MadCross

Birkie

2010-03-11T14:47:00.002-06:00

Okay, so it has taken me a lifetime to finally do a post about the Birkie but I've been busy and I got a nasty cold. I wanted to document the event but blogging motivation is not super high right now. However, how could I skip blogging about an event where I met my race goal - to enjoy the event enough to do it again.

After last year's Birkie debacle I had low expectations this year. I trained hard in Oct/Nov but then got H1N1 flu, skipped my planned trip to West Yellowstone, and generally stopped trying. At some point I told Dave that I was going to classic the Birkie as I had stopped enjoying skating. Everytime I went out to do a long skate ski I found that I wasn't enjoying it and couldn't fathom skating the Birkie again. The only problem with my plan to classic the Birkie was that I didn't know how to stride - sure I could double pole pretty well but that wasn't going to be enough to survive the Birkie.

Luckily one day in early January my brain finally clicked and just like that I could stride. Not great but enough. So I did the Seeley Classic 22k race to test out my new skill and even with a jaeger/red bull shot at the 11k to go mark I did great, felt great and most importantly had fun. That lead me to the Mora 42k classic which is mostly double poling but still was a step in building my confidence that I could classic ski a marathon distance event. That race went well and I had fun so the Birkie Classic was on (and they even put me in Wave 4 based on my Mora results).

One of the hardest parts about classic skiing is getting the kick wax right as bad kick wax can make for a long day. Luckily I'm a member of the CXC Master's Team and so the CXC team waxers would be doing my skis and I knew they would test 15 million combinations to find the secret to success (and for the record they did a freaking amazing job on the team's skis). Being a member of CXC kicks butt on so many levels (support an organization that is making a difference, get to know lots of other cool athletes from jrs to elites to masters, fast looking ski suits, good training camps and waxing at the Birkie).

I was nervous race day after having a bad day last year and realizing that 54k of classic skiing is really a big day of skiing. However, I reminded myself that if striding was tiring I could double-pole or kick double-pole or herring bone and that it wouldn't just be skating, skating, skating.

Anyway, in a nut shell the race was awesome - fun at times, really hard at times, really fast at times and totally manageable). I reminded myself to go out slow as I noticed in my other races that I have a tendency to go out fast as I am much more of a half marathon distance skier. I stuck to my plan, sometimes stayed behind slower people on the uphills to conserve energy and refused to worry about who was passing me or who I was passing. No need to get too concerned about Wave 5 passing me or too over excited because I'm passing people from Wave 3. It was an awesome feeling as my biggest problem with skating is just skiing easy and at a manageable pace.

One big area of improvement for me this season was being efficient at the aid stations. I usually would lose the group I was with as I lingered overly long going through the aid stations. This year I told myself that I would speed up and I did. I still took on enough food drink but without spending too much time.

Was it hard? Absolutely. I love the new Classic trail for the Birkie but you still have to climb a lot of hills and it is 54k. When you're skiing along and you still have 30k left to go it does seem a bit overwhelming. And at 10k to go I was feeling it and wishing I had done more than one 35k and one 42k ski for training. On the 2nd to last downhill I got wildly out of control attempting to get out of the classic track and took what was described by the people behind me as a spectacular fall complete with a full roll. However, I felt strong double-poling across the lake and down Main Street.

I felt so great that when I hit the lake I was able to do a totally "pro" jager shot hand up. Each year there is a table on the lake and they are handing out jager shots. I figured with my experience with beer hand ups in cross that I would have to take one. And if I do say so myself I did awesome. I grabbed the plastic shot glass without stopping and then downed the shot on the move (spilling some on myself), and threw the glass down. I got some good cheers from the people at the table! Jager really burns going down and unlike at the Seeley Classic there was no water to wash it down. It was fun though even if it does taste nasty.

For this race I had written "Live Fully" on the toe of my boot. It was in honor of Garett Kipp who died at 36 from cancer shortly before the Birkie. In 2009 we skied together a bit during the Birkie before he passed me up on his way to a great race. Shortly thereafter he was diagnosed with cancer. I wrote that on my boot so if I got in a tough spot in the race I would remember how great it was just to be out there.

All I can say is what a great year! I don't care if I move up a wave or down a wave or whatever. I had a good day which was amazing given my preperation and the fact that it wasn't that long ago I couldn't figure out the secret to striding. I even skied 1 second per kilometer faster this year than I did skating last year. I may be a classic specialist!

Thanks to everyone at CXC for their support - especially the waxers, the camp coaches and Yuriy. Without Yuriy's patient coaching I certainly wouldn't have figured out any part of ski technique. Also huge thanks to Dave who not only bought me classic skis for Valentine's Day several years back even though I didn't really want them but also for helping me with my classic skiing so much this year and getting me classic rollerskis. I couldn't have done it without him since he clearly has more faith in my ability than I do.

Photos

Thoughts

2010-02-23T12:44:00.002-06:00

There are days when I really want to go back to my caffeinated diet soda drinking habit. It's a bad habit but was always a nice addition to an afternoon at the office. However, I persevere.

I'm not sure if blog posting will resume or not. I have very little to say these days. Even a Jaeger shot with 11k to go at the Seeley Classic did not elicit a post. Neither did my first classic marathon. I'll commerate that with a picture today though. Maybe my first Birkie skied Classic style will elicit a blog revival.

A Tale of Two Races

2009-11-10T07:00:00.001-06:00

Saturday I was at the Whitewater race and I was riding my bike and there were other people with numbers pinned on going around the same circle at the same time. I guess that makes it a race. Hills make me hurt just thinking about riding them let alone actually lining up for a race that is almost entirely hill climbing. I'm not sure I can even explain why I would line up for a seriously hilly race against some amazingly fast Cat 1/2 Women when I don't ride my bike except at the races. There is a certain level of insanity to what I'm doing. But it's cross so I do.

I won't complain (much) about the Whitewater course as I know if I was a climber I would have loved it. I'm not a climber and even when I ride a lot I'm not a climber. I did razz Dave T. about the course but hopefully he didn't take it personally. Different course favor different kinds of riders and that's okay.

The actual race . . . We start, everyone rides away basically at the first climb immediately at the start. We go by the lap cards and it says "9". My mind reels with the horror of that concept. "This will be a great workout," I tell myself. I ride hard because to ride easy would not be possible. Luckily there are some amazing superfans on the climbs whose enthusiasm keep me motivated. They made it shockingly close to fun. I suffer through the climbing while getting some sort of perverse joy out of running the sand (which I realize was rideable but not necessarily faster ridden). About half way through the race I realize that the 70 degree temps are leaving me very parched and I wonder about the likelihood of a beer handup. As luck would have it one appeared thanks to Cale from Team Pegasus. It was well executed and through some miracle I had enough momentum to not tip over while taking a quick drink even though it was the top of a painful hill. As I approached the 1 to go lap I could see the 40+ leader coming so I slowed and slowed and slowed. Then I stopped along with Pegasus's Katy and feigned a mechanical so we could get lapped and not have to do another lap. There was just no need . . . the placings weren't going to change and we'd both had beer handups already so why climb those hills again?!?! And don't say "for pride" as that is clearly not a concern this year for me. I was happy to be done and go do some superfanning of my own!

Whitewater race looking to see who might be lapping me now

And then came Sunday . . . very quickly after Saturday and with tired legs. Amazingly I got up and out of the house with enough time to photograph some of the first race. So you know how sports psychologist types are always telling you to visualize success. Guess what? That's not what I was doing. I was visualizing a painful race all by myself off the back just like last year. It's ironic that I would feel that way about Estabrook since the first cross race I ever won was Estabrook.

Estabrook brought out some additional Cat 1/2 Women racers with 9 total. I didn't get a great start but kicked it up a notch moving off the grass and onto the bike path and passed Rachel. This is not uncommon as Rachel starts slowly but usually speeds up quickly. I was doing my usual go hard for a lap before moving into last place thing. I was enjoying the corners after the first barriers and hit the spiral with a decent gap to Rachel. The four barrier section was painful especially followed by the grass to pavement straightaway. I know the race course well enough to know you can really go all out in the woods so I always try to maintain lots of speed through there.

As I completed one lap I was happy to see that Rachel hadn't caught me. That motivated me to keep going hard. I actually shifted up on the pavement section and did my best impression of someone who can drill the straights. When I hit the corners after the first set of barriers I even stood up and sprinted out of some of the corners. I felt like it was 2006 and I was serious about cross. The great part about the spiral section in the course was I could see how much distance I had on Rachel. Not a lot but enough. Still I expected her to be behind me and passing any second since that is how it always goes down.

Around lap four I actually started to wish she would catch and pass me as this racing thing was starting to really hurt. My body was not accustomed to having to race hard this long. It's funny how the mind starts to have strange ideas as you're hurting. At first it thinks that there is no way I can beat Rachel but lets have fun and see how long I can hold her off. Then it starts to hope that she will catch me so I can stop suffering so much and let the race play out like it usually does. Then it starts to realize that if I really work hard that I might beat her and not be last at every race so let's keep this together. Then the mind starts to crumble a little and thinks we can't keep going like this. It's too hard. We're not prepared. Then as the laps get down to only a few to go the mind is conflicted . . . yes, no, please stop the suffering. Then finally with one lap to go your mind realizes that indeed you will be beating someone today so go hard but don't do anything stupid but go hard just in case.

And that's one of the things that is so cool really . . . sure it's about you and other racers but it's just as much about you against yourself. It was nice to be racing at all and racing against Rachel even if I heard she was recovering from illness. After so many DFL's I'll take a second from last any way I can get it.

Running the hill at Estabrook

All photos from djonnymac

Halloween Cross

2009-11-03T21:31:00.007-06:00

I didn't think I'd be racing Halloween Cross so I did a hard week of ski training leading up to it. Then the promoter told me that next year they would once again offer equal prize money for the women's categories. That was what I wanted so on Friday when I found out I put the race back on the schedule. I hastily threw together a costume (which was Ana Killingspree of the Reservoir Dolls roller derby team).

I have to say that having not ridden my bike for two weeks but having spent a lot of time rollerskiing and one night of running hills I knew that my usual last place finish would be assured. I had one good lap where I rode with the Cat 3 women in the race but my legs just never got in the game. However, every person counts in the women's field so I went, I paid my entry fee, I stood on the start line and I rode around in circles.

The funny part of the race is that I felt really pathetic for not bunnyhopping the coffin barrier. Last year I did (although it was just a 2x4 so it was mentally easier) but this year I opted to just pop my front wheel up on the coffin and riding over it that way. On the preride I was thinking that I should bunnyhop but I told myself to play it safe. My mind reminded me that I had only ridden my cross bike 4 times this year and that in 3 weeks I was flying to West Yellowstone to ski. This was no time to show off skills that might not be so sharp. This is funny because I felt really lame the whole race but I later found out that very few women were riding it all.

Here is a little video from the start of the Cat 1/2/3 Women's race. I like footage from early on as I have not yet started to totally suck.

This is also from Lap One at the coffin obstacle where you can see that I am lame and didn't bunnyhop but I also didn't get off the bike. Thanks to Steve and Heather for the videos!

Canceled

2009-10-25T21:36:00.004-05:00

My busy weekend of double cross races came to a screeching halt on Friday afternoon as I took call, after call, after call, after call to discuss the potential cyclocross race cancellations. In the end it really is up to the land manager as you can't make them allow the race to go on and the race promoter has to negotiate that with the conditions in mind. I just offer advice as to what can be done to notify people, reschedule, etc. I know cross isn't supposed to be canceled for bad weather but we also don't want to loose venues. It is just bike racing after all.

Here's the thing though - I love to race cross and was looking forward to it. However, I suddenly felt like some magical extra weekend in the year had been created and I could do whatever I wanted. It was tinged with a little sadness as I know that I will have to miss at least one of the rescheduled races (November 15). Yet it was so relaxing to have an unexpected free weekend.

I did lots of little things many of which were boring such as laundry, cleaning and the usual home chores/errand running that had been put off forever. I also cooked including some yummy blueberry muffins which I look forward to enjoying this week.

I also got in a much needed visit to my mother at the nursing home. Cyclocross season has been hard as I haven't visited her as much and when I do visit it has been post-race for a quick dinner and then I'm off. She was, of course, excited to hear of the race cancellation but I did force her to look at photos of me racing the last few weeks. She refers to cyclocross as that sport where you jump over things. Now she knows it also involves running while carrying your bike. Hopefully she doesn't tell the nurses where I am on the weekends as they likely would consider any description pf cross as a sign of increased dementia. Perhaps I need to print out and post a photo in her room to show that is what I am actually doing.

This weekend I also carved our pumpkins. I kind of thought Halloween was going to come and go before I got that done. I also got in a nice 2 hour rollerski. It was nice except that I ripped a hole in the knee of my favorite Patagonia tights. I planted a pole between my skis on the very last little uphill. I know better than to wear my good tights and now I'm paying the price. I also did a painful 5k run on Sunday.

Dave, however, was off on his own adventures with his father. He was up north where it snowed.

And he had a very lovely time hanging out in the duck blind with his father and his father's friends.

CX Double

2009-10-20T14:53:00.003-05:00

The weekend in words . . . .
Two races
Two DFL finishes
Plenty of suffering
Funky socks
Fun with the teammates
And two beer handups!

The weekend in photos . . .

Badger Prairie downhill (Photo by Joy Trip Project)

Over the barriers in suffer mode (Photo by Joy Trip Project)

Up the annoying and hateful steep climb (Photo by djonnymac)

Taking the beer handup at Cam-Rock (Photo by Marty Larson)

What more can I say?

In Focus

2009-10-16T07:30:00.000-05:00

Beyond the focusing problem that plagued my camera lens last weekend and forced me to send it in to see if it can be warrantied I've been having trouble focusing on training. Heck even exercise beyond biking to work and back seems to have been lost along the way this summer. I've been feeling really, really out of shape . . . and then I remember that compared to the average American I'm actually doing alright. But I'd like to do better again.

Luckily I've refound my athletic focus and have put in 2 solid weeks of training. It feels good (well, in a painful way) to be back on track. Of course, I've totally given up on even pretending I will have any fitness for cyclocross and plan to just go out there and tough it out. Instead I've focused in on the ski season and have become motivated to get back into some semblance of shape. Recently I've done some very painful double pole sessions, skate and classic intervals and this horrific drill of skiing with an exercise band around the legs (which is incredibly exhausting). One of the other gals at ski school even commented on how I've gotten stronger lately . . . really I've just gotten motivated. It makes a difference.

However, cyclocross has not been abandoned and planning is underway for the 2010 cyclocross season for the Capitol Velo Club. We've got some changes and improvements planned for the team and if I weren't already on the team I would be begging to be recruited. It's going to be that awesome . . .

Cross Racing Day

2009-10-13T21:36:00.000-05:00

Life can follow a familiar pattern. Get up, find yourself totally disorganized. Search wildly for a jersey, matching shorts, arm warmers, knee warmers, leg warmers, undershirt, wool socks, bike shoes, earband, helmet, gloves for all types of weather. Find yourself already behind schedule. Find your camera and your video camera and pack up your laptop. Eat breakfast. Look at watch and realize you are still behind schedule. Grab a few random snacks and realize you are woefully under prepared for the day.

Finally load bikes and get in the car and hit the road. Feel a sense of relief that your new car has a plug in so you can charge the batteries of your camera and video camera. Important things that seem to have fallen off the radar until the moment you need to leave the house.

Spend the entire trip in the car convincing yourself that you do want to race and that you are not going to back out now. Not after going to all the trouble of finding all your riding gear and throwing it into a bag. Daydream about not racing and wonder if that would be liberating. Or would it be depressing? Of course, it is always times like this when one questions the summer's priorities and wonders how you got here, today, so woefully unprepared.

After some deep thinking about not racing it becomes clear that racing must happen. If not now when? Next year? It won't get easier this year and the number of miles in the legs won't change. And downgrading has been taken off the table with all the injured and otherwise occupied Cat 1/2 Women it won't do to lose another to lack of preparation.

Once at the venue everything settles into a familiar routine of attempting to take some photos and shoot some video. Race preparation does happen as Dave is conscripted into mounting cyclocross tires on wheels. For the first time ever the cross bike has not been ridden until race day. Luckily one can visualize how to mount and dismount which hopefully makes up for actual practice. Surely you can't forget anyway. This was the passion. Preparation began in spring and a serious campaign was mounted with trips to Michigan and Ohio and UCI points earned. It's hard not to be nostalgic for that girl with the passion of a new convert and dreams of being competitive.

Times change. Now the dreams are of surviving and finding fitness in time for winter. However, a quick pre-ride shows that all is not lost. It is possible to get on and off the bike still. It's not smooth or comfortable but it's good enough.

The camaraderie with the other gals in the race is also a familiar feeling that one would hate to give up just because one didn't prepare. Then the race begins and for a few brief seconds you hang with the group. It's a nice familiar feeling. But so is the feeling of drifting off the back and riding around alone. Both places have been a familiar sight over the years. Neither is easy. This is cross and suffering must happen. The fun would be diminished by taking is easy and off the back or in the mix it is still a tribute to screaming legs and lungs. An idea comes - why not run the hill? Running feels more familiar than riding.

And eventually it is all over. You're left riding the course by yourself and you know you only have to do the hill once more and then the barriers and then you're almost done. And because the world is a funny place you're placed in 3rd in the provisional results instead of last. You can't help but think of how funny it would be to not say anything. The teammates would be quite surprised and think you must have been doing secret training camps in obscure locations in a plain jersey where no one would recognize you. Alas though the truth wins out and you demand to be placed correctly at the bottom of the field.

And then you take more photos and you curse your camera lens for deciding to stop working. But you try not to think about what this means - will it be fixable, will it be under warranty, can you afford a replacement, what about next weekend?

Then it's into the car where once again you love the new car features and you plug in your laptop and download photos. And by the time you arrive at your mother's nursing home you've already sorted and organized almost all the photos. Efficiency feels good. Sore legs and tired lungs feel good. You dream of reclaiming your fitness in time for the Birkie. Maybe the time and motivation can be found now. Late but not too late.

After what seems like a lifetime but is really just one really long day you find yourself back at home with bags to unpack, photos to upload and videos to create. How can so much chaos be created in just one day? Then you realize that this is a furlough week and your services are not required at work on Monday. There will be time to unpack and do the laundry. Take the camera lens in and maybe even relax.

Holy change of plans batman . . .

2009-10-08T15:41:00.002-05:00

The race director at Grafton is awesome and has comitted to equal prizes for all the women's category in 2010. It was all just a big misunderstanding this year and I apologize for thinking he was purposely giving the women lower payouts. I should have handled it better but I didn't and for that I'm sorry. I am happy to have it all solved for the better as I do think this race will be pretty fun and I guess people actually care about MadCross coverage. The Grafton park looks to have some nice terrain and an Irish punk rock band, too. I don't want to miss that (the band, not the hills). And it was nice to hear so much support for women's racing from all kinds of people who hadn't noticed the unequal prizes until I pointed it out.

This has caused a shift in my plans (and poor Dave's too). We had been planning a nice long weekend in Hayward going mtn biking. That is easily cancelled as I hadn't actually gotten around to booking hotels. However, Dave is already committed to going to Eau Claire to help his parents with some stuff and they are picking him up tonight. Now I have to figure out when I'm retreiving him . . . skip the Saris Gala and get him Friday night or make the drive from Grafton post-race.

I will say my tenure as WCA Cyclocross Liaison is probably coming to an end . . . .

I don't mean to make people mad

2009-10-05T07:30:00.001-05:00

but maybe I will. Or maybe people don't care. Or maybe they do. I guess I'll find out.

Two of the Planet Bike WCA CX Series races will not be offering equal prize money for the women. I'm quite frustrated by this as after quite a number of years of equity we've now taken a step backwards. In the case of Grafton they are a new race and I will give them the benefit of the doubt that perhaps they were confused or unaware or something. Velo Trocadero were part of a discussion among the promoters that took place early this year about the issue which I thought had been resolved that the WCA races would continue the tradition of equality. Turns out I was wrong. Unfortunately as the WCA Cyclocross Liaison there is nothing I can do as WCA only makes recommendations for categories, start times, payouts, etc. So that means that as the CX Liaison I will be spending those two race days doing something else besides going to the cross races.

However, as the person who pays the bills and does the updates for madcross.org I will not be providing any coverage of those races as that is the only leverage I have. Obviously plenty of other people will take photos and shoot video at those races and people will still get their weekly cross fix. My photos and videos are not nearly at the level of the people coming out these days anyway so it's probably not a huge loss. However, I won't be providing links to those sites so people will have to find them on their own. Maybe someone will be upset with me and set up a competing website called wiscocross.org or something. Maybe people will agree with me and there will be an overwhelming call for equality in prizes for the women in our series. Maybe people won't even notice the lack of coverage. Maybe the promoters made an innocent mistake and will change things for 2010. I don't know.

I probably should talk to the promoters about why they made this change but I haven't had the energy and time and that is why I'm looking for a replacement for the WCA cx liaison job next year. I just don't have time to do the job justice and clearly we need someone with more time to invest in the job. Anyway, I plan to write something up to put on madcross later this week about the lack of coverage but thought I would mention it here first. I already mentioned it on Facebook and Twitter as soon as I saw the flyers so it's not a secret.

Frankly after 20 years of working on this issue I can't believe we still have to battle over equal prize money. It is 2009 or 1899? However, I know people are sick of me talking about it so listen to Georgia and Katerina instead.

And yes, I do realize that perhaps it is hypocritical of me since the USGP only pays equal to the top 3 elite women and I'm one of the Regional Directors now in that series. I had a big chat with them about the issue before John and I agreed to give our races over to the series. However, it's not like the USGP used to pay equal beyond the top 3 and they stopped. Instead I've been working very closely with them to increase the equality beyond top 3 for all 8 of the races and I have hopes that we can make an improvement next year.

Anyway, this weekend I'm going up to Hayward to do some mountain biking since I won't be at the cross race. Luckily I got into see Lee at Unwin Wellness & Chiropractic this morning and my back is feeling much better. I'm going to try and take it easy for a few more days in hopes that I recover fully and don't have any more muscle spasms. However, after my appointment with Lee I was super psyched to finally feel like I could stand up straight and did not have to hunch over because my back was so tight and sore. I'm hoping this means I will be feeling good and can get in some riding this weekend and maybe a little rollerskiing too. Then hopefully I will be back to cross racing for the Cam-Rock/Badger Prairie double weekend!

Reflections on the USGP

2009-09-29T11:33:00.002-05:00

I think I am still too tired for a truly coherent post about the USGP so here are my random thoughts -

Wisconsin volunteers rock. All day Tuesday and Sunday post-race were rainy and miserable but the volunteers kept working. We also had enough people to fill a zillion different jobs over the weekend. And everyone was really great even if someone was not very nice to them. I like that about our cross scene! The head UCI Official wrote in her race evaluation that gets sent to the UCI that our volunteers were top notch.

Here's a pic of John and I - tired but still happy with the great event. This truly was a huge event to organize. We agreed to give our race over to the USGP last December and by January we were meeting and the planning just kept on rolling through the year. It was a hard year for sponsorship dollars but I'm hoping all of our good publicity will pay off for next year (and hopefully the economy will improve). We also have a ton of little things we can do better and some ideas for bigger things. Plan to be back!!

Erwin Vervecken is super nice and funny too. I had the good fortune to have dinner with a group that included him and sat next to him (after elbowing John, leaping over tables and generally pushing down elderly folks). We had a nice chat about random topics - his kids, the difference in the economy of Belgium and the US, American slang (up your alley, wicked good, and many more) and I taught him to say "dig in" instead of Bon Appetite when food was served. He is super personable and seemed to really enjoy his stay here. He also said very good things about the course (and that was on Saturday when he didn't win).

An interesting fact about our race is that the head of the UCI Cyclocross, Peter van den Abeele, was in Sun Prairie. He hasn't been to many US cross races so it was an honor (and a stress) to have him in attendance. We wanted to make sure we were following the rules so he didn't think US cross was not ready to one day host a World Cup or that we shouldn't have C1 races. He definitely made some favorable comments which was good. He also like that in the US there were lots of racers not just the elites and juniors.

What happens behind the podium curtain (also known as plastic tent sides)? My job was to make sure the riders didn't wander off, that they got water, a moist towelette and towel, and that they knew when to step out to the podium. I also was in charge of making sure the media and fans weren't back there intruding when we were doing the elite racer podiums.

Another question I get a lot is how the Most Aggressive Rider is chosen. The USGP has staff that are positioned at various points on the course and they watch the race unfold and then confer with each other to make a decision. On Saturday John and I stayed out of it but on Sunday we did offer our opinion over the race radios. I think Alison and Tristan were excellent choices.

I guess the biggest question I get is about next year . . . . and yes the USGP plans to return to Sun Prairie. We definitely have some improvements to make for next year and we will start planning immediately so we can do that. Putting on an event like the USGP requires year round work but I think it is a good thing for our local cyclocross scene.

Right now I'm looking forward to getting back to my life . . . and maybe I'll get my cross bike together in time to race Lapham Peak.

Work Continues

2009-09-17T12:59:00.002-05:00

It's all craziness for the USGP these days (well, except for a few converstations with Maria from the CXC ski team to help her with a trail run she is organizing).

The biggest thing right now is trying to finalize host housing and volunteers. I could use a few more host houses but Ericsson and I are going to offer our houses if they don't come through.

Volunteers are a little more stressful and I feel like no one is going to speak to me after this is all over. I've been personally asking (begging) friends to take shifts. Saturday is looking fairly good although I could use some more people 8am-Noon especially. Sunday isn't as good and I need people for lots of shifts throughout the day. Know anyone??

All the supplies are starting to arriving. John got 1200 plastic stakes delivered to his office the other day. I am probably the most hated person in the neighborhood by our UPS man as I have heavy boxes arriving everyday. This week has seen the arrival of Clif Bar fencing and some seriously heavy boxes of Stanley banners. I owe that UPS man a beer! Lots and lots more to arrive so I should leave something out for him soon.

This weekend I have to get the merchandise prizes all organized. Two big boxes from Planet Bike, some great items for the women from A Stone's Throw, and boxes expected from series sponsors like Selle Italia, Schlamm, etc.

I still don't have my own cross bike put together but I won't be racing until the 1st WCA race so it really isn't a priority.

Friday Update

2009-09-11T15:01:00.003-05:00

Things are rolling along here in US Gran Prix of Cyclocross land . . . . .

Today I confirmed local announcers to assist Richard Fries over the weekend. Saturday will be Brian Rybarik who announced one day last year. Sunday will be Kelson Danielson who announced at the Levis Trow WEMS race this year. I hope Richard is prepared . . . .

Things are coming along for the other volunteer jobs. However, we still have jobs to fill so speak up now before I have to hunt you down and hassle you! I will do it!! At the Run for Snow this summer a spectator asked the water stop volunteers how they happened to end up working the race. They all looked at each other and said we're here because we know Renee. Ah yes, to know me is to eventually succumb to volunteering at an event. I do appreciate it. I really do!!

This afternoon/evening is meetings with the speedway, with the caterer, with the sponsor. Tomorrow is the bike shop to discuss the Friday night event and then supply buying. Two bazillion zip ties, paint, tape, rope . . . Home Depot here we come!

The only problem looming on the horizon is when I have to break the news to the USGP people that I won't be available every day the week before the event. Work obligations that can't be broken beckon and even though they expect John and I available 24/7 that week it just isn't going to happen. Luckily I've arranged for Dave to stand in for me on those days and pick up the slack. It's really not glamorous being married to me (because I bet everyone thought it was!!).

More later.

Let's begin blogging again

2009-09-10T14:31:00.003-05:00

With cyclocross season and ski season on the horizon I've decided to bring the blog back to life. Right now life is all about the USGP's Planet Bike Cup. We're at that point in the event process where everyone is freaking out. This year more than most as the USGP doesn't really know us as we haven't been through putting on a race together yet. Of course we don't really know the USGP either. It's a new relationship which hopefully will get easier as time goes on. Add to all that the presence of all the heavy hitters at the race including Erwin Vervecken and stress is high. Normally I do pretty well with that but I'm not at my most "zen" right now as my mother's health continues to be a rollercoaster and it is taking its toll on my patience and calm. I have to save all I have for the 5-10 phone calls I have with her each day which doesn't leave much calm for everyone or anything else.

Lots of USGP excitement though with Page and Compton riding for Planet Bike, Alison Dunlap out of retirement and back to cross racing and now Erwin Vervecken is coming to town. I can't even begin to imagine how exciting the racing is going to be. I'm excited that Wisconsin cross is going to have this kind of show to kick off our season!

It's been a tough year with mostly "no" coming from potential sponsors . . . well, they actually said "we're not sponsoring any new events this year" or "our marketing budget has been significantly cut". That has been very stressful for me. And John has been stressing over the major changes we're making to the course (more on that later). We make quite a stressed out pair but luckily Michele and Dave are still putting up with us as we make their lives stressful too.

In the stressful moments though I realize that this is all good even with things that aren't going perfectly. Ever since I saw Tristan having to travel all over the country to get UCI points and get known on the national level I've wanted to have opportunities for our top riders right here at home. Now we have that and they get to race local and the locals get to see how awesome our very own riders are. It makes it all worthwhile.

Expect more updates from this blog as we head into fall and winter . . . . the two best seasons!

Letting go of the past

2009-07-22T13:24:00.003-05:00

I've always said that I'm not that sentimental. I don't have anything against being sentimental but I've never really thought that I was. Yet I've been fooling myself and have been hanging on to my first car. For 19 years I've had it stored but without a real plan or reason but because I just couldn't bear the idea of parting with it.

So as my regular blog readers know (are there any left?) I decided that this was the year I would tow it out of storage and get it running again. I had this idyllic vision of recapturing my lost youth by resurrecting the car and taking it out for the occasional spin. Just the memory of the sound of the dual exhausts brings a smile to my face.

However, in the back of my mind I kept reminding myself that this crazy plan might not work out. And unfortunately that is the case. I've decided that the cost to get my car running again is not worth it for me and where I'm at with my life. The cost is just outside my comfort zone given that new problems will likely arise which will add to the cost, there will be no end to restoration work that could be done and the biggest obstacle being that I have no where to store the car and have to rent a garage. Luckily I had established a cost point in my head and made myself promise not to exceed that. The mechanic I've employed in this endeavor gave me a very thorough cost estimate and it exceeds my willingness to pay by about $2000.

The temptation is there to throw good sense to the wind and do it anyway. However, I've decided that it is time to put my youth behind me and sell the car. I'm not going to deny that this has been a hard decision for me and that I won't shed some tears when I sign over the title to someone else. I'm hopeful that maybe I can at least find someone who will restore it and not just someone who wants to buy it to sell off the parts. However, as long as I find someone who appreciates classic AMCs I will be happy. And if I can't find that then someone willing to pay the most money will suffice. I have to go from sentimental to business person now.

I feel like cars have taken over my life and that I'm getting rid of two cars that have made me very happy. As if parting with the Javelin wasn't enough I'm also preparing to get rid of the Jeep. The "cash for clunkers" deal is official tomorrow and Dave and I have already starting trying to reach a decision on what to purchase for our next car. All these car decisions are giving me a headache but as I told Dave the other day "sometimes it is best to just rip the band aid off as fast as you can." You just have to do it and get the pain over with and move on.

I'm trying really hard to make selling the Javelin a happy positive thing though and plan to put the proceeds of the sale towards an Independent Fabrication road bike with a paint job that is an homage to my car. I figure I should buy another vehicle that will be with me hopefully as long and will hopefully be as cool.

The truth of the matter is that I have awesome memories of this car and some funny senior class photos. That's what matters. It's not the easiest decision I've ever made but it's the right one. The same goes for the Jeep. It hit 200,000 miles the other day and it's not worth anywhere near the $4,500 we can get with the new auto rebate program. It's time to move on and have both of them be just a happy memory of cars I once owned.

Some Pics

2009-06-24T14:00:00.003-05:00

The awesome group of gals that let me come out west and ride a century with them.

Riding the century.

CAMBA Festival of the Trails after getting completely soaked while riding the Rock Lake trail.

Lot's Happening

2009-06-23T13:00:00.002-05:00

I feel like cars are on my mind a lot lately. First off is the Cash for Clunkers that will soon be implemented. Yes, that means that in the very near future Dave and I will no longer be driving our distinctively colored lapis blue Jeep Cherokee. It's about to hit 200,000 miles and since it isn't worth much we'll be taking advantage of this offer. Everyone likes to ask us what we're going to buy to replace it but we have no idea. At first my list was super short (to the point of including virtually no vehicles) but now it includes a zillion as none of them seem very different or that exciting of an option. I'm also open to suggestions as long as the car fits the following profile:

under $25,000 and preferably closer to $20,000
excellent repair history
excellent safety record
gas mileage of at least 20mpg (but I would like better than that as 20mpg is seriously lame)
room for stuff especially event promotion stuff so the Smart Car is out even if it is cute
good for winter driving
it would be nice if you could put 2 bikes inside or 4 pair of skis again ruling out the Smart Car
it would be even better if it were union made in the US

As if trying to decide on what car to buy wasn't already more car related thinking and planning than I can handle I'm also in the process of resurrecting my 1969 AMC Javelin. It appears that the DMV is satisfied that the car is owned by me and is not stolen, made up of chop shop parts or a salvage vehicle. Now we go to the next phase of car resurrection. I think that I will be getting it towed out of its current storage facility right after July 4th to a mechanic here in Madison. I truthfully can't believe that I'm doing this. On one hand it is ridiculous as what am I going to do with this car once it is running again. I've never wanted to be a two car family . . . and as second cars go this one is highly impractical (what with its 343 4-barrel engine, high cost of maintenance, cost of renting a garage space in my neighborhood, and car insurance that limits where/when/how much you drive it). On the other hand it is really ridiculous to just keep paying to keep this car in storage with no plans. Oh well, mid-life crises are not supposed to make sense, right?!?!

In other life activities I did ride a century a few weeks ago in Utah. I actually felt pretty good during the ride but my legs have taken forever to recover. It was awesome though as I got to ride with some pretty fun gals. I also went to the Cable Festival of the Trails where I got to mountain bike on the always awesome CAMBA singletrack. Perhaps one day I will download the photos off my camera and post them.

Other than that I've been spending a lot of time visiting my Mom at her nursing home which is, unfortunately, a 3 hour drive away. However, given the doctor's prognosis it is time well spent (although she has luckily already lived longer than her doctor expected). Because of that I have ended up not getting to most of the events I had planned to do this summer but I'm fine with that. Some things are more important than riding and racing. I've had some good times with my Mom . . . like when I tried to explain to her that the century was just a ride with friends not a race. She asked me why I was going then. That made me realize that average people think I'm obsessed with racing even though I felt like I don't race that much anymore. Clearly my doing "just a ride" was confusing to my Mom.

Other than that I've rollerskied a little but not much. I've learned to swim but have a long ways to go before I have any confidence that I'm not going to drown. I've gone running at least once a week . . . just enough to ensure that it is always painful. I've got lots to do for the USGP which is coming up way too son. Things are, however, rolling along well for the trail run I'm organizing at Elver. The Women's Dirt Retreat is this weekend and Alison Dunlap is back in town for that. My house is in desperate need of cleaning and organizing. The book I started on the airplane ride back from Wyoming is no farther along that it was when I deplaned in Madison. However, my flower garden is looking great and hopefully survives the hot weather.

Okay, there's my update. Don't expect to hear much from me again for awhile. I think I'm going to go just to photo updates . . . but then I have to actually download my pics.

"Swimming" at the AmericInn

2009-06-01T22:34:00.002-05:00

I post this merely to show that I have made some progress from refusing to put my face in the water to some not so great swimming that has dubious technique. However, this proves that I have indeed actually been taking swimming lessons and not hanging out at some bar for an hour and then spritzing myself with chlorine- scented cologne.

My Sunday

2009-05-31T22:24:00.008-05:00

Got up Sunday morning and decided to go for a run. I have a fave run that I do quite a bit . . . you start off down the block and I'm always suffering immediately because it takes me awhile to get in a rhythm. I try to distract myself by looking at the houses in the neigbhorhood . . . look for which student rentals had a party the night before and look at the landscaping on the nice houses. Next thing you know you're going up the hill to the Vilas Circle where I never get tired of looking at the beautiful homes. Once you're up and past the circle then you're in the "other" part of Vilas Ave. You know, the nice part where there aren't any couches on the porches or broken beer bottles in the yards. Once I get to Vilas I'm usually feeling better and part way down I cut onto the bike path that goes along the park and run on the gravel on the side of the path. Off the path and onto Edgewood Drive where I like to duck onto the trail that parallels the road. Down the stairs, onto the wood chip path, watching out for the roots and tree stumps. Up and around the fallen tree, duck under another tree, say hi to the dog walker. Up the tree branch stair steps and eventually back onto the road. Then it's up the hill to Monroe Street and running in the grass still wet with morning dew. Wonder why I run this hill so much but it's actually not too bad a hill as it's very gradual. Then it's finally to Monroe Street. Pound the concrete sidewalk and realize that it only feels like I'm still going uphill and finally to the top and around the bus stop. Take a turn and there is a little downhill before the annoying uphill to the top of Edgewood. It's short but feels steep and it's a weird intersection where you can't see the traffic easily. Then it's down, down, down. Decision time . . . which way back home. Today it's down to the park, across the bridge. Along the lake. Watching out for goose poop. See all the people fishing. Pass another runner and smile. Check out the lake and see a couple of canoers but no swimmers even though the lake is calm. Over to the zoo where people are waiting for it to open. Back onto the sidewalk and wondering why I took the longer of the possible routes as it no longer feels like a good idea. Cross the street to the hospital. Watch out for crazy, lost drivers there. A few more blocks, must keep moving. Almost there. Finally the last intersection and it's my block. Stop to chat with the neighbor and then check in on the progress of my flower garden. Nice run!

A good start to a day . . . .then it's on to chores and errands. Like laundry. Boring but necessary. Stop off at A Stone's Throw to see what just came in and chit chat with the staff. Pull myself away and finally get on with my day. Which basically means heading off to Hayward and driving, driving, driving. Grow weary of the 3 cds I brought but keep driving, driving, driving.

Running late as always I arrive at the AmericInn with storm clouds looming and darkness all too close. Throw on my bike clothes and sprint off towards the Hatchery Creek trails. My legs are opposed to the lack of warm up but I try to ignore them as the dark clouds move closer. Pass by Rosie's field of Chequamegon fame and keep pedaling to the singletrack. Finally arrive but there's no time to slow down as the clouds loom.

Remember why it is worth it to rush as the Hatchery Creek singletrack is the perfect post-long drive ride. No big climbs and lots of fast swoopy turns bring a smile to the face. Too bad the rain starts up all too soon. In the woods it's just a sprinkle so I push forward and get to the second junction and turn back. I keep the pressure on as I don't want to be stuck out in a downpour. It's not that warm and the rain is making it dark faster and I already didn't have too much time. All too soon I'm back to the trailhead and out of the trees it is obvious that it is raining harder than I thought. Put it in the big ring and pedal furiously back to the hotel. Arrive wet but happy.

Dry off and then decide to get wet again . . . head to the pool and practice my swimming. It's the first time I've been in a pool all by myself. No other swimmers, no instructors, just me and the water. It's a little weird at first but the max pool depth is a generous 5 ft. Definitely a shallower 5 ft than my usual pool. Wonder if I'll ever be comfortable swimming. Keep trying going back and forth doing my drills trying to remember what I'm supposed to be doing. Try not to choke on water too much. Relax.

Now it's late . . . and it's still the off season in Hayward so the brew pub is closed, pizza place closed, even Perkins has closed. Off to the grocery store for a salad, chips and cookies. I'm
starving.

My "training" is on track

2009-05-20T15:46:00.005-05:00

A long time ago I signed up for a century that is to take place in Utah in a couple of weeks (it's a women's century called the Little Red Riding Hood). In reality I signed up for it because some cool chix I know invited me and I totally wanted to hang out with them. However, I also had this idea that I would do a ton of cycling this spring and be completely prepared.

It's funny how things don't turn out and life gets in the way of plans. However, I have stopped worrying about my lack of training as I googled "training for a century" and found a plan that has made me realize that I'm fine. The plan calls for the longest training ride to be 65 miles. Luckily I managed to survive 64 miles last Sunday and was planning to do something like that again this weekend should I have time (now I know I don't even need to).

Of course the training plan did call for ramping up the long ride from 25 to 30 to 35 to 40, etc, etc and I went from 30 to 30 to 40 back to 30 to 30 and then to 64. It may have also called for a bit more midweek riding than I have done but it wasn't that specific so why worry about it. Besides why do all that intermediate training if you can just tough it out, right??? If 65 miles is your longest ride before a century then you're going to need to know how to tough it out anyway so why not practice that.

Glad I did that google search as I know feel so much better about my training . . . or my lack of training . . . or my crazed cross training . . . or something. Frankly as long as I get to hang out with my totally awesome "mountain gal pals" and I get a margarita (hint, hint) then I can tough out most anything.

Cross Training Gone Awry

2009-05-15T07:57:00.003-05:00

I think that to consider what you do cross training that you need to pick a primary sport. I have been having trouble with that though so given that, I'm not sure if I can actually say that I've been cross training. Can I even say that I've been training if there is no focused goal? I think that I've abandoned training and am just exercising. A subtle but important difference.

Here's the thing - In the last week I've biked once, run twice, been to the swimming pool twice, did one strength workout, did one rollerski/ski plyometrics workout and did one trail workday. It's funny because I would consider myself either a cyclist or a skier but I did more running and swimming. Wow, it's clear that I have no focus . . . . and it's very clear that riding a century in 3 weeks will be unbelievably painful.

I probably should make an effort to change those workout stats but I figure this weekend I will swim once, bike once and run once. Hmmm . . . . what does this mean? Probably that cyclocross season is going to start very painfully for me if I don't start riding more.

Swimming

2009-05-12T17:38:00.002-05:00

Water is wet. Sometimes it isn't I suppose like when it is cold and it freezes into ice or snow crystals. I like water when it is actually snow crystals. That's the best. I know what to do with that. Wet water is more of a conundrum. I like to drink it. It can be good for bathing. My plants seem to like it when I remember to douse them with water.

To be surrounded by lots of wet water though is a totally different matter. I've spent nearly 40 years avoiding that. It was easy when I was a child as there was no pool in my neighborhood and the creek near my house wasn't even knee deep. Oh sure there was the occasional trip to the nearest town that had a pool. My brother would sometimes ask to go and I was usually stupid enough to tag along. Not sure why as I always hated it and the day was marked by my brother sneaking up on me about a zillion times and holding me under the water while I thrashed around. As an adult I just stayed out of the water.

At some point I made a vow to myself that I would learn to swim when I turned 40. I don't think I ever told anyone that so it would have been easy to get out of the promise. No one would have called me out. I guess that's not my style though as I started to think more and more about it as the days to 40 grew less and less. Eventually I decided to ask for a recommendation on a instructor so I could live up to my promise.

Still it would have been easy to never go farther than that . . . . lose the email, never find the time, forget . . . . a zillion excuses exist to not face your fears. However, deep down I knew that I wasn't the same person who failed miserably at trying to learn to swim 20 years ago. Age gives you the ability to face your fears better as you've had to many more times. Age makes you realize that you can do things that are difficult and you also realize it's okay if it is hard and you struggle to learn and it will even be okay if you can't do it. This knowledge makes it possible to take the first steps toward conquering a fear -- a fear that really is pretty inconsequential in the scheme of things. You can face this so you send the email, set a date and move forward.

That doesn't mean that on the day that has been set to start the process that you aren't crazy nervous. You have the nervous stomach like you might get if this was your first big race and everyone around you seems to be more prepared. You're hit with the strong desire to back out and maybe even run and hide. But you don't because you know that you want to do this and no matter the outcome that it will be better to try.

Fast forward a couple of months and it's hard to believe that you actually felt so nervous the first day you went to the pool and committed yourself to learning to swim. It's almost funny . . . I mean it's just you and one instructor so I'm sure he'd notice if you were about to drown . . . not to mention that the practice pool has a maximum depth of 5 feet so you can just stand up when the going gets tough.

And you're going and you're taking the challenge and every week poses a new challenge but the kind of challenge that leaves you feeling exhilarated afterwards. It's hard to imagine that you would be so excited after each lesson. Not that things have become easy. Forty years of fear and loathing don't evaporate that quickly. But there is progress and it is exciting. More progress than could have been imagined. In the best case scenario it seemed that 8 lessons would get you to floating . . . hopefully.

To think that in that time you would be able to link together a series of freestyle strokes that would take you across the practice pool . . . that actually would have been unimaginable. Yet that is where I'm at. Not that the strokes are pretty or that they are easy. The style of swimming is frenetic at best but it is swimming. It is also very scary. Somehow the brain easily and quickly forgets that you're in 5 feet deep water with a swim instructor standing close by.

Instead the mind is racing and the heart is pounding and all you can think is that you need to link all these movements together while taking in air and not freaking out about the water in your nose. It's such a crazy intense feeling and you're trying to stay relaxed in the water all the while your brain is screaming out at you that you're going to die. And you're turning it off and just making yourself do the strokes and you get to the end of the pool and you pray that you don't have to do it again. It's too hard. It's too scary. You can't do it. But then you do it one more time . . . and again . . . and again. And it's exciting and you can't believe that you were really swimming.

Still in the back of the head it can be hard to believe that you will be able to recreate those moments. But you want to so you visualize yourself doing it and you think about the motions and you think about trying to be relaxed. And the next thing you know you're excited at the idea of going to the pool and giving it another try. The mind still thinks that you've plateaued and this is it and that maybe you won't make the next step in the process. Still you know you've thought that before and still you've made progress.

It's an exciting adventure . . . and it's fun . . . and it's scary . . . and it's heart racing, gasping for air . . . insanity. And it requires a good coach who is part swim instructor part relaxation expert and part psychologist.

That's swimming for me . . . people ask if I'm going to do a triathlon. That still seems scary and like something that is far off in the future. I hope to get there as it will be a statement of how far I've come. I'm starting to believe that I will one day at least be able to go kayaking or canoeing without worrying that someone will have to save me.

A full update

2009-05-08T12:39:00.006-05:00

Sometimes life seems complicated . . . or at least busy which maybe just makes things seem more complicated than they really are.

On Monday I wanted to be at the Capitol Velo Club ride as our ride leader was injured and couldn't do the ride. Luckily we had a good group who didn't require a leader so I just did a small part of the ride with them before heading home so I could make it to my neighborhood association meeting. At the meeting I worked very, very hard to not volunteer for anything and was successful. It was a challenge though as I fear that people are trying to overly gentrify our neighborhood. I want it to stay funky although I'm all for making it safer but it can be a fine line. I had to leave the neighborhood meeting a little early so I could make it home to meet prospective new tenants. That was a huge success as they loved the apartment and they seemed super cool and they took the apartment immediately. That was the least complicated thing ever!

Tuesday was a long day of meetings at work on exciting things like billing, environmental reviews, historic issues and other exciting federal topics. Afterwards though I made it out to ski school and had my first night of rollerskiing in 2009. That didn't go perfectly as I also had my first rollerski crash of the season. It was the stupidest thing. I was rolling into the grass to scrub my speed before starting down the biggest of the hills at Badger Prairie. However, right where I was headed into the grass was a huge pile of dog poop. In my attempt to not hit the poop I went down and scraped up my knee. I looked like a huge dork skiing around the park with a bloody knee. Luckily I had plans to go to Pasquals that night so I drowned my sorrows/embarrassment with a margarita. I couldn't get too carried away with the margaritas though as I was meeting there with Yuriy to try and finalize plans for the trail run I'm organizing that will benefit CXC athlete development. (If you are a runner please put Aug 16 on your calendar).

Wednesday I was off to Sheboygan at 6am for an all day meeting on Law Enforcement and Safe Routes to School. Left Sheboygan and headed up to Two Rivers to my mom's nursing home as they were holding a care conference. Being the naive person that I am I thought that a "care conference" would have to do with managing her health care between the nursing home staff and the hospice care staff. However the meeting was actually about how to ensure that all my mom's bills get paid before she passes away. Walked into a bit of a minefield with that one as I wasn't prepared for that particular topic. Luckily I can think fast and decided the best plan of attack would be to be very nice but to be a bit of an airhead and just not answer all their questions. I wanted to buy some time which was wise as it gave me time to look over all the bills and realize they were trying to mislead me a bit. It makes me really excited about my own healthcare needs in the future. After all that I was able to get home with enough time to get to the swimming pool and work on my swimming drills for 20 minutes before the pool closed.

Thursday I was able to get out on the Capitol Velo Club ride. Luckily for me I made the ride and no longer have any delusions that I am in shape. I got totally schooled and spent a lot of time chasing, chasing . . . still chasing . . . . screw it I'm not making it up to the lead group . . . drop back. I did take control of the ride briefly where I asserted myself as the "ride leader" and set a nice manageable tempo at the front. However, when we hit the hills on the way home it was all over and I lost control of the front again and the hammer went down and the suffering began. I'm glad that I've got some teammates with good fitness though!

Thursday was also the day that the Governor announced his plans for state employee furloughs. In the next two years I will be getting 16 unpaid days off. The Governor also announced an anticipated 700-1,100 layoffs for state workers. My job is paid completely with federal money which makes my layoff highly unlikely (especially since federal rules require the state to fund my position if they are to receive the funds).

This weekend I'm packing in as much as possible.
Tonight I'm going to the Becker Law Office sponsored plant sale which benefits local organizations such as Porchlight, Second Harvest Food Bank, Access Community Health Centers, etc. Don Becker is a great guy who supports lots of great things from skiing to cyclocross and lots in between. I guess tonight I'll also be doing some gardening depending on what I buy!

Saturday I want to get out to the trail work day at Blue Mounds State Park and help with the start of a new trail loop. That will take up the morning. I also need to go to Richland Center where I store my 1969 Javelin. In order to re-register the car the DMV told me I am required to submit pictures of the inside and outside of the car and the engine compartment. I also have to have a law enforcement officer certify the VIN number. I also have to write up the background on the vehicle and provide any documents I can find from when it was last registered. I'm not sure I would have decided to get it going again if I knew how much work would be involved. Apparently if you don't keep your car registered you have to prove that is is not a "junk vehicle" and since the title has been lost I have to have law enforcement certify the VIN number.

Sunday is Mother's Day so I'll be traveling back to Two Rivers again. I have a swimming lesson Sunday night as well. I'm thinking maybe if I get up super early I can get in a short run so I get in some form of exercise.

Next week I'm going to try and psyche myself up along with hopefully a few CVC teammates into doing the WCA road race on Saturday. I hate hills but it is a super short race so I'm hoping I can make it.

Nothing to say really

2009-05-04T13:52:00.003-05:00

So I realize the blog has been dormant for 3 weeks now and that I've likely lost any readers I may once have had. However, which is worse . . . no posts or posting when you have nothing to say. I'm sure there are many different opinions on that but today I've decided to post even though I really have nothing to say.

I have ridden a little but certainly not a lot. Last week I did ride my bike three times - the Mad FORCs Tuesday road ride, a very slow ride with 22 middle school kids and a Sunday trip to the Kettles to mountain bike. Riding at the Kettles confirmed my lack of bike fitness as it seemed to take a lifetime to complete the whole John Muir, connector trail, and Emma Carlin.

Ski School has started back up and I went once last week for the strength and flexibility testing. That was painful! I suck at push ups but I am not too bad at dips and I have moderately decent flexibility. Generally I have much room for improvement between now and winter. This week I hope to get out for an initial rollerski to fully kick off the start of the ski training season.

Other activities that are happening include planning for a trail run I'm organizing for August 16. I hope to finish up all the city paperwork this week so I can submit it for approval to have the run at Elver Park. Speaking of Elver Park I volunteered to be a part of a committee that is working on gaining approval to build some mountain bike trails there. I'm super excited about this opportunity and hope that it happens. More on that to come if all goes well.

USGP planning is in full swing and they will be back in town for another meeting later this month. Dirt Retreat planning is also in full swing and entries are starting to arrive in the mail and Alison Dunlap will be in town for that event again this year.

So to sum up . . . . I'm training very little -- just enough to stay healthy but not enough to get fast. All my events are moving forward. Oh yeah, and my swimming is progressing along and I foresee that in the not so far future I will actually be able to swim.

Mid Life Crisis

2009-04-15T22:01:00.001-05:00

Since I'm fast approaching my 40th birthday I've decided that I deserve a mid-life crisis. To raise money for that I'm selling my Powertap (the whole setup - wheel, hub, etc). If you are in the market for one mine hasn't been used very much and I'd love to sell it to you!

My plan is to use the money to resurrect my 1969 AMC Javelin. I've located a garage to rent that is near my house and have talked to a local classic car restoration shop about feasibility and costs. I have no idea what I will do with it once it is working again but it seems like a nice mid-life crisis project. I told Dave that after one year if it turns out to be completely impractical that I will sell it and buy a custom built bike with a paint scheme that will remind me of the car.

Dave suggests that perhaps I shouldn't blog while under the influence of drugs so that's it for tonight (I had dental surgery today . . . and they give you a few drugs for post-surgery). My jaw aches now so maybe he is right.