My Review of Superfly Elite

Originally submitted at Trek

Superfly Elite

Amazing for barely 5'3 female racer!

By Tassles from Charlotte, NC on 9/26/2011

 

5out of 5

Pros: Smooth ride, Lightweight, Comfortable, Fast, Handles Well, Good Geometry, Corners Well

Best Uses: Descending, Cross Country, Xterra, Single Track, Climbing, Endurance Racing, Trail Riding

Describe Yourself: Competitive Cyclist

Was this a gift?: No

I love, love, love this bike! And I've owned a Trek Top Fuel 9.9SSL in the past. So you could say I've been spoiled:)! As a barely 5'3" female, I thought I'd have have to go custom to get a high end 29er race bike, but the 15.5inch frame fit me so well. I adore the ride. The 29er wheels on this super light frame make me feel like I'm floating over the trails. The ride is so smooth. And the big wheels corner so well. Don't just try a 29er. Try THIS 29er!

Superfly Elite Shines on Race Day

Tags: Picture of Product, Using Product, Made with Product

(legalese)

Southern Classic Season Finale

The season finale race was at Dark Mountain.  With dry conditions I harldy recongnized the course compared to the sloppy mess I endured for 24 hours at the BURN.  So I went out a little fast and couldn't keep my pace for three laps.

Stil I finished smiling as always.  It was an awesome end to a great season.  I am still so grateful to just be riding, let alone racing.

And even recovering from two shoulder surgeries, I managed to eek out second place overall in the expert women category.  (No they wouldn't wait for me to finish cleaning up and get dressed after showering!)

Thanks to the Trek Mountain Co-op and the Trek Store Charlotte for an incredible season!  Looking forward to next year...

My Little Dirt Dude Is Three

 Jack's so pround he can put both his bikes in the bike rack.

So proud he had to show some skin.

Happy Birthday Little Dude!

Sizzler Race

This morning, we had great cool weather for a 9am start at the Sizzler race.  Here's the female expert line up:

Can you tell Cliff Bar Giordana had a stacked field?

I got a good start and was in the lead for about a microsecond.  And then the girls with the big legs passed me like I was riding backwards.

Meanwhile, my biggest fan couldn't decide if he wanted to ride with pedals or stride.

He opted for the Strider, as usual.

And I enjoyed four laps on the trail.  When I pre-rode on Friday, it was dry and fast.  I was bunny hopping all the root piles.  Of course it poured on Saturday, so the course was brand new to me for the race.  I went into the woods third, but soon fell back to fourth.  I fought hard to get back to third but wasn't able to keep that lead for long.  Finally on the third lap, I got back in third place, and saw the girl in second not too far ahead.  So I gave it my all and got into second place towards the end of the third lap.

I was able to increase my lead in the last section and flew around the lake to start the fourth and last lap.  I was feeling really good, pretty confident that I could stay in second place.  A few minutes later, I got back into the single track and reached the slippery bridge they warned us of at the start.  I slowed down like I had the last three laps and a guy standing in the area directed me to ride around the bridge in the mud.  I declined, said I'm okay, and slipped right off the bridge...OUCH!  I got up, moaned and then realized my chain had fallen off.  After some tugging, I got it back on, and rode through my bruises.  I had lost a lot of time and new my lead was greatly diminished.

After a few minutes, the pain had subsided and I was pack up at pace.  Then all of the sudden, I got starving, not just hungry, but completely empty.  Oops.  All that jockeying back and forth and fighting in the woods ha made me forget to GU.  And now I felt like I didn't have time.  So I put my head down and just focused on finishing. 

And I did.  2nd place.  Woo Hoo.  At least one place on the podium was not Cliff Bar Giordana ;).

I was so hungry at the end, that I thought I was going to be sick.  I ate half a banana in one bite.  Yum!

Here we are at the end, friends, Dirt Divas, and competitors.  Always friends!

Pedals

This awesome Trek Jet 12 has been collecting dust in my garage for months now, while the tires on Jack's Strider have lost all their tread.  My son won't even try the pedal bike.  But then I had the genius idea of taking the training wheels off and he hopped right on.

Duh!

Fontana Dam Jam

Lesson learned:  If you haven't ridden at a very technical course in the mountains with crazy down hills in over four years, do not skip the pre-ride, wake up at 4am the morning of the race, drive four hours, and expect to do well.  Still I got a good work-out, enjoyed a fun ride and feel super skinny!

Race with a Happy Ending

Tonight after the Summer Series Race at Francis Beatty Park, hubby brought the boy out to cheer me on.

Yup, even an almost three year old on a Strider can pass me.  I'm having quite the season.  Just want till he gets pedals!

Consistency

Tonight we had a make up race at the White Water Center.  I did better at getting into the woods in front of the girl that help me up last race, but didn't feel quite as zippy as I did last week.  My tummy is not quite settled yet.  But I'm trying to ignore it.  Funny thing is that my time this week was 0.4 second slower than last week.  And I felt like I was dragging, and slow, and hungry.  But in the end I was pretty consistent.

Back in the Game

I'm still not totally sure what happened to my stomach during the Xterra race.  I was sick for two more days, but am feeling better now.  I tried gluten free and that felt worse.  So instead of thinking of myself as lactose intolerant, I'm going to be allergic to dairy and see how that goes.  I'm thinking it may have been the frozen yogurt I had the night before the Xterra race that caused all my troubles.

Tonight I got back on my bike and tried to race.  It was a summer series race at the White Water Center.  There were 11 people in the Sport Men 45+ class that I race in, three girls.  I got a decent start, which means not last into the woods for me.  But then got held up on the single track for what felt like forever.  I was behind a guy and he was behind another girl.  And she would not let us pass until we hit the fire road, several minutes later.  I wasn't pedaling much and braking way too much.  It was pretty painful.

When we hit the fire road, I passed both of them and took off.  I felt pretty good, considering I forgot my camel back and was taking a few sips from my water bottle when I could.  I passed two guys in my class toward the end of my race and was feeling great.  But then about a 100 feet from the finish a little boy pulled out in front of me, and I had to swerve to avoid him and those two guys went by.  So I came in 6th.  I should have been 4th.

The poor little kid came and apologized after the race.  It was pretty cute.  Anyway, I'm just happy to be riding and racing again.   And glad my tummy can hold food.

Swim, Bike, Nausea, Run, Walk, Puke, Crawl

That's pretty much how the Whitewater Xterra went for me this year.  So you don't really need to read on.

But just in case you're interested....  Last July I did my first Xterra race at the US National Whitewater Center here in Charlotte.  I didn't know how to swim and signed up the day before the race just for fun.  I was second to last out of the water, but was 5th female finisher overall, and won my age group.  Shocker for me.  I was ten minutes behind the first place female and two minutes behind the fourth place girl.  Not bad for my first race.

And when I say I can't swim, I mean I really don't know how.  I did the breast stroke the entire 750 meters.  Yes, it was very tiring!

After last years race I fell in love and had high hopes of focusing on Xterra races this year.  I even planned to take some swim lessons.  I was 9 minutes behind the winner on the swim, beat her on the bike, then was a bit slower on the run.  So with any effort at all, I could be good at this.

But then I broke my shoulder and all my plans went out the window.  So here I was, one year later thinking about doing the race the night before....

Oh what the heck, I can't do much worse.  Little did I know...

Anyway, not having swam once since last year, my plan was just to get through the swim.  And I did.  I felt better this year, knowing at least what to expect and feeling okay about being almost last out of the water.

After I jumped out of the Catawba river, I put on my Keens and ran hand over foot up the rocky hill, around the pond, and then climbed up onto the island, ran down, kicked off my shoes, and swam across the white water pond.  Yup, this is Xterra!

Oh the joy of starting to pedal.  It was like all became right with the world.  And the bike course was longer this year, huge bonus for me. 

As soon as I entered the downhill into the singletrack, I had to dodge four walkers...ugh!  Then I passed about 50 people on my first lap.  It was fun and wild.  When you pass that many people it gives you the illusion of speed.  I'll take it.

Sadly about 20 minutes into my first lap, I started feeling nauseous.  So I took a sip of Gatorade/water from my camel back and it felt worse.  Uh oh, this was bad.  I pushed as hard as I could without feeling more sick.  I slowed down on my second lap to avoid getting sicker, all the while so dreading the run to come.

Like all good things, the bike finally did have to come to and end.  I should have ridden slower.  In the transition I felt really sick but found out I was running third or fourth overall. I did my best to change and get going, but I was slow.  I tried to run, but it made me feel sicker.  I did my best to run 20 paces and walk 10 all the while trying to keep my stomach contents down. 

After two miles of walk/jogging, the first girl passed me.  And that really hurt.  And that was just the beginning.  More girls went by and  I couldn't run to save my life.  Finally after mile 3, I puked several times, even through my nose.  For a minute or so I felt better.  I was even able to run for like a hundred feet.

Then I think the dehydration finally hit me and I started feeling woozy.  And yes, girls were still passing.  I stopped counting after 10.  At mile four, I sat down at the water station and the aides poured five cups of water on my head.  I wanted to quit.  I was done.  I really felt dead.

Meanwhile I knew my biggest fan was waiting for me to cross the finish line.

So I got up and did just that, crawled my way to the finish.  Even second before the end three more girls passed me, that really sucked!

I managed a smile for the finish.

And then puked some more.  And more and more and then even more the next day.  I got down to 102 pounds.  It was really ugly. 

I still finished third in my age group, but that is no consolation. I feel cheated.  I want a do-over.  I need a do-over.  And sooner than next year.

Crashsome Race

Some people call this Tiger Rag or the Clemson Race.  Not me.  And it started so well, oh so so well.  It may have been my best start ever.

After preriding the unmarked race course on Friday in a thunderstorm and getting totally lost, I didn't have high hopes for this race.  But I had to drive down to Atlanta Sunday for a meeting on Monday, so I really couldn't miss it.  I mean I was driving right by.

I lined up in a group of 16 girls, 3 of them pros.  It was almost laughable.  Not only am I going to start with the pros.  I'm going to race and be scored with them.  Hilarious!

So I lined up in the back and joked that I'd sweep.  Another girl chimed in that she'd join me.  This is going to be fun, right?

Ready, set, go!  We travel down the gravel road for a minute and then head into the single track and I find myself in like 5th place.  Wow, this is cool.  I've never felt like this before. The girls are pushing hard in front of me and even harder behind me. 

Watching them take turns at speed and float over terrain allowed me to do the same.  It felt like I was going faster than I ever had.  It was awesome.  I was able to maintain this position for several minutes up and down hills, through single track and gravel roads, I held my spot and felt so good.

I glided over a crazy, loose, wooden bridge that my friend warned me about.  Then we head up a narrow hill.  I'm right behind the girl in front of me, no problem.  She crashed, I hit her and fall over.  I can't get unclipped.  I'm stuck.  There's no room to get up without holding up traffic.  The entire field passed me.  I was so mad. I finally got up and ran my bike up the hill until I could get back on and ride.

After a few minutes I was able to pass some of the girls back and gain some momentum.  There were three laps, it was a long race.  So I just tried to keep my head down and focus.  At the beginning of the second lap, I had a little crash.  I got up tired to pedal and realized my chain was off.  It fell to the inside of the little ring (I run an XO 2x10) and got stuck.  I tugged and pulled with no luck.  I flipped my bike over and tried again.  At this point I am getting so frustrated watching girls go by me that I passed minutes ago.

After what felt like forever, a nice guy pulled over to help me and it even took him a few minutes to fix it.  When I first got back on my bike, I tried to push, convert my anger and frustration into energy.  That didn't work very well.  But still I tried. 

At the end of the that second lap, I was done, mentally and physically.  It as hot, it was humid, and I had lost my position in the race twice.  And yet I still had 9.5 miles of a 28.5 mile race to go.  I was bonking.  I did my best to finish and just be done.

I came in 11th out of 16.  Pretty sad.  I'm not sure if I could have held that great start, but it would have been nice to try.

Beech Mountain

Saturday morning, three other Dirt Divas and I packed and headed up to the mountains with our four bikes.  We were planning a little girl time, riding a new mountain trail, and a fun race Sunday.  Our cute little hotel had a beautiful view.

The entire area was gorgeous.

We arrived at the trail for our pre-ride at around 1pm.  After unloading all the bikes, we adjusted seats since they had to be moved to fit in the rack.  I set mine, tightened it a bit and went to test it, thinking it felt a little low last time I road.  When I got back from my little test ride, my friend had the tool, so I continued to get my riding gear on.  Then as everyone was ready to lock the car, I grabbed the tool real quick to tighten my seat post camp just a bit more.  In my haste, I wrenched a little too hard and stripped the screw.  UGH!!!

I rode to every bike shop tent set up at the race and no one has a seat post clamp my size.  I finally decided to go throw my seat back in the car and pre-ride standing.  As I rode into the parking lot, I scream at the top of my lungs, 'does anyone have a 36mm seat post clamp?'  And guess what I was offered one by a guy in the car across form me.  He took it off his wife's bike and it worked great.

So about a half an hour later, we began our pre-ride.  The course started up a long fire road, which I would normally be so slow on.  But after the whole seat post fiasco, I was so ecstatic that I flew up the hill.  Then we entered the single track, which was odd.  It was super narrow, mulch like, with tiny little roots everywhere that seemed to stick a few inches out of the mulch.  Just weird.  But fun and challenging because it was different.

Maybe 20 minutes into our ride, a loud wind swept through the trees, followed by...you guessed it...rain.  And like any first rain fall while riding, this rain felt good.  It was chilly, but so refreshing.  But unlike most trails, where they wouldn't become mud for a while, these mulchy trials became mud in just minutes.  I loved it.  In Charlotte we're not allowed to ride in the rain.  This was new, and so much fun.  The others didn't seem to think so though

As we popped out onto the road we were met by a truck that took us off the course because they were calling for hail.  So we only got to ride about half a lap.  Of course the hail never came and the weather actually cleared up in the evening.

We shared a sweet bottle of wine at a wine bar before dinner and then enjoyed a second bottle with dinner at a fabulous steak house with an amazing mountain view.  I had an awesome filet mignon.  And the apple strudel I ordered was actually served with bacon.  Really?  Yes, bacon dessert.  Ahem, this is a bike blog.

Okay, so the next morning, my two sport class friends left before I woke up because their race was at 10am.  As I opened my eyes, there was a huge storm overhead.  Ridiculous wind, rain, thunder, lightening.  The weather postponed their start till 11am.  They had a very muddy but at least dry race.  A little after 11am, the storm passed and we even got a little sunshine, well maybe I'm just remembering it with rose colored glasses. 

Only one of my sport friends raced.  The other decided to spare her bike the mud.  The expert race was scheduled to go off at 1pm.  My other expert friend and I were both undecided about racing.  I was okay with skipping it because I was worried about slipping unexpectedly and landing on my shoulder.  But I also felt like the weekend was a waste if I came all the way up and didn't race.  I mean I missed father's day and so miss my little Jackie.

Fortunately, my other expert friend decided to got for it!  About 12:20pm, we started prepping.  We each downed a Red Bull, ate a bagel, and got changed.  Then of course it start raining.  And raining hard.  And then the temperature dropped, a lot.  Brrr!  I actually asked a guy with an umbrella to walk me to the restroom since I was hiding under the tent staying dry.  All the other girls were riding around, warming up.  I stayed dry till the last second when they called us to the line.   Even then the umbrella guy escorted me to the start line and covered me until we went off. 

I stayed with the pack up the hill, but they dropped me in the single track, I mean slop.  It was 6 plus inches thick of just soupy mud.  Crazy, soupy, mulchy mud.  It was awesome.  It was laughable.  Really it was hysterical.  And of course I loved it.  On the first lap, I felt like I spent most of the time off my bike.  Lucky for me, I like to run.  So this wasn't so bad.  After just a few minutes I caught up to my friend who is much, much faster than me.  She was ready to DNF.  I was kind of having a blast so I tried to be supportive.  She offered to ride together.  But I new there was a long downhill switchback section coming up and I wasn't willing to risk riding it.  So I told her to keep going.  I walked most of it, fell down the rest.

But still it was so fun.  I was smiling and yelling and really, really happy.  At the start of the second lap, I felt even better and I finally started to get the hang of riding/sliding in the slop.  I went faster, crashed more, and got into the mud wrestling with myself thing. 

During the second lap I was able to ride the long downhill switch back section and that made me proud.  I only fell once.  I also made it up a lot more hills.  It helped that I wasn't in the big ring like on the first lap (DUH!).  I realized that every run up the unridable hills brought me closer to my super fast friend.  She walked, I ran.  At one point as she stopped to get mud off her bike, I ran past and opened up a nice gap.

As if I didn't love my bike enough already, it turns out it sheds mud and gunk really well.  All those full suspension bikes seemed to hold about 10 extra pounds of mud.  It was kind of funny.  I love my hardtail.  Can you tell?

About ten minutes from the end, I had my worst crash.  Not sure what happened, but I landed hard of my back and then hit my head.  I wasn't hurt, but my helmet broke.  I wanted to finish the race and not get disqualified.  So I tried to keep my helmet on my head as well as I could.  Here I am entering the last section of single track beore the finish.

This is one of the drier, less muddy, easy sections.

And then it was over.  I was happy, full of joy, accomplished.  It was a great race.

My finish?  I came in 5th our of 6 pro and expert women.  But only two of us were over 30, so I won  my class.  And I was only three minutes behind the teeny boppers.  So nothing to be embarrassed about.

It was a great girls weekend in the mountains, I mean MUD! 

Fisher Farm Race

My Trek Mountain Co-op teammate Jon Naylor was kind enough to drive us all the way up to Davidson for tonight's race.  It seems like I only make it up to Fisher Farm once a year, and always for a race.  It's a fun little course that I really do enjoy.  I took a little pressure out of my tires and the bike seemed to float over the rooty sections, which is about 80% of the trail.  It's a great power course, where you can stand up and hammer through the whole thing. 

We start up a crazy steep grassy hill and I got into the woods 2nd to last.  I'm not a fast starter, especially up hills.  But I did pass over 15 guys in the three laps we rode.  Unfortunately not many were in my class.  Even so, I ended up 6th out of 10.  And did I mention it was almost 100 degrees.  Summer in Charlotte, gotta love it.  Oh wait, it's not actually summer yet....so it will get hotter...

Two Extra Gears

Yes, that's what the new wheels feel like to me.  I raced Reni last night and came in 5th in the Sport Men's class.  And honestly I got a bad start (new shoes, new pedals, new clips...duh!)  Plus there was a train of slow big guys that didn't let me pass for almost 15 minutes.  And of course let's not forget the guy that crashed right in front of me just minutes before the end of the race.  Wow, I've really gone off on a tangent here.  What I meant to say is I really lost a lot of time and came in 5th.

The wheels felt great.  Obviously the lighter weight means faster climbing, easier starting, and better rolling.  And for me, at about 110 pounds these days, the were stiff and strong enough.  I am so happy with my choice.  Thanks Stan's!

But you know the best part....hubby got my old wheels.  They are Bontragger RXL which are pretty good.  And they were already set up tubeless with a beefy tire in the front and a race tire in the back.  So for him, on his GF X-Cal, my old wheels were a huge upgrade and his first feel of tubeless.  And he loves them!  Kid in a candy store loves them.  And that is the greatest feeling for me.  Win win, right?

Dropping Weight

My little surprise finally arrived...new wheels.  Really new, I mean not just new to me, but newly released.  They're Stan's NoTubes ZTR 29erRace Gold Wheels with Ti Hubs.

They are scary light, rated for riders less than 170 pounds, and use for race day only.  Geeze that is so not me.  I don't even know how to change a tire, let along a set of wheels.  Since I'm only 115 pounds on a heavy day and most days closer to 110, I'm using these awesome 1345 gram wheels to lighten my bike.

I also upgraded my pedals to Crank Brothers Egg Beaters Ti 11.  Pretty huh?

Then I swapped out my seat post from a carbon RXL to a carbon XXX.

And.... drum roll please...

My bike went from 23 pound to 20 pounds and 4 ounces.

Obviously my bike it so much lighter.  The wheels feel great so far.   But what I find most amazing is that I can climb hills in two higher gears than before.  And that, I think, equals speed. 

I can't wait to test them out at the Summer Series Race at Reni tomorrow night.



BURN Baby BURN

This weekend included 24 hours of racing fun.  But not in a row, thank you.  The Dirt Divas 5 person female team included, in riding order: Patty, myself, Doc, Becky, and Gale.  And we even shared our tent space with a second Dirt Diva female team of all first timers.  Needless to say, hanging out with a bunch of mountain biking chicks was awesome.

And even though I'm not a camper, and have only over-nighted in a tent once (the first time I raced the Burn in 2007), I really enjoyed the weekend.  We got the prime spot for out pit.  The view was gorgeous day and night.

At noon on Saturday, we were off...  Gale ran the LeMans start and tagged Patty off for the first lap.  She did a great job fighting the crowds of guys and slinging through the mud.  Yes, of course it had to rain hard on Friday before the race.

I did the second lap and had a good start.  I began passing guys as soon as I got into the woods.  But about 10 minutes in, I started feeling sick.  Huh, I guess only riding once a week and then sprinting in the first 10 minutes of your race catches up to you.  Who knew?  So I scaled it back a bit and my tummy settled.

The course was slippery and wet.  But the climbs were still fun; my favorite part of the Dark Mountain Trails.  About half way through the lap, two guys crashed in front of me.  I had to stop, get off my bike, and walk around them.  When I started pedaling again, there was a girl behind me ready to pass.  As she went by, we chatted for a while.  Turns out she's on the other 5 person female team, Off The Chain, and the second rider too.  Oh, time to gun it again!

She was faster on the downhills, but I was faster on the climbs, so I stayed with her through the woods.  She was also much better and luckier at passing.  Still I stayed on her wheel.  When we exited the single track, I stood up and hammered by her.  At the start/finish area I tagged off to Doc.  But the other chic did not tag her teammate.  Her teammate even called back, 'we didn't touch, but I'm going.'  Oh well.  It's a long race, no need to make a fuss.

Now we had competition though.  This was getting exciting!

My second lap was drier and a little faster.  Definitely more fun.  But then as soon as I finished, I realized I had the dreaded night laps ahead.  During daylight we do one lap each.  At night we do two in a row, so the others can get a nice block of sleep.  The first time I did the Burn, my night laps were at dusk and I barely needed the light.  This time, they would be 10:30PM-12:30AM.  Yikes.  That's really dark.

So I set up my lights and tried to eat something.  Food is the hardest part of these team endurance events for me.  Some girls can finish a lap and then eat a sandwich.  I normally cannot eat for hours after a ride.  But this doesn't work when you need to refuel to do another lap.  But even my most favorite foods made me nauseous.

Anyway, back to my night laps.  I couldn't put the light battery in my camel back like I normally would because it was too heavy on my shoulder.  So I strapped it to my frame, which actually felt better for balance.

The start of my lap was fine, the flat field, big rocks, and climbs were great.  The downhills freaked me out a bit.  And the shadows became small animals chasing me along the course.  Thankfully I had my Ipod to keep me sane.  If you consider racing your mountain bike in the middle of the night sane.

The first lap felt super long and slow.  I had one small slip and fall on a wet root.  The second lap felt a little better, but half way through the battery fell off my frame.  So I lost a few minuted strapping it back on.  The rest of the lap I spent apologizing in my head to my team about my slow night laps.  When I got done, I felt like I have been out there for three hours.  So when I checked my times and they were 56 and 57 minutes, I was so relieved.  And that was with a fall on the first lap and dropping my light battery on the second lap.  I was pretty happy with those times.  My day laps were about 47 and 48 minutes.

All of the sudden I felt great, just really proud of myself for making it through the night laps at a decent pace.  Remember, last time I rode with lights was 2007.

It was about 12:30 in the morning and time to cool down and get some rest.  I had an hour to kill until I woke up Becky when Doc came through after her first lap.  So I hid between two cars, stripped, dumped a gallon of water on my head, soaped up, even washed my hair, rinsed, and put on some warm jammies.  I felt almost human again.  I hate being dirty!  I downed a chocolate protein shake and climbed into my sleeping bag.  It was almost 2am.

Then for what seemed like a million years, I listened to the guy in the pit next to us chat.  Ugh!   No sleep for me.  My body however, melted into the earth.  I actually felt every cell fall asleep individually.  It was incredible. 

Morning came and it was time to do a few more laps.  I felt so fresh, so glad I took a shower last night.

My first Sunday lap was fast and fun.  But two guys crashed in front of me again, and I lost some time.  Doc was next, then Becky.  Gale wasn't up to another lap, so Patty went out again.  And with only two minutes to spare I got to do a sixth lap too. 

Patty came in so much quicker than expected since the course was drying out, I didn't even have time to put my jersey back on, which was a good thing as the temps were really rising.  So I had a fun last lap and made it back before the cutoff.

Remember that girl from my first lap?  Her team won.  We came in second.  A guy next to us said congrats to me.  I said thank you, but we didn't win, we got second.  But they were 20 year years younger he says.  OUCH!  But so true, so true.  They even rode trainers in the tent to warm up before each lap.  I laid on the grass and stared at the lake between laps.

I guess I am getting old.  Maybe it's time to stop wearing spandex!?!

Riverfront Classic

Today I raced.  Yah!  It was fun, I mean really joyful.  I wish I could say I was at a 110%.  I wish I could say I gave it my all.  I wish I could say it felt great.  But really, it was just fun.  And that is enough.

My monthly visitor came, and that combined with my lack of riding this month, did not make for a strong race.  Our 19 miles took me almost two hours.  And just 20 minutes in my legs were done.  I did pass one girl in our field of five.  But honestly she was having a bad day.  So even though I got fourth, it was a small victory. 

But hey, I did race at Catawba again, and had almost no issues with the drop where I broke my shoulder.  Almost....on the second lap, there were three guys behind me as we rode the rocky climb to the drop.  And just as we were cresting the hill, the guy right behind me rubbed my tire.  My first instinct was to jump off my bike and punch him.  Instead I very stearnly said, 'do not crash into me.'  Then I rode down the drop and my anger carried me away for a few minutes and I dropped them.  Nice.  Isn't it funny that I can have that 'how dare you' attitude and expect everyone to know who I am and what happened there?!?!  My helmet barely fits!

Anway, despite the dry hot weather we've had the course was a bit wet and slippery in some spots.  I had one good crash, on my left side, and two other small ones.  It was good to crash again, get up and keep riding.  I know that sounds strange, but it's almost like I'm normal again.  Ill take fourth and normal.

Next week I will not get a chance to ride.  But I've already planned my runs for at least three nights.  And then the BURN next weekend.  Yippie!!!

Where have I been???

First, where have I been?  Working, not riding, and sadly not racing.  There's been a break in the Southern Classic races on Sundays and because of work I have even been missing the Wednesday night races.  It sucks right now.  On the bright side, I can afford cool new bike stuff for a bike that stays clean in the garage.  Okay, it's hard to keep it bright for an entire sentence.

The job is still new and I will get to know my territory better and be in greater control of my schedule in soon.  In the meantime, that surprise secret is still in the works, and I've got some races coming up....

Tomorrow the Southern Classic race is at Catawba / the US National White Water Center.  It called the River Front Classic and is a fund raiser for the Tarheel Trailblazers, a great cause!  It will be my first time racing at Catawba since breaking my shoulder there last August.  And yes, the course does include that silly drop where I fell.  But I have no issues with it now.  I look forward to racing tomorrow, except for the fact that I haven't been riding at all and will be sucking wind tomorrow.  But again DFL is better than not racing!

And then, next weekend is the BURN 24 Hour Challenge.  I am on the Dirt Divas team with four other girls.  I'm so excited.  I promise I will update soon.

I've Got A Secret

I ordered a new set of wheels for my bike today. So excited!  I'll share when they arrive...

Harbison Race

OMG, I had so much fun today.  I love, love, love my new bike.  And I felt so good too.

The whole family drove down to Columbia, SC for the Harbison race this morning.  It took us a little longer than expected to drive down, so we arrived a little late. Firs I had to get Jack all set for his ride.

Then I just had enough time to register, get dressed and ride to the line.  No warm up, but the sun was pretty hot.  I got a great start, 2nd place out of about 11 girls. 

At the top of he hill two girls passed me before we reached the single track, so now I was in 4th.  The course is super east, flowy, wide in may sections, and really fast.  I was loving it.  One girl missed a rooty climb a few miles in so I passed her.  Now I was in third.

A little while later, I had to tighten my helmet (one of the pitfalls of not warming up and adjusting everything prerace), and the girl that I passed, passed me back.  I passed about 5 guys in the next few miles and then we were onto Spider Woman.  This is the fun, hilly, rocky, tight, twisty, woop-de-doo part of the course.  I love it!  But just a few minutes in, my seat loosened and was knocked back and down, so the nose was way up in the air.  Ouch and yikes.  It didn't hurt when it happened, but it made it impossible to sit.

So I slowed down a bit to conserve energy knowing I would have to stand for the rest of the first lap and the entire second.  I still had an awesome race and loved the course.  The new bike climbs and corners like a dream.  And standing for most of the race made it a great workout.  It turns out I didn't need to slow down to conserve though.  I got through the race with no leg cramps and had plenty of energy left.  Oops!

Oh well, I'll get my seat fixed and give 110% next time.  Today I got 2nd which was good.  I was only about 4 minutes behind first.  If I hadn't broken my seat...who knows.  But it doesn't matter.  I had a blast.  I can't wait for the next race.