I've caught a bit of a cold and feel wiped out. I have not ridden in a week, thus my ability to post more than one time per month. I have been sleeping (trying to anyway) and using the Neti pot. There isn't much pregnant women can do to eradicate illness and the Neti pot seems to work better than anything else. I spent a good chunk of last night coughing and getting almost zero sleep. This illness is not helping my attempts to keep some sort of physical shape. The last ride I did I felt bonked the entire time and took a short cut home. I miss the ability to breath while riding my bike uphill. It is pretty amazing how things change and rather quickly.

Our little baby is really busy! I can feel her move off and on all day long. Scott has only felt her one time when she was kicking really hard. Being a pregnant bike racer is tough at times as I am unable to race and participation for me is not that much fun. I miss going to races and trying to go fast on my bike. I am trying to take each day one at a time and enjoy being pregnant as much as possible. It gets tougher as my belly and other body parts expand. We already have our baby's name picked out and are not telling. I have been reading Mothering Magazines and various books including Hypnobirthing, The Diaper Free Baby, What's going on in there?, and I just ordered both Having a Baby Naturally (published by Mothering magazine) and The Vaccine Book. My youngest sister and some of my good friends are essential in recommending good books. I feel very fortunate.

I hope everyone racing season is going well. Scott and I check race results and try to keep tabs on everyone.

Dr. Mongeon is helping Scott get back on track. Scott is fighting some gut illness, so to speak, and this next course should help him get back on track. Scott had Giardia last year, identified by Dr. Mongeon, and once treated felt fantastic. Spring is always a tough time of year for Scott with the snow mold, pollens, dust (thankfully Scott cleans, but neither of us are that great at dusting).

I have been training as much as possible. I think I over did it a bit yesterday as today I am really tired and moving slowly. I hope to get a nap in and then a short bike ride later on. The weather has been great lately. Beautiful all weekend and now again today. Scott's brother rode back from Duluth to the Twin Cities today (he rode up on Friday). He doesn't have a car, so his bike is one of the few ways he uses to come visit. No wonder he DNF'd the Cable Classic. It took him 9 hrs to ride up the day before.

Not much else going on. Just reading a ton of baby books and trying to get things lined up for when baby arrives.

The Cable Classic bike race took place yesterday. It was good to get out of Duluth. I am starting to feel a big caged and overworked. We have been cleaning our house and getting things organized for our babies arrival. Granted we have lots of time, but I already feel far behind on my motherhood reading.

I am going to focus on the good things about the race/participation event. It was warm enough at the race start - and sunny - that I could wear shorts and a short sleeve jersey. :) Luckily I stuck my arm warmers and vest into my hydration pack for the end of the race. I was very comfortable temperature-wise for the first 14 miles and riding at a decent pace, keeping the rubber side down on my bike for the entire race. At this stage in my pregnancy, I cannot afford to fall and I rode extra careful and slower especially on the downhills. I was riding my winter bike - which I love, but it is a hardtail and soooo much slower and more work than my race bike. I am still waiting for my front fork and rear shock to arrive for my new bike. I convinced Scott to ride his old Fuel instead of me and the steer tube is no longer high enough for my growing belly to be comfortable. Although, a full-suspension would have definitely been the bike to ride on this course. I don't remember there being that much singletrack last year - but I had more time to take it all in and enjoy it than in previous years. I got a lot of riding out of the saddle time during the race - I figured about 12 miles (of a 23 mile race) or so as about 1/2 way into the race my belly was very tired of the bumps. I stood on every downhill and rough section. I got to experience the race from an entirely different point of view. After riding a hardtail for this race and I can say they are much much slower on rough terrain. If the trail was baby-butt smooth, then a hardtail would be great. It was brutal on this course for me anyway. Luckily, Scott took off the bontragger rigid fork and put the suspension fork back on. Baby hates bumps and I am sure I would have had to DNF had I not had a suspension fork. Otherwise, the course was fantastic with a bit of cyclocross-type barrier action. There were high winds the night before the race that blew down a bunch of trees across the trail. I must have dismounted about 10x to climb over size-able trees! After about 14 miles I got really tired, my little 'governor' (baby) turned on the brakes and I had to slow down to mostly a crawling pace. I am not sure why. Two weeks ago I felt fantastic! This past week I have felt terrible riding; klinda bonky and low energy most of my rides. Baby must be growing or something. Other good things are that I got to see a lot of riders I don't usually get to see and congratulate local Duluthians on a great showing!

More than half way into the race it started to get cold. And windy. I wasn't working as hard so that was part of it, but it started raining after I finished. (Thankfully I had that extra clothing with me as I had to wait for Scott to ride back to the start of the race to get the van). Luckily, our good friend Ron rode with me the last mile or so of the race. I needed some encouragement at that point. I am hoping I feel fantastic once baby is out and I lose the baby weight that I have not fully gained yet.

Other good things about the day is that I felt so tired, hungry, and a little bonked that Scott and I shared some doritos and coke. I cannot tell you the last time I ate that kind of stuff (crap was the first word that came to mind). Nothing like a race to make me crave bad food. I have been really good during this pregnancy as far as nutrition is concerned and thankfully preganancy has taken away my cravings for chocolate. I have been really good at staying away from caffeine as well and gave up my daily cup(s) of coffee. The first trimester pretty much created a major adversion to coffee and I haven't gone back except for the occassional decaf from Beaner's.

Scott felt fine for the first 5 miles or so of the race and then pretty much had nothing after that. It is so odd. Maybe he is still fighting the cats? He took a short cut to bypass the finish and head to the start of the race to pick up the van. He was thinking of his pregnant wife and making sure I wasn't the one to have to ride back to pick up the van! Otherwise, he wasn't sure he'd quite make it back he felt so terrible. We need to figure out why he doesn't race well. It is incredibly frustrating for him. One thing this race helped me develop is empathy for Scott.... it is not very fun for me to race slow (as I did in this race) and I can see why he would DNF instead of forcing himself to finish when he feels so crappy. I felt really bad the last nine miles and if I knew a shortcut to get back to the finish I would have probably taken the DNF and shortcut. It is tough to stay in a race when the body is not cooperating. At least I am pregnant, have way more blood volume, some physiological anemia, and extra weight that I do not normally carry as all reasons for my inability to go faster than medium speed. Most days when I ride I go incredibly slow. I was practicing balancing while riding during this race as I would crawl up the steeper climbs at such a slow pace that any slower I would have tipped over. But, I was still happy to be outside, on my bike, and in the woods riding singletrack.

I better get to bed. Back to work tomorrow morning and baby needs me to sleep. She has been really active and I can feel her move quite a bit when I am sitting or laying down. It is really cool!

Scott and I are finally ready to let people know we/I am pregnant. We are five months along and have kept relatively quiet about the pregnancy. Our first visit to the OB kinda freaked us out because the risk of miscarriage is quite high (1 in 300) for women > = 35 y/o; especially in the first trimester. Since about 14 weeks pregnant or so, I finally started feeling better. Before that I was very tired and fatigued. I napped several times a day (even at work in my office with the door shut) as I couldn't push through it. I took the pregnancy test after feeling so tired for several weeks that I either had to be pregnant or overtrained. I can feel our little baby moving daily now. It doesn't feel like too much, but it is really a neat feeling. Scott cannot feel it yet, but in another coulple of weeks baby should be stronger/bigger. So far, apart from being tired, everything is fine. We had our 20 week ultrasound and everything looks fine and normal with baby. We were very relieved. We opted not to do any prenatal testing/screening for genetic problems as it was just an assessment of risk and not a definitive test; amniocentesis is not an option we would choose (1 in 200 procedures miscarry).

I am still training as much as I can. I have been hiking/walking and running (short distances) more, but I am still biking and lifting weights. Pregnancy doesn't get in my way as far as activity goes at this point; it is more work that gets in the way - but I think most people struggle to find the balance between the two and all the other obligations. I am signed up to 'race' at Cable in a week. I am sure it will be more of a ride than anything else as my breathing is a limitor at this point (and has been as early as 7 weeks). I hope to keep riding as long as I can and it still feels comfortable to ride. I have been riding my bike with my bars up a bit higher to make it more comfortable.

Scott and I have also decided that we have to get rid of our cats. After talking with a new doctor in town, the doctor basically said to get rid of the cats as they are destroying Scott's immune system. We think that is why he has not raced well or consistently in a long time! If anyone is interested in one or two sealpoint siamese cats, please comment on my blog. They are great cats. One male, one female. Neutered/spayed, declawed, litter box trained. They love to be with people and be 'pet'. The female cat, Kissa, is real lovey. The boy cat, Bartleby, is more aloof, but hilarious and loves to be played with.

Today I helped volunteer at the annual childrens helmet give away sponsored by The Ski Hut, SMDC and Kohl's. There were plenty of volunteers fitting helmets and lots of happy kids (and adults) of all ages that left with a brand new bike helmet. This was a great event to help promote bike safety. During my ride today I couldn't help but notice that about 1/2 of the riders didn't wear helmets (children and adults alike). I am not sure what they are thinking. I have worked in rehab as a Physical Therapist and after working with patients that have brain injuries it really helps solidifies the need to always wear a helmet!

Otherwise, I recently gave away my WORS All-in-One prize from winning the series last year. I won't be racing the series this year, so Trek, our Midwest Regional Team Manager, Don from WORS, and I thought it would be great to give the certificate away to a new female rider that wants to race WORS. Go to www.wors.org to find out the name of the lucky winner. I hope she enjoys the races, courses, and meeting other riders.

Today was the Iola race. Scott raced, but didn't feel very good. His first three laps were basically a ride and then he finally started feeling a bit better the last two laps. He didn't let himself DNF (thankfully). I think it builds character to finihs, but I have to admit the year we were drinking bad (bacteria laden) water I DNF'd once. I felt horrible and was going so slow that I couldn't help but think, What's the point? I really dislike racing slow.

The weather finally cleared this weekend. It was so beautiful both saturday and sunday. I was in heaven both days, getting outside, training and being warm. This spring has been the worst weather I have ever seen in Duluth. Most days are 35 or 40, cold, windy and rainy. The forcast is usually pretty crappy and then, like today, turned out to be beautiful. It is much more motivating to train when the sun is out. I cannot blame it completely on the weather, though. Work has been horribly busy and thankfully it is finals week this week so there will be a bit of a recovery period (from work) before first summer session starts. I have a lot to prepare for that, but it is much more flexible than regular class.

Better run to bed as it is getting late and Scott just returned from his trip to Iola.

Spring training the last weekend in April......

Who needs Joe Friel's weight lifting advice when Mother Nature gives us all we can handle already? This is the strength maintenance phase since two weeks ago we were awarded ten inches of wet heavy snow and turned out that was our last maximum strength phase workout. Hopefully, next week we can get back on the bike again.

For those of us getting ready to nestle in our beds, our good friend and fellow rider Charlie Farrow is STILL racing across Iowa (4 AM start). To check on Charlie's progress go to www.transiowa.blogspot.com (I think). There is great commentary from the race director Guitar Ted.

Here is my new bike! Scott is busy getting it put together while I try to get caught up on work so I can spend my time riding. I love the new frames!!! Just a few more things that need to arrive and I'll be ready to take it out for its maden voyage.

This years kits are really cool, too! More pics to come.......

Scott and I returned from Moab a few weeks ago. The weather was cold, rainy, and it even hailed one afternoon downtown (with snow in the higher elevations). I didn't get to ride as much as I had planned/would have liked, but I had a few good rides where I felt great! With all the bad weather it was a bit easier to get caught up on some reading, homework, and work (although I don't recommend that that is what vacations are for). Scott got in some really good riding with our friends Narum and Bill. We had a good group that was rounded out by Scott's dad. At 69 years old he is still riding well - singletrack and the more technical rides. Each year he seems to ride a little less, but still gets enough riding in to balance out his time in the bookstores or coffeeshops reading.

Our new bikes should be here anyday. I am looking forward to seeing what they are and how they look. There is a bit of speculation as to which frame we will get this year. They should be here anyday. This time of year is much like Christmas for us! I love it and I get all my favorite bike stuff!

For those of you that don't know and have not gone to the WORS website. I am giving away my WORS All-in-One Entry this year as I am not planning on racing the full WORS series. If you would like to put your name in (it is open to women only new to WORS so spread the word!), submit an essay as to why you should be chosen to WORS. (go to www.wors.org and submit via email). I'll pick and announce the winner sometime around April 26th so time is running out. Check the WORS website for more information on deadlines. I am hoping the winner will allow me to put some information on my blog about her season.

It is supposed to be up to 70 degrees today so I'm going to get a bit more work done and head out on my bike. My good old Paragon is newly suited with some Bontragger Race X Lite wheels and I got to give them some exercise....

The past two days have been close to 50 degrees! Yesterday I jogged/hiked in the AM so that I could ride during the warmest part of the day. I felt the best riding that I have all year. I XC skied more this winter and rode less due to such good skiing conditions. XC skiing also seems harder than riding, probably cuz I use my arms alot more when I ski. Today the riding was just as good. It was warm and sunny and was completely overdressed. I am still used to dressing for winter riding - complete with the riding lobster mits and all. I road on the road both days as it is too warm to ride trails. The snow is melting fast and as long as we don't get much on the way of rain, we should be on track to ride trails by mid-to-end of April. That is pretty good for duluth.

While on my ride today I got hooted at by some guy taking note of my rear end on the bike. He must be a Fergie fan as he said something about "Bootielicious" (I don't know how to spell it obviously I don't own the CD). Not much of a compliment coming from a fat guy. (I hate getting hollared at. It is rude, disrespectful, etc.)

Scott put on the Bontragger race X lite rigid carbon fork on my Paragon along with my red foam grips. It is so nice and a bit lighter. Scott is planning on riding my Paragon in Moab while I ride his old Fuel. I need full suspension out there, while Scott can do without it.

Better get back to work and studying. Too much to do and too little time.......

The cross-country skiing has been fantastic the past few weeks! Last weekend I was in heaven as both Magney and Spirit Mtn were perfect conditions. The snow was fast and the hills felt effortless. Saturday was the best I have felt training since getting really sick in January. I love spring skiing. The temperatures are warm and the sun was so nice and warm. It was really nice not having to dress for zero degree weather. The trails were pretty busy, but not too bad.

I biked a bit last week as well, but the trails are so bumpy! The freeze/thaw combined with walkers and snowmobilers chewing up the snow make for a rough ride It's still nice to get out and spin the legs though. I love my little winter (GF Paragon)bike! Scott may take it to ride in Moab when we head out here in a few weeks. We are both very excited for our trip. We have been there so many years that we pretty much know where we want to ride the entire time. I love the variety and getting on my bike early. I also love the sun and the warmer temperatures! We usually hit Fruita and Grand Junction on the return trip home. I'm planning on riding Scott's 2006 Trek Fuel as my race bike hasn't yet arrived, although we have some time before we fuel up the VW van and head out. Scott's dad will be 69 this year and has gone every year with us for the past 8 or so years. Every year when we return from Moab he'll ask, "Same time next year?"

Otherwise, as one can tell by the frequency of my posts that life and work is really busy! I am still in grad school, working full-time, and training. If something isn't on my 'to do' list it just doesn't seem to get done. I am going to try to make more of an effort. I have less than two months left in the semester and of course my workload increases with each of the next few weeks, but maybe it'll force me to be more productive!

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I just got a paper published on Fibromyalgia in the March issue of Gerinotes, a professional journal. I was really fired up when I saw it as I sent in my paper two months ago and didn't hear anything back as far as revisions. My tDPT studies require me to do literature reviews, which takes a lot of time to gather the information and write the paper. I better get to work as I have another one due here in early May.

I am getting over one of the worst 'colds' ever. I may have had influenza, but I am not sure. Both Scott and I were stuck in bed, him for two days and he got better within four days or so; I was in bed for about five days and up coughing most of the night for about a week. I'd then sleep all day if I could. I missed some days of work and forced myself to go in on other days, mostly because I could not miss class those days. It's been over two weeks now and I am still fighting this crude. Needless to say I have not been able to do much. Initially I could do nothing at all, except sleep all day. After about a week I could get out and walk, but then I'd have to keep my mouth covered as the cold air really irritated my lungs. I finally got out for a ski a week ago and it was so slow it was almost painful. I couldn't go any faster though, so after 50 minutes I called it a day. I had a little better ski the day after and have not felt that great since. Scott and I rode our bikes this morning on the snowmobile trails. Surprisingly, I felt ok going slow. I actually felt better riding my bike than walking up this monster hill on our loop to get back home. I'm past frustrated as I can only do what my body will allow. This is almost worse than when I was overtrained in college. My energy levels are in the toilet and I nap a lot. In the past I could usually push through being tired to get stuff done. Not with this. I have to lay down and sleep. I missed the opportunity to ski with Kim Eppen today at the Birkie. It would have been a blast! I would have held her back. Yesterday my skis were so slow that my legs felt fried afterward. I barely made it around the 10K loop. I'm doing what I can to get better. It's just taking forever!

Scott and I have had a really busy month! XC skiing was fantastic until we got rain a week ago. There is still good skiing at one or two places in Duluth (Snowflake and maybe Spirit). Coaching is going well. Our men's team is having a banner year, while our women's team unfortunately suffered a few injuries - one a broken wrist. Our girls team is pretty small compared to the guys team, hopefully that will build. We have been skiing quite a bit up until the rain came. Scott came home soaked from skiing in the rain that night. Otherwise, we have had really cold weather where it is easier to ski and stay warm than bike. The rain did bring good riding conditions so this weekend we have plans to ride a bit. I love my new Paragon. Scott has been borrowing it a bit. He rode it for his 'bike skills' class as part of interim for middle school students where he teaches. He and another teacher have a blast getting the kids riding obstacle courses set up in the gym. My knobby tires work well enough that I don't need studs while riding outside. It is finally snowing today, which should make it more difficult to see the icy patches.

We will have a few new faces on the team this year. Should be interesting, but fun as always!

Scott and I were gone recently for US Nordic Nationals in Houghton, MI for the CSS Nordic Ski Team we are helping coach. We had a great week. The snow conditions were great along with temps. Our athletes had a rough showing due to a flu that hit the night before the first race and then spread through most of our team. We had a few good results as well. I had not been to a US Nationals for skiing since 1994. A few of my former NMU teammates are now coaching, so it was good to catch up with them. One of the coaches for our CSS team was also a former NMU teammate. I miss ski racing a little, but still not sure if I would ever race again. The bike season is really long and in order to be a really good skier one has to train properly, including a lot of rollerskiing. I rollerskied this year with our CSS team for the first time in maybe 5 years. I have fun helping others develop ski technique.

We have gotten a ton of snow this winter so the nordic skiing has been fantastic! Scott and I have been skiing for over a month now consistently. Scott is convinced biking makes him weak and skiing makes him strong. My arms always seem pretty sore and tired from skiing. It is a very good workout!

Other than skiing and coaching I am getting ready to start the next semester. Last semester was really tough with coaching, teaching, and being in grad school. Hopefully, this semester will be a bit better. I hope the weather stays good for skiing. It is so nice to have a real midwest winter!

Here is my new winter bike. I got the photo from the www.fisherbikes.com web site. I have not gotten a chance to ride it yet as the weather turned too warm and I don't want my first ride on it in the slush. It is supposed to snow later tonight and into tomorrow (up to a foot, but that much is a stretch) so give the snow a few days to set up and the temps to drop - perfect riding weather. My small Paragon geometry is very similar to my med Trek racing bike. All I do is put on a 90 mm stem and the Paragon is ready to go. It fits great and I love a 29er for winter riding.

I hope to have some in-action photos soon........

It looks like this again in Duluth. We got about 12" a few weeks ago followed up with 16" more a few days after that. We were busy shoveling and then, of course, cross-country skiing since. The trails are in fantastic condition! That is why I have not blogged. We are too busy skiing, coaching, finishing my grad class, and working! It is soooo nice to have snow this early. At first there was so much snow we could only snowshoe (before the ski trails were groomed). One day it seems like all I did was shovel. It was fantastic! I love snow.

Coaching the nordic ski team is going really well. Scott and I are having a blast and we are really impressed with the athletes. We ski at various trail systems during the week and then others on the weekend as much as possible. We usually ski at Spirit Mtn and Magney - both of which are great trail systems (and connected so one can ski a lot of K in one day and not get bored).

My new winter bike should be arriving soon. A Gary Fisher Paragon 29er. Light Blue. I cannot wait to ride it! The trails are all set to go as long as I have a bike to ride. I have some new winter riding tights to try out as well. Hopefully, the snowboarders have been busy boarding on our bike trails next to the groomed runs at Spirit Mtn. They pack the trail in and make for great riding. The snowmobilers do a great job on the snowmobile trails of packing them in as well. It has been really cold here for quite some time now, so skiing is the way to go. Once it gets around 0 degrees F, it gets pretty tough to stay warm on a bike. Even at 10 above it can be tough if the sun is not out.

Work is super busy. Finals are next week for our students so there are lots of things to get done beside prepare exams, post grades, etc, etc. My grad class is pretty much finished - thank God! I learned a great deal and had great classmates of which I learned a lot from as well, but it took a lot of time and I found I had to be extremely efficient with my time and cut out other things for a while.

Well, more work to do. With the holiday season upon us and our shopping just started today, we have a lot more to do. Thankfully, not too much. Can't say I really like to shop. Hopefully, I'll get our camera out on the trails to share some cool photos. All I have been taking photos of lately is one of our two cats sprawled out and belly up in front of our wood pellet stove. Funny how one cat loves it and the other won't go near it.

Yesterday was my first ride since the Iceman. My right shoulder was killing me on Monday and Tuesday this week. I couldn't believe how sore it was. I couldn't sleep very well for a couple of nights. Then I put some electrical stimulation on it at work. What a relief! I can avoid taking ibuprofen and slap that machine on instead.

Our ride went fine along the road, my shoulder was a bit sore just putting weight through it, but tolerable. If we would have stuck to the road, it would have been fine, but we rode the railroad grade and then had to climb up Grady's downhill (part of the MNSCS Spirit Mtn course). I had to get off a few times as I couldn't pull up on my bars enough to be effective to climb the hill. I probably hurt it worse than I originally thought, but I still think it is mostly bruised. I hit the ground so hard when I fell! There was so much adrenaline at the time that I didn't realize just how hard that was. I have been running all week instead and have to hold my elbow bent to prevent jarring my shoulder. Kinda crazy. Hopefully, it will heal up quick. There was a blanket of snow on the ground when we woke, which lifted my spirits. Winter is on the way!

Scott is at the CX MN Champ in the twin cities without me today. I can't race cuz I can't hang on to my bike well enough and have good enough control of my bike. It'd be dangerous for me and for others around me as I would be more likely to lose control and not regain it. I hope he does well. He had a bit of a rough go at the Iceman. He bonked hard with 7 mils to go. He can't seem to keep his chain on his bike and after dropping it three times and then catching back up to his group, hit the wall. Once he did that he limped in.

Scott and I headed to the Iceman Cometh in Traverse City, MI this past weekend. After working 1/2 a day on Friday we made it to Mackinaw City where we stayed overnight then drove the rest of the way Saturday morning. We got there in time to pick up our packets, hang out a bit, then get ready for the race.

It was mid-40s and sunny during the warm up and I got too hot, so I took off some of my clothing I was planning on racing in. I didn't feel very good during the warm-up; mostly lethargic. I could tell Scott didn't want to tell me I was going slow. My bike worked fine and Scott dialed in the shifting. I was all set to go.

This year they didn't do call-ups for women, but luckily I still got on the front row. Once the guy said "go" I missed my pedal or something and ended up behind another rider anyways. We had just gotten up to top speed when one rider cut off anther rider right in front of me, she jacknifed her front wheel and endo'd right in front of me. It happened so fast that I was on top of her flying, crashing hard, and then getting run over by another handful of women. Our bikes were tangled. I finally got up and got my seat out of another gals spokes and then got on my bike. The bars were so far twisted they were almost pointing back wards! Luckily, DJ from Clif Bar was right there and helped me turn them back. I don't think I could have done that one my own. So there I was the last woman to get back on her bike, with 27.5 miles to go and the lead group long long gone! I started picking off riders and it seemed each one took alot to catch. A few riders latched on and after about 4 miles I finally bridged up to Kyia and Heather I. I rode behind them for long enough to rest just a bit, looked back and realized a few women hung onto me. I passed Kyia and mentioned how we needed to 'drop the rest of the group'. We were together for another few miles and then I don't know what happened, all the sudden I was alone and chasing down some men in front of me. When I crashed my right shifter was bent, along with my deraileur, so I only had a few gears in each chain ring to work with. My gears would skip going uphill so I had to go up in a much harder gear than I wanted to. I finally caught up and passed fourth place and was sitting in third for most of the race. #63 and I would change places pulling, the gal behind me even pulled once. I was using way too much energy getting up hills and would lose my momentum due to my bike deciding to shift on its own. It wasn't until much later in the race (about 3 miles to go) that I realized I could go up the hills in my small chain ring (Duh) that too slowly realized solution may have cost me one or two places. With about 12 miles to go or so I started getting cold! The sun tucked itself behind the clouds. I was working hard to try and stay warm. I could see the second place woman about 30 seconds up and was trying to catch her with about 7 miles or so do go. I tried to bridge the gap and was making some progress when we hit more hills with about 5 miles to go, and realized my legs were shot. I was trying to hang in there, but the guys I was with only wanted a free ride, #63 had dropped me when I couldn't shift well enough to get up a hill and the rest of the group with him, including the woman that drafted off our group the majority of the race after I caught her. Then I dropped my water bottle and limped in as best I could. I really gave a good effort and am pleased with how hard I worked to get the place I did. It could have been much worse, or worse yet, I could have gotten seriously injured during that crash. I crossed the line in fourth, with dried blood 1/2 down my shin from a gash in my knee, my right hip bruised. It wasn't until later that evening, after the adrenaline wore off, that I started to stiffen up and assess more of the damage. We drove to Munising the night after the race, slept there (terribly as I couldn't get comfortable) and realized my right deltoid is bruised (can barely lift my right shoulder overhead), I couldn't take a deep breath cuz the left side of my back and chest hurt, and had additional minor bruising. That was by far the worst crash I have ever been in and hope to never be in that kind of heap again! The season is over for me and not exactly the way I wanted to finish it, but again I am pleased with my effort and that I didn't give up.

We were both really thankful for the Lalonde's being willing to transport some of our clothing to the finish line, for DJ getting me settled down and twisting my bars back at the start after I crashed, and for DJ and Wendy also for giving us a ride back to the start of the race where our car was parked. They also gave us my marathon overall and wors overall prizes, which they were nice enough to pick up for me at the wors awards ceremony a month back.

Scott and I have been super busy (who isn't?) with teaching, coaching, and still riding our bikes some. The weather these past few weeks have been perfect for training and enjoying the fall. Today we woke to snow on the ground - about a 1/2 inch. If I were younger, I would have probably dusted off my rock skies and skied around our yard. I hear the U.P. should/is getting some snow. Should make our drive to Traverse City interesting, much less we'll see what happens for race day conditions. I am not ready for 30 or less degree weather. Our house was frozen this morning. Our cats were fighting for which one got to sit on my lap - there wasn't room for both.

Coaching the ski team at CSS is going well. Scott and I are both taking a day or two a week. I love coaching! It's fantastic working with athletes wanting to get better and fun to dust off those cobwebs of information! The athletes and rest of the coaching staff are great! Both Scott and I look forward to getting on real snow.

Bike training is going as well as can be expected this time of year. I have taken a lot of days off, started running and hiking and rollerskiing with the team to break things up. After this next race I'll hope to take some time off from the bike entirely, although I took about two weeks off after Sheboygan. I was feeling too shot, run down, and not excited about riding. It's gotta be fun!

Lots to do...more research for the next case study due. Three down and three to go for my graduate class. I've done more research this fall than I can remember. It takes a lot of time. Combine that with the lack of home internet service and thus the reason its taken me almost a month to update this blog!

On saturday morning when Scott and I left Duluth it was 50 degrees and foggy. By the time we got to Chippewa to meet Doug, it was 80 degrees - hot and humid! Thankfully, we rode in air conditioned comfort (Doug's car) the rest of the way to Sheboygan. It would have been a pretty uneventful trip, except we almost had to get our preride in in the middle of nowhere. We couldn't find a gas station after the needle hit empty and all the low gas alarms no longer went off. Doug was figeting, Scott was laughing, I was trying to think of how long I could ride before I'd swelter in the heat.

Jumping out of the car in Sheboygan was like jumping into a sauna. Hot and humid. Sticky. We were greeted by Mr. Anderson offering a wet 'wonder dog' to snuggle up to. We got kitted up and rode the course a coupld of times for tomorrow's race. Scott and Doug were going faster than I wanted to go, but they'd wait for me every now and then. My legs felt bad at first, but then loosened up. Probably a remnant of the long car ride. I was not looking forward to the race next day - I had not ridden much in the past few weeks. My legs are tired and we have really been enjoying hiking in the woods instead. We got some good food that night and some good rest. The luxury of cable afforded a movie in the AM to settle my nerves before the race.

We got to the race a bit early so Scott cleaned my brakes. Amazing what a difference that made. My bike felt faster than it had it weeks! I got an OK start. I was in third going towards the prime and I wasn't going to contest it, but the gal in the lead got caught by the group and then I got around Sue to get the prime. Jenna flew by me just before the single track. The elite men were waiting to get into the single track and so we had to wait as well. Jenna got in the line of men first then myself with with a few guys between. I got around those guys to bridge back up to Jenna. It was tough to get around the men in the single track and we had to wait until an open spot to get by. We were going really fast that first lap and then Kyia got past Jenna and me running the steep up while we rode the switchback. She was flying. We were all three together as Kyia cleaned the Equilizer, while Jenna and I ran up the rest of the way and had to bridge back up to Kyia. All three of us were still together for another 1/2 lap or so. I was riding behind Kyia with Jenna in the lead. Jenna got a little gap on us so I went around Kyia to bridge back up to Jenna. We were still all together for a while, but I am not sure for how long. I was trying to drink as much as possible each lap. I felt pretty bad the first lap, but then started to feel better after that. I knew I had to be a little careful in the heat. I would get by Jenna here and there and she would attack on the longer uphill past me and get by me before the singletrack. I yelled to let Jenna know her extra tube was dangling down towards her front wheel spokes while going up the hill after the water crossing in the last lap. I told her I would not attack as she had to fix it. I rode ahead, but knew she would catch me again. I didn't know how far Kyia and the rest of the women were behind so I couldn't afford to stop. This is racing! Jenna caught back on and got by again before the last section of singletrack with the switchback. We rode together - Jenna in front, up the equilizer - both of us running and Jenna just edging me out for front wheel on the remount. I passed Jenna on the 'Sheboygan Slickrock' and got into the last small section of singletrack first. I had to get through the sand cleanly, but inadvertanly shifted down one gear too low and had to spin through too much. Jenna must have been too close and I heard her unclip. I knew I had to go right then otherwise it would be a full out sprint at the end. She is fast and can bridge a gap quickly, so I went as hard as I could and was surprised when she didn't catch me. I was pretty pleased to take the win. Fantastic competition.

On the way home we were all rockin' to 80's music. Gotta love the big hair bands and the one hit wonders.


Today after work Scott and I went for a great hike along Chester Bowl. The creek is rushing and higher than I have ever seen it with the trail alongside the creek showing signs of having been underwater.

This weekend we were down in South Kettle Moraine for the Fall Color Festival. The 'timed event' course was changed from last year to include 10 miles on the connector and with two blue Muir loops and an additional part of the red loop the race was about 35 miles long. Scott tried out some tires that he had not tried before. They are very fast and similar to the 'crows', or as I call them 'lucky charms' (which are not so lucky as if it is slick at all - there is big risk of going down - right Charlie?) The course must have had a heavy dew, or rain the days leading up to this saturday. There were a few big mud puddles with difficulty in some spots getting around them.

Doug, Scott, and Tristan did the 30 mile race - along with about 50 other people. I rode two + loops (about 25 miles)before volunteering out with the women's clinic. I had a blast. There were 20 enthusiastic women looking to improve their bike skills. It was fun to work with the other women. I would definitely do that again! I got in about 35 miles of riding, despite having to 'work'. That was great. My legs were a bit tired from the previous day's ride in Eau Claire with Doug and Scott. They were flying through the single track while I attempted to keep up. It was really fun!

Scott didn't have a very good day - as he crashed twice due to his tire selection and caught himself about eight more times from going down. Doug won with his 1x9 combination. He was pretty fired up about it. We had a good trip down and back. We had excellent accommodations and good dinner the night before.