Green Gobbler 6 Hour Race Report

Photo Credit:  Captions by Mary

This was the second race in ChainBuster Racing's Southeastern Endurance Cup.  I am using these races as prep work for Marathon Nationals (Single Speed division). The courses are very similar to what I will be racing on in Augusta in June:  fast and flowy to tight and twisty with little elevation gain.

After completing a power test a couple weeks ago and hitting an FTP that I had not seen in well over a year and a half, I was ready to put this wattage gain to a real world test.  So I threw on a cog one gear harder than I have used in the past at Conyers and was pleasantly surprised during my pre ride. I was able to clean the climbs and go a bit faster on the flats.

Race day was going to be hot!  I do love the heat and humidity, but only after being able to acclimate. One day is not quite enough. I prepared my bottles accordingly, adding Elete Electrolytes to my Torq energy drink.  The guys at Torq would most likely say that their product contains just the right amount of electrolytes, but after having lived in this body for 47 years and pushing it to its limits for the past 15 years, I know what works for me ... and keeps the cramps at bay.

Here is a summary of how the race went for me:

Lap 1:  Running a 32/19 made it a bit easier for me to enter the single track in a decent postition.  At this point I knew there was at least one woman in front of me, possible two.  Not burning any matches, I passed when the trail opened up.  The flat sections I used to refuel and spin the legs out. The two climbs were a 4/10 on the pain scale.

Lap 2;  A friend told me I was a minute and a half behind first.  Whoa! Either that chick was crazy fast and powerful, or (I was hoping) she burnt a few matches.  I did not change my game plan, but continued to cruise along, knowing that consistency is key, and the single speed makes it easy to be consistent.  I began to feel the heat on this lap ... and drank accordingly.  The two climbs were still a 4/10, and I passed several SS'rs who were pushing.

Lap 3:  As I passed through the transition area, my friend said that I had closed the gap on first a little.  The fisherwoman came out in me: time to slowly reel her back in.  I stopped briefly, swapped out bottles, and motored on.  Feeling the flow of the trail, it seemed like I was on autopilot.  The first two laps had warmed the legs and they found their happy place.  The two climbs were still a 4/10. Towards the end of this lap, I caught up to first.  I could tell by her posture that she was hurting.  I slowed a bit, wanting to be cat-like and watch for weakness.  She pulled away during the final 10 mile flat sandy stretch to the start/finish area (it was only 1/2 mile, but for a SS'r, seems to go on forever).

Lap 4:  I had to now stop by my pit area each lap as I was downing a 24 ounce bottle each lap.  I caught back up to first, made some small talk, and then slowly pulled away.  I was still in my happy bubble on this lap, and began to start making the mental calculations of how many more laps I was going to have to do.  3-4 more were going to be necessary.  The two climbs jumped up on the suffering scale, now a 5/10.  After passing through the start/finish and seeing that I was 4:03 into the race, I knew I had to do 3 more.  So I chugged my traditional Red Bull, and awaited my "wings."

Lap 5:  It was here that I began noticing the little pains:  low back, left big toe, outside of my right foot.  I began to feel every little bump and root on the trail.  What I thought was pretty smooth in the beginning now became teeth chattering.  Tons of braking bumps on the descents began to annoy me! To take my focus off the pain, I began to talk to people as I came upon and passed them.  I was very surprised at the women.  I followed one on a long descent who was buttery smooth through the corners.  And I admired those that fought for every inch of trail on the two long climbs.  At this point those climbs jumped up to 7/10 and it was about all I could do to turn over the pedals ... but I did.

Lap 6:  I felt pretty confident in maintaining first as long as I did not have a mechanical.  I had lost sight of second place in the twists and turns of the course.  I now just focused on riding smooth, especially through the creek crossings, which caused many flats on the day.  I noticed that each lap the line through the creeks changed as rocks were flung about.  The climbs jumped up another notch in intensity to 8/10, mostly due to fatigue, but they were also getting a bit chewed up, and finding traction got harder.

Lap 7:  I was now 7 minutes ahead of second and at least could rest a little easier mentally.  The last lap was relatively enjoyable.  All the body pains diminished in intensity and I focused on body position, carving the corners, and seeing how little I could use my brakes.  The long single track climb, I thought about going for it, but felt a twinge in the quads about 1/2 way up.  So I wisely chose to dismount and run up the last 30 yards.  I did manage to clean the powerline climb, but it was not a pretty site.  I hit my limit of pain at a 10/10.

I rolled through on my final lap in 5:19.  This was not easy.  The heat and taller gearing had me hurting at times, but with Coach Lynda's guidance, I had a perfect lead up in training to this race.  I am looking forward to burying myself in some L4/L5 work outs in the near future.

Sandwiched between a fast Floridian and Canadian

My power is coming back and I am feeling good about building up to my "A" race.  I definitely learned a hard lesson last year about overtraining.  It has taken me a full year to recover from digging a hole I almost did not climb back out of.  "Less is more" is my new motto.  No more back to back or back to back to back foolishness. Although I have been training less, the quality is better.  Recovery has been a bigger part of the picture as well.  I am turning into one of the "old people," who rise and set by the sun.  Pretty soon, I will be in the 4 pm supper crowd.

Stealing "cloud Pop Tart" from Karen Jarchow, as I am pretty sure I had the same feeling as her yesterday.

The other piece to this power puzzle is the functional fitness class I have been taking since December.  2-3 times per week, I take a 1 hour class that focuses on mostly body weight only exercises and high intensity cardio, although we do use barbells, dumb bells, and kettle bells, too.  I have seen tremendous gains in high power output.  I absolutely love this class and Coach Joshua is am amazing motivator.  I almost cannot take it when I have to cut these classes out during the week leading up to a race.

I must give a huge shout out to the local SORBA chapter for all the bridge work they put in to make this course fun and mudless.  My bike thanks you.  Eddie has done a wonderful job in getting sponsors who give away awesome, usable product.

Have I said how awesome Mulberry Gap is?

Looking forward to Fort Yargo in May!

Blessed

Marathon Nationals

During the Blankets 6 hour race last month, somebody who was holding onto my rear wheel, asked how I was always "so (insert expletive of choice) fast?"  At that moment, all I could say was that I was blessed.  I have been able to reflect back upon this moment and can now provide a little better explanation.

Blessed, in my case, is a culmination of lots of things:

1.  Hard work.  Rain or shine, hot or cold, I am out on the bike, focused on the session for the day.  No whining allowed.

2.  Proper nutrition.  Being celiac + intolerant to grains, legumes, and dairy kinda makes this one easy, at least on paper.  Nonetheless, meal planning is a constant, arduous task.  For road trips, I either have to find a place to cook my meals or bring along my travel kitchen (microwave, cooler, blender, steamer).  I can't press the easy button, i.e. restaurant.

3.  Rest.  This is perhaps the hardest to do.  I am like a shark ... if I stop moving, I fear I will die.  Judge Judy does give me 30-60 minutes of forced rest each weekday night, tho'.  I also try to get 8-9 hours of sleep each night.

4.  Family network.  Having a husband that allows me the opportunity to spend large chunks of time away from him and understands my need for the bike is wonderful.  Having a daughter who enjoys staying with Dadda or the grandparents while I am racing is nice, too.  I also have awesome parents that enjoy Carly's company.  Occasionally I will "drag" Carly to some of my events, but it usually involves a bribe of some sort.

5.  Coach.  Lynda is boss!   She has been coaching me for 5 years and at times I think she knows me better than I.  She loves her job and it shows.  And as an added bonus, she is pretty darn good at the nutrition thing, too.

6.  Zeke.  He has been my training partner for 8 years.  He got me into this mess and now I guess he figures he owes it to me to keep me safe on the trail.  He puts up with my doggedness and faithfully follows me along on my adventures.

7.  The Outdoor Store.  They have been my LBS for 14 years.  Bruce is an amazing mechanic and has never let me down in prepping my race bikes.  I buy 90% of my bike stuff from him ... the 10% I don't is because he tells me to get it elsewhere.  I do shop online quite a bit, but when it comes down to bikes, parts, and accessories, TOS gets my business!

8.  Sponsors.  Without these companies, racing would be exponentially harder.  At times, I don't feel like I am worthy as I probably gain more from them than vice versa.  But then, people tell me how I have influenced them in regards to certain products and I take that as a small victory.

Having said that, I am proud to announce some new sponsors for 2014.  Cysco Cycles, based right out of Ooltewah, Tennessee has created a work of art for my single speed campaign.  Industry 9 has crafted a set of stellar wheels.  And Cane Creek has sent me their exquisite 110 head set.  Endless Bikes has been on board for 3 years and will make it 4 for 2014.  All made in the good 'ol USA.

9.  Luck.  Be it chance or something more (higher), sometimes it takes a little bit of this to make all the pieces of the puzzle fit.  I seemed to have had my fill of the bad, but this year I think the tables have turned and I am in the black.  For instance, at Nationals my bike worked perfectly ... on race day.  And then 3 weeks later, at Blankets, I dropped a chain twice, cranks came loose, and I burped a tire.

So there may be an ingredient or two I have left out, but by and large, the above is what makes me FAST. Now, if I can just keep it up for another year ...

XC National Championships Race Report

I dreamed about this day all year long:  imagining, focusing, and preparing for it.  But now it was here, and I could not wait for it to be over.  I was so nervous, I think my waking HR was 100.  I wasn't worried about me:  my body was ready, my legs were sparkly, and after pre-riding for 3 days, I knew every root and rock. What I was worried about was my bike holding up to the finish.  This course was tearing up tires like piranhas to a wounded animal.  I kept telling myself that most flats are due to rider error:  not knowing the trail of the rear tire, coming into a corner too hard and slamming on the brakes, or not keeping themselves light on the bike.  "Float like a butterfly" was my mantra for the day.

I arrived at the venue with enough time to worry some more.  I got my bike and gear ready.  I was going with bottles although there were just 3 spots on the course where I could comfortably drink.  Hydration packs and single speeding just does not work for me.  I needed to be light, not like a sherpa.  To ease the unease, I started my warm up.  I found some trail not being used in the race and reintroduced my body to the technicality of this trail system.

The lap was 6.7 miles long, with 900 feet of climbing.  Initially, we were to do 3 laps.  But after the Cat 1 Men race earlier that morning in which it was taking well over 2 hours for them to finish, and with alot of heat casualties, the officials changed our race to 2 laps.  I don't think anyone complained.  At 10:30 am, it was already 85 degrees and extremely humid.

As we were staging, I was trying to figure out my competitor's gearing.  Most seemed to be running anything from a 32/20 to a 32/22.  I chose a 32/22 for several reasons:  uber technical course, tight passing lanes, and short, grunty climbs.  The start was on gravel:  a short, flat section, followed by a steep, loose climb up to the the single track.

"GO!"  First pedal stroke and I was clipped in!  First goal accomplished.  I hit the gravely climb with one racer who was ahead by a wheel length.  I noticed from her pedal stroke that she probably had a taller gear than me.  At the top of the climb there is a short flat before the "holeshot."  At this point I was behind her.  She slowed ever so slightly just before the single track.  And here I accomplished my second goal.  I hit the single track first.  I wound it up and climbed like a mountain goat being chased by a leopard.  I knew that I needed to break the "rubberband" between me and 2nd place.  This race was short enough that I could push it for the first 10-15 minutes and then settle.  And so I did.  I had no idea how strong my competition was, but each one of them I imagined to be a Rebecca Rusch.

I raced like a "scalded dog!"  My heart rate was the highest it had ever been this year.  Hello 180's!  But to me, it felt good.  I wasn't hurting like I had been earlier in the season.  I was racing with no chain!  Unfortunately, we were the last wave to start:  all the age groups were ahead of us in 2 minute increments.  Within the first mile I began to catch them.  I passed about 23 women the first lap and about 16 the second lap.  I chose my passing lanes wisely so as not to burn too many matches.  It was a little frustrating as I had to wait longer than I wanted to with a few passes, but I kept telling myself that it would allow me to motor hard to the finish.

More rocks than dirt on this course!

Even though it had rained the day before, the first 2/3 of the course was in great shape.  No slick spots, even the section with the "spiderweb" of roots was fine.   I was railing along, passing racers when they would bobble or when the trail opened up enough for me to squeak on through.  I was feeling the flow of the trail and carving the turns with ease.

Spiderweb of roots.

As I approached the infamous rocky switchback descent, I heard a dull roar that soon escalated into a cacophony of sound.  Riding down the first steep rocky, rooty descent, the noise was like that of a SEC football game.  Unbelievable!  I was so focused on the trail that I could not see the people, but I felt their presence.  There had to be over 100 spectators yelling, screaming, shaking cowbells, blaring air horns.  It was deafening!  It was awesome!  This is what a National Championship race ought to be like!  I smelled hotdogs!  I caught the whiff of beer.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw a devil.

Other than 1 planned run up, I had cleaned this section during the pre rides (with only the sound of my tires and brakes).  I had found it a bit hard to focus at first.  There was a wall of people on either side of the trail.  After the run up, I could not clip back in and so rode the hardest part with two rock drops on top of my pedals.  That was quite interesting.  Lady Luck was with me, I had no forced errors, and once the trail leveled out, was able to clip back in.  The first switchback was easy peasy.  As I approached the second switchback, I came up the leader of the 44-49 class.  She was walking the tight left-hander.  I shouted out to her, she ran quickly through the switchback, and I was able to roll right through.

I quickly caught up to her as there was more tricky descending.   After that, I figured I could get on by.  She was racing hard, too, and did not want to give up her position, even though I was not in her class.  This part of the course was pretty slippery from the rain the day before.  At times, I kind of felt like a pinball.  The woman in front of me was all over the trail.  Her "bobbling" made me bobble;  the game was getting old fast.  I needed to go!

By this time my heart rate had settled down and I began a one way conversation.  "Nice lines!"  "Are you in first?"  "You are rocking it!"  Finally the trail opened up and she let me on by.  Climbing up the loose gravel to the Start/Finish banner she tried to hold my wheel.  By this time, I was in no mood to play anymore and kicked it up a notch.  First lap complete in 47:35.

As I climbed up the beginning single track, I tried to look back down at the finish line to see if I recognized anyone in my field.  I did not, but I still felt pressure to go, go, go!  And I did.  And it HURT!  The climbs seemed twice as hard and if I redlined it, I would get the chills.  My body's way of telling me to slow it down or I was heading for heat exhaustion.  So I settled ... as much as I could.

The ladies I passed this lap were much more pleasant.  I think they were feeling the effects of the heat and the brutality of the course as well.  The first 3 miles of the course had about 80% of the climbing.  After I had topped out, I began the initial descent, which were several segments of trail connected by gravely double track.  On one particular sharp right hand downward turn onto the single track, I was tag teamed by a tree and a rock.  They SLAMMED me down pretty hard.  With cat like reflexes, I was back up in the blink of an eye.  My bike was o.k. but my right forearm was bruised and bloodied.  No bones sticking out, all joints still worked, fingers able to grab the bar, so I continued on like a rabbit being chased by greyhounds.

I was anxious to get to the technical, bouldery descent with its infamous switchbacks.  When I arrived, I was hoping to be alone, so I could just work my magic on the rocks and drops.  But alas, that was not meant to be.  I had caught up to a younger racer who was not at all happy playing on the rocks.  She went down pretty hard.  I had to dismount and maneuver around her.  Thankfully she was o.k. Had she not been, there were at least a hundred people that would have tended to her.

Finishing up the rocky descent!

After remounting, I was able to clip in and joyfully ride the remainder.  How I loved these Pennsylvannia rocks.  You not only had to be fit, but technically proficient.  A real mountain biker's course!

The last couple miles I had a clear trail ahead of me.  I had no idea how far second was behind me, so I just hammered as hard as I could without blowing a gasket.  With just a 1/4 mile of so of single track left, I came upon Tiffany Ballew's wheel.  She was riding strong.  I encouraged her to keep pushing until the end.  And she did.

We kicked it up a notch together and rode across the finish line together, each of us earning a Stars n Stripes jersey!  What an incredible feeling!

A dream come true!

 Second lap completed in 48:24.  Even though I imagined second place to be breathing down my neck the whole race, she ended up 7 1/2 minutes behind.  When I told my Mom, she said, "You had time to have a picnic."  Those were her words, not mine.  But it was good to feel so strong on a day that you have been training for so long.  It was truly a no chain kind of day.  I am thankful for all those who have helped me to get to this point:  family, coach, sponsors, and friends.

Jay Sandefur was there for me when my brake broke during the first pre ride.  He "MacGyver'd" it with duct tape and zip ties.  He also had the perfect bottle hand off and ice water down the back maneuver during the race.  Ursula Sandefur raced as well and earned a silver!  It was great to hang out with the Sandefurs for the week.  I learned alot about bikes and components as Jay builds frames.  His brand is Wild Card.

I have challenged Coach Lynda with all my trials and tribulations the past two years.  I have made her really earn her coaching fees.  At times she knew my body better than I.  She helped me stay focused on the task at hand and not dwell in the past.  Thanks, Coach!

A huge shout out to Bruce Dickman who was able to hook me up with Chris George, the Stan's No Tubes Pro Women's team mechanic, who swapped out lever assemblies the day before the race.

Call me superstitious, but I left the duct tape on.

And thank you, Zeke, for being the best training partner I could have.  I would say when and where and he would be there.  No matter how long or hard a day in the saddle or how many times we might wander and wonder, he was always there for the next adventure.  He can't complain ... he was the one who got me into this racing craziness to begin with.

Hmmm ... what is next?

Marathon National Race Report

As I lay in bed the night before the race, I began to second guess what I had done in the week leading up to this one.  20 hours of riding is not how one should prep for a National Championship.  My legs were heavy, my head was aching, and my stomach churned with butterflies.  This was not what I had come to Idaho for.  Back in the spring when I began to plan this trip, the only thing on the agenda was to "just ride."  It was not until mid-May that my friend asked, "Do you know what is taking place the week you are going to be in Ketchum?"  I had no clue that the Marathon Natz was gonna be there.  "Oh, hell!" was my reply.  Now I had to race!  I did this before back in 2009:  24 hours of riding in the Colorado mountains topped off with the Marathon Natz in Breckenridge.  I placed a respectable 4th in my age category then.  Back then it was gears; this time it was only gonna be one.

There were 6 ladies in the single speed division.  Andrea and I were the only lowlanders.  Three were unknowns, but all were strong (after some quick Google searches).  I opted to use a Camelbak for the first lap even though I hated the extra weight on my back when I was standing and grinding.  The air was dry and I needed to be sure I drank adequately.

The gun went off and before we set off on the 2 mile bike path stretch over to the Coldsprings climb, we had to do this silly little parade loop around the base of the ski slope.  After a brief section of flat single track, the course immediately went straight up the mountain on a snow cat track.  I was dead last as my legs barked immediately from the get go.  I so wanted to get off and walk up that bit, but everyone else was grinding up.  And so I did as well.  Eventually we all had to get off and walk a steep section up to the River Run single track.  From there it was a series of switchbacks back down to the lodge and then we were off on to the bike path.

Spin spin spin ... coast coast coast ... and repeat.  I was able to reel in 1 lady and pass her.  Now I was in 5th.  And then the 9 mile climb began!  The first 4 miles was gravel road and double track.  The high cadence low torque bike path section allowed my legs to wake up without blowing up.  Whe I hit the climb, the legs were there!  I marked 4th place and slowly began to reel her in.  There are two short kickers in the first 4 miles.  I caught up to 4th on the first one.  It seemed that she was running a bigger gear than I as she struggled up the climb and eventually dismounted.  Wanting to save my legs, I wisely got off and pushed as well.  I passed her before the second kicker.  Now I was in 4th.

Cold Springs gravel climb

I saw Andrea next.  She was not too far ahead and I caught up to her as we entered the single track.  She too, was pushing a bigger gear.  I was content to follow as my heart rate was about 7 beats higher than where I wanted it to be.  I needed to settle.  We soon got caught up in traffic.  Andrea called out very politely, "single speeders needing on by" so many times that she should have had a recording.  I knew that talking expended energy so I was happy that she was in front (I ain't no FOOL).  With about 2 miles left on the Cold Springs Trail, I saw a bit of weakness and decided it was time to go.  Now I was in 3rd.

I passed quite a number of racers on this climb.  For the most part, everyone was polite and would yield some trail so that I could motor on through.  The group that I had the most difficulty with were the 50+ men. There were a couple that just did not want to be passed, especially by a woman.  Did they not know they were racing for 2nd to last place?  I finally managed to skirt around them, but it took every ounce of energy and focus to not rub handle bars or fall off the mountain.   I suppose getting passed by a woman on a single speed can be kind of an ego killer.

Difficult to pass on the Cold Springs Trail

Finally after a little over an hour of continual climbing I was at the top.  Now came the beginning of the 13 mile descent (with a couple of hiccups in).  When I had pre ridden a few days before, the descent was, for the most part, smooth and flowy.  There were a few rocky areas where you had to be light on the bike for fear of slashing a side wall, but otherwise very fast!  Today was a different story ... it was a wash board!  Apparently people were a little heavy handed on the brakes and the trail turned into a wash board.  The racers on this side of the mountain were very polite and I was able to get around without losing much time.

The two hiccups I mentioned were 5-7 minute climbs, one on single track and one on double track.  I saw Zeke at the 2nd aid station on the 2nd hiccup climb.  He told me that Rebecca was 10+ minutes ahead and 2nd place was about 5 minutes ahead.  At this point I did not think much about that other than riding my own race.

Hershey Highway was a ballsy doubletrack loose gravely descent down to the River Run single track.  It was all about leaning the bike far enough to carve the turns but not too far and eating it in the loose rock.  Max speed for me on this section was a screaming 35 mph.

The River Run Single track was a series of 15-20 switchbacks back down to the lodge.  Sharp rock reared their ugly heads, especially in the corners.  This is where Rebecca flatted last year during XC Natz and lost the race.  This thought I kept in the back of my head as I negotiated this descent.  The switch backs were tight and loose.  Basically you stuck your front wheel in the rut, squeezed your rear brake, and slid your rear wheel around.  After 10 times I was ready to be down to the bottom.

Just before you hit the bottom, there are two options to take.  The "A" line is a 30 yard rocky face at 30-40% grade.  If you screw this up, you will get hurt.  If you clean it, you will be 30 seconds faster.  The "B" line is one more switchback descent.

"A" line --note Zeke at the top

During the pre ride, my head was not in it and I did not do the "A" line.  Today, my focus was razor sharp, I turned my brain off, and let my body take control.  Cleaned the "A" line and gave myself a mental boost for the second lap.

When I entered the feed zone, my cooler was not where I left it.  Volunteers came from every direction!  One held my bike, the others found my blue and white cooler in a sea of blue and white coolers.  One lady even popped the top on my Red Bull.  She excitedly cried out,  " I've been wanting to do something all day!"  Those people amazingly got me out of there in record time.  I ditched my CamelBak and went with a water bottle as I knew at the first aid station at the top of the climb there would be a water bottle feed.

Cold Springs Trail

The climb up Cold Springs the second time was brutal.  There was less traffic and those who were in front of me seemed happy to stop and let me by.  I had to will the legs to turn the pedals over on the steeper sections.  Fortunately, I think the patience pill I took before the race saved enough energy in my legs on the first lap to allow me to grind up the mountain the second time.  (When I looked at the results I was only 2 minutes slower the second time up.)

Warm Springs descent

After the first hiccup climb, I began to descend down to the Warm Springs Traverse Trail.  I heard the dreaded "pssssssss."  Oh, no!  I cannot be getting a flat!  I kept descending hoping the Stan's would work.  After about 45 seconds the hissing stopped.  I stopped to see how my rear tire felt.  Funny,  it was still firm.  If I did not puncture, what was that noise?  I continued to descend.  Two minutes later, I heard this buzzing noise and then, "Bam!"  I got stung near my left shoulder.  There was a dang bee in my jersey.  That was what had been making that noise.  I got stung 2 more times before I could stop, unzip, and get that bastard out.  There were people coming up on me, so I did not have time to zip my jersey back up.

When I began the second hiccup climb, I passed a racer who told me that second place was just up the road.  Holy crap!  I thanked him for the info and embraced the pain cave!  I motored like there was no tomorrow, clawing my way up that climb, looking around every corner to try to catch a glimpse.  Right before I reached the top, I saw her!

With about 4-5 miles to go, all of it descending, did I have the skills to catch her?  I did not know, but I was going to find out in the next 15 minutes.  I screamed down Hershey highway.  Every time I caught a glimpse of her, she was growing.  I was closing!   When she reached the River Run single track, I was about 30 seconds behind her.  2 1/2 miles to go!  With each switchback turn, I was reeling her in.  But how would I pass her on this tight single track without taking us both out?  It looked like it was going to come down to the rock wall.  Would she take the "A" line?  If she did, game over.  But as she approached, she turned right onto the "B" line!

I turned left, flew down the rock wall like it was child's play and rolled through the finish, 30 seconds ahead of her.  I just took second in the Marathon Nationals Single Speed division!  I was so stoked!

I felt a little embarassed coming through the finish with an unzipped jersey, but stopping to zip it up would have cost me 2nd place.

I came into this race expecting no more than a good time and a safe finish.  What a way to finish off an epic week of riding in the Sawtooth mountains of Idaho!

YES!

I want to thank The Outdoor Store for a perfectly working machine, Endless Bikes for that wonderfully big 22 cog, Pro Gold for a happy drive train, and Chamois Butt'r for a happy toosh.  And a big shout out to my Coach, Lynda Wallenfels, for prepping the engine!

Menagerie

I wish I was able to somehow download my thoughts directly into my blog while I am riding.  It seems that is about the only time I have these days to think about things to write about.  I do enjoy my blogger time, but lately family time has eaten up a lot of my "blog" time.  Not that its a bad thing, I am just busy being a Mom and wife.

Below have been my thoughts over the last two weeks of training.

FEET:  I have been wearing my orthotics for about a month now and I do notice a decrease in foot pain. I still cannot walk bear foot on hard surfaces; if I could EVER get back to that point, I would be extremely happy.  Even though it is a bit of pain to constantly move my insoles from one pair of shoes to another, it must be done.  I am hoping that as time goes on, my feet will continue to improve.  My feet were quite happy at the last 6 hour race, on a single speed.  This coming weekend, I will be testing them out on the ORAMM course, single speed style.

RACES:  The final race of the season will be the Chainbuster 6 Hour at Oak Mountain.  This is going to be the most technical and difficult of the series.  Right now I am comtemplating gear choice, as I am going single.   Do I want to suffer on the climbs and the Jekyll portion of the Jeckyll and Hyde Trail or do I want to spin my legs off on the easier sections?  Right now I am going with the latter: spinning is better than cramping.  I really enjoyed this series, but I am going to move on to other adventures next year.

ERGON:  My hands are so in love with these grips.  I am currently running the GS2's on my Niner AC9 SS and Jett 9 RDO and the GX2's on my Air 9 RDO.  I love the extra leverage the bar ends give me.  There have only been a couple occasions where I went "bar end-less" this year due to the tightness of the trees.  The only difference I have noticed over this year as opposed to the last 5 is that I have had to run the grips in a more horizontal position.  I used to run them with the wings in a slightly up position, but I began to have some ulnar pain, so I adjusted them down a bit and the pain went away.

WHOLE 30:  Even though I am still a little over a month away from starting my "cleansing," I have already begun to wean myself of the "junk" foods.  I have made my own mayo and salad dressings, cut my dairy intake by 75%, and am only using stevia and honey as sweeteners.  What I have noticed by doing this is that I am sleeping better and my energy levels are up.  The flavors of the foods I do eat have intensified!  I don't need as much sweetener to make things sweet.  I need very little of my home made salad dressings as compared to the store bought. I LOVE sardines straight out of the can for a snack.  I am anxiously awaiting November 26.  My only concern is that I might just freeze to death this winter as I have lost most of my natural insulation.

LW COACHING:  Lynda Wallenfels is a wonderful coach.  This year, I had to take a step down from her premium coaching package to her basic due to financial constraints.  But I have not been let down in the least.  I did miss talking to her on a weekly basis, but she is so awesome about answering e-mails that I did not feel sleighted.  She even answered one of my e-mails while in the middle of racing the Cococino 250!  I plan on continuing to be coached by her in 2013.

GRAVEL GRINDERS:  I am really liking this type of racing and am gonna try to do a few next year.  I finally have the right bike, which makes all the difference in the world.

19.2 pounds with a 1 x 10 drive train