Collegiate Nationals Race Report

AWWW it feels good to be a winner...part of a winning team, and in my books I won my own race. 

Div. 2 awesomeness

Sunday's race taught me a lot about myself, my racing, and how far I have come since last Fall.  Last year I bought a cyclocross bike in hopes to ride off road with my friends, perhaps try cyclocross and see if I like it.  I fell deeply in love with the sport after my first "race".  Last year I started the season about halfway through at the begining of November, so I really only raced half a season last year, but did pretty well for the 5 races I did.  I went to nationals and was a total nut case before the race, and during the race. 

The difference this year was the difference before puberty and after.  Yes I was paranoid, yes I was nervous, every feeling you could have before a national event.  Knowing that I could never win this race against the strong girls in my field, but knowing that I could put up a fight with how far I have come since last year helped to ease some nerves.  I never expected a win, I wanted a top 3 finish.  Thinking to myself that the girl who won last year would clearly win again, and Lindsy from UM would take 2nd again.  Both kicked my ass last year and are strong strong riders.  I was nervous, but I knew who I needed to follow once the race began. 

I was able to get a front row call up in a field of 18!  That's the biggest D2 Cyclocross field yet ( I am sure of it!).  Knowing I am not a good starter and I make up a lot of my time after the first 3 minutes of the race I told myself to not worry about trying to get my foot clipped into the pedal.  Just hit the gas, pedal hard, and your foot will fall into place.  That's what I did...1, 2, 3 riders sprinted past me.  I wasn't worried because I was able to get clipped in and the dirt and mud was coming up quickly and I know I can do pretty well through mud.  Just as in the previous races, this first turn was a cluster...even with 18 riders in the field, I can't imagine those guys who had 50+ riders.  How CRAZY.  The mud here was rutted out DEEP and would pull you wherever it wanted to.  If you didn't let your bike go, you were sure to crash.  So that's just what I did, I let my bike pull me around the rutted dirt, down the straight fast course and into the 2nd turn where I watched 3 riders take off in front me.  I was sitting in 4th place at the moment and wanted SO badly to go catch those ladies, I wasn't going to settle for a 4th place finish.  I rode in no mans land between the top three and everyone else trying to catch these ladies.  In the group was an MIT rider, the Dartmouth gal who won last year, and some random chick in a blue jersey.  I just told myself to stay calm and ride smooth and hard.  I was now at the section before the flyover and Dartmouth was in view.  My teammates were on a corner close by cheering, so I slogged through the mud and made the pass by her, went over the fly over and never looked back.  The next section was HARD.  It drained any ounce of strength I had in my legs to get one foot in front of the other over the stairs.  The turn before encountering the stairs had a giant hole in it and was MUDDY, that's where I caught the MIT rider as she crashed.  I thought to myself, alright you can do this, ride away NOW.  I ran up the stairs, mounted my bike, caught a Fort Lewis rider, wanted the line she was in so I sort of bumped her out of the way, was far too confident and caught a stake right in between my handlebars and BAM I was in the mud.  Now this is the difference between how I ride this year and last year. 

Div. 2 podium

Last year I went into paranoia mind breaking mode.  This year I quickly got up pounded my right hood back into place and jumped back onto my bike, just as the MIT rider rode on.  CRAP SHE GOT ME.  From there on out it was me chasing her, she caught me, I would catch up, but eventually she got far enough that I just didn't get her, but I was able to get farther away from 4th place.  I finished the race feeling strong in 3rd place. 

Sunday was one of those days where you wake up and know it's going to be a good day.  When I got on the trainer to warm up my legs felt great, there was no pain what so ever when I did a hard effort, it was like everything I had hoped for had come true.  My body was rested and ready to race...hard.  I cannot thank those spectators and friends who came out at 8 am to cheer myself and my teammates on.  This is when I realized that cyclocross is not only just a sport that I love, but a family.  Everyone at those races are like a family, you see them every week, you cheer for your family, they cheer for you.  We laugh together, scream together, and just have a giggly good time.  I can't get enough of the cyclocross environment, whether it is a local Bellingham race, Seattle race, or a nationals event; all the people are wonderful. 

My one rant for Sunday's race: WTF is a 38 year old women doing racing a collegiate national event.  That's momma style...props to her for going back to school, but really...38 years old?  Really?  Really?  The women who won the D2 race is in fact 38 years old.  There should be an age cut off for collegiate racing....

Div. 2 womens podium 3rd place



Div. 2 mens podium.  Steve F. 1st, Logan W. 2nd



Nationals Day #1

We made it to Bend just in time to pick up our numbers for the races!  This was a plus because my race the next day was at 8 am and Chris's was at 9:15. 

The next day we wake up around 6am do the usual pre-race stuff and when we go to ride the course someone informs us my race was delayed by 30 minutes.  GREAT!  Chris and I start riding the course, and holy smokes it was SO icy!  If you could ride on the slushy stuff that was a plus, you just had to get to the slushy stuff.  Around 8:20 I head over to the start line.  We were there for about 45 minutes while USA cycling started shoveling off the ice on the pavement, hoping the sun would come out to melt the ice a little bit.  Then the de-icer came, and we FINALLY lined up, around 9:15. 

The call-ups were done by use of a deck of cards.  I pulled out a 4, they started at ace's and went up from there, so I got a front row call up!  HECK YEAH!  We started the race, and as per the usualy start of my races I couldn't get my foot clipped in, but then I realized that not many people were flying by me so it wasn't a big deal.  Once I did get clipped in I got on the course about 4 people back (from 25ish) and I realized it wasn't going to be a fast race.  Once on course the ice had melted quite a bit so it was a combo of slush and mud, and some icy spots.  After the first half of the first lap it was myself and another rider in the front, and it was clear that race was between her and I.  By the 2nd lap I had caught up to her  in the super snowy section, then she crashed and I got in front.  A bit after that she took the lead again, and on one lap to go I wasn't too interested in pushing myself really hard in the icy stuff.  I didn't feel the need to crash before the Sunday race. 

One thing I have learned this season is it's good to push yourself, but when you push yourself too much you begin to lose control of your bike as you get tired.  There is a fine line between working hard and working too hard to the point where you begin to lose your smoothness around the corners, and in this races circumstance through the ice and snow. 

It was a fun race, fun course, and I can't wait for Sunday's race. 

Women's B race podium.  2nd place with some new tires.

Season Finale

Well everyone it appears I have been a lazy blogger since my last bike race.  Last Sunday (Nov. 29?) the team headed to the Monroe fairgrounds and raceway for the Seattle Series season finale.  The morning was cold and wet!  I don't think it could have been over 38 degrees!  BBBRRRRR!  My goal for the race was to finish strong.  As you may have read I took the week before this race rather easy.  I needed to see how my body would respond by taking a rest week.  IT WAS HARD.  I don't like to rest, I learned, but the snow and ice on the ground helped to keep me in check with my rest week. 

I did the usual pre ride the course before the Men 1/2s and then a little warm up while they race.  I always wonder why I spend so much time warming up because they usually have us stand at the start line waiting for what seems to be forever.  Basically my warm up goes to hell!  Going into this race I was 3rd overall for the Elite Women.  I started the race and for the first time all season I had an awesome start.  I hit the gas hard and felt pretty good.  Unfortunately lots of people felt great too.  The first couple of laps I was fighting for spots 2-4 with a couple other women.  The women who finished 2nd took off so I was then fighting for 3rd with another girl.  I spent majority of the race chasing her trying to catch up!  Around lap 4 I crashed on the silly decent.....I knew it before I even started decending, I just took the wrong line because someone was in my way so I tried to go around them.  It didn't work out very well.  I lost some more time there.  BOOO!  By my 5th lap I could see Craig Ethridge (Single Speeder) who usually laps me every week.  Well I knew he was going to knip me in the butt if I just didn't go faster, and I wanted an extra lap to try and catch the girl in front of me!  So I kicked it up a knotch and didn't get lapped!  Unfortunalty I realized I was getting somewhat tired and I didn't catch the women in front of me.  I finished 4th but I was still happy with my results.

Overall in the season I finished 3rd in the Elite Women.  It was pretty cool to stand on the podium!  The best part of racing in the Elite Women's field....is getting paid!  It's not much but it's something!  I have never made money racing my bike before so it was such a shock to be handed a check!  I made some cash for placing 3rd at Maris Farms and Sprinker Park, then finishing 3rd overall I made some more.  It almost covered my entry fees for the season! 

Of course I wish I would have performed better in the last couple of races, but  have to continue to tell myself how proud I am.  I have come a long way since being a Cat4 racer 1 year ago.  Then I laugh when I realize I only raced in 3 Cat3 races!!!  So I shouldn't get down on myself and I should be proud of what will come next year!

My next race in Nationals next weekend in Bend, OR.  Western is aiming for the Stars and Bars jersey and Gold medal!  Wish us luck, or better yet visit Bend and cheer us on!!!!  We are sending 3 women and 4 men.  That's the largest Cyclocross team Western has ever sent to nationals.  We have it covered. 

It's Pumpkin Season

That's right...Fall is the best because it's the best time to eat pumpkin sweets.  Every year around this time I turn into a baking queen.  I think it must have something to do with the cold weather and not wanting to be outside, instead I eat sweet tasty baked treats. 

What does this have to do with riding your bike Courtenay?  It doesn't, I just wanted to share with you some tasty treats.  As I am writing this I am waiting for my Pumpkin Cheescake to cook!  Instead of going home to Seattle for Thanksgiving I decided to stay in Bellingham with Chris (he has to work).  His fire station is celebrating Thanksgiving together, so I thought I would join them and begin my baking escapade by bringing in a Pumpkin Cheesecake, Sweet Potatoes, and Green Bean Casserole.  Today I am making the Cheesecake.  Here is the tasty recipe.  I have made it for the past 2 years and brought it home for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I usually don't have much left over.  I will write the original recipe, and then some things I change.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Ingredients

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch ground cloves
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg

**My changes include:

• 3 8 ounce packages of cream cheese (this year I am trying 2 packages of neufchael cheese and 1 regular cream cheese). 
• I make my own graham cracker crust to stay away from trans fat that is put into the store bought ones.  I will include that recipe at the bottom. 
• I love spices so I don't measure them out, I just pour those spices in until I think it tastes spicy-licious. 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Blend in eggs one at a time. Remove 1 cup of batter and spread into bottom of crust; set aside.
3. Add pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg to the remaining batter and stir gently until well blended. Carefully spread over the batter in the crust.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until center is almost set. Allow to cool, then refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Cover with whipped topping before serving.

**My changes include:

• I have a gas oven so I am cooking it at 300 degrees
• I used about 1.5 cups for the base of just the cream cheese without the pumpkin.  That way you can get a little bit more of the plain cheesecake.  Otherwise it's a lot of creamy pumpkin on top.
• You have to bake this for longer than it says (closer to 1 hour).  It turns into a lot of cheesecake.  I also bake it in a Springform pan placed on top of a baking sheet with a bit of water on the bottom to prevent any cracking in the cheesecake.  That way it stays beautiful. 
• I would also recommend letting it sit overnight, that way all those tasty flavors blend and you can enjoy the flavor more!

Then Ta-da!!!!!!  If you love pumpkin and cheesecake as much as I do, you will LOVE this recipe.  It's SO good.  It just reminds me of Fall and those orange, red, and yellow leaves and the cold breeze. 

Graham Cracker Crust

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

Directions

1. Mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar, melted butter or margarine, and cinnamon until well blended . Press mixture into an 8 or 9 inch pie plate.
2. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 7 minutes. Cool. If recipe calls for unbaked pie shell, just chill for about 1 hour.

** No changes here, other than the obvious, watch the crust take it out around 6 minutes. 

Cheesecake is very easy to make, I promise.  You just have to know when to take it out of the oven.  When it jiggles like jello is a good indicator of when the cheesecake is done.  It can be tricky. 

Good Luck!!!

Less Is More

As a fitness enthusiast, instructor, and trainer I am always telling people the valuable words of wisdom concerning rest.  Rest days during the week, rest and active recovery during competition season.  I am sure most other fitness specialists can agree with me when I say that those rules don't apply to us.  We like to think we are special, that rest doesn't need to be done, who needs rest when you have the time and ability to exercise for 2-3 hours a day?  Right.....wrong.  I learned a valuable lesson yesterday (which I already know but finally have convinced myself).  Everyone's body needs rest, especially when performing at such high intensities (cyclocross).  Therefore my motto this week is "Less is More".  I will take this opportunity to rest my body, let it recover from the damages I put upon it.

I generally only take 1 day off of exercise a week.  That puts me at 6 days/week of exercise ranging from 1-3 hours.  Whether it is biking, running, or teaching classes at the gym.  I exercise thinking Iam invincible, that this body doesn't get tired.  The truth is it does.  And when you continuously overload your body without proper rest you will not recover quickly.  It's important for all of us to realize some signs of overtraining and how to prevent this syndrome, and prevent it before it hits you.  Some signs of overtraining:

• Elevated resting heart rate
• Insomnia
• Moodiness
• Decrease in performance

These are just a few. It's important to realize that overtraining is an important issue for athletes.  If you don't catch it quickly and soon it can take months to recover from.  I find measuring your resting heart rate a great way to determine if your body is rested and recovered or not.  Even if it's not to determine if you are overtrained or not, but to determine on what your workout should be for that day.  If you were planning on a hard workout, but you find your heart rate is elevated, you should probably think about an easy recovery workout. 

Now that I have your attention and you might think something went terribly wrong in my race yesterday, I would like to let you know that nothing went terribly wrong at all.  I just learned that I am not superman and I need to get over my obsessive compulsive desire to exercise and let my body rest.  Perhaps that's why I performed so well at Maris Farms...my body was rested from Hawaii.  Thank you vacation.

Flashback Friday evening...
I am sitting in the living room with Kristen and Dan when I look up and out the window and realize it's snowing...a lot.  By the time we realized the snow had already accumulated about 1inch...or even more.  The only thing on my mind was...RACE ON SUNDAY.

Fast forward to Saturday.  Kristen and I decide to go on a nice snowy cross ride.  It was SO much fun.  Cold, but, a lot of fun no doubt.  The sun was out and the snow was melting very slowly.  When we got home I packed my bags and took the sunny opportunity to get out of town.  I was shocked at the lack of snow 1 mile south of Bellingham.  Bellingham was literally the last spot to get hit with the snow.  Lake Samish even had nothing.

Sunday.  Chris and I wake up and pack our bags to head to Tacoma to watch Whitney's race at 10am.  It was SO cold!  Watching Whitney race so much fun, she had such an amazing race, looked so confident throughout the entire race, on the run ups, while she was passing people (men).  It was awesome!  When you ride like that you deserve a big fat W, and that's just what she got!!!!!  She held onto first place for basically the entire race, it was very exciting. 

Before the Men 1/2 raced I did a couple of laps on the course, it was fast and flat.  Not too soggy either.  I watched the men race while I warmed up on the trainer.  My legs didn't feel too amazing as I was warming up, I was hoping that was just them trying to wake up.  Turns out it wasn't.  As always when we were waiting for the start we waited forever shivering, and when we finally start I take off horribly.  For some reason at the start of a race I can never get clipped in and started right away.  Something I should work on.  The race was ON.  The first lap I spent keeping up with the front ladies, trying to pick off as many of them as I could (well there was only 3 in front of me).  I picked off one of them, and then another.  2nd lap at the barries I get passed by mamma long legs as she floated over the barries with her legs the length of my entire stature.  She leaped on her bike with a lot of confidence and took off.  I wasn't too stoked because I passed her the last lap, but she was having a strong race and I just couldn't dig too much more to get up to her.  I am thankful for my lack of umf at this time because about 2 minutes later she crashed (dislocated her shoulder) and took 2 men out with her.  I was far enough back to go around the crash and continue on with my race knowing all I had to do was catch the first place women.  On the long flat cement section I caught up to her and it was her and myself for the next 2 laps.  We worked together and talked.  Discussed how we had to work hard if we didn't want the 3rd place women to catch us, because she was getting close.  At the barriers on the 3rd lap I came through and passed her.  She followed me through them and for the rest of the lap, when she came around me at the start of our 4th lap stating we needed to pick it up if we didn't want the 3rd place women to catch us.  I said okay lets go.  So she lead the following lap, on the cement section I pulled through and lead us through the start of the 5th lap.  About 1 minute after the barrier section she says to me "she caught us, we are all together".  So it was now us 3.  About 2 minutes after that the woman who caught us took the opportunity and jumped it taking the lead and eventually the win.  This is when I went into I can't push it anymore.  I can usually push it and be fine, I don't get tired.  This is when I realized rest is a good thing.  I know I can beat the women that took first, because in every other race I have always beat her.  So why now did she have that extra push to go faster than me?  I know I can go faster, I know I can do it!  So, I will take this week as a recovery week and continue to tell myself that "Less is More".  I finished in 3rd..once again.  But I just know I could have taken the Win....or at least I think?

Maybe I cursed myself?  My dad asked me if I was going to win and I told him no way.  Maybe that's why, of course at that time I thought Kristi Berg would be racing. She broke her hand at the MFG race and is out for the rest of the SCX races.  Total bummer, but like a true trooper she was still out at the races in the freezing cold cheering everyone on.  Quite awesome if you ask me.

After I finished I changed and Chris raced.  I didn't make it out to his race until they had 4 laps to go.  He was having a great race, pushing so hard, and breathing hard, and even putting his head down like he always does!  When I made it out to watch his race he was about 4th/5th place.  On the last lap he had made up so much time that about half way through the lap he was sitting in 2nd place and getting closer and closer to the young child in first.  By the time they hit the cement section Chris was in front, and took the Victory!!!!!!!!!  I am SO proud...it's his first Cat 3 Win.  It shows that riding you bike pays off. 

So find that happy medium folks.  Don't overtrain, but DO ride your bike to improve your fitness and strength.  Find the level that works best for you and most importantly.....
Listen to your body

Crosstastic weekend

There was a lot of heavy breathing and leg burning over this last weekend.  I decided it would be my first weekend to race hard 2 days in a row.  Just to see how my body would respond.  It was hard.

Saturday I raced in Sedro Wooley as a part of the Cascade Cross series, and Sunday I raced at Woodland park (part of the MFG series).  This was the season finale for the MFG series, so it was a happenin' day. 

Saturday only 3 women showed up for the Women A's.  I was a little bummed because I was looking forward to actually racing hard.  The other 2 women that showed up are Cat 3's, so I knew I was going to Win, which wasn't much fun knowing that at the start.  The course was straight and fast.  I felt as if there was a lot more downhill than up, but I won't complain.  With all the rain we have been having the grass was pretty soggy in sections.  Since I decided I probably wouldn't be having much competition in the women's field I decided to see how many of the B men I could catch up to.  I didn't count, but it was quite a few.  I love passing men, they get so irritated (esp. since I start behind them).  The run up in this race was awesome, it looked like the end of the world, it was pretty cool.  So I took home the W for this race, but it wasn't as rewarding as I would have hoped. 

Sunday Chris and I headed to Seattle.  I raced this course last year and had an absolute blast, so I was excited to race again.  I was one of 2 riders that started in the back row.  I didn't really mind that much, we have such a small field it's not that hard to get around people.  The race started on this rapid fast downhill with a flat section then the first hard turn right around a tree.  From there I made it around most people and was around 3rd/4th/5th place.  Not sure which one I can't remember.  Well I soon found myself in 4th place chasing this women who was SO close and every lap I would get a little closer.  Well the last 2 laps started to get hard, I fell over before the barriers, and just got so dang tired. I was beginning to feel the previous days race.

I finished the race in 5th place, of 10.  Right in the middle of the pack.  I hope this Sunday goes a little better and I dont bonk like I did last Sunday

Pumpkin patch from the depths of down under

You either liked the race at Maris Farms or you didn't.  Really, there wasn't an in-between.  It doesn't matter which category you were in...it was hard and it was muddy.  A variety of mud really, peanut buttery mud, slick mud, bog type mud, tacky mud.  We experienced it all. 

To start my weekend off Chris and I returned home from Hawaii at 12:30am Friday/Saturday (however you look at it).  Of course after 9 hours of traveling it's hard to fall asleep right away so I didn't get to sleep until 2am.  I set my alarm for 8 am so we could wake up, eat breakfast, put our bikes together and head out to Ferndale to race our cross bikes in one of Ryan's races.  Well my alarm didn't go off and Chris woke up at 9 am (which woke me up) and I realized what time it was, jumped out of bed ran into the kitchen saw Kristen and told her of my situation (I race in 1.5 hours and my bike is in pieces).  So I went into the garage and Kristen came and helped me, she put my cyclocross tires back onto my bike (since I had my road tires on) and I put my seat post and handlebars back together.  With the help of all of us my bike was up and ready to go.  I slap on some clothes, throw some other clothes into a bag and away Chris and I go (9:30am) to Ferndale so I can race.  We get there at 10am, just in time to register and warm up a little bit.  I always take theses races a little less serious and don't race as hard, so I warmed up and put in about a 70-75% effort.  I certainly got a lot more out of that race.  It woke my legs up from vacation, and my lungs and I got done and felt SOOO good, ready to race on Sunday!



This is my excitement to race (although this was in Hawaii)

 After the races Chris and I went home showered, threw some clothes into a bag, did some laundry so we had clean clothes for the next day, got dressed and headed back down to Seattle to go to a Cucina Fresca team party.  We attend go home and go to sleep and rest up for the following day of races.

Sunday...we wake up and it's SUNNY!  I was excited, the air smelt crisp and the leaves were a beautiful color on the ground, I just couldn't wait to race my bike.  Here is how it went.  After the last race before we left for Hawaii Chris and I realized the benefit of brining a trainer to the race with us in order to warm up, especially since we have a tent we can warm up under.  So we brought a trainer so we could actually warm up for a race!  Before the men's 1/2 race I did a prelap of the course.  I truthfully should have listened to Aaron when he told me he wished he didn't do one.  But I went ahead and rode a prelap anyways, got my bike totally dirty, but more imporantly I got really muddy...and I wasn't racing for another 1.5 hours.  I waited in line to wash my bike off, went back to our tent and prepared myself for a trainer warm up with Nikole. 

I head to the start line, and as always we stand there for what seems like an eternity, but I got my call up! The worst part about my call up was me being pushed to the far left of the start line....I had to start in about 5 inches of mud...therefore I wasn't even on my bike when I started my race...I had to run with my bike for the first 10 seconds of the race and then do a remount.  When I remounted onto my bike and I tried to pedal I didn't go anywhere, and I looked down to realize my chain wasn't even on my chainring...AWESOME!  So I shifted up pedaled some and my chain popped back on.  I was feeling pretty good when I started and I was just going to try my best to ride steady don't sprint because once you get tired you start getting sloppy, and this course was not a course to be sloppy on...or else you would be getting sloppy with the mud.  I ended up passing quite a bit of the ladies during the first 5 minutes or less of the race, and before I realized it I was sitting in about 4th/5th place before the start of the 2nd lap.  Then here is what happened to me...sit back and get ready to laugh at the photos you are about to witness (they are hillarious):

Taking the line

Soon regretting the line

Aw sh*t get up bike

Laughing it off and continuing on...

Ooops I fell down!!!  It was pretty comical, I thought I was being all sly by taking the outside line...turns out it wasn't the one to take...so I didn't try that again.  About half way through my 2nd lap I passed the women who was in 3rd and I never looked back.  I was only about 1 minute back from 2nd place, but it wasn't enough for me to do a 6th lap...I was lapped by the single speeders...as always.  So I placed 3rd.  I am pretty happy with my third place finish considering one year ago was my first cyclocross race and I was in the CAT 4 field.  Right now I am 3rd in the series, it would be pretty cool to finish the year on the podium.  2 more races and I am still on cyclocross high.

 

I think I will go ride my mountain bike now.

Is it really Halloween?

Today will be the first Halloween in years ( I can't even remember) that I will NOT be celebrating Halloween!!!  Instead Chris and I have been basking in the sun in Hawaii.  OKAY...OKAY...sun and clouds.  I wont lie...we have had rain nearly every day since we have been here!  But it's not like Seattle rain, and most of the rain has been at night when it's dark, so no biggie.  I realized I left Washington in a hurry trying to forget my last cross race. 

Chris, Whitney, Aaron, Katie, and I all carpooled to the MFG race in Kent on Oct. 24th.  Here is how it went....awful.  Whitney and I warmed up together (she decided to race in the 3's since it was a self seeding field) and it was pretty cold, but that's okay.  We rode up and down the road a few times, ate some cliff shots and then decided we should head over to the start line.  As we were heading that way the rain came back (do we remember that day?  If you are like me you have blocked it out of your memory).  It came back with avengence and it started pouring.  So instead of continuing to warm up Whitney and I stood under the Nuun tent waiting for the race start.  We soon find out they are delayed.  We stood under that tent for nearly 40 minutes freezing our assess off.  To make a long mizerable morning short...I didn't want to race after standing in the cold and rain, we lined up, I was cold.  There is no better way to describe the race other than I was cold.  I was cold when we started, my legs weren't warmed up, and I wanted to be in Hawaii.  That race was by far my worse cross race EVER.  I will choose to block it out of my memory. I placed 6/8.  Horrible.  At least I can say I have that race out of the way. Here is Whitney, Aaron, and Katie at Starbucks waiting for our hot chocolate!

And now for the good news.  HAWAII!!!!  I love it.  It's warm, the sun shines, everything about this place is for me.  I wake up early even...without a problem!

There isn't much to update you on, other than this place is amazing.  I will give you some photos.  Chris and I tried to go on a bike ride a couple days ago.  When we got out of the car we thought we were going to get blown away.  It was as windy as a ferry boat.  So we decided to just do a little out and back ride.  Well Chris is SO smart he didn't bring the pump with him since we were only going out for a little bit (typical male) and I got a flat tire.  So he rode back to the car, and I sat and waited. 

Then I got stunng by a bee.  I wasn't happy and it hurt.

Did you know what the Hawaiin state flag looks like?  I didn't...until today.  It's under the USA flag.  SInce that ride was a fail we decided to ride the following day.  If you don't already know this, we are staying in Kona (the big island) and the Hawaiin Islands are formed from Volcanoes (I hope you know this) and well the big Island is nothing but a series of lots of mountains.  So if you go anywhere you climb big hills.  So we climbed up to about 1500ft (from sea level) in about 9 miles.  Check it out...

Today we were going to go to Captain Cook's memorial, but decided against it because we didn't feel like walking 2 miles directly downhill.  So instead we drove farther South to an easier access beach and Snorkeled.  We saw Dolphins, fish, turtels, eels.  All sorts of sea life.  I am enjoying my time.  Now as I sit here drinking my blended beverage I will leave you with some photos to admire. 

We crashed the Mauna Kea Resort Public Beach...this is paradise for sure!Who has my Mai Tai?



Some old man showed Chris how to do this, naturally I posed



This was taken today at an awesome snorkeling beach. 



Today

 Tomorrow we are off to the Volcano.  Given the sun doesn't change my mind like it did today!!  I hope that we can see some flowing Lava for Chris.  I used to come to Hawaii all the time with my Grandma and Grandpa (which reminds me) when we were growing up so I have seen all the touristy things there are to see.  But the Volcano is very cool. 

Nearly every day Chris and I have gone into town to walk around.  It's so awesome we ride our bikes 2 miles to town and it's SO easy.  The other day we were in some Sandal shop and I hear this women say to her childen "Look with your eyes not with your hands".  I nearly had a heart attack, or a laughing attack  When we were growing up my Grandma used to say "Touch with your eyes not with your hands" so we would go around to everything put our eyes on it.  She would get SO mad.  I have never heard anyone say those words since my Grandma.  It was very funny .

Maybe I will sneak away and report about the Volcano tomorrow....just MAYBE. 

It's time to break out the baby powder

I promised a race report, so here it comes.   I figured I better get this out there before next weekend, that way I wont have to give 2 reports! 
Sunday was the least nervous I have been yet (this year)!  A lot of pressure I was feeling before was GONE!  The first race I was nervous because I didn't know where I would match up with the rest of the women in my field, then the 2nd race I was nervous because I wanted to win again so I could upgrade.  Well, I was granted my upgrade and ready to race in the 1/2's. 


More sand



The setting of this course was at Silverlake in Everett.  What a great park, lots of sand..too much sand, lots of hills, and lots of off camber.  I was having so much fun watching everyones race, the day was beautful, the absolute opposite of last weekend.  Around 11:30 I decided I should probably get dressed and ride a lap or two of the course.  The best(worst) part of the course was the sand pit(trap), or beach, and when you start the race you just go head first into the sand.  No preparation what so ever.  After the sand pit you go into the woods and encounter your first barrier.  I really enjoyed this section a lot...kind of reminded me of mountain biking, roots, dirt, corners, fast downhill.  Lots of fun!  Then it's back into the sand pit and up into the hills for some brutal leg and lung burning, down some fun turns, and back to the sand.  After pre-riding 2 laps of this I decided that was enough, and it was time for the 1/2 men to race.  Half way through their race I started my warm up, and about 20 minutes into my warm up I was bored and I had enough, so I went back to the tent and watched the rest of the race with teammates Nikole and Whitney, and Chris too! 



dismount at the top of a hill I couldn't ride

The men finish up their race and the next group of riders start lining up.  I get to the start line and I look around me to see how freakin' STACAKED the field is!  There were some super fast ladies there, it's a goal for me...one day be one of those "super fast ladies", then people at the start line will fear me too!  I also realized I have to be the youngest women in the field by at least 5 years.  The man says the word  and we are off!!  What a cluster, to get started right away in the sand with all those people around you.  For all fields we did a half lap for the first time through, so instead of getting a break after the first sand section, you did a U-turn and continued onto some more sand.  So when I get to the first sand section I ride a little bit, dismount, shoulder my bike and start running.  I ran to the inside, took the corner to the inside, and then WHACK.  I hit a tree.  OUCH it was soo startling!!!  I should clarify...my rear wheel hit the tree, spun around me and knocked me in all directions (how embaressing).  After being a little startled and watching every single women in my field go past me, I regain my self and keep going...the chasing begins!!  So I immediatly go into chase mode to get the group of ladies in front of me.  Well I ended up catching quite a few of those ladies, then some more.  Then I just sat in one spot for the entire race.  At one point I passed another women, but she passed me back a few minutes later (by the finish I was only 6 seconds behind her).  I was feeling pretty good through out the race, I had raced in Ryan Rickerts race on Saturday, so my legs weren't 100%, even though I only raced his race at about 80%.  The best part of this race was in every single section I had a cheering crew!  It was amazing!  Chris's family came out and watched (Mom, Dad, Sister, Aunt, and Grandpa), so they were all dispersed throughout the course cheering for me, then the random people who see at every race, and THEN my fellow teammate Whitney, our friend Tim, and Jiri (Logan's friend...he likes to heckle me to add more gears).

My chain dropped 4x throughout the entire race....and it wasn't when I was riding the bike!  It fell off after the barriers 2x (two separate sets of barriers), and after the beach sections 2x.  By the last time I just got very frustrated.  So I know I could have done a little bit better had my chain not fallen off 4x.  After talking to other ladies about their race, they said their chain fell off a few times (at least 1x) throughout the race as well, so I didn't feel tooo bad.  It's frustrating because that has never happened to me (except at Evergreen twice!)  Maybe I need a new chain?  WHERE DID I PLACE?!?  I ended up 6th in my race (of 12!)  Right in the middle of the pack, just as I expected to finish. I will not complain about my chain, because 6th isn't too shabby for my first race in the 1/2's. 

 

sand pit


At the end of my race I was really upset about the sand.  It was so hard, and we had to go through it at two different sections of the course.  I hated it, at the end of each sand section we had to go straight up hill.  It was mean, just purely MEAN.  When I got home on Sunday I looked at Russel Stevenson's (Cycling Northwest) facebook and he posted pictures of the Cyclocross World Cup (first race), they had a sand section in their race too.  Now I wish I would have worked harder through it, Katie Compton (USA National Champion) charged through that sand like a pro (wait...she is a pro). 

Go here to check out the womens pictures:
Women's World Cup

Pictures on this page are courtesy of Wheels in focus (Amara Boursaw), and next week I will really try to remember my camera to take some photos of the course and my team!!!

The Bellingham Traverse

Okay friends FINALLY  a race report on the Traverse, I better do it soon before I forget what it felt like!!!  For more info on the Traverse go here:

http://www.bellinghamtraverse.com/

A little history on how I got hooked on the Bellingham Traverse.  Way back in the dark ages of 2007 another trainer at the club I work at suggested doing the Traverse, I thought, wow that would be fun!!  Then she mentioned how she wanted to do it tandem and not as a team, since that would be such a better challenge.  I thought hhmm you are VERY correct, so she hooked me up with another women that would tandem the Traverse with me.  We planned it out very well, I would run the first running leg, she would do the mt bike leg, I would do the road bike leg, she would do the next running leg, and we would kayak together.  Perfect, we finished around 3 hours and 50 minutes and were the first female tandem team to come in...that year.  2008 I convinced Chris he should tandem it with me.  He said okay, this time we switched up the legs a bit, I couldn't bike hard at the time because it was bothering my knee.  So I ran the two running legs and Chris did both biking legs, and we kayaked together.  We were the first tandem co-ed team in, I don't really remember our finishing time, maybe around 3 hours and 20 minutes?!  I started thinking about how much fun this event would be to solo...only problem being I didn't mt bike.  2009, Chris and I tandem it again, this time I run the first running leg (are you seeing a trend here, I seem to always be the one doing that first leg...its HARD), Chris does the mt bike, I do the road bike, Chris does the trail run, and we kayaked together.  We improved quite a bit...especially our kayak time.  Finishing first again in the co-ed tandem around 3 hours and 12 minutes.  Last April I recieved a mt bike and I say to Chris "you know what this means don't you???"  Chris replies..."what?" Me: "We are soloing the traverse this year"

Fast forward to summer when it's time to train.  I kept my fitness up following the road racing season by competing in some mountain bike races.  Following the last mt bike race I started training for the Traverse (soorta).  I really started hitting it hard in August when we got home from the beach in Canada.  No need to write about my training, but I should let you know that I thought this race wouldn't be "too bad".  I can run and bike not a problem, and the kayak..pppssshhhh...you just paddle, it shouldn't be difficult, I don't need to train for the kayak.  WRONG.

The day started out with a lot of nerves, mainly because I wasn't sure if my mother was up to the job as support.  I wasn't sure if she would make it from leg to leg with the equipment I needed...so I was stressing a bit.  My mom drops us off at the start line about an hour before the start.  The energy in the crowd is just amazing, we run into all sorts of people we know, chat a bit, then begin to warm up.  My goal for the first running leg was to finish in 45 minutes, I knew I just needed to hold around 8:00 minute miles and that would get me there with some time to spare.  Well I was feeling pretty good, I checked my watch to make sure I wasn't speeding away at a faster pace (I didn't want to burn myself out before the large hill up the Lake Padden...it gets me every year).  I reach the dreaded hill up Fairhaven Parkway and in front of me I see my friend Dan, who I trained a bit with, and who participated in my thesis.  I realized that I was actually feeling pretty good running up the hill.  I caught up to Dan, and then I just kept running, I passed quite a bit of people on this hill, realizing I did the right thing by pacing myself.  Once I reached the top, I was told I was the 2nd female soloist...Susan was the first.  She is such a stud athlete, of course she zoomed up that hill.  Reaching the transition zone was unreal, the excitement and cheering from the crowd was amazing.  I did the transition of taking my running shoes off, putting my mountin biking shoes on, got on my mt bike and headed off onto the MT bike course. 

The MT bike leg is HARD.  You can ask anyone that has raced it in the Traverse, or any MT biker.  It starts on the lake trail, then heads up into the horse trails shortly after the first uphill.  You keep going up and up and up.  My legs felt slightly tired, but I just needed to get into the groove of the bike.  About 5 minutes or less into the ride I passed Susan and kept going.  If you don't know the course, after you do the first section of the horse trails you go back to the lake trail and then loop back up the horse trails onto this deadly climb...it's really hard.  I passed SO many people on this part of the leg.  I even passed a guy with a full face helmet and downhill bike walking up the trail.  I felt bad for him, I'm sure his team didn't tell him what this course was like.  Anyways, I passed a bunch of people and felt pretty good (as long as I didn't look at my heart rate monitor telling me my heart rate of 185 beats per minute), did all the technical crap and made it out of the course alive and back to the transition area, where the people around were CRAZY!  I could hear all these people talking about how "wow that girl is soloing it herself, wow that's soo amazing" and people cheering for me, whether they knew me or not.  It was so heart warming, I couldn't help but smile.  In order to make the MT bike to road bike transition nothing but short and sweet, I put SPD pedals on my road bike and just hopped off my MT bike and onto my road bike.  Nothing but a beautiful transition. 

Onto the road bike.  I felt weird going from an incredably upright bike to being in my aero bars on my roadbike.  It took me about 10 minutes to figure it out and get into the groove.  I felt like I was flying down the road, like I was a million dollars, going SO fast!  Then I hit the east side of Lake Samish, right where the road goes slightly up, before its flat, and then the big hill.  I said to myself "wow I am feeling tired right now".  Then a little push from heaven came up behind me.  It was nothing short of amazing, I almost saw light.  Turns out it wasn't a push from above, but just from Ben Rathkamp, one of the oldies on the WWU cycling team.  He races the event as a family team, and he blew by me like I was standing still.  He also was only doing that leg...not that it changes how fast he would go by me anyways.  So I fly down (so I feel like it when I am in my aero bars) Old Lake Samish, ride up bonk hill and reach the transition zone for the 3 mile trail run.  I hand my bike off to my mom, get my running shoes on, and away I go. 

WOW my legs felt TIRED!  I just kept thining to myself "left, right, left, right, don't stop moving forward".  The trail run enters in through Fairhaven Park and you start running in the 100acre woods.  Inside these woods are many many many trails that split off in all directions.  As soon as I entered the woods there were two sets of arrors pointing in the opposite direction of eachother.  I had no idea where to go, so I went right, some people behind me went left, and some people followed me.  As I was running up the hill, Chris passed me going down, and he told me "stay left at the top" so I stayed left and ran to the top of some hill saw some yellow tape, thought to myself, well I shouldn't go under the tape, so I went right, made a full circle before I ran into some other people running directly at me, and told me I was going the wrong way.  Apparently you were supposed to go under the tape (WTF) I was irritated, I had now run about 3-5 minutes out of my way (I blocked a lot of this leg out of my memory, so this is a little foggy).  Myself and another girl ducked under the tape and I followed her as we tried to navigate our way through the woods trying to follow misleading arrows.  There were hardly any arrows pointing which way to go, or if there were arrows, they were pointing the wrong way, so a lot of it I just guessed.  Not fun.  We have almost made a full circle, when we start heading down some hill and we realize we made a wrong turn somewhere.  I start to get irritated saying "hello, I don't know where to go, anyone?" Then I look across the trees and bushes and see arrows.  All of the sudden I hear "follow my voice, follow my voice, hello? hello." So I follow this voice, trampling through bushes, irritated, tired, and find the right trail and run out of the woods.  When we see this man (the race director) he kindly tells us there was a homeless man taking down and turning around the arrows.  HOW KIND!!!!  By this time I had been in the woods for about 20 minutes.  I think there should have only been 1 mile in there, I was lost for far too long.  I run out of the woods, slow and angry, I probably ran a good mile extra..or more.  Get to the Kayak.

As soon as I reach the kayak transition zone I ask people for help, run to my kayak.  No one is there to help me, so I start flagging people down waving my hands up in the air saying "I NEED HELP" 2 lovely gentleman came to help me.  I got in my kayak and I realized my arms hurt.  Maybe practicing the kayak leg would have been a good idea.  Oh my, my arms started to hurt even more, so I tried to focus on my abdominals, and using my oliques to turn the paddles, didn't help, they still hurt.  I was tired and there was no way around that feeling.  The kayak I was using had a rutter type thing, but it wasn't a rutter that I used to control my kayak, it just helped me go straight.  It had a lot of drag, and after I reached the bouy out in the bay I decided the thing was slowing me down, so I lifted it up, and I was going a little bit faster, not by much, but a little.  I also have neglected to tell you how many people passed me.  It's so embaressing...probably about 20 people.  I didn't pass a single person on the kayak leg, that's how awful it was.  It hurt, I wanted out of the boat.  Cornwall beach was approaching!!!!  I was SOOO excited that when I landed my boat I took my life jacket off and sprinted out of that kayak, I didn't want to look at it again.  I took off running up the hill...if you could call it running, more like a limping jog.  I had two horrible side aches, but I did my best and I made it to the finish line .5 mile later!!!!

I was the first female soloist finishing with a time of 3 hours and 39 minutes.  My goal for the race was under 4 hours.  I think I surpassed that goal!  Next year I plan on practicing the kayak and taking 5 minutes off that time, and also not getting lost in the woods and taking atleast 5 minutes off that time.  So my goal for next year: finish in 3 hours 30 minutes. 

ONWARDS to my first cyclocross race in the Women's 1/2 field. 

Okay I don't think I have energy to type up a race report right now.  Check back in a couple of days!  Maybe I will have some pictures of my pain from todays race...it was hard, no matter what category you were in.  I would like to point out Whitney and Chris's race.

Whitney had a stellar performance in the Cat4 womens race.  Today was her best race yet, not just with results, but she looked so strong and was enjoying her race!  She placed 6th in her field and looked like a total star.  She's moving on up in this world!  Chris also did quite well in his race today.  He worked hard as always, unzipped his jersey for a bit of air conditioning and revealed chest hair.  He placed 7th in the Mens3 field.  Great work friends!!!

Two wins is an automatic upgrade

I think the title says it all.



The view at the top of Cleator. 



I would like to first start off with talking about my mt bike ride yesterday.  Whitney and I agreed to meet in Fairhaven to go ride in the Chuckanuts.  The plan?  Up Cleator road to the Ridge Trail, through Hush Hush and back home.  HMMM I was thinking it would be about a 2-2.5 hour ride.  No biggie, I ate a pancake and eggs for breakfast so I figured I would be set for the ride, but brought a Luna bar with me just in case.  I am not sure if you know this or not, but Whitney nor I did, Cleator road is really long.  Oh and it's all up hill.  We did know it was a climb.  After about an approx. 1 hour plus climb up Cleator we made it the Ridge Trail, stopped to look at the view at the top and ate some food.  Last time we road this it was in the summer time.  Now with all the rain the trail was hardly rideable, and neither of us really were in the mood to crash so we were extra cautious.  Well the first part of the trail, prob the first hour, was ride for 2 minutes hike the bike for 5 minutes.  So we were paritially on a hike, with some extra resistance training carrying/pushing our bikes over logs, rocks, and up hills.  It was tough, and really windy.  We eventually made it out of the Ridge Trail and I realized we had been riding for about 2.5 hours and we still had more to go.  I was hungry.  We headed for Hush Hush, which was a very technical, but ride-able trail.  Lots of wet technical roots, I love roots.  Whitney and I were doing really well and hadn't crashed yet (if you ever ride with Whitney and I on our mountain bikes you will know it's never a ride without a crash...it's inevitable).  So we are hitting the end of Hush Hush and are flying down this fun easy non-technical straight decent, when I realize I am headed straight for a tree.  I better turn and slow down, I hardly knicked the tree, but it did managed to push me across the trail right into the other tree, where my saddle nose hooked the tree, sent me flying and my handlebars did a 360.  All was fine, except for the charlie horse on my left thigh...then I looked at my bike and a little piece of my heart broke....well actually my fork lock out broke.  I thought the piece would be at the most $50 to replace...it retails for $110.  I did not crash again that day, we made it home safely and when I got home 4 hours later I shoved food into my face (as I always do when I get home from a ride) showered, then headed up to campus to do a little research.  Did I mention I am trying to finish my Masters?

Todays Race Report:



Dirty Bikes



     We arrived at Beverly Park Elementary around 9 am so Whitney could get ready for her race at 10:15.  We step out of the car and it is wet and cold, but we head down to registration just as the first race of the day is getting started.  This is the hardest part of the day for me, watching others race and knowing I don't race until 1:30.  My nerves and my anxiety kick in pretty early in the day.  My blood pressure is probably through the roof.  The rain only started to rain harder as the morning went on and I was not looking forward to the rain.  Having been born and raised and in the Northwest I know what the weather is like.  If it's raining in the morning, it probably wont be raining in the afternoon.  I was banking on this for my race.  My weather prediction was correct, the rain started to fade around noon and had stopped for the Men's 1/2 race at 12:15.  I start warming up for my race around 12:30 up and down the road around the school, I wasn't going to pre-ride the course because it was a slop fest, pre riding it just wasn't worth it.  I was doing some hard efforts up a hill and it felt HARD.  My legs felt...tired, but I figured they just needed to wake up because I hadn't done anything all morning except walk around, watch others race in the mud, and freak out about what and when I should eat.  I repeatedly went up and down this hill, down the road, around in circles, trying to wake my legs up...I started to slowly feel as if I was warming up.  Then I got bored of riding on the road and warming up so I just headed to the big muddy pit, also known as the race course. 

The announcers started calling the racers to the start to get staged so I headed over to make sure I wouldn't miss my call up.  We stood there for a long time, as I was expecting to.  They started the single speeders, then the 1/2 women, then put some Master men in front of us.  They decided to not be smart and called up the wrong people for the call ups, so I didn't even get my call up!!!  I was sort of bummed, but not really.  The race started, and I realized I wished I could have gotten my call up because I was starting on the WRONG side of the start...it was the swampy section and everyone to my left blew by me.  Oh well, the run up was coming up shortly and that's where I am a little stronger than most.  Going into the run up I was mid pack..probably more towards the front, coming out of the run up I was 3rd.  I passed one girl, I was 2nd, then I caught the next girl after the first set of double barriers.  So I was 1st...I was starting to feel pretty good and some what confident through the mud.  As I was coming down the large down hill and onto the track, and then onto the grass again, I heard one of the women from the Cucina team (who I really like and met awhile ago at a couple of the road races) who was doing registration cheering my name.  I LOVE it when people cheer for me it makes me smile.  So being a little overly excited I hop over the curb without slowing down and completely slid out about 3 seconds later.  I didn't even know it was happening.  It cracked me up.  I couldn't stop laughing, especially when about 5 people passed me.  It was fun having people pass me because it made me work harder to get back to being in the lead.  I slowly started to catch back up to those that passed me (I am glad this was the first lap still, the end of it, but the first still) and by the set of double baricades I caught the women who was sitting in first, and from there it's all history..and a lot of pain.  My first thought when I finished this race...do not do a 4 hour mountain bike ride in the Chuckanuts the day before a cyclocross race. 

I entered the pain cave today....I was pretty deep in the pain cave actually.  It was by far the hardest cross race I have done.  I kept thinking I had a flat tire because it was so hard to pedal/move...then I thought I was so exhuasted that I couldn't lift my bike up over the barriers.  By the end of the race I looked down at my bike and I realized it wasn't me being weak and needing to lift heavier weights, it was that my bike gained 10 pounds.  I have never seen my bike look this dirty

My goal for this Cyclocross season was to upgrade to the Cat 2's by the end of the season.  Looks like next week I will be racing with the 2's and all it took was 2 races!!!!  I am pretty stoked.

What in all the world?!

I had no idea making a blog was so complicated there are way too many things this page is asking me for, and I am so very in decisive. 

For the past few months I have really thought about making a blog so I can write about my racing endeavors.  More or less for me to remember how much pain I put myself in and how much I actually enjoyed it.  That way I can look back on an experience and think to myself "okay that was fun" even though I might haved hated it at the moment.  I know we all experience those thoughts. 

In the past year my athletic performances have really surprised me.  I enjoy being active, any type of outdoor activity is my hobby.  I don't collect small items and I don't spend my time knitting.  I collect bicycles and spend my time riding them.  I have never thought of my self as an "athlete", but more as someone who enjoys being active on a daily basis.  Then last fall I realized I was turning into quite an athlete.  It started with the Victoria Marathon last October, then Cyclocross, then road biking, then mountain biking, THEN soloing the Bellingham Traverse (something I never thought would happen).  Everything just escalated.  So what now?  Now I wish to write about these for myself, and anyone to read.

To sum up the last year:
**Chris, Katie, and I spent 6 hours in the BC ferry line last October waiting to catch a ferry during the Canadian thanksgiving weekend.  We didn't make reservations...OOPS.  BUT we did run quite an amazing marathon.  I surprised myself when we finished in 3 hours and 56 minutes. 

**I bought a cyclocross bike.  Best purchase ever, because next to Chris, Cyclocross is my 2nd love.  He better watchout.  I went and raced my first race here in Bellingham...I won. How?  Not sure, but I crashed a lot.  The following weekend I raced in a Seattle series race at Maris Farms.  That course ate me up like cookie monster does a cookie, but I managed 5th.  The next race...2nd, the following one 1st.  I upgraded to 3's for the last race of the season, and pulled out a 5th place finish.  Went to Collegiate nationals, 5th place.

**I came out strong for the collegiate road season and worked my butt off and earned my Cat. 3 upgrade on the road as well.

**Chris helped me buy a mountaim bike for my birthday.  Went to my first mountain bike race, raced in the sport category got 2nd.  Holy smokes I never knew I had it in me.  The following 2 races I placed 1st, and won the Sport category for the series.  Prob. should have raced expert...but there is always next year.

That brings us up to date...for the most part.  Next time, I will write up a race report about the Bellingham Traverse and my first cyclocross race of the season.  For now it's time to get ready for a mountain bike ride.

Until next time!!