06.16.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 9:47 am by grrlrider
Not bad for my first couple of races.
Last two races (masters regional) I got a gold and a bronze medal. Not too shabby…
Here is the rest of my track results.
Matrix Track Cup - R1 - Scratch/Keirin (4/19/2008) Women’s Cat 4 6th 5
Matrix Track Cup - R3 - Long Points/Scratch (4/19/2008) Women’s Cat 4 6th 5
Matrix Track Cup - R2 - Short Points/Scratch (4/19/2008) Women’s Cat 4 5th 6
Matrix Track Cup - R6 - Houston Tempo/Points (4/20/2008) Women’s Cat 4 5th 6
Matrix Track Cup - R4 - Scratch (4/20/2008) Women’s Cat 4 5th 6
Matrix Track Cup - R5 - Snowball/M&O (4/20/2008) Women’s Cat 4 5th 6
Track Total 34
Masters Regionals / Texas State Championship 06/13 & 06/14/2008 * Superdrome * Frisco Texas
| Event |
Age Group |
# |
NAME |
AGE |
|
TEAM |
Time |
Place |
| Womens 2k Pursuit |
W30+ |
82 |
Stanovich christine |
41 |
|
Dallas Bike Works |
3:34.71 |
3 |
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05.22.08
Posted in Bike Races at 7:06 am by grrlrider
Place: DNF
Overall season place: 5th
PJ, Amanda and I get down there late Friday night. I spent the majority of the drive down sleeping. I was just so incredibly tired and had been for the past week or so. I went to bed really early and we got up to go pre-ride Sat. morning around 8 or 9. We get out there and…it’s raining. Me and wet rocks do NOT like each other. We all decided to wait until the rain stopped to ride and we came back later that afternoon around 1 or so and decided to ride the kids course which was only about 4 or 5 miles. It would be a good way for Amanda to see the terrain without wearing ourselves out on the slippery rocks.
Pre-ride was pretty good despite rock slipperiness. I felt good and confident about racing the next day. I knew I could handle the rocks wet so riding them dry should be no problem.
When we get back after the pre-ride, I was STILL incredibly tired so I went to take a nap. Yeah, I was out almost all afternoon. I was just SO tired.
Race day-
I had a really good warm up of about 20 to 30 minutes with easy riding and about 2 hard sprints for about a minute or two to get my heart rate up. While warming up, I look for my competitors and see only Jennifer J. and Kim C. Maybe…just maybe… Jennifer S. won’t show up. THAT would be cool. We get to the line, and there is Jennifer S. I know I am faster on downhill but she kills me on the climbs. I decide then and there to get in front at the start since it is all downhill rocky descents and maybe I can get enough time on her to pull it off.
Good plan. Too bad it didn’t work. We get off on the start and I jump in front of her and the other unknown racer in my cat to get behind JenJ and KimC. I know KimC doesn’t do technical that well even though she is super fast roady girl so I’m hoping I can keep up with them at least through the first mile or so. I keep having to pass girls in the cat ahead of us on the technical stuff, and one girl keeps dismounting right in front of me and when I go to pass she jumps on her bike and gets in front of me. I get frustrated and start taking some chances on more difficult lines and drops. I make EVERYTHING this time. Things I was afraid of on the pre-ride I did. I was a bit shaky on them, but I kept thinking I have no option. I FINALLY pass the two girls who are holding me back, but I’ve lost sight of Kim and Jen. I hear JenS behind me and know that she caught me because of the log jam from the other girls. We get to the long technical climb and I screw up and pick a bad line and Jennifer passes me. I had to get off and run up the climb. At this point my heart rate is maxed out and I had to stop just to get my breath. I watch as Jennifer pulls away… DAMN IT! I jump back on and try to sprint to catch up but no matter how hard I try she keeps pulling away. At this point, there is more climbing so I know she is going to get away. We get to another rocky climb, I misjudged my line and had to get off and walk around a “tire pincher” rock. That was the last time I saw her. After that, I was alone on the course. I tried to crank it out in the meadow and in a couple of more places but no matter what I did, I just couldn’t get my breathing under control and I felt exhausted already. I was only about 4 miles in when I realized I better back off because I have another lap I have to do of this crap. I take in some nutrition, do another two sport legs and back off a bit. It’s at this point I’m thinking, “what the hell am I doing racing? The person I needed to beat is already way far ahead of me and I have no chance of catching her feeling like I do now.” I decide to just finish it out and take it easy.
Climbs are getting more difficult. I’m breathing harder. My legs are feeling really sore and tired AND the temperature is increasing. It feels like a freaking furnace. I can’t breath, I can’t concentrate. Then, I catch up to Kathy K. who is in the 30-39 class. She is a good strong racer but does not do well on rocks. We keep leapfrogging. I pass her on downhills and technical ups and she passes me on the open sections. I pass her when she almost falls or falls and then she gets back up to sprint back to me and pass me later. It is starting to piss me off. Finally, one downhill section she endoes and I have to stop suddenly to avoid hitting her. I fell….hard…on a rock (duh). She apologizes then offers to let me go ahead. Leapfrogging again…. Then, what I knew and expected to happen did… the expert guys start passing. At first it’s ok because there are only a few, but then…more and more are coming by. At one rocky downhill, Kathy hears the guy behind us and decides to STOP suddenly and pull off on a downhill rocky corner. I am freaked about the guy behind me yelling AND I have to try and avoid her as well. I go to put my foot down to avoid being hit or crashing and…. “snap”. WHAT the heck??? It was my hamstring. I literally felt it snap like a rubber band. That’s it. I’m done. I am tired of dealing with her, the expert guys AND now I have a screwed up hamstring. I decided then and there to not do another lap. I was hot, tired , exhausted, sore, irritated and just DONE.
I was mentally fatigued, physically fatigued and just pretty much tired of racing at that point. It wasn’t fun. Between her stops and starts, the experts wanting to pass, and my sore hamstring the last couple of miles totally SUCKED. I decided to let her stay in front and just back off. We get to the second to last climb and she fell. When I tried to go around her, she was picking her bike up and her back wheel hit my front wheel causing me to fall on top of her. Actually, I just kind of leaned and went to put my foot down, but her damn bike was in the way and I got twisted and tangled and she moved out of the way so I could fall. (nice of her). This one hurt my calf muscle when I fell and bruised my knee pretty bad. “F-it”, I told her. “I am NOT doing another lap”. “WHAT?” she said…. “No… you have to do it and ride with me.” “No I don’t!”. I get to the top, go to the finish and tell them to DNF me. MY FIRST DNF EVER in a TMBRA series.
I am not proud of it. I feel like crap for doing it, but I also know I would not have made it out of the course without assistance if I did a second lap.
Nutrition was good and the same as I’ve had for every race. The only thing I can think of was being mentally and physically just burned out. I’ve never NOT looked forward to racing and especially at Xbar. I love rocky technical stuff but this year, I didn’t have it.
Not sure what I’m going to do from this point, but I do know one thing. I truly hate my bike now. I want to run and swim for a while but the bike will stay put away until I’m back to missing it and wanting to ride again. Who knows how long that will be. Right now, I’m thinking never but that is burnout for ya.
I sure would have liked to have had SOME successes this year, but so far, all I’ve had was failure. Not a good way to end a season, and not a good way to keep me racing.
Golf anyone?
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05.05.08
Posted in Bike Races at 10:07 am by grrlrider
7th out of 10
Prelude:
I had made the decision after last weeks race to skip this one. Moving out of my house Saturday was the major reason, but after racing three weekends in a row my coach thought it would be ok to skip this one especially since my legs were still tired on Wednesday.
Saturday morning, the day of the move, was emotionally hard for me. I thought it would take all day but I was completely finished by lunch. I called a couple of friends to see who was riding where on Sunday and almost everyone was doing the MS150 ride so I would be on my own. I was getting more depressed by the minute. The weather was beautiful and I wanted to ride, but the trails here were all wet and I didn’t feel like doing a road ride.
Then, everything changed. The two most wonderful people in the world, Amanda and MikeyP began calling and texting me to head on down in the evening and race double lake. They totally took me out of my blue mood and encouraged me to do something to feel better. What better way to get out of a funk than to race. Both Amanda and Mikey have been through what I’m going through and thankfully, they are here to help me see this thing through. They practically saved my life this weekend by cajoling me into going to Huntsville. Then, Pam Jackson also called and talked me into going. So, I made the call to my coach and he said I could race but to keep my expectations low due to physical and emotional fatigue. Mood lifted as I packed and jumped in my car.
I get there too late to register or pre-ride but it didn’t matter, I’d ridden it enough to know what it was like. Also, since my expectations were low I was ok with that. We had a great dinner and laughed until my sides hurt. It was such a difference from my earlier mood. Being with new friends and old ones PLUS looking forward to riding/racing is always a mood elevator.
Race morning:
I am one of the first people at the race and I’m still on the fence about racing… in comes next group of people to encourage me. Cap Carter tells me I should race, I’d feel better and Judy and Jurgen talk to me about some of their own personal issues and how they overcame them. They also encouraged me to “go out and ride. You will feel better”. Even though there were more women in my class today (10) than we’ve ever had I knew that by just racing my race I would feel MUCH better.
The Race:
I’m on the start with the girls, laughing and being silly, totally relaxed with no expectations. We are off and I am… in the wrong gear. As I shift to the big ring, the girls around me pull away. I counted as they went in… 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Okay… I’m good with this. I let them go and let my heart rate go back a little. Jennifer S. is in my sight and Monica is on my tail. Monica is like me and likes to talk through the race so we have a pretty decent pace but we are chatting as we ride. I get to a fast section and pass a couple of junior girls and one guy. Monica stays with me. Usually I can shake her in the tight stuff but not today. Today she is pushing hard. She is telling me to pick up the pace and pushing me a little harder than I want to go, but I do knowing that I’m not going to do this pace the entire time.
What???? What is that up ahead? The lead pack??? WTF? 1-5 is in front. I jump on the the wheel of the last girl and hang on for the ride. It gets backed up in the tighter stuff and I’m thinking, “I could totally jump here and pick them off” but I know that I couldn’t keep that pace so I just hang on for the ride. We get to a climb and everyone, again, pulls away from me. Monica wants to pass so I let her, knowing that on the next downhill… she and Jennifer ARE MINE!! This course is feeling good. I’m feeling good… we are at about mile 7.7 and I’m starting to catch back up to all the girls and then…..
BAM!!!!!
I stop cold and I am thrown from my bike over the handlebars and sideways. I bounce, hit my head on the ground and find myself laying face up on the ground while everyone passes me. “You ok?” I can’t answer because I’m not sure. One girl waits to see if I’m ok, another goes to get a course marshal. I slowly check everything out… foot? Ok. leg? Ok. Back, stomach? OK, Arms? Head? everything checks out ok and then I look to make sure nothing is at a weird angel and stand up to get back on.
CRAP! My handlebars are totally twisted and my chain is caught up and I can’t get it out. In the meanwhile, two more girls pass as I get out my tools and repair my bike. CRAP! I’ve lost a good 5 minutes by now and I know I will never see the lead girls again. I get my bike fixed, and start walking. OUCH. What the heck? My leg, butt, neck and head HURT. I look to see a couple of really good bruises starting to appear. Hmmm.. should I DNF? I think about it. In the meantime I get back on my bike and ride to the finish line where I see my savior #4, Kathy Johnson. I pull over to her and tell her I wrecked and was thinking about quitting. She asked when it happened and then suggested I ride it out to the next road crossing and if it felt to bad then to go ahead and DNF. THANKS Kathy for not letting me “kitty” out. 
I jump on and take my time knowing I’m in last place (10th). I start out slowly and then start working my way back to normal race pace. I see one of the women in my category just ahead of me so I speed up and pass her. Then another, then another. Woo-Hooo! I’m not last anymore!!! Then… CRACK. My pedal hits a root. WTF? This is what happened earlier and why I fell. I’ve been having problems with my pedals not having clearance lately and I don’t know why. This time, I relax my grip and steer in the direction my handlebars were already going. I saved it…. but I ended up doing this four more times total in the race. Each time a string of profanities were uttered about my bike and my pedals. I MUST get this fixed before xbar or else the damage will be MUCH worse.
Finally… home stretch and no other girls in sight in front or behind me. I’m disappointed I didn’t catch back up but I’m not surprised. I wasted way to much time, I’m sure I lost a total of 8 - 10 minutes between the crash, the repair and talking with Kathy, as well as walking and debating whether or not to finish it out. However… I am MORE than glad I decided to race. I felt great, had a good day (except for the crash) and was a MUCH happier girl than I was 24 hours before then.
Special thanks for this race goes to….
Amanda
MikeyP.
Drew
Pam J.
Kathy J.
Cap
Judy
Jurgen
Ric
All of them made this race and this weekend possible for me and did more with their friendship and encouragement than they know. I did well because of you all…. else I wouldn’t be writing this up.
THANK YOU!!!
BTW - Right now I’m in top 3 in the state. Look quick, it won’t be this way for long!
http://tmbra.org/results/spring_08/html/sw40.html
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