Crossin' with the Locals

I think I have stumbled into cyclocross heaven on the North Shore of Massachusetts.

Backing up...Nate and I pulled into Ipswich with 5 bikes, a tired dog, and a recently completed 20-page research paper at 3am this past Friday. Got a few hours of sleep, had breakfast with the folks, went for a run, unpacked some bags, got on the bike for some intervals, jumped into the shower and sped off to a wedding. (One of the best weddings ever, by the way. Thanks Rella and Greg :)

The next day we went searching for a bike shop and stumbled upon Stu Thorne's place about 15 min. away. He runs cyclocrossworld.com and a team of some of the greatest cross racers in the country out of his shop in Beverly, Pinnacle Bikes. Needless to say, after spending an hour in there with him my bikes and cross season were off to a very good start. He was endlessly helpful and helped Nate and I choose lots of extra bells and whistles to turn my 2 Giant TCX0s into some pretty mean cross machines. He also clued me into a race that was happening the next day and to the local cross practice going on in the state park 5 mi. from my house every Wednesday. Great, great guy.

Like I said, cyclocross heaven.

Nate worked really hard to put my bikes together in time for me to go to Suckerbrook Cross the following day in Auburn, NH. First ride on the new bike, ever and what better way to figure it all out than to get anerobic and fumble around for 45 min. with 20 other fast women. All in all, I had a good race and I know what I need to work on. Mostly, I just need experience, something I pretty much have none of at the moment.

A lot of it is just getting back into cross mode-like nailing your starts (which I learned is key as I lined up DFL b/c I was fiddling with my tire pressure last minute), having the clarity of mind to get up out of the saddle and hammer after corners and to make the race happen, not let the race happen to you. I got caught behind a huge pile up after the first off camber corner allowing the lead 5 to go off the front immediately while the rest of us track standed. I chased as hard as I could, but could never quite make contact with the lead group and had to settle for 4th. Good news is that my skills and footwork are there. Thankfully, the running guru Eric has had me on a fantastic running program for the last month and it is making a HUGE difference. I'll have to write more about that later. He's soooo onto something there...

Anyway, after stopping in at the podium for a nice check (although women still get the shaft in payouts in comparison to the men in cross, the money is far better here than mountainbiking!) We had to boogie to go get to Foxboro to attend my b-day present:



I have been a rabid u2 fan since the 5th grade. They have always been my "desert island" band-you know the answer to the question "If you were stuck on a desert island and could only listen to one band for the rest of your life who would it be?" I would also answer to that question the more specific "...only one album..." (Joshua Tree of course).


It was sheer coincidence that they would be playing in the Boston area the same time we were there, on my birthday weekend. I'm really not much of a b-day person....I was so wrapped up in finishing a graduate paper I almost forgot my own b-day...but 2 tickets, general admission (allowing us to get SUPER close) was the best b-day present EVER. Thanks, Nate :)

Best concert I have ever seen. And I have seen a LOT of live music. Bono and his pals sure do know how to put on a good show. Total sensory overload. There must have been over 30,000 people there and I think they would all agree that U2 is in a class of its own. It doesn't hurt that they put their talent and fame to good use by bringing awareness to obscure issues like Burma's political struggles and raise endless amounts of money to combat poverty, AIDS and lack of education all over Africa. Things that most Americans never, ever think about. That stuff typically gets bumped out of the Yahoo headlines by stupid crap like which hollywood actor just checked into rehab.

Week one of this whole east coast experiment has been a very, very good thing. Next up is my first ever UCI cross race, the Green Mountain Cross Festival, part of the Verge series this Saturday and Sunday. Hup, hup buttercups!