Camp Lynda 4.0 Day 1

Distance:  38 miles
Elevation gain:  4800 feet
Ride time:  4 hours
Temperature:  30-60 degrees F

I was riding Solo today, my 2010 Specialized SJ SS, with a 32 x 21.  Today was my virgin ride with what will become my two best friends during the TNGA race, SPOT and GARMIN.  At 9:30am we campers congregated in the Albertson's parking lot.  Wow!  It was a Who's Who of ultra-endurance phenoms.  It was going to be super cool to ride with these giants in a non competitive atmosphere.

Eszter, Dave, and Lynda:  National Champs and Enduro Junkies

Today's course was an out and back.  A short uphill pavement pedal helped to get the juices flowing and awaken the legs.  The fun began with desert single track.  The Pioneer Trail was first on the list.  I shed my windbreaker before starting.  With bluebird skies and a big ball of fire in the sky, I was already quite toasty.  I could not help but smile as I meandered through the flowiness, watching the line of campers stretch out in front of me to the horizon.

The Powerline Trail was a rough jeep road with a series of big descents and climbs.  It was pretty rough and required concentration to hold your line.  Unbeknown to me, my camera decided to yard sale on one of these descents.  All was fine and dandy until I stopped along the mile long stretch of ankle deep sand to take a pic.  After my initial "Oh, crap!" thought, a calmness came over me.  For some reason, I just knew I would find it on the return.

So I continued to plow through the sand.  This obstacle was about 1 1-1/2 miles long and 2-10 inches deep.  Glad I was on big wheels, because it was all I could muster to pedal through on this slighty downhill stretch of sand.  Turning left, I encountered a pretty imposing dune of sand to climb;  I made it almost to the top before I buried my front wheel.

Prospector Trail, photo by Adam Lisonbee

The Dino and Prospector Trails were "whoo-hoo" fun.  Fast, flowy, and with a few rocky sections to negotiate, the giggle factor was at an all-time high!  I have never ridden such grippy rocks.  During this section, I was sandwiched in between Lynda, Eszter, and Cat.  Eszter was pushing a 34 x 20; I don't think I could have turned over that gear on any of today's climbs.   For those of you who do not know her, she is the 2010 CTR female winner.  This race is a multi-day, unsupported 470 mile race along the Colorado Trail.  This lady has one big diesel engine!  Cat was a little more sensible, riding the same gear as I.  Cat is the 2009 CTR female winner and completed the 2010 edition on a single speed!  And there is Lynda, my coach, who is a phenom, with a laundry list of accomplishments, including a few multi-day unsupported events.  I was riding with GIANTS.

Eszter on Prospector, photo by Adam Lisonbee

The turnaround point was Cottonwood Creek.  We stopped for a bit and pulled out some grub.  I had my measly little processed granola bars.  Eszter and Cat whip out these 2 pound loaves of homemade bread slathered with peanut butter and jelly!  Mental note:  the food choice of multi-day racers.

The return seemed to be all uphill.  But the sand dune climb turned into the sandy ski descent.  This was the closest I have been to skiing in 10 years;  to me, much funner in balmy temps and on a bike.  On the slightly uphill sandy section, my 32 x 21 suddenly felt like a 32 x 18.  I spent some time on two feet on this section. 

I began to look for my camera during the low cadence/snail's pace Powerline climbs.  Karma was good to me and I found my camera on the third climb, tire track on the LCD display, but still functional!  Thank goodness for my crush-proof Olympus.  Just a bit sad I did not get any pics from Day 1. 

Thank you Jeff, for your video skills:

Camp Lynda: Day 1 from ergon on Vimeo.

Since today's ride was pretty straight-forward and with campers all around, I did not learn much about my GPS.  The big skies of Utah also make it a bit difficult to see the display ... something I will probably not have to deal with back home under tree cover.

We refueled and rehashed the day's ride at Baijo's that evening.  I met some FB friends in the flesh and some soon to be new FB friends.  A great day in desert!  More to come ...

Camp Lynda 4.0 Pre-ride

Zeke, Ursula, and I, aka the Southeast Contingent, arrived in St. George on Wednesday, January 26.  After settling in to Dave's bachelor pad, which rivals Zeke's abode, (hmmm .... potential future post topic), Lynda and her kinders drug Ursula and I to yoga.  This was my first official class; I have done some yoga at home, but never in a formal setting.  Needless to say, Emma put me to shame right away with her stretchiness.  My body was just not meant to contort into those positions!  Emma made it look easy.

On Thursday, whaddya know!  Ursula, Lynda, and my training plans were exactly the same:  2 1/2 hours at an easy to moderate pace.  At 10am and a crisp 32 degrees, we headed out to preview some of Day 2, along with a smattering of trail that we would not ride during camp.  I chose gears for today's outing while Lynda was on her SS FS. 

We rode Racecourse which had techy, ledgy climbs through washes followed by doubletrack descents with spectacular views of the Pine Valley Mountains.

Ursula would agree, by no means is this area flat!  It is just so wide open that it appears to be.

The Barrel Cacti Trail was all me!  Rocky climbs and descents where it was good to follow the leader as I kept wondering where the heck the trail was.  It was just rock drop-off after rock drop-off after rock-drop off.  Being able to follow Lynda's line was most beneficial during the "Descent of Death."  I was happy to be able to clean it, albeit with big eyes and white knuckles!

No room for error on the Descent of Death.

Once you commit on this one, there is no getting off ... voluntarily.  I think I surprised Lynda, but Indy ('09 Specialized Era)  overcame the forces of gravity and held on to the trail, although I think it a bit of a stretch to call that "trail."

Zen Trail courtesy of Adam Lisonbee

The Zen Trail reminded me of the large granite rock section at Conyers.  Huge slabs of grippy sandstone.  I was climbing grades that would be impossible back home.  There were many cairns guiding you over the vast expanse of rock.  Momentum was key on this terrain as there were quite a few punchy climbs.  Earlier Coach had told me that you should session a section no more than 3 times; after that, you just learn the wrong line.  But then she had to tell us about this one particular climb that she tried  the weekend before.  After 18 tries, she got it!  Do as I say, not as I do??

Toward the end of Zen, I was feeling the day's effort.  As I suspected and Lynda confirmed, we were going harder than the plan called for.  Fortunately, the fun factor out ruled the training plan.  I do have one question:  how can there be so much POWER in such a little tiny frame?  I think Coach's L2 is my L3!

Not knowing what to expect over the next 3 days, 2 of which would be on my SS, I spun my legs out on the way home.  Today's effort was 3 hours, 20+ miles, 2500 feet of climbing, mostly upper L2, but with plenty of L5 spikes to give me a good swift kick in the pants!

How cool to be able to access such a vast network of trails right outside your front door!

Coach and her understudies.

Looking Forward

In a little over 7 weeks, the racing season is going to kick off.  With it will hopefully come warmer, drier weather.  I have set a new all-time trainer record, with 5 days in a row of going nowhere fast in my basement.  I can honestly say I was not looking forward to each session, but now that it is over, it was very productive.  These trainer days help to improve my mental fortitude.

The kick-off to my racing season will be the March Snake finale, followed two weeks later by the first SERC race in Gainesville, Florida.  While most of my competitors will be racing brand new 2011 bikes, I will be on bikes that have already seen a couple seasons of epic racing.  This has been dictated mostly by my finances, but also by the fact that my bike shop is unable to acquire any S-Works bikes.  Even though Bruce only sells Specialized, he can't get an S-Works Epic or Stumpjumper for me.  I am not sure why; Bruce says it has to do something with volume.

Now don't get me wrong; Specialized has been great to me the past few years of my racing career.  I love their bikes; I don't think I could ride anything else.  And their support has been great!  But it is quite disappointing that just because The Outdoor Store doesn't do a certain amount of $$$$ with Specialized, they don't have access to their top of the line bicycles.  I could always get one of their non S-Works bikes at a killer deal, but why would I want to?  Not only would it be heavier, the componentry would be less than what I am riding now.

My bikes ('08 S-Works SJ FSR, '09 S-Works Era, '10 SJ 29'r SS) have taken a beating over their life, but they have never failed me.  So rather than ride a lesser model, I am going with what has taken me to many podiums over the past 3 years.  It is not the bike that makes the racer, but rather the racer that makes the bike, right?  Performance is 95% racer and 5% bike, so I will just let that be my handicap.  Anyways, I already think I have made that 5% up, what with the killer strength sessions Coach has been giving me.

Regardless of what I ride, I am looking forward to a fantastic season of racing my SS in my regional XC series and throwing in a little endurance racing here and there.  My daughter will be racing the SERC kids series.  I am stoked!  Earlier this year, I told her that she was going to try a sport and her choices were basketball, soccer, or MTB'ing.  I was quite surprised with her decision.  She loves to play sports, but does not like having people watch her, especially team mates that might judge her abilities.  Hmmm, I wonder where she got that?  (I was really never a team sport kinda gal, either).  Zeke is going to be her coach and I will be her training partner.  I hope that Carly will enjoy it as much as I.

So although I won't be racing on a shiny new bike or in a shiny new kit, I will be racing with my daughter.  And that is what really matters! 

Snake Creek Gap TT Race Report

Still wear them all, 2005 edition is my sleep shirt.

I have been doing this race since its inception and it just keeps getting better.  Back in 2005, it ran January through May, it was run in reverse, the entry fee was $50, and I won $45 for first.  I remember saying to the promoter that the race was so much fun that I would do it if the entry fee was doubled.  Fast forward to yesterday, and I am gunning for $750 and a shot at the bounty.  My, how times have changed.  With 5500 feet of climbing and 34 miles of rocks and roots, it is always an epic battle between the racer and the trail.

Speaking of times, I will have to chalk up yesterday's race as a good SS training ride.  With the many challenges I had to overcome, it was not going to be a PR.  First up was the week of training leading up to the race.  I am currently in a strength phase with multiple days in the gym.  Coach said I was going to carry some fatigue into this race.  On that first fire road climb, I indeed felt it!  Darn it!  Coach was right again.

Secondly, our plan to do a private shuttle in order to get off the line first failed when the people we were going to shuttle with got pulled over by GHP en route to the race.  I probably started behind 100 people.  I do like carrots, but that was a bit many for me to digest.  Single speed realization #43:  it is excruciatingly painful and detrimental to overall performance to have to pass 40+ people, most of which took place going uphill.  That was like a serious Force Rep training session.  Most everyone was super nice about being passed, though.

Thirdly, nothing like crashing your brains out on the first mile of the race!  Yep, I bit it hard on the gravel road section.  I was attempting to pass another rider.  What I thought was just branches from a young sapling turned out to be a murderous grapevine, that wrapped around my Ergon GR2 Leichtbau carbon bar end.  The bike stopped ... I didn't.  Luckily, it all happened so fast, I didn't have a chance to put an arm down and break my collarbone.  But my whole left side took a digger at 15 mph.  It took a couple minutes for me to regain my senses and realign my handlebars.

The first 17 miles hurt the most.  I was about 10-12 minutes off my PR pace.  I think the climbing, especially on a single speed, is much harder than the second 17.  I also had to run more sections as there was a constant line of people ahead.  I do believe there were a record number of racers for January.  My guess:  250+.

The second half was much more enjoyable, although I still entered the pain cave numerous times.  My legs had finally come around and my 32 x 22 felt like a 32 x 22, not a 32 x 20 like the first half.  I always love the final rocky ridge; it is at this point that I can "smell the barn" and am usually able to dig a little deeper.

What made it even better was a little motivation by a fellow racer.  He allowed me to pass him, but as I was doing so he said, "I will probably need to get back around you, but no worries,"  ... Did he just say what I thought he said?!?  You think?  O.k. let's see what you got!  I kicked it up a notch and entered the first techy rocky descent.  I will have to give him some credit, he did hang on longer than I thought he would.  But after 5 minutes, all was quiet behind me.

With about 4 miles to go, I saw a fellow racer down on the trail, quite a ways in front of me.  As I made my way towards him, he still was not getting up.  Oh, no!  I was thinking that he might be seriously hurt and I was going to have to abandon my race to help him.  As I came upon him, he was still lying there.  I asked if he was hurt.  He said, "No, I just can't unclip from the pedals."  So we had a little trail side lesson.  He was trying to turn his heel inward to unclip.  I don't know if he was a beginner or maybe being upside down got him turned around, but I told him to move his heel outward.  Once he did that, he magically popped free.  I then made an attempt to lift his bike off him.  I swear to God that bike weighed 30 pounds.  I then realized that it was a Specialized HardRock!  Hats off to this gentleman who probably had the heaviest bike in the race.  He was hardcore!  He did look like he was spent.  I encouraged him that we were almost there ... he probably hit 45 mph on the road descent.

I finished with a 3:42:27.  I will happily take it.  My post-ride recovery meal was Ginni's famous cookies.  I would have loved to hang around as the post-ride chatter is always great, but with 33 degree temps and a wind chill of 25, I was cold as soon as I stopped pedaling.  Once again, thanks to all the volunteers for braving those brutal temperatures to keep us racers fueled, on the course, and motivated.

Looking forward to February and getting closer to the Bounty!

Back To Some Sense of Normalcy

The past 6 weeks have been enjoyable, but insanely hectic, too.  The holidays were definitely funner when I was a kid.  I did not worry about how many cookies I ate and I giddy in anticipation of what Santa was bringing.  Now 1 cookie equals 1 trainer workout and I dread January's credit card bill.

I host Christmas as Carly wants to make sure that Santa knows where she is.  What that means is although we don't have to do any holiday traveling, I am in charge of preparing the Christmas Day meal for the grandparents and us.  Turkey and all the fixin's was the menu for this year; about 8 hours of work that was demolished in about 45 minutes.  I have already decided for next year that the menu will be Tony's frozen pizza!

Well, o.k., I might have to upgrade the pizza to Papa John's or homemade, but you get the point.  No slaving in the kitchen for me next Christmas.

Carly had a great Christmas.  The two most favorite things she got were a Razor scooter from Granddad Jack and a Wii from Santa.  Since the weather has been most uncooperative for outdoor scooting, she has been all over the house with it.

I have been using my Professional Kitchenmaid Mixer to make healthy breads for everyone, including myself.  Banana Nut, Apple Walnut, and Pumpkin have been favorites.

I have yet to craft any yeast breads, but hopefully will soon get the chance.  Yeah, I know it is not Paleo, but ... a nice warm Foccacia is mmmmm.... so good.  I will reserve the non-Paleo items for the hard work out days.

I should have probably opted for the Garmin GPSMAP 62St as my gift, but did not think I would need it for several months.

However, after signing up of  Camp Lynda, I might be sorry I did not get it sooner.  Oh, well, I will just have to keep up with someone who has a GPS.  As for riding in Utah, I am so looking forward!  I have never been to that state.  I just hope/pray that the weather improves.

I have been diligently training through the holidays; lots of time spent in the gym with the hopes of acquiring Katie Compton-like strength.  Tomorrow is the first Snake TT.   The weather is definitely going to make it interesting.  I don't expect any PR's, just a good solid SS workout.

Last year I told Carly that she was going to pick a sport to try in 2011.  Her options were soccer, basketball, or mountain biking.  She loves to play sports, just not in an organized way.  I think she is afraid of not being good in front of a crowd of team mates and spectators.  She told me last week that she wants to mountain bike.  Hell, yeah!

So our 2011 plans will include the SERC series:  Carly on gears and me on a SS.  I just wish I could get her a bike that didn't weigh 30 pounds.  That would be the equivalent of me racing a 55 pound bike, something I just can't fathom.  Oh well, it will just make her stronger, right?

2011 Prep Work

My 2011 racing schedule is finalized and got Coach's seal of approval.  My big event will be the TNGA, the Trans North Georgia.  This is a multi-day, self-supported/partially supported race across Georgia through the Chattahoochee National Forest.  350 miles and over 56,000 feet of climbing.  2010 was the inaugural event which took place over Labor Day weekend.  18 started and 12 survived.

I started my prep work for this event last week by riding sections 6, 7, and 8.  Zeke was a big help as he is very familiar with this area.  On Thursday, we shuttled my vehicle to Buddy Cove Gap and then started our adventure at Shallowford Bridge.  Starting out in 24 degree weather was definitely not my cup of tea, but with layers and hand/toe warmers, I managed to stay warm as long as I was pedaling up.

It had been a couple years since I had last ridden the Aska trails.  Stanley Gap is definitely more difficult going in this direction = lot of short hike a bikes.  I expect that come race day, these trails will be ridden in the dark, so I hope to be able to come back at a later date and do a night ride.

Once off Stanley Gap, there is a lot of pavement/gravel road pedaling.  I passed a lot of churches, but no outside spigots were available.  I thought that was kind of unusual as in my neck of the woods, I have several churches I stop at to refill bottles on my road rides.

Close to the turn onto Bushy Head Road, I saw an automotive mechanic shop that had a hose bib.  Hoping that will still be there in 10 months.  Further on down the road, I saw the barn where Eddie had a couple hours of fitful sleep. 

I was back in familiar territory when I hit Watson Gap.  From there I rode part of the Cohutta 100 course, down to Jacks River Fields, then entered the South Fork Trail.  Zeke had painted a bad picture of this trail as well as the most eastern section of the Pinhoti; think wet, sloppy, and horsed-up.  Aside from just two muddy sections which we were able to skirt around, it was actually a very pleasant ride.  When we came to the 15 foot long, foot deep creek crossing, we pondered for a few minutes.  Seeing as how the air temp was only 37 degrees, we did not want any wet body parts.  Zeke found a good line, neither of us bobbled, and we were dry upon exiting the other side.  Whew!

The climb up the Pinhoti to FS 64 was slow and soft, but kept me warm.  We ended our day with 6 hours on the bike and roughly 46 miles ridden.

On Friday, we shuttled my truck to Dalton and started our ride from Mulberry Gap.  Up P3 to a brief pedal on Hwy 52, then on P4.  This was my first time on this section.  Let me tell you, it was a hoot.  The funnest part was descending Tatum Lead.  As I was flying down this section, all I could think was how fast I would really be going at this point in this race with a belly full of Ginni's finest cooking!  Which then led to the thought of how hard the P3 climb was going to be on a belly full of Ginni's finest cooking.

Back on to the Pinhoti, this section of trail was really steep and loose.  The leaves made it difficult to see what lay ahead so I took it nice and easy.  Once it flattened out along Rock Creek, it was a beautiful ride to FS3.  FS3 was a stark contrast to the previous trail, what with strewn beer cans and fast food trash.

A few more miles of gravel and then the remainder of the course was pavement into Dalton.  Pretty uneventful once we found our way onto the correct road across 411.  The cue sheet was a little confusing so I went up 411 instead of just crossing over it.  Oh, well, that is why I am reconning.

Feeling a little frisky on the paved roads and trying not to get bored, I saw some road kill up ahead, a guinea fowl to be exact.  Upon trying to bunny hop it, my rear wheel grazed the bird and I swore I heard the thing make a noise, a weak squawk!  Being a fresh kill, I must have hit the thoracic area, forcing air out of the bird.  Hilarious!

Airport Road was FOREVER so I can only imagine what it will feel like during the race.  We ended our day at the Walnut Square Mall with 4 hours and 40 miles in the saddle.

So now I am familiar with Sections 6-9.  Only 6 more sections and roughly 220 miles left to go!

The Swank Race Report

Now that's the way to end a fantastic, fun-filled season!  I was worried after my Berryman fiasco that I would repeat, either with a bike or body mechanical.  I left everything out on the trail and could not have raced it better.

2008 S-Works SJ FSR with Ergon bling!

I chose Stumpy to race, for the stability and extra travel.  I raced her at The Pisgah Stage Race and was in awe how she responded to the technical terrain ... I can only imagine how a 2011 model would perform!

Upon arriving at the venue, it was 21 degrees.  I must have muddled around for an hour or so, trying to figure out what I was going to wear.  I started out with several layers, but as the sun rose and warmed the landscape, I shed most of it. 

The start was Lemans style; I took my time and spared my ankles.  I hit the first bit of single track probably in the top 30-40.  It was a pretty mellow pace climbing Thrift Cove.  I was wanting to go, go , go, but I also did not want to spend precious energy passing people or throw a stick into my derailleur.  I do believe this 20 minutes spent warming up Thrift Cove was in my best interest.

As it opened up onto some double track, I was able to let the reins loose and fly.  Indeed I did fly by a lot of people.  My legs were sparkly and it felt as if there were no chain on the bike.  I had not ridden the first section of Daniel Ridge since '08 so I did slow a bit to negotiate the tight, twisty turns and multiple bridges.  But once out onto FS 475, I gunned it.  One fellow I passed said I was in first place, to which I replied, "No, I am not.  There are quite a few guys in front of me."  He then proceeded to tell me I was probably in the top 20.  I took that as a top 30-35; not bad this early in the race.  I usually am pretty consistent throughout the entirety of the race, while a lot of guys seem to blow their stack about the midway point.  I had multiple carrot opportunities in front of me.

The top of Butter Gap Trail

Butter Gap was a hoot.  Having ridden it the day before, I was able to rail it, despite the leaves.  There was one sketchy area where a natural spring follows the trail; it was slick and muddy, but I managed to keep the rubber side down.

You ride down this rocky section; may not look it but traction is superb.

Long Branch is a 2.5 mile climb back up to FS 475.  Although super steep in areas, it flows well.  I was able to ride it all, despite having a couple guys in front bobble.  The next bit of fire road was climbing up to Farlow;  all I know is that it is much easier to race up this steep section when you are fresh as compared to seeing it on Day 3 of the PSR.  There were a few downhillers at the top getting ready to ride Farlow.  As I passed one of them, I earned a new nickname, "the goddess of internal combustion."  Quite a compliment, thank you very much Mr. Downhiller.

I do believer all the leaves on Farlow made it easier to ride.  It made the trail appear smoother;  I leaned back onto my rear tire and let Stumpy do the work.  I did dismount in several areas, fearing death or dismemberment.  Hey, this gal has gotta work come Monday!  One guy on a Gary Fisher SS 29'r blew by me like I was sitting still.  He was awesome!  But I did ride more of it than during PSR.  I also ran the hike-a-bike sections faster.  I was able to hold my own within a group of guys during the hiking.  Let's remember, I am having to push/carry a greater percentage of my weight than the men.

On the final descent down the last bit of Farlow and Daniel Ridge, I did let a few guys by me.  They were rockin' it.  I also had vivid memories of that dreaded sidewall gash at Berryman and did not want a repeat on this rocky descent.  I stopped at aid station 3 and grabbed a bottle to get me through the last 10 miles or so.

I treated this last 10 miles like an XC race.  Knowing that the last few miles were descending Thrift Cove Trail to the finish, I rode the last 7 miles like a scalded dog!  After big-ringing FS 475 and Davidson River Trail, I TT'd up FS 475B and FS 225.  This 4 miles of climbing I had done earlier this year while on a recon mission so I knew just how far I had to go.  I put the hammer down and passed ALL the guys who had passed me on Farlow.

I did let Mr. SS Phenom by on Thrift Cove.  This last bit of single track was over before I knew it.  I could smell the hamburgers grilling on the final 0.5 mile descent.  Oh, that was mouth watering!  I rolled under the Finish line in 4:15:03 ... 1st lady and 18th O/A (out of 150).  Whew!  A perfect season ender!

Coach dialed me in perfect for the last two races.  I am most grateful that I was able to perform well at both; that definitely gives me the confidence I will need going on into the winter preparing for 2011.  Hmmm ... now I get to start planning my 2011 season.  Exciting times ... exciting times indeed!