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!