US Cup Unification Race, a Kitty and Interbike

Thursday Sept 17th: Todd tried to catch a lost 6-week old kitty in the woods at Bonelli (San Dimas, CA). The kitty loved Todd's Power Bar balls and drank a good bit of water but would not be caught and found a great hiding spot in the cactus. Friday Sept 18th: Todd spent another 3 hours and finally caught the little guy who wouldn't have lasted long in the extreme heat. We took him to Citrus Veterinary Clinic in San Dimas, CA. If anyone wants a new cat please give them a call.

Sunday Sept 20th: US Cup Unification Race at Bonelli Park in San Dimas, CA. It was way too hot for a race. Luckily I had enough points to win the Unification title by just showing up. Only three pro girls started and I think half the guys DNF'd. I had goosebumps the entire race, we basically rode around just under the overheating threshold and it became a road race, waiting to see what the other person would do. It ended up coming down to a sprint in the last 5 minutes, but as I changed gears getting ready to go I dropped my chain and the race was over. Congratulations goes to Allison for winning the one day race. After the race we packed up and headed to Vegas.

Monday Sept 21st: Finished the drive to Vegas, ~ 2 miles from the RV park the slide-out awning broke and fell down. We took it off, checked in at the RV park then hit Dirt Demo day 1. . Tuesday Sept 22nd: Dirt Demo day 2, 8:00am Dirt Demo (HUGE) road group ride. We thought it would be a chill early morning spin, I had only eaten one hardboiled egg and drank a 25 calorie FRS before the ride. I started mid-pack which was a mistake, my legs felt great and I started bridging from group to group, it was a great power day. The rest of the day was spent riding every Specialized bike I could get my hands on (Era, Epic, 29'r, Tarmac SL2). The Era actually rode the best. Most of the bikes had the new SRAM XX drivetrain, wow! I need that drivetrain... I wish I could have tried the 16.6lb Cannondale Flash! Once Todd figures out how expensive Interbike is in the long run, I think he'll try to keep me from going.

Specialized 29'r Carbon HT

Specialized Carbon Epic

Wed-Fri Sept 23rd-25th: Interbike all day, dinner industry parties, Cross Vegas and Gold Sprints at night. I was on my feet for almost 18 hours a day!! Pink recovery socks saved my legs and had style!

FRS kept me going. I had never tried the FRS drinks, but I scored a give-a-way case and got hooked on it... .

Here are a couple cool items:

Ergon Cork and Grass Grips

I am going to try this new ZeroGoo product on my next ride, it mixes gel with water for a constant flow of pure gel, pure water, or any mix in-between. It was super light and easy to adjust.

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Saturday Sept 26th: We put in a new fuel line, luckily that was the ticket! Hit the road to NM with A/C!

Sunday Sept 27th: Todd stopped off at the Albuquerque, NM airport and flew to MD. I continued on to Santa Fe, set up the "house", got a fix of NM chile and visited with Todd's family.

On the move again

CO Trail Thru-hikers Blueberry and Mark

Durango was a great base for the last couple months. Last weekend was fun, I rode the CO Trail, ran into one guy about an hour's ride in that needed a tube (it was cold and raining, would have been a hard long walk out), then talked to some guys who were in trouble with their girlfriends for poor planning and making a ride a lot longer than it was supposed to be, they had been out for ~6hours and were making matters worse by not waiting at a turn and hoping the girls would figure it out. The girls were waiting at the turn for the guys to return... Another guy had me make a call to his girlfriend as his phone had died and he needed a ride, turns out she had been to the trailhead twice already looking for him. Then I gave a couple thru-hikers a ride to town, had dinner with them and dropped them off at a trail angel's place for the night since they didn't want to camp in the pouring rain. Blueberry took 6 weeks, Mark ~28 days from Denver to Durango. See Mark's site, raising funds for Burma.

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I raced the last Durango Devo short track Wednesday 9/9, won $50 for a series win, worked on the generator and hit the road to CA Thursday.

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Dash airconditioning units don't do much to cool off the motorhome while driving. Ours has a leak so we don't even bother to put freon in it, especially since we try to travel/live where it is ~70-degrees. With three pets to keep cool we run the generator and the coach A/C when it is hot, this assumes the generator works...

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Before heading to Durango I had Freightliner change my oil and filters in both the coach and generator (it took them two days, horrible experience, I won't go back, I can do it myself in 5 hours or less). Since then I have had what I thought was a generator oil leak. It wasn't a loose drain plug and was worse while running. I opened the generator (not a quick job) thinking it would be due to a loose oil filter.

.What I found was a diesel fuel leak at the fuel filter (which Frieghtliner had replaced). Durango Napa had a replacement filter, after replacing it I still had a leak. I guess it is the line between the fuel filter and fuel pump, if you overtighten the fitting it gets a hairline crack. Of course no one stocks the lines. I ordered a line from Cummins in TN, had it shipped to CA and hit the road without an A/C. When I was working on the generator wearing a jacket in 50/60-degree weather this didn't seem like such a bad idea.

Fuel Filter and lines (back one needs to be replaced, I think...)

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Hot RV, hot desert, hot pets = BAD IDEA. The highest temp was 107, but not for long; mid to high 90s were the norm.

Hot Kitty and her ice pack

NE AZ and 30 minute stop for road construction. Open windows didn't really help much without the air flow.

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The stop in Flagstaff, AZ was nice, much cooler temps. I parked and went for a quick ride. I ran across this family. The little boy had just wrecked and was not at all happy. I tried to distract him from crying by asking a bunch of questions while we walked all the bikes to a house. I told him he was tough and would make a great pro mountain biker. He said "no I won't, I keep falling!" and started crying again. Too cute.

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OUCH

Friday night I didn't get much sleep, it was 86 degrees at 2:00am when I went to sleep and 80 degrees at 6:00am when I woke up. I got an early start but it got hot quickly.

Outdoor Temp

Indoor Temp

When I arrived at our RV park I didn't waste any time getting into my spot, plugging in and turning on the air conditioner. I registered, disconnected the truck, found my spot, didn't even get out to look at it, just drove by and backed right in. When I got out I had a few comments from the peanut gallery on how well I handle the 40' rig.

After I set up Todd met me, he has been on his own work schedule MD, TN, AZ, CA, AZ and back to CA. We finally met up, it has been 55 days apart. I think he has ridden 5 hours total in that time. His get back in shape weeks will correspond nicely with my end of season break, then we hope to race a December dawn to dusk race together in AZ.

Windham NY: XC Flat! (15th). 10th in Short Track.

Wednesday: loooong travel day. I left Vallecito Lake at 6:00am, drove to Albuquerque, flew to Las Vegas (kinda the wrong direction), lost $40 trying to get rich at the slots, flew to Albany, drove a rental to Windham, got into my horrible room at 2:00 am. Thursday: Tried to find another hotel, ended up swapping rooms at the same hotel (to one with an air-conditioner and no giant ants), built bike, Stans'd tires, pre-rode course, washed muddy bike, and tried to find food and ice. Friday: slept. a lot. Pre-rode and washed the bike again then found the awesome Taste Cafe. Sadie and everyone there were so nice and the food was great. Saturday: XC. Third row call-up since I have missed three Pro Tour Races. After slowly making my way through the pack, I was sitting two spots behind Pua, feeling strong and so happy with my legs. We finished the first climb and hit the downhill. I heard the dreaded hiss of a flat tire. My 1st response is always denial, "it isn't my tire"; then pleading "please seal, please seal!". I ended up limping to the start/finish techzone, getting on and off the bike multiple times trying to get the gash to seal and hold air. I slid out any time I leaned the least little bit and nailed the rim on every single rock. Getting passed by the entire field is a horrible feeling. To make it worse, I hadn't aired my spare wheels. As soon as I swapped to the new wheel the rim bottomed out and I thought "oh no"! I got off, filled it with my new BigAir and took off. Motivation lasted an entire 2-minutes then, remembering where I was and not seeing anyone to pass, I just wanted to pull out. All that work for nothing. My goal had been to finish 10th and I was now ~ 30th. It took a bit of persuading but I told myself it was practice for the NY World Cup next year and Todd would kill me if I spent all that money to get out there and quit after only one lap... Plus, if I could finish Sea Otter, I could finish this. I kept going and made it up to 15th by the finish line, 4 seconds behind Judy Freeman. Sunday: ST. I was called up 2nd to last since I have not done a single series ST this year. Legs again felt good and I was able to finish 10th, again behind Judy Freeman. Got back to the hotel to find my door wide open. nice, at least I now had clean towels... Monday: Another long travel day, made it "home" at 1:00am. Tuesday: After 6 hours sleep I was up to get the dogs from the kennel in Durango, unpack, build up bike, have dinner and play cards with Grandma and Aunt and Uncle, then I slept for 10 hours! Expensive trip, but it was worth it to verify my fitness level and to see the course for next year. Plus, I really enjoy seeing and talking to everyone. To make up for it (and the $40 in Vegas) I just bought a $5 Power Ball ticket (the first one of my life) so keep your fingers crossed.

Durango July 2009, Ned's Specialized SS

Lots going on in Durango this last week.

Sunday 7/26 Durango Century It was a tour "not a race" and I did not race. I did work in the lead paceline a bit, I chased a guy or two even though they were not going anywhere, basically I just had fun. In order to keep out of trouble with my coach, I dropped off the lead pack at ~ 65 miles and rode a more steady pace. Luckily another girl Mel dropped off as well and we pedaled, talked, stopped at an aid station then rode together a little more. My time was still 4:25 which seems really fast for 100 miles. I think it helped that there were no other girls in front of us (except the ones on tandems), otherwise "not racing" may have been too hard to handle.

Wednesday After my normal workout I headed into town to do the local weekly Durango Devo ST race. The A men and women race together which was great since there were only three women. With 3+ minute laps I didn't get lapped by any guys and finished 1st in the women. The cost is $10 and the proceeds go to the Devo kids, so I am all over that.

Thursday I hooked up with the local singlespeed ride and got to ride with Ned Overend! Ned was riding his new 2010 S-Works, 29'r, Carbon SS. I had actually met Ned earlier in the week at a local shop where he was building up his bike, see pic - notice the horizontal dropouts. I was too enamored by his bike to even realize who I was talking too. I did consider that it was Ned himself, but he just didn't act like it, he was too down-to-earth and friendly. No one else said anything either. I know, I am an idiot. I have wanted to meet Ned for a long time, I still want to get him to sign my copy of Mountain Bike Like A Champion since I use that book in my skills clinics.

Saturday I raced the Hermosa Creek Classic. 38-miles point-to-point. There were 4 pro women, I finished 1st and took home $175. Nice! I had my newly installed Carbon S-Works cranks on the race bike and although they took a beating on the rocks, they still look good and saved me 70 grams over the XTR with adapters (no cups needed on the S-Works).

Sunday I played with my cousin's daughter Logan (my second cousin?) and taught her how to siphon water. My ride today was a 2.5 hour scenic road ride. My legs felt good and I pushed it for a while, ran out of water and kept going just because I felt like it. I finished the ride by spinning easy with another cyclist, a girl who had stopped to take a picture along the route.

USA National Championship XC, Super D and Short Track Races

After doing well in the Marathon National Championship I decided to try out Super D and ST in addition to XC this weekend. (I did ST last year but haven't done a real pro Super D). Saturday: 10th in XC. results here. Sunday: 4th in Super D behind XC racer Kelli Emmett (3rd) and two Downhillers, Jacque Harmony (2nd) and Elke Brutsaert (3rd). Kyia Anderson was 5th. see pictures below (Todd got a new camera, Nikon D40 - a great camera so far). Super D was fun race on an awesome course, I had to break out the Racer-X and Kenda Nevagal tires. Check out this video to see Willow lose her shoe in the run. 14th in Short Track. I was called up 3rd-to-last since I haven't done any ST races this year. I passed ~ 15 girls, but not quickly enough and was pulled about 15 minutes in. It was a hard course, the only place to really pass was on the steep climb. The tough thing was trying to figure out if I should eat anything solid between the Super D and the Short Track race and how much I needed to re-warm up for the ST as there was ~3 hours between races.

USA Marathon National Championship Race - Firecracker 50

4th in the USA National Marathon Championship Race in Breckenridge! Who knew I could race a marathon race???

It was a great race. The communication from the Firecracker 50 promoter to the athletes was ideal. Of all races I have attended this year, this one ran the smoothest by far. The course was better marked than any course, it was easy to pre-ride and everything was clear to the racers. They gave us a book with all the details, great course maps, turn by turn course descriptions with mile markers, aid station locations, a town map, start times and more. There were no last minute changes, the aid stations were awesome with full water bottles, Gatorade bottles and gels. They were well staffed and well run. (I never count on neutral support because it just never works, but this you could count on.) Basically everything was perfect, I highly recommend this race! The race was capped at 750 entries, teams counted as one entry, so keep that in mind as it did fill up. It seems the promoter really listens to the racers and aims to put on a perfect event; the general communication, preparation and execution were amazing.

The race started with a neutral start through Breckenridge as part of the July 4th parade. The start was ideal, pro women lined up behind pro men and we started together. My race was almost perfect, I started 10th of 20 and moved up the entire race passing defending champ Sari Anderson on the first climb, Rebecca Rush ~ 2/3rds of the way through the first lap and a couple other girls in there somewhere. I finished the first 25-mile lap 30-seconds behind Heather Holmes and 60-seconds behind Amanda. With such a long climb to start the second lap I was able to watch Heather catch and pass Amanda then start to gap her, I passed both of them by the top of the climb which put me in 4th. Rebecca was able to get by Amanda who then got a slow leak which slowed her down a bit, luckily she was able to get spare wheel in the next aid station. I reeled Gretchen Reeves in by the third aid station then it was a race to the finish line for 3rd. Gretchen won this race in 2005 and 2006 and placed 2nd last year.

For the final ~20 minutes we were testing each other, but not going all that hard, I kept waiting for it to turn into a XC race, but wasn't sure how my legs would like it. For the entire 2nd lap I had power in my legs but battled leg cramps, at times they would completely lock up. Gretchen got into the last singletrack first. I thought there would be passing opportunities but she was really good at blocking the entire way, so it came down to a finish line sprint. I lost the sprint for 3rd, well I never really started the sprint. I stood up to sprint and my legs locked up with full-on leg cramps. I am sure the cramps were just because I don't spend anywhere close to 4.5 hours on my bike. Even though I had leg cramps the entire second lap my power never faded, which I found really odd so I just kept going.

I am happy with these results in my first ever Marathon race, but to be out of the money by a bike length is quite a way to finish such a long race.

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Todd and I had a great time hanging out after the race visiting with everyone, we stayed till at least 7:00pm and there was still a huge crowd in the park when we left. This race had a great festival feel to it.

More info and pictures at MTBracenews.com

IRMIGER Heather 4:06:10.9

SAWICKI Pua 4:22:21.3

REEVES Gretchen 4:27:45.7

PARK Krista 4:27:47.1

HOLMES Heather 4:32:46.3

RUSCH Rebecca 4:36:06.3

CAREY Amanda 4:41:48.8

BONIFACE Kelly 4:42:51.1

MCCONNELOUG Mary 4:48:56.5

DOMBROSKI Amy 4:51:03.2

HORANYI Eszter 4:54:32.9

LOONEY Sonya 4:59:20.2

TUEL Caitlyn 5:06:28.9

TILLEY Jennifer 5:11:04.4

DAMMAN Jill 5:37:28.2

5 DNFs

Teva Games and Colorado Springs

I raced my sister Erika Powers in the last two races which was fun. She usually races the Intermountain Cup Series in Utah.

Erika

I placed 12th in the Teva games, which I was fine with, and 18th in the Colorado Springs race which I am not at all happy about. This was my first trip to the Teva games and it was pretty cool. We could watch climbing, kayaking and dog jumping right there in the venue; but I'm not sure if anyone even knew there was a bike race going on since it took place on the outskirts of the village. Todd and I stayed in Breckenridge because there is no place for the motorhome in Vail. I LOVE the Frisco/Breckenridge area! There are bike paths and trails everywhere; there is even a paved bike path that goes all the way to Vail (I heard it goes on to Glenwood Springs).

My very poor attempt at taking a picture of a kayaker

The Teva games XC course was a pretty typical ski hill course with lots of fire road climbing. The downhill was the best part of the course but didn't seem to last long enough which was both good and bad; if you were behind a slow descender you didn't have to wait long before it opened up so you could pass.

The Colorado Springs course just was the opposite. It was a really fun course, all single track (albeit wider at the bottom) with lots of rock gardens and techy sections. This made it difficult to pass if there was a line of people in front of you. I spent more time trackstanding in the race than all the races I've ever done combined; great practice for my skills clinics but horrible for a National race. Allison did a good write up of how it felt on the course and the confusion at the start.

To make things worse, they came up with the craziest start scenario I've ever seen. In an attempt to spread things out for the pros and to meet UCI regulations, they lined us up facing backwards at the Start/Finish, “paraded” us over to a remote start, which funneled us through a narrow opening in the gates and ultimately had us lined up in the opposite direction, completely reshuffled. It was here that they let us know we’d be doing one lap fewer than originally posted, and that we’d be doing a much shorter parade lap than stated on the course description. Instead, they sent us up a twisty paved road with gates up the middle (effectively a yellow-line rule), had us do a tight U-turn, sent us back down on the other side of the same road, then through the original start/finish and into the single track. Quite a few of us in the second half of the field had to put a foot down and wait at the U-turn.

By doing this, they not only failed to spread the field out, they also violated UCI regulations by changing the course within 24 hours of the race start and by shortening the race to less than an hour and forty five minutes average; not to mention refusing to have a manager’s meeting the day before, another UCI regulation. Oh well. My legs didn't feel all that fast anyway, but I was moving up the entire race and could have used another lap.

The best part of traveling is meeting new and old friends. Thank you Jeff and Cammie Kennedy for all the help while we were here, course info, road workout routes, coffee shop, tour of downtown and BBQ! Next up I’m headed to Durango to see family, then driving to Albuquerque where I’ll catch a plane to TN for my brother's wedding (I need to get rid of this farmer's tan!), then back to Breckenridge for the Firecracker 50; this will be my first marathon race and I have no idea what to expect.

Heat Exhaustion Recovery Week & US West Cup #5

Monday - Felt horrible didn't do anything. Tuesday - Had to move the "house" to Los Olivos, CA. Got sick when I went outside to put water bottles away, was worthless, especially outside (in the sun or heat). Todd created the video which got ~400 blog hits. Wednesday - AM: Started to worry that I would never recover from the heat exhaustion episode. PM: The temperature dropped, I tried a one hour road ride with Todd and felt great, still a headache, but no dizziness or nausea and legs felt great. Thursday - Felt good, visited Pedal Power to work on the bike (best shop in the area!!!), put on new Red and White Magura Mag Brakes and White Ergon Grips & Bar Ends. (pictures and review in next post) Friday - Pre-rode the course once. Saturday - Felt good, first day without a headache, washed all the cow poo off the bike and got ready to race, although still worried that I would have to pull out. Sunday - Raced, felt good. All the plans to get enough hydration, calories and electrolytes went out the window when I only finished a half bottle on the first lap and my 2nd lap bottle (with gel) bounced out right after the feedzone and I didn't notice. Chad told Todd who freaked out and forgot to feed Joy (again). When I went for a drink and realized what had happened, I thought, "no way, you have to be kidding" I was not going to repeat last weekend and just slowed up a bit. At the top of the first climb I was hot, I had goosebumps and decided to quit. I found a couple swallows in a discarded Gatorade bottle nearby and after ~ 30 seconds I had cooled off, felt good and realized I had only lost one spot so decided to keep going. It worked out well I got that spot back and finished in 4th ~ 2:13, ~5 minutes off Amanda (1st). Amanda had a great race!

US West Cup #5 Podium: left to right: Krista, Kathy, Amanda, Allison, Natasha

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I was very happy after the race because I knew I had recovered, I was able to race and even race without enough water. I am sure the only reason I was able to race and race well today was because of the ice bath I got at the Sea Otter finish line. The doctors told me that the ice shoved in my jersey and dumped all over me got my core body temperature down quickly enough that it didn't do much damage. The Dr.s base this on the heatstroke symptoms I was getting followed by the blood test results which showed no organ damage. So if someone has heat exhaustion or heatstroke symptoms, get the core body temp down ASAP.

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The cross over from heat exhaustion to heat stoke seems to be the internal damage.

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heat exhaustion symptoms

heavy sweating

dizziness

nausea

pale, clammy skin

sometimes vomiting

sometimes headache

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heatstroke symptoms

very high body temperature (above 103degrees by mouth)

red, hot, dry skin (no sweating)

rapid, strong pulse

throbbing headache

dizziness

nausea

confusion

unconsciousness

Sea Otter XC

Heat exhaustion? But I was preparing for heat, heat was going to be my friend! Somehow I ended up at the hospital and received 3 liters if IV fluids. See cyclingnews note. OK so it was hot, hotter than expected. 93 degrees was one reading, I swear it was even hotter than that. Standing at the starting line on the black pavement was hot, at the start line they cut our race in half (one lap instead of two). About 10 minutes into the race I saw Wendy Simms pull over and throw up. I started the race with a small drink mix and 30 minutes into the race took a large drink mix and a water at the feedzone. My skin was so hot I poured the water all over myself, 30 minutes later I finished off my drink mix, sometime in the next 10 minutes I quit sweating and what leg power I had disappeared. I remember really, really wanting to crawl into a little bush and take a nap in the little bit of shade it provided. Apparently someone behind me did just that and Joy D stopped to help, like the incredible person she is. It was my mistake in not getting enough to drink in the feedzone and I suffered for it, dropping ~10 positions and landing in the ER, lesson learned. The only frustrating thing was watching other racers take handups at the start of the last climb out, the rules say you are not allowed handups anywhere else on the course but due to the extreme heat not all racers stuck to the rules. Can't really say I blame them... The best perks of being a pro cyclist is meeting great people! I am VERY grateful to our friends Brian and Bri, Nick and Cass and Chris Magerl (Kenda team Mechanic) for all the help when I was a little out of it! Todd really appreciated the help, I was a little less aware at the time. But I heard what everyone did for us last night as Bri cooked us dinner (twice, their BBQ cooks quickly). Thank you so much! Today I slept for 12 hours and am still sluggish with a headache and don't feel like eating much, but my legs feel good and that's what is important, right? Check out Kathy's description of the race/heat. Way to race Kathy!

more Racing and Clinics

Another big week of pre-riding, racing, traveling and clinics. The US Pro Tour Race #1 was held in Fontana, CA. It was great to see friends I hadn't seen since last year, I spent all three days at the venue and had a great time.

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Saturday's race clinic was good with about 15 people, lots of questions about racing and preparing for races.

Saturday's Fontana Race Clinic

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Sunday's race was hard, visit Brian's blog or Amanda's for descriptions of the race and course. Videos here: http://www.cyclingdirt.org/. For whatever reason my legs weren't all there, I placed 14th, not my best race and not my worst. Great race to a lot of the girls: Amanda, Chloe, Kathy, Melanie and Allison!

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Monday we moved to Alpine, CA for the US West Cup #3 race.

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Tuesday I drove back up to the LA area for some skills clinics. Both of the 4-hour skills clinics were a blast, nothing like meeting new girls, riding new trails, sharing and practicing skills and techniques! There were no crashes on the technical stuff, but I still managed to cause a wreck or two. For example after watching a few death grips I talked about a relaxed grip, one rider took it a bit too far and said the bars slipped right out of her hands. I'll clarify a bit better next time. :)

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Tuesday's Women's Skills Clinic #1

Tuesday's Women's Skills Clinic #2

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Wednesday was a pre-ride of what I hope is something close to the course. More hike-a-bike sections, hope my hike-a-bike muscles are recovered by Sunday.

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Thursday was a birthday party in San Diego for Pete Masiel, whom I haven't seen since before I turned pro. He is one of those guys who helps out anyone (on a ride or otherwise). I still remember him letting us (Todd, my brother Mikah and myself) crash his hotel suite when the weather turned horribly cold and rainy at a race in Texas. I was racing Expert, it was both Mikah's and my first race back after our broken collarbones (poor Todd had to drive from GA to TX and back while we slept on the bed the whole time). If you haven't heard the story we broke our c'bones on the same Tennessee 4x track a few weeks apart from each other. Anyway with no muscles in my right arm I felt horrible during the super crazy cold and muddy race, Pete was on course and cheered me on to a first place finish in my age group, after that a hotel room never felt sooo nice.

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This weekend US West Cup #3 in Alpine, then we are headed up to Sea Otter. We'll make a few stops along the way to visit Todd's Mom who is vacationing in CA and then to get some automotive maintenance taken care of. I should have some new toys waiting for me when I get there. A Magura Durin fork for the singlespeed, a Raxter rack and hopefully a set of white and red Magura Mag brakes for the race bike! The red SLs are amazing and will be part of my super sweet Singlespeed setup as well as the full suspension, but I need the white and red ones to match my race bike. How cool is it that Magura understands this? I have the best sponsors!

New Bike and Incycle DH team

My 2009 Race Bike!

Lala (Incycle) brought a white stem and bars to the race, Todd and I got them on in time to race. The warmup was a bit short, but I had a white stem! Incycle can get anything quickly, they usually have it in stock and can ship out same day (or if you are lucky, bring it to you at your race). The final Shimano Winter Series Race (CA) was this weekend. I was the only Pro Woman, but that didn't matter to the Incycle DH team who cheered from all parts of the course, thanks guys! Blair heckled a guy in front of me then yelled at me to go catch him, Jason followed me up a singletrack climb (on his DH bike) and coached me to the top, of course Lala screamed from the Incycle pit.

Another race picture by Eric Foltz

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My picture on the Downhill Team Race Trailer (and van). The Team Chillin' Jason 4X Race Jason Post Super-D Race Brothers Jason and Joe Simpson

more on US CUP #1

The week before the race was a bit crazy as more parts arrived just in time, NoTubes wheels and Magura forks and brakes! I tore my Fireline apart (looks like I will be riding last year's Titus frames for a while) and replaced every single thing except the headsest, cranks and pedals. I headed to the shop to get the brake lines and steerer tube cut. Incycle hooked me up with new Specialized shoes and a Specialized helmet. Thanks! I picked Todd up at the airport Saturday night, he flew in just to help me on Sunday and flew back out early Monday morning. Thanks Todd!

The highly anticipated US Cup (Sho-Air, Kenda, Specialized) kicked off Sunday at Bonelli Park in San Dimas, exceeding expectations in every way. Driving into the venue, the changes and improvements were obvious. From the giant black and red blow-up Kenda arch to the newly detailed trailer, gates and start-finish banner, all in black with red trim.

Turnout was huge, parking was scarce and the races were delayed about 15 minutes due to massive lines at registration. Even with the large fields, the races ran smoothly. Thank you to Scott Tedro and Ty Kady of Sho-Air, Jim Wannamaker of Kenda, Tom Spiegel of Team Big Bear, the volunteers and everyone else who made this happen. see pictures in post below.

It was crazy hot (87) and there was no shade on the course! With the snow covered mountains in the background you can't tell how hot it was from the above picture.

The only things I focused on during the first two laps were 1.) trying not to overheat and 2.) keeping an eye on Melanie McQuaid. At one point I passed a rider with a flat, I thought it was Melanie, so I slowed down a bit. After a while I saw her up ahead and kicked myself for losing time, I sped up just a bit to keep her in sight. On the third lap Todd told me to go and I started closing the gap, I actually made contact before I meant to and just hung back for a while as I wasn't sure how hard we would have to go once I tried to pass her, my main concern was still overheating. Once I decided to go, I was surprised with how good my legs felt, I was able to pedal away and cross the finish line ~1:30 in front of Melanie.

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I did a quick cool down and changed quickly to do my race clinic. I got called away from the clinic twice, once for awards and once to pick up my check (they wouldn't let Todd pick it up and they said they were leaving so I had to get it right then). Sorry guys, we'll schedule the clinic a little better next race.

Sometimes things go according to plan and Sunday was one of those days! I'll take 1st place any day. Last year at Fontana both Melanie and I had a bad race and came in at the same time, she beat me by 1 second. Fontana is the next US Cup race (March 28th), that should be fun, hopefully it will be cooler...

US West Cup #1 Bonelli Results

1st Place in San Dimas, CA! This season is off to a good start! more later... till then read: http://www.mtbracenews.com/

Thanks to Michael McClure for this picture of the venue, lots of people!

Shimano Fun Weekend

Saturday kicked off the first race in the:

I have been adopted by the San Dimas Incycle Downhill team, I fit in well I think. I will be wearing Incyle until my 2009 kit arrives, I think it looks pretty sharp. Thanks LaLa and the guys! Kid's Race. Super-little kids on bikes are too cute.

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I was very excited to be mechanical free in my XC race. Pua must have gotten bored with her lead, on the third lap she spotted me a flat and I was able to step on the top of the podium today.