Don't Get a massage

and then go immediately for a bike ride. I had a massage early this morning, and was going to ride later this afternoon, but the weather was not going to cooperate, so we rode right after my massage.

When we arrived at 5 mile pass it was raining, not hard but more than a sprinkle. We waited about 5 to 10 minutes and the rain stopped. We got out and got our bikes ready. The mud around the car was thick and stuck to our shoes. I was crossing my fingers the trail was not as bad as the mud around the car.

Mud stuck to my shoes while getting my bike ready.

We took off up the trail, and as luck would have it conditions were pretty good. The trail was well drained and tacky. I struggled to keep up with the group as we rode. My legs did not want to work and pedaling was much more difficult than it should have been. My body was very angry at me for any physical exertion after having such a relaxing massage. It could not figure out how to function. The worse part was when we came to the hike a bike. Two things happened here my body could hardly tredge up the hill, and the second was it was muddy. I had mud caked on my shoes, and at the steepest part I started to slide down the hill backwards. I actually had to go off the trail to stop from sliding. At the top I had to clean off my shoes and a little bit of my bike, and then we took off.

The single track turned out to me a little bit muddy, going down rocks and mud flipped onto my face. Then on the flat more rocks and mud flipping, but it was so much fun to go so fast. The flat towards the wash nice and tacky, but right before the wash we were surprised by a mud bog. I was riding fine one minute and the next I was slipping and sliding all over the place. I came to a spot where I had to walk my bike and by the time I go to the good stopping point my rear tire had so much mud on it, it would not roll. I stopped and took the mud off--there had to be at least 20 pounds of mud on my bike. After clearing the mud I took off and then was stopped quickly by sliding and mud bog again. This time it did not take as long to clean my bike. Then down the wash I went.

Normally down the wash I would take the best line, but this time the best line was whatever rocks I could find. Riding over the rocks helped with getting the mud off my bike. The was was so much fun, I can't wait for race day to ride it again. At the bottom of the wash we cleaned our bikes and waited for Tim. He had decided to ride the wash again. Which was fine, since I passed him going up as I was going down. I was quite the lagger today.

Tim at the bottom of the wash after his second run. Apparently the second run got rid of all the mud on his bike.

The rest of the ride was great and there were no more mud bogs. I still went slow and my body felt fairly trashed by the time we got to the car. I am hoping it is due to the massage and not being out of shape. At the car we waited for the rest of our group who arrived about 20 minute later. Right after they got there it started to rain. We lucked out, we only got one lap in but we stayed dry.

Dave checking out the storm coming in.

Getting the bike cleaned off.

When I got home it took a while to get the mud off my bike, apparently the mud at 5 mile is more clay than mud. I am crossing my fingers conditions for the race are better than today or I may end up needing to invest in a high pressure washer.

The mud mess I had to clean up.

No More Lights!!!

I went riding this morning at 5:30. This is actually fairly normal, but today I opted for no lights. The first of the ride was dark, and I was a little nervous that I had made a poor decision not taking my lights. But it turned out fine, by the time I got to the trail I could see fine. It was a blast riding without lights and actually seeing the trail. Next time I will take some pictures, I never realized how cool the view was as the sun starts to rise.

On a side note. The other day I was riding to the Provo River Trailhead. On the way there was construction on the paved trail/sidewalk that blocked off people going by. I had a choice to ride up on the grass hill, or get off my bike and walk around. I chose going on the grass hill. The workers looked at me and Jen (BTW Jen was with me) like we were nuts. We rode, and found our place to get back on the trail. There was a construction worker there so I checked if we could get back on there. He indicated yes, and then being very polite told me to me careful as I was dropping on to a little dirt and pavement. I thought it was nice of him to be so polite, but it made me laugh as that was probably the easiest mountain bike riding I would be doing for the day.

Oh My Seat (Butt) Bones

Normally I like to tell of the fun I had on the trail. And this weekend I had a great amount of fun. I mountain biked and road biked and had great fun riding with friends. However, there will be other times to tell of my fun. Today I am going to share in my weekend woe, or more to the point my bruised butt bones. Sorry if I offend anyone, but it is what it is

My husband informed me that I do not have butt or seat bones. But I disagree, because the bones I sit on are bruised and sore, therefore they are my seat/butt bones.

This weekend I learned the importance of a good saddle. I did 2 separate rides Saturday. The first was a small mountain bike ride. We rode up Squaw Peak, and then up roller coaster road to Dragons Back, down Dragons Back to the trail and home. I did this ride on my WSD saddle and was comfortable the entire time. Distance only 24 miles, and I felt really good and ready for my next ride--a road ride out to Lincoln Beach.

The ride to Lincoln Beach was a slow to moderate pace and only 36 miles. I have done this distance and more on my mountain bike without any problems or any soreness, but today on the road bike ouch! Let me say that again OUCH!!!

I do not have a WSD saddle on my road bike. The saddle is not a stock saddle, it's one I bought, but now that I have been spoiled by my other saddle is it the most miserable saddle I have been on, and it brings tears to my eyes--the tears are not tears of joy.

During the entire road ride I had to keep shifting around, and it did not matter how much shifting I did I was not going to be comfortable. Eventually I began to feel a burning sensation, I thought I was on fire! After that I became numb. This is not so bad as you can at least finish out your ride, but you really have no idea of how sore you are until you are done. Well, unfortunately I found out just how sore I was before my ride was done. The last couple miles we ended up on a gravel paved road. The vibration of the road took away all numbness. I don't think I could have gotten off the road soon enough.

Since my numbness was now gone I could not wait to finish our ride. Thank goodness we only had another mile or so to go. By the time we got back I more than ready to be done. I had a great time riding, but it is now time to buy a new saddle for my road bike--and to think all winter on the trainer I thought the pain was from the trainer...now I know.

A Cruel Joke

There will be no riding on the mountain bike for a couple of days.

I Was Tricked

This morning I woke up to 39 degrees outside and a recovery ride--one that I was looking forward to. Since it was a recovery ride I knew to dress a little bit warmer than I would for a mountain ride-since recovery rides are on road they tend to be a bit cooler than a mountain ride. I mentally had set my body and mind in to recovery mode, so a short, cool ride was on the brain.

At the meet site Todd was the first to show. He too was ready for a good ride. We waited a bit, but not too long, when Eric showed up, and then we started to ride. Steve had just gotten up and he would catch us soon. Being a recovery ride it meant we would see him soon, as riding on the flat road it is not hard to catch us. As we started to ride Eric told us Steve had emailed the night before and wanted to do a mountain ride today since rain was planned for the rest of the week. I made some comment about a recovery ride, and then said a mountain ride would be a good recovery ride, and expect me to go slow, so slow it was-a mere 4 miles an hour up the hill, usually I go 7 to 8 mph up this hill. This was slow, slow enough I was able to have a conversation without dying trying to breathe.

It was a great time riding on the mountain today. The trail was tacky from the previous rain storm, and there was a small herd of deer watching as we rode up the hill. The morning light came quickly this morning and we were only a third of the way to the top and could see most of the trail without our lights. Today I was not near as tentative riding as the last time on dirt, I felt much more comfortable riding and the brakes were used to help with my riding not to keep me from crashing. And I actually could see the guys in the distance, today they were not going to stay clear ahead of me--only a little bit ahead of me.

I may not have been prepared mentally or clothing wise for a mountain ride, but it was one of the best recovery rides we have had. And as far was being tricked for the ride, Steve ended up getting the short end of the stick, since he was late he had to catch up via a mountain climb instead of a flat ride. Sorry Steve, I guess next time you change the ride you will get up on time. ;-)

Squaw Peak - South Fork

All week long I have been wanting to ride Squaw Peak, but time and weather did not cooperate. Today was the day rain or not I was going to ride Squaw Peak Road. The big decision before the ride was whether to ride skinny or fat tires. I chose fat tires mostly because I did not want to take my bike off the trainer. With this decision I was off.

The weather was not so bad. It was cloudy, overcast 51 degrees and no wind--a good day for a hill climb. Starting up Squaw Peak road I immediately jumped in to my small cog. The last time I rode up Squaw Peak I had to be in my granny gear. As I rode I realized granny gear was way to easy and switched up to my middle cog. This was a great feeling, because last year the idea of riding up Squaw Peak in my middle cog was inconceivable.

Since the gate was closed going up the road was great. I could ride any part of the road and did not have to worry about cars. The road was fairly clear for about half way, and then there started to appear snow patches here and there. I was able to scoot around the snow without any problems, but as a I got further up the snow started to cover the road more and I ended up hiking over three spots until I came to the point where I could no longer ride. From here I turned around and rode down.

One of the obstacles on the road.

End of the road. I was not going to hike a bike on this section.View on the way down the road.

I had put on my windbreaker for the downhill, but I should have put on my ear warmers and gloves as it was brrrr cold coming down. At the bottom I still felt the need to ride, so I took off to South Fork. On the way I crossed over a section where there had been an avalanche. I think it will be awhile until this section is cleared.

Going up South Fork I did not feel as strong as I did on Squaw Peak. I was still in my middle cog, but some of my kick had gone, but I persevered. Up ahead I saw a roadie, and thought it would be cool to catch him, however my legs did not agree. As I went up it started to sprinkle just a bit, but not enough to deter me and cause me to turn around. I continued all the way to the end, and this time I put on extra gloves, ear warmer and wind breaker.

Deer eating by the side of the road. I took this while riding, looks just like the ones when I am standing still....blurry.

The ride down was not near as cold as Sqauw Peak but it was very, very wet. The rain had picked up and I ended up riding all the way home in the rain. When I got home I was soaked to the skin, but very, very happy. There is nothing better than a good long ride.

On the Dirt Again

Monday and Tuesday were recovery rides for me. Apparently hitting my head hurt a lot more than I realized. Monday was the typical recovery day, but Tuesday I still hurt, but it was a beautiful day, a perfect dirt day. I was very tempted, and I knew if I rode dirt I would pay the price, lucky for me Mandy wanted to go for a ride. Since we did not have time to drive to Lambert, we took off to the Provo Trail. We had a fun ride up to Bridal Veil Falls and back. On our ride we saw KC--she had just come down from the foothills. She gave some good routes for the time when I take Mandy up there.
Mandy heading up to the falls.

Mandy on the trail.

Wednesday morning I got up early and took off to meet the guys for an early morning dirt ride before work. Typically when we meet we all go up the hill together. However this day I saw the guys coming and decided since I was still sore from my crash I needed a head start and I took off up the hill. I must not have been as sore as I thought as Steve did not catch me until I turned on to Canyon Creek. It was here he told me we were going to go North. Ooops I guess I should have waited. Well, thanks to my taking off we were now going South.

I continued up the hill and then told Steve I was taking off down the trail on my own as I knew the guys would catch up to me soon--they are a lot faster than me on the downhill. Most of the downhill, I rode tentatively, and that is putting it mildly. For the first part of the ride I had my brakes on every time I hit a downhill and when I took berms or turns it was like an awkward growing teenager. This is the part I hate about crashing, no matter how hard I try to ride like normal I can't. It seems my body refuses to do what I want and I can't convince myself I will be okay.

By the time I got to the end of the downhill Steve was right on my tail. We went into the parking lot where he was sure the others were far away. I knew better and sure enough 30 seconds later Kerry and Eric came in. We turned around and headed back.

This time things went much better. I braked a little less and on the turns and berms I glided and kept my sped versus wobbling and trying to make the turn. By the end of the ride I was almost back to riding normal. Now if the weather will cooperate I could get more practice in.

Cholla Left It's Mark

The night before the race there was trepadation as to what the conditions would be for riding the next day. Outside it was raining and the weather report had changed from a sunny Saturday to a windy, rainy Saturday. However, Saturday morning brought clear blue skies and sunshine!

We arrived at the race course around 9 in the morning. Although it was sunny and clear it was 38 degrees with a slight breeze. I got Mandy and me registered and prepared out bikes while jumping in and out of the car to keep warm. The breeze was just enough to give you the chills. It was then time to face the cold and ride Mandy's course with her. We rode and did one lap. I thought Mandy would like this course as it had a fun downhill and was mostly flat except for one hill. Mandy did like it, especially the downhill.

After riding with Mandy I took off with some friends to ride the slickrock and then wait for Mandy to ride by during her race. I saw the kids go by for their first lap while I was on the slickrock, so I went down to the course and waited for Mandy to come by on her second lap, but there was no Mandy. I waited and waited and then finally decided she was not going to show up, and took off up the hill to find her. I found her crying by the car. She did not feel good and had quite the race. I had been a little concerned about her racing as she was sick all week and did not go to school until Thursday, but she wanted to race, so she did. She has great determination, but the sick stomach won out. She was really sad when she found out she DNF. I told her it was okay, but she was heartbroken.

By the time my race started it had warmed up to the perfect temperature for riding. At the start line we talked with friends and caught up on what was going on. Then it was time to take off. Tasha got a jump out to the front, but I was quick to catch her and take the lead. As we rode down the hill I began to get a dizzy feeling and was worried it would affect my ride, but the dizziness left and I kept going out. I could hear the riders behind me and I knew they were right on my tail, and sure enough as we turned the corner to head for the slick rock Tasha passed me. I stayed with her as we climbed the slick rock and then it was on the top portion of the slick rock that Jen (my teammate) passed me. From this point on we were one, two, three. As we climbed I would shorten the distance between us and as we went across technical stuff they would spread it out. It was during this time I realized I need to turn it up as both these riders have skills on the downhill like nobodies business and if I let them get too far ahead I was going to lose them.

I picked it up and then we came to chatterbox hill. Tasha and Jen were flying down the hill, and put a little bit of distance between me. At the bottom of the hill is singletrack with climbing. It was here Tasha got a flat tire. My heart felt for her. There is nothing worse than being stopped by a mechanical. I kept on and before long I saw Jen again. I continued to pound on the pedals to catch up to her. It felt like a cat and mouse game with Jen being the mouse and me the cat getting close but not close enough.

As we rode we came to a hill where I passed Dale. I remembered at the top of this hill it was churned up when we pre-rode, so I took it wide to make it up. Ooops big mistake. The rain had fixed the churning and I went to wide and ended up hitting a rock that stopped me cold and caused Dale and me both to have to dismount. I hate stopping my ride, but it's worse to stop another ridder. It was three steps to the top and then I was back on my bike riding hard. I don't know how far I went, or how it happened, but it was not far before I ended up having a doozy of a crash. How I crashed I am not sure, but I went down and I went down hard. I rolled off my bike and ending up hitting the back of my head on a rock. Thank goodness for my helmet!!!

Dale asked if I was okay, and I was jumping up grabbing my bike and telling him to go, go, go. There was no way I was going to stop him again, and there was no way I was going to let my crash stop me. I jumped back on my back and took off only to find out my chain was dropped. My heart dropped as I got off and fixed my chain. This was going to give Jen a good lead on me. Once the chain was back on my ring I took off with every ounce of speed I had.

As I rode I went to shift and realized by shifter was broken, and I was going to have to ride the rest of the race in my middle cog. Thank goodness it got stuck there and not in my small chain ring. As I rode across the trail I noticed a group of riders up ahead coming up to the singletrack and turning on it. About 5 to six riders had missed the turn and gone the wrong way. There bad luck turned out to be my good luck, because in that group was Jen. I continued to pound away at the pedals to catch Jen. We came to the last hill climb, before the flat and then it was on.

On the flat Jen was pounding hard and I was pounding hard. If I was going to get her it was going to be here. During this final push I could feel pain in my shoulder and my head was hurting, but all I could think about was I wanted to win this race, and I continued to pick up the pace. We came to a flat area and it was here I passed the 2 riders behind Jen. Now there was no one but her and me on the flat. I continued to pound away on my pedals, decreasing her lead little by little. We came to the final flat area. It is here the grade begins to go more uphill, and it was here I could see Jen fade. Now was the time to make I move. I pushed it out and right at the steep passed her to the top of the hill. At the top I continued to kick it in all the way to the finish to take my very first win!

Right after the race my legs were so spent that I had noodle legs and could hardly stand. My head hurt and the pain was starting to set in, but I got my first win. It was exciting to get my first blue ribbon, and honestly I hope I get a lot more.

At the start line.

Mandy at the start ready to go.

Start line before we get serious.

Preparing for Cholla

No there is no riding, lifting weights, yoga or anything like that. If I am not ready physically, then I am not ready. My preparation is much bigger than this, it involves several loads of laundry, cleaning the house, prepping our bikes, packing our bags and getting the food snacks together, and tomorrow getting 9 hours of work done in 5. Wish me luck.

Routine

Have you ever noticed how all of us have some type of routine to our lives. Sometimes it is consistent, sometimes it is not. I have different habits or routines, but they change quite frequently, and this creates much confusion for my pets. You see my pets have a routine and it is the same one when I come home.

When I arrive home I am greated by my two big, loveable labs. They immediately start to circle me and dance around. We then head to the back door I open it and they run out. It wouldn't matter if they were just out there, they will still run out. I then go upstairs to change out of my work clothes and our black kitty Ebby will bound up the stairs and follow me in to the room meowing and insisting she be held. I pick her up I rub her head, and then drop her on the bed and change. Once I change I go to the bathroom, where Tigger our reddish-blonde cat awaits for me to fill up his water dish. I then go downstairs and the guinea pigs begin to squeel in excitement for food. I feed them, and then I am done. Usually by this time the dogs have been let back in to the house and they have been following me all around. Funny enough there is only one pet that could care less that I am home, and that is the puff ball.

It's funny, because it does not matter when I come home, it doesn't matter if I detour a little bit around the house you are guaranteed the animals will do their little routine with me even if I don't follow it exactly.