Jennifer Dilworth Hynes — mtbchk

Good Times.  That’s what I’ve been having.

I went to Atlanta to see the family and had good times.  I rode Blanket’s Creek with my lil’ bro.  He surprised me.  For someone who doesn’t ride regularly, he certainly held his own.  He had no issue with any tech sections.  He rode the teeter.  He did the switchbacks and rock gardens.  We rode all of the trails (beg, int, and advanced) at what I would consider an intermediate pace, and he had no problem keeping up.  I could see him also being good at freeriding, but I wouldn’t tell him that, since I think he broke most of his bones already as a kid doing similarly risky stuff.  He doesn’t have the best of luck when it comes to breaking stuff.  But he managed to jump Brian’s old Cannondale hardtail off of some low bridges (until I warned him about pinch flats, and the fact that that bike and its headshok weren’t meant to be jumped).

Last weekend I did the MS150.  Century ride from Monroe to Darlington on Saturday and 80+ miles from Darlington to N. Myrtle Beach Sunday.  As always, an enjoyable ride with the Ranks.  The route from Monroe was really nice, and we (about 8 or 9 of us, I can’t remember exactly) kept a pretty good pace over the hills (~18.5 mph avg, including stops).  Sunday’s route was flat, but we had a much larger group of 22 riders, plus some hangers-on on the back of our paceline.  Yet we still approached a 19 mph average (including stops), even with that many riders of varying levels of fitness.  Next year, I hope to be able to stay at the beach on Sunday.  I’m still trying to burn the image of Waldron on the drums out of my eyeballs.  I’m also interested to see what happens after more than a few kamikazes with that group.  We always leave too early to witness the mayhem.

This week I was able to ride a couple of times out at Catawba.  Great rides.  Sometimes it’s really nice to ride alone.  I could actually smell the pine trees again.  I’ve really missed Catawba.  I had two really laid-back rides (with gears).  It’s amazing how gears will allow you to relax, chill-out, and not kill yourself.  Funny, I think I’ve said the same for SS, too.  I guess swapping bikes can be a nice change sometimes.  I went from riding 185 miles on the road bike, to riding the SS (hardtail) around work all day to riding the 5″ dually on the trail.  Each bike is fun to ride in its own way.  All I know, is that I’ve lost enough strength from not riding that Catawba on the SS has not yet become “fun” for me.  It’s a lot of work.

Oh, speaking of losing strength…. I had my final weigh-in last week.  All-totaled, I lost 13 pounds, 4 points body-fat, and 9 inches.  The saddest part is that I lost an inch off of each calf.  Now, I’m no dummy.  I know I didn’t have that much fat on my CALF.  I’m pretty sure that was all muscle.  I lost almost as much off my calf as I did my waist!  Oh, and my thighs are >2″ inches smaller, too.  I went into this to learn how to eat for racing.  My first goal was not to lose weight, although I assumed I would since I had some lbs to lose.  What I didn’t count on was almost quitting riding during this period of time.  I now have a good handle on what to eat, and — don’t get me wrong — I’m happy about losing weight, but I can’t help but think that much of that weight lost is muscle lost from not riding.  Yes, my clothes fit better and I’ve gone down *almost* two sizes.  But, let’s face it… I’m slow.

Anyway.  I was supposed to be off today, but a meeting with the county pre-empted that time off.  I ended up working until 7 anyway.  I’m off tomorrow for Brian’s company picnic and some quality ride-time with my sweetie.  Working all day Sunday, so if anyone is out there, come by and say hi.

My new job is like being at Summer Camp all the time.  Sometimes I can’t believe I actually get paid for this.  It’s really fun.  I’m here ALL the time.  I haven’t had a day off in like 3 or 4 weeks.  I’m working 13 hours a day.  I eat every meal here.  I’ve stayed overnight here twice (sleeping on the back of a raft for an hour at a time).  I’ve had a couple of beers here.  I’ve rafted twice.  I’ve ridden my bike (only a couple of times).  We’re really busy, but it’s still fun.  Running pumps, filters, fixing the dirty water issues, basic facility stuff…  It’s still engineering and maintenance, but the location and atmosphere makes the biggest difference.  Plus, I’ve never had a real job before where I could wear shorts!  It’s a nice perk.  The only downsides are the lack of any other kind of life, and never seeing Brian.  He’s nice enough to bring meals to me when he’s in the area.  Everyone’s jealous. 

I’ve been able to get out to ride a few times.  I think if I keep riding my SS here I could be really strong.  I rode the Titus this morning, though, and it was a welcome relief.  I needed gears and suspension today.  It was a good ride with B and a few Ranks and Arleigh.

Next weekend I’ll finally have some days off.  I’m headed to see my little bub-ra, Doug.  He lives in San Diego, but is coming home to Atlanta to visit the family.  So, I’m headed south for a few days.

The following weekend is the MS 150 — 200 miles from Monroe to Myrtle Beach with the company of the Ranks.  I’ll see how that goes.  Since I haven’t been riding much, I don’t know how the knees will do, and I’ll definitely have to bring a full tube of Butt’r.

I’ll post pics of the place later.  We’ve cleaned up the water, and the crowds have come to check it out.  We’re getting good reviews from the kayak clubs.

Also, since I started working at the Whitewater Center and seeing a sports nutritionist, I’ve lost 11 pounds!  My days are much more active overall even though I’m not riding as much.  Whoo-hoo!  11 pounds!

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).

“WHATAREYOUDOIN’?” 

It’s a phrase spoken by a now former co-worker every time she enters a room or sees someone.  It’s said loudly in a Cherryville (that’s “Churvull” for the locals) accent.  I’ve picked up this habit and can do a pretty good impression of her.  Now, when I do it, nobody “gets” it.  Oh well.  I’ll start a new trend.

Anyway, What have I been doing?  Here’s a very quick rundown.

The week after the Burn, I rode up at Tsali with the Divas for the Spring Trip.  I took the SS and geared it easy (32×20).  I didn’t really ride at all between the 24-hour race and the trip, and I could tell I was still recovering when I had a difficult time even keeping up with the “intermediate” group.  No offense to the intermediate group, I just usually ride the geary in the advanced group.  It was a really fun trip with some fun people, but my riding hadn’t gotten back up to usual.

The following week, we went up to Sugar Mountain for the NORBA National race.  I don’t have much of a report.  The course at Sugar has changed since last year, with a much more challenging singletrack descent than before.  It was tough, but worthy of a National-level event.  That wasn’t necessarily my problem, though. 

I’ve done this race for the last two years.  It starts with a tough 4.5-mile climb up the mountain and then a fast descent.  The climb hasn’t changed.  They started us (Sport Women) with the Beginner Women.  It was 3:30 in the afternoon and quite hot.  The climb is steep at the bottom and then becomes more gradual as you wind around the mountain.  It’s brutal for me, as climbing is not my strong point (OK, I’m still trying to find my “strong point”, but I know it’s not climbing!).  So, we started the race and I think I was in the back.  All the Charlotte folks were at the beginning of the climb cheering. (Thx, guys!)  At the first steep section, Brian was taking pictures and I told him to hurry up and take it because I was about to hop off and start pushing.

The rest of the climb was uneventful.  I rode with a beginner chick for a while.  It was her first ever race, and she had flat pedals, gym shorts and a big chushy saddle.  She smoked me.  I picked my way through the descent, tried to ride some, walked what I couldn’t ride, and finished out my lap in a less-than-spectacular time.  I was totally wiped out. 

 As I started the next round of climbing up the mountain, I bonked.  Badly.  I passed Patty at the start of the climb and proclaimed, “I really want to quit this one.”  She encouraged me to keep going.  I got to the point where the climb gets really steep and my body just wouldn’t go anymore.  Mary Beth was standing there and asked if I needed anything.  All I could say was, “a shoulder to cry on”.  At that point, I turned around.  I felt ill (physically and mentally).  I decided to put my health ahead of my pride.  I cried on the way down the mountain.  I’ve never cried in a race before.  On my way to the start/finish to DNF, I saw Brian and cried on his shoulder.  I let myself down.  I laid on the sidehill in the shade behind the Southpark tent and closed my eyes.  I couldn’t get my HR down. 

OK, so I’ve put this behind me.  The best I can tell, I wasn’t recovered from the previous two weeks’ activities.  At least, that’s what I’m telling myself.  I’ve done that race before and yes, it was hard, but not THAT hard.  There’s always next year.

The Monday after the Sugar race, I turned in my two-week notice, but only worked until Tuesday (took my remaining vacation days — I needed to get OUT of there).  I also needed to get to Atlanta to visit the family, my Grandmother, and my friend Lesley.  I spent the weekend shopping for wedding dresses and visiting Grandma.  (NO riding at all).  I found a kick-ass dress from designer Rivini.  It’s very simple, and looks really good on me — makes me look real skinny.  I’m stoked about this dress, and if you know me, I don’t get too stoked about any dresses.  But this one is the BOMB.  Trust me.  Good weekend.

The following Monday, I started my NEW JOB!  That’s right — after 10 years in the world of manufacturing and chemicals, I have taken my Engineering degree and love for the outdoors to what I think will be a great job at the US National Whitewater Center.  I’m the Engineering Manager, with responsibilities for the whitewater pump system operations and maintenance (pumps, filters, conveyors, gates, etc.), along with all associated facilities maintenance, landscaping, custodial, security, etc.  No, I don’t know any answers to “when are we going to open” and “what’s the road situation”.  I just work here.  But really, I’m having a blast.  It’s a great place with great people.  I’ve gotten more actually done in the last week than I did in three weeks at my last job.  And it doesn’t feel like work.  I actually look FORWARD to going to work.  OK, so it’s only been a week, but I’ve had enough jobs to know what feels good and what just feels like “a job”.  I’ve been really busy all week, and have had NO time to ride.  So — two weeks with no riding.  But, good things are happening!

Yesterday was the Cowbell Challenge 12-hour race at the aforementioned USNWC (my work).  It was held on the trails that have been there since the 90s, built by the Tarheel Trailblazers.  They are my favorite trails in Charlotte, and it was nice to finally get out there and ride them.  I’ll do a full race report later.  I’m still sore.

OK, so I’ve been a little busy since the Burn Race…. more on that later.  First, a race recap…

After two years of racing the Burn 24-hour race on all-female teams (which is really fun and I highly recommend it…), and a solo 12-hour race last year, I decided to take the plunge and race solo this year at the Burn 24-hour.  Once I convinced myself to commit to the solo race, I spent a LOT of time thinking about it.  If you’ve been reading my blog, you might have gotten that idea.  I figured I could do it physically, but I wasn’t really sure how I’d hold up on the mental side.  I tend to get emotional when I haven’t had much sleep, and I didn’t know how the overnight hours would find me.  To try to combat the emotional stress, I spent the weeks leading up to the race making packing lists, nutritional plans and formulating my strategy.

The race is held on Memorial Day weekend, which is convenient.  Brian and I took Friday off from work to go up to the Dark Mountain trails in N. Wilkesboro, NC and set up camp.  Officially, camping opens at noon.  Last year, we were there at noon and had our pick of campsites.  This year, we arrived at 12:09 and got the last campsite along the much-coveted first section of track after the trail exit.  At least we were set up next to some local buddies, the “Beerrun” team (Terry W., Chris R., Cheech G., Joe R., Chris W….) and fellow 1st-time 24-hour solo racer Dave Branch.  Here’s Dave and I in our pit on Friday afternoon…

After we set everything up and sat around the campsite debating the chance of rain for a while, we set off to ride the trail late that afternoon.  I rode my SS to see how my 32×20 gearing would do in the off-chance I would need to use that bike as a back-up.  Unfortunately, I hadn’t really eaten anything, but I figured I had an easy gear, we were going slowly, and if anything happened, we’d all be together.  About a mile into the trail, I realized my rear brake calipers were up against the rotor after my hurried cog change-out the night before.  They weren’t just rubbing, they were binding to the point that I couldn’t adjust the pads out to compensate.  Of course, all my tools were in my seatbag on the other bike as part of my strategy to not carry a camelback during the daylight hours of the race.  So, I rode the trail in what felt like 36×16 with no food.  I bonked pretty hard.  Luckily, I was riding with Meghan (a teammate from last year’s team who was racing on the Dirt Divas’ team again).  She had some Envirite which she shared.  I felt better after that, but embarassed about the mechanical issues and lack of food and tool planning for the pre-ride.  I guess I should take these rides more seriously.

Friday night, it was early to bed in the tent.  I wanted to get as much sleep as I could.  Unfortunately, some of our neighbors that we didn’t know decided to show up late that night and make a lot of noise.  Then, of course, they were talking and laughing loudly again before sunrise (I estimate around 5:00 am).  After much shhusshhing and sighs, I finally got up and gave up on sleep.  I sat around the campsite while Brian rode three laps before the start of the race and before his pit-bitch duties began at noon.

Finally — the start of the race.  It starts at noon Saturday with a run (ok, for me, a jog) around the track, then you hop on your bikes and start riding.  I was determined to be the last one on my bike, since I wanted to pace myself and be very conservative at the start of the race.  Unfortunately, several others had similar ideas, or just wanted to be in the back too, so I was fighting for last place.  Some (ahem, Teamdicky) were there to “not really race”, so I ran with them in the back.  Here’s the campsite — we ran around the perimeter to start the race…

The first 7 laps were slow and hot.  I started to wonder why the heck I thought I could do this.  My heart raced, and I tried to drink a lot of Hammer Heed and gel to ward off cramps.  I started thinking there was no way I could do 24 hours of this.  How the heck had I done 12 hours last year?  Although those laps hurt pretty badly, I stuck to my plans to take a break after every 3rd lap.  After a while, my heartrate started to come down.  My shoulders were beginning to hurt, but Brian was rubbing them during each break, which really helped a LOT.  The Heed was mixed a little strong, so I craved water and started drinking more straight water.

Here I am early in the race — slow and steady…

As the sun started to set, I braced myself for depression.  Much to my surprise and delight, I was energized by the darkness.  I was happy to be out of the heat.  My body began to fall into a groove where I didn’t have to think about pedaling anymore.  It’s like everything went into automatic.  I moved from drinking mostly water with some Heed to drinking some Perpetuem (and mostly water).  I had a hard time eating any solid food, so I stayed away from it.  I was feeling good — even energetic.

At 10:30 pm, I had done 9 1/2 laps.  I came across a guy on the trail walking his bike with a small flashlight strapped to his helmet.  His regular light had died and that’s all he had left.  I stopped to help.  I had an extra back-up halogen in my pack which I gave him so he could finish his lap and get his teammates out on the trail.  We fiddled around with the light for quite a while to get it onto his helmet and get it working.  He thanked me profusely and we were on our way.  That’s why I bring a back-up, right?

I got down to the campsite and waited for him to meet me there.  By the time we got there, I realized I didn’t have enough battery left in my HID light to go out for another lap.  My back-up halogen that I had just loaned out was dimming, and my other battery for the HID wasn’t done charging.  So I waited.  Impatiently.  For an hour and 20 minutes.  I watched my other solo female comptetitors pass my tent.  I tapped my feet.  I talked to Beerrun.  I sighed in frustration.

Finally, at 12:30 am, I was back on the trail and very ready to make up some time.  Halfway through my 10th lap, I heard this horrible hissing noise.  I had just gone off the trail to let a faster racer pass and I ran over a small tree stump.  Surely that didn’t cause a flat.  I tried to convince myself that the tire was just low on air.  I filled it using what was left in my current CO2 canister.  It lasted about 50 feet and was flat again.  I changed the tube.  I blew out my other CO2 by not fully attaching it to the pump.  Luckily, a nice guy handed me his hand pump.  I tried to fix it using that, but was getting nowhere fast.  Taylor Sullivan stopped to help.  Thanks, Taylor!  Finally, my tire was fixed after an embarrassing 25 minutes of fumbling around in the dark.  I realized shortly after Taylor took off that we hadn’t put enough air in the tire.  I fumbled some more until a nice girl from Raleigh (I’ve raced against her in XC before) gave me another CO2.  A quick burst, and I was back in business.  I was still riding well, my legs moving in the “zone” on automatic pilot.  My shoulders finally quit hurting, but my crotch was starting to feel the effects of a bunch of hours in the saddle.  The saddle sores were beginning.  They weren’t too bad to begin with, though, and were more tolerable after a liberal dose of Assos (minty-fresh!).  During this lap, I encountered the much sought-after alien abduction.  Dirt Rag magazine caught a picture of me coming through…

The next lap (11) was great.  Toward the end of the lap, I decided I was starting to get hungry.  I stopped at the pits and grabbed some fruit and I’m not sure what else.  I immediately felt nauseous.  I sat at the pits for about 15 minutes, and finally decided that I was too cold to sit there sweating in the dark, so I started riding again thinking I’d warm up and the nausea would pass.  It didn’t.  My 12th lap was pure hell.  I walked much of it and stood there with my head down on my handlebars for a very long time.  I must have stood at the top of the hill near the midway point for 15 minutes.  Everyone who passed offered words of encouragement.  I wasn’t the only one experiencing this, apparently.  I couldn’t ride.  The motion of the headlight made me feel sicker.  Bouncing around made me sicker.  I’d ride for a while and then hug a tree for a while.  I didn’t think I could physically make it out.  I figured I’d still be out on the trail when the race was over at noon.  I’ve never felt quite like that before.  I think throwing up would have been a welcome option, but it wasn’t happening.  There wasn’t enough in my stomach.

That lap took me an hour and a half to complete.  As I was approaching the final climb, the trail went near the lake and I realized the sun was coming up when I saw the deep purple/pink reflection in the lake.  Oh, thank GOD.  That alone picked up my spirits tremendously.  When I got back to the pit area, I sat in my chair for another hour and a half trying to find my stomach.  When I realized I was craving a sausage-egg-and-cheese biscuit, I realized my nausea was gone and I was just plain starving.  Brian had some lunchmeat which I ate and that made me feel much better. 

I had 4 1/2 hours left to race.  I didn’t know where I stood, nor did I really care.  I figured I was getting slammed.  I just wanted to finish the race.  With the exception of the nausea, I felt really good about how I’d come through the previous 19 hours.  I had been riding pretty strong before, and the sunrise reinvigorated me.  I was determined to meet my goal of 15 laps. 

During my 13th lap, I met up with two of the other solo females.  They too had experienced some bad nausea.  I also found out that Dave B. had bowed out around 10 pm after 10 laps with nausea and vomiting.  It was nice to know I wasn’t alone.  As I rode with the other ladies, we talked about the upcoming post-race pizza.  Man, what an incentive!  Pizza never sounded so good to me.

My 14th lap seemed to fly by.  I was climbing the last climb when Chris W. passed me, patted me on the back and said, “You’re doing awesome!  Keep it up!”.  I actually got a little choked up when he said that.  This whole time, I expected that I would cry out of frustration during the night.  That never happened, and here I was about to cry with joy and accomplishment!  Shortly thereafter, Teamdicky passes me on his SS (the Meatplow) wearing nothing but pajama pants.  That’s not something I expected to see.

After lap 14, I stopped in the pits to wait for Brian to come off the hill from taking pictures.  I had plenty of time for a 15th lap, but not enough for 16.  This was the time to break out the “team kit”.  I raced my last lap in the “team kit”, while B wore his matching kit.  It was really fun and an entertaining way to finish out my race.

I ended up 6th (out of 6 solo females), with 15 laps and about 97 miles.  I would have been 23rd out of 40 solo males, though.   

After a couple of pieces of pizza, I collapsed in my pit area and didn’t have the energy to go over to the awards ceremony.   Brian graciously tore down our campsite and packed the car while I laid in the middle of track.  We left the venue and stopped at Burger King so I could have a cheesburger.  I was REALLY hungry.  I still wanted a sausage/egg/cheese biscuit, but it was too late in the day for that.  Brian drove home while I slept.  Once home, I took a shower and collapsed in the bed around 7:00 pm and didn’t wake up until 9:00 am (at which point I drove in my pj’s to McDonald’s for a sausage/egg/cheese biscuit).

I’m already planning for the next one.  I’ll know to have back-ups to my back-up lights and batteries.  I’ll carry extra CO2.  I’ll take in more calories and follow my original nutrition plans (which I failed to do, which is why I think I had the nausea).  I figure the lights cost me 2 laps total, the flat cost me 1/2 lap, and the nausea cost me 2 laps.  Realistically, I could have done 19 or 20 laps at a very slow pace if I had had no “issues”.  Next year….. Next year….

Bottom line, I’m stronger than I thought I was.  My body was able to take the riding.  My emotions didn’t fail.  It was really surreal to have my body go into auto-mode.  That’s never happened to me before.  It gives me a new confidence in both my physical and mental abilities to perservere.

I’m stressed at work.  I’m stressed about the wedding.  I’m stressed about my family.  At this moment, I’m stressed about the Burn 24-Hour race and the next few weeks.  Let’s see… 24-hour race this weekend.  Dirt Divas Tsali trip next weekend.  Sugar Mountain NORBA Nationals race the following weekend.  Weekend off.  Cowbell Challenge 12-hour race the following weekend (if I’m not dead by then).  Then, we’re into July…

I’m doing the Burn this weekend.  It will be my first solo 24-hour.  I’ve done a solo 12-hour and a couple of 24-hour team events.  I’m not going out there to really try to compete with the rest, but to see what I can do.  I want to push myself and see how much I can do.  I know I can do it.  I keep telling myself that, anyway.

I’m stressed that I’m forgetting something.  I have a list that I’ve used for the last few years to pack for the team events and I’ve adapted it for solo 12-hour and now the solo 24-hour events.  It’s long.  I’m amazed at how much stuff I’m bringing, only to spend a minimal amount of time in my pit area (I hope).  I started packing the car last night with the big stuff like tents, chairs and bike stands.  My bike is ready, except for the brake pads I need to change out, but that’s easy.

I’m typing this while I wait for my dinner to finish in the oven.  After I eat, I’ll be in the garage.  I’ve started to lay everything out on the floor of the garage to be packed into my plastic bins.  One bin for riding food/drink/energy stuff/personal stuff (like aspirin, chamois butter, tiger balm, etc.), and another bin for bike parts, tools, and other stuff-stuff.  I hope to get all of that taken care of tonight.  Tomorrow night, I’ll do the clothes and the other food shopping.  On my list:  oranges, bananas, watermelon, peanut m&ms, pirates booty (a strange craving of mine), and, of course, YOO HOO — my favorite middle-of-the-night-comfort-drink.

I hope I don’t forget anything.  I hope I don’t cry.  I think I’ll do yoga later tonight.  I have a knot in my stomach.

I know I’ll be fine.  I know I can do it.  I know I’ll have plenty of support.  Because….

The Spartanburg Stumpjump, held at Croft State Park, is one of my favorite XC races each year.  I love this trail.  It’s hilly (at least for part of the time), it’s technical, it’s fast in spots, and it’s fairly scenic.  When it’s dry, it’s a ton of fun.  When it’s wet, it’s VERY slick, with some red clay-mud and lots of roots.  The climbs become impassible, even hard to hike up.  The descents become treacherous and slick.  Last year, it rained heavily the night before and the morning of the race.  It didn’t actually rain during my race, but it was wet enough that I went over the handlebars on one of the aforementioned descents and rolled down a hill — all the while yelling, “RIDER DOWN!” so the girl who was close behind wouldn’t come down the hill on top of me.  Three years ago, back when they did the “Idaho” section during the race, there were ropes on the exit side of a steep gulley so people could pull themselves out.  Walking/riding wasn’t possible (I hear), due to the mud.  I never had the pleasure of riding that section in the mud.  I’ve ridden it, and it’s hard enough without mud.

So, this year, it rained a bit on Friday.  We went down Saturday, attempting to ride around noon or so.  We wanted to give ample time for the trail to dry.  Well, Spartanburg really isn’t very far from Boiling Springs, so we were really early and decided to stop at the outlet mall on the way.  After a quick run through the outlets and a stop at a wierd drive-through-or-eat-outside-only Chik-fil-A, we headed to the trails for the pre-ride.  The trail was in good condition, considering.  It was worse last year.  Saturday, it had a few wet spots, and very few really slick spots.  It could have been much worse.  The course itself was the same as last year, with a start in the grass down the road, and a turn into the trail that if you took too sharply you’d find yourself nosing down into a ditch.  The trick is to swing wide and go down the length of the ditch.  For the rest of the trail, although it hadn’t changed, it was more technical than I remembered.  The first powerline descent had been smoothed out due to people launching down the waterbars and separating shoulders and breaking collarbones.  The following steep climb didn’t seem as steep.  I climbed it in the middle ring, but I think I walked it last year.  From there, it’s almost all singletrack.  There are a couple of big climbs in the beginning, a long flat section in the middle that winds around down by the creek, and then some technical sections that you’re off the bike walking if you miss a line. Once you get through some technical stuff, rocks, and slick technical climbs, the last third of the trail is the rest of the climbing.

Saturday afternoon, it rained again (after we rode).  We went to Hops and had a yummy dinner.  We talked about wedding plans.  (Now, we have a plan.)  Sunday, I expected it to be a mess after the additional rain.  The beginners’ race was first at 9:00.  When they finished, they said it really wasn’t even as bad as Saturday.  Well, that’s good.  One less thing to worry about.  My Sport race was at 11:00.  I remembered to eat and to take care of my bike and to warm up.  I was off to a good start.  My biggest worry was the lap count.  Every year, they put our class down for three 9-mile laps, and every year we vote it down to two.  27 miles of technical trail is WAY too much for a Sport XC race.  The catch is, that the vote has to be unanimous.  It never fails that one girl wants to do all 3 laps, ruins the vote, and ends up DNFing.  Yes, that’s happened in my class more than once.

On the start line, there are 6 of us in my category, and 1 (Philicia) in the 19-29 category.  We’re all lobbying for the two-lap vote.  One girl says she kinda wants to do three.  I asked if she’s ever ridden there.  No.  Does she realize three laps would probably take us about three hours?  No.  She continues to hold her ground, though.  Madonna threatens to have me beat her if she votes for three.  Finally, they get to our class and there’s the vote.  We all vote for 2.  It comes down to this one chick.  She gives in and says she’ll do whatever everyone else wants.  I didn’t get a chance to find her to thank her and to see if she’s happy with her decision.  I’ll assume she was.

Ready, go.  I couldn’t get clipped in.  I was somewhere in the middle of the pack, but felt like everyone was leaving me.  I warned everyone about the trail entrance, since I saw some guys in the earlier race almost eat it and/or take everyone else out by short-cutting the gulley.  Our group got through it ok.  We were very bunched up in the first singletrack section.  Brian was hiding in the bushes taking pictures here….

Down the big, fast powerline downhill, up the steep climb.  “3-lap-girl” misses the climb and is off the bike walking.  I passed another here, too.  Into the woods, I’m behind Madonna, Philicia and Theresa and ahead of a few others.  We all stayed together for a while.  I passed Theresa early.  I sat behind Philicia until she slid out in a turn and I got around her.  I traded places with her for the rest of the race.  One girl from Georgia rode behind me for a while and we chatted.  She didn’t know the trail, so I called stuff out to her.  I felt like I was holding her up, but she insisted that my pace was good.  She and Philicia passed me when I dabbed on one of the technical climbs about 3/4 of the way through the first lap.  I never saw her again, but I stayed in sight of Philicia for the rest of the race.

At the start of the second lap, I was hurting already.  I tried to ignore it and take my own advice and take a few swigs of Hammergel.  That stuff is magic in a flask.  I was headed down the road to the trail, when I saw “3-lap-girl” come out of the woods to finish her first lap.  Gosh, I didn’t realize she was so close.  I sped up and made it back into the trail.  Somewhere in the singletrack, suddenly Beth is RIGHT behind me.  I had no idea she was there.  I sped it up a bit more and we played yo-yo for the last half of the second lap.  After the tech stuff and starting the last climbs, I didn’t think I had anything left.  But, I thought I was in third, and I didn’t want to let Beth beat me.  I kept going and had some more Hammergel.  I got my second wind.  I’m not sure what exactly the mechanisms are in my body, but I SWEAR I found leg muscles I didn’t know I had.  I put a gap on Beth and finished for third place.  The girl from GA (last rider in the pic above) got first, Madonna second, me third, Beth fourth, “3-lap girl” 5th (I think) and Theresa 6th (I think).  I’m obviously not sure about the last two.

I felt like I had a good race.  I love that course.  It’s worth a day-trip.  Brian’s race was cut short due to lightning.  He was happy about that and we got home earlier than expected.  He was scheduled to do four laps and only did three.  Four laps is a long hard race.

On the way home, I started cramping.  I dropped B off in Boiling Springs, came home, showered and, you guessed it….. ICE BATH!  With the warmer weather, ice melts faster, so I had to stop at the gas station for some extra ice.  It still didn’t last very long, but it SO works.  No pain on Monday.

I went to sleep early.  I slept well Sunday night.

I’ve been in “Pump School” for the last two days.  I went out on a limb and signed up eight operators and mechanics for pump school in Charlotte.  The way we operate and maintain pumps is atrocious!  But, I can only preach so much, and they only listen to me so much.  I figured if they heard it from someone else who’s “in the business”, they might start to understand.  So, I found a class in Charlotte put on by one of these industrial training outfits.  I got some of the more influential mechanics and operators to agree to go, albeit hesitantly.

Well, the last two days have been great!  There was much skepticism on Wednesday.  They claimed that “we already know how to pack pumps, why do we need this class?”  They were dismayed that they didn’t need to bring any tools or work clothes.  “What are we gonna learn by sitting in a classroom?”  They quickly learned the answer — ALOT.  Some theory.  Some practical application.  Proper operation, proper maintenance, some design, Do’s, Don’t, and a lot of “gee, I didn’t know that…”  The biggest skeptics in the group were thanking me for getting them in on the training, and are planning to take what they learned back to the plant to put into practice.  They even asked if there were more classes like that.  Hey, whatever it takes to get a more reliable plant…!

Another small success.

Sometimes it’s good to put things into perspective…..

Perspective:  When I have a bad race, I recall what being a beginner feels like.  Last Wednesday’s race at Reni brought much humility.  I went out hard and held on to the 1^st place rider’s wheel for the first 2 miles.  I couldn’t see the 3^rd place racer.  Then, my body would have no more of that.  I hit the wall and was passed after the first ½ lap (mile 3 of 12), and struggled to finish the race.  Everything was cramping, and I bonked rather completely.  Very humbling. 

The next day, however, I was reminded of how far I’ve come.  I got some pictures back from the women’s only beginner skills clinic that I led last Saturday.  (We had 33 enthusiastic women and girls out there!)  It is very inspiring to see women just starting out, and reveling in tackling parts of the trail that I take for granted that I can ride.  I remember being “new” and feeling like I could never get through the steep learning curve.  Every ride was an “event” in my life.  Every log and root was a challenge.  Riding then was an adventure.  Nowadays, it’s still fun, but in a different way.  I don’t have to concentrate as much but I don’t have as many small victories.  Now, I ride for the sake of loving to ride and feeling strong and powerful.

Practice in the field during the Women’s Only Beginner Skills Clinic:

Hitting the trail - the first uphill:

Perspective:  When I realize, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that no, I am not, nor will I ever be, an elite cyclist, I come to grips with realizing and living up to MY own potential.  I went for the VO2max and RMR testing last week.  It was a good deal for people who had done the Per4mance Training winter series.  I learned 2 things from these tests:  my metabolism is impossibly slow, and I’m fairly average when it comes to typical athletes.  My RMR (resting metabolic rate) is very low, which may explain my weight loss struggles.  Weight Watchers isn’t cutting it anymore for me - it doesn’t take into account fueling needs for racing.  I’ll start working with a sports nutritionist in the very near future to work out these issues.

In the realm of VO2max, I was just curious more than anything else about this number.  The test is hard but short.  In the grand scheme of things, I’m well above average - for the average population.  I asked how I stacked up against the people that went to Per4mance for their testing - a generally athletic, endurance-athlete, racing-type group.  According to the tester, I was right there in the average, maybe a point above average.  But average nonetheless.  (Not really any surprise there!)

With that said, I don’t want to resign myself to being “average” just because that’s what the numbers say.  I ride because I like to.  I race because I like to push myself.  I may never go Pro, or even Expert, but racing with others in my Sport group is fulfilling and challenging.  I want to push myself to MY highest potential.  These thoughts remind me of Teamdicky’s comment last year about these racers that win the big enduro events - they are just “regular” people. They have committed to finding their potential and pushing their own limits.  (OK, so I’m paraphrasing.)  Here’s his post: 

“Back in the 90’s I was lucky to stand on a sport class podium.  I used to read about people like John Stamsted and Rishi Grewal and I was in awe of thier accomplishments.  A few years later I jumped in and tried it and the next thing I knew I was racing Stamsted and I was standing on a podium with Rishi.
  You can admire what they do, but they are just like you.  They just choose to push themselves further.  Everybody should test their limits.  You only got one shot at living so why not see what you can do with it.
  I carry a quote with me at work from Stamsted:
“Endurance feats are great up to a point-and then they just become slogs that everyone has the physical ability to do”
  ……I just thought people should know that she (Heather Mosely – last year’s Burn winner) is just like you and me.  Eat, sleep, work, dream.”

Rich, your comments have stuck with me in the last year and inspired me to push myself more to find out what I am capable of doing.  I want to push myself as far as I can and still have fun riding. 

If only my legs looked as good as Teamdicky’s in a skort!

Perspective:  When I think there’s no way I’ll get through next weekend’s 24-hour race, I remember thinking how crazy a 12-mile ride was.  I remember when all I could handle was a half-lap at Renaissance (3 miles).  I used to reserve rides at Catawba for days when I was “feeling really good”.  Then, I got to the point where I could ride Catawba all the way through with only one or two stops.  The thought of doing 2 laps at Catawba for a Sport race was overwhelming (12 miles).  Fast-forward two years - I did 11 laps at Catawba during last year’s Cowbell Challenge.  I’m attempting the Burn 24-hour Solo this year.  That seems like a lot of riding.  When I think about it all at once, it’s as overwhelming to me as those first 3 miles at Renaissance were 6 years ago.  Again, it’s all about perspective.  Break it down into smaller chunks.  Take it one mile at a time. 

And, as always, have a Mimosa when you’re done!

After a good pre-ride on Saturday, the trails at Devil’s Ridge in Sanford, NC were in great shape.  There had been some rain earlier in the week, but the trails were mostly dry.

The race begins by riding through the moto-cross track.  Lots of big MX jumps and rollers, then into the woods, for a roughly 5-mile long trail.  It’s not too technical, and not too hilly.  It is tight in spots, but there is nothing really notable.  For you locals, it’s like Renaissance, but with better “flow”.

The morning of the race, the weather was perfect.  A little chilly, not damp.  The sport race was first.  This is good, considering my “gift of gab” (see Clemson race report).  No time to waste here.  Plus, I think it’s easier to fuel for an early race.  I’m looking around, and there aren’t too many other women around before the race.  There is another race on the same day in Clemson as part of the larger SERC series.  I think that’s where everyone else was.  I only see one other Sport woman hanging around, and she’s in the younger 19-29 class.

At the line, my suspicions were right.  It was just me and Anina — the younger racer.  They started us with the Clydesdales.  One guy (Batman — he always wears a Batman jersey his son picked out) says, “oh great — now I’ll finally be passed by the ENTIRE women’s class!”  We all chuckled.  The guy who owns the venue is a MX guy, and is used to having a bunch of motors revving on the starting line, because there is no verbal “GO” to start the race.  He just raises a flag.  This threw me off the first time I raced here, but this time I knew what to expect.  When he raised the flag, we were off.  I was having a good time.  I made motorcycle noises as I led out, ahead of most of the Clydesdales.  I guess they have more inertia to overcome, but can maintain more momentum, because it didn’t take long for them to all pass me in the MX course.  Maybe I need to work on better motorcycle noises.

Since I was the only one in my class, I can’t say I was really “racing”.  I had a bunch of fun, though.  I tried to keep the Clyde (Batman) in my sights who was convinced that we would pass him.  We had three laps to do.  At the end of the first lap, I caught him, right at the finish line.  He slows and tries to get me to pass, while telling me he’s about to puke.  The place was not a good place to pass, so I tell him I’ll pass him around the next corner, and THEN he can puke. 

I’m not sure what happened, but he sped up, didn’t puke, and we kept riding.  For the second lap, I kinda forgot that it was a race at all.  My mind wandered all over the place and I just rode.  On the third lap, I saw Batman again, so I tried to catch him.  That’s when I started to remember that it was a race afterall, even if I was only racing myself.  I booked it through the third lap.  In the field I saw the front of the Sport men’s class approaching quickly, about to lap me (that usually happens earlier in this race).  They have 4 laps to my 3 for this race.  There was a group of 3 all together, with about 3/4 mile left in the race.  When they caught me in the last section of singletrack, I pulled over, stopped, let them go by, and cheered them on.  Races that close are exciting, and I didn’t want to mess them up, especially when I knew I would get “1st place” in my race regardless.

All-in-all, it was a fun day.  I never caught Batman again.  He left me when I stopped for the other guys.  I got a huge plaque with a picture of a racer on it (“Hey!  That’s not me!”).  It was the same one they had on the plaques last year.  Devil’s Ridge is well-known for their good swag.  In addition to the huge plaque, I got two Kenda tires (my current favorites!), some grips, and another pint glass.  I could open a bar with all the pint glasses I’ve won from racing!

We have a couple of weeks off from racing, then Spartanburg Stumpjump, then comes the BURN 24-hour race.  Oh yeah, that’s coming up….. now I’m nervous again….