Staycation?

Yeah, right. I think I need a vacation from my staycation. Seriously. I thought that 10 days at home would be what I needed to relax and recover from a 3 week racing road trip but I think I have packed more action into the last 5 days than I have in my entire year. I feel like I need to go race somewhere far, far away to get some rest!

Summer in the Tetons

I suppose that's what I get for attempting to squeeze major training rides in between entertaining visiting family, housework, a demanding schoolwork schedule and seeing all the friends I never see because I am on the road so much. I LOVE being a bike racer but really hate being away from my husband, dog and friends so often.

The week and weekend, as usual, revolved mostly around bicycles. Big surprise. We went to Music on Main on Thursday night and caught some TVTAP Mountain Bike Festival events which included a skills clinic Saturday morning taught by yours truly (14 people showed up!). I also wrote a few papers, raced the Teton Pass hill climbs Sunday morning, and topped it off with a Martin Sexton and Big Head Todd show at the Spud. I'm beat.

Hillclimb MTB leg finish. Oooouch.

The Hillclimbs were not quite as painful as I anticipated. Not sure what that means (am I fit or did I not go hard enough??) As I removed the dust from my road bike and raised my tire pressure from 50psi to 110 on Sunday morning, I was reminded how little I ride my road bike and felt a little pang of dread. But I went anyway. And I suffered.

After a slow start in the road hillclimb on a bike I never feel quite at home on, my legs came around by the mountain bike climb on my Nine that I know, love and fits me like a glove. I managed to win the overall, the mountain bike leg and set a new course record in both the MTB leg and in the combined overall. The best part of the race was the end. Nate left his mom at home with a good book and surprised me by waiting for me at the top of Mt. Ely so we could ride down Black Canyon together. Plus, he brought me water which I needed desperately as I had run out and was cramping the entire MTB climb.

View into Phillips from the new Ridge Trail

These photos are from a phenomenal training ride I did on Thursday. Ride time 5:20, 51 miles and lots of new singletrack. Jackson Hole's trail network seems to be magically multiplying like gremlins. However, we all know it's due to our awesome USFS Jackson Ranger District, Friends of Pathways, The Teton Freedom Riders and of course many dedicated and skilled trail builders, volunteer and paid. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

New trails are just popping up like crazy and I think it's time to officially announce Jackson Hole as a completely legit mountain bike destination. As in you can come for a week straight, ride all day and never get tired of the trails. My route took me up the pass from my house, out to and down Black Canyon, water stop in Wilson, out Fish Creek road, up the new Ridge Trail, climbed that all the way to the top to Snowtel onto the Arrow, rode that out to the end, turned and burned back to the Old Pass Road, climbed back up the Pass, descended with 5:30pm Teton Pass commuter traffic (NOT recommended) and, as always, finished with the 17% grade climb up my driveway and collapsed on my front porch oh so tired and oh so very happy.

Wow-can you say perfect trail construction???

Middle of Black Canyon. This is one of our favorite places to ski in the winter. It's even more fun to rip through it in the summer on a bike when it's covered with wildflowers.

Upper Black Canyon. Chest-high flowers and rain the
day before = lots of smiles.

21 Days of Colorado

That was a good trip. 21 days away to be exact. One of the best parts was that I got to spend a lot of time with my family which was awesome. The thing with small kids is that if you don't see them often enough you miss major changes. Not only has my nephew started chatting up a storm in the last few weeks, his has also started riding a Skuut like he is destined to become a stunt man. All this before the age of 2!


My 3 week adventure of hard racing, training, and camping was capped off this weekend with a trip to Sol Vista Basin in Granby, Colorado (also known as the Sahara Desert) for the national championships. I rolled into another XC event with a ton of hard miles in my legs and was again pleasantly surprised with my body's reaction.

By race time on Saturday morning it was well into the high 80's but it felt more like 110. The 4.3 mile XC loop was almost entirely in the sun and started at about 8,500 feet. That right there is an equation for a lot of suffering and a very uncomfortable breathing environment. No big surprise of course, but a huge congrats to Georgia for her complete domination of the field. She won by almost 3 minutes! I can't (and will never be able to) tell you what happened in the front of the race. I am sure it was exciting. But, back to the mid-pack land race report...

The race started on a very steep climb. It was the kind of climb that when combined with a traditional XC start in the high heat and altitude, you could easily blow up in spectacular fashion. I was supposed to have an 11th place call up but for some reason it ended up being more like 16 or 17. Anyway, the gun goes off and so does the entire race-without me-into the singletrack. Yup, that was on purpose...sort of. What I learned at the Firecracker is that I currently lack the capacity to redline immediately at altitude and recover. I have to respect the true diesel engine that I am, so it's best to just chill at the start, warm up a little and then give it a harder go as time goes on.

That's exactly what I did. I began the race in the 20's and didn't panic. I focused on climbing strong but steady and tried to take advantage of what little descending there was to ride smooth and fast lines. That strategy enabled me to move up from almost dead last to 11th by the finish. I even managed to move up from 15th to 11th over the last 2 laps. I just started feeling better and stronger as the race progressed. Heck, if the race had been 10 laps instead of 5 maybe I could have landed on the podium ;)

I will try to be diplomatic about the course quality. Hmmm, how do I say this best? I did not like it. My lower back hated it more. It was rough. But at least the spectators loved it and it was a great format in which you could watch almost the entire race unfold. Moving on.

Sunday was the short track but once again I skipped it in favor of a 4-hr 45mile trail ride in Fraiser and Winter Park. There's nothing like a solo hammerfest on really, really nice singletrack to put a smile on your face after suffering through a XC race. I had a great, great ride and felt really good despite spending a late night doing grad work and getting up and out of the house before 8 so I could get back and watch the short track. I had never actually watched a short track. A HUGE congrats to Judy for riding like a champ and narrowly missing out on the last podium spot to Willow. My throat hurt after the event because I was cheering so loudly for my teammates who were killing it! Colin managed to ride a spectacular short track as well, ending up 7th and Andy wasn't far behind in 11th. Dang, my teammates are quick. And awesome. And are really, really nice people to spend a weekend with.

Even though I was totally worked from the weekend, I motivated and met my sister early Monday morning for a ride on the good trails at Sol Vista (they do exist!) before I drove home. I can't pass up opportunities to ride with her, ever. Even though she says she's slow and just had 2 kids, she did used to keep up with Missy Giove and Marla Streb back in her day, so I always learn a thing or two when I ride with her. Now, she is so out of her usual shape (her usual shape being she once placed second in Montezuma's Revenge-on a singlespeed!) that we have to take breaks, providing time for her to give me technique tips.

Gosh, have you ever ridden behind someone who just floats on a bicycle, as if her wheels just lightly graze the ground? That's my sister. Even when riding a 20lb steel Surly singlespeed she is smokin' fast on the DH. Now if she could only help me on the uphills....she did lend me her 1010P dirt jumper for the week so Nate can rebuild it and so I can get some much needed pump track practice before Leadville. Definitely looking forward to that.

Now, I have almost 10 days at home in a row to get some much needed rest, to catch up on work and to enjoy summer in the Tetons. There are some local hill climbs this weekend that I plan to suffer through, but more importantly there is the WYDAHO Rendezvous Mountain Bike Festival going on all weekend (I am teaching a skills clinic at the Victor bike park on Saturday morning 10-noon as part of it), Big Head Todd is playing at the Spud and my mom-in-law is in town. So much for down time.

Dirtbag Bike Racer

I hope everyone got a chuckle out of my last post. I sure did. They way I see it, if you cannot make fun of your misfortunes, well, life is going to be a lot less enjoyable. Laughing is just more productive in the long run.

Home sweet camp in Leadville.

It's been a crazy 10 days or so. I am tired, tired, tired. But a good tired. The kind of tired from excessive amounts of riding, racing, training hard at altitude, living out of my car, sleeping on the ground all while battling cold rainy weather and really bad mosquitoes. It's been fun, but a little rough for sure. There have been great nights (clear, with amazing stars), really bad nights (camped next to a group of screaming high school kids rocking out to Pantera until 3am drinking Boone's and chain smoking Marlboro lights) and some in between.

They way Eric and I planned July was to use three weeks of short cross-country efforts to help me build back some speed while putting in longer miles after the short efforts to prep for Leadville. For example, while most sane Pros were resting up from the Firecracker and/or getting ready for the Colorado Springs Pro XCT, my week went like this: the day after Firecracker 3hrs on Monday on the Colorado Trail, 5 hrs on the Leadville course on Tuesday, 4hours again on the Leadville course on Wednesday, preride the Pro XCT time trial and XC loops on Thursday, race the TT Friday, race the XC Saturday.

Cheyenne Mountain State Park, home of the Pro XCT in Colorado Springs

Rolling into a Pro XCT soooo fatigued was intimidating. But, it was also liberating to race with zero expectations. It worked out surprisingly well as I managed a 10th in the time trial and 11th in the XC. I certainly felt tired and did not at all ride as fast as I am capable of but I was really happy with my weekend and had a lot of fun. Mostly because I got to hang out with my teammates who I don't get to see that often and because I got to ooohhh and aaahhh at all the top pros who were there to race. I also got to skip the short track on Sunday to head up to Breckenridge for an amazing 5-hr ride on the Colorado Trail and the Peaks Trail. I needed a good training day after the 1st 2 days of racing and getting my tired legs pulled 10 minutes into a short track would not have been good training!

This past week has been more of the same: big 5 hr day Sunday, 4 hours on the Leadville course Monday and 4 again on Tuesday. (Yes, I have memorized the course, albeit there is not much to commit to memory out there). Again, camping out every night, finding random streams to soak and "shower" in and hanging in a lot of coffee shops and libraries to keep up to speed on my graduate work. Today I get some much needed downhill lessons from my sister around Keystone and tomorrow it's up to Granby for XC nationals on Saturday. I am definitely excited to race again with zero expectations, but honestly, I am most excited about having a kitchen in which to cook real food, a place to shower and a good bed to sleep in!

The Break Up Letter

Dear Firecracker 50,

There's no easy way to say it, so I thought a letter would be the easiest and best way to tell you that it is over between us. I am breaking up with you.

We've been trying to make it work for the last three years. I had hoped that maybe this year would be different. I even got my lucky 13 as my number plate. I was feeling really good, put extra stans in my higher than normal volume tires and was ready to give it another go.

As you must certainly remember, for the past 2 years you squashed my dreams and the possibility of a great results with serious flat tires that stans and CO2 could not fix, far away from aid stations. It was okay; I tried not to hold it against you. At least I tried my hardest and had brought my A-game to you, 2 years in a row. But, what I have finally learned and why it is over between us is that my A-game can no longer be itself around you.

You see, I finally decided to follow my true racing strengths and passion, leading me to spend my entire season racing 100-mile races at sea level. I am sure this did nothing but strain our already failing relationship. I guess what it comes down to is you are you and I am me and this relationship was seriously never meant to be.

Why now? This year was different and I think it's how I know we are sooooo over. I guess I made some mistakes and can't blame it all on you, your sharp rocks, thick roots and long climbs at high altitude. I have to take some blame, too. After 10 short minutes of climbing I realized that my legs were just rotten. And no, they did not open up to you, even after hours trying to get them to. And yes, I made the unfortunate discovery at the start line that my fork was blown, making it a very rough ride on my beloved Felt 29er from the very beginning. So, perhaps I shouldn't entirely blame my front flat 1/2 way through lap 2 all on you. I actually think you were being kind to me by not flatting me sooner with limited suspension. Thanks for that.

I certainly cannot blame you for making the skewer on the replacement wheel I got 15 min. later repeatedly come loose for the rest of the race. I also cannot blame you for the chain suck that bent my derailleur and made it very hard to pedal for the last 1/2 lap.

Don't get me wrong, I do feel that you are a wonderful race, one of the best. And I still managed to finish you in 7th place. There is a reason you sold out 750 spots months before the event. You give great schwagg, provide wonderful support at aid stations and your directors sure do know a thing or two about putting on an excellent race. You have been very nice to a lot of people, especially good friends of mine like Krista (well, I think it's all her, not you) and you have a very loyal following. You even dish out a bit of good singletrack and killer views. But this year, you crossed the line by being mean to my teammates. Did you have to give Andy a concussion? Did you have to throw a huge nail into Colin's tire when he was riding like a superstar in 4th? You are so immature.

And I suppose this is where I have to draw the line. You have messed with me for many years, but now you are messing with my teammates, too??? buh-bye.

Before this letter takes on an even more resentful tone, let me just say this. Don't be surprised when more people than me break it off with you next year. Not because you have developed a reputation for costing racers a lot of money to fix equipment. Not because you scorch lungs and make racers feel like they are breathing out of straws, and not because you make them climb over 10,000 feet of vertical in 50 miles, mostly above 10,000 feet. But, because finally, after 10 years of loyalty, USA cycling is probably ditching you for a long-awaited change of venue for the Marathon National Championships. That's right Firecracker, I hear you are being dumped for Bend, OR. As much as I may have claimed to love you in the past...well, I couldn't agree with the decision more.

Oh, yeah, one more thing. I am doing what I was tempted to do this year and probably what I should have done all along.

Just so you don't have to hear it from anyone else, I am leaving you for the BC Bike Race.

Amanda

Train Hard, Rest (is) Hard

Who says cyclists are nothing but a nuisance to motorists?

This past Tuesday, I attended the Tuesday Night Worlds ride to put the final nail into my training block coffin. It was my 5th day in a row of hard rides (which is now being followed by resting just as hard) and I showed up worked. It was getting hard to speak in complete sentences so I figured the TNR was a great place to milk one last hard ride out of my body before I rested up for the Firecracker.

The group headed down Fall Creek Road and the lead group took off...without me. I wasn't even close to hanging on. But, a wicked wind storm had just blown in and the lead group quickly came upon a stalled car and an aspen tree that had just fallen across the road. Freaky. I've never seen a kookier sight than 20+ spandex sporting roadies, clicking their shoes on the pavement and putting in one heck of a hilarious team effort to clear a fallen tree out of the road. It seemed to be a close call, but it did allow me to catch back on.

On a side note, it's too bad that all the pissed-off motorists that passed the group didn't realize that we, the spandex-clad army they love to hate, had made their drive home possible. Oh well. When the ride resumed, I got dropped again anyway. I also got dropped on the return trip, too.

When the ride turned back into Jackson, I put on my tunes, refilled water and headed in the opposite direction towards home, to the top of Teton Pass where my car was parked. I had parked at the top figuring that it was one less trip up in my car and that I could enjoy the 6 min., and at times 55 mph descent down into Wilson, all while knowing that there was a rough final leg waiting for me at the end. View from the last switchback on Old Pass Road.

I hadn't ridden up the Old Pass Road (or the pass itself) all year. It also occurred to me that in the 10+ years I have lived in Jackson Hole and Victor, I have never once stopped to take a picture of the quintessential Jackson Hole photo opp. so I did:


Right now, I'm chilling in Frisco, CO eagerly awaiting the Firecracker 50 on Sunday and mellow is my mission. Wimbledon, a great, almost finished book, some estim and my dog's company are helping that effort. It took a LOT of discipline to not go out for more than an hour easy spin this morning, as there is soooo much good riding here in Summit County. No worries, I get to ride a ton next week!