Down The Rabbit Hole....

It was with great anticipation... I mean, lackluster ambivalence, that I approached entering my first cyclocross race last Saturday. It’s not that I wasn’t excited, I mean... I was, but at the same time more or less, I just wanted to get the big oooooh FIRST RACE EVER experience over with (you know, that whole thing about not being smooth on the transitions, running into barriers or other people, climbing big muddy hills, crashing, falling, getting massive amounts of gravel ingrained under your skin or picking up blood borne diseases from open wounds, etc... all those horror stories you hear) yeah... I was ready to get that part over with. So, I packed up my bike and threw it in my car along with what ever else I thought I might need and made my way to Hood River to participate in Saturday’s Double Cross Race.

First of all, I got my bike a few weeks ago, I’m riding a single speed Bianchi San Jose. I made the SS choice the other year that when/if I race cross, I’m doing it on a single speed. Don't get me wrong, it’s not because I think I’m soo bad assed I don’t need gears, it’s because I’m cheap (less parts = less cost) and lazy (less parts = less things to break & repair). As well, I figure hammering it up hills with one speed can only make me stronger in the long run and well, honestly... I’m a lousy shifter. It’s best if there are less things I have to focus on. Anyways, rather than go out and buy a brand new bike to throw around in the mud, I went with a used one that I found on the OBRA list. This bike had battled through a cross season and a half or so until an unfortunate incident where the owner/rider crashed and subsequently, broke a few of her ribs. This I think, in the bike world is the equivalent of buying a used mattress that someone died on. All that horribleness aside though, the bike was in perfect working order (aside from a flat tire) and the price was a steal... so purchase it I did.

(the battle worn San Jose)

Secondly, a few years ago I went to go watch my first cross race ever out at Alpenrose Dairy, while walking to my car to leave, a woman parked beside me asked if I wanted her husbands old SIDI cleats, otherwise, they were going to throw them away? I looked at them, they sorta fit and aside from the cleat plates being rusted through and the base flapping around a bit, but to throw them away seemed such a waste. At that point in my life I didn’t know much about bikes, but one thing I do know something about is money... and these Italian leather cycling shoes reeked of it (under a few layers of mud that is). So, I gladly took them off the lady's hand and threw them in the back of my closet, where they've sat for two years. Finally I dug them out and repaired them last month. It required several trips to several bike stores, a trip to two cobblers and a lot of gorilla glue. Aside from the shoes being a little too big and the soles needing re-gluing after every race, they work like a charm. I found a nice pair of Crank Brothers eggbeater pedals and spent a night outside in the pouring rain riding laps around my block like it was some type of urban criterium for the dismounting handicapped, all the while teaching myself how to clip and unclip them.

A few days after that I went out and took a cyclocross clinic from the kind folks at Upper Echelon fitness. The clinic was great! (Actually, I hadn’t the foggiest of any idea about anything regarding cross other than sometimes you ride your bike and then other times you carry it over things. So really, me saying the cross clinic was great isn’t really giving an honest review of it.) Thankfully a racing friend of mine, who had a cross season or so under her belt, was there and gave me more tips and tricks than the UE folks did. Thanks M! Overall, the biggest concern I had after my one clinic was my apparent failure to fully unclip properly on the left side before trying to jump over barriers. So, you can imagine this frequently resulted in me spending more time on the ground than really necessary. Oh - and note to self, when I fail, I fail hard. This means that I didn’t approach the barriers at a light, gingerly safe speed. No, I fucking attacked them... full till, race speed, balls to the wall. Which also means that when I hit the ground, I hit the ground at attacking, full till, race speed, balls to the wall. I think throughout the evening I was called “dangerous, lethal and bound to kill someone” on multiple occasions. Regardless, I left the clinic knowing that I needed to hone in my skills in a few areas (many) but I might as well enter my first race and get it over with. I reminded myself, my game plan with cross is not to take it seriously, not to get consumed by it, not to be OCD like I get in crit season, but to just enjoy riding my bike, get a little muddy and drink a little beer... all results aside. So showing up at Hood River a week or so after getting on my first cross bike, I felt like a novice all over again.

(When I told my favorite illustrator Jay Ryan that I was racing cross this year, he drew me this picture.)

However, oddly enough unlike my first road race... I wasn’t nervous.

Hell, I had a friggin huge ass party and I consumed a fair share of pints from my very own kegorator the night before, racing was merely my motivation to get up before noon. Thankfully at registration I ran into my road racing friend Karey, who would be racing her first cross race as well. She asked if I was racing Beginner or B (in cross, unlike road, you can self select the cat you want to ride in) and I informed her I would be racing Beginner, since well.... I was beginning to race cross and according to the sound advice of Maria Von Trapp, the beginning is a very good place to start. Karey, having just started riding her bike that week for the first time as well, was considering racing B. We debated back and forth and finally, against the urging of Karey’s husband, I think I persuaded her into racing Beginner with me. I am sure she would have done just fine in B, but secretly I didn’t want to be the only beginner racing in a full team kit, now at least... there were two of us.

For about 15 minutes prior to the race we got to pre-ride the course. I saw this as an excellent opportunity to make sure my brakes were behaving and a great opportunity to practice unclipping before the race actually began. Things were going excellent, I was warming up, getting ampted for this, finding the zone, and then right after going into a screeching downhill ... (literally, I could hear Karey’s bike breaks squeeling behind me) I started to pedal and all of the sudden I was going nowhere. I looked down... shit! I dropped my chain. The race hadn’t even started and already I was having mechanicals. So, I pulled off to the side of the course and yanked my chain back up onto the gear. I went to hop back on and pedal away when I realized my back wheel wasn’t moving. Turns out that somehow during that one little downhill, my back wheel got bumped forward and wedged against the, well... whatever they’re called, things that make my wheel not move. Shit.

So... here I was, race time was in eight minutes, my bike is a little dysfunctional and I am somewhere far far away from the start. This was not looking really good right now for my first cross race. I shoulder the bike and run off the course on some little path leading up a hill. Luckily, this little path took me to the football field where I then ran my bike across looking for anyone who might be able to help me out. I go to the parking lot and find people mingling about. Start time? Five minutes. I see a Sorella rider I know and run over to her. “Tonya? Perchance do you have a pedal wrench?” Luckily, she carries one with her to put together her kids bikes. So, I used the wrench to loosen the wheel and then pulled back on the wheel to tighten the tension in the chain. Apparently when I put my “mud tires” on after falling down my stairs that morning (Did I forget to mention that I fell down the stairs and landed with the edge of the handrail in my back right right? I forgot to mention that it really really hurt and afterwards I laid on the floor for five minutes before moving out of sheer pain? Whatever?) So, apparently after that I hadn’t tightened the bolts down enough in the stays and they loosened on the downhill. Lesson #1: Check your chain tension and bolt tightness before you race the SS. Thankfully, that crisis was adverted and I was able to make it to the start with enough time to look cool calm and collected (and covered with chain grease).

In no time at all, we were off and racing. Both Karey and I wished each other good luck and offered back and forth tips and advice, like we knew what we were talking about. One thing I noticed real quick, was what a cluster fuck the beginning was. I can’t blame it on being a beginner admist the pack of beginners, I just think everyone bottle necks in the beginning and you can only go as fast as the hesitant rider in front of you. That first lap seemed to take forever... a few bridges, a few barriers, a nice little run up... overall, it appeared to be something I could handle for 45 minutes. I can do this shit, I told myself... no problem. Entering into lap two, I was feeling pretty good, I was on Karey’s wheel and I knew we were somewhere towards the front of our pack. I just stay here and I’ve got a pretty good shot at doing well I kept thinking. And then it happened. AGAIN. I pedal and I go nowhere. Shit, my chain fell off again. So, I stop, pull over to the side, a slew of girls pass me as I quickly fix it and then hop back on, trying to catch up. And then shit.... it friggin happens AGAIN. I sigh... pull off the course, fix it and realize that I just lost whatever pack of the leaders I was in. I hop back on and do my best to catch up, AGAIN. I totally lost sight of Karey but there are some chicks ahead of me that I know I can pass.

This cycle pretty much continues for five laps. I am not going to be one of those people that were like OMG THAT WAS THE HARDEST THING I HAVE EVER DONE, I WANTED TO THROW UP THE WHOLE TIME.... because honestly, it wasn't the hardest thing I've ever done. And honestly, I don't even know what the hardest thing I've ever done is... but I can tell you that this wasn't it. And, don't be all like.. well, you just weren't pushing yourself hard enough... cause um... did you see me run up the those hills? If there is one thing I'm good at, it's hustling. What I will say, that that was one of the most fun bike races I've ever done. And, maybe it's because I don't ride mountain bikes that much, but I was so excited to be on dirt, dirt going uphill... dirt going downhill. There were a lot of sections that you could kinda rest and then some other sections... like the grassy muddy flats, where you really had to push it hard to try and pass people.

One thing that I found was oddly disturbing and I am sooo not used to it, was how nice everyone was, out of nowhere. And, unlike most bums in Seattle, they didn't even ask you for money after they assisted you with a problem you didn't even know you had. There were several times out on the course when I'd be gaining ground on the rider ahead of me only for them to pull off to the side saying, "you... please go ahead of me". I'd turn my head to the side and look at them with crazy eyes saying to myself... um, this is a race.... right? But, who am I to turn down a kind offer from a complete stranger to pass them? So, I obliged and as I sped away, I thanked them and wished them good luck in all their future endeavors in life. One thing that I absolutely loved about the race were all the hecklers and cheerers out on the course. I felt like I was in one of those countries like South Korea where they pay people to be fans. Never in my life have I had so many complete strangers yelling at me with such enthusiasm. My family, they will yell. My friends, they will yell.... complete strangers.... they will happily curse at me, and I love it! It was unreal. I got called crazy single speeder multiple times which I kinda liked, it was good motivation. (My roommate and some of her friends even came out and heckled me with her cowbell. And trust me, that girl is from Jersey, she will yell at you.)

I will admit, that by the third lap my legs were getting a little tired and I was honestly wondering how much longer the race was going to last. It wasn't that I couldn't do it, I just really really wanted to know how much longer I had to do it for. Once again, I like a fair amount of predictability in my races and I hadn't even noticed that apparently there was a lap board... but I'll look for that in the future. Eventually, I heard the announcer say two more laps and I knew, it was at that point I really had to try and focus and try and pass as many other people as I could. I couldn't promise miracles on the barriers or the run ups, but I knew in the flats I really had to hammer it. So, that's what I did. When it was all said and done and I finally crossed the finish line, I felt pretty good. I really had no idea how I placed, but I know I made up a little bit of ground on some of the people that passed me during my mechanicals. As well, other than dropping my chain twice, it was a pretty fun race and surprisingly enough, I didn't wipe out on my bike or crash into anyone else. When the results were posted I found myself once again, in 4th place, not too terribly far behind the leaders (Karey placed 1st). However, considering that I dropped my chain twice, had a big party and drank waay too much IPA the night before, fell down the stairs that morning, impaled my back and unknowingly at that time was suffering from the early onsets of food poisoning, I was fairly satisfied with the results.

From here, I think I might race my next race as a B. It's not that I don't like the beginners, but I don't like people giving me their line, I like fighting for it. Granted, I may come in the bottom of the bracket, but it really doesn't matter since all the beginners, all the B's, and all the Masters and the Junior women were all out on the course at the same time, it kinda turned into a cluster fuck of knowing exactly who you were racing against. I guess the biggest thing is just reminding yourself that you, and only you, are your biggest competitor, and then... um after you've convinced yourself of that, you'll need to remind yourself that you're just doing it for fun. For fun and beer.

(ps... all these great photos are from the swell folks at PDXCross. They happened to be one of the very few photographers out on the course on Saturday... apparently Sunday everybody and their mother and their bother, sister, uncle, third cousin twice removed was out there at the race. In return for me "borrowing" their photos for my blog, I promise to actually buy a print if they ever get a smokin shot of me.)

Highly visible...

Spendy and classically trendy bike wear company Rapha, unleashed last week some of their new products for the fall... one of these items that caught my eye were their jeans. While normally the words "denim and bikes" don't go too hand and hand aside from a mention of hipsters on fixies and their skinny jeans, Rapha has taken into account the demands and the wear and the tear that bikes have on clothing. What struck me about the jeans was the plethora of good ideas they incorporated into them. As someone who commutes and goes to work in jeans (and has blown out the seating area of a few favorite pairs of pants) it's the little details that can seemingly can make quite a bit of difference. Especially when it comes to being seen and not seen by the heavier faster bigger machines out there on the road. Lets discuss...

Jeans Material:

While everyone loves wearing jeans, not too many people like wearing their jeans wet. And frankly, the idea of my inner thighs rubbing back and forth on a bike seat in wet denim gives me chafing thoughts just thinking about it. So much in fact, that anytime the forecast out the morning window looks to be rainy, I'll don my spandex (I don't think it's normally necessary for me to wear spandex on my nine minute commute to work)... just to avoid sitting at my desk in wet jeans all day. Rahpa has taken this issue in hand by making their jeans out of a durable, nylon-denim blend yarn (aka: non-cotton), which is water-repellant, stain-resistant and fast drying. As well, to avoid those blown-out seats, apparently the material is highly resistant to abrasion and won't deteriorate at key wear points (aka: my ass). Also, the yarn has a far amount of "stretch" which allows for ease of movement, something my meaty thighs appreciate.

Jeans Fit:

Also, another problem I have while cycling in most jeans is my butt crack showing. Granted, I personally don't have too big of a problem with it, but I imagine the families on their extracycles I pass may. (However, I have had some dudes... while gasping for air as they finally catch up to me at a light, tell me they liked my thong.) Anyways, Rapha has considered this unfortunate crack exposure and has designed their jeans with a cycling fit in mind; namely, the jeans have a high backed waist which is cut low in front. They have also been tailored to accommodate pedaling action and have off-set seams and belt loops to prevent chafing. I've personally never had "belt loop chafing", but it doesn't sound pleasant.

Details:

While I'm not one of those people who can safely lock their bike up with a tiny u-lock and carry it in their back pocket, Rapha has created a reinforced right rear pocket to hold a compact lock. As well, the front pockets are cut deep to keep your valuables safe from falling out (I don't know how many family heirlooms that I keep in my pockets I've lost this way).

The main detail that I love is the reflective Rapha logo imprinted on the inside of the right pants leg. When your pants are rolled up to avoid getting caught in the chain, the logo is visible. Not only are you suddenly more noticeable from on coming cars, but you can tell the whole world that you spent a lot on your jeans.

All kidding aside, I love this idea. I had first noticed this as a detail in jeans last year from San Francisco based company Cordaround, who not only added this bit of flair to the inside of their pants, but also added reflective piping on the seams of their rear inner pockets. Meaning, that one could can turn their pockets inside out and create another barrier of visibility. I myself, did my own DIY take on this by purchasing reflective ribbon and stickers from bike and fabric stores and placing it on the inside of the pants I already owned and commonly bike in. For the purpose of the experiment, it worked okay, but sometimes the material uncomfortable brushed against my calves during the day and irritated my skin. It'd be great if someone could invent an iron-on reflective solution so everyone could be a little safer on their bike using materials and clothing they use everyday.

So, kudos Rapha once again for having some well thought out products. I'll be anxiously waiting for you to make them in a women's cut and also, well... having a pay increase that would allow me to purchase a pair.

oh ps: read my post from last year re: biking attire tips for the daily commuter.

and pss: Rapha also is increasing their women's line for the winter... yeeeah!

of note: Swrve also makes some pretty sweet biking jeans and the folks at Outlier have some nice pants. Also, the folks at Pedaler have some nice details on their everyday items also intended for cycling as well.

it never leaves the stove top

Hands down many people will agree that aside from a roaring campfire, one of the best things about camping is cooking in the great outdoors. Now, if any of you out there are purist lightweight style backpacker campers, this post may irk you slightly as it has NOTHING to do with cutting weight out of your back. And listen, I hear you. I understand as I myself for THE LONGEST TIME fell into this range of camping style and thusly, all of my meals consisted solely of what I could make from boiling water or tiny airtight packets of tuna and carry on my back. However, in my later years and move to the great Pacific Northwest, I have re-discovered the joys of car camping. The wonders of being able to take everything you need - and probably a few things you don't - and live in the outdoors in perfect comfort! And my friends... this is where the irreplaceable cast iron skillet comes into play.

What would never cross your mind to throw in a backpack the cast iron skillet without hesitation will find its way into your car for camping and can be used for pretty much any dish you'd make around the campfire. From cooking up bacon in the morning to making delectable quesadillas at night, there is not one basic dish that can't be cooked up in a cast iron.

Sadly, in many households across the states, the cast iron skillet has been shoved to the back of many people's cookware collection over the past thirty some years. Granted, in some households it never leaves the stove top... but many people have switched to stick free easy cleaning teflon. But you know, that teflon is gonna ware out over time and the one dish that can take a licking and keep on ticking and be passed down to your kids... is the good old cast iron skillet.

So, to continue on an Classic Americanna theme, I'm going to share with you a small company called Borough Furnace (Murfreesboro, TN) who are venturing to combine modern design with a classic american product and... to make it out of upcycled materials.

These two cousins that make up Borough Furnace, shared a mutual love of industrial design and environmental responsibility. They wanted to get into business doing something that combined those passions... so, they started gathering scrap metal, things from junkyards, old furnaces, car parts, then melted them down to create a high quality classically designed product. Not only are all the materials completely recycled in their dual handled skillets, but the whole process takes place in their backyard! In fact, the furnace that they use for the process was constructed from recycled steel dairy cans and about 500lbs of hand mixed sand and clay.

Recently, Borough Furnace were showcased at the A+: "The Young Designers Platform" at the Accent on Design portion of the International Gift Fair in New York City. The duo walked away from the exhibition with the garnering of the Bloggers Choice Award by Jen Lockwood, a judge and blogger from The Daily Grommet. (You can catch the interview here). As well, they recently were featured on CoolHunting.com, which is always a sign of good things to come.

On a side note: My favorite meal to be cooked in a cast iron in the open air is the dish that I won Outstanding of the Day for in the 1995 Ohio State Fair Outdoor Cookery 4-H Competition (which... for those of you not familiar with 4-H, is like winning a huge ass stage race in cycling) is calico beans. If you like bacon, beef and beans this dish is for you! (Just a warning though, you may want a fair amount of ventilation in your tent for the post dinner aftermath.)

Calico Beans

(as written in the Ohio State University Extension Outdoor Cookery 4-H Cookbook)

Ingredients

1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, undrained

• 1 (16 ounce) can baked beans with pork
• 1 (15 ounce) can butter beans, undrained
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 2 teaspoons white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon dry mustard
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 4 ounces bacon, chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large skillet over medium heat, fry the ground beef, bacon and onion together until ground beef is no longer pink. Drain fat.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the kidney beans, baked beans with pork and butter beans. Stir in the ketchup, white vinegar, dry mustard, brown sugar and cook beef mixture. Mix thoroughly, adding salt and pepper to taste.
4. Pour the bean and meat mixture into a 9x13 inch baking dish. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes.

(the Ohio State Fair, not every state is lucky enough to have an even amount of open letters to walk through)

Have an old cast iron laying around you need to re-season? Check here.

Getting Away...

Getting away without really getting very far away at all....

Its amazing what a weekend in the woods can do to rejuvenate your soul and it was so nice to actually have a weekend in the summer where I didn't get on my bike, even once. By the time Sunday afternoon rolled around I actually started to feel a little guilty for being bikeless, but that feeling was quickly replaced by another IRA at my favorite Hood River brewery, Double Mountain.

This is a photo post... enjoy!

Sam and I found a great secret spot last weekend at Mt. Hood off the main roadway that was perfectly perched under some pine trees...

... and right next to a cold mountain fed creek.

I brought old paperwork with me to get the fire going...

in the morning there was coffee by the creek...

and then there was hiking! We went up the Cooper Spur Trail, which is on the "other side" of Mt. Hood, the one opposite of Timberline Lodge and Govy Camp.

The mountain was beautiful that day. It kept going in and out of clouds.

It even snowed for a few minutes.

The trail was a 2,800 climb that took you right up one of the ridges of Mt. Hood, overlooking the Elliot Glacier.

Sam and I brought my dog Anna, as well as an energetic "dog friend" of hers named Riley. Anna, despite not being the most athletic dog out there, was a trooper. She climbed like a rock star but sadly, her legs started bothering her before too terribly long. We made it up a pretty far distance before we realized we might have to carry Anna all the way back down the mountain, and so... puppy comfort in mind, we turned around before we reached the "tie in" apex of the trail.

There were all sorts of cool cairns marking the trail.

And tons of bright purple wildflowers once you got down below timber line.

There are a lot of cool older structures on this side of the mountain. Things like the Cloud Cap Inn, showed here. The Snowshoe Club Cabin and a skier's hut constructed by the CCC.

I love Mt. Hood.

Everyone, including the dogs, was pretty tuckered out at the end of the day. thankfully, nothing is more relaxing than a warm fire and a cold beer.

yum!!

fourth place is back here...

(i put this photo here so you would know this post is about bike racing)

So, where last I left off, I had just finished killing myself at the Longview Crit and happily, went home with heat exhaustion and fourth place. Seeing how the weather forecast for the next few days seemed to be much of the same, I omitted racing PIR the following monday despite the fifty thousand text messages I got from my bike racing buddy, who had also planned on racing. (I have to give it to the girl for trying though, guilt and beer are my best motivators and she really worked the angles to try and get me to come out, but alas, the kind of pure exhaustion I felt on Saturday after the Longview Crit was not a happy feeling.)

That left my next and last race of the Crit season to be the “all determining OBRA Crit Championship” the following weekend in Albany, Oregon. Going into the race... I was pretty pleased with my bike racing season thus far. Granted, as far as big crit races go (PIR doesn’t really count) I hadn’t podiumed (as in, got top 3) as a Cat 3 yet, but at the same time... when looking through the results of most of everyone who did place ahead of me, they were all Cat 2’s. And since we race together, placing right behind the top Cat 2’s as a Cat 3 isn’t that shabby. I mean, if we were scored separately I would have podiumed in pretty much all but one or two of the races, but... since we aren’t... I’ll settle for just being a pretty decent runner up behind some pretty fast women. Luckily though, at the OBRA Crit Championship we Cat 3s were going to race with the Pro 1/2 women but we’d be scored separately - so, I suddenly had a new sense of resolve. Ok then... let’s see how this goes!

First of all, we had a pretty big steep field. There were a lot of really fast women and big crit racing names in Oregon out there. (I never try to name names, but if you know who I’m talking about, you know who I’m talking about.) Also, I saw a few of my fellow Cat 3 buddies that I haven’t seen since back in the day (and by back in the day, I mean last year) when we started out as Cat 4’s. Overall, there were 21 women out on the course, pretty evenly spilt with an almost equal number of Cat 3’s and Cat 1/2s.

My strategy going into the race was just to stick to some fast wheels of a few Cat 2’s that I’ve ridden behind before. Wheels that I know are safe and fast and wheels that can take me on to the final sprint. However, this was much easier said than done. With 20 some women all occupying pretty much the same amount of space, the wheels and the lines were in constant flux. Meaning, no sooner did you latch onto that spot you wanted, than that spot was gone. In crits like these, fast and technical and full of competitive women, if you keep a narrow frame of focus, like just trying to stay behind certain one or two people, or in a position, like fifth from the front, no sooner do you get there than that spot and that moment is gone - all of the sudden you look up and realize you’re in the back again. So, you’ve got to be moving, constantly. You’ve got to be looking through and over and around the pack like a salmon trying to swim upstream over the backs of the other fish. True, you’re all going to the same place... you’d just like to get there a little sooner than everyone else.

(here I am using photos to illustrate the story)

So, needless to say I couldn’t stick to my strategy that well. I’d find myself on the wheel I wanted and then I was off of it in less than a lap. Or, I’d be kinda where I wanted, but then soon realize I was getting boxed in or get stuck behind someone who went into every corner so timidly that I had to totally lay off the gas to avoid ramming them. Once again, there were a few sketch riders out there. Before every race, you normally know which ones to stay away from and sometimes mid way through the race, you surprisingly discover who that person is. Personally, I had to slow up hella lot at some points to avoid some sketch moments... and I apologize for anyone who had to readjust their line during the race to make up for me readjusting my line to avoid a mishap. But, that’s part of the race you know....

Speaking of part of the race, I almost forgot! Somewhere during the first half of the race we all flew around a right hand corner and boom.. just there in the middle of the race course was a college age red haired kid, stopped in the middle of the race, bike down by his feet, headphones on, texting someone on his phone! I shit you not. The dude had NO IDEA that a bike race was going on around him, didn’t notice that that all of the roads were marked off with yellow tape and that racers had been speeding through the streets all morning and afternoon up to this point. Luckily, the dude was as clueless as he was dumb and didn’t even look up as a mass of twenty or so women clad in spandex and carbon fiber, swooshed around him, parting like the Red Sea. He just stood there... looking down at his phone and texting, completely oblivious to the scene around him and everyone yelling at him. For the next 20 or so laps after this, it was an amusing scene as eventually the cops arrived, then the next lap you could see them questioning him, and then another lap they were giving him a sobierty test, and then eventually he was sitting on the curb in handcuffs. It defiantly made for some amusement outside of just trying to ride your bike fast.

(dumbass) -photo by Heather V.

Anyways, back to the race... a few women jumped out front at points attempting break aways, but no one really stayed out for too terribly long. There were eight corners on the course, lefts and rights, so you really couldn’t break away and keep the gap for too long before the constant slowing allowed people to quickly absorb you back into the pack. Going into the finals laps I was trying to plan my sprint but my biggest concern rather than sticking to someone’s wheel, was just trying not to get boxed in. And well, going into that final lap... shit, what happened? I found myself boxed in. Going into that last corner I desperately was looking for gaps, a wheel, anything to get me out of the mess that I could envision happening. I saw a gap... I saw a gap between two teammates, one was going for the leadout and the other, a Cat 3 rival of mine was set to jump on her wheel. I contemplated getting in the mix and going for that opening, and maybe I should have... but I hesitated.. not knowing if that was kosher or not. In my hesitation I missed the moment and then the pack started to surge forward, going for the sprint. I wasn’t in the front, but I wasn’t in the rear either... and quickly, the back of the pack was coming around the sides and I’d have to do what I could with the little gaps of space I had around and infront of me. I knew at least one or two Cat 3’s were ahead of me and well, I know that the other Cat 3 rival who’s wheel I didn’t jump on was going to be my main competition for that podium, and she was right beside me still. Gears shifted, she jumped, I jumped. We both sprinted for the line and well, she reached it by inches ahead of me.

Shit.
Well, you can’t win them all. Or better yet, you can’t come in second or third in all of them. Actually, I’ve had a pretty good habit this year of placing 4th in a lot of races and wouldn’t you know it, when the dust settled on the OBRA Crit Championship, that’s exactly where I placed again, 4th in the State of Oregon for Cat 3 Criterium racing. I mean, that’s not too shabby, especially when peeking at the officials notes after the race, I came in across the line overall at 9th or 10th. And especially when you think that I just started racing last year and just upgraded this summer, I’m pretty pleased.

As well, I’m pretty pleased that the summer of bike racing is over and I finally have weekends and evenings free to do as I wish. This week I finished up my last race at PIR (placing 4th once again... behind three Cat 1/2’s) and polished off a decent season at the track as well (placing 4th overall for Cat 4 women). Also, even though I’m not a Cat 4 road racer anymore, according to OBRA I’m currently sitting in 4th place overall for Cat 4 women in overall BAR points? Who knows what’s up with that... but... anyways, I think the highlight of the season was probably winning a State Championship in the Match Sprints at the track, as well as taking 2nd place in the State in the 500m. So that was defiantly a highlight of the season, as well as the Ironclad Crit, I really enjoyed that race. Regardless of placements though, I think I can look back on this summer as one of gaining growth, experience and respect.

Oh, speaking of gaining growth and experience, I just picked up a new bike with attempts at trying my hand at cyclocross; which is a cult sport within a cult sport. I have no expectations for placing or doing well, especially since I’m racing it as a single speed. I just want to go out, have fun, get muddy, ride my bike, get a good work out, and drink beer. Once again, beer is a great motivator, especially when it comes well deserved after a good work out. Who knows, maybe I can get 4th place again?