DNF - the morning after

Yang came looking for me the next morning (see previous CCC post). Yang wears very similiar outfits to the grim reaper I found out. Stage 4 - DNF

What started in Saturday afternoon's crit continued to chase me down like a junkyard dog on holiday. This chase was in my head; just never could wrap my coconut around the CCC. Still trying to sort out why not. Eventually it was one of those "neutral feed zones" that took it's toll. The chaos caused me to unclip, the boys up front hit the gas as if their water bottles were needed at a 5-alarm blaze, and boom I was off the front group. A 2K chase in TT position ensued, but I had done that the morning before, and now the legs said no way, not into a head wind.

Before that I was actually talking myself through it - forced myself to get up front, helped chase a couple short lived attacks, sat on race leader Dave Zimbelman's wheel, for much of the next lap, then we climbed to the feed zone, and there, a really aggressive race twittered my brain with a whole lot of questions about fighting this much and then it was "lights out in the 'mental' engine room". Unfortunately Mr. Liggett, there was not going to be any digging into suitcases,... or bags, or knapsacks, or any other carrier, for courage. Not since my second marathon many moons ago had I "hit the wall". In this case the legs still worked, the head was banging and the wall wasn't giving in.

This was by far the most aggressive and talented field (115 strong) I raced in all year. The USA Nationals this coming week in Bend brought a number of Elite Masters in - and they filled the CCC field and definitely amped up the level of racing - looking back Elkhorn seems rather pleasant.

My goal this year was to come to every race with a lesson to learn. And in each I can say that has happened - I've definitely improved. Perhaps CCC had no clear enough goal, maybe blame the heat, or the cracked frame the night before leaving through me off, in the end this was in my head. And I guess the learnt lesson is bike racing is really a head game. As much as we like to think it's about pedalling a bike, it's really about pedalling upstairs, clearing your focus, and determining your success.

My consolation? After hitting the wall in that second marathon I went on to run my faster ever 26 miles in my third. My goal this season was to learn, so I could be competitive in 2010. Maybe 2010 is my new third.

Shelled...

Getting older brings some realities - one of them is you have days of yin & yang. Saturday was mine. I got shelled in the afternoon crit. Pulled from the course after losing contact. Why is it the yang ends the day?

The Yin: I was really focused on the morning's TT. I know its my Achilles heel. To hold on to my 16th from stage 1 it was critical not to lose to much - maybe miracle-of-miracles gap the guy behind in the GC 30secs more. The 14 miles were good for me - lumpy and the longer than anything I had done before. I now know that hilliness hurts others and this old motor does better as the distance stretches.

I got this one nearly right - my Yin had taken over my attitude. I warmed up for nearly an hour, riding over 5 miles to the start and heaps of laps on local streets similar to the course (lumpy rolling stuff) for another half hour. The pump was primed. Hell, I timed this so perfectly I literally rolled to the start line, never unclipped as they held me and started the 30 sec countdown (a bit too close for OBRA officials - sorry guys).

The Yang: Riding over to the start the legs complained, the spark that hints of speed was not there, but for me crits are all about surviving - just sit on the back and stay alive. I planned to find Dave Zimbleman's wheel and stay there. Dave is the GC leader but doesn't get mixed up in front these speed fests if his lead (he's leading the Masters 45+ GC) isn't at risk. They, OBRA officials, neutralized scoring today because of complete mess up in stage 1 recordings - they're trying to sort out overnight. Its becoming crystal clear I and the a populous of the peloton have a distinctly different interpretation of the commonly used term "neutral". My good friends over at Merriam's online have this take on the word:
Function: noun
Date: 15th century

1 : one that is neutral 2 : a neutral color 3 : a position of disengagement (as of gears)

Now of course I, being a Masters and all, which means I have been on the planet for a few years, at least long enough to learn the language, would assume any word that has had 5 centuries of use should be fairly commonly accepted and understood. I guess that's one of those realities getting older still hasn't taught me, because I don't call taking off at over 31 miles per hour for the first sever laps neutral! No one that night except for the Pros went that fast - and even they were shelling each other at that speed!

Getting back to Merriam's, I especially like definition #3 "disengagement (as of gears). Could I just add - wheels, frame, derailleur, handle bars, saddle, pedals, etc. Ya I'm frustrated. If I decide to drop that's one thing, but working my arse off and getting pulled totally pisses me off. Yang is crappy, and not the way to end a day. We're back on the open roads in the morning - thank goodness... btw, did I mention I hated crits before and now even more!

Yang was tough on everyone. The above photo is of my friend and Lip Smacker pro Hilary Billington, she did a great job "hanging on" in the women's pro crit - they ripped it up in the high 20 mph range. Afterwords she looked beat, but no whistle, nice job Hil!

WATER! - Battle in the Neutral Zone

Sitting here having a beer, in the shade, in downtown Bend, it seems further away than the 40 miles and a few hours it is/was, but today's stage 1 was as much about water as the final climb to Mt. Bachelor. It was water chaos in the two "neutral" zones as dehydration was dragging riders of the back of the main group one by one - where they were cast off to I haven't a clue - tonight's results will tell.

Maybe it was the combination of altitude (we started at 3,800 feet) or the temp climb higher than forecast, but more than one fellow rider, unprovoked, turned to me or murmured randomly to the peloton - 'why am I so thirsty?'

The frustrating thing was the surge in the zone - "what the hell were they doing up front?" It's a N-E-U-T-R-A-L zone... get it?? There was panic in the zone, you could see it if rider's actions - what if I don't get water???? Where was Wolf Blitzer? THIS was a REAL Situation Room. It was especially frustrating at the second zone, screeching cork on carbon, followed by the smell that ensues, swerving bikes, desperately lunging hands trying to grab a bottle, and then a K up the road everyone sat up and drank... what the hell? I wonder about the volunteers passing out those bottles, they must have felt like U.N .workers at the last well in the Sudan.

How to measure the toll? Maybe in the fact that the peloton stayed together because no one wanted to attack, or maybe the teams up front just shut it all down until the end? From my vantage (a wee bit back) it was hard to say.

In the end I (think) finished just off the back of the second group on the climb up Cascades Lake Road. A silly first-year mistake and not knowing the climb well enough. I should have buried myself to get over the hump with them and finished together. I had to TT across the false flat the last 2Ks to get in as close as I did. The climb's gradient also did enough folks in to help me, but it just wasn't long enough - this old motor need steepness and distance to ramp up to full speed and start making real inroads.

Today was another learning lesson I was hoping the year would provide. The beauty of being a rookie - so many lessons! My head was never in today's stage - my body was good, almost great, it had to be to get me past my head! The new bike and light Cirra wheels Mark loaned me did their duty as well.

In the end - 16th on GC for the Masters 45+, about 3 mins back - not as bad as I thought. Covered the 72 miles in 2:59

Thanks for everyone's support - emails and calls.

Snap...Crackle....Pop... YIKES!!

It's date night, with Jenn, she looks awesome, and night before I leave for Cascade Cycling Classic stage race. Grabbing an beer at friend Yeta's Hop & Vine and trying to relax. The phone rings and it's Mark, Mark Ontiveros, co-owner of River City Bikes. "Ya, Mark"...

"Ger, we have a problem with the Cannondale" (my Super Six is in for a bottom bracket check)

"What?"

"There's a crack, a crack in the joint at the head tube"

"What???" (Jenn is sitting opposite me and mimes 'what?')

"The guys found a crack", my heart sank and a quiver ran through my legs.

Like all things in life there's and upside and downside. Finding a crack, or possible crack, in your frame is never good news, but to find it right before leaving to race on that frame is excellent news. The news definitely sent a chill through my spine - especially after posting the Jens crash blog just hours before; my brain replayed Jens sliding down the road in a loop for the next couple minutes.

Other good news is they, River City Bicycles, had one frame my size, so Jeb, who found the possible crack (we still don't know if it is a crack in frame or finish, but not worth a risk), is hard at work (above photo) building up a new bike so I can bolt for Bend and race.

I can't thank Jeb, Mark and everyone at River City enough, who did their jobs incredibly well, and for Mark not even hesitating at replacing the bike and getting me ready for Cascade Classic in time.

Cascade Cycling Classic - It's Hot!

My daily rides are tapering as I get ready to head over the mountains for this weekend's Cascade Cycling Classic stage race. The OBRA version of the race starts Friday with a 71 miles point-to-point up to Mt Bachelor. The big guns have already hit the roads and battling it out in the this the 30th anniversary edition

The line up in the Pro men's and women's field is impressive with the likes of Chris Baldwin and Rory Sutherland (OUCH-Maxxis), Ben Jacques-Maynes (Bissell), former Europros Victor Hugo Pena, Oscar Seville and Francisco Mancebo (Rock Racing) and over on the women's side Alison Powers (Team Type 1). If you are in Bend over on Saturday check out the crit downtown later that afternoon - should be plenty crazy with such huge fields.

Follow the CCC via
Oregon Cycling Action and Velonews

If I'm alive to comment I'll be posting my thoughts (and maybe a photo or two) here each night.

STP Day 2, and the rain begins....

You're closing in on 200 miles of sitting on a 9 by 4 by inch-ish saddle, two days worth, the finish line is just there in town, then across the Willamette River, and you're there... and then... it starts with a whimper, turns to a drizzle, starts a soaker, relinquishes to rain. Around you the faces bear smiles and glasses are spot with drops.

I have never ridden Seattle-to-Portland: after two sign-ups, two crashes one each year the week before the ride, finally I determined my STP was cursed, and the Kids had me riding 100+ mile rides on such a regular basis the challenge of STP drifted.

On Sunday afternoon I stood under the umbrella of a broad leaf tree at the east end of Portland's Broadway bridge, camera in hand and photographed cyclist after cyclist, all manner of bike, all manner of rider, each and every one sporting a wet, road-grimed smile - smiles that even make me smile as I write this a few days later. These are smiles that explain everything about why we ride a bike - joy!

On Saturday I did 118 miles and about 12,000 feet of climbing in a training ride - prepping for Cascade Cycling Classic stage race next week - more than many could accomplish, but it seemed far less than what these everyday cyclists were just accomplishing. I'm in awe of so many of them - including Paul Casey my first-timer friend, and Skye and his son (on tandem).

I love riding my bike(s) - as one little girl said last year while being given a helmet and first bike, "this is my freedom". Next year I will likely be signing up to try STP for the first time, with my girlfriend Jenn, on our tandem. I'll be doing it for the joy of it, to share with all these first-timers the joy of it, its my freedom.

Congatulations every one and all who shared in this year's Seattle-to-Portland joy - you were awesome!

Plenty of speed and one speed-bump

After a 'toodling' weekend away on the tandem it was time to get back to Tuesday Night rides (...races) and getting the legs ready for the upcoming Cascade Classic Stage Race out of Bend, Or. Last night was flat and fast to base of Iowa Hill, with its short, but biting 16-18% pitch, and then flat and fast back to the Tualatin Park - thanks Richard for taking care of the peleton while Del was killing himself for a 1200km (still seems insane to me!). Enjoy the photos everyone :")

Elkhorn finals - and thanks to all of you!

Finals are in - I climbed to 20th at 7:03 back on GC - so the lung-sucking, leg-hammering climb up Dooley Mountain, finishing 10th, helped me grab my dangling cycling carrot - top 20 at Elkhorn. Many thanks are owed - to Jenn, my dedicated "crew" endless thanks for putting up with my craziness! And to friend and teammate Scott Powell - congrats on your 13th and all your wisdom and ecouragement - next year we get them!! And to "the Kids" back in Portland who were "supportive" in all your individual ways :")) And to so many old and new friends that made this weekend FUN, and the passion of racing my bike all I imagined.

Full race results

Photo Gallery

PS - you thought this was over? NOT - just registered for Cascade Cycling Classic :"))