A Forced Moment of Reflection...

Last week, when I was in a bit of a panic about my upcoming race at Mt. Hood, I called Kendra to help me lay out my plan for the next few weeks. I was excited to tell her how great I've been feeling, enthusiastic about how my winter training has paid off. "Now your job is to make sure you stay healthy," she told me. I made sure to take my vitamins, got to bed a little earlier, tried to eat the best possible...

Then Mike came home with the sniffles. And the sneezes. And the coughs. ARGH! I knew it would be just a matter of time before I caught it, and despite my inner mantra ("I'm not going to get sick... I'm not going to get sick... I'm not going to get sick..."), I've managed to catch his cold.

Saturday was 102 miles of easy riding with the Multisports.com training camp, which was fun. I got to ride with Paula Newby-Fraser's group, and we managed to keep everyone together. My job was to take care of any stragglers, which wasn't an issue until we hit the hills. There was a guy who came from Chicago - powerful on the flats, but once we hit the hills he was off the back like nothing else. I stayed back to help pull him back to the group and make sure he didn't get lost. Once we got back to Post Falls, I rode home the extra 8 miles or so at my own pace. While I enjoy the experience everytime I do it, I never manage to have enough chamois cream to make it a pleasant experience!!

Sunday was the Lilac Century Ride. I rode with Mike, Erik, and Gabe. Chrystie, Ken, and Skip joined us for some of it, too. At one point, as usual with those guys, the pace picked up for the 10 miles into the Reardan lunch stop. I tried to stay on, but the ol' heart rate wouldn't cooperate, so I said goodbye. I caught back up about 2 miles from the stop. I felt like I had just dug a little bit of a hole, and jumped right in . . . stupidly. The rest of the ride, however, I managed to keep my HR where it should be. By the end, though, my legs were pretty toasted - not burned, just crispy :) I had forgotten how hilly that course is. It's definitely a HARD century. But I was excited that I'd just ridden over 200 miles in 2 days - definitely good prep for Hood....

But then Monday morning brought the dreaded sore throat. And Tuesday brought congestion. Today I called in sick to work, with a barking cough in the morning, sore throat, fatigue, and general pissy attitude. I'm so frustrated right now, and of course my mind is in overdrive - worried that I'm sick so close to Hood, worried that now I'm going to die, worried that the world is coming to an end...blah, blah, blah. Then I remembered (or forced myself to remember, in order not to go insane from my mind in overdrive) how blessed I really am....

I don't get paid to race. Hell, I don't even want to know how much it costs me every year to do this. I do it because it's fun. Because it makes me a better wife, mother, employee. Because I'm relatively good at it and am passionate about it. Because I've shown my children and other women out there that women can be strong, can be competitive, can achieve things.

I am blessed beyond what most people dream about. I have an amazing husband that supports me in my athletic endeavors. He takes the kids to school. He picks up the kids from school so I can ride right after work. He grabs milk from the store at the last minute. He cleans and tunes my bike and sets me up with the best ride ever (PowerTap...compact gearing...Zipp 404's...Cervelo P2C...disk wheel...aero helmet.... he's the one that sets me up, keeping in mind my strengths and weaknesses, the type of course, the conditions). He sets up my bike on the trainer before a race because he knows I'm in the port-a-potty for the 6th time with my nervous pre-race ritual. He puts up with my nervous moodiness that sets in about a week before a really big race. He listens to what I have to say (most of the time) without butting in. He's my voice of reason and my rock.

I have two smart, beautiful children who are my world. I have a great job that fits my schedule. I have lots of friends that I respect and that respect me. We have a small business that, because of all of Mike's hard work, is really starting to pay off. . . I'm blessed more than I deserve.

So, I've got a cold. I'm worried about what this means for Hood. But, when I slow down to look at the big picture, Hood doesn't define me. Hood doesn't define my season. Hood is an opportunity for me to grow, to learn from the best, to figure out what the next step is in my journey to get even better. So I may go into it a little "behind," worse-case scenario. In the end, no matter what happens, I'll be better off for having done it. . .

And maybe I was supposed to get sick - to slow down a minute to realize how lucky I am. . . at least that's what I'm going to tell myself.

Newby-Fraser and Huddle around the Tri Club BBQ...

Tonight's Tri Club BBQ went off without a hitch, with Multisports' Paula Newby-Fraser, Jimmy Riccitello, Paul Huddle, and a couple other pros stopping by to socialize and offer tips to those in attendance. A keg from the Coeur D Alene brewery flowed, and Isaac flipped burgers in the back for a crowd of maybe 60-70. Paul and Paula gave a short talk on race-day prep and execution, then the floor was opened to general questions and funny stories (weed-smoking spectators at IM Hawaii, cheaters hiding in the bushes to grab better swim splits, and wetsuit-stripping volunteers being the first to discover an athlete forgot to don his swimsuit under his wetsuit......). Four of us (Mike, me, Isaac, and Brian H) will be helping out with the camp on Saturday, helping lead out groups on the course. It's scheduled to be a relatively nice day - let's hope for some sun!

Hey, wait a minute...

Had a funny exchange with a fellow rider on our weekly Wednesday nite Tri Club ride - even though I know he only had the best of intentions:

S: Have you lost weight? You look like you've lost some weight...
Me: You mean since last year? Yeah, I've been working a bit at it...
S: That's what I thought... you look like you've lost... you look a lot better...

Snap.

Tour of Walla Walla

I've been so busy since we got back into town Sunday night that it feels I haven't had time to unpack anything, let alone post....

This past weekend was the Tour of Walla Walla, my first opportunity to race with the Bob's Team women - and we rocked!!! We took first in the Team GC competition, and teammate Allison Beall ended up 3rd GC, with me 5th, and teammate Sarah Barber 6th. The rest of the girls rounded out the top spots, making us one of the teams to beat in the northwest. See all the results here.


Friday was the Kellogg Hollow Road Race, a relatively short 35 mile race that was severely impacted by 20-30 mph gusting winds. It was not a part of the overall stage for us 1/2/3 women, but several of us on the team opted in as a good training race in preparation for the upcoming Mt Hood stage race. I was a bit nervous about the conditions, and also didn't particularly want to "burn a lot of matches" in this optional race, so I went into it without expectations, knowing I could turn around and opt out at any time should it seem like the pace would fry me for the next two days' worth of events. The pace started out fast and furious, with several attacks. Finally, Sarah Barber and 5 others made a break stick, and Ally Stacher and I kept the chase group at bay, not working at all to pull anything back. We rode it in pretty casually (TOO casually, at times, it seemed!) with a group of maybe 6 of us, finishing almost 5 minutes back from Sarah's lead group.

Saturday morning brought the time trial - and nerves!!! I was incredibly nervous. Mostly because I had placed a lot of pressure on myself about this race because I was so disappointed in my performance last year. And while the ladies from Team Bobs-Bicycles.com have been nothing but supportive and low-pressure, I personally felt I needed to prove my worth as a contributing member of the team - I felt priviledged to be asked to join this great group of ladies, and I didn't want to let anyone down. Conditions were on the cold side, but the wind was not as bad as the night before. When I finished, I didn't feel too great about my performance, although it was considerably better than last year's. I was feeling doubtful about how I'd likely stacked up to the field.

My teammate/team manager Jeanne Rumps found me later that morning to let me know that I had placed one second behind teammate Allison Beall, for a solid 5th place! "No shit?!" was all I could say - I couldn't believe it! For once I was set up in a nice position going into the road race....

The 60-mile road race was later that afternoon, and I made it my focus to stay with the lead group. The course travels up a 3k hill 3 times - the first as neutral, then once in the middle of the race, then up one last time for a grueling uphill finish (which I DREAD). The second time up the hill, teammate Sarah Barber attacked, which effectively split the field. I was able to stick with it, with a good handful of us cresting the hill (along with Ally Stacher and Allison Beall - we had a good group of us Bob's girls there). Unfortunately, it didn't stick, and the pack ended up re-grouping over the backside of the course. Which meant the finish would be a killer. The 3rd and final time up the climb also saw attacks from Sarah and a couple others, but it finished in a pack sprint, with me finishing seconds (8) behind the winner. I was a bit bummed that I couldn't muster 8 seconds out of my legs, but compared to last year, I was head and shoulders above... finishing with the lead pack was awesome!

Sunday morning was the crit - notably my favorite event. I had my sights set on a top 3 placing. Mike wired all of us Bob's girls up with radios, and he and Jeanne talked us through the entire race. I did my best to mark everyone I could up front, but I lost 2 seconds to my closest competitor in the GC on a prime lap, and then ultimately finished 5th to her 3rd, which cost me a place in the GC overall. I was disappointed in my positioning going into the second-to-last corner of the last lap, but as with all race experiences, I learned valuable lessons that will just make me stronger. The team, for our first race together, showed everyone that we're a formidable opponent - taking the team GC competition by 4 seconds. Getting more time to race together should prove to make us just that much stronger as we get to know each other's strengths. I just hope I can keep contributing!

I can't wait to see what else the season brings!!! Go Team Bob's Girls!!!

True Test

Tonight I raced the first race of the Twilight Series with the "A" men.

Tonight I shut down a breakaway.

Tonight I rode my ass off, and felt great.

Tonight Mike said, "Oh my God!!! I think you might be the second strongest person here! You rode my legs off with a couple of those pulls!"

Tonight I feel like I've arrived somewhere I've been only dreaming about...

Rocky Mountain Roubaix

This last weekend we headed out to Missoula for the Rocky Mountain Roubaix - one of our favorite road events of the early season. Mostly because it's a really fast, fun course, but also because it's well within what we would consider a reasonable drive for a good race.



I decided that I wanted to race this year's event with the Men Cat 3's, but what I didn't know until a week or so before the race is that this particular promoter had decided to group the Men 1/2/3's all together. So, that meant that I would be racing with all those guys - about 8 of which are part of the Vertical Earth Cat 2 team.



It was an excellent opportunity for me to ride in a larger, faster pack, and by racing with the men, I would get a 60 mile race instead of the 30 mile race that was scheduled for the women's field. We probably started with about 50 or 60 guys in that pack - and little ol' me - several of which succumbed to flat tires from the Roubaix nature of the course. Luckily, Mike was looking out for me, and borrowed Tommy's sweet tubeless Shimano wheels for me to use. They proved to be pretty much bomb-proof (Thanks, Tommy!!!!!).

As the official Montana Cross website reported, "Today's race had great weather, and awesome racing. The 1,2,3 race was filled with attacks. Vertical Earth brought a full compliment of riders. They animated the race all day, and eventually took the win with Erik Anderson. He won out of a small group comprised of Clint Muhlfeld, Josh Tack, and one other rider (?). The group got away on the 4th lap and never looked back. GAS chased hard but was unable to the close the gap. As usual, flats were prevelant. There were lots of good performances. I thought Vertical Earth as a team rode a solid tactical event. One of the youngest riders in the bunch, Gabe from Vertical Earth took the cat 3 prize." And I was there! I have to admit, I am pretty damn proud of my performance - I used every opportunity to position myself the best way I could in this pack of extremely strong GUYS - I hung on in the hills, hung on for the attacks. That is, until about 9 or 10 miles from the finish. I got caught out on the final hill, and just couldn't close the gap at about the same time that Erik decided to attack and open up a small gap that the pack tried to shut down. I just couldn't pull it back, and got popped. I ended up riding in with one other Cat 3, and ended up placing 7th out of the 14 3's that finished. I'm not sure where I finished overall with the 1/2/3's, but it wasn't too far behind. Overall, I'm stoked that I was able to race with those guys and perform as well as I did.

After the race, we all were standing around chatting, and we decided that Gabe got the unofficial VE "ride of the day" award, with Erik a close second for his commanding win. After a few more minutes, Jason said, "Wait! I think Jenni gets the ride of the day!" He's got lots of riding friends in Montana, and he told me that after the race he had a ton of guys come up to him saying, "Dude, who was that chick riding with us?! That was bad ass!!!"

Later that night, Mike told me, "That was pretty cool - riding with you. I kept expecting to see you gone after attack after attack after attack... but I would look over and see you still there, looking great!"

That just makes it ALL worth it..........

"How Old Are You?"

Working with kids brings lots of great moments, one of which happened today...



A: How old are you?
Me: 32, how old are you?


A: I'm 6!!! (very emphatically)
Me: Wow! That's getting to be pretty old!


A: (Thinking for a few seconds)... You know how old I want to be?
Me: How old?


A: 70-hundred - because then I could learn to drive!!!!
Me: laughing

A: That would take a lot of birthdays.....

Sunshine Brings Yardwork....

A couple years ago, my mom, in her infinite wisdom, gave me a set of these collapsable bin-thingys. One of her useful objects that she always seems to find. When I got it, I thought to myself, "Hmmmm, cool, but when am I going to use these?" Well, today I set out to clean up the backyard, which has been totally neglected over the long winter. And what do you know? These things are DA BOMB! I bribed the kids with money and/or treats to do the poop patrol, while I followed with a rake. Oh my word... I covered every square foot of that backyard - raking dead grass and months-old doggy patties that were caked into the grass. FOUR HOURS and one garbage can later we were done. My hands are blistered and my weak arms are sore. Now, what to do with the algae that has taken root in the pond???? No idea....

The kids took advantage of the 70-degree temperatures to break out the trampoline... getting it wet with the hose and in general creating a ruckus. Man! Hard to believe that a week ago today we were having our races postponed so they could call in the snowplows to clear the track!!! Hopefully the weather will stick around for awhile...

Gabby and Flick enjoy a bit of the sunshine on the front porch...

Spring has arrived!!!!!

Finally! Spring has sprung for us! We've had sunshine for two days in a row now, with temperatures aiming for close to 70 degrees this weekend...

Alli and I got some good "girl time" in this afternoon, getting a good hour or so of riding around town and taking in the sights, smells, and sun. Great to finally be out without a raincoat....

This weekend we head to Missoula for the Rocky Mountain Roubaix on Sunday. It's a course that I really like, because there's just a little bit of climbing, which suits me better than a whole LOT of climbing. It'll be especially fun because of the nice weather :)

Some more pictures from our ride:

Frozen Flatlands

On the Attack...

I found my race legs this weekend!! Admitedly, I was worried... the first race of the season always makes me nervous. This weekend was Frozen Flatlands, which serves as the local "season opener." Saturday we awoke to snowflakes the size of quarters falling. UGH. Figures. In fact, they delayed race starts for 2 hours because they had to call in the plows!! Saturday was the 60 minute circuit race, followed by a road race on Sunday. For once, we had a decent women's field: 9 registered women As, and 27 registered women Bs. It was really cool to stage and see so many women.



I was super excited to be racing with a teamate, too! Allison Beall was able to make the race, and we decided to try to shake things up as much as possible just to make things interesting. Mike had just purchased Motorola radios for the Vertical Earth Cat 2 men's team, and since they were racing 2 hours after us women, he fitted Allison and me up with headsets. Then he and Ted, Allison's guy, wore 2 others. So they could tell us what to do (or not do), shout encouragement, and in general be supportive. This allowed Allison and me to be able to communicate with each other, too. It was awesome! Allison attacked for a prime lap, which she won (with a lot of hard work). We took turns attacking and counter-attacking, which also was a ton of fun. Coming into the final lap, it was going to be a pack bunch-sprint, and I knew I needed to go for it. What I didn't know was that I started my sprint WAY too early - about 450 meters out!!! Luckily for me, I was strong enough to hold it for a handy win, but man - stupid to go so soon!



Today brought rain, wind, and freakish stinging hail that came in fits and spurts. Since I had won yesterday and was in the lead for the omnium, my plan was to play defensively, and hope that it would come down to a sprint again. Allison and I strategized that she would try to break away on "The Wall," the definitive hill of the course. If a chase group formed, I would then insert myself in there for a free ride - hoping they wouldn't be able to reel Allison in - but if they did, it would put me there for the sprint, hopefully. That way we figured all of our bases would be covered.



There were a couple teams there that outnumbered us Bob's girls, but they were unwilling to do much work in the way of setting a hard pace. I found myself pushing wind a few times, but managed to stay in the pack to save my legs as much as possible. Allison got out front a few times to set pace, too, but both of us were smart. Right before The Wall, I turned to see where Allison was in our small group of about 9 that had managed to shell the rest of the pack. She was gone! I figured she must've flatted, because she was looking strong and in control the entire race (she did flat, I found out). I felt a small bit of panic swell inside me - "Crap! I've got two teams here in this group of 6 of us - I'm outnumbered!" Tactically, if the 2 teamates from one team, and the two teamates from the other team, along with the one solo girl, decided to go on the offensive, it would be conceivable that they could all work together to shell me. I was anticipating attack after attack after attack, which I would have to defend. But, my worry was for naught. No one did much in the way of attacking at all. When our group of now 5 hit The Wall, 3 of us set a steady, moderately hard pace up, which managed to shell one more rider. Then we were down to 4. We worked really well together, and I did more than my share of pushing wind and setting pace. I knew I was the strongest rider in this group of us, and I just wanted to be sure that we stayed away until the finish line.



The finish was another sprint. One of the girls decided to essentially lead me out (unbeknownst to her) from 1km. I pulled around her with about 150 meters to go, about a bike length ahead of 2nd place. It was awesome to feel so strong and in control the entire way - finally feeling like my training is paying off!



Racing with Allison was definitely the highlight of the race experience. It was so much fun to have a teamate, especially one so strong, experienced, and nice :) I think this year is going to be a blast!!

Tidbits

I had to put this picture up (from our trip to Cancun this past January)... I just can't stand the cold anymore. Seriously wondering about putting the house up for sale and moving to (gasp!) California. That would be a switch, wouldn't it??? Wonder how many Californians are going to be saying "Damn Idahoans - they need to go back home!" after this winter.



We did manage to break into the 40s today - I think the high was around 43 degrees. And the sun made an appearance for the entire day. I was able to get a good ride in, although I feared a bit that I may melt from the sun - my exposure has been so little over the last few months. Felt a bit like a mole coming out of its hole, unsure what to do in the blinding light of the sun. Need some serious intravenous vitamin D, I think!



My ride started out great. Perfect weather (I use the word "perfect" loosely, of course...everything relative to what not perfect weather we've had), good legs, a mild headwind on the way out instead of on the way home (making the return home much more enjoyable). I thought today I would just post some interesting "tidbits" that made their way into my mind during my time in the saddle tonight: Why my ride was great today (in no particular order):

• As I said, I started out with a slight headwind. Usually this would be the norm for heading west, but lately, as with everything weather-related, the norm is nowhere to be found. The past couple of weeks with this particular route has found me heading out with a slight tailwind, which lulls me into a false sense of security ("hey, I feel strong today, I'll go out for 35 miles") - only to be crushed by the prospect of heading back home into a relentless headwind by myself, wondering when the heck I can get off this bike...


• Only 2 semis reeking of cow manure passed me on the highway, instead of the usual 67, making for a much more pleasant experience of the open road with my usually open-mouthed breathing


• The ride started with sunshine and what could've been 45 degrees or more in certain spots, which meant that my toes actually stayed approximately body-temperature until about 3 hours into the ride


• I found the sprinting legs that I thought I had misplaced yesterday. They surfaced when I found myself suddenly chased by two big-ass (translation: 120+ pounds) dogs intent on making me their dinner. Either that, or they just have spring fever, too, and saw an easy target in me. I imagine they're probably yucking it up in their doggy house tonight over a couple stiff ones, "Yeah, did you see her face?!" I must be emitting some kind of "chase me" pheromone, because I can't remember a ride where I've been chased and barked at by so many dogs. I honestly think that owners who don't keep their dogs controlled need to be subjected to regular walks in an unfamiliar neighborhood, where we would randomly release critters to chase them down the road for a few hundred yards...


• Hauser lake is still frozen over. It was quite a weird, beautiful juxtaposition of the sunlight and warmth reflecting off the ice that seemed to be eating boats alive - like their owners were somehow caught off guard with the oncoming winter and their boats were left to fend for themselves.


• I actually saw a big Dodge king cab pulled off the side of Hwy 53 (with Idaho plates) for the sole purpose of watching a herd of white-tailed deer in the field. I was thinking I should sell tickets to our place - offer some cheap drinks and a lounge chair - to see the herds that come through our front lawn and eat everything in sight. And there would be bonus footage of the 20 turkeys that use our lawn as their restroom of choice. Stupid wildlife.


• I actually made it through the entire ride without any flip-offs, without getting yelled at to get off the #$%*@!* road, and without getting "mooned." Don't know if I've had such an uneventful ride all year yet!


• I learned how to ride without hands! Granted, it was only for about 20-30 seconds to zip up my jacket, but it means that I'm continuing to evolve into a better rider!

All in all, it was a great ride, in spite of the fact that my iPod managed to shuffle all the most obscure songs that I'd forgotten I had on there (think Sarah McLachlan's "I'll be Home for Christmas" followed by Jurassic 5 followed by Rob Thomas followed by AC/DC followed by REO Speedwagon follwed by Harry Nilsson's "Lime in the Coconut"... you get the picture). Man, I've got to come up with some play lists instead of counting on the shuffle feature!!

Here's to more great rides and the death of winter!