Cyclocross.....for those that are dedicated and strong!
Many people that I raced with or trained with during the track season have decided to do cyclocross. I decided it was not a sport for me and after seeing the first race I can see how right I was. Regardless, it is an intense sport that requires a lot of conditioning, endurance, strength, determination, bike handling skills, lack of fear, joy of being covered with mud, possiblity of flipping yourself (and your bike) across the dirt, the mud, the rocks, the asphalt and whatever else I am not thinking of! It is intense and I hope those that I know can do it - having fun and staying safe! My thoughts will be with them at every race they do and I hope to watch as many local ones as possible! :)
May their wheels stay on the ground when needed and be lifted (over barries) when needed and never be reversed! :)
Pictures of Pat, Jane, Jill, Carol and Maura racing their first cyclocross race.
Pictures of Milly...she is a beauty!
Pictures of Milly and her beautiful pink bracelet!!! Also, pictures of the spectacular views I was able to enjoy on my first few rides, just down the road from my place, with her.
A Sunday afternoon jaunt with Milly….
Sunday afternoon I decided it was nice and I needed to get out. I wanted to go for a bike ride and was debating with the way my hip has been hurting – do I take my road bike or Milly. I decided I would take Milly and see how I felt afterwards. I put my road bike’s pump and saddle bag on her. I raised the seat, to the max height line, and I put air in the tires. We were off to Marymoor to start our ride.
I got to Marymoor, prepped her for riding and we were off. In the parking lot I heard a woman state ‘did you see her wheels?’ as I smiled at the comment and started on the trail. I rode Milly with confidence, riding high and yet cautious to not go too fast until I understood her stopping power with the much expected jigging and jagging I would need to do on her with the ‘crowds’. I was feeling pretty good on her and able to steer without problems, slow down without problems and speed up just fine. A few times I was concerned upon passing other trail users and gave a much needed early warning of ‘on your left’. As I was riding I felt like – ‘dang! This seat is just not working for me. If this is all she has for height on this seat post then I am in trouble. I need more because I feel as if I am kissing my knees. I was also concerned not having any water. I stopped at the Woodinville area and got some water. Relaxed a few moments and kept on going. As I was leaving a gentleman was behind me and stated ‘great purple chain’. I don’t know why – but I said: “It’s pink but they have purple too!”…. ok so what, he’s old enough to be my dad so I guess it is ok I didn’t just take the compliment and be more social. LOL!! I got to Tracy Owen’s/Logboom Park and rested there for a moment. The water fountain wasn’t good enough to even TRY to drink at this point. I realized that my seat had actually fallen down. Yep! It actually slipped almost all the way down so I had to readjust it. As I was doing that I spoke with a gentleman that was quite intrigued by my bike. He really liked it. Then we discussed his recumbent – a Bacchetta - new model. He is the 2nd one to have that model in the NW. Very cool! Seemed very relaxing and good to ride. :) We talked a bit and then I was off.
I stopped at the Bothell Landing park for a bit. Sat on Milly for a bit, gazing in the river, hearing kids play, seeing ducks swim and just deep in thought. Kind of felt good and was very much needed. Then I was off again. Stopped at Woodinville again. I had a little girl, maybe about 6, tell her dad what a cute bike I had. I had a couple other people state something about the tires and such. One woman was a runner and I passed her, coming from Marymoor, earlier in the day. I talked to another gentleman that had a handmade bike, from his friend, about 20 years ago. Kind of looked like a Pinarello but I can’t remember the name…. started with a K – almost a ‘german’ like name… or scandian or something…. It was pretty cool looking blue though. I then started off again.
I decided to stop for a drink at the concession booth. There were a few bicyclists there that stopped to talk to Milly. They asked what kind of tires, if I painted the chain myself, what kind of bike she was. One guy said that he had a frame that was similar but didn’t know what it was so he was interested. I had a woman that walked by and stated – oh I love the tires. I smiled like a proud mother and said do you want to see them spin? She said sure. Oh she loved them!!! :) Of course, so do I!!! Hee hee As I am approaching Marymoor I had a gentleman pass me, announcing himself, on the left. As he was passing me he said, “Excuse me but are those speedblend tires?”. I said in a proud momma’s voice – “Well, yes they are!” and so he was off. LOL!!! It was a good ride. I was a bit concerned about the small ‘inclines’ along the trail on the way to Tracy Owen’s/Logboom Park but Milly handled them just fine without any challenges! I am ready to go along Lake Sammamish now! It will be a lot of fun!! :)
Rain and Sun and Success all around!
Saturday was an interesting day. I woke up around 6 am and heard the pouring down rain on the roof. WOW! I am supposed to be biking in 3 hours and it doesn’t sound like fun. Oh how much I wish I could lay in bed this morning. I finally got up, fixed some pancakes and got dressed. I loaded the car and headed to Mercer Island. The rain seemed to let up right out of Bellevue and going towards Mercer Island. I got to Mercer Island and it started to pour. I was going to wear a real light rain jacket and realized that would never do. Ok, so I switched jackets to protect my butt from all the dirt and grime knowing that I didn’t have fenders yet and it was going to be a wet, muddy ride. I took off and went to Pert’s at Leschi. I met up with Jane and Carol. Eventually other Byrne riders were there that I was able to meet – including Dan Byrne himself. I was able to see Tamara who I met two years ago on the “meet the team” ride for a different group. She has been working on me for 2 years to join the track racing. She and I were talking about how much fun it was and how much I was enjoying it. She stated, “I don’t normally say I told you so but can I be so bold in saying I told you so?” I said, “Yeah you can say it. You were right!” hee hee We all stood outside and heard more about the team, the clothing order coming up, etc. and then we set off to ride. We had easily 60 or more riders… probably 75 and it was nice to see everyone enjoying themselves. We finally got to Coulon and the group split up a bit. Jane and Carol were going to head back the way we came but I was heading to MI so I didn’t go that way. They rode with me and we passed 3 bicyclists and I yelled out to Jane – Jane! I feel bad as those three riders are with us and we are dropping them. So we slowed down and rode with them and talked to them. A woman with that group, which I spoke with at Coulon, was talking about possibly track racing. She isn’t a hill climber so she was feeling bad she was going slow. I told her how bad I am with hill climbing and how well I have been doing this year due to the training I did all winter and the track racing this year. We rode with them and I split off on Mercer Island. I felt like I rode stronger than I ever have on that south end loop on the hills. It felt so good!
I got home and took a warm bath. WOW! A warm bath feels so good after being drenched!! I cleaned all my wet clothes immediately and hung them up to dry. I then took a nap. I cleaned up all my bikes trying to get them ready for their tasks of the winter. Milly was screaming at me. The weather was now sunny and nice and she wanted to do a ride. I gave in. I took her down the road again knowing I needed to challenge myself on that hill. I took her down and this time I felt more in control of my legs spinning down the hill. I was able to take in some wonderful views again of the mountains, the pink/purple clouds, the slivered moon and the beautiful pine trees. I got to the dead end and turned around. I started back towards my challenge and still taking in the exquisite view. My legs spinning in control yet out of control then I feel the slow incline prior to the steep, short hill. I tried to keep the momentum going and at some point stood up to keep it going. I kept talking to myself, and Milly, ok keep on going, keep on pushing, you can do it! OH MY GOSH!!! I DID IT!!! I made it to the top of the hill!!! I can’t believe it. I called Jane from the top of the hill to let her know that Milly and I conquered the hill!!! WOOHOOOO!!!! :)Success is mine!
Then I continued to pedal home going down the slightly long descent. Again my legs felt in more control of the pedals but less control. I realized I had more confidence in myself and the power that Milly holds to keep me pedaling fast and to keep me going up a hill. I let my legs spin like crazy and only tapped on the brakes and/or back pedaled slightly just to lose a bit of momentum but I felt more confident of the control this bike had on me and what it can teach me this winter with spinning and strength. I felt powerful and exuberant! Oh what a good winter this will be!!!
Fire Alarm at work..... burnt popcorn? Come on!
Well that was like 10 or 15 minutes of fun today. Like reliving my college days with a building fire alarm. All of a sudden the alarm was going off and we had go to outside and stand outside for awhile.
As we were walking outside we heard rumors of 'burnt popcorn'. We didn't smell anything. After the fire department came we could finally smell it. They brought in fans to help blow the smoke, etc. out of the building. WHOA! My boss can't believe it.... 10 AM and here we are having our first fire alarm since being in this building for 3 years - due to burnt popcorn. LOL!! We felt sorry for those in the dentist chairs, downstairs, that probably had their mouths wide open, wearing dental dams and having to stand outside. Man!
Back to the real world of work....
Taking Milly for her first ride...
I got Milly's pink chain in the mail yesterday. I was sooooo excited to get her down there and get it put on. I flew down to the bike shop to have them put it on. (Subsequently, I forgot to take my purse with money down to the shop! another visit today with the credit card will even things out!) I got home shortly after 7 and wanted to take her for a quick spin. She was all jazzed up and ready to go!
First things first, I have to cross a semi-busy road to then ride that about a mile or so to the 'dead end' road I wanted to try. As I am crossing quickly, I realized that ahhhh the pedals only have a clip on ONE side. AND it is difficult to try to get clipped in - still having momentum - while pedaling and trying to find that ONE side. LOL! I made it up a short little hill - standing up - and felt real good. I was watching the wheels spin and the chain. I think the seat needs to go up a bit. It was cool to look down and watch the beautiful colors, of the tires, spinning. What a pick up that will be for winter riding! I took her down the dead end where it starts by going down this short, but steep hill. My legs were going as fast as possible! I felt like road runner going out of control! YIKES! I had to apply the brakes a bit. I got to the dead end, turned around and then came back. It felt good but I had to go up that short and steep hill. I started out fine but slowly lost power and I couldn’t crank her up. She hesitated and I couldn’t crank any more and I knew I was just going to fall like a piece of paper trying to stand on end. LOL! SO I had to unclip and walk up it. That was a sad moment for me as I haven’t had to walk up a hill for 3 years. I know it is entirely different from riding a road bike - due to the ONE gear and the ratio. It will now be my challenge - to get up that hill on Milly. Once I do that then I can try to conquer like Lake Sammamish. I also know that it will get me stronger and that it is totally a different experience. :) UGH! She is a pretty bike though. You will have to see it! She is a beauty!!! :)
However, in walking up the hill and looking back at the hill that I couldn't conquer I then noticed the beautiful sight behind me! WOW! A spectacular view of the Cascades. One I have seen before but this was incredible. The way the sun was hitting the mountains giving it a beautiful fall orange/gold with purple hazed look. It was absolutely gorgeous and I wish I had a camera. Perhaps I wouldn't have taken that opportunity to turn around if I didn't walk Milly up the hill. Everything happens for a reason, right?! ;) Next week I am taking my camera!
In emailing the divas, I wrote this eye opening thought:
It is a builder - character, morale, muscle, self-esteem, ego. LOL!!!... ok... mental and emotional and physical... all will be stronger and I will be: STRONG Molly! Able to pedal high mountains and descend low valleys on a single gear! LOL!!!
PROS pictures
Tom, Me and Erik
Me at the start
Me doing my guppy impression
Gettin' giddy with Jean-Phillipe
Allison, Me and Erik
Some of these are just plain good and some look horrible. I look giddy and/or drunk as a skunk and one makes me look like a guppy! :) It was great to see everyone though!
The rest of the weekend and PROS ride
Saturday, I woke up and headed towards Gary’s house. He is a ride leader for our bike club and was hosting a PROS meeting so we could be organized for the PROS (Perimeter Ride of Seattle) ride occurring on Monday. It was a good, yet long, meeting. We were supposed to go ride our bikes afterwards but we didn’t. I was glad since I started not feeling well again with a bit of allergies trying to creep up. I decided my body was saying to slow down so I did. I relaxed the rest of the day/evening. I hung out with someone a bit at the book store on Saturday night a bit late but that was ok. It was relaxing and had to get done. On Sunday I slept in until 9 am. I read a book for an hour, cooked breakfast, read a book, napped, read a book, napped and then took a hot bath. I kept reading emails from Jill, one of the track divas, regarding her visit to Louisiana. So much pain and suffering down there. So much mass confusion but she is holding strong down there with what they have.
I then got a call from my friend who let me come over and helped me set Milly up a bit more properly. That was great. It was a fun visit and still relaxing so it didn’t wear me out. As I hung out with my friend, I learned a lot about how he used to work at REI as a bike mechanic back on the east coast. Specializing on Litespeed bicycles but able to work on others. He was so excited to work on Milly! He treated her well and I got to hear about his old racing days. He even showed me some vintage (80’s) type items such as the water bottle cages, pedals… and the crème de la crème – to see his old Pinnarello. Wow! Such a sweet bike! Bright red and beautiful. He is going to make it into his winter riding bike which will be very cool. He said that the ‘axle’ broke at some point which broke the drop outs. He had someone weld it but it was never the same after that and he pretty much stopped racing (crits, etc.). That sounded very sad! He also said his cyclocross bike is the first bike to really fit him properly.
Taking a trip down memory lane through our conversation and seeing the older bike parts, I’ve been thinking about that and realized yeah not until I got my Lemond did a bike fit me well. I think my Ti bike fits me a bit better (handlebar wise, etc). When I was growing up I had only one women’s frame bike that always seemed too small and I didn’t like the geometry. Finally, my mom bought a blue men’s frame Schwinn bike for me. I was stretched out, perhaps way too much, but I liked the feel of the bike. I had pink cello tape put on it. I realized, not able to sleep, why I am having so much fun with Milly. Milly is beautiful and sleek looking in her all black attire with chrome details. To have her in flamboyant colored accessories will make her so bright and happy looking. I don’t like dark things especially in the winter time. It changes my mood so I like to have festive, lively and fun colors around me. Milly has a personality all her own which will be loud and clear to those that see her: she is happy and fun!
I came home and passed out. I was completely exhausted.
Monday I woke up and picked up Erik, one of the track buddies, to go to the PROS ride. We went and it was great. Such a good turnout with approximately 100 people and great weather, great route, great scenery and great people! It was a lot of fun for me to be a ride leader/sweep and to see everyone enjoy themselves.!!! Dan Wakefield and Jean-Philippe did a great job in both creating the route and advertising for the ride. This was a ride put on by the Seattle Bicycle Club and Native Planet. What amazing men these two are! What amazing volunteers we had that brought all this together - organization, fun, safety, etc. in such a short time! Without all those people, all their happy and energetic karma this ride could not have been successful. The power of people bringing together so much experience and knowledge to create such a wonderful event was overwhelming. I hope Jean-Philippe's Native Planet organization will really benefit from the ride's success! On a personal note, my legs felt well rested and I was surprised, and quite happy, at how easy the hills felt on Monday. I felt like they were not challenging me hard at all. I felt strong, I felt good, I felt alive. We had a blast and then I came home to veg out for the rest of the evening. What a weekend it was!!! Couldn’t have asked for much more than lots of fun.
Friday riding and last velodrome racing.... season ends.
Friday, Jane and I met early at Gasworks Park for a short bicycle ride. We went from Gasworks to Seward Park. We were definitely feeling our legs. My legs were full of pain and heaviness. I felt I was going in slow motion up hills and felt as if someone was pulling back on my saddle trying to keep me from going up and up. We got to Seward Park and checked out the course for the crits. We are thinking perhaps we will want to do crits next year – at least once or twice – just to experience it. Wow! It was hilly. It wasn’t hilly…. It was hilly…. My legs were heavy so it felt REALLY hilly. I know it isn’t as hilly as my legs made it feel. It would be a good thing for training. I think we need to use it for some training this winter if it isn’t too slick and/or we can be safe about it. We rode back to Gasworks. OY! My legs felt like lead balloons. It was difficult but we finished. It was weird to ride with Jane but not weird. It was comfy riding with her but weird to be off the track with her. We had a blast and we had fun sprinting through the Arboretum area! I was cruising 30+ mph for most of it but then my legs started giving way to the slow incline. We got back to Gasworks and we were hanging out talking. Lo and behold there was another Byrne rider riding by. He stopped to talk to us. I had my new bike, the winter fixie that I bought off Craigslist, on top of the car. Jane and I were going to stop at Wright Bros, which is Jill’s major bike shop hangout, to get the bike prepped. The Byrne rider, Dan, looked familiar to us as we met him before on the track. He was looking at my bike and said – hey! It’s the freak wagon! LOL! Jane loved it! She had such a hoot and thought that was the best name ever for this bike. That was before she was all jazzed up with all the things that make her unique and fun! I wonder what he will think of when he sees it in the future.
Jane and I went to Wright Bros. and saw what an awesome place this bike shop was. It was totally cool with tons of vintage type things. We could totally see why Jill loves to hang out there and what a great person Charles would be to hang out with. He hooked up my bike with taking some pieces off that were not needed for pulley type brakes, setup a brake that I needed, the tape I needed and sold me a fixed cog. The fixed cog will go on the bike when I get the pink chain and do all of it at one time. I got pink, white and black marble looking tape. It looks cool! Charles also informed me that my bike was a Windsor which was known based on a stamp on the bottom bracket that was used by Windsor. Very cool! He tried selling me on a pink campy hat and pink rims. Man! Do you know how hog wild I could have gone in that shop? I could have spent so much money that my bikes and I would be living on the street. I had to control myself. I loved the colored rims though and may do that in the future and/or on my titanium bike. We will see.
I got home on Friday and had my speedblend tires in the mail. I put them on and took my bike down to the velodrome for the last Friday night races. It was sooo cool. I got there and Jane was there and so was another friend. They totally loved the bike! They thought it was rockin’! Although my friend gently let me know how I was nescience about some items with the bike (i.e. the label of the tire going over the stem, on the drive side and so on). I harassed him about fixing the items as well as some other things discussed over the course of the evening. I told him that I saw his future full on Sunday with fixing my bike and those things that were a nuisance to him. Other than that, I hung out with some friends, and acquaintances, at the track and I was distracted by others totally in awe of my bike. When I first saw Jane she asked if I came up with a name yet. I told her I decided on Milly. My mom bought a book for my great niece and nephew to read about Milly and Molly riding their bicycles. I thought Milly was a good ol’ fashioned type name for a good ol’ fashioned type bike. I then took my friend home Friday night since he needed a ride home, having rode his cross bike and not having lights, and we talked for quite a bit (I got home around 1 am). IT was very cool! I felt very well connected and quite at peace having fun.
:)
Last Thursday Night Track Training. :(
Thursday night was our last track training for the season. I felt completely exhausted from the week – mentally, emotionally and physically. It was hard to get energy to do the short workout that we did. We did a 20 lap warm-up, a team pursuit and then we did a 2K time trial. I guessed I would come in at 3:25 and I came in at 3:26. I was in pain! Excruciating pain with the 2K. I was totally wiped out from all the racing on Monday and Wednesday and I think the overall exhaustion I felt did not help. Oh well, next year when we start the season with another 2K time trial I hope I’ll be kicking that time by a bit! It will feel good.
About a dozen or so of us went to Cucina, Cucina, in the Redmond Town Centre. We had dinner, had drinks and talked. It was relaxing and fun for all of us to touch base. Several are going to keep in touch with us and try to do winter training together which will be nice. We signed a card to give to John and we gave him his special gift from the track trio divas. It was a black lacy 44DD bra. It is an inside joke but we definitely made him blush and laugh. Mission accomplished. He said next year when we least expect it and totally forget about it – he’ll bring it out. LOL!!! John is a riot…. We like him! He gave so much to the MVA and we hope he’ll continue to give and that we can all give to the MVA next year as well. What a great organization to be part of and to give back to.
Last week of track.... how sad it is! :(
Last Wednesday night race of the season….. wow! It was good. First though, Monday night was also our last race for the season. It was threatening rain and even sprinkled here and there and questionable. We had a small turnout but it was good. We were able to have fun and race a lot. Everyone did good and had fun. There was a minor ‘incident’ of one or our friends crashing trying to do a two lap time trial. He is ok other than his pride. Poor guy! But we know he’ll come back strong next year and kick bootie and more than make up for it.
Wednesday night, I was tired and not really into it. Not sure why. Maybe just down and out about the last race of the season. Maybe lack of sleep for so many days in a row. Jane felt the same way and as we talked to some others they felt that way as well. Tired just plain old beat. I did ok though… not my best. I realized why, at the end of the evening, I pushed hard on the first race rather than taking a back seat like I normally did. I didn’t have enough energy to rev up at the end. I finished towards the middle. I should have finished in the front. Oh well, lesson learned. Now I will go off to track training tonight and out for beers. Friday is the last race of the season – what fun that will be. Then off we go to winter training and cross racing. SWEET! We had a few spectators there which are always nice. (Sorry to them for not winning a sprint – but hey, whatcha you going to do about it?!)
Last night, we did have fun talking to people. We made connections, said good-bye which is difficult whether it is saying good-bye short term or long term. You feel this bond, this energy, excitement amongst those that you race with. How will people do next year? It will be determined…. Hopefully we all will do well. Hopefully I will do well. Hopefully the divas will do well. Many did exceptionally well Wednesday night and many will be on the Byrne team next year so that will be exciting to watch, to train, to compete against. We had fun talking with some of the Byrne guys that were hanging around to talk to us. We will hopefully get to know the team quite well when we do the meet the team rides. We found out last night that one of our divas is being taken away from us – our last Thursday night training – to go to Louisiana to help support the response teams down there. She will be extremely missed but will be back before we know it and we can all have fun again. Our thoughts are with her and those that are down there. We hope everyone will do ok and she will be able to really help those down there, affect their lives for the positive and will come home safely.
I was able to call and get my speedblend tires for my winter fixed gear bike. They should be here by Friday. Friday I have off work so I am going to the local bike shops to get a fixed cog, a brake and some tape. I also got an order in for the pink chain. It will be here in a few days. YEAH! My bike will be PHAT! WOOHOO! I can’t wait. I am excited for this year’s winter training. It will be awesome and I’ll be one hot chick on some hot wheels and chain! LOL!!!
Track pics from Monday night.... how sad....
Master Hyun
Dane
Pat
Phil and Gregg
Cornhusker, Farmer, Bob
Trio Track Divas with Sensei John
Watch out world - here come the trio of track divas in Byrne Kits. Hear them ROAR!!!!
