Whiteface Mountain Auto Road Hill Climb 2012

On Saturday, June 16, I competed in the Whiteface Auto Road Hill Climb.  This is the second race in the BUMPS series, although the first for me as I chase series points.  I had fantasized about this race since my hip fracture six months ago, picturing the glorious views that one occasionally glimpses in the midst of all the climbing.  The average grade for this climb is only 8 percent, but the road is eight miles long, so it is, indeed, one long interval!

In 2010 we got to start in Wilmington, at the base of the auto road climb, with our age group and gender.  New for this year was a mass start of almost 300 racers, three miles from Wilmington, on the bridge over the Ausable Rive at the Whiteface MountainSki Area.    As one would imagine, this ended up being a free-for-all from the gun, and a furious pace was set.  By the time I got myself up to Route 86 from the bridge there was a line ahead as far as the eye could see.

My goals for this race were to use it as a benchmark, to compare myself with my performance of 2010.  As I did two years ago, I am racing both Mt. Washington Auto Road Hill Climbs as a sponsored racer for Hammer Nutrition, so I really needed to figure out “where I was” at this point in my recovery and training.  Consequently, I did not push the pace too much on the brief uphill start or on the Route 86 “sprint” down to Wilmington.

Once on the auto road climb there was a mass of people around me.  I settled into a pace – a certain power level that I was hoping to maintain for the entire race – and I started to pick off people.  During that time I remember being passed by only two people, a woman who was riding her brakes so hard on the steeper section leading toward Wilmington that I almost ran into her, and a teenage boy who zipped past me in the last 100 meters.  I wish I could have counted how many people I passed in the next eight miles, but I was otherwise occupied, concerned with catching and passing as many women as possible.

The climb went great!  While initially I felt hot and a bit whiny, I settled in after the tollbooths and really started to enjoy the challenge.  The day was gorgeous and, when I lifted my head from my Joule, the views were magnificent.  I was ecstatic when I crossed the line, knowing that for the hill climb portion I had come within seconds of my 2010 time.

It was glorious at the summit!  Janice Williams had driven our van to the top, so we all had some warmer clothing and a lift back down if necessary. She also took some cool photos. Thank you Janice! The vistas from Whiteface are always amazing, and I elected to ride my bike back down the frost heaved road and back to the Whiteface base lodge.  I stopped at various points along the way to fully take in the sights and smells that are the Adirondacks, appreciating every moment I could. 

At the base lodge I took the opportunity to have a fabulous massage by friend Tim Chien of Balanced Body Work.  I look forward to massages from Tim almost as much as the races themselves, although my once a year schedule is not nearly enough.  If anyone is in LP and feels the need for massage, please see Tim!

The only down-side to the day was the “computer glitch” which made immediate posting of race results impossible.  After this announcement, disappointed racers left the venue, not sure when they would ever know how they did.  Bragging rights were put on hold for all but the first few finishers, and a chance for all to commiserate with their fellow racers was lost.  Results were finally posted on Sunday evening.  I was pleased to find that, while I was the second oldest woman there, I was 14^th of 44, and 58 seconds out of 10^th place.  I was second of nine in the 50-59 age group, and I saw that no matter what I had done I would not have won.  I’m happy with my race and the decisions I made.

“Summer solstice week” in Lake Placid makes for a wonderfully long day, which Mark Williams and I started at 6 am with a ride from Lake Placid to the Whiteface venue.  Wow!  The sun was already up, but the quiet and calm of the morning made everything look even more spectacular.  In addition to the race and the ride down the mountain we also rode back to our housing at Lake Placid (thank you Norm and Val!) and then I got to go on a nice ride with Janice and Val.  All in all, a wonderfully long day, which we finished off with our drive back home, again through the Adirondacks, that evening.  Life is good!

Thank you for reading J

Climbing My Way to Another Lesson

“Truth is stranger than fiction” is a phrase that I often quote.  Mostly, the truths I refer to are my own.  Pushing myself in some kind of methodical manner has lead me to loftyish places where I never imagined being, and this spring I was able to experience that again.

Less than three months after I had my right hip replaced, and only 5 weeks after I could put 100 percent of my weight on that leg, I signed up for a climbing challenge on a cycling and running web site called Strava.   A Classic Challenge from Specialized  goaded cyclists to climb a total of 105,312 vertical feet between March 15 and April 30.  The significance of this number is that it is three times the total feet of climbing in the Spring Classic races in Europe.  I’ve long been a big fan of climbing, even when the little climbing specialists are dropping me, so I figured I would give this a try and see where I ended up.  Besides, there was a cool water bottle as a reward if you actually did reach that total.

It soon became evident that my normal rides and routes were not going to amass climbing feet very quickly.  Compared to some of the women signed up, I was fairly minor league.  So by early April I decided to up my ante, and change my routes.  I tried not ride anything for more than a mile that registered zero percent grade – what a waste – and opened my eyes to the local hills.

My neck of the woods is fairly generous when it comes to available climbing..  The glaciers left several valleys running from north to south, with steep grades on some of the roads leading to the tops of the ridges.  These roads are mostly all paved, thanks to some free-flowing money in the mid 20^th century, and are spaced fairly close together.  While the climbs generally last only 10-15 minutes, getting down to the bottom of the hill to start up another one does not take long either.  Certainly they are not mountains, but we most definitely are not in the plains.  My new plan was to simply go up and down the ridges and choose roads that had steeper grades to accumulate the climbing more rapidly.  I remembered a treasure trove of climbs with grades in the 10-18 percent range.  Yummy!

This was certainly fun and gave each ride an immediate purpose.  I recorded the rides on the Strava app on my Android phone, which soon began to rule my world.  As soon as each ride ended I would upload my ride onto the Strava web site and soon thereafter I would log on to check my progress against my virtual, but real, competitors

So I climbed, descended, and climbed again, and my coach, Mark Fasczewski, enabled me with the gift of longer rides as the weeks wore on.  I was soon in the top 20 out of over 500 women and in around 300^th place out of the 10,000 plus people, worldwide, who had signed up for this challenge.  .

When I significantly increased the amount of climbing feet per week I started leapfrogging over people.  While in the teens I was hoping to get closer to women’s tenth place, and with two weeks remaining in the challenge I had clawed my way into ninth place.  What?  Now my riding took on an obsessive edge (OK, it usually does anyway, but humor me here) and Mark gave me the green light to absolutely give this my all.  I dropped to 7^th, then 6^th.  With just a few days to go I found myself in 5^th place, and my focus now turned to maintaining that position.  Professional obligations this past Saturday kept me from bagging much of anything, but competing in two events at the Binghamton Circuit Race on Sunday added 4000 feet to the total.  While I should have been tired after racing, I had to remain energized to get out there on Monday –April 30! – for that last day of climbing.

And climb I did, on all the steepest hills I had found between Clinton and Peterboro.  In my longest and toughest ride since Leadville I bagged another 7800 feet in 78 miles, during six hours of riding time.  I got home, uploaded my ride, ate whatever I had left in the house, and then logged on to Strava. My total for the challenge was 137,772 feet.  The waiting game began, but in the end I held on to 5^th place for women and managed 107^th of the 10,923 people who entered the contest. 

This is, of course, something that I had not even dreamed about when I entered the challenge.  Once I’d entered, though, I pushed myself to do things that I would not have done otherwise.  I rode in abysmal weather, I did nothing but climb, I descended some steep and scary stuff, and I enjoyed almost every demented minute of it. I consumed lots of good products from my sponsor, Hammer Nutrition! The offshoot of this was that my hip is now super-strong and my walking, which I had been having trouble with, is now way better than when I was spending a log of time, well, walking.

Besides bragging rights, what did this challenge give me? Did I get any faster with all this climbing?  Maybe.  Did I get any better at descending?  Maybe not.  My ever-zealous braking kept me from colliding with things like dump trucks, deer, chickens, dogs, people in a daze crossing the road, and manure spreaders.  But whether riding uphill or down, I would be constantly reminded that I live in a beautiful area and that I was so blessed to be able to enjoy it in such a fashion. 

I’ve been reminded, too, that there are always more possibilities for myself than I can imagine and that one thing leads to another.  The first step into a new venture can open up doors formerly thought “closed for the season.”  The focus on climbing helped me heal more quickly, and the fitness I accumulated definitely widened the array of events for me this season.   “Never say never” is another one of my favorite slogans, but I can be guilty of holding myself back with closed-minded thinking.  It is easy for me to see this in the athletes I coach and to help them, but difficult to recognize when I am doing this to myself.  My coach Mark does not have my blinders on when it comes to coaching me.

This challenge has taught me to go with the process, work hard, and see what happens -- to try not to predict the end of the story.  For most of the challenge I never even considered a top five finish, and it is not something that would be predicted for myself, but in the end it absolutely happened.  Truth really is stranger than fiction.

Three Months Later

Most of you know that in December I fell “just the wrong way” in a Cyclocross race and ended up with a shiny new hip! I had that surgery three months ago today, and while it seems like yesterday it also seems like a lifetime ago. So much has happened in such a short amount of time. There are a few things that I still cannot do at present – many yoga poses and long distance running – but those of you who know me also know that I did not spend too much time working on either of those pursuits before I got hurt!

When this first happened I thought that my convalescence would open up lots of free time in which to write a book, blog regularly and catch up on correspondence with long-lost friends. I soon learned that there were still only 24 hours in each day and seven days in each week. Being “disabled” meant that everything I did took longer, and what time I had left over was overtaken by the things that I needed to do to get myself back to “normal.” Two-a-days for in-home physical therapy were the norm. And then there was the exhaustion associated with recovering from the surgery and the ensuing PT. Nap time was a must the first three weeks or so.

Before I collapsed into the recliner, though, I still needed to get my work done. Fortunately I can coach my athletes from where I am located, be it in the hospital (yes, I did this) or on the beach (no, I have not done this lately). My athletes were an understanding lot and most of them got to do whatever they wanted over Christmas – what a lucky bunch! Work got done, writing was put on the to do list.

Of larger importance to me was to do the things that would get me better the fastest so that I could get back to doing the things that I normally did. All that PT was one. Another was to get onto the Computrainer, and do what my body loves to do – pedal my bike. With a lot of help from Phil I was doing so 2.5 weeks after the surgery. The first few days were not pretty, but I grew stronger and soon would quip that I could ride a lot better than I could walk. Eventually, I could even reach the handlebars and shift my bike, and the more I rode the stronger my hip became. My coach Mark Fasczewski has been pushing me since week four, and I am now back to doing Level 4 intervals. Wow, my old Level 4! Some of these recent intervals have been almost respectable, but even when they are not I attack them anyway, knowing now what it is like to just sit in a recliner and wonder if I would have the strength to get up and push my walker into the kitchen.

When this accident happened I was in some of the best shape of my life. (Yes, you can work long and hard and get better as you get older. Hire a good coach and work at it!) I was, of course, dismayed when I was given word that my hip was fractured. However, I also know that cycling, like life, is not without risks. At least I did this while racing and not tripping in a parking lot! I quickly resolved to put all my energy toward healing. I’ve since worked harder than I ever did on my cycling, with some personally pleasing results. I’ve worked hard mastering again the everyday tasks at home, in what Phil calls “being independent.” I learned about all the things we take for granted while we are all temporarily able-bodied.

I would not, however, be even close to where I am today without my family’s constant help and support. Phil was the go to person for everything that happened in our home and for everything that I needed. I was able to accelerate my rehab because Phil would drive me to PT, assist me with in-home therapies and, of course, get me onto my bike. Meals got made, laundry got done, the house was pretty clean, all while I was busy getting better. Just when he needed a break, MK made the trip from Colorado to spend a week taking care of her mom. Melissa Skyped whenever possible from Vietnam and Thailand, regaling us with stories about world travels. My sister Alison dove into my dad’s care-taking when he fell and broke his pelvis. Friends came over with food and smiles and even a Kindle! I was left to focus on recovery.

While there are things that I will put into the back of my mind when I stop to think about the goings-on of the past three months these are the things that I will always strive to remember. Thank you friends and family for giving me your precious time. This blog post is for you.

Power Based Training Certification

It has been a while since I have posted to my blog and I have a really good excuse for not getting to it sooner. Sure, training for Master World Cyclocross Championships is a good excuse, as is breaking my hip in a Cyclocross race on December 17. But, no, that is not the real excuse. Instead, after my last blog post I became involved with, then obsessed with, USA Cycling’s Power Based Training Certification Exam for coaches. The good news is that I passed this exam and I am now Power Based Training Certified. (CPBT)

I have been training with a power meter since 2004, and I have been coaching individuals with power since 2004 as well. Training and racing with a power meter is more than just a title of a book for me, it is what I do! But every once in a while I would download and then start to take the CPBT Exam and I would find out that, yes, it is long and hard and I would need to totally focus on it for quite some time. The exam would get put away and that would be it for a while.

This fall, though, I knew that my time had come. I had so much experience in the field that I wanted that “piece of paper” to back up this experience. The latest version was downloaded in early October and it was off to the races. Well, almost. It was slow going, all the way through. Not only did I want to give the correct answers, but I wanted to back up these answers with a complete understanding of the field. Days turned into weeks.

When I had completed all the multiple choice and essay questions the last part of the exam featured in-depth coaching of three different racers. While this “coaching” should seem like a piece of cake to a cycling coach I treated these athletes as if they were my own. The problem was that they could not just talk to me and tell me how they were feeling after “this” workout or “that” training week. I had to “assume” that these racers were feeling great, no matter what I gave them to do. Of course I had to make sure they did not become overtrained on what I was giving them, but on the other hand I needed to push these hypothetical racers hard enough for some overcompensation to occur as well. And then there was rest…

Did I learn during this exam? Absolutely! Of particular interest was the additional ways I found on the Training Peaks software to rip into an athlete’s power file to examine even more closely what he or she did during the ride, race or multiple intervals. This is fun stuff for a geek like me, and gives me even more ways to assist my athletes. In general, immersing myself even more fully for those two months into this topic opened my power-based mind even more. I would even wake up from dreams about coaching my own athletes as well as the mythical athletes in the exam. Yeah, I can get that way…

Anyway, after two months, I sent off a stack of paper an inch thick to USA Cycling and then started to wait. While recuperating from my hip replacement surgery I found out that I had passed. Yippee! Now I need to get the rest of my paperwork in so that I can renew my license for the year, but I wanted to share this with everyone. Yes, I have a title that says I can do what I had already been doing. But I really think that it will make me even better at what I had already been doing. Happy 2012!

Transition to Cyclocross, with a Bonus MTB Marathon!

After racing something that has the distance of the Leadville Trail 100 it has been a little difficult for me to find reasonable goals for the fall racing season. I have discovered that I love the long hard format of marathon mountain biking and that I also have so much to learn. These races are few and far between, though, so I knew that I would have to change my focus for the fall. Thanks to the finances involved, a trip to Bend, OR, for the Marathon National Championships was out of the question, so I have been left with a body that wants to do long and fast mountain bike races, but there seemed to be none to be found.

So after a physical and emotional break from racing I settled in on Cyclocross, which seems like the exact opposite of what I had trained for much of the summer. My coach Mark Fasczewski started filling my training with short intense intervals, which filled my legs with pain. Mark was just elected as coach to the USA Cycling Cyclocross Committee, so, yeah, he really knows his stuff! Anyway, I sure need work in the Anaerobic Capacity department. Cyclocross races have turned into bike handling fiestas, and I also discovered that my cornering was definitely not up to par.

The first Cyclocross race of the season, Kirkland Cyclocross Race, is five miles from my home. MVBC, our local club and one that I sponsor, promotes this race and I help out when I can. Two tropical storms sandwiching a cold front also "helped out" with this race, dumping at least 8 inches of rain in a ten day period. Needless to say, the course was a muddy soupy mess, but most racers had a ton of fun. I was no exception. A bit stressed from some organizational tasks, I jumped into a very talented Women's Open field and had myself a fun fun time, running so many of the spots that I could easily climb on my preride the day before. It was great to be around my Corning NoTubes teammates again and we all spoke enthusiastically about the cyclocross races to come. My teammates cleaned up as well, collectively we took first, third, ninth (me) and tenth.

This past Saturday I kept myself close to home and raced the Critz Farms Kermise. I chose to race in the 40+ category, which gave me the win and some cash to help with the weekend's expenses. That was a good move, as the women in the Open category all finished ahead of me. My teammates again, taking a very solid first, second and fourth. This race was mostly on the gravel and rock roads at an apple orchard, and my poor cornering lost me lots of time. I will be so happy to be cornering on grass again!

After this race friend Katina reminded me of an endurance mountain bike race in Lowville, only 60 miles north from my home. This was to be held the next day, and, OMG, it was a chance to ride my mountain bike hard and fast! Even though I had just emptied my legs with many many intense sprints out of those dreadfully slow corners I was convinced that I would recover in time for the 46 mile adventure. So what if I had just installed my mud tires onto my mountain bike?

Sunday dawned cool and sunny and I was so excited as I drove up to the Tug Hill Plateau. The race, dubbed Race With the Wind, started and finished at the visitor center for the Maple Ridge Wind Farm. We are talking lots and lots of windmills here, as this is the largest wind farm east of the Mississippi. The huge white windmills and the clear blue sky made for a very surreal view in all directions.

The beautiful day brought out the racers and there were probably 50 riders at the start. We started up a paved road and then took a right up a smooth dirt road. A woman on a cyclocross bike left me in her dust and, at that point, my 2.2 Kenda Karma tires were doing me no favors in the speed department. I tried to keep her in my sights and concentrated on riding my own race, keeping my heart rate high, but in a zone that I knew I could hold for hours. The race was going to be pretty long, so I did not want to bury myself in the very beginning.

The dirt roads got rougher and rougher, with smooth gravel being replaced by huge round stones. All the roads had intermittent areas of huge puddles and mud. When I arrived at the first super-steep hill of the day, littered with rocks and crevices, I was thrilled to be on my trusty Stumpjumper 29er hardtail. I was riding this with ease, while the woman on the cyclocross bike was walking up the rough slope. I wished her well and pushed on. Ahead of me was a long section of bumpy, rocky, puddly, undulating road, and I was loving every minute of it. I was also very happy with the Kenda Karmas.

Now I was the lead woman, and in order to keep in this position I had to not only go as fast as I could without crashing but also take care of my body so that I would remain properly fueled and hydrated for the duration of the race. I focused on the data from my Joule, specifically my average speed and my current heart rate, and worked to keep the heart rate up but not spiking and my average speed above 13 as much as possible.

This was not so hard on the way out, as a quick look at the course profile shows that more elevation is lost than gained in the first half. In the second half I pushed even harder, knowing what I might expect for a finish time if I kept up the average speed. I kept sipping on my Camelback filled with water and Fizz tablets, nursing my bottle with Perpetuem, and periodically ingesting packets of my favorite flavors of Hammer Gel. Thank you Hammer! I caught and passed several of the men who had dropped me in the beginning.

When I got back onto the aforementioned roughest rocky undulating road I put on the afterburners. I roared back up this terrain, dropping the two guys that I had entered this piece of road with. I had been looking forward to this for quite some time, and, next to the sweet singletrack sections, it was for me the most pleasing part of the race. I pushed and pushed, not seeing a soul ahead or behind. Yeah, I was loving those tires.

When I was on the second to last road, only a mile or two from the finish, I turned around to see one of the men that I had been going back and forth with during the race. Oh, no, the bike racer in me would not let this overall placing go without a fight! I put it into a harder gear, putting in some more distance. Then, one last turn, and the finish line. I had won! More importantly, I had put in a good hard aggressive race. (Final results have not been posted, so I do not know how I placed in with the men.)

My time for the 46 miles was 3 hours and 32 minutes. Now, all I need to do is to produce two more consecutive intervals like this when I race Leadville next year and I could finish in under 11 hours! Ouch. Well, that is a worthy goal, and one that I am chasing. As for this race, I was thrilled to have this under my belt and to race it in a strong and consistent manner. It was great training for what lies ahead and something that I can visualize as I do my other training.

OK, now it is back to Cyclocross season again. I guess I had better get out there and practice some corners.

Putting Leadville to Rest for a While, or My Thoughts on Time

The Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race is a race against the clock that just happens to be long, on mountainous terrain, and at high altitudes. In my last post I commented that it seemed like race day would never arrive. Now it is already two weeks post-race. Time certainly has a strange way of making itself felt. The night before the big race? The clock ticked ever so slowly, but once the alarm went off the clock started racing, as it would for the rest of the day.

I was very fortunate to have some time to spend in Leadville before the race. My daughter MK and I drove in from Durango on Wednesday, found a beautiful campsite, and then went for a ride on the trail that winds around part of Turquoise Lake, only a mile from our digs. Seeing so much beauty in one day can be breathtaking. Witnessing it all at 10,000 feet takes breathtaking to a new level.

Our days leading up to the race were a nice mix of preparation and rest. We rode a bit on the dirt roads in the area in which we were camping, we hung out at our campsite, we went into town to hang out and get groceries, and we did a small bit of course inspection. MK did some trail running while I watched hummingbirds and tried to figure out what my split times would be. It was inexplicably dry the entire time we were camped; outdoor living was especially good.

Race day dawned clear and cool and I struggled to put my cycling clothing on over sunscreen. Well, it was not even dawn yet, but you get the picture. MK drove me into town, and then asked me where my cell phone was. Cell phone? I eventually remembered that I left it on the ground back at the campsite, so she agreed to go back and rescue it after my start. How could I just leave my phone on the ground? At least I had everything I needed to race, including MK, who would be my super-awesome support crew.

The start area was a mass of people and bikes. My starting corral was way, way, way in the back. Pros started first, and then those with finish times from prior Leadville races were lined from fastest, up to twelve hours. New racers, like me, had the last starting area, and folks had gotten there ultra early to have the privilege of laying their bike onto the pavement in order to save their spot while they walked around. Everyone else was walking around the bikes lying on the ground in order to cross the street to get to the porta potties, and they usually tried not to step onto tender bits, like derailleurs or brake levers, in the process. I just kind of straddled my bike next to my corral and waited the order from the officials to move into position. The scene was organized and chaotic all at once.

The gun went off promptly at 6:30 and it took me over a minute and a half to actually cross the start line. As I rode through the start area I could see riders on the road ahead, as far as the eye could see. That was truly remarkable, until I realized that most of the people in this race were on the road ahead of me! I dug deeper and tried to infiltrate into the crowd, which had slowed for a small climb, then it was a downhill, a corner, and more downhill. Despite wearing two pair of gloves my hands were freezing and everyone around me was busy shaking out their hands while trying to keep up on the fast pavement stretch.

The speedy portion came to an abrupt halt upon entering the first unpaved section, CR 103. Suddenly, I was mastering my track stand, trying not to dab, as I worked toward moving forward. The climb up St. Kevin’s loomed, and I was wondering how I would ever stay on the bike, given the mass of humanity around me. I was mostly successful, though, only getting off once for a few seconds to avoid a guy who had wobbled completely across my path. I got onto a train of people who were riding through the traffic and it felt good to be moving again.

So much of the race revolved around other people. With 1900 registered racers, I was never really alone. On the climbing sections I would continue to ride past so many of the competitors. On some descents those who could ride downhill faster than me mobbed me as they passed. When I climbed up the dirt road portion toward the 12,500 foot Columbine Mine check point, also the halfway point, I was passing people like crazy, while the race leaders and faster riders were already descending on the same road. This was not a lonely place.

Then, I hit the “goat trail.” I had seen photos of racers pushing their bikes near the top of this climb, but with still over two miles to go to the course's mid-point I was greeted with a hike-a-bike that went on and on. We were now above tree line, and as I rounded each curve I could see the course rising higher, with a steady line of people still pushing their bikes. I could not see an end. Climbers pushed and pushed, staying to the right, while the people who had already made it to the top were bombing back down. Yes, on the same little goat path! The irony was that when you got to the “top” you still had to actually ride down a bit to where the aid station and check point was set up. Which meant, yes, that you had to ride uphill again in order to start the journey back down.

You’d think that just coasting down the mountain back to the Twin Lakes checkpoint would be easy. In fact, it was so tiring. The goat path was quite rocky, and I had to make sure to not run over any of the folks still walking up that climb. The dirt road was just plain fast, with loose sand and gravel to make life interesting. I was definitely happy to find a few sections where I could pedal, and was thrilled when I finally arrived back at the Twin Lakes aid station where MK had been patiently waiting for me to return. She was at the crucial aid stations, zooming from place to place, with everything I needed, including a big hug and a good song to keep all the bad ones out of my head. Her support was invaluable and everything that she did to help would take another blog post! She was even keeping my Face Book friends posted on my progress because, yes, she did go back to get my phone.

It felt hot at Twin Lakes, and as I climbed the road out of there I do remember looking at the lakes and thinking how wonderful it would be to jump into one of them. I found out later that it was 92 degrees there, at 9200 feet, which was the lowest altitude on the course. When I met up with MK, just over an hour later, at the Pipeline aid station I was certainly getting finish line fever but I still felt pretty good. I had no idea how hot it was, though, because the dry air at those elevations just dried the sweat off me as soon as I was producing it. I just figured that in three hours or so I would be done. Yahoo!

I was not, however, prepared for the amount of hike-a-bike that climbing up "Power Line" would involve. This video of eventual winner, Todd Wells, shows him riding Power Line. Todd was one of only a few racers to ride this section, though. I walked this, hopping on the bike in random flatter spots, with the entire piece going on for four miles. It took forever! Yes, there were still people everywhere, and yes, I would eventually top this section out at over 11,000 feet. Finally, on the other side, I was greeted with a rough, rocky descent, which felt rough beyond words. I kept checking my fork to make sure it was not locked out, although it certainly felt like it was. Suspension, where were you? Was I tired or was my fork just a bit low on air?

I came off the rocky descent at 10:30 on the clock. I remember thinking that if I really motored I could make it to the finish line before 12 hours hit and I could still collect the coveted belt buckle. I knew there was some smooth dirt road and a good chunk of pavement ahead, and I was ready. Zoom zoom down the dirt and the pavement descents, then zip up the pavement climb. I climbed and climbed, passing several people along the way. But the climb kept on going and going and going, and zip definitely got zapped. A man standing near an aid station cheered me on, telling me that I had one more hour in which to collect that buckle. “Can I make it?” I asked him. “YOU can,” was his response. Hmm, he must have been saying that all day, it sounded very well rehearsed.

Well, I did finish, just a bit over the 12 hour mark. I was nauseous for the last 2-3 hours of the race and had to force myself to drink and eat. Time continued to fly by, while my body seemed to be standing still. I was beginning to feel miserable, yet I was so close to the finish line. The last 2 miles were the worst, still climbing and climbing to get to that finish line. When I hit the pavement with one km to go I just wanted to cry. I knew where I was, but could not imagine how I was going to get myself to that finish line. Up another small hill, down the other side, and the finish line finally came into sight. I lined myself up with the red carpet as I heard my name announced over the loud speaker. I crossed the line, found MK, and tearfully collapsed into her arms. Done! I was also given an official time and a beautiful finisher’s medal, designating an official finish. I did not even care that I had missed the belt buckle. I had done everything I could and I could now get off my bike.

At this point, I was expecting to start feeling better. There was food to be eaten, recovery drink to be had, and maybe, even, a beer. Instead, I spiraled from a post-race euphoria to a full-out shivering, cramping, nauseous mess, so I bypassed the food table and went to the medical tent. The unusual heat and dry conditions had caused me, and countless other racers, to dehydrate. A cot and sleeping bag combo was now mine to inhabit as I drank salty fluids and ate pretzels. But there was no improvement. I could not move without completely cramping, and MK and I both wondered, independently, how sleeping in a tent was going to work out for me that night.

The good Dr. Matt, from Denver, eventually prescribed an IV of saline, that within three minutes stopped the nausea. By the time the bag was done I was up and walking, cramp free. I had also managed to stop shivering. It was absolutely miraculous! And I was suddenly ravenous, so MK ordered some burritos to take back to the campsite, and we had ourselves a yummy dinner underneath the stars. I think/hope that she had a well-deserved beer, as well. Yes, it was still warm out, and as we enjoyed our last night at camp we were just a little mystified by all the things that had transpired that day. I could not believe that after everything I had done I was feeling so good. How strange was that?

Many people need to be thanked for helping me get to this race and then for enabling me to finish it. MK, of course, was integral in all of this. Not only did she serve as race support, but she housed me in Durango for the week leading up to the race and the few days before I went home. (Imagine having YOUR mother move in for two weeks.) Her boyfriend Drew loaned us his awesome truck to make transporting all our gear a lot easier. Speaking of gear, I only supplied my sleeping pad, the rest of the camping equipment was courtesy of MK and Drew.

My sponsors also need thanking. They include Hammer Nutrition, Specialized, Stan’s NoTubes, Terry Bicycles, Sonne’s Cycling, and Dr. Norm and Val Cognetto.

Then there are the men that help me get the most from my cycling. My coach Mark Fasczewski gives me the work to do and helps me to emotionally get through it. My acupuncturist Mackay Rippey keeps my body and mind tuned up on a very regular basis so that I can keep up with the training and racing that I love to do. I continue to love to do it because I generally feel so very good. These guys provide an endless cycle that keeps me pushing toward my potential. Thank you both!

A thank you would be incomplete, though, without thanking the people who very patiently support and cheer from the sidelines. My husband Phil Thompson puts up with all of the things that I do, from the training, to the travel, to the recovery. I cannot even imagine what I would do without this. My daughter Melissa, my Dad, my sister Alison, my brother Steve, my extended family, my very good friends, everyone has been so kind and supportive. I am truly blessed!

So, while I was walking up Powerline, the “never again” litany started playing in my head. It got louder and louder as I dragged myself toward the finish. But time also has a funny way of obliterating discomfort, both physical and emotional. Within 24 hours MK and I were talking about ways to do things better “next time,” although both of us had sworn that that the very possibility of “next time” would never exist. Time, it sure is one strange dimension.

I'm Almost to Leadville!

Five days until the Leadville Trail 100 Mountain Bike Race… Wow, how did it get here so fast? Conversely, will it ever get here? I am currently in Durango, staying with my daughter MK. She has very kindly opened up her home to me so that I could come out early to acclimate to the altitude. She has also offered to be my support crew for the race. Lucky me!

Leadville was not even on my radar when 2011 began. I was, however, thinking that it would be super to do the Mountain Bike Marathon National Championships in September, a 50 mile race. My body responds well to long hours of training on multiple days, so my coach Mark Fasczewski, who I’ve been with since 2004, sees that I get my fill of long long rides for most of the year. I figured that as long as I had built up lots of endurance I might as well do some long races.

But Leadville? Naw, that race seemed too hard to get into, you had to enter a lottery or something. It sounded like too much red tape for me. Still, I wanted to do some long races and kept my eyes open. Then, in late March, I was stunned to read that there would be three 100 km qualifiers for the Leadville race. One was in Lake Tahoe, one was in Crested Butte, but one was in Lake Placid. Lake Placid? Three hours from my house? It took me about 1.5 seconds to decide that I really wanted to do the race. What an experience! I would get in a long mountain bike race in preparation for the national race in September.

I called Mark the next morning, got his OK, and training was ON for the Wilmington/Whiteface 100km. My goal was simply to finish the race, nothing more, and to see if I really liked racing endurance events. Mark piled on the hours, I focused on the Lake Placid event, and visualized it with every ride and race that I did. Even when I flatted only 4.5 miles into the road race at the Killington Stage Race and endlessly chased the pack I was thinking that I had to ride hard and strong in preparation for “the qualifier.”

Two weeks before the big day Corning/NoTubes road racing teammate Paul Speranza and I met at Whiteface and did a preride of the course. The out and back course was challenging, but nothing that was beyond our abilities. The climb up Whiteface Mountain, at the end of the race, would be the icing on the cake, and it worried me the most. However, I was now very excited for race day to arrive, and for the first time I was actually thinking and hoping that I would qualify for the Leadville race.

The Wilmington/Whiteface 100km was the perfect race on the perfect day. I could not believe how good I felt or how happy I was riding my mountain bike in such a beautiful place. I found myself smiling a lot as I worked my way toward the finish line. I finished 5^th overall for the women and 100^th overall, winning a belt buckle in the process, and I had qualified, and registered, for the Leadville Trail 100.

OMG, now what? More training, more mountain bike racing. The next on my list was Race the World at Windham. Not my best race, to say the least. While my climbing was good my technical skills showed the lack of singletrack training. I had been focusing on road riding to get my endurance really up to par for the Lake Placid race and now it was time to get my mountain bike technical skills in order. I drove home from that race a bit disappointed, but determined to get my skills up to where they needed to be for me to race well at Leadville.

The following weekend was the Six Hours of Power in Ellicottville, NY, and it was another picture perfect day for mountain bike racing. Not only was the course dry, but it was fast, flowing and fun! I did not doubt my skills, I rode nice even splits, finished fourth overall for the women, and even got a compliment for my descending skills from a guy who knew me years before. OK, I guess I was on to something!

All that racing and training tires me out, though. That is where my acupuncturist Mackay Rippey comes into play. I go for regular treatments almost every week, and he has seen me through some pretty exhausted times. I dragged myself into his office the Tuesday after the Six Hours of Power and even Mackay had his doubts about how quickly I would recover. However, he came up with just the right combination of treatments and I recovered so quickly that I had my third fastest time trial ever on our local 10 mile course that evening. Wow! Needless to say, Mackay has been as integral in my training for Leadville as he has been for every other race and training session since 2003.

There are so many people who have been supportive of me in my push toward these endurance events. Hammer Nutrition has sponsored me since 1997, and these days I go through a lot of fuel. Dick Sonne’s Cycling, Fitness and Skis, my local bike shop, is always there for me. Specialized helps keep me in bikes while Terry Bicycles keeps me in saddles and clothing. Stan’s NoTubes helped me with wheels, tires and sealant. Dr. Norm and Valerie Cognetto have gifted me with lodging. My husband Phil and our daughters love and accept me despite this craziness! My family and friends put up with me being out of the area or too tired/busy/brain dead to get together on the spur of the moment. It all adds up to the supportive atmosphere that is necessary to enable me to reach such challenging goals.

So here I am in Durango! Friday and Saturday I did laps on one of my very favorite trails – the Dry Fork/Colorado Trail/Hoffhein’s Connection Loop, which tops out at 8500 feet. Sunday I rode up the Dry Fork Trail, turned left onto the Colorado Trail, and rode through the Aspen trees between 9000 and 9500 feet, riding up to the high point in that area three separate times. Once I got up there I did not want to head back down to the heat that would meet me at a mere 7000 feet.

Yesterday, MK and I drove up to Molas Pass, which is not too far from Silverton, and rode out and back on a section of the Colorado Trail from Little Molas Lake. That was the most spectacular trail I have been on yet. It is a flowing ribbon of singletrack flanked on either side by wildflowers, with vistas galore of peaks over 12,000 feet high. We rode for only two hours, but were riding the entire time at over 11000 feet. It was a magnificent ride, and thoughts of exploring more of the Colorado Trail’s 400+ miles danced through my head.

Today is a very much needed rest day. MK and I head to Leadville tomorrow, so I will start to pack for that trip in a little while. We will be camping at 10,000 feet or so, which should feel quite “interesting.” Fortunately, I have been back and forth to Colorado at least once a year for many years, so my body and brain knows how to deal with it. Still, it takes much longer than this to become fully acclimated, so I will just have to deal with things as they present themselves and be even more careful about how I pace myself during the race.

So that is it for now. I will try to update this with a short post when I reach Leadville. Now, time to start getting organized for the penultimate phase of my trip!