Season Finale - Sheboygan

I’ve been looking forward to the season finale at Sheboygan since last year. Not because I wanted the season to end but because we had such a great time there last year. I had my best race of 2008 (of the three that I did…) there. I was racing in the Citizen class (Cat 3) and almost won the race, but I screwed up a sandy section in the final quarter mile and finished 2nd. That was the single moment that fueled my desire to do better, go faster, and win more in 2009.

It was good to back in Sheboygan this year – everything looked the same on the surface, but things were actually quite a bit different. Most noticeably was the weather. Last year, we were basking in a long, glorious Indian summer; this year it was snowing when we pulled into the parking lot for our pre-ride on Saturday. The other big difference was between the Citizen course from last year and the Sport course this time around. Gone were all the “easy” routes, and in their place were some gnarly rooty climbs and descents. There were also a couple of new sections and re-routes throughout.

I had a great time on the pre-ride, despite the cold numbing my fingers and toes. It is no fun at all, but it’s just the way my body works in the cold – I can be sweating all over and still not have the use of my extremities. There were a couple near misses with trees as I tried to figure out how to brake correctly without hitting the dirt or doing a Superman over the bars.

Again this year, we were guests of Ty and Christine, so our pre-race dinner was quite a spread of pasta, chicken, salmon, bread, salad, and wine. Also like last year, we chased it all with a big slice of carrot cake. We really should have taken a picture of the table. Too bad there weren’t more people there to enjoy it!

Race day was a little colder, but the sun was shining and that made quite a difference in how things felt. Cam hung out in the warm Jeep while I pedaled around some Sheboygan neighborhoods for my warm-up. I felt so good afterwards that I shed my jacket and knee warmers at the start line and passed them off to Cam. A good-sized contingent (twenty-seven) of Sport women toed the line for the WORS season finale. A couple of them looked vaguely familiar, but I haven’t raced enough in Wisconsin to know who all the heavy hitters are. After a lengthy list of call-ups, I settled into a spot near the rear.

Don gave us the “GOOOOOO!” and the front of the pack took off while I tried to not get left in their dust. After alternating between some asphalt and off-road sections, we hit the singletrack with me sitting about mid-pack. I was able to get around 3-4 girls who had some trouble with a couple of the log piles and rooty climbs. I vividly remember my apprehension last year with the water crossing and this year sailed through it without giving it a second glance. Following that was a mildly tricky climb that was totally rideable if you had checked it out on a pre-ride. I was catching up to riders from earlier waves at this time, so traffic was heavy with a few riding and most walking. One dude was walking up the right side of the incline, off the main track. Per race etiquette, I called out that I was riding, as walking racers should yield to riders. This guy had apparently lost his mind in a hypoxic fog, walked directly into my path and announced, “Well, I really don’t care anymore if you’re riding.” I really wanted to go rugby on this guy and put him in his place, but instead I pointed out that he had some pretty crappy sportsmanship, and it was not cool. That’s the first time I’ve ever had anything like that happen to me in a race anywhere. I wish I’d gotten his number and let Cam loose on the guy! However, just knowing that clown was behind me put a big smile on my face and I powered on!

Next up was a log jump that made me take the easy way out in 2008. I flew over that with a huge grin on my face and a big cheer from the crowd who had gathered to heckle. I passed a couple other guys and gals as I finished up the first half of the lap. The Sheboygan course is pretty interesting in that it runs through two city parks that are located on opposite sides of a major road. We passed under the bridge and traveled along the creek towards the Equalizer, a long-ish steep climb I’ve never cleared. This year was no exception, but I am able to run up the hill cyclocross style and passed another gal.

Despite passing a bunch guys and gals, I really felt like I lost ground on lap two; I got stuck behind a couple slower riders for what seemed like forever. Twice I was right on the wheel of a gal in front of me who didn’t have either the skills or desire to pass the even slower guys in front of her. One in particular was causing a bigger log-jam behind me, and we all were getting frustrated. I was pleased, however, that when I finally got around the ones in front of me, I would leave the whole traffic jam behind.

Whether I felt like I was having a good day or not, I couldn’t complain after passing a very slow moving gal right after the singletrack along the river. She was moving so slow that I felt compelled to ask her if she was okay when I passed. As I rode by she said she’d actually fallen into the river! On a day with temps topping out in the low 40’s, I bet she was pretty chilly! When I reached the top of the Equalizer for the second time, I was told that I was sitting in about 7-8th place. Not where I wanted to be, but my diesel engine was just starting to get warmed up, so I put my head down and did what I could for the final lap.

I caught another two or three gals on the final lap, and when I topped out on the Equalizer for the final time, they let me know that they couldn’t see anyone behind me and the girls in front were not within reach, so I could cruise to the finish. I was feeling so good, that I just kept up the pace and hammered to the finishline. I ended up fifth overall and fourth in my age group. I was pretty pleased with my finish and felt like it might have been one of my better races of the season. It was a little disappointing to get aced out of a medal – my age group took four of the top five spots! I think it might have been the only WORS race that I didn’t get to stand atop a box. I’m certainly not disappointed with my finish, though. All the big guns usually turn out for this final race of the season.

With the season basically over as soon as I crossed the finishline, I took a very short cool-down ride, threw on a jacket, grabbed the camera, and turned around to get back to watch Cam start his race. I met up with Ty, Greg, and Tony for some pictures at the log jump, then high-tailed it back to the Jeep to get into some dry, warm clothes. Usually Cam makes us some awesome smoothies for post-race nutrition, but this year I opted for a couple very tasty Oktoberfest beers from the Lakefront Brewery! The sun was shining, so I was warm and happy.

Cam had a decent race going for the first four laps. I took lots of pictures, and then went to the finishline to meet him when he was done. The first ten guys came through; there was a long gap until I saw Cam hit the line. He was looking pretty tuckered out. Apparently he’d bonked pretty bad since the last time I’d seen him. He was pleased that he’d been able to pull out an eleventh place finish. It is very rare for him to bonk like that – we’re still trying to figure out exactly why it happened. He tanked a bunch of Gatorade and some food. Then we got him a beer!

We had fun hanging out with everyone at the awards eating candy and enjoying the tasty beer. The elite field was smaller than most WORS races since cyclocross season had started; consequently the payout only went eight places. We didn’t win anything in the drawing either. We settled for another great dinner with Ty and Christine (with a bigger slice of carrot cake!). Regardless of how the finish turned out, we are both still looking forward to taking another stab at Sheboygan next fall!

Dirty Wooden Shoe

The weather took out yet another race this year: Sugarbottom. That is a serious bummer because I really enjoyed that race last year, and I wanted to take another stab at it. I have also been recruiting some other gals to come try out a race – Sugarbottom is a pretty beginner-friendly locale - so the cancellation forces them to have to wait til 2010 to try out the sport.

When Sugar got cancelled on Friday night, we had to figure out what Plan B would be. Options included heading to SW Wisconsin for a race or stay local and do a ‘cross race in Pella. I was still pretty amped to race a mountain bike, but the thought of another 4+ hours each way in the car made my stomach turn. It turned out not to be much work to convince Cam that sticking close to home might not be such a bad idea. Besides, I kinda enjoyed the one ‘cross race I did last year, and you are pretty much guaranteed a good butt-kickin’, high-intensity workout when you race ‘cross.

Neither one of us has a ‘cross bike, so we do it ghetto-style on a mountain bike. And a hard-tail works a little better (and weighs a little less), so the ‘Goose was the ride of choice for both of us. My race was up first with four Cat 1/2/3 women and seven Cat 4 – a couple of PRC chicks, a bunch of DMOS ladies, and me. The four 1/2/3s were gone immediately, and I settled into about 5th or 6th place in my class following another one of my not-so-stellar starts. The course was one of the more mountain biker-friendly ‘cross courses I’d seen, so after a couple of laps, I’d worked my way up to what I figured was third place, where I stayed for a couple more laps. I went back and forth with the DMOS racer ahead of me. I’d catch her on the technical parts and climbs, then she’d pull away on the straight-aways.

This continued on for the remainder of the race; I even passed her a few times, only to get reeled back in a short time later. After 45 minutes of racing in the red zone, my oxygen-deprived brain decided that a third place finish was going to be just fine, so put it in cruise control and finished out the race. I even added a little flair with a triple bunny hop across the finishline…

It was cold and blowing, so after a quick cool-down lap with Maria, I passed the ‘Goose off to Cam and changed clothes. I checked out the posted results to see how everyone else had finished and was surprised to see my name listed as 2nd place! It turned out that the vast majority of the race I’d been battling for the lead! A race is a race and I know that whenever I am in a race I should be fighting for every spot like it is the lead. I admit, however, that I did have thoughts throughout the race that I would certainly “settle” for third rather than turn myself inside out for second. Had I known that I was fighting for first, I know I would have gladly made blood shoot out of my eyes to fight for the win.

It was my bad. It was not a good race strategy, and I learned the lesson the hard way. So, although I was disappointed with not getting to race at Sugarbottom, we had a great time in Pella, and I am looking forward to Spooky Cross in a couple of weeks!

Cam had a good race, too. The Zoom Performance ‘Cross Team duo of Tony Nichols and JJ Bailey went one-two, and Cam pulled a strong third. Tony was off the front the whole race with JJ chasing. Cam worked his way up to third and challenged JJ a couple of times, but JJ’s barrier prowess was too much to overcome for a guy who would much rather stay clipped in to his pedals the whole race. The ‘Goose got a good coat of mud, and we got one last high-intensity workout before our season finale at Sheboygan next week.

Manawa

My wounds from Chequamegon are healing, but it wasn’t until five days post-Cheq that I felt decent on the bike again. I spent the whole week on the road bike and just tried to keep the legs happy for another couple of weeks.

The first ride with any substantial post-Cheq was the race this weekend in Council Bluffs at Manawa State Park. I’d never ridden there, but I did watch Cam race there last year. About all I knew was that the course is flat and very tight and twisty – not really the best type of course for me, but I needed to show up, race, and finish in order to clinch the Nebraska Psycowpath Series win for Cat 2 women.

It rained on Friday night, but not enough to force a postponement. We arrived to find the course a little greasy, but it dried out nicely as the morning wore on and as the sun came out and made it near perfect. I took my warm-up lap at about 50-60% effort to see how my body was going to react to this course. I felt okay during the warm-up, but never felt the need to push the effort at all. That should have been my first clue about how the day was going to go…

There were three Cat 2 women that lined up at the start, along with Cat 1 rider, Donna. We started with the Masters men and the singlespeed riders. True to form, Barbara took off with the guys entering the singletrack second wheel in our wave. I was pretty sure I’d never see her again the rest of the race. I took up my usual spot at the rear, behind Ann and Donna. No place to go but up, right? Donna and I got gapped off the back of Ann, and I think this was the first tactical error of the day. I could have passed Donna pretty early in the lap, but I sat in behind her too long. Ann was pulling away and we weren’t giving chase. About a quarter of the way through the lap, I passed Donna and went hunting for Ann.

I could close gap each time we hit a long straightaway, but Ann made the twisty, turny sections look so effortless and she’d gradually pull away again. At one point in the first lap, I decided to try to stay with her in the singletrack, and I was rewarded with another up-close-and-personal encounter with the dirt. Thankfully God was kind enough to allow me to fall on my right side instead of the still very tender left elbow and hip. Still, it was an unpleasant experience and not one I wanted to occur again in this particular race, so I was forced to back off a little bit more. For the rest of the race, I would see her pulling on to the singletrack ahead of me when I was just hitting the straightaways. I just couldn’t talk my legs into responding with enough effort to make any progress. She retained that gap for the rest of the race, and I ended with my worst finish of the Nebraska series: third.

Cam (and Kent McNeil) lapped me near the end of my last lap (third) as they finished up their final lap (fourth). I couldn't find Cam after the race for a long time. His post-race smoothie was still in the cooler and that is usually in his hands immediately after a race. It was a long time until he came back to the car. He wasn't 100% sure that his race was only 4 laps, so he did another one, just to be on the safe side!! Regardless, he finished second overall - same result as last year at this course.

My back was sore, my arms were tired, and I was just plain cranky at the end. Apparently I need a little more in the way of recovery after a big race like Chequamegon. I was encouraged to chat with Ann after the race and have her tell me that she was working her tail off to keep me back! At least her effortless riding style was challenging for her.

It was really good, however, to have a good showing of women at the race. I think there were seven of us in the three fields. Not great, by any means, but better. I tried to talk as many of them as possible into coming to Sugarbottom next week!

Chequamegon

I remember back a year ago when Cam was leaving to go to Chequamegon. I was waffling about going up with him to watch. Eventually, I determined that it was best for me to stay home and get a few extra days of training for the Longhorn 70.3 I was doing a few weeks later. By the time the race day rolled around, I was really disappointed in my decision. I didn’t realize what a big race it is, nor was I aware of just how great a group of people from Des Moines would be there as well. As soon as I figured all that out, I vowed to go for the 2009 race.

Going to the race isn’t the tough part. The tough part is getting into the race! The Chequamegon 40 accepts 1700 competitors through a lottery system in March. Cam gets a reserved entry for the following year based on his high finish the previous year, so he was in no matter what. I submitted my entry for the lottery, and through a great deal of turmoil and adventure, nearly missed getting it to race headquarters by the deadline. However, even with amazing set of circumstances that allowed the entry to get there on time, I still wasn’t selected as one of the 1700. Cam and I were both pretty bummed.

This race is popular enough that the race director receives bribes of cash, merchandise, and favors from folks trying to get in after missing the boat in the lottery. In order to keep things fair (and probably get a few laughs on the side), they have one final way to get a few more folks into the race. The Fifty Ways to Ride the Chequamegon contest is the last legal way to get into the race. This contest encourages those left out of the lottery to write (or draw or sing or design) an original piece that represents why they believe they deserve an entry to the sold-out race. Many will enter, fifty will win. I started tossing around ideas on what I could do to earn my entry. Cam and I came up with a few ideas, but they would be pretty time-consuming, and time was not something that I had a lot of as the entry deadline grew nearer.

I had an idea bouncing around in my brain, but I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it. In my typical fashion, I had to throw my idea into action quickly in the last week to make the deadline. I bought a long roll of blue paper, got out my markers, scissors, and tape (just like in second grade) and went to work. It was cheesy and I knew it. So cheesy, in fact, that I wouldn’t let Cam see it. I told him that the only way he was going to see it was if, by some miracle, it worked and I won the contest. Otherwise, I was too embarrassed to show him (or anyone else, for that matter).

Soon after submitting my entry, we left for Colorado. We really only talked about it once on the whole trip, and I said that I had pretty much come to terms with the idea that I wasn’t going to get to do the race, but if I did get selected, I would be thrilled. After that conversation, I totally forgot about the contest. However, upon arriving home, in among the 10 days worth of mail, was a thick envelope from the Chequamegon office!! I was in! Thrilled was an understatement, I was stoked! Now came the challenging part; I had ten weeks to get myself ready for a 40-mile mountain bike race.

Training went well, and soon it was race week. Cam and I loaded up the Jeep and hit the road early Thursday morning so we could enjoy some of the great Wisconsin outdoors for a few days before the race. We arrived in Hayward and found the rest of the Des Moines gang hanging out in the rental house awaiting our arrival. We all suited up and went to recon the first third of the course. On Friday, we did the last third of the course, including the infamous Fire Tower Hill climb. Much of it was exactly what I expected it to be, but some was quite different. I figured that as long as the middle third didn’t hold any surprises, I would be okay!

Race morning came early. At 5am, those of us without preferred starts hopped on our bikes in the dark and rode to the starting area to leave our bikes somewhere near the front. Those that slept in would be relegated to the rear. The morning was awesome – perfect temperature, no rain, just a few clouds. Thankfully our house was within a short walk of the starting area, so we could walk home, then easily get back a few hours later when we were ready to race. The next few hours we ate breakfast, then sat around and looked alternately at each other and at the clock. Not much to do til go-time…

The starting area was full of people and bikes when we arrived. The thirty minutes before the start went by quickly. I spent those last few minutes trying not to freak out about the start – the stories I’d heard put the fear of death in me. With that many people taking off on bikes at the same time, things can and will happen.

I lined up to the outside and hoped for the best. I was around Ken, Jim, Sally, Brian, and Lang, so I figured I had a couple guys around me that I could trust. The first few miles alternated between fast and slow with nothing but a whole lotta slamming on the brakes and accelerating in between. Soon enough, though, we hit Rosie’s Field and that’s when the real racing started. It was fast and furious and a whole lot of fun. The hardest part was staying out of the way of the people moving slowly up the hills, swerving with every pedal stroke.

Once we hit the first gravel road, we began to encounter the sand. It has been a very dry end of the summer in northern Wisconsin, so the sand was pretty abundant. Traditionally, I am not a big fan of the stuff and find riding through it to be far more challenging than any rocky decent. After a few trips through the sand, I started to feel like I had a decent handle on things. That was until about mile 10 where the road curved around to the right and the sand on the road directed my bike straight ahead. That would have been okay had there not been a faster dude trying to pass me on the outside. We banged wheels and both went down. He jumped back up and asked if I was okay before he headed away. I grabbed the bike and my glasses out of the dusty sand and assessed the damage. There was a bunch of blood, but I wasn’t sure where it was coming from until I checked out my elbow. I looked down and saw a pulse of blood squirt out. I immediately thought that my day was over, but a little pressure applied with my other hand slowed the flow to a trickle. Knowing that I wasn’t hurt badly and that no one was going to come get me if I stayed where I was, I got back on the bike and pedaled slowly, trying to see out of my glasses which were totally coated in dust.

I found a water stop a few miles later, and I got some first aid there. By then I was pretty sure I could at least survive the rest of the race, even if I couldn’t do it very quickly. I used the extra adrenaline to push the pace a little, knowing that things might start to hurt a bit more once that wore off. I felt very little pain and was able to race pretty well for the rest of the race. I got a quite a few comments about the blood running down my arm, and the best was when I passed a tandem a little later and one of the riders remembered swerving to miss me when I crashed! The worst injury I saw all day was another rider who had crashed and hurt his shoulder. He rigged his Camelbak to hold his arm like a sling, and he rode the rest of the course one-handed (and thus with limited gears). Having ridden behind him for a short stretch, I only hope he was able to finish without crashing again. He looked pretty unsteady on some of those descents!

Soon after the notorious Fire Tower Hill climbs, I caught up to Brian and we stayed in close proximity to each other, crossing the finish line at the same time. We were both Chequamegon virgins, so it was fun to end together. Cam was a little distressed when he saw me at the end. Someone had told him that I went down, and he got me to the med tent ASAP to get my wounds cleaned up. The EMTs went back and forth about whether I should go for stitches for my elbow, but I eventually decided against it. Two hours had passed since the crash and it would be another couple of hours before I could actually get in at the hospital. I opted for the open wound, and I am hoping that my body will just clear any leftover grime out of the wound by itself. I also ended up with some interesting “crop circle” looking bruises on my legs and a large scrape on my hip. I was pleased that my new Zoom kit came out okay. I was afraid there was a big tear in the butt and that I had ridden the last thirty miles with my cheek showing!

I had three goals going into this race. First and second were to be top 10 in my age group and top 50 women. Finally I was hoping to go sub-3 hours. When I crossed the finish line I could see that the sub-3 hour finish was gone, but I sorta had a feeling that was gone when I hit the deck. It wasn't until I got my results from the trailer after the race that I saw I had narrowly missed my other two goals - 11th in my age group and 51st overall. I am so ready to do this race again next year!

The rest of the Des Moines gang had good races. The only other casualty was Kristin’s crash in the Short & Fat race. She went down near the start and ended up with wounds almost identical to mine. She, however, spent the rest of the day in the ER getting those stitches I decided against. Beer and pizza was on the post-race menu. We all spent a beautiful evening on the deck rehashing the day’s events, laughing a lot, and enjoying the great day. Good friends, good food, and good times.

Cam’s race was not the race he had hoped for; he ended up 19th. It was his best time yet at Chequamegon, but his legs weren’t up to the challenge of keeping him with the front pack. I think we are both already excited for next year!

Center TT and Branched Oak

One of the aspects of mountain bike racing that I still need to get used to is the factor that weather plays. In seven years of triathlon racing, I’ve only had one race cancelled or delayed due to weather. And, in that one race (2008 Copper Creek Triathlon) it was pouring rain with bolts of lightning flashing across the sky almost constantly the whole morning. That was a no-brainer. This season, I think we’ve had four or five mountain bike races postponed for weather. And it wasn’t the weather on the morning of the race that forced the delays, it was rain a few days before the event. While I do understand that riding on rain-soaked trails can damage not only the trails, but also the bikes we are riding, it is still frustrating to wake up to blue skies and sunshine and not be able to go out and race. It was doubly frustrating with Chequamegon coming up the following week. We had a weekend planned with some good intensity, but nothing that would kill us for the main event seven days away.

The plan was to do the Branched Oak race north of Lincoln on Saturday, then stay in Des Moines on Sunday and do the Sycamore Time Trial and the Center Time Trial. It was not meant to be, and we got our first indication of that on Friday evening’s recon of Sycamore. I’d never ridden Sycamore, and I wanted to take a look at it before the TT on Sunday. About a quarter mile into it, I flatted. That wouldn’t be a problem except the spare had a hole, too! I started walking while Cam high-tailed it back home to grab the truck and pick me up.

While this was going on in Des Moines, it was raining in Nebraska. By the time we were back home from the non-ride at Sycamore, the race directors had already postponed Saturday’s race to Sunday. Now we had a problem: three races in two states, all on the same day. We both needed points for both series, though it was a little more important for both of us for the Nebraska standings. The big kicker was that the two TTs in DM counted as two different races for the Iowa Series, so points were up for grabs in each event. Eventually we figured out that we might be able to make an interesting compromise. We could do the Center TT on Sunday morning, then jump in the Jeep and roll into Branched Oak with just enough time to get a little warm-up and race there. With a quick call to the RD for the TTs to ask if we could be number one and two off the line and we were back in business!

The weather in DM was great on Saturday, so we rode to the Center trails to get things dialed in. We did a couple laps, and I was feeling really good. I am amazed at what a difference a year makes. I vividly remember chasing Cam around and being totally gassed from the effort, while he was barely breaking a sweat. This year, I am still chasing him around, he still barely breaks a sweat, but I feel great instead of ready to lay down and die! Anyway, I felt good about everything on Rollercoaster and Hillside; I was amped to go racing!

We got to the race with plenty of time to do another lap for a warm-up. Talking with some other racers before we warmed-up, we learned of two new developments: not only was the TT going to be two laps instead of one, but we were to do it backwards of the usual route! After a quick mental adjustment and a lap going the other way, it was soon go-time. I got going pretty well and knew that I had a long string of guys coming after me in one minute intervals. I think I got passed by three guys on the first lap and two on the second. I took the hike-a-bike option up the steep incline out of rollercoaster, but everything else went very well. I ended up with the fastest female time of the morning (and Cam was the fastest man), but we couldn’t stick around long. We did a quick cool-down and loaded up the car for a two and half hour drive.

We did our best to hydrate and refuel during the drive, so we’d have something to burn during round two. Branched Oak is kind of out in the middle of Nowhere, Nebraska. The trail is fairly new and/or doesn’t get a lot of riding. This became very apparent to me on my warm-up lap. I thought I was going to have my teeth knocked out of my mouth by the rough terrain. At one point I even stopped to make sure that nothing was so wrong with my bike (flat tire, tire rubbing somewhere, etc) because it felt so bad. Nope, that’s just the course. I felt pretty battered after just warming up, so I was pretty disappointed to hear that we were doing four laps of that crap.

It was time to just suck it up, though my body was not pleased about the whole idea. Again, there were three women at the start line; Donna (Cat 1), Barbara from the Czech Republic (Cat 2), and me. This was Barbara’s first race in the US, but it was very apparent she was fairly accomplished back home. The gun went off, and Donna and I never saw anything of Barbara again – she was riding with the guys and blowing us away! I followed Donna until she hit the deck right in front of me, then we only saw each other on the open grassy section at the end of each lap.

I grew more and more grumpy each lap. I could tell I was just out of juice and that the TT of the morning had taken more out of me than I thought. The worst possible finish for me was going to be second, which was where I was sitting at the time, so I basically went into survival mode and tried to minimize the damage to myself as I ground my way through the remaining laps. I was glad that Cam wasn’t around when I finished – I wouldn’t have been very fun to be around. My back was as sore as it has ever been following a race, and I just needed to get some food back in me. I got off the bike ASAP, grabbed my smoothie and laid down in the grass to make my back stop screaming. When Cam rolled through the finishline (in first place by a pretty decent margin!), I was a little more like myself.

I didn’t like the course and I didn’t feel good most of the race. My only fear was that I’d done way too much six days before the biggest race of my young mountain bike career. I guess I’ll just wait and see!

Maplelag - Labor Day Weekend

We had three choices for racing this weekend:

1. Stay close to home and do the 24-hour race at Boone. I even had a couple girls willing to take me on as a teammate.

2. Dakota 5-0. That would mean a super long drive (9-10 hours) for a challenging 50 mile race. With Chequamegon in two short weeks, that would have been a little much for me. However, the race sounds awesome, and something I’d like to do eventually.

3. MNSCS #9: Laddie’s Loppet at Maplelag Resort in northwestern Minnesota. We knew Jay Richards and family would put on a great event, and a little time at a resort in the great white north sounded pretty good. Jay had even taken it upon himself to reserve a room for us, so the decision was pretty much made for us!

Although the eight-hour drive from Ames was brutal, Cam had planned ahead and loaded up his iPod with some Harry Potter (neither of us had read any of the books nor seen the movies). That helped pass the time, but we had both pretty much had enough of the Jeep by the time we pulled into Maplelag, about 25 miles north of Detroit Lakes. The traffic heading north out of the Twin Cities about put Cam in a mental institute, but as we turned off the paved roads and drove into the resort, we both knew all suffering of the drive was so worth it.

With trees all around and cabins set by the lake, it looked like the summer camp of my younger days. There were even some old railroad cabooses turned into private camping rooms. The main lodge was by far the most impressive, though. Beautiful woodwork, amazing stained glass windows, and a very inviting atmosphere were just some of the great first impressions. We sat down to a homemade meal with fresh bread and tasty dessert, and all of the travel issues melted away. Before checking in, we stopped by the bottomless cookie jars to sample more of the goods!

Jay’s wife, Jonell, checked us in and told us we were staying in the building called the Candy Shop, and our room named Double Fudge Brownie! We totally knew we made the right choice on where to race this weekend.

I was very pleasantly surprised to walk into the Candy Shop and find our big room. It could sleep seven, but we had it all to ourselves and our own bathroom and shower. The other rooms were taken by the Hinkens family, TJ Woodruff and his dad, and Doug Swanson. We spent the rest of the evening hanging out in the main room of the Candy Shop shooting the breeze with all these folks.

Saturday morning was a crisp, sunny start to the beautiful weekend. The racing was more than just the traditional single day cross country event; there were three events over two days to add to the fun. First up was the Time Trial. As a newbie to all of this cycling stuff, all I knew was that I needed to go as hard as I could for 3-ish miles, but not totally kill myself in the process. After all, there was still another race later in the day! Cam’s race was first, so we warmed up, and then I looked for some good places to snap a few photos.

Cam flew across the finish line in 10 minutes and 1 second, good enough for fourth place. The Sport race was next, and although I still took a while for my legs to get under me, I eventually got up to speed, and finished in the mid-13 minute range, giving me 2nd place for Sport Women. As soon I could breathe again, Cam and I headed out to recon the cross country course for Sunday’s main event.

While the time trial course was not very technical, I was surprised to find out just how tough the cross country course was going to be. I generally walk anything that looks really gnarly on my pre-ride, giving it a once over and deciding whether I will try it during the actual race. While many (Cam included) may not see this as the best way to prepare (he’d rather I went back and physically tried it again before attempting it (or not) in a race), it has worked for me so far! I did make on exception to my rule on this course. There is a series of infamous “lakeside drops” on this course that really didn’t look like anything I wanted to ride my bike down. They are so gnarly that one of the pros was offering a clinic on how to ride them that day. I took my own “pro” with me and we worked on them together. I walked most of the drops and the subsequent ups during the recon, but finally near the end of that section, I turned around and rode one of them, just to see if I could do it without taking a swim in the lake with the ‘Goose. There was probably some rough language going on in my head at the time, but I did clean the section without crashing in a heap at the bottom. The rest of the courses reminded me of Boone: pretty technical with some short, punchy climbs. Ouch, this is gonna hurt.

After another wonderful lunch in the main lodge (and another cookie), we headed back to the room for a little R&R (a great nap for me!!) before the afternoon’s main event: the Short Track race – basically an off-road crit-style race. Again, the only exposure to this kind of racing was earlier this year at Snake Alley. The only thing I remember about that was just how painful it was.

The Sport race was to be eleven minutes plus one lap. I rode the beginner course a few times in my warm-up and thought I would be okay in the race. After the beginner race, however, they re-routed the course to include a much steeper climb that required a lot more momentum to crest. Much to my surprise, I could clear it in my big ring: game on! We lined up with the guys, and I had a better than usual start, which for me means that I wasn’t dead-last. I steadily picked off women, one-at-a-time. Soon I was sitting in second place with only one lap to go. I think there may have been blood shooting out of my eyeballs (at least that‘s what I felt like…), but I managed to get around the first place woman right at the start of our last lap, and somehow held her off for the win! I caught up with Cam between my race and his. He had a pretty big smile on his face!Cam’s race was to be eighteen minutes plus two laps. That gave me plenty of time to take some photos and cheer him on. The Short Track course is great for spectators because each lap only takes about 80-90 seconds, and I could see the leaders about 3-4 times each lap by just moving a few yards in various directions. Cam started out in the top 10 and steadily moved his way through the field up to fourth place, where he stayed for the conclusion. At the end of day one, Cam was sitting in fourth place and I was in second place in the GC.

I figured that with a solid top 3 finish on Sunday, I could hold on to a top 3 overall for the weekend. That was gonna be tough, as my best finish in a MNSCS race was fourth. After yet another great meal and some more time hanging with some good peeps, it was soon time to hit the hay with another big day ahead of us.

During my warm-up on Sunday, my legs didn’t feel as cranky as I thought they might, considering the effort I required of them on Saturday, but I knew it would be later in the race that really demonstrated what the abuse of Saturday did to me. Though Saturday’s events had 6-7 women in each race, about three times that many showed up on Sunday. We thought that we had heard they were going to do call-ups for both the MNSCS series points leaders as well as the stage race leaders, so I was hanging out close to the front as we lined up. The call-ups never happened, but regardless I started closer to the front than I usually do. I was gonna have to haul butt off the line to keep from getting run over by the fast guys behind me. Thankfully, I had one of the best starts I’ve ever had, and hit the first bit of singletrack as about the sixth female. The usual traffic jam ensued as the accordion of riders worked through a very short, but still a little tricky section of trail.

Things spread out a bit by the time we hit the lakeside drops on lap one. As if riding this section wasn’t hard enough on its own, it becomes quite a bit more intimidating with a huge audience, and this is where most of the fans were gathered! Having everyone there does, however, make you step up your game a little – I did not want to take a header into the lake in front of everyone! Cam was at the top of one of the rises and gave me some encouragement. It wasn’t pretty and I didn’t clear everything, but I didn’t go swimming either. Sometime soon after I left the lakeside, I noticed a bad, but now familiar feeling in my right foot. My shoe had a lot of lateral play, and that could only mean one thing: another loose cleat. I was unclipping a lot on this course – not for a bunch of hike-a-bikes but just for little tricky rock gardens or rooty, uphill corners. I knew that every time I unclipped, I was loosening the cleat just a little more. It would be a major disaster to lose the cleat entirely. I couldn’t imagine having to ride there without being clipped to my pedal!

On the ski trail sections, I was able to make up some good ground and worked my way up to third place by the start of the second lap. However, by the time I reached the lakeside again, the fatigue of Saturday’s efforts was starting to set in. Cam was at the bottom of one of the drops this time and gave me another boost, but before I was away from the lake, I’d been passed by fourth place. I kept her in my sights and managed to get by her, only to be passed by another female on the one hike-a-bike climb. This girl took off and I never saw her or any other female the rest of the race. Between having to stop a few times to attempt to tighten the cleat with my fingers and just being generally gassed, I did what I needed to survive the rest of the race and not lose any more places. I though, too, that I was too far back time-wise to finish on the podium of the stage race. But as I cruised across the finish line, I was still pleasantly pleased that I finished as high as I did.

Perhaps the best part of this race was getting to know some of the racers and enjoying the camaraderie of the event, rather than just enjoying the racing itself. I took a quick shower following my race then hung out with some of the women during Cam’s race. He had yet another great race. Just when you might think that all his racing and training, and even his age, is going to catch up with him, he turns out another stellar performance against guys half his age. He picked his way slowly but deliberately through the field, sitting as high as fourth at one point, to finish fifth – an awesome accomplishment against this very talented field.

We stuck around for the awards ceremony. Jay and Jonell did it right. It took a while to get through all the awards, but the family-like atmosphere they nurtured all weekend was easy to see as every racer who was called to the front got more than just a polite round of applause. It was more like a cheer from a bunch of new fans. Although we wanted to get on the road as soon as possible, we did stick around long enough for the door prize drawings. I think Cam won the boobie prize: a book titled “Instinctive Parenting.”

Maskenthine

When I found out that Steve was bringing the girls back to Bettendorf for a visit this weekend, I have to admit that I was really hoping this race would get rained out for a third time this year so that we could go back and have some twin time instead of driving to BFE, Nebraska for a bike meet. However, the weather had better ideas and the day was picture-perfect to race on the dirt. Aside from the 3.5 hour duration, the drive over was great.

As usual, I was hoping for a decent turn-out of females to compete against. But, also as usual, there was just one other woman who made the trip (which, as it turned out, was only about a 10 minute drive for her). My recon lap went well, but I recall thinking that the laps were pretty short, so I assumed that we'd be doing at least three laps. Standing on the starting line, I was shocked to find out that the Cat 2 women were only scheduled for 2 laps. I tried to convince the other competitor that we should do three laps, but she declined. This was gonna be a quick race for us.

We started with the 45+ Cat 2 men, and I took the lead (after the men...) into the most technical section following the start up the gravel road. That may have been a mistake as Rhonda, the other woman, really had a home field advantage, living so close to the venue. I'm sure she had a better grasp on how to get through this section, and my suspicions were confirmed because she was right on my butt throughout that whole portion. The course opens up a bit after the initial section of single track, so I was able to slowly pull away. It took me the first half of the lap to get my gap to stick, though.

My legs weren't great at during my warm-up or lap one, but they really started to feel pretty good at the beginning of lap two. With Chequamegon coming up in three short weeks, I wanted to push the pace in the more open sections to see what I could do and to make sure I was getting a decent workout and not just putting in the minimum to win. When I dropped the hammer, I started picking people off, one by one, and sometimes three at a time. At one point, I even passed the (lone) Cat 1 woman racer who started 2 minutes ahead of me!

All too soon, the second lap was over and so was my race. I was just starting to feel good, too! The most disappointing part was that I had driven 3.5 hours each way for what ended up being less than a one hour race. In fact, I got done with my race, waited for Rhonda to finish, watched for Cam to come by a couple minutes later to start his fourth lap, made it back to the car to change clothes, and was back before Cam came around again.

Too short. Bummer. I could have used a good, long, high intensity workout to help prep for Chequamegon. It is what it is, though.

Cam had an outstanding race. He let Kevin lead for a couple of laps before whipping past him and never looking back. He won by 3.5 minutes.

Two Ws for Team Vardaman-Kirkpatrick again! We were home in time for me to get up the next morning and still make the trip to the Quad-Cities for a quick visit with Steve and the girls and some Happy Joes pizza!

Seven Oaks - Boone, Iowa

They say ignorance is bliss. That was certainly the case for me when it comes to Boone. Although it is just a few minutes down the road from Ames, I’d never ridden at Seven Oaks before. I’d seen Cam race there twice last year, but I’d never turned a single pedal stroke there myself. Either I wasn’t paying attention to the course while I was watching Cam race or my mind blocked out what I was seeing; regardless, that place is tough.

Cam and I went over for a little course recon on Saturday. We’d had some rain, so we weren’t sure what the course conditions would be. Literally, just as we were pedaling our way onto the first few feet of the trail, I asked Cam if I was correct in assuming that the biggest challenge of riding/racing at Seven Oaks was the climbing. He quickly corrected me – it is a very technical course. And he spent the next 75 minutes showing me example after example after example of the technical nature of this ski hill.

At some point about halfway through the single lap that we did together, I decided I wasn’t having fun anymore! The course was still a little slick from the rain, I had so much mud caked in my shoes and pedals that I could barely get clipped in and out, and I was spending a bunch of time off the bike pushing it around some of the trickier switchbacks. I honestly had a fleeting thought about the Hickory Grove triathlon being held the next day and if I thought I could still enter and compete there rather than at the Boone race! Thankfully, the last quarter of the lap gets a little bit easier, so I banished the triathlon thought from my head, and took a needed little rest in the back of the truck while Cam did another lap at his pace… Cam said the course had dried out quite a bit between his first and second laps, and he thought it would be good to go for the race on Sunday.

Race day was perfect – like 70-75 degrees, a light breeze, and not a single cloud in the sky – that kind of good! There was a good turnout of people, especially with three females in the beginner class, three in Cat 2, and one in Cat 1. Keely and I rode the beginner loop for a warm-up, then soon it was go time.

The experts took off at noon, with the rest of us 5 minutes later. Generally, we women start off in the back and have to pass a bunch of dudes shortly after entering the singletrack. I wanted to avoid doing any more passing than necessary, because there are very limited locations where a safe pass can be made (at least with my skill level) at Boone. I pushed it a little at the start and was thankful that my legs were able to respond. That would never happen at a bigger race…

Still, as soon as we all hit the singletrack, the pace slowed considerably and there was a lot of walking to be had by all. I stayed on my bike more than I thought I might, and was able to get around a couple more dudes in the process. I had managed to get in front of Keely and Kristin at the start and hoped to keep a couple of guys between us as much as possible.

The initial climb is challenging, but then it just gets worse from there. However, I found myself really enjoying it much more than the day before. For one, the course was much drier, and the parts I couldn’t ride were far less slick than on Saturday. Secondly, the pace was obviously higher during the race, so the momentum created by the speed eased some of the climbs. I was still working my butt off, but I was having a lot more fun doing it! I enjoyed riding with some of the guys during the first lap. We all seemed to struggle with the same technical areas, but somehow I managed to gain a little ground on most of them for the remainder of the lap. There were no major mishaps on lap one, but I did find myself laughing out loud a couple of times at some silly mistakes or total catastrophes that were narrowly avoided. Near the end of the lap, I could feel my back starting to revolt against the strain of the technical nature of the course.

Lap two started well, but not more than about five minutes in, I took a crazy line down a little drop, hit something at the bottom, and before I knew it I was on the ground and the bike was piled up underneath me. I knew there was one guy behind me who could very easily run me right over if he didn’t see me until too late. I grabbed the bike, did a really fast glance to make sure nothing was totally mangled, then remounted in a hurry. My body was fine, but not too long after, I heard the front brakes start rubbing. I stopped to see what was up with the brakes, and right then Cam came around (on his third lap!), so it was a perfect opportunity for him to pass me without putting myself into a tree. He asked me if I was in the lead, which seemed strange to me, because I knew that he would have had to pass Kristin and Keely to get up to me! I kind of pondered that in my head as I finished the lap.

I got the brakes to work without rubbing, and soldiered on to the finish. The only major mistake was stopping to let one of the leaders by me, but I mistook the Cat 2 guy behind me for the leader. Basically, I pulled over and let someone by who really should have fought me for the spot. It wasn’t Keely or Kristin, so it doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things, but I need to not make that mistake again!

After the race, Cam asked if I had won. I thought I had, but he said he never saw Keely. I wondered if she had to drop out or if something had happened to her. I saw her after we did a cool-down, and she said thought she was gaining on me at the end of the first lap, but then she’d taken a wrong turn (onto the beginner loop) at the start of lap two. It took her a while to figure out what had happened and how to get back to where she needed to be. That’s a bummer – it would have been fun to battle it out with her on the second lap!

Looking back, it really was a fun race. Painful, but fun. The only carnage from the race was a whole bunch of bruising on my legs, a little scrape on my elbow and one broken piece on the front brakes of the bike. The day was picture-perfect and we ended it well with a great post-race meal at Hickory Park!

WORS / MNSCS Border Battle

It’s been a little while since Cam and I headed to the Great White North for a race – actually it was the middle of June since I’d gone racin’ in Wisconsin. I’ve been enjoying some fun times testing my skillz in some recent Iowa and Nebraska races, but I was ready to throw down with the larger women’s fields in the north. A quick check of the MNSCS and WORS schedules showed the annual Border Battle between the two series.

Before we could head out for the weekend’s race, we had another little something to do on Friday night: the Iowa State Fair! Cam’s company gives him two admission tickets and $20 worth of food tickets. Plus, one of my favorites, Gary Allan, was playing at the Grandstand on Friday night. If that wasn’t good enough, the first Friday of the Fair is also traditionally East Sider Night, so the people-watching would be exceptionally good! We ate our way through the evening (sadly, nothing we had was on a stick) at the Beef Producers booth, the Turkey Producer’s booth, and the ice cream trailer; we also managed to take in the Big Bull, the Big Boar, some sheep judging, and even a little bit of beer drinking. Although Cam isn’t much of a country music fan, the company was good and we enjoyed our little evening out. Then it was time to start thinking about racing again!

Held in River Falls, WI, the Border Battle pits the Wisconsin riders against the ones from Minnesota for a year’s worth of bragging rights and a traveling trophy. Being from Iowa, our rides would be of no consequence to that end, but having basically twice the competition would mean that we would need to step up our game to compete!

We weren’t really sure what the weather would do – rain was forecast, but no one was saying exactly when or how much it would be. The pre-ride on Saturday turned out to be perfect – the weather, the course, everything. We hit the grocery store on the way back to the cabin we shared with Tyrine, Tim, and Michelle, and cooked up a great dinner. We were able to eat dinner out on the deck before the rain started. It rained all night long, and only started to clear off by a couple hours before my race. As soon as I was partially warmed-up, I rode over to see how muddy the racers in the beginner class were, and to my surprise they looked pretty clean!

The rest of my warm-up was similar to my experiences at these bigger races. My stomach was doing flip-flops and I felt like I was on the verge of bonking – just nothing in my legs. I’ve sorta learned to accept this as “normal” for me now, but I still haven’t figured out how to deal with it in a productive manner.

Twenty-four women lined up for the start of the Cat 2 race, including me and Michelle. I knew I was gonna have another bad start, but I really got left behind this time! We took a short run through the grass to the base of the first climb; I was in dead last (again). I had hoped to make up some ground on the climb, and it didn’t take long for that to happen. People were unclipping all over the place, but I managed to find a workable line among them and cruise to the top. I think I passed 8-9 ladies on that climb.

I stuck to the wheels of a couple gals through the first half of the lap and worked my way around them and a few guys, too. The course was in great shape and despite a few minor hiccups with other competitors, everything was going well. Cam was out taking pictures on the first lap, so I had a little bit of a cheering section! Lap two was more of the same. A fourteen year old and I swapped places back and forth for awhile, until she took off and left me in her dust. After she faded into the distance, I rode alone primarily for the rest of the race, except for a couple of guys who made me work for my position. I never saw another female, either behind me or in front of me, for the rest of the race.

When I crossed the finish line, I noticed that I wasn’t working very hard. Apparently, I needed a rabbit of some sort to chase. That is an area that I really need to work on – keep diggin’ til the end of the race. I ended up 10th place overall, 2nd in my age group.

Cam’s race began soon after mine ended. I had a chance to get out on the course to snap a couple pictures. Following his warm-up, Cam wasn’t too sure his legs were 100% up to the challenge, but he marched his way steadily through the field and came out with a strong eighth place finish.
Next up is another race close to home: Seven Oaks in Boone. I’ve never raced there. In fact this is where I watched my first race last year. As I understand, there is a lot of climbing, but everyone seems to like to race there!

Lake Ahquabi

I couldn’t decide how I felt about going back to race at Ahquabi this year. Part of me was stoked to have the chance to ride this course again. After all, this was where I made my mountain bike racing debut just last year. On the other hand, I found it really hard to believe that a whole year had passed me by. Man, time does certainly fly! And a lot has changed since then.

A year ago, Cam and I weren’t even (officially, whatever that means) dating, he was busy making fun of the 300lbs. bike I was planning to race, and I was scared to death of actually trying to go “fast” on a mountain bike trail. Rolling up this year, I had to laugh a little about the changes from last year.

Last year, it took some convincing me that I would survive the race, let alone doing it without crashing into something or someone. This time around, I was recruiting any and every female who I knew owned a mountain bike. Last year, I thought I would die from the effort it would take to ride one lap at Ahquabi. This year, I was a little disappointed that we were only doing three laps – I thought seriously about heading back out for another lap or two in an effort to get a little more training for Chequamegon. A year ago, I was the one asking all the questions at the starting line, while this time I was one of the ones answering the newbie’s questions. Needless to say, I was much happier this year!

The one thing that didn’t change, however, was that I didn’t want to get beat in the race! Hopefully I won’t ever lose that drive! Actually, I think last year’s goal was to not get lapped by Cam. I figured this year, it would probably happen no matter what, so I just set a goal of not letting that happen until my third lap…

With increased recruitment efforts this year, we brought the Women’s Cat 2 field size up to four – All Nine Yards’ Kristin Reece, Rassmussen’s Sally Logan, Punk Rock Cycling’s Keely Shannon, and me. Keely is a complete stud on the bike, and probably has more experience that the other three of us combined despite her young age of 19. She used to race mountain bikes in her earlier years and now races Cat 3 on the road. Sally, Kristin, and I placed within about a minute of each other last week at Ingawanis, so I knew that I would have some good competition when the gun went off.

Temps were back into the 90s, but combined with the mostly shaded nature of this course, it felt maybe ten to fifteen degrees cooler than the sun-baked blast-furnace-like conditions of the race the day before. The skies (and the forecast) threatened big-time thunderstorms and hail, so we were all keeping an eye to the sky throughout our warm-ups leading up to the start.

Race director Bruce Brown put together an awesome course – 7+ challenging miles of Chequamegon-like trails. With 90% doubletrack and a fair amount of climbing, the conditions are perfect for beginner and experienced riders alike. Even the Dee and Dave Mable broke out the tandem for the day.

Bruce started the whole group of 60+ racers at the same time, with most of us pretty well self-seeded according to category. The start was pretty fast, even back where I started… I was just trying to keep Keely within my visual field, not let her get too far away! I was also pleasantly surprised to see Karolyn Zeller, newbie mountain bike studette, crank out some fast and furious first miles in her race. The crowds thinned out fairly quickly, and about midway through the first lap, I finally caught and passed Karolyn, then Keely. While Karolyn was only doing one lap, I knew I needed to keep the pace up to keep Keely from catching back up to me.

The course was fast, for the most part, and what surprised me the most was how much I was enjoying pushing myself through the tougher parts of the race, despite my fatigue from the previous day’s race, and despite the heat. I was feeling pretty fresh and my legs would go when I told them to. That is a great feeling.

I ended up riding the majority of the race by myself, but the two-way traffic sections meant I got to cheer on some of the other ladies and see Cam a couple times out there. It wasn’t until my final lap that he finally caught and lapped me. He had a big enough gap on second that we rode together for a couple of seconds before he took off.

The last few yards to the finish line was straight up a huge incline. Surprisingly, I still felt awesome by the time I got there, so I just dropped into an easy-ish gear and plugged my way to the top for the win!

This was one of the most fun races of the year so far. My favorite part was seeing so many newbies come out and try out the sport. At one point I walked away from Cam and told him, “I’m gonna go take advantage of having all these females here and go hang out with the girls!”

Hopefully, all these new ladies were bit by the bug that got me at Ahquabi last year, and they will be regulars on the Iowa MTB race circuit!