a guy said only 4.5 miles. Only. Ugh. I kept going though, knowing the end was soon. It didn’t seem like it was too long after that I came across another person who said it was only about another mile. Sweet!! Those last 3.5 miles went super fast! I was starting to ride faster, excited to finish. It was a while later that I saw the sign saying 1 mile to go… Hadn’t I already gone a mile?? I kept pedaling along, but more frustration came during this last section. I was trying to go fast but there were so many baby heads it was hard to pick a good line. Eventually I started to see cars and people, and then heard my teammates cheering for me. I was about done! Thank god!

If this were my first race, I would have probably quit, never wanting to race again. I did not enjoy myself, I let my mind take over, and instead of having fun just being on my bike, I took everything too seriously, and was really hard on myself. I thought about it for a while afterwards, how to take this experience and learn from it. I was even debating writing about it, thinking it might be better to just forget about it and move on. I think I need to work on just enjoying the ride, whether it is a casual ride, or a race.

Sunday: Super D

I took my own advice for this race, before really thinking about it, and decided to just have fun on this course. It was the Super D, and I will admit, I was kind of scared doing a downhill race. We got there early so we could pre-ride the course and see what we were up against. We had to take the lift up, which was one of the biggest challenges of the day! Marni and I went to get on, thinking the operator was going to put our bikes on for us. He informed us that we were responsible for loading our own bikes. Uh, ok, and how do we do this??? Marni and I did our best, and through much laughter and yelps we managed to load our bikes on before the chair took off with the bikes hanging off. I think the lift operator did it on purpose to get a kick out of us. He didn’t even slow down the lift for us!

Mel, Erik and Scott met us at the top, and we all took off on our pre-ride. Some of the crew thought we looked pretty cool in our kits, and all sporting squeaky toys. I am sure they were wondering what all of us were thinking, about to do a downhill race.

The course was fun, very technical in spots with large rocks to go over, lose sand and roots sticking out. There are a few uphills that we all felt after Saturday’s race. When we got to the bottom we waited for Chris to come down. He rode his fully rigid SS. Ouch is all I can say. He finished well, coming in 3^rd.

It was then time for Marni, Mel and I to head to the top, so we headed to the dreadful chair lift. There was a different operator this time, and he was nice enough to slow down the lift so we could all get our bikes on.

We watched Scott take off in the group before us, and soon all that were left were the women. 11 total between Beginner and Sport. We had about 15 minutes before we were to head off, so we all started chatting, being silly girls. We found out how old everyone was so we knew who our competition was. It turned out there wasn’t much for anyone! I think all 11 of us got on the podium. Melissa was the only one in her group, so she automatically got 1^st, and it was between me and Marni for our group. It made the start more fun, knowing we could all just have fun in this race.

The race started Le Mans style where we staged our bikes about 100 feet up the road which we had to run to. Once they sent us off I got to my bike pretty quick, but for some reason could not get on it! I was struggling so hard to get my foot even on the pedal. Melissa was right beside me, and I think she was having the same problem because she wasn’t moving any faster and we could not stop laughing. We were pretty much at the back of the pack by the time we got on our bikes. No worries, though. I caught up to quite a few of the girls up the hill and rode with the front of the pack for a while. They lost me pretty quick once the single track started. They always stayed in sight, but I never caught them, not that I was trying to. I ended up right in the middle of the fast girls and the slower ones, so there was no one around me for the whole race. I had a blast. I was cruising down, singing along to my music, just having fun. This is what racing should feel like.

I came upon the rocky section, so I downshifted and was able to ride right over them. It flattened out for a while so I was about to push harder when all of a sudden my front tire turned and I went flying off my bike, sprawled out across the trail. I have no idea what happened, there were no rocks or roots to grab my tire. I got up, found I had no severe injuries, got back on the bike and continued down. I never saw the fast group after that. I came to the final switchbacks, bummed that the ride was about over. I finished in about 27 minutes, good for 1^st place. J A few minutes later we saw Marni and Melissa coming down the switchbacks. Mel good for 1^st, Marni for 2^nd. Turned out Scott got 2^nd in his class, so it was a day of success. It was a lot of fun to stand on the podium beside Marni, and I am sure that wont be the last, she has gotten super fast I am struggling to stay ahead of her! Erik pulled in a great time, but he was in a large class. Brett did great also, and would have had a great time if he didn’t crash so bad.

I am really glad this race followed so closely to Saturday’s. I got my spirit back, and I am looking forward to racing in 2 weeks. Go Team!

Mt. Elbert

Yesterday I started the day early- around 4am- to have some breakfast and coffee and then headed out to the Mt. Elbert (14,433) trailhead. My parents were at our condo in Frisco for the week, so I was able to stay there and get an extra hour of sleep and a shorter drive in the morning. It was a little over an hour to the trailhead; I was there a little after 6. I knew Chris and Marni were already a ways ahead of me, but I knew I would see them somewhere along the trail. I got mine and Seranno’s packs ready, and we headed out a little before 6:30. It was a nice hike, the first few miles through dense trees and not too steep. There were lots of people on the trail, but I somehow managed to be very alone through this section, which was very peaceful, other than all the mosquitoes. I had never seen so many on a hike before. Pretty soon we were above tree line and the trail started to get steeper. I passed two couples at this point, and was then in the middle of a bunch of groups. I steadily climbed while Seranno ran up and down the trail. She was loving life! It continued to get steeper the further we climbed, but nothing that bad. Eventually, around 9:30, I reached the summit, where I saw Marni, Chris and Turbo. Seranno and Turbo were very happy to see each other. Chris and Marni had been at the summit for a while and were getting cold, so we chatted briefly, and then they started heading down. I took in the summit, enjoying the feeling of freedom and lack of thoughts of life back at home. It was amazing to stand on the highest peak in Colorado. In a way you feel invincible when you are above every other point you can seen. I have never gotten over, or used to the spectacular feelings, views and contentment I experience on the summit, as well as the trek to the summit, of mountain peaks.

I took some pictures of the spectacular views, ate some lunch, signed in, and headed down. I met back up with Chris, Marni and Turbo not too far down, and we continued the rest of the way together. It worked out perfectly. I had my serene time to myself to start the hike, and finished it with good company. Seranno and Turbo had a blast, wrestling and chasing each other almost the whole way down. We got back to the cars around noon, where Seranno jumped right into the car and didn’t move until we got home. It was a good morning to a good day.

Bouldering

My friend, Kevin, was in town from AZ over the weekend, and he took my bouldering in Morrison. I have never officially gone bouldering before, I have been more into rock climbing, with ropes and harnesses and stuff. This was all new to me. Hanging on the side of a rock, ten feet off the ground with nothing but hard rocks to catch you if you fall. It was scary! There were some spots that I was super afraid of doing, but Kevin was a good coach and taught me how to do certain hand holds and swing like a monkey. It made me realize how weak my arms have gotten! Focusing so much on biking I have neglected my upper body, and I sure could tell when I was hanging on the rocks! It definately made me want to get into it more, both for the upper body workout, and because it was so much fun! I think I will be investing in a crash pad soon…

Firecracker 50 2008

Once again on the 4th of July I participated in the Firecracker 50 mountain bike race in Breckenridge. The only difference was that this year I completed the full 50 instead of the Sparkler 14 miles. It was a goal I set for myself last 4th of July.

The day started out hot. I got up to Breckenridge early to get my number and calm my nerves before the race. That didn’t happen, because my race number ended up being 666. As soon as they told me that I felt my heart sink. This is going to be a long race, I thought to myself…

I got lots of oohhs and aaahhs about my number as well as many comments, most along the lines of “good luck” with a discomforting look on theire face, or saying I was screwed because the devil was on my side… Needless to say, my nerves were never calmed before the race started.

My friend, Matt, decided to brave the 50 miles with me. I admire him a lot for that! He just moved here from back east, has a 15 year old mountain bike and has never raced in a mountain bike race before. I haven’t figured out yet if he is a superstar or just plain dumb. I think to do something like that is a mix of both! He met me in Breckenridge where we got some Starbucks and people watched for a while before we went off to get ready for the race. The race starts off the 4th of July parade, which has always been fun. The kids love to cheer us on and it is a good way to get pumped up for the race. Once our leader pulled off we were on our own. The race began. It starts with a pretty good uphill on a paved road. I quickly fell to the back of the pack. I had no goals for this race, other than to complete it, so I knew I didn’t want to start out hard- I had a long way to go. Eventually some of the beginner riders passed me, which took a lot to not push harder. It took a while for my legs to get in the groove of things, but eventually the spinning came naturally and I was feeling good. The pavement turned into dirt, and eventually into singletrack. Parts of the trail were very muddy, but still refreshing considering how hot it was. There were some evil uphills, where many people were walking. I thought about the last day of Kokopelli and how I just kept spinning, and used that on these uphills. I wasn’t overly fast going up, but I passed a lot of walkers and other riders, and was not dead by the time I got to the top. Then the steep, loose descent came. Most people walked this section, too. I was able to ride all of it, and ended up catching a few girls while I was at it. The evil descent finally ended at a fireroad where it descended at a much safer pace. I was feeling really good at this point, but this is about as far as I had ever ridden the trail, so I had no idea what was still coming. Well, there was a lot more uphill. An average grade of 16%. It was steep, and there were parts at the top that weren’t even ridable. Eventually I made it to the top, where it then descended down a very narrow singletrack. Thoughts were going through my head that I have to do all of this over again, and I tried my best to push them out and ignore them.

The trail descended for a while on a nice smooth, fast trail. It was so much fun. My favorite part of the course. Especially when there was a larger mud puddle I had to fly through. It cooled me off a lot! There was another steep scary downhill before the last aid station and the final climb. That last climb was not too bad, middle ring at least the whole way, and the feeling that it was the last climb was a good feeling. (except when you know you have to do it all over again…)

The last descent is fun, a fast fire road and then narrow switchbacks through the trees. It was here that I caught up to Matt, who was saying something about a problem he was having with his bike. I didn’t want to stop to chat, so I kept going, hoping he was ok…

I completed my first lap with lots of jeers from the spectators about my number. I had actually forgotten about it by this point. Thanks, guys… I pushed on, though, ready for the second lap. It was hard to ride up the pavement again knowing what I was up against, but as soon as I hit the dirt road I started feeling better. Really good, actually. I was passing people left and right, including the girl that I knew was standing in second in my category. It felt good to catch her, which boosted my mood and energy. I never saw her again. This lap was obviously the same as the first, the only difference is that I felt like I had more energy the second time around. My second lap was definately faster, and more fun than the first. The final descent was a blast, knowing that it was really the end now. I crossed the finish line in about 6:45. I wasn’t dissappointed by time, even though it is slow to some standards. I wasn’t racing for time, or a podium. Just to cross the finish line of my first 50 mile mountain bike race. I did it, and it felt great…

Matt ended up going out for the second lap, even though his bike was not functioning properly. He finished the race as well. Barely, because he collapsed as soon as he got to where I was sitting and it took a lot for me to get him up. Congrats to him for doing something so crazy and for surviving.

I ended up taking second place, and that is with riding with the number 666. I think it is just a myth that gets to people’s heads too much. It was my first ever race where I didn’t crash or have any sort of mechanical issue. Maybe it is my lucky number…

If only that luck could get rid of this darn cough… With still trying to get over the bronchitis, as well as inhaling dirt for the last almost 7 hours, my lungs were hating me and trying to get all the junk out and get air in. It was painful and continued all night and all weekend. It was hard to sleep, made all of my muscles ache and made me nauseaus. I couldn’t take it any more, so I called my step-mom to see if there were any more remedies for it, since the steroids and perscription cough medicince didn’t work… Luckily one of her friends was in town and she is a doctor. She ended up calling in another perscription for me, so now I am finally on antibiotics. God I hope it works this time. I am not sure I can survive another race feeling like this…