A few facts...

<--cool picture borrowed from Laura. Thanks Chicky!

Race distance: 14.17 miles

Time: 1:58:30

Avg speed: 7.2 mph <--wow for me.

Max speed: 21.6 mph (during the neutral (ahem) start)

Avg HR: 162 bpm <--no wonder it hurt. =)

Max HR: 176 bpm

Fun Factor: Off the chart!!!

Carvins Cove Race

Disclaimer: I have a lot to say, but some things will be omitted from this public blog as I don't wish to appear a sore loser or poor sport.

I am so very happy with my race today. I did something I never thought I could do or would do. Who would have ever predicted that years ago when I bought my bike that I could go out and compete in a Sport level race at Carvins Cove? Much less on a course that included Hemlock Tunnel!

I refer you back to my previous post for course description etc. Note what I say in the last paragraph. The race started out fun enough. There were 6 women in the sport classes today. 4 in my age group and two in the younger. Paula was in the Single Speed class, but raced the same course as us. So there were 7 racing this distance. I was fairly certain that I could ride the course safely since I had taken time to preride it. My biggest concern was the downhill on Hemlock Tunnel. The uphills don't worry me much anymore because if all else fails, walk.

So we started off in a HUGE pack of riders (all sports, clydesdales and SS start together). Neutral start to the gate then it's on. As we were riding down the road, it was hard not to notice that there were a lot of people racing today. The hum of the tires on the road always amuses me and having a few spectators along the road side is fun too! Gina and I were talking about how nice the houses are on the road and debating how the gob of riders was going to filter down to single file to go around the gate. None the less we all safely made it through then onto Songbird, I encouraged Gina to go ahead of me because I knew she was faster than me. I knew that Beth (Wake's girlfriend and super nice person) was behind me as well as Rachel and the other younger sport racer.

I stayed prettty close to Gina on Songbird, almost hit her back tire a few times on the fun, downhill section; but as soon as we got to the fireroad, Beth took off around me like I was sitting still. I stayed with them on Enchanted Forest through the water crossing and a short bit of Comet, but soon after they were gone. I would catch a glimpse of the three women in front of me as we went up the 1000' climb, but I was no match for them. I gained on them a slight bit, but then never saw them again once we got onto Hemlock Tunnel.

I literally prayed out loud when I got to Hemlock Tunnel that I would make it safely to the bottom. Thankfully I did, but I did talk to myself the whole way down about how to ride it, where to go, etc. I'm sure if anyone could hear me they thought I was nuts. Soon, I was caught by two guys who said they were racing, but in no big rush. They were nice enough, but I finally just had them go by me. I hate to have someone right on my butt. I meandered my way through Hemlock Tunnel. I had to foot out on a water crossing, but I rode the weird one. I think I walked one short section of HT (I can't remember now.) Finally arrived at the fireroad to Comet, which again I had to walk a short section. My lungs and heart couldn't keep up with my legs today.

On Comet, I rode the downhill fairly quickly. Nearly killed myself on a water crossing. Walked up the steep hill, rode the rest of it, including the logs where the mudbog is. As I neared the end of the trail, I neglected to see a fallen tree to my right and slammed my right foot and pedal right into it. It hurt terribly for a brief bit; I considered a broken foot for a few, but eventually I clipped it back in and continued on.

The 2nd trip up 1000' sucked pretty bad. I just dropped it into granny and spun my way up. At some point, I had realized that I would be 4th today and therefore not in a position to receive a medal or prizes, so I decided that I really needed to beat my preride time of 2:13. On 1000' it became apparent to me that I might actually be able to get in under 2 hours as my friend Laura predicted. Once I hit the Four Gorges Trail, I decided to go for that goal. It hurt trying too. I again had to stop and walk this one section (I've done this the last three times out...not sure what's up here). My heart and lungs failed me again I guess. Realizing I was coming awfully close to the two hour goal, I went all out on the last climb and flew down the descent to the bridge. I was disgusted to see horse poop right in the middle of the good line on the bridge, but avoided it and suffered my way up the last little climb.

As I neared the intersection of 4G and HdH, I saw Laura and muttered something like, "you and that damn two hour goal..." I took off down the hill like my shoes were on fire. Messed up on the turn with the tree root, but went as hard as I could the rest of the way. My vision was all fuzzy by the time I got the last turn on the trail. I hit the gravel and grabbed another gead. I had to get in in two hours. Crossed the bridge, reminded myself of the terrible entrance/exit to the trails. Bounced my way up, tried to figure out exactly where the finish line was pedal, pedal, pedal... I heard my fellow Chickys cheering (YAY, you guys rock)... DONE

OW. 1 hour 58 minutes. May not have won a single prize today, but I'm more happy with accomplishing something I didn't think I could do. The satisfaction of the sub-2 hour finish time is better than any item they could have given me. I needed a confidence booster, and I think I got it. There are a couple of side stories to this event, but I'll leave those opinions and thoughts to face-to-face conversation.

YAY ME!!!

Commonwealth Games Pre-ride

Ok so last Tuesday night Paula and I tried to ride part of the Sport Course for the C.Games Mountain Bike Race. We had to do an abbreviated version due to timing. So today I decided to go back and try again. It's been a couple of years since I raced at the Cove and then I was just a beginner. The jump to Sport class last year wasn't easy, and everyone knows the saga of trying to ride so far this year. (If not, go back and read some previous posts). I wasn't quite sure if I was up to this challenge or not. The other complicating factor is that one of the trails (Hemlock Tunnel aka Clownhead aka Hemlock Tunnel of Death) the race goes on is very difficult in my opinion. Today would be only the 4th or 5th time I've ever ridden the crazy thing. It's just that bad. We noticed on Tuesday that it doesn't appear as though it's getting ridden as much as some of the others, so there is quite a bit of greenery encroaching on the trail as well as a lot of branches and junk on the trail.

So all of the races start off on Songbird. Great trail when it's dry, but of course we had a lot of rain on Saturday; so today it was mucky, muddy and slippery. I managed just fine, but picked up alot of mud and splatter as I journeyed across. After Songbird, all races will take a right on the fireroad for a quick jaunt to Enchanted Forest, which is not at all Enchanting. It's rooty, muddy and there are a ton of weeds and greenery along the trail. There is a mud bog or two right now. The stream is if nothing else refreshing.

After this it's Comet back to the fireroad. I honestly think poor Comet needs to be shut down and rerouted in a more than a few places. There are crazy roots. One of the big dips has at least 4 options to cross the small stream that sometimes holds water. This will be a big PITA during the race. Awhile back, several well-meaning, hard-working volunteers attempted to armour some of the stream crossings. This worked well for a while, but with the rains that we've gotten many of them are washed out and tricky. Most all of Comet (the lower part) is rideable - the only exception for me is the V-ravine. Completing Comet brings all racers back to the foot of the 1000' climb. Beginners go up and take the 4Gorges back, Sport and Experts continue on to Hemlock Tunnel.

Hemlock Tunnel. Ah yea. This trail gets my attention. Why? Because I suck at switchbacks, and it is a technical, steep descent. So the top of the trail starts out with a lot of lose rocks, not small ones either. They clunk and roll as you do. There are (I think) 4 switchbacks which you have to negotiate. Most of them have small drops off of tree roots entering them. Then, there is the downhill run which is rutted with similar lose rocks. I did fine on it Tuesday, but today I freaked out about halfway down and stopped. This hill absolutely kills my hands. By the time I reached the bottom, both are aching. From there this trail really isn't that bad. Like I said before, there is a lot of overgrowth on both sides of the trail. The trail meanders through the woods and crosses a stream bed a few times. There are a few log hops and an uphill or two. Eventually you arrive back at a fireroad (Kerncliff). Here you take a left and head up hill to the trailhead for Comet.

Once at Comet, I was wondering what I would face. It's been a long time since I rode Comet as well. I remembered it to be worse than it was honestly. The downhill wasn't too bad. There isn't one good line. You just have to pick your spots and ride it. The bottom left hand turn is very rideable for me now. The climbs out of Comet are not easy, nor were the water crossings for some reason. Anway, I found that if I stood up and climbed I did much better on these. I did have to walk one hill on Comet - have never ridden up. There are logs and plenty of mud on Comet ride now, but I did enjoy what the trail had to offer today. Eventually you come back to where you were the first time through on Comet and you follow it and the 1000' climb (quarter mile of it this time) up to Four Gorges. Riding 4G this direction is a lot easier, and today I felt like I did good on it. I did have to stop at one point because I was having trouble catching my breath - probably because heart rate nailed 172bpm. This had happened on the end of Hemlock Tunnel too. A quick stop this time and it went right back down. I arrived at the bridge much sooner than I expected.

I'm trying not to get overly confident about today, but I felt good for the most part during the ride. I walked when I had to, but even that wasn't all that much. I started the GPS's timer at the parking lot, but I did stop it at the top of 1000' at Hemlock Tunnel while I heeded nature's call. My ride time was 2:13:43. I did stop once or twice to see my ever ringing phone. Maybe I can get the ride under 2 hours, but I doubt it. I think I'll aim for sub 2.5 and see what happens. It should be fun. Not looking forward to heat and humidity. I was done by noon today, and the races start around 11am. Hmmm, hydration....

Good ride, lots of grime:

TWIJL

"This week in Jen-Land"

Sunday - was a long, rainy day marshalling at the ID3's final day of criterium races. Quick Summary - some of those riders are fast! The homeless of Roanoke are interesting creatures. Rain sucks.

Monday - I can't remember Monday - that's weird.

Tuesday - sucked getting to work, sucked at work, got off 40 minutes late, but got in a most excellent ride at Carvins Cove with my Chicky Pal, Paula. I'll blog more on that after I ride there on Sunday. Seems to make sense to blog about that in one day.

Wednesday- Uh was supposed to go to the gym, but there was Doggie Drama, not with Sergei, but another. More on that later if more transpires with the pup. Ended up going for a short, unhelmeted, flipflopped cladded ride - ran into a friend playing kickball.

Thursday - Gym night - 30 min on the RPM bike, ramped up heart rate, simulated hills, simulated a few sprints, another hill, cool down, then an hour with trainer - torture - all is well.

Friday - Intended on riding my MTB on MM, but my cell phone battery was dead - not going to ride solo without a lifeline. I'm not stupid.

Saturday - have some stuff I have to do. Will try to ride MMAD (Mill Mountain After Dark).

Sunday - going to go do a long ride at Carvin's Cove. Need to check out Comet and see what it's like for the race on the 19th.


Meanwhile in France, Alberto, what are you doing??? I still think Astana is the team to beat. Maybe it's really Levi or Kloden's year? If they implode forget it, it's anybodies ball game.