Snake Creek Gap TT Race Report

 

  

I could have titled this post, "Why do I need 27 gears?"  Racing it SS was suggested by Coach, as I was ending as I was finishing up a pretty good block of training and she said I would be disappointed racing it geared. 

Zeke and I self-shuttled, putting the "kids," Lisa and Paula, in the backseat.  It was a great way for me to start.  The parking lot was empty and I was able to just get on my bike and start racing.  I love the every 15 second TT format.

Having selected a 32 x 22 gearing, the first flat section to the big creek crossing was a lot of spin, spin, spin, coast, coast, spin, spin, spin.  But that turned out to be a good thing because it gave me a good warm up prior to the doubletrack climb.

I passed Shanna on this section and she was even "spinnier" than I.  All smiles, that girl!  I must mention that I run her cogs and they are sweet!

I was quickly reminded of how much climbing there is in the first section.  Not as technical, but looong climbs.  I spent much of the time out of the saddle and looked forward to the short downhill sections for recovery.  Solo, the name I have given to my Specialized Stumpjumper SS, handled quite well.  I did have to get used to the rear wheel getting kicked around a bit by the rocks on the descent, but other than that, she fared well on such rocky terrain.

Coming into the halfway point, I glanced down at my speedo and saw a time of 1:33.  Could that be?  No way, I thought briefly!  That was the same split I had last year when I raced gears.  Crazy!  The volunteers at the SAG were on their game.  They handed off my hydration pack to me and I rolled on.

Now the climb up Mill Creek Mtn was tough.  My quads were on fire!  But I was NOT GETTING OFF.  Amazing what the body CAN do when it doesn't want to do the other.  So I settled, sitting briefly when I had the chance.  Once on top, I was able to get on the gas more.  I came upon a Motor Mile SS'r and he was riding well, so I paced off of him.  He got a stick caught in his wheel on the descent so I lost my buddy there, but was able to pick up another Motor Mile SS'r on the fireroad climb up to the last 7 mile technical ridge section.

A lot of racers dread this last section, but I embrace it.  I always seem to be able to save a little for the end.  Or perhaps it is that here I can smell the barn.  I love the rocks!  I pushed it pretty hard here because I knew I had a chance to win and set a PR!  I must say that I did run (read walk fast) more sections on my SS, but there is no shame in that.

At about 4 miles from the finish, I felt  twinges in my medial hamstrings when I was grinding up some steep climbs.  Oh, crap!  Not wanting to cramp, I slowed it down just a bit.  Leaving the singletrack, I tucked into an aero position.  Darn headwind slowed me down, but I managed to cross the finish line with a time of 3:27:51.  That is only 1:16 slower than 2009's time.  I could not believe it.  Those who had been racing SS for awhile had told me that SS are really no slower than geared, but I did not believe it.

Kudos to Lisa, my TransRockies partner, for 2nd place and setting a PR.  Mamas rock and rolled the Snake this year!

Once again, NWGA Sorba did an outstanding job with marshalling, swag, food, and prizes.  Special thanks to Ginni and Diane of Mulberry Gap to providing a HUGE mound of delicious oatmeal cookies!

No Swiftwick bounty for me this year.  I wonder how I would have done had I raced it geared this year.  Oh well, there is always next year.  

I love my SS.  It brings back childhood memories of me and my many one-geared bikes!

Unusual Beginnings

By now, I would have had 2-3 races under my belt.  Gallbladder surgery set me back, but the end result is I finally feel great again.  Another positive is that my weight is 10 pounds less than this same time last year.  I figured that cost about $200 per pound or $2.27 per gram.  That's so much cheaper than trying to get my bike lighter!

My first race will be the Snake next weekend.  And this is my weapon of choice:

If you would have told me last year that I would be racing a 29'r hardtail SS at the 2010 Snake finale, I would have called you crazy!  As this is a training race, Coach has explained to me that this is just one of many steps towards my "A" race of the year.

This year has just been busy, busy, busy.  And at this point, it doesn't seem like I have accomplished much.  Charlie has been gone alot; he works for Ducks Unlimited and late winter and early spring are super busy times for him.  So I have been doing the single parent thing.

 

Reese, our 13 1/2 year old lab, has cancer.  I have done two surgeries on him in the past 4 months.  He has done amazingly well and I am glad I decided to do the procedures.  He would not be here today if I hadn't.  To beat it all, Reese had a fantastic duck season in Arkansas, retrieving well over 100 ducks and geese.  He also managed to shame a couple of younger labs in the process!

I am also working on a fundraiser for my daughter's school.  My goal is to raise money for their physical education program and to educate the kids on cycling, fitness, and health.

And to raise money I will be using this race, my "A" race, as a platform with which to do it.  I have not done this kind of racing since 2006 and once again, I would have called you crazy if you told me I would be doing another!

Devoting my time to work, family, training, and community has kind of put "blogging" on the back burner.  I will try to do better.  I hope to get back to some sort of normalcy soon.  But then again, is there such a thing?  Oh, to be a kid again!  I keep telling Carly to not be eager to grow up and so far she is taking this advice!

Lasting Memories Along FS Road 28

It has been several days since my Southern X volunteer stint, but the past couple days at work has been like back to back VO2 Max Intervals.  Left physically exhausted, mentally drained, and saying, "Huh?  What just happened?", I elected to sleep vs. blog.

Even though the weather was almost unbearable, Carly, Zeke, and I had a wonderful time.  Today was one of my proudest days of being a mother.  We got up early Saturday morning, drove miles and miles along twisty, gravel road to Camp Wahsega, checked in with Namrita, found out where we were to be stationed along the course, and then drove miles and miles of more twisty, gravel road to get there.

Once we arrived at the intersection of Silver Fox and Doublehead Gap, Zeke headed out with Webb for a little bit of gravel road riding while Carly and I got ready to cheer the racers on.  It was cloudy, 40 degrees, and with a bone-chilling wind coming up the valley.  Carly was able to stay out of it by sitting on the tailgate of Zeke's truck. (Yeah, I said truck; no more "Chester Molester" van.)

For the next two hours, Carly cheered the racers on while I sent them in the right direction and stopped traffic when necessary.  Carly was a great cheerleader, "Go get 'em,"  "Like your jersey," and "Hurry, hurry, hurry," were her favorite lines.  She stayed warm, with her down jacket and handwarmers, while Ol' Man Winter slowly sucked the heat out of my fingers and toes.

Once we finished our duties and Zeke got back from his ride, I rode the remaining 24 miles of the course.  Beautiful, but brutal.  While I rode back, Zeke and Carly got to ride SOME MORE twisty gravel road back to the finish.

Carly waited patiently for me.  She was the LAST to get in her ride.  What a trooper ... never once complained.  As soon as she saw me, she leapt out of the truck and hopped on her bike.  I was tired and cold, but excited.

Together, in 36 degree weather, we rode up and down FS Road 28.  I did not take any pictures (fingers would not have been able to work the camera anyway) but seeing the happiness and pride exude from Carly's face will forever remain etched in my memory.  Time seemed to stand still as I watched my little girl turn the cranks over and over again.  Awesome!  We rode for 30 minutes, until Carly's thighs "felt stiff" (as she put it). 

When we got back to the truck, Carly had to show Zeke her muddy tires.  She was so happy to have finally gone mountain biking. 

What a far cry from less than a month ago when she told me she hated riding her bike.  That was back when her training wheels were on, a huge limiter to turning with ease and riding on rough terrain.

I can't wait until our next adventure.

Happy Hands!

My hands are excited to be racing on these this year:

I had been using the GR2 Carbon grips, but Zeke's weight weenie attitude has been rubbing off on me.  Since I now have a 20 pound SS ('10 Specialized Stumpjumper 29'r), I would like for Indy ('09 Specialized Era) to be as light as possible, all the while maintaining a comfort factor.

The last time I used these grips was in 2007, my first year as an Ergon-sponsored rider.  Back then, I was racing the prototype.  While it provided my hands with an unbelievable pain- and numb-free platform, after several hundred milers, the two rubber compounds began to separate.

I have no doubt that the problem has been fixed, so my hands will be happy at the 24 Hour Natz, probably the only body part after 24 hours of racing!

BTW, I will be using this race as a platform to raise money for City Park Elementary School's physical education program.  This is where my daughter, Carly, goes to school.  I will have more info in the near future and will expect y'all to help out, even if it is only equivalent to 1 bottle of your neighborhood brewskie.

Body Upgrade, Surgical Style!

As athletes, we tend to be very in tune with our bodies.  If I only learned one thing from this experience, it would be, "Listen to your body when it is trying to tell you something, damnit!"

It all began back in August.  My signs were all very non-specific:  fatigue, mild power loss, bloating, and mild abdominal discomfort.  I thought the tiredness was due to an unbelievable brutal TransRockies and the GI issues due to the Paleo diet.  Coach backed my training off and my doctor could not find anything wrong on physical exam and routine bloodwork.

Although I was well rested for SM100, my body just didn't feel good that day and the legs weren't zippy.  Even Danielle made the comment that my pace was a bit slow.

Fast forward to October and the Pisgah Stage Race.  Once again, I was well rested.  So well rested I was almost fearful of losing some fitness.  Days 1 and 2 were good.  However, my body just died on Days 3 and 4.  Both Coach and I were like, "WTF?!?"

Soon afterwards, my symptoms increased in intensity, I began having some bowel irregularity, and I gained about 5 pounds.  I began to resemble Buddha.  I began thinking about everything from pregnancy to ovarian cancer.  So I went back to the doctor for more tests.

Bloodwork nothing, ultrasound nothing.  Mind you, docs like to do one test at a time so this was agonizingly slow and my patience was wearing thin.  Also, my primary doctor (I feel) didn't seem too concerned about finding an answer quickly.  Finally, the CT scan showed mild sludging in the gall bladder. 

So the week before Christmas, I had a hida scan, which assesses gall bladder function.  Then I had to agonizingly wait through the holiday.  Well, yesterday I received the news.  Normal gallbladder ejection fraction = 80%.  Mine = 16%.  No gray zone there!

After 6 weeks worth of testing and waiting, I have an answer.  I almost wished I would have had the classical signs of gallbladder disease:  nausea, vomiting, and sharp pain.  I would have had a diagnosis much sooner.

Thinking positive about my situation, the good that has come from this is that I have lost the weight I gained initially and then some more.  Since the symptoms have intensified, I have not been able to eat much, and have been in a calorie deficit for 6 weeks.  I am now lighter than I have ever been.  I have also been doing more strength training than base training and I feel that I have maintained my strength.  But I will definitely have to work on my endurance after surgery.

Surgery is scheduled for next week.  I almost thought about asking my surgeon if he could remove a few unnecessary organs while he is in there; say, one ovary, uterus, and maybe one kidney.  You know, lighten the chassis even further.  As I know just about everyone at the Surgery Center, I will be in good hands.  My anesthesiologist is a roadie.  He told me last night that it will be a joy to work on me as a lot of his patients are >275 pounds and have cardiac/respiratory disease.

Doc says I will be off the bike for 3 weeks.  Translation:  3-4 days.  Any longer than that and he might have to prescribe Prozac!

I hate that I am going to miss the first two Snakes.   But I will just be glad to have a happy and healthy body again.

So, if you feel something is just not right with your body (no matter now small it may seem to be), be proactive and firm with your doctor about finding an answer. 

Luckily for me, I have several mountain bike friends that are also doctors so I was able to consult with them.  At one point, I actually had to tell my primary doctor that I wanted an abdominal CT scan and NOT an endoscopy/colonoscopy.  Thank God he listened to me or to this day, I might not have had an answer.

Time to get off the computer and get to training while I still can ...

Come Hell or High Water

The latter came today and I had a 3 hour mountain bike ride planned.  Eager to do battle with Mother Nature, I laid out my riding gear last night with precision.  I was bound and determined to stay warm and dry.

One of my riding partners (who shall remain nameless) bailed on me this morning; something about being tired/worn out from not fueling properly during yesterday's ride and then having to attend two Christmas parties.  In all fairness, she did rearrange her schedule for me when I found out that I could not do this ride yesterday, when it was 45 degrees and sunny!

So, once again, poor Zeke came along to endure.  He is one tough cookie for it seems that alot of my training rides are done in less than ideal conditions ... MUCH LESS!

We decided to do an out-and-back on the last and most technical section of The Snake.  We could not damage this portion of the trail as it is just about all solid rock.  When we arrived at Dug Gap, it was raining and 37 degrees.  Conditions would not change at all today.

Now back in my younger (and much insaner) days as a veterinarian fresh out of vet school, oftentimes I would have my arm shoulder-deep up a cow's/horse's ass so that I could tell the farmer if she were pregnant.  No, I did not go in bare-handed; I used a rectal palpation sleeve.  This was a long plastic sleeve that went up to my shoulder.  Of course, that did not keep the manure off my boots, my cheek, or out of my hair, but it served its purpose well in that it kept my hand and arm clean.

Flash forward 15 years to a potentially cold, wet, and miserable mountain bike ride.  I brought a few of these; Zeke calls them "limb condoms."  Placing them strategically on our arms and legs in between layers of clothing, our ride suddenly became very enjoyable and productive.

Today's ride looked like a scene out of J.R.R Tolkein's The Lord of the Rings.  We were enshrouded in a blanket of fog along the ridges.  I half expected to see a white unicorn appear or hear, "My precious!"  But other than a deer and a hiker with a pink umbrella, we encountered no other souls.

It was a good day to focus on skills as speed in these conditions would only get us hurt.  Zeke had already sacrificed some flesh earlier this fall on this trail.

We each rode along at our own pace; hard enough to keep warm, but not so hard that we would sweat.  I rode back to Zeke a few times, allowing me to practice on some of the rockier sections a couple times. 

I managed to stay dry, but after 2 hours my feet got cold.  They were dry, but my shoes were not waterproof so eventually Mother Nature made her way inside and killed my toe warmers.  I need to work keeping my toesies warm.  I had two pairs of socks with the palpation sleeves in between.  These plastic sleeves then were placed under my tights and went all the way up to my knees.  The toe warmers were placed in between the outer sock layer and my shoes.  I wish I could have put the plastic layer on over my shoes, but with several hike-a-bike sections, they would not have survived.

With fresh hot coffee waiting for us in Zeke's van, we managed to make it back to the trailhead 3 1/2 hours and 20 miles later.  Mmm Mmm ... that coffee was soooo good ... and hot!

If today's ride does not make me stronger, I don't know what will.

Two First's At One Time: Specialized SS 29'r

I first rode a 29'r earlier this year.  A friend had a Superfly so I gave it a try.  Other than a perfect fit, nothing much else impressed me.  At the end of the ride, my back was killing me and my thighs were tired from all the standing.

Fast forward to October, the end of my season.  After talking to my Coach and telling her how I felt quite weak with my top end power, she asked if I had ever thought about SS'ing.  Well, yeah, I said, but dismissed it because I thought it would cause my knees to blow out and kill my back.  Coach said it would help my top end and improve my fire road climbing.  So...

The next day I called Bruce and within a couple weeks placed an order!

Well, here she is ... 20.2 pounds and dying to be ridden.

I used an old XTR crank and Bruce did some customizing.

The headset cap is eccentric just like the bottom bracket.

A set of Specialized Captain's mounted to Stan's Race Wheels will make for a stable and speedy acceleration.

Specialized Toupe saddle is lightweight yet comfortable.  Rebecca Rusch got me hooked on this model and I have never looked back.

"What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger" and "Pain is just weakness leaving the body"  are thoughts that I have put on replay the past week as I get ready for my and her virgin ride.  It will be interesting to see what name comes to mind as I ride her this Saturday.

Thanks to The Outdoor Store, Specialized, Magura, Ergon, and Endless Bike Co. for making this happen.  (I may be cursing you before its all over!)