Grinding Gravel

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Lost and Found Gravel Grinder

Second Installment

After the first big climb is a long descent. At the start line, the organizer tried to warn us about the descent, but, as usual, everyone was talking. Apparently this happens in more than just ladies road racing. Cut out the talking people. The descent was described as “chassy” which is some sort of specialized term for lots of powdery dirt over fist sized rocks.

Despite the chas, this was a very fun descent. I got in my drops and just enjoyed not having to pedal. At this point, I wished I had done more long descents on my CX bike to prep. My long rides had all been on my road bike and that bike descends by reading your mind, no turning necessary. The aluminum bike with rim brakes actually requires turning, and that required getting used to. I was so glad to have been working on my core/arm routine for several weeks before this, because my bike really has to be TURNED, and my arms were definitely working. Ended up having lots of fun on this descent, mostly getting passed, but every once in while I would catch someone.

The next major obstacle on the ride would be 6 miles of road gravel. This part of the course was under construction and covered with 10 inches of cherry tomato sized gravel, also very sharp and pointy. This stuff gave me serious problems. First, it is deep so you have to put a lot of power down to get through it, and I was getting tired. Second it sucks your wheel this way and that, and I was really scared to go down on it. Not a forgiving surface. I would get on someone’s wheel and try to hold it, but the dust and moving through even deeper patches would cause me to lose that wheel, and then another would come along and the same thing would happen. So I fought through this stuff, and lost a lot of time and energy.

Luckily there was a paved reprieve through a beautiful valley right after this. I was cruising along by myself, and had some people come up to talk to me. It was nice to socialize with these guys, but I was racing, and in pain. I wanted to shout at them, “start pedaling your bike! (so I can draft)” But they just cruised along next to me. Eventually a large group caught me, with one of the ladies I had passed on the climb earlier. Which showed me how much time I really had lost in that road gravel. We got to talk more and I learned she was in my field. There was a larger group at this point, and the front guys were actually pedaling, so I just hung on until the next aid station.

I’ll try and get the next installment out sooner! Stay tuned and thanks for reading.

#kitdoping is real

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Sometimes, you want to put down the team kit and pick up something different. A kit handpicked from your favorite brands, something with outrageous colors and patterns. I did some reading, and it turns out kit doping is real and good for you.


Reason #1: A special kit makes you faster. We all have race day rituals for important events. Pinning up a much loved team kit and other pre-race rituals helps get to the starting line with confidence. Some of us even use the same safety pins over again. For the everyday, sometimes you need a little extra boost. To finish up that last interval, attack the weekly group ride, or clear that tough rock garden. Maybe it’s time to take back your KOM.  Not only can having a super sweet, bright colored kit make you feel better and ride more confidently, there’s proof.  Color affects your mood and athletic performance. One study showed that Olympic athletes won more often when they wore red. It’s no surprise. New kit day is always a no-chain day.

Reason #2: You join a community of other awesome kit lovers everywhere. This community consists of local bike shops, one-man shows, shops from other countries, everyone! The interweb and instagram (especially this guy) make it possible to find and order kits from all over the world. Branching out to kit retailers builds the cycling community, and you learn about even more sweet kits. Then when you visit the cool places where the kits come from, like AZ or NC, friends and new shops await! And the customer service is always impeccable, from sizing questions to help with shipping and returns. These local businesses all find ways to give back to the community too.  Seeking out different, diverse kits supports the people who are coming up with fresh ideas and trying different things, and you get to make new friends in the process.

Reason #3: A bright, obnoxious kit makes it easier for drivers to see cyclists. A rider in a black or dull kit is very hard to see, especially moving in and out of shadows. Something flouro, even just socks or arm skins, may help a car to see you.  This also works on the trails. A runner coming toward you won’t be surprised when you jump out of the shadows because they saw your bright orange kit from a few turns back and are ready for you.

Reason #4: Sometimes you want to stand out from the pack. To express individual style and taste. Clothing is “a little ode to creativity and novelty. It gives a hint of personality… It is a reflection of your unique complexity as a human being.” (Psychology Today) It feels good to let a little of the non-cycling personality shine through. Matchy-matchy with your teammates feels good on the line and helps identify each other during the race. But on the other days, I just want to stand out and wear something crazy.   -Side note, it’s best to only poach trails when not in a team kit. Though I would never encourage that.

Reason #5: Look gorgeous. All those colors, patterns and designs mean there is one for everybody. Pick the one that best compliments your tan lines, or a perfect fade to match the evening light. Maybe you want to highlight the green tones in your bar tape, or bring out the blue in your eyes. There is a flattering kit out there for everybody, no matter what feature you want to accentuate.


Thanks for reading! Now get out there and find some new kit!

The links here and above are some of my favorite people:

The Heavy Pedal

Ridge Supply

Manuel For Speed

Rescue Project

The Athletic

Twin Six

Squid Bikes

100 Miles in the Dust

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Lost and Found Gravel Grinder

First Installment

This 100 mile gravel race takes place in Sierra county, at Lake Davis. It’s the same day as Pescadero Road Race, which was one of my goal races for raod season. So all season I have been planning to go to Pescadero. Then I had two really good rides on my cross bike and Scott set up the tent in our front yard. These things are enough to make anyone do crazy stuff. I haven’t been living up to my expectations in road races lately (read: getting dropped), so I figured why the hell not?

I reg’d for the 100 miles and started prepping. First step was setting some goals. Last big race on the cx bike I flatted, a teammate helped me out, but I still lost a bunch of time. So first goal was no mechanicals. Next I looked at the times from last year. Johanna Dahl won my category with a time of 7:10, but most women were high 7 hours or into 8 hours. So I set my finishing time goal at 8 hours. I also secretly hoped to get on the podium.

It took me two weeks to get all my bike prep dialed. Washed, lubed, tightened, injected. With tubeless tires, you have to replace the Stan’s sealant every once in while. It’s kinda funny, you take a big syringe and inject it into the tire through the valve stem. Make sure to deflate the tire first or the removeable valve core will shoot up at you violently. Seriously, that thing could have taken out my eye. Learned my lesson there. I also switched my seat to a more 8 hour appropriate one, because the cross racing one was a little…ummm….uncomfortable. Anyway, bike dialed.

Saturday morning mass start. I was pretty nervous, and feeling anxious to get underway. Saw Olivia Dill on the line and chatted a bit, she would end up getting second in the Pro Women field. The field was huge at the start, and there was a bunch of position jockeying. This was sketchy on the dirt, dust was everywhere, it was hard to see and pinball sized rocks kept bouncing off of frames and bodies. Very different sound than a road peloton. I stayed toward the front as much as possible, but not quite enough, because at about 10 miles in, these was major slowing and, of course, a crash around a rocky mud puddle. The guy right in front of me went down, but I got around him, and saw that the guy in front of him had completely tacoed his wheel. He was going to have a long walk. We finally got to the first climb and the group thinned out.

I had trouble on the climbs all day. The gearing on my bike is tough, and the climbs were steep. I had gravel tires on and they slip when you stand to climb in loose dirt. Ended up grinding up the climbs and losing lots of time to ladies that had easier gears and would just go spinning by.

That’s all for now, stay tuned for the next installment!

Train Yourself to Suffer

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“I had made the lift a million times in my head. I felt confident and let my body go to work.”

Cecily Basques-Champion Weightlifter

Even with the best support, equipment and teammates in the world, you still have to suffer to accomplish anything. I raced Wente Vineyards Road Race Sunday and got to suffer with the best ladies in the NorCal peloton. That is, I suffered with them until I gave up.

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This isn’t Wente, but getting dropped always looks the same.

Our course was four laps on a 14 mile loop that took us over Altamont pass, up steep pitches and into grueling headwinds. This was my second road race of the year, and I was looking to improve on my last outing at Copperopolis. Which went something like this: Holding Katerina Nash’s wheel over the cobbled pavement to the bottom of the climb on the first lap and them blowing up and proceeding to ride 60 miles solo to finish the race. So I figured that if I could at least hang on for the first lap at Wente I would be showing some progress.

The first time up the Wente climb was pretty mellow. It hurt, but more like a soft hurt. There is a sweet descent on this course, but I was in poor position the entire time. This lead to wasted energy spent catching back on. I would definitely need that energy later. When we got to the climb the second time it really hurt. Like being turned inside out. My body burned, I wanted to throw up, I could barely see.  But I managed to stick on over the top. However, this is racing and relief is always short lived. I was still gasping and at the back of the group, when some attacks were launched and the whole group sped up. My treacherous brain said, “I want to give up” and just like that I did. No second chances and no make-ups. My body quit and wouldn’t work for anything.

I know how important it is to train and have well-maintained equipment. But knowing how to suffer, knowing how to turn off that traitorous brain is essential. The best equipment and focused training are no help if you won’t suffer. And this goes for any challenge in life. The brain will always quit before the body does, it’s evolutionary. All those pain signals from the body make the brain think I’m dying and have to quit. But I’m not. This kind of aerobic pain doesn’t mean injury or danger or death, just muscles working hard, doing what they do best.

Post-race exhaustion. If I wasn’t so dead, I would have taken off those silly arm-warmers.

The race continued. The rest of that lap I was able to work with a girl who caught up to me. We took turns in the wind and the third time up the climb, we were in sight of other girls who had fallen off. Making good progress. Then up a steep section I lost concentration and dropped my chain. It immediately wedged itself in there and I had to get off my bike to free it. There went my chance at getting back in the race. The girl I was working with would go on to catch several other women. I completed the last lap solo, in the wind and up the hills. Painful and slow, but I finished what I started.

I  chose the quote at the top because it reminds me to visualize success and believe in myself. Suffering and sacrificing over and over means my body knows better than my brain what needs to be done. And knowing the exact moment my brain gave up helps me prevent it in the future. Next time my brain wants to quit, I’ll turn it off and let my body go to work.

Thanks for reading!

 

 

People and things that remind me why I suffer:

My Team: Mike’s Bikes. I couldn’t ask for better support from the shops and camaraderie from my teammates. Classy ladies who know how to work together and encourage others.

Equipment: Atom Composites Inc. Stunningly fast wheels that look great and perform better. The highest quality builds and parts. And great people standing behind their work.

Family and Friends: Surrounding myself with people who respect sacrifice and suffer for their own goals. Always setting the bar high for success and following through.

 

Sock Game

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One of my teammates recently posted, sock doping is so 2015, shorts doping is 2016, and she’s right, and looked great in those shorts.  She is right and I have seen way too many sock photos lately, yet somehow she’s way off wrong. Socks continue to be an obsession for many people, myself included, and they’re not going away.

Which made me wonder, Why socks?

People are over the top about socks because they serve many awesome purposes. Socks are often the only customized piece of the work uniform. Work regularly demands a certain type of shirt or pant or shoe, but a little peak of sock color never offended anyone. Maybe it even help impress the boss with creativity and expression. Work socks peak out just a tiny bit, covering that small stretch of ankle between pant hem and shoe. So innocent. The smallest visible article of clothing, but makes a big impression. Kind of like sagging with great boxers, except getting to sag at work. Which is even better. A little low risk rebellion.

Socks are absolutely the cheapest way to express individuality. A beautiful kit or bike or dress or shoes would do the same thing, but not the same price tag. Feeling bored by an outfit? New socks are in the budget. And with that small investment comes freedom of expression. Color in a sea of grey. Design in a swath of plain. An easy statement exhibiting color, design and spontaneity. Judging by all the cool foot tubes out there, I’m not the only one who thinks socks are greater than they seem.

Socks done right:

Mountains

Airports

Paisley-For work socks, Evoke pairs paisley with dress shoes in the best combo I’ve ever seen. I fantasize about pairing those socks with my vans.

Thanks for reading!

Gratitude=Watts

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“When the work you put in is realized”

–Tim McGraw

Focusing on gratitude gave me 5 extra watts on the bike this afternoon. At least five. Intervals today were hard, over/under lactate threshold. This basically means spend some time hurting and then hurt more for a little while and then go back to just hurting and then hurt more for a little while and then repeat again several times. After doing that a few times, rest for a bit, but not too long because the next set starts soon.

 

“It hurts!” Shut up legs…

All day long I keep in my head plans to complete my workout. Negative thoughts, like too tired, too busy, don’t want to, have a way of multiplying, so I kick them out entirely. This mental commitment makes getting on the bike easier when I get home, because I’ve been planning it all day.

Once the interval heats up it hurts, and it’s hard to keep up the same pace. My legs tell me, “It hurts, I tried, I’m too tired” and countless other excuses. They want to give up or slack off, and it becomes a mental battle to get the work done. In these instances, I remind myself to keep adding fuel, like Mia Hamm says, “I am building a fire and everyday I train, I add more fuel.”

And I focus on being thankful. I’m grateful to have the support, resources and health necessary to carve time out of my day to train. So many little details go into making even one ride possible, let alone a steady stream of rides, day after day.

These thoughts give me extra power. They show me to treasure every interval, make sure to get as much out of it as possible. If I don’t, I’ve wasted my time and shouldn’t have gotten on the bike in the first place. Not only have I wasted my own time, but I’ve wasted Scott’s time, when he adjusted my derailleur so my bike runs smoothly. I’ve wasted the money and support from my sponsors, who make products and equipment accessible.

 

The mechanic and his lovely assistant keep everything dialed.

If I don’t treasure every interval, why get on the bike in the first place? This specific interval at this specific effort is only going to happen once, I only get once chance to make it count, get everything out of it, that last 10 seconds when my legs and lungs are screaming, I have to treasure that. This moment is the opportunity to complete this workout. If I wasn’t going to put all my effort into doing it right, why do it at all, why get on the bike?

So I put all my thoughts into why I’m grateful to doing what I’m doing. I think of all the fuel I’m adding to the fire. And I carry this with me into all aspects of life. Don’t start something I don’t intend to finish, and be grateful for the opportunity to work hard.

 

Grateful to be riding

 

Chili Recipe

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A very delicious chili that is belly warming and satisfying.

1 yellow onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, diced

1 medium yellow sweet potato, peeled and cubed

1/2 tube soyrizo

1 Tbl. Veg. Oil

1 can whole peeled tomatos

1 can black beans

1 can pinto beans

1 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp cumin

veggie broth and water to taste

Heat the oil over medium heat until warm. Saute the onion and garlic until starting to soften, about 7 minutes. Add the chorizo and sweet potato and cook and stir until browned.

Add the can of tomatoes, cutting the tomatoes once they are in the pan. After draining, add the beans. Reduce heat to med low and stir. Add water and veg broth if you like more liquid in your chili. Add the spices, taste and add more as needed.

Reduce heat to low and simmer the chili for 20-30 minutes, until the potatoes are soft. Serve with cheese, sliced green onions or, our favorite, grilled cheese.

Batch Cooking Balance

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Part 1

I find that I’m happier and a much better cyclist when I have tons of yummy food available. Food that doesn’t come in a box or have multiple ingredients. If I ride my bike after work, I get home at 6:30. Not much time for chopping, prepping, cooking, etc. Just heat and eat.

Enter Batch Cooking.

This is a fantasy of mine. As if by magic, food appears out of the fridge and cabinets. Tasty, healthy food that is already edible and doesn’t require much clean-up. Hearty vegetarian food that doesn’t make anyone miss meat. Magic. And somehow prepping all this amazing food doesn’t preclude wine tasting on Sunday. All things in moderation.

It starts with a big shopping trip. Including a new cooking utensil.

Then I moved onto a triple batch of chili. This stuff is so tasty.  It goes into the freezer in three 1 quart ziplock bags. I always know the morning of if it’s going to be a busy night, so I get one of these out before I leave for work. Then when I get home, et voila, chili. Get extra fancy with some grilled cheese. I was intimidated by the quantities here, and so started this chili small, perfecting and tasting as I upped the quantity. It helped show me that cooking a large amount of something doesn’t usually take more time or effort than cooking a small amount. Which is the principle behind batch cooking. Just cook more and know how to preserve it.

 

Fear is the path to the Dark Side

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I haven’t seen the new Star Wars yet, but am completely caught up in the fever. This isn’t about that.

It’s about using bikes to overcome fear and create community.

While on an awesome bike ride last June, my good friend JT and I started talking about cyclocross. Specifically, what we could do to encourage more women to race cross, ourselves included. And how to have steller looking kits. (very important) All it took was a couple ladies and some beer support and Dirt Birds was born, with the specific goal of more women racing more often.

Fast forward to West Sac Grand Prix, the first local CX race. Our kits had arrived and we had at least one bird racing in all categories. This was going to be an exciting day! There was still a world outside bike racing though, and it was getting hot. On the way home from Stockton the Wednesday before, I saw a cloud of smoke over the San Andreas area. Driving Highway 49 to work the next day the road was clogged with smoke and all I saw was fire trucks and crews. The Butte Fire would eventually spread throughout the Mokelumne River Canyon and surrounding areas. Calaveras Unified School District, my employeer, cancelled school for the next day and the entire week after because so many students and staff had to be evacuated.

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Our bike community found its own way to support. Many of my friends generously donated money to buy dog and cat food for the animals being housed in evacuation centers. We put quite a lot of food in my truck!

I woke up the day of WSCXGP excited about my new team and racing, but my heart was still with my students and friends effected by the fire. This did not lead to a good race. There was one hill that I could not figure out. I kept getting near the top and then stalling out and tipping over. This was very frustrating and scary, and lead to a debilitating negative thought spiral. I could not escape this spiral and I gave up. The only thought keeping me from a DNF was that Dirt Birds had a “one race” requirement. If I just finished this race, I didn’t have to race anymore for the season and could still be on the team next year. So I finished. In tears. Convinced I was a terrible rider and it wasn’t worth racing my bike ever again. In short, afraid.

I really wanted to give up. Then I remembered that one of my teammates had also gone through a bad wreck and severe concussion, and she was crushing it this year. I reached out to Woodpecker (we all have our own spirit bird) about my own wreck and the long term effects it could be having on racing and crashing. I got some great support and strategies to escape the negative thought spiral and started picking up the pieces in time for Sac CX.

With the support of the CX community, I started to overcome the fear. Fear that I would crash, that I wasn’t good enough, that I was wasting my time. I got to race the Sagebrush series at Trukee Bike Park. This was a very scary course. I was scared the year before, because of the bike park and the deep gravel, and I was scared again this year. But I was not going to skip this race. I remembered racing with Erica there last year, and she would never have let fear stop her from doing anything.

11165100_1636352709961630_1321736655680304182_oSo Woodpecker and I headed up the hill to Trukee and this ended up being one of my favorite races of the year! It’s impossible not to smile when you’re in a big banked turn looking down or pumping through the short sections. Just all around fun on the bike. And our team sponser, Flylow Dan, was out there racing and cheering and we had a great group at the burger joint after.

Finally, a revelation. I did some figure 8 drills, prescribed by the Jedi master. I started to relish the pain of racing and sprinting the barriers. I realized that never giving up was its own motivation. The mud taught me that. Conditions that make it hard for everyone. I was inspired by the motivational messages on my socks.  Continued support from family, teammates, friends, really everyone in the CX family. And eventually, I wasn’t afraid anymore. Or if I did meet fear, I had the mental toolbox to turn it into opportunity.

Dirt Birds co-founder JT and I ended up battling it out for a podium spot in the series overall. And as another Jedi Master likes to say, if you can’t win, beat a friend. Our races were close and exciting on those last few courses, especially under the lights at Sac Raceway.

But the end result never mattered. The best reason to be racing cyclocross is always the people. The CX Family.

Thanks to everyone for support and belief.

Here’s my “mental toolbox.” These are some of the phrases or ideas, and their origens, that inspire me and help to get out of a negative thought spiral:

  • We always underestimate ourselves (log hopping with Sparrow at Miller Park)
  • You Got This (socks by The Athletic)
  • This is supposed to be fun!    but…
  • There’s no smiling in Cyclocross.  (The Heckle Master)
  • All the Dirt Birds
  • Remembering that the course is a living thing (Adam describing the tide at Miller Park)
  • Stace Cooper just in general

And thanks for reading.

Cheers!

 

Cross is in full swing!

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After picking up discount pumpkins and tearing around my property yesterday I realized that cross is in full swing!! It’s been an interesting start to the season.
Returning this year is the awesomeness that is Rodeo Cross. This weekly race is near and dear to my heart. Since I started racing and riding, the Folsom/Sacramento community has been so welcoming and Rodeo Cross was the beginning. From the great friends I’ve made there, the intense workout and the hand-ups through “Heckle Hollow” all make this the best evening of the week. The final race is tonight and I’m hoping there will be costumes! Rodeo Cross is also directly responsible for two of my latest projects. The first is my cross “team” Aloha Mr. Hand-up. This is a super amazing team (consisting of me) inspired by some awesome people, again at Rodeo Cross.
It started when I was wearing my full road kit and getting heckled mercilessly. There is nothing worse than being a matchy-matchy roadie on Wednesday nights. (Unless you’re throwing down at the race ride, but that’s a different animal altogether)
Anyway, I was at a loss what to do.
I’d talked to some of the Jortz ladies and loved their message: You don’t need expensive clothes to have a great time on a bike. Then, one night, another racer was wearing a Hawaiian shirt and i heard over the sound system, “We need more Hawaiian shirts out here!” Inspiration! I headed to my local thrift store and picked up a brand new to me shirt. It was perfect! Breathable, stretchy and just generally rad. The very next Rodeo race, one of the idols of cool, Stace, started shouting Aloha Mr. Hand-up to me. I was completely lost until she reminded me of Sean Penn’s character in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” (This is the short version, the longer one actually has Spicoli in it, but also some not so general public appropriate elements 😉 And so my cross identity was formed! Now I rep Aloha Mr. Hand-up at all the local races, and hope for a Hawaiian beer sponsor to pick me up.
The other current project inspired by rodeo cross is building my own cross course. I have a few acres of cow pasture behind my house, and it is criss-crossed with trails. The cows take the same route to and from where ever they are going and have worn in some great paths. It’s long been a dream of mine to have my own cross course and with the help of my roommate, I’m getting there. Just completed the first step yesterday, which was determining a loop. Now that I have that, it’s just putting barriers in and making sure the course is clear. It’s about a 5-7 minute loop with lots of flowy cow trail single track, a couple of climbs, and some creek crossings if it ever rains out here. There’s really nothing better than tearing it up with my best friend, on a perfect evening, out behind my house. I’m really excited. Maybe, once the course is perfected, I’ll be able to host a pick-up cross day at my house. That would be amazing.
Basically, rodeo cross is great and everyone should try it! It may change your life, or at least your kit.
Aloha!