Scott and I are currently hanging out at Cyber Cafe in Houghton, MI. Our trip to VT took a detour to the U.P. We were in Marquette for the majority of the week, poping our van top up at Tourist Park and mostly riding from there. We rode the South trail system and met a guy (thanks Tom!) that took us around on some of the trails and found some others on our own. We then headed to little preque isle/sugarload/harlow lake area to ride. Really nice singletrack there as well. We rode quite a bit each day and somehow managed to find our way back to the park from harlow lake via backroads making a nice big loop, instead of taking 550? back to town. We rode some other various trails the next day and watched the new Harry Potter movie. Good flick. The trails in Marquette are fantastic and we cannot say enough about how good they are and how much there is. I would have never thought there would bew that much. There are also supposedly good riding near munising and ishpehming, but we didn't ride there. Maybe next time.

Another gem we rode witht the Down Wind Sport's ride was in Gwinn. We rode about 1/2 of a 27 mile singeltrack loop. My previous teammate at NMU, Jeff and part-owner of Down Wind, got us connected with the ride. It is always good to see him and his wife, Melanie again. We just slept in a random spot that night and then headed up to Houghton/Hancock to ride the Maasto Hiito/Churning Rapids trails. We rode almost 4 hrs, got a bit turned around, but finally made it back with some water and energy left. Great trail system and home of the Chain Drive race.

The best cup of coffee in Houghton is here at the Cyber Cafe. Good food at The Library. The best cup of coffee we could find in Marquette was at The Bagel Shop on third street. One of the best places to eat is the Casa, but also Nordic Bay. The south trail system is located behind Nordic Bay, making it very accessible if one were to stay there.

Scott has kept me posted on the US Nationals races. Congrats to Kyia and Jenna on fine finishes. From some of the pictures, looked like it was 'a little' muddy. Reminded us of West Virginia a few years back. I am a little sad we didn't go, but I also know that the easy riding and relaxing we are doing is the smart thing to do at this point in the season.

Brutal. That about sums up yesterday's race in Suamica, WI; the second WORS marathon race. The course was pretty flat and it took about 15 minutes of riding to hit the first of three sections of singletrack. The women started 1' after the men. Four laps of 11.5 miles.

I felt bad from the start. I wasn't breathing hard, but my legs were killing me. They just hurt and never recovered at any point in the race. It was like trying to get logs to turn the peddals over. Not sure what is going on or why, but something is wrong. I have had about four races this year where I just feel bad the whole race. I don't recover after uphills and I have zero power. I wanted to be done with the race after the first lap. I saw Scott sitting in the grass (he started in the men's group a minute ahead of the women) and I knew he felt bad. He won't keep riding if he can't race hard. He was suffering going slow, so he pulled the plug on his race. I wanted to be done, but tried to keep the lead each lap so I could win our entry fee money back. Kind of a lame reason.

I caught up to a few expert riders in my first lap and after passing two guys that decided to race again, we had a nice group for about 1.5 laps until the single speed guy crashed in front of me in the singletrack and the geared bike guy got a gap on me. After a good effort I caught back on to him and rode another lap with him, but I was suffering already. I could do very little work for the group of us two. He got ahead of me before the end of the third lap and I almost caught back on before the end of the single track, but then a group of comp riders needed to get by and I let them pass, opening the gap. Going into the final lap I had to time trial it through most of the lap, not lose my lead, and keep my bike upright. I got really dizzy numerous times while riding. I would take more water, some more quick sugar - I had a total of a bottle of Cytomax, a camelback full of water (2 liters), and 4 gels during the race, but yet I would still get dizzy off and on. I started cramping on the last lap with about a half lap to go. My right Hamstring cramped after I passed a gal in the singletrack. I finally got that to settle down when my right quad started to quiver, then my left, then my left adductors. Another group of comp riders caught me and I jumped in the back of their group. I couldn't believe how much easier it was and my cramping subsided. I finished with the tail-end of the group - which included our good friend and Scott's summer boss, Mike Haag.

I was very happy to be done and all I could do after is lay down. I was so tired.

Scott and I stayed with M&M's good friend from G.Bay. Really nice couple and fun to hang out with.

No racing this past weekend. We needed the weekend off. I read Kyia's blog about her race and Jenna's crash. I hope she is OK. I hate crashing. Sounded pretty bad for her to have to rest for a while before getting back on the bike.

Scott, Narum, Big Daddy, Todd, Bushey and I went for a longer ride on trails on sunday. We had a great ride. Fantastic trails and only saw probably two cars as we crossed roads to get to other sections of trail. I had to tape up Scott's wrist (otherwise his hand goes numb) and Narum's shoulder (AC separation) prior to heading out. I got another chance to further my taping skills last night at The Monday Night Ride. Dr. Mougeon took a spill landing on his shoulder; another likely AC separation. Luckily, he is Dr. and has a bag full of different types of tape. We got him taped up as well and hopefully he followed through with the X-ray to rule out a fracture. I think most of us mountain bikers know what it feels like to have to go to work wounded. I have worked with a sprained wrist on several occassions after falling on my bike. Scott separated his R AC joint and had to relearn how to write on the chalk board while babying his R shoulder. It's kinda like a rite of passage, so to speak. You prove your toughness and worthy to get back on the bike.

Doug and Anne Swanson stopped by on their way through back from the North Shore to home on Sunday. It is always great to see those two. I did a little diagnosing and treatment regimen for some knee pain that Doug has going on since the NVGP. They enjoyed the brownies I made (they must have had ESP cuz the brownies came out just as they arrived; sorry Ski Hut you didn't quite get all of them as Doug had to take a few for the road). I don't crave chocolate like I used to (which is fantastic!) since going to see Dr. Mougeon.

Today we are planning to head out to Mont du Lac for a trail ride. I love the trail out there, full of really good technical singletrack. Tuesday nights are the only night of the week we are allowed to ride there, as it is privately owned. It is really nice of the owner to let COGGS host a weekly ride there. It is a free ride if you are a COGGS member, or $5 if you are not a member. With membership you get a really cool bike hat that fits under your helmet for colder rides. The hat was designed by Kate, the Emperor's girlfriend and loyal COGGS member, and Kyia Malenkovich managed our order through the company she works for and did a great job for us!

Next on our agenda is deciding to stay with our decision and head out East for nationals, or go to Colorado instead to just ride. I am torn between the two as I have a really bad start position for nationals.

I am finally feeling better. Yesterday I had the first ride where I felt normal in two weeks. I actually felt good. I took this recovery mix Dr. Greg put together for us after my ride today. It tastes kinda like sweet 'greens'. I like the taste. We need to get out today before it thunderstorms. The weather has been fantastic lately. Sunny, hot; it's summer! There are tons of tourists in Duluth. Makes it hard for Duluthians to avoid them. Scott and I took the motorcycle to dinner last night. It was so warm. Duluth usually has cool air going that fast, but yesterday it was sweltering. We had to sleep in the spare room in the basement. It is fantastically cool down there.

Last week I finally felt well enough to get back in my garden. There are some things growing. The critters somehow got inside my fencing, but I brought in reinforcements, planted a few more things and am hoping for the best. The McFaddens have a ton of woodchips for me to put to good use in my garden. I am not much of a green thumb - but it gives me something to do and we get some produce out of it.

I am reading a great book by Elizabeth Vliet. "Screeming to be heard, hormone connections women suspect...and dr's still ignore. The author is a physician specializing in women's health. She goes into great detail on topics such as PMS, peripmenopause and menopause, thyroid disorders, among other topics. I studies endocrinology in college to some extent, so her review of information is nice, plus all the interconnectedness between hormones and how the brain and body works (and potential irritating symptoms). I have a couple other books by her that have been revised with the latest information.

Scott is torched from helping our construction friend, Mike out these past few weeks. He has not been riding cuz when he gets done at the job site, all he can do is lay on the couch.

The littlest McFadden is getting bigger. He's almost back up to birthweight. He is so tiny. We went over the other night with some fresh strawberries picked at the local strawberry farm (Finke's), and shortcake fixings to share. We really like having the McFadden's as neighbors! We went and picked more strawberries yesterday, so now we have a freezerfull for the rest of the year. Raspberries and blueberries are next!

On our way back from Eau Claire, Mike was driving and he and Charlie were deep in conversation. Scott and I were lounging in the back seat of the van - overly tired from our days efforts, when we see this deer headed for the mid section of our van from the driver's side. A half second later we hear a 'THUNK' against the side of our van, we look back and see the deer toppeling into the ditch, take a few efforts to recompose itself and then run into the woods. Mike stops the van and we all jump out to assess the damange. No dents in the van, luckily. Then we look at Charlie and Mike's bikes on the rack out back. Mike's is fine, but the above photo notes the damage done to Charlie's bike. For the photo, Charlie added the helmet he pulled out of his bag right before race time to find it crushed. It's a little hard to tell from the photo, but the back half is squished that Charlie can barely get that thing on his head. The van has an extra helmet that Charlie used for the race, on the condition it would come back unscathed.

I have felt really bad the past three days. I should not have raced. I have been hot and cold from saturday until monday, and then just feeling horrible since. I went into see Dr. Greg on Monday, so I know that things should get better soon. I am so tired that I can't do anything. I took Monday off from riding and tried to ride yesterday. If we would have gone any slower, we would have fallen over. I tried to encourage Scott to head on his own while I slogged home, but I guess it wasn't that bad of a pace for him. I have no desire to do much of anything, even ride, which is really odd for me. I hope I feel better soon as it is a beautiful day outside.

Scott and I loaded up the van and pickup up Charlie and Mike to head to the Wors race in Eau Claire yesterday. I almost didn't jump in the van and if I had to drive I would not have gone. Saturday my stomach was bad and I spent most of the day on the couch curled up with the cats. Not sure if they like it too much when I infringe on their space. I still felt pretty crappy on race day, but decided to show up to try regardless. I have had good races in the past not feeling very well and since the van was going anyway....

Charlie and Mike met us at Beaner's in west Duluth. Much to their disappointment, Beaner's had not yet opened for the day. Charlie was in shambles not knowing where his cup of jo would come from for the day. I like to think that drinking caffeine is all mental, but there are physiological benefits (and detriments - I once had a pt that told me she had to discontinue drinking coffee because the daily 32 cups...you read that right 32 - was giving her heart palpatations.)

Off in the van ... riding in comfort. I tried to get some sleep, but Charlie was a little chatty. I introduced him to the book I am reading, "Screeming to be heard" by Elizabeth Vliet. This book goes into detail about various hormonal and other problems women have that most doctors overlook. If anyone has gone to the Dr, got some obscure explanation and felt not listened to or taken seriously then this is a good book to read. We really have to advocate for ourselves, but I'll save that for another day.

After about 10 trips to the bathroom, getting all 'kitted' up for the day, Megan Anderson, the legendary Harry Anderson's wife, agreed to give up water bottle hand-ups,we started our preride. Kudo's to Megan! She saved us all. Preride went fine, but I could have easily stayed home and been on the couch. My legs felt fine to go slow and spin. I did one pick-up; that was enough.

Kyia and Jenna showed up, so knowing I was not feeling that well, my goal was for top three. I got a good start, but went straight where everyone went left, but it wasn't a big deal I still was third behind Jenna and Anne down the two track. I could barely see Jenna from all the dust kicked up from the men's pack that started 15 seconds ahead of us. I got around Anne and was on Jenna's wheel for a little while, when Kyia came flying around to take the lead. We all stayed together in a line until I looked up and saw a line of guys waiting to get into the singletrack. Kyia and Jenna went off to the left. The course turned right into the woods, so I rode through the tall grass on the right and got pass about 10 or so men. At another congested area I got by a few more. This was the best my race would get. I stunk it up in the singletrack. Kyia caught back on and got pass me. She was on fire on the two track, but I stayed with her for a lap. Then got gapped on the singletrack and lost her on the two track. She caught on to a group of guys and held on...I was not able to get back on to the group and rode best I could for the day. My legs felt flat, had zero turn-over, and as Charlie stated later in the van, I did not have the racing 'eye of the tiger'. I stayed in the race regardless cuz if Jenna, Kyia and I finished we would get fantastic Norba points. I didn't know that Jenna had crashed early in the first lap and then called it a day. I wondered why she had not caught me during the race, I was not going that fast. Kudos to Kyia she raced well and fast. Good to see her race well.

I have not raced in a race on that fast of a race course in a long time. Nor as dusty. I had way too much air in my tires for a course that dusty and loose around the corners. Scott had a really challenging day. We forgot to tape his wrist so his right hand went numb throughout the race. After the first rocky descent about a mile or two into the race, he blew his fork. He couldn't ride singletrack and thought he was just having an 'off' day until he realized it was his fork that was diving as he would go through turns, etc. He endo'd and fell three times the last lap and more during the previous laps. His bike has never got through that kind of test in the past. Scott took his fork off this morning and is off to get it sent in. We have a big trip to VT coming up and he needs his fork to work. VT has a very technical descent, similar to riding at Spirit Mtn.

On our way home, we stopped by to meet the newest McFadden. He is so tiny! He is about 6# and they named him Bode. It is fun to see our friends holding and taking care of such a tiny little baby. Diana and Todd are already good parents and they have only had four days of practice. I hope I get to babysit. He is very precious!

This past week has been super busy. Tristan was up from Sunday to Thurs. Can't say I have ever cooked that much for Scott and our house guest. Tristan was really easy to have as a house guest. I had a few extra days off from work so that was really nice. Scott and I were able to do some things we normally don't get to do during the work week - like hang out at Beaner's, our local coffee shop. We went there today as well. On days I work I struggle to get on the bike. Yesterday I just couldn't get my legs to push my pedals and was going painfully slow. I let Scott ride by himself and turned home. Days I don't work I find I have so much more energy to ride and do other things as well.

Today we took the motorcycle out to watch the Duluth Duathlon. There were a lot of Ski Hut MTB team and triathlon team members competing. Scott said the temps were in the mid-50's while we were watching. My good friend from College, Amy, and her husband Al stayed at our house last night before the big race. Al did the race while the rest of us watched. It's always good to see Amy. We skied at NMU together and she makes me laugh. I have a picture of us together on the podium from the 1992 Korteloppet hanging on our wall. I love that photo - we look so young.

Tomorrow we are planning on heading down to Eau Claire. I am pretty tired so I plan on laying low today, riding at some point and then heading to a friend of our's house for a BBQ party. Todd and Diana had their first baby this past thursday and hopefully we'll get a chance to meet the little guy today or tomorrow. I love other people's babies. Especially if the babies are not crying.

Tristan is up staying with us for a few days seeing the new Doctor in town, Dr. Greg. He's trying to get his health back so he can race fast again before the end of the season. He joined us on The Ski Hut ride last night. There was a group of 20 plus riders. A few women showed up, which was great! One gal is only in Duluth for a few months and she did incredibly well as the trails are not easy. There are quite a few bridges that make me nervous cuz you'd land in a revine if you fall off the bridge. No casualties last night, thankfully. Ever humbled, my 69 y/o father-in-law rode a bridge that I dismounted and walked across. He's amazing. The trail also has roots and rocks and some pretty tricky uphills. Ever since getting my contacts put in my correct eyeballs, my technical skills have been returning to their former level. I realized riding with Dan and Scott that something was wrong. I couldn't get over any log piles or anything tricky. I switched contacts and its like a whole new world unfolded. Nice to not feel like I am looking through coke bottles.

Scott's brother Brad, could not find a ride from Duluth back to mpls after the Mont du Lac race. He decided to leave at 9 PM and ride home. Scott gave him a ride to Carlton, he rode to Moose Lake in the dark (he wouldn't take the light we offered). He had to stop cuz he couldn't see. He slept on a park bench until 3 AM when he awoke because his thin sweatshirt couldn't keep him cozy (he didn't have anything with except bike clothes and a sweatshirt). He wouldn't take the bars I offered, regretting his choice as he awoke starving. He made it to Pine City by 7 AM and then home around noon. 12 hour ride on his mountain bike with knobby tires. It usually takes him between 8-9 hrs to go the entire distance to our house on his road bike. He said he won't ride again anytime soon from Duluth on his MTB, ride in the dark and not take food with him. Crazy nut.

On another note, I was witness to a motorcycle accident the other week. I was riding my motorcycle and this guy in a trunk from the other direction was waiting for me to pass before he turned left, when I saw a motorcycle come up behind him and failed to stop. The motorcyclist hit the trucks rear left bumper and fell right into my lane. It was like watching a slow-motion endo on a mountain bike, onto pavement. The dolt wasn't wearing a helmet, but had gloves and some good boots that probably prevented him from braking his ankle. He was wearing short sleeves, so he got some nice road rash to commemorate the day. Luckily, I had slowed down enough to avoid running the guy over. I stopped and was shaking. It's usually the moto that gets smucked by the car, not the other way around!

Scott and I drove 20 minutes to the race start at Mont du Lac in Duluth for race #4 of the MNSCS series. The MN series races are the toughest races of a series. Really good climbing, technical singletrack. The race courses remind me some of the Norba's I did a few years ago. They are definitely races that will make someone a well-rounded racer. It was really hot, especially for Duluth standards. This was probably the second hottest day all year. Tough to acclimatize to all in one day for the locals, especially the expert men. It must have been around 90 degrees during the race by the time the race started at 1 pm. COGGS put on a great event. They sent us up to the top of the downhill from starting up the bottom and then looped us though to do the top half of the hill multiple times. The hill is steep in places - granny gear for some.

The women started with the men - which I like. It's good practice as it is pretty similar at Norba's racing with other pro women. The guy right in front of me broke his chain about three pedal strokes into the race. I was in pretty good position after the climb and into the singletrack. I got buggered up behind some men that didn't shift down enough to get up the steep ascent after a really bumpy and fast downhill. I had to run the next section until the flat. I caught back on and followed in the singletrack a group of guys that seemed to mostly have ski hut jerseys. It is really difficult to pass on the singletrack, so I had to wait a bit to pass. I got buy three or four guys and then finally caught up with Charlie and Todd, which I knew they must not be having a good day if I am passing them on an uphill. I tried to ride pretty steady each lap and the singletrack smooth.

Nicoli (Ski Hut) was right behind me going into my fourth lap up the long hill. At the end of last year he said to me, "Sara, my goal is to beat you". That is quite a compliment! I couldn't let him pass me without having to work really hard at it. I got into the singletrack ahead of him and could hear him back there from time to time for the first half of the lap, but didn't see him and had a nice gap before turning to finish. He still had another lap to go so who knows what would have happened had I had to do another lap. (Thankfully, the women do one less lap than the men). I drained an entire water bottle each lap - including what I poured on my head and my back.

Scott got 8th for the day. He rode the singletrack well, but the climb took it out of him. He just couldn't climb well. Maybe it was from all the brush-clearing back breaking work he did earlier this week to help a friend of ours out. He also drove the dr mower (not sure if that is the correct label) around the course the Tuesday night before the race to get the long grass mowed and the trail in race-ready shape. There were a quite a few volunteers helping out to build the new downhill to replace the really fast straight-shot downhill on the back of the course. The new downhill is full of turns, switchbacks, coupld bridges and even a little bit of uphill. Scott seems to think it adds on at least a minute to each lap. Each year the course gets better and better! Thanks to COGGS for hosting a great race and all the volunteers! There is talk of doing one big race that would be a huge loop from spirit mtn to mont du lac and back. It could be really epic, but most of all a spectacular race.

Scott and I headed to watch the Nature Valley Grand Prix last night. We drove down first to ride at Mammoth with Dan Swanson. Dan was trying to drop Scott and I for stretches at a time during the ride. It was so much fun! Duluth doesn't have much of nice windy fast singletrack due to all of our roots and rocks that will slow us down. Then we went to Jesse's and carpooled into downtown Mpls to meet Anne to watch the races!

The criterium was fantastic to watch. The women went first and were haulin. It was fun to watch them take tight turns. One gal went down on one of the last corners of the last lap. Luckily, no broken bones. The men were flying the last 20 minutes or so of their race. Their bikes were close to sideways going around the corners. We got to watch Doug race. We couldn't tell if he was tired or bored sitting at the back of the pack. As riders were getting blown off the back, he held on to the rear of the pack, but still in contact. The last 10 or so minutes he moved up quite a bit and said he wished he would have started to move up sooner in the race.

We got home today and are getting geared up for Mont du Lac MNSCS race tomorrow. Should be fun. It's supposed to be really hot. The course is in really good condition and is pretty challenging. It's on par with Maplelag and Spirit Mtn as far as technical difficulty and climbing. Scott installed a new screen door on the front of our house, where there previously was not one. Hopefully, it will help cool our house as summer is here (at least for the next few days or so).

This past weekend was fantastic! We got out of Duluth and sweltered on our drive up to Hougton. We couldn't believe how hot it was! After a pretty uneventful drive across northern WI and through the U.P., we checked into our hotel and rode for about an hour on the start of the course. Just long enough to get to where the singletrack on the course starts and ride a bit of that. I was still trying to get my suspension adjusted after riding the season thus far with it much too stiff.

We rode over to registration, this time at the MTU campus, we ran into the twins from Boulder, CO. Tony used to work at Trek, but made the move to Boulder and took a job with Pearl Zumi. The twins brought with them Kerry Barnholt - fast mountain and cyclocross biker and really nice gal as well. It was really nice to chat with her as she is a fellow Physical Therapist and Biker. I was a bit nervous to race against her as we have not done the same race since she was second behind Sue Haywood at the Chequamegon in 2004. We ran into her after that in Moab, UT of all places. It was really cool cuz they had this group of about 20 pro/expert women riding for the weekend and we got a chance to ride with them. It is really fun to ride with skilled and fast women MTBers! There are a few I know in Duluth, but not that many at that level. Super cool.

So the Keewenaw Chain Drive - 32 mile - race started at 10 am EST. I love early races and early Saturday races are even better! The start was a controlled start down downtown Houghton took a right hand turn across the bridge to Hancock and then a sharp right under the overpass and out to the cememtary. The cemetary has this long switchback paved uphill that lasts about 2 minutes and then it funnels into the singletrack. The singletrack is full of roots and rocks, but not nearly as abusive as Spirit Mtn for the most part. The course is two track and single track. Very Fun! Good benchcut and banked corners, tight single track in places and pretty unique riding. The bridges are wide enough. I just can't say enough good things about the course. The last 5 miles is kinda uphill, but not nearly as bad this year as I remember in years past. I felt kinda 'bonky' after about 40 minutes or so, but then started to come back around after a bit of refueling - I probably just waited too long. Kerry and I were riding side by side down main street and just before the start of the two track. I got in a group of guys and stayed in their draft. I stayed ahead of her on the cemetary climb, but then didn't see her again after that. I could hear her from time to time during the start of the singletrack, but never made contact again. I get nervous riding against really good riders, and I knew I would have to go really hard. Luckily, there were no mechanicals and I was able to hold her off and take the win. I lost the men's lead group early on this year, so my overall finish amonst the men was not as high, but my time was faster than last year's. Scott held it together to take 4th. Great conditions, Great race, Great town, and kudos to the race organizers - they do a great job!

Our original plan on Sunday was to head down to the Wors Phillips race. After much contemplation and humming and hawwing we decided to check out some new singletrack up in Calumet instead. Fantastic post race day singletrack! Nice and smooth singletrack that isn't too tight. Basically, a giggle ride. We rode 2.5 hrs and barely rode part of the trail twice. The conditions were perfect - not too hot and the company (Scott) even better! We are already trying to plan a trip back to the Keewenaw just to ride. We are told there are more trails to ride in Copper Harbor and a race this year both in Calumet and Copper Harbor.

It was nice to meet a few people at the race that read this blog. THANK YOU!

This week of training was better than the last. Last week I had to take three days off - not sure when I have done that last. I felt pretty bad in the race at Wausau so the resting didn't help. We have a new Dr. in town, Dr. Greg. He bought Northland Health and Wellness. He is really fired up to work with athletes. He had us ride our bikes to the clinic and then test us for which energy products would work for us the best during training and racing. Pretty cool stuff. He's got some great ideas. He has worked with Jeff Spencer (Lance Armstrong's personal Dr. that Lance would fly to accompany him during the Tour de France every year). Scott and I are a bit 'tanked' already only after a few races, so Dr. Greg is helping us get back on track. Scott and I often wonder what would happen with our racing if we could just stay healthy and energentic all season long. I have not raced as much as I would like these past few years due to low energy problems - I just have taken more time between races to recover.

We are still in the process of building some nice singletrack. At Spirit Mtn, while riding yesterday, we noticed someone did a nice re-route around this short steep grindy uphill - very few people can ride up. Then we can upon a downhillers jump that they built on our trail - so Scott nicely moved it so someone wouldn't get hurt if they accidentally hit it while riding the trails.

I was thinking of racing Afton until I started not feeling very well. Looks like they will have to have fun riding without me.

Better run. Got bike work to do and then a ride!

I was muddy from head to toe. I couldn't see out of my sunglasses after the second lap. I finally pulled them down to the bridge of my nose so I could see, but still protect my contacts. Mudd spray was flying off the bikes in front of me. On the third lap the rain started to come down converting the trail into a slick muddfest. The middle of the course was full of thick mudd. The grass was matted down from riders trying to find grip. The women's race started fifteen seconds behind the men. I was trying to catch the lead men's pack - bad idea - and looked back to only see Anne G. behind me. I let up a bit after realizing there is no way I would catch the men - and their draft. At the top of the first significant uphill, I was along to try and chase down the elite men in front of me. I keep picking off men and joining groups for a while. I felt pretty slow from the start all things considered. I just couldn't push on the flats, but the uphills felt fine and I could make myself push pretty hard. During the first lap I passed Brad and Todd from Team Ski Hut - Todd was carrying his seat post that had broken during the first few miles. He went on to finish the race with no seat. Imagine, standing for 2 plus hours riding, only using the big ring. The second lap I passed Charlie - from Team Ski Hut. He was laughing about needing to let out air from his tires - he had put 40 and 50 lbs of air in before the start. I crashed really hard while trying to lap a rider during the third lap. I had not pulled my glasses down yet and thought the large rock I was going over was flat. Evidently the thing was like hitting a wall. I landed hard right on top of the thing. I got up fast, but my left shin and knee caps hurt so bad I could barely spin my pedals. Charlie passed me back laughing. I lost my group as well. Then I was really crabby after that. I felt like I was just riding for a while and stopped racing. I hate going slow and I felt slow. My legs really hurt from the fall. If felt like I had a flap of skin hanging down my leg. When I got done, I was just badly bruised. The third and especially fourth laps felt like I was riding in the snow - the mudd was that deep. I kinda giggled to myself cuz I love riding in snow. If I had not crashed earlier, I probably would have enjoyed it even more. Four ten mile loops around nine mile forest. A little bit of singletrack - a lot of two track. I was thankful and relieved to see the finish line.

This was a super busy weekend. No races, but it felt like we did a race each day since saturday. Scott and Mike, along with Charlie, Todd, Joe, and Jesse (who drove up from the cities to help out), all worked two solid days to get a new roof on our house. I was go-to girl - doing all but getting up on the roof. I don't like heights. Bad things can happen if one falls from up there. The roof looks great! I like the look of the green roof. Our neighbors sounded a bit disappointed that we would re-roof our house with a different color to no longer 'match'. Our old roof was in a sorry state, so luckily it worked out for Mike to lead the project this weekend.

I planted about 30 trees in our yard - to get rid of the grass and as windbreaks. I finished planting my garden and made an eight foot high fence around my garden to, hopefully, keep the deer out of our garden. The neighbors feed the deer so I am going to have to cross my fingers and pray a bit along with this fence. I used the deer netting variety - that stuff will make you cross-eyed looking at it, and then tied some orange tape to it so that animals won't run into it. I had to take today off from riding. All the trail building, compost moving, tree planting, etc, etc caught up with me. I was just shot today, but kept going as I had six year old Sophie to keep track of as Charlie was helping roof. Plus, she's cool to hang out with and a really good worker. I try to keep her as busy as I can. Hate for her to get bored! She was intent on collecting as many old nails from the roofing project as she could. Evidently, Charlie was supposed to pay her per nail that she found in the grass, etc. Todd even brought a magnet on a stick to help her find them with. Not sure how big of a hole Charlie has in his pocket, but I kept Sophie a little too busy for her to have made her fortune.

I had a nice ride saturday by myself. The boys went out to dinner - along with Diana - while I just had to get out and ride. I had been hauling compost, getting a truck stuck, then unstuck; and making trail. It felt like I had waited forever to get on my bike that day.

I rode yesterday with Amy, a friend of mine from college - NMU days. We won our first NCSA National XC ski championship together before NMU switched to NCAA's. She was a really fast XC skier. We grew up racing against each other in high school and then skied together in college on the same team. It was really fun until we both got so overtrained we could barely get out of bed. Amy doesn't live in duluth, but just showed up at my door on her bike. So I took her on the new trail we put in this weekend (we built about 1-2 miles of new trail). Amy's new to single-track riding and it brought back memories of when I was first riding. Back then I didn't like riding with anyone else but Scott. I used to laugh and tell Scott that 'my feet belonged on the ground'. Amy's one of my favorite people so it was fun to bike along and chat.

I will be off to wausau for the wors marathon next weekend. Should be fun as I have not raced in wausau for a while and the loop should be longer than a regular wors course. Looking forward to it!

This last monday was the first Monday Night Women's Ride of the year. As you can tell from the photo the conditions were a bit less than perfect. 40 degrees and foggy...a not so atypical day in Duluth. We had a great time riding and chatting. Rachel, in the blue, borrowed my Gary Fisher 29er and Michelle rode her singlespeed.

The Women's ride happens every second monday each month. We meet in conjunction with The Ski Hut ride (go to www.theskihut.com and click on Monday night ride, 'read more' for the location, or call the store). This is a 'no drop' ride and there is usually a second rider from the ski hut to keep the group together.

Cable Classic - 23 mile long course

Race day was yesterday...I love racing at Cable. The long race is about 1/2 singletrack and the rest two track.

It was 63 degrees and humid as we drove out of Duluth. Sunny on the way down and then as we were getting ready to warm-up, the clouds rolled in and it started to rain. The rain let up at the start, but temps dropped as the race went on. Our 8 mile ride fromt the finish back to our car was freezing.

The race got started at 10 am. The lead-out car went pretty slow, so it wasn't tough to stay up near the front. I got behind a few guys in the first section of singletrack and couldn't get by them. Unfortunately, that opened a gap between our group and the next group that we couldn't seem to chase down. The singletrack was fantastic! Twisty, windy, but able to keep the momentum going. I was racing with Team Hollywood and a Ski Hut guy for most of the race. It was fun to be racing with fast men! I was able to hold my own on the uphills and singletrack, but had to work on the road sections. I felt quite a bit better than I did at Maplelag last weekend from the standpoint that I could get my legs to spin up the hills and my legs didn't burn the entire race! Some races I know I just have to suffer through. I didn't have it as bad as some of the other Duluthians racing. Our friends Charlie and Brian lauched off this moto-style burm that is on the trail to slow people down prior to crossing a gravel road. Brian launched first and dislocated his shoulder. Charlie didn't hit his brakes at all prior to going off this thing and landed hard - crushing his helmet and looking like he'd been dragged behind a horse for a mile or two. Reports from the volunteer manning the area - Charlie flew the highest and furthest. Way to go Charlie!

Scott had a bit of bad luck as well. He was leading the race with Jesrin G. They had a comfortable gap ahead of the chase group. Scott said he felt fantastic! He couldn't go hard enough. Then he flatted. After his tire sealant failed (not enough in the tire) and big air failed to put the air in the tube (went everywhere else); he had to put a tube in, but then the tube had a hole or something. Then he finally begged a tube and air from another racer, but by then he had gotten passed by 1/2 the field or so. He raced his way back up to 44th, a big disappointment from the way the day started.

Scott and I lubed up our chains with Dumonde Tech racing lube. There is this huge puddle 1/2 way or so during the race that there was no way around. I biked straight through it and thought that was the end of clean shifting. I had zero problems shifting after that. Even the cool down ride to the car, my chain didn't sound dry or nasty.

So I finished first amongst the women, and 13th overall amongst the men. I wasn't too far out of 10th (about a minute). I could see a group of six or so men right ahead of me on the long two mile two track section into Cable, but was kinda tired and didn't have enough left to pour it on. Luckily, some Hollywood racer passed me and didn't try to drop me. Thank You!

I love racing cuz I learn something new each race. Whether it is how to better prepare for the race, race strategy, tactics, etc, etc. It is great having men to race with as they are very fast and it is tough to get around them being about the same speed. It makes me work. Nicoli A, an accomplished XC skier and improving MTB racer, stated in his Russian accent last year "Sara, my goal is to beat you." He came pretty close this race, only 1/2 a minute back. Looks like I have more work to do.....

A contrast from yesterday, today we had snow on our deck when we awoke this morning. We went for a nice little walk in the woods and are in recovery mode. I am really tired today, so looks like an afternoon nap is in order.
Photo by: Gary Crandall

Well, this week has been not too eventful. My first women's MTB ride got postponed until next monday due to up to baseball size hail that fell in Duluth. Quite a few of our friends experienced some hail damage to their vehicles. Trek sent me some cool stuff to hand out for the women's ride. I am trying to spread the word. We'll meet every second monday night of the month through the summer in conjunction with the ski hut Monday Night Ride - the women will go on a separate ride, but meet in the same location.

Training has just been ok. I must be tired from racing these past two weekends. Scott and I race tomorrow in Cable WI for the Cable Classic. I love that race! Really nice singletrack. Scott's 67y/o dad will race as well (along with his brother that he battled with last year in the race).

Better get to cleaning the bikes and getting the VW all set to go........

This past weekend we were at a UCI race at Maplelag Resort in Callaway, MN. The course was phenomenal - a real mountain biker course and one that will make you a better racer and rider.

I raced the Pro race. There was a small field, but most of the women have been racing nationals and racing since end of March. This is my second race of the season, so I know I am not in top form, but I like to go fast and hard.

I got a good start, but one minute into the race, my legs started to feel sluggish. I had a difficult time pushing gears and getting the cadence I needed. I got passed and was 5th or 6th into the first small section of singletrack. A gal fell in front of me and the leaders gapped the rest of the field. Then I dropped by chain right before the big uphill wall and had to run up. I passed two riders in the lake section of singletrack, but then it took me a while to get passed the rider in third. I finally got past her in the singletrack, but by then the first two gals had a gap. I felt I rode the singletrack pretty well, especially considering how little I had ridden it this spring due to the snowmelt, wet trails, etc. My legs burned the whole race and I didn't really ever feel fast, just felt like I had to suffer to keep my spot and not give it up to the gal not too far behind me. I could see her from time to time as the course double-backed on itself, so I knew she was trying to catch me. I held her off for third place. I was satisified from the race as I did the best I could given how my legs felt.

My bike was set-up perfectly as I took some air out of my rear and front shocks since Iola and switched tires to the Bontragger Revolt X. I had perfect traction in the singletrack.

Sunday, us gals did a long group ride. It was really fun to ride with other fast women (although we rode slow)!

Scott and I drove down early yesterday to the WORS race at Iola. The first race of the year can be kinda painful and a bit of a learning experience, so we opted to race this weekend before the UCI race at Maplelag next weekend.

The race course was fast and unbelievably dry. They started the elite women 15 seconds behind the elite men. Kim Eppen and Anne Grabowski showed up for the race, along with 16 other elite women. Great to have a relatively big field. I always get nervous for races and knew I had to go fast....and hoping I could go fast. It is always hard to know that first race.

From the gun I was off the front and thought I would get caught as I was trying to get around some elite men. I had caught up to the tail end of the men while going up the first climb; maybe a minute or two into the race. I tried to go really hard on the ski trail-like sections and then not lose much time in the singletrack. The tires I chose were super fast, but didn't have quite enough tread for me to take the corners at greater speeds. I almost two-wheel skidded into a large, unmoveable, pine tree during the race. Quite exhilarting to pull out of that one. I caught up to Joe, from the ski hut, 1/2 way into the first lap and we basically played cat and mouse all race. He'd pass me on the uphills, and I would catch up on the down's and singletrack. At one point in the race, Joe asked if I needed a gel; evidently I must have slowed down a bit. Then I realized I hadn't taken anything to drink for over a lap. There were some nice sand pits along the course. A few crashes in front of me to avoid, but no crashing on my part. It was fun to ride my bike fast again! The last lap of the race I was focusing on going hard and not getting caught by other elite women or laped by the top elite men. I didn't see either one; finishing first. Kim, Holly, and Anne rounded out the top four.

Scott finished his race in 11th after having a bad time of it on his first loop. He couldn't get going the first lap and was breathing really hard, but going backwards. He came around and was able to race the last four laps. Well done, Scott!

Scott's step-dad makes carvings for a living. This was the first time he carved a biker. It's really cool! All the houses on our street look alike, so I think people will know which house is ours with this out front.

Today is was 40 degrees and cloudy when I went for my ride. I had long underwear, long sleeve jersey, jacket, winter riding pants. Winter gloves. It was super windy out. My goal for the ride was to get my bike set-up better for tomorrow's race. My positioning feels a lot better.

We were out this morning helping clean up Skyline Parkway with some of our neighbors. It was fun to have so many kids along. Can't tell you how many beer and pop can we picked up, along with hordes of other stuff. It'll be nice to put my feet up this evening and relax a little.

Womens bike night at the Ski Hut was a success! There were over 50 women that showed up. I talked a bit about where to Mountain Bike in Duluth and let the women know of the women's ride starting the second monday of the month. We had 'stations' around the store where women could learn how to tune their bikes or about some of the latest equipment. It was a good event and chance to see some people I have not seen in a while and bump into a few women I sold XC skis to when I worked retail while in college.

Today I will probably have to ride my XO1. It is raining out and my bike is all set up for this kind of weather. Fenders are wonderful inventions. I love my cross bikes. I got this one so I could save my XO2 for fall racing, especially as I have been riding it in the rain. Duluth weather can be a bit unpredicatable and we tend to get more rain and fog and cold than the twin cities, so my CX bike is a nice option. We have some road clean-up to do this morning to clean up Skyline. COGGS clean-up is going on as well this morning. We hope to continue buiding some new trail - and from what I hear COGGS should have 15-20 miles of new trail in around Wheeler Field in West Duluth by the time the club is done putting it in. Scott and I have been members of COGGS forever. It is a great group of bikers that do a lot for the community by putting in new trail, maintaining the trail already built by the club, and putting on The Dirtspanker race in June and PowderMonkey race in July, here in Duluth.

We race tomorrow in Iola as part of the WORS series. Not sure If I am going to sign up for the series yet, depends on how I feel this summer. I will be working a bit less than normal this summer so I am hoping to race a bit more. I find it challenging to balance work and racing. Probably cuz I want to do a good job at both.

This is an updated photo of my 2007 Trek Fuel 9.9 racing bike. I still can't get over how light it is. I aslo included a photo of my front shock lock-out. Works fantastic in this location. I am getting my bike close to being ready to race this weekend. A few more saddle adjustments and I should be ready to race. This has been a super busy work week for me, so we'll see how things go. Tonight there is a Women's Bike Night at The Ski Hut. There will be reps from the bike industry there, including Trek. Myself and some of the other local women riders will give a brief presentation on biking in Duluth along with some hands-on opportunities to get familiar with women specific bike equipment and some general information.

In May I will be starting a Women's mountain bike ride. It will start the second monday in May and run through the summer/early fall. We'll be meeting in conjunction with the 6 p.m. monday night ski hut ride, but will go our own direction and pace. I am hoping we get a big group of women that love to ride, or are just curious and want to check it out. Should be a great opportunity for women to find other riding partners or just chat and ride for an evening, work on skills, etc. I am looking forward to it!

Scott and I had a fantastic ride today. A bit longer than we had planned....a little over 4 hours....but we managed to avoid the rain. We got rain at our house while we were gone, but the weather while we rode was fantastic! 70 degrees. First time I have ridden all year and have not gotten chilled riding down the last big descent to our house. I love my Madone. I swear it is like pedaling air. With the road dried out I have gotten reacquainted with all my bicycles, plus an additional XO1 I just got a week or so ago in order to train when it gets wet. I have fantastic little fenders on it so I have no excuses not to ride. Nice! We also got one of those little ipod shuffles; makes a hudge difference to get me motivated to go riding and listen to music on those days when I am not so motivated. I have only used it once to get me out the door, but its great just to have along anyway. It is easy to hook up to our JBL creatures and listen in the house. I wonder what our neighbors think sometimes.

I finally got to ride my new Fuel 9.9! I can't believe how smooth and fast it is!! I don't like to ride my good bikes on the roads if there is still salt and water on the roads, so it was really nice that the roads dried up. Scott and I joined the ski hut ride tonight for a road ride on our mountain bikes. We joined a really nice group of 20 riders or so. I got a chance to meet a few people and catch up with others I hadn't seen in a while. It was a blast! It is hard to believe that my racing season starts in roughly a month. I just got our taxes done and I need some sleep! Nothing like waiting until the last minute.

My energy is pretty low this week and I am sure I am fighting some sort of cold. I finally cleaned our house with the extra time. Doesn't take nearly as much energy as biking. I am hoping to come around tomorrow as there has been some snowmobile activity on the trails and it gets cold at night (between 8-12 degrees) so the trails set up really nicely. People here are sick of winter, so it is not likely to see other people out. I rode on the roads a few days ago while the wind was blowing and drifting snow across the roads. Crazy. Duluth has gotten snow in July, so it is not too surprising.

Hope everyone has a good Easter. :)

This is a photo of our last snowstorm, but this is what it looks like again after it dropped 8-12" two days ago. So in the two weeks we have gone from 70 degrees to ice storm to snow storm. I am hoping the snowmobilers were out to pack in the snow on the trails. It is 8 degrees outside, so I'll wait til it warms up to 30 this afternoon. Amazingly, race season starts in only a month or so. Before this snow I was hopeful we'd be on trails before then, but it staying cold so maybe we'll still have snow!

If you have never been to Charlie Farrow's blog, you've got to check it out. He's hilarious! His blog name is CPFarrow. He pay's a little tribute to Wayne and Garth, has political cartoons, etc.

The weather is crappy outside (ice storm) so I thought I would post some photos from earlier this winter. We got 20" of snow in one storm couldn't leave our house for two day via car. We snowshoed on the creek - which was phenonmenal.

Last monday we went on a great road ride through wrenshall, carlton, and back to duluth. It was 70 degrees out when we started our ride at 4 pm. There is really great riding in duluth, if you know where to go (both for road and mountain biking). There are some pot-hole ladden roads to avoid, but some others with brand new pavement. Today I succommed to going to the gym to work out. I finally got back into the pool (I am not a good swimmer, but it is a good workout).

I am planning on being involved in some women's clinics this summer to promote mountain biking. Last summer I did one clinic, which I enjoyed. It is fun getting to know other women that ride. I was impressed with their level and willingness to improve their skills. We have a May 3rd Women's Clinic planned at The Ski Hut in Duluth where there will be reps from the bike company's there to promote their products along with some of us local women racer's to give a presentation. Should be fun and I hope a lot of women show up. Of course, the Trek rep will be there!

I read in Velonews a while back that bikers that don't blog don't ride. That is not the truth. I have been so busy with work this past year that I can either blog with my free time, or ride (or some form of exercise as allowed in the great North). We didn't get much snow this year, so could ride our bikes most of the winter. Up until we got an ice storm (I don't have studded tires) and then again up until we got 20" of snow all at once. The skiing was fantastic for a week and then it warmed up right away and now it is all gone. We have another ice storm that started yesterday. By the time I left work, by office window had a good 1/2" of ice covering it completely. Poor Scott had to scrape the ice off the car before he picked me up at work.

I got my New Trek 9.9 a little bit ago. Beautiful bike! I am fired up for to race it this season.
This needs to be a short post as Scott and I just got the car unstuck out of the yard. The grass is so frozen.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! This fall has been busy. I took some time off the bike, about a month, and then started riding frozen trails. The lack of snow has not hampered good riding. The ice patches are a little sketchy. Our ride yesterday was fantastic, lots of variety. This one section of trail was lined with bright green moss along both sides of the trail as it climbed out of a river crossing. It was a beautifully sunny day.

I read in the last Velo, that riders that are serious about riding, typically update their blog daily. Huh! I usually have the choice of riding, or posting on my blog. I think most people with dial-up understand.

Well, I hope to bring my digital on one of our next rides. The streams and creeks in duluth are beautiful in the wintertime. The ice formations are really neat. I am always pretty thankful we live in Duluth!

I finally got back on the bike today. I took a break since the Iceman. My legs have felt really bad for the past few weeks, along with the rest of me. The weather was beautiful today, sunny and in the 40's, the sun rising up over lake superior, so I rode my bike into work. I left a little late from work to get home and had to ride home the last bit in the dark. That was dumb. Cars don't look for bikers in the daylight, much less the dark. I plan on mostly just biking to commute for a while and still not doing any sort of specific training. My commute is a little long to do everyday though. Otherwise, we have been hiking a bit and building some singletrack. It is a good time oof year to do nothing or low level actitivies. The hiking in Duluth is fantastic, and Scott and I have been hiking through the woods to scope out where new singletrack should be. The potential seems endless. Well, not much else going on at this point.

Well, unfortunately the Iceman didn't go so well for me. No triple crown this year, anyway. I didn't feel very good from the start. After the race, Scott told me he knew I wasn't going very fast today based on our warm-up together. We usually do a hard effort and he said he could tell I didn't have 'it', but thankfully he waited until after the race to tell me so. Races where I don't feel fast and don't feel like I can push myself are the toughest for me mentally. This year the Iceman, Ore to Shore, and Sheboygan were all highly mental races to stay in and get to the finish line. Iceman was particularily difficult because I lost my left contact about 10 miles into the race. I couldn't see anything! I could tell I was taking bad lines and had to slow down a lot on downhills and in the singletrack to avoid crashing. It was really tough and pretty dangerous. I think I was pretty lucky to hang onto second as it could have been a lot worse. Probably the most tired thing after the race was my left eye! It felt super fatigued.

Scott was in 4th/5th place early on in the race, tried to bridge the gap to the lead group and blew for the first time at about 10 miles in. He was still in the top ten until mile 22 and then blew again. Scott finished, so that makes his 4th race all year. He is looking foward to next year already, as some of his health issues are resolving and he is feeling better and able to train.

It was good to see some of our bike friends and have some closure to the season; catch up with a few people before settling into the off-season. I know I need a break. I feel really tired and my body has wanted to be done since Chequamegon. I have not raced well since. I was sick for about 3 weeks after Chequamegon, then got hives which lasted another almost 2 weeks. Training has seemed like work, so I know it is time to be done. I was really fired up to cyclocross race this fall, but it is not going to happen. I finally got my XO2 all set-up, but I think I am going to commute with it this fall and winter as much as possible. I have some really sweet winter riding bike shoes Scott bought me for Christmas last year. He always seems to get me great gifts; he also bought me my first pain of MTB shoes and shorts when we were first dating.

I can still be thankful for winning the races I did this year, especially Chequamegon! I think that will forever be one of the highlights of my MTB racing career. I was really fired up to get mentioned in Velonews a few times this year. That's really cool!

This week has gone by really fast. Last weekend was the big WORS Sheboygan race. Unfortunately, I developed Hives the friday before the race and was unsure if I would race on sunday. It's a 7 hr drive from Duluth to get to Sheboygan. Luckily, Scott planned on racing as well and we met Doug part way there to ride share. It gets to be a long drive and Doug is pretty talkative. I always like it when Scott comes along. It's much harder to travel without Scott, as Doug has found without Anne. When Scott and I were first married, I rarely traveled with him to races, and then I would only go to races if I were racing (which back then was not often).

I was still itching sunday of the race, but decided to race anyway as we had traveled so far to get there. I didn't feel great at any point in the race, but I was able to hold on and win. The race course was a little different this year than last. They added some singletrack and a stream crossing. The leadout wasn't as long before the racers hit singletrack. They had added a section early on in the race. It created a bottleneck early on. The elite women only started 15 seconds behind the elite men. When we got to the singletrack there was a line of men waiting to get through. I found a line around the group and had passed around 10 men within that first section of singletrack. The stream crossing had a steep hill coming out of it (last year we rode a bridge across the stream). The hill was really slick and then all the momentum was lost to get up the longer hill on the other side. I would have liked to have felt better and push it harder, but I was pretty thankful that I wasn't trying to get out of my skin during the race. Afterward, I started itching again. I still have hives, although they are slowly getting better. Turns out I am allergic to oats and that is what seemed to cause it. Oats are in alot of foods, especially powerbars. I told myself no more racing until the itching stops, but there is a CX race at Spirit Mtn in Duluth tomorrow that I may just race anyway. Because of a tatoo convention at Spirit, the race will be held at the bottom of the hill last I heard.

It has snowed off and on for three days and is finally accumulating. They sure like to use salt in duluth! Scott and I were almost going sideways up Mesaba when we hit a patch of ice on our way to work today. We had to finally turn the heat on in our house. We could almost see our breath inside yesterday. I usually have to wear a hat and scarf, along with a wool sweater in our home. We should be getting our wood pellet stove hooked up and ready for use next week.

This has been a rough week for me. I have ridden one day thus far - on weds. I am fighting a cold, but my energy is finally coming back. I need to leave here soon for a ride in Hartley. I love Hartley. Great trail with a little bit of everything. Recently the Superior Hiking Trail took some of our trail, put "foot travel only" signs up on it, and then contacted the local bike group - COGGS - to have them tell riders to stay off the SHT. The SHT even went so far as to cut down trees - which is a major no-no to deter riders on the SHT. My only question to the SHT folks, is how do they think the original trail got there? Duh. Trails don't make themselves.

Anyway, I have a few items for sale. I have a certificate good for a 2007 Trek Fuel Ex 5 WSD that I would like to get $1000/b.o. I will throw in a WSD jersey and shorts (still in new packaging) and some size 39 MTB shoes (if they fit). The second thing I have for sale is a Reba World Cup carbon fork. First $600 takes. I have a Reba on my bike and love it! It's stiffer than the fork that comes stock on the Fuel. I will post photos soon.

Off to Sheboygan this weekend.

Better get riding..

Scott is still riding the beamer to work and myself the suzuki. It poured rain yesterday, so thankfully we commuted by car. We've both gotten stuck in the rain before. It's really not that bad once you get out there.

Last weekend was the Fall Color Festival. Good event. Alot of peoople showed up for the event. None of us Midwest Trek team members got a warm-up, nor did Scott. I felt pretty bad for the first 3/4 of a lap and had crashed 2x in the first few miles. I realized after I had crashed the second time, that I didn't have a rear brake and my front brake was really grabby. My fault for not maintaining my brakes better. I felt good for about 1/2 a lap then kinda slowed down. I felt kinda bonky early on. Doug mentioned later to Scott and I that it was because we didn't eat any McDonald's breakfast burritoes. I hate McDonald's. The only thing worth eating maybe once a year is their ice cream, and I am not an ice cream eater. Scott has read the book "Fast Food Nation". It's nasty what they put in that food and if the general public knew, I think McDonald's would go bankrupt. I got passed by two guys going into the last lap and held onto their wheel for the last lap. Scott finished his first race since Cable Classic in May. He is starting to come around. He didn't push as hard as earlier this year cuz he had DNF;d so many races that he didn't want to do that again. A good thing at home is that he no longer naps for 2 hours after work.

We drove back on saturday and got to Scott's cousin's wedding reception by 10 pm. We stayed until midnight visiting with family and the cousin's almost 90 year old grandma. Sunday was a wash for me. I was so tired all day from staying out late, that I just spun a little and cleaned the house.

I got my cross bike almost two weeks ago, but haven't gotten to race it cuz of this Cheq cold. I still have a few more MTB races yet this fall (Sheboygan and Iceman), so I don't want to race extra races while sick. Cross is super fun. Our friend Charlie was at a cross race this past weekend, got their 10 min before the start (so no warm-up and no course pre-ride). He was riding at high speed when he launched himself over the first barrier. Just before he hit the barrier, he thought it was kinda weird that the guy next to him was getting off his bike.

Better get some work done. Lots to do today. My new job is going well, but I am more busy than ever.

Scott and I took our new CX bike for a ride today. The bike handles really well and the tires stick like glue around fast corners. We rode both my mtb and the CX bike and took turns. It rained since friday night, so the ground was pretty tacky. The CX bike accelerates really well. We would have raced the st. cloud CX race today, but we are both still sick. Scott got up in the middle of the night last night and changed our sheets cuz he was wheezing. I didn't hear him after that. We are both looking forward to getting over this sickness and trying some CX races.

Here is my new CX bike! Trek XO2. I am fired up to race CX this fall. I did one race last year on my mtb and had a blast (except for the barriers, my legs are short!). We'll see how it goes. Scott is fired up to ride as well. Should be fun.

I found this photo of Sunday's chequamegon crit on the fat tire website. From back to front is Michelle, Anne, Kyia, and myself. This was going up the first climb. I was in the lead up this hill, then got passed by Kyia going up the second. I accumulated too much lactate up the first hill and had to drop a few gears for the second. I stayed close to Kyia's wheel for the second lap and passed her up the last hill for the win. There were 6 women in our race, so we only had to race one time. Most of the men had to race once for their age group, and another time in the overall. Scott raced the crit and finished! That was his goal. This was the first race he had finished since May. He saw the dr again, and he should be on his way back to health and the ability to finish MTB races. I have a few more races this year, so hopefully he will feel good enough to race!

Next post will be of my new CX bike! Trek XO2 - ultegra components and race X lite wheels. It is really nice and I have a feeling I am going to have to share this bike a little with Scott!

I was so excited to win this race. I credit it to my friend Michelle who told me on friday that she prayed that I would win. After last year, I needed a little divine intervention this year. I was shooting for top three because I knew there was really good competition. My goal was to go as hard as I could and not worry about anyone else. I had started to get a cold on friday (the day before the race), but wasn't too worried because during our ride on friday my head seemed to clear. I woke on saturday feeling fine, just a little plugged up.

The start of the race was a little sketchy. A guy a little in front of me almost crashed 3x going down Hwy 77. Once we got to Rosie's field the race opened up. I knew I was in good position when I could still see the lead group heading into the woods as I was going down the big hill with the gully at the bottom in Rosie's. I worked my way through groups of riders and settled in for the long race. I felt fine the whole race. I lost my group once on an open road, but slowly caught back up on Firetower hill. I didn't know where I was in the race standings until Scott mentioned I was leading with "a big gap" at Firetower. Scott was everywhere on the course. It was awesome to see him. It helped to get hand-ups and it forced me to drink. Flying down the road on the backside of firetower hill I felt a bug smack my leg. It wasn't until after I finished that I realized I had a nice swollen bee sting on my right hip. It's still pretty sore. The rolling birke hills didn't seem as bad this year in years past and I was really glad when I hit the last bit of rolling trail in the woods before the downhill finish. I started cramping a little with 4 miles to go and just knew to be careful enough not to flat or have any other mechanical and just get to the finish line - fast. It was awesome to cross the line and know I had the win. I think I hugged everyone in the vicinity. Chris and Jason (regional team manager and assist team manager)were at the finish as well and it was great to share this victory with them. It was nice to meet Heather and Catheryn (2nd and 3rd place women).

My teammate, Doug Swanson, was in the lead with 3 miles to go when he got a flat. He still finished second, although I think it would have been fantastic for him to win. It's fun to see him race well. Tristan Schouten, my other teammate, made the top 10; so all around it was a great day!

On sunday all of us raced the crit as well. The women's race was two loops with two challenging climbs per lap. I led after the first downhill, then Kyia passed me on the second uphill. She led until the last downhill of the second loop when I passed her on the final climb. She is really tough!

Doug took first as well, and Tristan 3rd overall in the sunday crit. A really good weekend for the Trek Midwest Regional Team!

I slept horribly (not at all?) last night between blowing my nose, coughing, and having the cat wake me up to get fed (he doesn't eat when we are away from home - he's a really anxious cat). I feel pretty bad today, but made it through work, somehow. No monday night ski hut ride for either Scott or I. It was really cool to go to work today and our Adminstrative Assistant put up the podium photos from this weekend's race. It's fun to share this win with so many people.

Yesterday I was all fired up to ride. Scott and I planned on riding the trails near our house with a friend of ours. I had a kinda rough day at work and felt a bit mentally fried, but also not myself. I lasted about 20' with those two and had to spin easy home. I crashed twice in the first, again in the first 20'. I don't usually crash; especially during training rides. I had a nice evening anyway and still got almost an hour ride. Not much else going on.

This photo is me racing at the Spirit Mtn Powdermonkey race two weekends ago. This section of trail is really twisty windy making it tough to go fast. Scott did most of the labor to make this section of trail.

The middle photo is at the awards ceremony for the Seeley Hills Prefat race. I love this race cuz the speeds are high and there is excellent single track. The weather was perfect for the race (upper 60/low 70's). Going down on the pavement during the start of the race, my legs didn't feel that great. But then we hit the gravel and they felt much more comfortable. I felt way better in this race than the last two races. I felt like I could go hard. I got in a really good group of ski hutters. There were seven of us at one point training along the course. Then Joe busted his seat, Harry dropped his glasses and stopped to pick them up, and Ross flew up the steepest hill on the course, gapping the rest of us by 20 sec or more. I got a nice gap on the rest of the group through this bit of singletrack, but then wasn't sure if I took a wrong turn or not, so they caught back on. This was definitely one of the most fun races I have done. I won for the women and was 10th overall amongst the men. I got this really cool clock that I have attached a photo as well. Thanks goes to Bill Schwalbe, of whom took these photos and have a bunch of others posted on www.teamskihut.com Check out the photos of spirit mtn race. It gives one an idea of what the trails look like at spirit.

Today was a big day. I passed my motorcycle endorsement test! I was pretty fired up that I passed. I got a little nervous during the test and missed a few points going around the cones, but the rest of the test went fine. I especially liked having to stop really fast. I skidded the tire a bit.

Otherwise, I am just busy with work. Today is an off day and yesterday was an easy road ride. I lifted a few weights with just my arms. If I go too long between weight work-outs my arms will start to feel wimpy.

This past week has been really hectic. I was on vacation between jobs and had to get my new office set up and started to work on some presentations. I'll be teaching at The College of St. Scholastica this next year. I am really fired up.

I also gave a free women's mountain bike clinic last night in duluth. (at Hartley). I think there are about 12 women that showed up. Alise, from the ski hut rides, organized the event. It was really fun to work on skills and give the women some technical advise. I was really impressed with how everyone improved. There are some women that plan on continuing to meet on Tues evenings at 6pm for casual riding. I may show up to some of these as time allows, or have additional free clinics.

I also learned how to take my motorcycle's carburator apart and fix it (sorta) last week. It died on me during my endorsement test multiple times last week. The instructor made me reschedule for a different date. I was pretty upset that it didn't work. After getting it home and having Irv (father-in-law) walk me through how to take the bike apart, etc, we saw the air box was loaded with fuel. No wonder I couldn't get it to work. I felt a little better about myself after that. The endorsement test is all done in first gear around cones in a parking lot. My bike works fine on the road, but can't handle slow speeds or idling well enough to get me around cones. I may just use the full year of my permits eligibility.

This last sunday was the Powdermonkey race at Spirit Mtn. The course is really challenging. I was a bit disappointed in how my body felt. My legs get really heavy fast and then I can't push and go hard like I like to. I got passed by men I usually never see in a race. The women started 30 sec behind the expert men. I was passing men within the first 5 min of the race. There is a group of men that will not let me pass. This has happened in several races, and its the same group of 2-4 men. A few of them crashed (hard) in front of me. Another one I kept trying to pass on singletrack and he'd speed up and not let me by, or we'd get to two track and he'd go gangbusters to get ahead. I would catch back up on singletrack and the game would start again. Oh well, that's racing. I should just get faster and then not have to worry about them at all. This racecourse is probably the toughest in the midwest and its easy to go out too hard and explode, or implode. There were lots of crashes from what I heard. The toughest downhill on the course is similar to a downhillers course (it was used as part of the downhill race a few years ago). There is so much trail at spirit mtn that hopefully in years to come we will be able to make one big loop. This year was only 3 for expert men and 2 for expert women/comp. It was fun and nice to have a race close to home.

Next race: likely seeley hills prefat.

This photo is courtesy of the mining journal (www.miningjournal.net). They had a nice little write up of the Ore to Shore race. This race was definitely one of the hardest races I have finished, both mentally and physically. I didn't feel good at any point during the race. My legs felt heavy and I felt the hills were more work than they should have been at this time in the race season. I felt pretty slow. My time was seven minutes slower than last year. The course conditions were tougher as well, though. With the lack of rain this year, the stretches of sand seemed longer and deeper than years past. Luckily, I got in a good group not too long after the start of the race and held with them most of the way. The Eppens tandem came around our group with about 20 miles to go (they flatted early on in the race). They shattered our group. I had just got done working kinda hard and needed a little recovery when they past us. I struggled to stay with the group and then got dropped. I probably rode the last 15 miles in mostly by myself. In past years I have had difficulty with cramping...hamstrings, quads, adductors. This year my hamstrings were cramping pretty bad the last mile. Luckily, there was no other women around to sprint finish. I was really glad to see the finish line. I jumped in Lake Superior with kit still on - including my bike shoes. I was covered in a layer of dust from head to toe.

Doug and Anne Swanson rode to Marquette with us in the VW van. It was fun to have them with. I felt bad that Doug didn't have a better race. He was doing really well til he kinda bonked the last 1/4 of the race or so. Scott and Anne did a great job of getting me bottles, but missed Doug one time cuz of the amount of driving it took to get from one spot to the next. I felt bad they had to hang out for the awards, but Doug still won his age group. I got some nice prize money and a cool chair made out of bicycle rims. I think they are made locally in marquette. It matches the stool I won last year.

Our good friend, Charlie, took 20th overall and the last payout spot for the men's overall. His 6 year old daughter, Sophie, helped with hand-ups. She's a really tough kid and fun to hang around.

We drove back part way on saturday night and slept in the van. It comfortably sleeps 4 with the top poped up. Sunday Scott and I went for an easy two-track trail ride. It felt good to spin the legs. My legs felt quite achy after the previous day's efforts. Monday we joined The Ski Hut Monday Night Ride at Spirit Mtn. The PowderMonkey MTB MNSCS race is this coming sunday, Aug 20th. We added a little bit of trail in the am and rode it in a bit during the ride. For those of you familiar with Charlie's Demise (part of the Grady Downhill); it does a switchback now instead of going straight down (where Charlie almost severed his Quad tendon a few years ago). Even with some rain the past two days, the course is still dry and a little dusty.

Today is a rest day and a motorcyle endorsement test this afternoon. Better go practice.

It's been a busy past few weeks. I have been practicing on our motorcycle and will hopefully take my endorsement test soon. It's been really fun riding around, and mostly riding behind Scott to do errands and get to/from work. We are really fired up by the mileage (80 mpg).

We finally got some rain. Friday we had inch sized hail pelting down and pouring rain. We were inside our shed when the storm hit. It sounded like being inside a tin can with rocks hitting all sides...all at once. Then it stormed the next morning, rained the next day, and then stormed again monday night. We had to cut the Monday Night Ski Hut ride short due to thunder and rain. We got quite wet before getting the bikes back into our car. Too bad it was lighting, it would have been fun to jump into lake superior before heading home.

Scott is riding his bike more often and seems to be coming around. He may not race the rest of the season. He can go easy just fine, but long and hard are not do-able at this stage. I am starting to feel better. I had a few weeks where all I wanted to do was sleep. I am sure I was fighting a virus of some sort I picked up at work. I felt almost normal on the Ski Hut ride yesterday, and felt probably the best I have in some time. Not sure if its also the heat taking my energy.

Doug and Anne's wedding was this weekend. It was fun and we were really glad to be a part of it. Dan is always hilarious and it was fun to sit with Harry, Megan and meet some new folks. We also got to catch up a little with Hollywood and Kimberly. My dad is a frequent visitor to Hollywood's shop. He set his time trial and road bike up and is really happy. My dad's pretty funny. He's trying to cut weight for the senior olympics coming up in October out in St. George, UT. He really wants to win the yellow jersey (the overall) in his category. Nice to see him still racing at 67. He is a good road biker, but mountain biking would not be very kind to him I am afraid.

The ore to shore is coming up next. I hear they haven't got any rain recently like we have. Lots of sand to look forward to. When I was in college we used to run intervals at forestville trails near the end of the race. I love going to marquette!

It has been a while since I posted on my blog. From Grand Marais we traveled to Hayward to ride some of the trails and hang out. Rock Lake trails were amazing! They had been worked on since we had ridden them last. Really fun twisty singletrack with plenty of rocks and some expert sections of trail. We also rode some of the ojibwe trail - one of our favorite trails. We were pretty tired after putting in time riding, hiking, playing tennis, and kayaking. We borrowed some friends home-made (from a kit) sea kayaks. They are made in a fashion that the boat doesn't need a rudder. We got a lot of compliments. We spent most of our days out in the sun (and its been HOT!), so we have been pretty tired the past week or so.

I tried to race the MNSCS race at Red Wing, but DNF'd. It was partly the heat, but I felt really slow. I got back to my car, and realized my front wheel wasn't turning. (It spun fine before the race). I really fried myself with the combination of the heat and the extra peddling resistance. I finally rode again today (sat). I am surprised that my legs feel really tired after todays ride. We rode some great trails close to our house. I will probably take a little more time off next week. I don't have my usual zip and enthusiasm to ride, which tells me there is something not right with my body. My next race will be the ore to shore - three weeks away.

I have been riding our new motorcycle - learning to shift and stop/start smoothly. I didn't grow up riding motorcycles so it's going to take a while before I feel comfortable riding on the road. Scott gave me a ride to work last thurs on the bike - it was really fun! It's hard not to smile while riding. I hope to take my riding test soon and get my endorsement.

Tomorrow VeloDuluth is putting on a fundraiser ride for Courage Duluth. It starts pretty early - registration is from 6:30 - 8am - and riders can choose 35, 50, or 100 miles. If we can get out of bed we'll go. Lately, I have felt the need to sleep in as long as possible - especially on non-work days. I'll probably road bike tomorrow either way.

Here is the latest edition to our family: a Suzuki drz 200. It was either spend $$ on plane tickets out to the national in california, or buy a motorcycle to save money on commuting to and from work. Obviously, we chose the latter. Scott is still not feeling super well, but has perked up some since this latest purchase. Last week we headed up to the north shore to do some riding, play some tennis (we both are pretty terrible at tennis), play some mini-golf, hang out in the sun, and stay at nanaboujou lodge up past Grand Marais. Nanaboujou lodge is pretty cool. (Scott is walking toward the lodge in one of the photos). No phones, tv, or cell service. We hiked in Judge Magney State Park: the upper and lower falls and Devil's Kettle. Devil's kettle was pretty cool and worth the hike up. (see photo) We also rode our bikes at Pincushion trails. The locals are making a nice new section of singletrack for their race that will be held at the end of august. The races starts in downtown Grand Marais and then heads up to the pincushion trail system from there. Unfortunately, Seeley Hills and WORS cup are also that weekend, so we won't make it back for their race.

Back at home we have been riding some of the local trails and had a great long hike from our house to Ely's peak and back yesterday. The weather has been just great this past week, with yesterday and today not so hot, so we can recover a little from some minor sunburn and gear up for the hot weather that is supposedly headed our way the rest of the week. We hope to get down to the hayward area to ride some of the singletrack trails down there yet this week, as well as, partake in more minigolf and tennis. We also have harvested some of the lettuce we have been growning in our garden. It definitely tastes and smells better than store-bought. That may be all we get from our garden this year, as the deer have been feeding in the rest of our garden at night. We plan on putting up a fence next year to keep them out. It is so dishartening to wake up and all our plants are just stubs.

I don't have a green thumb, but I am pleased I didn't kill this clematis. I was feeling pretty bad last week. I only rode three days, including the Mont Du Lac race. This week I am feeling a bit better and was able to ride more consistently. My energy levels have been really poor and my stress levels at work pretty high. I have been gardening instead. Scott and I hauled in three truck loads of rock we used as a border to our new garden. It's about 40'x 40', but I built walkways between the rows of dirt. It was fun to build. So far, we have only lost a few plants to the large rodents that rome the neighborhood (i.e. Deer). I read an article in the paper that said christmas lights are the best way to keep them away. I use irish spring soap in my watering can. Let the water lather it up and then pour it around my garden. Deer are not supposed to like irish spring.
Scott is still feeling really tired. He hasn't riden his bike in a week, and doesn't feel like riding, which isn't like him. Typically, by this time he would be going nuts if something kept him off his bike this long. He has been busy instead fixing our cars and VW van, along with some house projects. As good as it is to have all that work done, I'd rather have him able to ride his bike. Tomorrow is the eau claire wors race. A friend of mine and I are driving to Brainard instead to see a friend of ours from xc racing in high school. I'll be cool to see her again. It's been 14 years. It'll be nice to finally meet her two boys.