I have been taking some pictures the past few weeks with good intentions of posting them … Click here for More

After a few days at home, it was time to once again pack up the bike and get ready to fly to the 2nd race of the Pro XCT series. I flew early Friday morning to  Ontario, California which is just east of the city of Angels. I picked up my rental car and was relieved when myself, bike, suitcase, and overflowing carry-on satchel all fit quite comfortably. Then it was straight to the race venue to assemble the bike, register for the race, and get a pre-ride in.  The course was a series of short steep climbs and loose, steep descents with some tricky switchbacks thrown in.  My strength lies in sustained climbs, so this would be another opportunity for me to develop different skills. Right? The course was about 3 miles long and the pro women were slated for 5 laps + a start loop. I figured this would be about a 1:30-1:40 race. A perfect distance. Click here for More

I can’t believe race season has started! Last weekend’s Mellow Johnny’s ProXCT kicked things off in a big way. Not only were all the American Olympic hopefuls in attendance, but there were top athletes from Canada, Mexico, and South Africa racing as well. Historically, I haven’t done many of the national series races. Taking the time off of work, not to mention paying for travel, made it difficult to justify. This year I’m getting a little extra help from Tokyo Joes (yay! Thank You!!) and Austin, Texas is a relatively easy destination to get to. So, I packed up my bike and headed to Hill Country. Click here for More

The obligatory post on what a blogging professional mountain biker is eating.  This post is prompted by my recent dabbling within the realm of Paleo. Click here for More

I always have mixed feelings about the off-season. On one hand I love having the additional time to play in my garden, go for hikes with dogs, spend quality time with my husband, catch up with friends, etc. On the other hand, being the Type A person that I am, I can get anxious about not having a training schedule or a goal to strive for. And then, if we go back to the other hand I’m not really interested in bike racing during my “off-season”. The past two years I’ve decided to train for a marathon. The first year, I got injured and wasn’t able to do the race. Last year, I did the race and met my goal of qualifying for Boston (didn’t get in, but that’s a different story). So this year September rolls in, marking the official start of my off season and the anxiety creeps in with it. I’m not motivated to train for another marathon (that wasn’t that fun to be honest). ‘Cross racing feels too serious and doesn’t satisfy my desire to do and try different things. And, the Man (and by Man  I mean the corporation that is my employer-not Ari) is seriously keeping me down with a fair amount of stress and overtime at the office so I don’t have a lot of time to train on a daily basis. What is a goal oriented, anxious, busy person to do?! I decide to try something new and totally different, and conveniently that only takes 30min-1 hour for each workout- Crossfit! Click here for More

Two weeks after Nationals, it was time to get back up on the proverbial horse and get into race mode. I was looking forward to the Colorado Crankworx race for a few reasons. First, it was a part of the Winter Park race series and I really like those race courses. They are relatively technical, usually feature some pretty impressive elevation gain, and have some super fun downhill sections. Also, the past two years I have been fortunate to podium which means walking away with a giant check. I mean literally, a large cardboard check. The monetary amount isn’t that impressive (100$), but there’s something about a 4 foot check that makes you feel like a winner. This year’s race delivered on all accounts and while the check wasn’t as physically large, the trophy did incorporate a real-life hatchet.
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Hmmm, where to begin? Honestly, it’s been about a month since the race-and I’m still not sure how I feel about it.  On one hand, my goal was to get top ten in the cross country-and I got 9th so that was good! On the other hand, I felt like there were a few things that I could’ve done better and I think they would’ve made a difference. The cross country race was at noonish on Saturday. I’m a weather nerd so I had been watching the forecast for several days leading up to the race. I knew it was going to be a pretty hot one, but nothing worse than I’ve raced in before. I had a good start and was sitting in about 8-9 as we all went up the ‘heinous’ climb for the first time. Unfortunately, I wasn’t quite as aggressive as I should have been getting into the singletrack at the top of the hill and there was some bottlenecking at each of the tight switchbacks as we made our way down the singletrack. Apparently, I didn’t learn my lesson because the same thing happened for the second lap. I got super frustrated watching the top girls get some time on me as I fumbled my way down the second time. The third lap was better and I was finally able to get into the singletrack with no one in front of me. The stupid hill got exponentially harder each time and the last lap up, my legs just didn’t have anything left and I was just focused on not getting off my bike to walk up.  I was pretty relieved to be done with that race and satisfied with my 9th place finish.  After the race, I went into recovery mode. My legs were pretty thrashed after 4 times up that stupid climb, but I was ready to focus on Short Track. I love short track! And, I knew that with a solid  race there was a good chance that I could get on the podium. Whooowee!  Sunday morning seemed to drag on and on as I waited for the afternoon short track start. I stetched, I hydrated, I rolled my tender quads out…and then I warmed up, and before I knew it I was getting called up to the start line. And, to my extreme excitement, I do mean to the start line! Yep, my first pro front row call up ever!! I guess I earned the spot by last year’s 7th place finish! Gun went off, and I was sitting in about 7th or 8th. I gradually worked my way into 5th and was super excited because I felt good, and I felt like a podium step was in my near future.  3 laps to go and I was getting ready to make a move into 4th place….and then my right quad started to cramp. And the cramp got so bad that it was shooting up into my back. My whole right leg turned into a dead weight. I desperately tried to push the pedal with my left leg, and pull up with my right hamstring-relieving my quad. But, it didn’t do any good. 4th place rode away from me, and then to my dismay 6th place started to gain on me. With half a lap to go, my podium step disappeared as I got passed and crossed the line in 6th place. Super bummed. But, I must say it sure lit a fire. Next year!! Click here for More

In an effort to gain some race experience, and take advantage of the UCI points I’d accumulated last year, I decided to head out to New York to race in World Cup #5. I did this race last year and since it was my first time racing in a World Cup the experience was more one of awe and nerves than it was one of actual competition. This year I went to Windham with the intention of racing as hard as I could to see how I stacked up against some of the international racers. Click here for More

This was a girls-only mountain bike race put on by our local Yeti Beti bike team, with really impressive backing from all sorts of great companies-mainly Stan’s NoTubes. I had been looking forward to it all season long. The race was only 40minutes away, which is always nice. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I showed up, but when I got out of the car the positive energy was almost tangible. There were all sorts of women racers out and about. Some had just finished and were regaling their loved ones with the highlights of their race. Others were nervously warming up. Some were walking around in a daze covered in dirt-no doubt suffering from a post-race bonk. Gradually more and more pro and expert racers started to show up and I realized that we were going to have a pretty good field. With Georgia Gould, Katie Compton, and Krista Park there people were joking that it was a mini-world cup. Both Chloe Forsman and Heather Irmiger were there as well, but playing the role of support due to thumb injuries.
My goal was to see how long I could stay with the front group for. At the start, there was a group of 4-5 of us, and I worked my way up to 3 behind Georgia and Katie. I just kept my head down and was determined to stay there for as long as I could-which was about 1 lap. After we went through the feedzone, the gap from them to me grew a bit and I was officially off. I tried to maintain my pace and was sort of nervously waiting to either blow up and/or get caught. I was pleasantly surprised that neither happened! I finished 3rd about 3-4 minutes back from Georgia who eventually won. I learned two important lessons from this race: one, I can go harder than I thought without blowing up, and two, it’s the little things in a race that can add up and make a difference. For example, I noticed by following Georgia and Katie that they pushed every corner, every little climb, every descent. This is really hard, if not impossible to do on your own. So it makes sense to really make the effort to catch a wheel whenever possible….
Anyway, I really liked this picture from the race: National Champion, National Champion, ME!
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It seemed like we were home for less than a day, before Ari and I packed up again and headed back to the mountains for another race. This time we were headed to Vail for the Teva Mountain Games. I love this event. You’ve got world class climbers, kayakers, SUP paddlers, runners, excited dogs going for distance in the dock-jumping competitions, AND mountain bikers and road cyclists. I did the cross-country race on Saturday and the road hill-climb time trial on Sunday. Saturday I felt pretty good and was content with my 6th place finish. That’s the best I’ve ever finished at Teva, so I was happy about that. Mostly I was pumped to be racing with my friend Jen Gersbach again after racing with her in Durango the weekend before. We were going back and forth for most of the race, but I think she had the advantage as she’s from Vail and had her full fan club out cheering for her?. Just kidding. Actually, I looked down at my watch for a second during the last lap and when I looked up she was gone. She must’ve kicked on her turbo-boosters!
Sunday my legs were lethargic and cranky, but I was determined to make them cooperate. I made sure to get in a good warm up, and I was eager to put my fancy time-trial helmet and clip-on aerobars to good use! I was starting in the middle of a group of girls that I didn’t really know, with Kellie Emmett starting a few minutes ahead of me and Georgia Gould starting a few minutes behind me. Last year Kelli flew by me like I was standing still, so I tried to use that memory as motivational fuel when the legs started to burn on the way up to Vail Pass. I was mentally chanting to myself “up, over, down, pull” to make sure that each pedal stroke was as strong and smooth as possible. When I got to the top, I was pretty spent and felt good about my burning legs and lungs. There’s something about putting 100% into an effort, knowing that you burnt all the matches you had that day, that is so fulfilling. It’s what I really love about being an athlete.
When they posted the results, I saw that I had the winning time by about 40 seconds! I was SUPER excited to say the least. Honestly, deep down I knew I was capable of winning, but like anyone, I battle the negative demons in my head from time to time. So it felt really good to prove something to those demons that day! Click here for More

This was the first year in several that the Iron Horse race weekend has included a mountain bike race. Since Ari and I love visiting our cousin Tom and his wife Maggie, we look forward to any excuse to visit Durango-and a new mountain bike race fit the bill! When I saw that the Iron Horse would have a Queen of the Mountain competition consisting of the road race and the mountain bike race, I figured why not and registered for both.
Thursday afternoon Ari and I packed up the truck and hit the road, destined for Durango Colorado for the IronHorse Bicycle Classic. On the way, we picked up my cousin Brian. We decided to stop in Salida for dinner. None of us had been there before (actually I’m sure I have, but like many destinations visited during my childhood, I don’t remember). I’m glad we stopped ‘cause it’s a really great town and definitely some place I’d like to come back to and spend some time in.
Anyway, we arrived in Durango later that night and my other cousin Tom had the front light on and was up waiting for us. The next day started with a leisurely breakfast and then I set out to pre-ride the cross-country course. The course was not really what I was expecting…for some reason it didn’t really sink in that we were racing pretty much in town. I’ll admit, I wasn’t psyched on the course…especially the silly taped-off twisty section near the Ft. Lewis campus. It definitely took a few tries before I was able to even get my big wheels through it without dabbing. After the less-than inspiring pre-ride, I went back to my cousins’ house and we all got ready to visit our first brewery;)
SKA Brewery had a really cool outdoor seating area, awesome food-truck cuisine, and needless to say-delicious beer (I restricted my intake to 1 due to the racing and such….). Tom’s wife Maggie met us at the brewery after she was done with work and the band was back to together!
The next morning was the road race which started at 8am. This meant for an early wake up for me, and to my astonishment the whole house got up with me! My fantastic support crew was determined to be in Silverton for my finish and since they closed the road at 8, this meant that they had to get past the closure before then. So we were all up and about by 6 am.
The road race was a shock. I haven’t raced in a pack in years, and I was sort of uncomfortable and nervous to be surrounded by so many folks. It was like this for the first hour before we hit the first climb. Once we started climbing, things strung out and I was more comfortable, or at least less nervous I should say. Long story short-I think I ended up finishing 9th. Not quite what I was hoping for, but I was hoping to redeem myself in the mountain bike race. The day finished with a stinging ‘ice-bath’/wade in the Animas river followed by another delicious home-cooked meal by Tom and Maggie and some solid family fun time with the cousins!
The mountain bike race started later in the afternoon on Sunday. So, thankfully we were able to sleep in, with everyone sort of doing their own thing for the morning. I stretched, hydrated, checked over my bike, etc and before I knew it it was time to go! As I was warming up, I was very pleasantly surprised at how not-awful my legs felt. They were definitely a little achy, but not bad considered the effort the day before. I had a pretty good start and was sitting in 2 or 3 going up the first technical climb. I made it through the tight, twisty section which actually wasn’t bad and even was sort of fun, and before I knew it we were looping back through town, up a really steep ramp that crossed OVER the road crit that was taking place at the same time, down the steep ramp, cut sharp left, hop a curb, up a little ramp into the Durango Brewery, out the back, and down another ramp, and back onto the course. My fantastic support crew was in the perfect location with water bottles and enthusiastic cheering each time I went by. I ended up finishing 3rd and felt ok with that. At the end of the day, as I was sipping a (ok, maybe more than one) beer, I determined that this was the most fun mountain bike race I’d ever done! The course was way more fun to race on than I was expecting, the crowds were fantastic, and riding through a brewery is just awesome. Not to mention having my family there was pretty fun too. I’m really hoping that the mountain bike race becomes a regular part of the Iron Horse Classic weekend. Maybe next year I’ll be able to win the Queen of the Mountain title! Click here for More

After pretending to be a professional cyclist yesterday, today I did the opposite. I joined the ranks of hundreds of recreational cyclists and participated in one of the best cycling events I’ve ever done: the Davis Phinney Foundation Road To Victory ride. Here’s a picture of me and some of my coworkers with Davis after the ride. Click here for More

Saturday I got to try something I’ve never done before: motor-pacing. I felt like a fo’-reals professional.

Except that I was nervous and scared, and got snot all over me when trying to blow my nose like the professionals do.
Coach Ann suggested moto-pacing as a new way to get a hard workout in. She hooked me up with Garrett Getter who has his own motor pacing business, www.govelosports.com. Garrett was awesome. He showed up on his cool Honda scooter, with his Garmin ready to sync to my heart rate strap, and my scheduled workout memorized. He told me to stay as close to his bumper as possible, which was easier said than done. After awhile I got the hang of it and was able just focus on goin’ hard.
The experience was pretty cool. It was kind of like being on a treadmill with your workout programmed in, but it was outside and you had a coach there shouting encouragement. I can’t wait to do it again! Click here for More