Let Them Eat Cake

As near as we can tell, today is Opie and Ellie's 2nd birthday. These two kittens (ok, cats now, really) have brought a lot of joy (and some frustration) into our family. So, for their birthday, we had a party - of course. There were presents of English cucumber (they LOVE the cucumber), and of course, a cake. Thanks to Serene and Teri for helping to celebrate!

Florida

Despite not really having anything resembling winter just yet, I spent this past weekend in Panama City Beach, FL. My mom and dad are spending their third winter down there, and I made the trip down to spend some quality time with them, and the sun.

We had a great visit. Lots of walking, catching up, and lots of sun. The weather was MUCH more pleasant than when I was there last year (shorts and bare feet were possible all but the first day). And, I somehow managed to miss the coldest weekend we've had so far (I did, however, time my arrival back in Boston with a blizzard. The drive from Logan to home was a white-knuckle affair with nary a plow nor salt/sand truck in sight!).

In case you are suffering from some winter doldrums, here are a few pics from the trip.

 

Making Lemonade

Excited to be out riding

Usually in January we have a decent snow cover in place, temps are frigid, and any time on the bike is in the basement. This year is a bit odd (but not unheard of - we had similar weather in January 2007), and we don't yet have any snow, everything is dry, and temps have fluctuated wildly - Tuesday night got down into the low teens, and today saw temps in the low sixties. Crazy.

With no snow (and a new snow blower, new skate skis, new snow boots, season passes to Weston...) there's nothing else for us to do but ride our bikes. Many years, at this time of the year, I am wiped out from riding/racing and need a break. That is still the case this year (I really could use a break and do wish it would snow), but I'm embracing what we have, and ENJOYING the time on the bike - making lemonade and having [gasp] fun.

Merry Christmas!

Over the Christmas break, Mike and I rode every day but two. We enjoyed our annual Christmas Day MTB ride - exploring conservation trails in Bedford, trails behind Middlesex Community College and then into the PR. We rode in the frigid cold on the road for two days, enjoyed short rides in the woods, and rang in the New Year with some new faces. 

Where's the snow?

This past week, we continued the rides. Tuesday morning, it seemed like a terrific idea to me to invite my trusty riding partner, Teri, for an after work jaunt in the woods. Nothing unusual about that - except that the temperature when we rolled out from the house was a frigid 17.8 F! Let me be clear - IT. WAS. COLD. Since we are both too stubborn (stupid?), we bundled up like the Michelin man, put on the lights and headed into the woods. Getting to the trail head requires a bit of pavement time, and with the added windchill, I actually believed we may not be able to get through our intended route.

I have the opposite problem of many people - my hands are typically too warm, and I need to wear thinner gloves than most. That night, however, my fingers were frozen within 10 minutes - to the point of not being able to feel the brake levers! And the CamelBak I filled with water before leaving? Yeah - the hose on that sucker froze before hitting the trail head.

We stopped briefly in the woods to try and get some circulation in the hands, which helped. In the end, we managed to finish our intended loop and had an awesome night of riding, without turning into ice cubes. On returning to the house, the temp had dropped a couple of degrees, and was sitting at 15.1. Definitely the coldest ride so far this year (season). Likely to be a few more.

An awesome ride with T&S

 So, bragging rights for the coldest ride of the year. Today, though,  was a different story - Teri, Serene and I set out to do the big loop on the MTBs under bright sunshine and with starting temps already in the upper 40s.  It only got warmer through our ride - when I got home, the thermometer said 59, and it had already begun to cool down!

Here Llama, llama, llama...

I was over-joyed to be out today - enjoying the unseasonable weather, the perfect trail conditions, the company of friends - the zen of being on the bike. The euphoria was overwhelming at times - I felt like I could ride forever. After almost 3.5 hours (and over 32 miles) it was time to end what for me was a perfect day. If we can't have snow, I sure do hope we can have a few more of these!

So, what do you do when life gives you lemons?

The End

We're into the final few days of 2011. As I get older, it seems that the years seem to pass more and more quickly. I think I am turning into my grandmother :). It's natural at this time of year, to look back and reflect on the past twelve months - the good, the bad and the in between. Here are a few highlights:

With all the snow we had in the winter, Mike and I put in A LOT of hours on the skate skis, as well as some time on the cruisers in the woods. It was awesome to do something different from all the riding. It did, however, mean that we spent even LESS time in Bethel - the conditions were so good in MA, it just didn't make sense for us to make the drive up to ME most weekends. We also discovered biathlon - which I have fallen completely in love with!

We celebrated Opie and Ellie's first birthday, and one year adoption. All the celebrating was followed by an admonishment from the vet, and a diet plan for the poor kitties. They continue to wreak havoc - unfurling toilet paper, chewing on boxes, eating donuts out of the box (not kidding), and chewing the Christmas decorations. It's a darned good thing they are so cute!

I fell out of and back into and back out of love with road racing. While I scaled back on the total number of races, I had some success, some fun, and some disappointment. 2012 is likely to see even less road racing for me.

I also scaled back the number of MTB races, but did have some success at a couple of races, and ate more than my fair share of mud at a couple of others. We had a least two "epic" races in the rain/mud, including sinking so far into a puddle while riding, that my butt was submerged!

I continued to see improvement at the weekly TT. In fact, this season I hit a PR of 23:03 for our 9.75 mile course, making me the 5th fastest woman to race the course. I was ecstatic at first, but then realized that I need just 4 seconds to get into the elusive 22 minute range. Worse, I THEN realized that I need 22 seconds to become the third fastest woman... Goals. It's all about goals :) Good thing that Santa brought us some wind tunnel time.

Mike started a Junior Development team this year, and I helped. I think this is one of the greatest accomplishments of the year, at least for me. What started out as 2-3 kids who wanted nothing more than to ride together, turned into a team of 10 who trained together weekly, raced together and have really bonded. Despite some issues staying upright (and two concussions), the team had a very successful year on the road, and then transitioned to 'cross - something NONE of the kids had done before! Thanks to generous donations from NEBC members and Mike's time and know-how, we managed to get 5 bikes out to the kids and they raced full seasons, falling in love with the sport that Mike and I love so much. I'm very much looking forward to next season with the team, and hoping we can all manage to keep the rubber side down.

I ended my tenure as president of NEBC. Since 2005 I have been the Women's 3/4 team captain, a BOD member and president. It was time for me to move aside for someone new to bring their ideas to the table. Part of me was sad to let go of something that I poured a lot of time, energy and passion into, but it was the right decision.

We added a new room to the house - a three season sun room. We're really excited about being able to use the room next year - it got a bit too chilly for us to use it this year after it was finished.

And then there was the 'cross season. I had some highs and some lows during a "scaled back" season of 22 races. The lows included some less than stellar performances in the Verge races this season (the competition was tough, and my head wasn't in the game). While it was fun to see my friends every weekend, I just couldn't motivate myself in those races. I did have some success in the smaller races, including my best performances of the year in Canton and Plymouth (despite nearly crashing spectacularly). 

The biggest success for me, however, came in racing my SS CX bike. I had a win and a couple of other podiums in the Zanconato SSCX series, and ended up winning the women's series outright at the Ice Weasels (despite being told by someone that I was taking the race too seriously). The series win was followed up the next weekend at the New England Regional Championships where I took the Women's SS CX title. The season was long (we started racing CX in August this year, and went all the way through the weekend before Christmas), and again, part of me is sad that it is over - I miss my friends from CX, and in a way, the routine of racing every weekend. Again, looking ahead to next year.

And by far the biggest accomplishment of 2011 at our house was becoming debt free :)

I am really looking forward to 2012 - lots of goals to achieve and adventures to be had. For the past couple of years, I have really not been excited about racing my bike, but now, with the season just barely put to rest, I am looking forward to and planning for the year ahead with great anticipation - the training, the racing, the camaraderie of my fellow cyclists, and the time spent with my favorite riding partner. I'm hoping for great things, but more importantly, fun times.

Wishing you and your families a very healthy, happy and adventurous 2012!

The CXers Are Coming, The CXers Are Coming!

And the British came too!
(this photo by Russ Campbell; podium photo by Michael Foley)

Wednesday night we ventured to the Lancaster Fairgrounds to kick off what has been dubbed the "Holy Week of Cyclocross" here in New England. The Midnight Ride of Cyclocross would be the first in a series of 6 races over an 11 day period - Gloucester, Night Weasels and Providence would round out the "Holy Week".

This race marked the second in the Zanconato Single Speed series as well, so Mike and I decided those were the races we would do. I really wanted no part of lining up with the likes of Helen Wyman (British National CX champ), Gabriella Day, Mo Bruno-Roy and other REALLY fast women. Instead, I took the line with 49 of my SS friends (sadly, there were only 3 of us women) to blast away for 45 minutes with only one gear.

Prior to the race start there was much discussion amongst competitors about gearing choices. I laughed when Cort C. asked what gear I was running. Those of you who know me know that I don't pay ANY attention to those details - I simply ride what Mike puts on my bike. Cort laughed at that, and then agreed with me that zip-ties on a geared bike to limit to a SS was actually cheating. The people doing that had the opportunity to find the right gear for the course on the pre-ride, and then quickly zip tie their shifters into their selected gear. It's much harder to change out cogs than it is to zip tie a shifter - just sayin'.

I really liked that the promoters of this race staged the women SS racers amongst the men. I had reservations about this at first, but it turned out to be a big benefit as I had people with whom to race the entire time. Because of my points and being pre-reg'd for the race, I managed to be in about the 6th row starting out, allowing me a good opportunity to move up on the start whistle, and then to quickly get passed by some stronger men who had the misfortune of being staged behind me ;). The first twists and turns on lap one were a cluster - being so far back, there was a lot of braking, jostling and wistfully watching the front of the race maneuver seamlessly about 3-4 turns ahead of us.

I settled in, closely watching the other women competitors through the twists and turns. When I came through and saw 3 laps to go, I quite literally told myself that meant that I only had two - I was FULLY expecting to be lapped by the front runners of the men's race, as I had been at Quad. By that lap, I was attached to teammate Mark L. and a "Dr. Gonzo" racer (that's what was printed on his butt, which is all I saw). They rode smoothly, gapping me off in some corners and on the uphills, but I chased and could catch back on on the flats and power sections.

Going into the penultimate lap, I figured this was my last go round, but I was still with Mark and Dr. Gonzo. I had paid attention in the previous lap, and was able now to stay with them in the corners, pedaling through instead of coasting and sprinting. And then they slowed down. It became obvious that Dr. Gonzo was drafting to conserve energy, and I couldn't get around both of the riders. When Dr. Gonzo finally passed Mark just before the barriers, I shouted at him to hop on Gonzo's wheel and stick to it. That got me the evil glare from Dr. Gonzo, and he stepped on the gas to open an insurmountable gap.

Mark cramped at that point, and I left him to chase the racers ahead. Suddenly, I could see the race leaders on the course behind, and I literally talked myself through the latter part of the lap - spectators on the course probably wondered who the crazy lady was as "Don't get lapped" "Don't let Curtis lap you" "C'mon Cathy, go, go, go" came out of my mouth (in pants) as I desperately tried to NOT get lapped by Curtis, or any of the other leaders.

Curtis was coming, I stepped on the gas. I needed to ride the technical hill section cleanly to stay ahead. As I sprinted towards the start/finish, I checked under my arm to see where Curtis was, and pumped my fist when I realized that I really was going to finish on the lead lap! Wahoo!

I just needed to ride one more lap, and to ride it clean. I did get passed by the last racer on the course who wasn't lapped, shouted at the Elite men who were warming up that I WAS still racing, and finished off the race ecstatic - I had won the women's SS race, and I DID NOT GET LAPPED by Curtis! Success!

It hurt. It was hard. But it was oh so much fun. I don't think I've had that much fun racing my bike in a long time! So excited that this series is in place. Of course, now there is a giant sucking sound as I look at results and realize that I might need to do more of these races than originally planned to defend my position - maybe that was the intent ;).