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!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Scooping out the course for Worlds
We made the long drive up to BC on Saturday (actually, Fraser did all the driving ... I did my part by staying awake the whole time). We landed at my brother's place in Invamere on Saturday night and hooked up the trailer. Home sweet home for the next week. On Sunday we were planning to head up to Canmore to pre-ride but the map hadn't been posted on the site yet (they promised to post in on Monday) so we stayed put and had a relaxing day checking out the trails here in the area and hanging with family.
My brother has a very fun, very active two year old as well as a new-born - such a great family. My parents are also here and brought my sister's daughter with them too -- we are very lucky to combine family and racing this year!
On Monday we made the drive to Canmore, and although the map still wasn't posted we found the 'team' course easily enough. We did one loop and then headed out for food -- hungry!!! We spent the night there and went back to do some more loops. They had started to mark the Solo loop but didn't finish it yet - so we got lost initially. Back to the truck we replenished our bottles and headed out for a faster lap. Fraser quickly left me in the dust and i met up with a New Zealander and an Australian who knew the Solo bit of the course so I followed them through it.
So.... let me describe the course ... I want to start by saying that I may have missed parts of it (actually, i am convinced I did). It starts out with some good climbing to seperate the field. Wide climbing followed by single-track climing and a single-track descent. After the next road climb you don't see the road for ... um ... the rest of the race. This course has the most single-track in a WSC course i have seen yet. It's going to be fun. It's going to be bumpy. It's a full suspension course that is going to make me love my Norco Faze even more. It's going to be hard on the body and hard on the mind. In a nut shell, it is a course worthy of the title for 'World Solo 24hr Mountain Biking Championships'. Am I physched? yes!
After that loop we packed up the truck and made our way back to Invamere. Today we did a nice loop on the Spirit trail (think fun, fast, twisty, roller-coaster singletrack). It was a good day. i am enjoying this time off from work and am enjoying the rest I am geting as well as getting to visit with the family.
It's going to be a great race.
My brother has a very fun, very active two year old as well as a new-born - such a great family. My parents are also here and brought my sister's daughter with them too -- we are very lucky to combine family and racing this year!
On Monday we made the drive to Canmore, and although the map still wasn't posted we found the 'team' course easily enough. We did one loop and then headed out for food -- hungry!!! We spent the night there and went back to do some more loops. They had started to mark the Solo loop but didn't finish it yet - so we got lost initially. Back to the truck we replenished our bottles and headed out for a faster lap. Fraser quickly left me in the dust and i met up with a New Zealander and an Australian who knew the Solo bit of the course so I followed them through it.
So.... let me describe the course ... I want to start by saying that I may have missed parts of it (actually, i am convinced I did). It starts out with some good climbing to seperate the field. Wide climbing followed by single-track climing and a single-track descent. After the next road climb you don't see the road for ... um ... the rest of the race. This course has the most single-track in a WSC course i have seen yet. It's going to be fun. It's going to be bumpy. It's a full suspension course that is going to make me love my Norco Faze even more. It's going to be hard on the body and hard on the mind. In a nut shell, it is a course worthy of the title for 'World Solo 24hr Mountain Biking Championships'. Am I physched? yes!
After that loop we packed up the truck and made our way back to Invamere. Today we did a nice loop on the Spirit trail (think fun, fast, twisty, roller-coaster singletrack). It was a good day. i am enjoying this time off from work and am enjoying the rest I am geting as well as getting to visit with the family.
It's going to be a great race.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Missing out on Cascade Cream Puff
So I have been super keen to race Cascade Cream Puff since we moved out west. It's a 100mile mountain bike race with 18,000ft of climbing and loads of singletrack. Sounds like heaven, right? Yeah, I thought so too ...
This year both Frase and I registered. Unfortunately with the demands of work I had to bail. I made the call on the way home from the 8 hour race. With work being so busy and us leaving for Worlds this coming Friday ... I needed the weekend to catch up and get organized and packed for Worlds.
So today I did 3 laps at Tiger ... to keep myself on my toes I did my fastest laps yet, taking 2 min out of my last best effort. Not bad! It was smokin' hot today at around 90F with ~90% humidity. I was pretty happy to post such fast times in conditions that don't generally agree with me. I will admit that I had my handy ice water in my jersey again it it was my saving grace!
After Tiger i spent about an hour cleaning my bike and going over it ... if i need to buy new parts, I need to do it tomorrow. Thankfully Jon at SVC is all set to give my bikes the SVC 'once over' which will ensure they are in tip top form before I leave for Worlds.
The countdown is on and I am starting to get excited. I have a big deliverable at work this week and then we are off!!
This year both Frase and I registered. Unfortunately with the demands of work I had to bail. I made the call on the way home from the 8 hour race. With work being so busy and us leaving for Worlds this coming Friday ... I needed the weekend to catch up and get organized and packed for Worlds.
So today I did 3 laps at Tiger ... to keep myself on my toes I did my fastest laps yet, taking 2 min out of my last best effort. Not bad! It was smokin' hot today at around 90F with ~90% humidity. I was pretty happy to post such fast times in conditions that don't generally agree with me. I will admit that I had my handy ice water in my jersey again it it was my saving grace!
After Tiger i spent about an hour cleaning my bike and going over it ... if i need to buy new parts, I need to do it tomorrow. Thankfully Jon at SVC is all set to give my bikes the SVC 'once over' which will ensure they are in tip top form before I leave for Worlds.
The countdown is on and I am starting to get excited. I have a big deliverable at work this week and then we are off!!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Work + Bike + Live == Balance?
I have to admit juggling work (a demanding job which I do love), riding and racing my bike (which I also love), and life (social and 'the neccessities') is often a battle.
I think that alot of us 'working athletes' have the same struggles - how do we fit it all into a day? For me the answer and prioritization of Work/Bike/Life depends on what is going on - and sometimes it is out of my control and I just try to hang on tight for the ride.
It's been one of those 'hang on tight' months ... at work I am getting ready to move the website my team has been working (Microsoft Malware Protection portal) on from beta to production - for those interested: click here for the beta and here for the current production portal. We've done a lot of work :) I have also adopted another project as one of my coworkers has taken a new position outside of our team ... It's been busy ramping up on the new project, keeping it on track while delivering on my current project - the portal website. Of course admidst all this are lots of races and training to get me prepped for Worlds in a few short weeks.
For the past while a typical day consists of:
- roll out of bed around 6am
- wake up whilst riding my bike around 6:45am
- finish ride, drink a recovery drink, shower, and get ready for work
- leave for the office around 8:45am
- go to work and rush around to meetings and order people around all day (ok, not really ... I manage several projects)
- get home around 7pm
- make dinner and eat
- work some more until 9pmish
- head to bed
Rinse and repeat! As you can see there isn't much 'life' in the mix so to fit it in something else has to give. OK, so maybe thre really isn't a 'balance' per se, but it works for me (most days). I'm lucky that Fraser also loves to ride and understands my need to get out on my bike as well as the demands in the office.
Once race season is over the balance swings more in favor of work and life before I get back into training full swing again. So to all you athletes that are full-time moms or have demanding jobs, keep at it - make sure you find the balance that works for you!
I think that alot of us 'working athletes' have the same struggles - how do we fit it all into a day? For me the answer and prioritization of Work/Bike/Life depends on what is going on - and sometimes it is out of my control and I just try to hang on tight for the ride.
It's been one of those 'hang on tight' months ... at work I am getting ready to move the website my team has been working (Microsoft Malware Protection portal) on from beta to production - for those interested: click here for the beta and here for the current production portal. We've done a lot of work :) I have also adopted another project as one of my coworkers has taken a new position outside of our team ... It's been busy ramping up on the new project, keeping it on track while delivering on my current project - the portal website. Of course admidst all this are lots of races and training to get me prepped for Worlds in a few short weeks.
For the past while a typical day consists of:
- roll out of bed around 6am
- wake up whilst riding my bike around 6:45am
- finish ride, drink a recovery drink, shower, and get ready for work
- leave for the office around 8:45am
- go to work and rush around to meetings and order people around all day (ok, not really ... I manage several projects)
- get home around 7pm
- make dinner and eat
- work some more until 9pmish
- head to bed
Rinse and repeat! As you can see there isn't much 'life' in the mix so to fit it in something else has to give. OK, so maybe thre really isn't a 'balance' per se, but it works for me (most days). I'm lucky that Fraser also loves to ride and understands my need to get out on my bike as well as the demands in the office.
Once race season is over the balance swings more in favor of work and life before I get back into training full swing again. So to all you athletes that are full-time moms or have demanding jobs, keep at it - make sure you find the balance that works for you!
Sunday, July 5, 2009
8 hours of heat, dust, and climbing ...er, Independance
By the numbers:
Miles riden: ~60
Feet climbed ~10,000
Laps completed: 9
Hours riden: ~7.5
Temperature: 95 F (that's 35C)
Humidity: 70%
Bottles of water on the head: 9
Finishing place: 3rd (15th of 60+ riders overall)
The Lead Up
You can read about my lead up here on my blog ... I had put in 16 hours of training in the 6 days leading up to the race ... what better way to end a 24hour training week than with an 8 hour race? I sure as heck wouldn't have gone as fast on my own ...
The Race
As per tradition (well, for the past 3 years anyway), July 4th was hotter than heck. It was 85 F(30C) at 10am and promised to get up to 95F (35C) with 70% humidity. Trying to stay cool was definately a factor in this race - and for those of you who know me and my track record for hot races ... well, staying cool was a major focus of my race.
We didn't have the oppertunity to pre-ride, haven driven down the night before - so the first few laps were about getting to know the course. It was a ~6.5 mile course with ~1112ft of climbing per lap. The course started with a short 0.5 mile gravel road climb - one of only two road sections on the course and then dumped us into some singletrack. The climb continued for another mile or so and then we came out to the 2nd road section - about 0.25 mile of road. Off the road we were treated to some of the funnest and fastest singletrack downhilling I have ever done. We were racing on a dirt-biking trail and it was very well maintained. The downhill seemed to go on forever with some tight turns and deep (2ft) ruts to keep us on our toes. At the bottom of the downhill we crossed a bridge and then began the 'arizona' climb back up. It was called the 'arizona' climb because it was fully exposed, sandy, and did not offer any wind or repreive from the heat of the day. It went on forever - the grade ranged from 15 to 28%, at which point I was off my bike and walking. At the top of the climb we were treated to a short but sweet downhill and then were spit back out on the road where the feeding zones were.
It was a super fun but unforgiving course. There were no flat sections so eating was done on the climbs. I am really good at getting bottles out of my jersey now ... that is where I stashed my bottle of cold water each lap ... critical part of my 'keep it cool' strategy. Ok, back to the race ...
The goal of the race was to go out hard and try to blow up. The problem with this strategy is that I really have no ability to 'go out hard'. Going out hard for me is going at the top of my z1. But I went out faster than my 'pacing' effort would have been. The first two laps felt slow. I was pushing but didn't seem to get anywhere - and I was feeling the heat. I took a bottle of ice water with me each lap and doused myself with it, trying to stay cool. Just into the 2nd lap Fraser passed me ... 'did you just lap me?' I asked incredulously (you never know with Frase, when he's on, he is ON ... and he is getting fitter every day). Turns out he took a wrong turn (follow the ribbons) and got a flat tire. Oh ...
We were both self-supporting and had made up some drinks and water beforehand - with 5 bags of ice everything stayed nice and cool. Because we didn't know the course we didn't estimate well with the calories per bottle - I had to stop every 2nd lap and adjust my bottles for the next few laps. Around lap 3 I started to feel good and my lap times started dropping ... 30seconds faster, 2 minutes faster, 5 minutes faster- I just kept on getting faster and faster. It was great - I ended the race feeling strong ... a great sign given that Worlds is a short 3 weeks away!
I ended up in 3rd ... the two girls in front of me also did 9 laps and were ahead of me by 15 and 7 minutes respectively. Another few laps ...
Frase had a good race until about 5 hours in where he broke his chain 4 times. Pretty frustrating!
And now I am cleaning the dust off my bike and clothes, getting caught up on work, and getting ready for worlds!
Miles riden: ~60
Feet climbed ~10,000
Laps completed: 9
Hours riden: ~7.5
Temperature: 95 F (that's 35C)
Humidity: 70%
Bottles of water on the head: 9
Finishing place: 3rd (15th of 60+ riders overall)
The Lead Up
You can read about my lead up here on my blog ... I had put in 16 hours of training in the 6 days leading up to the race ... what better way to end a 24hour training week than with an 8 hour race? I sure as heck wouldn't have gone as fast on my own ...
The Race
As per tradition (well, for the past 3 years anyway), July 4th was hotter than heck. It was 85 F(30C) at 10am and promised to get up to 95F (35C) with 70% humidity. Trying to stay cool was definately a factor in this race - and for those of you who know me and my track record for hot races ... well, staying cool was a major focus of my race.
We didn't have the oppertunity to pre-ride, haven driven down the night before - so the first few laps were about getting to know the course. It was a ~6.5 mile course with ~1112ft of climbing per lap. The course started with a short 0.5 mile gravel road climb - one of only two road sections on the course and then dumped us into some singletrack. The climb continued for another mile or so and then we came out to the 2nd road section - about 0.25 mile of road. Off the road we were treated to some of the funnest and fastest singletrack downhilling I have ever done. We were racing on a dirt-biking trail and it was very well maintained. The downhill seemed to go on forever with some tight turns and deep (2ft) ruts to keep us on our toes. At the bottom of the downhill we crossed a bridge and then began the 'arizona' climb back up. It was called the 'arizona' climb because it was fully exposed, sandy, and did not offer any wind or repreive from the heat of the day. It went on forever - the grade ranged from 15 to 28%, at which point I was off my bike and walking. At the top of the climb we were treated to a short but sweet downhill and then were spit back out on the road where the feeding zones were.
It was a super fun but unforgiving course. There were no flat sections so eating was done on the climbs. I am really good at getting bottles out of my jersey now ... that is where I stashed my bottle of cold water each lap ... critical part of my 'keep it cool' strategy. Ok, back to the race ...
The goal of the race was to go out hard and try to blow up. The problem with this strategy is that I really have no ability to 'go out hard'. Going out hard for me is going at the top of my z1. But I went out faster than my 'pacing' effort would have been. The first two laps felt slow. I was pushing but didn't seem to get anywhere - and I was feeling the heat. I took a bottle of ice water with me each lap and doused myself with it, trying to stay cool. Just into the 2nd lap Fraser passed me ... 'did you just lap me?' I asked incredulously (you never know with Frase, when he's on, he is ON ... and he is getting fitter every day). Turns out he took a wrong turn (follow the ribbons) and got a flat tire. Oh ...
We were both self-supporting and had made up some drinks and water beforehand - with 5 bags of ice everything stayed nice and cool. Because we didn't know the course we didn't estimate well with the calories per bottle - I had to stop every 2nd lap and adjust my bottles for the next few laps. Around lap 3 I started to feel good and my lap times started dropping ... 30seconds faster, 2 minutes faster, 5 minutes faster- I just kept on getting faster and faster. It was great - I ended the race feeling strong ... a great sign given that Worlds is a short 3 weeks away!
I ended up in 3rd ... the two girls in front of me also did 9 laps and were ahead of me by 15 and 7 minutes respectively. Another few laps ...
Frase had a good race until about 5 hours in where he broke his chain 4 times. Pretty frustrating!
And now I am cleaning the dust off my bike and clothes, getting caught up on work, and getting ready for worlds!
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