L O S T (not the TV show)

The merry band of wanderers from Roanoke left at 0800. As I said to Paula during the day, I'm glad we got an early start. We spent 4 hours in the woods on Liberty Mountain attempting to pre-ride the race course. We spent about an hour and a half of that going nowhere. Yes, nowhere equates to going 0 mph. This time was mostly spent trying to figure out where in the hell we were. We took maps with us, but without the most recent trail map (version 4) of the entire trail system, we were pretty much barking up the wrong tree. There were several occasions where we found ourselves backtracking just to find the right trail head. First we lost Pa-Paw - eventually we found the fat bastard and rode him. Then, we couldn't find a Walk in the Park to save our souls. We found fireroad after fireroad and eventually stumbled across it. Interestingly we found a trail map with a "You are Here" star. We were still left wondering were we really here? Or there? Perhaps over there? We made a Great Escape and even found Hydaway Lake and camp (well sort of). We made a Lassoooo, found a trail head kiosk at Camp Hydeaway Rd that also seemed to indicate, "You are Here" only this time "Here" wasn't where we wanted to be. We rode around some more, eventually running into a local rider who help steer us in the right direction, but have no fear we screwed that up to and wound up backtracking. I think we did take A Trail too Far and the Lake Trail. Honestly at this point, I don't know.

I do know the following:

• I had a lot of fun today
• Not having the best map really causes frustration
• Not having a local along for the ride doesn't help
• I have a great circle of friends
• Overall I do feel better about the race - it may take me a while to finish the race, but terrain wise I think I'll be ok. The trails seem to be full of the same stuff.
  
• I also can predict that I'll need at least 6ml of Hammer Gel, Two Gatorades and a full Camelback and probably at least one granola bar.
  
• I can ride the bridges. Even one of those rickety, log/branch bridges.
• I will have to walk at some points during the race
• I can't get frustrated in this race - just have to think of it as any other ride

We had 9 people on the ride today. (Ron, Warren, Paula, Laura, Anais, Patrick, Brian, Tom and Me!) Everyone did great!!! I had a blast!!! The other bloggers may have pictures too. Meanwhile here are mine:



There is a bike race next Saturday in Rocky Mount, VA. It's race #4 of the Derailler Series. I raced here last year and didn't mind the race course, but Tropical Storm Hanna may affect our weather:

A Mill Mountain kind of day. =)

Today was a day that I've wanted to have for a long time. I was originally supposed to go out of town for the holiday weekend, but elected to cancel and stay home. So for the entire month, I've had this day pictured in my mind. If I didn't have to go to jury duty, I wanted to spend some quality time on Mill Mountain. You see there are trails there that I think are pretty sweet and there are people who work on the trails that are pretty cool and ever since I spent time last November and December blazing the trails, I've felt like I have taken a bit of ownership in the park. I've fussed, cussed, complained and protested that evil idea of Rockledge Inn, and I'm also a member of the Roanoke Valley Mountain Bike Patrol who's focus is on Mill Mountain's trails, so see I'm rather attached to the place.

So this morning, I got up in time to get to the Discovery Center by 9a for a rendezvous with the other trail builders. Actually I got there a bit early, so I walked the parking lot of the Discovery Center and picked up trash again. I'm trying to make an effort that anytime I park there that I remove some amount of trash. For some reason, people can't seem to put it in the ample trash cans that dot the sidewalks. It's disgusting to me to see all the crap laying around. It's particularly bad around the top parking lot - I'm going to try to get up there and remove some of it another day soon. Anyone want to help?

Ok, so we piled in the vehicles and headed down to Woodthrush Trail where we hiked a short distance to the Virginia Pine Trail. Sweet! I wasn't sure where this gem of a trail was and it's pretty cool to see a work in progress. Soon 6 of us plus Pchap's little boys (3 and 7 months?) were hard at work, choping through the topsoil, roots, rocks etc. We completed a small section of trail. I will say that trail building is hard work!!! I have a lovely blister on my thumb for my efforts! I enjoyed every bit of it though! It was also nice just to hang out and talk to the others. Each person seems to have a unique opinion on what they think the trail should be. I'll just go along with whatever. =) I'm glad I went and worked today - I wish I could go more often, but this group is usually there while I'm working.

After the trailwork was done and the equipment put away, we headed our separate ways. I went home to let the dog out and do some laundry. Then I ate a yummy lunch while watching in wonderment the GOPs VP on CNN. WTH? Anyway, soon after that, I fell asleep in the recliner for an hour or so. I awoke to the phone ringing - my boss asking if I was going to work Saturday - the answer is no, I'm on call and they can call me in if they need me. Next, I decided to get cleaned up and plan the rest of my day. Why I cleaned up I don't know because my afternoon plans involved going for a bike ride. HA!

I went back to Mill Mountain for a patrol ride this evening at 5p. I parked at Riversedge, but soon was on the phone with who else, my boss. HA! I told her I was going to charge her two hours pay for the phone calls today. =) For my ride, I made my way to Walnut Ave where I climbed up to Sylvan. After this, the ride went: up Monument --> down JP Fish --> down Woodthrush --> Star Trail --> down JP Fish --> up Sylvan --> Big Sunny --> up Riser --> up Ridgeline --> Sidewalk to The Star --> down the road (+35mph) --> Chestnut Ridge Loop --> Fern Park --> neighborhood streets to Riversedge. My ride was 1.5 hours and was about 12 miles. This was a good combination of trails. I liked the order in which I rode them today. Very fun! Again, I felt pretty good for the most part while I was riding. It was a tad on the humid side.

Anyway, there is my 4.5 hours spent on Mill Mountain today. YAY Me!!!

Ok, that's enough...

YAY! It rained enough to be helpful, my grass is turning green again, the streams and rivers are looking better and I didn't have to water the flowers for the last two days. NOW STOP!!!! 4 inches in two days is enough for now!!!

I decided to go road riding today since as I drove home the roads for the most part were drying. I got in 25 miles! I enjoyed my ride despite riding amongst the 5-6pm traffic morons. I felt great on the bike, I felt like I put in a good effort, I took a nice route and yup, I got rained on. You see, we always hear about routes in the southern part of the city and county, but hey there are some roads to link together over here too!!! I'm planning to post most of my route on a website in a few minutes. It will be edited down so as not to give weirdos a road map to my front door. You never know who's reading your blog. =) Most of ya'll I know, and like a lot and you'd be welcome here anytime. I am looking forward to my weekend for sure now. I know that jury duty is OVER!!! I called today and they've ended the August term - I never had to report! What a pain in the ass though, call them every day? SHEESH!!!

So Friday - trail work on Mill Mountain
Saturday - I'm on call and tied to the phone, but HOKIE FOOTBALL kicks off at NOON!
Sunday - hoping to go ride the Candler's Mountain race course
Monday - oh I don't know. If I'm not completely pooped, I'll go ride some more!

YAY!!! Ok, that's enough for now. Back to watching the DNC - yea, sorry I'm a dork and like these kinds of things. If you've missed it, there have been some awesome speeches!

YAY, it's raining!!! Finally!!!

Did some Jen-ervals at the gym

5 min @ 90 rpm
2 min @ 120+ rpm
4 min @ 90 rpm
2 min @ 120+ rpm
3 min @ 90 rpm
2 min @ 120+ rpm
2 min @ 90 rpm
2 min @ 120+ rpm
1 min @ 90 rpm
2 min @ 120+
then
Light spin
then
"Climbing pace" - Hard setting @ 60rpm (?) on/off, sit/stand for several minutes then whatever I felt like.

Worked out to be 21 miles. 45 minutes.

Got off stretched, debated doing some other stuff. Decided to go home instead.

Now I'm going outside to jump in a mud puddle. Just because I can. HA!

=)

S U N D A Y

Real original title huh? Oh well. My creative gene is being suppressed right now by my headache and fatigue genes. Just a brief note - rode at the Cove this morning with Laura aka Michigan. I enjoyed the ride. I think Laura was just getting warmed up (she rode 60 miles or so on the road Saturday and just completed 70+ miles in a mountain bike race a week ago). =) Enjoyed the company today - it's always more fun to ride when you have someone else to talk to.

Route: Four Gorges --> down 1000' --> Comet (lower) --> up Tuckaway --> Fireroad --> Comet --> Enchanted Forest --> Little Bell --> Schoolhouse --> Fireroad --> Arrowhead --> Fireroad --> Songbird --> BS Road

Data: 15.61 miles, 2:22:08, 6.6mph(avg), 141bpm(avg)

Comments: the upper part of Comet sucks - it's a lot rougher than I remember. I ended up walking down a lot of it. After the sharp left it gets much better. The mudhole has now been filled in with logs (freaked me out, so I wound up walking across it). I'll probably be avoiding Comet for a while. It's just not any fun - too rough, too many bad ruts. On Arrowhead, I rode all three of the smaller crossings. =)

Fun times... Here's the one picture I took today:

New tape, new flowers

I get nervous on my road bike. I had worn the right side of the handlebar tape out a bit and it was coming loose all around the hood. So I decided to replace my black bar tape. This is the result of my efforts. I think it looks pretty spiffy for the first time I've ever done this. I did mess up the left side a bit and will probably rewrap it after I buy some colored electrical tape. =) This was just one of many things I found myself doing today.



Project number two: As you recall, my trees were toppled in a bad storm a while back so my front yard is barren. It looks even worse right now because the grass is dead. What didn't die when the trees fell is now pretty much cooked by the lack of rain. Anyway, I had found this plant stand while at Kohl's in Lynchburg in the spring, but it was way too expensive. I happened upon it at a Kohl's in SC for half price and bought it. Well, I decided to put it together today. Of course, I had to go buy orange and maroon mum's for it. Hopefully no one steals this out of my front yard:

Dude, where's my gears?

Last night, Copper got it's first taste of Carvin's Cove dirt. It got plenty; we need rain so bad! So tackling a single speed at the Cove wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. We ended up riding about 10.5 miles. I think the hardest part for me was Arrowhead. I guess because it was about the only climbing we did. We rode it "backwards" - meaning from the end closest to the boat dock back towards Bennett Springs. I got messed up on the initial climb and had to walk a short distance to a flatter area so that I could get rolling again. I had to walk a few more times out of three crossings (rode one) and also on a uphill that I just couldn't get a decent line on. I will definitely be riding the SS some more. Meanwhile, Ritchey is back home. Looking spiffy as usual. I love that bike! It's all tuned up (again) - new chain, working front shock lock out, stiffened up rear suspension and a new front derailler cable. YAY! Planning to take him out and about on Sunday. Route to be determined.

Oh yea, my legs were definitely feeling the SS ride this morning. My calves were mooing and my hamstrings and quads were sore. HMMMM, more leg days at the gym and lookout world, here I come!!!

HAPPY WEEKEND everyone!!! HAVE FUN, play safe!

Crushed...

Paula, the Professor and I had a most excellent Chicky ride tonight. I'm telling you, the boyz of the world better look out. After tonight, I'm convinced that we are some evil Chickys. HA HA HA. You think male pride is hard core, you've not seen anything like tonight. You know the old saying, "there's nothing like a woman's scorned." Well that needs a slight modification and can be completely applied to what transpired in West Salem tonight. I wouldn't say we were scorned, but we sure were inspired. Toss the bitches a bone, because it was on!

We met at Green Hill Park for a planned road ride to Camp Roanoke/Spring Hollow Resevoir and back. Paula beat Anais and myself there as we got held up in traffic on I-81. Once we were rolling, we got a little warm up on the greenway then headed out on Harborwood Road. There were two guys rolling out around the same time as us. One shorter than the other, but both seemingly very nice. I took up the lead for the first part of the ride and stayed there for about 15 minutes, then Paula took over. This was much easier for me this week without having previously ridden from PHHS.

We got to the sharp right hand turn where the road goes considerably up. At this point, the guys passed us. I'm not sure how far back they had been on the road up to this point because I don't like turning around to look on my road bike. Anyway, I fell back to the back of our threesome pretty quick. The bigger guy rode on by saying something about the hill not being any easier to run up then the smaller guy rode up next to me and struck up a conversation. Like I said they were nice. I said something like, "I don't plan on getting off and running." Short guy asked something about having ridden here before, I replied once. He said something about well there's this hill and that, blah blah blah. All the while, I'm thinking, "I'm not so stupid that I've forgotten this road," but you know his ego was probably in need of a fluffing. He continues to mutter on about "they have all this stuff in the catalogs - clothes, shorts, parts etc, but they never have motivation. If they did, I could buy plenty..." I'm said, "well to find motivation, you have to look inward. It's all up to you." All the while, I've noticed that Paula has decided to crank out a good pace up the hill and is pulling away from tall guy. I'm chuckling inwardly. I mentioned something to short guy about this not being my favorite bike to ride. He replies, "oh you're one of those off-roadies." I was like yea, so he continues to plant his foot farther in his mouth, "you can't get those girls to go ride with you there." Me, "um, well we're taking a break tonight. We all race mountain bikes." Him, "oh?" Me, "yea, you see the on up there in front, she races single speed and she's good." Him, "really, well, I might have to get a mountain bike." Me, "you should, it's fun. This is more challenging, but mountain biking is a lot of fun."

By now, we've all reached the top of the climb. 2 guys and us three Chickys. Not sure of what was discussed between us Chickys at this point. I know Paula was cautioning Anais about the descent ahead, and the debate over which order we would ride commenced. The guys went on their way, I went next. I decided about halfway down this section to close the gap on the boyz. And I did. :) I think it surprised them, as I caught them looking back when I was about three feet behind them. HA HA HA. So as we continued to zoom along the flat I stayed close enough to them to remind them I was there, but just far enough back not to disturb their fluffy egos. We all had to stop for a train, and I beat Paula and Anais there by just a little bit and was grinning when they rode up. I think Paula knew what I had been up to and just smiled. I said something like, "you knew I was going to have to cross that gap?" She nodded, and said "yup, and there was no way I was going to let them beat me up that climb." Evil, I tell you we are E V I L. Oh but wait, there's more.

After the train goes by, we all bounce across the tracks and continue on. So after making a left hand turn somewhere along the way, the boyz got a bit in front of us, maybe a 10 sec gap or so?!? I was riding next to Paula and heard her say something along the lines of they can't get away. I said, "do you want to catch them?" She was like, "yea, let's..." I said, "ok" dropped the back down a few cogs, grabbed the big chain ring and started turning the cranks. Paula jumped on my wheel, and we caught them rather easily. Again, you could just see their shoulders drop when they realized we were back! I think at this point we were stepping on their egos because Short guy says, "you know there's an alternate route to this ride. Instead of going to the Camp, you can go almost all the way back to 460 and take another road that is flatter." What was he trying to insist???? Huh, whatever dude. One of us said, "oh that's ok, we've got a plan." So at that point, they went straight while we turned left to head out to Camp Roanoke. We laughed at Paula when she said, "I bet they are glad we're going a separate way..." HA HA HA!!! That was some funny stuff!!!

Our ride continued on and we ended up at Camp Roanoke. We stopped for a brief moment but didn't stay there long as there were bees swarming around us. We decided to try this hill that Warren had mentioned to Paula. Why not? It was one of those things - it's there, try it. I rode as much as I could then said forget it when I was in granny on the front and it was getting harder. I looked at the GPS data since I've been home and it says the grade there is like 11%. We decided to add this to our list of things to try again.

We had a great ride back to Rt 11. I had fun catching Anais then finally hung out at the back as we rode back through Wabun. I missed getting my foot clipped as we turned onto West Main, so I got behind the others a tad. I caught up eventually and had a bit of zip left in me, so as soon as the road went to two lanes, I went around Paula to take the lead back to the park. I think we were all having fun on this ride! I know I was!!!

Once we got back to GHP, we were laughing and enjoying replaying the ride - saw a few friends from the past along the Greenway then went in search of the new singletrack. We rode it! Yes, on our road bikes. It's a nice path and rideable on skinny tires! Eventually, we would call an end to the ride, but not before having a great time. The laughter and comraderie was awesome. Oh, and as Anais and I were leaving the park, we saw short man pulling out in his truck. Of course, we had to laugh and waved enthusiastically to him. You could just see him kind of sigh and wave back. I think his ego deflated at that point. :) CRUSHED, YUP, by three, count them, THREE CHICKYS who just happen to like "off roading" better.

The 8 wonders of a ride.

While Ritchey is away at BU with my favorite Guru and mechanics, I'm left to wonder what to do. For the next two weeks, I get off work at 3:30 which leaves extra time to put two wheels in motion. Today, I decided to take Copper for his initial single track excursion, and while I was at it I decided to log some patrol time. I wasn't exactly sure what I was getting into and wondered how far I could ride this bike since it only has one gear. Might as well try, I mean what do I have to lose? I'm already going crazy - work takes care of that. I'm planning a road ride tomorrow, so that's that. I went to the gym yesterday, so there.

I got to the top of the mountain (yes, I park there so I have to at least climb it to go home) and changed clothes. Got on the bike at 3:45pm. I wondered what would be my best route. I decided to loop in front of the Star, down the sidewalk, down ZooPoo and down Riser. I knew once I got to Big Sunny, that I would have to start climbing, but at least there I know it's wide enough to mess up. After Big Sunny, I rode down the old road to Monument. Monument in case you don't know is a climb that has some rocky sections, a few narrow spots and more than one pitched up section. My goal had become to ride as much as I could without walking.

Of course, riding down the sidewalk is easy. Even getting on to Ridgeline (ZooPoo) isn't bad. I did hit a vine or small tree with my right handlebar. Didn't wreck so that made things nice. I was unsure of the handling of this bike for the most part as the only places I've ridden it are in my neighborhood, my yard, on the greenway and to/from the gym. It took some getting used to the lack of suspension in the back and the stiffer front shock, but I managed. I got to the switchback on Ridgeline and negotiated it very cautiously. On down to the intersection where I stopped to rearrange my sock. There I noticed a pile of horse poop. I frowned and frowned even more once I started down Riser. I mean come on, here I thought we might at least have "unpoopedupon" trails here. :( So I bounced on down Riser - again riding very carefully. I wondered if I would have ridden faster on my other bike. Probably. Oh well.

Once on Big Sunny, I soon learned what this single speed stuff is all about, and I began to wonder what the hell I was thinking. I forged on. Rode this trail fairly well - even on some of the weirder parts of the trail, I managed just fine. After zipping down the old road, it was time to meet my fate. I have a hard enough time riding up Monument Trail on Ritchey with all of his gears and suspension, but this trail will not defeat me. I did ride as much as I physically could. I used all three gears (sit, stand and walk). For the most part, I was in stand. I got all jumbled up and in the rock garden, chickened out and walked a short section. I powered up a couple of the steep pitched sections. There were two places where I walked like 8 feet then got back on and kept pedaling. I did stop a few times to catch my breath and reassure myself that I could do this. I wondered at one point if I stalled out if I would just tumble down the side of the mountain like a rock. Then I wondered how bad it was going to hurt if I simply couldn't go up anymore and just started rolling backwards. With all of the standing I was doing, I began to wonder what was the point of having a saddle at all. Once I got to the downhill section, I fell completely in love with the Maxxis Ignitor tires that adorn Copper. They might just get swapped onto Ritchey for the final Derailler races. The are grippy tires. I likey! Anyway, I did survive Monument Trail. Back to Ridgeline where I nearly killed myself. I had stopped to catch my breath for the hundreth time and when I went to start pedalling again I missed clipping in my right foot, so I nearly ate my handlebars. Fortunately for me, I like doing pushups at the gym, so I had enough upper body strength to prevent myself from flipping over. How good would that be??? Mountain Bike Patroller found dead on trail because she was stupid. ROCK ON, now that's a headline!

Anyway, my Patrol ride wound up just being an hour long. I'm not even sure I rode 5 whole miles, but that's really all I wanted to do today. Hopefully this weird bug that I'm fighting will continue to go away. I want to ride!!! I will be heading back to Lynchburg Thursday or Friday to retrieve my best bike, meanwhile tomorrow is skinny tire night. WOO HOO. I'll get dropped like a hot rock again. Nothing like bringing up the rear. YAY ME!

Back to the gym

In order to try to do something remotely fitness related today, I decided to go back to the gym. I took my iPod so that I could be in my own little world. My head and upper respiratory system are still fairly congested so I only spent 10 minutes on the dreadmill. This after riding my single speed bike to the gym. So after this I went to testosterone zone (mine and Lisa's affectionate name for the free weight area of the gym). I tried to do something for each major muscle group. I did work out for a little over an hour before stretching out and head back home on the bike. As I was leaving I found $10 on the door mat. I did the right thing and took it back to the desk where as it turns the person who had lost it was looking for it. It felt good to do the right thing. =) She was very appreciative. I smiled then rode home happily. I guess I'll get back into the routine of going back to the gym. Today was pretty nice because hardly anyone was there so I got to do things I wanted without an audience. I still miss Lisa; I hope she's getting better. I think tomorrow I'll try to ride my bike after work and before dinner. Hope everyone has had a good week and that my friends have all had successful race events!

While Ritchey is away...

Well I had hoped to ride my SS today. I awoke with the same sore throat that had started Friday afternoon. Today it was accompanied with absolutely no energy. I've felt sluggish all day and feel like everything I've tried to do is a major effort. I'm sleepy, in fact fell asleep in the desk chair a while ago while watching the strangest Olympic events - trampoline, table tennis and the steeplechase to name just three. Now the sore throat is easing, but I'm still very fatigued. I'll probably just go lay around on the couch for the rest of the night. Hopefully tomorrow, I can get to the gym and go ride my road bike some. I'm on call, so everything will be low key. Hopefully, Ritchey's having a better day than me. =(

READY? BREAK!

So tonight was day 5 of riding "a bike." Tonight would bring Ritchey and me back to Carvins Cove. Tonight brought me to the end of my patience and tolerance for all things annoying. Let me "set the table" for you. I've had a wobbily rear wheel for a while now. Likely a result of a log hop gone awry that caused me a flat tire and a bent spoke. I figure the wheel probably isn't exactly round anymore. Or it could be that the tire sucks just as much as I originally believed, I'll get to that in a sec. You can search back for the post about Bontrager Jones XR if you read with caution. This particular tire is a fairly new tire and replaced the same branded tire that got a hole in the sidewall (likely around the same time as bent spoke). It just happened that I found the bent spoke a week or so after buying BJXR rear tire #2. I don't really mind the wobbily tire unless I'm on the road then it's like a bad grocery cart.

So let's see. You also have to know that I found my front tire low on air last Saturday morning, so instead of chancing it for my race on Sunday, I swapped it out. Well my guess is that the tire isn't seated in the rim right, and instead of taking time to redo it, I've just left it there. Guess what? It's not right either. I'm really pathetic aren't I? Just wait, there's more. I swear I'm going to claim I am a girl with no mechanical abilities eventually.

This brings me to my front shock, which I paid to add a remote "Pop-Loc" to not too long ago. It works great when it works, but it hasn't worked in several weeks. Flip the lock out on, shock bounces, Flip the lock out off, shock bounces. SIGH. According to bicyclesoup, this occurs with my particular Reba and can be fixed by those with knowledge of the shock guts. I've been over this issue for a while now knowing that as soon as I had time, I could get it fixed fairly quickly.

So we're wobbiling right along right? Yea well ok, after riding bikes + 40 miles this week, I just wanted to cruise along happily tonight and ignore those annoying things that are bugging me. We start up my favorite trail Songbird. The dust is flying because the group ride tonight is up to 15 people and I'm like 11th in line at this point. We peaked the climb and start down the trail. Normally I fly along this trail, but after the first few turns I knew I had a problem. Sure the trails are slick but not this much. I felt like my back tire was going to roll right off the rim. A FLAT. Sheesh - that took all the fun out of my night right there. I rode slowly to the end of the trail where the faster people were waiting and started changing the tube. I need to buy stock in Bontrager... Couldn't get the new one to inflate so one of the guys came to my aid. Anyway, while the tire was off, Paula was checking the inside of it and found a hole on the inside of the tire. You've got to be kidding me???

So I've finally surrendered. Ritchey is being sent away tomorrow. I'm taking him to the bike shop, and I don't want him back until he's had an attitude adjustment. Here's his problem list:

1. Fix the front shock lock out and check it's +/- air pressures. (I suck at maintaining the shocks.)
2. Check the air in the rear shock. (Knowing my crappy track record with shocks, it's probably sagging again and Josh will fuss at me).
3. Fix that damn wobbily rear wheel which includes replacing any bent spokes (there's at least one).
4. Check the front wheel and tire.
5. Check the headset as something feels "clangy." Hard to explain this one, but sometimes it just doesn't feel like something is right there.
6. Adjust the front derailler so it stops making so much damn noise when in small ring on front, middle on the back (chain is dragging on the derailler).
7. Can the shifter for the front derailler be made a little less difficult when going from small to middle? Sometimes it is hard to push it over and it hurts my thumb to get it back to the middle.
8. Give the owner more endurance and more bandaids...

I guess I should stop being so picky, but I seriously make things worse when I try to fix anything anymore - see front wheel/tire above. I gotta go. I'll have to get up and give Ritchey a mini-bath before hanging him back on the bike rack for his trip tomorrow. They won't like him as is... dusty, dirty bike...

And then there was another...

CHICKY!!! WOO HOO, my biking circle continues to grow!!! If you see a Chicky with New Mexico license plates, please help in welcoming Anais ("ah-nah-eese") to Roanoke! She will be riding with us on Tuesdays and Thursdays after moving here last week. I'm so excited to have another Chicky Pal to ride bikes with!!! Rock on, first Laura moved here from Michigan and now Anais!!! What fun!!! Chickys rule!!! Look out boyz, we're taking over!!!

Paula, Anais and myself rode the "Low Lander Meander" tonight and had a great time. The weather was just right, and the trails while dusty were in good shape. I had a blast riding tonight. I don't know what was up with me. 3 for 3 on the smaller crossings on Arrowhead. I blasted up this one hill without much problem. I even hopped logs with confidence and get this, I tried to ride that blasted V-Ravine. I'm gonna get it before the summer is over!!! I'll try again Thursday night! We were checking out some of the clever, roadside attractions after our ride tonight, so we bike-whacked over to Buck to show Anais the "vase." Along this trail, I tried to ride some more crazy stuff, but not the big log?!?! My brain must have been thinking, well you are already bruised and sore, so why not!!!

I can't wait to ride at the Cove again Thursday! I'm so happy right now!!!

As the bruises age...

Bruises are a neat phenomenon. I think I'll study up and write a research paper on them. I'm becoming quite the expert on predicting the age of a bruise. I've seen a lot of bruises in my line of work, but today I'm sporting several - I think the total from Sunday is up to 9 now. I have round bruises, oblong bruises, bruises along a muscle, bruises over bone and bruises over joints. I feel like a big bruise. I guess if I didn't have gangly, long arms and legs I could keep them in check in the event of a crash. Anyway... the bruises are healing, my left elbow is itching like mad this morning (a good sign of healing abrasions and cut), and my neck and shoulder are feeling better. I can almost look over my right shoulder!!! Thank God for Icy Hot!!!
Meanwhile, what did I do last night??? Of course, I went for a bike ride. I really want to ride a bike everyday this week. Last night was a beautiful evening, so I left home at around 7:05 and was aiming for at least a one hour ride. I ended up with 16 miles and a little over an hour. I couldn't remember what time the sunset was to be and my stupid self wore my sunglasses. Remember I wear prescription sunglasses, so at one point on the shady road, I had them on the end of my nose looking over the top of them at the fuzzy world that lay ahead.

Anyway, gotta finish getting ready for work. :) Mountainbiking at the Cove tonight. Hopefully I'll stay upright.

The Sizzler

***Caution - LONG BLOG FOLLOWS***

So today would find me adventuring off to Greensboro, NC for a mountain bike race. Why Greensboro? Well it's not that far, and I needed a race fix until the Derailer starts back up again next month. Funny thing is it took me longer to drive to Danville earlier this year than it took me to get to Bur-Mill Park this morning. I left home at 6:40a as my race was scheduled to start at 10a. I figured that would give me time to find my way, change my clothes and ride a bit before hand. There would be no pre-riding this course because the Beginner race started at 9a. Riding a course sight unseen is not typical for me. I tried to pre-ride each race last year and will definitely be pre-riding the Assault on Liberty Mountain that has me scared silly. Anyway, back to the event at hand.

I have been to Bur-Mill before, but thinking back on it last night figured out that it was likely 5 years ago and a long before I ever thought of racing a mountain bike. It was even pre-Ritchey! It is a great park complete with a swimming pool, a golf course, many picnic shelters, a pretty cool wildlife center and of course trails. Today's race was mostly on the Owl's Roost Trail, part of the Greenway and the "Little Loop." However, the race director must in some evil way be connected to Kenny Palmer because guess how the race starts? A GRASSY UPHILL climb? WTF is wrong with you people? Grass sucks, and uphill in the grass sucks even more. I can't think of much else that is suckier than uphill in the grass. Oh wait, yes I can, 4 trips up it like today. UGH!

Ok, so the Sport class of women was 12 riders strong and represented three age classifications. For once, I wouldn't be racing my good friend Kristin from East Coasters. YES, Gordon and Kristin were there today too!!! At the start, I missed getting my left foot clipped in, but managed to rectify that quickly. I think I was 6th going into the woods which was hilarious in itself because once you looped up the hill, around a playground and a row of trees, screamed downhill, making a left at a cedar tree and around a duck pond there was a downhill shoot that was maybe 12 ft long but fairly steep. Well evidently the folks in the previous races were locking up their front brakes and wrecking on the paved greenway that awaited at the bottom. I got down it fine, but my backwheel slid out a little. I didn't wreck and kept going where we quickly got stacked up at a technical little climb onto the trail. I watched Kristin as she began to pull away! You go girl. Shortly there after a couple more chickys got past me, so I just tried to keep my own pace. Out of nowhere came a faster rider, a guy from Clydesdale maybe. He called out to me and I said, "hang on I'll let you go." There was no where for me to get out of his way. The guy behind him started shouting, "you need to let him by." I shouted back, "shut up, I know, and I'm trying!" He was the only ass of the day and needs to take some lessons from the Expert riders who were all very courteous (I'll get to them in a bit).

Anyway, lap one was hell. I felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest, my breathing was labored at times, I had to back off some. I climbed fairly well after that. There was one uphill on the course, where had it been smoother, I could have climbed it fine, but the tree roots where sticking up out of the ground 3 or 4 inches. I ended up clipping out and walking up it. This hateful woman got all pissy about this, but with the fire breathing dragons (male racers) all clumped up I had to get out of the way. I think she was pissed because I had cut inside of her on the top of a previous climb and passed her in a turn. Isn't that racing?

Speaking of tree roots, have I mentioned that this place is full of them. You pretty much didn't ride 10 ft without having to dodge or bounce over them. What a friggin pain in the ass (literally and I have a full suspension bike). So as I got on the paved greenway section, I was thrilled to finally have a chance to drink some water and calm down some. So, zoomed down the greenway as best I could. At the end you make a sharp left onto the "Little Loop" which goes steeply uphill. No biggie, I can do that. So I stood up and pedalled on up it. HA! Happy with that. The "Little Loop" reminded me a bit of the middle of our Four Gorges Trail only less climbing. After the Little Loop you drop back out on the greenway again and then head back to the grassy field.

Lap two was more of the same, through the grassy hill, of course by now the clouds were gone and the sun was HOT. I struggled to the top of the hill, back down around the pond. Down the hill where I cleanly rode it again, but had to walk the technical part again (BOO!). As I got to one of the many bridges, I got distracted by something, maybe a photographer and about rode off the side, but managed somehow to stay right on the edge! It was wild. I could tell by now that I was getting tired and decided that I would just ride my own race and get out of there with as good a time as I could get. Up the hills, bonkity, bonkity, chatter, chatter, bouncy bouncy - I was getting really tired of tree roots. At the greenway this time, I was even more tired, but again drank happily. Got to the sharp left and hammered up the hill. More photographers. This had the be the most photographed race I've ever been in. Hopefully I can find the pictures on line to see how God-awful I look in the middle of a race. :)

Back to the grassy hill....blah blah....down the short crazy hill, and finally successfully up the short, tech climb. I actually said, "there third times the charm." People cheered. :) By now I was riding along behind the girl who ultimately finished 3rd in 20-29. At this point, I said to her, "you know we're going to get run over." I could see the person I was racing just in front of this chicky, but didn't know for sure I could catch her especially given the impending herd of Experts who would be along shortly. The 20-29 chick and I decided we would stick together and just get out of the way when the Experts came along. That's exactly what happened, you could hear them coming, so I just pulled off in a a spot where I could watch as did the other two just ahead. After the initial herd, there would be several other small packs of riders. It was actually fun to watch the guys as they came through. They were fast and very skillful on the log hop. They were all grateful that I had moved off of the trail for them.

Each time an expert would catch us, we would bail off and out of the way. I got more tired getting on and off and starting and stopping. It was irritating to me as well because I think I could have beat the woman in my class, and I actually did pass her a couple of times. One time, she and the other girl got off for the guys (on a hill...duh!) I was at the bottom of the hill, so I just pedalled on up and past them. Then, of course along came another Expert, so I got over and out of the way. The woman in my group motored on past me. I didn't like her too much. The 20-29 girl came up and as I said before we just decided to stick together.

As we were riding and chatting (why not? She knew she was third and I was pretty sure I wasn't racing for 1st, 2nd or 3rd). I nailed a tree with the right side of my handlebars. I'm not entirely sure how, but I know that it hurt bad when I hit the ground. Forget that theory that it hurts less to wreck going faster. I've got numerous bruises on my legs and a bruise on my scraped up elbow. I learned today that dirt helps blood clot, but when mixed with a bit of sweat, it burns like hell. First wreck in a race in a long time. OW!!! To the 20-29 girl's credit, she stopped and made sure I was ok. She was pretty cool. I caught back up to her and we rode the rest of the course together, yes while talking. :) We cheered each other on up the hill on the Little Loop and up and around the grassy hill. I trailed her around the pond then cranked it up and passed her as we crossed the line. I think they gave me 4 seconds over her.

After I finished, I just wanted to stop and stretch. I had started to ache pretty good from my sudden, gravity assisted stop. As I was beginning to walk off to my car, the 20-29 girl called out then we exchanged congrats etc. She was cool. :)

I know one thing that was hilarious. As I finished my first lap (?), I see Gordon kind of hanging out off to the side of the course. I thought either he had a mechanical issue, because he had to have had at least one more lap to do. I said, "what are you doing? GO!" He said later that he was confused over where the finish line was and thought he was done, so when I said something to him, he rode the grassy loop to the real finish line, but was met with "what are you doing here dude?" Poor Gordon had only gone two laps! :) He still went back out, rode the third and won the single speed class. FUNNY!!! I guess he was trying to even out the competition. He's just an exceptional racer! Very fast, very funny and a great person to boot.

After the race, I went to my car where I tried to clean the layers of Greensboro dirt off of me. I ended up dumping water on a towel and mopping off. Then I had to clean my elbow. As it turns out, I merely whacked off the dead skin, but now, 6 hours later, I can't straighten my arm all the way because of the bruise on the back of my upper forearm. I'm starting to feel like someone beat the hell out of me - must be the tree roots and that exceptional dismount. Time for more Ibuprofen. :)

All in all, I had a great day. I raced within my own abilities. I am proud of myself for riding every one of the bridges (some were like three 2x4's laying side by side, others were more like bridges, then there was the long section that looked like a plank!). I'm couldn't be prouder that I could climb places where the others seemed to struggle. That one pass on the one b*&^$ at the top of the hill was awesome. Highlight of my day! I'm definitely happy that the upper body work and core strengthening that I've been doing at the gym has paid off. I could pull the front end of my bike up and over logs without hesitation even on lap three and my arms aren't all that tired even with the washboard course! Now, if I can get in some cardio training, I'll be much better at this!

Ok you've suffered through the blog long enough. Here are some statistics for you:

race distance (my gps) 17.19 (them) 18
my time (my gps) 2:03:16 (them) 2:03:10
my place 5/6 (30-39 Sport Female) 9/12 (all sport Female)
avg speed: 8.4mph, max speed: 18.1mph, avg HR: 161 bpm, max HR: 175 bpm
carnage: left leg ~ 4 bruises, 1 abrasion, right leg ~ 2 bruises, left shoulder ~ 1 bruise, left elbow ~ 1 abrasion, 1 bruise, right elbow - nothing?!? go figure, I must have been waving when I wrecked! :D

For the longest race I've ever done, I'm pleased. I was secretly hoping to finish sub-two hours, but I think the barreling herd of Experts took care of that. Oh well!!!

Next up: Franklin County Derailler Race - two trips up still hill, double the creek crossings this year. YEE HAW!!!

PICTURES:

Team Taco Mascots???

Things are looking better...

Survived Friday without huge incident personally. My coworker did however get a black eye from running smack into something while I was about 4 feet from her. I grabbed her as she staggered backwards dazed and confused. What the %$# is up with this week???? Maybe it's a 8/8/08 curse? I don't know, but I had to share the weather forecast for Sunday in Greensboro. I'm smiling pretty big about it! One never wants it to rain, but I certainly didn't want it to be 102°F like last August in Danville. LOOK!!!


That my peeps, I can deal with!!! WOO HOO!!! I'm getting excited about this race now. I'm certainly well rested. Haven't really exercised purposefully since Tuesday. I ate a huge meal tonight at the Homeplace. Yea I know not what everyone else eats, but hey I ate a huge pile of mashed potatoes and mac and cheese. Those are carbs right? Tomorrow night, we're eating at Jersey Lilly's so it's steak (protein), baked potato (carbs) and salad. YUM!!!!

TGTF = thank God tomorrow is Friday!

Ok so today didn't improve much over the rest of the week...LOOONNNGGGG day at work. I did find out what's up with Lisa (my trainer) - emergency surgery/out for several weeks. Gym management royally ticked me off last night, so I'm not sure when I'll go back. At least after talking to Lisa today, I know that she's going to be ok in a few weeks, but won't be able to help me for quite some time. Oh well, I guess that leaves a lot of time for riding. I'll go and do some stuff with the weights, but I'm just not confident enough in my ability to plan the right things in the right order. Maybe I'll go to a class finally, I don't know. I'm too frustrated to even think about what to do there.

I do know that I'll add at least one more night on the bike to my plate. Candler's Mountain really has me worried. I had hoped to be the first Sport chicky to win there, but I've got to be realistic. There are a few more people who are way more talented than I am who will be at this race. I guess my goal better be to finish it without wrecking, etc.

Tonight, I was going to do some light spinning on a bike, but my friend Terry wanted to pick up something that I have had for her since I went to Philly. Since I've not spent much time with her lately I figured I could meet her drop off the stuff then go to Waldron Park and do one of the Nike Workouts that I have on my iPod. Well I met her and her fiance in the parking lot of a local bar/restaurant and we ended up talking for over an hour. By then it had gotten dark and I headed back home. It was great to see her and spend time talking to her. She's been through way too much in the last few weeks. She looks great and things are going well post operatively!

So here I am blogging about my day. Nothing this week has gone as I planned except for Tuesday's road ride which went ok except I discovered how much cardio I don't have. I would go outside and do the Nike Workout in my yard except I would get eaten alive by friggin mosquitos - just another annoyance!

Have a great weekend everyone!!!!

Hoping....

Here's hoping the crappy week I've had so far soon changes... I don't even want to get into it, but suffice to say Jen is a grumpy Gus. A few of my readers may know what this means. This is what I think about this week so far.

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