Krista Park

2011-12-12T20:29:00.000-07:00

Yay!

USA Cycling announces Olympic long teams

December, 1, 2011

DEC 1

10:53

PM ET

By ESPN.com

On Thursday, USA Cycling announced the 30 athletes who are eligible to be nominated to represent the United States at the 2012 Olympic Games in mountain biking and women's road cycling.

"The hard work and determination of these athletes has helped USA Cycling advance its vision of making the U.S. the most successful country in the world of competitive cycling," USA Cycling's vice president of athletics Jim Miller said. "They are evidence of the United States' ability to be a legitimate medal contender across all four disciplines of competitive cycling in London. The athletes on this list have either proven their capabilities to win medals in major international events or illustrated the potential to do so in the future."

The long team rosters for men's and women's track cycling are set to be unveiled on Dec. 15. The long team for men's BMX will be announced on May 31, 2012, before the BMX Olympic Trials in Chula Vista, Calif., on June 16.

Women's Mountain Bike Long Team
Katie Compton (Colorado Springs, Colo./Rabobank)*
Lea Davison (Jericho, Vt./Specialized)*
Judy Freeman (Brighton, Colo./Kenda-Felt)
Georgia Gould (Fort Collins, Colo./Luna) *
Heather Irmiger (Boulder, Colo./Subaru-Trek)*
Mary McConneloug (Fairfax, Calif./Kenda-Seven-NoTubes)*
Krista Park (Madison, S.D./Cannondale-No Tubes)
Willow Rockwell (Durango, Colo./Trek World Racing)
Chloe Woodruff (Tucson, Ariz./BMC)

Men's Mountain Bike Long Team
Jeremiah Bishop (Harrisonburg, Va./Cannondale)*
Michael Broderick (Chilmark, Mass./Kenda-Seven-NoTubes)
Adam Craig (Bend, Ore./Rabobank-Giant)*
Stephen Ettinger (Cashmere, Wash./BMC)
Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Boulder, Colo./Subaru-Trek)*
Spencer Paxson (Seattle, Wash./Kona)
Sam Schultz (Missoula, Mont./Subaru-Trek)*
Todd Wells (Durango, Colo./Specialized)*

Women's Road Long Team
Kristin Armstrong (Boise, Idaho/Team Exergy 2012)
Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Cedar Springs, Mich./Colavita-Forno d'Asolo)
Andrea Dvorak (Crozet, Va./Colavita-Forno d'Asolo)
Robin Farina (Charlotte, N.C./NOW and Novartis for MS)*
Megan Guarnier (Mountain View, Calif./Team TIBCO)*
Janel Holcomb (San Diego, Calif./Colavita-Forno d'Asolo)
Kristin McGrath (Durango, Colo./Team Exergy 2012)
Amanda Miller (Fort Collins, Colo./HTC-Highroad)
Amber Neben (Irvine, Calif./HTC-Highroad)*
Shelley Olds (Gilroy, Calif./ Diadora-Pasta Zara)
Carmen Small (Durango, Colo./Team TIBCO)
Evelyn Stevens (Dennis, Mass./HTC-Highroad)*
Lauren Tamayo (Asheville, N.C./Team Exergy 2012)
* - Automatic Nomination

2011 World Cup Racing & Travel part one

2011-09-20T18:04:00.000-06:00

My year has been pretty amazing. I am already having a hard time remembering where we have been, so am creating a summary. I'll link to earlier posts for more detail.

2011 Races

This map shows where I have been, but Google Maps only lets you list A-Y. It ran out of little markers for all of the places I have visited this year so I tagged only towns where I participated in a cycling event. Todd was able to attend all non-USA races and a few USA ones with me. He spent most days working behind his computer while I investigated and came home with stories. We tried to travel together as much as possible but spent a good amount of the year apart. Luckily we'll both be in AZ for the winter and hopefully we can both agree on the same town. :)

From the beginning:

After great winter base training in Tucson, AZ complete with Trips for Kids Events, MTB Clinics and Singlespeed Arizona (SSAZ) it was time to hit the road. Race travel began mid-February and ended with the September 4th XC World Championship in Switzerland. After Worlds, Todd and I spent four extra days sightseeing then flew out of Munich Germany to NM where I built up a new SuperSix road bike and caught a plane to Las Vegas, NV for Interbike. I am now back in Santa Fe, NM, with plans to head to Durango next week then possibly to VT and I'll have to find time to go to SD for a driver's license. Travel hasn't ended but racing has.

Feb 18th - March 9th

The first stop was the Mediterranean Island of Cyprus via London (post here/same as SSAZ link above). Cyprus is about 50 miles (80 km) south of the Turkish coast (west of Syria and north of Egypt). The national capital of Cyprus is Nicosia (Lefkosia). Official languages are Greek and Turkish. Larnaca is home of the International Airport (IATA code: LCA). Since Cyprus is a former British colony the English language is widespread and you drive on the left side of the road in an 'English' style car. Cyprus is a popular European vacation spot because the weather is pretty amazing. The northern part of the island is occupied by Turkey and people really don't like to talk about it, although they said it would be perfectly fine for us to ride our bikes across the border (we didn't).

Cyprus

A: Larnaca Airport

B: Village of Voroklini, first housing rental and site of XC race #1 February 19th

C/E: Larnaka, second housing rental

D: Village of Kapedes, site of three day stage race in the mountains February 25th-27th

F: Amathous, location of XC race #3 March 5th

March 10th- 14th

After being 'home' for 36 hours we loaded up the van and drove to Bonelli San Dimas, CA for ProXCT #1 (post here/same as SSAZ link above).

3rd in XC and 3rd in weekend's Triple Crown

(blog post of March 15th-April 16th with lots of South Africa pictures here)

March 15th- 24th 'Home' Tucson, AZ to begin building up 2011 race bikes

March 26th-27th Fontana, CA ProXCT#2

Great start, bad race. Cyclingnews.com photo.

Still on 2010 bike, not quite enough parts from Cannondale to ride my new bikes yet and 2011 kits were not available till Sea Otter.

April 15-16 Sea Otter Monterey, CA ProXCT#3

Thanks to Scott Morris for a nice AZ photo and to Cannondale for the poster.

Best part of Sea Otter. SRAM Ladies Lounge.

Sea Otter race photo ended up on the cover of the 2012 Women's Catalog

and on an inside page. Pretty cool.

Todd and I flew directly from Monterey, CA to South Africa for the first World Cup race the following weekend.

April 17-April 28th Pietermaritzburg, South Africa WC #1

Full SA blog post here

April 28th- May 1st Austin, TX ProXCT #4

4th place even with a fractured back and food poisoning, so crazy. Cyclingnews.com photo

May 2nd- May15th 'Home' Santa Fe, NM Oak Flats XC race May 7th

May 15th-June 1st Dalby Forest, Yorkshire, England WC #2 and the Black Forest, Offenburg, Germany WC #3:

May 15th we flew into London rented a car, picked up SIM cards, waited on lost luggage, and drove ~4.5 hours north to Pickering, North Yorkshire, UK where Todd had found us a great place to stay.

Pickering Rental

The Cannondale Factory Racing guys were across the street and Jeremiah Bishop stayed with us one night on his quick in-and-out trip. Pickering is the type of town where you walk everywhere, to pubs, small markets, and shops. You really wouldn't use the car unless you were leaving town. However, the venue was in Dalby Forest which was driving distance away.

We learned that if you hit a pheasant (one of the animals owned by the Queen) you may not pick it up as that would be illegal hunting. But if the person in the vehicle behind you picks it up that is okay.

Beautiful countryside (full of pheasants).

I participated in the Sprint Eliminator in town Friday and raced the World Cup Sunday May 22nd. My back was still fractured for these races and I didn't do very well, but we were really here for the experience and what a great experience it was!

TT for seeding. Sprint Eliminator in Pickering.

Cannondale Boys

After spending the afternoon at the XC venue I decided last minute to do the Eliminator. I mistakenly thought I could warm up on the town streets, but they were so packed with spectators that this was not possible. Most riders knew to stage with rollers in an alley that was closed to spectators, Todd had a rough time getting in and actually didn't make it in till after my races. Luckily I was able to leave my extra clothes with the Luna team but Todd had all my calories and water...

The Venue out at Dalby Forest

Parallel tracks, a great feature of World Cup courses.

Todd checking clearance on one of the A-lines.

I am taking the picture while standing in the B-line, after the drop you have to turn hard right.

Actually riding because there was an audience

The hard right from the A or B line will line you up for this.

Sign showing directions to Worry Gill and Medusa's Drop.

Spectator walking signs are everywhere telling you how long it takes to certain technical features.

Things for kids to do in the venue.

Coffee

Osprey Europe.

It was a bit like Sea Otter with lots of vendor booths.

Todd watching one of the big screens during the last event of the weekend. We were both too tired to stand, I sat on the grass and didn't want to get up.

After the race we packed up and headed to Germany. As always there were a few things we hadn't considered. We had to go back to the London airport to acquire an insurance document allowing us coverage across the border, then paid an unexpected ~$400 to take the train under the English Channel.

Getting on the Euro Train for a ~20minute ride.

It takes about an hour to queue, travel and disembark. And longer for those of us that didn't know to get a ticket online ahead of time.

Plenty of time to read all about the tunnel system and think about switching to driving on the other side of the road upon exiting.

We spent the night at a Comfort Inn in Calais, France thinking a known name meant a good hotel. It was okay except that it was really dirty and there was absolutely no parking, we followed the advice of the guy who checked us in but were almost towed in the morning. Our best meal (ever?) was lunch at a tiny family owned restaurant in town, where you can watch the chef cook. We were ready to hit the road and just wanted a quick bite to eat. I had sous vide fish infused with fresh pineapple on a veggie puree. I had no idea what I ordered since we couldn't read the menu, but I watched it being prepared so knew exactly what was in it. Amazing. Although we were the only ones there, besides the family, it was nothing close to quick but well worth it.

Calais, France (I think)

Maps and GPS required.

Things to think of renting next year.

I used my Droid Global with local SIM and data shut off, but wifi is really hard to find.

We drove into Offenburg, Germany to find our next rental house, turns out it was the address of the landlord and the rental was located elsewhere. Our new landlord did not speak English but had a neighborhood teen ride along as a translator. We figured the place was just up the street.

We got back in the car and followed.

We drove out of the nice neighborhood, out of town, through a vineyard on narrow windy dirt roads, then into the Black Forest. At first we were worried about how far from town we were, then we started getting nervous about following a total stranger into the forest. Our landlord pulled over at the base of a steep road and told us to use first gear and go to the top. All we could see was a steep wall of a road disappearing into the forest. We drove while they walked up. There was only room for one car at the top and Todd was given a lengthy lesson in K-turns even though it was obviously the only way to get out.

Although it looks flat, this is the steep drive. Todd is pushing both our bikes up.

Steps, set one of three.

Once you made it up the drive you had to climb stone stairs to the gate, then switchback stone steps to the front of the cabin. Once entering the cabin another set of steep stairs led to the main floor, the kitchen was in the cellar, or entry level.

Inside the gate, switchback steps. Set two of three. Here the cabin actually comes into view.

The cellar-like kitchen, cold and wet.

Indoor steps to main level. Set three of three.

Main room, complete with flying witch (top right).

and mad girl in the rafters.

It is hard to find good deals and know what you are getting when you don't speak the language. Being alone in the Black Forest in a crazy cabin with post-it-notes that say (in German) "don't drink the water", little witches hanging from the ceiling and a creepy painting of the mad little girl, was actually really cool.

No Towels.

This rental apparently did not include towels or washrags. Luckily, knowing Europeans don't do washcloths, I brought my own; but they aren't great for drying off after a shower... I ended up giving Todd an extra pillow case to use as a towel. The cabin did have a small Euro clothes washer which was great. It is pretty typical that even when you find a place with a washer there will be no dryer.

We found a secret route through the vineyard and could ride to the venue!

We drove to Offenburg for daily wifi access and groceries.

Bike Rentals

Offenburg has bike rentals which make for a better way to access shops than by foot, you can pick up from one place and drop off at another using your cell phone.

May 29th World Cup Race #3 Offenburg, Germany. Exiting the Snake Pit (a mass of roots).

The Offenburg course was really fun and a photo Todd took ended up on the BTI catalog. After the race we had friends over to our lost cabin. We used the wrong briquets for the BBQ, smoked out the entire place, the chicken basically tasted like smoke, but I had a great time eating local breads, brats, and sauerkraut while drinking German beer.

Friends. Todd with Melanie Spath and Cait Elliott

Both Mel and Cait have blog posts about the races:
Mel's Dalby and Offenburg blog post.
Cait's Dalby blog post and Offenburg blog post.

The day after the race Todd and I went exploring the Black Forest, a long wandering ride looking at signs like this that didn't really help at all.

Black Forest road/bike routes.

So that covers Feb through May. After going through more photos, I'll come back and update the rest of the year which looked like this:

- June 11th SRAM Skills Clinic at Beti Bike Bash Denver, CO

- June 12th Beti Bike Bash XC race Denver, CO

- June 13-15th Fun trip to Salida, CO to ride with Scott Morris

- June 18th MTB Skills Clinic for a NMRoadRiders Santa Fe, NM

- June 19th Road Race Los Alamos, NM

- June 25th ProXCT #5 Morris, WI

- July 2nd World Cup #4 Mont-Sainte-Anne Quebec, Canada

- July 9th World Cup #5 Windham, NY USA

- July 16th USA XC Nationals in Sun Valley, ID USA

- July 23rd ProXCT #7 (Final Series Race) Missoula, MT USA

- July 30th Tagging along on Todd's work trip to Germany

- Aug 13/14th World Cup #6 Czech Republic

- Aug 20/21st World Cup #7 Italy (Final Series Race)

- Sept 3/4th World Championship Race SUI

Gearing up for World Championship Race in Switzerland

2011-08-25T14:52:00.003-06:00

Another super quick post. The year has been amazing, I finished the ProXCT (USA National Series) in 5th place, completed my first World Cup season and am currently in Switzerland having made the USA World Championship Team selection!

Verbier, Switzerland. Our home for the last week thanks to DZR Shoes!

Morning walk to the corner grocer

View from above the World Championship venue in Champery, Switzerland

The Swiss army sets up the venue. Note big screen, lots of cameras in the woods, stadium seating behind me, beer garden to the left.

29weeks, 32 races, 9 countries. Lots of pictures to post, will update soon.

2011-07-06T18:22:00.001-06:00

I know I am completely slacking on updating this blog, but at the end of each day my choices are sleep, stretch, or make more travel plans... :)

Here is a very quick update since my last post.

The last post showed my April 28th swollen elbow. May 11th I learned that in that same wreck I had also fractured my L1 vertebrae and ended up a swollen L5 disk in my back. I was ignoring the pain and had raced twice, but on May 10th it was so bad that I could not lay down or pick anything up. Because I couldn't do anything else I did a blog post, so something good came of it, then the Dr. said the worst thing I could do was sit. Umm, I am about to get on an airplane to Europe...

My schedule was way too cool to let that get in the way for long, a couple days on LorTab to sleep, a week of max dose Advil, lots of ice, acupuncture, chiropractor, massage, oils and some very easy road riding on the full-suspension before:

- May 22th World Cup Race #2 Dalby Forest, England

- May 29th World Cup Race #3 Offenburg, Germany

- June 11th SRAM Skills Clinic at Beti Bike Bash Denver, CO

- June 12th Beti Bike Bash XC race Denver, CO

- June 13-15th Fun trip to Salida, CO to ride with Scott Morris

- June 18th MTB Skills Clinic for a NMRoadRiders Santa Fe, NM

- June 19th Road Race (raced W 1/2/3 and won !?!) Los Alamos, NM

- June 25th ProXCT #5 Morris, WI

- July 2nd World Cup #4 Mont-Sainte-Anne Quebec, Canada

I am now in Windham, NY for World Cup #5 July 9th

Next up is:

- July 16th USA XC Nationals in Sun Valley, UT

- July 23rd ProXCT #7 (Final Series Race) Missoula, MT

- July 30th Tagging along on Todd's work trip to Germany

- Aug 13/14th World Cup #6 Czech Republic

- Aug 20/21st World Cup #7 Italy (Final Series Race)

- ?Sept 3/4th World Championship Race SUI?

Todd has only been able to attend the World Cup races so I am very grateful to folks who have offered to feed me at the National Series races! After Germany Todd bee-lined it to AZ for a month of work, we met up again in Canada. Pre-riding these courses and exploring other trails with him is a lot of fun.

Here are a couple race photos courtesy of Canadian Superfan Louis Simard who presented me with a cute pink USB drive full of hi-res photos after the Canadian World Cup. I love Superfans. A Superfan kid now has my Osprey water bottle. He met me at the finish line and while he did not speak English he was able to say "May I have your bottle?".

photos courtesy of Canadian Superfan Louis Simard

Started 49th, finished 36th in Canada, it is hard to pass even a couple racers at this level, everyone is so fast and everything matters, tire/fork pressure, skills, etc. I love World Cup courses. So far all but the USA course have A/B lines around awesome technical features. The drop into the series of photos above was one of those options. This entire line was the A route, but the initial drop in and 90 degree turn while sliding on a wet muddy rock (not pictured) was the part that would make some consider the slower B line.

South Africa World Cup #1 and Mellow Johnny's ProXCT #4

2011-05-10T18:47:00.000-06:00

After a couple not so great races, things came together again. South Africa was amazing and I landed on the podium again in the ProXCT #4 Mellow Johnny's race the following weekend in Austin, TX. I am currently 5th in the ProXCT (USA National) series with 4 of 6 races complete.

Sunday April 17th Sea Otter wrapped up and Todd and I headed to the airport for a really long flight to South Africa for the World Cup #1 race the following Saturday.

I am still amazed with my Osprey luggage.

Todd likes it so much he bought a Shuttle 32" for himself. The Shuttle 32" with piggy-backed Transporter 75 (center of picture) weigh 50lbs each and I can pull it easily as one.

Layover at JFK airport spa! Massage chairs are awesome, I want one in the RV.

Arrival in Johannesburg, SA. Lots of World Cup racers claiming bags before clearing customs and rechecking to Durban. Long story short, bags were late and although we barely made our flight to Durban the bags did not. It was pretty confusing, no one knew where to recheck bags, we were all following different porters and running (literally) in opposite directions. Then we would be re-directed and pass each other running the opposite way.

Most racers did not have bags once we arrived in Durban and just had them delivered, Todd and I hung out at the Durban airport which was pretty nice and waited. We rented sim cards for our phones, adapters for electronics, picked up the rental car and then upgraded to one that would actually fit our luggage, ate, surfed, then picked up our bags.

We drove straight to Pietermaritzburg.

Our B&B

Nicoletta, fellow Cannondale rider.

Monkey in the yard

I learned in Cyprus that English folks do not do drip coffee. Not wanting any more Nescafe', I brought my own drip system and Starbucks coffee.

Our room.

The white plate bolted to the wall behind the bike tires is the heater, a ceramic plate that heats up when you plug it in.

Power is optional here, as is water.

A green alert means "power is stable at this time", Yellow means shut off all unnecessary things like hot water heaters, air conditioners or heaters. I assume red means power is out, but of course I never saw that because the TV wouldn't work.

The day before the race = no power. Traffic lights were out and businesses either ran a generator or closed down. The morning of the race = no running water.

B&B staff, really friendly. Big smiles overcome any language barrier.

Lots of good looking food at area restaurants.

On the drive from the B&B to the venue.

Registration in the shopping center

Across the bridge to the venue

Spectators in line for tickets!

No entry without passes

Stadium seating. And this is just for practice.

You could pay 30 Rand for someone to wash your bike. ($1 US = ~6.6Rand)

Getting bike ready

Only UCI registered teams get a Team plate for a manager or coach to be able to ride the course with them. I am not part of a UCI registered team, but another racer was nice enough to loan us hers, so Todd got to ride the course with me.

Pre-riding and figuring out lines.

Our "SUV". We had a couple days of pre-riding and getting adjusted to the 9 hour time difference.

April 23rd World Cup #1 South Africa

Race.

I LOVED the course, drops, rock gardens, spirals, the most entertaining technical course I have ever ridden. I was able to ride all "A" lines and made it from ~60th to 39th. Passing ~20 World Cup level racers is not as easy as I thought it would be! These girls are all good, it comes down to your starting position and if you have a good or bad day.

South Africa pickups

Cool down ride across from the venue:

All the nice homes have walls, gates and razor wire.

Monkey, top left.

Sunday we were lucky enough to hook up with a local tour guide Luke. His father owns Adrenaline Cycles in Howick, South Africa. I didn't take any pictures of the amazing singletrack because we were flying so fast and it was so much fun I never thought to stop. I did take photos while riding to and from the singletrack. Luke was an awesome guide pointing out Bush Hogs, different birds and yelling back warnings when we came up to "Bull" and "Chicken" lines in the singletrack.

Some of the singletrack we rode was part of the Karkloof Classic MTB race

Luke

Such a beautiful place.

Frankie Bananaz. Last night in South Africa.

Todd had wine and I had a margarita. The margarita was a mistake. I ended up with a 6 day stomach issue probably from the margarita ice...

57 hours of travel later I arrived in Austin, TX for Mellow Johnny's ProXCT #4 race.

Thursday I pre-rode but my Lefty fork had an issue, the rebound quit working all together. I tried to ride locked out and slammed into a rock ledge, bounced off and hurt my elbow.

Ouch

Friday, the day before the race, I went to an Austin urgent care for my stomach issues, I felt dehydrated and didn't want to eat anything. I ended up on an antibiotic and prescription strength "pepto bismol". After talking to Cannondale about the fork, I hit up a machine shop and had them cut down a ~2mm diameter drill bit to act as a pin in the damping assembly. Problems fixed. Ready to race.

April 30th ProXCT #4 race

CyclingNews Photo #1

CyclingNews Photo #2

CyclingNews Photo #3

I ended up blowing a locked 3rd place with a chainsuck issue and a wreck. I ended up 4th, by one second... CyclingNews race report here

May 7th NM Oak Flats Race

Racing against the boys including fellow NoTubes racer Philip Simpson

No other pro women raced, I finished 12th out of 35 Pro/Cat1 Guys, a 32 mile race at altitude, now I am tired. After the race I got to visit my 89 year old Grandma, she still lives alone and looks great although she is not happy about loosing her sight and hearing.

May 15th we leave for England and Germany, World Cup races #2 and #3.

I love to travel. Bonelli, Tucson, Fontana, Tucson, Sea Otter, South Africa...

2011-05-10T16:07:00.001-06:00

The last post was about our three week/five race trip in Cyprus, one day back in Tucson, AZ to unpack and repack before heading to the ProXCT #1 race in Bonelli, CA.

After the race we had dinner which included a margarita for me. New rule, I get a margarita for every ProXCT podium. This also means I don't have to drive. :) Todd (drink free) was only able to drive one hour before popping the VW top for a "nap", we woke up at 9:00am the next morning...

Upon return from Bonelli I had some bike building to do!

SRAM parts!

2011 Flash and Scalpel

Crazy weather, had to set up shop indoors.

Headed out for a test ride.

March 26th and 27th:

Todd and I loaded the van up for another trip to CA, this time for ProXCT #2 Fontana, CA. My good race streak had worn thin, but it was great to see everyone. New bikes were not quite ready.

Hotel food
.

Window shopping
.

CyclingNews photo #1 XC race, good start

CyclingNews photo #2
XC After the start lap, still doing well in 3rd but then died off big time, I was just too tired.

After the short track we climbed back up the super steep climb for the SuperD race, those of us who decided to do Super D froze at the top in the wind while waiting on the start. My hands were so cold and I was shaking so badly I could hardly hold the bars for the first half of the race. The SuperD course was a lot of fun, it was completely different than ever before, an actual SuperD course, very cool.

CyclingNews photo #3. Sunday short track, trying again.
.

CyclingNews Photo #4

Again after a good start I dropped off with fried legs, then didn't even finish the race due to a mechanical that was half real and half in my head. I could have finished with the mechanical but didn't realize it. Chloe (#5 BMC) won the race!

Headed home.
My view from the comfy sleeping bag. Todd driving and our dog Jake on the floor.

Todd staying awake, so nice of him to drive again.

Once we got back to Tucson Todd headed off for work and I was slammed trying to get bikes dialed with correct 2011 parts, ebaying 2010 stuff and getting the RV ready for the move to New Mexico. Tucson was starting to heat up. Of course moving means no more calling Scott for ride ideas, unless we cross paths is CO again this summer.

Scott, always ready to ride.

Riding up high, to avoid the heat.

Scott, "what do you mean you are going home?"

See you in the fall Tucson!

April 11th

It takes a lot of work to pack up after staying in one place for so long, but I did it. I did take a few days to drive to Santa Fe though. I had normal days, breakfast, emails, travel planning, ride, ebay, drive a few hours... Luckily I found a Fed Ex center along the route and the post office across the street, I am a "super fast shipper"!

April 13th

Pulled into Santa Fe, NM after dark and set up the RV.

April 14th

Back to the airport. All repacked and ready for another trip, this time: Sea Otter, South Africa, Texas.

Sea Otter

Crashing with friends. They left sticky notes telling me where to leave bags and showing me my room!

Sea Otter is about everything other than racing, the Pro XC race course is horrible, no one would attend if it wasn't for the Expo. I wrecked in both starts and bent my rear derailleur both times. In the XC, due to poor course design, pack riding and pack leaders not knowing about a last minute course change (against UCI rules) there was a wreck I could not avoid and ended up being thrown into a cement barrier. The Expo however was awesome!

The SRAM Ladies Lounge was a hit.

Three days in a row SRAM set up for all women to attend mini-tech clinics and Q&As with the pros, they also held raffles and provided food.

Sea Otter is all about visiting friends, sponsors and finding cool products. See red anodized NoTubes rims and Radical Lights here: Project 321.

We had a great weekend then were back on a plane, this time San Jose to South Africa via JFK.

SSAZ, Cyprus and US ProXCT Racing

2011-03-18T13:31:00.003-06:00

3rd in XC. First 2011 US National race (ProXCT#1 Bonelli Park San, Dimas, CA)

Yes, my season is starting off well! As mentioned below I spent the winter riding with Scott Morris exploring Tucson, AZ area trails, attending social MTB events, volunteering with Trips for Kids, and offering MTB skills clinics.

Feb 5th SSAZ
The race season started by doing "race pace" efforts in Singlespeed AZ on Feb 5th. That race is so much fun, this year I got to ride with Jake Kirkpatrick, Tom Ament, Dax Massey, the Durango crew and other super fun singlespeeders. I was never able to catch Niner's Tim Allen. Most of us got a flat at some point, mine was at the top of Milagrosa, I ended up finishing 4th (1st woman).

Neutral roll-out, chatting about how long SS bars should be

Getting heckled by Dejay and crew.

The coveted mug with Rudi Nadler artwork!

Well, one of two mugs, Tim got the other one.

Cyprus Sunshine Cup Feb 20-March 3

Todd had the last minute idea to head to Cyprus for a few weeks for the Sunshine Cup. The way it worked out, I had to go alone to make the first XC race and he met me later.

Luckily I have awesome travel gear from Osprey, the laptop/daypack attaches to the back of the carry-on rolling bag which has hide-a-way backpack straps in case your hands are full. The black gear bag attaches to the big rolling suitcase. So that is four bags requiring only one hand leaving the other hand free for the bike box. Genius! See more here. Now if only the bike boxes would piggy back.

The trip did not start well, long story short after delays and sitting on the Tucson tarmack in an American Airlines plane I picked up all my bags at the Tucson baggage claim, rechecked them at the United counter and flew out 9 (very stressful) hours later. Changed airlines in LAX and finally left the US. I had missed my connection, had to spend the night in London, and did not arrive the Larnaca, Cyprus airport till Friday pm (the first race wasn't until Sunday morning).

Layover in London:

Awesome comp-ed hotel meal

On to Cyprus:

Some facts: Cyprus is it's own country, not part of Greece. The northern part of the island is occupied by Turkey with a neutral (UN controlled) zone in between. The Brits colonized the island then got kicked out, so everything is in Greek and English and there are many British and Russians vacationers on the island.

Waiting on bikes at the Larnaca, CY airport... The Scalpel didn't show.

Awesome rental car!

Just like our red Nissan 4x4 stickshift pickup but this one had 4-doors and the steering wheel was on the other side. As soon as I saw what car I was given I was completely confident in driving here, I have shifted left handed many times, broken collar bone, shifting while Todd drives and chats on the phone, etc.

Since only one bike showed up I was able to fit everything inside. Driving in villages, on the wrong side of the road, was cool. More like racing on narrow roads, darting in and out of parked cars to let on-coming traffic by. Fun! I think driving the motorhome made it easy for me. The drivers were really nice, racing around honking horns (but not in a mean way, more a way of chatting, tapping not really honking). On the motorway everyone stayed in the slow lane (left lane) except to pass, used turn signals, and sped; traffic flows really well when everyone respects each other and the laws of traffic.

No tailgating on the motorway. Posted signs said to remain "2 Chevrons apart", in this picture there are two chevrons between our car and the next one although you can only see one.

Village of Voroklini. Across the street from the first place I stayed and part of the XC #1 course.

Saturday I cut my new SRAM XX brake lines, registered, pre-rode, Stan's-ed tires, tried to get shifting adjusted and found a village market walking distance from my place. I had driven to the market which meant I got to park wherever I wanted "locals style" (on the sidewalk since there were only 2.5 really small parking spaces).

Sunday. Watching the Jr race before warming up.

Hmm, pretty similar to Tucson terrain, sweet. There were some steep drops where I thought "really?" when I first saw them, but it wasn't like you could walk it for inspection, the drop in was too steep. Since there were three trailcrew guys watching I swallowed my heart and dropped in. The drops were tiered, a short drop, brake/turn, drop, brake/turn, drop, pretty cool. After the first time it was no big deal.

Start/Finish Line XC #1

I finished 13th with cramping legs, not bad for all the travel and I was happy with the first part of the race (before my legs cramped and I dropped places). After the race I hurried to the airport to pick up Todd who had already given up on me and taken a cab to the hotel. After that we figured out local SIM cards and phones. I have Droid Global so just swapped out the SIM card with a local CY phone number. Todd had to buy a cheap GSM phone since his Droid is CDMA only. I had been told to shut off all data capabilities or would have rung up a huge bill.

Todd enjoying a Frape (yes that is spelled correctly) which is Nescafe' blended to a foam with milk then poured over ice. See how to make one here, I never got it right... Cyprus folks are not coffee drinkers, so a cappuccino = Nescafe' instant coffee with milk.

Luckliy I had packed emergency coffee. haha.

Our self-catering apartment.

Kitchen/living area with door to bathroom and bedroom. I think we had three Greek TV shows.

Living Room

That was the first couple days, I'll try to summarize the rest. We moved to the city of Limassol for the rest of our stay.

We wanted to experience both the village living and the city, luckily I found a good deal on a nice place.

GPS, street names and exit numbers do not exist. You need to know towns, villages and landmarks. Or, drive around looking at a map that only helps a bit and trusting everything to these blue signs. It was a game of remembering where you have been, what the last sign said then trying to triangulate to the final destination. A compass would have been helpful since we were usually driving at noon. I gave up trying to figure out where we were and just read the signs, or said "go left", "go right" to Todd while he had fun driving like a Cypriot (think hammering in a car). Many people told us that they got lost every day trying to get to the mountain venue of the stage race, I am not sure we ever took the same route, it turned out to be the perfect way to see many villages.

headed to the mountains

Village of Kapedes, closest village to the Feb 25-27th stage race and where the point2point race began.

trying to stay warm between rain showers

mud? what's that?

The mountain TT/XC course was my favorite, awesome steep DHs through the trees. It made the first race seem really easy, I was able to ride everything and was having so much fun that I forgot that it was a race. The point2point was not my favorite, road race start (with very nice but aggressive Euro racers) then lots of dirt road climbing. Although the loooong downhill singletrack was almost worth it. It would have been much better if I wasn't riding blind, the singletrack had technical sections (up and down) that I just couldn't clean the first time. I wanted to go back and re-do sections once I could see where the line was.

Amathous, just east of Limassol, site of the last XC race March 3rd.

Cyprus was an awesome training experience; I rode well in a very strong European field which included many National teams including the German National Team. I placed 9th in the Stage Race and in the overall Sunshine Cup (5 races in 15 days).

The eight ahead of me in the series were:
BLAZA KLEMENCIC(Slovenia) Felt 2008 Olympian
ANNE TERPSTRA(Netherlands) Specialized
RIE KATAYAMA(Japan) Specialized 2008 Olympian
ANNIKA LANGVAD(Denmark) European CX Champion
LENE BYBERG(Norway) Specialized 2008 Olympian
IANA BELOMOYNA(Ukraine)
MELANIE SPATH(Germany)
ASA ERLANDSSON(Sweden) Swedish Nat. Team
KRISTA PARK (United States)

...
Lene skipped one of the XC races or she would have placed even higher and Annika would have won the overall if she hadn't missed the start of one of the XC races due to a start time change she was not aware of.

Back to the airport. There is only one British Airlines flight out of Cyprus a day and there are no connections that late in London so we spent the night in London, this time it was planned layover.

We did miss our flight the following day as I was detained for carrying a Buck knife through security. I just looked at the Buck website for a replacement and the front page states "Essential everyday tool" and has a picture of a backpacker. Exactly! The London airport folks were astounded that I always have it in my laptop bag, next to a little flashlight and think of the knife like a tool or scissors, not an illegal weapon.

Obviously I knew I made a mistake by not putting it in my checked bags, but had no idea I had entered the country with an illegal weapon. Good thing I didn't have my pepper spray, also illegal in the UK. Long story short, they pulled Todd and all of our bags off the plane. Todd was worried he may have to bail me out of jail and kept his distance so he wouldn't go to jail too. We were texting till my phone battery started to die, luckily I had my laptop and powered it on to charge the phone. After waiting for over an hour for the London police to come to the airport for me, an airport security person said the police told him to just let me go and helped book us another flight. This security officer, Mr. Fox, was really nice. He had actually lived in Tucson and understood that it was an honest mistake, I wasn't a threat, just an American.

Poor Todd

Empty seats are awesome.

Because of the messed up flight we ended up in Phoenix and had to rent a car to make it to Tucson. We were home for 36 hours, Todd bee-lined it to Serria Vista with the rental SUV for a job while I un-packed, re-packed and loaded the van for a quick road trip to CA.
,

ProXCT #1 San Dimas, CA

I wasn't sure about racing the first ProXCT in Bonelli, CA as it required traveling back from Cyprus (a 2-day ordeal), un-packing, building/fixing bikes, re-packing then driving 8 hours. We decided to give it a go and I registered last minute. I must have traveled well because my legs felt good, I was able to get in 2-laps on the course Friday evening and one Saturday morning in my warm-up. I loved the new Bonelli XC course, it wasn't as technical as the Cyprus courses, but so much better than past courses. I competed in the entire Triple Crown (XC, SuperD and ST) finishing 3rd in the XC and 3rd overall. That adds up to 8 races in ~3 weeks.

Article about the Bonelli Race: http://www.examiner.com/endurance-sports-in-tucson/tucson-pro-mountain-bikers-on-the-podium-season-opener

Home for 1.5 weeks.

Next up: Fontana ProXCT #2 March 26th and 27th, also a Triple Crown event. Word is I will have new frames and forks on Monday the 20th, if all goes well I'll have new bikes for ProXCT#2. SRAM XX parts, NoTubes wheels, SRM Si/XX cranks are all here, I can't wait!

2011 Sponsors

2011-03-04T12:53:00.001-07:00

2011 is starting out perfectly, my sponsorships have worked out so I have real travel funds this year! Todd and I wintered in Tucson, Arizona and are now in Limassol, Cyprus for a "training camp", five races in three weeks.

Cyprus

Village of Kapedes, Cyprus (guess which rental car is mine)

To make things even better most of my new gear should be waiting for me when I return to Tucson. Before I get to start building up 2011 bikes I'll have a quick trip to Bonelli, CA for the first ProXCT race. We'll be getting "home" from Cyprus via London on Wednesday, driving to CA Thursday night and racing Saturday morning. Hopefully this is the theme for the entire year, travel, race and meet lots of new friends.

Thanks to my sponsors I have the sickest bikes and gear in the world! 2011 Cannondale Flash and Scalpel equipped with Leftys, SI Cranks, SRM power meters, SRAM XX drivetrains and brakes, NoTubes Podium wheels, Kenda tires, and Jagwire cables/housings. I am completely Osprey outfitted for my 2011 travels with super sweet luggage, gear bags and hydration packs. Primal is providing my kits; I'll also be wearing UVEX helmets, Oakley sunglasses, Gaerne (training/racing) shoes and DZR (chilling) shoes. My nutrition is covered by FRS, PowerBar and CarboRocket. Feedback Sports has provided the most amazing bike stand and Radical Lights the super bright 1250 Lumens lights. It looks like the only parts I will have to buy this year are pedals and saddles! I am VERY thankful for the support and so psyched to be running the best cycling products made!

Here is my complete list of sponsors (also listed on the right side of the blog):

2011 Sponsor List
Cannondale
NoTubes
SRAM
Primal New Primal kit pics here. They even have a Tech Tee which will fit my baggies and DZR look better than a race jersey.
FRS
Osprey
SRM
Kenda
PowerBar
DZR Shoes
Feedback Sports
Jagwire
UVEX helmets
Oakley
Recovery Sock
CarboRocket
Gaerne Shoes
Radical Lights
Genuine Innovations
Chamois Butt'r
Oxygen4Energy

Clinic Sponsors
FRS and NoTubes are now title sponsors of my 2011 clinics!

Tucson Base Training

2011-02-28T06:47:00.002-07:00

Wow, it has been a fast paced and fun off-season. Todd has been working hard and traveling so hasn't had much, or any, time to ride. Scott Morris became my winter training buddy and took me all over the Tucson trails.

Scott Morris

I am actually not sure where all I have ridden, but here are a few Topofusion files of some of our MTB rides:

"Round the Lemmon"

There are some long dirt roads on this route.

Stats from Scott's blog, pretty cool write up about the day here:

"104 miles
7:32 total time
7:05 moving time
7,600′ climbing

If you check PBAA’s record page they keep track of times for riding the perimeter of the Santa Catalinas (Mt. Lemmon). "

I guess I should submit my time for the women's record, haha. The men’s time is just over 6 hours so Scott will have to go back out for that one.

The TMP Rock n Road Challenge loop.

(Thanks to Scott I have a bunch of pictures of where I rode this winter. It pays to ride with someone who likes cameras and rides, or gets ready to ride, faster than I do.)

The TMP Challenge is a "do whenever you want" race, save a GPS file and submit it for your official place in the results. Cool concept. New to me is the self supported race idea, no support allowed. You can stop at a coke machine or water fountain but can't stage food or water. If the coke machine doesn't work, too bad. I carried extra CR333 powder and used the water fountain.

Scott, Dejay and friends @ AZ Trail Jamboree Fundraiser ride.

Chad Brown raised ~$5000 for the trail with this event/race/MTB ride!

Another Trips for Kids ride.

This Time Scott taught the kids to jump and I encouraged fast downhilling...

New 2011 gear is starting to trickle in!! Comparing my brand-new Cannondale/XX SRM to the PowerTap. The SRM rocks by the way!!!

Again from one of Scott's blog posts:

"how many CPUs can you fit onto one handlebar?

It was a pretty comical ride when she first set up her SRM power meter. GPS, radical lights super light, powertap, SRM, ipod attached to glasses, DROID attached to Osprey pack, I think she wins the award for most electronics on a bike ride. “Heart rate is picking up on this one and this one, but not this.” “Power is showing up on this screen, oh, but not this one.” “Now how do I reset this one?” ".

Base miles are now over. Time to start riding fast!

Clinics and Trips for Kids

2011-01-23T22:16:00.005-07:00

Here are a few non-ride/race events I have been doing while in AZ this winter.

Dec 12th Phoenix full-day women's only clinic. Skills, lunch, raffle followed by nutrition and fueling discussions. I had a great time. Thank you to FRS and NoTubes for supporting my clinics this year.

Phoenix Dec 12th Clinic Cave Creek

Trips for Kids is a National organization where each chapter is an independently operated non-profit organization based on the Trips For Kids Marin program. I first volunteered with Trips for Kids while living in Georgia. Tucson also has a chapter: TripsForKidsAZ.org. Last week I rode with a great group, only one child actually has a bike and the frame is broken. The only chance these kids get to ride is when their teacher (an avid MTB'r) sets up a Trips for Kids event and has them bused across town to use donated bikes.

What a great day, I had a blast with the kids, they asked a million questions and hung on every word. They wanted to know about racing, clipless pedals, tubeless tires, CO2, GPS, tire selection, nutrition(!), and pretty much everything on my bike.

Jan 16th Tucson Clinic: Thanks to Scott Morris for the pictures!

Bike Setup

a little DH

Cone Drills

Raffle Time

Picking from a pile of additional goodies to add to their bags: Ergon grips, FRS Concentrate, Genuine Innovations tools, Chamois Butt'r, Primal Socks, Osprey nalgene bottle and more.

Snack Time

PowerBar's new Brownie Protein Bites

Wheel Lifts (Paula, ~3.5 month past hip surgery)

Drinking

Beer and FRS, true Tucson style

December in Phoenix, AZ

2011-01-01T19:16:00.005-07:00

Picture taken by Scott Morris, see his blog for more great pictures.

November was all about getting caught up from the year of traveling, taking care of all RV repairs and working on 2011 sponsorship. I was supposed to be in Tucson and ready to train beginning Dec 1st, but the RV repairs took seven weeks instead of the originally scheduled three... It turns out Phoenix is not a bad place to train! I mixed in fun rides with get-the-mind-back-to-training type rides.

McDowell 50 an Arizona Endurance Series event

McDowell 50 article here

Another McDowell 50 picture by Scott Morris

Kentucky Camp, another Arizona Endurance Series event

Some Kentucky Camp finishers. The coolest thing about these events is that everyone hangs out waiting for all the riders/racers to come in. There is usually a campfire to grill on and people camp out.

Tucson Examiner Article about the Kentucky Camp event here

Fun night ride with the Phoenix Meet Up group. Thanks Amy!

Removing the fridge and it's coils.

New cooling system.

Yes, a fridge that works! Thanks to Andy and Allison (Durango) and Todd's mom Barbara (New Mexico) for storing (and saving) my frozen green chile along the way, and to Todd's step-Dad Chris for bringing it down to Phoenix when I had a working fridge. Only people from NM will understand the chile obsession.

Finding road routes east of Phoenix

My RV repair guys became fans of Power Bar Trail Mix bars. It seems like no one knows about these; they are my favorite.

Thanksgiving

2011-01-01T18:17:00.005-07:00

Casey, Mikah, me, Dana post 5k race.

Thanksgiving was spent in TN visiting my family. I hadn't seen Todd since Interbike in September, he missed out on all things Durango because of work. We were supposed to meet up in New Mexico in November but he had to postpone his trip a few days and I left for Phoenix before he got back. After Thanksgiving he flew east and I went west... It was a few fun days though! We flew in late on the 24th and had to be up and ready to run first thing Thanksgiving morning.

I didn't take a bike so the idea was to find other things to do, I started doing a few jogs in Durango so thought why not a 5k? Not the brightest idea since I had never actually ran. But I was able to talk some of my brothers and sisters into it. Todd didn't fall for the "c'mon, it'll be fun" argument but was there with the camera.

Warm up. Aubrey, Dana, Casey.

My brothers Dana and Mikah

Wow, this is a lot of people. 1400 5k and 10k runners, mass start.

Todd said I didn't look like a runner. But it was good enough for 1st place in the women's 5k. Results. After crossing the finish line a reporter came up to interview me and I said I wasn't first, two other had women crossed in front of me, but it turns out they were 10k racers (and faster than me).

Aubrey and Baby!

Casey, Aubrey, Jer, me, Dana, Dad

Day 2. Dana took me to Knoxville Fleet Feet to get sized and pick up a pair of running shoes (1st place prize). They took their time; measuring, having me walk, stand and try on different shoes as well as asking me running related questions, which I didn't really have any answers for since I am not a runner.

Super light shoes, almost feels like I don't have shoes on. They sold me a bigger size than I would have normally purchased, but they feel great.

Day 2 con't: We were all sore from the run so went to the gym. The guys decided we should do 5 pull-ups, 10 pushups and 15 squats every minute on the minute for 30 minutes. The faster you go the more rest you get between sets. I was down to 3 pull-ups pretty quickly but kept up on everything else, but we all voted to quit at 20min. After showing that I could do a pyramid headstand, Dana walked on his hands. I couldn't do it.

Then he showed us how to go from seated to standing on your hands without moving your hands from this position.

Dana in Dental school clothes

Pranks: This raw egg was in with the harboiled eggs, still not sure who did it... Egg whites all over your hands when you think you are cracking a hardboiled egg first thing in the morning is just wrong.

Cars:

My Nissan Pathfinder!

My car since I was 16, it almost has 300,000 miles on it and now my Dad takes care of it for me. LOTS of road trips in that pathfinder.

Mom and Dad

Dad's first Hot Rod is done! He is now starting a 2nd one.

Dana's Mustang

Luckily Josh left his Firebird in VA and was driving a family car for all night-shopping on Black Friday...

Day 3: We were even more sore. That gym workout didn't seem like much, but I could hardly walk. So we played frisbee golf.

My brother Ira

Todd, Josh, and Mikah looking for Mikah's frisbee.

Todd with my brothers Josh, Ira and Mikah

Day 4: We went bowling.

Life as an RV'er

2010-12-07T11:46:00.013-07:00

Full-time RV-ing runs in our family. It is an alternate lifestyle, not better or worse, just different. Todd and I had the normal lifestyle where I worked at Motorola every day, we had a nice house and rode when we could. With the recent economy we may have been a little nuts to quit two great jobs, but selling our house in 2006 was perfect! I love traveling and living on the road, but sometimes the easy money and good benefits while sitting at a desk sound pretty good. Todd loves building his own company even though it is much more stressful than working for a steady paycheck.

My grandparents were full-timers for 9 years in an Avion trailer (looks like an Airstream) then settled in Durango, CO and my Aunt and Uncle are full-timing right now, in fact we stay in some of the same areas. If you are considering a RV or becoming a full-timer buy used and get a Good Sam Extended Warranty plan. And yes, they give (20 year) mortgages on RVs (a depreciating asset), the trick is to buy something well below blue book so when you sell it in a couple years you'll break even minus "rent" (interest payments and RV space rental rates). We were planning to sell in 2008 and this plan was brilliant...

I am asked daily "where are you from?" I have many answers. If someone is just being polite I say New Mexico, unless I am in New Mexico. If I think someone may actually want to chat I say "I live on the road". Most people think oh, how fun. It is fun and different. I don't spend much time in campgrounds (too expensive), but rent full-hookup RV spaces people have built on property they own. This usually works out well, occasionally people underestimate the size of our motorhome. I have learned to ask the right questions, to a non-RV'er I'll ask "Can you park a semi there?". For the last month I have been living at a RV Repair center getting a huge list of repairs taken care of. Todd has been traveling for work.

Windshield

Repairs so far:

Body work (insurance)

New Tires ($!)

Fridge - new cooling unit (extended warranty)

Slide-out - repairing the damage done by another repair facility (La Mesa) and the original problem. The original issue is covered under extended warranty but I am still trying to get reimbursed from La Mesa.

Interior woodwork

Radio - replacement (extended warranty)

Engine cover - reattached (extended warranty)

Water pump - (extended warranty)
Towed Vehicle (Truck) - Welded tow mount to frame, no more tightening loose bolts!

In process:

Slide out - Interior threshold and hydraulic system fluid levels topped off

Windshield - Replacement (insurance)

Winegard satellite dish - Replacement (extended warranty)

New slideout topper - Install

Awning - Adjustment

To be dealt with later:

Intermittent dash gauges

intermittent windshield wipers

Removing slideout rams to repair LaMesa's damage

In addition to driving our house around and having things come loose or fail we run into all kinds of issues, like staying in one state past 30 days. States usually require you to have local registration after 30 days, but it is illegal for us to try and obtain residency in most states unless it is our legal domicile (own or rent a home or apartment, have bills to that address, etc.). South Dakota is the best legal domicile for us since they are RV friendly and you do not have to reside there for it to be your legal domicile. SD has no state income taxes or vehicle emissions requirements (no traveling back to SD with all vehicles once a year). Texas, Alaska, and Montana are a few others that would work, but have different rules.

Another RV'er issue is Dish Network, they will not ship a DVR to us, they have to bring it to our house (South Dakota mail service address). Every time I need a new DVR I spend 2 hours on the phone with Dish. Also our spot beam (local channels) is directed to South Dakota so we never get the local channels over satellite. Health insurance is fun, we have to go with the most expensive option since we are always out-of-(South Dakota) network. I wish there was an option to be a National resident instead of a state resident. Voting is another one, since South Dakota has a huge number of RV residents who never live in SD there is an un-written rule that we (out-of-state RV'ers) do not vote in their local elections.

Our mail service is awesome they do our vehicle registration, send us a daily email letting us know what mail we received that day and send our mail wherever we are.

But the best part is riding all over the place, making friends and never getting bored of the same old route. I am headed out for a road ride in Fountain Hills, AZ.

2010-11-14T22:53:00.001-07:00

Staying in Phoenix while getting RV repairs done.

Roof repair. A piece of wood flew off a semi a while back and caused the roof seam to blow apart.

The fridge blew it's cooling unit so now it is a storage space for water bottles and hydration bladders. Driving your house around is hard on it.

It is the ON season for cyclists in AZ, plenty for me to do here:

Today an awesome 100miler in Tucson, Dirty Bunny.

Long story short it was cut to 76.5 miles then we got to drink our entry fee.

Yesterday I signed up for a road century, but there was no official start and no group to ride with so I detoured at 30 miles and wandered around Scottsdale for another 15mi to get back to the start/finish. Found the Starbucks though!

Last week was an Arizona Endurance Series 42 mile ride.

AES DCT, a little route finding required.

Ive been doing a little road riding exploring.

A little running. South Mountain.

Found an awesome fitness center.

Durango was amazing, but we had to move on when there was a little dusting of snow on the picnic table:

Kitty curled up on the heater vent and not very happy about it.

Bye Durango, I see snow!

Quick stop in Santa Fe, NM on the way to AZ:

SS Cochiti ride with Tim and friends.

where I picked up all kinds of goodies including my new bike stand:

Best stand ever! Pro-Elite by Feedback Sports

AES Kentucky Camp then TN to visit family and finally Tucson (as soon as we have a working fridge, slide-out, radio, satellite and water pump).

Magura STORM SL rotors, CR333, Zuni 50, Mountain Bike Skills Clinics & Group Rides

2010-10-19T14:31:00.008-06:00

It is almost time to head south, yesterday the weather started getting cold in Durango, CO. This last week was amazing, fall colors, brilliant sun, riding in shorts and short sleeves every day. I took full advantage and ended the week with the Saturday Zuni 50 in Gallup, NM and a Sunday MTB skills clinic in Durango.

Zuni 50

Saturday I woke up at 4am for the four hour drive to Gallup, NM. Three folks did the Zuni 100 (the Zuni 50, then they go back out again in the opposite direction) and ~65 of us did the Zuni 50. It was all singletrack and so much fun! (the 50 mile course was really ~46miles).

After the race everyone wanted to check out my bike. I think my custom Cannondale Flash has been picked up/ridden by more people than any other bike ever. I got comments like "Well no wonder you were fast" and "Wow, that's cheating!". I have to say it was fun to walk around chatting to everyone and showing off my 17.75lb bike!

The course was amazing, it was very well organized, the people were really cool and I was trying out new products during the ride. Late Friday night I put on the new Magura 140/160 rotors (click on STORM SL Rotors) and decided to try a new drink I had just received in the mail, Carbo Rocket's CR333.

Thursday's Post Office score

The STORM SL rotors were the ones off the Interbike showroom floor! They performed just as well as the original SL 160s and had none of the flexy issues that light aluminum rotors have. I tried the light route, I am all about getting my MTBs as light as possible, but I couldn't deal with the lack of performance (both loss of power and rubbing issues due to the aluminum flexing while trying to align the brakes). The STORM rotors weighed 76g (140) and 96.39g (160) and worked perfectly. Because the Flash is designed for a rear 140 direct mount to the frame, I also lost the weight of 2 bolts and the 160 adapter.

I took full strength CR333 (333 calories in 24 oz bottles). I knew that would be too strong for me at race pace, but I was not going race pace and it worked perfectly. No gels, no water, nothing but CR333. My "50-mile" time was 4:13 and my legs felt good the entire time. For racing I would do ~280 calories in a 24oz. bottle and less if it were really hot (if I was going through more than a bottle an hour).

They had a full-on party all afternoon and evening. Write up and pictures at Mountain Flyer.

Pulling the pig out of the ground

Live music

Dinner

T-shirts

I stayed till dark (when everyone was really getting started, I left before the homebrew competition) and headed back to Durango. It was a full day and worth the drive!

Sunday I did a MTB Skills clinic for 12 people (showing off their 2oz Stan's Solution bottles)

Clinic goodies. Packing up for the next one in Cortez, CO.

Earlier in the week I got in on different group rides (and usually went for beers after)

Wed I did noon cross practice with ~30-40 folks at the college (Fort Lewis), a 30 minute trail jog, a 2.5 hr MTB ride on all new (to me) trails with Julie (pictured), then Boot Camp at Core Value Fitness.

Thursday night Girl's Ride at the Test Tracks.

Co-ed Friday morning ride from Sale Barn.

Funny who you meet in this town, the guy on the left is Jimmy Deaton. I tried to stick to his wheel on all the descents.

Win a Cannondale cross frame & fork, Durango Cross, Phil's World, Aluminum Bolts, Ride the Divide, Osprey Packs

2010-10-10T21:55:00.010-06:00

Enter HERE for a chance to win a custom painted Cannondale Caad 9 Cyclocross Frame and Fork! In support of Utah Cyclocross Racing.

Write a 300 to 350-word story about your all-time best mountain bike experience for a chance to win a Cannondale Jekyll, a five day, four night trip to Punta San Carlos, Baja, Mexico (you can bring a friend), the chance to ride with Chris Van Dine and a byline in Bike magazine as guest test editor. Enter HERE.

September and October in Durango, Co have been different versions of off-season "do what you want". September ended up being: get caught up on all things life, tally up everything that is in need of repair on the motorhome and figure out how to get it fixed, find new health insurance, a dentist, go to Interbike, etc. Basically do everything except get on the bike (for the most part). I got back from Interbike and our last remaining, 14 year old, dog Jake got sick and spent three days at the Durango vet. Luckily he is fine now.

Jake right before I took him in, not feeling very well...

October, aside from having our $3800 refrigerator fail, has been more relaxed. The fridge is covered under a service plan, but I am without a fridge for 4+ weeks.

I started to ride again, "just for fun". To keep things interesting I decided every ride had to have a new or different quality to it, I think I mixed it up pretty well and the only thing missing was a good DH shuttle ride or Super-D.

Oct 2nd: Group Road Ride on new (to me) roads. From no riding to a 32-mile road ride is something, my legs felt it.
Oct 3rd: Wells Brothers Cross Race at Durango Mountain Resort (Purgatory), awesome venue.

(photo by Sven Brunso/Durango Mountain Resort)

Guess I do get enough air, it's cool to actually see what I am doing. Photos are from the Durango Herald Newspaper coverage (!) of the race. It was cool to see Nina Baum and Shannon Gibson there after having raced the Road Apple MTB race the day before.

(photo by Sven Brunso/Durango Mountain Resort)
1st Lap: Chasing Nina with Shannon two spots behind me.

Ned Overend is hiding in this picture of the venue. He didn't race, but it was cool that he came out to support.

Candy, beer and flowers; and all in pink for Get Out!

My cross bike!

with new red Al bolts from CadenceWORKS!

The Mens' A winners Todd Wells (drinking his winnings)

and my new DZR Urban bike shoes that I bought at Interbike, I love these shoes.

The leaves are changing so I probably won't stay here too much longer. But there is so much to do.

Oct 4th: Another fitness class at Core Value Fitness, "Burn and Firm". All I know is I could not walk for two days after this class. I dug out my Singlespeed (last ride was SSUSA in February) for an evening ride at Hermosa Creek.

I ride WTB saddles (Silverados on most my bikes), and have a box full of demos for anyone who wants to try them out. Just for kicks I am trying out the Koobi PRS Alpha "suspension" saddle (sorry, none of these to share). So far my thoughts are that it is comfortable and you do not notice the suspension until you hit a rock just right. When you would expect that super sharp jolt up your spine it just isn't there, this saddle makes a stiff HT feel more like the Flash and that is a good thing! I am not sure it flexed at all when putting out high power while seated. It comes with multiple elastomers so you can fine tune the "suspension": extra soft (white), soft (yellow), medium (red), and firm (blue) offering up to 4/10 inch of travel. I have the white and it feels stiff enough for me. Todd is using the red elastomer.

Oct 5th: I raced the Durango Wheel Club (DWC) MTB TT at Horse Gulch trails (super fun). Being all racy-like I removed my Big Air and tools for the race. Big mistake, I had not tightened my valve core tight enough and lost all the air in my rear tire over the first few minutes. Luckily I ran into someone (Ben?) riding the trails who offered the use of his pump. I am extremely thankful but I do not have the upper body fitness for pumping up an entire tire quickly with a little hand pump, I will remain a fan of the Big Air! Since I was racing roadies I still won the women's race. They all kicked my butt the rest of the week.

Later that night I finally got to see Ride the Divide on the big screen.

It is really worth watching, it'll make you laugh and cry. Click Here for the schedule of showings.

Oct 6th: Cross practice at Fort Lewis College at noon then a drive to Cortez, I almost turned around. Glad I didn't, the riding was perfect.

Phil's World. A great trail system in Cortez, CO that I heard about through the folks at Osprey Packs. These are the trails of 12 hours of Mesa Verde, fast and fun, smooth and roller coaster like.

Oct 7th: DWC Road TT (ouch, must have forgotten that I am only riding for fun right now, what was I thinking?). The on-line results list the weather conditions exactly: Epic, Cloudy, Clear, Rain, Hail, Thunder, Lightning, Rainbows, Variable Wind (and a smoldering lightning strike about 800 feet from the finish line)

Oct 8th: Visited Trimble Hot Springs for the first time.

Oct 9th: DWC Road Race. It was mellow and fun, the majority of the group including all the women were together at the base of the final ~1mile climb. I had no legs on the last bit, I really tried, but just didn't have it. In true Durango fashion I rode to and from the road race and got in ~ 70miles total. Then attended my first ever yoga class at Yoga Durango but I drove to the Yoga class. So much for being a true Durangoan.

Oct 10th: DWC Road Crit. Today I kept it fun and did not suffer like you should. Way to go Dana Shinn for winning the Championship! And thanks to all the guys who let us ride with them.

Oh, beer, I forgot to mention that I sampled local beer all week (and ate an entire package of Peanut Butter Malted Milk Balls Saturday night). Fun stuff this "Off Season".

Best of Interbike 2010

2010-09-25T03:16:00.001-06:00

Interbike is fun, but really taxing. This is the magic formula for getting through it. I figured it out last year and went in with a game plan this time. I could probably charge for this tip...

I packed FRS for breakfast every morning

and counted on PowerBar for lunch.

Here are my best Interbike finds:

SRM crank for Cannondale and SRAM XX!

with a red computer, oh yeah!

Or, Skittles colors (Bri, you see the pink one???)

I stopped at the DZR booth because of the van,

I bought the Tosca women's shoes because they are awesome.

Add cleats and use them on the bike! I thought I may be in trouble because we don't really have money to spend, but I was actually in trouble because I didn't buy Todd a pair! I will be ordering the Strasse shoes for Todd tomorrow.

Jagwire stuff is clearly the only option for blinging out your bike no matter what your color is.

See?

I need these road inline adjusters (with red ferrules of course)

and these tools.

Forget the big, heavy hydraulic brake line cutters. I used the cutters (top left). One handed use, small and light. What else could you want? More colors maybe... They use Exacto blades which are easy to replace. I'll be ebaying last year's bench mount cutter if anyone wants it. The derailleur housing cutters (top right) have a pointy thing to open up the inside of the cable and a crimper for the cable ends; you can do it all with one tool instead of three.

This is what I have been waiting for; the new, lighter Magura rotors! The 140 rear will allow me to run the lighter rotor and get rid of the adapter on the Cannondale Flash.

Do I need to say anything? The Ergon EA1 in red! I found it at the Niner booth.

I had never heard of these, but the fit on the Gaerne road shoe was amazing. I need more info on the MTB shoes, but these Italian shoes seemed pretty slick.

Women's MTB shoe!

Red & Black splatter for the "cool" factor, overall white for the (temp) cool factor. Perfect.

I used Troy's Pro-Elite Feedback stand at the Cannondale trailer in Windham and looooved it! All the pro mechanic boys are on the Feedback main page. If Dusty, Troy, Matt and everyone else is using it you know it has got to be the best. Pro riders may have to use what they get, but pro mechanics use what works.

Hmmm, this would be cool for our "house". A personal Rakk for each bike, no more leaning and scratching the maple cabinetry indoors, or RV paint outdoors.

IMBA was giving away Camelbak packs for renewing your membership.

I was a test athlete for the new reservoirs; it was cool to see my/our feedback used in the final design!

Lightweight long finger Ergon gloves. I want these.

New chocolate Fluid flavor! Awesome, you've got to try it. Now I'll be thinking about my recovery drink before I ever get on the bike. Maybe even break it out just for kicks. You know the "Oh it's okay, I'll work it off later" thing.

As I said I was on the lookout for all things cross, including bikes:

We saw a lot of Stevens MTBs in Germany

Check out the Raleigh SS belt drive.

My sister Erika races the Ridley and has two top-of-the-line frames in size 44.

I test rode the Felt at DirtDemo, it was fast! I was flying by mountain bikers on the #5 trail. As I passed I would hear things like, "Did you see that? She was on a cross bike?!?" It was so fun.

Cross tires from Kenda:

Looks like I'll be more than covered with Stan's NoTubes cross wheels and Kenda tires; yeah baby!

I just need a cross frame...

2010 Interbike Outdoor Demo

2010-09-20T23:14:00.005-06:00

Outdoor Demo/Interbike is always so much fun. I love seeing everyone and scoping out the new cool stuff. Here are a few pictures:

Clarion, our $33/night hotel, is "70's fabulous" on the outside but the rooms are pretty nice.

It is way hot, but the Dodge Charger is fun to drive!

Yeah Baby! New FRS flavors.

PowerBar time-released beta alanine, I need to try this.

Rotor. This is my 1st choice for a flat bar next year. Light, awesome graphics, red & black and bar end inserts!

Ruthie Matthes showing off the Vaude packs. And in red...

DH mud saddles anti-slipping features.

I started checking out cross bikes, loved the SS Raleigh with belt drive,

custom World Cup graphics,

and cuddly bear.

Van Dessel fun bike

Race bike

End of Season Break

2010-09-14T14:45:00.000-06:00

August was awesome, I based out of Durango, CO and flew to the Germany Marathon World Championship, Cannondale Women's Symposium in Santa Rosa, CA then Windham, NY for my first World Cup race. It is now a perfect time for a break.

It has been two weeks since Windham, I am still in Durango and have hardly ridden. Instead I attended workout classes at Core Value Fitness. "Brazilian Butt Lifts" (squats and lunges for 45 minutes) and "Burn and Firm" (all-body workout) on back-to-back days left me unable to walk. Thanks Kricket!

I had a couple chill days hanging out with Scott Morris as he rested up for the Vapor 125. I spent quality time with my Aunt, Uncle and Grandma, tried trail running, and began catching up on everything that gets blown off during the race season. I saw the dentist for the first time in three years, researched a better health insurance plan (way too time-consuming), attacked all the piles of "stuff" that have collected, performed small auto repairs and am in the process of various motorhome repairs.

Maybe that'll hold the truck light in...

Re-siliconing the motorhome roof is much harder than one would think, I have band-aids on most fingers now, removing all the old silicon is a pain, literally. A recall was issued for our refrigerator, something about "resulting in fire and possibly death"; I should probably look into that... The main slideout has a broken piece which is a result of poor slideout alignment. We had the slideout aligned a while ago and apparently the guy didn't do it correctly. The broken awning (last Interbike trip) was apparently a result of this incorrect alignment. For the last couple months I have just left the slide-out in, it is a little cramped, but I haven't been home much. Oh yeah, all the dash gauges went out again. Temporary solution: Garmin GPS for speed, wild guesses for gas consumption, and just hope nothing is overheating. I think we may be heading through Iowa next year to visit the factory.

Next up Interbike! This will be an easy trip since my bags are still packed. I am not taking a bike, so I guess I could unpack the bike box. I signed up for CrossVegas in hopes of being able to borrow a cross bike off the Cannondale demo truck. The plan is to watch a video on the plane ride to see how to dismount, mount, jump and run. Everyone tells me it is easy, I am not so sure.

2010-08-30T11:07:00.006-06:00

My First World Cup Race!
(photo by Armand Arekian)

Windham, NY was a blast this weekend. Starting plate 74 of 81, but some didn't show or DNF'd. I finished 48th of 64, 8th USA finisher, good enough for 20 UCI points. I am happy with my race, a very safe, steady race, I really did not want to blow up or crash out of my first World Cup race. Obviously a nice safe race is not going to get one very far with this crowd, but racing the top racers in the world is fun!

The picture in the NY Post Office where the local folks in line behind me wanted to chat about bikes and what exactly mountain bike racing was. Anywhere else they would have probably been irritated having to wait on me to send so many packages. The people in this town were so into the race, it was awesome; and apparently there really is a camel in town.

The big screen was amazing, you could basically watch the entire race from the finish line.

The crowd, I can't believe how many people came out to watch!

This is my favorite XC course, you can see how much work they put into these trails. And it felt like a proper UCI race, it was taped and signed well, same orange paint as used at the Marathon World Championship race a few weeks ago and communication to the racers was good. I think I said this last year, but it felt like they really wanted us there. I had fun during the race, the trails were awesome, and the weather was perfect; big rain earlier in the week left a few mud spots and slick roots to make for perfect east coast riding. I wouldn't call it technical, but if you were not smooth you would slip out or hit rocks hard enough to flat (as many of the guys did).

Monday 8/23: Packing, Recovery Socks, Post Offices and Driving in the Rain.

Anyone who is expecting Recovery Socks (or Fluid Recovery) I finally got them mailed, from NY. If you wonder why the packaging is a bit crumpled this is why: I spent all day Monday (in Durango, CO) packing for NY and the socks arrived right before I left. Perfect! I packaged everything and planned to send them from the Bayfield, CO Post Office on the way to Albuquerque, NM. I was a little late, it closed at 4:00pm (?), small town I guess. I figured I'd use the APC (automated postal center), oh wait they don't have one. Neither did Bloomfeild or Aztec, but I called Albuquerque and got an address for an APC near where we were to spend the night. Todd met me on the road near Bernallio and we went to the post office together in the pouring rain. I grabbed all the packages, tried to cover them from the rain, ran in the post office only to see an out of order sign taped to the APC. We repacked bags to take them to NY and try again.

Tuesday 8/24: Horrible travel day. Up at 4:15am, 4 flights due to a plane mechanical, arrived NY ~11:00pm, the luggage and bikes had not made it to NY, we stood in line to fill out paper work for missing bags and left with a rental car which we hoped would fit the bike boxes on the return trip.

Wednesday 8/25: The luggage and bikes arrived at noon! I immediately went over to the Cannondale tent, set up a stand and started getting my Scalpel in shape to ride, new Jagwire cables and housings, swapped tires, removed lefty spacers, etc. I "borrowed" a pump from the Kenda tent and had fun hanging out with Jack (sp?) the Euro Mechanic as he dialed in all the big boys bikes. I got in a quick lap on the course right before dark, it was really muddy and slippery, pretty fun but my east coast skills didn't come back right away so it was a slowish but super fun lap. I washed the super-muddy, grass-filled bike and went grocery shopping. Todd spent the day in the condo working.

NoTubes!

Thursday 8/26: Stopped by the NoTubes tent for a top off on sealant, it is always cool to see these guys, a good source of updates on product, other athletes and places to visit/ride. Back to Cannondale for more work on the bike, I needed some spacers for my cranks and still could not get the rear shifting right, so I headed to SRAM for some help and ended up with a new rear derailleur. Support is so key, thank you NoTubes, Kenda, Cannondale and SRAM!

Todd, my #1 sponsor!

Friday 8/27: Picked up race packet at 10:30 which was cutting it a little close, if I had missed the 11:00 deadline no World Cup for me and they were serious about that. I got in a nice ride around town and one lap on the course then Todd washed my bike while I changed. Wow, for the first time all year I am ready to race an entire day early! At 1:30 we headed over to the post office to send the packages, it was closed till 2:00 (no APC) so we went for a coffee and came back. The post office was small, one window and a line, but everyone was really nice and the packages finally went out! Todd headed over for the evening Team Managers meeting to learn the details of the race and I checked off the last few to do items, water bottles, lay out clothes, good to go!

Saturday 8/28: I woke up at 4am seriously nauseous and throwing up! Around 8:00 I went up to the kitchen and the smell of food made me sick, I was able to keep down some Gatorade so tried two egg whites, no dice, I was violently ill. (We did not eat out, so I am blaming the spinach from the local market, it tasted bad and I only had two bites before going to bed.) About this time Todd said he didn't think he was going to let me race, I know he was just concerned and didn't mean it, we packed up the car and headed to the venue with a just-see-what-happens approach. I sat in the car still nauseous and he went in search of something to help, he found tums in the gift shop but no one to pay, so left $2 on the counter. I ate the tums, kept sipping Gatorade, got ready, felt much better and started spinning around. I had a good warmup and since I didn't have any expectations for this race, I was fine mentally. I am starting to learn that you should always expect one crisis moment, it is just part of racing and everyone else deals with it too. I came for experiences, I didn't expect my first ever food poisoning case, but am happy to know I can deal with it and still race well.

I was chill on the race start, trying to avoid getting crazy and wrecking. I ended up last going into the singletrack and actually sat on my bike while everyone but the leaders (who were gone) jumped off and tried to fight 5 wide to get in the singletrack first. This was part of the experience I was looking for, was it smart to try to run through the weeds to get a few spots, or better to conserve energy? From where I was I got to watch all options, some were able to pop out way ahead of where they were, others were not. After that it was a pretty normal race, pass when you can, chill on the downhills behind slower descenders, or try risky passes, I just chilled and had fun on the downhills and tried to work the climbs. I would say the Marathon Worlds race was an awesome experience, but this was fun! I stayed through the men's race then went home and watched movies on the couch. Drinking and eating junk was going to have to wait, I didn't feel like eating anything. I missed 4X but everyone was talking about how great it was, we watched the fireworks from the condo.

Sunday 8/29: It was funny to not have short track or Super-D today, I could have done the Citizens pro women's race, but didn't think about it ahead of time. Fully recovered, we watched DH on the big screen, that was so cool! Drank margaritas, hung out at the venue, went to Taste Cafe, bought sherbet and cookies, went out for dinner, then to the brewery.

Lunch at Taste.

I love Taste, they make anything you want and are really friendly. They were even delivering to the venue free of charge.

It's now time to pack up and see if the bike boxes fit in the rental car. Interbike is the next thing on my schedule, I'll chill in Durango and/or Santa Fe till then. I don't even know what I am doing next weekend, maybe I'll stay in Durango and do the road rides I did last weekend. What about cross, maybe I should look into that, of course that means I'll need another bike (or two).

2010-08-23T12:21:00.002-06:00

It has been an awesome month.

Sunday 8/8: Germany World Championship Marathon race:

Tuesday/Wednesday 8/10-11: Todd and I traveled back to USA (26 hours of travel), the trip this direction was much better for some reason, I didn't feel sick when I got back like I did when I got to Germany.

Thursday 8/12: Visited my cousin's kids in Albuquerque, NM before I heading back to Durango, CO and Todd to Arizona. How cute:

Saturday 8/14: Raced in Doloras, CO. Think mini-Fircracker as far as the Escalante Days parade, we did a neutral roll-out behind the police truck as people lined the street for the parade. My legs felt horrible, but what kept me going was the payout; I needed to get my entry and gas money back. I finished 3rd with a horrible time, but in the money, whew!

Monday 8/16: I flew to San Fransisco for a Women's Cannondale meeting. I knew nothing about what was going on, I had a plane ticket and a car was supposed to pick me up. I got a little nervous when I landed and called the number I was given, a guy in a thick accent told me to go to the curb and look for a black Escalade. I thought, "What am I doing? I'm getting into a strange car, no one knows where I am, I don't even know where I am going!" But I met some other girls on the curb and felt better about things.

The Drive to Santa Rosa (Golden Gate Bridge)

I posted the picture above to Facebook and Todd texted me "that is not San Jose". See? No one knew where I was.

Turns out there were 11 women from all over the US with various ties to Cannondale, some work for Cannondale, others are sales women, I race for them, etc. We got to review 2012 products all day and give our input into the design, artwork and vision. Then head out on a ride. It was awesome!!It was also non-stop, up to the alarm, meet at 7:45, discussions in a conference room till the afternoon ride, hurry to shower, great dinners ending late, then some went out (!) but I headed to bed to try and get a little sleep before doing it again.

Tuesday 8/17:

All ready to ride. Super Six's!

Wine!

Wednesday 8/18:

I got to do a short skills clinic!

Superman! A great skill with an actual application.

MTB A Group Ride, Thanks Dez!

RZ120 = my 2010 Super-D bike!

Thursday 8/19: Travel back to Durango

Saturday and Sunday 8/20-21: Great road rides with the Durango Wheel group and the Church of the Big Ring. My other cousin and family came up to Durango, so more fun family time with Grandma, Aunt and Uncle, Cousin and family!

Monday 8/23 (Today): I need to finish packing and head to Albuquerque I have a 6:00am flight to NY in the morning. My bikes are in need of a lot of work, guess that is what I'll be doing this week. Then my first World Cup race! It is all about the experience, I am not even thinking about performance. Next year, performance!

I'll get a post up soon

2010-08-09T06:05:00.000-06:00

Till I get a post up see: http://www.mtbracenews.com/view_article.jsp?id=128# for Worlds race info.

Marathon World Championships Germany part 1

2010-08-05T15:57:00.002-06:00

St. Wendal Germany!

We found Sonya and had cocktails! I am living on the edge, I have not figured out how to buy decaf coffee or soda, so went with a full octane diet coke! Todd got a beer. No one used the ashtray (but they are everywhere just in case, so are cigarette machines).

We have been exploring. This area is really nice, very clean and well taken care of! The roads are narrow, but in awesome shape, so smooth and they wander through the country side forever. There are even smaller roads, ones that I would call a path, but cars somehow drive on them. Our race course includes a lot of these.

The MTBRaceNews.com raffle turned out amazing, thank you to everyone who participated!

Check the update and list of winners here: Raffle Winners. The Stan's NoTubes Wheelset went to one of the Santa Fe, NM Pedal Queens!

I took notes on the first few days of travel, airport, grocery store mix-ups, etc. I may not pack light, but sometimes packing things for no reason, like ten Durango City Market bags, comes in handy! The details and pictures are posted here: Krista's Travel Update

We hit the course again today, it takes forever to pre-ride a 107km course.

These people know how to mark a course!

The course markings are amazing, there is a lot of tape and arrows out there. One thing I am no longer worried about is getting lost.

Course Pics:

Checking out the options.

Don't hit the stumps!

Follow the red arrows, through housing areas, industrial areas, meadows, cart (I mean car) paths, barns...

Bike wash!

We found Ergon so I know Sonya is around here somewhere, I need to get on Facebook and find that girl...

Sonya's lobby.
.

The elevators only work if you have a hotel key card, after hiking up the wrong three flights of stairs I waited in the lobby for Todd to find Sonya. Like any good tourist I was carrying a camera, I must have unconsciously picked it up half a dozen times to check email or facebook, it always took a second to figure out what I was doing and that it wouldn't work. I am addicted to having a phone!
.

Our place for the week. Todd found us a great deal back in February. The thing was we had to cancel by July 5th or lose our deposit. I raced the qualifying race (Firecracker 50) July 4th and knew I had to finish 3rd or better, otherwise I would have to petition and wait for an answer as to whether I could go or not, then our deal would be gone. Luckily I got 3rd and we have our pad:

Our big car. We flew all the way to Germany to drive a ford station wagon!

Front entry

Front yard pond

Hallo!

Raffle: Win Stan's NoTubes Wheelset and more!

2010-07-23T18:06:00.002-06:00

The Marathon World Championship race in St. Wendal, Germany is my next stop! I am one of three racers making up the USA Marathon Team. This is an amazing experience, I am very excited and a little intimidated...

MTBRaceNews, my sponsors, and friends have put together a great raffle to help with my travel expenses. Thank you to everyone involved, I really appreciate the support!

Please Visit the Raffle Site for more information.

Grand Prize - Stan's No Tubes Wheelset (your choice of rim with ZTR hubs)
Second Prize - Cycle Ops Fluid 2 Trainer with climbing block, mat, & Real Rides DVD series
Third Prize - Magura Hydraulic Disk Brake Package
Fourth Prize - 12-week coaching plan from LW Coaching
Fifth Prize - Raxter Bike Rack
Sixth Prize - Jagwire customization kit including Ripcord derailleur cable kit, Hyflow Quick-fit hose system or Ripcord brake cable kit; Non-crimp cable tips and disc brake pads all in the color/compound of the winner's choice.
Seventh Prize - Chamois Butt'r package including 6 tubes of and 6 jars of Chamois Butt'r and 4 sticks of New Bod'e Arm'r stick lubricant

Additional Prizes include: 2 Incycle team kits, nutrition packages from FRS, 3 canisters of recovery drink from Fluid, 10 pairs of socks from Recovery Socks, jerseys from Cannondale, and two 6-packs of canned oxygen from Oxygen4Energy.

Colorado Springs UCI MTB Stage Race

2010-07-12T16:05:00.003-06:00

Friday afternoon, after 4 days of rest following the Marathon National Championships (Firecracker 50), it was time to race the Colorado Springs UCI Stage race. I haven't been doing the ProXCT series (formally known as NMBS and before that as NORBA) this year due to lack of travel funds but I needed 20 UCI points to race the World Cup race in Windham, NY Aug 29th. All the points I have from last year will expire by then, so my goal was to attend both the Colorado Springs UCI stage race and next week's XC National Championship race to get my 20 points.

Long story short, I had a good weekend and have 30 new points.

I was a bit worried because I broke my Scalpel when I wrecked in VA a few weeks ago and am waiting on a new frame. The Flash was going to have to take on the rocks and we would all have to pay attention to the super-slick pea gravel over hardpack, it was like riding on ice.

Friday's TT - check out the Stan's NoTubes ZTR Race 29er front wheel.

This proved to be my best event and I finished in 6th place with a time of 20:31, 12 seconds back from 3rd place Heather Irmiger (Subaru-Trek). The pre-race rain was a good thing, it helped keep the tires from washing out in the pea-gravel turns.

Saturday I placed 8th in XC finishing with a bent derailleur hanger from running/dragging my bike on the first lap to get around racers who stumbled in the rock sections.

Sunday I wrecked hard in the one hour circuit race placing 10th after a great start. Did I mention the rocks and loose gravel? You needed some smarts as well as skill.

After hitting the deck hard it is mentally difficult to get back into the race.

There is a good description of the TT course and what the racers thought here.
XC article
Circuit Race article

Cannondale riders at the medics tent.

After the circuit race I headed to medical. It is not good when the medic, says "oh, that is deep" and calls over another guy. Then that guy says "oh yeah, that is deep" and calls over a third guy, he calls over a fourth guy who pulls out the iphone and takes pictures! Luckily they had a numbing cream that was awesome. I didn't feel any scrubbing or cutting (they cut off all the flaps of skin and asked me if I wanted to keep them). I asked that they please fix it so my knee wouldn't look horrible when it healed, all five guys who were kneeling around me looked up at me with blank stares. A little later Ben walks in after a hard crash which forced him to pull out of the race.

On to Nationals!

Firecracker 50

2010-07-06T00:02:00.002-06:00

3rd in the Firecracker 50 Marathon National Championship Race = Going to Marathon Worlds in St. Wendal Germany August 8th!

Results:

1	Heather Irmiger (Subaru-Trek)	4:16:49
2	Amy Dombroski (Luna Pro Team)	0:06:57
3	Krista Park (Cannondale/Incycle)	0:07:48
4	Gretchen Reeves (Tokyo Joe's)	0:15:42
5	Kelly Boniface (Moots)	0:17:50
6	Rebecca Rusch (Specialized / Red Bull)	0:21:16
7	Amanda Carey (Kenda/Felt)	0:28:51
8	Sonya Looney (Topeak Ergon)	0:45:06
9	Cheryl Sornson (Team CF)	0:52:42
10	Jennifer Hanks (Revolution Bicycles)	1:04:57
11	Carol Clemens (Gretna Bikes)	1:21:24
12	Jill Damman (Fitzgerald's/Ibex Cl)	1:38:57

MTBRaceNews article
Cyclingnews article
Cyclingnews photos: podium, 1st climb, starting line
CyclingDirt video post race interview (still breathing hard, still on the bike, muddy and looking really tired).

I had great support, Troy from Cannondale checked my bike and gave me tuning tips. Jeff Kennedy and Todd covered the pits/feedzones. Thanks guys!

This is my 2nd year doing this race and the post race dinner and festival was something I was looking forward to. The park is packed for hours after the race and I ran into many friends including some from the Atlanta area that I didn't expect to see!

Checking out Ergon grips and chatting with Sonya post-race.

Breck and Todd's Song

2010-07-02T21:09:00.003-06:00

In keeping with our date week Todd recorded me a song using his best "country and western" voice (as much as it pained him to do so):

Todd and I are in Breckenridge, CO. We are having fun riding and hanging out together.

Todd at the top of the course, 11,300feet or so.

Resting in our condo.

2010-06-23T10:47:00.000-06:00

Local Race in Los Alamos NM. $300 payout for 2nd!

(of 2, so yes, $300 for last place, I love this race)

Massanutten Hoo-Ha, Final US Cup Triple Crown Race in VA

Great weekend! I traveled with Kelli Emmet (Giant) which was a blast, we had a hotel with everything and a van who's doors opened and closed at the touch of a button. We did not bring any support to the race but Sue Haywood's boyfriend Tim of Shenandoah Bicycle really helped us out!

I was totally stoked that my new kits from Primal showed up (early)!! Thanks Dave (www.trailwatch.net) for all the Cycling News pictures in my new kit.

Super D 2nd Place!

Loved this SuperD course, rocky, bits of climbing, fast, you had to pay attention the entire time. George (the local promoter) did a great job listening to the racers and making changes to the starting order/times based on feedback.

Short Track 3rd Place

Spectators were so loud and fun!

The courses were the best I've seen, everyone agreed the short track was awesome. After the race everyone was wondering if these guys could build a great short track course just for us, why can't the National Championship guys or other big races build a fun short track? The men's race did have a bit of an issue because they were pulling lapped riders after they were lapped and this led to a wreck taking out one of the leaders (Sid) on the last lap...

Cross-country

The cross-country course was great, I however did not have a great race. First of all they started every Cat2, Cat1, Pro racer at the same time without lining us up. We didn't realize this was what they meant when they said mass start, we assumed there would be small gaps between groups. I was not a fan. I love Sue Haywood's quote in the Cycling News XC Recap "That start was not cool." "If that's old school, I think we should bury the old school."

It was really hot, ~95 degrees and humid, but that never ended up being an issue. About 30 minutes in I again moved off the trail to let faster guys by and a stick popped up out of the thick eastern coast undergrowth/leaves/debris went through the spokes and took the derailleur with it. I was finally able to get the derailleur out of the spokes, the wheel spun and I tried to line the derailleur up "normally" but the shifting was way off. With the chain slipping on 4 out of 5 pedal strokes I had to stop again and another racer who I believe was Thomas (Tim's Business partner at Shenandoah Bicycle) helped get it ridable - fellow racers were allowed to help each other outside the tech zone at this race. When I went through the tech zone Tim worked on it some more while I pounded water. I went back out to salvage the last of my race but ended up wrecking and hyperextending my elbow (it popped).

As I gingerly rode the last 30 minutes I couldn't believe I had such a bad race, was in pain but still thought the course was amazing. I would highly recommend this race, and the town of Harrisonburg seemed to have a great cycling/arts/college community.

Angel Fire MSC

2010-06-08T13:43:00.000-06:00

I have been hanging out in NM for a month now. Our plans were to head to Durango for June, but Todd has been working in Arizona, I found great riding and racing in and around Santa Fe, and I fly out of Albuquerque, NM mid June so we are still here.

Sat 29th: I hung out at the Java Joes parking lot waiting for just the right group road ride to join. I passed up two groups including the one shown here, the Santa Fe Road Riders B ride. They are so nice not only do they let me join them, they let an older man (who seemed a little tipsy at 8:30 am) join them with his low end mountain bike, jeans, tennis shoes, etc. They all pedaled out of the parking lot together, not sure how far he made it.

I am not the only one inviting myself on rides...

Bike N' Sport A ride store stop somewhere outside of Santa Fe

Sun 30th: I couldn't find anyone to join me so I loaded up the Ergon pack and went in search of the snow line using the Big Santa Fe Loop GPS track. Great ride up Chamisa, Windsor, Big Tesuque, then a bit of dirt road riding on Aspen Vista. Once I ran into snow it was back down Aspen Vista, down Pacheco Canyon dirt road all the way to the houses then back up to Hyde Park Road, down Big T, Windsor, and Chamisa.

Found the snow. Aspen Vista dirt snow covered road, I was able to hike around this section.

Okay, time to turn around, Aspen Vista road ~11,600feet

June 4-6th: Todd and I headed up to Angel Fire to camp and race the XC and SuperD. Seems like everyone had vehicle or bike mechanical issues this weekend, luckily we had van issues and the Scalpel ran perfectly.

A heat wave arrived this weekend. We thought Angel Fire would be nice and cool, but we were wrong. The van air conditioner started running intermittently which we tried to ignore. Then the fuel sensor failed and we stalled out at a stop light in Taos; luckily we were able to get it started and limp, gas starved, to a parking lot. My sister Adria called and as I talked to her Todd got out a spare fuel sensor he just happened to have in the van. He searched around under the hood till he found the part, replaced it and we were on our way. As we pulled into Angel Fire I pulled on the door handle and it broke, Todd didn't have a spare door handle... After the races we packed up, Todd shut the van door and all the glass fell out.

XC way too hot! great course, great girls!
me, Jen, Teal

SuperD 11+ minutes all downhill, super fun!
placed 2nd (6.9seconds back) to a DH'r

Hanging out at the SuperD finishline

Durango Boys (Chad broke his chain in the SuperD)

As we got ready to leave and shut the van door all the glass fell out...

my crankbrothers stickers on the ground

Todd headed to Tucson Monday with a busted up van...

Happy Memorial Day!

2010-05-31T22:40:00.000-06:00

Here is an article from the Military Times about my little brother Mikah and his Marine buddies in Afghanistan:

No running water, but Reilly's got a sweet gym

Mikah

Cpl. Mikah Rust, right, gives his shoulders a workout Tuesday with a makeshift barbell at Combat Outpost Reilly, Afghanistan. Lance Cpl. Joseph Roncolato looks on.

COMBAT OUTPOST REILLY, Afghanistan — There’s nothing like a combat zone gymnasium to make you feel like a doughy, wimpy scrub.

At least that’s the experience I had after checking out the gym here today. I’m a gym rat myself and a veteran of Washington, D.C.’s summer softball leagues, but with the air temperature soaring well above 100 degrees, I was surprised to see Lance Cpl. Joseph Roncolato and Cpl. Mikah Rust, both assigned to Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, pumping iron as though they were in the air-conditioning at their neighborhood Gold’s Gym.

The gym is a sight to behold. A combination of boards, pipes, pulleys, chains, duct tape and sand bags, it allows Marines to work out pretty much every major muscle group. There’s enough room for about 10 people to exercise at one time, far better than the gyms I saw at Camp Hanson and Combat Outpost Yazzie. Bench press? The Marines at Reilly have built a flat bench and an incline bench out of wood, and use a heavy pipe wrapped in chains as a barbell.

Tricep extensions? The Marines built a pulley system that can be adjusted by adding or subtracting sand bags. Bicep curls? There are a variety of ammo cans packed with dirt and a mysterious set of 40-pound dumbbells, which Roncolato and Rust guessed someone received in the mail. In short, it’s a pretty nice setup – especially when you consider Reilly doesn’t have running water or an indoor chow hall.

As for the temperature, well, it looks like the Marines aren’t fans of working out in the heat, either. “It could be cooler, but we’re used to it, I guess,” said Rust, his drenched T-shirt stuck to his skin. “We actually had that conversation not that long ago,” Roncolato said. “Why are we out here working out at noon?”

Cycling In and Around Santa Fe, NM

2010-05-25T11:19:00.000-06:00

Great Santa Fe and Albuquerque, NM rides this week

If you visit Santa Fe, NM these are the ride websites I have found useful:

NMORS New Mexico Off-Road Series

NMES New Mexico Endurance Series

NMCycling New Mexico Cycling

SFRoadRiders Santa Fe Road Riders

Dale Ball Trail Map signs are posted at every intersection, you cannot get lost on the North and Central sections, South is a little more vague (and steeper).

Santa Fe Bikeways Map

Through these sites and knowing MTB group rides start ~5:30pm (Dale Ball parking lot at Hyde Park Road/ski hill road) I found a lot to do this week

Tuesday I joined the Los Nativos for a Dale Ball MTB ride

Cars provide shelter from the wind

Wednesday I explored the Albuquerque Foothills MTB Trails for the first time then attended the Ride of Silence

~100 riders attended and Channel 7 covered the ride on the 10o'clock news.

Leaders, police escort in front

An over the shoulder shot of part of the group

Two of the bike police escorts

Thursday Tim and Matt from BTI took me on a hammer ride which included the Windsor Trail

Chamisa, Windsor, Bear Wallow, Borrego, Windsor, Jaun

(but they call Jaun Sidewinder?) I am still lost on Windsor west of Chamisa

Matt and Tim. Back to the cars before dark, nice after work ride.

Saturday I did Cochiti 45 which was Loop 1 of the Cochiti 100

3 people did the entire 100mi, 9 did 85mi, most of us did the 45mi. Results here.

Cochiti course, we parked down by the water at Dixon's Apple Farm (middle right). Picture stolen from the NMES website, see more pictures of the course here.

Sunday was the Galisteo road race put on by the New Mexico Spokettes Racing Team. I raced the W1/2/3 50-mile race, there were ~ 10 of us. Because of the wind and flat roads no break got away, the race ended with a group sprint finish, I placed 3rd.

I love checks! Thanks!
(pictures stolen from the http://www.nmcycling.org/ site)

Todd arrived at the race (just returning from work trip to Alabama) just minutes after our finish. So cool to see him, then we both attended the Pedal Queens Pot Luck. Since we hadn't planned to attend, my pot luck items included food I had in the van, a bottle of FRS concentate (which people always like), a pineapple and $10 for the beer fund. So we were not the best guests, but had a great afternoon. Thanks Pedal Queens and the Pedal Queen's guys!

Roller Coaster Week

2010-05-17T16:02:00.000-06:00

Currently in Santa Fe, NM

This week started out poorly with Mojo, our 14 year old lab, having to be rushed to the vet then having to put him down (more below). But Thursday I had a great ride with local BTI guys including Tim and decided last minute on Friday to head up to the Triple Crown #2 race in Nathrop, CO (between Buena Vista and Salida) where I had a fun weekend.

I arrived to cold rain, snow, sleet and mud Friday night and thought that this trip was a big mistake. I slept in the van, the weather cleared up, I raced the Flash in Super D Saturday and in XC Sunday with perfect conditions.

The overall results of the Triple Crown are your XC result and either ST or SuperD. The SuperD was really a mostly flat all-out time trial effort. I was super stoked to finish 3rd. Good write up and pics here: http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/mountain-states-cup-chalk-creek-stampede-ne/super-d/results

"Super D" time trial results

Triple Crown #2 Venue

The XC race was going well till I crashed hard and had to work on my bike for a bit. We almost never need the tools we carry, but I was glad to have them Sunday. I got going again, but was pretty beaten up and thought about quitting. Sonya was really encouraging as I struggled up a hill trying to get back in a groove.

XC trail

Overall top 10, XC result decides a tie

(XC left column, then ST, SuperD, best of ST or SuperD, total score, overall result)

More about Mojo:

Mojo and Jake as puppies almost 14 years ago here in Santa Fe.

Mojo on the way home from vet trip #1

This was my Facebook post on May 8th:

Krista Park Scary day. Mojo, our 14yr old lab, has been having breathing issues, noisy breathing, coughing, shortness of breath, etc. Today he had a severe attack and could not breath at all. I didn't think he would last long enough to get to the vet, he was dead weight when I put him in the car. Luckily I was at Todd's Mom's and just blocks from a vet.

We got him there in time, he was stabilized, able to breath oxygen through a tube and given meds. Turns out he has some level of Laryngeal Paralysis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laryngeal_paralysis) and this will happen again, it was probably triggered by the pollen in the air. He is now breathing on his own (see pic) and as long as nothing triggers it he is fine...

Todd is returning from a work trip tonight. Since we don't want Mojo to suffer again when the LP is triggered we will put him down tomorrow.

2010-05-03T19:38:00.000-06:00

New kit (again)

Ordering custom kits for one is always a trick. Most companies have high minimums and high prices. I started at the other end... The first company I started with is new to the Lycra world, turns out that wasn't going to work. Company number two was great to work with, but when I got the samples it was obvious shorts were going to be an issue and the kits were not that high tech. Well, I guess you get what you pay for.
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I am now working with Primal and am really impressed; they really have the custom design/ordering system down and their communication and attention to detail is amazing. If you have a team or club that wants custom kits, check them out. Tell them I sent you and maybe I'll get a better deal next year! First off I was sent all kinds of samples, I asked for women's race cut smalls and ended up getting the full range of sizes in race and sport cut as well as a return postage label. Turns out I really liked the XS long sleeve women's sport cut and the men's shorts; glad they sent me more than I asked for. The women's race cut jerseys are awesome and I ended up ordering the men's short with women's chamois since I like the ~9.5" inseam.
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Last weekend:

I held a beginner skills clinic in Santa Fe, NM for the Pedal Queens. FRS supplied a concentrate bottle for each person! Power Bar sent goodies as well. We had a good time despite the cool weather.

This weekend:
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I had planned to race the La Tierra Torture race since it was 15 minutes from where I am staying. I did my warmup in 32 degree weather then said never mind...

Maybe I won't race.