Race reports forthcoming....Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
My Favorite Bike Racer
I see that my favorite racer is having a great season. Her fourth at Mercer Cup Saturday and third on Sunday secures her third overall in the USGP standings. Awesome! Go Rachel!
Sunday, November 16, 2008
A nice day
It started with cross practice. Here we are lined-up for the start of our hot laps. I won the hole shot three times. Go figure! Why can't I do that in a race?
Here I am on the "barriers."
Here is Mike on the same barriers. Notice the downed barrier behind him? No PVC pipe barriers were harmed in my midst. The same cannot be said for Mike.
After cross practice, we met up with Wendy, Leslie, and Robin for a ride in Howard County.
Don't trust Wendy when she says "Just 5 more hills." I counted 7.
Upon our return to DC we snatched the Black Dog and went for a nice walk in Congressional Cemetery, or "the graveyard" as Sonja likes to call it. FYI, my granny referred to them as boneyards.
The Black Dog, aka Best Dog Ever...
Currently I am watching Obama on 60 minutes and getting ready to watch the Skins demolish the Cowbows. Again, life is good!
Here I am on the "barriers."
Here is Mike on the same barriers. Notice the downed barrier behind him? No PVC pipe barriers were harmed in my midst. The same cannot be said for Mike.
After cross practice, we met up with Wendy, Leslie, and Robin for a ride in Howard County.
Don't trust Wendy when she says "Just 5 more hills." I counted 7.
Upon our return to DC we snatched the Black Dog and went for a nice walk in Congressional Cemetery, or "the graveyard" as Sonja likes to call it. FYI, my granny referred to them as boneyards.
The Black Dog, aka Best Dog Ever...
Currently I am watching Obama on 60 minutes and getting ready to watch the Skins demolish the Cowbows. Again, life is good!
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Even Steven
I think my luck my be improving. At least I'm "Even Steven."
Bad news: Twenty minutes into my ride today I punctured my front tire.
Good news: But... I was right in front of Cyclelife when it happened so I was able to run in and have Merlyn set me up with a new tire because the one I had was thrashed. And as an added bonus I got to see the Cyclelife gals who were there riding computrainers and watching cartoons.
Glass half empty: 2 hours into my ride it started to rain on me pretty bad. We're talking sideways rain with wind gusts up to 40 mph. Rain bad enough to make we want to cry.
Glass half full: I was near a Starbucks and was able to run in and have a latte while I waited for Sonja to come and get me. (Thanks Sonja!) And hey, I got in a 2 and a half hour ride before I had to call it quits.
Life is good!
Friday, November 14, 2008
Belated Race Reports and Bad Karma
No, I have not put off writing race reports from last weekend because I'd rather forget about the weekend as a whole. Rather, I've been quite the busy little hen lately and have not found the time. Better late than never to keep my reader (Dad) happy. Plus I don't want to be one of those people that only write race reports when they did well.
And that's a perfect segue because I did not race well at Beacon or HPCX. 9th on Saturday at Beacon and 5th on Sunday at HPCX. 9th! Geesh... I've been doing better than that in the elite races.
OK, so I did suffer some mechanicals (dropped chains) in both races, but still. I'm rather disappointed with the entire weekend, not because of my results but because of the way I raced. Angry. Sometimes when I race angry it works, but this weekend was a mix of anger, sadness, and disappointment, sprinkled with a little bit of bad karma.
Details: Beacon was going ok. I was recovering from a bad start when we hit the beach run. During the run I felt someone run into my bike and then a whole lot of tugging. It's my guess that during all of this my chain must have dropped to the outside of the chainring. When I exited the beach run and went to remount my chain was off and I stupidly tried to fix it myself instead of running to the pit which was a mere 150 feet away. Once I realized that people were screaming at me to go to the pit I wised up, got the Merckx and was on my way again. With 1/2 lap to go I caught a group of 4 in front of me at the amphitheater of pain and was pretty confident I could pass them. Unfortunately bad juju struck again and I dropped my chain at the top of the stair climb. This time on the Merckx which has a chain keeper for crying out loud. How do you manage that? And the problem with dropping your chain on a bike with a chain keeper? Well, it tends to get all jammed up between the keeper and the chainring. 30 seconds. That's how much time I lost and rolled in for 9th.
At HPCX the following day I had a much better start and was happy with my gearing of 34/29 because I realized I was spinning easily up the muddy climbs. But happiness only lasted a half of a lap because my chain dropped again, and again near the pit. This time I decided to keep the Blue and not go to the pit. I only had a 12/25 cassette on the Merckx and besides, this time the chain had fallen to the inside and was much easier to fix. Back on the bike, the rest of the race was uneventful. I passed a few gals and rolled in for 5th.
Looking forward I have decided not to race Mercer Cup, the MABRA Champs, or Nationals. That leaves me with 3 more cross races (Long Island and Reston). I hope my attitude and karma improve soon!
Oh, and I must have done something really bad to piss off the karma gods because the coke machine ate my buck fiddy yesterday.
And that's a perfect segue because I did not race well at Beacon or HPCX. 9th on Saturday at Beacon and 5th on Sunday at HPCX. 9th! Geesh... I've been doing better than that in the elite races.
OK, so I did suffer some mechanicals (dropped chains) in both races, but still. I'm rather disappointed with the entire weekend, not because of my results but because of the way I raced. Angry. Sometimes when I race angry it works, but this weekend was a mix of anger, sadness, and disappointment, sprinkled with a little bit of bad karma.
Details: Beacon was going ok. I was recovering from a bad start when we hit the beach run. During the run I felt someone run into my bike and then a whole lot of tugging. It's my guess that during all of this my chain must have dropped to the outside of the chainring. When I exited the beach run and went to remount my chain was off and I stupidly tried to fix it myself instead of running to the pit which was a mere 150 feet away. Once I realized that people were screaming at me to go to the pit I wised up, got the Merckx and was on my way again. With 1/2 lap to go I caught a group of 4 in front of me at the amphitheater of pain and was pretty confident I could pass them. Unfortunately bad juju struck again and I dropped my chain at the top of the stair climb. This time on the Merckx which has a chain keeper for crying out loud. How do you manage that? And the problem with dropping your chain on a bike with a chain keeper? Well, it tends to get all jammed up between the keeper and the chainring. 30 seconds. That's how much time I lost and rolled in for 9th.
At HPCX the following day I had a much better start and was happy with my gearing of 34/29 because I realized I was spinning easily up the muddy climbs. But happiness only lasted a half of a lap because my chain dropped again, and again near the pit. This time I decided to keep the Blue and not go to the pit. I only had a 12/25 cassette on the Merckx and besides, this time the chain had fallen to the inside and was much easier to fix. Back on the bike, the rest of the race was uneventful. I passed a few gals and rolled in for 5th.
Looking forward I have decided not to race Mercer Cup, the MABRA Champs, or Nationals. That leaves me with 3 more cross races (Long Island and Reston). I hope my attitude and karma improve soon!
Oh, and I must have done something really bad to piss off the karma gods because the coke machine ate my buck fiddy yesterday.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Sticky Bun Fun Ride - Second Round
WHO: FUN, HAPPY CYCLISTS (NO BORING, DULL DUDS ALLOWED!)
WHAT: THE NOW-WEEKLY STICKY BUN FUN RIDE( A NON-COMPETITIVE, WEEKLY RIDE WITH VARYING ROUTES IN DC AND BEYOND, WHICH IS INTENDED TO GET OUR LAZY BUTTS OUT OF BED ON COLD WINTER MORNINGS AND THEN REWARD OURSELVES AFTERWARD WITH A LITTLE SOCIALIZATION OVER WARM YUMMIES!)
WHEN: EVERY FRIDAY - 6:30 AM ROLL-OUT (EXPECTED 1 HOUR DURATION)
WHERE: TO BEGIN AND END AT STICKY FINGERS BAKERY
(1370 PARK ROAD, NW - 1 BLK FROM COLUMBIA HTS METRO)
(1370 PARK ROAD, NW - 1 BLK FROM COLUMBIA HTS METRO)
WHY: BECAUSE WE LOVE TO RIDE AND EAT AND MEET FUN NEW PEOPLE
NOTE: Please bring front and rear lights - it will still be dark out. If you can't join us for the ride, feel free to join us at Sticky Fingers around 7:30 AM to socialize over a cup of coffee or hot cocoa. Cyclists of all skill-levels and affiliations are welcome. Feel free to write me if you have any questions/concerns (or if you do not want to receive these invites ever again...) Hope to see you there!!!
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Speaking of nice people...
Kim, my nemesis according to crossresults.com. It's hard to call someone so nice your nemesis. She had me cracking up in her bunny outfit.
Monkey.
Anne Rock. I think she may eat her young as well.
Monkey.Anne Rock. I think she may eat her young as well.
Fairhill B Race (aka Wayne Scott Memorial Cyclocross)
Saturday was the cross race at Fairhill. I raced here last year and got second but made a new friend in the process (Kristy Swope). She beat the crap out of me last year, but I had a great race. In fact, I'd say it was a huge confidence builder going into the final races of the season and eventually leading up to my first cross win in the MABRA.
The course this year was very similar to last year's with the exception of the addition of the "heckle hut" with it's barriers and beer kegs. The course maintained it's flow with all the twists and turns and transitions from pavement to gravel to grass to sand. Racers still had to contend with the "ghetto barrier" and the sand pit of doom, but the sand this year was ridable for the most part.
I lined up for the B race second row as usual (I can't seem to get a front row start for anything this year) but I did choose wisely by lining up behind Monkey. She is the fastest starter I know. At the whistle I again surprised myself by getting in my pedal immediately and somehow found myself at the front sitting in 4th. I made a few passes and moved up to 2nd shortly thereafter.
Coming into the set of uphill barriers, Kathrine (Pippy Longstocking) took a wide line so I cut on the inside and made the pass and was now in the lead. This concerned me a bit because I thought it was too soon. I remember last year leading the first lap only to be passed by Kristy in the sand pit and never seeing her again. Besides, I had gone out hard and needed some recovery. At this point, coming up to the line, I sat up ever so slightly and was passed by Katrina. She yelled at me to "come on" but she seriously passed me so fast I could not grab her wheel. As we entered the sand pit I tried to see who was behind me and things were looking good. I was even making some ground up on Katrina but then I bobbled the second turn in the sand pit by running into a C-man that had crashed. Back on the bike I could see Katrina ahead and decided to let her go. She's super-strong and the only chance I had to beat her would be in the technical sections or maybe the fact that she's new to cross and may have misjudged her effort and would tire. Either way, getting beaten by Katrina would be ok. She's too nice.
But sometimes bad things happen to nice people. Coming around the bend approaching the log barrier I saw Katrina get off her bike. I slowed and asked her what happened. She broke her chain. Catastrophic bike failure. Now I was in the lead again by default, but trying to keep up with Katrina had give me a good gap to second so I just couldn't worry about blowing up. I had to go. I rode the rest of the race as fast as I could which in hindsight was pretty stupid. I'm surprised I did not crash myself out of the race. Faticus kept telling me to ride smooth because I must have looked like a maniac out there. In the end I was able to hold the gap and scored my first MAC win.
The course this year was very similar to last year's with the exception of the addition of the "heckle hut" with it's barriers and beer kegs. The course maintained it's flow with all the twists and turns and transitions from pavement to gravel to grass to sand. Racers still had to contend with the "ghetto barrier" and the sand pit of doom, but the sand this year was ridable for the most part.I lined up for the B race second row as usual (I can't seem to get a front row start for anything this year) but I did choose wisely by lining up behind Monkey. She is the fastest starter I know. At the whistle I again surprised myself by getting in my pedal immediately and somehow found myself at the front sitting in 4th. I made a few passes and moved up to 2nd shortly thereafter.
Coming into the set of uphill barriers, Kathrine (Pippy Longstocking) took a wide line so I cut on the inside and made the pass and was now in the lead. This concerned me a bit because I thought it was too soon. I remember last year leading the first lap only to be passed by Kristy in the sand pit and never seeing her again. Besides, I had gone out hard and needed some recovery. At this point, coming up to the line, I sat up ever so slightly and was passed by Katrina. She yelled at me to "come on" but she seriously passed me so fast I could not grab her wheel. As we entered the sand pit I tried to see who was behind me and things were looking good. I was even making some ground up on Katrina but then I bobbled the second turn in the sand pit by running into a C-man that had crashed. Back on the bike I could see Katrina ahead and decided to let her go. She's super-strong and the only chance I had to beat her would be in the technical sections or maybe the fact that she's new to cross and may have misjudged her effort and would tire. Either way, getting beaten by Katrina would be ok. She's too nice.But sometimes bad things happen to nice people. Coming around the bend approaching the log barrier I saw Katrina get off her bike. I slowed and asked her what happened. She broke her chain. Catastrophic bike failure. Now I was in the lead again by default, but trying to keep up with Katrina had give me a good gap to second so I just couldn't worry about blowing up. I had to go. I rode the rest of the race as fast as I could which in hindsight was pretty stupid. I'm surprised I did not crash myself out of the race. Faticus kept telling me to ride smooth because I must have looked like a maniac out there. In the end I was able to hold the gap and scored my first MAC win.Thanks to Sonja for all her support in the pits (that is, before the kegs started flowing). Thanks to Faticus for the good luck kiss at the start. Thanks to Anthony for the pics. And thanks to my new coach. As he pointed out, my first day with him and I already won a race. I think he then mumbled something about his work being done. Ha!
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