Jennifer Dilworth Hynes — mtbchk

Work this week has been full of audits and stress.  I did manage to ride during lunch Tues-Thurs.  That seems to take the edge off.

Rode with Mel Tuesday at Beatty, when she decided to start a blog about how much she hates V-brakes.  Hehe. I’ve got to find some tiny barbells so she can work out her pinkies.

Had a consultation with a Sports Nutritionist on Wednesday.  That was pretty good.  She told me I need to eat more.  I’m not so sure about that, but I’ve been having a really hard time balancing my fueling needs for racing with my caloric needs for losing weight.  It seems like a neverending struggle for me.  I just need to decide if I want to cough up the money to use her consulting services.

Headed to Atlanta Thursday after work.  Got “home” around 8:00, hung out with the ‘rents and went to bed early.  I slept for 11 hours.  I don’t think I’ve done that since college.

After sharing a sushi lunch with Mom at her school (she teaches 4th grade), I rode at Blanket’s Creek Friday.  I really like these trails.  I used to have my doubts about machine built trails, but SORBA has figured out how to build interesting trails with technical difficulty using a Dingo.  It’s obvious they’ve been out there working lately, as there are some new berms and trail additions (re-routes, I think).  Blankets is fun.  There are three loops — the beginner loop is just that — beginner (although I’ve never ridden it.)  You can see families with very little kids on it.  The intermediate loop (Dwelling Loop) is Tsali-esque, with some roots and rocks and logs, with some interesting lines for the huckers if you’re looking for them.  This loop offers a great warm-up and aerobic workout.  I rode it twice.  The Advanced Loop (South Loop) is longer and more difficult with several larger rock gardens, some more advanced options, switchbacks, and narrow cliff-side riding over rocks.  It also has a decent amount of climbing.  I did this loop twice, too, but was hurting by the end of the second time around.  I did about 20 miles total.  When I got back to the car, I was privy to a conversation about there not being enough single women that mountain bike and I just smirked.  Also, someone must have seen my NC license plate and wrote “PISGAH” on my back window.  Hehe.

I’ll probably ride at Chicopee today, near Gainesville.  That’s another SORBA trail, with some decent climbing and tricky switchbacks.  It’s another fun trail, but a little more advanced than Blankets, I’d say.

I had a dream last night about the BURN 24-hour race.  It was wierd.  I arrived to set up all my stuff next to the Dirt Diva teams, but this group of wierdos kept moving my stuff because they were putting out chairs and tables and desks so people could sit and watch the race and do arts and crafts.  Then they tried to put up a dancefloor where my camp was.  Also, the BEERRUN team’s camper and generator hadn’t shown up, so I didn’t have anywhere to plug in my light, but their whole team was just sleeping in sleeping bags in the middle of the field.  VERY WIERD dream.  I guess I’m getting nervous about being ready for this…

I’m still working on the Tsali Race Report.  It’s long.