It's Official

It's official, I set and met a goal - I won the SingleSpeed category for the NMORS Series. I decided last year after trying a few of these short course sprint, traditional XC races I would ride 5 races allowing to meet the 4 race minimum to win a category. I selected races I had ridden before, and courses I was familiar with, showed up and rode hard every race. In the series showing up and finishing is the name of the game rather than winning the individual races.
Official results are out and I get the championship jersey. More importantly this was the first year a female raced enough races in that category to take the jersey, and we had nine women race SS in the series. Hopefully there will be more and more women come out to race SS at these races. The men's field is usually pretty competative and hopefullly the ladies will catch on to the fun of passing a geared rider with their lonley, single gear.....
I'm not at all a sprinter, endurance baby, endurance. But I do have fun at these races and so I'll definately race a handful next year.

Let the Games Begin

The SingleSpeed World Championships in Durango Colorado have begun. Teammates Lenny and Claudia Goodell made the front page of the Durango Herald cheesin' it on the first group ride of the weeks events. Seems local (meaning from Durango) teammates Matt and Jeni opted out of the event along with Rico, Colorado rider Jeff to actually compete in a 12 Hour event this weekend. I hear the course is not very ridable for at least 7 of the first 11 miles, but hell - who really goes to ride this event anyway? Okay out of 981 riders probably 200 riders come to "race," the rest come for the craziness of 900 cyclists on SingleSpeeds and the inevitable rolling party that results!

Lonely Blog

My poor blog has been lonely and I know you all have missed my intermitten posts too. Things have been so hectic, and I know my poor blog, you just don't understand one being too busy to spend a few minutes posting to you. I raced every weekend from Easter (ok that one got rained out) til May 9 - then I was out of state 2 weeks and then back to work. And although it is better to be at work and wishing I was not than to be unemployed, I wish I had some time to ride and post to you my poor blog.
Poor blog, we have been landscaping the backyard, so evening rides have been out and evening computer time. I am actually working a "normal" person's work schedule of 40+ hours a week (usually its 30 hours a week) and I have extra work on the side eating up potential ride time and blog time. I am just about to abandon all the distance events I signed up for in Fall because of the fast depletiton of my ability to endure and clearly its bad if I don't even have a few minutes for you, poor blog. But alas, maybe I can pull it out in the next week. I have decided that shoveling and spreading 9.5 tons of rock can count as gym workouts, and posting to you, blog, can be my recovery - so i just have to find bike time.
I promise, poor blog, that I will visit you more often, and above is a pic to remind you what I look like when I'm free to do what I love and what brings me to you for posting.

Leading the Way

OK, I admit it, part of the reason I am racing Single Speed all year in the NMORS series is because few females race SS, so my odds of placing as well as winning the series are high. I also admit part of the reason why I race SS is because my ego likes getting the props for doing so from the racing community. I deny that I ride SS for any of the reasons that Jason Thorpe claims people ride SS (see Up Front of Mountain Bike Magazine, June 2009). In fact, I got lazy as a technical rider when I got on the full suspension bandwagon, and I also got extra soft...not having gears and only a suspension fork, has made me technically better each ride and not nearly as soft (although the Budah Belly still rules - because SS'ers appreciate good beer more than any other group outside of downhillers I think).
So the point is, yes there is a point here, I still would like to see more women show up riding SS at the short course races. The last three races I have done I have won - without challenge. Conversely, everytime I show up at an endurance event, the female SS competitionis deep and extremely tough. I have a long way to go to compete with those ladies, there's no getting around that (sigh, sound of a beer being cracked open). In fact I leave for the 12 Hours of Mesa Verde in the morning, and I know the female SS field will be deep enough I have not a chance, and I like that, because it gives me a challenge and gives me ladies to admire and to drive me in my training.
So how about it ladies, shed some gears and try the short course races 1x1, I promise to make you laugh at the starting line and share a beer at the finish.

How many days in a row

I have been cooped up inside for 3 days at a partnership meeting related to a grant I am involved with to create a certificate program for interpreters and trnaslators in the justice system and health care system. And my 3 week semester break started. So as my mind wanders from the meeting to the beautiful trees outside the conference room window and the glimpse of the Sandias over the top of the building behind the trees - I am trying to think how many days I can ride over hte next 2 weeks. Pondering my race schedule over the enxt 2 weeks and travel plans, I'm thinking 12 of 14 days - if rides to the bar count maybe all 14 days. :)

First short course race of year

So last weekend I raced my first shortcourse of the year...the xc course in Socorro, NM. I was the only chica brave enough to race SS, so I took first naturally. But the best news is that I felt I had too hard a gear running 32/18 and indeed there were times I could barely keep it rollin - BUT I ran 12 minutes faster than last year. Meaning 12 minutes faster than on the geared bike. I would have done better, but the tall gear caused me to cramp up second lap out. Check the pic - top of the nasty hill 5 yards from finish - if it were not for the cow bells, and people cheering I would have rolled back down the hill.

D2D

Well Spring in New Mexico means wind and unpredictable weather. And we are having a Spring true to form. Weather has been fluctuating between typical windy but warm weather and cold and snowy. Just in time for Dawn til Dusk in Gallup, New Mexico this weekend it is being predicted it will be wet and cold. The composition of soil at the High Desert trail system is comprised mainly of clay - so when wet the trails will destroy your bikes. Most of you will recall the damage that the Siren suffered on her inaugral race - the High Desert Screamer - on these same trails when I got caught in rain. Add a high of 37 degrees (C) and we are talking about a raring good time!
Despite my impulse to stay in Albuquerque I'll be heading over to Gallup for hopefully 12 Hours of racing. I'm really hoping the moisture stays at bay and we get to ride. Promoters have stated this is the largest field ever for the event - 150 more registered racers than last year. Trails will be crowded and I imagine our local 12 hour race will be inundated with Pros taking the fun out of the event for most of us. But alas, I have raised a couple of hundred dollars for the local Open Sky SAR (in only 7 hours) who volunteer to be out on the course and take care of the racers if anything unfortunate happens, bet the Pros did not do that. In fact I challenge all the Pros to get pledges and donations for the bike-a-thon. Information and pledge forms available here Quit taking from local races and give back please.
Hope to see you all out at D2D and hope all you regular racers have a grand time.

Results are in - SHIFTLESS! rocked co-ed duo

For two non-pros on singlespeeds, team SHIFTLESS! rocked 24HiTOP. The down and dirty is that we placed 7th out of about 30 teams. The top 5 teams were comprised of 4 full on pro teams. The 5th place team - Kim and Jan Bear, from Santa Fe, NM was essentially a pro team. Kim sandbags the local NMORS series as a sport rider, but always turns times consistent with the experts and pro classes. My understanding is Jan was a former pro rider and now races other classes to avoid real competition. Regardless, SHIFTLESS! was the only team in the top 10 co-ed duo that were racing one gear!!
We ran 15 laps, and had a 16th in us, but were not going to displace the 5th place team, so decided to enjoy the noon hour instead of kill ourselves. Marc and I have this elaborate excel spreadsheet with 7 different lap scenarios in it. We decided pre-race on one scenarion and hoped for a second one where Marc had himself a little faster on average than last year. We never changed the average lap times for me in any scenario. Much to our delight we ran about 30 minutes ahead of our chosen scenario - putting us in a position to get 16 laps. We had only one missed transition - and that's because on my 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. double I called in as I went out for the second lap from the port-o-let sick as heck. I was sure I'd run VERY slow, blowing all the ground I had gained with decent first 4 laps. After walking all the bitches because I was in a serious pain cave, and have some mysterious female rider follow me, stop every time I stopped, and watch me like a hawk through the Corral and Rattlesnake trails up to the begining of his/hers trail, I ended up with a lap within what we though would be my worst time of the night. I was pleased, Marc was surprised I was in the exchange so fast after calling in struggling. The mystery lady we believe was one of the many medical personnel riding the course looking for people just like me - puking, delirious, and clearly not coping. Whoever you were mystery rider, thanks - After you saw me stop to eat, I came around the otherside and got another wind.
Also thanks to the geared guy who silently rode up behind me on the 3rd or 4th bitch and gave me the little tiny push that prevented me from bailing and walking the last 5 feet of that second hump on that bitch. As I yelled out to you - you rock!!
I have to say that this was the hardest race for me ever. I've had some tough times at 24 hour races, but this beat them all. I once again got nauseous. I think it was the whole on the bike, off the bike, trying to eat and digest before having to ride again thing. Solo is much easier for some reason. Marc was WAY faster than I, so my "rest" times were very short compared to what he got due to my relative slowness. Moreover, I had almost no support, so I got little rest. Marc's gal Sandy was a saint and stayed up to help me several times and my girl did what she could while riding for her own team and managing her own team. Despite their help, I got like 12 minutes of shut-eye and little time to just sit and rest.
I have declared - probably just to go back on my declaration - that I will not race 24 hour races for awhile. I'm watching all these pros and all their support. I'm tired of going early to get a spot close to the venue, tired of riding my butt off and taking "rest" time to change lights, wipe down chains, change gears, make food, eat, etc. I'll race a 24 again, as I do enjoy the torture they provide, but only if I get some dedicated support. Until then, I'll come crew for friends and teammates. See you all at the "shorter" races!
And a huge thanks to Marc for making this a truly good experience! I can think of no other guy I'd ride with (other than El Freako from Rico) and I still feel that way!! You were one hell of a teammate!!

Countdown

Well, it's the final hours before I head over, car packed like I'm fleeing with all my worldly possessions, to Tucson to 24 HiTOP. Not sure weather we will go in Wednesday evening or early Thursday morning. Appears Oracle (closer to venue than Tucson) has been getting some very wintery weather. As usualy the weather looks likely to be crap for this event.
Everyone can "watch" the results from the website. Just click the link for realtime results. I'm racing in the co-ed duo category, team name SHIFTLESS! J is racing a 4 person female team named the Hooey Voodoos.
Spent the entire last 2 weekends prepping gear, spening too much money on gear, and packing. The amount of crap to do for these is ridiculous. This could be the last 24 for me for a little while. I may just race the NMES events and 12 hour events. Less preparing, more fun.
Today I have a long list of odds and ends to wrap up. Getting things done for work - both the practice and teaching. Blood draw in preparation for my three month check-up to see if these meds for the thyrois disease are working at all at the higher dosage. Most importantly I have to go get P.I.T.A. from the shop - P.I.T.A. is the new name for the Siren. Every ride on that thing has been one problem or another. Currently the chain tension will not hold with the Ahrens sliders. It either goes too slack dropping the chain into the rear spokes or too tight. I have yet to figure out what I did to destroy my new bike karma, but its got to be something bad for horizontal sliders to move backwards and tighten tension. I have yet to understand how thats even possible, although Physics was not a strong subject for me. Still -
Hopefully the guys at Bikeworks got it figured out and get me in running order so I can ride the darn thing worry free and mechanical free. Well, my list of things to do is not getting shorter, so I better quite playing around here. See you next week after the suffer-fest!

A good night's sleep

A good night's sleep, or even a crappy one, will clear the pre-race stresses. Team SHIFTLESS! has narrowed down their plan of attack. My most excellent race partner, who has most excellent math and excel spreadsheet skills created 8 scenarios for lap times.
Now I know we all know these are mere predictions for what we would like the perfect world to provide us during a race. And I do carry Buddah in my jersey pocket.....
But regardless, we have identified pros and cons of lap times, traffic, transitions, and changing of light batteries. We are back in sync now. See ya on the starting line.

My momma always warned me

Reason # 104 not to "do" boys: My momma always warned me.. or maybe it was my Dad. Oh, wait the last warning came from my sister. Yeah that's right, my sister warned me about boys. She's married to one, so she ought to know, right? So, this week despite what I though was a very simple contract with a bunch of local boys - I now realize boys can't read - I was asked what camp kitchen I was providing 6+ boys. So I had to repeat myself, I'm no boys mom, sister, girlfriend, or mother. So at 24HiTOP boys bring their own gear and care for themselves. I will do my best to "hold" camp space, but I will NOT do anything else for boys.
Finished with boy drama - no wait, just when you though you were in the clear...boy thinks you can ride faster than him, despite lots of online statistical information (boys live by that, correct?) and your telling boy (we all know they don't hear girls, but they should get the stats right?) boy wants me to ride faster than him. So at this moment I declare 24HiTOP off next year's ride list. If I could I would beg out this year - well, ok we all know me, no I wouldn't - but come on.
So, gals - please redeem my love for 24HiTOP for next year.....

SSWC09

Durango, Colorado home of some of my favorite trails and beer. This year it is also home of the Single Speed Worlds! I have always had this weird fascination with the SSWC. Maybe its the mix of craziness surrounding the event with several days of pre-race party, post-race party, or maybe its the fact that I personally think that getting tattooed with the emblem of the race for taking the winners circle is better than any other prize. I mean who needs another darn small trophy of some sort. The SSWC is what drew me into SSing. That crazy culture behind the now current fad among mountain bikers seems like home, and this year I'll be there.
I colored my entry form, got it sent in and officially am on the list with close to 150 other women (and 500 men). Not a race to win for me, but sure as heck a race to go have one heck of a ride and party at!

Still alive

Sorry all - the last 6 weeks have flown by. With the end of the semester and grading for 5 classes, travel to the tundra (Michigan and Illinois) and some serious family health problems to deal with its been a long while since I paid any of you attention. In the interim I have been training hard (save for 2 weeks in the tundra)and gearing up for sponsors for next year. Big Wheel Racing has brough in some awesone new sponsors and I'll get everyone's logos and links up here soon.
Personally I got to thank Rhoda Weill at Rolling R Productions, Christina P. Argyres, Attorney at Law, and C:Change design firm from the Windy City - with a shout out to Hugh Shulze, owner of C:Change for his short film Arc of a Bird debut at the Santa Fe Film Festival last month!
Now, I just got my Kenda Tires order in, so I'm off to sort through it. I'll be back regularly until 24 HiTOP see ya soon