Recovery Weather

The "spring" weather in the Tetons, once again, is bad. It's been snowing, raining and uber windy since we got home on Tuesday and it looks like the weather pattern will be here until we leave again on Monday. I went for a nice recovery spin around the gorgeous back roads of Ducktown, TN in 80 deg. temps on Sunday morning:


And my deck has looked like this since we got home on Tuesday:


It's all good, though. I went to bed Saturday night after the race with a scratchy throat and sniffles hoping that it was from racing and the inch of pollen that was covering everything in Tennessee. No such luck. I haven't suffered from seasonal allergies since I began eating according to the Paleo Diet so I knew I was getting sick. Seems the man sitting behind me who was coughing without covering his mouth an average of 3x a minute on my flight out from San Francisco shared with me his germs to incubate...and I'm just guessing that racing a hundie in the pouring rain gave the cold a great opportunity to hit me full force.

So, I'm enjoying my week of recovery, spending a lot of time indoors in slippers and pjs and getting a lot of house projects done. I'm trying to enjoy the one whole week at home until we hit the road again for the next 2-week racing adventure. Nate is using his time well, too. He spent all day yesterday stripping my Nine down to the frame, soaking and cleaning all my individual parts and generally being the greatest husband/mechanic on the planet. Cohutta burned through an entire set of brake pads to the metal, ruined a set of rotors and put dirt/sand/water in places I didn't even know existed on a bike. Team Carey is definitely 50% Mr. Carey. As I was lying on the couch blowing by nose and whining, he was quietly working away in the shop, making my life easier. Love you honey!

Nate gettin' fancy in Marin.

Here are a few shots from our ride in San Francisco post Sea Otter. We made an urban assault on San Fran, made our way across the Golden Gate Bridge (SO RAD) and rode some fun, mellow trails in Marin. When the number plate comes off, there is no one I would rather ride with than Nate. Being in this crazy world of mountain bike racing has allowed us to see parts of the country by bike that we never would have experienced otherwise.

Team Carey

Looking down on San Francisco Bay

Cohutta 100

EPIC. That about sums up my experience racing the Cohutta 100. I'm not one to toss that adjective out unless a race deserves the description. It was truly an epic day in the saddle.


The simple details: I had an easy flight out from San Francisco and arrived at my hotel in Ducktown, TN at midnight on Wednesday. I spent Thursday and Friday riding sections of the course and dialing down race details. I shared a hotel room with my former Kenda teammate Danielle Musto and it was awesome to see her and catch up.

Race details: When we woke up at 4:30 am on race day (and what felt like 1:30am to my confused brain that was still on CA time) it was raining. Hard. Ick. We went about our business, ignored the weather and pumped in as much coffee as we could tolerate before heading out. I got a nice little warm up in before sunrise, the legs felt good and my heart rate was high. After a change of clothes, I was ready to roll.

Mixing my drop bags.

7am starts are never awesome, but I had a game plan for this one...pin it to get to the singletrack first. The start was a mass start on a 2 mile paved climb and I went off with the lead group of men even though it redlined me immediately. But, it served a good purpose as I got to the singletrack one position ahead of Lynda Wallenfells who I keyed in on as my main competition in this race. Lots of strong gals were racing, but I knew Lynda was going to turn the screws on me the hardest out of any of the women there.

After a guy ate it in a water crossing ahead of me and took me down hard at mile 10, Lynda took the lead. She was killing me on the climbs and after 1:45 of XC race pace I had to back off. I knew if I kept it up I wouldn't be able to pedal in about an hour. I went to a very dark, bad, unhappy place between hr 1:45 and 3:30 thinking that I had blown myself up. Then, while I struggled to find my first drop bag at aid 2 another woman got ahead of me. Suddenly, I was in 3rd, feeling like death, but the chase was on. I tried not to panic and focused on my pedal stroke and catching back up.

I suppose I have to interject the tale here with a disclaimer. Cohutta is reputed to be the "easiest" 100 of the NUE series. Perhaps. But there is a relentless amount of steep climbing that seems to NEVER end. Ever. So, "easy" is a relative term. Sitting on the couch eating bonbons is easy. Cohutta is not.

About 4 hours in I caught and passed Lynda. We didn't say much except an exchange of info questioning who the heck the girl ahead of was. Then, I slowly reeled in Anna B. She was a much, much better climber than me. But, as soon as it got to be less than a 5% grade, flat or downhill, I had the advantage. I made a big move on a downhill to a flat at around mile 55 after about 5 miles of cat and mouse and that was the last I saw of her.

Lots of this at the start...

Oh, yeah, I must mention that at about this same time it had started to rain even harder. This was when the real thunder, lightening and POURING rain began. Good lord, I have never ridden my bike in rain like that. All the ridges were totally fogged in too, so it took a great amount of gumption to rail the gravel dirt road downhills when I couldn't see what was coming at me. Drifting corners takes on a totally new meaning when it's pouring and your contacts are full of dirt.

Starting at mile 60 it was more about self-preservation, maintaining bike function and basic survival than anything else. I was in just a jersey and shorts and stashed no clothes in my pockets or at aid stations. My shifting was almost nonexistent and I was having severe chain suck issues. I kept rethinking in my head the process of fixing a busted chain in a downpour because I was convinced that at some point I was going to snap my chain.

Paranoid, I stopped at least once an hour to apply chain lube. Deciding to toss a little bottle of wet lube in my jersey at the last minute saved my race. I never would have finished without it. I only had to get off and manually shift a few times and considered the added challenge of limited shifting capability to practice my singlespeeding.

There were tons of wooden bridges on
the course...meaning a lot of crashes.

The last 10 miles were intense. Super-sloppy singletrack that was slicker than snot punctuated by a bunch of short climbs. I started running into a lot of the 65-mile race traffic about 70 miles in and I have to say, I have never been in a race where everyone was SO NICE. Seriously, people smiled, pulled over before I came up on them and cheered me on as I passed. Even the men who were doing the 100. That is really the theme here in TN. I have been overwhelmed by how genuinely nice and helpful the people are in these parts.

By the end, I managed to roll in first place in 8 hrs 3 min with a healthy gap on second place. I was so muddy I jumped into the river fully clothed with my bike so I wouldn't trash the rental car. I won some cool prizes including a little black bear stuffed animal which I am sure will become Maddy's new toy when I get home.

I must thank the race director, Barb, and the entire staff of volunteers for putting on a fantastic race. I've done a lot of hundreds and this was one of the best marked courses and most well-organized events I have attended. It's right up there with the Park City Point to Point. Plus, the Tennessee hospitality was just awesome. Did I mention how NICE everyone here is? Gosh, maybe it's because I grew up in Massachusetts, but I have been just overwhelmed with folks' kindness throughout this entire trip.

After sitting through an evening of tornado watches, thunder, lightening and pouring rain, it's calm, clear and beautiful this morning. Go figure. If I have enough chain lube left, I may try to clean and lube my cables and housing and get out for a road spin before I get on a plane this afternoon to go home.

A big thanks to Kenda once again for making a fantastic xc mud tire (the Karma 1.9s were the perfect choice) and of course for all the support. Kenda's belief in me is what allowed me to hop on a plane and come out here in the first place! Also, a special thanks to Felt for making a sic Carbon 29er, the Nine. I can't imagine I'll ever race a 100-miler again on anything but 29inch wheels as the Nine is pretty much the ideal ultra-endurance race bike. Hammer kept me fueled and bonk and digestive issue-free. Of course, I must also thank my poor husband and family for enduring a stressful day along with me. They were watching the big green and yellow blob on the radar screen hover over my racecourse from afar, listening to reports of severe weather deaths and damage all over the south. Knowing I was out there racing unsupported in a tornado warning was probably just as fun as riding in it!

Sea Otter Wrap Up

Another Sea Otter is in the books. I had a great time with my teammates, Nate did an awesome job taking care of us and our bikes all weekend, the recovery rides along pebble beach were beautiful and of course the quality time with our sponsors was fun. This year had by far the best weather than in years past, as we typically withstand some kind of biblical-type weather event like pouring rain, hurricane force winds, or 100 deg. heat with 4million percent humidity. This year was perfect: just warm enough, calm and dry .


My short track was pretty terrible. After bumping serious elbows at the start, narrowly avoiding a crash and getting left behind a bit at the gun, I had to get off and push across the mud bog-side hill and pretty much struggled the entire race. I just didn't feel good. I bobbled the mud bog more than a few times and generally rode like a weenie until I got pulled. Even though the shortrack was my opener for the XC which was to be my true tune up for Cohutta, it's never too fun to ride so flatly and embarrass yourself on a national stage. Oh well.

Uber-manager and coffee roaster, David

The cross country was a much better race for me. True to my diesel engine style, after a good 80 minute warm up it took my legs and my head an additional 2 full laps to wake up. This year, the course was 3.2 mile lap, almost half of which was pavement and it was tough. Lots of climbing on bumpy terrain, tricky high speed descending and road tactics. Yup. I said road tactics. The standard of what constitutes a mountain bike race has certainly been changed. You had to stay on the gas the entire time as there was nowhere to rest, no where to hide. I rode poorly the first 2 laps...kind of like I was in a fog. Finally, about 45 min in I started to feel better. I had been riding around the gals who ended up 15th-20th on the day, so I was pleased that I continuously moved up and not backwards as the race progressed. I finished in 1:25, good enough for 14th. Georgia Gould schooled the field in about 1:16. That's a short race if you ask me. If only I had another lap or 2...or 6. I may have caught up to some more.

Now we're hanging in San Francisco doing city things like eating good Vietnamese food, hanging in hip coffee shops and visiting with great friends. We even went to a show in Oakland last night (Vampire Weekend) and I didn't wear compression tights. Life in the fast lane, I tell ya...Tomorrow morning I hop on a flight to Chattanooga, TN for the Cohutta 100. It's my first try at an unsupported 100-miler out of a bike box and a rental car. Wish me luck!

One More Year, One More Otter

Nate and I packed up the car on Wednesday in this:


to get to this:I love Sea Otter. There is so much going on it's easy to forget that we are here to race, too. Short Track today, XC tomorrow. This year, the pro XC course has been changed to a bunch of short little laps to make it more UCI friendly. So, we get to ride around in small circles instead of 2 big circles. The endurance racer in me thinks that is a bummer, but the spectators should love it!

Barking Spider

Why would I want to drive 6 hours each way to race in Boise this weekend? After just having been on the road for 3 weeks and a 16hr drive to Sea Otter on the horizon I was ready to stay home.

At least that's what I said when Sarah Kaufman (one of my favorite racers in the whole wide world) asked me about the Wild Rockies race in Nampa, ID and if I was going. Nope, I was on a rest week.

But then the idea took on a life of its own. I asked my coach if it was a good idea and he enthusiastically said yes, great intensity. Then Nate said he would love to visit our friends who live there and get in some riding on dry trails. Then I got myself an appointment with the master of all things bike-fit, Tom Coleman of Wobble-Naught, we scheduled a dinner date with very good friends who we hadn't seen in ages (as in they have a 7month old we hadn't met yet) and I was sold. Suddenly, I couldn't wait to get to Boise.

The Barking Spider (hold your giggles, please) was the first race of the Wild Rockies series and was a true sufferfest. It was 28 miles of loose and hard-pack sand, lots of stupid-steep short climbs and a few loooong climbs on double track that just went forever and ever. There was some fun singletrack through a wash, but it was pretty darn sandy, making it about a 50/50 split of enjoyment vs. sketchyness to rail to corners. Half of me enjoyed the twisty-turny features, the other half was scared of coming off the lips of the berms into the loose sand pits and folding my front wheel.

Like all cyclists out west, I have been riding in a lot of really windy conditions this year. But Saturday was just plain obscene. After the gusts up to 50mph at the Fontana National and almost getting blown off the Hurrican Rim in Southern UT a few days after, I thought I had ridden in it all. Nope. Idaho has its own brand of wind. It doesn't gust as there is nothing out there like trees or buttes or hills to slow it down. It just hammers at you steadily and relentlessly. Saturday was like that. Steady 30 mph coming directly at us on every single climb. Poor Nate stood in the feedzone with a huge puffy down coat and a hat on and probably should have brought his ski goggles too.


There was a small but strong pro field. I managed to ride off the front about 5 min. into the race and that's where I stayed. Alone. In the wind. All day. During lap 2 I had to give myself a good pep talk when I was suffering like a dog. It started out something like "You pansy, just pedal and stop feeling sorry for yourself. You signed up for this, remember?" That didn't work. So I moved onto "Just deal. Breathe. You are racing. Just race." Nope, that didn't help either. Approach #3 was what finally got me out of my hurting head-space: "It's not supposed to feel good. If you felt good, you would be slacking. Make it hurt MORE. That's the point." Ahhhhh, that was the money phrase. Embrace it.

I ended up winning by a healthy margin and came away with a great mental training day. I didn't get pissed at the wind. I managed to embrace the discomfort that was oozing out of every inch of my body and actually ask my body to take on more.

The day pretty much solidified my believe in Sports Psychology. Granted, I am currently working on getting a masters in the subject so I should be a believer. But still, it's pretty powerful stuff to realize that your brain runs the show. Yes, I was suffering. Yeah, the wind was obscene. But it was my choice how that affected my experience out there. If the body says no, the brain can still tell it yes. Cool.

Speaking of brain training, I spent Sunday with Tom Coleman of Wobble-Naught. I knew this guy was a master of bike fitting and I had had a Wobble-Naught fitting years ago and loved it, but holy-moly did I walk away with a significant amount of knowledge. I was there all day and we didn't even get to my road bike. I ended up choosing a different saddle, moving my saddle height up, back and changing the angle as well, decided to switch to a flat bar with a more negative-drop stem, changed my grips placement and moved my cleats. So yup, everything had been wrong! We we even video taped and analyzed my pathetic pedal stroke and body position. Seeing how bad my form is on film was an eye opener. Lots to work on and lots to improve there.

Now it's a mad dash to unpack to repack so we can leave for Sea Otter. I am flying out to the Cohutta 100 from California so I have to think about packing for a XC, Short track and life in host housing for a week to a flight across the country to race a 100-miler unsupported somewhere in Georgia/Tennessee out of one bag and a bike box. Now where's that packing list...

Team Kenda/Felt lookin' all pro in Fontana

Where's Amanda???

Good question. Recently, I have had trouble remembering where I am when I first wake up. My latest road trip went something like this: Victor->Salt Lake->Hurricane->St. George ->Fontana->St. George->Hurricane->Fruita->Kremmling->Fruita->Victor. Lots of random hotels, nights under the stars, racing, photo-shooting, spending time with family, riding in the wind, rain, sun and snow and most importantly, getting in some quality training. I ran into friends from Idaho at random trailheads, made friends with complete strangers, watched some really bad tv while waiting out weather in Fruita and burned in my 2010 biker tan for good.

This last week was a biggie. I dragged my tired legs from Fontana all over Hurricane and Fruita in order to put in one last week of big training rides before I taper for Sea Otter and Cohuttta. Mission definitely accomplished. I'm pooped. I capped the road trip off with a great visit with my sister, brother in law, nephew and new niece, Rowan. Even though infants don't really do much but squirm and make funny noises, she is very, very cute.

Zippity. Do. Dah. Dang that was fun.

Striking a balance while living and training on the road is always tricky as it becomes harder to keep up with the recovery, stretching, eating right and sleeping well. Over time, I've learned that a few things are key to keeping me happy and healthy. I therefore have no shame in hauling this gear all over the country: a full size foam roll, a good sleeping mask and earplugs, my memory foam pillow, REM Caps, my aero press and favorite coffee mug, zoots, good music, mindless magazines, a laptop and my favorite cooking spices and oils. Bringing Nate with me whenever he can get away is always an added plus.

Classic Fruita singletrack kept me busy.

One of my favorite things about life on the road is the people I randomly meet. This is me and my new pal, Tom. He and his buddy Bobby charmed me in a Fruita coffee shop and invited me to ride. Bold move on their part. I really could have ruined their fun if I had turned out to be a total weenie. Who knows-maybe they DID think I was a weenie...

Asher showed me his new trampoline: the
aerobed I sleep on when I visit

So now it's all about rest, rest rest. Good thing my rest week started today because this is what my car looked like this morning when I went outside to start unpacking. I wish it was rain...then I wouldn't have to wash my car.