Last Sunday I completed my 2nd race of the 2010 season at Soaring Eagle park. My legs were tired as I was wrapping up 3 intense weeks of traning and getting ready for a recovery week - but the course was phenomenal...
Quick Summary:
# laps: 4
Total distance: 25km
Time: 1:43
Terrain: lots of twists and turns, very flowy
# women in Open/Expert: 15 (awesome!)
Place: 3rd
The Details:
The weather wasn't so co-operative but the trails were fantastic. We lined up for the start in a steady drizzle and quick count down ' 3 ... 2 ...1 ... go!' My legs were rebelling and not ready for a fast start so I was 7th heading into the woods. There was only one part of the course that was double track so passing was interesting. The good news is that you could generally find a way around people if you had your eyes open ... and since the Norco descends so well I did all my passing on the downhill sections. It was super fun.
After a few downhills where I could pass through the trees and I was sitting in 4th. I followed 3rd around and passed her on the 2nd lap on the one section of double-track, - this was the woman that beat me last race. I dropped her on the descents and never saw her again. I kept on seeing the 2nd place girl in front of me but she saw me too. I played cat and mouse with the 2nd place woman for 2 laps but she out-raced me and claimed 2nd place. A great course, a great effort ... and I didn't get lapped by the pro men this time .... it was a good day :)
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Now that's what I'm talkin' about!
Saturday morning, 20 degrees Celcious, start the day with a mtb ride up to Poo Poo point on Tiger ... beautiful views of the city all the way up, warm feeling of 'the burn' in the legs while climbing... feeling super fast on the climb (i was testing out the Norco Hardtail) ... and fun, fast descents. Life couldn't get much better! Well ... maybe if I started every day like that! :) Not bad ...
Today is the first day of my recovery week in this training cycle ... only one ride today (and a short 90min one at that). Spent the rest of the day running errands (you know, pesky things like getting groceries, cleaning, and other chores), planting potatoes, playing in the garden, and generally enjoying the sun.
Tomorrow is supposed to be raining ... fittting as I'll be racing again! My legs were rebelling today so tomorrow should be interesting ... all part of project 'race into shape' :)
Today is the first day of my recovery week in this training cycle ... only one ride today (and a short 90min one at that). Spent the rest of the day running errands (you know, pesky things like getting groceries, cleaning, and other chores), planting potatoes, playing in the garden, and generally enjoying the sun.
Tomorrow is supposed to be raining ... fittting as I'll be racing again! My legs were rebelling today so tomorrow should be interesting ... all part of project 'race into shape' :)
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Seattle Bike Expo - hanging with the SVC and Norco crew
This past weekend the Seattle Bike Expo came to town ... which meant a weekend of hanging with the SVC and Norco crews, checking out the new bike lineup for 2010, seeing old friends, talking shop, and generally getting physched for the 2010 season!
It was a great weekend - the new Shimano Di2 electronic shifting system was a big hit ... along with the NorcoTeam Carbon and the Ryan Leech show. A few favorites were there and I finally got to meet the other 'endurance' rider sponsored by SVC - Chris Ragsdale.
All in all, it was a great weekend.
Next up: Another BuDu Race!
It was a great weekend - the new Shimano Di2 electronic shifting system was a big hit ... along with the NorcoTeam Carbon and the Ryan Leech show. A few favorites were there and I finally got to meet the other 'endurance' rider sponsored by SVC - Chris Ragsdale.
All in all, it was a great weekend.
Next up: Another BuDu Race!
Monday, March 15, 2010
Leadville 100 - I'm in!!!
So yeah ... I just got word: I am IN for the Leadville 100!! Whoohoo ... bring on 100 miles of pain and oxygen debt :)
I'm super excited - for those of you who have not heard of this race, check out the Race Across the Sky movie. What is this racek you ask? Here is a quick summary:
I'm super excited - for those of you who have not heard of this race, check out the Race Across the Sky movie. What is this racek you ask? Here is a quick summary:
- Distance: 100 miles
- Climbing: 18,000 feet
- Altitude: 9,000 to 13,000 feet (hence the oxygen debt)
- Date: August 14th
- Record setters: Lance Armstrong (6hr 28 min), Rebecca Rusch (8hrs 15 min)
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Race Report - Black Diamond
There are many lessons I have learned in my 7 years of racing (wow, I've been racing 7 years!) .. one such lesson is that you need to race to get good at racing. And this means both years of racing + the racing miles you get under your belt in one season.
As my first A race is Spokane (late May), I needed to find some early season races to get the legs and mind ready ... and being Seattle, well, that was easy! Today was my first venture into the 2010 project of 'race into shape'.
The stats:
Finishing place: 2nd
# women in my category: 10
Duration: 70 minutes (yes, only 70 minutes!)
Location: Black Diamond
Technical rating: 8 -->Rocky (baby head rocks) and rooty twisty single track.
Terrain: mostly flat with a few steep ups and downs
Incidents: 2- my fork had too much air so my hands & arms were numb from the beating of the course; and i had a chain problem :)
Getting to the start line
Getting to the start line is sometimes the hardest part of the race. This wasn't the case for me today but it certainly was for my friend Yvonne. We car pooled together only for her to remember that she forgot her pedals once we got there!!! Well, pedals are pretty important aren't they :) She luckly found a friendly biker to lend her his pedals and was good to go. I met her at the start line and she had forgotten her water in the car... one of those days. She's also left her gloves at the registration table ... ugh! Being the trooper she is she just shrugged and said 'well, what is the first race of the season for anyway?'.
The race
The start was fast and furious, as usual, with one girl going all out at the word 'go'. the rest of us were half asleep (aparently) and filed into line behind her. I was positoned in 3rd - not a bad position ... or so I thought. That though quickly changed once we got into the single track and I realized that the girl in front of me was way past her limit and falling all over the trail. Because the trail was so narrow there wern't many oppertunities to pass so I took her on the first hill. Now I was sitting pretty in 2nd.
I found the 1st place girl and followed her around for a while, taking the lead after she managed an endo in one of the more technical bits. As I mentioned above, I had wayyy to much air in my shock (what are 1st races for if not for remembering all the stuff you forget to check?) and my arms and hands were sore after 2 laps. We had 5 laps in total and I was enjoying the ride. The girl I had passed for 1st took me by surprise and passed me on an open section and I was back in 2nd chasing. At first I thought 'settle into your own pace Monilee' but I quickly realized that 'my pace' was a 24hr solo pace and nowhere near fast enough for a 1 hour race :) I shook myself out of it and pushed harder, catching the 1st place girl. I stayed on her tail through the end of lap 3 and through lap4 I was itching to pass. But I knew I had one more lap so I wanted to time it right. I drafted her up to the lap area only to find that were were being pulled - the lead men had lapped us on lap4 so the race was over! Major bummer! Ah well - just goes to show you should never go slower than you can :)
All in all it was a really fun race, was great to be out playing in the dirt, and was a well attended event! Yvonne had a great race despite the setbacks and finished a solid 4th!
All told: Project 'race into shape' is not only going well, it is very very fun. I'm stoked to be racing again!
As my first A race is Spokane (late May), I needed to find some early season races to get the legs and mind ready ... and being Seattle, well, that was easy! Today was my first venture into the 2010 project of 'race into shape'.
The stats:
Finishing place: 2nd
# women in my category: 10
Duration: 70 minutes (yes, only 70 minutes!)
Location: Black Diamond
Technical rating: 8 -->Rocky (baby head rocks) and rooty twisty single track.
Terrain: mostly flat with a few steep ups and downs
Incidents: 2- my fork had too much air so my hands & arms were numb from the beating of the course; and i had a chain problem :)
Getting to the start line
Getting to the start line is sometimes the hardest part of the race. This wasn't the case for me today but it certainly was for my friend Yvonne. We car pooled together only for her to remember that she forgot her pedals once we got there!!! Well, pedals are pretty important aren't they :) She luckly found a friendly biker to lend her his pedals and was good to go. I met her at the start line and she had forgotten her water in the car... one of those days. She's also left her gloves at the registration table ... ugh! Being the trooper she is she just shrugged and said 'well, what is the first race of the season for anyway?'.
The race
The start was fast and furious, as usual, with one girl going all out at the word 'go'. the rest of us were half asleep (aparently) and filed into line behind her. I was positoned in 3rd - not a bad position ... or so I thought. That though quickly changed once we got into the single track and I realized that the girl in front of me was way past her limit and falling all over the trail. Because the trail was so narrow there wern't many oppertunities to pass so I took her on the first hill. Now I was sitting pretty in 2nd.
I found the 1st place girl and followed her around for a while, taking the lead after she managed an endo in one of the more technical bits. As I mentioned above, I had wayyy to much air in my shock (what are 1st races for if not for remembering all the stuff you forget to check?) and my arms and hands were sore after 2 laps. We had 5 laps in total and I was enjoying the ride. The girl I had passed for 1st took me by surprise and passed me on an open section and I was back in 2nd chasing. At first I thought 'settle into your own pace Monilee' but I quickly realized that 'my pace' was a 24hr solo pace and nowhere near fast enough for a 1 hour race :) I shook myself out of it and pushed harder, catching the 1st place girl. I stayed on her tail through the end of lap 3 and through lap4 I was itching to pass. But I knew I had one more lap so I wanted to time it right. I drafted her up to the lap area only to find that were were being pulled - the lead men had lapped us on lap4 so the race was over! Major bummer! Ah well - just goes to show you should never go slower than you can :)
All in all it was a really fun race, was great to be out playing in the dirt, and was a well attended event! Yvonne had a great race despite the setbacks and finished a solid 4th!
All told: Project 'race into shape' is not only going well, it is very very fun. I'm stoked to be racing again!
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