New Bike!!

YAY, new bike!!!! i got a brand spanking new Norco Phaser 1 ... cannot wait to try it out at the Budu race in a few weeks ... and it's the perfect bike for the NW Epic Series!  Sweet!

How going home for Christmas makes me faster

I love going home (to NS) for Christmas. The house is full - 7 kids running in every direction, 9 orso adults, lots of food, and the feeling of 'home'.

So why does this make me faster? Well, imagine a few feet of snow, kids from the age of 2 to 16, loads of sleds to choose from and a great sledding hill ... and your daily workout quickly becomes sledding! Now, with kids it's not just the act of sliding down and walking up ... but of waling up while towing one or two kids behind you yelling 'faster! faster!'. Now you are getting the picture! It's a cardio and strength workout all in one ... and if you try to talk or get into a snowball fight on the way up the hill ... well, it makes it that much more fun.

Then of course there is playing alphabet soup, hunting dragons, and generally keeping up with the neices/nephews!  Add to that the fantastic home-grown food (in massive quantities) and the relaxation of being home, and when I got back on the bike - i could push more on my intervals!

I highly reccomend this specialized Christmas training program! It's good for the body and soul :)

Happy holidays all!

Chasing Rainbows and Gearing up for a 60 miler

Oh, didn't you hear? Chasing rainbows is the new thing in training these days.  You see, you go further and faster than planned and you don't even notice it ;)

Anyway, with all the rain here in Seattle we do get some rainbows ... I found one the other night and decided to give chase. The Rainbow won. :)

This weekend is the first race of the NW Epic Series - StottleMeyer 60 miler. I'm nervous and excited all in one ... i feel woefully unprepared with no real idea of where my fitness is ... but i guess i'll find out soon! I know my top end is seriously lacking ... but hopeing that my bottom end is still good to go!

With my Norco Phaser I can't really go wrong ... and I have a trusty new car to get me there ... so it appears i'm all out of excuses!

Well, all I can do at this point is get ready and let 'er rip!

The countdown begins ... or is it over already?

Um yeah. What happened to Father Time? Why is he speeding things up? It seems like i should have another 8 weeks before the 24hr Solo NW Champs ... but it's only 3. What happened??  Oh and i definately should have another few weeks before my first long race (StottleMeyer 60 miler) ... but no, it's next weekend!!!!

Crap, i should be training, right? :)

Well, we will see ... i've been a bit of a slacker but i'm thinking maybe that will pay off.

So what have i been doing? A little of everything ... I've been running anywhere between 10 to 18 miles a week, i've been swimming once a week (uh yeah, i know i should swim more ...), I've been working too much, I've been playing in the dirt (IE having SO much fun on my new Phaser!!!), I've been playing on my new road bike ...... the Norco CCR1 - so hot!, and i've been being social.

Not sure if that adds up to a fast Monilee ... but it does add up to a happy Monilee ... so we'll have to go with that and see where I land. This next weekend will be the first 'real' test!  All that running should help right? and swimming? Not sure that working helps ... wrist strength from typing? And being social ... mental health!  Hmmmmm, we'll see :)

But in the end ... I'm stoked! Can't wait to 'get back in the saddle' and give it a whirl. Here's to the real kick off of 2011! Bring it!

Budu Racing ... the season openers!

So race season has started already!!! And no, i wasn't ready :)   Last weekend was my first race of the season ... and yes, it was good to be on the trails ... and trying to go fast! I've missed the racing, the trails, the girls, and the effort - and am very excited about the 2011 season!!!   So now for the story ...

i got to the race venue with about 30 minutes to spare so  my warm up was a little light (10 minutes) ... but i was stoked to be there, even if it was cold outside (7 celcious! ouch).  I met Yvonne before the start as she was using my 2008 Norco Faze 1 for the race - i love that bike - so we got her all set and ready to go! I was on my 2010 Norco Faze SL ... a sweet ride for the technical course we had!

At the start line we were all chating - so much to catch up on and so little time :) everyone was sizing eachother up to see who looked like they might have trained all winter and who slacked off ...but you can never really tell until the rubber hits the trail. And then we were off!!!

Out of the gate i was hammering. I wanted to get a good position in the single-track. I'd never riden in this particular part of that trail network but knew that other parts were tight single track with minimal passing opertunities ... so i wanted to get in ahead of the pack.  I had a great 30 seconds and then the effort started to hit me (I generally get 30 seconds for free ... where my body doesn't know what the heck is going on) and i slowed down a few notches. I was in 3rd going into the singletrack and then passed Yvonne on a downhill and moved to 2nd.

10 minutes in I realized my lungs were still not fully recovered from Bronchitus and that it had been a bad decision not to take my puffer before the race. My lungs were burning!!! But you do what you gotta do ... so i kept on peddaling, as fast as i could. This is a race, afterall :)

The race course was tight ... very narrow, tight corners, and lots of wet roots. It was slow going ... a fairly technical course!

Yvonne was on my tail the 1st and 2nd laps but into the 3rd we both wiped out, one of my pedals fell off, and she dropped me! I put my pedal back on (the hardest part was getting it off my shoe!) and tried to chase her down for the rest of the lap ... but didn't quite make it, finishing 3rd - nice work Yvonne!

It was great to get out there ... and dust the legs off! What a great way to start the season - good friends, good trails, and a good effort!

Race report ... Worlds!

I knew going into the race it was going to be competative. With a field of 400 solos and a totally seperate course from the teams to ensure that there was not too much congestion ... it promised to be a good race. And it was ... this race is going down as the most competative female Solo race in 24hr history .. pretty cool!

The field was pretty deep ... pros from 15 different countries were there vying for the top spots ... and the Aussies were out in full form. It was amazing!

Here is a quick summary ... by the numbers :)

• Laps ridden: 17
• KMs ridden: 306
• Feet climbed: ~29,000
• % singletrack: 85%
• Place finished: 10th

Now for the interesting part ... the story behind the numbers :) The race got off to a bit of a shaky start ...I thought that call up was at 11:45 but it was at 11:30 so I missed my call up but made it to the front of the line before the start just fine. Kinda funny really, the media guy was giving me a hard time at the start :)  The race got off to a fast start, which i was expecting. There were several woman who were openly bidding for the top spot and a lot of talk about going out hot and keeping the lead. My plan was the usual .. push it a bit, but not to hard, try to find a good pace, and settle in.

Out of the gate and onto the bike I was at the back of the pack ... the whole field had gone out hard! It's tough at times like that to remind yourself to pace,  ignore everyone, and that half the field would not be able to maintain the pace. It seemed like eveyrone was gunning for first and with a lot of unknowns i had no idea how they'd hold up. But in a 24hr solo if you don't do your own thing you pay for it later. So I tried to relax, I tried to pace, and I tried to ignore the girls around me who were hammering up the climbs. Into the second lap my legs and back were sore ...what is up with that? I'm only 2 laps into a race and my legs hurt? They didn't hurt enough to slow me down too much but i am guessing it was from all the hiking on the team ride where i snapped my cable.

My pit crew consisted of Kate and my folks. Kate was the pit manager and had everything organized and ready to go. Whatever I needed, she had it ready ... and mom and dad were her helping hands. Thanks guys - could not have done it without you! Thanks too to my friends 'back home' who were sending emails, texts, and messages of encouragement!

Into lap 3 I felt like i'd found my pace and was starting to settle in. Some of the girls i've raced in the past had passed me and were asking if i was ok ... 'yeah' i'd say 'i'm just settling in'. But i woundered ... am i going really slow? Why are they asking me that? 24hr races are a bit of a mind game ... so i decided it didn't matter ... if 'my pace' was slow, so be it, i wanted to ride the entire 24 hours! 

I started to gain some positions around dusk .. people were starting to slow down and I was holding steady .. finally the strategy was paying off :) Then nighttime came ... and I wasn't eating enough. I was dizzy and a bit bonked so i had a few longer laps, ran into a boulder on one lap,  and then decided to stop and eat; and let it sit for a while.  

This is a good time to mention the snakes, spiders, and Kangaroos! On my dusk lap i was riding up a switchback and saw a huge (1.5 inch in diameter) brown snake. Hmm... i think these are the bad ones, i thought. So i slowed down to let him slither across the trail ... but he didn't move fast enough and i had to decide ... stop and let him go ...or run over him. I didn't want to stop...this climb was hard! So I sped up, a bit nervous, and ran over him ... for the next 2 minutes I was sure he was going to hunt me down ... but he didn't! Phew! 

The next lap a 6 ft Kangroo jumped out in front of me (scared the crap out of me) and ran down the trail in front of me as if to say 'oh yeah, i can run faster than you can ride ... and I can stay up all night too'. After a while he got bored of this little game (i don't think i was going fast enough for him) and ran off the trail and into the woods.

During the night the spiders came out to play. And these were not small spiders ... i was convinced that they were all truantulas ...am still thinking they were :) They were about 1-2 inches in diameter .. and didn't have really long legs. They were all over the trails. I am not a big spider fan and was deaking them out whenever i could ... on the downhills i just cringed and went for it ... it was too rocky/hard to be deaking out spiders!!!

The course got a little rough over the course of the event and I was very happy to be on my Norco Faze with 4.5 inches of travel on the front. I felt bad for anyone riding a hardtail .. that course was rough! But the Norco just ate it up and kept on going ... I love my bike!

So ... back to the race ... all in all I think i was off my bike for about 1 hour ... back onto the bike I started feeling better and could feel the effects of the food/calories in my system. I was waking up and was no longer dizzy. As the sun came up so did my energy and i ws back doing my pace and getting some good lap times in. Kate told me i was in 18th around 6am ... so even though I was passing loads of women I knew i had a lot of work to do to make the top 15. I was feeling pretty strong in the morning .. not too many people were going faster than me and i felt like i could ride another 12 hours. Finally back in my zone and re-energized with banannas and peanut butter sandwiches, i was having a great time.  My 15th lap Kate indicated that 12th was in reach so I hammered out a solid lap to ensure I could do one more ... I really pushed it to the end at this race ... and managed to catch 12th, 11th, and 10th ... to put myself into 10th place! What a great race ...

Going into the race i figured i'd be happy with 16 laps, and estatic with 18 ... I ended up with 17, which is right in the middle so I am pretty happy with that :)

All in all, a solid race! i am much better at cornering now ... :)

What's next? Kate has convinced me to do the Seattle 1/2 marathon ... so i've 6 weeks to dig out my running shoes and get into shape :) It should be fun .. i think she'll rock it and land on the podium ... i'll suffer along and hopefully finish not too far behind her :)

Prepping for Worlds - A report from 'down under'

Well, i made it ... and so did my bags! It was touch and go for a while there wrt flights ... more on that later! First up is a report on the race loop ...

The race takes place in Stromlo Park, just outside of Canberra.  The loop starts out with a short flat section and quickly turns into a series of singletrack switchbacks which lead you up a long 1000ft climb up to the top of Mount Stromlo. Once at the top the trail winds around a bit before heading back down, again all on single-track, a rocky twisty descent. The trail is pretty cool, very rocky (big rocks and baby head rocks) and the corners are bermed so you can 'ride the rails' onthe way down. It's very fun but because the corners are so sharp you can't really get up too much speed. About 3/4 of the way down Mount Stromlo the course starts winding back up again and takes you backup to the top of the mountain again, still on single-track. The course dumps you at the top, on the opposite side of the mountain, and because the course is so exposed (no trees, only bushes) you can see the other riders on the top as well. Kinda cool .... then down you go again, this time slightly more technical with a fun steep rocky descent. I plan to ride that section a few times today :) The course ends by taking you through a bmx type section where you can gain a lot of speed if you work your bike... a fun ending.

While the course does not play to my strengths (lots of climbing but none of it is steep, where i tend to excel ... and lots of descending but I'm not a strong cornerer), it should be a fun time and I am sure that my cornering skills will be killer by the end of the weekend! The course is about 95% singletrack - there are only a few sections that are double-track and none that are road ... this definately plays to my advantage but will make passing tricky. They have a totally seperate couse for the Solos which is good because even with the 400 solos on the course at once, it will be crowded.

It took me an hour and eleven minutes to finish a loop yesterday ... so i'm guessing my lap times will settle right around that ... might be a bit slower due to congestion on the course and lack of passing options ... but we'll see!

By the numbers it looks like this (this is from the course map, I'll confirm with the Garmin today!)
Distance: ~20Km
Climbing: ~2000 ft
Singletrack: 95%
Estimated lap goal: 18 to 20

So now more about my trip here ....

The first leg of my flight was delayed (into SFO) due to fog but luckily they got me on an earlier flight and it looked like I would make it for my connection. Once on the plane, it took forever to take off and then they had to circle a few times around SFO before they could land which meant that we landed 5 min before the connecting flight ... didn't look good. As soon as I got out of the plane i booked it (imagine a full on sprint) to the next gate and made it just in time. OK, in reality they held up the flight for an additional 10 minutes for other connecting passengers :) i was worried my bags wouldn't make it but when i got to Sydney they were there waiting for me ... so it all worked out!!

Thank you, may I have another? 100 miles of Capital Forest

Better late than never :) Here is my race report from the 100 miler i did the other weekend.

The day started off early with a 3AM alarm and sleepy drive south to Capital Forest. When i got there the fog was heavy and it was still pretty dark. Are they sure we can start at 6:30am? Hmmm, seems like it might be still dark. Perhaps I should have brought my lights?

I definately should have brought my lights ... not for the actual race, but to get ready for the race :) It was dark and chilly .. and foggy. The start was casual ... this was the first year for the race and the made the course 2 laps of a 50 mile loop. They had to delay the start by about 30 minutes to let the fog drift off a bit so that we could see the trail ... it jwas barely sunrise when we set off ...

They gave us a running start, le mans style, and just for kicks it was straight up a hill. Nice. It's 7am folks ... we are barely awake, let alone ready to run straight up a hill. But up we went ... and onto our bikes and off to the trails.  The trails were everything they were promised to be. 90% of the course was singletack ... beautiful, twisty, rocky, rooty, singletrack! The climbing surprised me. I was expecting the course to be fairly flat ... maybe a bit of hills. But the course offered just over 15,000 feet of climbing... yup, a lot of hills :)

The first 25 miles were a bit rough for me. I could blame it on being half asleep but the real deal is that i had a cramp in my bum and it was pinching my siatic nerve. Ouch. Every pedal hurt but being the stubborn chick i  am  i stretched on the bike, pedaled through it and kept my pedal strokes even and fast ... eventually it went away (phew). 

The next 25 miles passed in a blur ... fun single track with great descents and amazing climbs. A few stunning views that almost made me do an endo ... great riding!  I was trading spots with a girl from BC for the first 50 miles ... she'd pass me on the climb, i'd pass her on the descent ... and on it went. On the second lap i missed a turn where the course goes two ways (no little pilons to direct me!) ... and ended up doing an extra 11 miles and 2000 feet of climbing ... ouch. That added about an hour ... bleh. You guessed it, I didn't catch the chick from BC ....

But I had a fantastic time and I'd do it again. It was a great warm up for worlds. I finished in just over 11 hours and felt like I could do another 111 miles at the same pace. Not bad ....

Race Report - Stottlemeyer 60

Stottlemeyer 60 - so fantastic to have a 60 mile race in our backyard!!!

The Numbers:
Miles: 60 (my garmin may not have tracked them all - there was a lot of twisting and turning)
Verticle: ~7000 ft
% singletrack: 90%
Time to finish: 6:18
Place: 1st
# Women: 8

The Race
The weather was typical Seattle spring weather: 10 degress and drizzle.  The start was delayed 30 minutes due to traffic at the Ferry crossing so although we would have been a bit late, we had time to warm up and get everything ready. A quick race breifing later and we were off! the start was downhill and I was strategicly placed at the front ... my goal for the race was to flirt with how fast I could go out and hold it - and see how my stomach held up. Oh, and to win too :)

I was excited to see Kari Studely at the start - she's the one I was trying to catch at the last short race and is pretty fast. I decided to take her wheel and see how things went. I was behind her until the single-track and then found an oppertunity to pass ... and off I went. I was riding my Norco EXC hardtail today and was (if i must say so myself) riding really well. The singletrack was tough - twisty, turny, muddy, and fresh cut.  It was slow going ... but great for technical riders - it was to my advantage as I was having a good day.

After the single-track I followed a group of people down the wrong path (apparently the locals don't like the tags so were taking them down) ... 6 minutes in we realized it was wrong and turned around. Ouch, it hurt to lose 12 minutes, especially when I knew Kari wasn't far behind me coming out of the singletrack. So ... time to buckle down, speed up, and see if I can play 'catch up'.  15 minutes later - at the first aide station, I saw Yvonne getting food. She had passed me as well while I was off playing on the trails. We got in a group down the road and then into the single track I built up a pretty good gap on the group. Out of the single track I caught a guy and we turned right .... wrong way! We didn't get too far but far enough for the group to catch us and it was a battle to pass them all again.

With that out of the way I was full-on in chase mode. I wanted to hunt Kari down. I had no idea how fast she'd be in the longer stuff but I figured worst case scenario would be that I bonk ... and since I was in 2nd anyway I didn't care. Pedal Faster, Pedal Faster .. Pedal Faster!!! :)

30 miles in I found out that Kari had dropped - apparently she got lost too (also lost around 10 min) and decided to pull the plug. Too bad ... but I had a race to ride. I wanted to finish in under 6 hours so I had to keep moving. And so I did. The course was actually 4 laps of ~14 miles each. There was a nice 24% grade climb on the course where I'd eat my Tums, a cliff block, some electrolytes ... and of course my Perpetuem. My eating was going really well and I was pretty happy that I was able to push the pace and hold my stomach together. Very promising for the longer stuff ...

The last two laps I'd keep on catcing up with guys and then trying to chase them down. Sometimes I was successfull but there were a few that got away :) The last lap I turned it up as much as I could ... but I didn't make it under 6 hours.

All in all it was a great day! Frase also got lost and suffered a flat tire and cramping. He pulled it all together to finish at around 6 hours ...

Race Report: Fort Steilacoom

Last Sunday I completed my 3rd race of the 2010 season at Fort Steilacoom. My legs were ready to go and my mind was very eager - I'd missed out on the last race so I was full of racing energy.

Quick Summary:
# laps: 3
Total distance: 25km
Time: 1:41
Terrain: lots of twists and turns, very technical, some good climbs
# women in Open/Expert: 12
Place: 2nd

The Details:
The weather couldn't have been better. I left the house expecting overcast skys and potential rain. While I was warming up the sun came out and the arm and leg warmers came off ... perfect racing temperature. i had a good warmup because I heard it was a shorter course than usual. I was riding my hardtail for a change so I also wanted to try it out in the woods. It's been a while since I've been on a hardtail on the trails ... this wasn't the smoothest course for a hardtail .. but I was eager to try it out - I'm planning to race it at some of the 100milers I do this year.

The start was fast and furious as usual. I settled in behind two women and held their wheels.  At the first turn one of them took the wrong direction (you really had to keep your eyes open on that course) and then there were two. I could hear two other women right behind me. The 4 of us were together up the first climb, which was steep and not so short ... it was also deceiving. There was a 'false top' where we were all still together and then another climb where we dropped the two behind me. Down the descent we made up even more time and never saw them again. I was chasing Keri around the course, playing cat and mouse. She was stronger in the twisty stuff ... I was strong on the climbs and descents ... back and forth we'd go. Finally up a long hard hill I pulled it off ... a good pass follwed by a fast descent! Just after that I bailed on a hard fast corner doing a full-body skid. She passed me and that was the end of that!

It was a fantastic race - i felt really strong on the hills and descent everywhere else.  Project 'race into shape' is coming together :)

Race Report: Soaring Eagle Park

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 :)

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!

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:

• 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)

Time to start pedaling faster :)

A game of chance ... win some, lose some

And in this particular game of chance, I lost ... but Fraser won!

What am i talking about? The raffle for the Leadville 100 mountain bike race. We both entered the raffle and the results were announced this week. Bummer for me but I am excited that Frase gets to go!

At this point my scheudle for 2010 is pretty firm - now that I am out f the running for the Leadville race I'll likely do the Bend 100 miler instead.

The training has been going well, I am still doing weights for strength (it is my biggest limiter at this time) and am starting to mix in some 'faster rides' with my 'slower rides'.  I'm also still enjoying running and seem to have stabalized in terms of weight (I lost a bit of weight this winter).  

In other news, I am very stoked about the 2010 Faze SE that is coming my way in March! Christmas is a little late this year but well worth the wait!

The countdown is on

Yup, it's that time again ... counting the days until US Nationals and getting excited!!! It will be an interesting race. A different (but still very competitive field) from Worlds with some of the same girls ... and a very different lead-up.

For Worlds i had oodles of races leading up to race day. This time around I've been only racing myself and it'll be interesting to see where that lands me - both mentally and physically. But aside from the racing ... I am going to Moab!!!

I've never been and am super excited. Exactly one week from today I'll be bound for Moab. One week and one day ... I'll be riding 'some of the best trails' in the world. Woot! I feel like a kid before christmas ... counting sheep ... oh wait, that's counting emails ... until i fall asleep :)

By popular request - the tale of 3 crashes

OK OK, I know it wasn't fair to say I crashed 3 times at worlds but omit the gory details. It isn't as exciting as you may think but here we go.

All three crashes happened after 6am on Sunday (read: i'd been riding 18 hours already). You'll have to excuse me if I was feeling a little stunned and like I'd been hit by a truck. I usually love the first morning lap - the sun rise energizes me and gets the legs turning again. At Canmore I was bonked though so the morning lap was a little rough.

I mentioned that there was a lot of technical singletrack so it should come as no surprise that all 3 of my crashes were in the singletrack....

Crash #1: there were a lot of little (8-10 feet) steep dips down with a steep up immediately afterwards. Several of these dips had roots, rocks, and fun stuff in the middle, on both sides, or all three. This was one with all three - and root on the 'up' side. Momentum is my friend so I usually sail through these with no issue. Not so on this lap. I went down the rocky side nice and smooth (and fast)and somehow aimed for the biggest part of the root which was a 1 foot up and over and yup, you guessed it, landed flat on my back. I did a backwards endo if you will. for some reason it took about 30 seconds for me to get my feet unclipped and during this time my bike was upside down on top of me. I am sure if anyone had seen this they'd be laughing their butts off.

Crash #2: the course was dusty and some sections were really loose. There was this one spot with a 1.5 foot drop where you had to do a 90 degree turn right after. Normally, not an issue. I was behind someone who decided to pull off the trail and decided that the right thing to do was to look at them instead of the trail infront of me. Wham, over the drop and over my handle-bars and into the woods i went. Another classic moment.

Crash #3: this crash was on my last lap when i was 'riding scared'. I was pushing the pace through the tight singletrack, took a wrong line (i honestly don't know what happened here) and ended up hugging a tree. This was the only crash that produced a nice bruise and some good bleeding - i think i was going pretty fast!

Want a tour? Heck yes!

Today we ventured up to Galbrath with our friend Calvin. It's about a 1.75hr drive each way but well worth it...

We arrived at the trailhead and were greeted by several other riders. People are very friendly in Bellingham, WA. We suited up out bikes and headed out with maps in-hand. Today would be an exploration day - hopefully we'd find these trails we heard so much about.

We ended up on a steep (I am talking 40+ percent incline) single-track that was partly over-grown with blackberry bushes. At the top of the hill we ran into a few locals who were (of course) super friendly and we chatted for a bit (after we caught our breath). We asked them which way to Bob's and headed off. We met them again just down the trail at an intersection and they offered us a tour.

Do you want a tour of the best trails on Galbrath? Um, ok! It was amazing. They took us on the best single-track I've ridden in a long time. It had everything you want including berms, roots, rocks, flow, stunts, bridges, ledges, views, and more. Three hours flew by and before we knew it we were back at the car!

We'll definately head up there again - maybe next time for an entire weekend :)

Race report: World 24hr Solo Championships

I'll add to this as I get time - for now you get the quick update :)

By the numbers:
Placement: 5th place
KM ridden: ~ 235
Feet climbed: ~22,500
Hours ridden: ~23
Mechanicals: 0
Crashes: 3

The lead up:
We drove up to BC the week prior to the race and set up camp (our RV) at my brother's place in Invamere. My mom, dad, and niece were there as well so it was great to hang with the family. We headed up to Canmore and scoped out the course the Monday and Tuesday. You can read about our 'scouting' trip in my previous blog post here.

We spend the remainder of the week hanging with the family, napping, eating, and riding my brother's favorite trails in K-Country. Not a bad way to spend the week :) On Friday we headed back up to Canmore, set up our pit, and then hung out at the hotel - napping, eating food, and watching the Tour. Saturday I had a great sleep-in and we had to rush to get to the race in time. The solos were starting early but we weren't aware so it was a last minute rush getting my plates on and getting up to the line.

The Race
As they called the solos up one by one, I felt good - energy was high and I felt well rested. I was excited! The gun went off and we were running. As usual, i dropped a few positions in the run. To my surprise I was feeling good by the end of the run and actually passed a few people back. My legs were ready!

The first lap was fast and slow. The course was well-laid out but with all of the single-track (even though they separated the Solos and Teams for most of the course) passing was tough. There were bottle-necks but by the end of the lap the field was well spread out. I was feeling good and came through the feed zone (Fraser, my amazing husband and pit crew was giving me double feeds during the race) too early so Fraser missed me. No worries, I had grabbed an extra bottle of water due to the heat and had a gel in my pocket. I was good to go.

It was a hot day but we had a good 'keeping it cool strategy'. Fraser made me some 'ice scarfs' - socks filled with ice, tied together, and worn around the neck. It was amazing. I also carried a little thing of water to dump on my head - and with the double-feeds I didn't need to wear a camel back so life was bliss. I was definitely keeping it cool - even if I was soaked.

The first laps were taking me around 1:18 per lap on average. They were a good length and I was enjoying the course. I was feeling strong - my legs felt good and my energy was high until around lap 4. My stomach was feeling queasy. Uh oh. I came in and sat down. I ate salts, water, and gel. I sat some more. After 30 min i was feeling ready to ride and headed back out to the course. I felt a little 'on the edge' so i backed of the pace and focused on breathing and riding - my first and primary goal was to ride all 24 hours and not to have to stop for stomach issues.

Around 7pm we had a brief rain storm which helped to settle some of the dust. I was wishing for a bit more rain as the course was super dry and dusty - i had to use my inhaler several times. Of course, that may have had someting to do with the fact that I was racing at 5000 feet above my normal altitude :) The air was a bit thin for this Ocean dweller.

The darkness set in and I was feeling good. I'd recovered from my nausea and had upped my salt intake so things were going well. The night riding was tough because of the dust. It was like riding in the snow - the dust was sooo thick. Whenever I was behind a rider I wouldn't be able to see a thing. But I just kept on riding and hoped for the best.

Now is a good time to talk about my bikes - Jon at SVC dialed in my Fazes the week before we left so they were in tip-top shape. I would swap bikes every 3rd lap or so and Fraser would check the tire pressure and lube the chain. Loads of people were getting flats and breaking their chains this race ... i got through without one mechanical incident.

Around 6am I knew I'd made it. It was time to turn it up as best I could and see what I could do. I asked Fraser where I was -- turns out I was 6th and making time on 5th, 4th, and 3rd. Sweet! I ate some bananas and headed out for a lap. I caught Rebecca Rusch on a climb (yes, caught!) She'd done 3 more laps than me and it was a tough course - she was suffering. After I caught her I figured i'd see if I could keep with her. She led me right to the 5th place girl who I passed in the single-track. Rebecca dropped me in one of the rough sections of single-track and I continued at a good pace, hoping to put some time on #5 (#5 was the plate number of the girl who I passed in 5th place).

The next lap I caught Rebecca again - she must have had a longer pit. We chatted for a bit and then she dropped me in the same section of single-track. At that point I was worried about #5 chasing me down and was riding with 'one ear open', listening for her behind me. At one point I saw a girl in a yellow kit (same color as #5) and couldn't believe it. I dug deep and climbed like heck trying to put time on her. i kept on hearing her behind me and kept on digging deeper. I was toast but I wasn't about to get caught. i wanted my 5th place finish.

I came through the pit exhausted, ate some more bananas, ate part of a hammer bar, and headed back out again. I had to keep on going - it was 9:30 and my laps were taking just under an hour and a half at this point. I could do 2 more if I needed to. i didn't want to need to ... but I would if I had to.... I wasn't going to give up 5th place.

At this point everything hurt. The course was demanding - it was technical, 75% single-track, and unforgiving. Thank goodness for the Norco Faze! I hammered to the 'feed zone' where Fraser informed me that I had put 40 min on #5. Phew!! Apparently the girl in the yellow kit was a team rider. I could dial it back, take my sweet time, and finish my last lap. 4th was totally out of reach and i had 5th place locked up. I'd like to say i enjoyed the last part of my lap but I was in pain. My upper body hurt. My core hurt. My legs hurt. It was the toughest course I'd ever ridden for a 24hr race....

My parents were there to cheer me to the finish and I had a huge smile on my face as i crossed the line. I had overcome my stomach, dug deep, and pushed myself hard. It was a good race.

Thanks for reading and thanks again to Norco and SVC for helping me make this possible. Your support goes a loooong way!