A New Adventure

Yesterday was a busy, adventorous day. I decided to go back to the trail on flatted on and give it another go. This time I went with my husband Royce so we could enjoy the trail together. Started out great. The weather was beautiful and it was the perfect temperature. We parked at Timpanooke campground and took off towards the east. The first part we cross a bridge. I was doing fine until I came to the second part of the bridge where there were to planks together. I got caught in the middle of the two planks and lost my balance. Lucky for me I did not fall into the water. The next part is beautiful single track that rolls up and down through the mountain for about 2 miles.
Royce rolling through the meadow.


















After the meadow it starts to get a bit steep for a bit. We rode over roots and rocks, which was really cool and pretty. Once it leveled off we came to an obsticle in on the trail. A giant pine tree had fallen in the middle of the trail. Once we passed the pine tree we continued on our way and went through another meadow and started back up hill. About this time we realized we didn't have much time left, so we did the best thing possible, and bombed down all of the trail we had just climbed. What a blast. Love going up hill, and I love going down. I can't wait to go on this trail again.

Superstitions

Before I play a softball game there are certain things I must do in order to feel like I will play a good game. Some of them have always been obvious to me, but today I learned I have a few more than I realized. One superstition I have always had was shaving before a game. I must shave my legs before a game and wear my sliding pad to avoid having to slid. If I do not do this then almost always I end up sliding that game. This doesn't always keep me from sliding, but it does decrease the chances. I learned today that my refusing to warm up before a game is superstitious. I do not warm up (throw the ball) before a game, because I throw it most of the game. Today I helped a teammate warm up, and I felt out of sorts for the first little bit. And finally, I always wear the same visor to my games. Well, today I couldn't find it, I looked and looked and finally ended up wearing a different hat. Needless to say this was not my game. Of the 5 times I got up to bat I walked 2, and then hit three piddly hits. Even though I had a powerful swing I could not connect with the ball, and it barely rolled off the bat. I think I need to find my hat and hold strong on not warming up before a game.

With all this I wonder if I have any supersitions with mountain biking that I am not aware of. If not maybe I should. Yesterday I took my bike up to AF Canyon to explore the trails and get to know the area. I decided to take Timponooke loop. The first 3.5 miles was fun, it was at that point I realized I and made a wrong turn and needed to back track. This was not a big deal as I did not have too specific of an agenda. I started back up pine hollow trail when all of the sudden I hear a pop and psssst. Sure enough I have torn my tire and its not sealing up. (I run tubeless, so the idea is when you get a hole it will seal up). I kept hoping it would seal and spun the tire around, but it didn't. I then took out my CO2 cartridge to see if it would help....no luck. I then turned my bike upside down and took on changing my first flat tire. I did great and was really proud of this accomplishment. I blow the tube up a little bit and then get out my second CO2 cartridge to fill it up. Somehow I ended up breaking the valve stem and all of the air comes out. I turned the bike over and began the hike back to my car. I didn't go too far when another rider was coming down the hill. He offered me his tube, and once again I proceeded to change my tire. He stayed and patched his tube while I got my tire ready. Unfortunately his tube didn't work, and I now had another flat tube. Luckily he was going back to his car which was less than 1/2 mile and offered to drive me to my car. Of course I accepted, who wants to walk 3.5 miles when you can get a lift. I thanked Mark (that was his name), loaded my bike up and went home. When I got to town a couple of blocks from my home I saw a rider walking his bike with a flat tire. I pulled over and helped him change his tire and gave him a tube so he could get home. It was nice to be able to help someone. Of course all of this bring me to my original question, should I have a superstition before I ride? Maybe I would avoid having a flat. :-) Probably not, but it might help.
Fixing my first flat.


















View from where I flatted

Deer Valley I-Cup Race

My first year racing, my first year riding and it has been a blast. Saturday morning started out way too early for me. I woke up at 4:00 in the morning to howling wind. I quickly started to go back to sleep when my youngest woke up at 4:30 and decided to read a book. By the time I got her to go back to sleep it was 5 am. No sense going back to bed, Iwould have to get up soon and then I would just be tired. So my day started fairly early. After we got ready we took off for Deer Valley. It was drizzling in on the ride, but I was hopeful. As we arrived in Deer Valley it ws no longer raining...it was snowing, and felt like February! Some people in the parking lot were not sure they were going to race. I didn't care, I came to race and knew it would be fun.

The race was fun. I wouldn't say this was my best race, but I gave it my best. I tried to warm up, but I could not get my legs warm. I finally gave up on the riding to warm up and went to the start line. The start line is always fun you get to know new people and do the pre-race banter. The race did not start out the best. I took off fine, but could not get clipped in. My pedals kept spinning as I tried to clip in. Finally I had to slow down and coast so it would go in...ugh time lost. Once in I took off and started to pass people. I saw Dot up ahead, and was hoping to close the distance. I kept going and one by one picked my way to the top. About 3/4 of the way up I started to have difficulty breathing. I am sure I scared some of the people I was passing, because they could tell that I was not getting enough air in. I figure as long as I am not about to pass out I will keep on going. In this case I knew I was close to getting a little bit of relief. I got to the downhill and tried the best to get through the snow and mud...this was tenative, but I did it then it was off again to get Dot. I could see her up ahead, and there were 3 riders between us, so I kept pedaling hard. We were still going uphill, but not as steep. It was shortly after this point I lost sight of Dot, but I saw some of the riders that were between us, so I could only hope she was not far ahead. Needless to say I never saw her again, but I kept trying. The down hill on the first portion of the course was not my best ride. I tried, but was way too brake happy. I had one of the beginning women finally catch me and wanted to pass, but there was no where to pass. She hung with me for a bit, and then when there was a spot to pass she saw it was uphill and held her pace. I of course took off, and started to pass some of those who had passed me on the downhill. Luckily they were close, so I knew I hadn't done too bad and was still hopeful to see Dot, but had a feeling she was too far ahead to catch. Of course at the same time I am trying to catch Dot I am worried about Heather catching me, because I saw her on one of the switchbacks and knew she was close. The uphill for the second part was a good climb, but at least it was switchbacked up instead of straight up. The going down was much better on the race than when I had pre-ridden it. The switchbacks were cleaned out of loose rocks and it was a much cleaner trail. The worst part was when the pros started to pass. There are not a lot of passing places on the trail. I try to pull over so they can get by as quickly as possible. Most of them are polite and know we are trying to help. I had one come up though that made it a little difficult. He came up and said pro, but of course I had no idea what he was saying. I went "what", and then he said "pro" a little louder. I gave him a place to pass, and reminded him I am racing too. Too bad he just didn't say right or left. Towards the end of the course I had an endo and dropped my chain. Instead of the quick 10 second get it back on it took over 30 seconds, because I was flustered and trying to hurry. After that it was clear riding up to the last switchback which I took, but boy did I struggle to stay on the trail. I had one foot unclipped and was sliding all over the trail. My teammate behind me told me he was sure I was going off, but somehow I kept it together. After that it was flat terrain and a sprint to the end. I ended up taking 2nd place!!! Dot beat me by 3 min and 30 seconds. I definitely did not decrease my time between the winner and me. My goal for the end of the year will be to be only behind the winner by less than a minute.

Climbing the first hill.

Uncertain about the first switchback.

Mandy's race was not as fun for her. It was cold and wet, and she was freezing from falling in the mud and wet. She took 2nd out of the girls and 6th overall. If you look at the pictures below you can see the race on her face.

Deer Valley Pre-ride

I went yesterday with Dot to pre-ride Deer Valley (wanted to go Monday, but the trail wasn't marked). When we got there we saw Dale and Rachel heading up to the trail. They said they would see us later on the trail. We then ran in to Tasha and Whitney (Whitney races sport, so I have never met her before). We decided to ride together as a group. Tasha, Whitney and Dot are all strong riders, so after our first uphill bout I went to the back so I wouldn't hold them back. I did okay and kept up with them, but there were a couple of spots I had a bit of struggle. The first part of the trail starts with a killer climb and then you level off and go onto single track of mud and snow, and then on to single track in the trees. The first DH is fast and fun. It is smooth and I loved it. There is one spot where you run in to a snow bank and I wondered where the trail went, but once that was figured out you crossed the snow and kept going. At the bottom of the downhill you hit pavement and then turn to go back up hill. A good climb, but not a straight up and down like the first part of the trail. The downhill on this was fun, but there were a couple of places that were sketchy. One switchback was so tight I didn't take it right and ended up grabbing a tree to avoid crashing with my bike. After that there were some loose switchbacks with big rocks. Then you head down to some flat singletrack with brush and on to pavement. It is going to be a fast race with these downhills.

Tasha, Dot Whitney, Dale & Rachel halfway through the course.

Icup #7 - Sundance

What a great day for a race. The weather was not too warm and not too cold. We arrived shortly after 7 am for registration and to get Mandy ready for her race. Mandy's race started at 8:15 am. Her race was held away from the main racing area, so while the kids were waiting to race a few of them wandered up to the main racing area. This caused the race to be delayed while we waited for the kids to get down to the starting line. Ed in order to keep the kids pre-occupied ran the course and had the kids follow on their bikes. As parents we found this very entertaining.





Once all the kids were there the race began. It was a short course, so they did 5 laps, which is not bad until you realize some of them forget what lap they are on and so they try to follow the leader in to the finish even though he may have lapped them 2 times. Luckily everyone got them back out racing without much time lost. Mandy had a great race. She took 6th overall and 2nd out of the girls. She rode down stairs which was awesome. When we first started riding she would not attempt anything, and now she is riding hills and going down stairs!!!

My race went great! Before I tell about the race I need to say I race against and ride with some of the greatest women ever. Dot (Mad Dog) gave me some great racing advice after our race was over. She didn't need to, but she did and it made me have a better understanding of some race strategy. How cool is that. And Jolene (UMB) instead of pushing by me on the bottom half of the downhill stayed with me and talked me out of my tense frustration I was having trying to get the downhill. If it wasn't for her I would have been more sketched riding down the hill. What 2 great women, and everyone in my category is that way. Which shows another reason why racing and the mtb community is so great.




My race started out just fine. I was out near the front with Dot, but not in a hurry I figured as long as she was close and I could see her all would be good. This was good, but I got a little worried as soon as we hit the single track. There was a beginning 13-15 UMB team member that was ahead of me. He was doing great, but was not going fast enough for me. I believe this was his first time racing in this division, so he didn't understand he needed to let me pass, and that it was okay. I was behind him, when all of the sudden he did an endo right off the trail and down the hill, by another rider in his division. I asked if he was okay, took my bike and picked it up over his and went on my way. (he was okay) Within just a moment I caught Dot, and we went neck and neck for quite a ways. I kept right behind her as we passed other riders. Amazing enough each rider let us both go by, I am glad for that, because it would have been harder to stay with her if a rider got between us. Eventually I found a spot to pass her and took my moment and passed. After that I didn't know where she was behind me, but I knew I needed to keep riding, when all of the sudden we came out to uphill double track and my heart sank. I completely forgot about this. Somewhere along this double track Dot passed me back and once again I had to hang on her tail. I did pretty good, but at one point we ended up having a rider in between us and I couldn't stay right with her, but I did see her and she was not far away. And then we hit the downhill and she was off and I tried to keep up. However downhill is not my strongest skill at this moment. I worked hard to stay with Dot when I came to this one section that has two little trees you have to go through. I kept thinking don't look at the trees, and as I went through my handle bar grabbed the tree and all of the sudden I was sailing through the air and my bike was flipping over. I hit the ground softly, jumped up, flipped my bike back up and took back off to catch Dot. (my first endo in a race and I was okay) After that I had aonther slight wipe out, and started to get frustrated, and then another wipe out that added to my frustration. My second wipe out Jolene caught up to me. She was awesome and talked to me amd calmed me down on the rest of the ride downhill. I get very frustrated that my downhill is not so great. She was great and the nice part later was she reminded me I haven't been mountain biking very long. I forget this and put a lot of expectation to be able to keep up with everyone else. At the bottom of the downhill you come out onto uphill pavement. Ouch....I got on the pavement and tore off riding to keep strong, and then I looked back and Jolene was not pushing the sprint, so I was able to back off some. Thank goodness, because it sure would have hurt if I had to keep going strong. Which also would have been fun. I ended up taking 2nd today. Good day for a race. Can't wait for the next one.

MVHS Graduation

My oldest daughter graduated today from Mountain View High School with her diploma!!! Not only did she get her HS diploma, she also got her Associates Degree from UVSC. Way to go Shandy. She is sooo smart.

The graduate.

Two sisters celebrating.

Shandy and her Uncle Ryan, by the way he's single and I think he needs a cute, fun girlfriend.

The youngest is hamming it up.

After 3 tries this is the best we could get.

Draper Race

The Draper Icup Race was last night, it was fun and challenging. Racing at night is different than racing in the morning. You have worked all day, your eating schedule is a little off, and the sun and heat definitely play different on your body. With that said I noticed some of this, but it did not seem to affect my racing. As usual the Women 35+ started at the back of the pack. The beginning women were nice and let us go in front of them. That was nice of them. I started out strong, actually too strong. I immediately jumped to the front of the pack and led the way. I was going at a good clip when I got to the stream. Apparently there was a grate to cross on, but I did not see it and ended up washing out and off by bike. I said an expletive and unfortunately there were a lot of people sitting there watching. Ooops, sorry to those that were around. Luckily it did not affect my place, and I kept going. I did great up to the double track before the trail split to left or right (half or full loop), and realized at that point I had gone out too strong. I had to back off, and watched as Dot (mad dog), Tasha (racers), Rhonda (revolution) and Jolene (UMB), passed me. I let Jolene know I was going to be back, but would see her later (yea, the finish line). On the way to the long climb I felt the affects of pushing it too soon, and was not at my best. I was able to continue strong, but had to go around people which was fine expect for one guy who would not let me by. Eventually I ended up clipping his tire and losing my balance causing me to get off my bike. Another expletive was made. He stopped and let me by, but there were 2 people right on my tail, and they got past. None in my group, but still I could have stayed ahead of them. Instead I followed them up to the long climb and then passed. The climb was good I had to take it a little slow at the first for recovery, but after about a mile I was good to go. I could still see Jolene and that was the motivation I needed to keep going. I knew they were close by and hopefully I could keep it close. On the long climb I passed a beginning 13-15 UMB rider. He was putting in a lot of effort and standing up to climb. I let him know he still had 1.5 miles to go and he might want to reserve some of that energy. Not sure if he listened, but I saw him later when he finished and he seemed fine. Things went pretty well going down Clarks trail. I felt pretty good and the ride was going smooth until the last part when it started to get very rutted. At that point I had a difficult time riding fast and smooth (I am still not secure on fast DH). I ended up at the bridge going slower than I ever have, but continued on. The next part went well. I hit the gravel section and remembered what Dale Hutchings had said and kept spinning my pedals which got me through without any problems. Whew, what a relief because that is probably one of the most difficult parts for me. On the bottom portion of the Spring Hollow portion there are a lot of switchbacks. I hit the first tight switchback started to take it wide, when out of nowhere two riders cut on the inside of the switchback and clipped my front tire. Luckily one foot was unclipped, so I was able to retain my balance. I yelled an expletive at them and told them to let me know they needed to pass. They were the only goobers who didn't let me know they needed to pass. The rest of the switchbacks went without incident and all racers that needed to pass were able to do so without affecting my ride or theirs. I was able to use some skills I learned at our UMB skills clinic and MTB camp. During the race I let a racer pass, and we came to some planks we had to ride across. He did not make it, and had one tire on and one off, and kept trying to walk it and get on. I was able to track stand and wait while he loaded up and got on his bike. That was a cool feeling not losing my balance and being able to keep going. The rest of the race went without incident. I was able to go okay, on the downhill, but this is something I need to work on. Too much space gets between me and other riders on downhill.

I ended up taking 5th place which is good. Jolene (UMB) took 4th and Sally (UMB) took 5th. Tasha 1st, Dot 2nd and Rhonda 3rd. Next race is at Sundance at Saturday. Hoping to pre-ride today, but boy am I tired. Not from the race, but from staying up until 2 am....That's the downside to evening races, too wound up to go to sleep when you get home.

Mandy's race went well. She placed 19th overall and 2nd out of the girls (around 30 in her division). She is getting much better at riding her bike and it is way cool. I watched her ride up hills that at the first of the racing season she would have walked. It's fun to see her go, having fun and making new friends.

Race Cancelled

Race was cancelled due to excessive rain. Here are some pictures a teammate took.

Parking lot 7:25 am.

Tunnel

Hill west side of tunnel

Stream

Jitters

I don't know why, but I have pre-race jitters today. I keep thinking about the race and getting nervous. Normally the night before race day I am fine, and I am concentrating on getting ready for the next day. But today that is not the case. Maybe it is because instead of having other distractions throughout today (work, school, errands) this day I don't have any. Today is more of hang out and relax day. So much for the relax part. Oh well, soon I will go to sleep and then it will be morning, and the nerves will hopefully be replaced with anticipation.

Stan Memorial Draper Race Pre-Ride #3

I went this afternoon to ride the Draper Race Course. I met Dale and Rachel Hutchings, and we rode the lower loop of the race course. Actually we rode all but the steep climb for 2.25 miles and the trail to the steep climb. The trail is beautiful with purple flowers and trees full of green leaves. Rachel noticed the flowers looked like fireworks....what a great observation. Heading down we followed Rachel. She is 14 and a new rider. I was so impressed with her riding. She was not afraid to take on any part of the course. I am much older than her and there are many parts of the course that I am very hesitant on. On the course there are some very tight switchbacks that are very difficult to maneuver. Rachel took one of these too tight and ended up getting launched into the trees. As I came around the switchback there she was laying on top of the trees, along with her bike. The very impressive thing was she got up, brushed herself off, and was ready to ride. I don't know if I could have done that when I was 14. The rest of the course went smoothly. There is one part of the course that we could not ride. What once was a small stream is no longer small.

Check out the water level.