More Cyclocross 11/04/2009
After the Granogue/Wissahickon weekend, I spent a few more days at the farm before heading down to Louisville for the next two rounds of the USGP. Louisville is always a fun race, and the local cycling community is very enthusiastic. The Red Zone junior cycling team was out in force, and it was awesome to watch all those kids racing bikes. I have to say, I was a little disappointed that Superfan wasn't there- I had been looking forward to a good heckling. Katerina was super strong and totally dominated both days, while I rode around like "Li'l Brudder"- just scraping along. I didn't feel that great in the races and my legs had no zip. Saturday I just time-trialed by myself to finish 2nd, and Sunday I rode hard but ended up getting out-sprinted by Amy and Alison. After Louisville, it was back to Fort Collins just in time for a huge snowstorm that dumped over a foot of snow on us. I thought the snow would make the racing in Boulder pretty sloppy, but I was surprised at how dry the course had gotten by the time we raced. For some reason, Dusty had a pair of leopard-print elbow-length gloves that were just hanging around the house, and I decided since it was Halloween, I would put together a quick costume. In any case, my costume was not nearly as impressive as Melissa Thomas'- she had a very elaborate costume that involved cammo face paint, a dog collar, and some other stuff that I can't remember.  The race was pretty uneventful- Katie was off the front and I rode around by myself for the whole race and finished second. (One guy did tell me he had photographic proof of me "ruling the sloppy off-camber ditch section," but I don't think I've ever seen a picture of myself "ruling" anything, so I don't really believe him.) Anyway, Dusty didn't feel like racing on Sunday, so I decided to stay in Fort Collins and go for a ride with him instead of racing. It was a beautiful day- sunny and warm, and I can't say I missed racing. Temps are back up in the 60s for the next few days and I think the trails are dried out, so I am hoping to get in some fun MTB rides this week. Pie! 10/23/2009
I love pumpkin pie. And it seems like a waste that people only make it during the holidays. This recipe calls for twice the amount of pumpkin that other recipes call for, and it doesn't have any crap in it. It is super easy to make, especially if you are using canned pumpkin. I'm sure you could substitute any other winter squash, but I haven't tried it yet. I like to use this savory olive oil crust, but you can use whatever crust you like. This pie is delicious for breakfast too. (But honestly, what pie isn't delicious for breakfast?) Also, I have to recommend serving it with real whipped cream (sweeten with a touch of powdered sugar and a dash of vanilla extract). Anytime (or All-The-Time) Pumpkin Pie (adapted from moosewood cookbook): preheat oven to 450 Olive Oil Crust: 8 3/4 oz flour (half whole wheat, half regular flour) 1 tsp salt 1/4 c olive oil 1/2 c water mix flours and salt add oil and mix with fork until it's incorporated add water and mix until it comes together turn out onto countertop and knead a few times then roll out and put in a pie pan then put in the fridge until you are done making the filling Filling: 3 cups canned pumpkin (or cooked and pureed fresh pumpkin) (to cook pumpkin, cut it in half, remove seeds, place halves cut-side-down on a baking sheet and bake at 350 until soft, then when it's cool enough to handle, scoop out filling and puree until smooth) 3 tsp cinnamon 1.5 tsp ground ginger 1/4 tsp ground cloves 1 cup milk or soy milk 4 eggs 2 tbsp molasses 1/2-3/4 cup sweetener (honey, agave nectar, maple syrup, sugar etc. 1/2 cup works just fine, but if you have a super-sweet tooth, you might need to go with 3/4) whisk together ingredients until smooth, then pour into pie crust and bake 10 mins at 450 and 30-40 mins at 350 (or until set- when you jiggle it, the middle doesn't look all soupy) Enjoy! Last Minute 'Cross 10/23/2009
After some good time at home (literally hardly leaving the house for several days due to arctic conditions in Fort Collins last weekend) I started to get a little antsy. I decided at the last minute to head back east and race at Granogue and Wissahickon, which was a good excuse to go hang out with Mom and Bo (and Dusty and Ryan and Barry), and to see all the east coast 'cross racing folks. Of course, as soon as I left Colorado, it got nice (up into the 60s I think), and as soon as I arrived in Baltimore it got crappy (down into to 30s I think). Granogue was wet and sloppy- the muddiest I've ever seen it. I only had one bike (my own fault because of my last minute change of plans) and it got heavier and heavier every lap. Luckily it continued to function throughout the whole race, and I was able to finish first- in front of Mo Bruno-Roy and Laue Van Gilder. I did manage to tangle myself up in the tape a few times, but overall the race was pretty uneventful. Hats off to the promoters of Granogue who payed equal prize money to men and women (actually, I got $20 more than Ryan- a typo that they decided to go with anyway- poor Ryan, I really got to heckle him about that one...) The next day was still chilly, but it wasn't raining and a steady wind helped to dry the course out a lot so it was faster and less muddy. I managed to win despite trying to sabotage myself with an awkward crash that jammed up my rear brake and made my shifting all wonky. Nice move there, real pro. Then it was back to the farm for a few more days before heading down here to Louisville for the next round of USGPs. Now is probably a good time to thank Bruce, Joan and the whole USGP for offering equal prize money to the top-3 men and women at ALL the races this year. This is a big deal. Many promoters do not do this. At a UCI C1 race, the winner of the men's race usually makes around 10 times what the winner of the women's race makes ($2,200 vs $250). Pretty sad. Needless to say, the whole women's field thanks the USGP for stepping up and doing what's right! 'Cross Racing Begins 10/09/2009
I did have a long drawn out blow-by-blow of my races in Vegas and Madison, but since that is already almost a month ago, it seems a little late... No matter how you are feeling, 'Cross Vegas is going to kick your ass. Waldek and I flew in the morning of the race, went to the show for a few hours, and then headed out to the race venue. I wanted to get there early since I hadn't ridden my new bikes yet, and I hadn't actually RIDDEN my bike since Champery (in hopes that a little extra recovery would do my body good). As far as expectations for the race go, I thought a podium would be great, but mostly I just wanted to feel decent. I had a good start but was dropped pretty quickly by the leaders. My legs weren't feeling super snappy, but I could at least ride a steady hard pace, so I was psyched. Then Kelli caught me, and it was a battle all the way to the finish. I managed to hang on for 3rd (behind Katie and Katerina), but Kelli put up a great fight and made me suffer. It was definitely a shock to the system- 'cross racing is HARD! But I had a blast, and the race was exciting. I even had the anaerobic lung-burn after the race- that's how you know you dug deep. I spent the next two days at the bike show, and on Friday afternoon Katerina, Waldek and I headed out to Madison, WI for the first 2 rounds of the USGP. The races went well, I finished 3rd both days (again behind Katie and Katerina), and both days I spent pretty much the whole race riding around by myself. It seemed like there were good crowds out for the races, and the venue offered lots of different options to make the courses challenging and interesting- hopefully we will get to race there again next year. I got home Monday, and on Friday I headed to Napa Valley, California for Clif Bar's annual Epiphany Ride. This year I decided to do the 50 miler instead of destroying myself on the 150 miler, and I had a great time chatting and riding a mellow 50 miles in sunny weather and warm temps. So that brings me up to now. I have a few weeks at home before heading to the next 2 rounds of the USGP in Louisville, Kentucky. I am looking forward to those races- there are some awesome spectators in Louisville. I hope Superfan comes out to heckle us. That guy is awesome. When your body says "No." 09/21/2009
It's been a tough past few weeks. Here's a quick run-down: I was really excited about the race at Worlds, so it was pretty disappointing to feel as bad as I did on race day. I was riding all the technical stuff well (it was a GREAT course), but I only had one speed, and on the fire-road sections (normally a strength) I was getting passed by women who appeared to be riding twice as fast as I was. Then I started cramping on the third lap. Not that that changed anything, it was just another bummer. On a positive note, I did make a sweet pass about 200m from the finish- so I got 15th instead of 16th. Nothing worse than being really excited about a race and then sucking, but I guess that's better than if I felt awesome and still finished 15th. So after the race, I flew back home for 4 days and then flew to Europe for the last 2 world cup races. We arrived in Champery, Switzerland on Friday night, and the race was on Sunday. We pre-rode Saturday, and the course was pretty similar to the one we raced on in 2007 (the 2011 World Championships are going to be in Champery). I woke up on race day and my legs were sore- sore like I ran an all-downhill 10k in my sleep. Except that I didn't (that I know of). I warmed up on the trainer, but I could tell something wasn't quite right. The race started with a 4 minute paved climb into a 1k technical descent. The gun went off, and I had about 30 seconds in me before my legs locked up and...well...at one point I did look back because I thought maybe everyone in the whole field had passed me (and I was mostly right). Needless to say, by the time I got to the downhill, everyone was off their bikes, running down the slippery, rocky downhill. I was dreading having to RIDE the downhill, because I could barely stay upright running it- it was that slippery. (Turns out it was WAY EASIER riding it.) I was able to make up a few spots, but not many. I only had one speed, and it was not fast. And the weird thing was, I felt the same on my first lap as I did on my last lap- BAD. I have never seriously considered dropping out of a race before, but I was considering it, and I have never HOPED to get lapped and pulled, but I was hoping. Unfortunately, I was going just fast enough to not get pulled (even though the leaders finished about 1 minute after I started my last lap). After I finished, I was exhausted and light headed, so I headed straight back to the condo and took a shower and a nap. My legs had gone from being sore to being sore to the touch, which was unusual. I was bummed. I had never had my body mutiny like that before, and I didn't really know what to make of it- especially since I had another world cup the next weekend, a 'cross race the Wednesday after that and two 'cross races the weekend after that. I decided (with Waldek's wise counseling) to cut my losses and go home early. So I have been home, resting and taking it easy, hoping to be somewhat back to normal by 'cross vegas and the first USGPs. I'm back! 09/03/2009
Had to take a little break from the blogging- just got tired of talking about my races, and talking about cycling in general. I did get a nice break from the season in August, when I got to hang out with my family in the Catskills (NY) in between the east coast races. So now here I am in Australia getting ready for the biggest race of the year. The World Championships are tomorrow, and I am pretty excited about it. The course it the best World Cup/ World Championship course I've ever ridden. It is challenging- physically and technically- but it is also really FUN. There are a ton of places on the course where there are 2 lines- usually one is harder (a jump over a ditch, a big drop), but sometimes it's hard to tell which line is faster (although when I rode with Waldek, whichever line he took was faster- even if it was the go-around! I admit it, I'm a slow-poke...). There is a lot of singletrack which makes the start crucial as passing will be tough until the course opens up again about halfway through the lap. I've been here almost a week and have had a little time to explore the park near our hotel where I've seen kangaroos, jackrabbits that are almost the size of kangaroos, cockatoos, and a few different kinds of really colorful parrots. Lots of different kinds of birds here. We are also staying near a shopping center that has a great selection of asian restaurants- so we've kept Waldek happy with a diet of Thai food and coffee. So that about sums it up so far. Until tomorrow... After some bad luck took me out of contention in the XC race, I was looking for a little redemption in the short track. When I showed up to the venue in the morning, I was surprised to see a course that went pretty much straight up and straight down. It was about a 2 minute lap- 1.5 minutes up and 30-45 seconds down. I knew that the race was going to be pure fitness- no tactics involved (there was plenty of passing on the climb, and not enough flat to benefit from sitting in). No faking it on that course. So the only question was- how were my legs feeling? I got a good warm-up and then rode 2 laps of the course (with such a big climb, I didn't really see a need to ride more laps than that). US National Championships: Race Report 07/18/2009
It was bad. It was good. Luckily it never got ugly. US National Championships: Pre-race 07/17/2009
So here I am in a condo in Granby, CO waiting for the race tomorrow. I've been making up for my lack of TV at home by browsing such quality programming as: "Top 25 Cougars in Hollywood," "Pregnant at 16," "Teen Cribs" and "Wife Swap." Wow, lots of crap out there, but it can be pretty entertaining... What Dusty has been up to 07/14/2009
Since he is even worse than I am about updating his blog. When he's not working or eating breakfast at Lucile's (his favorite breakfast spot), Dusty has been spending his time at the racetrack. Looks pretty pro to me...  |