NM State Championship -Super D

Three trips to Albuquerque in three days. Friday to pick up the van (which had needed an new half-axle), Saturday to Cedro for my Super D race, and again on Sunday for Todd's XC race. Saturday SuperD: The Cedro SuperD is my kind of race. Sleep in, get to the course @ 2:00pm, race @ 4:00pm, done 11.5 minutes later. The only problem is that you are more likely to get hurt racing SuperD than racing XC. Earlier in the week, my practice time for the initial rocky downhill was 1:40, I tried to better this time by picking a more direct line over a broken-up rock pile but I crashed hard instead. The small of my back took the entire hit when I landed on a rock shelf. I heard a loud crack (my back) then all the air rushed out of me. It took a bit for me to get up, untangle my bike and start walking down the trail (6minutes according to Polar). I iced it right away and luckily Barbara (Todd's Mom) was stocked up with pain killers and muscle relaxers from her neck surgery. By Saturday I decided that riding in the car, walking, sleeping, and doing chores are really too painful, but riding should be okay. (Plus, there was a cash payout and I was the only Pro Woman registered.) My race time on the first downhill (my favorite part) was 2:00, waaaay slow, but I stayed on the bike; the rest of the course was normal-to-rocky XC. The entire course was really fun. I finished mid-pack in the Men's Pro/Expert field and earned gas money, entry fee and dinner (Thank you NMORS). I didn't even feel my back while on the bike, but later it didn't feel so hot. Sunday XC: Todd raced SS against some really fast guys on a rough and rocky course (so rocky he gave up his rigid setup, tore apart the Scalpel, and put the lefty on the Vassago). During the race I hung out at the van and turned my geared Titus Fireline into a 19 lb singlespeed. Somehow I missed Todd's finish by ~ 2 minutes. I tried to make it, really. There was no way I could walk up the hill (my back) but I could ride -if I could just finish putting my bike together. ;) Todd finished 4th out of 14, ~ 5 minutes off of 1st. He is getting fast, I wouldn't want to race him right now.

VW tranny trouble again

I almost made it home; I am sitting in a transmission shop in Albuquerque... (home for the next few weeks is Santa Fe, NM.)

We had a transmission installed in May (our 3rd transmission), looks like the bolts holding the axle to the tranny were not tightened completely. I pulled into Albuquerque and something went loose on the front end, luckily I was only a block away from my Grandma's so I stayed there the night. This morning I called my Dad and while on the phone with him I found a pile of metal shavings, grease and a bolt sitting on the skid plate below the transmission. Turns out one bolt is missing completely and the remaining ones are loose.

I spent all morning on the phone trying to find someone to take a look at it, Nationwide Transmission was the only one interested. They were on the other side of town but sent a tow truck. They decided to put the one bolt back in, tighten the others, then drive around to see if there is internal damage... High tech for sure. I could be out of here soon or I may need another transmission. My legs still hurt too much to ride, so I am not missing any riding, but my laundry is starting to smell pretty good.

edit#1: No one has a 12-point socket the right size and they can't get one of the bolts out. They should be able to get a tool tomorrow...

AZ pics

After the BH race I decided to check out Flagstaff and Sedona on my way to NM. Hey, gas is only $3.84 now... First stop Flagstaff, a very cool downtown scene. At the brewery I had great veggie/hummus plate with the local pale ale then went next door to get a frozen coffee drink. Guess what? They put baileys in it! Here is the coffee shop's drink special: Camp spot outside Flagstaff Drive from Flag to Sedona. Now this is what I have been looking for. Danielle, I found our shop, and they carry Titus! (They even had a kegerator for after hours.) I sat at the bar, drank a Cappuccino and talked to the mechanic/bartender about all the local trails, riding, restaurants, etc.

UT pics

I was upstaged at the Cedar City coffee shop. Maybe I should write this on mine...

Good dog Jake, not the smartest dog though. This isn't the stick I threw... Thanks to Sue, Tim and Cass for sharing their food and shower after the BH race!

12th in the National Series Standing (in both XC and ST)

The series is now over for 2008. I finished tied for 12th in both the XC and ST series. My goal was to place in the teens in the races and finish with a series standing in the teens. Next year = Top 10. Brian Head ST = 13th Brain Head XC = 14th They both hurt. The ST seared my throat and lungs (I still have a cough from that effort). In the XC I experienced my first-ever, full-on cramping. On the very first downhill my legs seized up, my arms followed shortly, a very weird thing. I tried to walk one section but my toes were pointed down and my legs acted as though they had no hinged parts (knees, ankles, hips), I had to walk on my tip-toes/drag my legs with all my weight on the bars of the bike. At one point I was going around a right hand turn and had all my weight on the right pedal, my legs seized and there was no way I could turn the pedals or shift the weight to the left. In slow motion I went down and there was nothing I could do. I couldn't get my feet out, I had no control of my legs. It seemed to come in waves, I finally figured out if I pushed my heels all the way down and spun without too much power I could ride. I honestly didn't know if I could even finish the race. But, since getting off the bike and walking wasn't an option, I was able to clean everything... My legs still hurt worse than they ever have, what a way to end the season. But no mechanicals!

Watching the Brian Head Stage Race

My Camping Spot.

Cass after Stage 3 Start of Last Stage (Stage 4)

Heather and Pua (dark pink leader's jersey)

Amanda

For race info go to: http://www.mtbracenews.com/

Brian Head, UT

Yesterday's ride with my sister Erika and brother-in-law Dusty was perfect until Dusty hit the very last rocky section and ended up having to get ~9stitches.

I heard the wreck and went back up to find Erika tying a bandanna over his forearm and blood everywhere. There was a lot of blood in an 8-foot area and all over his arm. I took the pictures after it quit bleeding and we had cleaned him off with a gatorade/water mix. I was worried that we may have created a tourniquet and kept making sure he could still feel his fingers.

The big deal is that he is a top Semi-Pro Archer (you can make a lot more money than in cycling) and leaves for Worlds tomorrow (Aug 19th). He took it easy the entire ride so he wouldn't get hurt...

I love Brian Head. It has been two years since we've been here and it seems like more people have found out about it. Our campsite is quiet today (Monday) but was really crowded/loud this last weekend, mostly due to ATVs and loud ATV drivers. It will fill up again this weekend, especially with the stage race, but hopefully we'll get some neighbors who try to get their sleep or at least don't start yelling at 7am and run their generators till 4am. Any quiet campers headed up? I'll save you a spot.

Los Alamos, NM

Todd and I headed up to Los Alamos for a local race. I was born and raised in Los Alamos, but had never ridden a mountain bike there. It was a great course, a little harder than I expected. The event organizers did a great job, especially with having course marshals in all the right places and running on time. My only complaint with the NM races is that the courses are not marked ahead of time (making them kind of "locals only" races). The best thing about the Los Alamos race was the payout.

Todd raced singlespeed, he beat me. He started just in front of us, I caught him twice, but he got me on the major singletrack climb and I never saw him again. I raced most of the race with three gears (large ring, mid ring, small ring), my rear cable pulled out of the derailleur, it happened slowly and I kept playing with tightening/loosening the cable, getting a certain rear gear to work for a little while, then finally figured my rear derailleur was damaged when I couldn't shift at all. I even laid the bike down and tried to figure it out, not till after the race was over did I finally yank on the cable and it came loose in my hand. Todd's first comment was " that was a 30 second fix!". duh. Oh well.

Nina Baum and Jen Wilson were there; it was cool hanging out with them after the race. Jen had a great race.

After the race I had Todd drive all over town so I could see my town. There was a big fire (~50,000 acres, 200 homes) in 2000. short version. At the time we were visiting family in Santa Fe and volunteered at a shelter set up in a Casino between Santa Fe and Los Alamos. I had not been back to Los Alamos since. It was pretty sad to see the burned areas; luckily the fire somehow missed the ski hill.

This picture is the house my Dad built, the one I grew up in. The White Rock Canyon is just behind. The Red Dot trail starts at "our" property line.

Mt. Snow Dinner pics

Pictures from our dinner at the Brewery and drinks at the Silo (Vermont) with Andrew and team (and of course singlespeeders Dejay and Fuzzy). Thanks to Andrew for picking up the tab at the brewery!

Kenda Fest

Kenda Fest was the biggest mountain bike festival I have been to; it was a blast. There were multiple rides leaving at every time of the day. And if you had enough riding there were many other things going on. And guess what? I found Starbucks Frappuccino, at the Kenda Fest:

Dirt Rag's pictures:

Kenda -Fest-Fun

Three-days-of-awesomeness

Kendafest-tech-report

Our Schedule (every ride was on a different trail system):

Friday: Beginner Ride

Saturday (am): 5+ hour Expert Ride

Saturday (pm): ~3hr Intermediate Ride