If your head is down you might as well bop it!

I feel like my early season form has disappeared. This might end up being my theme song until I'm back to normal.

Race #39: Sampson and Delilah?

I was working a lot this week but I really wanted to give the Crit a try again. Unfortunately I have been so busy I really haven't slept too much and my stress levels were red-lining. But I pushed myself to get to the race.

So the gun goes off and I have a good start. There are Preems for the first ten laps. At first I didn't care, but after a lap I was still up front so I thought I would try to reel this guy back in. Bad idea. I hammered on the front for a couple laps and on the uphill of my third lap I found myself pushing about 27-28 mph and running out of gas. I ended up throwing out the anchor and getting spat out the back. I kept the pack in sight for about two more laps and then they disappeared.

Every time I came around everyone was looking at me like I might be the leader, and I could see the pity in their eyes when they realized I was some dropped schmuck. So I pulled over and DNF'ed. I was so upset.

I went home and got a lovely ride in with Bjet. It turned my frown upside down. She blames my lack of sleep, but I can't help but notice that I haven't been riding as strong since I shaved off my EuroMullet....

Race #38: Band of Brothers

All the reasons why I came to BioWheels were completely cemented at this race. All my teammates are great people who will help you at the drop of the hat, push you to do your best through competition (I have been training my ass off to do the kit justice). At the last minute the bad luck I skirted in Cohutta caught up with me as my dry conditions tires were sliced by the Lord Himself (or is this good luck?). Nate hooked me up with better tires, brought up in the middle of the night by Mitch. They both stayed up with me trying to get them to seal.

It’s a little intimidating to know that you are slated to do battle against 223 other 100k open racers. Like Cohutta I had pushed myself to go out hard, thinking that if I could stay ahead the gaps behind me may buffer me from losing time and positions. My smarter teammates knew they should pace themselves and use the end of the race to pick off spots.

Unfortunately I began to cramp on the hike-a-bikes early. It was frustrating to feel early on that I wasn’t really racing but trying to survive. Maybe it was the humidity, the lack of easy places to drink or the two beers and the hot tub the day before — I wasn't feeling my best. I did have some moments of glory. I was with Amanda McKay when I rode a creek and climbed out of that bad boy like a real mountain biker. I was shredding some trail at about 14 mph (great for me) before and after checkpoint 1. I passed some people here that ended up finishing an hour behind me.

But the cramps came back and I slowed. I was with Charley Miller when his legs forced him to DNF after this crazy horse trail descent over 2x4s. I was climbing the next hill when I fell over and got a cramp so severe I laid on the ground for a moment! I nearly DNFed right there. But I saw Karwisch and he cheered me up and I soldiered on.

I have no idea what happened at the end of the race. I followed Karwisch to checkpoint 2 and caught Mitch there. I was a few minutes behind Mitch at checkpoint 3. They turned on the rocket packs while I threw out the anchor!

Talking about great teammates. Joe's shoe destructed so he had to DNF, and Nate's bike is too pretty to gunk up — so they came to aid station 3 to give us royal treatment!

I need to learn to shred some trail — I lost so much time in the final part of the race through the rock gardens. I crashed a handfull of times and I feel like a defeated boxer. I came in 36 out of 116 finishers (another 107 racers DNF'd or DNS'd). 7:14:50-sumthin. Lost a lot of time with little dabs and slips. But hey! I have progressed so much as a mountain biker. Those perfect races are few and far between.

Lessons learned:
– Perhaps use time off the bike to refuel. Should have been chugging on the early hike-a-bikes.
– Hey dummy, there is Heed at the Aid stations. At Cohutta I fiddled with Nuun tablets on climbs!
– Maybe not pre-open Clif bars before a muddy race. Gross.
– Don't over-train! I wanted to repeat my success at Cohutta.
– Learn more about the drive train so I maintain it during the race.
– Remember to stretch and pee on & off the bike if possible.
– Remember the First Aid kit! I am black, blue and bloody.

Side effects:
– Major chain ring wound in the back of my left leg. It got packed with mud.
– Shaved a lot of skin off one of my knuckles, also got packed with mud, yuck.
– I'm worried I swallowed some nasty mud. I have had minor IBS since the race, maybe I'll go to the doc!
– My back is killing, better go to Sophie at Norwood Chiropractic ASAP!

Bridget got third at Mohican! She is a real mudder!

Tons of muddy trail today. Actually quite fun and challenging. I had a rough ride, I came in at 7:14:50. I have to thank my team - they hooked me up with new tires and tons of help. I am super lucky.

Sunny Mohican pre-ride with the teammates! Unfortunately this is the last time I smiled. Slashed my tire. Then more rain and lightning! Today is going to be tough.

Long Hours

In the Office Chair
I've been reminded that I am a pro-designer not a pro-cyclist lately. One week I barely trained due to 15-17 hour work days. Good thing I kept bike commuting, otherwise I wouldn't have been training. Plus the roads are pretty clear at 1 am and 5 am.

But I was so sleep deprived I forgot how cross-brakes don't stop for sh*t and I crashed on a downhill in Indian Hill. It was right in front of a family reunion in a park! Hilarious. Perhaps out of pride, I always pop back up and wave at people and try not to lick my wounds in front of others.

Rekindling a Little Romance
Bridget and I have been training a lot more together lately! She used to be the only person I would ride with. But we have been so busy the past two years and on different schedules we rarely train with each other. I know she was unhappy with her form going into Cohutta (but still got 10th!) so we have been training a lot more together and I have been putting the hurt on her!

We had two really nice Velo Dates. One was a sleep-deprived Friday night (where I crashed) where we rode up to a pizza place called The Works in Loveland. How do you get pizza grease out of spandex? The second was a little sunset picnic on the Purple People Bridge followed by a hill climb competition up to Devou! Lovely.

In the Saddle
Some of my weekend rides have been shortened due to rain or poor planning and my weeknights rides have been a little shorter due to work. But here and there I have had some fun epic rides on the weekend.

One was a semi-hilly century with my teammates Joe, Rachel, Geri, Gerz and Mott. It is incredible how quickly 6 hours flies by when you have great company! We rode up to Loveland and then down in Kentucky on Amsterdam and Route 8. They finally killed me on the final hill! A total wall!

Another ride that got botched was Bjet's and my first attempt at riding in Shawnee State Park. There has been so much rain lately that I didn't want to tear up trails. We got out there too late to ride the long hours I wanted, and the locals we first met were hostile and the roads weren't marked along 52! Some people out there don't respect the beauty of the place they live in — litter constantly along the roads. We did some "American Flyer"-esque dog sprints! Then we came upon this chicken farm with all their chickens all over the road. Add to that a pack or 6 loose dogs flying at us! We had to gun it as chickens were flying everywhere and dogs were on our heels! I was surprised some farmer in a straw hat, no shirt and denim overalls didn't come running out with a shotgun!

Last weekend was my last chance of putting some hardcore training into my legs. Friday night got rained out. We tried to ride but I didn't feel like forcing myself to ride in the drizzle and thunder. Saturday I turned the screws on myself and rode every hardcore hill I could think of between Indian Hill, Loveland, and Batavia. I put in about 6 hours and 96 miles. Then Sunday I did it all over again. Bridget never rode a century! So we did a very similar route minus a couple climbs and added on a few more miles. I was hurting, but it was great to have a powertap with heart rate monitor to observe how I far I can push myself once the "elastic has snapped." Plus watching Nibali and Basso in the Giro that morning stoked my fire! How do they do that?!

I will be riding over 1000 miles this month! I think my work is down. Time to rest up and get ready for the big event.

Race #37: The Human Yo-Yo

I just did my first crit last night! The infamous Ault Park crit. I remember going to this 7 or 8 years ago and being mystified by that race and the whirl of the pack as they wizzed by.

My legs were still toast after pulling off a couple of hilly centuries last weekend, but I wanted to get some speed work in before Mohican. Talked to Nate before hand, and we both just wanted to ride, no real strategy. We both started from the back which turned out to be kind of chaotic and scary. After a few laps (I was too busy keeping my eyes glued to the chaos around me I forgot to look at the lap counter) I got sick of it back there and decided to work my way up.

So on the hill I did a dig on the outside and went from worst to first! For a second. Coming around the backside I was unable to find shelter behind someone else and prompty blew up (it was probably a sprint lap too and the pace picked up)! Back to worst.

I was feeling a little more relaxed and Bridget arrived so I smiled and waved shouting "Hey, I'm in last place!"

So I dug again. Same thing happened. And it happened again later.

By the end I tried to work my way up and hide behind Nate. We were probably in the first third of the pack with 1 lap to go. But the anchor came out for us and we went backward.

Good thing too. Someone's wheel taco'd and there was a huge wreck up front! Next race I will try to watch the lap cards and do a better job of hiding!