Monday, December 27, 2010

Wonderful riding on the island

I enjoyed two wonderful rides in Puerto Rico this week, thanks to my friends Connie and Lizzie and their coaches. The first ride with Connie was one of my favorite routes when I lived in Manati, Barceloneta to Lago dos Bocas through the mountains and back on the beach from Arecibo. It was even better this time though, because her coach knew two great senic and car free roads that I had never seen which we threw in along with a stop for pollo, arroz con habicuelas, guineo en escabeche, y yucca. It was a slow climb out of Utuado after a lunch like that. My riding partner was a junior time trial champion who was a good motivator to watch zip along the beach. All was fantastic except for my poorly chosen combo of bibs and pit stop location. Let's just say ants in the pants and biting.

My second wonderful ride was with Lizzie and it was a blast. We rode with a group from Guaynabo to Florida which allowed for a great run through the small hilly and twisty roads of Montebello. That was a dream! Almost as good as Lizzie (former time trial champ) pulling our group into the wind on the coast. The woman can put her head down and go!!!!!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

What a joy!

First ride on the studded tires this winter. Stepped into my boots this morning to find that in my rush to catch the start of the elite women's cross national race on the internet Sunday - I'd pulled the boots off wet and neglected to dry them. Chilly toes to and from work today.

Riding home in spitting snow in the dark was a bit of a mental chore. I'm finding a new deep appreciation for Christmas lights this year as a positive aspect of riding in the dark. If only they lasted through Feb.!

Thank goodness for the pick-me-up today when I read the new issue of Bicycling Magazine!

A full glossy page was devoted to a portrait of Julie Lockhart from our own NEBC. On top of another master's national cross championship - what a treat for Julie!

Another long article for the issue featured William Medina's Vuelta in Puerto Rico. Great article that made Patrick and I laugh remembering our Vuelta two years ago. I'm happy to see how successful William's Vuelta has been the past few years. The event is bringing enjoyment to so many people!

And two cycle / recycle calendars arrived today with photos of people world wide using their bicycles for transport. Order yours today.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Pumpkin Season

It has been a wonderful season of pumpkins.

The season started with a disappointment. I was keen to complete a ride of 6 gaps with other female cyclists, Anna McCloon and Jessica Echhardt. The day prior was cold and windy. There had been mutterings in the preceding week regarding backing out due to concerns about the weather. I was determined to press on regardless, until Anna showed me some webcam footage of accumulating snow on Killington. That convinced Anna and I to seek a less icy riding alternative. We enjoyed a loop through Mass and Southern New Hampshire which Jessica recommended. We enjoyed a full day of views of the leaves and a brisk October breeze. About the time we decided to contemplate the map and how to cut soem miles off the route to compensate for our slow progress in the wind, we came apon the pumpkin fesitival in Keene, NH. It was wonderful surprise. We watched a marching band go by in costume and pushed our bikes through large crowds of costumed children. The pumpkin soup was great and so were the views of many, many, many, creative jack-o-lanterns. Even a marriage proposal spelled out in pumpkins. What a celebration!

A few weeks later, Patrick and I shopped at our neighboring farm stands to get ready for our own celebration. We had a pumpkin carving party with many jack-o-lanterns and seasonal foods including Patrick's butternut squash soup and Jonathan's pumpkin cheesecake. Delicious! Afterward, we headed out to a haunted corn maze. It was fun in the full moon but Anna and I decided we will go for the non-haunted version next time.

A few weeks later, I decided to turn some of the pumpkins left from the party into dinner. We made a great soup and also breads. Plenty of pumpkin in the freezer for later winter treats.

Also, another great year at the costume race! My favorite costume was friendly NEBC rider, Karen who dressed as an oven, complete with a metal grill and bun. What a great way to tell folks why they haven't seen you at any cross races recently! We look forward to seeing a new tiny cross fan next fall.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Leaf-peeping

Patrick sang the following this morning on our drive to Westfield Mass. Tune is Winter Wonderland.

In the snow, Clara's pedaling
coffee drunk, breakfast settlin
she's riding today, a cold randonnee
biking in a winter wonderland

This was inspired by the weather forcast which predicted sub - freezing temps at the start of today's ride. It turned out to be fine temperatures and a relaxing ride with views of the river, yellow leaves, and a lot of uphill road.

Yesterday wasn't bad for leaves either. I explored the trails from my house to Ipswich on the mountain bike and I think that I found a nice loop. Our friend Taylor came along and was a good motivation for me to not be such a wimp. He was taking on some good challenges. A few times, I unclipped, only to need to pull my bike to the side so Taylor could charge headlong at whatever I was trying to avoid.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Hay in the hair

Well, it's not a good day on the bike when you end up with part of a hay bale in your pony tail. That's what happen to my friend Susanne at our last road race of the season today. I haven't been feeling comfortable in the corners at crits all season and hmmmmmm, I still don't. Something about those corners that likes to eat bikes and spit out the riders. Susanne ran a fantastic race last weekend, the Portsmith Crit, and it's a shame that we weren't toasting the end of the season together this evening. Also sad to see Anna Milkowski, a wonderful and inspirational rider, also go down and become injured. I hope that these ladies are feeling good and back on their bikes soon.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

A lesson on post crash inspection

Lap # 2 of Quadcross, my wheel slid out in a turn and I crashed fairly hard, moving myself from nearly last to dead last. I checked the the hoods were still straight and hopped back on. Only to hop back off again when I realized that the chain had come off. After getting up a good amount of speed, I crashed again in the next corner. Clearly, there was a problem with the bike and it didn't take to long to find a completely flat front tire. A little attention to detail after crash # 1 would have been smart. Fortunately, bruises and road rash were the extent of injuries from that day.

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Change of scenery

I could use a change of scenery. The link is to a photo I took about 10 years ago on a road trip.

Today Patrick found the linker trail between Georgetown state forest and Willowdale forests. I tried unsuccessfully about 4 times last winter to find that trail, and Patrick found it no problem at all. We had a nice time riding our mountain bikes around there. Now that we found the trail, we can go all the way to Ipswich on trails which should be a nice ride. Today was my 2nd time on the mountain bike and it went well except that my wrists hurt and I had to upgrade the shoulder injury from "just fine, thanks" to nagging. Maybe that is to be expected? I was on the bike for about 3 hours. Next time I will work more on my posture.

My first time on the mountain bike was Monday. I mostly pushed the bike around Herold Parker park. Patrick end-o-ed 3 time. Our friend Ben showed us how to jump the bikes (need to practice) and demonstrated some amazing riding up and down some seriously rocky trail.

On other change of scenery topics....I saw a warning sticker on the top tube of a Huffy on the bike rack at work. 1. Wear a helmet. 2. Check brakes. 3. Don't ride at night. I found #3 to be a bit amusing. I rode two nights this week. The white line is my friend. Rain, not so much.

I'm reading about Shackleton. When you think you need a change of scenery, he just might be your man. Based on the first few pages, it sounds like some of the crew spent about 2 months huddled under lifeboats on a nasty little guano covered island. I've got my issues, but boy do I have it good compared to Shackleton.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

The beast rides again!

The following morning I nearly lost the beast! I ran over a stick when riding to work. I heard the stick break, then my pedal wouldn't work and the bike lurched to one side. Uh oh! I had to make some hasty maneuvers to get my feet out of the pedals. My derailer was completely destroyed. Parts of it were strewn over the road along with pieces of stick. The rest of it was jammed into the cassette, which prevented the pedal from moving. I was already late for work and now had about a mile and a half to walk in the rain. I called Patrick for advice to see if there was a way I wasn't seeing as to how to make the pedal turn so the bike could be coasted to work. (not sure how he would ascertain this over the phone either) He said that he was not able to pick me up after work and would bring me another bike. When he arrived with tools, we realized that in addition to the derailer explosion, the frame of the bike was very bent where the derailer attaches. Patrick said that the beast might be done for. Oh, the adventures we've taken! How could the beast be destroyed by a stupid stick. It was a sad morning! I was nearly in tears by lunch, not helped by ambush with several serious problems from the weekend when I finally did get into the office. After 2 trips to the bike store to bend the dropout back into position, Patrick says that the beast is ready for more commuting in the rain tomorrow.

Another Wonderful D2R2

An full day on the bike, wonderful rural scenery, frequent stops for Oreos. You just can't beat D2R2. Patrick and I headed out on Friday to camp in the cornfield. It was a little stinky when the wind shifted and hard to sleep with the sound of generators and folks slamming the portopot door all night. Yet, an excuse to run out of work before 4, priceless. We (Patrick and our friend, Tim Young) headed to the local pizza place for dinner and I ran into folks I met 2 years back when I did the 6 Gaps ride. A lot of folks came out for D2R2, the organizers capped it at 650 actually. It was a good opportunity to say hi to many people from the NEBC and many others we've met in our 3 seasons of cycling here. I hadn't seen Doug Janson http://www.northeastcycling.com/ all summer. I'd heard that he broke his ankle in May. Well, he managed to make it back for this ride - and showed me the scar from surgery on the ankle. Wow, that makes me almost not want to try mountain biking.

Sat morning - I was shivering while Tim put the finishing touches on his tie wraps to hold his cue sheet to the handlebars. I put my copy of the God only knows how many turns we have to make in my pocket for emergency use only. We said good-by to Patrick (sleeping in before his 9 am start for the 100 K loop) and checked in with our Cat 1 friend Ryan (to be later referred as "the Ultra-fit") before setting out. Tim and I were on our cyclocross racing bikes, running one chain ring up front. I'll leave the technical talk about gearing to Tim's report (I'll copy in after this) but let me just say, I got bad feeling on the warm up paved section when Tim and I were standing in a group of spinners. Fortunately it didn't take long to get warmed up and progress to chatting. I caught up to teammate Carola and had a nice chat. Then reminisced about last year's ride with a man I met on that section last year. I saw one guy this year run off the road where he had crashed before. This is a nice ride for taking it easy, but it does require some level of focus. You get in a nice 45 min to an hour to start feeling competitive with the surrounding riders and then hit some fast, sharp curves That can be a recipe for disaster. It's best to take it easy, there's plenty of good places to crash later on too.

I was sure happy to have my cross tires on the decent of East Road. That was quite terrifying last year on road tires. Lots of loose gravel, holes, and a few turns. I was slow again this year, but was ok with that.

Mountain road is paved, but it's steep. According to the cue sheet, it is 15% for 3/4 mile. This is where I got my first flat tire last year. In retrospect, although I lost the lead group with that flat, at least it broke the climb up. The climb was definitely longer this year than I remembered it. Without a good climbing gear, I was mashing out of the saddle the whole way and had an aching knee at the 2nd stop. Amazingly, I passed a few spinners on the way up (maybe not so amazing really, as they could take their time, I had to keep moving to not fall over).

There was a lovely field of sunflowers at the stop. I filled a bottle with Heed and headed towards what is described by the cue sheet as 25 miles with almost no flat road. Got a little bonus to that when I led a small group the wrong way down a hill. It was a cool morning and the riding was good. I opted to save my knees and push my bike up the infamous 27% climb on Archambo Road. Tim gave it a go and made it all the way up. Wow, I couldn't wait to catch up and congratulate him on that achievement.

Hmm, no sign of Tim and Ryan on the stretch after the climb, nor on the long, spectacular, steep paved descent through fields. I had to get my directions out to find my way to the on the smooth, gradual paved descent. Looking for red jersey, nope not to be seen. Perhaps, they had met with a really nice group at the top of the hill and headed off into the distance. My progress was now quite stilted as I would get my directions out at each intersection. Usually a guy with a GPS would catch up to me before I figured out the turn. I rode with a few guys and again appreciated my tires as I enjoyed a slow, yet safe and stress free descent of the road where I got my 2nd flat and broke a spoke out from the hub last year. I leapfrogged with a few guys. Passed by them on dirt descents, then catching up quickly enough. With just a few miles to go, I had a large group in my sights - certainly Tim and Ryan were in there. Nope, all guys I didn't know. I gave them a good pull into the lunch spot.

I had a nice sandwich for lunch and was heading back out, when I ran into Tim and Ryan coming into lunch. Apparently, they stopped to wait for me at the top of Archambo and missed me when I went by. It was fortunate that they came along just then. I commenced on a long social break while they enjoyed lunch and a view of the river. There was a small group. The longer I stayed there, the harder it was to leave because more people I knew kept arriving. Patrick came in with a smile on his face. Carola decided to head back early due to ankle and cassette problems.

Ryan, Tim and I rode together for the 2nd half of the ride. It was tough to get the legs going after lunch and good to have company. It was a fun scavenger hunt looking for all of the turns that we had to make. Some of the climbs felt tough after so many miles in our legs. It was great to have an ice cream stop in the middle of one climb. The mashing was slowing Tim down, and I think he wanted to make it up by pushing it a little on the flat sections. I was starting to ever so slightly dread the push up Patten Hill. I remembered this being a tough one last year which required a lot of patience. The climb did not disappoint. It was a good mental challenge. Ryan was out of sight on the 1st pitch - clearly not phased at all by the previous 95 hilly miles. Tim made it up on his mashy gears - and not too far behind. Yea! Time to celebrate with more Oreos, pickles, chips, and pretzels. We marveled at just how long we had been on our bikes (we had left over 8 hours before this stop). This ride can sure stretch out if you let it.

I was the slowpoke down the hill but thanks to the guys for waiting at the bottom. Ugh, there is more climbing after Patten hill. Somehow I'd forgotten that. We made it back safe and happy to the field well before dark. Patrick was waiting there for me to do the optional "corn maze" loop. "No thanks, we've been on our bikes long enough" said Tim and Ryan. It was fun to ride in the corn.

Yea D2R2, what a great day!

The following morning, I explored the area and rode down the valley into Hatfield. I was surprised to see some groups of well muscled athletes pace lining down the opposite side of the road. Then, the groups started to pass me. Wordlessly. I could barely hear them, they would appear in the drizzle at my left shoulder and pull away down the pavement until they were out of sight and it was back to watching the fields passing by change from one crop to another. 3 guys came by and yelled for me to hop on. I jumped, but it wasn't to be. No snap in those legs. I was back to chugging along when I crossed a finish line. It seems that I'd ridden into a team time trial. I had a nice chat with the guys from Cyclonauts multisport club. They told me that the race was to race money for cancer research in honor of one of the club members. They invited me to snacks and it was so tempting, but I didn't want to leave Patrick waiting in a wet tent while I had a great time, so it was off into the drizzle for more farm stand spotting. In the spirit of exploration, I ended up on the wrong side of the bluffs behind the campground, so I got it one last climb on dirt for the weekend.

Here is Tim's account
D2R2 = Deerfield Dirt Road Randonnee
http://www.franklinlandtrust.org/randonnee.html

The Deerfield Dirt-Road Randonnee was conceived in the 1990's as just a favorite dirt-road loop in the hilltowns of Franklin County, Massachusetts. Since its birth as an organized event in 2005, many have hailed D2R2 as the hardest, most beautiful, most fun, most traffic-free, most unique, and overall best ride that they have ever done. However, D2R2 will continue to maintain is original character as just a bike ride –

* The courses will use the narrowest, oldest, twistiest, quietest, and most-scenic roads available.
* A range of courses will provide access to novices as well as challenge the world's strongest riders.
* D2R2 will never offer prizes for anything other than gags, nor will finish results ever be presented like it was a race.
* Riders shall cover the course in a self-sufficient manner, without motorized crew vehicles.
* The organization will put as much effort into its food offerings as it does the ride itself.
* The event is a key fundraiser for the Land Trust's efforts to preserve land in the region, but the route sheets will always be available on its website for free.

180 km, dirt roads, lots of climbing.
Cue sheet says ~15,000 vertical feet of climbing
One climb at 27%. Lots in the 15% range.

Slept overnight in the field (new Nemo Losi 2P tent... very nice it is! http://www.nemoequipment.com/nemo2010-losi2p-tent).
Ride started at 615am for me and Clara (her husband, Patrick, was doing the 100km which started a few hours later). Ryan was waiting for his crew of Cat 1-2s, so we took off, knowing that they would catch us. Susanne decided (wisely!!??!!) to give her registration to Ryan.

I finished building up my bike on Friday...
Salsa Chili con Crosso, set up for racing, not hill climbing!
I used the DT 1450 wheels with 30c Kenda Quick knobbies (clinchers) at about 80 psi. I didn't want to flat on the bony descents and i wanted traction on the climbs. These tires worked well on both the dirt and the pavement.
Gearing: running 1x10, 40T chainring and an 11-26 cassette. My smallest gear, 40x26, was actually pretty huge compared to the triples and compact gearing everybody else had (i saw several cassettes with 34 or 36 teeth!). I did get my props from several riders, including Ryan, for making (grinding!!!!) it up --EVERY-- climb without walking. Yes, i made it up the 27% grade dirt section, through all the traffic of mostly walking cyclists. At times it felt like i was doing squats for half a hour straight, especially that last, 2 mile climb that even Ryan, a very strong Cat 1, was saying was quite a 'proper' climb. (He was doing the ride on his team Madone, with a 34x25 lowest gear and 25c road tires... well done!).

The roads and scenery was beautiful. The ride supports a land trust to preserve farm land (the area has been farmed since the 1700s, and some of the roads date to that period). The ride sold out at 650 riders, ~half doing the 180km. There were plenty of water stops and good food at the snack stops. The lunch stop had sandwiches and pasta salad catered from a deli... yummy! Somewhere in the middle there was an ice cream truck selling local, homemade ice cream. Deeee-licious!!!!!!! Nothing like fueling up with sugar and dairy in the middle of a hard ride. :-)

Total ride time for me was about 8.5 hrs. We made a coupla wrong turns which added a few miles to the 110 miles of the route. It was pretty tough, especially in the middle miles for me. I didn't spend much time looking at the computer (time), which helped. I tried to keep eating and drinking and pedaling.

Two masters guys (on CCB), who had been riding with Ryan earlier, crashed hard on one of the fast dirt descents and broke their collarbones. Ugh. The last time i saw them on the road they went flying down a descent past me. Sorry to hear that they crashed.

A large group went by me with two national championship jerseys... Jonny Bold and Kevin Hines won them in cyclocross and also both podiumed at the cross world championships this winter.

Overall, this is quite the epic ride. It is very hard, but the effort rewards the rider with great views and tremendous sense of accomplishment. The weather this year was perfect, not hot and a clear sky (Sunday, though, was wet and gray). This was my last hurrah for the summer, as school starts this week, as does cross season (it actually started yesterday... but i wasn't up for racing after 180km). I felt totally fine on Sunday, a little fatigued, but i did sleep about 12 hours.

Gotta wash up the bike, remove the bottle cages and pump, and get it ready to race. Hmmmm, need to glue tires, too...
Thanks for reading.
ty

Ghost Trails

Patrick bought me a copy of the book Ghost Trails for my birthday. It was a great read! The book combines a number of short camping / hiking tails with an extended race report from a woman my age who takes her mountain bike on about 350 miles of snowmobile track in the Alaskan backwoods in the Iditasport race. The book offers reflection on what motivates a person to do such a thing. It also chronicles the development of skills and drive over several years, giving a very extensive background to the race experience. When I was in high school, I had a picture of the Iditabike champion taped onto my closet door. After reading the descriptions of the extreme cold, I have to say that I have lost interest in ever doing this race. However, I imagine that I may think back to some of the stories next time I find myself on a long, long ride with time for the mind to wander. I really got a kick out of some of the "pre-athlete" stories in here, such as a trip which involved wading through freezing water wearing jeans in a slot canyon. Ah, to be young and stupid.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Mistaken Identity

Scrawny guys with shaved legs, girls with tats, guys turned girls. I wasn't aware that one of my responsibilities as a cyclist is identifying the gender of others riders based on the appearance of their backsides, but according to the officials, it is. Today I went to a race and got disqualified for drafting behind a man. In the other races I been in, it is very clear when the guys are coming to pass because of numerous audible warnings from their pace car. As was no audible warning today, I was completely not expecting a guy to come up from behind. I assumed that it was a woman and jumped on his wheel. The lean physique and uniform seemed to match with a woman I saw on the start line and I didn't have any reason to think too hard about it. Apparently we had been silently passed by the men's pace car some time before which could have been a warning to me to try a quick gender check on any backsides which appeared in my peripheral vision. Unfortunately, I was too concerned with the business of pedaling, chasing down attacks, and thinking about the finish than to notice the pace car. Sorry to turn this day sour for my team, who did an excellent job today with winning primes and taking 3rd.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Best 100 miles in the state

Cycling is fun! Woke up at 3:30 (Thank you, devoted husband) for a trip out to Western Mass for a wonderful ride through 90 miles of ups, downs, and turns though the lush green Berkshires. Bonus 6 miles of flat on a scenic and smooth bike trail and 3 miles along a busy highway (blahh but I guess that's the only way back to the car).

Highlights were:

Meeting John, Ryan, and Peter. Two local riders and visiting brother who were kind enough to let me tag along with their group and even wait up at the top of the hills. Good pacing and fellowship.

Smooth pavement on Mount Greylock. Wow!!!! This is really a dream come true. Anyone game to head out and climb up the steep side later this year.

Reaching the bottom of the descent off Greylock and shaking out the wrists. Considering my recent crash and the weather (raining almost the entire ride), caution was in order coming down Greylock. The road is pretty steep and has quite a few tight turns. Pretty sure I've never spent so much time on the brakes before.

Realizing my shoulder was holding up after the descent and a few short sections out of the saddle. I may be ready for sprinting next weekend.

Sights:

Green, green, green sections of road on route 2 and countryside.
Cow crossing
wedding on a cloudy day
emu
sheep
campground by river
foggy top of Greylock
tub of fruit salad and homemade cookies at the feed stops

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

pilgrimage to see butterflies

I enjoyed the following passage in the novel Malinche by Laura Esquivel. The scene involves Malinche as a girl of four taking a pilgrimage with her grandmother. They are going to the site where the monarch butterflies gather following their migration from the north. Malinche and her grandmother must walk for days from their home to see the butterflies. My apologies for the quality of (my) translation from the Spanish.

Malinche asks her grandmother why they must walk so much to see the butterflies.
Your job is to walk, responded the grandmother. An immobile body is limited to itself, a body in motion expands itself, it becomes part of everything, but one must learn to walk lightly, without heavy loads. Walking fills us with energy and transforms us to that we can see the secret of things. Walking changes us into butterflies that raise up and see the truth of the world. This is what life is. This is what our body is. It is the eternity of consciousness. It is understanding of all things. This is God in us, but if you like, you can stay seated and turn into a rock.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Thwok

Was thrilled to find that Wimbledon has an official poet who is a genius. This is the best piece of writing about sport that I've ever seen. Now, if we can get him to come to the Portsmith crit this summer....

Matt Harvey's second Wimbledon poem: Thwok!


thwok

a game in the life

bounce bounce bounce bounce
thwackety wackety zingety ping
hittety backety pingety zang
wack, thwok, thwack, pok, ,
thwikety, thwekity, thwokity, thwakity
cover the court with alarming alacrity
smackety dink, smackety dink
boshety bashity crotchety crashety
up loops a lob with a teasing temerity
leaps in the air in defiance of gravity
puts it away with a savage severity
coupled with suavity
nice
15-love
(reaches for towel with a certain serenity)

bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce
thwack, thwok, plak, plok
come to the nettety
bit of a liberty
quickly regrettety
up goes a lobbity
hoppety skippety
awkwardly backwardly
slippety trippety
tumble & sprawl
audible gasps…
15-all
(opponent asks how is he?
courtesy, nice to see
getting up gingerly
brushity thighsity
all, if you’re asking me
bit big-girls-blousity)

bounce bounce bounce
whack, thwok, plik, plok
into the corner, then down the linety
chasety downity, whackety backety
all on the runnity, crossety courtety
dropety vollety – quality, quality…
… oh I say what impossible gettery
no, umpirical rulery – nottety uppity –
oooh – doesn’t look happety
back to the baseline
muttery muttery muttery muttery
30-15

bounce, bounce, bounce,
thwacketty OUT
bounce, bounce, bounce,
thwacketty BLEEP
2nd serve
bounce, bounce, bounce,
thwacketty – slappity
thwackety thumpity
dinkety-clinkety, gruntity-thumpity
clinkety
thump!
30-all
fistety pumpety, fistety pumpety COME ON!

quiet please
bounce, bounce, bounce,
thwacketty thwoketty
bashetty boshetty
clashety closhety
OUT!
what?
lookaty linety, lookaty line-judge
line judge nodity
wearily query
umpire upholdery, indicate inchery
insult to injury
give line-judge scrutiny
face full of mutiny,
40-30
back to the baseline
through gritted teethery
muttery mutiny mutiny muttery

bounce bounce bounce
thwak, thwok, thwak, plok
thwakety plik, thwoketty plak
to-ity fro-ity fro-ity to-ity
slowity quickety quickety slowity
turnety headety, headety turnity
leftety rightety leftety rightety
seems like we’ve been here a bloomin eternity
rightety leftety rightety leftety
topety spinnety, backhandy slicety
lookety watchety, scratchety bottity
fabulous forehand, backhandy slicety
furious forehand, savagely slicety
fearsome ferocity, vicious velocity
bilious backhand – blasted so blistery…
…half a mile out but that line judge is history
OOOWWWWWWWWT!

GAME
new balls please

June 2010

Had some great times on the bike this spring. A trip to beautiful Battenkill to race on the well packed dirt while enjoying views of the hills a quiet gully transformed by maple syrup collection tubes into a scene from Blue Man Group.

Joining Time and Suzanne in Vermont to celebrate Tim's birthday by riding 6 gaps. We saw a moose while coming down Lincoln Gap, enjoyed the challenge of a sweaty lung-busting climb up Lincoln Gap, downed some chocolate milk, sped along the long straight roads of the valleys, then ran out of gas with darkness closing in. Thanks to Susanne and Patrick for the concern, pick-up, and CAKE for Tim's birthday. We DID make it over that last gap after all. Had a wonderfully sunny spin with Susanne the next day.

Another trip to Vermont for challenging climbs and team bonding at the Killington Stage Race.

Come June, I've been a bit of a sluggy mood. First weekend of June we headed out to Philly for the very exciting and challenging Liberty Classic Race. My fitness seemed to have picked up after the end of the semester (thank goodness) and I made it over the climb on the 4th lap in contact with the field, yea! Coming down through the town in Manayunk, I felt that the bike was very unstable when I sprinted on it after a turn. A few pedals strokes, then a major blow to the head. I was out of the race after becoming quite disoriented, breaking my glasses, and damaging my shoulder to the point where I couldn't hold onto the bike. A later examination of the bicycle revealed that the front wheel had been changed out (I do not remember this). Front wheel had a destroyed tire, so it looks as though the tire may have blown in or coming out of the turn. I suppose that I'm fortunate not to have caused others to crash or done any more damage to myself.

After a few days, pain in the shoulder subsided to the point where I could dress myself and ride on the hoods. I decided to go ahead and head out to the Nature Valley Race in Minnesota as planned. This is a very tough race with many of the best American women there to push the pace. I really needed to be at 100% to race there and unfortunately I wasn't because the shoulder continued to be very tender and sore. I made it through the time trial - what a course!- there is serious climb for the last half mile! but confidence was down when my shoulder throbbed when I took a few turns on the descent heading back to the start. Also, I got spanked in the time trial, which although not unexpected, was a blow to the old ego. That night I lined up for a crit in St. Paul. I failed to come through with the aggression and confidence required in such a race to take the corners fast and ride very close to others. Within a lap I had slid to a very bad spot and had to focus to move up in an urgent way. Too late! There was a crash ahead of me and I got separated from the field. I ended up chasing with a group of four but we did not go fast enough to avoid getting pulled early in the race. No more racing for us and 3 others :(

I headed out to watch the last race of Nature Valley, the crit in Stillwater. That was a sight to see (and given the state of my shoulder, much better to watch from the sidelines). The race is laps of a very hard course. Each lap requires climbing up a steep hill, and a very fast corner at the bottom of the hill. After just a few laps, the wheat had been separated from the chaff and the pros were already out of sight of the amateurs. Everyone really slowed down on the hill so we got to see each rider in detail. The fitness of the top riders was truly amazing. It was incredible to see that some of the riders managed to bridge up from the 2nd group to the 1st when everyone looked to be riding full out. With 3 laps to go, there was an impressive attack at the top of the hill and Evelyn Stevens took off to eventually pull over 10 seconds away from the front group in her final drive up the hill.

I'm hoping that my shoulder will recover soon. It doesn't seem to make sense to try any more racing until I can use it normally again. In the meantime, I feel low on motivation for training and highly motivated to enjoy ice cream season. I put on my uniform yesterday and it fit like a sausage casing. This is not a good state of affairs.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Well into Winter

We have some wonderful snow here. Unfortunately, my hip is not doing well with skiing. The upside of that is that I tried a new twist on winter running. Trail running with crampons. This was a tip from Patrick's ultramarathon running friend. It actually worked well, and it was cold enough that no one else was out on the trails to see me looking like a dork. Next up - talking Patrick into a trip to the mountains so I can try running up something. I have been searching and searching for a trail shown on the map which connects the Georgetown Rowley State Forest with another forest in Topsfield. It looks like it may be necessary to cross a marsh. We will need colder weather for that to freeze it over. I saw some snowshoe tracks going across, but it didn't seem like a great plan to follow them with crampons in the late afternoon.