Deer Valley Short Track

Well this race went better. cyclingnews.com ST Start Pic (I am on the right ~5 deep.)

Todd told me to race the Racer-X since that would make me happy. :) I followed his advice and had a good ride (I didn't go to the front and try to ride with Georgia today), just tried to ride with what my legs had. I finished 13th, was pulled with one lap to go. I think I was able to get a little extra traction with the Racer-X on the loose short climb; I could stand in spots where I may not have been able to with a hardtail. Check out this video clip my Brother-in-law (Erika's husband, Dusty) took. I think this is the last lap, I am riding with Trek/VW riders Caitlyn Tuel (USA) and Jennifer Smith (NZl). We finished ~2.3 minutes off of the leader, Luna's Katerina Nash (Cze).

Hopefully I can kick this cold quickly. I keep hoping it is just really bad allergies, but no allergy meds have worked. I ebayed a bike frame and had to get it out today so I was one of those horrible people standing in line hacking. I tried to breath around the junk (so as not to cough) and thought I may very well drown while standing in line at the post office. I had my antibacterial wet wipes, so hopefully I didn't leave too many germs. I do think 7 months without a cold is a record for me.

We are headed to Moab tomorrow for a couple days of easy rides on short, flat trails.

Deer Valley NMBS

What a day... After changing a last minute flat I was able to get in a good warm up and felt confident about this race, top-10 for sure. My parents had flown in from TN and my sister Erika won the Expert race this morning with some really fast lap times. It was going to be a hot race in the mid-80s to low 90s, but after placing 11th in 103 degree heat, I wasn't worried. I had a great start, sat on Georgia's wheel (see MTBracenews.com picture above and cyclingnews.com picture) for a minute or two, gave up spots to faster riders like I should, then it all fell apart. I had no power, no top end, my legs were on fire (and they shouldn't have been since I was pacing correctly). I went to the very back (not by choice) and just spun to see if I could recover, but even on the downhills I had no power in my legs, arms or upper body, my chest hurt, my head hurt, I was super slow up and down, with no downhill skills. Halfway through the first lap I had completely given up, I didn't see the point in even trying to continue. I knew I was sick, Todd has had a cold (or some bug) for the last two weeks, I thought I had avoided catching it but I guess not. At the back feedzone I told Doug to call Todd (in the front feedzone) to tell him I thought I was sick and for Todd to be ready to tell me to continue or quit. With a three week trip out east around the corner I thought maybe I should not race sick today. After passing through the back feedzone I realized I did not have a drink in my cage, my bottle had fallen out and I hadn't even had a sip of it. Why I didn't look before waving off my water bottle I don't know. After one full lap at a tempo pace (if that) I pulled into the 1st feedzone ready to pack it up, but Todd handed me a drink, told me I was 29th and said to keep going. What? I drained that bottle (my only calories of the race) and kept up my tempo pace. I needed another bottle when I hit the back feedzone, but Doug wasn't expecting me to need one and was getting ready for us on the other side of the gate. I stopped for a second while he ran back to the cooler to get me a water, that was nice. The last time through the start/finish I was starting to feel a bit better, and was beginning to pick up spots, then lost another bottle on the first downhill. This time I stopped and picked up a bottle full of hot water that had been dropped by an Expert racer earlier in the day (hot water is better than no water, right?) then traded it for a cold water from Doug in the back feedzone. I finished 17th. I sprinted for 16ht at the line, and got within a wheel, but didn't have enough. I felt horrible all afternoon and evening, pounding head, goosebumps, and coughing up yellow junk. It is 6:00pm and I am going to bed, hopefully I will be better in the morning or at least well enough to race short track. Especially since my parents will be driving back up to Park City to watch... Turns out I may have another blown fork, which makes me feel a bit better about my handling skills (or lack thereof) today. Luckily we have a good mechanic this weekend (Paul Clark), I left a dirty bike with a possibly blown fork for him to deal with so I can sleep. Poor guy. Our team did well, Amanda finished 10th, coming off of broken ribs; Heather was riding in 6th before a mechanical (finished 14th), Andy was on the podium in 4th. It just wasn't my day (or Heather's) I guess. But way to go Amanda and Andy! And Erika!

Starbucks Ride

Railtrail ride to get Starbucks. We saw a moose on the way out and found more great singletrack on the way back, I love Park City.

Racer-X

I have picked the Fireline for almost every race this year, I really enjoy racing it, but Todd thinks I am happier when I ride the Racer-X. I don't know what it is, it just feels good, part of it is the Manitou suspension - no bob, soaks up the bumps.

Sometimes I just smile and ride. Maybe I should name it; since I named our Cat "Kitty" and my snake "Mr. Snake" I guess "Racer-X" is as good a name as any.

Wednesday Todd and I raced a local race, he got a 30 second head start on his SS, racing in Men's Expert. I thought I could catch him, but it never happened. I raced pretty much the same group as at the Intermountain Cup race, it is cool racing my sister (until she beats me anyway). I came in 1st with KC Holley on a SS in 2nd. Erika won a sprint finish at the end for 4th and was just seconds out of 3rd which made for an exciting race.

Local Utah Race

Snow at the Intermountain Cup Race (Deer Valley, UT)

Thanks to Dusty, Erika's husband, we have proof that we raced in snow, in June.

Well, it really didn't stick to the course, but it did snow.

Getting ready to warm up. It is snowing, cold and 7:30am!

Once the race started and my fingers thawed, it was fun. The course was different from all the desert racing we have been doing lately. Because of the trees and mud it was similar to a Southeast course, although there was a snow drift and only one root... Erika Pro Podium. My sister Erika far right. This was the first time we have ever raced each other, she is racing her first year in the pro class (after one year in the expert class).

Riding in Utah

Headed up Mirror Lake Hwy 10, 500feet.

Looks like they haven't finished clearing the roads, but we needed to make sure.

End of the road, really.

Headed back.

My sister Erika, showing off her new team kit (Revolution)

and her guns.

Time to put LOTS of clothes on and head back down.

Erika's Race

My sister's race in Sundance, Utah. Erika is racing pro in Utah and races one of my teammates, Heather Holmes. It was fun to watch and just hang out. Todd and I rode the course after the race, it was a great course.

Lake Tahoe

Before leaving Truckee, CA I decided to do a road ride around Lake Tahoe with Cass. 72 mile road ride, sounded like an awesome idea at the time. Todd opted to stay home...

The views were pretty amazing. We started in Tahoe City and headed clockwise around the Lake. It rained, no problem, we had rain gear. The temperature dropped, no problem we had lots of clothes. We tried to skirt the traffic through towns by taking side roads, that worked pretty well till we got ~40 miles into the ride, around the stateline (right before South Lake Tahoe).

We took a side road, then a nice bikepath that ended in a campground. No problem, Cass found a singletrack. The singletrack turned into a swamp, but Cass saw a road across the way. I am not sure why we kept going, but we ended up crossing a drainage ditch, climbing over cable boxes, sneaking through the back yards of a trailer park and finally cut through a yard and behold we were on a road (in a gated trailer park. The automatic gate almost took Cass out as we hightailed it out of there).

We made it back to the main road, it was raining, the traffic was bad, we rode the sidewalk, and I was getting really cold (~40 something degrees and soaking wet-so much for rain gear). The sidewalk ran out, Cass saw a covered valet parking area outside a hotel/casino and suggested we hang out there for a bit, I saw the Starbucks sign and said Yes. That was the end of our ride, we called Nick for rescue... Cass would have kept going, but I was done with cold and rain. I won $81 on slots (then lost $40 of it), and drank lots of coffee while we waited on a ride.

More views of the rest of our planned route (but taken from the car).