Congratulations to all the racers at this weekend's Chequamegon! It was a sad day for me because after my DNF at Ore to Shore I was thinking it was the right decision not to preregister. I should have tried. A DNF feels better than not trying to race at all. The week before O2S I didn't sleep at all, so going into the race I just felt exhausted....I just wanted to nap at the start line (not race 50 miles)! This year has been tough racing for me as I don't get enough sleep. I had a good long ride anyway that day to make myself feel better.

Last weekend both Scott and I raced at Spirit Mtn (PowderMonkey MNSCS race). It was a beautiful day and Kiera had a handful of baby sitters as my dad and mom and eldest sister and her boyfriend showed up to watch. Scott's dad raced and then helped babysit as well (Kiera ended up sleeping during the entire race at home, but made it for the awards). Scott was 5th even after waking up with a terrible sore throat. He has been sick since, but has made the turn for the better. I won thankfully. I felt fine climbing, but like a fish out of water on the singletrack. Two weeks worth of pulling Kiera in the Chariot and not riding trail was probably not the best idea. The race course was in fantastic shape and very well marked!

Today I was riding at Spirit Mtn race course and was down by the fern gully just about to start the new singletrack cut last summer when I saw a wolverine clinging onto a tree ahead of me. At first I thought it was a bear cub, but the tail was too long. I braked to stop and the noise scared him off ... he flew through the air and I went a different way. I did not want to get any closer!!!! He is really south of his normal range, so I wonder if he was someone's pet or something that got let loose???? Crazy! I also saw a rather large bear this summer and wolf or coyote cub on several occassions while riding. I better start singing while riding...that'll scare the animals off!

Next weekend we are contemplating racing in St. Cloud. Depends upon how much sleep I get, but I would like to race more yet this season with the few races that are left.

It has been tough making the time to update this blog. Scott is on facebook and has been keeping in touch with a lot of people that way. I am still trying to pay back some of the sleep deprivation from the last 10 months! Kiera is finally sleeping through the night for the past week or two now. It is amazing how much better I feel overall. Scott and I were able to ride 90 miles the Sunday on our road bikes and did another 60 mile or so ride yesterday. Thank God for grandparents that are willing to watch Kiera while we ride. Sunday was my first road ride in almost 2 years; my poor bike had dust on it! I forgot how nice and easy it is to pedal. I feel like I have just started my spring training. Too bad it is the end of July.

Our last race was the Lincoln Park Mtn Bike Challenge here in Duluth a few weeks ago. This was a first annual event complete with music, food, etc held in the park next to this beautiful creek in Lincoln Park. The start of the race was all uphill for expert riders; about 9 minutes or so. Then the course hit the Piedmont trail system that was just put in a year or so ago. It is rocky and bumpy, but a really nice trail. Better riding in my opinion at race pace than for a slow, easy ride. Scott and I both won, which was really nice. Kiera had a blast hanging out with Grandpa Irv (Scott's dad). She loves to ride on his shoulders and check out all the people and surroundings.

Scott and I were planning on racing the MNSCS race at Elk River, and even prerode the day before, but neither of us felt that great preriding. We decided instead to ride our road bikes from Scott's mom's house on raceday while she watched Kiera (see photo with Kiera and Grandma walking). Our 2.5 hr ride turned into a 4+ hr ride. We didn't realize that one of the roads we took was so long without any roads to take a short cut. So of course, we didn't have any food, no cell phone and both of us got really tired and crawled in.

My next race will be Ore to Shore while Scott watches Kiera. He doesn't enjoy the sand and I kinda like it. I expect the race to be pretty brutal for me and if I can finish that will be nice. My race speed thus far feels like it is missing a few gears this year, but I feel really lucky that I can still go fast enough to win sometimes. We love hanging out in Marquette and I am looking forward to jumping into the lake after the race. (I say that every year and then I get my toes in the cold water and chicken out. I am sure Kiera will enjoy it though!)

Kiera is doing really well. She is crawling all over the place and has been now for months. She pulls herself up and cruises furniture, the cupboards, and while hanging onto us. She loves to be part of the action and loves to see new places, people, things, etc. She can stand on her own for several seconds and can take a step while falling into me if I am sitting on the ground. She loves to use her pointer finger to point at things, and loves to take all the books off her book shelf multiple times per day. My mom just gave me a barn and farm animals/tractor, etc for her to play with. It's fun to watch Kiera make the rounds to all her favorite toys, including opening and shutting her bedroom door on her own. She just started waving bye-bye, but is pretty selective when using it.

Our little family has also been strawberry and raspberry picking, along with taking a lot of walks on the Duluth Lakewalk (photo above with Kiera on Scott's shoulders). Our garden is starting to produce peas and beans will be along soon. Our lettuce garden is still producing. Next year I hope to have an even bigger garden.

The MNSCS Dirtspanker race was just over a week ago. Scott got 7th and I got 2nd. The course has a nice long climb on it that I just tried to stay steady on and not lose too much time to Jenna, but I did anyway. I stunk in the singletrack and after talking with Scott this past week realized my rear shock was locked out. Wrong race course for that to happen. Scott felt ok during his race until he started cramping on the 3rd lap and still had one more to go. He only lost one place. The rest of the week after that race I felt wasted. The course is so fun, but definitely one of the more challenging courses in the midwest. Spirit Mountain is tougher though (that race is in Sept). There is also a new race in Duluth this year at the new Piedmont trail system. It starts in Lincoln park and climbs up to the infamous Exhibition drive (in the wintertime where all the houses are all lit up with Christmas lights along the Duluth hillside). From there it will enter the new singletrack built over the past couple of years by COGGS and other volunteers.

Scott and I finally decided late in the week to go to the Chain Drive Festival in Houghton, MI. It was tough to decide between that race and Mt. Morris, but Houghton is definitely a cool town to hang out in so we chose to go in that direction. Thankfully, Scott took the initiative because if it were left up to me I would have been sitting on the couch or catching up on sleep instead of driving 4.5 hrs to the U.P. I was not excited to race as I had not ridden my bike in two days, put in a long day at work on Friday in the clinic and felt both mentally and physically wasted. Scott drove the whole way with Kiera playing nicely and then finally falling asleep while I tried to sleep, but somehow it always seems to escape me.

Luckily, a friend of a friend helped Scott find us a babysitter during the race so both of us could race. Scott later wished he would have been the babysitter and saved the entry fee and babysitting money.

The course was really fun. Since it had been two years since we had raced the Chain Drive, they have added a lot more singletrack. The singletrack is well worth the drive even if neither of us felt that good while racing. Scott was in second place until 10 miles to go. His group wasn't going super fast, but he just fell apart and couldn't push his pedals any more than an easy spin. I almost caught up to him so that tells me how bad his race was as my legs hurt the entire time while racing and I felt like my head was in a fog of fatigue. I also had way too much air in my tires in the singletrack and felt like I was in a pin ball machine getting bounced around. The rocks were still slick from the rain the day before. I should have stopped to let out some air. My skills are just not that good yet. I was very glad to see the finish line. I was thankful I still finished first as I was sure the second place woman was going to catch me. As neither of us felt stellar about our day and Scott considerably more bummed than I, we decided to head home straight after the awards.

Kiera did really well and loved the babysitter. She had a great day looking at all the people and everything. Of course when she saw me the crying started as she finally realized she was hungry and then settled in for her first nap of the day in the early afternoon. Since getting back to Duluth after sweltering in the VW van with no AC, we have been to the zoo, lakewalk, on a hike with a friend and visiting with several of our other friends and their children. It is fun to see Kiera interacting with other kids. We are thinking she'll be an extrovert and take after Scott more in that way.

This is a photo of Kiera and her Great Aunt at the Afton MNSCS race a few weekends ago. They had a blast and it was so nice of her Great Aunt to want to hang out with her. We had a very busy weekend first by celebrating my dad's 70th birthday party in his hometown of Mora. There were a great number of relatives there...from as far as Alaska. Then we hung out and stayed at the Swanson's meeting their friends that have a 6 month old and of course seeing little Stella.

I felt better at the Afton race than at Cable by quite a bit. It is a different type of race course though being primarily singletrack at Afton, whereas the new race director at Cable took out most of the singletrack. I can tell I have not found my pre-pregnancy racing form, but things seem to be heading in the right direction. Or at least I thought so after the race. Scott didn't finish his race. He doesn't seem to do well in the heat. It was about 85 degrees and, thankfully, windy. Our car doesn't have AC, so Kiera got a bit overheated and fussy on the way home (poor kid). By the time we got home that night it was 41 degrees in Duluth. We got a better warm up this time than at Cable. However, I am more concerned with getting our babysitter and daughter all set up that I don't warm up as well as I should. Nothing like a race to jump start the system!

The Cable Classic was our first race (back in May). Neither of us got a warm up as we were trying to make sure our baby and babysitter (Michelle F-H) were all set. They had a blast and Michelle did such a great job of keeping Kiera warm and happy. The race was about 35 degrees at the start. I really didn't want to race, but since we had a babysitter I felt obligated. I didn't feel good racing, got a really slow start and couldn't wait for the finish line. There was quite a bit of singletrack missing from the race course compared with previous years and at one point in the race I got kinda bored. We really like the Hayward/Cable area and have been racing this race for years to support the area. On a high note, I did feel better racing this year than last year while pregnant. Scott didn't have a very good day. He doesn't really know why except he may have seasonal allergies. The cats have been gone from our house for about a year and he is feeling much better overall. He no longer naps everyday after school/work and has been a whole new person in terms of energy level.

As far as expectations for this season I've come to realize I shouldn't have any. Neither of us get regular sleep and thus regular training is difficult. Some days while riding I feel so tired that I am not sure that it is doing me any good except it is good to have some time to myself. Our next planned race is this coming weekend - Mont du lac MNSCS race. There has been additional fun singletrack added to the racecourse lap from last year. I hear it is really fun! I'll get a chance to preride it the day before the race as I work the days the course is open to ride (Tues). Since Afton, neither of us has felt very well and my rides are exceptionally slow with zero ability to go fast or hard. So, one or both of us may be handing out water instead. We'll see.....

NEW BIKES AND KITS

I've finally got both bikes together and set up for the most part. I've got to get a reverse pull derailleur for my bike and some rim strips for our wheels, but then we are ready for the race season. I rode my Fuel for the first time on Sunday on gravel roads since the trails are still too wet. It feels very similar to last year's bike but I seem more comfortable on it - maybe it's a touch smaller????

I cannot wait to get this thing on real singletrack and give it a real whirl.

Here's a few pics of some of this year's items.

Next up: CABLE OFF-ROAD CLASSIC!

My new Fuel is like pedaling air. This winter and into early spring, we were both riding my Paragon (and, for me, not enough) with little to no bike maintenance. I cannot believe how much better my new Fuel feels to pedal as well as my legs afterward. Moab was a pretty eye opening trip for me. I fully realized how out of shape and over tired I am from lack of sleep these past 7 months. My biking legs are not coming back as quickly as I was hoping. I realize now how much more I was able to train in the past and how much Scott and I trained together; especially helping one another get out the door to ride when we may have not felt like it. It is much easier now to make excuses and play with Kiera instead. She is such a great kid!

Kiera is finally sleeping through the night these past couple weeks (except I still get up once or twice to give her a nuk instead of nursing her back to sleep). Overall, I am feeling some better and better on my bike and training in general. Scott is fired up to race, whereas I cannot help but feel a bit reserved. I am starting to feel better since I have added a few intervals into my training regimen and gotten back in the weightroom. I was doing pushups, ab work, and other dumbbell exercises at home, but I realized that was not enough. I didn't feel strong while riding in Moab. Luckily, Scott lifts on his lunch breaks two times per week and Kiera and I join him for one of those times as my work schedule allows. It is fantastic as Kiera can play on the mat while Scott and I lift. (The weightroom is usually empty while we are in there so it works out perfectly).

BACK HOME

It sure is nice to be back home. The drive out to Moab is pretty easy, but the return home is always much more difficult. It didn't help that Vail Pass was closed due to an accident, so we had to spend a couple of hours waiting for the DOT to clear the site and open the road again.

Kiera was quite a trooper during the entire trip. She didn't fuss at all on the ride down and she absolutely loved everything about Moab. Like the rest of us, she was a little cranky on the way back, but it wasn't too bad. We stopped in to meet Stella Swanson - boy is she cute! Kiera enjoyed grabbing at her and playing with all of her toys...

It was nice to see most of the snow melted because the gravel roads are really starting to shape up. The city opened up Skyline Road-our gravel road in the summer/snowmobile trail in the winter-last week so we now have another access road for our mountain and cross bikes. I got to enjoy these views the past week now and and there are very few cars that frequent them so that is also a huge plus.









On a side note, my brother Brad who now lives in Flagstaff, AZ, just ran his first half marathon. He has a propensity for getting lost in mountain bike races, and the half marathon was no different. However, the funniest part of the story is that as he was packing his bag for the 1/2, he included two right shoes. Instead of bagging the race, he decided to take out the insole and run the thing with two right shoes! After finishing the race he decided to jump on his bike and get in a long ride...he is quite the tough guy. He can't stop talking about how amazing the singletrack is in Flag and Sedona. Sara, Kiera and I plan on going out the end of June to check it out.

That's all for now because I've got to put together the new Fuel that arrived right before we left for Moab!