January XC...

The ground is covered with snow, the snow is covered with ice. But tomorrow is my first XC of 2009.. something just seems wrong with that picture. But regardless, tomorrow we'll head down to VA for a "fun" XC race on the Baker's Dozen course, which isn't until almost 3 months from now but I'm already excited about doing.

Tomorrow we'll see how much "fun" I had after 22+ miles of "racing"... in January. I might be figuring out I prefer endurance events over XC's. I never seem to get as 'worked up' before those.

And I might just succumb to the facebook revolution this weekend and get one going. Maybe.

French Creek & Snow

After a little dusting of snow overnight, hubby & I ventured over to French Creek to meet up with some other Guy's. Great ride with two realizations..

1) I like French Creek more every time I ride it.

2) I really like mountain biking in the snow.

What was I thinking?!

For a person that gets cold when it’s 70 degrees, why would a single digit road ride seem like a good idea?

I hadn’t been on a bike in two weeks. Hadn’t done any kind of work out. The sun was shining. It seemed like a good idea. I was actually feeling like a long road ride more than any kind of mountain ride. (Very odd??)

The face was in pain, but that went way. Then the fingers went numb, but that went away. Then the toes went numb and it wasn’t going away. I cut my ride shorter than I planned.

Still, I felt surprisingly good overall. Guess just happy to be back on the bike. And I kept my personal goal to never shift into an easier gear than hubby’s fixie.

Tomorrow - looking forward to a great mountain bike ride!!

Oleta

That picture is only part of what caused the end of my day at Oleta. Sure it was a couple weeks ago, but I’ve been busy so this write up is slightly delayed!

Oleta 12 hour… Worn bib’s plus riding a 26” hardtail over non-stop roots and little rocks are discomforts I can push through. Probably could have pushed through the choking pain for the night laps. It turned out I didn’t have the extension between the light and the camelbak and even with my battery high on my back it was disconnecting. Thankfully a friend of a friend was in the pits and started helping me rig it. The solution, put zip ties around the front straps to keep the camelbak way up on my back. The problem… the zip ties were at my throat and choking me, literally. A pain I still feel 2 weeks later, only slightly concerning.

But then I broke a spoke in the rear wheel. Having to take that lap gingerly pretty much solidified that I wouldn’t be on the podium this day. I was done. Not the day I hoped for and redemption has now entered my plans for this year.