Starcrossed

What an amazingly fun day!!

It was overcast most of the day, temps were perfect. Not to hot, not to cold. And there was an amazing amount of talent in every race.

I raced the Masters Open 30+ Women's Cat. We had around 20 ladies on the line, great size field!! I got a front row call up which was great, and I had my teammate Kristy Kelsey on my wheel in the second row. I got a great start, was in top 10 right off the gun. I held that for most of the race. I was going back and forth with a couple ladies and was actually feeling pretty strong minus the barriers of course.

I had passed a couple ladies and was in 8th place going into the last quarter of the last lap and was trying to turn on the heat because I could see 2-5th place just a few seconds ahead of me. So I wanted to give it all I had to see how far I could move up. And of course I railed a turn to hard and actually rolled my clincher tire off the bead.

At first I thought my rear wheel had gone out of true because I could feel my tired rubbing back and forth on my brakes. Then I was suddenly put to stop, I didn't crash but when I looked down I saw that the tire was off the bead and my tube had wrapped around my cassette and into my rear derailleur. Darn it, I can't run so I was done. The finish was only like 2 mins away!! Oh well, at least it happened at the end so I got to get in almost the whole race. It was a great workout for sure!!

Chad had to cut the tube in like 6 different pieces to get it out of my drive line. It really was stuck in there!!First time I can ever say I rolled a clincher!

Great day, super fun and the Elite men's and women's races were awesome. So exciting!!

MFG #1 Finn Hill Park

Sunday was the first series race of the year. The sun was out and boy was it hot.

The course was excellent, it had a little bit of everything and I really liked it.

This was the first time we had all the Category women racing at the same time, and I personally loved it!!
We had a lot of women out on the course and only women during our time slot. I feel that this gives the women the lime light that we deserve so we are not all mixed in and lost in the men. And I believe this will also help all the women improve because they can see the upper categories pace and that will encourage growth in all categories. So I feel it is a win win for everyone.

I lined up on the 2nd row, we had 22 Elite women, the largest local elite field I have ever been in, in either of our 2 series here in Wa! That is so awesome that our fields are growing so rapidly each year, I remember when I first started and to be honest up till just a couple years ago we would only have 5-8 elite women on the line. So I was super excited to see the growth!!

I got a great start, and found my pedal pretty fast. I was in approx 6th place till about 3/4 of a lap when we hit the road hill climb section. And I felt like I was standing still! Girls were flying by me. That is my weakness right now since I have not been able to ride hills very long with my knee. So I just gave it all I could and I fell back into the 2nd group of ladies and hung on. On the flats and technical sections I am very strong but anything that goes up right now just hurts.

So I made it to the barriers and again girls flew by me. Since I have to walk the barriers I was passed every lap there by one or two ladies. But there is nothing I can do about that right now, I am trying really hard to follow the doctors instructions and no running or barriers till Nov. So when you all see me walking that is why. It is funny cause people that don't know my story always yell at me to run not walk, I just get a giggle out of it. I am just so happy to be back out there!!

So each lap I fell back a place or two, but I kept pushing and coming into the finish there were 2 ladies right in front me. So I gunned it on the road finish and out sprinted one and almost got the other. So I ended up 18th, not my best results by far, but I have a long road of recovery ahead of me. So each race I hope to get a little stronger and improve my results every race.

Again a great showing for the women's cats this weekend!! I so proud to say I am a WA women cross racer. We have such a great group of ladies out there and I really enjoy racing with all of you!!

Saturday is Stracrossed and I am racing the master 30+. I will give it my all and see what I can do.

It's been awhile, time to start posting again!!

Wow I just realized it has been over a year and a half since I did my last post!

A lot has happened in that year and a half.

I decided last season to take a year off of racing. I was burning out a bit at the end of the 2010/11 season. And after thinking about it I realized I had not had any significant time off in 17 years of racing and I was feeling it. I have been racing very competitively for over 17 years and my body was starting to take a toll. I had back problems really bad the whole season and that wore me down and made racing not so fun.

So I took the whole year off of 2012 and boy did it feel good. I needed it so bad. It was a little hard when the first cross came around to not race, but once that first race was over it was very easy to not race! I still went to every cross race in 2012 as support for my family and the Cycle U-PopCap Elite team. I really enjoyed being able to give back and help everyone. It was just fun to watch people race!

So after that winter I was excited to get back to racing, feeling very rested I wanted to start training again and get back out there in the 2013 season. I started training early spring and was feeling good, out of shape but fresh. When unfortunately I hurt my right knee. Not sure exactly what I did but one day I woke up and my knee was swollen up the size of a grapefruit. And a lot of pain.

I went to see Dr. Doug Nowak at Everett Bone and Joint and we did an MRI. Unfortunately the MRI didn't show to much, just some swelling and some irritation in the back of the knee cap but that was it. So he recommended a couple months of physical therapy to see if we could rehab it back. I went to Arlington Family PT and Chris LaPolla did a amazing job with setting me up with PT to help my knee heal up.

I went for 6 weeks and unfortunately the knee just wouldn't quit swelling so Chris sent me back to Dr. Nowak and we decided that surgery was inevitable. So on May 9th 2013 I went under the knife.

I had a spinal so I was awake during the surgery, first time I have ever done that, boy was that cool. Being able to see the inside of your body is amazing. So Dr. Nowak wasn't to sure what he would find when he got in there but the first words out of his mouth were, "boy this is a lot worse then I thought".
Not so good for me. I had very little cartilage left in my knee, so he had to do micro fracture on the lateral side of my knee and the back of the knee cap.

So I was out for 6 weeks, no weight at all on the leg. I was in a CPM machine for 6-8 hours everyday after surgery for the full 6 weeks. I was lucky because the pain wasn't to back. But being on crutches was a pain in itself. And to top it off the day before surgery I was reaching up to grab a glass out of the cupboard and partially tore my rotator cuff in my right shoulder! Seriously, so the doc gave me a cortisone shot to ease some pain and swelling but there was nothing he could do till I was off crutches. So I had more pain in my shoulder then my knee most of the time.

So after a long 6 weeks of couch time I was off the crutches and back in PT. It was a slow start, with just some basic exercises but every week I got stronger. After 8 weeks I was released from PT and able to just do it on my own.
I was back on my bike 4 weeks after surgery, just on the trainer and the first day I could only do 5 mins!
But everyday I got stronger and after following my doctors orders I am almost back to normal.

Right now I just over 4 months post surgery, I am able to ride without any pain most of the time on the bike. So I decided to give cross racing a try. The doctor said only if I promised to not run or dismount at speed, I could race. So that was a go for me, and I really am walking over all barriers and run ups. And it's working.

I raced the WAWCX womens festival the middle of August and felt pretty good. I rode strong on the bike, and just stopped and walked each set of barriers. Of course everyone passed me there but I didn't care, I just wanted to get in a good race effort on the bike.

And yesterday I raced the Labor Day CX race and actually felt pretty darn strong on the bike. I was doing really well and riding in 6-7 place in the elite women until on lap 3 my saddle popped up after I hit a big bump and boy is is hard to ride when the nose of your saddle is pointing straight up!! I got a tool and fixed it to only have it happen again a quarter lap later. Darn it, so frustrating. So I feel way back and got lapped by the top guys, but I still finished. One lap down but it counted.

So now I am replacing the seat post so that doesn't happen again!

So long story but that is what I have been up to over the last year. And now I am working on my newest adventure of opening up my very own Cycle U North up in Arlington in Snohomish CO!!! I am so excited to get to bring the amazing classes and bike fitting up north so that everyone in Sno Co can get some great indoor training this winter. My website is www.cycleunorth.com. It is a work in progress but in a week or so I will have class dates and times posted. Please spread the word that there is now a Cycle U North in Arlington. I can't wait to get to help so many people improve their fitness and love for cycling.

Ok I am off now, and I will try to keep posting as things happen this season and keep you all updated on my progress with my knee.

USGP Bend day one

Well day one of the USGP in over. Not the best day for me but it will do. It was so cold and windy all day.

We had 41 women on the start line in the Elite womens field. And of course I was number 39 on the call up order. So last row start :(

My goal was to see how many girls I could catch and pass. I got a good start and moved up into around 20th by the half way mark. I settled in with a group of gals. We were back and forth and a couple girls got around me and got away.

I felt good, just was affected by the altitude a lot. Lap 3 I started to panic a bit and was really having a hard time breathing. I calmed down and got control of the breathing and held on to finish 27th.

The corse was fun though. First time I have ridden in Bend for cross in the dry sandy conditions.

Mel got crashed out on the first lap and faught back to finish 27th.

Sean rode awesome and got 3rd in the 45+ men cat!

Chad wasn't feeling it today and finished in 50th in the 35+ men.

And Evan at the age of 18 raced his first National level elite race and finished strong, getting pulled with a couple laps to go.

Another day of racing tomorrow. My goal is to break into the top 20 tomorrow.

WA State Championships

What a beautiful day Sunday turned out to be at the WA State Championships in Arlington WA. It was cold but dry which made for some fast racing conditions.

My husband Chad got this awesome venue and created this awesome course. At first we were nervous that the course would be to fast and to boring, but after 4 hours of Chad tilling up the sand the course came to life.

With my rough season of injury, illness and mechanicals going into this race I wanted some redemption. And boy did I get it!

The womens elite field was stacked as usually with a ton of talent. I knew on this course with not to much technical elements I was going to have work really hard to be in the top 3.

The gun went off and I clipped into my pedal so fast. Best and fastest time so far this season. So I took off, and got the whole shot going into the first tree section. I heard a crash but I was off the front so I tried to make some ground. I had gotten about a 5 sec gap.

I was so surprised, I was off the front and feeling awesome. So I kept on the gas. I kept the lead for about 1 lap then Kari Studley caught me and passed me. I stuck to her wheel and we entered the sand. A guy fell in front of me and I ran right into him. I had to get back going again and that is when Kari got a small gap on me. I tried to bring it back but she was just a bit faster then me on the straight aways.

My team mate Mel Lewis was in 3rd with Jessica Cutler behind her in 4th. Mel played some awesome team tactics and didn't pull Jessica back up to me and with one lap to go Mel punched it to put a gap on Jessica and Mel came in 3rd place.

I held on and got 2nd just 10 sec behind Kari. What a great race. I felt like myself again. It just felt good to be able to push hard the whole race and not fade or have any mechanicals. Best race for me this whole season!

Sean, Evan and Chad all had great races. Sean took 2nd in the Master 45+ cat, Chad had a back injury and after being in 2nd for a few laps he fell back to 12th in the Master 35+. And Evan had another great race finishing in 13th in the Elite men.

Now we are off to race in Bend, OR this weekend. The season is almost over, I can't beleive how fast the season goes.

SCX #7 Monroe

What a day! It rained all day and made the ground very wet and muddy. The way they laid out the course this year was my favorite so far. So much mud and so technical. Perfect!

I was 6th going into the series finals and Mel my teammate was in 4th. So our goal was to take off and try to move up a bit in the points. We started, and I had a great start. I was sitting around 3rd after the straight away. I stayed there for about a half lap then Natasha passed me. I tried to hang on, but lost her wheel.

Mel came up and we rode together for a half a lap and then she got a gap on me after the technical downhill. We both rode down it just fine but Mel could ride up the up hill section after the downhill and I had to run which gave her a little gap each lap.

I held on and finished in 5th, Mel in 4th on the day. What a fun course. Good news was that the 3rd place girl didn't race so Mel moved up to 3rd overall and I moved up to 5th overall! What a great season so far for the Cycle U-PopCap team.

Chad figured out that so far in 18 races we have had 31 top 5 placings! That is awesome.

Chad and Sean also had a great race. They rode together most of the race and finished 4th and 5th on the day.

Evan had a good race but finished 10th overall in his first Cat 1-2 field! Super awesome.

And lastly Holden had lne goal and that was to finish his race. And he did, he was so cold and muddy when he was done but he did it, he finished in those crazy cold, wet and muddy conditions. So proud of him!

Ok so on to State Champs this Sun. I hope for some fresh legs.

Thank you SCX for another great season!

SCX #6 Sprinker

Well what can I say, another bad luck race for me. The bad part was I was feeling just about the best I have felt all season too!

I really liked the new course layout, it had more turns then before which slowed it down a bit and made it a little more technical. It was so cold today. I raced at 1:30 and it was only about 38 degrees. So I broke out the long sleeve thermal undershirt for this one.

We took off at the start and I decided to not go all out, to just sit on 2nd or 3rd wheel to see how I was going to feel and I felt good. I really felt good, I was so excited and about half way through the first lap I was in 2nd, right on 1st places wheel and not going all out. This was setting up to be my best race this season.

Then it happened, I shifted down to get ready for the 2nd run up and my chain fell into my rear wheel. I fixed it but realized my chain had come out of the bottom of the derailleur. I fixed it but 5th place had already gone by. I got to the pits, where Justin and Chad had my bike ready for me. Awesome bike change, thanks guys. So I got on the B bike and right away it felt wrong. My chain was popping in the middle of my cassette. So I still tried to bridge back up to the girls in front of me, but just couldn't do it.

Turns out my rear derailleur was broken so Justin took one off of Chad's bike and had my bike back running in 2 laps. Thank you Justin! You rock!

So back on the A bike and I gave it one good shot and tried to bridge back up. But after one lap I just faded out. It was just not my day. I am trying so hard to stay with it this season with all my injuries, illnesses and bike mechanicals. I am so mentally fried, but I just hung on and finished 7th behind Mel who was in 6th, who also had a bad day and had her chain drop off twice.

Oh well just another bad day. I was pretty frustrated when I finished but it is time to move on and focus on Monroe. Who knows what will happen there, but I will be there and give it my best for sure.

Holden crashed hard at the first set of barriers in his race and hurt his side and leg. He got back up and finished one lap and then bailed do to pain and a bad head cold. Poor guy, he will be back for Monroe.

Chad and Sean also had a rough day, they were sitting both in the top 5 after the first lap, looking good, when a rider crashed in front of them and they had to stop and wait to get by. Chad worked back up from almost last place to finish 8th and Sean in 11th. Evan also was in a crash, and he got up and finished in 18th.

So overall not a good race day for Cycle U-PopCap. But we will all shake it off this week and focus on Monroe.

Thank you again Justin for rushimg to get my bike fixed and back available to ride!