A Bountiful Thanksgiving Weekend

WAH! I can't believe that Thanksgiving has already come and gone, thrusting us into the throes of the holiday season. Time certainly seems to have flown this year, and it moves faster and faster as I get older (much to my grandmother's delight!). I hope that you all had a fabulous holiday.

Mike and I headed north on Wednesday last week - I needed a hair cut ;-). Yes, I travel all the way to Maine for my haircuts - it's cheaper and they do a better job! It snowed on the way up, so we stopped to get our snowmobile registrations for the season, just in case. We also picked up a new bumper for my sled after last year's close encounter with the tree. Unfortunately, we didn't end up with time enough to ride, but heard that they were already running Jefferson Notch!

Thanksgiving Day, we headed to Mike's parents' in VT for the day. Got our fill of yummy turkey, potatoes, squash, stuffing and cranberries, and even brought home leftovers for the best part of Thanksgiving Dinner - Thanksgiving sandwiches!

My SIL works at JC Penney, and had to be at work on Friday morning at 3:45 AM! Given her commute, that meant leaving her house at 2:30. Personally, I think the whole "Black Friday" early bird thing has just gone too far. We did, however, head over to N. Conway to try to do some shopping. We found that the sales weren't that great, and anything we really wanted was already out of stock when we got there (before 8:00 AM). We did manage a few purchases, and a couple of good scores at the Pearl Izumi outlet, but it wasn't all we had hoped it would be.

Saturday's frigid temps somehow didn't deter us from racing at Sterling, but I will cover that in a separate post.

Yesterday, several friends met at our house for an epic MTB adventure, under sunny skies and with much warmer temps than on Saturday. We all started out together and headed into the PR to kick off the ride, splitting into two different groups as we went - the boys and the girls ;-). We did the TT loop in the PR and I showed Tami and Susanne how to ride the "gravity cavity", which was fun! After a great loop there, it was time to head out to Estabrook. Here, the boys were going to continue on to Great Brook, and we were planning on a small loop before heading back home.

Somehow between the PR and Estabrook, my legs completely died. I looked at my speedometer a number of times on the rail trail extension, only to be completely discouraged at the amount of effort I was putting in to go so slowly! Tami, Susanne and I stopped at the entrance to Estabrook Woods for some food, and then went in. I managed to conquer the "run-up" hill for the first time ever - riding all the way to the top! Woohoo!

While trying to decide if we would do the short or long loop in Estabrook, we came to a stream crossing, filled with baby heads which I walked. For some reason, Susanne thought she could ride it, but ended up in the drink, one side in the creek, and the opposite foot still attached to her pedal! She was wet and stuck. I decided then that we needed to head back home since we were now all tired, and making some bad decisions! Susanne did comment, however, that to her credit, she rode through the hard part of the creek ;-). Too bad I didn't have the camera!

All epic rides should be followed by vast amounts of food, and this one was no different. I had made a big-assed lasagna the previous night (the sucker weighed about 25 pounds), and we feasted on that, garlic bread, yummy salad, shrimp cocktail, ice cream and cookies - oh, and beer! It was a great day, and a terrific way to end the weekend - thankful for great rides, good friends, and our families.

And lastly, yesterday was also my parent's 40th wedding anniversary! Congratulations mom and dad. Here's to many more happy years together. I love you both.

Lowell

Last year, I LOVED the Lowell race course. This despite being in about 6th place, hitting a rock in the single track, flatting, and having to RUN about 1/2 a lap to the pit to change out my wheel. This year's course was slightly different to accomodate some beautiful changes in the park, and I still loved it! Add cold weather and some really good mud to a fun course, and you have yourself a beaut of a 'cross race!

Shannon, Carrie, Joanne, Teri, Kathy and Julie all had great races in the 3/4 field (although according to the results, Kathy and Julie didn't actually race - the results were really fubar). I was so excited to watch them sprinting through corners, flying downhill, and passing other racers. Shannon finished a strong 3rd, and Carrie's 6th place race came down to the finish line where she beat the good doctor by just an inch! Smiling and dirty, the team looked great even after being covered in mud (and how did Teri get so dirty????) ;-)

Mike's race was next, and I knew I would have time to warm up in between, so I watched his entire race. He looked great! After a good start, he made up some places and quickly was jockeying for 6th/7th place. Despite breaking his saddle, bad shifting and popping out of his pedal in the final sprint, he finished in 7th - his best race this season, and the second race in two weeks where he finished ahead of Paul. He is having a great season, and I suspect, will do great at Nationals.

Me? I have determined that my race results are directly proportional to who shows up to race. Of course, everyone could say this, but I suspect that I am not actually doing that much better. So, the fast girls showed up, and I ended up in the back...

I actually had a good start to the race. The photos show that I was sitting about 5th wheel, but had lined myself up on the wrong side of the track, and quickly was squeezed out on the right. Coming into the barriers on the first lap, I was behind, and was quickly passed by the two women behind me. Sadly, this put me last going into "the hill", and the Wheelworks rider in front of me bobbled, forcing me off my bike to run up. UGH! She would pick up the pace on the flat sections, and then slow WAY down in the technical sections. I quickly grew frustrated, and when I heard Mike yell for me to move up, I put in a surge to get past her and create a gap. This was my first race.

The second part of my race came with just under two laps to go. I knew that the Junior leader was closing in on me, and I decided that I wasn't going to get lapped - I wanted to finish ALL of my laps (yes, I really did want to ride "the hill" one more time - call me crazy!). I came up on a lagging junior in front of me, and started rapid firing at him, "C'mon - you can do it. Only 1.5 more laps to go. Don't let him catch us now. You don't want to get lapped, do you? I want to finish all of my laps. C'mon, I know you can do it - you're doing awesome!" He probably thought I was nuts, but he did pick up the pace. I passed him on the track, and we both just crossed the start/finish ahead of the winning junior! The lagging junior I had passed? He got by me and beat me in the end! I met my mid-race goal though - didn't get lapped and didn't finish last!



Oh, and apparently, Tide doesn't always get the tough stains out....

Plymouth - North and South

Last weekend's 'cross races took us to Plymouth, MA - land of the pilgrims, home to Plymouth Rock, and where my parents, 40 years ago this month, spent their honeymoon ;-).

Saturday - Plymouth North

Mike and I did this race last year, and I really liked the course - lots of grassy sections, a couple of tough run-ups, a single barrier you had to cross twice and a downhill singletrack section that was bumpy, twisty and rooty. Sadly, for this year's course, the grassy sections were shortened, and the run-ups were removed. That meant that this was going to be a fast race - more like a crit than a 'cross race, with only two forced dismounts per lap.

The weather this year was also quite different from last. Overcast skies, cold temps and WIND! I did my warmup laps with my jeans and down jacket over my cycling gear, and threatened to race that way too. The wind was biting, making it feel much colder than the temps indicated. A lot of racers were having trouble staying warm, especially once warm layers were shed in the staging area. Since there were only 8 women, we told the official to start us and not wait!

I knew that hanging onto a wheel was going to be important in this race, especially with the wind and long, flat sections of the course. I managed to latch onto Perri for much f the first lap, but she quickly gapped me, leaving me chasing Sue M and Karen T. I was pretty suprised to pass Sue - she is a much better racer than I, and I don't usually see her after we start a race. I later learned that she wasn't feeling well, and didn't end up finishing the race.

So, I targeted Karen, who I could see, but not catch for much of the race. At about lap 4, her rocket boosters kicked in, and then I could no longer even see her. I was on my own. I hunkered into TT mode, trying to get as low as I could to stay out of the wind, and just finish. When I came through for the bell lap, I was really excited to have only one more to go. So much so that the announcer commented that they usually see smiles on the bell lap, but never as big as the one I gave!

I finished the race in 5th, which was in the money. My teammate Teri, in her 1st race with the big girls, accomplished her goals as well: finished, didn't get lapped, and didn't come last! It was a good day for both of us, but we were REALLY happy to get into warm clothes when we were done.

Mike had a terrific race, finishing 10th in his field. Congrats also to Shannon for finishing a strong 3rd in the women's 3/4 race.



Sunday - Plymouth South

Everything that Saturday's course was not, Sunday's course was. I think this was my favorite venue so far this season, and you can tell from the photo that I had a great time (and apparently, wasn't suffering hard enough)! Thanks to Dave McElwaine for the photo - great to meet you!

The course started on the pavement, with a hard 90 degree right onto the grass, along some chain link fence and into single track - SWEET! The trail was twisty, and turned up a semi-tough short grinder into another field before putting us at the bottom of another long, steepish uphill into a 180 degree turn back DOWN the hill. A fast field section, onto a loose/sandy road and back into the woods. Here, you had to carefully negotiate tight, muddy turns, curbs (yes, in the woods), and a tree smack dab in the middle of the trail before the hardest uphill of the course (many ended up running this hill). Once this was complete, a bit more up/down in the woods brought us back out into the field for the barrier sandwich - DEEP sandpit, barriers and second sandpit. Yahoo! Challenging and fun.

Because many of the local women had registered to do the race in Putney, VT, there were only 5 Elite women on the starting line. I knew that Jennifer would gap me early, I would have a fight on my hands with Libby, and the two others were slightly unknown given that Kerry is a great MTB rider and I didn't really know the other woman.

From the whistle, I was chasing Libby (important note: Libby is a National Champion. She is also 14). When we came to the difficult uphill on the first lap, Libby chose to run while I rode, allowing me to make up some time on her. She got a little nervous trying to remount, so I told her to just be calm (she is also a teammate). This seemed to help, and her awesome skills through the sand and barriers let her get a gap on me.

I chased hard on the second lap, with Mike telling me not to let her go, and Libby's dad thanking me for coaching her through ;-). Each lap, I was able to make up time on her in the fields where power came into play, and she made time on me in the singletrack and sand/barriers - that girl is SMOOTH! I would catch her again as she ran up the hill and I rode. By lap three, Libby admitted to me that she was pretty cooked (this was her second race of the day - and the 12th time up "the hill"). I followed her through some sections, coaching her to stay calm and not make mistakes. When we got into the field, I passed her, moving into second place. She never lost a lot of time on me in the remaining three laps though, finishing just 30 seconds behind.



It was great to have cheering "fans" on the course as well. On one of my climbs up "the hill", someone yelled out "You're an animal" to which I replied, "An animal looking for one more gear!". Then came the ultimate heckle - "Less talking, more riding!" Yup - something I would have said ;-).



Sadly, both the Women's 3/4 and Men's 35+ results were incorrect. Julie L was really 14th in her race, and Mike was actually 8th in his race, where they showed him as 11th - there are 3 lapped riders in the results ahead of him... Too bad - this was his best result all season, and the second race in a weekend where he bested Paul Curley! Congrats to Carrie, who finished 3rd in her race, winning a nifty medal made in China ;-).




All in all, however, a great race, great venue and a fun day, with great results for NEBC!

More on Porky Gulch

Yes, I am behind (a lot) on my blogging. Sorry it has taken me so long to write up a report on Porky Gulch, but they do say "better late than never"!

I've had a lot of comments from friends, fellow racers and family on the statement, "Cathy ... of ..., MA was the women’s champion." Let me be blunt on this one - it's hard NOT to be the champion when you are the ONLY woman racing in the Elite category! That said, I did beat out the other 5 women who raced in the Beginner and Intermediate classes, and even a few of the Intermediate men.

Most importantly, this race was a BLAST! Last year, I raced here as a Beginner, and there were only two women in the entire race. It was great to see more women, and some talented racers in the Elite Men's category, including Paul Curley and our own Scott B and Mike! I'm going to do some arm twisting to see if I can get some more NEBCer's interested in participating next year - if you won't take my word for it, go read Scott's account of the race!

Terrible Two

After last year's slog 1.4 miles up the Mt. Washington Auto Road with regular 'cross gearing on my bike, Mike changed out the gearing to be closer to a 1:1 - 34:32, and I used all of them (ok, only the easiest one)! It still amazes me how quickly you can leave the gate house, ramp up to 22 mph, and then lose ALL of that speed as the pitch kicks up. It really wasn't long before I was seeing a whopping 5.3 mph... It also didn't take long for Scott, who started 30 seconds behind me, to catch me and leave me in his dust (he would do the entire climb 3 minutes faster than I).

This year, the race was 1.8 miles. Doesn't sound like much, right? WRONG! That last .4 miles was brutal, both mentally and physically. The road had been steadily rising up the whole race, but in that last .4 miles, it got steeper, harder, colder, longer... I was never so glad to see a finishing line. It took me 18:15 to ride the 1.8 miles - and only 5 minutes to ride back down, brakes on the whole way! ;-).

Storyland Crit

This is the race of the year! What other race boasts scenery that includes the Polar Coaster, a giant cuckoo clock, Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater's pumpkin, the Old Woman's Shoe, the Crooked House, and Cinderella's Castle??? The sign out front does say 35 acres of all day family fun!

After hot coffee and a yummy sandwich in N. Conway (although red onions should be avoided on a sandwich pre-race), we headed over to Storyland to do a pre-ride of the course so that we had a chance to gawk at all of the sights. Once the racing starts, looking at cuckoo clocks and nursery rhyme buildings is not a good idea...

Since I was racing Elite this year, I lined up with the Elite men (11), the Intermediate women (there was only one), and the Intermediate men (20). That meant there was A LOT of testosterone on the starting line, and this is a VERY tight, VERY technical course. I was nervous, and when the cannon (yup - it was small, but man was that thing LOUD) went off, I was really happy to let most of the men get into the tight turns ahead of me.

I'll admit there was SOME complacency in my racing, knowing that I only had to finish to win. And I wanted to stay upright (the woman racing Intermediate crashed on the first corner going over the small railroad tracks). But, I still put in a hard effort, and still raced. And I had fun. The hard part though, was in getting lapped by the Elite men - especially in a tight section where they proceeded to cut me off going into a hairpin turn... More demoralizing? Getting lapped by your husband - twice ;-). While the Elite men circled the park 13 times in just under 45 mins, I managed 11 laps in the same time.

We were lucky with the weather, too. It was warmer this year than last, and just as we packed up and started the car, the skies opened. This race would have been NO FUN (not to mention downright dangerous) in the rain.

Rockpile Rampage

After a night of heavy rain, the sun shone brightly over Mt. Washington for the start of the 'cross race. We arrived early enough to go out and pre-ride the course a few times, and surprisingly, it was quite dry. The views were stellar, and I even got some great coaching tips from the Elite Kona racer (who finished 2nd). But most exciting to me was the fact that I RODE the run-up! Yup - last year it was a slog running up the hill, and this year, after the first lap, I was able to ride it every time - WOOHOO!

I was to line up with all the men (and the one other woman) again at this race. Mike and Scott were on the start line early, so I went over and joined them. This meant that I was on the front of the starting line! YIKES! I was nervous, and wanted to move back, but both Scott and Mike told me that I deserved to stay - just to make sure I could make it up the first little rise without getting in the way ;-).

On Go, I managed to stay with the lead men up over the first rise, and then many of them passed me in the barriers or on the first run-up (which was not rideable on the first lap because of traffic). I settled in after that, and for most of the race had "rabbits" - racers ahead that I would try to catch. I managed to catch and pass three men in the course of my 7 lap race (the men did 9, but I only got lapped by my husband once in this race). I finished tired and very happy with my overall performance for the weekend. I was also excited NOT to have tripped over the barriers this year ;-).

So, I won - sort of. Most importantly, I had a great time, improved over last year, and am looking forward to doing it all again in 2008!

Porky Gulch - Women's Champion!

Photo by ML

This weekend was the 3rd Annual Porky Gulch Classic, and Mike and I were looking forward to this since we participated last year. Our friends Scott and ML came up to stay with us in Bethel, and Scott, Mike and I raced the Toughest Two, Storyland Crit and Rockpile Rampage.

For now, I will let you read the press release for the event. I'm tired so will post more pics and stories this week while I am on the road (headed to Ithaca, NY and Ann Arbor, MI for work). FWIW - this is probably the ONLY Elite race I will ever win, so I am going to bask in the glory of victory - at least for today (and maybe even tomorrow) ;-)