A Bee-autiful Day at Castaic Lake

Well a little creature looking alot like this one cost me my race and alot of pain (and there were no pretty flowers involved!)

Sunday's Cal State race should have been pretty straightforward. No field of 50-70 women, and lots of room on the trails (even if we come across some of the expert men). It started out nice, just a small field of 4 including Mandy (who would end up having a great day!). The temps were very hot which did not help anything, but I think we were all suffering equally. We were pretty evenely staggered apart and it was clear that the winner of the race would be determined on the final lap. No one was making any stealth moves or attemps to break away (prob partially from the heat and all of the climbing!). I was definately feeling the hurt though, that is for sure!

My fate arrived just before the twig/brush covered climbing section when all of a sudden I felt a sharp sting on my neck. I knew i had been stung and it honestly felt like multiple occurances. I started to panic, but knew that would be a bad path to take (I am allergic, but thankfully have not gone into shock or swelled up instantly). I slowed down a bit to see if I was going to have a serious reaction right away. Lots of thoughts went through my mind like "I could die out here", "am I breathing ok?". I knew that I had to climb my way up to the top and then down back to the start/finish. So far other than pain from the sting and some slight nausea (but that could be from the heat?), I was able to make it back out without any severe issue. I was definately stressed and very tired at this point. I just wanted to make it down to the bottom and had already decided that my race was over. Continuing on for a third and final lap could make my reaction to the sting much worse, esp with high heat and exersion levels.

I got to the bottom safely and saw James and Rod by the feed. They ran over and James removed the stinger. Rod and James escorted me over to first aid where I was taken great care of by Janet from Team Big Bear. She checked my vitals, put an ice pack on the sting, had me put my feet up, etc etc. My heart rate was still over 130 just sitting there after having been off the bike for a good 20 minutes. Again I realized I made the right choice. What if I had keep riding and went into shock up on the hill? NOT WORTH IT! My HR eventually went down and thankfully the swelling was not bad (thanks to the ice and letting my body just recover from the race).

After 30-40 min at first aid, I was doing alot better, but still had to take it easy (no cool down which I would regret later when my legs burned all night!)

Today, 3 days later, I am still dealing with the effects of the sting. One of my lymph nodes is completely swollen up and I have a stiff neck. Also the sting site is still red and puffed. I went to the dr on Monday to receive 2 cortisone shots because I felt like I was completley drained or even getting sick from it. I am going back in a little while for a follow up. See what this stiff neck business is all about! However, all in all I feel quite a bit better.

I cannot thank enough everyone who helped out on Sunday! That includes Marius who got to do his first feeds! Thanks to Roger, Rod, James especially for coming to my rescue. Thanks to the Backbone girls and guys for a really fun day. I can't tell you how many of them lectured me for not having my Epipen on me!! :) I promise it will never happen again! Had some great chats with everyone there! One of the best parts while I was out racing was getting a high-five from Abel's little brother!

Also congrats to Mandy who had a strong race, finishing a strong 2nd (almost first!). Also congrats to Joy who had the fastest expert time of the day once again!

On a funnier note: Joy drove us to Castaic in the Subaru and we enjoyed an adult student driver changing lanes near us on I-5 in the middle of a bunch of traffic! Splendid!

Next race stop: Santa Barbara for Elkings's Park Cal State XC on June 2nd.

This weekend: Mammoth for some good training rides and some fun!

ALSO Thank you to everyone who has been asking about Greg's knee surgery! He is doing much better now. It has been 2 weeks today. He is moving around well, still not taking the stairs much, but is doing well in general!

Another Fontana Nationals in the books

Ok this post is several weeks too late! In any event, we had Fontana Nationals a few weeks ago. It's certainly nice to be able to sleep in your own bed and drive 20 minutes to the venue each day. However, the difference is that the house chores and other daily distractions are still there. So when I am supposed to be off my feet resting, I am sweeping or doing dishes or laundry! I suppose being out of town at a hotel where all you can do is lay down and watch TV is probably the wiser choice over staying at home. Unless you are good at just being lazy at home, which I am NOT!

We had Zephanie and Kenny stay with us for the week between Firestone and through Fontana, which was great like last year! They brought 5 bikes along with them an a gazillion wheels, so our garage was extra packed! However, it was a fun sight to see. I shoud have snapped a photo! Also Murphy was very pleased to have some friends visiting to give him even more attention and playtime. Also Zeph shared some of her Power Bar SUN TEA which I just LOVED.

Also special shout out to KENDA/Titus/X-Fusion team sponsor Mighty Good Coffee. This is my new favorite coffee! They sent out 3 giant bags of beans for us to brew up. It was wonderful! Thanks to Zeph and Kenny for leaving the leftovers for us to enjoy ;)

The racing was pretty good. Especially on Saturday for the XC (apart from all the sections where people were OFF THEIR BIKES just like last year!). WAY TOO MUCH RUNNING for me. I was able to hang much longer with a new group of girls, some of who finish in the top 25. It was a very strange day for people, as many were falling and just not having the best day. I was seeing girls who finish top 20 not to terribly far ahead even on the 2nd and 3rd lap. In the end, I sprinted to the finish for 38th, but got 39th. No big deal because I was pleased with my time for the day and all of us in the 30s were only seperated by a few minutes. I made it through the day not falling once and was able to work with people all day. Made it a good day overall and I was pleased.

I worked so hard the rest of the day and Sunday morning to recover and prep for short track (Zeph and I watched Talledega Nights before heading to the venue). I was nervous because I had faired well in the short track at Fontana last year, so was expecting to do so again. However, the temps were reallyhot, the course was even tricker than last year. Apparently my legs were not as recovered as I thought because after an excellent call up and start (I went around the first bend in 15th place), my legs felt worse and worse each lap. I lost a ton of spots and was pulled out after only 3 laps. there were a few girls who were pulled out after 2, but I had hoped to be in it at least 4 or 5. Oh well! As Gareth said, short track is a good way for me to build peak power, but that is about all for now! :) I think I was spoiled by stayin in the short track the week before at Firestone for nearly the whole race! it was just a different course and a different week. ALSO the short track was the day before XC!

Greg took some pix, but I still haven't downloaded them from the camera!

Zephanie and Kenny had great results. Zeph was 12th in XC and STXC and Kenny was 8th (?) in Super D and had solid mid-pack results in a tough pro men's XC field.

Joy took home the gold in Expert 19-29 again! Including some GOLD ODI grips that I am not sure we will see her sporting. :)

Thanks again to everyone for the solid support and cheering out there! Leo from our title sponsor Pass Physical Therapy was there on Saturday, plus lots of other people cheering from the sides. I heard someone say "Hey! See you at Rim Nordic!" while I rode by during cross country. I am not sure who it was, but cool to be recognized even in a new kit!". On Sunday for my short lived short track Jess and Danielle came out, and also Matt, Denise and Ryder (my new BFF).

Also thanks to Roger, Vanessa, Ara, Jay, Teri, James, etc etc for their continued cheering and support! Once again I could hear James' voice from all points along the course!

Firestone Nationals Recap

NOTE: this is the longest blog post ever!

Greg and I headed up to Buellton/Los Olivos on Friday afternoon, stopping in downtown Santa Barbara for dinner on the way up. We ate at a great Trattoria with nice outdoor seating. Arrived at the Days Inn – Windmill (yes the one featured in the movie Sideways) around 7:45 PM. Still had time to catch the re-run of Grey’s Anatomy while I set out my gear for the next day. Had a good night’s sleep in preparation for what would be a very hot day for Short Track.

Day 1: Short Track

Saturday AM we headed over to the race venue at a new location on the Firestone Winery property called Charlotte’s Meadow (made me think of Charlotte’s web). When we arrived at 9:15am it was already prob in the upper 80s. It was going to be a painful day for sure. It was so hot I didn’t really feel like doing much but falling asleep in the shade. Greg set up the EZ up so I could warm up for my race. As usual as I was warming up, I was asking myself why I do these things to myself!

Right before 11 am was call up for short track. I had a cool, wet towel around my neck and tried to hide in a small sliver of shade in our starting corral. I decided we need to buy a big golf umbrella ASAP! I had a great call up (somewhere in the 20s). Selected my start position so that I could potentially avoid a bottleneck. We shall see…….. Had the 2 minute warning, and the nerves kick in as usual. Also the heat was getting to me and I did NOT feel like moving at all! GO… well, the person in front of me could not get into her pedal which caused a delay! So much for going all out right away. I had to play catch up and deal with a massive cloud of dust (ate about 1 cup of dust on the first lap). So dry and terrible! Around the short climb I realized that there wasn’t really anyone left behind me, so I knew I had to WORK!!!!!!! It was so painful in the hot sun with NO WIND. I toggled back and forth with a couple girls on the climb, and around the S turn, and then made more solid moves around the final turn into the lap. This went on for a few laps… At this point I realized that Frosty was keeping people in a lot longer than usual! I kept thinking that at any moment I would be pulled out, but still kept working hard and managed to pass a few more people. Then I saw the 3 laps to go and Frosty waved me through. OH MAN! I was in pain and could I last another lap? I held on and noticed we were pulling away from the girls behind us, so that was good!

Teri, Greg and Roger were in a great spot (drinking beer I think) at the bottom of the decent. Every time I went by Teri told me to get those girls (and lots of cheering!).. I was finally pulled out with 2 laps to go, ALMOST made it the whole time! Was certainly not planning on that! I did 5 laps, over 20 minutes and man was I out of it when we finished! I had dirt all over my body and teeth and I was thinking about chugging water ASAP! In the end I was 34th, but it was hard fought given the bad start and how fast and HOT the event was! It was a strong field, no rag tag people for sure! Also thanks to Jon Rourke (manager of Subaru-Fisher pro team for cheering me on through the S turn!)

After Short Track, we did a team pre-ride of sorts. Matt, Trevor, Mandy, myself, Teri and Joy! We had a good time and I tried to take it easy to recover from short track. After the ride we went for our VIP lunch at the Subaru-Gary Fisher Factory Team trailer. It was great food!!!! Ran into Papo and Team Helen’s there too which was great. After fueling up, Greg and I left the venue by 2pm and I went back for a nice ice bath and to recover for day 2.

Sat night had a great dinner with Matt, Trevor and Greg at Los Olivos Café (a special place for me and Greg!). See Matt’s blog for more details on dinner and the funny story afterwards.

Day 2: Cross Country

Got 12 hours of sleep Sat night! Greg and I ate at Ellen’s Pancake House in Buellton on Sun AM. Danish THIN PANCAKES!!!!!!!!! YUM! They worked well for me last year here, esp when you have a late starting race!

Race start was 2:45pm in the hot sun, but thankfully slightly cooler temps with a hefty breeze! Again I had a good call up, and lined up in the 3rd row. I sort of lined up behind the same girl from Sat who had the pedal problem, but I was off to the side! I felt SO TIRED and not motivated. I was worried I would have no power. It was just one of those blah days… BUT……………. Once they said go (and by the way ladies at the start line it was announced to our field that Andrew Firestone is STILL single!) it was pandemonium, but I went for it!!!!!!!!!!! The girl who caused a delay Sat proceeded to sideswipe across the left side and take out 3 girls!!!!!! I kept going and had somehow ended up on the tail end of the lead pack (trying so hard to hang on!)! We went through the short track course again (hmm LESS DUST when you are with the lead pack!). Greg said that coming out of the short track I was in 15th place! Not too shabby and how fun it was! However, my legs were TOASTED from short track, so I could not hold my place for long. I probably stayed in the top 25 for 15 min or so, and then more people started coming by. This included some of the heavy hitters who were involved in the crash or were held up in the bottleneck.

I felt pretty strong overall (and had a little too much energy for the finish which means I didn’t leave it all out there). I know it wasn’t my absolute best day (partially from not fully recovering from the *long* short track). I had too much pressure in my tires and my saddle was squeaking SO BAD (picture Napoleon Dynamite saying that)! It was really driving me nuts and made me wish for a dual suspension bike!

In the end I finished 35th which I was quite pleased with. Also pleased with my time overall too! So all in all a good day and good weekend. The best part was coming into the finish and getting an ice cold wet towel!!!!

Congrats to everyone for a good weekend! Special props go out to: Joy (1st place expert!), Matt and Trevor (both podiumed in pro/semi-pro singlespeed class!) and VEGAS BOB (2007 breakthrough performance!)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks of course to GREG the best supporter EVER. Also Teri, Matt, Trevor, James, Roger, Vanessa, Ara, etc!

Best part of the weekend was finishing XC and Greg telling me that after my great start and being up as high as 15th he said he could care less how I finished. He has been telling me so many times to just be aggressive and finally I did it right!

Top 5 moments at Phoenix and Sea Otter!

Ok I am way behind on blogging! I decided to get caught up quickly I would do a top 5 moments (not in any particular order) for Phoenix Nationals and Sea Otter. Then I will start fresh with a FULL blog on this past weekend's Firestone Nationals.

Top 5 Moments at Phoenix Nationals:
1. Greg getting pulled over by the Fountain Hills Police, but not receiving a ticket because the cop said "I could never ticket a fellow mountain biker!"

2. Not falling on a cactus and finishing 43/60 finishers in a very hot and sometimes sketchy XC race.

3. Finishing 33/48 in Short track without even realizing it! It was too dark and dusty to even know! Plus my arm was pulsating from my time trial crash.

4. Faux Crocs (pink) for Mandy purchased at CVS.

5. Packing Joy, myself, Matt, Trevor, Mandy and 5 bikes in and on Matt's Mazda.

Top 5 Moments at Sea Otter
1. Mary-Ellen taking 3rd in the Pro Super D!!!!!!! On the podium with Marla and Kelli!)

2. Reciting lines in my head from The Big Lebowski during the muddy short track race (where I proceeded to lock up my drivetrain).

3. COLD COLD COLD ice baths (but they really work!)

4. Mandy living on sweet potatoes and avocados (again!)

5. Snapping a pic of Teri and Kabush (who had JUST won the pro men's XC)
In summary: Thanks to everyone for helping me out at those events (Joy, James, Greg, Roger, Teri, Matt etc etc!)

A few (tiny) pix:

Warming up in the RAIN for short track! Was it even worth it? Probably not!

The grueling 5 minute time trial the day before! Was it worth it? Probably NOT!