Sunday, September 30, 2007

The Training wheels are off!

Tyrine spent the weekend at Shevagas learning the course. We met up with Team Pedal Moraine for some weekend fun on the trails. Some of us have been riding the course prior to this ride and had some really radical skills going into the single track and it was scaring the shit out of me. First, my tires were at 40 PSI thanks to Captain Candy and on top of that there were tubes in them to make riding the roots more like bouncing guitar strings. I always have to learn the course before I can go balls to the wall but everyone else forgets, including my husband. I know we went out to the Sheboygan course to ride with the others, but if I can't keep up, I CAN'T. After taking that nasty spill the other night when I got scared by MAN BEAR PIG and nearly cracked my head open, thanks to the helmet for saving some of the blondness :) I was a bit on edge on my first lap at Shevagas and I am not afraid to admit it. MTB Girl was taking corners and flying down the roots like butter as I was trying to stay alive behind her. I finally gave up and decided I wanted to ride by myself until I get this course right on my own time and not race pace. Even Captain was upset with me telling me to go faster and stop whining but I was just not having a good day until I was warmed up and I don't know why everyone else did not understand. Needless to say, after a lap or two I was warmed up and ready to try some new things since I would like to move up to expert in the near future. I might as well suck it up and practice my technique now or never and that is what I did to make my self feel a bit better on Saturdays ride.



If you can conquer this part of the hill it is a breeze after that.



I would not try this if you have hemorrhoids.


It is not as bad as I thought and you really have to concentrate on what you are doing. The most unpleasant part is the seat if almost in my throat and it makes pedaling a bit tricky. Saturday's ride was very quiet and Sunday's race will be a whole new ballgame. We will see if I can repeat these efforts.
After wards, we headed over to Kevin and Amy's for some Two Buck Chuck and a tire change. Although Kevin gave us the two cent tour of Grafton with the five hundred thousand dollar condos that align the river and the new Alterra Coffee Shop just around the corner. We drank to our expensive weekend and better times ahead! That's another story you can ask Captain or Kevin about.

Friday, September 28, 2007

Pedal Moraine Night Ride

West Bend Sunset
We had the single track Nazi with us last night
there in the green jacket.

When it is this dark anything can happen and it did, I demonstrated
a perfect 360 degree flip and scored a 10.
Lots of fun last night and perfect weather, not too warm or cold.
Again, dinner at the Nigh's was scrumptious and Matt's chicken salad was delicious too.
You all don't know what your missing.



Monday, September 24, 2007

Tater Bake pics


Finally, after numerous attempts to up load 2GB of pics on to Flickr it is done. I hope some of you guys appreciate it. Never the less, it's good practice for me. I have no time to sort these, don't complain they are free. The Gym, adventure 212 pictures are from the new facility that Chris and Michelle built, it is totally awesome. Check it out at www.adventure212.com


enjoy!


Round two IOLA

Saturday morning we headed up to IOLA to pre-ride the course with Team Pedal Moraine. I was told the first lap was going to be hard and the second lap would be a bit easier since we were taking the Virgin out for a ride. I personally think the Virgin has graduated at the Subaru Cup Pre-ride and can she learn to suffer with the rest of us. We hit the start hills hard and I was lagging behind after the last big climb.
We had the opportunity to stay with Michelle and Chris at their parents home in Point and it sure was a nice treat! No one felt like cooking so we had our pre-race dinner at Grazies' Italian Grill. The food is great and it is made from scratch with fresh ingredients, so yummy!

After dinner we headed to adventure 212 fitness and spa center to take a look around. Chris and Michelle just had their grand opening and they already have over five hundred members. This club is one of the coolest I have seen here in the mid-west. As you can see in the picture, Greg Duckett is making a bucket. This gym has a lot to offer and you can't beat the price. If you live in the area, I would definitely check it out! http://www.adventure212.com/


Race day! You could of not asked for a more perfect day for racing, blue skies and a dry course. Brittany decided to nail it at the start and as you can see, some of the girls were looking at her knowing she was on a mission.

There she goes...



I was not sure what to expect and knew that it will be pure suffering to try to catch her. The start has at least six hills and then you still get no break when you hit the single track. I could not wait to crest the top of that nasty gravel first climb. I think everyone was giving it a 100% and it seemed everyone was steady and fast on the climbs.
Finally a bit of relief on the descents as we headed for the bowl as I got ready to try my hardest to catch the lead.
The pressure was on as I was going into the next climb, I got behind Sonia and pedaled for mercy to keep up and try to keep the leaders in sight. I think we were in the top 5 for a bit through the first lap. I could finally see Brittany and Sarah in the distance and Meg somewhere in there too. I am not good at remembering everything when I am redlining it but I was in good position. Going into the second lap was kinda a blurr and when I hit the steep decent to then use momentum to climb the steep hill I biffed it at the top, I was in the wrong gear and fell over. That took a bit of energy out of me and someone passed, I think it was Lindsey, UGH! I continued to hang on and persevere. The lactic acid was building up in my legs and the fatigue of race #3 in row was a showdown to myself. The burning continued as I slowed my pace a bit and others started to catch me. I don't remember much other than as they passed saying hi. I had no efforts in me to try to catch them and I felt at least happy for them that they were keeping the pressure on the lead. The race was very interesting as positions changed on each lap. I had no idea where I was in position from the leader and I knew that I slipped back allot. I think someone shouted out 3 seconds and I started laughing since I could not see anyone ahead of me anymore. As much as I really wanted a nice overall finish, it was just not my day and I don't take for granted those days when I do feel great. You got to take them when you get um and run with it! I am at least happy that I improved my time from the first Iola race by seven minutes, it's proof I am not that OLD yet :) I really had fun racing this past weekend even though I was exhausted afterwards and it was even better seeing all of you girls out there! I can't wait to Shevagas, see ya there!
Thanks again for all the cheers and motivating shouts! I always appreciate it!


Keeping the focus




Great job Jeff !



Eleven down, one more to go.




This looks relaxing, must be a "new thing" to do.

Saturday, September 22, 2007

OFF TO IOLA

GROUP PIC FROM MAY 2007
Ten races down, two to go for the WORS Season. Seems like yesterday we were just starting the year off with excitement! I hope everyone can squeeze in some more fun for the next two races! Good Luck!

Friday, September 21, 2007

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Group Rides

What's wrong with this picture?

Double Rainbow on our Thursday night ride
near Concordia College.


Yummy Pot Roast Dinner at the Nigh's
After a fun night ride at Glacial Blue Trials last night.
I vote we do this every week!




One thing I like about group rides is the socialization, not that I don't get enough especially after this past weekend. We always have fun no matter what the conditions are, rain, Mosquitos, wind, rainbows, snow, idiot drivers... I think it is all about hanging out with similar people like myself who like to stay fit, have fun and enjoy a bit of what life has to offer, THE GREAT OUTDOORS!



Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Quote of the Day

"To be a cyclist is to be a student of pain....at cycling's core lies pain, hard and bitter as the pit inside a juicy peach. It doesn't matter if you're sprinting for an Olympic medal, a town sign, a trailhead, or the rest stop with the homemade brownies. If you never confront pain, you're missing the essence of the sport. Without pain, there's no adversity. Without adversity, no challenge. Without challenge, no improvement. No improvement, no sense of accomplishment and no deep-down joy. Might as well be playing Tiddly-Winks."

Scott Martin

Monday, September 17, 2007

Post depression Cheq Fat Tire








Friday was a long day following the drive up from Milwaukee to Cable, settling in, changing tires, socializing and pre-riding the back half of the Short & Fat Course with Anna's dad, Ted. This is the second year we stayed with Anna Fink's (now Ganju) parent's rented home for the Cheq Fat Tire weekend. This is her dad's 23rd year, I believe, doing the Fat Tire race (most of them were the 40 miler) and renting this same home for all these years which is nicely located at the finish of the race course at Telemark. So Ted and I headed out late Friday afternoon and we made our way up and down the back half of the hilliest part of the Short and Fat course. The ground was pretty hard and the grassy sections were dry and you could not ask for better conditions. We put in a few good efforts and then reviewed the start, knowing there was at least 4 miles of pavement and hard packed gravel roads to deal with. We discussed some race tactics and headed home.









Who invented DUCT TAPE anyway?








Mother Nature can twist your plans






Methane Gas Chamber
Enter at your own risk!

The discussion that night as activities were winding down was what to wear for the race. Cable was getting their first frost that evening with temps dipping down into the thirties. Many people we ran into at Telemark while picking up our BIBS were talking a about how cold it is going to be and that they did not prepare to bring the proper cold weather attire. Dirt Rag vender's were there selling wool bike socks as well as Hayes sponsors had wool jerseys for sale. I am sure there was plenty money spent on last minute cold weather items in the local area that evening and early Saturday morning. Back at the house all of us were pulling out our cold weather gear and some of us packed last minute and did not prepare to what was inevitable. It was almost like a fashion show tossing ideas around. After having my big toe nearly stay frozen after a hot shower following my pre-ride, I knew the toes were going to be a big issue for me come tomorrow morning. I did not bring my winter shoe covers so I opted for a rig job with duct tape and luckily there was a large roll in the work shop. Now I was set! I brought the Craft wool layer long sleeved shirt and my winter leggings and Craft wool socks so I was pretty set to face the low temps come the morning.



TED




I heard the alarm go off and the boys were off to set up their bikes at the start. I could hear them trying to wake up Sanjay, pounding on his door at least 3 times, I was like WTF!? I think the poor soul was jet lagged from flying in from Phoenix for the weekend. I finally rolled out of bed by 7:00 AM and there was already a crowd in the kitchen. I started my coffee, Alterra French Roast while another no name brewed in the other corner. I don't know how many times I was asked by the Mikey if the coffee was ready. You would think we were having withdrawals. I stuck with the basics this morning and only had ONE cup of coffee in hope to avoid an upset stomach while racing. It sure is fun on race morning hanging with the guys and letting them pick on me, I love it! We all for the most part sure do get on each others nerves but in the end we love the camaraderie.

Nine O'clock came around the corner and the house started to get quieter as people headed out to warm up and get to the start line. Ted and I were the last one's to leave since we were doing the short and fat race and it was just a few miles from the house which ends up to be a good warm up ride. We were ready to hit the door as I strapped on my camel back, I noted one of the buckles was missing, UGH! Ted luckily cannibalized Carlos's camel back he left behind and we rigged that up to fit nice and snug on me. By now, we were both sweating in all all gear. The ride up to the start was nice and relaxing and it really was not that cold as expected and the sun was shining and not a cloud in the sky, perfect day for a race! We had about 30 minutes to go from the start and it was starting to get warm, racers starting peeling off the layers. I was able to place my bike second row dead center at the start next to Jay and Nate, so that calmed my nerves a bit that I knew someone in this crowd of unknowns. It is pretty nice to not know any competitors and it is all about racing the clock. I stood in line for the bathroom and while waiting, contemplated on weather or not to peel off the winter leggings that I had on under my riding shorts. I decided not too take them off knowing how cold the air will be riding at 15-20+ MPH at the start, which turned out to be a good choice. The winds were from the south west, heading right in our faces at the start.


Nerves were getting high minutes before the start when some unknown racer had his bike still tipped upside down in the front row and he or she was nowhere to be found. Get that F***** bike out of here, I heard in the crowd. Just one minute before the start the owner showed up ready to go. The gun went off and we hit the pavement and were flying. Click, click and Nate was off like Superman! I swear we were going MACH 5 down that road and the pack was not too bad, not too tight and everyone appeared to be experienced racers and it was smooth transitions in and around others with no problems. The speed intensified more and more as I struggled to keep with the top 50 or so riders in front. The pace continued to pull harder and harder as I hung on for dear life at the end, eventually popping off and starting my own rhythm. I kept a good pace and dug deep on that first climb or two. Ted came by somewhere on one of those climbs and I tried to grab his wheel but he was really keeping a nice pace and I could not hang on and he was off into the horizon. It seemed all of a sudden after almost redlining it for the first couple of miles there was all this nice down hill recovery and it sure was a nice surprise! I was now warmed up and ready to really push it the best I could. There were some really great areas to hammer and really great fast downhill descents that I had a blast with. Six miles or so into the course and the grassy hills come into play one after another and now the fun starts to fade and more suffering continues. A few girls caught me and I fought back. This went on for awhile and there was one girl I tried desperately to catch but she was better on the climbs overall and got away. We finally were getting to the last few miles as I remember from the pre-ride, so now I had a picture of what was in store. I tired to suck it up as much as possible and passing chains of guys in the somewhat of a single track to create a gap between me and some others that were chasing. The final climb came into view and I saw some girls ahead. Thanks to the cheers form friends and Anna's encouragement to put it in the big chain ring, (RIGHT) and catch them, I was able to pull out some snot and sprint to the finish.

Picture Curteousy of Velogrrl

A great time with friends this weekend at a great event in the north woods! I truly love this event and all the stuff that goes with the weekends festivities. I am struggling with stomach issues pre and post race and find it more difficult to find what to do, or NOT to do. I never had these issues before and ended up sick after this race from mixing too many different foods post race with a glass or to of vino to celebrate and missed probably one of the most exciting award ceremonies ever, for me at least. I could barley drag myself to Party Central to wish Russell a Happy Birthday as I ended up going back to the house to puke and go to bed for the rest of the night. I hope you all had fun, especially at the BON FIRE!

BIRTHDAY BOY






Congratulations to everyone who raced! You are all winners!


Last but not least! A big congratulations to TY for finishing under his goal time for the 40 miler of 2:40!

and the winners are...


Awesome trails at Rock Lake!

Sunday before we all headed back home after a great race weekend at the Fat Tire Festival
we headed out to Rock Lake to ride some really awesome technical trails. If you ever get a chance to get up to Chequamegon National Forest, you need to check out these trails, they are truly beautiful and way fun to ride.










Sunday, September 16, 2007

Fat Tire Results 2007

Short and Fat Results
2nd in age
9th overall
Beat my time by 5 minutes or so
Pictures and stories later