What I'll be riding next year..

S-Works Epic Carbon Disc


I'll be riding one of these...I just hope I don't break it because it's real 'spensive. I hope I do this bike justice!

In other exciting news, the OutSpokin' Team is merging with OTR-Strenflex, so Julia, Kim and I will all be on the same team. Yay, matching outfits!

I have to say, its been nice sticking with the same sponsor for 3 years..it really simplifies things and I don't have to put together proposals anymore. I also like the freedom to ride a bike of my choosing, not just what I can get for free or for a pro-deal.

Working with OutSpokin' has been great, and I'm looking forward to our new and expanded team next year.

Asleep at the Office!

Yup, that's me right now. At least it doesn't hurt to sit in this chair and stare blankly at my computer. I'm sitting here in the dark too, that way those that look down the hall will assume I'm not in my office and not bother me.

This past weekend was my fourth straight week of racing in a row...the Overmountain Extreme Adventure Race. I'm tired now and my body is tired. I was hacking up goo all week after the 12 Hours of Dauset (during which myself and our team rode awesome), but I think I may have aggravated my asthma with all this high intensity stuff in back to back weeks. Plus, I was experimenting with trying to ween myself off of my Advair (in my mind, I'm still invincible and don't need it..), probably not the best thing to do a week before a 30 hour race. I didn't have that usual spring in my step and felt a bit worked on the Grandfather Mtn trek. The first bike wasn't too bad, but I was feeling a lot more worked than usual. I actually had to take a few 15 second rests on the hike-a-bike, which has been unheard of for me lately.

The wheels really came off on the climb up to the bike drop and I swore I was only firing on three of my six cylinders. WTF..I just couldn't ride..was it the mushy roads?? Two flat tires?? Asthma?? Poor Nutrition?? Did somebody put bricks in my pack?? Why are my TOES cramping??? WTF, WTF and WTFFFFF! I was just a mandatory puddle of goo..

Thankfully (and kind of oddly), I felt much better on the trek, but it was still pretty hard due to convoluted trails and rough terrain. I almost walked off a waterfall in the dark, d'oh!

The last bike was just that..I used up all my energy on the gravel roads and officially checked out once I hit the pavement. Almost hit a bear - looked enough like a dog from a distance...My ass was killing me and I was just plain mad that I wasn't able to ride fast enough and get off my saddle quickly.

I was so happy when we finally reached the paddle. The sun was out and it was shaping up to be a beautiful day. The paddle wasn't too bad, except for some unpleasant aroma that seemed to keep being released into the air around our boat...

We finished around 12:30, after almost 30 hours of racing. We still cleared the course, so HA CHRIS BROWN!! YOU STILL HAVEN'T BROKEN ME! (But I am tired)

I don't think I'm doing squat until Upstate in 4 weeks. I thought about doing a CX race next Sunday, but it depends how I'm feeling that morning. Will have to dust the cobwebs off the CX bike too.

I'm looking forward to the Upstate AR, and racing with Bo and Jay. From reading OME race reports, it sounds like we could have knocked a chunk of time off that trek if we combined knowledge.

Packed and Ready

I'm looking forward to Over Mountain this weekend, however, I'm just hopeful we can fill up the gas tank to get home once the race is over!

Its looking like it might rain, so I have my rain gear all packed. So much for the 72 and sunny weather we had last year. I'm sure Chris has a great course in store for us, so rain or shine, I'm sure we'll be smiling!

Red Top

Today we had an Orienteering meet at Red Top Mtn State Park. Started off shaky as my first step down the stairs (after rolling out of bed at 9:15 am) caused my right quad to cramp. Drank some water, stretched, I'll be fine...just avoid jumping around too much and running downhill...at Red Top..sure..

Started on the Red Course and probabaly did my least agressive O-meet run EVER. Tried to stick to the roads as much as possible to minimize the up/down...mostly the down. Didn't like the controls in overgrown areas...prime yellowjacket landmine terrain and I wasn't in the mood to get lit up by those bastards. I WALKED carefully though those areas, not my usual thrash and bash. Made one little mistake that cost me about 5-7 minutes...mostly due to not wanting to go through more dense vegetation. Then saw Chris who started AFTER me. He takes off and I contine to lollygag, looking for open woods wherever possible. Feeling VERY wimpy.. I take the road and run a longer route to the the last control and beat Chris there..he doesn't seem happy about that. Finish in 1:19. Not terrible, but not fast either. I actually had a cleaner run than usual, I just didn't move as fast.

Hung around to help with bag pickup, knee hurts now...grr.

12 Hours of Dauset

Whew! What a fun day in the woods! Carey, Julia, Kim and I decided that instead of racing for 12 hours straight, that it was much better to only race for three and then sit around and relax for the other nine. With that in mind, we signed up as a 4 person team in the coed division, as the all female teams were tossed in with the mixed teams. No worries though, as we figured we could hold our own.

My choice of weapon for the day was my IF Titanium Singlespeed. The laps were fast and twisty, with only a few climbs on the back half of the course. The singlespeed turned out to be a great choice, as not only did it keep my efforts consistent, I was able to haul ass up the climbs and on the flats.

I did the first lap, including the run to the bikes. There was a prime for the first man and woman to their bikes, so I picked up a cool pair of Tifosi glasses. Pink even to match the pink kit I donned for the day. The first lap was pretty intense...as I was pretty close to the front of the race with lots of fast guys behind me that didn't run fast enough. I followed along in the train, and my singlespeed gearing was working quite nicely. A couple of guys made some dicey passes but I guess that's the price you pay when you hang with the boys. When I hit the climbs, I was amazed at how fast I was able (or I should say HAD to) ride up them. I flew by a bunch of guys at about twice their speed. It was freakin' awesome! My lap time was 49 minutes and change, so after that I decided that I was definitely going to keep doing laps on the singlespeed. I felt good the entire race, and had very consistent day laps, all in the 49 minute range, and a night lap that was only a couple minutes slower.

We had a pretty good battle going on with another team, however, they had 3 guys that were riding a minute or two faster than us every lap. Their female was not very fast, so we gained time back when she rode a lap. Unfortunately she only rode two laps, and by the last lap (after Carey and I had turned our final laps...some pretty fast night laps) we were still 5 minutes down. We sent Kim on the final lap thinking they COULD have a flat or mechanical, you never know, but had kind of figured we'd end up in second place. Apparently the other team's rider double flatted about halfway through the course. Kim passed him as he was on the side of the trail, and took off excited and all in a frenzy. Shortly after, her light crapped out, so she was worried about being caught. Meanwhile, we were all standing at the finish line filled with anticipation as to what was going on. Finally, after being out for over an hour, Kim came through and secured us first place in the Coed division.

Victory sure was sweet!

Where can I live that doesn't have these????

Hmm..I don't remember seeing a single one of these in the Canadian Rockies, but they DO have Grizzly Bears.

Seriously...I hate these damn bastards! Do they actually serve some purpose? Are they a necessary link in the food chain? If not, I'd like to exterminate every last one of them!!

Chris and I were working on clearing debris off some lightly-used trails near Blankets for our upcoming advanced skills clinic. Sure enough, Chris picks up some deadfall and tosses it aside which rouses a ground nest of these meanies. I wasn't far away and know all the tell tale signs of a yellowjacket attack (swatting, swearing, etc.) So I took off back up the hill and Chris ran down, getting all stung up in the process. After that we decided to call it a night, but will be back to finish our trail work with bee suits and a canister of nerve gas to take care of any more nests we find!

Once we finish our work, which is mainly just some raking, we will have a great skills area for the class.

2009 Blankets Creek Dirty Duathlon is ON!

Well, I got roped into planning another race...but this time I'm going to actually COMPETE. Sure, I'll be up at 4 am setting up registration, running around and getting stressed out, but I should be able to dump a bike and some running shoes in the TA, and get to the starting line before they send our group off.

I'm sure Chris can handle any situations that arise...

Some exciting news though:

-We have an actual graphic designer helping us, so we hope to have even better T-shirts this year.
-We plan on expanding the race so we can have more racers.
-I'm pushing for a cash payout to the top male and female finishers, as well as a whole slew of prizes like last year.
-Look for a longer bike course, including the entire Van Michael Trail.
-MORE Port-O-Potties!
-Possibly a pre-race breakfast or post race snacks.