Hello Again!

Wow! Talk about a blog hiatus. Since I've been busy with life the last several weeks and haven't posted, I figured I do a quick run down and put the last weeks in a nutshell before the summer and racing season (before the real racing season of cx) get into full swing. First thing that comes to mind since way back when was a super fun mini camp in Brown County with my Men of Steel (www.menofsteel.com) teammates back in March. As you can see we had a great turnout of guys for camp and one girl... me. We had some great riding weather and it was pretty fun to see how everyone was so fit after a pretty mild northern Indiana winter. The team got in plenty of miles over a couple days and my schedule allowed for me to stay and train a couple more solo after all the guys took off. I've been riding BC several years now and know the area really well, but treated myself to taking some different roads and getting lost a couple times. Mostly, I was rewarded with some fabulous isolated roads, and only found myself in a couple "I could get kidnapped and used for dog food" areas while I was out there. Thankfully, that didn't happen and I'm pretty happy to have some new routes to add to my favorite place to drive and train at! 

(Back in Black for the Mountain Bike and Road season with Men of Steel Racing team p/b Wagner Research)

I was also stoked to hit the State Park and take the new 29er Specialized Epic S-works (aka Big Red) out for it's maiden voyage ( www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCProduct.jsp?spid=61539&scid=1100&scname=Mountain. I haven't had a full suspension bike in a few years since I have never really liked the bob while standing to pedal... but this bike instantly blew me away at how smart the rear suspension "brain" is. Not to mention just how butter smooth the (www.sram.com ) components are! Blew. Me. Away! I can't wait to give it a go in a area that really cries for the aggressive need for suspension. 

(Nice view from my hotel deck after long days of training in BC)

After  four days of riding in the hills I was pretty exhausted. I had not been out of shape, but I had also just been getting over a long lasting bronchitis, so the effort was a good kicker to the system. All that riding turned out to work against me as it was a bit too much too soon in addition to an improper saddle height. After BC camp pretty much up until now, some 6 weeks later, I have struggled with a very painful knee problem. Tight IT led to a mistracking patella, lead to swelling under my kneecap and blah, blah, blah I was facing more time off the bike. It's been limited training time for me, but I was just thankful this happened now and not near cyclocross season. I was also thankful that it wasn't something that needed surgery! These sort of injuries take a lot of time to overcome and I feel pretty blessed to have some time right now to heal up properly. After a check up on my bike and cleat fit with the best fitters in the buiz at Summit City bicycles (www.summitcitybikes.com ) and a  good run of physical therapy with the masters at KCH Regional Rehab, I got things squared away. Thankfully, I'm pretty much back in the saddle and ready to get back to serious training with Coach Mark Faz (www.vantaggiofitness.com). That also means I can start thinking of a nice event and goal for the mtb/ road season too. Not sure what it will be, but with 20+ years of racing under my belt, I'm thinking I may look for a little bit of a different challenge until cx gets here... who knows?

(Rest break with the guys at camp. Don't think you'll find a nicer bunch of guys.)

Aside from all the fun at camp I was also able to get back to racing recently. I did a major crowd attending crit,  worthy of some UCI cyclocross pro races I've done. The streets were packed and everyone cheered the entire 60 minutes! Where could this be you ask? The small town of Goshen Indiana. Seriously, no joke. These people know how to hold a bike race during their "First Friday's" events. The majority of the crowd didn't know or care about how fancy the bikes were, what sort of shoes you had, or how pro you looked. They did know that the first one across the line was the winner and that everyone, and I mean everyone, deserved to be cheered on every lap regardless of what team they were a part of. Great job Goshen (www.goshenindiana.org )! I lined up with the Cat 1/2/3 men since they have yet to include a women's race (but rumor has it they will in 2013). I knew the pace would kill me, but I also knew what doesn't kill me would make me stronger. I got dropped like a brick off the Sears tower. But I gave it my all the entire time and caught the tail of the group each time I was lapped. I didn't crash, I had fun, and I accomplished what I wanted to. I can't stress enough how sweet this event is... if you can take part next year, DO IT!

(Sleepy eyes and stiff legs at the team breakfast table the second day of camp before the riding got started)

Next up for racing is my local race: Fat and Skinny Tire Festival (www.fatandskinnytirefest.com). Also a must do event for those of you who haven't taken part of it yet. I had naturally targeted this to be a weekend to be in good form for this year, but given the circumstances and the knee issue and some other personal issues I've dealt with here the last couple months, it looks like I will try to race above what I'm really fit for and just take whatever that leads to. So is life... take it as it comes. I just plan on enjoying taking part and keeping in mind that I was almost not able to do stuff like this had things went another way for me. I'm also pretty excited about the event adding a full 2 days of mtb in the mix. Since I'm not really a road racer at all, I look forward to spending the weekend in the dirt on some of the best trails there are... and proving that with the right attention, treatment, and determination- a person with myasthenia gravis can be competitively active!


See you all at the races!