Durango 100

The results are already posted! Matt and I spent a dirty, muddy, rain-infested day in Durango doing a mountain bike race on Saturday. Matt signed up for the 100-miler and I, the 36-miler.

We rolled into Durango Friday evening and registered. I'd checked the weather before heading out that day--20% chance of rain. We're gonna have dry weather! Or, worst case, it'll rain in the afternoon. I can live with that. When we picked up our swag bags at registration, a sheet with the race rules indicated that there was actually a 30% chance of rain, high of 78 and low of 40. Okay, I can live with that too...

We unloaded in the hotel room, Purgatory Village Hotel, got the packs and clothing set out for Saturday's race, and arranged the wake-up call, 4:00 AM. Uggghhhhh......We climbed into bed and tried to doze off. It's hard to sleep when you have the race jitters; they're something I haven't been able to overcome as of yet. I think I finally fell asleep, but was awakened to loud thunder and lightening. I looked over at the alarm clock, 1:00 AM. Well, hopefully the rain will pass by the morning. It didn't.

We hit the starting line and checked in with thunder and lightning going off all over the sky. Matt and I huddled under an overhang of a building contemplating whether we were out of our minds or what?!? We had a 30 minute delay in start and the storms had cleared for the moment. We were off...reluctantly.

The 100 milers took off first, then the 100K, then me, the 50K. Matt took off with lots of energy and strength. Me? Not so much. The initial climb up the Worlds Course left my wheels mud covered and seized. I had to hop to the side of the trail and scrape off the crap. This put me in VERY LAST FRIGGIN' PLACE!! It took every ounce of effort in my soul to not turn around and call it quits. Believe me, the though went through my mind several times that day. I jumped back on the bike and hauled ass, hoping to catch up with some. It wasn't until the dirt road that I started to pick off the riders. Of course by this time, since I was riding hard to catch up, I was already getting pooped. I felt like I was gonna hurl at any moment. I had this feeling with me through the majority of the race. I'm thinking maybe part of it was the altitude. Who knows.

Well, I made it up to the 1/2 way sag point and filled up the water bottle (I had Sustained Energy in there with about 1/4 of the bottle left). I crammed a Hammer bar down my gullet and managed to keep my break under 3 minutes. More single track. Today, single track was not my friend. It was muddy, slimy, wet, slick, gooey, sandy, and just plain sick. Heading up to the highest point on the Colorado Trail was brutal for the lungs. I could hardly breath and kept wishing for more road. A good majority of this was hike-a-bike for just about everyone. You saw more footprints in the "trail" than tire tracks. Once I hit the road, I picked off some more people, but all guys. My place in the women's standing was set...it had been by the time I had hit the Graysil Mine sag spot. Bummer.

I managed to make the ride crash-free until the very last leg of my journey heading back down the Worlds Course to the finish line. I was screaming down this gloppy, mud-infested excuse of a trail at a pace that even shocked me. I think I just wanted it to be over. There was a huge sign off to the right that said S-L-O-W. Well, duh, most people would slow down. Not me. I was getting ready to make the corner, banked to my left (uhhhh, you don't do that in slick mud) and slid out to my left. This "smart" move propelled me to my left and down the mountain. Holy crap! I landed on my chest, pushed apart some weeds to see where I was, and saw nothing but straight down. Ahhhhh!!!!! Scary as hell, let me tell you. The weight of my bike on me was starting to cause me to slide down the mountain, yes I was on mud, grass and weeds for the most part on a very steep incline. I managed to gingerly turn myself around while holding my bike in my right arm above my head at all times. I thought my arm would fall off. I tried to climb back up to the trail, feeling my feet give way in the mud with each push. I stopped and realized I needed to get rid of the bike. I just couldn't move well with it in my hand. I rested a sec and with one huge push, I threw it back on the trail, hoping it wouldn't bounce off the dirt and come falling back on me. I made it and the bike rested peacefully on the trail. That made it much easier for me to grab onto weeds and pull myself back on the trail.

YOUCH! My knees were killing me. I think I landed on them first. I shook off the pain, hopped back on the bike, and made it down to the finish line with Matt at the bottom clapping and smiling. I was really glad to see him there! He took my bike, handed me a recovery drink, and then left to spray off all the mud I'd collected from the day.

Final stats? 6 hrs, 31 minutes. I was 82 out of the 101 people stupid enough to race today. I placed 4th in my division. My only consolation? The women ahead of me were all big racers who do this crap on a continual basis. I'm glad it's over with and happy with the fact that I didn't bail out.

New Wheel

Got a new rear wheel on the singlespeed that is lighter and tad noisier--not as noisy as my Chris King hubs though! It's a Velocity Aeroheat 24" rim with a Paul Word SS hub. I actually had the front 24" wheel built up along with this wheel, but I am keeping it off for now and still have the 26" wheel up front.

Had another great ride on the SS tonight! I'm beginning to really get into the bike when I'm well rested. On days when I'm pooped, that thing can be a serious workout! Tonight, it was just plain fun!

We did the combined Chica Ride and the Timid Tuesday ride. Randy wants to start calling it the M&M ride since Jim always brings M&Ms. Randy doesn't like the word "timid". Guess I can't blame him. ;o) Anyway, had a great crew tonight, Jim, Randy, Mitch, Kiyoko and me! Evan stopped by to wish us well, but his ankle is one swollen mess! He twisted it 2 times on last week's ride and it started to swell. He said he's gonna see a doc soon, so I hope it heals. If I recall, this is an old injury that keeps coming back. His mom is an RN, so I'm sure she's on his case to get that thing taken care of too. Bummer, he's a great addition to the Tuesday rides.

So, we did some Elena riding tonight, bypassing the more technical north Foothills. Lots of fun, swoopy trails, and tons of riders! More riders than we usually see on the Tuesday night adventures. Great weather, great friends, great ride!

I'm hitting the trails with Denise tomorrow night...should be fun! We'll either be doing King of the Mountain or North Foothills depending upon the weather.

Stonewall Century

The Stonewall Century was a blast! Paige and I took off from NM at around 5:30 PM, a bit later than we wanted, but oh well. We rolled into La Veta, CO at about 10:30 PM after stopping for a quick bite to eat on the way. We took I-25 all the way there...talk about a boring drive! So, we're trying to find somewhere to eat (Paige hadn't had dinner yet and wanted some pre-ride chow). We decide to get some gas and check out Springer, NM...don't ask why, there was just nothing else out there, and we figured we'd check it out before hitting Raton, the next town down the way.

Springer, home to male juvenile delinquents (some of whom were my ex-students from my principal days), was a bad idea...we rolled through town, apparently at 37 mph, where the speed limit was 30. We get pulled over by the po-po at a gas station. Being girls, we decided to put on the charm, you know, smile, be sweet, make a little small talk, act a tad on the ditzy side. It worked, the police officer was very nice. After finding that Paige had no warrants out for her arrest, we were free to go with a warning.

So, we made it to the next town, Raton, and grabbed a bite to eat at Denny's. Then on to Sammie's Motel and RV Park in La Veta. We thought we were pulling into a trailer park. Turns out, that's the motel. Each trailer is split in half to form a motel room. Actually quite roomy and clean. Refrigerator, 2 beds, room to store our bikes, great showerhead, can't ask for more than that...oh, an alarm clock would have been nice. Well, I had an alarm on my heart rate monitor and another on my cell phone. We didn't quite trust those, so we called my sweet, loving husband and asked if he'd set his alarm for 4:45 AM and call us too. Paige and I owe him big time for that one!

60% chance of thunderstorms--
4:45 AM rolled around way too quickly, and all 3 alarms worked. We ate breakfast we'd brought with us, got showered, and rolled out of the motel. The tour starting area was only 2 blocks from where we were staying. It was wet outside and it had been raining all night. The temps were pleasant early in the AM, so we decided on arm warmers, rain jackets, and that was it. The directions were easy, the lady at the start pointed to her right and said, "You go that away, turn left, and keep goin' straight. You'll get to Segundo for lunch, then you'll come back the same way." Hey, even I can follow those directions!!

This was an exceptionally run event for only $40! We had break spots about every 12-15 miles along the way (with home baked goodies at every stop--boy did I ever want to eat some of those brownies and cookies, but I refrained), and there were SAG vehicles driving up and down the route the entire time. Not only were there SAG vehicles, there were also about 4 motorcycle cops that drove up and down the route, making sure drivers were cautious of the bikers. I don't think I ever went more than 5 miles without seeing some sort of tour support. About 10 miles out of town, there was an area where dirt and mud had washed into the road overnight. The tour crews and a police officer were out there shoveling and sweeping the road for us!! Talk about service!

Well, the ride outta town was a climb, but only for the first 24 miles or so, then mostly downhill to Segundo (50 mile point). Nothing too significant, other than a ton of earthworms that had washed into the road. At lunch, Paige and I noticed that we had earthworm all over our bikes--yeck! We made our own sandwiches for lunch. I should have made it to the lunch spot extremely fast, but my bladder had other things on its mind. I don't think I hydrated THAT much for the ride, but I was going to the bathroom about every 30 minutes.

The ride back was almost all climbing. I was very glad I had invested in a compact crankset for this tour. It did wonders for the knees, and allowed me to ride in the big chain ring almost all day. Paige and I ran into a couple of guys, one from Durango, and one from Colorado Springs. We took turns pulling for a bit, but the CO Springs guy was beat...his Durango buddy hung back with him, and Paige and I continued on. From here on out, I continued to have bathroom issues...I didn't think I was drinking too much, but who knows. Paige pedaled on, and we didn't see each other till the end. I'd been leap frogging these 2 "Ward Cleavers" along the way. Seemed they had to go to the bathroom about as much as I did so we'd say hi as we took turns passing each other. Anyway, it seemed that every time I'd get close to their rear wheels, they'd take off like bats outta hell and I poop out. Turns out one of them, Robert, was really afraid of snakes. There were several on the road today, so I yelled out "Snake!" as I passed one on a climb. Robert thanked me as they passed and went whizzing by, too fast for me to catch onto the rear wheels--again!! Finally, on a steep climb, I pushed it fast, literally blowing by everyone (I have no idea where I got the energy). One of the Ward Cleavers yelled out, "There she goes!!" They eventually caught up to me, as usual, and this time, I grabbed their wheels and hung on...for about 12 miles, until one of them had to pee. It was a great pull, and just what I needed to finish the last big grunt up to Cuchara Pass.

I got to the top and a support lady came up to me and told me that I'd better put my rain jacket on because there was lots of rain ahead and there was a lot of water running across the roads. She wasn't kidding. For the last 20 miles, I was pelted by rain that really hurt when it hit you in the face! I kept a pretty fast pace on the downhills, which didn't help. There was dirt and mud everywhere in the road. I had to take the lane all the way down. People were bailing left and right, hitching rides from SAG vehicles or spouses who had been following them all day. There was no way in heck I was gonna bail now, so I hunkered down and made it to the finish, totally drenched. There was a BBQ at the end of the ride, but Paige and I were going to meet at the car and change first. I get to where the car was supposed to be, but no car!! What the?!? Well, I was a tad concerned that something had happened to Paige, but I was wet and cold and needed to get warmed up, so I went over to the BBQ in the park. I got my chow and sat down to a picnic table under an awning (still raining out) with some other folks. My shorts squished out water when I sat down...that's how wet they were. Eck! Turns out Paige had gotten to the car just before me, and had driven back to the route to see if I was okay. We missed each other, probably by seconds!

After drying off and getting warm clothes on, the sun came out, of course. We saw the CO guys we had ridden with on the return home and chatted with them a bit, then headed out to find a coffee shop for some java for the ride home. On the way home, we saw a huge brown bear walking along a creek, probably fishing. It was a really neat site! We arrived home to find Matt had put a new wheel on my Kind SS. I'll take it for a test ride on Tuesday.

The Stonewall Century was 102 miles of pure fun. Paige and I are planning on coming back next year to do it again! Ride time was 7:16, total time 8:48, average speed 14 mph, max speed 37 mph, almost 3000 calories burned, average heart rate of 142. Yep, I've got lots of room to improve. Nothing to brag about, but I'm just thrilled that I got in my 2nd ride post-surgery over 100 miles long!

Biking and Such

Holy cow, I just checked my blog and my last entry was on the 8th! I've definitely been slacking, but I have a good excuse...we've been on the road almost every weekend! Hard to keep up with the blog and travel and ride and work and....well, you know.

So, here's the recap: I've been doing lots of riding!

Tuesday Chica rides have been in low attendance, but not to worry, Jim's Timid Tuesday ride keeps me occupied! Glad I decided to do my ride on the same night as his. I've been taking out the singlespeed and doing all sorts of damage to my quads...they burn every time I try to pedal!

Last weekend we were in Leadville, CO--Matt did an excellent job in the LT100, as did other local folks like Nate, Travis, Brent (and Brent's dad and stepmom!), Rick, our former governor Gary Johnson, and his friend Deb did quite well representing the state too.

In the morning, I woke up and headed to the starting area for the race. We stopped in Provin' Grounds for some morning java, and Matt caught a little more shuteye before the race start. Once I saw him off, I hooked up with Paige and some of her old Texas buddies. We got a bite to eat, went to hang out with part of their Leadville support crew friends, then Paige and I took off for a ride of our own (after the other 2 bailed on us due to fear of rain and altitude sickness). So, we had a great ride together, even though we DID get drenched. Paige is always fun to ride with though...fun, great sense of humor, and never one to shy away from a ride in the dirt!

We started out from Paige's camp site at Sugar Loafin' and took the road to a trail that goes around the perimeter of Turquoise Lake. The dirt trail is on one side of the lake only, so we biked through the Turquoise Nature Trail to warm up the legs (reminded us of the super fast stuff in the Bosque trail in NM). The edge of the lake actually had a very nice beach! After messing around on this very short piece of trail, we then took the road up to the point where the Leadville race came through. On our way, we saw a beautiful nest of Osprey--the mom, dad and baby. It was amazing to see! Wish I would have had a camera with better zoom.

Anyway, we picked up the dirt trail from there, and found it to be surprisingly fun and even had a couple technical areas. CO has been getting its fair share of rain, just like NM, so there were some nice creeks and waterfalls that went into the lake. The rain hit as got about 2 miles into the trail, coming and going, then just dumping on us.

We finished up the ride, wet but happy to have been out on the bikes. I had to haul tail to get to the finish line...I wanted to be there when Matt came through! Saw most of our friends make it, including the hubby! I also got a chance to meet Jenn Dice, IMBA Government Affairs Rep in Boulder, CO. That was nice since we've always exchanged emails and talked on the phone, but never met!

This was a great weekend. Matt's trying to talk me into doing Leadville next year. Paige wants to do it, so why shouldn't I??? Okay, peer pressure has set in. Guess I'll try to get in next year--it is a lottery, you know. The race was nicely organized, even though it was stretched over 3 days. We were fed well and the ceremony on Sunday morning was really nice. It definitely supports the "little guys" who come out to ride much more than the top finishers. In fact, the awards are given out from the last place finishers up to the first. I liked that idea! Many of the top finishers weren't there anyway.

Well, next weekend is La Veta, CO for me and Paige...got the Stonewall Century to complete. Week after is the Durango 100. I may try the 30+ route while Matt does the 100. Hopefully it's a dry day!

Interval Training

Well, woke up Tuesday morning and decided to ride before going into work. We're moving into a new building, so all my stuff was in boxes...not much work to be done. I figured if I went in a little late, the boxes would be in the new place and then I could start unpacking!

So, decided to take the road bike for a spin since the Stonewall Century I'm doing with Paige is coming up soon. Matt suggested trying 3 sets of 3 20/40 intervals, so I gave it a go...this training stuff, while beneficial, can take the enjoyment of biking right out of you. You definitely need to do it in moderation--guess that takes me out of contention for becoming a pro biker (not that I would ever do that anyway).

So, here were the stats--very poor, but I suppose lots of room for improvement is the upside of the whole thing. I went down to the Casino, did the intervals on Tramway, then climbed to the Tram, then through the neighborhood and back home. RT: 1:00 TT: 1:01 (light at Casino) Max speed: 37.7 Avg speed: 13.3 Distance: 13 Avg HR: 145 Cal: 344 No food (1/2 cup coffee), recovery drink at end (180)

Wednesday I rescheduled the Chica ride, since Tuesday evening we met with Heather Wilson's reps, Carri and Colin. Nobody made the Chica ride, so I did a solo on the SS in the Foothills to try out the new 20 in back. What a difference that made!! With the 18, I was working way too hard...I couldn't gain any momentum on the climbs. The new ring makes SSing much more enjoyable! I spin a bit in the flats, but not to the point that it annoys me, so I guess that's a good thing! NOW I can see the enjoyment in a SS. Before, I was beginning to think it was just gonna be pure torture...kinda like intervals. ;o)

Anniversary Weekend

We went to Flagstaff this weekend...what a blast! It's been a long time since I've ridden out there, so it was an especially nice treat to be there. This was the anniversary celebration for Matt and me. What better spot to go? The weather was beautiful! Plus, there had been rain the past couple of days, so the trail conditions were superb. Nice, moist, tacky soil...perfect for mountain bikes! No pics from the Flag ride, but lots from Gallup...

We took off on Friday and stopped in Gallup to ride the trails out there. Matt took me on the loop used for the Dawn Til Dusk race, and then a little more.

Wow, these trails were really fun! Fast swoopy stuff with some small little technical challenges every once in a while, and views you wouldn't believe! There was a lot of TLC that went into building this trail system. Nice little details you wouldn't expect to see, like decorated cattleguards, custom-made trail signs, and miscellaneous trail sculptures/art. The town has taken a lot of pride in this area, and I'll definitely come back to ride this again! We got in about 20 miles in just short of 3 hrs of riding. We went at a pretty good clip (for me)...enough to make the legs tired!

The next day, Matt and I hit the trails in Flag. We had planned on doing a rather long 50-miler, but with pending storms brewing in the sky, we took an alternate route. We started from the hotel, took the road to Buffalo Park, and did the usual climb up Oldham...painful for me, I've done much better before. We rode Schultz Pass Road up to the top and climbed some roads out there before deciding it was time to head back down because of the storm clouds. We flew down Elden (fun, fast, swoopy, with rocky stuff here and there) and continued down Little Bear. Then came the climbing up Shultz Tank and Brookbank. That was a leg buster! After yesterday's intervals in Gallup (I did 3 rather hard intervals while out there), my legs were jelly...but I digress...we headed back from whence we came through Buffalo Park and back to the hotel. By that time, we were hauling on the road. I think we got up to around 27 mph in a couple of places. Not bad on a mountain bike! We ended up with about 40 miles today and 5000 ft of climbing...a new max for me. More pics and another write up on the trip are on Matt's Blog.

After the ride, it was time for a nice soak in the hot tub, then dinner at Alpine Pizza and beers (of course) at the Pay 'N Take.

More Rides

August 1 was the 14th anniversary for Matt and me. We're celebrating this weekend in Flagstaff! Should be a great time. We haven't ridden out there together this year, so should be a lot of fun. Got a smokin' deal on the Residence Inn (I'm crafty at these things, I tell ya!), so we'll be sleeping well! No noisy train, no funky bed.

So, Tuesday, Aug. 1, I did the Timid Tuesday ride. All my Chicas bailed on me, so I rode with the ride leader, Jim, Mitch, and Evan (kid from last week who lasted about 7 miles). I took the SS and had a great time! Evan actually rode the entire ride with us. He actually listened to me and didn't try to chase me on the climbs. Amazing what a little energy conservation for the body can do. We even took him up through the technical North Foothills, up to the watertower at the Tram, and down Dan's trail. I was impressed.

Got a good workout in with the SS. Still had a heck of the time with some of the climbing. Matt switched out the gear now, so I'll try that out. I'll suck on the flats, but I'd really like to try to nail more of those climbs!

Wednesday, Denise and I headed out on Dan's trail to La Cueva and on to Juan Tabo Basin. It was a shorter, hard ride today with lots of technical stuff and climbing (old pics, but you get the idea). Brought the Moots, but would have enjoyed the Intense in several areas. La Cueva and Juan Tabo have been beaten down by the rain leaving lots of water ruts, loose rock, and very difficult sections. Some areas are just new challenges. Other parts of the trail (water ruts) need some loving care...perhaps when the weather cools a bit.

Got home from the ride and Matt had just finished dinner! He had enough for three, so Denise hung out for dinner and then took off to learn how to kayak at a local pool.

Can't wait for the weekend in Flag!