Birthday Ski Hash

Frederick Watershed

We had a great ride in the snow at the Frederick Watershed. We especially loved the Iceberg Trail. I look forward to riding it without snow because the snow made it a little easier.

Then we went to Chris Eatough's retirement party. That was great to see him so happy. He said he is too happy and busy to miss bike racing. With two kids, a beautiful wife and the commuter coordinator for the city of Arlington, VA and coaching, he has his plate full. There were some great pics that all his friends brought to view. Good times. He set the bar high with his meticulousness and consistency in training and racing.

I got to train with JV Squad one day this week and that was very fun. JV Squad is surprisingly fit for December! And very on top of it with their new faggy kits.

Happy 50th to Charlie Waters and Ruth Melnick! I can't believe it and I'm sure they can't either.

Jack Frost likes skiing

AM Riding

Getting up early to ride mountain bikes on a chilly morning with friends is awesome. Thanks for the cafe crew for getting me up and sweating up Chimney Hollow and down Heartbrake. That climb is like doing 500 leg presses to me. It takes some strong levarage even though the traction is good. The downhill was sketchy fun, too.

I got a nice crash sequence of the Men's Leader. He is riding good, anyway, and has a new sponsor. But we'll have to wait for the press release.

For some reason, Kurt (or the artist know as K-Art) got a triple collection of flats. He thinks its him, but we all think its his equipment.

Poison Ivy and more

Who gets Poison Ivy in December? I do! I've gotten more poison ivy this year than ever before. And I'm a scratcher. This time, I think it was still on a pair of pants that I wore when we were cleaning up the yard a month ago. So now I have it all around my waist band. Ugh!

But Jack Frost party is this weekend and hopefully a little sliding around, too.

Congrats to Harrisonburg for winning the Blue Ridge Cup Cyclocross Series and winning this sweet trophy.

November

I never remember November being this fun and flying by so fast. Starting off the month with the stellar marriages of four of our friends set the vibe for the month...Indulgence! Then the crazy Invitational race and party left me feeling too much like a party girl with me lamenting, "I'm ready to be an athlete again." And I am, but I still shaking off this lack of focus that has engulfed my life. But a couple of rides on the ridgetops of the beautiful mountains around here and a couple of night rides(one planned, one not planned) have me loving November.

I even was inspired to go running, but with no success because even 16 months after my broken leg after running a couple of minutes it hurts. I'm hoping that will go away and I will jog a little and then walk a lot for the up coming Nordic skiing season. I'm so psyched to ski I could scream. The almanac is calling for the first snow after Christmas, but you it seems like Jack Frost party is always good for a little bit of the white stuff.

Got to see Chipper and the White Grass crew dialing in the finishing touches for another ski season. Rolling up the driveway to White Grass just gets the good vibes pumping. I got a pair of the Tenth Mountain Skis last year and haven't even skied them yet. Mikey says they are collector items now because they will no longer be making them. Karhu was bought, I guess and things are going to be changing. I'm contemplating a plastic boot for some downhill telemarking this year. I'll be going uphill a lot, but the downhilling would help my balance and leg strength, too.

Collin, Freshman Dan and I rode up to Kennedy's Peak and had some lunch. We continued North on the ridge up to Milford Gap. It was incredible riding and tricky, too with the slippery oak leaves. I had to walk two downhills that I normally ride because the leaves threw me off. I dumped the bike a couple of times and it got beat up pretty good. I actually crashed hard in the same exact spot that I've crashed hard before. When will I learn to correct my mistakes?

We got down to Fort Valley Rd with the sun sinking down pretty quickly. We were all pretty tired, but what can you do? You just have to ride on back to the car. It was sketchy because we didn't have lights even though we could see, but cars didn't have a great view of us. Collie and I had to wait a while for Fresh D after a big hill. He said he was in Slumville. The next not so big hill we waited for him for 10 minutes and wondered how he could ride that slow. We didn't want to turn around for him, but we were picturing him in a ditch getting hypothermia. We saw his bike propped up against a mailbox. We went up to the house and knocked on the door hoping Fresh D was in there and okay. He was great...sitting in an easy chair scarfing down PB&J sammies, hot chocolate, milk and fun sized snicker bars. The very nice family said that the intersection to our car was only 2 miles away. No problem... Me and Collin wanted to get back on the road and went to leave. Fresh D says he can't make it and the family is going to give him a ride back to the car. This is a kid that rode his bike across the whole country, but couldn't make it another 2 miles after getting warm and getting his belly stuffed. Collin and I just laughed the whole two miles in the dark back to the car. Its funny!

Tim and I are heading to New Mexico for Thanksgiving to visit his family. It will be a quick trip, but we love going out and we are so Thankful to have our families. My mom has been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. She is out of the hospital and will do outpatient chemo. She is doing tons better with the swelling in her legs going down and the hope that the chemo will blast the tumor in her stomach. She is strong and has a great attitude and God on her side. We'll see her at Christmas.

Six pack season has ended

It was a great year of friday afternoon downhilling. We rode. We did trail work. We partied. What else can I say, but good times.

Happy Halloween

Some of the Winners of Pisgah

I'm home and feeling relaxed, a little tired and happy. That is one thing that I love about stage races and 24 hour races, is that after a couple of days, I forget just how hard they are and remember the fun parts. I had fun at the Pisgah race. It is a beautiful area with really fun trails. The weather and the gravel roads were the hard parts. But , I would do the race again and recommend it to others who are looking for an adventure. Its not expensive compared to other stage races, but you don't get housed or fed like the other ones. And I would say they are missing a little group atmosphere stuff. Everyone just goes back to where they are staying to wash bikes and eat. At Trans Rockies and Cape Epic they make a big deal out of dinner and then the slide show of the days riding and then a big course desciption and fly over of the next day's riding. But those races don't have singletrack either.

The last day was cold and fast. There was a lot of fireroad, but with views of looking glass rock and waterfalls and so many leaves on the road. I was feeling tired, but motivated to win the overall. I had a great lead of over 30 minutes so I just had to watch the other ladies. I rode with Churtle most of the day. She was killing the fireroads on her light bike and racing tires. Plus, she was racing into second place and that always gives you better legs. I passed her just 3 miles from the finish for the stage win and pushed my winnings up to $1150!

I love the trophy. Over the years, it has been rare to get a nice homemade trophy from a race. It was nice hanging out with the other racers in the sun eating a burger. Also the race provides each racer with 30 minutes of free massage, so I took advantage of that and the sponsor beer and all was good. There was a great after party a Square Root in Brevard complete with jaegerbombs and an old dude serenading Todd with an original version of Freebird.

I want to thank Shenandoah Bicycle Company and Tim for getting my bike in great shape for the race. Also, Turner Bikes for a sweet Flux that is a great endurance bike and made me smile flying down Pilot Rock . Also, local Asheville company, Industry Nine Wheels for fast, light and stiff race wheels. My Uvex helemt, Syntace bar and stem worked great. As well as my Ibex clothing, which was perfect for the Pisgah conditions. Thanks go out to Park for letting us have his house for the weekend and to Churtle and Harlan for being fun racing companions. And to Todd for putting the race on.