Eight months and one day after I broke my shoulder on that silly drop at Catawba / USNWC, I was able to ride it. I did two full laps and felt great. The silly place that I fell has been on m mind a lot lately. I'm riding again, I'm racing again, I'm even close to being allowed to fall again, but I haven't ridden at Catawba since the accident. In between surgeries I went out there and couldn't do it. Looked at the drop and freaked out.
Today started out the same. I almost rode at Sherman instead, just to do something safe and easy. But then my friend Elsa posted that she was heading at to Catawba to do two laps. So I jumped on the opportunity to ride with someone and follow someone down that drop. Maybe then I could do it.
Turns out Elsa wanted me to lead. Okay, not what I had planned, but what the heck. So we rode for about 10 minutes and headed up the rocky climb leading to the drop. I told myself, if I make the climb, do the drop. Then I said stop and look first. Those two thought went back and forth the entire time we road. I'm surprised I didn't slam into a tree with my head spinning like that.
Anyway, I made it up the climb, super easy, slowed down at the precipice of the drop, laughed and rolled it. What I remember being so far down looked like about 3 inches with my new 29er wheels. Then I yelled woo hoo and road happily with that checked off my list.
I know it sounds silly, but this was a huge step for me. Oh and by the way, my new bike is so fast. The hills at Catawba seemed to melt away. I so love my new Superfly!
Friday, April 29, 2011
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Superfly Chicks
I found a great partner for the 6 Hour Grind on the Greenway race: Elsa Lee. She also happens to have a GF Superfly Elite bike, just like mine. It's a 15.5 too. After hmm-ing and ha-ing over whether or not to race because of the muddy conditions, we registered the morning of the race. This was my first duo race ever! Since it was Elsa's first endurance event, everyone said I should let her do the first lap because it would be great experience.
Not only did Elsa get to battle all the guys at the start, but she also got to do the wet, slippery lap. So that was a slow one. By the time I did my first lap, the trail had dried out nicely. I had a super fun fast lap. The race was at a trail called Ann Springs. There are only endurance races held at this trail, 6 hour and 12 hour races. And since I always do them solo, I do my laps at an endurance pace. This was the first time I rode this course at a sprint pace, or at least a sprint pace for me.
It was so much fun fast, so different, so smooth. I love this course with speed. I passed about 25 guys and a few girls on my first lap. And after I finished up, I saw that we were in 2nd place by just a few seconds. Wow, pretty cool considering we weren't even going to race just a few hours ago. Can you tell I was pretty happy hanging out in the Mowery's tent after the first lap?
Elsa's 2nd lap was much faster than her first and we were still withing minutes of the first place team. Isn't she cute?
After my 2nd lap, we finally made it to the top. Now we just had two more laps to keep it up. And we did. With smile till the end, Superfly Chicks won the Duo Female category.
I had such a blast doing fast laps and then hanging out in the pits and chatting with friends and other racers. And I couldn't have had a better partner. Thanks Elsa! I may have to do this duo thing again.
Not only did Elsa get to battle all the guys at the start, but she also got to do the wet, slippery lap. So that was a slow one. By the time I did my first lap, the trail had dried out nicely. I had a super fun fast lap. The race was at a trail called Ann Springs. There are only endurance races held at this trail, 6 hour and 12 hour races. And since I always do them solo, I do my laps at an endurance pace. This was the first time I rode this course at a sprint pace, or at least a sprint pace for me.
It was so much fun fast, so different, so smooth. I love this course with speed. I passed about 25 guys and a few girls on my first lap. And after I finished up, I saw that we were in 2nd place by just a few seconds. Wow, pretty cool considering we weren't even going to race just a few hours ago. Can you tell I was pretty happy hanging out in the Mowery's tent after the first lap?
Elsa's 2nd lap was much faster than her first and we were still withing minutes of the first place team. Isn't she cute?
After my 2nd lap, we finally made it to the top. Now we just had two more laps to keep it up. And we did. With smile till the end, Superfly Chicks won the Duo Female category.
I had such a blast doing fast laps and then hanging out in the pits and chatting with friends and other racers. And I couldn't have had a better partner. Thanks Elsa! I may have to do this duo thing again.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
First Summer Series Race
We're so lucky here in Charlotte to have a great summer mountain bike race series The series alternates between four parks on Wednesday nights for 16 races from April to September with a week off in between. Tonight the series kicked off at Francis Beatty Park, or fancy baby park as we call it.
My new bike wasn't ready for it's first race. I didn't have time to convert the tires to tubeless, or even cut down the handlebars. I had barely ridden it. And you know what they say, don't try anything new during a race.
To be fair, I used to take this series pertty seriously, hated to miss a race, and pre-rode the course each Tuesday religiously. But after racing Sport my first year and Super Sport my second, and winning each class, there was no where to go. So a few years ago I started racing with the Sport men. It's fun and competitive, but not the same as racing against girls.
Anyway, so a new, not dialed in bike for this race is only half crazy. And by half, I mean only my left handle bar end clipped a tree FOUR times, three on the first lap. But hey, at least it wasn't my right shoulder. And the high pressure in my tubed tires didn't really help me bouncing off trees either.
All my fault. Still the 29er wheels cornered so well and flew up the little climbs. I can't wait to get the bike dialed in. The 6 Hours Grind on the Greenway in on Saturday and I'm still looking for a partner.
My new bike wasn't ready for it's first race. I didn't have time to convert the tires to tubeless, or even cut down the handlebars. I had barely ridden it. And you know what they say, don't try anything new during a race.
To be fair, I used to take this series pertty seriously, hated to miss a race, and pre-rode the course each Tuesday religiously. But after racing Sport my first year and Super Sport my second, and winning each class, there was no where to go. So a few years ago I started racing with the Sport men. It's fun and competitive, but not the same as racing against girls.
Anyway, so a new, not dialed in bike for this race is only half crazy. And by half, I mean only my left handle bar end clipped a tree FOUR times, three on the first lap. But hey, at least it wasn't my right shoulder. And the high pressure in my tubed tires didn't really help me bouncing off trees either.
All my fault. Still the 29er wheels cornered so well and flew up the little climbs. I can't wait to get the bike dialed in. The 6 Hours Grind on the Greenway in on Saturday and I'm still looking for a partner.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Stump Jump Race
This is usually one of my favorites. The Stump Jump course is super fast, really flowy, almost no climbing, and just so fun. This year I didn't get a chance to preride. But that wasn't the only change. This year was crazy...
My entire family raced. My son Jack, who will be three at the end of August raced in the 3-6 y/o class at 9am. He loved it and was so cute. I could not have enjoyed myself more. You can see pics on Jack's Baby Blog.
At 9:30am hubby raced in the Clydesdale category and Jack and I cheered him on. Finally it was my turn and to be honest, I wasn't ready to race. We woke up so early to make the kids race, and I missed out on a warm-up, but what the heck.
We were there and I love this course. After a quick trip to the restroom, I just made it to the start line. And there was a huge group of girls. I think I counted 20 between the pros and experts. I got a decent start but was sucking wind on the gravel climb without a warm up and entered the single track towards the back of the pack. Then I started passing a few girls. Within minutes the single speed guys were on us, then the sport men. It was crazy and there was no where to pass. After I rubbed elbows and handle bars with a few guys nearly crashing, I realized I couldn't take the chance and race in this traffic. So I slowed down a bit and pulled over to let guys pass. It felt safer. But still there were so many guys. Eventually a few girls even went by. I was just getting freaked out by all the other riders. Weird, I know.
Anyway, there went my race. I finished three laps at an easy, comfortable pace just having fun, chatting with the other slow racers. I guess this means I'm not quite ready for prime time. I'm definitely not aggressive anymore on the bike and I just won't take a chance of some stupid guy falling on my or knocking me over with a bad pass. Maybe I'm a wuss. But until June, this is where I'm at. 17th out of 20 to be exact.
My entire family raced. My son Jack, who will be three at the end of August raced in the 3-6 y/o class at 9am. He loved it and was so cute. I could not have enjoyed myself more. You can see pics on Jack's Baby Blog.
At 9:30am hubby raced in the Clydesdale category and Jack and I cheered him on. Finally it was my turn and to be honest, I wasn't ready to race. We woke up so early to make the kids race, and I missed out on a warm-up, but what the heck.
We were there and I love this course. After a quick trip to the restroom, I just made it to the start line. And there was a huge group of girls. I think I counted 20 between the pros and experts. I got a decent start but was sucking wind on the gravel climb without a warm up and entered the single track towards the back of the pack. Then I started passing a few girls. Within minutes the single speed guys were on us, then the sport men. It was crazy and there was no where to pass. After I rubbed elbows and handle bars with a few guys nearly crashing, I realized I couldn't take the chance and race in this traffic. So I slowed down a bit and pulled over to let guys pass. It felt safer. But still there were so many guys. Eventually a few girls even went by. I was just getting freaked out by all the other riders. Weird, I know.
Anyway, there went my race. I finished three laps at an easy, comfortable pace just having fun, chatting with the other slow racers. I guess this means I'm not quite ready for prime time. I'm definitely not aggressive anymore on the bike and I just won't take a chance of some stupid guy falling on my or knocking me over with a bad pass. Maybe I'm a wuss. But until June, this is where I'm at. 17th out of 20 to be exact.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Superfly Elite
I know, I know. You are remembering correctly that I did decide to order the Top Fuel. But then I got a chance to ride a Superfly Elite at the race in Danville and I had to have one. And Trek was nice enough to let me change my mind. So here she is...
Thanks to Anthony, Brandon, and Rob at the Trek Store for getting her together so quickly!
I took her out for a short ride at my local trail, FB, just to ger her dialed in. So far, I need to trim the handle bars and make the tires tubeless so I can drop the air pressure. Overall the ride was awesome; cornered so well and climbed like a rocket.
My next race is Sunday. Not sure if she'll be race ready by then. Either way, so excited to finally have my bike!
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Work
I guess it's time to say this out loud. After almost four years of being a lazy bum, biker mom, I got a job. A real job. A full time job as on April 4th. What does this mean? Less time for riding, training (cough, cough), and racing. And more money for bike stuff. If I had to chose???
Well here I am, employed. I won't bore you with the details of my job. In short I'll be selling Leica microscopy products in North and South Carolina. This means lots of driving, customer visits, demos, installations, and computer work at night when I get home.
Then time to make sure my kid remember what I look like, say hey to hubby, and do it again.
Timing, well it's prefect really in every way, expect that I wish I had time to get back to 100% before I started this venture. Right now I feel like I'm at about 70%. And adding in a new job is definitely going to slow down my recovery.
Oh well, such is life. In time, this will all be a little blip. So if you don't hear from me often, know I'm most likely working, not riding :(.
Well here I am, employed. I won't bore you with the details of my job. In short I'll be selling Leica microscopy products in North and South Carolina. This means lots of driving, customer visits, demos, installations, and computer work at night when I get home.
Then time to make sure my kid remember what I look like, say hey to hubby, and do it again.
Timing, well it's prefect really in every way, expect that I wish I had time to get back to 100% before I started this venture. Right now I feel like I'm at about 70%. And adding in a new job is definitely going to slow down my recovery.
Oh well, such is life. In time, this will all be a little blip. So if you don't hear from me often, know I'm most likely working, not riding :(.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Tsali
Friday night I rode the local trail where I first learned to ride, FB. I finally felt like I got my legs back. It felt good to sprint and go fast. This gave me high hopes for this weekend's race.
Saturday morning I drove up to Tsali with a friend for race number 4 in the Southern Classic Series. We prerode a full lap of the course, 15 miles. There were real climbs that made my legs burn and some crazy downhills. But mostly it was some fun, smooth and fast riding. And Tsali was bone dry. In the 5 years or so since I have ridden there, it has never been so dry, or so fast. It was so much fun. And the weather was perfect, just a little chilly.
On Sunday, race day, it was super cold. I think it was 36 when we started. Yikes. I wore a long sleeve Under Armor shirt under my jersey. I got a decent start and was taking it pretty easy at the beginning of the race, knowing I had two laps, 30 miles, to do. But after the first climb, it became obvious that some girls were just too slow. And on the first downhills, they were even slower. Weird. So I passed 4 girls pretty quickly. Then a few more later on.
About half way through the first lap, some sport guys started to catch up and pass us. I witnessed two bad sport men crashes that I had to wade through and cost me some time. But I finally warmed up and got into a grove and was able to hang with some of them and really make up some time and distance on the girls behind me. I was really cruising, standing up most of the ride, really going fast, for me at least. Then all of the sudden the lap is over, and the sport guys are done..... And I have another 15 miles to go. Uh oh.
I start the gravel rode climb into the single track to start my second lap and I am tired. I am really thirsty (not having had any water yet), and all of the sudden I realize I am really hot. Apparently it warmed up to the mid 70's by the end of the race.
Anyway, I don't feel like I can stop to drink. And even though I don't see any of the other girls I know they're not that far behind me. So I push on. After about five miles they catch up to me. So I slow to take a sip of water, knowing that I'm losing it. It helped for a while. But then one girl went by. So I took another drink. And that helped again. But with five miles left to go, I completely bonked. And all the girls went by me. I held on for a while, but then realized I was empty.
At the finish there's a short steep little climb that I usually just stand up for. I tried that at the end of the race and my left quad froze up and I almost fell over.
I really have to get this hydration thing figured out. I still don't feel comfortable wearing a camel back over my shoulder. And I am way too uncoordinated to drink from a bottle with any sort of speed. Maybe a waist camel back? It's not getting any cooler!
Saturday morning I drove up to Tsali with a friend for race number 4 in the Southern Classic Series. We prerode a full lap of the course, 15 miles. There were real climbs that made my legs burn and some crazy downhills. But mostly it was some fun, smooth and fast riding. And Tsali was bone dry. In the 5 years or so since I have ridden there, it has never been so dry, or so fast. It was so much fun. And the weather was perfect, just a little chilly.
On Sunday, race day, it was super cold. I think it was 36 when we started. Yikes. I wore a long sleeve Under Armor shirt under my jersey. I got a decent start and was taking it pretty easy at the beginning of the race, knowing I had two laps, 30 miles, to do. But after the first climb, it became obvious that some girls were just too slow. And on the first downhills, they were even slower. Weird. So I passed 4 girls pretty quickly. Then a few more later on.
About half way through the first lap, some sport guys started to catch up and pass us. I witnessed two bad sport men crashes that I had to wade through and cost me some time. But I finally warmed up and got into a grove and was able to hang with some of them and really make up some time and distance on the girls behind me. I was really cruising, standing up most of the ride, really going fast, for me at least. Then all of the sudden the lap is over, and the sport guys are done..... And I have another 15 miles to go. Uh oh.
I start the gravel rode climb into the single track to start my second lap and I am tired. I am really thirsty (not having had any water yet), and all of the sudden I realize I am really hot. Apparently it warmed up to the mid 70's by the end of the race.
Anyway, I don't feel like I can stop to drink. And even though I don't see any of the other girls I know they're not that far behind me. So I push on. After about five miles they catch up to me. So I slow to take a sip of water, knowing that I'm losing it. It helped for a while. But then one girl went by. So I took another drink. And that helped again. But with five miles left to go, I completely bonked. And all the girls went by me. I held on for a while, but then realized I was empty.
At the finish there's a short steep little climb that I usually just stand up for. I tried that at the end of the race and my left quad froze up and I almost fell over.
I really have to get this hydration thing figured out. I still don't feel comfortable wearing a camel back over my shoulder. And I am way too uncoordinated to drink from a bottle with any sort of speed. Maybe a waist camel back? It's not getting any cooler!
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