SNOW!!!!!
One could say that an important thing you can do to stay YOUNG...is to keep trying NEW things. !
I LOVE CYCLO -CROSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The one thing I love about cyclo crossing is that you get out what you put in. If you train hard you get it back at you in dividends. UNfortunately despite all the enthusiasm.... My first season of cross was marred, scarred and damaged by being ILL. SICK. Bronchitis or whatever it was. I swear I had a version of that nasty nasty pnemonia going around. I am soooo glad I never spread it to Anyone. ! I love people! I do! Okokok... I hate people that drive slow and hog the left hand lane without a conscience to pass...but other than that..I love everyone else!.
I am so proud of the Verdigris team.
Brian WON the Championship jersey for the Illinois cat 3 Men!
Wayne WON the men's 40+! He flew like a stone skipping on water right over all the snow and ice. Tim got second and Chris got third. Together those guys sweeeped the Illinois State Championships men's 40+. All these guys train SO hard.
They are on their way to Nationals and I wish them the BEST of luck!!!
OH! ...And fairer weather than today. (ice storms!) I am very grateful Tim asked me to race with them and to be on his team.
YES...Hank and me are totally HOOKED on this sport.
Hank came in 18th and I got 5th in my own race over all but 3rd in the championships. (the site says 4th but I think I got 5th overall there is a Katie girl that came in front of me unless she got a flat or something...?)
After being on and off and on and off sick ALL FREAKING SEASON . I was feeling so good the last few weeks . I just trained and trained and trained..... I was finally getting my legs back. Last 2 weeks I was doing hill repeats hill run ups and long nites of intervals on the wattage trainer. I was soo freaking ready! Then I got whammied with yet another cold. NO!!!! I swear!
WHAT A FREAKING SEASON! NICE, HUH???
But you know what? So what. Before every race I always thank GOD for my LIFE. It helps ground me and I just feel so much more relaxed. I am just happy that we managed to get to the race. I dragged Hank out of the house ((he was sick too and even had a bit of a temperature and had NO business racing at all) and we somehow found our way to the course and we RODE. We raced. ALL I wanted to do was finish with enough points to hold my Chicago Series podium spot. I will bleed out the eyes to finish this after trying so hard all season. I was not going to lose it all by staying home. So. HERE I was!!!
My first snowy race. I was surprised at how rideable the course was even though we had about 6 inches of snow on the ground. THey did such a nice job making the course and setting up the barricades. Turin Bike Shop set it all up. NiCe Job ~ Tough course! I have never raced on snow or ...I dont think I ever rode on snow! I didn't know how I"d do. There was a pretty formidable sledding hill plopped right in the front and center of the course. The first thing you'd do is curl around the course to jump some barricades and RUN up this hill. At the top, to the west of the hill there were kids sledding on plastic sleds and swooshing down the hill. When you climbed up and looked over to the East, (if you were pre-riding or just going slow), you could see Lake Michigan all gray and cold moving about.
Hi Lake!
Then you dove on your bike and woooshed down the north side of this long long stretch down thru a fast shallow furrow of snow that led you to the rest of the course. haha That was the funnest part!
Even though I had a GREAT start and finally got to the corner in a decent place, my best EVER in all the races I have done.... (yay me!) ...I blew it on the run up.
All those behind me just sprinted past me. grrrrrrr. wait up!
I had these different shoes on with spikes and they sure gripped the snow nice.
It was me that was slow!! I got to the top of the first run up and we had to jump on the bike and then rush down the south side into some thick snow at the bottom. The snow was deep and swishy powder-like. It had these furrows in it that reminded me of sand furrows. The furrows would redirect your wheels and it seemed to make everyone feel like they were about to bump into each other or fall over. I was not able to even clip in at all going down the first time. (different shoes) . But it didn't matter since we all had to turn around a U turn and run up the
other side again. runrunrun...I am not really that slow its just that everyone else was faster. grrrrr. (again grrr) ... That alone cost me 4 positions. That's what I get! That's what I get. I think there were 9 or 10 women in the entire race? Pretty big field considering the weather and conditions.
One could say that an important thing you can do to stay YOUNG...is to keep trying NEW things. !
I LOVE CYCLO -CROSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The one thing I love about cyclo crossing is that you get out what you put in. If you train hard you get it back at you in dividends. UNfortunately despite all the enthusiasm.... My first season of cross was marred, scarred and damaged by being ILL. SICK. Bronchitis or whatever it was. I swear I had a version of that nasty nasty pnemonia going around. I am soooo glad I never spread it to Anyone. ! I love people! I do! Okokok... I hate people that drive slow and hog the left hand lane without a conscience to pass...but other than that..I love everyone else!.
I am so proud of the Verdigris team.
Brian WON the Championship jersey for the Illinois cat 3 Men!
Wayne WON the men's 40+! He flew like a stone skipping on water right over all the snow and ice. Tim got second and Chris got third. Together those guys sweeeped the Illinois State Championships men's 40+. All these guys train SO hard.
They are on their way to Nationals and I wish them the BEST of luck!!!
OH! ...And fairer weather than today. (ice storms!) I am very grateful Tim asked me to race with them and to be on his team.
YES...Hank and me are totally HOOKED on this sport.
Hank came in 18th and I got 5th in my own race over all but 3rd in the championships. (the site says 4th but I think I got 5th overall there is a Katie girl that came in front of me unless she got a flat or something...?)
After being on and off and on and off sick ALL FREAKING SEASON . I was feeling so good the last few weeks . I just trained and trained and trained..... I was finally getting my legs back. Last 2 weeks I was doing hill repeats hill run ups and long nites of intervals on the wattage trainer. I was soo freaking ready! Then I got whammied with yet another cold. NO!!!! I swear!
WHAT A FREAKING SEASON! NICE, HUH???
But you know what? So what. Before every race I always thank GOD for my LIFE. It helps ground me and I just feel so much more relaxed. I am just happy that we managed to get to the race. I dragged Hank out of the house ((he was sick too and even had a bit of a temperature and had NO business racing at all) and we somehow found our way to the course and we RODE. We raced. ALL I wanted to do was finish with enough points to hold my Chicago Series podium spot. I will bleed out the eyes to finish this after trying so hard all season. I was not going to lose it all by staying home. So. HERE I was!!!
My first snowy race. I was surprised at how rideable the course was even though we had about 6 inches of snow on the ground. THey did such a nice job making the course and setting up the barricades. Turin Bike Shop set it all up. NiCe Job ~ Tough course! I have never raced on snow or ...I dont think I ever rode on snow! I didn't know how I"d do. There was a pretty formidable sledding hill plopped right in the front and center of the course. The first thing you'd do is curl around the course to jump some barricades and RUN up this hill. At the top, to the west of the hill there were kids sledding on plastic sleds and swooshing down the hill. When you climbed up and looked over to the East, (if you were pre-riding or just going slow), you could see Lake Michigan all gray and cold moving about.
Hi Lake!
Then you dove on your bike and woooshed down the north side of this long long stretch down thru a fast shallow furrow of snow that led you to the rest of the course. haha That was the funnest part!
Even though I had a GREAT start and finally got to the corner in a decent place, my best EVER in all the races I have done.... (yay me!) ...I blew it on the run up.
All those behind me just sprinted past me. grrrrrrr. wait up!
I had these different shoes on with spikes and they sure gripped the snow nice.
It was me that was slow!! I got to the top of the first run up and we had to jump on the bike and then rush down the south side into some thick snow at the bottom. The snow was deep and swishy powder-like. It had these furrows in it that reminded me of sand furrows. The furrows would redirect your wheels and it seemed to make everyone feel like they were about to bump into each other or fall over. I was not able to even clip in at all going down the first time. (different shoes) . But it didn't matter since we all had to turn around a U turn and run up the
other side again. runrunrun...I am not really that slow its just that everyone else was faster. grrrrr. (again grrr) ... That alone cost me 4 positions. That's what I get! That's what I get. I think there were 9 or 10 women in the entire race? Pretty big field considering the weather and conditions. I shoulda' run more, I"m such a lazy butt.
I got behind all these other gals (faster running gals) and was sort of stuck for a while trying to pass people. I was braking braking..waiting to pass .... It took me two or three or..Ok ...four laps. oh and two crashes. I crashed twice (in the same place~ doh!) But I finally got free! .... gogogo. But....too late.... my race was over. The other gals were long gone and I don't have sonic rockets on my legs like Hank does.
I Took 5th over all and third in the championship. I lost out to four amazing and wonderfully talented Cyclo Cross women and managed to eek past 4 other very talented and aggressive cyclo cross women.
I learned a HEAP of information that I will hopefully take with me for next year!
Well....
It was sooo fun to see everyone one last time before the indoor- training sessions start. I have a feeling that this year the indoor training is just going to FLY!
I tell you what. All the people coming out just to watch was incredible and FUN. :) Made me even more happy I went out and DID IT! Lots of tooting horns and cowbells. Great time even with the cold and snow and ice and wicked weather approaching.
I laughed a great deal and THAT is the best medicine of all!
Hank did a great job preparing me for the race and snow. He had some wonderful tips for me and set me up superbly, as usual ,on my machine. I have to admit I never pre-rode, never raced in snow before and was completely clueless. Wayne had given me some great advice for the downhill part.
One thing I LOVE about this sport.... is that you GET OUT what you PUT IN. If you train and train and train....it all pays off in the end. But I tell you what, As the days get shorter and the temperatures drop, it is tougher and tougher to keep that intensity up into the winter months. I know the competition I was up against train immensely and are super talented. It really showed sunday in that snow and slippery conditions just how talented they were.
I have no regrets except that I was sick way too much and sometimes tend to look at all my mistakes more than my accomplishments. But the whole bottom line is that doing new things keeps you young. I learned a LOT and have some take home lessons for next year to try.
KEEP RIDING! See you all in March!
I got behind all these other gals (faster running gals) and was sort of stuck for a while trying to pass people. I was braking braking..waiting to pass .... It took me two or three or..Ok ...four laps. oh and two crashes. I crashed twice (in the same place~ doh!) But I finally got free! .... gogogo. But....too late.... my race was over. The other gals were long gone and I don't have sonic rockets on my legs like Hank does.
I Took 5th over all and third in the championship. I lost out to four amazing and wonderfully talented Cyclo Cross women and managed to eek past 4 other very talented and aggressive cyclo cross women.
I learned a HEAP of information that I will hopefully take with me for next year!
Well....
It was sooo fun to see everyone one last time before the indoor- training sessions start. I have a feeling that this year the indoor training is just going to FLY!
I tell you what. All the people coming out just to watch was incredible and FUN. :) Made me even more happy I went out and DID IT! Lots of tooting horns and cowbells. Great time even with the cold and snow and ice and wicked weather approaching.
I laughed a great deal and THAT is the best medicine of all!
Hank did a great job preparing me for the race and snow. He had some wonderful tips for me and set me up superbly, as usual ,on my machine. I have to admit I never pre-rode, never raced in snow before and was completely clueless. Wayne had given me some great advice for the downhill part.
One thing I LOVE about this sport.... is that you GET OUT what you PUT IN. If you train and train and train....it all pays off in the end. But I tell you what, As the days get shorter and the temperatures drop, it is tougher and tougher to keep that intensity up into the winter months. I know the competition I was up against train immensely and are super talented. It really showed sunday in that snow and slippery conditions just how talented they were.
I have no regrets except that I was sick way too much and sometimes tend to look at all my mistakes more than my accomplishments. But the whole bottom line is that doing new things keeps you young. I learned a LOT and have some take home lessons for next year to try.
KEEP RIDING! See you all in March!
1 comment:
That's a funny quote... there they go... and i am their leader. Ha! Love it.
So sad you were ill and aren't coming down to the natz. I think it's gonna be sumpthin. :D
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