Scott and my race started the night before the race when we realized our rear brakes didn't work correctly and our rear wheels wouldn't spin. After 5 hrs of fighting with our brakes and Scott almost severing off the tip of his ring finger he was convinced our bikes wouldn't work and he was not racing. The morning of the race we decided to take a chance and hope to find someone at the race that could help us out. Thankfully, Ken Derico of Trek was there and was able to get my rear brake to work perfectly, while Scott had to remove the pads and race without a rear brake.

The start of the race was the best ever in terms of safety. We both got decent starts. Scott rode in the approximately 12th place for most of the race, bridging up to the lead group on three occasions before popping. Once I caught Jenna in the first few miles, I ended up in a really fast group of men that I thought I could hang with for the race and didn't realize at first that Jenna was not in our group.

Unfortunately, both Scott and I started cramping (Scott around Firetower and myself at "00"). Scott ended up 25th, a good result, but a bit of a disappointment due to where he was riding the majority of the race. He was still happy with his efforts, considering all the adversity leading up to the race.

I led the woman's race up until about 5 miles to go. I lost my group a bit earlier and then cramping kept me from tagging on to additional groups for too long. I had to ride a few long stretches of open road by myself which took its toll. I think I had a 2 minute or so lead at one point, but then obviously cratered toward the end, but able to hold onto second. It was fun to see how well I could ride as I was with really fast men and had my gamble paid off, and I was able to finish in the group where I rode the majority of the race, I would have had a great result. I still had a good result, learned a lot, and feel my fitness has come a long way from the start of the season, even with being injured and unable to race for almost a month mid-season.

Our Trek Fuels definitely were the bike to ride for this race! We used the Bontrager XR1 tires even though the reports were for a muddy race, as the course was mostly puddles and not full-on muddy throughout. Firetower was the easiest to climb compared to previously dry years, with the soil somewhat tacky.

Once again Gary Crandall and crew put on a great show even though Telemark Lodge is closed. This is a must do race for any mountain bike afectionado because the one of a kind atmosphere. Thanks again Chequamegon crew!

Up next: The final MN series race in St. Cloud.

Minnesota Short Track State Champion!


photo by: skinnyski.com

Sara's finish sprint win

Once again, the Maplelag Stage Race was an incredibily fun, well organized event. The Richards crew has this event down to an art thanks to the on-site lodging, great food, and terrific company. A huge thanks to Jack Richards and his buddy Jack, Jonell, Brendan's parents and the rest of the folks that pitched in to watch Kiera for us while we warmed up, cooled downed and raced.

Sara had a great start to the racing on Saturday by taking the win in the time trial and short track. She nipped Jenna in both events which enabled her to snatch the overall stage race competion. For the second year in a row, an Elite female won the overall in the Elite Women/Comp Men's race (Jenna nabbed it last year).


Photo: skinnyski.com

In the cross country, Sara led out the field but struggled in the single track. After a few crashes she was able to settle down and ride in for second place.



I had a rough start to the race weekend. I went out way to hard in the time trial and had to soft pedal most of the race. All things considered, I could have finished further down than I did. Thankfully everything went uphill from here. I ended up 6th in the short track but finished with a little too much left in the tank. After the time trial I was a little hesitant about going out too hard, so I started in the second row and wasn't aggressive enough to stay close enough to the front.

My cross country start... Where is everyone????



Photo: skinnyski.com

This picture says it all. Went out too hard, rode with Brendan for the first 1 1/4 laps, got caught by Doug and tried to hold his wheel for too long and ended up limping home for 5th. All in all, great weekend!

Up next is the CHEQUAMEGON FAT TIRE FESTIVAL.

CATCH UP TIME Seeley Classic and Lester Park Recap



Seeley:

Sara's racing is coming back after an early season knee injury. She had a very impressive ride last weekend at the Seeley Classic and hopefully this will help bring up her confidence to pre-Kiera days. She was able to ride with FAST guys, the likes of Todd McFadden, Mike Bushey, Adam Swank, Nikolia, etc. for the first five or so miles until crashing. She was going so well that she was even PULLING this group for a bit until Bushey made her ride behind him. She ended up finishing 11th overall in the race and almost snuck into the top 10, but after pulling Nikolia around for most of the race, he outsprinted her at the line. If she can ride like this at Chequamegon she'll be in good shape.

I was a little disappointed that I didn't pull off the win at Seeley. Nobody would take a pull down the long blacktop leadout so I got to buck the wind and settle in. Somebody came by me right before the road turned to gravel and that's when the pace picked up. I got on Aaron Swanson's wheel on the ski trails and he immediately opened up a gap for me and Chad Sova. We rode together for the first 9 miles of road/two track and I entered the singletrack first and shed Chad and Aaron. I was able to get rid of Chad in the small singletrack section and he would catch me after a few miles of two track. This happen on both laps and I was able to stay at the front until 50 or so meters from the finish where Chad proceded to blow by me for the win.

Seeley is a fun course and a great lead up to Chequamegon. I would prefer much more singletrack (I'd guess it's about 30% singletrack)so I'm happy with my two track/road fitness level. The Trek Fuels seem to made for these types of rough, undulating courses.

Lester:

There is nothing better than having a hometown race! I wish it would have been muddier, but I'll take what I can get. I put the Bontrager Mud X tires on the bikes and they worked fantastic! Sara rode off the front from the start and never looked back. Her mud skills continue to improve and I'm always impressed by how fast she can go in all conditions.

I ended up 4th. i didn't have much trouble stay at the front for the first lap and a half but then I started to crumble. I would pick up plenty of time in the short muddy sections but I didn't have much power on the climbs. Cody stuck to my wheel until the last half lap until I asked him to go by. I was riding way too slow and was starting to cramp. He was being overly kind and wanted to let me keep 3rd since I was leading him around the course for most of the day but I hate not earning my spot. I sure appreciate the gesture, but I'd rather race it out or limp it in, as was the case for me.

Up next: MAPLELAG STAGE RACE This is one of my favorite courses of the year and Jay and family do an unbelievable job organizing this event. If you haven't raced here, it is a must!

Ore to Shore

Scott, Kiera and I headed for Marquette, MI early friday morning in order to do a short preride. The course was unbelievably dry and sandy in the last 7 miles. Luckily, we got to eat dinner with the Eppens. It was good to catch up as we hadn't seen them since last year at this race. We were a bit unprepared (all the hotels were booked) and finally found somewhere to stay (Thank You Amy and Lyle, along with Steve Ferguson). We had wonderful hosts and it was nice getting to know them both.

I didn't sleep much the night before the race and Kiera needed to share our bed for some reason. (Atypical behavior for her as she takes up so much space in bed that it is best for her to sleep alone). By morning all three of us were laying perpedicular to the normal way one would sleep in bed, with Scott getting the left over space.

I got a good start, but then got chain suck from a bad shift (and later finding out) that I twisted my front deraileur. My chain made a horrendous noise from about 3 miles in every time I was in my big ring (which is most of the race). Scott later said that I had a significant amount of added resistance with each pedalstroke. I started feeling a bit better than at the start with about 35 miles to go and got into a nice group of other riders. Somehow we managed to almost bridge up to the next group, which Jenna was in and I got within 10 seconds of her at the halfway point. I wasn't sure how hard I could push, so I tried to settle in but I kept getting slower. I finally lost my group, then got passed by the woman that got second with about 7 miles to go. I ended up third, which is still a great result. I learned a lot from the race and was encouraged by getting so close to Jenna, but discouraged I lost so much time in the last half of the race. Scott did a great job of doing race handups while watching three kids (Kiera and the Raymond boys that Kiera loves to hang out with). Kiera was really good during the race, but came unglued later on in the afternoon while eating a late lunch with the Raymonds, as it was hot, she hadn't eaten much all, and missed her nap. We decided to leave before awards as Kiera finally fell asleep in the car and it was too hot to have her sleep without the AC on.

Next weekend is the second Minnesota Series race in Duluth, The Great Hawk Chase. This is a fantastic course because it is chalk full of smooth, fast, easy to ride singletrack. See you there?



BORDER BATTLE

A bit of a late post. Scott ended up 12th after finishing a lap early and having to return to the course to complete the final lap, losing a few spots as a result. The heat index that day was 104 and it felt like every bit of it! I got a great start, but then after a panic tire change before the start due to the wet condition of the course, got a flat about a mile into the first lap. I walked back to the car, finally got my front flat tire off, replaced it with my dry tire and stan's and went to seek out a CO2 in order to air it up (pump didn't work, big air didn't work, etc). Eddie from the LCR team was nice enough to offer his CO2 and after two cartriges, got the bead to seal. I went back to the course and started my four laps. The lead women had already completed roughtly two laps so I knew I was way out of the race. But, I paid my money and the race course is really fun! I would go race pace when I felt like it and back off when I felt like it to get a harder ride in. I really enjoyed the course, just disappointed I wasn't able to really race.

LINCOLN PARK MOUNTAIN BIKE CHALLENGE

The big news of the day is that Sara's knee is pain free once again! A fair amount of swelling is still present along with a lack of full range of motion, but all in all the month off of racing made a huge difference. I still can't believe she didn't break her leg...

The race course starts off with a seven minute blacktop climb that is fairly steep at times. They were offering up $50 to the first person to the top of the king of the mountain climb. Jake Boyce had the right idea by leaving his bottle on top of the climb and pumping his tires way up. He had a spirited UMD racer going after the cash as well so I sat back and went pretty hard but not all out. Jake easily took the sprint and I went by him while he was letting the air out of his tires and getting his bottle. I passed the UMD rider soon after entering the singletrack and rode the singletrack smoothly because it is super rocky and easy to flat if one is trying to really race it up on these Piedmont trails. I ended up taking the win with a nice cushion.

Sara was a little hesitant at the start because she hasn't been able to ride hard on singletrack for a month. Anytime she would hit a bump it would jiggle her knee and cause intense pain. Therefore, her singletrack skills were a little off but she still took the win.

Max, a rider that took my mountain bike camp this summer also won his division in the kid's race. Way to go Max!

On a side note, I think we both won for the second year in a row at this race because we picked $52 worth of blueberries in the AM before the race. Not surprisingly, Kiera ate way more than she picked and she sure enjoys hitting all the local berry farms for the fresh treats.

My L knee was pretty bad for about a week and it is still healing. I limped heavily, did the RICE thing, some estim, then added HVPC (high volt pulsatile current) towards the end of the week. Wish I would have thought of that sooner. It took almost a week for me to be able to go upstairs using my left leg. I finally (today) can go downstairs using my left leg. I tried to ride the trainer the weds after it happened, but after raising my seat twice my knee range of motion was not good enough to actually do anything but move my leg back and forth. I tried again three days later and felt like I had enough motion to attempt to ride my bike. It wasn't pretty and my pedaling was quite asymmetrical, but I managed 40 minutes of sorta riding. It felt good to be outside. Scott and I missed the WORS cup due to my injury. It would have been fun to race, especially cuz at the Chain drive race I actually felt quite good, except for my knee. I joked with Scott after the race that I crashed because my new bike is too light. I definitely wasn't used to my bike as it was only my second trail ride, and the first trail ride was to ride some of the course the day before.

Scott attempted the Mankato race this past sunday. I was bummed that my leg was not good enough to try to race. (I gave it a 50% rating that day). Kiera and I hung out and did a bunch of fun stuff, while Scott tried to race in 80s and high humidity. He felt terrible and decided to call it a day after two laps. He is not sure what was wrong as the previous week he felt like his racing was finally coming together since getting rid of our cats (he is allergic to pets).

Scott and I rode today on trail for the first time since my crash. Our bikes feel so easy to pedal, even with a bum leg. It was so nice to be able to ride with Scott (thank you Grandpa Irv!). My knee is healing up and is not as sore as earlier this week during and after riding. It is definitely still bruised. I am very lucky I did not break my kneecap as I landed so hard right in the middle of it. I just cannot belief how bruised my knee and lower leg still is.

On another note, I am sad to hear of Kyia (Malenkovich) Anderson's retirement from MTB racing. For a long time she has been the face of women's mountain biking in the midwest. We will really miss her on the race scene. I really hope we have not seen the last of her racing yet.

KNEE

Sadly,we will not be at the Subaru Cup this weekend since Sara's injured knee will keep her off the bike this week. She got it looked at today and the ortho doc said he's 95% sure she didn't break the knee cap but that she must stay off the bike (and off it as much as possible) for the remainder of the week.

Good luck to everyone else this weekend!

CHAIN DRIVE RACE RECAP



Sara's knee isn't looking so hot after yesterday's race. That said, she was able to ride pretty hard all things considered and luckily, was able to win another Chain Drive - her fifth in a row. The crash happened about six miles into the race so she raced about 24 miles in a bit of pain. Hopefully, she didn't do any serious damage by finishing instead of pullin out, but only time will tell. She's hobbling around and will need xrays if it doesn't get better in a few days. The crash also pulled her front derailleur cable out of adjustment and she couldn't get into her big ring so she had to ride in the 29. Our neighbor and good friend, Diana McFadden finish 2nd and Michelle Peariso finished 3rd - the same podium at the 2005 or '06 Chain Drive.

On the way to Houghton a bear ambled out of the tall grass off of Highway 2 near Maple, WI and did its best to become a hood ornament on the Volvo. Luckily, I was able to lock up the brakes and do a little slide to avoid the thing. We were pretty excited to see a bear, but it would have been a lot better if it would have just hung out by the side of the road instead of meandering across it.

Once we arrived in Houghton, we went to the Best Western to check in but they didn't have us on their registration list. After a couple of phone calls, the kind folks at the front desk upgraded Sara's free room (a perk to both the male and female winners thanks to Best Western)upgraded her to the honeymoon suite!





As you can see, we had a great view of the harbor and a mac daddy room. Thanks Best Western!

After a pedestrian start, the race finally kicks in about 2 miles out from town at the base of a pretty steep, winding blacktop climb. This year there was a prime for the men so the front of the group started ramping it up at the base of the climb before entering the single track. Mike ended up taking the $50 prime and I was fifth going into the single track and immediately a gap opened up when the fourth place ride went down, blocking the trail. I got close to Brian Matter, Mike Anderson and Chad Wells (MI guy) by the end of a short section of singletrack that spills into a bunch of undulating two track but couldn't really push any harder without going into the red. I sat up and Chris Peariso flew by so I grabbed his wheel and he pulled us up to the group. As soon as we latched on I got spit off and rode about 29 miles in time trial mode. I could see the group of four for about eight miles and spectators kept saying I was 1:30 down on Chris. I crashed pretty good going uphill with about 3 miles to go and basically shut it down and rode in. At the finish Brian outsprinted Mike to take the win, Chad was third, Chris was fourth and I ended up fifth.

All in all, it was a great day minus Sara's knee injury. To do it all over again, I probably should have talked Sara out of riding her new Trek since she didn't get to really ride it before the race. We spent an hour on the first section of single track Friday night at 7:00 PM dialing in the bikes. It's fine for me, but I think it was a little too tough for Sara. Even though they are very similar to last year's bikes, they are lighter - especially our wheels and tire selection - and that can change the responsiveness of the bike quite a bit.

Thanks to all those involved for putting together such an incredible event. This must do point-to-point course is FANTASTIC! The majority of race is single track and each year the group adds more. Furthermore, there are a ton of other trails in the area and the folks are top notch.

Kiera had a sleep-over at Grandma Sally and Grandpa Tom's house in Two Harbors. Needless to say, she was exhausted when we picked her up last night and for the first time in many months, slept until 9:00 AM.

This is what Kiera's been up to when she hangs out with our good friend Mary:

Thanks to Jay Richards and Skinnyski.com for the pics!

For more pictures, Jay's weekly skinnyski report and results, go to skinnyski.com

The last time I raced in mud that deep was at the Norba in West Virginia in 2003. I've got to admit that I love a super mucky course to race on now and again. Sara pounded out the win and even worked her way into 11th overall in the men's results, five seconds out of 10th! I ended up 2nd behind Jack Hinckens. After catching him near the end of the first lap, he upped the pace and dropped me easily and went on to take the win. Jack just returned from a stint in Europe with the US U-23 mtb team, so it's no surprise he took home top honors.

Up next is the Chain Drive this weekend in Houghton.

Sara and I got our Trek Top Fuels earlier this week so we are excited to race the new bikes.

Thanks Trek!

Scott and I both raced the MN Series Dirtspanker race at Mont du Lac this weekend near Duluth. (We skipped Afton because I was sick). It rained the entire week leading up to the race. While the course, we are told, was quite good the day before the race, neither Scott nor I prerode as we didn't want to get our bikes dirty. (And Scott clean them again!) Scott did a great job of getting our bikes all set, including cleaning them (spit shine) and selecting mud tires. I was lucky that we had a set sitting around and Scott got lucky that The Ski Hut could get a 29er set in quickly. It worked out really well to still have our last year's bikes to race so we would not have to get our new ones all dirty (they just got here today! :)

The climb out of the start at Mont du Lac is always tough! Straight up the hill. Luckily this year the climb wasn't quite as tough as there is a new road up the left side of the uphill. I was thankful for the gravel. Once on top the trail dips into singletrack. As soon as I got down the hill I was basically off my bike running up the first climb and around expert riders. The course really slowed everyone down and created quite a bugger of things! The right tires on the bike made all the difference! I was third heading into the singletrack behind Jenna and Chloe. It was fun to race with them for part of that first lap. I am not too sure how much fun they were having though. Chloe fell in front of me and somehow I got around her without going down. I felt lucky when I caught Jenna, but I don't think her tires were clearing the mud very well. I didn't think it would be as bad as it was in the woods. It was like racing in thick pea soup with deep ruts in the middle down some of the off canter downhills. We have not seen race/mud conditions like this since the Norba National in West Virginia in 2003. I felt really lucky to have won this race. There were many fast and fit women and I think I mostly just got the right tires on my bike (thank you, Scott!) Skinny ski (www.skinnyski.com) has some really great photos of the race that captures the conditions quite well.

I was really happy to see Scott do well and place second overall! He has fantastic mud skills and he was saying after the race he probably should have run more as it would have been faster at times than riding. He was pleased with his race and finish. It is so nice to see him race well again. As hard as it was to get rid of our cats, it has been the best thing for Scott. He was really allergic to them. It is also nice to sleep through the night for the past month as Kiera has finally taken to sleeping though the night (about time!) As hard as it is to be sleep deprived all the time, I wouldn't have changed all the extra time we got to cuddle with the babe at night. We won't get that time back and someday she'll have a complete adversion to cuddling with either one of us!

Grandpa Irv was nice enough to bring her out to the race after she woke up from her morning nap. She was running around, making friends, getting all dirty, and basically enjoying being outside; especially while wearing her favorite green frog boots! Her and grandpa are good buddies.

Our next race is the Keewenaw Chain Drive. This race is a lot of fun and has really great singletrack! Scott and I also really like Houghton. It is very similar to Duluth, but smaller. It is also nice to stay at the hotel at the race start (Bridgewater Best Western). This year we will leave Kiera home instead of having her ride that far in her carseat. Last year she was not happy and was really fussy. We got to Houghton really late at night and were both completed exhausted before the race. It is still tough for me to leave her home.

The first MN Series race (www.mnmtbseries.com) at Harmon Park in Inver Grove Heights was yesterday. Scott, Kiera and I drove down Friday night and stayed with the Swansons so that Stella and Kiera could play the next morning. And play they did! It was fun to watch the two babies interact.

On the way to the race, it was pouring rain, thundering, and intermittent lighting. By the time we got there the Sport race was delayed with our race starting just over and hour later than normal. The Sport riders were finishing with mud caked everywhere. During our warm up, we had our jackets on and I was still a bit chilly...it was maybe 60 degrees and overcast. By race end an hour later it would climb to 80 degrees and sunny. The expert/pro and comp races were shortened by a lap due to the muddy conditions. The sun came out and the wind picked up just before the start of the race. The open sections were really windy, but the course dried out amazingly quickly. Scott was a bit disappointed the course didn't stay muddy.

Scott was pleased with his race. He started in the third row and with the course narrowing down to singletrack relatively quickly, he was pleased with his 8th place finish. There was a very competitive mens field.

I was also pleased with my race finishing second behind Jenna Z. I was able to race with Jenna the first lap. She gapped me on the second lap and then slowly put a minute on me before the finish. She is fun to race with and I was very glad I got to race with her. It was really good to see so many women racing!

Kiera had a blast hanging out with Kathy, Luke and Ben Raymond. She was just shot from playing on the playground and trying to keep up with the boys! She fell asleep while nursing after the race and took a bit of a cat nap before waking up just in time for the (long) ride home. She kept herself entertained for the most part with her muscical tea pot and books. She loves all the commotion of the race, seeing all the people and animals and there was a fantastic playground right near the start/finish area of the race. She slept very well last night!

We were getting ready for bed that night when we heard a CRASH outside. We go to investigate and there are two black bears wrestling with our garbage! We have also seen near our home one very large black bear, foxes, a wolf cub last summer, a large fisher (also last summer), Todd swears he saw a cougar (I hope he is wrong), a few wolves (one while skiing last winter, another while running a few springs ago while pregnant), lots of deer (large rodents as they like to eat in our garden). We were also lucky enought to see a timberworlf on our honeymoon 12 years ago, another on our way back from Giant's Ridge a few years later and another just a few weeks ago on our way back from Two Harbors.

Thanks to Jay Richards of Maplelag Resort for the previous photos. Additional photos of the race/racers can be seen at www.skinnyski.com

Cable is often our first race of the season. This year they put the singletrack back into the race course, with the welcome addition of a bit more than in the past. The course was in fantastic shape with a few additional mud puddles due to the recent rain and a few additional miles due to a necessary road re-route. This summer for next year they plan to add more single track to replace the re-route.

The weather was in stark contrast to last years race conditions of 35 degrees and lightly snowing. At race start it was about 58 degrees; climbing to 70 by race end. It was so nice to feel the warmth of the sun and wear shorts.

Scott raced very well, feeling much better than the two weeks previous at Iola where he did not finish. He ended up third, a good result and he was very pleased.

Sara was pleased with her finish. The race was long and hard. Every uphill felt a lot longer than it should have, but the downhills were fun. The singletrack was really fun.

Gary Crandall was so kind and was passing out water and sports drink at the end of the race. A big thanks to all the volunteers, race promoters, and race director for hosting a great event!

Kiera continues to get more vocal and mobile each day!




I rode the Spirit Mountain trails the other day. The new Alpine coaster isn't going to do too much damage to the current trail system, so that's pretty good news. They are currently working on the parking lot on the top of the hill and they've basically got the straight shot return for the coaster completed already. Here are a few pics at Spirit.

Scott, Kiera and I just returned from Moab, UT for our annual trip. We had great riding and stayed once again at Canyonlands Campground downtown so that we walk to breakfast and dinner. Kiera got to spend some quality time with grandpa Irv (bumpa) and Uncle Brad. I'll have to add photos once we get them downloaded to the computer. Scott is fit, while I am still trying to find my pre-baby form.

Racing season in coming up fast and we are starting to get entry's sent in. Once again we'll be going to the Keweenaw Chain Drive in June. If you have not raced this race, it is one of our favorites. The 32 mile race course has some of the best singletrack we have ridden. It is also a good time of year to assess race fitness for longer races. The Bestwestern downtown is right at the race start and where we will be staying again this year. The race finishes only about 2 miles away in Hancock (all downhill back to the start). Last year I just tried to survive this race (and the season).

More later.....

WE'RE BACK

Since it's spring and riding is now in full force, I figured I'd better start the blog once the again. Skiing was stellar this winter, so I didn't get on the bike at all between November and the end of February. Once the ski trails started to deteriorate, we got out on the snowmobile trails. We only got four rides on the snowmobile trails before the warm weather took care of them too. Go figure. I suspected we'd get a month of solid trail riding in before having to resort to the soggy gravel roads...so much for that idea.

We will be riding Treks again this year so we are obviously stoked. I think this will be the 11th straight year I've raced a Trek mountain bike and 8 straight for Sara. Thank you, TREK!

We are heading out to Moab the first full week of April. It will be nice to meet up with my brother Brad who lives in Flagstaff, AZ. Uncle Brad is kind enough to watch Kiera so Sara and I can ride together like we did in the old days.

We lost over a foot of snow in the last week and had plenty of rain - even hail - the past couple of days, so it appears spring is at its finest. The weather has forced me to dust off the rollers last night and now I've used them two nights in a row. I only got a 1/2 hour in tonight, however, because the band broke that transfers the energy from the rear roller to the front. With any luck, I'm pretty sure I can repair it with some shrink tube.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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