The Many "Firsts" of Bonelli

I always make fun of Bonelli Park and call it Smelly Bonelli, "the place where Teri saw a giant dead catfish floating on the trail", among other things. As much as I poke fun, it actually represents several "firsts" for me. Another one of those firsts occured yesterday ...

2002: First MTB race in California and first podium as sport racer (in Cali)
2003: First podium as expert racer (in Cali)
yesterday: First time on the podium as a pro!

Picture of the Day: It might be hard to tell in this picture, but Meggan, Teri and me are at the start dancing in place to a dance remix of "Total Eclipse of the Heart". Meggan even broke out a rendition of the guys from Night at the Roxbury. The pre-race music pumping from the Team Big Bear trailer included American Idol Theme Song, something by the Backstreet Boys and a wide variety of other selections. The odd tunes were definately a topic of conversation as Joy, Teri and I warmed up.

It was a fun day, good weather, good trail conditions and great company. At the end of the race, Steve (Meggan's hubby) said "What did YOU eat for breakfast?". I actually took a second to think about it after he asked because whatever it was worked! I ended up 3rd place yesterday out of 8 pro women finishers (9 started). A pretty good turnout of strong ladies again for a local race. I learned alot yesterday during the race about myself and my capabilities when I really put my MIND to it (because it's not all about the legs!). I am still in shock that ole Smelly Bonelli would be the place where I would experience yet another "first". It was also great to spend so much time with or nearby Chrissy and Carolyn out there during the race.

Shout Out Thank Yous:

Thom Blaine, manager of Team Jose Ole. thank you for the support before and during the race! (Thanks Joy for sharing your peeps!)

Cap'n Chris Sharp, Ara, Abel, Al, Short Stack and the whole Backbone Crew. It was fun hanging out and thanks for the encouragement out there on the course. Thanks for sharing your BBQ food and playing with Murphy-dog!

Biggest Bummer of the day: Joy lost her cranks (2x) and had to finished her race single-legged! Props to Joy for FINISHING under those circumstances!

Other exciting Bonelli news: Jeremy had his first MTB podium EVER with an awesome 5th place finish in his sport race! Congrats!!!

One of the reasons why I race....

I wanted to post the picture (as seen below) because it really made this year's Sea Otter a fun experience (apart from the mud and suffering). We really have a strong group of local (and semi-local) pro ladies. It has been exciting to see alot of us in our first year as pro MTB'ers and going through the whole learning process. In some sense, your first year (or even 2) as a pro is like being a beginner. A small fish in a big pond, with lots to learn and experience. A whole new level of speed, power and endurance is required and just getting out there and racing at this level makes us stronger.

After the Sea Otter Time Trial: (From Left to Right: Heather Svahn, Carolyn Popovic, Meggan Flaherty, Teri Strayer, Christie Pleiss, Chrissy Bono and Mandy Eakins)

It's having a group of ladies like this to race with every weekend that helps make racing a good experience even on the worst day. We can act crazy, chat about "girl stuff", make the guys want to have nothing to do with us, etc etc.However, then we get out there on the course and work hard and strong. Yet, while we are out there working hard and essentially competing against eachother, we are still friends and help encourage eachother in times of need. That was especially evident during some of the stages of Sea Otter. Just simply encouraging eachother and helping as friends.

Also, I can't leave out Joy, who is technically an honorary pro gal. Sometimes we forget that she has not yet moved up to pro, which only goes to show we see alot of potential in her and know she will do GREAT THINGS!

Bike Fitting

Yesterday Matt and I got our professional bike fittings done! I learned so much new and interesting information about bike set up and body positioning on the bike. Mike McKovich (Max Performance Bike Fit) is one of Team K&N Performance's wonderful sponsors and we sure appreciate the support! Here are a few photos courtest of Matt! He said they are low quality, but they still get the point across.

Running through the fit test a 2nd time after some minor tweaks...

Mike making some additional measurements

Sea Otter: Full Race Report

OK I have been pondering the best way to recap each event without writing a million lines of text.

Matt sums up the high level of competition nicely in his blog. On the women's side, we had the usual World Cup suspects (Sydor, McConneloug, Florit to name a few), also among them 3 time world champion Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesja. I had only ever seen her before on the cover of Velo News. I didn't get as emotional as I thought I would lining up for each event. Probably since I knew I had business to attend to! Wasn't just hanging out at the side lines watching my idols like I had before. I was racing with them! HAHA.

**UPDATE: What I forgot to include was comments about the shifting problems that occured the short track and XC due to all the MUD! yes yes, that cost me some time as well! Yea yea, excuses, excuses!

Stage 1: Super XC

I basically just wanted to survive this race! I had no idea what it would be like. 60 minutes 1/2 pavement 1/2 MUD. Figured I would see how long I could stay with the pack and try not to finish last. I felt great on the road, had good legs, but then once we hit the mud, I just kept picking terrible lines. I felt like I was wasting lots of extra energy out there and it was very frustrating. People would pass me in the mud and then I would pass them back on the road. Same thing occured for the 4 laps I ended up doing. Would have done 5, if Gunn-Rita (who had a several minute lead on teh next group) hadn't passed me! Oh well, finished the event 57/69. Not bad for my first major pro event and lots of foul ups in the mud. One of the highlights of this race was working and finishing with Mandy.

Stage 2: Time Trial

I was hoping to do well in this event, but all good things come to an end! We lined up in the mud waiting for our start times. Preparing for a 2 mile time trial with a combination of mud, climbing and then more mud. The best line from the start line was right through the water. Mandy kindly reminded me of this right before she took off, and I waited my 30 seconds for my turn. Thanks Mandy! I had a pretty smooth start, with a few wobbles, but pretty good! James video taped several people's starts and I actually had a better start than some of the top pros! Waaa hoo! Anyways, like I said all good things come to an end. I was so close to catching Mandy on the climb, which meant I was making good time. However, got to the big mud pit, found what I thought was a good line, but in the 2nd section had to clip out. I SHOULD HAVE JUST RUN!!! Oh well in the end I had a coupel more struggles in teh mud costing me even more time. I finished 51/68 ( I think one person dropped out after day 1), and missed top forty by matters of SECONDS. YES the time I wasted in the mud could have put me in a much better postition! OH WELL C'est la Vie!

Stage 3: Short Track

Thankfully I have done a number of short track events at this point, so I knew the pain and suffering we were all about to embark on. However the big difference is that this course was 100% mud!!!!!!! I was very nervous at the start because it was going to be crazy trying to get around the first corner without falling. It was pretty exciting to have all sorts of photographers taking pictures of the group as we lined up. There were fans lined up ALL over the course. It was very exciting, but I tried to stay focused. Right off the start of course I was involved in a pile up which made me lose my good positioning from the start! UGGH! Anyways, once I finally got back on the bike I knew my strategy would include RUNNING ALOT. Turned out to be a good trick. I ran through the two big key mud sections which got me around other riders. The bottom half of the course was brown muck/mud/water and was basically like riding blind. Each lap the lines were different and you just had to hope you picked the right line. On one lap, a girl crashed in the brown water right in front of me, so I had to think fast and "MOVE _____ ! GET OUT the way!" For those of you familiar with hip hop, that was a excerpt from a fabulous little tune by Ludacris featuring Mystikal. :o) Yes, White Cocoa in the hizzouse! In any event, I made it 3 (or was it 4) laps of the course before Gunn-Rita threatened to lap me (again she was WAY AHEAD of the rest of the field). A bunch of us were pulled out at the same time which we were all honestly thankful for. According to the results I was 48/68. Whatever! Not too shabby for a mud-fest short track! Also I moved up in the ranks a bit more, which was also a pleasant surprise!

Stage 4: Cross Country

I basically summed up the XC race highlights in the previous post. To make it short and sweet: All I wanted to do was SLEEP that day. My legs tricked me into thinking they felt good, but my eyes were ever so tired. I think we all felt that way! The start was intense on the track for the start of the 38 mile race (in the MUD and the drizzle!). I stayed with the pack through the road section and then the pack was seperated on the first sections of trail. 20 minutes into the race, I endoed over my bars in the singletrack. NOT GOOD. Hurt my back and then realized that my front forkie no workie! I lost my mojo and my plan to keep up with some other gals. Took me a while to feel good again, and it wasn't until I saw Meggan out there that I felt happy again. As indicated in her blog, we worked together for a while and I think it refreshed both of us! On lap 2, forkie no workie still, so I had to back off on the descending. Luckily I ran into Mandy around 1/2 way through lap 2 and we worked together for quite a while. I also had a great time dukeing it out with "Jimbo" Wimberly (of Angela's hubby fame!) and some of the other expert men! Those guys helped make this race fun! My legs decided to come to the big show once we hit the pavement climb, and helped me work a pretty strong finish (relatively speaking.. gotta have my own little personal goals right?). I ended up 46th in the XC. Out of 69 women who originally started the 4 day stage race, including the best racers in the country and some of the world's best. I finished 44th overall in the Omnium GC. Can't complain! Especially considering how many problems my bike had and my mind had dealing with the mud!

It was also especially wonderful to have my fellow So Cal pro ladies out there. Mandy, Meggan, Teri, Chrissy, Carolyn and Heather (honorary So Cal gal). It was a tough week for everyone and we need to focus on the positives! ALL OF US have at least a few positive outcomes from the week. Ailments, mechanicals and illnesses aside!

Also BIG PROPS GO OUT TO:

Team K&N: Matt, James, Josh, Trevor, Teri and Jeremy. Everyone gave it their best shot given the outrageous conditions! What a crazy way to really kick off the season! It can only get better (hopefully!)

James Cross: Thank you for all of your help you provided to me, my friends and other folks! Yea yea, I know you just wanted to get closer to the pro chix... ;o) Thanks for all of your help and support!!!!!!!!!!

Hubby Greg: Thank you for another memorable year at Sea Otter. We have alot of photos to sift through. I know you had a good time and hopefully you will win the Velo News photo contest and then give me your prize! ;o)

Mud Otter Classic 2006: Introduction

I don't even know where to begin with this series of blog updates. I could write a million lines about what the past week has been like! If you read Meggan's blog, she does an excellent job of recapping each event in precise detail with great pix! So in the meantime, as I get the momentum together for a really amazing blog update, read Meggan's! Or Joy's!

Greg took 800 pictures over the 4 days of racing. We will post all of the K&N related photos on the team site, plus a few highlight pix on this site. All Backbone team related pix will be posted by Cap'n Chris on Backbone team site.

I will begin with one of the highlights of the weekend, which happened to occur on the final day in the final race (Cross Country).......

As I was climbing approaching the 3k to go sign (also the pro feed zone where my wonderful husband Greg was stationed), the small white/grey figures in the distance became clear. Hundreds of sheep were migrating across the hills and were making their way across one of the final climbing sections of trail. It made me laugh out loud, but also feel somewhat concerned about what would happen when it was my turn to pass through the wool. As the guys ahead of me made their way up the climb, the sheep scattered to either side of the trail. I figured they would stay off the course for a little longer. As I made my way through, I looked over at a mama and baby as they watched me in my final minutes of agony. I wonder what they were thinking "she's crazy!" was probably one of the things that came to mind.

At this time, durign the final parts of the race, a feeling of accomplishment and joy masked the pain I had been feeling for the prior 3+ hours. I was going to DO THIS. I was going to finish the most greuling race I have done in my 6 years of racing, let alone my first 4 day UCI elite/pro stage race. Yes, the emotions were brewing, a few tears could have surfaced. But I knew I had to remain strong and continue with the power I had somehow built up a litlte while earlier once I hit the final road climb. From that point on (4 miles to go) I had legs that I didn't realize existed. Was wishing I had them 2 hours earlier on the first lap, but over time it will continue to come together.

When I surfaced onto the track for the final descent to the finish, I pulled with every ounce of energy I possibly had left. My bike noisy and voluntarily shifting while I tried to pound through in the big ring, I proudly made it through the finish to be greeted by friends, teammates, and the COMPLETION! It was DONE. my legs were shaking, but the adrenlaline was still flowing through my veins (would continue to do so for around 24 hours as I reflect on the pain and suffering of the last 4 days with friends and co-workers).

It was a pretty memorable and successful journey, bike problems and sore legs and tired eyes aside.

MORE SEA OTTER STORIES TO COME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sagebrush Safari once again!

It was the inagural MTB race weekend for several members of Team K&N Performance. We had our shiny new kits; "STEALTH" as Joy calls them. I definately put mine to the test as I made quite the embarassing and painful tumble early in the pre-ride (see Joy's blog for full recap of pre-ride and various crashes!) The ride with Teri, Jay and Joy was good. It was great to enjoy one of my favorite trails once again. The conditions were sweet, and even the notorious hike-a-bike had more rideable sections than in past years. Joy and I both finished the ride with various ailments.

Joy had to drive me and my bum ankle back to our hotel to meet up with Greg and Murphy, Since Joy could still walk without pain (sort of), she proceeded to the town store to get some medical supplies for her abrasions and my hurt ankle. Epson salts, bandages, peroxide, advil liqui-gels, and some candy were part of her purchases. She also convinced me to follow up the luke-warm epson salts soak with an ice soak. EEEEK! Well it worked pretty well I must say.

In any event, hurt ankle aside, Josh, Jeremy, Teri and I represented Team K&N at the 2006 Cal State Sagebrush Safari. Greg captured some good photos along the way. My ankle felt fine during the race which is a pure miracle! It's actually continually getting better just in time for the impending doom that is called SEA OTTER PRO MTB STAGE RACE! Only 2 days away!

Take a look at that snazzy new kit!

To recap the race: I didn't get a proper warm-up due to some last minute monkeying with my saddle (thank goodness it wasn't a crit, else I would have been in big trouble w/out proper warm up). Race started fast as usual, and I ended up getting pushed by one of the expert riders which made it feel more like a road race. Whatever. Teri and I worked out some basic team tactics and I got myself in front of this other gal for the time being. The road climb to 4 corners was tough as usual, but I felt much stronger than in years past. Everything was fine and dandy until 1/2 way through the singletrack where I made another silly error and fell, knocking my gears out of sorts. Thus I had to manage w/out a big ring for much longer than I would have liked. Thankfully during the Mt Pinos climb I tinkered enough with the fine tune adjusters that I salvaged the big ring. It was noisy, but it worked with some brute force! I finally got my mojo back on Mt Pinos and it continued for the rest of the race. Built up a gap between myself and the next rider, and also closed the gap on those in front of me. In the end, aliments and mechanical issues aside, I finished 6th place and felt strong. Had I not had issues, I think I could have placed better, but I still can't complain! I shaved over 20 minutes off last year's time (partially due to paved climb up Mt Pinos) It's amazing how much time you can lose monkeying with things on your bike (even when riding) and when you don't have a big ring when you really need it !!!!!!!!!!!

Another Sagebrush Safari in the history books!