Jennifer Dilworth Hynes — mtbchk

I am a slug.  A non-riding, slow, non-friend-seeing, out-of-touch, non-blogging slug.  I don’t ride anymore.  I am slow and out of shape.  I have a redneck tan.  I need a haircut.  I never see my friends anymore.  I’ve had so many people reminding me that I haven’t updated my blog.  I didn’t even know so many people looked at it.  (OK, so I have to admit, I secretly feel loved when I find out someone has read it :))

It’s the new job.  It’s really busy.  Don’t get me wrong — it’s a total blast!  It’s a “good” kind of stress, and is refreshing to be away from manufacturing and a “corporate” world.  But, my riding has taken a turn for the worse since starting this job.  Hopefully we can get everything ready to open in time and I can hire some more people and things will calm down a little and I can get back to some semblance of normalcy.

Let’s see…. what have I done since the last post?

Cowbell Challenge: 

This year was my second year doing the 12-hour solo.  Last year I did 11 laps on a roughly 5.5 mile course.  I felt pretty good and (unofficially) came in 3rd — scoring errors put me in 4th.  I did some analysis on what I could have done better.  Last year I rode really well and fairly consistently.  I didn’t walk ANYthing.  But, my pit stops were too long, and I sat around too much. 

This year, I reformulated my pit strategy.  However, since I hadn’t been riding much leading up to the race, my body really didn’t care WHAT my pit strategy was.  I rode the first lap with Melanie, and we rode slowly and cautiously due to the wet roots from the rains the night before.  We walked some of the trickier downhills.  My technical skills weren’t with me on that lap.  It’s amazing how much you lose by not riding!  Mel was on a SS (only competitor in the Women’s Solo SS — go Mel!), so we took it easy that lap.  After that, I picked up the pace and rode everything for the next 2 or 3 laps, skipping any pit stops when I came through the timing area.  Then on the 4th lap, my knees decided they had had enough.  From then on, my left IT band was not letting me put any pressure on my knee at all.  I tried one-legged riding for a while.  That worked on all but the steepest climbs.  This year’s course had a couple of extra climbs that really taxed my knees.

After a while, even the one-legged pedaling wasn’t working.  From then on, I was walking EVERY climb.  I figured if I kept moving, I could make up time by not pitting.  So, I just kept moving.  My original goal was 10 laps on the longer course.  I re-evaluated my goal around 6:00 pm and thought maybe I could do 9.  I ended up with 8.  It was actually about the same distance I covered last year.  I just wish I could have ridden and not walked all the hills.  I could have easily met my goal.  I think the pit strategy was good, my body just wouldn’t cooperate. 

For the last lap, Mel and I again rode together.  Actually, we kept each other sane.  Me, trying not to cry from pain, she trying not to cry from fatigue and wet roots.  It was a long lap, but it was nice having someone to finish up with.  It was also nice seeing other Dirt Diva competitors at the finish line cheering us on!

Good race.  If you are in the general area and want to try endurance racing, I highly recommend this one.

NORBA Cane Creek Series Races:

Not much to report.  I raced at Dark Mountain and Greensboro.  DFL in both.  I didn’t feel bad.  I wasn’t hurting.  I just wasn’t fast.  Not riding or training at all during the week and then racing on the weekend will sap any speed you ever had out of you.  Fun races, just not great finishes for me.  I have a new goal for the rest of the season of riding well, riding as hard as I can, and getting my fueling right.  I met those goals in those races, but the training piece has gone bye-bye.  Oh well.  Keep it fun.  I’m going to make sure I’ve clinched 2nd in the series and will maybe race the SS class for the next 2 races.

Other Stuff:

I went with Brian up to Black Mountain so he could do the Off Road Assault on Mt. Mitchell for the second year.  This is a great race, and will be on my calendar one of these years.  It was on it until I turned into a non-riding slug.  Of course I can’t write his race report for him, but he did great.  I’m not totally sure why, but his time was not as fast as last year’s.  He thinks it was his fueling strategy and that he went out pretty hard for the first half.  Anyway, it’s fun to watch that race and cheer people on.  This year, I parked at CP2 at the bottom of the Curtis Creek Road Climb (9 mile long climb, 2500′ gain) and climbed to the top to CP3 to watch the racers come through.  I figured if I’m going to do this race one day, I might as well see part of what I’d be getting into.  It’s a long climb.  Really long.  Fairly steep in sections, too.   I took my time.  I had my Ipod.  I stopped to check out the view.  I think my brother would have really liked it.  I called him later to tell him about it, since I came around a bend once to a great view and a song by his fav band came on the ipod.  He’s into that kind of stuff.  Good ride, good showing by the Charlotte folks, too.

I also went up to Bryson City with my parents to check out the wedding stuff.  We stayed where we’ll be having the wedding/reception/rehearsal dinner/big party next spring.  We found a caterer, florist, and the local microbrewery which will be providing the kegerator for the wedding weekend.  It’s going to really be fun.  We’ve got the place fully rented out for the weekend.  Whoo-hoo!  Also, while we were there I talked my parents into some whitewater rafting on the Nantahala.  Really, it was just my mom who needed the talking-into.  I couldn’t believe she did it.  I think she liked it except for when she told the raft guide that she didn’t want to get too wet.  He put her into every wave.  We also hiked a really steep trail while we were there.  My parents are becoming “extreme sports” parents!  Now, if I could just get mom on the mountain bike…..

Finally, I’ve lost 8 lbs and 2% body fat in the last 5 weeks.  I’ve been seeing the sports nutritionist.  I realize now that I wasn’t eating enough, and when I did eat, I ate the wrong stuff.  Too many quick snacky-type things.  (I sort of already knew that).  With the new plan, I feel like I’m eating all the time.  It’s hard, though, because it’s all stuff I have to cook or somehow prepare.  I have a hard time getting all my servings in, especially of meat and vegetables.  She’s given me some guidelines of how to eat for race weeks and hard riding.  It seems to work.  My goal wasn’t to lose weight, although I was hoping to.  I want to learn how to balance fueling needs with weight maintenance needs.  I’ll be interested to see what happens if/when I start riding hard again.  This is when I tend to put on the pounds. 

That’s all for now.  I’m writing my blog tonight because I worked too late to ride (again).