Hollins Trail

Hollins University teamed up with Roanoke Valley Greenways to build a trail from Plantation Road to Carvins Cove.  The result is quite nice.  It literally is 4 miles from my front yard, so I've spent a lot of time on it already.  I've ridden it many times and have hiked it several times.  It's so nice to be able to get to a trail without driving then to be able to enjoy a quiet, scenic ride on singletrack then enjoy the fireroad at the Cove.  Most people will probably say that it's not really mountainbiking unless you're on trails; but I can get a pretty good cardio workout on the fireroad because of its undulating terrain.  I've been trying to do this trail at least once a week.  The longest ride I've done using the trail and no car for transport was 23 miles, so that's 11.5 out and 11.5 back.  This included the 4 miles from home, Hollins Trail, the boatdock parking lot and fireroad to the trailhead of Schoolhouse nearest Bennett Springs.  I hope to be able too add Arrowhead in there soon which will put me farther towards Bennett Springs and will also add Little Bell.  I think Arrowhead is about ~5 miles from the boatdock, so that will make the ride from home and back nearly 30 miles total I think.

If I can consistently do this on the weekends and stick some rides in the during the week over the winter, I should be able to maintain some decent endurance for spring riding.  I'd like to make a huge loop out of this trail eventually.  Perhaps leave home, ride out to Timberview, take Trough up to the top (or figure out where this Virginia Deer Trail is near Hanging Rock).  Anyway, get to the top take one of many ways down (Buck to H-d-H to 4G to Tuckaway... or Brushy Mtn Fireroad to 4G to Tuck...) - the options are endlesss.  I can't wait!!!

Anyway, here's a video of the Hollins Trail from the top back to the parking lot on Planation Road.
and this is video heading down into the Cove

To the Cove via Hollins (descent only) from Jen Divers on Vimeo.

Statistics

Before switching jobs and switching to 2nd shift:  340 miles

After switching jobs and shifts:  ~1504 miles

Biking = HAPPY JEN

June    265 miles
July     351 miles
Aug     326 miles
Sept     418 miles
Oct (so far)  143 miles

I LOVE MY BIKES!!!

RotoR Meltdown - done!!!

~30 miles in 4 hours 13 minutes - full report coming soon (I hope)

Rojo!!!

New Gunnar Rockhound 29er....  Rojo!!!  I'll post more pictures soon!!!

Recent rides and RIP Punkin

I've ridden a bunch lately - including a race in Montvale and most of the Rotor Meltdown course.  I will post more about this soon.  Today is a sad day in a way - I took Punkin' to be tuned up on Monday.  Found out Wednesday that there was frame damage that put the bike at risk of breaking.  The manufacturer cautioned against continuing to ride the bike and of course wanted to be absolved of responsibility should I ride and get hurt if it broke etc....  There were a few options - borrow my mechanic's bike for Rotor Meltdown or risk riding Punkin' at Rotor Meltdown while waiting for a new frame to be built and painted orange ala Punkin'.  The other option was to take the frame that Bikes Unlimited had in stock (same size, different color) and build it up with my parts and be done with the replacement.  I chose to take the in stock frame....  thankfully Waterford/Gunnar is standing by their product and discounting the cost of the frame.  I'm disappointed to not have my orange Punkin', but will be excited to have my new yet to be named or revealed bike.  I have a name or two in mind, but will wait and see. 

I want to go farther and farther.

I rode 16 miles at the Cove on Saturday.  It was difficult at times, and I had an opportunity to turn right head up the mountain and end the ride a bit sooner than I did, but what did I do?  Went straight and added more elevation.  I really am enjoying myself and the time I get to spend on my bikes, but I want to ride longer distances now.  I know the race in October is 31 miles (~50km), but if I do that successfully, what's next 50 miles?  Yea sure why not.  There's just something neat about saying that I can do that.  What's cooler is riding on a trail through this beautiful area.  I can't think of a better way to spend my time. 

As for road riding, I've accomplished two 40 mile road rides recently, I do think it's time to go for 50 miles on the road, and I'll look for an opportunity to do that soon.  I have a calendar written out with what I want to ride on what day.  I have a race on 9/15 so that's taking some planning.  Of course, work is ever present so I'm limited to ~20-25 miles of road during the week.  I'm hoping to slide in some MTB miles during the weeks coming up because of the R*t*R Meltdown. 

Hopefully all of this riding isn't for naught.  I hope to stay healthy (you know no colds, etc), and I hope I've planned this right.  We'll see.

Meanwhile, I'm bored!!!

Six Hours of O'Shiner's Revenge

They should have renamed this race Mother's Nature's Hissy Fit today.  Good grief.  I had spotted this race way back and thought it would be a nice training ride for the Rotor Meltdown in October plus a good way to support and ride a new trail system.

So evidently I totally checked out when it came to the weather forecast today.  I thought they said it was going to be 70's, cool and sunny.  WTF happened?  Did I misunderstand?  Did they get it completely wrong?  Just checked the iFlow gauges - Woolwine (the hometown of IC Dehart park where the race was) got 1.48 inches of rain in the past 24 hours.  I think most of it fell during the first lap and the only complete lap of my race.  I swear if I ever pick a new career, I'm going into weather forecasting because despite all the computers in the world, Splinty can do better than them!  And you definitely don't have to do a good job, hell you don't even have to be right!

Anyway enough bitching about the weather - what it created was a big mess.  I don't know what the ground is normally like in that part of Patrick County, but I do know that when you add a bunch of rain to it it becomes the consistency of peanut butter.  My poor bike was so filthy I had to strip it and wash it when I got home.  The Kenda Small Block 8's I run were no match for the Elmer's Glue, Peanut Butter trails.  They caked up quick and didn't not shed any mud.  I found myself pedaling, spinning the back tire and going nowhere fast.  The crap collected on my bottom bracket eventually preventing me from shifting from granny to any other gear.  Along with this came the fact that my chain would get sucked between the chainring and the frame and seized up the entire operation.  I could backpedal it out, but it would get sucked right back in.  The back tire would get caked up to the point where there was no gap between the tire and the frame.  DISGUSTING!!!!  Of course, as soon as that happened it was like riding on a slip and slide.  I feared for my safety.

There is a nifty section of downhill switchbacks that was nearly impossible for me today given the combination of above plus the fact my front brakes basically were non-existent the first lap.  I ended up sliding down one of them like I was sliding into homeplate all the while still clipped in.  At another point with no front brakes, I basically rode right through a turn barely dodging a tree.  For some stupid reason I started the second lap after deflating my tires in hopes that this might provide some extra traction - FAIL.  And as I was going down the paved sidewalk I discovered that yes I did have a major brake issue.  Squeeze the handle and the fork shook worse than a car with a bad alignment - again WTH?  I started wondering if I had some how lost a brake pad during that mucked up first lap.  I stopped at the aid station to discover that it was in fact present, but not functioning very well.  I adjusted the knobs to give myself a glimmer of stopping power.  This gave me a false sense of security as I would soon have the chain suck into the frame again, decided to walk and nearly fell off of a slightly. off camber bridge.  The bike did go over the slide, but I was walking and grabbed a tree quickly. 

Oh and mind you with our shoes every step I took in the peanut butter caked my cleats up so I barely was clipped in during most of this adventure.  My second lap turned into a trail run with my bike for the most part.  I tried riding, but would get frustrated repeatedly.  I made up my mind that the 2nd lap would be my final lap.  I didn't even make it back around - I got near the ballfield that bordered the staging area and bailed out right behind my friend Kenny.  It was too much for me today - my bike felt like it gained 20 pounds each lap by the time the tires caked up.  I couldn't pedal.  I could barely clip in.  I could barely stay upright.  It truly reminded me of riding in the snow.

So did I accomplish anything today?  Other than trashing my bike, I did brush up on my bike handling.  I think that I could have done 3 or 4 laps at this park.  The trails seemed like they would be fun and fast when dry.  I will definitely have to go back down there and explore.  There are some neat trail features that are definitely unique.  It's a nice park and the people are super nice.  They deserve a lot of praise for putting this event on and getting a good turnout!!!  I'm happy for them and will hopefully be able to support them again in the future!

Meanwhile, it's back to focusing on Rotor Meltdown - need to get Punkin' repaired and tuned up and get on out to the Cove to get reacquainted!  But I'm still looking to buy that road bike! 

And by the way, the green jersey you see in the profile pic - it's getting retired for a while - I think it's bad luck!


****I see my blog friend, Anita is calling out the weathermen!  So I'm not crazy!

Dirty Dawg

I decided to try my hand at another race.  I entered the Dirty Dawg mountain bike race at Mountain Lake with a week to spare.  I had never ridden there, in fact I think this would only be the second time in my life that I've ever been up to Mountain Lake.  For those who aren't familiar with this place, it is the "resort" that is featured in the ultimate chick flick "Dirty Dancing."  So it was off to Kellerman's Sunday morning.  I was hoping that since Mountain Lake is indeed on a mountain that it might be cooler than the humid, sweltering heat of the Roanoke Valley.  I was rewarded with temperatures in the upper 70's, but still humid.  Oh well at least it wasn't 100.

So leading up to the race, I checked BikeReg to see if any other women would sign up for Sport class.  All too often I find myself racing against no one, so it's really hard to judge you abilities.  I tend to try to beat at least one guy if all else fails.  I couldn't set any sort of time goal for this race because of the unfamiliar terrain etc.  As it turns out there were two others preregistered, so then I began to wonder how I would measure up against these women who I don't know.  The drive from Roanoke took a bit over an hour - I tend to drive slow anymore.  I failed to read the directions to the parking area so I disregarded the paperplate sign displaying MTB with an arrow.  I thought this was a course marking in all honesty.  Well once I completed a nifty tour of the forest service roads that border the property, I found myself in the correct spot.  SIGH - hopefully this would not be a sign of things to come.

After arriving, I noticed that another young lady was present who typically beats me.  I figured I'd at least finish behind her as she is good for 16 years of age.  Oh well, I reminded myself this was going to be a fun way to see a new (to me) trail system.  So I registered, then changed and went to preride the part of the course to see what I was getting into.  I was worried right off the bat because there was a lot and I mean a lot of loose shale-like flat rocks.  Oh please let my tires stay inflated.  On top of that there were rock gardens and tree roots galore, would I have enough confidence to handle it?  When I prerode I was timid and anxious and only rode a short distance down to a downed tree which I managed to hop over.  I decided to turn around and go back to the parking area since I was unsure of how to get back if time ran short.  I pre-rode another short section of the course which seemed easy compared to the first section. 

For the start of this race, they crammed all of us on a gravel road that led up to the start/finish line.  This would be a mass start meaning all classes go at once and it quickly turned into a clump of riders as soon as people hit the singletrack and the aforementioned flat rocks.  Once we all stopped then started then stopped again, we were able to get rolling down the flowy part of the trail.  I was following the quick 16 year old and she was picking good lines, so that was fine with me.  We watched a guy endo over the log, but both of us managed to stay upright and passed him.  Once at the bottom of the rocky, rooty hill, you hit this short, steep muddy hill that goes onto a wooden bridge then quickly up to a gravel road.  The muddy section was a bit squirrelly, but I managed to stay upright.  Gravel roads are ok as long as they are packed down, but this one was packed to the point where the mud was sucking you in and when it wasn't it was slick and would kick your backwheel out from under you.  Next up was a slight left onto singletrack again.  Some faster people came barreling by on the left never saying a word, so I was shouting to the people in front of me because this was the stupidest place to pull that kind of move.  One of them slipped and nearly fell - deservedly so, I passed him, never asking if he was ok or anything.  Jackass.  Once of the hill, people started footing out and walking.  Forget that, this is a bike race, I just geared down and kept spinning. I passed two or three people including the girl on this hill.  It seemed like this hill went on for a long time, but I just kept turning the pedals.  A guy was behind me and struck up a conversation which was great because it took away the monotony of the climb.  Eventually this trail goes left onto a double track to another gravel/mud road.  I got passed by another woman at this point and figured I'd let her go and see what I could do about it.  She got away a bit on the gravel road, but once on the next singletrack downhill, I caught back up with her.  This singletrack was a fun downhill leading to another access road (I think).  It all runs together.  After that road you turned onto gravel again for about a half mile.  The woman got away again, but I would soon find her walking up a climb that was riddled with rocks and roots.  I passed four people including her on this climb.  I'm not sure where the skill came from to manage this feat, but I was proud of it.

Soon I would zoom though the start/finish line and start my second lap.  The initial downhill section was a lot more fun without people in front of me.  I had to put a foot down before the bridge, but soon found myself climbing back the hills again.  I had to walk a bit on the first section near a big trailside rock, but then found a rhythm to continue on.  I kept expecting the other woman to come by me at any point, but the only person near me was the DireWolf racer, Erik then an expert guy who rode behind for the longest time.  The second lap was easier to negotiate, but my legs grew a bit tired.  The mud on the fire roads was worse than riding in grass.  It seemed to sap my strength.  I ended up having to walk a few steps at the top of the rocky/tech climb.  The the last uphill that I had walked on the first lap, I rode a good ways up the second before my legs said forget it.

As I came out of the woods to head the finish line, I had even dropped the DireWolf guy.  I rode as fast as I could through the finish line.  I truly expected that someone had finished ahead of me, but as it turns out I was the winner of the Sport Women category!!!!  After the results were posted online, I discovered that I beat the 2nd place person by nearly 4 minutes.  WHAT?  As I've said it has been a long time since I won anything, and I don't think I've ever won by that wide of a margin.  It still makes me wonder how much I've progressed since I don't know the other person to know her abilities.  Anyway, I was/am very excited at how this race turned out.  I think the course was just right for me with the long,steady uphills and the mixture of gravel roads and trails.  It just all worked out great!  =)

Fat 5 INFERNO Enduro

Well instead of boring you with tons of information about the windstorm from hell, I'll summarize by saying, my lights got knocked out Friday night when it rolled through and didn't come back until July 4th; so 4.5 days without power. You know all that you need to know by now about what happened and I'll share some funny stories and insights about my experience towards the end of this long post.  Since this is a bike blog, I'll focus on the bike race.

Of course the power got knocked out the night before I was to be in a 5 hour mountain bike race.  I had been hydrating all week since the forecasted temperatures kept climbing and climbing without any respite in sight (had to rhyme sorry).  I slept horribly without AC and my mind was on a dozen other things.  I woke up at 545 after probably falling asleep around 1am.  I decided that since Kenny Palmer is almost certifiably insane when it comes to his races that the show must go on.  I turned on my phone which by now was down to minimal battery and found on facebook that indeed the race would go on as scheduled with a possible delayed start due to many fallen trees on the 7.5 mile race course.

So I decided to pack up my stuff and head down to Bedford.  This was an adventure in itself as I had to move sticks and debris from my stairs before I could even get my bike and coolers out of my basement.  Then along the drive there were a few trees that had fallen on the road and of course VDOT had not bothered to set out any warnings or even attempt to move them.  Well made it to Bedford, set up "camp" near the bottom of the hill - any amount of shade was the goal with the temperature now forecasted to be 100°F.  Prior to the race, we all shared stories of wind damage, power outages etc; but all decided we were going to have a fun day!  As we were getting ready, Kenny and his band of merry men were out on course clearing trees and other debris.  I think he said they moved around 20 trees with 10" or larger trunks on the first 5 miles alone.  Now that is a dedicated race promoter!  The show must go on!!!

I think the race started about 20 minutes later that originally planned.  I had a goal of completing 3 laps or ride for 3 hours (of 5 total) then I could quit. Falling Creek Park and I have a tendency to not get along in the summer.  Recall two weeks ago I crashed, last year was a horrible race; so it was bound to be my turn, right?  So when the race started, the fast guys went off like they had 5 minutes to get done while I decided just to take it easy and get into a comfortable pace.  It was already hot.  What was I thinking?

The good thing about Falling Creek Park is that I've been there enough to know the trails.  I know where I can go and where I need to take time to pick a good line.  I still can't ride one particular right hand switchback - it's aggravating!!!  I didn't wipe out at the bottom of the first down hill for the left hand turn before the Strava climb.  In fact, I climbed the hill behind the nursing home every time without walking and actually passed people on it.  There is this one uphill that goes over a tree root, immediately followed by a flat, left hand turn over another root then down.  I rode it the first lap and encountered someone stopped on the flat, so I managed to foot out and get around them.  On one of my other laps I flew up and over it all the while a guy stood there watching and asked how do you ride that?  I said it's taken me 5 years to figure it out and laughed.  The other memorable section of the race course was the "beginner downhill run" at the end of the bike park.  Kenny routed us through the bike park where obstacles were optional - the only one I messed with was the rock garden each lap.  The downhill run is a flowy, singletrack downhill with berms and jumps.  An absolute blast!  I enjoyed jumping the jumps each time especially the last two.  I did play on the berms a couple of times, but as I got more and more fatigued I just skipped them. 

In the end, I was so happy with my effort - I did 4 laps (got talked into the 4th one as I was going to quit).  I rode for about 4 hours and 45 minutes which was about 29 miles.  I finished 5th out of 7 women (last of those doing 4 laps), but I climbed really well at times.  I did walk some, but not much.  I managed to ride across the slick rock, but had to foot out on the far side of it.  It was a tremendously fun day.  There was more than enough water, gatorade and places to cool off.  The misting tent at the finish line was so awesome.  During the race, I did two laps before I stopped for a break.  When I went back out for the 3rd lap I put ice in my jersey pockets then pulled some out and put in the top of my helmet.  There were ice towels at the finish line and the water stop which were an shocking way to cool off.  I have no idea how much fluid I drank during the race, but I never felt dehydrated nor did I get a headache after the race which usually happens.

This was a great day - I decided to enter another 6 hour race in Patrick County in August.  I am hoping that I continue to have time to prepare for that type of race - I may drum up a partner for it since I've never ridden there and supposedly it is a harder course.  The big goal for me this year is the Rotor Meltdown in October which will be approximately 33 miles at Carvins Cove.  Meanwhile, today is rest day since it's raining and I need to head to Kroger for food!

I'll write up another post about living powerless for 4.5 days!  Stay cool, have fun!

Lights are back on, finally! Only 108 hours later....

Going to write a book about the past 5 or 6 days - Meanwhile, here's a link to Strava to share the bike race data from Saturday.

Challenges - bring em on.

My friend Warren posted this on his blog this morning - Bicyclesoup.  I want to talk about challenges.  I am going to do the same race he is talking about.  Yes it's going to be 98 degrees (weren't they a boy band?), yes the race is 5 hours long and yes I've tried this before. 

Two years ago I attempted the endurance race in Bedford, it was hot and I wasn't quite prepared.  I managed to get in 3 miserable laps - I think there's a post about here somewhere.  I know I felt pretty much like crap during the race (factors other than just racing and poor prep).  This year as the forecasted temperature has climbed and climbed, I'm looking more and more forward to seeing what I can do.  I'm not out to win in terms of beating the other women who are entered.  I'm not out to beat anyone in fact.  I'm going with the frame of mind that as long as I can get three laps in, maybe four then it was a successful day. 

I face all sorts of challenges heading into this - my longest ride to this point this year is probably right at 20 miles and timing wise the longest was probably a little more than 2 hours.  Time isn't always on my side in terms of prep.  Recall I wanted to ride all winter to build my endurance up, but Splinty came into my life in December and I spent 3 months off of the bike instead of enjoying the mild, ride friendly weather.  I've had my share of mental anxiety due to personal and work related stuff.  Things took a good turn when I switched shifts and jobs, I'm enjoying working 330-1130, my new coworkers are fun and my job is interesting again and sometimes even fun.  School is over so I have more free time than I've known in years. 

I've been riding more than in the past years.  According to my Garmin, I've ridden 576 miles this year and my first ride wasn't until January 31st and even then the first two months of the year I was limited because of those two nifty metal pins that were holding my finger together.  Recently I've been battling flat tires (this crap started the last ride before Splinty was born believe it or not).  I hopefully have that solved for now by using tubes again.  I'm not even going to think about tubeless tires for a couple of months. 

The other challenges this week have been hydration and nutrition.  I'm a picky eater so I have just kept on with my normal diet; but I've certainly added more water - tonight I will try to get in an extra 60oz plus some gatorade.  Tomorrow the plan will be the same.  Gonna have some pasta in a bit to hopefully add some energy stores.  Then tomorrow I will spend most of my day prepping food etc for Saturday as I won't get home from work until around midnight Friday.  Then I will have about 6 hours to sleep before I have to get up, throw everything in the Jeep and head to the race. 

It's going to be hard, it's going to be hot; but I'm going to make the best out of it.  At least if I can ride for 3 laps or 3 hours total, I can say that I did well.  It's just a training ride for me.  The goal remains the ~33 mile Rotor Meltdown in October. 

Frustration @ Fat Tire Frenzy

I'm frustrated with my race today - I felt good at the start. Got into a good rhythm, was handling the trail and its obstacles pretty well. Managed to ride up and over a few things I've not done in the past (weird uphill tree root, log stack, some uphill switchbacks) then blamm! caught my right pedal/foot on something and was thrown to the ground hard. Immediately after I got up, my right big toe was hurting and the left side of my low back, but the worst was is inside of my right thigh. I am left to wonder if I caught my right leg on the stem/handlebars when I was thrown forward off of the bike and I think my bike hit me in the back; so I can account for my bruises. I got back up, but my confidence was shaken and of course the adrenaline spike wiped me out for a bit. I was able to ride up another hill, but every bump hit my leg and every time I stood up to ride, the saddle would hit my leg...OW! I debated on quitting at the finish line, but felt decent enough after climbing the deer trail to keep going. As I went through the line to start my 2nd lap, Kenny said my time, I mumbled something about being due a wreck. I acknowledged him that yes I had crashed, but was fine for now. I felt like I could push through my second lap and would just walk any difficult parts.

Well 2 miles later, I quit because my back tire got two more punctures, puked out a bunch of Stans. I wasted a CO2 on it (I had given my pump to another guy who reported when he passed me back that he had lost it.) The tire didn't hold the air very long and by time I crossed over one of the bridges, bottoming the rim on bridge the front tire threw a hissy fit, I got that stopped with Stans, but I decided to quit before I wrecked again. Honestly, I was pissed as I felt ready for this race and was going to try to beat a couple of the sport guys since there were no other women in my category. I was out ahead of two of them by a good bit when I wrecked and close to a third.

Oh well as it turned out, it was probably best that I DNF'd as my best biking pal, Paula had fallen trying to cross the slick rock and dislocated her left shoulder. Long story short, I ended up literally running back to my car from the finish line area and driving over to where my pal was tearfully waiting for assistance with some other racers (the frame pump guy who had found it by the way) and some volunteers. About the time I was helping Paula to the car, her husband arrived. We proceeded to drive her to the hospital - Warren driving (w/o a license) and me in the back seat holding Paula's arm in the best immobile position I could manage. Poor thing!!! She was in severe pain and very upset. I would have been too!!! In the end, the ER doc and staff was awesome, got her drugged up with Morphine and Zofran and successfully popped her shoulder back into place. Looks like she'll be off her bike for a few weeks, but hopefully she'll recover well enough to ride again soon. I miss her already because of my job change and haven't ridden with her in a few weeks. =( I'll forge ahead with my plans to get stronger and ride longer and keep focusing on Conquer the Cove oops Rotor Meltdown in October. I've entered the 5 hour race in Bedford in two weeks. It may be that I wind up teaming up with Warren since he and Paula were registered already as well - that remains to be seen. Either way, I'm still going and I'm going to just do the best I can. I enjoy the people I'm around while I'm racing, so that's reason enough to go back!

Meanwhile, I'm anxiously await UPS to bring me some tires that will hold air. I hope this works. I just want to ride and not worry about flats!!!

Busy bike week (relatively speaking)

Hey!!!

It's been a while since I posted.  I've been trying to get into a routine of riding regularly, but rain and vacation threw a screw in the works.  Oh well, I start working a 2nd shift job as of Monday - yes it's a new job and something kind of different.  I'm optimistic and open minded that it's what I need to do to advance in my career.  Hopefully not having to be at work until 330p everyday will allow me time to get rides in in the morning before it gets too hot.

My plan is to try to ride 3 days a week for 1.5-2 hours per ride.  Mostly I plan to focus my riding at the Cove and Mill Mountain.  Once the bottom trails of the Cove dry out again it will be great.  I've been trying to ride from the Timberview Parking lot which means I get to climb up and over Brushy Mountain - so far I've done it twice using Trough, Buck, 4 Gorges, the Fireroad and the Gauntlet and it's taking about 2 hours (13 miles).  If the lowers dry out, I can ride from the boat dock on about a 12 mile loop that takes a bit over an hour, but this is kind of boring because half of it is fireroad.  Then there is the normal lower trail loop from Bennett Springs which is about 13.25 miles.  The weekend is where I want to try to get in longer rides - I'm hoping to loop some stuff together tomorrow at the Cove to come up with a long ride.  I guess any combination of upper and lowers out there will be about 26 miles or so.  We'll see what I come up with tomorrow.  I'm hoping that the weekend rides will include riding with my friends!!! 

Why am I doing all of this?  Well I want to be a stronger rider when I get to ride with my friends since I won't see them as much with my 2nd shift job, but I'm also looking at 7 races...  I've already done the one MTX race where I "returned from Splinty."  A few weeks ago, I did the Montvale Time Trial where I was proud of doing my lap in 39:53 and actually beat a few other people.  The biggest highlight of that day for me was riding through both creek crossings which were about 3 feet and a foot deep respectively. 

Here's my tentative schedule:

Jun 16th  Fat Tire Frenzy (Bedford, VA)
Jun 30th  Fat 5 Enduro (Bedford, VA)
Jul 22nd  Dirty Dawg (Blacksburg, VA)
Aug 12th The Sizzler (Greensboro, NC)
Sep 15th  Montvale Mayhem (Montvale, VA)
Sep 22nd  6/24hrs of Angler's Ridge (Danville, VA)

and most importantly to me...

October 13th Rotor Meltdown at Carvins Cove!!!  Undecided on long vs short course...

I think there may be another race or two that I might try, but it all depends on whether I can get in my training rides.

Elevations

I am always curious to know how "high" I am during my bike rides.  No, I don't mean from drugs or some bike induced euphoria.  I'm talking about elevation!  So I just glanced through some track files from the Cove and Mill Mountain and came up with the following "peaks."

At Carvins Cove, the highest elevation for the following that I have data for are:
Trough    ~1974ft
Brushy Mtn    ~2344ft
The Gauntlet    ~2215ft
Tuckaway    ~1440ft
Arrowhead    ~1430ft
Songbird    ~1420ft

For Mill Mountain, I estimate the following:
Ridgeline (after in the intersection)   ~1595ft
ZooPoo aka Ridgeline    ~1690ft
Monument    ~1606ft
At the base of the Star    ~1755ft

Not the most thrilling post, but hey it's a post!

During my ride today - I rode up Trough, down Buck, across Hotel, met up with Paula, took 4 Gorges to Brushy Mountain.  We went looking for a "secret" didn't find what we were looking for and when we turned around got to see a black bear - beautiful animal.  I love them.  We rode down The Gauntlet - a workout for my hands for sure then went back across Horse Pen.  I bid Paula a farewell at the Trough trailhead as I was parked on Timberview Road.  The Cicadas are plentiful on this side of Brushy Mountain and they were "singing" rather loudly!  In fact it was almost mesmerizing to the point of insanity.  I got a flat tire going up Trough and needed to hear the air leak so I could slosh sealant towards it, but I couldn't hear anything, but those insane bugs!  YUK!!!

Off to watch the season finale of The Amazing Race.  Ta ta!

Six Hours of Warrior Creek

Splinty had to have some insulation.

Trying to stay ahead at the start.

Some of my best friends (Paula, me, Kristin C., Kristen J., Gina)

I owe ya'll some serious blogs...  At least one about Warrior Creek, one about my trail running adventures and one about progress of mountainbiking!!!  I can say I'm having a blast without school, Splinty is much improved and working towards a new job possibly!

Hey there! Hi!

Hi - if I have any readers left, just wanted to say Hello!  I'm back to working, riding and running.  Work is well work - I'm actively pursuing a new job.  Will update as that goes.  Riding - weekly chicky ride has been nice two weeks in a row, have ridden a bit more other than those.  Enjoying it, though at times it's a struggle.  Running - oh my I'm so addicted to trail running right now.  I've run two races since I last posted - a 5k at Explore Park where it was muddy and slippery - I think I was 5th in my age group out of 8.  Finished in the top half overall which is always a nice feeling.  Yesterday I ran a 5 mile trail race.  Finished 3rd in my age group out of 7, was the 19th female and I think 53 out of 89 overall.  Again, it was muddy and slick.  I had a blast running through the puddles.  I'll try to find some pictures to share.  =)  Meanwhile, I'm hoping it clears up some today as I'd like to go run again. I'm crazy!

And done....

Well pins are out.  I had surgery yesterday to remove them.  It was the most amusing time I believe I've had during this entire experience.  I'm so grateful I have a wonderful orthopedic surgeon and yesterday, one of my favorite anesthesiologists took excellent care of me.  It worked out perfectly.  So, at this point, I'm free to return to work and will do so tomorrow.  I'm filled with anxiety because it's been so long since I worked.  You just never know where you stand sometimes and that's where I'm at right now.  I just want to go do my job and go home.  The other nonsense is beyond my capacity to care at this point.  I need a paycheck.

I'm nearly finished with my project and my Masters Degree.  The job hunt has been beyond frustrating.  No one has called me back, not a soul.  Some days I don't even know what I want to do in the future.  I know the answer isn't my current position.  I will keep looking and hoping that someone will give me a chance.  That's all I can do.  I have to focus on getting back into a routine with work, finishing this project and getting back on my bikes.  I'm canceling my gym membership due to various factors.  I will just have to dedicate myself to strengthening my core and arms.  I think I can manage.

I have enjoyed running and will continue to do so.  I actually rode my road bike 26 miles last Saturday - it was pretty sweet - my butt wasn't too happy afterwards and my legs were tired.  I recovered fairly quickly though.  I was going to run today, but my finger is painful at times and I don't feel like aggravating it more especially since I am due at work at 8a tomorrow.  YIKES.  Thanks for all the encouraging notes along the way.  I'll keep you posted.

=)

9 weeks...

So just having passed the 9 week post op mark, I figured it's time for an update.  Saw the doctor again Friday - the fracture line that was so distinct a few weeks ago isn't as visible as it was.  This means it's healing, finally.  In 10 days, I revisit the wonderful OR to have the pins removed.  Then what?  I don't know.  I assume I will have to regain some ROM in the most distal joint before I'm freed from splinting.  I don't know, I guess I should have asked, but why bother?  My leave and STD is ok for a while.  I do know that by the time the pins come out I'll be in week 11 of FMLA and that ends at 12 weeks.  My boss seems like she's going to grant a personal leave if I need it.  It's a good thing we get along I suppose and that I'm a good employee.  If something should happen and I loose my job because of this then I guess it was meant to be.  I'm looking for jobs anyway since my degree will be done right around the same time as everything else.

Post-op I don't see my doctor again until March 5th, so we'll see what work prospects are...

Since I can't ride my bike, I sent it away for repairs and a tune-up.  I get to pick it up on Monday.  I guess I'll pet it some more.  HA HA HA.  I've been running in the time I've had off bike.  Hopefully this will help make riding not so difficult to get back into.  I have a 5k trail running race on 3/3, a 5-mile trail running race 3/24 and a bike race 4/7.  Terrific since I've only walked or hiked on trails since December.  HA!  Oh well, it isn't going to kill me.  Maim me, maybe; but death nah.

Ah well, I guess I'll go to bed - cold weekend ahead. BOO. I wish it would just be spring if it's not going to snow.

New blog for photography...

Please visit my new digital photography blog...  Jen's Photo-du jour

Phew, rolling again!

So today was in the 50's, sunny and beautiful.  I decided today was the day to try to ride again.  I knew it wouldn't exactly be a cardio workout, so I decided to run first then ride.  I went down to Vic Thomas swamp, I mean park where I parked the car with Ritchey locked on the bike rack.  I ran through Vic, Wasena and Smith Park, turned around and ran back.  I ended up having to walk a bit (URGH) then ended my run short of three miles.  I had gotten back to Vic, so I decided to ride.  I changed shoes and shirts, added a helmet then took off.  I rode to the sewage treatment plant and back.  It was an awesome 11.4 mile ride.  The only issue were the bumps and Splinty did not get along.  I also used Bar Mits for the first time in a long time to keep my hands warm.  They were almost too warm.  I enjoyed being back on the bike again, but I've got a long ways to go!  It's ok though because I've been knocked down before; but I will get up every time.

Look out ya'll - when these pins come out of my finger, I'm going to train harder than I ever have.  My doctor has me out of work until 2/22, and my MHA program ends two weeks later.  FREEDOM!!!!

Thanks for being my followers!!!

Slow progress

Well yesterday's doctor's appointment was a huge disappointment.  As much as I dreaded the thought, I really did hope it would be time for the pins to come out of my mangled finger.  Guess what?  Yup it's not healed well enough to take them out, so we wait a bit longer.  The anxiety of pin removal was significantly reduced in the fact the pins have slid farther into the bone and deeper under the skin, so it will require a trip to the OR for them to be removed.  The doctor actually said that she wasn't sure she could get a good enough grip on them in the office to pull them out, and suggested the OR which was fine with me.  I barely could stand the suture removal, so I was in high stress at the thought of having them yanked out. 

The other bad thing is that my knuckle (PIP Joint for those who know what I'm talking about) is very stiff.  Bend your fingers as much as you can to make a fist.  That joint is supposed to move 110°.  I can barely get past 90° and that's forcing it.  I pretty much was told, either you do it or you'll never make a fist or have good grip again.  Sooo, I have to sit here 7-10 times a day and force my finger to bend as much as I can.  I did it a bunch last night and so today my finger is sore as can be. It's frustrating.  I wish I had known that I could have forced it more in the past 6 weeks, but we live and learn.

I'm getting frustrated with the weather now.  I wanted to run this weekend OUTSIDE, but today is a washout.  I really, really want to go for a bike ride.  The problem with that is #1 grip, #2 how do you keep Splinty warm?  Anyway, yea I'll stop whining, but I had really hoped 2012 would be the year I had a good base of winter riding and would actually stand a chance of beating someone/anyone in a race.  It's not looking promising for bike racing - maybe running, that is if I ever get the chance to run on the trails again.  I think my first trail race is March 3rd, the first bike race is April 7th (6 Hours of Warrior Creek with Gina).  Other than that bike race, I have none planned at this point.  I did register to run the RNuts series of trail races, so I'll stick with that plan.  As far as bike racing goes, it is going to be wait and see.  The Bedford Mountainbike Series doesn't start until May, so that would be an option.  Otherwise, I'll probably not race.  It's not any fun to loose and to feel like you're going to die while riding; so we'll have to see.  I really am torn about this.

Sorry to be gloomy in my blog...

Brain block...

Good grief, I've been off work since December 6th.  I have basically been nursing my finger back to health which has been slow and at time agonizing.  I also started working on my final project for my MHA degree during the month of December.  My final quarter didn't start until January 3rd, so I did get a jumpstart on things.  While it's been nice to get stuff done for it, I hit the occasional brain block where I just can't get the words out and onto paper.  I also need to be calling other facilities to survey how they handle their patient flow, but as a person who hates talking on the telephone; this is even a tough task.  I have other things that I can write, but brain block!!! 

The one thing that I really am proud to have gotten rolling is my power point presentations for the educational part of this project.  A very good friend of mine got me started on a rather neat way to navigate through powerpoint presentations, so I'm proud of how this is looking and will likely put in a good amount of time on these especially once I go back to work.  I am hoping to get the necessary phone calls done soon as I will not have enough time to do this when I go back to work.  Crazy, if I could just get focused I'll be done pretty soon!!!

Meanwhile the finger is getting better.  I still have 2 metal pins in it and will see the doctor on Friday to see how the fracture is healing.  My finger nail is horrendously ugly.  My finger has the oddest shape and the cuts are healing rather nice.  Weird thing is my skin is peeling off ala sun burn.  Maybe this is just another indicator of healing.  I've definitely learned more patience with this injury and it's funny how my left hand has adapted to typing without my middle finger contributing.  The human brain is amazing!

Well I guess that's it for now.  I was on a pretty regular running routine until last week then have taken a 5 day break.  My toes hurt in my shoes especially the day after I run, plus it got cold then I was out of town for the weekend.  Today I hope to go to the gym for a run on the treadmill later.  I need to get it in gear!!!  I took Punkin' off for some rehab and exercise yesterday - my mechanic will be fixing up a few things for me then getting Punkin' out on the trails for a bit.  =)  Not sure when I will go get it back.  Maybe mid to the end of February.  Meanwhile, if I get to ride again I'll just take Ritchey.  =)