Broken Nose, Birthday and Rock Climbing

Tuesday
Was in the championship softball game, second inning of tie breaker heading into the third. Runner is coming into home-first throws to home and I go in for a low tag, because the runner is supposed to slide--runner did not slide and I took it hard to the face. I ended up with a whiplash, 3 stiches and a broken nose. Saw the nose doctor on Friday and he said I had to wait for the break to heal inside and then he would do surgery--my septum is now deviated from the break. Oh, and riding a bike I found out I breathe more through my nose than I thought. Solitude is going to be interesting.
I put on make up so you couldn't see my black eyes. It doesn't look bad, but it sure does hurt!
Wednesday

Mandy had her 10th birthday. A day full of skating, swimming, cake and the movie Harry Potter. Oh and she got the guitar that she has been asking for, for the last 2 years!

Friday

Mandy has been going to the Quarry all week for climbing camp. Here are pictures of her climbing.

Mandy climbing up the white sections.

Doing the king swing.

Moose Crossing

Went to pre-ride Solitude tonight. Love the new course it is a lot of fun. Jen and I almost ran into two moose on our way towards the upper loop, just before the up hill climb begins. They were about 2 years old and were probably siblings. I don't know how long moose stay with their mom, but luckily we did not see a mom.

Blurred, but I got the picture.
Jen enjoying the trail.

Quick break for a picture-don't know who the rider is in the background.

Snowbird Icup Race

The morning of the race started out a bit sluggish. For those of you who do not know, I play on four softball teams. Right now we are in tournament. Three of the teams I am on are very competitive and we usually place in the top two of our division, one of the teams is a family team and we are not the best, but not the worst. Last night was the family team tournament. We played at 7 pm and if we won we kept playing until we lost. I was not worried about playing all night due to our past games, so I did not get a sub for the night, instead I showed up to play. Well you guessed it we played all night. By the time we finished I had pulled lmy eg muscle and did not get home until 10:30 pm, which meant I did not get to bed until 11:30 pm. By the time I got up, drove to Snowbird and got to the start line I was feeling very tired and unmotivated to race.

It seems being unmotivated to race only plays a small part in how I ride. As we worked our way up the line to the start I started to get the nervous, anticipation feeling. My competitiveness was starting to kick in. At the start line it was the normal joking and then it was down to business. As we started I took off. I could feel the hang over from playing the night before, but that was okay I still was going to pull to the front, and I did. Mentally I was not completely up for this, but apparently I have a stronger drive than I realize.

I ended up at the front of the pack, but Jolene was right there with me. I could hear her as we rounded corners, and by this I mean we actually were talking about the race and the course. We pulled over together twice to let a couple of young riders pass, we talked about the course and how we did not like a turn, we discussed whether I was going fast enough or not--I decided I was, especially because I knew we had another lap to do. We talked back and forth throughout the entire first lap and stayed together the whole time. We had more than one spectator comment that we should be racing not socializing, and apparently Royce felt the same way. I disagree it was nice to have someone close that first lap.

The second lap was a little bit different. This lap we were not as close, but we were still pretty close. We rode fairly close together throughout the first of the single track and then we came to the new section of trail. I kept pretty steady through here and then when I hit the switchbacks I finally got into race mode and decided to turn up the pace a bit. This turned out to be a necessity for later in the race.

Going up the switchbacks I could see Jolene behind me instead of hear her behind. At the top of the hill I hit the dreaded gravel road. My first time down this hill Jolene caught me and stayed right behind me, the second time down I rode it much better and did not see her the entire time, although I knew she was close behind. By the time I got to the bottom under the chairlift/tram I saw Jolene closing the gap. Once again I picked up the pace a bit as I climbed the road to the single track. It was about this time I heard wheels coming up speedily behind me. If Jolene was going that fast I would be happy to let her pass me. It turned out to be a young boy going through some voice changes--he sounded a lot like her, I sure hope it changes for the better.



Heading down the single track to the finish all I could think was don't screw this up, and of course about the time I thought this I screwed it up. There is a large bridge you go over and then you go to a little up hill that has some rocks you need to clear. I have never struggled to get over these rocks, but this time I lost traction and ended up off my bike. I was sure Jolene was going to get me right there and pass me. Lucky for me she did not, but she sure did get close. Glad I had put a little bit of distance between us.

I continued along and kept pushing hoping to increase the distance between us. I know how good Jolene is at sprinting at the end and I really did not want to have to sprint against her. I ended up on the road to the finish first and pushed it up the road. I crossed the finish line and just stayed there exhausted from the last little push. Jolene crossed 15 seconds later. We both hung on our bikes for a moment, gave our congrats' and moved on. I then took off to meet Mandy.



A final note. Apparently Ed has forgotten the 35+ division and the sport women division. We stood in the rain patiently waiting for him to call our division and names. After a bit we realized he was talking and it appeared podium was over. We had to get his attention and sure enough he had forgotten us. So we have now gone from getting our awards last, to being totally forgotten. Ed, I think you owe us and we need to be called first for the rest of the year at awards. ;-)
Racers lining up to the start. Having fun at the finish line before we start to race. Congrats and exhaustion at the finish line.
The forgotten podium in the rain. Mandy's Race

I would venture to say Mandy did not have fun at this race, and I guess I can't blame her if I was in her shoes. She is a funny little girl, she loves to go to the races, but struggles doing physical activity during the week. Today's race though I think she started with less than a happy face.

Mandy at the start line.

I dare say she got off to a good start, but this course is hard and the majority of it is climbing. On my second lap I saw Mandy on the new cut trail walking her bike just coming out of the trees. I gave her advice for the downhill and then did not see her again until after I had finished.

Starting off good.

After my finish I went and met Mandy. She was coming up the hill from under the chair lift/tram. Needless to say I did not come upon a happy campier. She is very discouraged about always being in last, and walking her bike so much. As we walked and sometimes rode the last part of the trail Mandy vented and let me know exactly how she felt about today's race.

She was very mad I did not tell her how hard the trail was. I should have told her it was mostly uphill and not very fun. She thought the down hill was not fun and boring on the road, and the other part was hard because of the rocks. She did not like the down hill at all. She was mad I had wasted her day, because she could have done better things with her time. When we got to the road and I was riding by her towards the finish, she asked me to go ahead because she was embarrassed to ride with me. I went ahead and she ended up eventually riding through the finish.

I had her stay for podium and as you can see there is a very unhappy face. Eventually the unhappy face disappeared with recovery of a Big Mac, fries and a drink. Well deserved after all she went through.

I struggle with having Mandy race. She likes the races and at the same time she hates them. She gets very discouraged coming in last and talks about what a horrible rider is. I worry because I don't want this to have a negative affect on her. I get her to ride her bike but not often enough--not from lack of trying. Yet she loves to ride when she does, loves going down hill and of course hates going up. The race courses are hard and she isn't skilled enough yet for them. So what does a mom do? She likes it, she doesn't? She has fun, she doesn't? Does she keep racing or does she stop?
The 12- under podium group.

Cold, tired and ready to go home.

Sharing

Royce and I do not get the opportunity to ride together very often. But the other day we were both home at the same time and I wanted to go ride BST north--so we quickly took off for a short one hour ride. I have told Royce about this trail many times, but have not had the chance to show him the trail, so I was very excited about showing it to him. I made sure he knew where to meet me, and then I took off riding to the trail and he met me in the car.

Royce met me near the top of 2000 North. My goal knowing how much hill climbing there was, was to keep it short and end on the downhill instead of having to climb back to the car. In theory this was good, but it was 93 degrees out, and Royce is not used to climbing, however he kept going and we made it to the top of Dry Canyon Road. Originally I had planned to go north--this involves more climbing, but then you go down, down, down which is a lot of fun. Once we got to the top though I decided I had shared enough in the pain pellet of riding (see Fat Cyclist Blog) Instead of going up and then down we just went down. I think I had shared enough pain for the day, although by the look on his face I don't think he was in too much pain.

The New Hair Cut

Mandy has quite the history of hair cuts. When she was little she cut her own hair not once, not twice, but three times! Each time we took her to the hair stylist to fix the mis-shapened hair. The third time I rushed her to the stylist as I knew her dad would be less than pleased to see the crooked short hair once again. Mandy loved going to get her hair cut and thought this was fun. Other times when we went to get her hair cut it would be a battle. I insisted she have bangs, she did not want bangs--mom's decision stood. Another time there mis-communication between mom, the stylist and dad (dad had taken her to get her hair cut), instead of coming home with a trim and bangs she came home with short hair. Poof dad he got in so much trouble for that one, so now the stylist and I have phone conversations about what type of hair cut Mandy will have.

This last time I called her up to let her know that Mandy could do whatever she wanted to her hair, except for no black, pink streaks and absolutely no color in her hair. Since Mandy was growing her hair long I figured she would come back with a trim. Wrong. Check out the new hairstyle she picked out herself.

Very Cute Hair Cut!

New Trail Ride

No work today, great weather, and mountain biking most of the day--could you ask for anything more. I went with Dot and Jen this morning to pre-ride the new Snowbird course. This year we do not have to ride up the yucky gravel hill, instead there is a new trail to ride up. I wanted to make sure I got a chance to ride it and today was the perfect day for it.

When we arrived around 8:30 am and the temperature was about 57 degrees--perfect riding weather. The trail was a little wet from the rain the day before, but no too bad. There were some slick roots and rocks along the way, but for the most part it was negotiable. Then we came to the new trail.

The first part of the new trail is still in grass. I don't know if they are going to dig this out or not, but it does ride through a somewhat swampy area. The first lap I walked through the grass to a portion that was cut out, the second lap there was no getting off the bike and getting my feet wet--it helps to know what to expect.

The first little portion of the new trail is very nice. It is close together much like the first, and a little rough of course, because people have not been on it much. I am sure it will not take long for it to get packed down. After a little bit the single track opens up into a wider, faster trail. Yohoo!!! Great passing and lots of fun. Well at least lap 2 was. The first lap it was still very damp and the dirt stuck to my tires and I ended up not having any tread showing the entire way up the hill. By the time I got to the top I felt like I had been carrying 20 pounds extra on my bike.

Going up is very nice the trail is wide, there are many switchbacks going up, and there is plenty of passing room. Although if I had the opportunity I would prefer to go down this trail, it looks like it would be a rip. The good part getting to the top of Snowbird is now fun and relatively easy as long as you are not caring an extra 20 pounds.

At the top of the trail you start back into the old trail with the dreaded gravel road descent. For the most part today it was not so bad, but I think the rain had a lot to do with that. There are still a lot of precarious places and you need to be careful. I am glad I ride the race at the first and not the end this time--I am sure there will be a lot more loose rocks later in the day.

The trail is in great shape and a lot more fun with this new single track. I ended up doing 2 laps and letting Dot do 3 while I took a lot of pictures of the new trail. As you will see it is pretty nice.
Towards the first of the course. This is not the new section.
First part of the new trail when it opens up.

One of the many switchbacks leading up the hill.

View from the trail to the top.

I thought this huge rock where the switchback was cool.

View from the new trail.....isn't it beautiful.

Rock formation leading to the end. Helps with the water drainage.

Trail at the top of the hill.

Another spectacular view...I am sure I will not notice this during the race.

I like how the clouds enveloped the mountain.

Dot riding towards the end of the trail.

Second part of the day was spent riding Lambert Park with my family and Karl and Dot's family. Dot, Jonny and Joey have never been to Lambert and I have been telling them forever how much fun Rodeo Down is. Mandy ending up being in the lead and took us down River and back up High Bench. I was really impressed with how well Joey did, he is only 5 and was able to do most the of trail.

At the top of the 3 way intersection we headed towards Rodeo Up. This time I took the lead. All of the kids did great, but they were tired by the time we got to the top. We rested on the bench and I let them know how much fun the down hill was going to be. I don't think they were totally convinced.

Mandy has been down Rodeo Down, so we let her go first and then I followed. I can't believe how well she did going down the trail. She loves going down--somehow I need to convince her up is not so bad.

At the bottom we waited for the rest of the crew. Jonny and Dot showed up first. Jonny liked it and said it was not bad at all. Then came Joey, Karl and Royce. You should have seen Joey's face he was beaming from ear to ear. He had a blast. In fact it didn't take much to convince him to do it again. So up we went to the top and then back down. Everyone was still smiles at the end. I don't think there could have been a better day than riding with friends and family.

Trail Work & Riding

Saturday-the rain has stopped and it was a perfect day to do trail work. Mandy, Jen and I headed up to AF Canyon to help with a group on the re-route of the trail on Cascade Springs side. There is a lot of work that needed to be done, from hauling logs down the hill to bolting, hammering, digging and clearing. I lucked out and got to dig out the trail with Mandy and Nathan, the other adults hauled logs down to the site. This was pretty difficult as the trail was pretty slippery from rainfall--I was not envious of them. I was really proud of Mandy besides helping clear the trail she also helped get rocks and bring them to the trail side.

Here is the trail Mandy, Nathan and I cleared. I know it doesn't look like much, but it had nothing but vegetation and it is a lot longer than it looks.
Mandy patting the trail down trying to make it smooth.
Everyone working hard to get the logs in place.

After working on the trail my wonderful husband came and got Mandy so I could stay and ride. Jen and I had lunch and then took off on my favorite route. The trail was in pretty good shape considering all of the rain we have had. There were a few puddles here and there we went around, and a lot of erosion from the rain. I couldn't believe the ruts that had been caused from the rain fall, and there were more rocks and roots showing. However even with the erosion the trail was a blast and it was nice to be out in the sun. It couldn't have been a better day for riding.

Jen riding across the meadow toward Pine Hollow Hill.

Take that Rain!

Met Dennis and Gigi at the dirt turnout this morning to go ride AF Canyon. The plan was to ride my favorite loop starting at Timpanooke Campground. Of course the moment I arrived at the turnout the rain started to fall, but it didn't matter, there was no stopping this ride. It rained most of the way up to the campground, and I was sure Gigi was cursing me as she followed me up, but miraculously when we arrived the rain had stopped and there was sun! However it did not last and as soon as we took off the rain started to fall. It didn't matter, we were going to ride and ride we did. We didn't do the whole loop, but we had a blast, and I am so happy to finally get a mountain bike ride in! Oh and although we were a muddy mess, our bikes were not--it was just wet, not sticky.

Priorities

Today is my birthday. I had a lot of plans and priorities for the day, and was very excited. First on the agenda was to drop off cupcakes at the finish line for the volunteers and for the racers in my division. Next priority was to ride hard and hopefully get a blue ribbon for my birthday. Then finally was cheer and support Mandy on in her race. It's amazing how quickly priorities can change.

The night before the race Mandy and I had planned on me riding her race with her. I knew it was long and I wanted her to know I would be there for her along the way. I wasn't worried about the race starting without us, because Ed had said he wouldn't start the race until everyone had finished. On the way up Mandy decided she didn't need me to ride that she could do it herself. I was actually fine with this for purely selfish reasons, I didn't want to ride the hill more than I had to, and I had hurt my leg the night before and was concerned it would hurt it more. I had a little of the overly protective mother worry, but decided she would be fine. About 5 minutes before the race started Mandy changed her mind, she did want me to ride. I told her I couldn't, that she would be fine.

As she took off up the hill I watched her ride until she ended up getting off her bike to walk it. I kept watching her for a bit with a nagging feeling I should go get on my bike and ride with her. I could tell she was going to be in the back and I knew she could be a little lonely riding by herself. I went off to get my bike, but got distracted taking pictures, making a pit stop and visiting others along the way. By the time I got to my bike I decided Mandy would be okay and I would ride around for warm up. After a bit I heard Ed call me to the start line. He wanted to let me know Mandy was still out there as well as one other rider. However it wasn't long before, the other rider showed up coming up the grass--he had come out on the road and got lost off the trail. I looked at Ed and asked if he had anyone out there. There was, so he checked if they had seen Mandy. They had seen a rider, but were not sure who the rider was they saw. After a while we heard back and the confirmation was they had seen her and she was coming. I told Ed I was going to meet her, and took off.

I went backwards on the trail to meet Mandy and come with her down. As I rode I did not see her. I rode up to the half lap signs and still no sign of Mandy. I continued riding down the trail all the way to the road crossing and the trail across the road....still no Mandy. At this point I am calling out for her hoping she will hear me and answer back--there was no answer. I called out a little bit more and still no answer. I took off back to the start line, hoping she had gone on the road was already back at the start line. When I got back Mandy was not there and everyone was lined up to race. I let Ed know I could not find her, and he called the guys and told them to get the guys on the motor bikes thinking Mandy passed the half lap and went up. At this point I started to have tears and get worried. We had no idea where my daughter was--she could be up on the trail somewhere, she could be on the road going to Park City, or she could be hurt somewhere and no one knew where.

I stayed at the start line as the riders took off and waited hoping they would find Mandy soon. Group by group I watched the riders go, and kept hoping I would hear over the walkie talkies they had found her. They finally came up to the group before mine, so I went back to stand with them. At this point I was not sure if I would ride or not. I got in line and everyone wanted to know if I was okay. That was all it took, I broke down in tears and let them know Mandy was missing. All of the ladies were compassionate and concerned, which caused me to cry more. It was right about then I saw a motorcycle pull up, but there was no Mandy. That was it and the waterworks began. A woman standing by came up and gave me a hug and asked if I would be okay. This helped and I calmed down a little. By this time Ed had sent off my group to race--I didn't even realize it. The woman who had hugged me asked if I was going to race or not. I turned around and took off--I wasn't going to race I was going to find my daughter.

Although the first hill was hard I went faster than I planned and passed a large group of people. As we hit the flat and headed to the next steep I continued my pace and picked it up some. I saw Gigi ahead and I was very impressed how she had put such a distance between me and all of the other riders. She was kicking butt. Apparently she could hear me coming up on her and she commented. I think she said something about me needing to catch her, but I don't remember exactly, but it was encouraging. I picked up my speed and came up by her. When I got by her I decided it was time for a little smack talk. I told her "I let you have a head start", her reply "I have MS", mine back "my daughter is missing" I then passed her and on my way up let her know that when I found my daughter I was done racing.

I got to the top and down we went and then back up. We were lined up one by one as we climbed the single track, but passing was fairly easy. However then we hit the downhill and passing was not as easy. I let one rider pass me on the downhill--he was obviously better than me. I followed him closely as we went down the switchbacks in the trees and then down the switchbacks in the clear part. At this point it became a pile up. I let the people know they needed to go faster or pull over. The guy in front of me agreed, apparently though I was the only one vocalizing it. We headed straight and it was right then I came upon my daughter with a guy! She saw me and was in tears. I gave her a hug and held her close to let her know she was okay. Thinking this was one of the search guys I asked him if he could take her back and I would continue on. He let me know he was racing, but actually was starting to take her. As soon as he said that I told him to hurry and go and race. Mandy and I had a little bit more of a hug session and then I turned her around and down the trail we went.

As we rode a rider would come up and I would have her pull over so the rider could pass, then we would continue on our way. After a bit Gigi came up on us, but she didn't ask to pass. All she said was "is this your kid Kendra" I let her know it was and I was staying with her on the ride. She kept riding but still did not ask to pass. I told Mandy to pull over and then told Gigi to go pass and race. Bless her heart I think she would have stayed with us if I had let her. We continued to ride and little by little rider after rider passed us. We continued on and then the pros started to pass us. I asked Bart G (since he was the first pro to pass) if he would let Ed know the lost rider was found, he said "thank you." I called out that he obviously did not hear what I said. About 30 seconds later Chris Holley pulled up we moved over, and I asked him to let Ed know. He said he would try. We continued going, but it was difficult now because rider after rider was passing. Mandy stayed off her bike and walked her bike off the trail. I would ride ahead and wait off the trail until she caught me. We did this all the way up to about 12 feet from the road crossing where at this point one of the searchers saw us. He told me he would take her at this point to Ed and I could go on. Unfortunately I could not get back on my bike and ride because the riders were coming in droves. I had to run up to the road and jump on at the road so I would not hold up the pack. By the way sorry Brad for saying hi here I did not mean to give away you were there.

On the road I took off. It felt good to finally be able to ride hard and to know my daughter was okay. Now I had to work off all of the emotion I had been keeping bottled up. I rode up the trail to the turn at the half lap, it was here I thought I saw a rider in my group going the wrong direction. I went a little off the trail and paused, but apparently the rider behind me did not like this and told me "hey this is a race" I said something back to him that was not as nice. I then took off up the hill. I passed some of the riders I had seen on the course earlier and was passed by riders in other divisions. It was weird as I usually never see these riders. A lot of them would come and say my name with a little surprise. I am guessing they did not know what had happened. In fact I am hoping they did not, because honestly just how important is the race.

The guy that helped Mandy (Fred Grimmer) was in the Men's Sport 40+, and I will never be able to thank him enough for what he did. He decided to not place well and help someone in need, and in this case it was my daughter. How many riders went by Mandy going down the trail crying and didn't think to stop to help her. In fact, they didn't ask if she needed help. It makes me sad to think no one up until him stopped or asked her if she needed help. However, I guess you don't ask if you are not going to help.

This has taught me something very valuable. I am very competitive, and yet I have always asked a stranded or crashed rider if they needed help. Up til now I have not needed to help, and I always wondered if I would help them if they needed it, now I know I would. As competitive as I am there is always something more than the ribbon at the end.

I finished the race last in my division, and it is the best last place I have ever had--I wouldn't trade it for the world. When I talk or think about what happened today I still get choked up. It is very scary not knowing if your child is okay or where they are at. We learned a lot from this experience. One, if we can't pre-ride due to weather conditions or something else I will be riding the course with Mandy. Two, if we can pre-ride the course. Three, Mandy has learned to stay in the same direction on the trail and keep going unless she has to choose and doesn't see any markers, then she needs to stay put. For a 9 year old this was a scary experience, but she came out okay and has taken a lot away from it.

Results

I received the results from my holter monitor. The good news is my heart is very healthy. I had a maximum heart rate of 180 during the race--for 40 minutes. My doctor thought this was crazy, but I explained Sundance is up hill--he still thought I was crazy. There were a few other things, but basically my PFO has nothing to do with my low blood pressure, dizziness, fatigue and the need to pass out.

The next step is completely hypothetical, but the doctor wants to try this next. Because I had significant weight loss over the past year (45 pounds) he thinks this may have to do with my veins. He tested my blood pressure laying down, sitting up and then standing up. When I stood up my blood pressure dropped 15 points. This is a symptom of the vein problem. To see if this is the problem he has started me on a medication for 30 days to raise my blood pressure. I have to take my blood pressure daily in the 3 different positions. If the blood pressure levels out, the dizziness subsides, fatigue and passing out then I will see a vascular surgeon and have some veins closed off.

I am a little discouraged because with the PFO we hard a solution. Now we are back to trying to figure out what is the cause. I guess the good news is at least my doctor is trying to figure it out, and right now I need to look at the good news so I won't get too discouraged.