From Houghton/Hancock area Scott and I drove north to copper harbor to check out the trails. We rode some of the trails that are part of the race course September 1st or 2nd this fall. We were told to ride Paul's Plunge, but rode most everything else before we had to call it a day. The singletrack is fun - full of roots and rocks. The rocks were really loose; more like riding out west than the midwest. Copper Harbor has a really active bike community and they are in the process of making more singletrack. We rode some new stuff that was a little sketchy with the bench cut into the side of a hill with a revine to fall into if one is unfortunate. I was off on my skills that day, so I got a nice little hike through some of those sections.

We rode into the tip of the keewenaw penisula the second day on gravel roads and two track. It was really nice and we were able to ride close to the lake on parts and follow the map we purchased at the local (and only) bike shop. We cooled off (and cleaned up) in the lake with a public beach. It was really nice to hang out, ride our bikes and read on this vacation. This is what we needed to do, and unfortunately it came at the time when we were planning on doing big races instead. I need time off from racing for a few weeks as the most important races are the second half of the season. I don't feel I have raced well in roughly a month, so I am working to get back on track. We got home on sunday and neither of us has ridden our bikes since. I am taking time off until I feel like riding, which it usually sooner than later, but it has been four days already. As a distraction, I am building gardens in my front lawn. That is digging up my front lawn with a spade - by hand. I am sure my neighbors think I am nuts. I am feeling that my yard needs to produce vegetables rather than grass and weeds. I have been reading Mother Earth News and getting lots of ideas. I am working on convincing Scott that we need chickens, amonst other furry creatures. He's a tough sell.

Other good things: Cytomax came in the mail while I was gone. I really like the pink lemonade cytomax drink and the evopro and muscle milk drink mixes. The evopro vanilla tastes awesome in a berry smoothy with plain yoghurt.

My Oakley sunglasses are working great! I really like the flak jacket - the lenses are fantastic that allow enough coverage so I don't get extra air going in to produce tears as I am flying downhills.

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!