D2R2 pre hurricane Irene

D2R2 was great fun again this year. The valley and hills are lovely! I enjoyed wonderful company with Anna Mcloon and Anna Milkowski. It was just as much fun listening to their stories as riding around the scenic countryside up and down hills. Patrick completed the new 115 K course, his longest and hardest D2R2 course and and Anna's boyfriend Sasha did his longest ride EVER which was exciting. With the hurricane on the way, the skies were overcast which made for pleasant riding. Dirt was packed. Truly great conditions for an epic ride. This year I had my GPS which was very helpful, but not foolproof. It told me to take a U turn a few times for no reason at all. Anna Mcloon kept us on course by reading from the cue sheet so our group made it all the way around without a wrong turn downhill. What a great day! Our group of ladies arrived back at camp right as it started to drizzle. Nice conversational pace this year with no mechanicals, mishaps or sore legs. Almost too good to be true for a cycling event.

Due to the hurricane forcast, we decided to head back Sat - and came home to no power. Fortunately that came back on Sun morning and our neighborhood had little damage from the storm. A lot of sticks to pick up. The D2R2 course did not fare so well. The field for camping was flooded and a lot of damage to the riverside park used for lunch, and the road to the park. Also, one of the covered bridges was damaged. I hope that these areas are rebuilt. There is a call out for cyclists' donations.

On my mountain bike

I completed a personal challenge of riding the New Hampshire 100. Thanks to Patrick for keeping my mountain bike operating through my practice rides this summer and to Luna Chix and NEBC mountain bike team for their clinics which taught me the basic skills I needed to stay on bike for well, as long as I managed too. This was my longest competitive event yet and did not disappoint in terms of the emotional highs and lows endurance events are known for. Highs were some fast riding down dirt roads the first 10 miles, making it up some hills on loose dirt roads, and enjoying the views in the forests.

Lows started at about mile 40 when I started going very, very slowly on mossy rocky singletrack sections. I pushed my bike more during the race than I expected. I even pushed up a few climbs- and it was to the point where today my arms are sore and my legs are fine. Over the next 15 miles, I suffered 3 mishaps and was passed by perhaps 15 guys. One end-o causing a bash of knee on rock. One clip of bars on a tree while descending, causing a crash and near miss with wacking head on a rock. 3nd mishap involved a water crossing. There was one place where the route went through a deep puddle to the point where I was pedaling under the water. That was kind of fun. Not long after I came to another large muddy puddle. I didn't see a way around it, although later I found there was indeed a path to the side. I headed into the puddle with some speed and got about one bike length in the water before the bottom fell out and my bike went nearly under the water (wheels were fully submerged). I jumped off and tried to take the bike with me, but it was going nowhere. The wheels were stuck fast in the mud! I positioned myself on the "shore" of the puddle and yanked as hard as I could to free the bike. Riding into water like that was a mistake that I won't repeat!!! I finished the race with some bruising on the the legs, but still riding strong and ready for more practice on my mountain bike.

Top highlight of the day was when Patrick received a medal for 3rd place in the 25 mile ride. He was not aware that this was his first race on a mountain bike too!

Vacation

Mid June, some challenges presented themselves at my work and late June to July were consumed with a focused effort on resolving some technical problems at work and planning the logistics of our trip to Spain. I poured through the Eroski website, blogs, and Lonely Planet guidebook to make our itinerary and see how we could fit in a trip to Picos de Europa without a great deal of extra climbing. Patrick worked on buying gear for the trip and packing the bicycles.

We were able to fit in a trip with friends to the White Mountains. The highlights was a hike up Mount Mariah for excellent views and watching a group of engineers prepare camp for an impending rainstorm. An elaborate system of moats and tarps was designed and executed. Lowlight was breaking into a Tule box for a roofrack using an ax, after keys to the box were left at home.

After had a nice trip to the White with folks from NEBC. I liked chilling out reading my box in the backyard, swimming in the river, taking another hike with great views, and getting to know some folks better. Mount Washington Century ride was a nice bonus.

Patrick and I left on my birthday for an amazing trip to Spain. I will save details for another blog including many pics, to be written when I have more time. The cycling and touristic aspects on the trip were great. I'm happy to say that Patrick took his cycling to a new level on this trip. He estimated that the 1st day on the bicycle was his hardest ride ever, and he hung in there to complete another 10 challenging rides. Spain has some steep roads!!

Cycling in June

Enjoyed cycling in June almost every day. The highlight was a trip to Liberty Cup in Philly. MVP Health team was generous to allow me to join them for this race. I really enjoyed meeting their team members and hearing about their experiences as female cyclists.

It was a great challenge and thrill for me to race with so many great riders on a very tough course. I had some trouble putting myself in a good position at the base of the climb. On the first time up, someone fell over in front on me and I couldn't clip back in so had to make it up part of the top section with only my right leg. I was able to stay in the field for all of the climbs, but sadly was gapped coming down the through the turns on the last lap. This was frustrating because I know that this was due to poor skills cornering and likely not pushing myself hard enough mentally to carry speed through the turns. I need to bring my skills up a notch to complete at the national level.

Also headed down to Connecticut for some fun riding the Houstonic Hills with local ladies. After the race, Patrick and I chilled out at a state park. That is a very nice area which I think has a lot of potential for future riding / exploring. Plenty of hills there!

Stories of local races

I'd like to recognize some recent accomplishments of local cyclists. Anna McCloon won the collegiate national road race! I really like the picture on this link of Julianne winning a local crit and teammate Caroline with the raised arm behind. I wish I had been there to see these finishes!

My friend Connie loves to run. She showed me a newspaper clipping once which was about her training for the Boston marathon when she was my age. She was training when she was a single mother in graduate school and working. Her daughter would ride a mountain bike on the trails with Connie while she ran her long runs. Connie ran a very fast time in the marathon. Now at the time in her life when her young training partners call her abuela, Connie tells me that she ran up El Yunque two weeks ago. I rode my bicycle up El Yunque once and I considered it a major accomplishment. I honestly did not think in a million years that Connie would run up it. Even I think maybe she is a little crazy now.

Now after those good feelings, on to tales of local races. They have not been going so well. I have gotten my butt kicked the last two weekends. Also, I really, really do not like getting neutralized (this means that the ladies stop racing so the men can pass). One race, there was a break of two ladies off the front. I was pulling the field around chasing them. It was a pretty hopeless situation but I was hell bent on giving it a shot anyway in the off chance that one of them managed to say break a chain and allow me to catch up. I had to stop chasing and sit around so guys could pass which was frustrating. The next race we were we neutralized within the final two miles of the race. A large portion of the field passed the pace car when it slowed and pulled over to let the guys pass. I chose to separate myself from the field to follow the rule of not passing the pace car. This did me no favors as I then had to chase to get on the back of the field just prior to the last turn. My mental focus wasn't there at the finish (not to mention legs) which made me very frustrated. That experience makes me think that I should find some other activities to pass my time. That is a shame because the rest of the race was fun. We went up and down hills, I made an attack, I chased some other people - it had been shaping up to be a nice day.

I went to a training race to work on my mental game and bike handling. It was a very good experience even though I ended up off the back. I know that I went as hard as I could for a few times in there and I identified some key skills to improve.

In the middle of the race, we were moving pretty fast and some gaps were opening in the field. I started to feel a bit desperate that I might get left behind if I didn't move up ahead of slow riders. I found myself behind a large rider who was getting gapped off. I got out of my saddle to pass the rider, but I didn't have a lot of control over my form and my bike was rocking side to side. My handlebar hit his and we both starting cursing about it. I felt pretty bad about hitting his bike and I was bracing to hear it hit the ground behind me. Fortunately it didn't. However, he was understandably upset about it and caught up to me in the pack and starting pulling on my jersey. I don't know where exactly this aggression was headed but some other guys started yelling at him to try to calm things down and he let go after I said I was sorry. It was inadvertent but I really hope that I never cause someone to crash in a race. Actually two cyclecross crashes come to mind, so I guess it has happen before. I really hope that it doesn't happen again.

Sterling Road Race

The ladies had 6 laps around the course at Sterling – for me that meant counting our runs up the steep hill and staying with the group between those efforts. I hoped that I could get into a break that formed at the top of the steep hill. The first three times up the hill I was either pack-sliding on the climb or not in a good position to accelerate at the top of the climb. There were several strong riders in the group, but no one putting out effort to break up the group. The pace between the climbs was downright social. Keri Litka and a girl from Sunapee got off the front (separate occasions) but did not maintain their positions. Former NEBC rider, Sally Annis, made a good effort at one point also, but ended up back in the pack too. It seemed to be a game of chicken not to pull the field around – one which I lost – succumbing to boredom and pulling a large portion of the 1^st lap and also taking a turn to relieve my fellow frequent field puller at sluggish races, Audrey Fredrickson Scott, on laps 5 and 6. Lap 4 I was in a decent spot coming into Sterling. I attacked and think that I had some success in momentarily waking people up, but no success in getting off the front because I didn’t power up the hill fast enough. I refocused my efforts on having a good position in the final two corners. I was in the 5^th or 6^th spot on the 1^st corner, but between the corners I lost my cool and failed to hold my position. I ended disappointed with my performance in this race but I was excited to see teammate Jackie rocket up the hill to a nice finish.

Impressions from the Tour of the Dragons Race in Bennington, Vermont

Thank God for spring and end of the semester! Let’s ride our bikes!

I was drawn to this race by the opportunity to ride a new hilly road race course in Vermont. Unfortunately, in order to do this I had to ride a time trial and a crit- and get up at 4:30 am as I was too cheap to pay for two nights of hotel. Cold drizzle, time trial bikes, and a lot of brand spanking new kits greeted me Saturday morning in Bennington. I was happy to see that many of the NEBC Cat 3 and 4 women had come to race, also my former teammate Sam Derry. Another former teammate Elle Anderson was racing for a rival team. I had hoped that the race would draw some more Cat 1 and 2 ladies. With only 16, we were a small group.

Time Trial

This was my favorite time trial course yet – very pretty. I would like to ride it again. I think that it would be a very fun course to practice on and try to improve your time. I didn’t have a lot of ambition here considering that it was my first time trial effort of the year, I was riding the course sight unseen on 6 hours of solid sleep, and I was on a road bike. I wasn’t too surprised to find myself in the bottom half of the results. I was surprised that one of my ankles was quite sore after the race – this did not bode well for the road race. I later found out that my saddle had slipped back on the rails – so I need to beef up the pre-race bike inspection. It is a good thing that I wasn’t taking the competitive aspects of the time trial very seriously or I might have been put into a very grumpy mood at a left turn early in the course. I realized that the course was open to traffic when I approached an intersection with 3 cars backed up at a stop where I needed to take a left turn. I could not see a marshal around the cars nor did I have a lot of room to the right of the cars. I shouted a few things in an effort to vent my frustrations while generously applying the brakes.

Crit

Afternoon Bennington was a ghost town. Some cyclists whipped around an empty course all afternoon while others slept in cars or on open grass. After a nap with a soundtrack of persistent lawnmover, I killed time limping around looking for the sign in. Finally found it in an unmarked building that had appeared to by vacant. Strange vibe in that place. I did truly enjoy a little art gallery on the course which was no customers business as usual in spite of the race outside the front door.

I’d like to congratulate the ladies from NEBC who told me that this was their first crit. Way to give it a go, ladies! Sam rode very well which was great to see.

Remember that saying “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything”? Maybe I should move on to the road race impressions. I wish that I had a helmet video of this crit to show as an example of some negative aspects of local women’s racing. The course was a very short 4 corner circuit which consisted of a rise, two turns, a thrilling turn at the bottom of the hill, and another turn. We had 37 laps to practice our skills in right turns and sprinting out of a corner. Before I continue I will concede that the promoter was in a bit of a hard place when it came to organizing the race because 16 ladies is not really enough for a race. However, a teeny tiny course is not really big enough for two fields either. The women’s 1,2 and 3,4 fields were run on the same little course and things went haywire quickly. Ladies were called to the line together which led to confusion. Written pre race communication had indicated that the fields would be started and scored separately with different numbers of laps for each field. The officials made no effort to explain ground rules for running the two fields together and I think that we would have just set right off if the 3.4 ladies did not loudly protest at the line with their questions. We did not start, we sat as the officials explained their ideas for what I was sure would be a circus of confusion. The rules were that the 3,4 field would start 15 sec after the 1,2s. The fields were not to mix. The primes would be awarded on separate laps for the two groups. All would ride 37 laps. And with that we were off, well sort of. One of the Cat 3 ladies set off with the 1,2s, then had to stop and roll back, then try to clip in and change direction as the 15 sec were up and 3,4s sprinted off the line.

We set off with a good speed but even so I wasn’t shocked when some of the feisty 3,4s caught up and joined with our field. That was good to keep me on my toes as I couldn’t let my lack of confidence in the corners cause me to drift back away from the other riders in my field. I focused on working through many negative thoughts that I had about racing crits while staying ahead of the 3,4s. The downhill corner was a good challenge for me to focus on. One lap I was focusing on that challenge while negotiating the corner in the group when I saw a rider to the left of me wobble. Oh no, I tried to smoothly head to the right. Not sure what happen but that rider hit the ground and another (Elle Anderson I think) came from behind and made a spectacular flip of bicycle and rider over a hay bale than I could have ever imagined. Truly the most visually stunning crash I’ve ever seen. After that I decided to stop thinking about lines for the corners and consider the race as a video game. It was turning into an obstacle course with 3,4 riders spread all over. Meanwhile Silke Wunderwald was out collecting primes. I focused on moving into a good position for the finish. I was 3^rd wheel with two laps to go, but failed to hold my place though the corners and ended up at the back on the last lap.

This was frustrating because I know I could have held my place with more mental focus and confidence.

I later found out that Katherine Snell also flipped over a hay bale in the same corner. I suggest more hay bales next year. Many it is good that there were no spectators because they could have been taken out!

Many of the 3,4 ladies complained after the race that some of them were drafting off of the 1,2 field. I think that this was true for the first part of the race. I didn’t see any ahead of me towards the end but who knows. In any case, I think that the results for the 3,4s were likely screwed up and I see why they would be upset.

Road Race

Yea! Road Race! We had a great day for it with sun and warm weather. The course was interesting. It was quite unusual in that the first half of the course was much harder than the 2^nd half. The first 11 miles was ho hum, then a good climb on dirt followed by another good climb and a few more miles before the feed zone at mile 32 or so. Then another 30 miles with some shorter climbs. The 1^st climb was a good challenge. I didn’t want to go so hard that I couldn’t maintain for the rest of the race so tried to pace off the yellow jersey, which is to say keep her in sight. I was happy to see Jackie from NEBC looking good after the first climb. The 2^nd climb was also good, although in retrospect I should have pushed harder, anyway I made it over ok. At the bottom, we had a group of 4. Then we became 5. Then we lost a rider and gained a new one. Our group headed to the feed zone and rotated ourselves around for the next 30 miles. With just a few miles to go, we were neutralized so that the juniors could pass. Two lead riders came by and a few minutes later, I could see them hugging each other ahead of us. What was that?!? Hugging is for after the finish. We passed them and motored ahead.

I ended up last in the sprint. In retrospect there were a few places where I could probably have dropped at least one and possibly two of the other riders had I attacked on one of the later climbs. Unfortunately I did not give myself the opportunity to see how this would have played out.

On the way home, we stopped at a dairy farm to spend a good portion of my winnings on cheese. So much for dropping weight before the next race.

Battenkill 2011

I was able to ride in shorts and shirt sleeves for the 1st time this year at Battenkill. The race had a dreamlike quality. The colors of bright new kits contrasted against the New York countryside. Rolling hills, skeleton trees, and the occasional new England homstead were austure. The combination of bikes, motorcycles, and vehicles whipped up quite a bit of dust on the descents - so a few times I literally inhaled the surroundings. Perhaps most dreamlike was the way in which my bicycle responded to my efforts to propel it around the course. It wiggled in the sand, but held the course. Picked up claylike mud when I took a line through what was probably the only wet section of 60 miles. Most concerning was the relative speed of my bike compared to those around me. It really did seem to stay still while others pulled off impressive efforts of forward momentum.

Many times, the race did not seem like a race at all. More of a reunion of female cyclists out for a Sunday stroll. About 40 miles into the race, I started a hill near the back of the field. I ended the short climb in the same position and saw the field split on a roller ahead of me. This was truly unfortunate but there was not much to be done about it except put out some effort to get into the back group. When the group had come together and was rolling, I got my breath back and started to bemoan missing the break. I could see a wheel car up ahead and figured that some ladies were blocking our group from moving to protect the break. There was no sign of cyclists ahead and we had been going quite slowly for a while. If we kept this up, it would likely be a boring 20 miles. I was in a great position for an attack and launched myself off. It was much more fun to ride the rolling pavement alone than in the group. I figured at some point, someone would show up but for now I was free to choose my own lines and pedal away. Freedom came to end in a turn, when I had to break to avoid hitting the pace car which had drastically slowed. Wait a second, how did the pace car get there? Somehow, in my dream like state - had I mistaken it for a wheel car? The field must have joined together without my realizing. Soon enough, the ladies arrived and I settled back in.

I later was dropped from the field on the final climb after stopping when I thought my rear tire had gone flat (it hadn't). I became part of the detritus left behind by the peleton. To add insult to injury, my bike wanted to toodle along at a holiday pace. Thank goodness to Audrey to come scoop me up into her draft at nearly 30 mph. Wow, I wish I could go that fast!

Here's to dropping a few pounds and improving my power!

I enjoyed a relaxed state of mind for the 1st half of the race- but it turned out to be too relaxed for the 2nd half as I made mistakes that kept me out of the finish. I'll try to improve my mental focus for the summer.

To the Cape

Jessica Eckhart and I had a nice ride from Cambridge to the Cape at the start of spring. The sun was bright and spring was in the air (in a cold, blustery sort of way). It was a nice change of scenery through towns I I've never seen and sort long stretches of country. We saw more kids in winter jackets out on their bikes than other cyclists (3 spotted, on mountain bikes). The ride culminated in a crossing of the Bourne bridge. The 1st half of the bridge may well have been our greatest elevation gain of the trip. The house below looked very tiny! Heading down the bridge, we strugged to hold our bikes against the wind while breaking hard to prepare for a safe exit off outknown sidewalk by the roundabout. Our efforts were rewarded by the generosity of Caroline's family who shared the comforts of their well heated home and a wonderful meal with us and the NEBC ladies team. Seems like my bike did not share in my aspirations of a ride on the bike path. Before we got out of the Boston metro area (but thank goodness after most of the worst potholes) - a spoke broke on my front wheel. Jessica put her GPS and motivational skills to work. This girl was not about to throw in the towel and spend the rest of the afternoon eating pizza while awaiting rescue. We woke slowly and wobbly 7 miles to a bike shop only to find that they did not carry the spoke, which is not a standard deisgn. They were able to adjust the other spokes so we would have a less wobbly ride to bike shop # 2, which also did not carry the spoke. We continued to ride as Patrick headed down 70 miles with another wheel set. Our plans of riding to Woods Hole were scrapped and we had to settle for full speed ahead for dinner. Subsequently, my plans of financial luxury this summer were scrapped as I consider the cost of a new wheeelset. It had a good run, anyway and there are some miles left in the rear wheel. I had a dream the morning of this ride which left me with an laughable image. To prepare for the ride to the Cape, I tied a big bag of M&M to the bottom of the saddle with a bungee.

Valentine's Day

Nothing says I love you like a new red and white Cervelo.

Una Buena Despedida del Ano

A winter storm this week wreaked havoc on the New York streets and the schedule of departures from the San Juan airport. Four days after the storm, it appeared that Jet Blue wasn't yet back on track as our return flight was cancelled. This afforded me the opportunity to enjoy a wonderful ride with Lizzie, her friend Miguel, her coach, and his son.

We started at the coach's home in the hills to the west of the city of Ciales and headed down into Utuado for another lovely view of Lago dos Bocas. We had a good sightseeing pace and the weather was cool (for Puerto Rico) and sunny. Next we enjoyed a smooth ride along the river to the town of Utuado. Then some nice slow climbing and a visit to another lovely lake with a name like Caonillas. It was quite senic because of a high green headwall behind the bridge. It's been raining here, and we saw several waterfalls as well, one small ribbon of a waterfall on the headwall and several others on the roadside. More climbing from the lake with views as we followed the edge of the lake. Pink flowers grew by the roadside and were lovely to see as we pedaled up. I don't know the name but the flower is ubiquitous in the moutains here. I also enjoyed looking at the brightly colored little houses in the countryside and the holiday decorations. Next we entered an incredible valley . We had crossed over the moutain ridge at this point and the jungle gave way to grass. A tall pampas grass grew down by the river. With the sun on our backs, it really was paradise. Traffic was minimal. We were on the kind of road that I might had doubted actually led anywhere had I been doing this route alone. The road was narrow and clung to the hillside. Water flowed over the road in several places. In others, there were many holes in the road and the pavement was destroyed. In others, sand covered the road. Rather than dangers though, these were mere annoyances as we were spinning slowly and able to ride through all sections. I did nearly hit one of the many small dogs which ran out at us, fortunately it dodged the wheel. We arrived at the town of Jayuya and headed for the church. Lizzie is collecting photos of churches which she visits on her bicycle. This particular church was on a quiet plaza and very cute. She posed in a life size nativity scene set in front of the church. The town is very small and after just a little pedalling we were back in the countryside and able to appreciate that the town is surrounded by green mountains, so there was really nowhere to go but up. More sweet climbing and we returned to jungle scenery and riding through cool tunnels of bamboo. We started a long descent a bit after regrouping at an intersection with signs for Florida and Cieles (we headed towards Florida). I took it easy on the descent because there were a few occasional cars and bad pavement and many blind turns. Also, I was trying to catch a view of the landscape below. The karst formations in the area of Cieles were visable as small bumps way below and the ocean was on the horizon. After a descent long enough to give a few muscles in my upper body a reminder that I'm not as fit as I'd like to be, we hit a section of rolling hills. This gave way to to the home stretch of about 5 miles of steady climbing. By this time, it was afternoon and several small children were out and very excited to see a women riding a bicycle by their house. In total we covered over 60 miles and literally the only sections which were flat were the town streets of Utuado and Jayuya, a short stretch of riverside in Utuado, and the dams on the two lakes. This was one of the most beautiful routes that I have ridden - what a treat for New Year's Eve.