4th of July in the suburbs

The past few years our 4th of July celebration has been watching fireworks on tv and listening to the booms of local fireworks displays and hisses of bottle rockets going off in the neighborhood.

This year we have two plans. Option A, ride mtn bikes in Gambrill then head west to Shepherdstown WV for a small town 4th of July festival to hear the Bluegrass band SpeakEasy Boys. We first heard this band at the Leesburg Bakers Dozen and we loved them. A great band. It would be nice to hear them live again.

or Option B, ride local maybe CCT to Wakefield, then later ride mtn bikes to Lake Fairfax to see the Reston fireworks, and maybe light some sparklers.
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We chose option B and joined up with Jen Maxwell at Wakefield for her reintroduction back to mtn biking. She did fantastic eventhough she had slicks on her borrowed bike. Watch out W@W here comes Jen - the gal I once yelled at her during a cross race and called her a "roadie".

Judd and I rode to Wakefield to meet Jen via the Cross County Trail, something we have always wanted to explore. The CCT runs about 40+miles from Lorton to Great Falls in Fairfax County. We always ride the Difficult Run and CCT around Reston, but never ventured further south than Lawyers except one or two times for a few miles.

The trail, mostly singletrack to Oak Mar, turns to wide cinder and then ride the road through Fairfax Circle area, followed by paved paths and wide cinder through Annandale to Wakefield. The whole trail except the road follows along stream paths and is flat shaded and scenic. It was a great ride and took two hours Reston to Wakefield at steady but not hard pace and taking roads to Lawyers to pick up the trail. The way back was longer because we did the whole CCT through Reston and ended at Lake Fairfax Park. Seven hours total includes the few laps at Wakefield and lap of Accotink.

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Fireworks: We scrapped Lake Fairfax which was a traffic jam of cars and people. We opted for a grassy knoll along the gas line with other locals in the know and were treated to kids with sparklers and rockets and fireworks of four different towns. It seems Vienna and Sterling have the better displays. We did notice not a lot of booms this year nor any spiraling whistlers. Of course hearing all the kids ooh and ah and pick their favorite was great entertainment as well.

My favorite were the shapes. The green circle with a red line through it and the attempts at what appeared to be heart shapes. Plus the ones that look like glitter.

12 hrs of Lodi - a long race to the finish and equally long post

12 Hrs of Lodi: Noon to midnight, race your mtn bike over 9.6 miles of single track with roots and a few small hills and enough turns and corners to make you think you are on a never ending tilt-a-whirl.....

Gripped Racing entered four 3 person teams and 1 solo. The end result was a sweep of top spot of podium for the 3 person teams in every category (beginner, sport, and expert) and 4th place in the solo and also a 2nd place in the 3 person expert team event. By the end, Gripped Racing also had the top three fastest teams in the 3 person category.

It was a last minute decision to enter the race. Judd found a third rider Justin so we entered ourselves for the 3 person expert team. I was happy to have a third rider rather than duo this time around. This meant more time (a whole extra hour) for enjoying the venue and the company of teammates rather than just enough time to eat, change, get ready to ride again.

Emily and I were both third leg on our teams for the first set of laps. We cheered our boys off to a great start, with Jason and Judd sitting pretty in top 5 at the start and finish of their first lap. When they finished their first laps they looked a little more tired and dirty than we expected. I realized this wasn't going to be as easy and chill as Baker's Dozen.

Not having had a chance to preride, some of us rode a little more conservative on the first lap, not knowing where the next corner or hill would pop up, or if the straightaways were long enough to wind up the legs. I rode as best as I could while out there, but was frustrated to be the slowest leg of the team. Every time Justin, our 2nd leg, handed me the baton tag we were in 2nd, and everytime I handed it off to Judd we were in 4th or 5th (last). Justin Riddle and team were pretty easily in the lead for a while.

Things started getting interesting around the half way point. Going into lap 6 (around 5:30 or so) only 3-4 minutes separated the top 5 of the expert 3 person teams. Meanwhile, the Gripped Racing sport 3-person team was clearly dominating their class and beating some of the expert teams as well and holding about third place OVERALL during the majority of the race.

Although we entered the event for "fun", I was delighted by the competitiveness that came through. Entering my second round, the infamous lap 6 there was a surprise as we were lined up waiting for our riders. Gripped Racing #2 (3 person expert team) was now in the lead overall. And my team (Gripped Racing) was right behind in second but a few minutes back. With the pressure on, I wanted to catch that first place. A girl beating the boys.....pretty cool and demoralizing hee heee....I flew over the roots and maneuvered the corners with ease....all was well until "CRUNCH". In my haste I power-shifted at the start of a hill and the bottom bracket ate the chain.

Eventually I freed the chain although it took some of the bike with it. I ran up the hill and then hopped on the bike and rode away. A few short minutes later, the third and fourth place team riders passed me. DRATS! I was disappointed but kept the pressure on.

As the day wore on, and the rains came around 6pm, the competition was still fierce and despite a 12 hour race, it would be a race to the finish at midnight. It had already been raining for 2 hours by time I went out just before 7:00. It was dark with the big clouds and rain. But the trails were alright. The roots were not slick at all really, and the sticky mud that was slow earlier in the day was actually now wet enough it was fast mud. The main issue that caused the time loss for me was the little little hills where a quick stomp on the pedal and you wipe out and then you try to run your way up and it is like being a kid on ice-skates for the first time.

The rain took its toll on the riders mentally. A bunch of riders called it quits and packed up. But I had a blast knowing that this experience builds up skillset, like racing the NORBA at Snowshoe in 2000 and Mt. Snow in 2007 during heavy rain storms - prepared me for this, and future adventures. This would be another great practice.

I finished my lap and handed off the baton to Judd and around 8:00 or so. A few minutes later there was a little bit of hub-bub around the finish area. Gripped Racing 2 was now in the lead for 3 person expert by about 20 minutes. The early leading team of Justin Riddle and crew had stopped racing around 6 or 7 or so.

Despite 9 hours of racing, now only 8 minutes separated the remaining 3 person expert teams for 2nd place and our team Gripped Racing was actually in second. The pressure was on and it was getting treacherous out there and anything could happen. We hoped Judd would be okay and not lose any time.

A quick calculation revealed that since I was the slowest rider on our team with my lap times, although decent, a few minutes slower than Judd and Justin were just slow enough that the team behind us could actually catch us on the last lap. Their slowest rider (also a female) was now out of the race with a broken bike and that meant one of their two guys, with lap times on par with Judd and Justin, would have to double up and would likely catch me on my lap. We had to strategize and scheme a plan to stay in 2nd.

The dilema: If I ride and turn the same lap time as I was, we would probably lose 2nd place unless something happened to the other team behind us. Solution: Judd or Justin would now have to ride my lap. Gamble: If something happened or they got too tired and they turned a lap slower than mine (about 5 minutes slower than the guys). Issue: Mud, rain, dark, light batteries running low - anything could happen. In the end, we decided there was at least a better chance to secure our place, to have Judd go out instead of me or have Justin do a double. Either way, I got to eat pizza and get out of the muddy and wet kit.

We headed to the exchange area to cheer Judd in and send Justin off on the crucial lap 10. We expected Judd around 9. 9:05. Uh oh. 9:10 he just rode slower than I did. This doesn't look good. We started scheming our game plan again. What do we do if Judd got passed. How much time do we have? Would we be able to go out for another lap after Justin's. We are running out of time. What time does the third place team have to finish the next lap by to determine if we go out for a lap 12.... 9:25 OMG we were starting to panic. 9:29 Judd rolls in. Justin takes off. Two minutes later, the team in third rolls in. They took 6 minutes out of us. They were surely going to catch us now and beat us for 2nd place. I was pretty bummed.

All of a sudden, standing there in the pouring rain, the guy on the third place team that would easily have captured 2nd at the rate they were riding, handed over the baton and said they were DONE! They were so close but just gave it all away because by god we already sent our rider out so we would beat them based on number of laps. So we had 2nd pretty much wrapped up. We might even finish before midnight and not have to go out again.

But not so fast. Now with the third place team out, we still had to worry about the fourth place team. Remember they were only a few minutes behind as well but they were gaining on us because their third leg rider was their strongest rider. Now what to do. Judd = toast after a bad fall and tired. There is no way he can go out in my place. I could go, but again my lap times were just a little too slow. And the team that was 4th and is now 3rd, their third leg was their strongest rider which means he would definitely catch me on the last lap. Justin has to do a double.

Justin finishes his lap, lap 11 around 11:48pm. There is only 11 minutes until midnight, but based on the time check from lap 10, that team is a few minutes behind. So the strategy of endurance racing comes into play. If we call it a night and do not go out again, and the team behind us comes in before midnight but goes out again, we automatically lose 2nd place. Now, if we go out and the other team goes out, both before midnight, and then they proceed to pass us on the last lap, despite the race ending at midnight, that team will beat us.

So our strategy, Justin has to go out and at least start the lap. Here was our plan: If the team now in third A) comes in after midnight, or B) chooses to not go out again, then we will meet Justin on the course at about the half way point (which is where it is closest to the main area) and tell him he does not have to finish because we would have secured 2nd place based on time. However if that team behind us sends a rider, we have to take a time check and then tell Justin how close they are to ensure they don't make up that time on the last lap and pass us. As it turned out, the team in third did send a rider, but they were a few minutes back. Which meant Justin had to finish and not get passed.

It was a long slow slippery lap and the lap times nearly doubled by the end of the event. By time Justin and the others finished, we were already eating and drinking, and some were sleeping and it was after 1am. It was a race to the finish and we were all cold and wet and muddy and covered with soon to be discovered poison ivy oil. We cheered as the last few riders came in, including Justin and Timmy our solo guy who finished 4th only a few minutes behind third.

We secured second place behind our compadres Gripped Racing 2. Our sport team actually was 2nd overall but dominated their field. Our junior team raced the beginner 3 person and they won also.

Review of training plan

I finally feel that I have been riding enough and with a little bit of intensity that I can start to consider my riding now as training. I finally loaded in all my PowerTap files into Power Agent and up to WKO+. While at it, I took a moment to glance back at what I was doing at this time last year. Wooops seems like I am about 3 months behind schedule. I am hoping the slower more laid back approach of this year will pay off in the long run and not have me burning out half way through cx season. The compromise is the lack of snap in my legs and absence of any sprint or speed - which has worked out just fine for the endurance mtn bike races I have been doing. We'll see if any of it has come back for this weekend at Ephrata. I am definitely well rested.

Meanwhile the other half of the team will be racing at SpeedWeek.

Surviving my first mini enduro

As a tune-up for the Leesburg Baker's Dozen 13 hr mtn bike race in two weeks, Judd and I went down to Ashland VA and raced the enduro 5 hour mtb event at Camp Hilbert on Saturday. This was my first enduro type event, and first race longer than 3.5 hours. I originally was going to wait until I turned 35 before I started doing the longer events, but I think I may have jumped the gun and will probably try a few more before then.

After checking out the enduro results the past few years at this event, it seemed that the woman's enduro winner could do it by riding consistent 45min laps and get in about 8 laps. So 45min laps was my time goal. The hard part would be to avoid the rush of the starting gun and to keep on the pace after a few hours. When I clocked first lap in 40min I was a little worried but then figured that maybe other year's weather was worse.

I was able to just keep a groove and ride consistent 39-40min laps by riding my pace, not getting distracted by the competition or passing other riders. But the key was to not push hard on the pedals for the hills or little obstacles, if I had a power meter, I never went over threshold. I rode right at tempo and used the granny on the climbs, and walked one short little power hill near the finish as a good opportunity to stretch the legs. I fueled with Perpetum every other lap, and used CeraSport the in between laps for the electrolytes. Add a PowerBar gel every lap and I was all set. I was impressed that 6 large water bottles later and 5.5 hours on the bike, I didn't have to pee that whole time, which was my biggest worry that it would take too much time to run to the porta potty.

After 8 laps my time was up and I clocked in at 5:20ish. 1st place woman, and top 10 for the men. Not bad. I felt alright for the event, aside from my stomach starting to feel icky half way, and the hint of leg cramps from overuse if I pushed too hard.

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The next day, I learned that I am not super woman. Attempting a crit the next day was too much for my body. It rejected racing. From the gun I was in the hurt zone, despite a good 30min easy warmup and a few moderate efforts. The muscles cringed, my nose wrinkled, the grimace appeared as I tried to stay in the race at Tyson's. Every time up the hill a whoosh of riders would go by and I would think, "Oh just grab her wheel, wait, just grab this one, darn too fast, there has got to be some more behind me...." And then at the top the field would pause and I dig deep to jump back on further digging my hole and prolonging my suffering. And the next lap around, after 13 lucky minutes, I was heart-broken I had to leave the race and watch my teammates from the sidelines.

The sun, the exertion finally got to me and my stomach turned sour. The site of an energy bar or gel or smell of an energy drink made my stomach turn.

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A day later the DOMS sets in and I am sore. Not as sore as riding or running or going to the gym in the first week of training after a long break, but enough to remind me that I need to recover still. Now that I had two days to reminisce and reflect, I think the optimism of Saturday and the possibility I may like enduro type events is now on hold for 2 or 3 more years. I think I prefer a 40min heart pounding on the verge of vomitting cyclocross race over a 5 hour long gruelling slow session any day.

Racing Like New Year's.....

The first race of the year...feels almost like a New Year's celebration to start a year...dehydration hangover included, but sans champagne.

Judd and I had a great weekend overall with riding and racing. Saturday was the first ride of the year at Schaeffer farms. Bill Short and Jim Bronson joined us. The trail was muddy at the 10:30am start because the top layer of ground was still freeze-thawing I guess. By 2:00, after we finished the jaunt out and back on the Hoyles Mill trail to Black Hills, the riders and their bikes exiting the Schaeffer trail were not muddy at all. We concluded the day at Java Shack for coffee bevs and followed up with a BBQ with the Gripped crew. Ah the life of no kids and not working on weekends.

Sunday we did the Rockburn mtn bike race. First time they put on the event and hopefully not the last. The entry fee was affordable at $20 and showed with the turnout numbers and level of competition. I am so not into paying more than $30 or $35 for a race, especially when you race nearly every weekend.

The course was very fast and all pedaling. No recovery. I had trouble with the 1st of the 2 log lops on the 5 or 6 mile loop, the only technical part.

I showed up at the start line feeling very relaxed because my expectations were not too high for myself considering how late I started my training (which was the death march in WV two weeks ago). I had come to accept that I may very well be the last person on the course, again like years ago. Yeah it sounds negative, but by accepting the worst situation, the race could only be better or meet expectations. Hmm I'll have to work on that mental edge. I did my warmup and fueled and rested. Nothing else I could do so I would throw it all out there and see what shakes out.

At the start line we had decent size field of 10 women expert mtn bikers. I knew Anna and Libbey, Kristin, and Nikki, but not the rest. Was happy to see new faces after all these years. The ref says "go" and holy crap, the field took off. I was just going to ease into the race, but noticed I was dropped in the first second. I quickly went into attack mode and locked out the lefty, shifted to the big ring and took off as if sprinting for the wholeshot. I was able to catch up to the human zoom girls and Libbey as we rode down the hill and into the woods. I tried my hardest to catch onto the train of Kristin, Nikki, and Libbey but just never really tacked on until the pace slowed a fraction. Knowing how the tactics were going to play out with the Zoom girls, I chuckled to myself and then sat in for a little bit on Nikki's wheel once she settled while Libbey attacked and bridged to Kristin and eventually just left us. I kept Nikki in my sight but started losing time on the last bit of the 2nd lap. And then I could not see her or Kristin anymore.

The biggest battle, as with any race, was with my head. The race started so fast. Fast like a cx race and then didn't slow down. I kept thinking, I was only going to last one lap of four. Then I kept thinking that everyone else would get tired too. Maybe I would quit after 2 laps if I really needed to, like if a mechanical or something happened. I hate to admit these thoughts but they are there. I kept thinking back to other first races of the year wondering if they all hurt like this. I did recall the mtn bike race at Camp Hilbert a few years ago where it was similar terrain but 70 degrees in early March. I felt the same way this time as I did then, and with every other race, tired, dead, breathing hard, and unsure if I wanted to ever race again and debating whether or not to quit, but I didn't then so I won't now. Just suffer through because sometimes (not always) it is more valiant to finish than to quit; plus you never know what may happen. After having a horrible third lap where I regretted not bringing another PowerBar Gel and not grabbing the second bottle from Judd's homemade water bottle holder, I felt the verge of leg cramps. The only other time I had muscle cramps on the bike was the hell day in WV two weeks ago where I seriously thought I may be eaten alive by buzzards. But this time no Jen Cheng to ride for help. I was alone in the woods in the suburbs. I kept telling myself, the faster I finish the sooner I can rest. That kept me motivated enough to continue to ride at 9 or so on a 10 pt scale, 10 is the hardest or at least hurts the most, 11 is that rare race when everything is perfect and seemingly 'effortless'. I rode the best I could at Rockburn. On the last lap I saw Libbey on the side of the trail. I had rode into third place, my little reward for persevering although I still ended up being the last rider on the course.

(because the other's got to stop on the same lap as the winner of the men's open expert as the men had a 10 min headstart and finished right after I had started my last lap which is a something I always wished other mtn bike races would do).

Gripped Racing and associates and friends stopped by for sausages and snacks post race at the chill and grill at the green Element near the porta potty. The team had great results and great start to the season.

And I think we may have inspired another racer to get himself a Lefty.


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This weekend, look for the Team CycleLife gals in black and green and yellow at the Jeff Cup road race in Charlottesville VA sporting our lovely new kits from VERGE sport. We love you Don.

Why blog?

Social networking for the introverts....

Yes I have been wanting to update the blog but found the instantaneous of facebook and the reading up on old and new friends to be a diversion from blogging. I was going to twitter but never figured it out. I wish there was something in between facebook and blogging. I have the urge to update my status a few times a day, but think that would be obnoxious since only a select few friends do so regularly, and you know what we all think of "those" people. Just kidding.

So then I debated whether or not to update the blog. I don't have anything interesting to report. I haven't been racing, or really even riding for that matter, so my bike friends and competitors have no reason to view the blog.

I did change the colors of the blog in lieu of a new post.

I suppose I could randomly babble about not updating the blog, but that would not be interesting reading. Why do we blog? We do read this stuff? How does it consume so much of our precious time.

So instead of hanging out with friends, I can feel social by typing away and hoping that maybe a few friends will stop by and read the latest post. It's not much different than what I'd have to say if I were hanging out with my friends anyway.....

I could always talk about my big plans/goals for the week:
- Finish an art project involving an idea, cool postcards, odd creativity, and lack of design skills.
- Get my hair done - but not sure yet in what way.
- Ride my bike 5 days this week (even if only 20min as a minimum).
- Start some seedlings to see if any survive for a future spring planting.
- Update the blog (yay did that).
- Post a bike or two or some parts or something to sell on ebay.
- Movie night on Thurs at the Draft House.
- Buy some faux plants for the house because the real ones just don't look so good brown.
- Check out a farm cooperative share since I didn't do well with fruits and veggies last year in the "garden".
- Weed the closet wardrobe.
- Find a new book to read.
- Work (yes make sure this is on the list).


Hmmm so I can either write about all these random unedited thoughts. Or post an update on facebook when I am in the middle of, procrastinating at, or just completed one of the items on my list of things to do.

Merry Christmas

I heard this ruckus, sounded like a bad country western film with awful music, and then realized it was some carollers dressed in old fashioned clothes singing and playing tinny instruments. Tis the season for lots of merriment, drinking, and animals in santa suits.