2010 Idyllwild Spring Challenge

It was apparent the first weekend of Justin's accident that we'd be missing a few races this season, not the least of which were Santa Ynez (the following weekend) and Sea Otter (2 weekends post accident).  While I knew that Justin was bummed to miss out on racing the Idyllwild Spring Challenge for a 2nd year in a row, I also felt that I wanted to get back out on the dirt and see what I could do!  The time off the bike due to injury and the accident left me with zero fatigue, but not a lot of form either.  I really haven't done any speed work since Fontana, but I'm happy to be out on my bike.

The weather for the weekend looked ominous at first, but quickly cleared up to a weekend of sun and high 60s. Perfect racing weather for the mountains!

We were somewhat sad to be missing out on the excitement in St. George, but stoked to be getting out of the house for an entire weekend.  I was worried it was a bit much for Justin, but I think the sun, the fresh air, and the camaraderie really helped him out.

It was really the first weekend that felt sort of "normal" in the last 4 weeks.  It helped both of us out physically and mentally to be amongst like-minded individuals and get back to something familiar.  It was great seeing so many people up at Idyllwild for the race.

The Idyllwild Spring Challenge is hosted up in Idyllwild, CA by Idyllwild Cycling the first weekend of May every year.  Justin and I have participated the last 3 years, and in 2006 rode the long course a week or so after the event on our own (which piqued our interest!).

Last year we had I think 5 Pro Women (Pua, Joy, Sarah, Carolyn, and myself).  This year there were 3 of us on the line (Kathy, Timari and me).  Idyllwild Cycling put up equal pro-payout for men and women, so I was hoping that more pro women would come out.  It's been about the best payout (I think?) for a stage race so far this year with $350 up for grabs for the XC win, $350 for the stage race win, and $175 spread out for each "King/Queen of the Mountain" prime.

At the start

We started right on time, and while temps as we entered the venue were 37F just after 7 am, it felt much warmer as we took off toward the singletrack at 9:30.  Kathy took off for the hole shot, as we had some dirt before hitting a little pavement section, and then a fire road/double track and a singletrack climb with some hike-a-bike.

I fell in behind her on the pavement in what felt like a really benign pace.  I missed not having Joy there to show us what was up on the road (I should've known then she was prime for Cat 1/2!!), but we hit the dirt and Kahty and I traded spots before she pulled in to the lead just as we hit singletrack.  I held her wheel and could've stayed on for awhile, but eventually decided to try my hand at a move for the early lead.  We hit the hike a bike and I knew she was just behind me, and I asked one of the men if I could pass before we hopped back on and hit a fun traversing section.  He obliged and off I went, trying to keep my pace under control.

My body was pushing hard, but just didn't feel up to snuff.  I felt like I wasn't going as hard as I know I can go, but I felt like I'd blow up if I had gone any harder, so I just kept at it.  My lungs started burning and my legs while they didn't feel heavy, didn't cramp, and weren't specifically "sore" just never felt like they did at earlier races this season.  Kind of weird.

I hit the Keen Camp Climb and just kept at it, hoping that my pace was enough.  I had gone in to the race just hoping for a clean race and wanted to take the Queen of the Mountain at the top of Southridge (big fire road climb!).  I was hoping as I climbed that I could maintain my pace for the next 10-12 miles until I got there!  There's a lot of climbing between Keen Camp and the top of Southridge.  

I made it to the top of Keen Camp and was feeling pretty weird, but was happy for the recovery trail and just hammered it out.  Once up at May Valley I was starting to see some familiar faces from the Cat 1 men, so had fun cheering them on they went by, and soon enough it was singletrack time again!  I felt pretty smooth on the singletrack, and had fun in the tight turns.  I made a narrow rock section I've never cleaned before, and hit the Roman Highway perfectly, so was pretty stoked.  Then it was time for a short traverse and on to the Lower Southridge "cyclocross" climb!  I still wasn't feeling very good (lower back is in need of core work, and I was feeling kind of dizzy and out of it).  

Nick caught up to me toward the top quarter of the climb and I tried to keep him in sight as I hit the 2nd of Queen of the Mountain check point once we rejoined the May Valley fire road.  I was climbing pretty well at that point, and hit Sunset feeling all right, knowing that soon enough I'd get to see Justin out there with my next bottle hand off and cheering me on just after Astrocamp.

I was sticking to my feed schedule of an EFS liquid shot every 45 minutes or so, and sipping on EFS drink when and where I could.  It felt super dry (as it usually does at elevation when racing for me), so I maybe wasn't drinking as much as I should have.  I think I took in around 45oz for the whole race, and didn't finish any of the 3 bottles (or what would have been around 70oz).  My stomach was good, but I was pretty hungry near the end!

I had a small gap on Nick, who I know is a super strong descender, once I got to the Southridge Queen of the Mountain prime/check point.  I waited the entire descent for Nick to catch up!  He and one other Pro Men racer caught me on some singletrack as we traversed down and back toward Hurkey Creek.  I hit the Buena Vista fire road and connected up with the Coffee Pot trail.  I had ridden this trail I think once, so wasn't at all familiar with it, and it showed!  Lots of on/off the bike, but some fun stuff as well.  

Eventually I hit Exfoliator and railed the bermed singletrack having so much fun!  A short climb and descent through Rage through the Sage and then it was time for the solo road TT back to the campground, up Demoralizer and down to the finish!

Felt good to be done, but the course is so much fun it's hard to not enjoy this race!  I know there were two times that I managed to look up and "enjoy the view" outside of racing, and all I could think of was how beautiful it was, and that I hoped Justin had seen a bit of it as well, despite not being on the race course.

Kathy came around to the finish not long after, and I tried to get in a cool down, but as usual, it didn't really work out for me!  Lungs were on FIRE (my throat still hurts - but it wasn't very dusty out) and legs were ready for a break from pedaling.

Justin and I hung out with the finishers and watched as other friends came through.

I was so STOKED on the hand made Queen of the Mountain trophy!  It's already mounted on the wall at home.

Pro Women's podium

Katie from Idyllwild Cycling, and the voice of the weekend (and Super D competitor!) Tom

I secretly look forward to the Idyllwild Spring Challenge for the M&M's post-race as much as the amazing trophies.

I had sort of needed a "break" last week, so my nutrition wasn't stellar all weekend, but hey... Sometimes you just gotta go with it :)

Dinner (prep stages)

and dessert

Sunday we were up just as early as Saturday, and left home to head up the hill so I could pre-ride the dirt Time Trial course before the 8 am start.  The start was delayed, so I got in an extra warm-up and was able to ride the whole course.  It was 3.35mi according to my Garmin, and I'd say about 2.9 of them were singletrack!  First time I actually said after the ride/race that it felt like more descending than climbing!  So fun!

We hung out for awhile waiting for awards (which were post-poned to after the Super D race) and then headed over to the start of the Super D for a quick pre-ride back down to the venue.  The first 3rd of the Super D is mostly down a big wide open fire road with a ton of speed and some killer views of the valley below.

From there you swing on to singletrack that twists, turns, and traverses through manzanita and mountain granite, back on to a short stretch of fire road before swinging down buffed and bermed singletrack to a short climb, wide open double track descent, across a bridge and down the "Demoralizer" before hitting the finish line.

I had caught up to Timari on Exfoliator, but rather than try to force a pass or throw elbows I was patient until the climb.  Had fun anyway for the last event of the weekend, and then we chilled for a few hours as the other competitors came down through the finishing shoot.

Final podium

Cool medals!

Thanks to everyone that made the race possible through the promoters, venue, etc. all the way to everyone that helped Justin and I out this last month.  Our family and friends have been great.  The support from everyone that has enabled us to get back to a weekend that felt almost "normal" has been awesome and is very much appreciated.  Justin wasn't taking it as easy I would have liked all weekend chasing me around with bottles and a camera, but I think the friends, fresh air, and freedom did his body good.

Thanks to everyone for the continued support this year, and this past month for Justin and I personally.  I just hope that he can get out there soon enough as well!

Kenda Cup West Sagebrush Safari 2010

After a few hard weeks of training, last week I was happy to take the week off. I did one ride midweek, and otherwise spent my time resting and chilling out. It was a much needed break both physically and mentally.

Unfortunately, the forecast for Saturday was grim. Pretty much rain and wind and cold temps all day. Justin and I got up around 7 to steady rain. We got together breakfast (devil grains!)



and then while I packed up some things and worked on our tax return, he was out in the garage grinding away at the mess that is 6.5 years of parts and tools. It was around 10:30 or so when I realized there was some blue sky outside. I rushed to get dressed and make bottles, and urged him to do the same.

Once we got started the roads had somewhat dried. 13 minutes in to the ride we started to get dumped on. That continued, then it dried out a little, then we got drizzled on for about an hour or so. Got to a decent climb, and it was feeling warmer. That didn't last too long, though. After the one descent we hit it was really coming down. Crazy cross headwind and just pouring rain for about 20 minutes. Most of the rest of the 3+ hours we spent riding into a headwind.

It was awesome to have my legs and body finally come around and work together. Everything felt like it was re-aligned and ready to go! Overall the ride was pretty stellar. Didn't get cold until the end, and energy levels were solid despite probably not eating or drinking as much as I would have on a non-rainy day.

The rest of the afternoon was spent doing final prep for the first race of the year, and some house cleaning (finally!).

Sunday we got up bright and early and headed south to Lake Morena for the race: US Kenda Cup Sagebrush Safari.

We didn't know it when we pulled in, but got a prime pit spot!







I hadn't had time to ride my new 2010 bike from Rock N' Road Cyclery at all! Did a parking lot test Friday night and that was it. Was stoked to have the new XX bling, but had no idea how the shifting or gears were gonna work out!





Brand new white shoes and mudfest?



Justin and I got suited up and headed out to do some warming up a little after 10 am.



Since we both raced at 11, no race photos!

I sort of expected a bit higher turn out for Pro Women, but in the end it was Pua Sawicki, Rebecca Tomaszewski (Niner Ergon SS!), Anna Fortner and Dot Won from Team So Cal (CX). At the start, I knew Pua would lead us out on the long flats to the first climb. A small gap opened up right away between Rebecca on her SS and Pua, and I worked hard to close and pull myself back to Pua. Was ok sitting in, but there were a few rollers and I realized I had a really long race, so let off the gas a bit, and the gap continued to grow. I didn't see any women behind me at all, so just kept my pace strong, but steady. Pua disappeared up into the men's class once the climb started, and I set out to catch up to my SS buddy Mark Scheetz! Finally got him at the top of the climb.

I was STOKED to hit dirt on my new bike. I was having so much fun pumping the singletrack. I talked to James post-race, and it's so easy to forget you are racing on this stuff! Just had a blast riding my bike. Unfortunately not too much later I was faced with a massive hike a bike section! It just keeps going! Made it up that, then was sort of trading places here and there with other racers on the rollers up top. Temps were colder for sure.

I got down past the muck pot at the bottom, and just as I hit the fire road to climb back up to four corners Brian Crooks yells, "Grab my wheel!" Well ok then! He did a monster pull for me all the way to the pavement where I finally felt awesome and put in some efforts. Got back to four corners and was stoked to hit dirt again. Legs were definitely starting to feel it by now. I hadn't done much in the way of hard efforts yet period, much less 1.5 hours plus of racing! Tried to keep my pace solid and kept moving. Once back to the hike a bike the other classes were out as well, so I offered encouragement and cheers where I could.

Back to four corners one last time, and I was ready to enjoy the final descent. There was some mud here and there, but it was pretty groomed compared to last year (freshly graded and DUSTY) so I just had a blast railing the descent and pumping the rollers at the bottom.

Was stoked when a Cynergy racer came around me just at the pavement and I sat on his train back to the creek crossings where I slowed up (still got inundated!) and then to the finish line.





Overall, it was an amazing day to race! My bike was flawless, race went about as expected. I was glad that I was able to put in a strong weekend!

Despite not feeling "right" with the trigger positioning on Friday night, and not having any idea how going from a 3x9 to a 2x10 would work out, everything came together worry-free once the race started. Felt like all the "gears" fell into place and I had no issues with a brand new bike or brand new shoes. Out of the box the gear just fit and worked as well as I knew it would!

Thanks to Rock N' Road Cyclery and Ergon for the support this year. Also, big thanks to Tim from Troupe and Crankbrothers for hooking me up with a set of SHOE SHIELDS. If you wear carbon-soled shoes and don't use these - seriously consider getting a set. Talk to your LBS and have them start stocking them. We needed two sets last minute Saturday and out of 4 shops locally only one shop had one set; the other shops didn't even know what they were.

Big thanks to Team Big Bear, Sho-Air, and all the people involved in putting on the race. Course was great and well-marked, results were pretty quick. Can't wait for the rest of the series!

I rinsed my shoes off with a SUN SHOWER (not a high pressure hose or towel) and here's what they look like:



I love Specialized!! Great design not making any of the fabric white. Stellar.

"That's a sexy leg" or my trip to Ray's MTB Indoor Park

About a week and a half ago I got an email heads up that Ray from Ray's MTB Indoor Park was looking for a few pro women to race the 2nd Annual Tri-Flow XC Indoor Invitational. Justin and I quickly changed up the training plans a bit and booked flights back east to head to Cleveland - in the middle of January!



I didn't really know what to expect. I'd heard of Ray's before, but had never been, and other than a few days at Whistler and Mammoth, had no dirt jump or bike "park" experience to speak of. Since we love riding our bikes, especially in new places, we took an extra day of vacation from work to head out and ride the park.



We were up way before sunrise on Thursday, and on the plane to meet the day. Didn't realize it'd be the last time I'd see the sun for 5 days!







Flying high over the Rockies







We got in to the Dawg Pound around 4, and headed for the hotel to build up my bike for some evening park time!







Seeing as how I am a geek to the max I made sure to strap up and use the Garmin. Didn't realize until day 2 that it actually got some satellite signal, even in the building!







In total Justin fashion, he managed to flat about 5 minutes into our first session!







After some laps on the course and practicing on the skill lines we went out to dinner with the owner and founder: Ray Petro







It's safe to say that the local Mexican joint was pretty close to what we have here in CA!



Since Thursday had been a late night and we had a long weekend, we opted to sleep in a bit and got to Ray's around noon on Friday for a lot more riding. By then US Olympian and World Cup Pro Adam Craig had arrived, along with fellow Pro female racer Lizzy English. Lizzy got her bike built up and we went out to preview the course.



After riding the XC TT loop and some of the skill lines it was time to hit the Red Bull Wall



















After I crashed and burned on the wall in front of MBAction photographer John Ker, it was back to the skill lines for me!











I tried to get this table top down for 2 days







I finally cleaned it a few times Saturday morning, but never got close during the race.



I even hit the foam pit. On my Epic. Clipped in. In lycra. What an experience!











The trophies were SWEET







I got to pump the Ergon rollers







The Pro Women post-race (L-R: Lizzy English, me, Lindsey Bishop, Lindsey Prososki)







I got to meet Tyler Morland, which was sweet. Everyone's a comedian, eh!







Podium shots:







(L-R) Kyle Spisak, Adam Craig, Aaron Snyder, Tyler Morland, Justin Mann







A few of us went out post-race party and I can honestly say for the first time in my life I closed down not one bar, but two. I was sober, though! Long night, and we got up fairly early on Sunday to hit up Ray's for a few final rides and pack up for the flight home.



I wound up borrowing a 24" cruiser and Justin and I spent the morning playing on the pump track. It was a different experience riding the smaller hard tail with flat pedals, but I had a blast pumping the course once I figured it out. Then I got really sore and tired! Then it was time to pack up and head to the airport for the trip home.



Everyone agreed they were going to take their "legs" as carry-on luggage so they didn't get beat up. I was kind of nervous walking (ahaha!) this thing through security and the airport. We got some definitely shady looks as the security peeps checked our IDs against our plane tickets, but the actual people in security thought the legs were quite a hoot. No line at all, so they were just chilling. Let us on no problem. I was glad Adam was carrying his leg through at the same time, though. Made me stand out less like a sore foot, y'know?







We got some funny comments and a lot of strange looks, and until the last flight the leg was great in the overhead bins. Last flight, into ONT, the stewardess shoved it in there pretty good and I got a ding/knick on it. Ah well. It's still a sexy leg if you ask me!



I had a terrific weekend and was really happy that I got the chance to go race at Ray's. The vibe was great from the moment we arrived until we left. The local racers are awesome and super helpful and friendly, and people travel from all over the area to hit up Ray's on the weekend for some fun indoor park riding. It's a killer location to ride, so definitely check it out if you're anywhere in the area. They do rent a variety of bikes from little BMX to 26" dirt jumpers.



LATE EDIT: Here's a youtube vid Justin took with the Droid of me riding the pump track. Too bad I was really worn out at this point ;)



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Ergon GX2 Grips highlighted on Tempo Thursday!

I've been running Ergon grips for a long time now. My Dos has had Ergon grips on it since around August of 2007. I was doing a LOT of downhilling and shuttling that summer, so I don't know if I had a set on there before or not, but I'm pretty sure here are the first few instances of the winning combo:



(New wide Salsa bar for descending help, photo is at SART)



Early early morning sufferfest ride. We were on the trail way before sunrise to try to get to OC by 8 am for a newbie ride. Yikes. We were late, but it worked out well. Long day in the saddle, but it was awesome.

So, I have a lot of experience with Ergon's. The Dos was my main rig for most trails, racing, etc. other than the Enduro up until January 2008, and I put in a LOT of training time on the Dos. When I switched it up and rode the Canzo in early 2008 it had the same grips/bar set up, so technically I rode/raced/trained for everything except DH and the harder all-mountain trails around on Ergon's up until now.

For racing XC this year I'd been using the GP1's until Jeff sent over a set of the GX2's for me to try out. Justin was happy enough to switch out my GP1's to the GX2's for the Idyllwild race last weekend. I really wanted the extra leverage and hand positions for the long race and steep fire road climbing.

I was stoked to have the bar ends back! I've never had them get in the way of descending, and the extra hand positions and grip positions are beneficial. I haven't necessarily missed the bar ends for XC racing only, but for longer training rides, steeper climbing, etc. they are nice to have.

Prior to using Ergon's I had ESI foam grips with the light-weight plastic bar ends. I think it worked well enough, but ever since I first got into riding I've had hand issues. I used to get a LOT of ulnar nerve damage post-rides where my hand(s) didn't work for a few hours. I tried some Pearl Izumi gel gloves and those with the padding helped a lot, but I'd still get some hand pain on our training rides, which is why I eventually went with the Ergon's. I haven't looked back since!

Good for climbing



Good for a place to paw your camera case



Wide base for palm extension



I dig the green. All of my bikes last year were green (Dos Niner very verde, swamp green Canzo 29, and lime green Demo 7). w00t! Green is fast.

So, if you haven't checked out Ergon grips, I highly recommend them. Your hands are one of the main contact points, and contact points need to be happy.

A few other pics from last night's ride...

Literally about 0:01:30 in, and perspiring. It was really warm.



Contrast to the last Tempo Thursday...



Justin picked out some new rubber for the rig...The jury is out. The fire road was the sandy-est I've ever ridden it, and the tires wanted to push. It was like the bead was rolling over on the outside? Almost felt like flat tires, but they weren't.





Justin off the front



Smoke blowing in...better than yesterday, though.



Srsly getting warm now



Hard to ride and shoot backwards!



The bugs started to get really bad. Justin attacked to get through them faster (it worked, I did it a few times)



Soo nice the higher we climbed!





Looking back



Happy it wasn't below freezing this time around!