Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Monday, October 22, 2007
The highlight of this weekend was biking home from a house warming party with a full quiche duct taped to my water bottle cage and top tube. It came home in perfect condition. I couldn't bring the salad home, though.
Oh, I raced, too. But it doesn't count, because I couldn't finish. Great course, free food afterwards, amazing day for a race. I'll be there next year. Too bad I haven't figured out this whole circular motion thing with your feet to propel you forwards on these strange steel machines. Maybe it takes practice. Although I'd say the bigger problem was falling on my face every chance I got. Apparently you have to pick up your feet higher than the barrier to jump over it.
Photo stolen from Josh, without permission. I'd say it sums up how my race went on Saturday.
Oh, I raced, too. But it doesn't count, because I couldn't finish. Great course, free food afterwards, amazing day for a race. I'll be there next year. Too bad I haven't figured out this whole circular motion thing with your feet to propel you forwards on these strange steel machines. Maybe it takes practice. Although I'd say the bigger problem was falling on my face every chance I got. Apparently you have to pick up your feet higher than the barrier to jump over it.
Photo stolen from Josh, without permission. I'd say it sums up how my race went on Saturday.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Gloucester Goals Recap
As a reminder, they were:
-focus on Gloucester for two weeks
-increase mileage to >0 miles per week
-Tiered goals based on percent back, place, and people I beat
-Ride cleanly, put on time in runup
So, I focused on Gloucester. Kind of. I actually rode almost 200 miles in those two weeks. I know, you're laughing, but thats 200 times more than I was riding before. Lets keep in mind I also trained 31 hours over those two weeks, with one of those a rest week (For me most of my training is running, rollerskiing, and core strength).
Day 1, I was 10.04% back from Lynne Bessette. This means I got a tier 2 goal! Yay! Day 2 I was 12.6% back from Lynne, which is a Tier 3 goal. I got another tier 2 goal with my top 30 on day 1. And a tier 3 with my top 40 (of like 38 finishers) on day 2. Now lets talk about people... of the random names I chose for tier 1, I beat Pauline Frascone by default (she crashed out and couldn't finish) on day 2 (Pauline if you read this, I hope you're alright!). I didn't beat Melody Chase, but I rode with her and was at times in front of her on day 1. Perri Mertens didn't race. Or sign up. Tell me why I picked that name again?
Tier two names: I beat Hannah Kirshner on day one, but she beat me on day 2. I don't think Meg Bilodeau raced, or at least didn't finish. I was nowhere near Marci Titus-Hall (shouldn't that be a tier 1 name?). Of the tier 3 names, I beat Allie Kenzer by default (I think she and Pauline took each other out. I hope you're both ok!) on day 2. But I was nowhere close to her on day 1. Sue Mclean beat me on day 2 (didn't start day 1?), and I beat Erin Duggan on day 1 but not day 2. Ok, so beating random people doesn't mean anything. What counts, is that I wasn't lapped by Lynne Bessette! That, and I was by far the strongest runner-upper of the little groups I was riding with.
So, it feels to me like most of these goals were fairly meaningless, but at least I can feel good about making some of them. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I had fun racing at Gloucester, and i feel like it was a successful weekend for me. I was neither last nor lapped, and I actually had fun out there. The coolest part was actually riding with a group of riders, instead of being out there suffering alone in no-man's land. Granted, they then all beat me, but it was fun anyway. And fun is why I do this sport.
(picture blatantly stolen from picasaweb)
-focus on Gloucester for two weeks
-increase mileage to >0 miles per week
-Tiered goals based on percent back, place, and people I beat
-Ride cleanly, put on time in runup
So, I focused on Gloucester. Kind of. I actually rode almost 200 miles in those two weeks. I know, you're laughing, but thats 200 times more than I was riding before. Lets keep in mind I also trained 31 hours over those two weeks, with one of those a rest week (For me most of my training is running, rollerskiing, and core strength).
Day 1, I was 10.04% back from Lynne Bessette. This means I got a tier 2 goal! Yay! Day 2 I was 12.6% back from Lynne, which is a Tier 3 goal. I got another tier 2 goal with my top 30 on day 1. And a tier 3 with my top 40 (of like 38 finishers) on day 2. Now lets talk about people... of the random names I chose for tier 1, I beat Pauline Frascone by default (she crashed out and couldn't finish) on day 2 (Pauline if you read this, I hope you're alright!). I didn't beat Melody Chase, but I rode with her and was at times in front of her on day 1. Perri Mertens didn't race. Or sign up. Tell me why I picked that name again?
Tier two names: I beat Hannah Kirshner on day one, but she beat me on day 2. I don't think Meg Bilodeau raced, or at least didn't finish. I was nowhere near Marci Titus-Hall (shouldn't that be a tier 1 name?). Of the tier 3 names, I beat Allie Kenzer by default (I think she and Pauline took each other out. I hope you're both ok!) on day 2. But I was nowhere close to her on day 1. Sue Mclean beat me on day 2 (didn't start day 1?), and I beat Erin Duggan on day 1 but not day 2. Ok, so beating random people doesn't mean anything. What counts, is that I wasn't lapped by Lynne Bessette! That, and I was by far the strongest runner-upper of the little groups I was riding with.
So, it feels to me like most of these goals were fairly meaningless, but at least I can feel good about making some of them. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I had fun racing at Gloucester, and i feel like it was a successful weekend for me. I was neither last nor lapped, and I actually had fun out there. The coolest part was actually riding with a group of riders, instead of being out there suffering alone in no-man's land. Granted, they then all beat me, but it was fun anyway. And fun is why I do this sport.
(picture blatantly stolen from picasaweb)
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Gloucester pictures
Now that the internet finally works from home, here are the pictures:
Hotness Incarnate
Everyone's getting into the hot spandex...
Ed riding the sand before the highway through it got cemented.
Roz with the hole shot (and the awesomest face)
Rachel explaining just how she totally won that battle with the course tape...
"owwww my legsssss"- you can only wear an outfit like that if you know you'll do well. Which he did.
Pure determination.
Another one of Thom, for good measure...
And one of me. About to pass all those non-runners...
I plan on putting together a series called "pain faces", because I have so many varieties of pain faces... don't hold your breath though, it might come this week, it might come next week...
Monday, October 15, 2007
GP of Gloucester, day 2
Ah, day 2 of racing. My nemesis. I woke up, and felt like hell. My lungs hurt, I was coughing up lovely clear phlegm, and I was gasping for breath walking up the two flights of stairs to the hotel breakfast room. We decided that we had a while until I raced, so we went up to Rockport to be tourists and found some of the most amazing pastry I've ever eaten this side of the Atlantic. After some rock-hopping, it was back into race-mode. And then I found out that the course hadn't changed, at all. Only faster. My desire to race just went way, way, down.
I lined up in the back row again, and the start was similar to the first day, only less enthusiastic on my part. I hadn't even started racing yet and I already was thinking of how much it was going to hurt. I did the same thing as yesterday, moving up slowly, until I couldn't move up anymore. Make up spots on the run-up, lose them on the pavement, things were going alright for two laps. Third lap I kind of blew up, lost my group, started to wheeze, felt like hell, started sliding backwards faster than Lynne Bessette moves forwards through the men's B pack. This mostly happened on the pavement, as usual. Finally Kim Blodgett caught me, and I clung to her wheel like my beagles to the garbage they try and eat, until I felt a little more recovered.
By the time we got to the pits, I was feeling a little readier to punch it, and we caught back up to Linnea's group of herself, Hannah Kirshner, and Erin Duggan. I rode with them for the next couple laps, mostly just willing my legs to keep up on the pavement, and then in the sand on lap 5, I started riding sloppy and took myself out. It felt good to lie down, so I sat there in the track for a moment, causing Kim and Erin to dismount, and Linnea and Hannah to get away. Running out of the sandpit, my left thigh was kind of numb, I guess I whacked it pretty hard on my saddle. I got back on the bike, and it felt really funny. Oh, my saddle is twisted by 30 degrees. Good thing the pit is right there.
Got everything straightened out, lost another couple places, and tried to convince myself I could catch the girl in pink arm warmers. When I was just as far behind her after the run-up, my will to race sort of drifted away from me. My legs were sending clear messages that they were done, and since I had backed off, my brain was clear enough to hear and interpret these messages. After making sure that the next girl behind me was well behind me, I soft pedalled in and wallowed in my physical misery.
At least I had hot pants. For everyone who saw the silver knickers (or the blue hibiscus ones) on me, or the green shiny ones on Linnea, and you're jealous and want some for yourself, check out www.fiestawear.blogspot.com, Linnea is selling these spandex, although shes just starting out right now and theres not much on the blog. You could have your very own hot pants.
Pictures are coming.
I lined up in the back row again, and the start was similar to the first day, only less enthusiastic on my part. I hadn't even started racing yet and I already was thinking of how much it was going to hurt. I did the same thing as yesterday, moving up slowly, until I couldn't move up anymore. Make up spots on the run-up, lose them on the pavement, things were going alright for two laps. Third lap I kind of blew up, lost my group, started to wheeze, felt like hell, started sliding backwards faster than Lynne Bessette moves forwards through the men's B pack. This mostly happened on the pavement, as usual. Finally Kim Blodgett caught me, and I clung to her wheel like my beagles to the garbage they try and eat, until I felt a little more recovered.
By the time we got to the pits, I was feeling a little readier to punch it, and we caught back up to Linnea's group of herself, Hannah Kirshner, and Erin Duggan. I rode with them for the next couple laps, mostly just willing my legs to keep up on the pavement, and then in the sand on lap 5, I started riding sloppy and took myself out. It felt good to lie down, so I sat there in the track for a moment, causing Kim and Erin to dismount, and Linnea and Hannah to get away. Running out of the sandpit, my left thigh was kind of numb, I guess I whacked it pretty hard on my saddle. I got back on the bike, and it felt really funny. Oh, my saddle is twisted by 30 degrees. Good thing the pit is right there.
Got everything straightened out, lost another couple places, and tried to convince myself I could catch the girl in pink arm warmers. When I was just as far behind her after the run-up, my will to race sort of drifted away from me. My legs were sending clear messages that they were done, and since I had backed off, my brain was clear enough to hear and interpret these messages. After making sure that the next girl behind me was well behind me, I soft pedalled in and wallowed in my physical misery.
At least I had hot pants. For everyone who saw the silver knickers (or the blue hibiscus ones) on me, or the green shiny ones on Linnea, and you're jealous and want some for yourself, check out www.fiestawear.blogspot.com, Linnea is selling these spandex, although shes just starting out right now and theres not much on the blog. You could have your very own hot pants.
Pictures are coming.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
GP of Gloucester, day 1
We got there early so Ed could partake in the madness that was 125 cat. 4 men trying to negotiate a course together... after watching those shenanigans, I felt like anything was possible. The course was fast and dry, and the sand was completely rideable since it was slightly damp, creating a nice trail going through it. The B women went off at noon, and Anna was riding my bike again so I was rooting for her. She asked me, before the race, "should I try and sprint to the front? Or is that not even worth it?" I told her to go for it and not be surprised when she dusted everyone. I didn't see the women's start, but halfway through lap 1 Anna was already in the lead group, with one girl dangling out front by 20 seconds. A couple laps later, it was pretty clear Anna was going to win, and she did so in dominating fashion. "Am I technically allowed to race this category? What is the worst they can do? Disqualify me?" Ah, conscience, but this was her second cross race so I think its totally legit.
After the killer B's went off, I got in a couple laps of the course, and then went to line up. Linnea and I were in the very last row, of approximately 5 or 6 rows. I wasn't nervous until I stood there and got really, really, scared. Lynne Bessette had just had an awesome race with the B men, but she was probably going to do it again... and I really didn't want to get lapped.
I had a fairly relaxed start, moving past a couple people and then getting stuck with the train of riders going around corners waaaay too slowly. I stayed calm, mostly, and when we got to a slightly steep runup, one girl dabbed and then kind of fell over, and I snuck around on the inside, while Linnea got caught behind her. I was pretty much constantly moving up through the first lap, and by lap 2 I was falling in with a small group with Melody Chase and Kat Carr, with Kim Blodgett just behind me. We picked off one or two other riders, but mostly just stayed in that order. I found that I was a LOT faster in the run-up (oh, if only it were longer...), pretty good on the corners and in the sand, and absolutely atrocious on the little uphill road part. It was like my life force was slowly being sucked out of me the longer I spent on that pavement. I would get gapped there, because my legs are unable to unleash the mad watts that these people who ride bikes have at their disposal, and then I would make it up on the corners afterwards using this secret trick called momentum. Ahh, physics.
Coming through the bell lap, I felt like hell (but thats normal in a cross race, no?). But there were so many people out there screaming themselves hoarse for me that I fought, and kept trying to move up. Past the pits I noticed that there was another Velo-Bella ahead of us, it looked strangely like Anna Milkowski, but I had just heard the announcers talking about how she was having such a great race, so this couldn't be her... apparently, she blew up. So, we hit the pavement for the last time, and Kat accelerates away from us the way road racers apparently know how to do (I knew I should have actually raced this summer), and Kim went ahead of me without even trying, and I settled for third in our little pack... I don't know if there were more people close to us, but I beat Anna Milkowski, and its not like she had a mechanical. That must have sucked for her. Anyway, I finished in 28th, of 48 starters (I think? Maybe more?). I like that.
So then we watched the elite men, and my parents were fully introduced to the craziness that is cyclocross. My mom really fell for Tim Johnson, she was rooting for him like crazy. And then we ate lobster and life was good.
After the killer B's went off, I got in a couple laps of the course, and then went to line up. Linnea and I were in the very last row, of approximately 5 or 6 rows. I wasn't nervous until I stood there and got really, really, scared. Lynne Bessette had just had an awesome race with the B men, but she was probably going to do it again... and I really didn't want to get lapped.
I had a fairly relaxed start, moving past a couple people and then getting stuck with the train of riders going around corners waaaay too slowly. I stayed calm, mostly, and when we got to a slightly steep runup, one girl dabbed and then kind of fell over, and I snuck around on the inside, while Linnea got caught behind her. I was pretty much constantly moving up through the first lap, and by lap 2 I was falling in with a small group with Melody Chase and Kat Carr, with Kim Blodgett just behind me. We picked off one or two other riders, but mostly just stayed in that order. I found that I was a LOT faster in the run-up (oh, if only it were longer...), pretty good on the corners and in the sand, and absolutely atrocious on the little uphill road part. It was like my life force was slowly being sucked out of me the longer I spent on that pavement. I would get gapped there, because my legs are unable to unleash the mad watts that these people who ride bikes have at their disposal, and then I would make it up on the corners afterwards using this secret trick called momentum. Ahh, physics.
Coming through the bell lap, I felt like hell (but thats normal in a cross race, no?). But there were so many people out there screaming themselves hoarse for me that I fought, and kept trying to move up. Past the pits I noticed that there was another Velo-Bella ahead of us, it looked strangely like Anna Milkowski, but I had just heard the announcers talking about how she was having such a great race, so this couldn't be her... apparently, she blew up. So, we hit the pavement for the last time, and Kat accelerates away from us the way road racers apparently know how to do (I knew I should have actually raced this summer), and Kim went ahead of me without even trying, and I settled for third in our little pack... I don't know if there were more people close to us, but I beat Anna Milkowski, and its not like she had a mechanical. That must have sucked for her. Anyway, I finished in 28th, of 48 starters (I think? Maybe more?). I like that.
So then we watched the elite men, and my parents were fully introduced to the craziness that is cyclocross. My mom really fell for Tim Johnson, she was rooting for him like crazy. And then we ate lobster and life was good.
Friday, October 12, 2007
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