Ray's Indoor Mountainbike Park

I finally got to visit famous Ray's warehous of fun in cold, friendly Cleveland, OH. Dirt Rag hosted a women's only day at Ray's. This is such a brilliant idea that I can't wait for the next one. 30 or more women showed up from many states and lots of different backgounds and skill levels. I was the token cross country teacher. I was the geek in a lycra racing kit. But cross country skills are the real world and many of these women were trail riders so I could help out a little. After teaching my clinics, I headed over to the pump track to get a lesson from the crazy fast Jill Kitner. She was so fast on the track...so impressive. She is going for the Olympics in BMX so I will be routing for her. Then my buddy, current National Champion in downhill, Ms Kathy Pruitt gave me a personal lesson in tabletoping. I took a little bit to get the consistency down, but by the end I had the baby tabletops pretty dialed. It was so fun!

I got to hang with the WSD wrench, not wench, Chris Garrison. Chris is more than cool and she already had the tabletops down. Check out her page on the WSD section of the Trek website. I also got to meet a future ripper of america, Lindsey. It is so great to see young girls on bikes that smile all the time while they are shreddin!

The next day, I decided to try riding in jeans like the other jumper girls. I noticed that you don't really sit down much while doing the park stuff, so I gave it a go. It wasn't bad at all. One of the cool jumper girls noticed and I think gave her approval.

The vibe at Ray's was very friendly without any of the competitive vibe that can be there at some parks. I highly recommend a visit during these awful cold east coast winters. There is varying degrees of difficulty for the sets of jumps, stunts, vert walls, and pump tracks. It got something for everyone.

Goodbye Tucson

The bubble had to burst some time. It was a blast spending the last month in Tucson riding. Big thanks to all who pushed me on the group rides, Spring for training like a pro, Todd for hosting me and FairWheel for my bike needs.

pueblo pics

Its just one day in the life

Spring and I crushed at the race. We had good legs and good luck. After the race we were talking about how lucky we were because we really didn't have any great plans, nor did we have any back-up plans. Kevin was there to help with some stuff which really eased us after the lap. But thinking back to when I did the Worlds solo race in Georgia, it was night and day. I had five people at my beck and call for an hour lap. I even had my chamios creme heated in the middle of the night when it got cold. This time I had a tent for a very small child that I could never find after my laps.

But it was awesome. It was so great to see Spring after I finished my laps. She was smiling and always said that she was so proud of me. That made any hard thing that happened out there melt away. I think that is one reason that I like the team categories better than solo. A teammate inspires.

Our stategy was to do two laps at a time, then when it got dark to do three at a time. It worked out. The three lapper wasn't that bad. It kept us warm while we were riding and then it gave the other person a decent break to eat, drink and sleep. The highlight of my third straight night lap was when Jenna Zander came up and I just told myself to stay with her. It was so fun to ride that course fast with another fast girl like Jenna. Plus, mentally, it gave me something to focus on. I practically gave her a sunburn with my lights. And she cleared all the traffic out of the way.

Another great lap was when Michael Rainey and his friend led me through the 'his and hers' trail just flying. I didn't like that trail much before until I rode it fast following them.

The course was 17 miles of classic desert singletrack. It had snowed the night before and the road into the place was super sketchy for the Clegg's A4. Then the first lap was pretty sloppy in places. But I'm from West Virginia so it was no problem. It dried out to tacky and fast.There was alpine glow over the Catalinas with the fresh snowfall. It was cold for Arizona, though. There was a heavy frost that left a white shimmer to all the cholla cactus. But as always, the sun prevails in the southwest. Sunday was sunny and about 70.

This race has a great vibe. There are lots of independent types with singlespeeds, tatoos, odd facial hair, and big wheels. Everyone is so friendly, all 1600 racers, plus the race volunteers and spectators. Going on my last second lap, I realized that I had just shed my jacket with my snacks in it. So I stopped at some spectators who had cheered every lap for everyone and asked if the had any snacks. I got a nice banana and chocolate chip cookies(healthy ones, too!) Everyone was drinking beer afterwards and telling stories. It was good times.

Spring could of stopped at 17 laps since we were so far ahead. But her goal for the team was 18 laps. So she went out at 11:15 and did the 18th lap for the team. There were only two other guys duo teams that did 19. She is so tough.

So you wanna be an Olympian?

I've been enjoying reading Kathryn Bertine's Olympic Blog on espn. I met Kathryn on the shootout and in one minute of talking to her, I pegged her as nice, intelligent and very ambitious. Then when I got home Todd told me a bit of her story. I started following her blogs. Boy, was I right on the money on that first impression.

Kathryn has wrote the book "All the Sundays Yet to Come" about her experiences in the figure skating world. Now she has a book deal with ESPN to write about her travails getting to the 2008 Summer Olympics. At the time of the book deal, she didn't actually have one sport that she was counting on making it to the Games with. She trys out for handball, pentathelon and cycling teams. Google her name and you can read all the funny stories.

But I got to ask her a few questions:





Why did you switch from triathlon to cycling?
I'd been doing triath-a-lons for eight years. I did okay, but was a middle-o-the-pack pro racer. I thought it would be interesting to see what would happen if I focused all my energy and training one my best discipline, the bike.

Have you considered a switch to the dirt?
I've always liked dirt. I have fallen in it lots of times, but usually there is not a bike involved. I would really like to try mountain biking at some point. But only if you will show me how. You're such a rock star, Sue!

If you had to stereotype cyclists how would you do it?
Male cyclists: Weird.
Female cyclists: Weirder.

Briefly describe your improvement in cycling?
Well, funny story... I went from Cat 4 to Cat 1 in ten months. This means I'm the most inexperienced Cat 1 out there, but I have made vast improvements in lancing saddle sores.

In your opinion, how hard is it to become an Olympian?
Hard. You have no idea how much paperwork is involved. Ok, seriously? It is the hardest thing I've ever attempted. And therefore the best. I'm kind of burning the candle at both ends right now, and result is either going to get me to Beijing or to a mental institution. I plan on holding a very big party before entering either.

Lastly, which earns you more dough...prize money at cycling races or taking your used clothes to the Buffalo Exchange?
Definitely cycling. The last time I went to Buffalo Exchange they didn't take one freaking tee shirt. The punk rock cashier lady said, "Uh, yeah, this stuff really isn't in style anymore. Sorry." Whatever. She wishes she could win $25 in a local crit! I don't need your Buffalo charity. I get paid in five dollar bills, yo. Snap!

the things you see

A young Canadian roadie from Manitoba had a big day under the Tucson sun.

An old schooler welded his own "new school" 36 inch wheel bike.

Aqua Caliente

The weekend was filled with great riding. The shootout was actually really fun. There are these nice young boys wearing USA kits that pulled us around all day. They were really fast and so happy to be on the front. This kid Caleb was a supercharger. I finally made it to the top of Madiera and then felt good enough to get towed up Helmet Peak. Plus, a tailwind back down Mission.

Then on Sunday a stellar crew from the midwest and Montana met at Aqua Caliente Park(the only hot springs in Tucson) for a ride up Reddington around Italian Springs , back the AZ trail past Bellota Ranch to Milagrosa Canyon. Milagrosa is my favorite mtb trail in Tucson. Its has some big moves and awesome views. I always get some crazy highs and lows on that trail. The low was falling on a prickly pear cactus. ouch!

It was the warmest day since I've been here. It was so nice to see water in all the little creek crossings.

Tucson is pretty

Tucson is really pretty in the winter. I've never seen water in the Rillito River. Its awesome. Sometimes after my morning training rides, I'll go out in the afternoon and explore the paths around town. Tucson is very biker friendly all in all. There are way too many cars on the roads here, but most roads have a bike lane. There are miles of bike paths, bike lanes and they even have specific lights for bikes. A big thank you for all the folks who have been instrumental in making Tucson a good place to ride a bike.http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.photo.gif
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the weekend

The shootout was a little harder this week. I did some work to move myself towards the front of the huge pack after the small break went up the road. I was working hard. It was survival singlefile in the wind on the rough patch after the bridge. I was looking for that sweet spot in the draft like last week, but it was no where in be found in the gutter eschelon. I popped myself and rode with some folks I didn't know, hoping some friends would come up. Eventually, Kathryn(more on her later) and some other guys came up and we headed up Maderia. It was beautiful as always and hard as hell, too. The wind and the grade are so steady. We got a ways up and then the fast group was coming down so we joined in. Good thing. Today was a bit of a reality check for fitness level.

But of course a day on the mtb made me feel tons better. Spring and I headed out to Tucson Mountain Park for a good ride on the dirt. Its just so pretty there and the fun factor of mountainbiking is a good reward to the week of road riding. I split mhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.photo.gif
Add Imagey sidewall in the first three minutes. Tires take a beating around here. The new Shimano m300s are very nice shoes. They are going to be great this season. I'm trying out the Ergon grips. They are very interesting. I'm not ready to make a judgement call yet, but I will say they seemed to help my steering on the loose corners.

There is a pic of my family away from home...Todd, Carrie and Fredo. I'm heading over to Amara and Jason's for dinner. They are the friends that we stayed with last year in Tucson. They will be moving to Harrisonburg in April to start up their own Traditional Chinese Medicine clinic.

I missed the Superbowl Sunday ride at home. I'm sure that it was a blast as always.

sunny pics

Born Famous

Its just about official. Spring and I are doing the women's duo class at the 24 Hours of Old Pueblo. I've done the race before and its really fun. EpicRides.com has a good race course and usually has some wild things like belly dancers or fire jumpers. But Spring and I won't have much time or energy for such things. I've never done the duo class at a 24 race so its a first for me. I've heard it is harder than solo. Anyway our team name is Born Famous. We don't need our 15 minutes...because we were born famous.

Spring and I climbed Lemmon to the 9 mile mark. Our legs were pretty crunchy from all the great riding and it was a bit cold. It was very beautiful with all the Saguaro Cactus and water running down the mountain. Spring got a flat on the way home even with Armadillo tires on. The roads here are dirty and pretty rough. Spring and Kevin's Eurovan is for sale. Its cherry. I think it will be on ebay soon.

I did the wednesday group ride yesterday. Its changed since I've done it in the past. Most folks turned off at Saguaro East Park. Then only four of us went on to Vail and Suhaurita and only two of us went around Helmet Peak and down Mission. Brian from team Waste Management was good company. Its a long ride to do alone. It seems the group rides have changed since the days of Gord Fraser and Mikey Sayers being the captains keeping things organized.

I'm going out tonight for Thai food, even though I have amazing food in the fridge from Trader Joe's. Its a craving for curry.

If you ever get the chance to check out Tucson's community radio station KXCI... do it. My favorite show is Matt Moon's Global Rhythm radio on Thursdays at 6pm.

Some pics

I miss Ruby and Tim. But like I told Tim on the phone...I'm getting work done and being a boring pro rider. (the best racers are bored because they ride, sleep , eat)

I like the Tuesday group ride. It consists of mostly locals, not the out of towners like myself. Its a short ride, but its good for doing a double workout day. The pace is pretty fast with lots of chances to do some efforts. Going up Kinney after McCain loop crushed me pretty good. After the two group rides that I've done here, I can tell what I need to work on. I like what Jake said to Spring when she asked him about what she should do for training. He said do the shootout and try to keep up. Spring is killing it! She is the fastest I've ever seen her on the bike.

I got my mountainbike finally. In the war between FedEx and Ups, I'm voting for UPS. I'm heading out to do some spin ups on the mtb and check out my new sweet shimano shoes. The good folks at Fairwheel Bikes baked and molded them for me yesterday. Team Fairwheel was killing it on the ride this morning.

Overheard on the shootout was one of the bigger name pros telling one of the fast girls how he doesn't usually see many girls hanging on the shootout ride and if she has a flat that no one will wait for her especially because girls can't change flats. Did he think that was a pick-up line? Or didn't he realize that girls can change flats because they don't have their team cars or teammates to do it for them? That said I have asked Tim countless times to help me get my stansed bontis on. Its just really hard to do.

As requested, I got some pics finally.

Shootout

The unofficial world championships of Tucson is the "Shootout". It is the Saturday group ride that starts at 7:30 a.m. at the University of Arizona. I love the shootout. When you go from the wingnut ride in Harrisonburg that the last one had just two of us, to the Shootout with over 200 people its mind blowing. I get to see all of my Tucson friends from over the years and always make one or two more on the ride.

Its so cool rolling down the road with that many other cyclists all trying to get in there workout or mainly just trying to hang with the group to the bridge. I remember the first time I made it past the bridge with the group. It gave me a lot of confidence and showed that I was on the right track with my training. Of course I also realized it doesn't get easier once you make it past the bridge. To me that is the crux...the minutes after the bridge.

Today's shootout was by my standards fairly easy especially considering the shape that I am in. The pack was so huge that is was like a good motorpace session. No matter how many times I do the shootout, it still seems like I never know if I'll be able to hang or not. And certainly taking a pull is not much of a possibility.

The really shocking thing was how many people rolled out to Maderia Canyon. The couple times that I have done Maderia it has been a very small group. This time it was about 40 people. It made it pretty nice for doing the long, long false flat towards the base of the climb. I thought I was having it pretty easy until the pace ever so slightly ramped up and I noticed I was hurting. My old nemesis, my left leg, was rearing its weak ugly head, as well. I dropped back and took it easy up the climb, stopping for a coke at the little store on the way up. It just made me realize all the work that I need to do and that is the reason why I am out here in Tucson training.

It was about 96 miles in less than 5 hours. It would be hard to do that alone and that includes a ton of stoplights.

I haven't heard from Tim to know if the floors are done at home yet. I hope so! Dogwood could use getting back to some normalcy. And looking at White Grass's site I see the WV is finally in Nordic Heaven with great conditions.

I'll get some pics up soon of AZ.

Tucson

I arrived in Tucson after an epic travel day. I had to drive all the way to Cleveland, OH which is a 6 1/2 hour drive from the Burg. I did that because on my flight back I will be doing a women's weekend at Rays Indoor MTB Park and didn't want to drive to Cleveland again. Its a different part of the world up there with the mighty great lakes dominating the region. Good, good people though.

I got to Todd M's house pretty late and then he caught me up on his life and all the going ons in Tucson. His new house is really great and I know I will spend a very comfortable month here.

Spring was going to suprise me at the airport but I told her the wrong time. She had a lei of Gu s for me...hawaiian bike geek style. I'm looking forward to hanging with her and getting strong on the bike.

Anyway, I have to build my bike and get spinning the long travel day out of my legs.

Snow is good

I love snow. I love cross country skiing. Especially when its with my friends over at White Grass. I hit the Thursday(Thirsty) Staff Ski at 4:30 and we skied into the night. It was some interesting conditions...what I would call variable. It was a mix of powder, manky, mashed potatoes, and mirco crust. I was very happy to have had my Snowfields and S Bounds on for a change. I'm usually all about the skiinies and light is right, but I have been getting jealous of the folks with the bigger gear making effortless turns. And I gotta tell you bigger is better for making easier turns. But I'm still a big proponent of being able to make turns on any gear. You can only hide so long behind the big sidecut and plastic boot.

Then I ate at White Grass Cafe for the Local's Night. Righteous food and phenomenal company. Then Kyle and Andy stayed over at the Icebox and we watched Deliverance. Most people forget the fact that the movie has strong environmental and adventure leanings. But it also really depicts southerners as inbred and dumb which is a shame. "that" scene is really disturbing, though.

Friday, I woke up early and skied with the famous Charlie Waters and wool wearing Kyle. I love waking up to ski. Its about the only thing that I don't complain about waking up early for. We skied quickly up to Roundtop and flew down Weiss and over the Sawmill. I went back to the Icebox and cleaned up and shut her down, then went back out for a fast, fun ski with Curtis. I love skiing with Curtis because he loves all types of skiing. So we hit Lester's fresh groom and were glowing after racing down Barton's Bend.

I was very suprised that only two of us showed up for the wingnut ride on Saturday morning. It was very, very cold and some ice as well. But, it worked out because it was me and engine Julie. We stayed warm jabbering the whole time. We didn't ride fast, but got some time in. Company is always nice in the winter.

And today, was so fun. Me and Ruby dog met the boys over at Hillendale Park. It was the fixed gear gang snowriding in 20 degrees temps. Ruby was in a biking mood and I didn't even get cold. Riding fixes in the snow is my new favorite thing!

Okay, that is enough about me....I'm trying to make up for not blogging the last month.

Lame Blogger

Sorry World Wide Web readers...I am a lame blogger. So Sorry. Its weird my life still goes on even when I don't blog.

Lots has happened since my last post. I got to go skiing for the New Year's with my sister, Beth and my neice Lindsay and nephew Dylan. Then some friends celebrated New Year's Eve with me at the Icebox(house in West Virginia). We had drinks, a bonfire and of course our favorite party activity...wrestling! I'm not that good at it and sometimes resort to some head slaps. I'm trying to learn to be good, like Tim. He has all the moves, even with his torn MCL.

Another big thing has been the new floor at Tim's house. Much of the excitement and anticipation has been squelched due to small catastophes and delays. The three day project by the pros has turned into ove a week. It has tested my nerves and made some serious dust. But Tim knows construction projects are always complicated and take more time than you think. This is the first time Tim has paid anyone to do anything at his house. I think the verdict is still out whether its going to be worth it in the end. I think it is going to be beautiful. Its basically a very thin flexible concrete floor with acid etched color.

I dropped my camera off of Pace Point in Blackwater Falls State Park. Tim and Harlan bushwacked through the Rhododendrons to find it. It still works, but the screen is cracked. I'm considering a new one now.

Also, My G4 laptop screen is on the last leg. It is locked up in blue most days. I considering if I want a new laptop. I really don't. I would rather have a nice desktop.

Lastly, and most importantly, I've starting riding my bike again with more consistencey and intent. It feels great. I even won a sprint on the Wingnut Ride.
Of course, I was sprinting against guys on their mountainbikes while I'm on my roadbike, but I gotta start somewhere.

Anyway, many exciting things are happening that I will tell you all about over the next weeks.

Big Hug to all you patient readers.

Appalachian Nordic Skiing?

I call it West Virginia style cross country skiing. Aka survival skiing, hillbilly skiing, wild and wonderful. Kyle and I went over to White Grass for some of the fluffy stuff. Last time we went over the skiing was powdery and very user friendly. This time it was a mixed condition that required a little more effort. There were the remnants of the ice storm with every piece of vegetation having a icy coating. The climbs required more herringboning and the downhills required some quick stepping. Bushwacking is my favorite to get to know the mountain better. We traversed a lot and explored the amazing xc/backcountry skiing that is White Grass. Cabin Mountain is such a special place in the winter. I skied the Karhu solstice xt(with and edge). Its a good ski...good all-a-rounder. I look forward to skiing the revamped xcd gt.

We got some of the best soup and veggie chilli this side of the mississippi at the cafe and then got some fitness laps in on the snow farm. I like Kyle because he likes the snow farm. A lot of people aren't happy skiing unless they are going straight up and straight down. But I like the kick and glides in between. It was great to see my favorite nordic gnome on the planet, chipper!

Skyline Drive

25 miles outside of Harrisonburg is a Shenandoah National Park that includes a section of the Appalachian Trail. It is a treasure to have so close to town and provides lots of recreational activities like hiking, road biking and rock climbing. But definetly not mountainbiking. But when the weather is too cold for me to bike, hiking is a favorite activity, especially with friends who like to bushwack. It gets boring sticking to the trail all the time. The ice storm left a beautiful crystal patina on everything and ice daggers fell from the sky.

Fixed Gears

I went out on a trail ride on my pretty new fixed gear. Tim build me up an Eno Hub to go on my Trek aluminum hardtail. Zack sent me a rigid carbon Bontrager fork. Its a beautiful bike. Almost as nice as Tim's carbon fixie. The universial Fixed gear champion, Joel Maynard, took us out on one of his favorite fixie trail rides...Up Hankeys and down Dowell's. I was suffering the first 10 minutes up the hill, then it got fun and very challenging. Its some hard cranking uphill, but its going to make me strong. Plus, I wouldn't be a Harrisonburg local if I didn't have a fixed gear bike.

Now the downhills are a bit scarier, but exciting. I imagine its like going from alpine skiing to backcountry on skinnier skis. It makes the mountain a lot bigger and more difficult.

Pump Track

Harrisonburg is home to two new pump tracks. One is public at the Hillendale Park. The other is private at Justin's house. They are both really fun and very different from each other. I took my 69er out there and then switched to the Mirraco. Bartley is really good and Trevor gets better every round. I pretty much suck, but its a blast! Its good for staying warm, too.