Comedian Responds to Ohio Sandbagger

Anyone see the very entertaining post on the Ohio Sandbagger blog about upgrading in the great State of Ohio? Good stuff. If you need a good laugh. A Doug Green says that when considering upgrades, for the few seconds that it takes to open an email, he always sends back a reply email with his denials. Have you ever seen one of those emails? I have. One simply said, "not even close". The other said "no". Wow. This guy should quit his day job and get on the comedy circuit. Thanks to OSB for posting his email - it makes me smile every time I think about it.

I have a stalker...

...he is the father of a NOVICE mountain bike rider. He's friends with a woman who is also just a NOVICE mountain bike rider. All I have to say is STOP stalking me. STOP trying to influence the race director. STOP worrying about me. You are scaring me with your constant obsession with what I do and what category I race. You need to face reality that your daughter is a NOVICE bike rider. And that FACT has nothing to do with me.

I know you read my blog. STOP.

Ode to a Sad Child

She has maroon colored hair,
the personality of a stick,
voice of an infant,
movement like a brick.

Clothes that don't fit,
equipment exceeding skill,
lazy and slow,
no aura or glow.

No one to guide her,
pushed to pretend,
led to believe,
too blind to see.

OMBC MTB @ West Branch State Park 2011

Awesome racing at West Branch State Park. Rode my single speed 29er and had a great, fun ride. Rudy, Tony, Bill, Kyle and Luke and I all made Lake Effect proud!

Lined up with only one other Sport Woman. The 2 other women who lined up are novices who just can't bring themselves to race their proper category. So after some whining to shorten the sport race (NO WAY BABY!), one faked an injury and one was out so long part of the course was already taken down! I won the Sport class on my single speed. The other racer was told to ride conservatively - and she still was 2nd - by more than an hour! Got to say that a freebie bike and zealot parents who inflate their child's ability for their own happiness is very sad. Oh well. That's part of the sport too I suppose.

Women's "A" Podium - NEOCX #3 (Sept 18, 2011)

DSC_8321.jpg, a photo by Gregg Brekke on Flickr.

So proud to stand next to such great racers! But you can see in my eyes that I'm not so sure about the whiskey prize and the shouts to take a swig... Egad. I choose not to drink and a swig could just put me out for a week. I don't want to encourage drinking either. I feel like such a square (yes, the 1950s reference is intentional)... I want to thank Spin for the prize and making such a big effort to make the race special!! Whiskey prizes on Whiskey Island!!

Steve Twining - Team Lake Effect Racer Extrordinaire

DSC_8264.jpg, a photo by Gregg Brekke on Flickr.

This is a photo of Steve from NEOCX #3 - taken by Gregg Brekke.

So proud to have Steve as a team mate!!

NEOCX #2 - Cascade Cross

DSC_6780.jpg, a photo by Gregg Brekke on Flickr.

Sept 11, 2011

Run through the mud bog. Good fun.

4 Ribs to Go...

No, not these kind of ribs. I think the only thing I couldeat in that picture is the tablecloth.

I mean the human, breakable kind. Last Saturday I took out my 29er MTB for the first time at W. Branch. Had a great time riding with my husband. But (and there's always a but), I got a little tooooooooooo confident with my added rock riding abilities that comes with bigger wheels and CRASH on an uphill rocky section. Luckily no one there to see me. Not even Rudy. Handle bar goes into one side of the "chest" (well, where my chest would be if I had one) and then lots-o-pain thank you. Having broken rib numbers 6-12 (not all on one side of the skeleton and not all at once either), I knew it wasn't good. I didn't say anything and even raced the next day at the Thorn MTB Trail Time Trial, even though it was painful and probably not a good call on my part. But if I wasn't going to tell anyone, well then I had no excuses not to ride.

So, it's rib #5 - confirmed by my ortho last Thursday. She was not surprised and didn't have to guess how I did it. So that just leaves ribs 1-4, which I hope never to break for a number of reasons. It's not an aspiration either. Just an observation.

Yes, the Factory Rider liked to take pictures of himself even back in the day...

Mohican 100 MTB - My Single Speed Adventure

I rode my first Mohican 100K on a singlespeed using a 34/23 gear set-up. It was also my first MTB race on a singlespeed. After the start, I spun my way to the first climb and was happy to know that I picked a good gear for climbing. I was moving along, albeit pretty slow, on the road section and couldn't wait for the single track, which came soon enough. But then we crawled. There was a line of racers for as far as I could see. But at the end of the first section (mile5), we were back at Mohican Advertures and then started the Mohican State Park 24 mile loop. There was another line of riders and we were again going pretty slowly, but I wanted to be patient because we still had 57 miles to go and I was on a singlespeed. After passing a few slower riders, I was in a group of about 8 and we had a great time on the fast, dry trails. We passed some riders but the pace seemed perfect. But eventually traffic and slower riders gave a few of us the incentive to pass and try to get some clear trail. I was amazed that I was able to pass so effeciently on my single speed - even going uphill. The need to keep up my speed so I didn't "stall" was really great incentive to keep a steady pace. That's one of the great things about a single speed - you are forced to ride steady and keep spinning. By mile 13 (8 on the park trail), I was feeling good but the flat section that lead to mile 14 (9) meant that my racing buddies pulled away as I spun my legs to go a whopping 10 mph. I was surprised to find that I was able to bridge right back up to my group when we hit the singletrack again. From about mile 15 to the Aid Station 1, it was just fun and fast trail riding and passing racers who were kind enough to let me pass (thank you!) without incident. I was eating 2 Clif Bloks every 1/2 hour and drinking lots of water. At Aid Station 1 I had some Coca Cola and oranges (so good) and took off again feeling really psyched about how good I felt. It took about 5 minutes to get back in the groove after stopping, but the awesome pine forest downhill spiral was just the thing to get me back to my racing cadence. I hooked up with some new guys and rode with them up to Aid Station 2. It is really helpful to find racers going at your pace to keep motivated and push each other along. I did another 5 minute stop and talked with lots of people I knew who were either starting to question their decision to do the full 100 miles or who, like me, said they actually felt okay. I left with Brett Davis and some other new guys, but after a few miles on the gravel road sections, I knew that going 10 mph in my 34/23 was going to lose me a lot of time and provide too much baking time in the hot sun. I watched for 15 miles as the geared racers catapulted past me. Ugh. But I spun and ate and drank and was able to ride the gravel road uphills which gave me some inspiration and motivation. This is the part of singlespeed that I found most frustrating - the road sections make for long spin sessions that feel like you are going nowhere. Fast. But then again, even the great John Lorsen told me that single speeders never feel like the ever have enough gear for the road. When we finally got to the back of the Mohican Wilderness I was very happy. The Wilderness trails were suprisingly muddy in spots and the loose stones on the trails provided for an interesting descent that made my head feel like it was going to bobble right off my body. Aid Station 3 was a very welcome sight. There were a lot of families, friends, volunteers, racers, food, water and, most importantly, a sense that at mile 47, the finish was within our grasps! At this point I was getting tired, but not bonking. I did another 5 minutes stop where I fueled up at Aid Station 3 and then drank while riding down Wally Rd. at my snails pace. I decided to just take advantage of the spin time on these roads and decided that if I was going to race single speed, I needed to deal with the frustration and instead turn it into something positive, like a chance to re-fuel and rest before tackling the upcoming hills and trails that were coming soon. And wow - the turn off Wally Rd. onto (un)Pleasant Valley Rd. was a shocker. About a mile straight up to the sky. I rode a while and then found that the guy walking his bike next to me was actually going faster and eventually passed me. So I walked up Mt. Everest with about 10 guys and we actually had enough air to talk, and before we knew it , we were at the top. Some more road, and then I lost touch again with my group. I noticed that almost everyone rode past Aid Station 5 at mile 57 or so, but I stopped for my 5 minute rest. I fueled up and stretched my quads, and then was off to ride the Mohican State Park trails again, including the first 4 miles in reverse. I was again shocked to find that I was about to catch my group who didn't stop at Aid 5, and then I ended up passing them. I had a lot of motivation and fuel to really ride the last 5 miles, I mean race them. I passed a lot of people on this stretch and was happy to pop off the trails, but then found myself on another road section. Double ugh. But much more could there be? A few turns and river crossing and we were faced with another climb and freshly cut double track and I remember thinking to myself, "Oh. This is mean. Just plain cruel." By now my shoulders and arms hurt from holding on to the bike for 7 hours, but I pushed ahead because I knew it was just another mile. More road, but I'll take it. I finished my 1st 100K on a singlespeed in one piece, no crashes, and in 8th place (out of 21 – and 20 of them being men!) in a time of 7:15. I'll take it.