Don't Stop Now!

Oh yeah! How sweet it is! Fine champagne (or cheep) celebration! Celebrated another win at OVCX Eva Bandman. Photo: Tim Brown

Man, I took a couple weeks off the blog and next thing I knew, life just flew by! Cross season does that to a person. You spend the whole year prepping yourself for it, and the next thing you knew you are standing in Wisconsin at Nationals planning how to approach the next season after Master's Worlds ends.  No way can I stop now... we are in the thick of the season! 

Anyway, so since the last posts I have packed in another 6 races, many miles and hours in the Honda Pilot, slept in 5 different  beds (no, this isn't like you think), had many many cups of coffee, bananas, and oatmeal, had a few meals from team chef Melinda, went through a chain, a tubie, and accumulated several mystery bruises. Somewhere along the way I even got to step up on the podium 5 different occasions with the last one being on the top step!  Yes!

So since time is short and a picture is worth a thousand words. I will mostly keep the post as show and tell. But let's get to it:

The ICX (http://www.indianacxcup.com/index.php) race in Richmond kicked off a weekend of bad mechanical luck for me. I had a chain skip problem from the start only to have the problem come to a head with my chain link breaking clean with one lap to go. I was as far as possible from the pit (of course) and enjoyed a nice walk in the park to get my B bike to finish off the race in 3rd. Twas okay with me really, Sierra S. was in 2nd ahead of me at the time and I was in no way gonna catch her so I didn't mind saving my legs for the OVCX Gunclub the next day. 

This pretty much sums up my race weekend. Here I'm running to the pits from a broken chain. Didn't even feel like I worked up a sweat... mechanicals are frustrating, but machines break down... just happy it was ME that broke down. Photo: Joni Siebenlist

So on that note, I was pretty pumped up for the famous Gun Club ovcx http://ovcx.com/ race the next day. GC is always highly attended and the course is just a blast even though it doesn't seem to play to my strengths much these days. After a nice overnight stay with my generous teammates Bill and Teri the night before, I was ready to roll. I had a pretty good start and was getting settled in and then found myself settled on the ground after another racer had a crash directly in front of me. I spend precious time untangling my bike from hers and fought like heck to catch back to all the people that passed me... only to have my rear tubie roll in one of the tight corners. So I ended up getting more time to walk in the woods to the pits... but once again it was a long walk, and I dropped down to 17th place when it was said and done. Boo! Crazy weekend! 

Sooo after that was the first mud race of the year! We headed to Bargarsville, IN for another ICX race. I had planned a week trip with my Mom around this weekend and had considered skipping racing this day, but she was willing to sit out at a cold muddy cx race, God love her, so I decided to just put forth enough time and energy to show up and get it done. In other words, it wasn't a priority on my list and my 4th place results reflected that... but I was cool with it. It was fun to get the hang of the mud again and get the Tex Market team kit (http://www.texmarket-usa.com/usa/chi-siamo.php ) some cx mud on it to properly break it in!  It was also kinda fun to show up for a race with little to no pressure for a change!

 Taking on the first mud of the season! MMMMuuuddd!!!!
Photo: Kent Baumgardt

Stretching out the legs a little in the mud, a good proper gloomy day for cx!
 Photo Kent Baumgardt

Next up was Blooming Cross in B'town! Love this race! I like the venue all around and the weather didn't disappoint either. It was a beautiful day. I was focused on this race and had a good showing for me. I think I ran in 3rd the majority of the race (at least that's what my Don Walker Cycles racing team camp was shouting to me ( http://www.donwalkercycles.com/), until I faded just a bit at the end. I ended up getting 2nd in my Master's class and 5th (?) overall in the elite class. It was a super fun race as Bridget and Gerri and I had a good, clean, back and forth race the entire time. Love that! Plus, I was treated to a ice cold brew of root beer from neighboring Shamrock Cycles afterwords  (http://www.lugoftheirish.com/Shamrock_Cycles/Home.html) too! Double bonus! 

Wonderful day of racing against yet another strong Ohio Valley Elite Women's field! Best part of the day was my teammate Teri Meek taking the overall WIN! Two weekends in a row for her!
Photo: Kent Baumgardt

After that, Mom and I departed on our yearly Brown County cabin vacation trip and it was a much needed 3 days of chilling out with her. I really cherish the time I have with my Mom and this week was no exception. I had some wonderful, quite ride time in BC and had nothing to do except relax by the fire and hot tub most the rest of the time. Bliss! 

When all else fails... there is nothing a Twissler hand up from a kid can't make better!
 Photo: Team J's Bikes

And then it was GO time again! After our cabin trip, I came home to pass some gas for a day before heading off to the races again. ICX ventured to Martinsville next and the course had a nice film of moisture to make it a challenge. The only really bad part was the addition of  the "hell hill" they added on the backside of the course. I was not a fan at all... and neither was my bum ankle, plus I was running on very very little sleep and the hunger to perform just wasn't in my belly. I gave a few good efforts here and there, but I decided pretty early in the race to not spend energy that I simply didn't have. It was a good little practice race for me and I still managed 4th overall. 

Charging hard at Eva Bandman!
 Photo: Nathan Roberson

After that I was off to L'ville for the OVCX Storm Eva Badman. I really love this venue as well... like many other racers. My team owner and his new wife were kind enough to house me for the night and I stocked up on much needed sleep! I knew I needed to sleep tons so I could focus on racing the next day... plus staying in the NAHMBS (http://2013.handmadebicycleshow.com/) founders house didn't hurt to help me focus on bikes either! Kinda like a custom bike museum. 

Good thing mechanical luck went my way... looks like I avoided some down cx tape!
 Photo: Nathan Roberson

I headed out to the races after a nice breakfast and got to the task at hand. I knew the day would go well since the song that the venue played during staging of my very first pro race years ago came over the truck radio as I pulled into the race park. I was pumped! I have just finally been feeling like my high end fitness has been kicking back in and I was anxious to see if I could manage a good ride at the future World's venue. Turns out, I could! I got off to a good start and laid down as much power in every place I could. The course had great flow to it and having a bunch of DW crew around the course (along with many others) didn't hurt either! We had a strong field of women this day and I was really pleased to be hanging in 4th for a while, but my main focus was taking the win in the Elite Master's Cat. I managed that and also held on for 6th overall even though B-jet was charging hard. 

It felt so rewarding personally to take the win. My myasthenia was giving me fits all week and after deciding to save my matches the day before, I banked a lot of time and effort into this race. It paid off and I had a blast doing it! 

Thanks to all my teammates and friends for the support out there! 

Channelling my inner Stella. Stelllaaaa!
Photo: Scott Whitehair 

Next up is Cinci UCI3 weekend... that's 3 days of racing! It may not seem like a lot to the average joe, but 3 days of focused racing is an exhausting effort for everyone involved, but we can't stop now.... 

Mi familia! Yeah... that's right! 

... we WON'T stop now! 

See you all at the races! 

This Is How Life Is Too!

Always feels good on the top step! Found a win and some confidence at Xenia OVCX in the Elite Master's class!
Photo: Don "Hoss" Walker

Fighting the Up-hill at St Mary's OVCX
Photo: Kent Baumgardt

Victories and defeats. Highs and lows. The good the bad.
Call it what you want, but life is full of its ups and downs. It never ends. I've felt quite defeated the first few weeks of the cyclocross season performance wise. I have been putting in my work and training, focusing on my diet, rest, and goals; but I haven't been seeing the results. I was feeling defeated before I even slipped into my skin suite on race day. I was still having a blast at the races in all other aspects, but this feeling of defeat over a bike race wasn't me. I had to get my act together. I had to get things in perspective. 

Best team camp EVER! Thanks Don Walker Cycles! All lined up and ready to race... and hand out a few waffles:
http://www.cxmagazine.com/ovcx-3-waffle-dollar-handups-tempt-kersting-arnold

As a athlete, I've felt many aspects of defeat, lost many competitions... but losing is the nature of sport. So is winning. So in times like this I feel it's important for me to remember my feeling of greatest defeat ever; so let me briefly tell you the "20 feet story":

After finally graduating out of the 2 week ICU stay after the NDE 15 months ago I was put on the telemetry floor. I was still constantly monitored by the nursing staff... but was no longer considered in "critical" condition. The days before my surgery that led to the blood clot that went to my lungs, I was in great shape. I had done a 6 hr ride the day before my surgery (which ended up contributing to my down fall due to dehydration). Sure, I had just spend 2 weeks in a ICU bed unable to move, but now that I had survived something most people die from, I figured I would start back to rehabbing and move along with my life like a normal athlete would. Just like coming back from  injury. Turns out I was wrong. Very wrong. In fact, it would lead to my greatest feeling of failure ever.

The first day physical therapy came to my room to start my out of bed rehab, the plan was for me to walk to the hallway and back to bed, this was about 20 feet. They told me the plan and I smugly laughed at them. I literally laughed out loud. Seriously? 20 feet? I'm a athlete. I thought: "I'll show them." I remember being sat up. I didn't sit up. I needed to be assisted. It was the first time in 2 weeks I didn't have a massive amount of breathing devices, tubes, IV's, monitors, and varies other things on me to keep me alive. I felt so free! Finally, I could move. Wrong. The PT put a belt around my waist to lift me up and an old lady walker in front of me to help me walk this 20ft. Lol. I got this. 

I took 2 steps. TWO. It took all of 2 seconds and I was completely overwhelmed with exhaustion and inability to hold myself up. I tried to mentally rally and "suck it up/ HTFU" as I was so accustomed to with sports. But I couldn't do it. I didn't "have this." I had nothing. The nurse and PT saw it coming, they got me a chair immediately, and my "session" was done. It finally hit me at that moment that this was beyond anything that I had ever faced. I crumbled inside and outwardly. I had fought death, unmasked a autoimmune disease of myasthenia gravis and this was how it was gonna be? This was my life now? Why did I fight so hard for this? I couldn't even make it 2 feet? I lost it. I looked at my Mom's face and even though she was doing her best to be strong for me, I could tell we were both overwhelmed by the fact that a once fit athlete and young lady... couldn't even stand up for 10 seconds. I broke down, I bawled, I was devastated. I still break down to this day thinking about it. I wanted to give up. It would be so easy since I couldn't even get started really. But after a good cry, a moment to collect myself, a prayer to God for strength, along with my Mom repeating words of encouragement to me, I got myself together. Clearly. But it did take a vvvverrrry long time before I made it that 20 feet. I made it: One. Step. At. A. Time. When I made it 20 feet. I owned it! I felt like I had conquered the world.

 This is life. Ups and downs.

Myself and rad teammate, Terri Meek showing off our skills and our sweet Shimano Dura-Ace wheels! /http://bike.shimano.com/
Photo: Baumgardt

I got 15th in an elite cyclocross race 2 weeks ago at OVCX St Mary's. I was upset with myself. I could have easily bowed out and told myself I was not going to be able to overcome the challenges I've been dealt.
 Really?
I was upset about 15th? Compared to my "20 feet" story I should have felt like a rock star. It was time to get over it and focus on the next steps to improving my self performance and keep things in perspective.

GOing uphill a couple weeks later!
Photo: Baumgardt

Next up after that was the ovcx race in Xenia, OH ( http://ovcx.com/). I told myself my #1 goal was to stay positive and remember to never take any moment of racing a bicycle for granted and enjoy the ride. I also wanted to lay everything I had out there on the line. These things I did. I had a decent start, powered out of the corners, and pushed my limits on the barrier run-up. I knew I had a few top girls behind me, but honestly, I had no idea where I was in the race. I passed by the Don Walker Cycles team camp http://www.donwalkercycles.com/ and Don yelled out that "3rd place is just ahead!" I thought he meant 3rd place for the sub-set of the master's ladies in the race, not for the overall race! I was in a bit of a bind as I was racing to shake birthday girl and master's lady Gerry Schulze off my tail, and in doing so I was catching my teammate Terri Meek in the process. Terri is gunning for the elite series points, and me the master's points, so I had to keep my head down and focus on racing Gerry in this case. It was a blast of a race! The 3 of us stuck together for the last couple laps, going back and forth, with each of us gaining and losing speed on differing personal strong points of the course. Gerry and Terri climbed the punchy, near finish line hill like snow leopards... and I just tried to hang on. It came down to me a Gerry side by side on the last straight. I knew I had to nail the hill perfectly and I did. We had a good, clean sprint to the line and I gave every ounce of effort I could to just nip Gerry at the finish!!! Terri was just behind us and I could hear her cheering me on the entire sprint! How cool is that? I did the whole "collapse after the finish like I just did Hawaii Ironman," and had to collect myself to not throw-up. It was great! I ended up 4th overall and 1st in the Elite Master's 35+ group. Wow!!! Talk about a good feeling. Kinda like making it that 20 feet.

Go Gerry! Too bad I just couldn't let her win on her birthday! Man, it was close though!

Sprint finish!
Photo: K. Baumgardt

The next day of racing had us heading back to Indy area for a ICX cup race (http://www.indianacxcup.com/index.php ). We got a feel for some chilly temps finally and it was tough to get those spent legs out to the race course. After the feeling of such excitement from the previous day, I took a deep breath and enjoyed the lower key atmosphere of races at ICX and reminded myself how I love everything that is cross. We had a small, but quality field of women. I knew I wasn't quite at Annajean's pace this early in the season yet, but I wanted to see how long I could hang with her. 'Tis wasn't long as it turned out. Oh well. I would take chase. I found myself in 2nd, trying to shake 3rd off my back but couldn't quite do so in the tight, twisty sections. Plus, it was a open, windy venue and laps were quite long to be hanging out in the wind all alone. The gal behind me (Liz C.) was more then content it seemed to try and get past me and I obliged.

Taking chase in second place at the ICX race in Lebonon.
Photo: Planet Adventure

 I spent the next 3 laps being patient, drafting, and learning where my chance to attack would be. I found my spot to be at the "Shamrock Cycles" barriers section (http://www.lugoftheirish.com/Shamrock_Cycles/Home.html. 

I nailed the technique and put the hammer down and never looked back. I rolled in for 2nd and snagged a few valuable points for my home state series. The rest of the day was spent taking in the other important things in cross.... food and beverages.

 Love it! Love it so much! This is life! This is living!

Making my move right after the barriers!
Photo: Tim O'Donnell of Shamrock Cycles- taking b&w photos like a Boss!

It was a good weekend of racing. Results wise and off the course. I'm not sure what next weekend will bring in the results aspect, but I do know I will value and cherish just being there. Just living and taking in life, and never taking race results so seriously (but still will work hard at it).

Who am I to complain about a 15th (or whatever place) in a bike race, when at one point I couldn't even breath for myself or walk 2 feet!!!! 

I really don't think God let me stay here to be upset about things like that.... 

so enjoy your own races and the season everyone!!! And don't EVER give up:)

Living the dream!
Photo: Tim O'Donnell of Shamrock Cycles

  See ya soon!

This Is How Life Is.

I'm amused and never seem to find endless similaities to the world of cycling and real life. The truth is: cycling is just a pocket of my bigger life in general as it is for most of us. Sometimes cycling has you on top of the world, sometimes you are just barely hanging on... this is how life is, just as cycling is.

Thrilled to get my first win with my new Don Walker Cycles Cx team! Winning always feels so  good!!

The last 3 weeks and the start of the cross season have been no different. My first race kicked off with the ICX Lion of the Den race, where I won, followed by the kick off of the OVCX series in Borden, IN, which I pretty much stunk at. Analogy to life: it has it's up and downs, and now it's up to me to learn from it all and move on. 

At least I did well at the barriers during the OVCX opener. Getting ready to jump back on the bike.

I was super excited to get back to the cross world this year. I'm pretty happy about getting to start racing  with everyone else since I missed most of last season after the NDE. I love to race cx and whether I'm doing good or bad... I'm just happy I get to do more of it this year. However, I also have to remember that this is a long, long season compared to what I had last year and that my goals are still a couple months down the road for nationals and world's. I know this and seem to keep that perspective until the gun goes off for the start of the race. Somehow, I seem to forget that my fitness is right where it should be at this point in the year when the adrenaline is going! I can't keep in peak fitness until Nats and struggling a bit now at the races will pay off big later in the year.  I shouldn't dramatize that too much, since I'm a world's better condition than where I was last year at this point. It just seems there are many more girls in even better shape than me currently. So... I didn't finish too well at the ovcx race. I ended up 17th of 30 elite girls and 4th in elite master's. I know that doesn't seem horrible to some, but to me, I was greatly disappointed with myself. It wasn't that I had a bad race, or didn't give all I had, I just got out raced. Aside from the interesting call-up procedure by the host team (I won't nor do I need to explain since I wasn't the only person to notice this) at the start that put me in the last row despite my early registration; that found me caught up behind a start straight wreck. I had a pretty uneventful race. Heck, I didn't even feel slow! I was just left shaking my head trying to figure out what hit me. I left the race trying to figure out where I went wrong, and upset with myself.  After talking to coach Mark, I realized I hadn't "went wrong" anywhere. Life just has things thrown at us we can't control and I came to the reality that I'm not the same racer or person I was 2 years ago. I hate excuses more than anything and I always felt that me saying I have myasthenia gravis is an excuse... but I now know it's not a excuse, it's my reality. I have a chronic illness and it effects me whether I like it or not. It's not an excuse, it's my life now. It only took me a whole year to be able to come to that realization to myself. Not the easiest thing to admit as a active person. 

Rounding the corner at the ICX race... on my way to the run-up.

That of course doesn't mean that I will let it get the best of me! No sir! I have good days too! I was able take home a win during my first cx race at the Lion of the Den ICX! 

Myself and Rebecca Zink (Shamrock Cycles) pre-race... the two gals sponsored by handmade builders, both took home category wins at the Lion of the Den!

I also brought home 2 more wins this past weekend at small local races at Depot Cx and Frankie Cx in Fort Wayne. I may not have had any other cat1 women at either race, but I felt like I improved and got some of my inner "Stella" back during these events. I took Depot cx to focus on putting out some power and going into the red zone the whole race (and also practiced my dollar hand-ups) and then focused on my cornering at Frankie Cx Sunday. I feel I accomplished that and I had a lot of fun at the races too. My original plan was to make it up to the WI USGP since I really love this race and was bummed to miss it last year with the NDE, but life responsibilities prevented that this year and it just didn't work out. I was happy and thankful to still be able to hit a couple local races instead!! 

Celebrating the first race and the first Win of the season Don Walker Cycles style!

Other than that I was happy to get together with the whole Don Walker Cycles Racing Team for the first time during the OVCX race. I can't express how thankful I was to show up to a race and have a crew and pit area around to make the race day easier! The DW waffle crew has put together a huge effort and sweet set-up for us racers and I can't wait to race more with them in the future!

 For now, I'll keep on training, working hard, and living a life full of fun! 

A reminder I keep on my mirror to keep things in perspective . Like it Mark?

See you at the races!

'Cross is HERE! Can You Believe It?

And so it is! It Is Time. Cross is here!

Time to represent the best team in Cx: Don Walker Cycles!

We all have finally stomached our way through the dogs days of summer and can now move onto what we all live for. Cyclocross season! If you're anything like me, you started planning and scheming this year's season long before the last medal was given at World's last year. And with my first race just a short 6 days away I'm still not really ready. I still have a lot to get around and a lot to wrap my head around, but that's the way it is with cross. It's the most complex, simple form of racing there is... it can either be a very simple bike and rider, or it can involve a trailer full of tire/ wheel selections, equipment,  clothing options, approaches to the best lines, and so on. 

Normally at this point in the year I would have spent almost the entirety of August solely on the cx bike and would have spend my fair share of time doing laps on my mock cx course at our local fair grounds and college xc running course. But this year I found myself  drawn to hunting down new dirt roads and taking the cx rig on the mtn bike trails here and there. Seeing how that has been what my "want" has drawn me to and that is all cool with Coach Mark, I don't see how skipping laps on grass will hurt me much. I figure I've raced enough cx races to let my instincts kick in once the 1st gun blows at the start line. Besides, although I plan on having a good all around season up until nationals, I figure I have plenty of time to work out a few corners here and there along the way to nationals and Master's Worlds. 

With that being said, I can't say how excited I am for the season. I have found a positive, professionally run, welcoming home for cx after a late blindsided dismissal announcement from my last year's team management. It was the best blessing in disguise and I'm so glad I had to go through a dark bought to find the light at the end of the tunnel! As you notice from the change on the blog layout, I've shifted my colors to orange and black and now have a sword and shield on my arm. 

Getting ready for cx season honing my skills with down hilling!

That's right, I will be riding for one of the "original 6." No, no... not hockey, not Richard Sachs, nor the Greek gods. But none other than head honcho of NAHBS http://2013.handmadebicycleshow.com/ himself- Don Walker (http://www.donwalkercycles.com/). If you haven't heard of the bike show or him, do yourself a favor, be a real cyclist and look it up! I mean seriously people... if you haven't broached the world of cycling enough to the depths of a man/ woman who can MAKE a custom/ handmade steel frame, then you need to wake up! This art is just as much the heart and sole of cycling as the first time you ever threw your leg over a saddle. This is where it starts for the industry. I realize that everyone can't go pluck a custom bike off the checkbook, even though you'd be surprise just how affordable DW can make you a bike, but there is nothing more sexy in the bike world than a custom steel frame done just right. Until you experience the art of sole of a custom frame at least once in your cycling life you're just not doing it right. While I'm just as prone to drooling over the latest carbon made beauty rolling off the assembly line somewhere in china because that's what the cycling media ingrains our brains to tell us what's hot, there is NOTHING (in cycling) will ever make my heart a flutter like a custom, beautifully made steel or ti (I'm thinking Moots here) bike!

"Do you KNOW who built your bicycle?"

Whoa! So enough of that conversation that I could go on about for days, and back to the matter at hand. Soooo you could say I am thrilled to be riding for the Don Walker Cycles Racing team (http://www.donwalkercycles.com/2012/06/13/official-press-release/) this season. They consist of a great group of people and I am also thrilled to be a teammate of Mrs Terri Meek on the elite women's side of things! Good. Quality. People.  Hopefully, I do the team proud! More importantly, stop and hang out with us this year, check out our steeds (you're even welcome to ride mine), check out the bike set-ups (I'll be running Shimano Ultegra Di2 http://bike.shimano.com/publish/content/global_cycle/en/us/index/products/road/ultegra_di2.html, Paul Component Neo- retro brakes http://paulcomp.com/neoretro.html, along with other great goodies), and try to out-heckle us! Good luck with that last part though!

In other news, most of you know I spent 11 days recently in Colorado for my personal cx training camp. I had a great time out there. I spent some time in the best US cycling city of Boulder and then had chosen my final end point as Winter Park (WP) for the quality of all around riding. But I somehow ended up strictly sticking to fat and even fatter tires than I would have thought. I make it no secret that mountain biking is my true love, even though I prefer cx for the racing side of things. Well, WP was like mtb heaven! Everything in the area was catered to mtb of all forms. It was amazing! I could go on and on about how great it was and try to relay how I felt so very at home there... but just as a picture could paint a thousand words and not do the views justice; a blog post could never even come close either! So I won't even try.

This had to be my favorite section at WP. Hitting that at 30mph... felt like a kid again!

I will say this: I'm thankful to be here on earth and grateful that I was able to spend time doing something I love like that for myself. By now we are all sick of hearing about how I almost died last year... it may seem like a faint memory to most now. But it will never be that to me; a faint memory. It happened and I'm so lucky it did because I value and see through different eyes now. Moments and minutes come and go, and once they pass you never get them back. Someday, the autoimmune disease I have (MG) may decide to flare up, make me stop breathing in my sleep and that will be the end for me. Who know's? That's the reality of it. Not to be a Debbie downer... but all of us will face our demise.This we know for certain. And while I know for a fact I don't fear death since I accepted it once, I do fear not living. 

Living it up!

Don'e get so caught up in the unnecessary drama of the world and forget to live. 

K? 

...And back to the fun! Cx is here.

 Live it up and enjoy the season everyone.

 The cx scene is all about fun and don't forget to live and love it! 

K?

https://vimeo.com/user13214175/videos 

(check out some of my downhill runs with one of my first GoPro attempts!)

Here we go! 

"I'm Not Really a Road Racer"

"I'm really not much of a road racer." Ha! I find myself saying this all the time. Like most of the cycling world I've been poking fun of our culture with the "shit cyclist say" you tube clip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMCkuqL9IcM ) and this seems to be my own quote to fit the bill. Truth is,  I spent the better part of the summer doing skinny tire races and only stepped on the mountain bike once since Brown County Dino all the way back in early June. Such a walking contradiction really. I love to hate road type races. They go against every ounce of my competitive instinct. Sitting in the pack, waiting, watching, all that rules of conserving energy. True, I do like the race tactics and love to be able to use my brain to gain some advantage when I can, but mostly it drives me nuts. Don't get me wrong, I do have fun while I'm out there, I'm just not going to weigh the results of these races too much.  

Sitting in the pack... my favorite. Coming around for another lap  in The Maple Hill  road race in Lawton, MI

So why do them? Well for one thing, it is a race. Within a 2 hour drive or less, the area offers a lot of them and it's important to get some race efforts in for cross prep. Plus, since I seem to get massive poison ivy every time I even am remotely close to it, I seem to  not have this problem out of the woods. I've loosely enforced a 2.5 hour max travel rule to myself this summer for races and it's seems to be working well. With all the travel cross season brings, and a job where I work about 60 hours a week, it's important to save my matches when I can. I do miss hitting the "usual" races in the state, but I've also enjoyed discovering new ones in the same breath. I've made it up to MI races that have been close to home and have met new people, racers, and promoters and that has been really fun. Part of the draw of racing is just that... expanding our comfort zone, meeting new people, and seeing new places. At least for me that is. 

So with that I suppose I should mention some race action.

I was able to win a crit actually, so I can't complain much. It was even my Men of Steel's team event to boot! It was a hard race against a good field of girls. My teammate Diana, motored the entire race and the two of us took a flyer off the front to escape midway through the race. It felt great to take the win at such a cool event and I look forward to this race around Parkview Field next year.

Doing some crit racing for my Men of Steel team! Great shot by Lahrman!

 I've did a crit in Lansing. Got 7th or 8th... can't really remember. I'm finding the MI group to be generally overall baller in biking. No surprises there really, it's a great state to cycling in. After that I ventured down to the Eagle Creek crit. It was just a series of bad luck for me there. I got a late start down, flatted way far away from my truck on the warm-up, barely made it to the start line, then miss-judged the finish line at the end. I got last as a result since I stopped racing like 20 yards before the real finish line. I couldn't figure out why everyone kept pedaling once I stopped... really Nik? I just eventually had to laugh at myself and be thankful it was just a bike race and not a day passing gas at work (That's anesthesia lingo for putting people to sleep). That always puts things in perspective for me. 

Celebrating a podium at Parkview Field! Crit races around a minor league baseball field... so American!

After that I did a double weekend in Kalamazoo area. Super nice races with a crit one day and a road race the next. I was once again, plagued with a flat in the crit, but made a good change during the race and fought back to be in the money. I had a good time. After that I went on a hotel hunt and ended up in the only hotel room left in the area... seems there was a huge lacrosse tournament and no one gave us cyclists the memo. Seriously, I have to re- prepare for these aspects of traveling to races. Dive hotels seem to make me cringe more and more the older I get. I spent the night freaking out about bed bugs, but never had I been so ready to get up early for a 8am race! 

Nice to meet a new bunch of racers from all over the country and world. The winner of our RR was visiting from New Zealand. 

The road race was pretty sweet. We raced around vineyards on rolling hills. I stayed smart and ended up second on the day. I wasn't really caring how well I did, but was more stoked by the fact that the race efforts and terrain were not as challenging for me.... 

This is good since my fitness is coming around for cyclocross.... 

"I'm more of a 'cross racer ya know"

June in a Nutshell

Well, so June is almost over and that means July is just around the corner. I've had an up and down June...  but what's new? I'm not complaining since I know the "down" could be much worse. Basically, June was this: 2 weeks of flu/sickness, then 2 weeks of getting back to health. 

(Leading the pack at the Fort 4 Fitness event, Sierra in 2nd here would trade me places once it was all said and done. Photo A. Hoffman) 

I pretty much had a good time in June when I wasn't sick... just didn't really have the results in races that I was hoping for. I've been doing some racing here and there though... 

(Taking chase at the Fort 4 Fitness race! Photo: Andrew Hoffman http://fortwayne.myneighborlink.org/)

I had a fun time at the Fort 4 Fitness Road crit in Fort Wayne where I was able to come away with a 2nd place in front of my team's (Men of Steel Racing http://www.menofsteelracing.com/) home crowd. Of course, I would have loved to win, but I didn't play all my cards right. I let a solo rider get a break and I hesitated to chase since I thought the pack would pursuit... turns out they did not, and by the time I took after her, it was a bit too late. I soloed for 2nd and I was feeling pretty happy about how I powered through the race with so little high end training. I felt a bit off the entire night and later found out why. I spent the drive home throwing up and scooting to the bathroom. Yuckers! I was just thankful my Sis had made the trip with me and despite how crummy the day ended, we had a good time together before hand. 

(Loved racing past the buildings in downtown Fort Wayne, IN. Cycling leads to so many cool things that just can't be experienced any other way! Thanks for the sweet photos: Andrew Hoffman) 

And that pretty much started it all. I felt pretty crummy for the next week, as did my entire family. I hate that they were sick, but at least I didn't feel like I was the only germ catching person around me. Since the NDE, every bug that comes anywhere in a 2 mile radius of me has me down for the count, and while I was hit the hardest, at least I knew it was going around. 

Of course, this was the week heading up to the BCSP DINO race and a planned mini trip and cabin getaway with my Mom and Sis. We were all sick and almost pulled the plug on the trip, but right at the very last minute, we decided that we could be sick just as well at the cabin, so might as well go. We made the 4 hr drive down okay, got settled in and I started resting for the next day's race. 

I woke up the day of the BCSP DINO race NOT feeling it at all. I wasn't deathly ill, but I wasn't good either. I knew me being off the bike all week and the lack of energy would not fair me well at a venue that doesn't suite me well to begin with. That pretty much says it all... no need to get into details. I put forth what I had, did my best for that day, had a fun time, and have since put it behind me. 

After that, the flu bug took over and I was forced to let it take its course for another week before getting back on the bike. 

I finally came back to life and was itching to get going at the races again. Sooo after being off the bike for a while I decided to do some crit racing. That was a jump start back! I headed up to South Bend to basically tick my legs off. It was a cool race and I really liked the course. Lots of turns, some straights, and it was around the college football hall of fame! What more could an ND FB fan want? 

We had a small but quality field of women. The promoter bunched us in with the Master's men which completely changed the race for us, but it is what it is. I think I had a pretty good race and did my best to play it smart. I had some major, major quad cramps every time I stood to attack, so eventually I didn't attack. I'm still a little weary when I have these cramps happen, I'm a little afraid that it's the myasthenia gravis and that pushing it a bit too far will lead me back in the ICU on a vent. Once a MG crisis occurs, the body basically doesn't have the energy to even be able to breath for itself... so I'm really going through a big  learning process to be safe and smart yet still be able to race. I'll get it down at some point... it just isn't something to mess around with! 

(Once again... cool places cycling can take a person... warmed up on the trainer on the astroturf in front of the Football Hall of Fame)

Anyway, we ended up in a 3 way sprint at the end! I came out 2nd, but we were all bar to bar! It was a lot of fun and I was happy with 2nd considering the lack of fitness and the fact that my quads stayed in the contracted state the whole time I did my cool down lap. It was total mind over matter to stand and sprint for that 2nd place at the end.

(I was so proud of my buddy Josh "Joshie" Johnson for taking his 1st PRO road win this month!)

So what else then??? Oh yeah, I did a race up in Lansing, MI last weekend. I would have loved to do the B'town crit, but at this point I am trying to conserve as much energy and resources as possible to get recovered from being sick. Plus, I know once cx season gets here there will be plenty of time to survey the roads and hotels of our country! So I opted to head to Lansing which was about 1hr closer to home. The race there had a pretty good turnout, 10 riders maybe? Since I didn't know any of the riders... it was a bit fun to learn each rider as the race progressed. All of the gals there were pretty speedy and I could tell they were all there for business that day. I really just wanted to stick with the group and not get dropped. Well, I did get dropped on a prime lap, but I fought my way back solo and was pretty stoked to stay with the gals for the remainder of the race and was even right there for the sprint in the end. I  came out 6th, which was about 1 tire width out of the payout...  Love those sprint finishes though! 

So all in all, it's been a crazy June but that's the way it goes! I'm not gonna get caught up on the results this month. I had some really fun times and good memories to keep with me.

In reality, June was a big deal to me in my life this year. It marked the 1 year anniversary of my near life ending event... so what do I have to complain about? I really feel June 16th is like my 2nd birthday... the day God let me live again. August 23rd was my birth as a person, but June 16th was a birth again that made me be so much more aware of how valuable the gift of life truly is!

Photo Cred...

Almost forgot to give credit where credit is due. New blog title photo from William Snyder http://prints.williamlsnyder.com/ . Check out some of his nice work in your free time.... and buy a photo or two and support those taking time to sit in trail brush to get a picture of you riding your bike!