SCX #2 Steilacoom

Today was finally a better race day. By no means am I 100% but my back is so much better and the head cold is almost gone.

It was a rough week with this head cold knocking me down Mon and Tues but I was able to get some training in and today it showed.

I got a good start. Found my pedal pretty fast and was in 3rd into the first corner. I moved into first until the climb. With being injured and sick the whole month of Sept I am lacking power and the first time up the climb I felt that.

Natasha and Courtney got around me and hit it pretty hard on the hill. I gave it all I had and got up. Then hit it hard on the downhill. Made up some ground. I hung onto 3rd for a short bit then Jessica flew by me. I couldn't hang on her pace and then Mel came by. I was able to ride with Mel for about a lap, which was awesome to have a team mate to ride with. But Mel gapped me a bit and I wasn't able to hang on. That darn hill was killing me every lap.

So I finished 5th. Every race I am getting a spot better so that is a good sign. Things will continue to get better each week.

Chad had a great race today, finishing 6th not far behind Sean, fellow team mate. He looked strong all race. His coach is awesome :)

Holden also had a great race finishing in 12th. He is riding so well. Super proud of him!

Ok on to a good week of training. See you all next week at Silver Lake. I love that course! Get ready for sand.

MFG #3 North Bend

I knew going into this race that it was going to be another battle. I came down with a head cold last Wed so I knew I was going to be hurting a bit. Good news is my back is a lot better. There isn't as much pain now but I am still a bit weak and not putting out the same amount of power as before.

We got to the race around 8:30am which ment we were up at 5am to get every thing packed. Early mornings for sure. After getting a bit lost we found the beautiful Mountain Meadows Park in North Bend.

Coach Amara Edwards (CycleU's junior head coach) met us as we pulled in and got us a great spot and we got all set up.

The course was ok, a great venue but the grounds were very rough and bumpy. Another totally flat, dry and fast course. So far all the couses this season have been very flat and fast. Not ones that favor my more technical skills, but I know the mud is coming!

Mel, my team mate, and myself raced first on the day for the Cycle U-PopCap team. I got a pretty good warm up and was feeling ok so I went to the start line. There was a little bit of negative energy on the start line that I was kinda sucked into and realized after wards that I need to try better at lining up next to more positive energy. We had a great line up of fast girls and I knew based on the course I had a lot of work ahead me to get a good placing.

The gun went off and I had a good start. I fell into about 3rd place going into the first corner. I was with my team mate Mel. We were together for a bit but Mel had a great start and moved ahead of me a bit. I wanted to work for her but just couldn't hang on. I settled in and found my rythum.

I was riding with Natasha, she was a bit faster then me so I sat on her wheel for awhile. I saw an opportunity with 3 laps to go and attacked her on a section that I felt a bit faster on. I got a samll gap but with 2 laps to go my back started acting up again and I lost some power. Natasha got back by me and I just couldn't hang on. I just rode the last lap out the best I could and hung on to 6th place. I was 10th last weekend so 6th is an improvement for sure.

Mel finished 2nd! That puts her in 2nd place overall. Super excited for her. She is having a great season and I love having her on my team.

Holden raced next. He is on the Cycle U junior team now and has a fellow team mate, Brennan who races the same age group as him. He raced so strong. He to was sick but he raced through it. The junior race was a bit longer then normal so on the first two laps he was riding so strong but when he came through and saw he had one more lap he was a bit tired and had to just ride it out to finish. He was pretty tired at the end but raced so well. I was so proud of him. And Brennan came in one person behind him so a great day for cycle u.

Chad and Sean raced last. Sean and Chad both always get such great starts. After the first lap Sean was settled in a pack of about 8 guys for the lead group. Chad was just behind that group riding strong. Sean raced smart and finished in 3rd which keeps him in the top 3 for the overall and Chad raced awesome and came in 11th I think.

I hope this cold goes away this week. I am off now to get a massage! Thank god. So we are at Steilacoom next week. Another flat fast course. But my goal is to finish in the top 5 next weekend.

Great job to every one that raced yesterday! See you on Sunday.

The new Cycle U-PopCap jersey's

Time to catch up

Wow sorry I have been so out of the loop for so long. It has been a crazy summer for sure.

I feel that the illness gods are not on my side in 2011. Back in May and June I was the sickest I had ever been before. I was on my way to the 24 hour mtb race in Spokane and wasn't feeling to good. We stopped at a gas station and I threw up all over the back of the gas station. What a way to start a 24hr race!

We kept on driving and got to the race. I was up all night in and out of the port-a-potties. I had stomach cramps so bad. But with my stubbornish I start the race and did the first lap and thought I was going to die. I got through that lap and laid down and slept. I got up thinking I was better, but I was wrong.

My stomach was cramping so bad I could hardly stand up straight. But stupid me, I tried one more lap. I didn't want to let my team down, so I tried. I finished that lap but in the most pain I had ever been in.

With the help of Chad's right mind I decided to throw in the towel. The next 24 hours would be the worst to come. I was in the fetal position most of the day and night and by 1pm the next day we were off to the ER in Spokane.

2 hours of waiting in the ER and then 2 more hours in the room with morphine and spasm meds they released me with no diagnoses. But less pain.

I got better over the next couple days and thought it was just the flu. But driving home the following Thursday I threw up all over myself while in rush hour traffic. Pretty humbling for sure. I was a mess. I made it home to Chad who got me new clothes and I was back in the fetal position again.

I went into my doctor the next day and he tested for ecoli and giardia and the next day I got a call from the nurse that I tested positive for giardia. It was a mixed blessing . I was happy to know what I had and that it was curable, but was disgusted that I had little critters living inside of me.

So onto antibiotics I went. They helped and killed the critters but also killed every thing good in my gut. So the whole month of June I was off my bike trying to get healthy.

I started riding again in July but pretty much starting from scratch. I got in a couple good months of training and then raced the first cross race of the season on Labor Day.

I started out feeling pretty good. I was in 3rd and doing ok considering being a bit behind in training. With 2 laps to go coming out of a turn I stood up to get back up to speed and the course tape grabbed by handle bars and stopped my bike and I went flying over the handle bars. Hit the ground really hard and landed on my head and right shoulder.

Holy crap I had not crashed that hard in a long time. I jumped up and made sure nothing was broken and off I went. My shoulder hurt pretty bad, but I finished and held onto 3rd place.

Instantly my shoulder was hurting. I could tell it wasn't broken but possibly a small seperation. I iced it and went to my chiropractor the next day. That helped a lot and we decided to try taping my shoulder back to help releave pain while riding.

That worked but after two days of taping the shoulder back my lower back went out. That hurt more then the shoulder. So back to the Chiro for more adjustments. But this wasn't going away.

I raced the first MFG race and right in the first lap I crashed. Luckily on the other side. I lost a lot of positions and fell back to around 10th. I felt good though and started fighting back. I worked my way back up to 4th. I was pretty happy with that.

The back was really bad after that race. I could barely stand up. Kept in at chiro and started getting massages.

I started Starcrossed not know what to expect. It was a stacked field to say the least. I got a back row call up. So I knew I was going to have a lot of work ahead of me. I raced hard, and felt pretty strong and worked my way up to finish 14th. Not bad for racing injured.

Back was really sore again after the race. I started the Rapha Focus GP and right away I knew it wasn't going to be good. I couldn't produce any power and had to pull out of the race. For those of you that know me, I don't quit races unless I am in a lot of pain. So that will tell you how bad it really was.

So I was super frustrated and back in chiro and another massage. The back muscles were starting to let go a bit and I started feeling some relief.

I raced the first Seattle Series race and that didn't go so well either. We drove from Chelan at 4am (from a weding the day before) and boy was I tired. The whole morning was stressful with different issues and I just knew it wasn't going to be a good day.

We started only 15sec behind the guys. Not sure why such a short gap but it was horrible. We were mixing into the guys in the first corner and the whole race became a mess trying to pass guys just to stay with the girls.

I normally don't complain about being in with the guys, but 15sec just isn't enough time. So I got caught a few times behind some guys I couldn't get around and the race was over for me. I gave up metally and just finished it out the best I could to finish in 10th.

And now I have a cold. I swear my patience is being tested. I am trying to stay positive and work through it. We will see how tomorrow goes at the MFG race in North Bend. I am on a mission to kick some butt as long as I have the energy.

So long story short this has been a crazy summer and start to the cross season. Look out I will be killing it by Dec!

Chilly Cross

I traveled up to Bellingham today to race the last cross race in WA. For the first time in while I went to this race solo. It was kinda fun, but lonely. I really like racing with my family but Chad had to work so I dropped Holden off at my brother's house and headed up north.

The weather was pretty good. It was about 38 degrees but clear ski. The course was awesome!! I really like racing at Cornwall park. It has a little bit of everything and this year they ran the course backwards from last year and added in some new area's. Overall I have to say that I like this course layout the best so far.

My race start time was 10:30am. There were 5 Elite women on the line. Not bad for 3 weeks after Nats and no local racing here at home since then. This was the last race of a smaller series so the first row was the girls that had raced all the races and then myself and Corrie Middleton from Collision One lined up on the back row since we had not done any of the other races in this series.

We started about 30 sec behind the 45+ Cat 3 men and I decided to not go out all crazy and just sit on a couple girls wheels to get a feel for how everyone was riding. We went into this wooded section with 2 little log dismounts. We all were able to ride them, but Courtney McFadden with Western University had a little bobble so I decided to kick it in and attack. We went into this longer climb and I started opening up a gap and started running into the guys that were in front of us. We came through the start finish area and I had about a 10 sec gap on Courtney so I started pushing it. There was this big open grass section with some good corners that were slippery mud so I used my technical skills to open up my gap even more.

I started to focus on getting as many guys as I could that started in front of us. So I spent the rest of the race just going after the guys, and got quite a few of them. Not sure where I ended up finishing with them but I had a blast and really love riding with those guys. They are all so nice and so encouraging when I go by them, and I know they hate it!! So thank you guys for always pushing me and cheering me on out there, it really helps.

So I held on and opened up my gap to around 2min and got the win with Courtney finishing in 2nd. It was such a great course, and fun to have a lower key race with less stress. I had a pretty bad head cold over the last 2 weeks so I was nervous that was going to hinder me, it did but just a little bit. And my hand, holy cow it was awesome!! I raced with no brace and it felt almost 100%!! I was so excited to be able to ride again and have full strength and be able to shift without the brace getting in the way!!

I am only just shy of 8 weeks after surgery and I can hardly tell it ever happened!! Thank you again Dr. Weil and Orthopedic Specialists of Seattle! You guys rock and made the end of my season possible!! Thank you so much to everyone that worked with me. I really appreciate it!

So now it is time to just hit the gym and get in some longer runs and riding a few days a week to take a break and then I will be out on the Mountain bike more this year to build up my muscle strength for the 2011 cross season. So I will see you all out on the road and off road this spring and summer.

I will update as things happen,

Kristi

Nationals race update

Well Nationals are over for me. It wasn't as good as I had hoped but I did race and was able to even though I broke my hand just 3 weeks ago! Thank you Dr. Weil and Kelly!! I didn't even know 3 weeks ago if I was going to be able to ride let alone race and I did it!

It was cold with lots of peanut butter mud and big cold mud puddles. I wore more clothes then any race this year and I was perfect for temp. My feet got cold towards the end but really overall no major issues with the cold. I think it was a high of 40 degrees today with about 15-20mile hour winds so with the wind chill it was really cold.

I warmed up under Todd Andersons tent. Thank you Todd for always showing up so early to get a good spot! I got to the start about 10min before the race start. My call up wasn't so good because of my not so good TT the day before. I was on the 3rd of 4 rows of girls. We took off and right at the start the girls on each side of me came into me and I had to hit the brakes. I wasn't going to fall with my hand so that set me back to 25th position right off the start. Then we turned onto this hard mud section that everyone was just riding all over the place. I got stuck behind a lot of girls and had to slow down, no choice there. I was watching the front group just walk away. It was frustrating but what can you do, that is racing.

So I decided to just put my head down and use my technical skills to pass girls. I got a couple right away and then started getting one or 2 girls every lap. I was making good ground but could only get up to 17th. I was frustrated, but very happy that I could just be out there racing.

My hand hurt a bit, not the broken bone but my wrist got sore from being in the brace and my overall strength was weak at times and boy was it hard to pick up my bike over the barriers and stairs. But overall a good day, I am on a redemption though for next year so watch out ladies, I am going to come back stronger and healthy next year!!

Thank you to everyone that supported me over the season and at the race today. I heard so many people cheering and it was inspirational!

Holden raced at 9:30am this morning and boy was it cold. He was so nervous again. He had a good start but was off the back and started getting cold. There was this huge mud puddle that totally soaked his feet and he started crying. He was so cold. We just encouraged him to finish and not worry about where he finished. He was so concerned because he was last and I just tried to tell him how proud we were of him. He hung in there and pushed through and finished the race. He ended up in 20th place in the Junior 10-12 year olds. I can't tell you how proud of him I am, he really pushed through a hard mental place today and grew up a little more. What a great kid!!

Ok now it's time for a break from riding for a few weeks, I will hit the gym and try to build up all the muscle I have lost and get ready for this MTB season.

Kristi

Nationals update

We have been in Bend OR now since Wed. The weather has been pretty decent with mostly blue sky's but the temps are below freezing at night and there is a couple inches of snow on the ground in most places so the early races and TT's have been on frozen mud ruts or ice.

Holden and myself raced our TT's yesterday. The TT's are new this year, the idea is to use the TT times to call people up by fastest to slowest on race day. But the TT course it at a different location then the race and it is covered in snow and frozen. Where the race course is all mud.

Holden went first in the morning, he was so nervous!! I was nervous to because it was really icy and I didn't want him to fall and get hurt or loose confidence. He had a couple moments where I thought he wasn't going to ride it, but he bucked up and did it. I was so impressed, he took off and was looking awesome. There was this spot that was a shorter downhill section that he was going to run but in the race he rode it and looked awesome!! They had the little guys just do a very short course which was a great idea. He came through the finish and said he thought he was going to throw up and that he couldn't breath. I told him that is what racing at altitude does. We were so very proud of him!! He finished in 13th place in the TT out of 20kids so he will get a 2nd row start this morning in his race.

I started the TT and I was doing good. But I am not a great short distance all out TTist so I knew this was going to hurt and it did!! About half way through there is a false flat section that goes into a run up covered in snow. I pretty much dies there!! My legs and lungs just couldn't handle the short hard effort. I pushed the best I could but lost some time and finished 11th out of 19 girls that did the TT. There are about 30-35 girls registered in my race so a lot of them opted out of the TT so that will give me a better starting position for today's race. I race today at 2:15pm and will let everyone know how it goes. If my legs are with me and my hand let's me go hard I think I will do really well on this course, it is really muddy and very technical which suits my riding style.

It poured down rain last night so it will be even more technical today.

Kristi