The So Cal Cross Krosstoberfest That Wasn’t

Race report is lagging a bit this week, eh?  Not quite as much as James’ Kona report, but it’s lagging all the same!

Well, work has been CRAZY, which happens.  It’s somewhat like being on a roller coaster with my eyes closed; I never have any kind of idea what is coming up or around each bend.  Some days it’s nice and smooth rollers, other days it’s an easy coast, and some days it’s just a lot of insanity.  The past 2 weeks have been filled more with “a lot of insanity” than anything else, which coincides nicely with my “off season” and my week 1 of training, which is basically more of an off week than a week of training!  Easing into it and all that.

We’re 12 days in to October and I’ve ridden 6 times, none of them over 2 hours at a clip.  Seriously.  Slow month!  On the bike, anyway.

So, last week Justin and I enjoyed 3 days of “off season”.  We went out to eat a few times, enjoyed baked goods, and didn’t ride.  For 3 days.  After that Justin was melting down, so we got back into it with a longer steady ride and an easier day, before heading into the weekend.

At least it was cold and rainy all week anyway, right? So we didn’t miss much?

Saturday we had a full day on hand with plans to be at our local venue – Vail Lake – for a solid day for the women!  The day started out setting up the Rock N’ Road tent at the pool area, scoping out the stakes for Sunday’s cross race, and chatting with some of the best women in So Cal, brought together by Dot Wong of So Cal Cross.  The day was benefiting Mountain2Mountain, which had rides going on across the US.  We were the lucky So Cal contingent!

We were few, but mighty, and set off around 11 on a ride led by Justin around Vail.

I tried to do a mini-clinic with a few of the riders to help coach them down Tunnel of Love.  Just because it’s one of MY favorite’s out there doesn’t mean it isn’t a little much for weekend warriors!

We all had a blast and rode really strong, and finished off the fun ride with a trip around “BMX”.  But, not before Dot corralled us for another group shot!

Once back down at the pool area venue it was LUNCH TIME!  Justin set off with Ryan who was fresh on his new cross bike to pre-ride a few laps of the newly marked course and give him tips and tricks on the barriers and sand sections.

After lunch we had some community time where we all shared our stories.  It was awesome to hear everyone share their history in and out of sport.  I always feel like I’m missing something when it’s my turn.  I’m not the best public speaker to begin with, so I feel like I robot-like explain how Justin and I got into riding, without really getting to the meat of it.

See, mountain biking has truly changed my life in so many ways.  It has helped me to grow as a person and as a woman.  When I was a freshman in college my idea of exercise was walking to class.  We had the free gym, but I rarely went, if ever.  I had no idea what to do anyway.  I ate in the “cafeteria” (which was really just a food court with various restaurants) 2-3 meals a day.  I probably skipped breakfast.  When I thought I was being healthy I had a sub sandwich.  This didn’t get any better over the course of the next 4-5 years as I met Justin, we got an apartment, graduated college, and got jobs.  And it isn’t just my nutrition and health that’s changed; my personality has gone through  a complete overhaul as well.

While some readers and friends might think it’s not for the best (haha), I used to be an extremely shy introvert.  I had very little self-confidence, not a lot of self-worth in some ways I guess, and almost no social skills.  I spent high school with my head in a book or computer screen and didn’t mind it that way.  I somewhat came out of my cocoon in college, but not a lot.  I was still shy, awkward, and quiet.

After I started mountain biking, something changed.  Maybe it was the slow progress in my body composition, and gaining confidence in myself to attack things on the trail, and maybe even in doing well in competition and actually feeling like I not only could, but also wanted to compete.

I still have my (self) doubts and quiet times, but for the most part I make an effort to be social on the trails, to talk to people, and have confidence in myself from cycling.  It feels good to know that when there’s an obstacle ahead (on the trail, on the road, at work, in my social life) I can attempt it.  I might not always make it over clean and easy, but I know I’ll try it, and it didn’t always used to be that way.  It’s hard to attack things confidently when it isn’t something you’ve always done, but I think I’m getting better.  And, learning and progressing is half the battle.

So, I think that women’s days, and working on benefits to help women and children’s rights and equality is really important.  Because even if we aren’t oppressed, even if we have all the support and love in the world, sometimes there’s an internal spark that’s missing.  Maybe cycling won’t light that for everyone, but I honestly feel it has lit it for me, and for that I’m not sure I can ever return the favor to cycling.

So, after the group chat Justin was jonesing to ride.  We cajoled CPT, Shelly, and Volpe away from restorative yoga and set out on the trails.  Justin donated his Epic to Shelly to ride so she could work on some trail skills on the mountain bike, as opposed to a cross bike.  It was cool to ride with everyone once again!

I LOVE riding my mountain bike.

After the short ride I hit the cyclocross course on my CruX for the first time all day with Ryan and Shelly close behind.  LOTS of grass.  Lap 1 I made a mistake taking the inside corner around a tree, got bucked around, couldn’t unclip and got stuck in my bike.  Ouch.  My knee is still banged up!  I think I crash a lot more in Cross racing than anything else.  Got in 2 laps and Justin and I started packing up for the evening.  It was nice to be close to the venue, but we were a little bummed to leave the festivities early.

Immediately upon getting in the truck and starting to drive home I felt really sore everywhere.  When we were unloading for the day I told Justin that I felt super achy and cold.  I looked at my skin as we’d been outside in the sun all day, but it didn’t look sunburnt.

Making dinner and doing the day’s dishes I just felt REALLY achy everywhere, and said that even my hair hurt just to sit on my head.  I was totally out of it, and despite the warmth in the house had to put on a sweatshirt and pants.  I did not feel good.  I barely choked down dinner.

Before bed I took my temperature – 100.5F.  Uh oh.  I took some Nyquil to try to help the fever and aches, and slept for about 3-4 hours and awoke to Justin looking for the thermometer, putting it away, putting on sweats and a long sleeved shirt, and shivering next to me uncontrollably until I fell asleep again.  I couldn’t move since I felt so nauseous myself, and at that point I was overheating and out of the covers.  We both had a fitful night of sleep, and when the alarm went off before 7 I asked if he wanted to get up and go race.  The definitive answer was 95% “No”.

We got up a little before 8, and while I was ok making breakfast, Justin could barely stand.  He had the full body aches and body chills, and his stomach wasn’t feeling good at all.  We barely finished food, and despite my complete and utter determination to race, not being able to do dishes without feeling shaky and sick really made me decide that racing on Sunday wasn’t to be.  We bucked up and went back to the venue to get the few things we’d left there, and tried to quietly make our exit.  It was a huge bummer to both of us not to be able to participate and hang out with everyone at our local venue.  We had been hoping for good results, and I wanted to try my hand at the Elite men’s race for a 2nd event on the day to see if I could make any more progress in lasting!

Instead, we stopped at Henry’s to get “flu lunch”, watched Transformers and football, and went to bed early. Justin didn’t even eat dinner.

Flu lunch.  I couldn’t think of anything better than chicken noodle soup and bread.  The soup really disappointed.

Got up Monday morning and felt really pretty good.  I was looking for a solid early start to the week on the bike to get ready for Spooky Cross.  For probably the first (and I’m sure the ONLY) time ever, I verbally groaned receiving a training program!  My first for the 2012 year, and first since before Nationals.  So, while I’m actually stoked to get next year’s mountain bike race season started, I wasn’t so stoked to have a slow week!  BUT, I’m following the plan.

Last beer…for, at least 4 days.

Going for a walk (the after dinner kind – MOM)

Today was a super easy spin. It was pretty warm out, and I left grannie on the mountain bike way behind, but we enjoyed finally riding again after another 3 day hiatus.

New drivetrain is BUTTAH – Thanks Justin!!

So, it begins! IT’S GO TIME! Well, slowly but surely. I’m super excited as I mentioned to put this year behind me and move on to bigger and better things.

In the meantime…we also got a vacuum coffee maker.

Also known as “the coffee bong”

Justin hates it.  But, the coffee’s good.  And, in about a week or three it’s going to be even better.