Trans Portugal

I am stoked. Fraser signed up for the Trans Portugal race - an 8 day race in Portugal (http://www.supertravessia.com/). It will be amazing, I am sure. It promises loads of climbing, great sceanery, and nice riding. To cap it off we have friends in Portugal which make the trip that much better.

The pic on the left is Fraser training ...

OK, I am kidding. That is him playing around. It is from a weekend we spent on Long Beach.

Aruba Wedding

In October we went to Alan & Gita's wedding in Aruba. The wedding was amazing and meeting their family and friends was loads of fun.

We even got out on a bike excursion there ... if you can call it that. We rented some crazy bikes for a few hours one day ... there were 6 of us: Alan, Gita, Fraser, Dan, Katrine and myself. We had fun 'touring' around the island on the 'mountain bikes' and we all managed to stay away from major sunburns.

In the picture you can see Fraser running to try to beat the camera timer. I guess it goes off pretty fast! We thought he had made the photo.

Moving on

As many of you know, we were not estatic with our neighbourhood in Vancouver, WA. We were very happy that our landlord let us out of our lease early ... and we found a place in a neat neighbourhood in the Alphabet district of downtown Portland. We love it. We recently completed our move and already feel more at home after just a few weeks. Here is a bit about our new home ...

We live in the downtown area ... loads of neat restaurants, coffee shops, book shops, and neat little local food shops in the area. We are about 1.5 miles from Forest Park - which offers loads of riding. Very little single-track, but loads of protected road-ways for the road bikes and lots of fun double-track for the mountain bikes. Lots of 'short (6 - 10 min) climbs for those hill days and some nice rolly options for those endurance zone days. I can ride right out of the door. Bliss.

We have a plum tree and huge pine tree in our backyard ... along with grape and tomatoe vines. It is a great backyard. The front yard concists of another large tree and rose bushes. The house itself is a bit older with loads of character. We even got lucky and got a basement ... so we have our basement training room set up for those days that we don't have time to get in a longer ride or it is just too cold and wet outside.

We are still unpacking boxes but it's looking alot like home ... come visit!!!

Proud Aunt and Uncle

We are the proud aunt and uncle of Kyros Levi Lloy .. isn't he cute? He was born while we were visiting in July. What a super star!

Here he is, jamming with his dad (my brother!!!)

24 hr Solo Worlds Race Report

Worlds Race Report: ~200 miles, 24,000 feet of climbing, 23 hours and 50 minutes on the bike, 4th in the Women's Elite Field

If I had to sum up Worlds in one word it would be 'intense'. It was hot, sandy, and competitive to the end. What a race!

The week leading up to Worlds didn't quite go as planned. Our truck broke down in a small town in Northern California call Dunsmuir. We had to have special Ford parts shipped in from Sacramento and were lucky to find a local mechanic who was willing to squeeze us in and knew what he was doing. We were stranded for about 48 hours which forced us to drive late into the night on Thursday in order to arrive with some time to spare on Friday. It was such bad luck that it was comical!

Friday was spent driving, registering and eating … by the time those tasks were accomplished, it was late and there was no time to pre-ride the course. Not quite as planned … but I did have 24 hours to sort it out.

Race Day …

Saturday was hot. I stayed in the air-conditioned trailer until the last possible minute … and then in the truck until the last possible minute. Fraser took my bike over for inspection and did all of the last minute things so I could enjoy the AC. It was over 105 Farenheit and the skys were clear. The call up got the adrenalin going and before I knew it we were off running. Well, I was jogging … some of the competitors were sprinting. At least it seemed like they were sprinting to me! I grabbed my bike, started pedaling and off I was!

The first lap revealed a course that was 90% exposed to the elements. It was like riding in a desert - a sandy course with no reprieve from the sun (or wind, which came later). My Garmin consistently measured 2000 feet of climbing per lap; with the steepest pitch coming in at 32%. It was a tough course!! My favorite part was a small section of single-track that had a slight down-hill grade .. it was fun, full of corners, and had some trees for shade. I looked forward to that section every single lap! It wasn't a technical course by any means - disadvantage for me … but it was a climbing course – advantage for me!

The first two laps were so hot that I struggled the entire time to keep my heart rate down. I was barely pedaling and it was in the 180s! I felt like I was going backwards, I was going so slow! But I knew I had to pace … if my HR got too high I wouldn't be able to eat and that would be the end of my race. So I had to be patient while others flew by me.

Each lap in the pit I would get iced down … from head to toe. Cold water over the head, ice towel on the neck, and cool towels to wipe down my legs. It felt sooo good. On the second lap I started to see people on the side of the trail. They had started out hammering and were baked. People were cracking already. It was insanity.

The temperature seemed to drop and the winds started to pick up at the end of my second lap. The wind was pretty strong and the course was exposed so everyone was getting tossed around. Lucky for me, the road riding here has been really windy lately so the gusty side-winds didn't throw me off at all and they were helping to cool my core temperature. Bring on the wind!! I felt really strong on the 3 rd and 4th laps and my HR had settled nicely … I was able to pick up the pace and it felt good! I started catching some of the girls who'd flew by me at the beginning and that felt good too.

The 5th lap was my first night lap and I had a really hard time seeing. I am used to biking in the woods or somewhere where there is a definable edge to the trail … but when you are in the sand; there is no 'edge'. My lap was a bit slow as I was adjusting to biking at night on the sand. Fraser said my pupils were really dialated. I can only imagine. The next night lap I started to adjust and was speeding up again; feeling confident with my night vision. And then my battery died! I had mistakenly put the 3 hour battery in the 5 hour battery box and vice-versa. It was hard to see but I kept on moving forward and would follow anyone I could for as long as I could! My lap was a little long but not too bad and I was happy with the result.

My next lap was the worst lap. I got a thorn in my tire, but being tired it took me a while to figure it out – 4 tube replacements to be exact. Eventually I just started walking/running/riding my bike to the finish. Those 4.5 miles seemed to take forever and the incident added an extra hour to my lap, almost doubling my lap time. Fraser swapped my wheel and I was good to go. I was soo hungry from being out longer than expected (and a little depressed by the long lap time) that I took a longer pit. Fraser informed me that I had been in contention for 3 rd .. but that now she had just gained an hour on me. I had been 12 minutes behind and gaining. After a wheel swap, a little pep talk, and some food I hopped back on my bike and did my last night lap. My battery died again but by this time the sun was starting to peek up so I could see the trail. A nice samaritain eventually escorted me to the finish so it wasn't too bad!

The sun came up and with it my energy. I decided it was time to put down the hammer … go hard or go home. I just might have time for 3 more laps. And if I did; it was likely that I would beat 3 rd. She was fading fast. I hammered out of the pit and put in a fast lap, flew through my pit and did another lap. I gave it everything I had but it wasn't enough. I didn't finish in time to complete another lap before the cut off.

In the end I am happy with my result … and want to go back next year and do it all again. If I had had a perfect race, I believe I could have contended for 2 nd --> next year!

My bike behaved perfectly and I didn't need to take my spare bike out for even one lap. The Faze once again treated me to nice ride!


About the Pits:
Everyone who goes to Worlds is very serious. They all had 3 person pit crew, minimum; many of them had a 4 – 5 person crew. Fraser was amazing once again and did the job of an army. He was as busy at the pit as I was on the course. Between prepping my food, charging my lights, running to town to get ice, etc, and dealing with the 3 rd place pit crew of 3 who were spying on his every move and asking 101 questions; he didn't have a minute to himself. This is the first time we've really been exposed to race tactics so he was a bit unprepared but he did a great job.

I'm not sure where Worlds will be next year but there are rumors that it will be at Canmore … anyone want to come? We could use a larger pit crew! :-)

Interesting Stats:
~200 miles
24,000 feet of climbing
1 entire bottle of Endurolytes


Thanks again to my wounderfull pit crew and coach - Fraser and to my sponsors ... Norco and Kisslers ... for helping me in my quest!!

That is all for this season …. It's time for some recovery, some fun rides, and to catch up on work!

Larch Mountain - training ground extraordinaire

I thought it might be time to post something about Larch ...

Larch is where I spend a considerable amount of my mountain biking training time. That is to say, when i am on my mountain bike, chances are that I am at Larch!! Larch is absolutely amazing. Over 100 miles of single-track which criss-crosses 1000's of miles of forest roads makes for any kind of riding you want... as long as you don't mind climbing.

At larch you are either going up or down; and if you are on the single-track (which is where I spend most of my time); it is a technical up or down. There are rocks, roots and small drops/up and overs -- which make it fun. Picture Fortune on steroids with the climb option being single-track and the climb taking 4 hours to the very top; followed by the craziest funnest downhill ever .... then repeat that one more time and you've done a loop at Larch mountain.

I've found a small one hour 'loop' (not really a loop as most of it is out and back) at Larch that I've been using to train for the 24 hour events ... to practice pit stops, eating, and ridng! This loop is 6.5 miles long, has 1200 ft of climbing and takes about an hour; depending on trail conditions. It is 6.5 miles of 100% single-track where you have to think about eating, drinking, and staying relaxed. It's loads of fun to ride and I am hopeing it will prepare me well for Worlds.

The Faze is the perfect bike at Larch ... I wouldn't want to do a long ride there on a hard-tail!!!

Prepping for 24 hours of Willamette Pass

24 hours of Willamette Pass is coming up this weekend! Fraser has been wanting to do a race this summer and this will be his race! I am excited to be his support and pit crew ... it should be a fun weekend.

We spent the past 2 weekends finding and then riding the course ... and it's a good thing we did. The laps are 15 miles and will take around 1:50 to 1:55 including pits. They are a bit longer than expected! The course consists of loads of single-track - most of it with passing options ... and is basically one big climb followed by one big descent. It takes just over an hour to get to the top of the mountain, 25 minutes to get down, about 10 - 15 minutes on the road, followed by another 10 minutes of single-track! It is a challenging course with about 1600 ft of climbing and I would guess about 70% single-track.

Eating just before the big descent, using water to keep cool, and bringing enough to eat and drink will be crucial in this race! I did an 8 hour race sim on the course yesterday .. it is definately a course for the full suspension! The downhill is fun but long and will get tireing on the arms after a while. It is a good course for Fraser as he is a very skilled (fast!) single-track/technical rider.

24 hours of Canmore

The Canmore course was a fun technical course with ~1100 ft of climbing per 10 km lap. The weather was perfect, having cooled down from the high 30s (90 Farenheit) to a nice temperature. The only environmental concern was the wind and the potential for rain...

The start was my usual slow start ... a slow trot (beside a Solo dressed as Santa Clause) for the run and then mellow pace to the single-track where the bottlenecks had started. There was a wide downhill dirt road section just before a sharp left turn (Mike Z, you likely remember this) ... I was too close to the guy in front and fell suddenly ... and down I went. I did a major super-woman, landing on my left side and loosing most of the skin on my forearm, tearing my jersey, knocking the wind out of myself and tearing my shorts -- and removing more skin off my leg. I was hurt but more than that, I was upset. This was hour #1 of a 24 hour race. I had just done the stupidest thing .. I'd fallen, and fallen hard; at the beginning of a 24 hour race. I was soo frustrated.

Note: for those of you who have seen my famous crashes ... this was, by far, the fastest and messiest (ie most gore) crash I've ever had. My whole left forearm was raw and my left hip too. My ribs were sore and my jersey was torn in the front (I guess I didn't 'bounce' this time -- ha ha).

Everyone around me was so nice. They were offering mechanical services, first aide and one guy even rode with me for a while to make sure I was ok. My bike was totally fine ... it was just me. I love the sport of mountain biking ... the people are just so great. The rest of that lap was a bit shaky as I was timid on the descents and was still trying to 'shake it off'.

I came into my pit, got cleaned up, and went out again. We put some polysporin on the cuts, I took some pain killers for the pain and I kept on riding. I was determined not to let the fall impact my race. The second lap was better and by the third lap I was starting to settle in. I met loads of nice people on the trails .... Every root, rock, bump hurt so much. I could feel the swelling in my hip and arm ... I had to compensate with my right -- using it more as a shock absorber than I should. Other than the rocks, roots, and bumps, the riding was fine. ...

The thing I didn't count on, and the thing that killed me in the end was that your body swells so much from a fall like that. I needed to be drinking extra fluids to account for that and I wasn't. Around 9pm my stomach started to hurt. No big deal. I ate some oatmeal, downed some water and headed back out. That lap I couldn't eat very much. I ate about 3 chips. I came back in and ate some more oatmeal ... the next lap was my last. I had to stop several times for ... stomach issues. I sat in the pit for 15 minutes, trying to drink water and recover. It wasn't working. We got a hotel room thinking that I could sleep it off ... sleep for an hour and I'd be fine. It was a great thought but it didn't work out that way. I wasn't recovering.

In the end, I learned a few more things that I'll keep in my tool kit for the next race. #1 on the list is 'dont fall' :-). It was pretty frustrating for me as I was gaining on the lead girls little by little just before my last lap (which was pretty long) and my lap times were consistent. My legs and head felt fine .... It is very hard to keep in touch with yourself to the extent that you know exactly what's going on.

I met some great people on the course - loads of Solo's at this race! And, of course, now I have unfinished business on the course. I've already signed up for the Solo there next year!!!
My arm is healing but I still can't put any pressure on it ... my hip is almost healed and my leg is completedly healed. My stomach felt normal about 4 days after the eposode and my ribs are still a bit bruised but are also healing.

I'm already back on the trails which is great news .... and can't wait until the next race where I will get to ride the whole 24 hours. 12 hours seemed sooo short!!

New Toy -- I got a powertap!

Well, I finally did it. After much extensive research and waffling I finally bought a power-tap! This thing is amazing and I don't know why I didn't get it before (ok, I know why -- they are expensive!). Rob at Kisslers built me a new wheel using the Powertap hub and it rocks! My first ride with the Powertap system was a hill interval workout - how fitting! Having the power right in front of you makes you push harder and realize where your weaknesses are.

Fraser took it out for a spin a few nights later and also did hill intervals ... he said I wasn't allowed to lend it to him anymore - he'd gone too hard (max watts of 1458!!!!). It is an awesome tool!

The software the comes with it is pretty cool too as you can see everything; including your average power for various time intervals (5 sec, 10 sec, 30 sec, 1 min, 5 min, 20 min, etc ...). It's a great way to gauge fitness. It also measures cadence -- I did not get the special cadence tool that comes with it but it tries to gauge cadence anyway and is almost bang on (I haven't removed my cateye computer yet). Amazing.

The Coast for a weekend

Fraser and I made a trip to the Coast on Saturday. It was beautiful ... I was sooo excited to see, touch, hear, and smell the ocean. mmmmmmmmmm

We went to Long Beach .. the beach is about 500 m wide and 30 km long .. and you can DRIVE on it! We arrived late Saturday afternoon and after exploring the town on foot we decided to take a drive ... on the beach! I've never driven on a beach before so bear with me. It was pretty cool!

Sunday we ventured out on cruiser bikes for a ride on the beach. The cruiser bikes were an adventure of their own ... one gear fixies with super wide handle-bars that made it impossible to turn! We had a great time playing in the sand and then ventured home.

Test of Endurance - 3rd, 50 miles of mud and hills

As you can see from the photo to the left (me at the finish), it was a muddy day ...

So I decided to do the 50 miler this past weekend as part of my training ... it was my long 'interval' workout for the week.

The race was in Corvallis, which, i have decided (with my admitedly limited exposure to the area) is ALWAYS muddy. The course extended the Mudslinger course and was 2 laps of 25 miles each. I woke up at 5am, made some quick breakfast and made a break for the door ... it always seems to take so long to get anywhere in the mornings -- I was in the car and on the road by 6am.

On the drive down to Corvallis it rained off and on - the drive accurately predicted the weather for the remainder of the day. It was over-cast and rainy ... and overnight they had gotten a downpour which had turned the once-dry course into a mud slog. I was excited to be at a race - ok, I'll admit it, i wasn't too inspired to ride in the rain alone on Sunday so was glad to have company -- and was happily chatting away with the few people i knew at the start. The start was a neutral lead out so I casually drafted off of some bigger guys, not worrying about my speed. I thought that we were gong to arrive at the start area (like at the mudslinger), and then start in earnest. Not so. When we arrived at the 'start' area they said ok guys, go race. Have fun. The race had really started at the school!!!

Not much I could do at that point so I turned it up a notch and settled in at my own pace. Eventually the race became a combination of pace, climb, pace, eat, climb, pace, run, climb, repeat. Now is a good time to mention that there was 7600 feet of climbing in the 50 mile course. Up, up, up. The climbing was mostly just a constant hill, which was good for me but hard on the back after a while ... the hills got as steep as 25% and were on average about 15% grade. most of the climbing was on double-track and was ridable. There were some climbs that were 'walks' because they were so steep and slippery. I always find myself woundering when i get to those if ANYONE was able to ride up ...

Not sure when it happened but somewhere in the 1st lap I realized that my back breaks were really soft ... I'd close them the whole way but the back wasn't grabbing. Uh ohhh .. this could make for some interesting downhills! The single-track was a rollercoaster of mud ... there were some sections that I would nail exactly and pass several fallen riders on the course and other sections whereI would fall 5 times in a row; joining the fallen riders on the side of the trail. I was covered from head to toe in mud (see attached photos)! There was one sketchy downhill that I had fallen on and opted to run ... and on the steepest section I did the splits ... ow! I am still sore - how do you train for that???

It took me a while to warm up but by 1/2 way around the first lap I was feeling good and starting to pick up the pace a bit. I caught a girl and her husband who were working together but they pulled a roadie trick on me and dropped me. I decided they weren't worth the chase and that we had loads of miles left to go ... little did I know she would beat me by a mere 5 minutes!

At the half-way point I stopped to re-stock all of my supplies and was on my way. My 2nd lap was so much better than the first lap (30 minutes faster) as i was feeling fully warmed up and was climbing much better.

I enjoyed hammering in my big ring for the ast 5 miles ... it was fun and very different to have so much left at the end of a 50 mile race!!! It took a while to get all of the mud off and i swear I am still finding mud ... but it was a fun race. next up is another 24 hour event!

My first 24 hour Race ... Round and Round

Here it is ...

203 miles, ~10,500 feet of climbing, and about 19 hours on the bike. This put me first in the women, 9th in the men, and 74th overall.

What a race! I think I like this 24 hour thing ...

There were 116 teams at this race ... and alot of them were solo. There were 7 solo women and about 26 solo men plus the crazy single-speeders. The race started with a run and I was determined to do a slow jog. I was sure I crossed the line last and Faser later confirmed that I was in the bottom quarter of the field to finish the run. The words on my mind the whole first lap were 'pace'. My coach (Fraser), who has done several 24 hour solos along with Trans Alps, Trans Rockies and several other multi-day staged races, had been coaching me on this approach for months now. Pace. Pace. Even with this word in my head, I got carried away. Fraser saw me exit the fist section of single-track and yelled at me to slow down. He could tell by looking at me that I was going too hard. I looked down at my heart rate -- he was right. I was in my zone2. I backed it off and started to think about where I would eat and drink on this course.

Due to work we didn't get away as early as we wanted so we didn't have time to pre-ride the course. My mission for the first lap was to find eating and drinking spots. My mission for the second lap was to set some time goals at certain places in the lap. After that it was just keep on riding. The other thing that Fraser had suggested is that he would not tell me where I was in the race until after 16 or 18 hours of racing - and only then if I wanted to know. He knew from past experience how much things can change over night, how badly you can blow up if you try to go someone else's pace for 24 hours, and how mentally tiring it is to always be 'racing' the whole 24 hours. This proved to be invaluable ... in the first lap I knew I wasn't first but I didn't care ... after a while I forgot about the other girls and just focused on me. How did I feel? What did I want to eat? It was the perfect strategy.

We knew going into the race that my stomach would be the main factor. I got a stich around 5pm and was very concerned ... it didn't want to go away. It was pushing on my stomach and making it uncomfortable to eat (not to mention that it hurt!). After a phazyme and painfull laps, the stitch finally decided that it had enough and left me and my stomach alone. Phew. This is a good time to mention my pit ... it was run like a forumula1 pit. I would come in and there would be food choices out and ready. Fraser would hand me what he thought I needed (coffee, excedrin, digestive enzymes), force me to eat food, and send me on my way. He even put my leg and arm-warmers on me while I tried to force down more food. Our pits were as efficient as I let them be!!

The dusk lap was a sketchy lap for me. I was feeling sleepy and this was alarming as I was only part way thru the race ... I almost lost it on three of the down-hills and it would have been a bad scene. Like a mind-reader, Fraser had the Coffee ready ... after that I never felt sleepy again!!!

My lap times were pretty consistent (12 minute span between my fastest and slowest laps) the whole race. My pits were another story and need to be worked on. I had a few longer pits of up to 8 minutes. Our goal was 2 minutes per pit on average and I was doing pretty good until the night ... I was having trouble eating and getting food down. It was taking a while to eat. I definately need to work on that and we alreay have a few ideas that I'll be testing out over the next month to prep for the next race in August.

The course was pretty nice ... not too much climbing and some fun fast secitons. The Faze was the perfect bike for the course and i got more than a few comments on it ... it was a pretty 'bumpy' course - alot of horses had riden over the course and you could tell. the stutter bumps on the downhills were getting worse but the Faze just soaked it all up and let my body focus on nice round circles. It was also really dusty -- the weather was pretty perfect but along with blue skies comes the dust. It was everywhere including my disk breaks. I had to take the EXC Hard Tail out for an early morning lap ... and man, was I glad to get the Faze back!!! I didn't realize how rough the course was until I was on the EXC! I even managed to break a spoke on my rear wheel in that one lap.

I brought so many extra kits and clothes but didn't change once. I thought I would want to ... but I just didn't feel like it. What was the point? I think if it was wet and cold, I would have wanted the extra kits and chothes ... I am glad I didn't!!

When I came in around 8:30 I had a seat and finally asked Fraser where I was. He told me I was on lap 13 and that if I quit now there was no way that the girls behind me would catch me. I was winning!!!! I was soo relevied that he wasn't telling me that I had to go faster that I wanted to cry. I had decided at some point in the middle of the night that I wanted to do at least 14 laps so I ate some oatmeal, had a very long pit while Fraser checked the results once more ... and then went out for one final lap. In retrospect I could have done 16 laps and would have liked to ... but at the time it seemed silly to keep on going when I didn't need to. I was tired, and everything was achy! Fraser tells me to keep my 'I should have kept on going' thought as fuel for my next race; and that is what I will do.

After my last lap, where a camera-man was following me around, I sat in the pit, ate some more oatmeal, got cleaned up, and just sat for a while, watching Fraser pack up the pit. Sitting was nice.

In conclusion, I was very happy with the race. There are some things to work on but I am hopefull that we can improve those things ... we will see at Willamette!! I was pretty happy most of the time out on the course and those times where I wasn't I'd tell myself 'but this is so much better than work!'. We made the drive home yesterday after a solid 13 hours of sleep ... and I even managed to get out on a short recovery spin late yesterday afternoon! I am on the road to recovery. There are alot of weird little things that hurt but over-all I am surprised at how good I feel. If things go well I am hopeing to do a 50 mile race in 2 weekends.


Until next time ... Monilee

Race #2 - Mudslinger!

The Mudslinger lived up to it's name with more than enough mud to cover each and every rider & bicycle from top to bottom. The course was a 'roady' course, with disappointingly small sections of single-track; it was mostly hard-packed fire-roads with some pavement thrown in.

The race started off as a climb ... a long gradual 5 mile climb of about 3000 ft. It was all on fire-roads; there were several riders on cross bikes. The start was fast; instead of trying to trick my legs i decided to be smart and pace myself for the climb that I knew was ahead. About half way up I started to catch some of the girls who blew by me at the start. My pacing was paying off. Once we got into the single-track I passed another girl ... and then it was back out on the road and climbing again. My fender was working well ...(thanks Rob!) and I was able to eat without eating too much dirt. As the climbing went on I started to drop some of the girls who were 'hanging on' and to catch another one ... I was starting to feel good and then out of no where some girl I don't remember passing went by me at mock2. I found out later that she had mistakenly cut the course, and most of the climbing!

Unknown to me, the final piece of single-track held some surprises. First I lost my front fender - it somehow came detached from my bike!!! Later on the same piece of trail I noticed that my front wheel seemed loose when bunny-hopping over a log. I looked down and sure enough ... the quick-release was undone - likely happened while surfing in the mud! Just as I noticed it, I went over a bump (that I didn't see since I was checking out my front wheel) and the wheel went flying. i am not sure how but I landed on my back wheel and managed to catch myself before going head over tea-kettle down the hill. I am still not sure how. I caught up to my front wheel, put it back on and raced down the single-track to the road; which eventually brought me to the finish-line.

Not knowing the girls in my category it is hard to tell where I finished (no results posted yet) ... but I was happy with my effort. I crossed the line smiling from ear to ear and knowing that I'd just had a great ride and a lot of fun in the mud. What more can you ask for?

My favorite part of the race were the fast down-hills and the single-track where we had to bike-surf on the mud!!

The OBRA series continues in the next few weekends but I need to spend my weekends putting miles in my legs in preparation for my 24 hour solo event. Fraser and I are heading to Bend for a mountain bike 'camp' (ie: vacation where we will get to play on our bikes all day, every day!!) next week ... and then it will be only 3 weeks until my big event! I am getting excited!!!

Thanks again to Norco and Kisslers Cyclery for all of the support ... Could not do it without you guys!

Commuting to/from work

I am not actually sure exactly how far my commute to work is. I've been meaning to install a bike computer on my bike ... one of those things. What I do know is that it takes me about 2 and a half hours, it involves several 8% and 13+% climbs, roads, paths, and crazy bridges. When I commute to work I can only go one way at a time (would love to spend 5 hours a day on my bike but when would I get my work done??). I drive to work, ride home; ride into work and then drive home!

Another tidbit: pannier holders weigh a lot ... and when they have panniers attached to them and they are full of stuff ... the bike is heavy! I think my commuter bikes weighs about 40 pounds more than my road bike. It's kind of weird having a bike that is 'back end heavy'. Good for training, bad for going fast up hills!

I've been lucky so far. I've been rained on, but it was more of a Northwest 'sprinkle' than rain (think rain in Ottawa). What I have learned is that rain is different here. What they call light rain, those of us from Ottawa call rain. What they call rain, we call a torrential downpour ... and when there is red on that little radar picture; well - stay inside.

I rode home on such a day the other day. Luckily I missed the hail fun and just caught the rain. I was soooo happy with my water proof pants and jacket. It poured. I had my glasses on but had to put my hand in front of my face to see ... it POURED. When the rain let up the streets were full of water, making the ride more of a swim than a ride! I was never so happy to get home!

My favorite part of the commute is the bike path along the river. It's beautiful. There are rowers out in the river every morning and evening ... and a lot of runners taking advantage of the warmer weather. There is a section of the bike path that 'floats' on the water - very cool! The other part of the ride that I like is a small field that I ride by on the Vancouver side of the I5 bridge .. it is full of bunny rabbits -- especially in the mornings! I also really appreciate all of the 'biker specific' lights (yes, we get our own lights!) and 'stand here' options to make the lights turn for us. Portland is so bike friendly!!! My least favorite parts are the crazy bridges ... the I5 and Sellwood.

In order to avoid traffic or get to work on time I get up at 5am each day. I get on my bike around 5:30am (with lights) and start my ride. It is a nice peacefull time to be on the roads! I am getting better at 'night riding'! Earlier in the year I also needed this light to get home ... but with the extra daylight I rarely need it anymore!

And that, my friends, is a summary of my commute to/from work! I hope you enjoy reading about it as much as I enjoy riding it!

The Race Season Begins ...

Well, the season race started early for me this year with the Horning's Hustle race here near Portland. I've never raced in March before and wasn't sure where my fitness was. It didn't take long to find out ...

The course had loads of short steep climbs and fun descents. It wasn't a technical course at all - no rocks or roots; just mud. The pre-ride had me anticipating a muddy race ... and I wasn't disappointed! Sunday morning I was hanging out at the race course, warming up and wondering how many women would be in my category. Finally warmed up in the chilly morning the racers headed to the start. After 20 minutes of instructions we were told that the beginners would start right away and that the rest of us would start 40 minutes later.

At the start line I ran into a few girls I knew; which is always fun! Karen Dewolfe (from Canada) consistently places top 3 in the Canada Cups and Sue Butler from the area is also a very strong racer. I met her a few years ago at the Trans Rockies event. After seeing them at the start line I knew it would be a fast, tough race. We were chatting amongst each other when the start gun went off --- the race started! For the first minute I managed to trick my legs and body into going into my zone 5 (which, with my switch to endurance training is non-existent). It was great. I was up with Sue and Karen leading the pack. And then the pain started. My legs were rebelling. They weren't used to this. They were struggling to recover. I had to back off. As the leaders slipped away I settled into my own pace ... the race was supposed to be 4.5 laps and I knew that in the current conditions it would take a while. It was a great day to be racing ... the weather was perfect, the people were friendly and I was having fun in the mud!

Sometime in the first lap I lost my baby ring -- i am sure pretty much everyone did. It was sooooo muddy. So I was off and on my bike; running and riding; running and riding. I am improving my cyclo-cross mounting skills! I have to say I enjoyed the downhills the most. I was flying down them ... most of the girls around me were walking ....and I was having fun surfing the mud. Riding in the snow and ice really trains you for that type of thing! It was the highlight of the race loop.

I have to say that my pace was more like an 8hour pace than a 2 hour race pace. I kept on trying to remind myself that it was a short race and would push it for a bit and then would slip back into my 'forever' pace. I need to work on the mental switch between the short and long races this season! I was very disappointed when they pulled me after 2.5 laps.... What? I had only been racing for an hour 45 min! I can't express how disappointed I was. I start slow and finish fast so had been planning to step it up a few notches each lap. I had been eating and drinking for the longer effort. Lesson learned... as I watched the leaders come in (they were able to finish their 3rd lap) I saw how exhausted they were. Karen was telling me afterwards that one more lap would have killed her. Something else to work on this season ... go so hard you are barely holding on.

All in all, the race delivered a nice, not-go-gentle kick in the butt! All of my endurance training had given me good legs, but not fast ones! I am going to continue to do all of the short races I can ... it is a good interval workout if nothing else; and hopefully my legs will remember how go fast as the season goes on. :-)

I was happy to find out that my legs were faster than I thought; I had placed 4th in the Pro category.

Welcome

Welcome to my Blog.

I am planning to use this Blog to capture the adventures of life ... come along for the ride!

-Monilee