Local XC, Summer 2011

This weekend brought the Chattanooga Mud Run as well as the epic Fool's Gold 100 and 50 mile races in north Georgia. But don't be fooled, the real racing this weekend took place in Chattanooga, TN at Booker T's short track and cross country races. While the endurance types raced or recovered from the effort on Saturday's FG, the rest of us took on the loose, dry trails in Chattanooga.

Saturday, there was a TT that I missed, but a short track that I did not miss. The ST course was a short (imagine that) loop that began from the typical finish line area in the field, went up the hill to the sidewalk behind the pool, around a U-turn at the crest of the hill, took us skittering around an off camber, left then right hand turn around a tree, and finished down the hill to the field. A lap took about 60-80 seconds, depending on who you were and how sapped your legs felt. About 11 people lined up for the first wave (sport men and women). Because not very many folks outside this category had signed up (Kym F was the only cat 1 woman and my husband was the only SS guy), this ended up being the only wave, and Kym ended up hopping into our race so she would not have to do laps alone. We voted to do 15 min + 3 laps, which felt like about 30 minutes to me.

I considered riding my cross bike, but since it's been neglected since cross season ended, it needed more TLC and maintenance than I could give it before the race. So, I rode the superfly with the 32-21 I planned on using for the xc race and it worked out great. As the only person in my category, I worked hard to beat a few guys and to not let Kym lap me more than once. Thanks to Kym having a chain falling off issue that slowed her down a bit, she only lapped me one time, with a graceful, on-your-left pass on the climb.

Kym and I working hard. Photo courtesy of Celeste Sneed.

About 7 laps in, I started to get fatigued and my 75-80 second laps started being more like 85 second laps. Ultimately, I went back and forth with a few guys, logged 15 laps, ie 15 times up that hill, and won my category. I know, I know, it's pretty amazing that I won given that I was the only cat 2 woman, but, I pushed my limits, and I did it. Kym got 3rd overall, but I bet could have won if she had not had a mechanical issue. My support crew of one, otherwise known as Anthony, cheered me on, but opted not to do a short track "race" all by himself. Perhaps next year, the ST will have more participants so I can spectate as well. Results are here. Many thanks to everyone who set up the course- Aaron, Joe, Bill, Ken, Scalla, Mark, Taylor (our team mechanic), Celeste etc.

As for the XC race the next day, Team Angevine brought home the bragging rights of two first place finishes. Since we've never done this before, this is a monumental moment for us as a couple. After a taste of the success, our sights are now set on a national level, dual domination. All joking aside, even though the categories weren't stacked, we both had pretty good races. The SS's started first in the first wave: it was Anthony and one other guy, Micheal Edens, both on rigid 29ers. Obviously, I never saw them until the end of my race, but they both held off the sport riders who started behind them.

My race started with three of us (Stephanie Rynas, Chrysa Malosh and I), but in the nick of time, ended up being a group of four when Marsha Williams booked it to the starting line-- poor girl, I think got stuck in traffic, pulled in, parked, registered and made it to the starting line sans warm up with about 60 seconds to spare. We started up the road and I spun as quickly as I could. I just knew the other girls were going to up-shift and pass me like I was standing still. Once the incline began, I was grateful to feel some resistance with my revolutions and could just barely make out Stephanie and Marsha in my peripheral vision. Dang-- maybe I can beat them into the woods, I thought. Somehow as the hill crested and we turned on the last pavement stretch before the trail entry, I was able to stay in position and be first into the woods. A few minutes later once we hit the field, I saw Marsha and Stephanie enter the field as I was about the re-enter the woods. I put my head down and pedalled. With the exception of seeing a few guys (John Wikle, you were a carrot, thanks for letting me by!), I rode by myself. Every noise my bike made, or creak of a tree limb I thought was surely one of the girls. It was so dry out that I was sliding around a lot and I stopped 4-5 times to squeeze my rear tire to make sure it wasn't flat.

As a side note- prior to the race, I endo'd just riding in the grass when I came upon a rather large hole in the ground, at least 2'w x 1'd, a veritable caldera that gobbled up my front wheel and flung me up and over and down. It was one of those slow motion, comical, no carnage endos. I figured this was my one crash for the day. But no, while trying to eat during the race, I discovered I'm not so good riding with one hand on the bars. I tapped something, lost control, endo'd, but managed to hold onto my snack. Thankfully, no one caught me due to the mishap and I was able to finish without seeing the others until I was done.

Celeste Sneed was there snapping photos and got this one as well as the ST one above:

In the end, Anthony won the SS cat, I finished just ahead of Stephanie R, Marsha W and Chrysa M who took 2nd, 3rd and 4th. My teammates, Kym F and Shannon M, came in 1, 2 in the expert/pro category. Results are here.

Fontana 2011: 3rd x 2

The entire US-Stove/Vantaggio team attended the SERC finale with good results all around. I had not done the Fontana course since 2008 and wasn't sure what to expect. The pre-ride confirmed that my legs felt emptier than I wanted them to feel, but the course itself was a nice loop with technical descents and only a few sections I'd have to hoof it through.

The night before the XC race was filled with dinner, beer and spectating the short track race. The US-Stove ladies Anina, Catherine and Shannon comprised the women's field and did great. I got to enjoy watching my husband as well--- despite approaching the short track race with much trepidation and dread, he was in the top 3 for the first 2-3 laps, on his Traitor ss cross bike. After a crash, his front brake remained snugly engaged, and he rode at least 5 laps with that brake on, before he was finally able to disengage the cable and ride front-brake free. Who needs a front brake anyway? Next year he'll redeem himself with a mechanical-issue-free race.

The morning of the race had me feeling horrible. All I had to do was finish the race and I'd secure my 3rd overall place in the sport category. Despite that, I wanted to do well and felt depleted on my warm up ride. At the line when we got to vote whether to do 2 or 3 laps, as much as I usually think voting down the course is somewhat lame, I couldn't resist voting for 2. By one vote, the 2 lap paradigm won. The start went up a steep paved road that I heard was about 300 feet of climbing. Everyone took off in front of me and I thought, oh well, here goes a painful race. I stood up, got into a steady rhythm and within a short distance, was surprised and happy to be passing people. By the top of the hill, I entered the woods in 2nd behind this fast TVB racer, Kaysee, (who rumor had it was doing her first xc race). Once on the singletrack, I never could get her in sight. By the time I got to the steep gravel road climb and had to hop off and walk up, I was caught by Shannon A of the Cycle De Oro team. Work as I might to keep her in sight, she also disappeared. Through the second lap, I kept spying Tiffany B out of the corner of my eye, so I kept pushing up the climbs and tried to be careful on the descents. Near the dreaded gravel road climb, my mind started wandering and I began to wonder if maybe I'd made a mistake-- did we vote for 2 or for 3 laps? Crap. How many laps do I have left? How could I be so uncertain? How ironic, here I am happy to be on my last lap, when maybe I heard the official wrong and maybe we are doing 3 laps...

Thankfully, I ran into Jane H's husband Dan and was able to ask him. He probably thought I was losing it, but I was very grateful for his input and confirmation that indeed, we did only have to do 2 laps. My legs and lungs, despite feeling blase at the start, stayed in a steady pace through the second lap. The descent down the turkey chute was like a roller coaster and when I hit the pavement leading to the finish line, I was all smiles. I ran into Star who confirmed there was no one right behind me. For the second and final time, I pedaled past the greatest support crew ever, aka the US-Stove posse of husbands, Anthony, Bryan and John, and somehow made it up the hill and did not crash going over the curb at the finish line.

All in all, I finished 3rd in the race and 3rd overall. My bike felt great thanks to Taylor K at the trek store. My teammates all finished really well in the expert category. The Berger family put on another great series. Pictures will be posted soon. Cross season here I come.

SERC 2011 is complete

The last race of the SERC season is now finished! As a blogging novice, my blogging skills are still in development, so many fun race weekends and riding adventures have surfed under the radar. In an effort to be thorough, here are a few snippets about some races leading up to Fontana's finale:

6/18 Cysco Cycles 6 hour race at Booker T: Out of 4 women, I landed 2nd, waaaay behind Elizabeth McCallie. Logged about 43 miles in 5h25ish min. 32-21 gearing, high humidity. Had friends and teammates in the cheering section.

6/26 Clemson, SC SERC: Fun, hilly, rooty course with some sections of twisty, newly cut trail. More hills than I remembered. Slick roots on the trail by the water precipitated multiple screw-ups and dabs. Went back and forth with Tiffany B (who is one very consistent rider). The 32-21 worked well for the gravel road climb to the finish. Ended up 4th behind Julie Stewart and just in front of Tiffany B.

7/10 Huntsville, AL SERC: Most of the US-Stove Company team convened at Team Copaxone headquarters (aka Grace Ragland's home) and crashed with her kind roommate Steve G). Gnarly, rugged pinhoti/pisgah-esque trail + fast, flowy double track = the Monte Sano race course. Despite lots of crashes, it was a good race. Still liked the 32-21 on the superfly for 3/4 of the course, but could have used an extra gear on all the flat stuff. Worked hard to catch Tiffany B, but couldn't, and ended up 2nd between her and Heather D.

7/17 Hellacious Helen, GA SERC make up: Due to missing the FL serc, having a flat tire on my car the AM of the Tanasi serc and blowing it at the Raccoon serc, I had some crucial points to make up to even qualify for the overall standings. Enter Helen's race. In a nutshell--

Kym, Star & I,

very dingy, very expensive hotel,

tourist trap town,

super hilly race course,

hollow feeling legs,

many hike a bike sections for me due to not being able to push the gear I had up the hills,

back and forth with persistent Paige P (who ultimately won the GSC series),

steep grade at the finish = humbling hilarity of pushing my bike across finish line,

eeked out 3rd place by a hair in front of Paige P,

goats on the roof roadside store visit after the race.

Whew.

Disappointment on home turf

The Raccoon Mtn SERC race was a mixed bag.

On the plus side:

It's 15 minutes from home.

No hotel is needed.

The course is familiar.

I like this course.

It was not too hot.

My teammates did great in the expert/pro category.

Terry Berger let me borrow a race number.

US-Stove company displayed their grills and stoves.

US-Stove company cooked on their grills.

US-Stove company gave away food to racers!

I learned the importance of a valve core.

My husband provided excellent taxi service.

On the other hand:

I flatted on my tubeless tire about 5 minutes in.

I lost the valve core on tube I used to repair the flat.

Four cat 2 women started the race and only two finished.

So, my teammates rock, our sponsor, US-Stove rocks and the race was a great time (for those folks who finished). Here's my mini race report: the course has a start that's challenging with one gear that loops around the Laurel Pt circular paved drive and then shoots into the woods where in past years the race would finish. The single track at the beginning is twisty, rooty, dry, and with off camber rocks here and there. There is an advantage to being local for the first few miles of trail due to the more technical rocky sections. Then the course spits out onto the road for about a 1.5 mile road section up to the switchyard. Diving back onto single track, you take the trail up grindstone ridge and exit the singletrack at the visitor center parking lot. The course goes up the road briefly before rejoining a fun descent and then making its way back to Laurel pt.

As has become a trend, I entered the woods behind the FL ladies, Jane and Heather, and behind the only other racer, a girl from the Sorella team. Soon after inching past the Sorella racer in a technical section, I flatted. Stans was spewing out of the defect, but not fast enough to fill it. I wasn't patient enough to wait out the Stans self repair, so I put in a tube. The valve core was loose, but in the heat of the moment, I didn't notice it. The Sorella girl passed me by mid-repair. So, with sub-optimal psi, I started hammering hoping to at least catch someone. I soon ran into the Sorella girl, as she is called since I don't know her name, because she broke her chain and was walking back toward the start. Then, I popped out onto the road waaaaay behind everyone in the yellow wave.

Meanwhile, my husband was spectating and cheering. Little did I know, he had watched everyone go by the switchyard, everyone, that is, but me and was perplexed. As I started up the road, I heard an ambulance behind me. The sirens were apparently loud enough for the aforementioned husband to hear at the switchyard. Concerned EMS was there for me, while I kept pushing hard up the road, he started booking it on his cross bike back to the East Overlook. We crossed paths on the road and with my uninjured state confirmed, with much relief, he headed off to investigate what was up with the EMS folks.

Optimistic, I started the climb to the visitor's center. My rear tire felt so sloppy, but I was out of CO2 and rode gingerly on the descents in an effort to minimize a pinch flat. Then, I rounded a corner and saw an unused CO2 on the ground! Heck yeah! I thought, here's my chance-- I'll add some more pressure to my tire, it will feel like it should instead of this warbling mess, and I'll be able to reel in Jane and Heather to at least a few minutes away. Woo hoo!! I was so excited as I stopped and threaded the cartridge onto my adapter. I had a brief moment of considering not messing with what seemed to be working for fear of making something worse, but rationalized adding the extra pressure by thinking about how I didn't want to get a pinch flat and really wanted the bike to handle more predictably. I thought- with this low PSI, I'm more likely to wreck and have a bigger issue because the bike is handling differently. So, I added the entire cartridge, the tire felt so much better, I took the adapter off the valve and sure enough: swoooosh, poof, groan, multiple expletives.

The valve core which was hanging on by half of a thread before, shot out of the valve and all that precious air left my tire with 0 psi. I searched the leaves and trail briefly to look for the valve core and stopped looking when I realized that even if I found it, I had no CO2. Sadness set in. I had about 6 miles of race course between me and the completion of one lap. Not realizing that if I'd walked it in and gotten lapped by Heather and Jane as they were finishing, I could have logged finishing points, I pulled out my phone and with much disappointment, got my husband on speed dial.

Lesson learned: Valve cores are important little suckers.

Although a disappointing experience, I'm grateful to be intact/unhurt.

I'm also grateful for the sponsors that make is feasible for our entire team to race and travel. US-Stove Company, you guys are the best!!

Dauset Trails SERC

So, after getting hitched in Texas and getting settled back into the daily grind in Chattanooga, updating the blog got a bit behind. For my birthday, I got to travel to Jackson, GA with the rest of the US-Stove team to race the Dauset trails. I remembered the trails being fun a few years ago and that memory was confirmed on the pre-ride. The course is twisty, with little rooty and rocky pitches sandwiched around a dreadful flat section in the middle (although I'm sure my legs needed the recovery of spinning, the flat sections are some of the most challenging on one gear).

After our pre-ride, checking into our hotel and eating our lovely microwaved dinners, my teammates pranced into Catherine, Reid & I's hotel room with a chocolate birthday cake and ice cream. It was very tasty and a very sweet thing for my teammates to do. Then, after a good night's sleep, it was back to the course for the race. I warmed up mostly by myself and then did the tail end of my warm up with a few of the other Cat 2 racers. I'm used to standing around for what feels like forever waiting for our wave to start (we start last in the yellow wave), but somehow we ended up rolling up the the start to hear that we were starting in 30 seconds! Yikes.

So, off we went. It was a hot, humid, typical summertime in the south kind of day and my camel back was full of >100oz of heed and camelback tabs and ice. I loved course, with the exception of the flat section. To start, I was 4th into the woods and stayed on Paige and Heather's wheels until a fork in the trail where you could either take a longer, smoother line to the left or a shorter, rockier line to the right. I opted for the shorter line with mixed results: comically, I merged with the trail just behind Jane, who was in first, and in front of Paige and Heather, but then lost traction and had to unclip and scoot out of the way,

all just to watch 3rd and 4th ride right past me. One of the things I love about racing mtn bikes is that in the heat of the race, anything can happen and even mess-ups like this, although not ideal, are enough to make me laugh during the race.

Through the hilly, twisty sections I was able to make my way past Paige and Heather and work up to getting on Jane's wheel. For what felt like forever, I stayed on Jane's wheel up climbs, but lost her on the flat parts. Very frustrating, but by the beginning of the second lap, I worked hard and got back within speaking distance of her. When we got to a section of double track, I took my chances and went around her with the hopes of pushing hard on the climbs so that I'd lose less time to her and the others on the flats. Right as I started pushing my pace, both my quads started getting that tense, quivery, watch-out-we're-about-to-seize feeling. Being so hot outside, I kept consuming as much of my fluid as I could. I ate a goo halfway and kept drinking hoping to ward off the cramps. Every uphill pitch we got to, the cramp feeling got stronger until every revolution brought a cramp. With much disappointment, I moved out of Jane's way on a steeper pitch and watched her ride away while I half walked/half limped up the trail. I did this a walk/limp up every hill, tried to spin lightly on the flats, kept drinking and kept stretching when I could coast. During this coast-athon, Heather caught me and passed me like I was standing still. Thankfully a few minutes later the cramps subsided and I pushed hard for the last mile or so. I finished in 3rd, empty camelback bladder, and within about 1-1.5min of 1st and 2nd.

So, while not a perfect race, it was a really fun course and I worked my way on to the podium with the Florida girls. My US-Stove teammates Catherine, Emily and Kym also did great-- check out their blogs for updates. I do have to put in a plug here for my new ride: the superfly is still feeling, well, pretty fly. Every time I get to race and ride it, I'm really grateful for everyone who worked to build it and for the team sponsors who make all our clothing, racing and traveling to races possible. As always, many thanks to US-Stove.

Married

May 7, 2011, Houston, TX.

The two of us and our families convened in Houston for our wedding. We didn't think it would feel like much more than a family reunion and group dinner, but it was more fun than we ever imagined it could be. It is now the weekend to top. Needless to say, we were so fortunate to have been able to share the weekend with our fabulous family.

Here are some pics of the fun:

Check out Anthony's mom's boyfriend in the straw hat. His outfit made my day. He had birks, gold toed socks, a grateful dead tie, the hat and topped it all off with a USA-Cycling patch pinned to his jacket. I like to imagine that he's stifling a giggle about some inside joke in this shot.

Our officiant, Ron Ramey, did a great job.

My side of the family post-ceremony.

Trying to help Uncle Greg tie his tie while my maid of honor, aka the Best Woman, looks on fearful that the veil she worked so hard to attach to my head, will move.

The finished tie project. Not bad.

The gangster Best Woman and Man.

My brother and I before the ceremony.

Our hotel goody bags with chocolate covered almonds and pecans, thanks to Cyndi at Bicycle Paper Designs.

For anyone looking for wedding vendors in Houston, we lucked out and were able to work with a crew of fantastic folks. We had a small get together of 27 of us and wanted an intimate and relaxing vibe. Along the way, we learned that planning even a small wedding requires such a degree of attention to detail that numerous times we questioned why the heck we were having a wedding instead of eloping. We are not the type of couple you would call wedding savvy and we needed all the help we could get to make the weekend event feel fun, relaxed and laid back (and not cost an arm and a leg). In the end, I can speak for both of us and say that we were so glad we did what we did, the way we did it. The following list of folks helped make it possible:

First and foremost, we loved our photographer, Holly Hoyt (who's pictured below with Anthony). She helped us from the beginning by answering a very random email I sent her inquiring about wedding venues in Houston. Not being familiar with TX at all, we had no clue where to start when planning a wedding from Tennessee. I saw a thumbnail picture that directed me to her website, liked her photos, and figured she'd been to more weddings in Houston than I had, so I emailed her with questions about cool places to get hitched in TX. That was the start of a great connection. She took some amazing photos of our weekend and made all our guests feel involved. Somehow, I think she was able to learn everyone's name in the first hour. Everyone commented about how much they liked her and by the end of the weekend, it really felt like she was a part of the Hawken/Angevine wedding family.

You can check her out at these sites:

http://www.hollyhoytphotography.com

http://blog.hollyhoytphotography.com/

Our wedding planner for day-of help was Kelly Balfour of Eventology. The peace of mind we had from having her take care of all the little details was great. She brought her own personal crystal toasting flutes for us and upon short notice, the day before, she even found and purchased a photo mat for all our guests to sign.

Our wedding pastor was Ron Ramey: http://www.weddingpastor.com/

Lori Holley did our flowers and took lots of time helping us figure out what we wanted: www.specialarrangements.net/ She made finding the right flowers to flow from casual backyard wedding to our dinner at the very modern, chic Bistro Alex seem effortless.

Melody Kelley at Harmony Strings provided music and helped us pick pieces we liked. They were able to play LZ's Stairway to Heaven and The Turtles' Happy Together songs and when our ceremony was over, they stayed and played while we snapped group photos.

The folks at Bicycle Paper Designs made our invitations, itinerary cards, place cards, and labels for our bags of candy. Cyndi always took lots of time to make sure every order was perfect down to every comma.

Hotel Sorella was where everyone stayed and the on-site Bistro Alex is where we ate after the ceremony. Being a bit picky about food, we figured it'd be some generic, fancy, but edible food and we were wrong. It was really, tasty fare. The pastry chef made us a strawberry short cake type wedding cake that was a nice end to the meal. We were happily surprised at how good the meal and service ended up being.

Transportation to and from the hotel and airport was via, AFC transport at www.afchouston.com/ They did a great job getting everyone shuttled in and out of town and were very easy to work with from afar.

Transportation to and from our rehearsal dinner and ceremony was arranged via Annette at the Original Trolley Company. Annette's professional and prompt approach, and the excellent drivers made this a streamlined issue. Our limo driver had to back out of a, long, serpentine, skinny gravel driveway and didn't bat an eye.

We had a good Friday day night meal here: Cyclone Anaya's.

A few of us (including Anthony for his first massage ever) got massages and pedicures at a spa next to the hotel: www.lifetimefitness.com/lifespa/

Our wedding venue, Vargo's, with charmingly loud peacocks and pretty lush green grounds made us feel like we weren't in a big city sprawl: www.vargosonline.com/

All in all, it was a good weekend and we emerged the happy, newly wed, Mr. and Mrs. Angevine.

Racing recap: Serc's Tsali and Spartanburg 2011

Better late than never. After skipping the long drive to FL for the first SERC race, Tsali's race was my season opener. The pre-ride was nice, breezy and there was a slight chill in the air. There was a TT Saturday that did about a 4 mile loop.

Although the inevitable standing and waiting around to start had everyone's legs feeling unwarmedup, the loop was a fun one. There were just enough flat sections to make it really hard with the gearing I chose-- note to self, 32-22 is too short for Tsali. But, I did gain lots of high cadence work from the experience. There were only 3 ladies in the sport category TT, Heather Davis, Jane Hodess and myself, but the 3 of us dutifully locked in our bonus points. Thanks to all the support from our sponsors, (thank you Trek, US Stove and Vantaggio etc!!!), we stayed in a nice cabin not far from the race course. After a good dinner with everyone and after each and every bike was cleaned by the diligent and oh so sweet team director, Mark Fasczewski, we slept, got up, ate bfast, packed up and headed out in the chilly 40 degree weather.

There was a good crowd for the Expert/Pro women, but only 6-7 Sport/cat 2 women at the starting line. The start up the gravel road was quick and I hopped into 4th position going into the woods. Spinning like crazy, I kept thinking, man, I should have brought a taller gear. The Tsali course is like a road race-- very fun, very fast, lots of flat sections good for the big ring (and not as good for my 32-22). There are 3-4 steep climbs that punctuate the fast sections. On the climbs I could reel in the women in 2nd and 3rd to seeing distance and get a hint of perhaps catching them. After running into Catherine and Amanda on the trail after they both had had mechanical issues that ended their race prematurely, I was grateful to have a ride that was free of any major issues. I spun as quickly as I could on the flat sections, pushed on the climbs, but ultimately ended up right where I started, with a 4th place finish. It was a very fun race and a good reminder that gear selection is going to be a challenge in all future races.

My bike felt amazing (thank you, thank you thank you to everyone connected to my Superfly-- Trek/Gary Fisher, Mike T, Kym F, HBC etc.) This was the 3rd time I'd ever ridden it and man is it light and responsive. It weighs in at just over 19# and I'm going to have to get used to how light it is-- even little rocks and roots lift it off the ground. It is such a solid ride-- I just have to get my fitness on par with the badassness of the bike.

Here are some shots of Kym and Shannon:

After the race, I had a nice warm down chatting with Heather D. and ended the weekend looking forward to the next race. The great end to my fun weekend was a delicious bison/beef/sausage burger made by Anthony on the charcoal grill, waiting for me when I got home!

Moving on to Spartanburg, SC's SERC race. This one was the Stumpjump and had a great turn out! Thanks again to team sponsorship funds, we got hooked up with a hotel room for the night before. I prerode with Catherine and Anina and surprise, surprise, this course was filled with flat, flowy ribbons of trail that swoop this way and that under a very pretty canopy of some sort of trees that let you know you are definitely in South Carolina (I don't know my plant types/names in case that's not obvious). It is a really nice trail system, very picturesque at times, with some nice tight, rooty sections near the end of the course. In contrast to Tsali, this weekend had a stout line up of over 15 sport women. As soon as the course got to the flatter sections, I lost most of the first 5-6 girls. Another hard, life lesson about gear selection. At the end of lap 1, I caught up to Jane H. and was able to pass her on some of the gradual climbing back to the start area. Once we hit the steep descent prior to entering the woods, I could hear her on my wheel again. She's a strong racer and a good descender and once we got in the woods to the darn, flat parts, she put it in her big ring and left me in the dust. I pushed up any climb Icould and ended up going past one of the top racers whose chain broke. She was on the side of the trail doing a quick and dirty fix when I passed by, and thus I ended up 5th instead of 6th.

Expert/Pro Podium:

Anina and Catherine both had good races as well in the Big-Girl category and I drove home happy with a hard effort, but contemplating my future gear choices. Much to my delight, I was, again, greeted at home with a yummy dinner on the porch by my personal chef, Antoine, aka my fiance, Tony.

US Stove Company Rocks

The newest title sponsor for the team I am lucky enough to race with is U.S. Stove. I never knew much about the company until recently. As a team, a week ago, we got the opportunity to tour the one store that sells directly to the public-- the U.S. Stove Factory Direct store on Rossville Blvd in Chattanooga. In a nutshell, the company has been around for over 100 years. It's currently operated out of South Pittsburg, TN. All their products are locally made in the US. They build and sell wood and pellet stoves, furnaces, gas heaters and more. In general, all the products are backed by lifetime or really long warranties. The things they sell are investment pieces that are built to last.

U.S. stove company is also a dealer for other U.S. made products from other companies they endorse. The product lines include things like gas grills, log sets, gas stoves and fireplace inserts (with nifty things like a remote control that can be up to 30 feet away from the gas heater, that can be set to keep your home a certain temp, ie in case the power goes out at night, when the house cools, at the set temperature, the gas fireplace will turn on and you'll wake up to a dark house that is toasty warm!). My favorite cooking related item they offer is the Primo ceramic charcoal grill. You can check it out at this link and start salivating over all the future meals you can enjoy in such a sturdy apparatus. To continue with the theme of buying nationally made goods, it's the only U.S. made ceramic grill.

As a racer, the U.S. Stove-bike team match seems like a perfect one. Bike racing, staying warm after cold rides, and eating good food after long workouts go hand in hand. To top it all off, the company's giving a discount to "friends of the team". Soon there will be a Paypal-esque code you can enter for the discount. Stay tuned.

The company can be explored at the following places:

http://www.usstovefactorydirect.com/index.htm and

https://www.usstove.com/index.php?route=common/home

SS chainrings, cogs, and chains, oh my

This is long overdue. In learning about riding a bike with one gear, I've come to see that it can take some effort to uncover useful information about the different options in terms of cogs and chainrings. When googling phrases like, "what are options for SS chainrings?", lots of biking forum threads and links to retailers cover the screen. Some retailer links are helpful, most are not. Some threads are informative, but at least for me, it took a long time to wade through all of the anecdotal commentary and tangents to finally find practical advice and info. I'm still learning about all sorts of different aspects and issues related to a one-gear ride (as evidenced by my recent insight regarding the utterly basic fact that a 1/8" cogs & chains are different than a 3/32" cogs and chains, especially when it comes to trading out cogs--thank you Dan W for facilitating my comical lightbulb moment!).

So, along the way, I've run into two companies that I've found to have quality products and excellent customer service-- Endless Bikes and Homebrewed Components. I've got products from both places and I'm really grateful for both of them, so here's my plug:

I love the KickAss cog from EB. Its brushed silver, flying saucer appearance is instantly recognizable. In addition to liking the cog, Shanna Powell has always made me feel like I'm right there in Asheville when I place my order. Any questions you have are answered very quickly. The cog arrives lovingly wrapped in the comic section of the newspaper or some other sort of personalized shipping paper. It arrives fast. Shanna even offered to bring my a cog to a race in order to get it to me faster.

I also love the cog and chainring I currently have on my bike, brought to me by HBC. The HBC cogs and chainrings are light, come in aluminum or titanium, and also come in a spectrum of color options. Like EB-company, it's a small company that makes products locally. Dan Wilcox, the maestro behind it all, spent a LOT of time helping me figure out my components. Having a m985 crank on my current race bike limited the chainring options b/c of the 88 bcd. Dan had recently machined one for a friend of his and happily made one for me too. I opted for a red ring and cog and he processed it twice to make the color really robust. Throughout building the Superfly up, Dan was so helpful with prompt advice and tips. He was very conscientious when it came to making sure all my questions were thoroughly answered, and once I placed my order, it arrived at quickly.

Thank you Dan and Shanna!

Snap shots of my new ride:

Introducing my new bike (thank you, Trek and Vantaggio Team!!). More details to come in the future.

Booker T Race March 13, 2011

What a race. First of all, thanks to Celeste Sneed for the photo. Although I've done things like Snake and Big Frog, this was my first cross country cat 2 race on my singlespeed and I really wasn't sure what to expect. My main thought for the season is, how hard will it be to keep up with the girls with gears? Because of fantastic changes with my work, this will be my first season in a long time that I have more time to devote to training. Given that, I'm really looking forward to the challenge of racing the singlespeed with the sport/cat 2 women in SERC and some TBRA races.

Booker T is a local place for me, but there were some newly added sections of trail incorporated into the race course, making it about 6.8+miles per lap and our category did three laps. My wave started behind the other cat 2 guys, cyldesdales, masters and the singlespeeders. One of my goals in the distant future is to get in shape enough to race in the SS category with the guys, like Carey Lowery did (go Carey!!). It turns out there were only three of us in the cat 2 women's race, Krissa-somebody, Lindsey-somebody and myself. The three of us had a chance to meet and chat before the race and both were very nice-- Lindsey had her cute daughter in her cheering section at the start and Krissa was seeing the trails for the first time after a drive in from Nashville. The race started at the docks, went up a paved climb and then turned into the woods for a short section that looped you around to the grassy field where the finish was. Here we got the pleasure of zig zagging around muddy U turns and splashing through at least four big puddles before passing the finish line where the actual, full lap began. I've never seen Booker T in a wet or muddy state, so starting the lap with wet feet was a first.

Throughout the lap, there were newer trail sections intermingled with the more established ones. The newer ones were softer and had the challenge of twigs, bushes and vines leaning out into the trailspace. It was tough pushing the pedals on the newer sections and I definitely felt like I was going in slow motion. In general the course is twisty and rolling with roots and some sparse patches of loose gravel as the main terrain obstacles and has a few gradual climbs. This time around though, the recent rains left their mark. Puddles and muddy spots are unusual at these trails, but there were several wetter areas that took some maneuvering and finesse to get through unscathed. I pushed hard at the start and on the first lap in general. I could see Lindsey and Krissa behind me when I started the first lap, but wasn't sure how close they were, so I rode like I was being chased. I ran into John Wikle and Matt Scalla, who were both working hard, into Celeste Sneed who was snapping photos (she took the photo that's above-- thanks, Celeste) and into Barry Smith, who was peacefully sweeping. Laps two and three were hard efforts that made me realize the room for stamina-improvement. There's a short, and not really steep, gravel road climb in the last 1.5 miles where I found myself turning a comically slow cadence and thinking-- really? I'm working this hard to go this slow up a hill at booker T?? By the time I hit the grassy puddle field for the last time I was relieved the other girls didn't catch me and was ecstatic to be finished.

After my race, I got to see just how muddy everyone else looked. One poor guy walked his bike in with a taco'd front wheel. I'm definitely thankful for not having any mechanical issues or major bike/trail collisions. The other Vantaggio racer out there was Shannon Mathis who was the only Cat 1 woman racing-- needless to say, she crushed her field and took home the win.

Ken Radley, the Scenic City Multisport folks and the volunteers did a great job marking the course and making it possible for everyone to have an intense day of racing. Celeste Sneed posted her pictures here: Celeste's Booker T pics.

Snake Creek Gap 17, February 2011

Date: 2/5/2011

Temperature: high 30's, low 40s.

Clothing: knicker bibs, knee socks, 260-icebreaker baselayer, short sleeved jersey, shoe & toe covers, windproof skull cap.

Gearing: 32x22.

Conditions: a bit wet on the lower sections, but overall very nice for the 17.

# of slow motion crashes#: 3.

Minutes shaved off last year's time: 21.

Place in SS category for the Feb race: 8 (if I calculated correctly).

Max speed: 39.7.

Time spent walking over rocks: none, I cleared everything. Just kidding, it was so long that I blocked it out.

Mishap: cleat loosened on one shoe.

Time spent fixing mishap: 3-4 min?

Best tunes on the ride: GNR's sweet child of mine, Daddy Yankee's gasolina, DP's let the bodies hit the floor.

Highlight: PR- time and passing geared rider down the road to the finish.

Post ride meal: chili, peach cobbler, the usual.

Post ride beer: Caldera IPA and Yazoo hop project.

Photos: Wilderness Adventure Photography.

New Girl in Town

So, I'm not really new to town, but I am the newest one on the Vantaggio team. I've raced mountain bikes off and on since 2008. After the muddy, hike-a-bike hilarity of Dirt, Sweat and Gears in 2009, I decided to copy my fiance, Anthony, and get a single speed bike. It was going to be my training bike and the ride I'd use in inclement conditions in order to shield my drivetrain from pricey overhauls. I landed a used Niner One and since then, my lovely geared bike Anthony bought me as a Christmas present years ago, has collected lots of dust. Like most everyone who enjoys riding SS bikes, I like the simplicity of it. I'm no expert, but I'm hooked. It's easy to clean and keep running. I don't have trepidation of costly derailleur repairs. The bike is light and I don't have to strategize while tachycardic about which gear will be best. It takes some of the complexity out of my riding experience and I get to just pedal (except when I can't, ie when I don't have the power to turn the cranks over on steep hills and have to hop off and walk). Since joining the Grace Law-Trek p/b Vantaggio posse, I get the privilege of racing on a Gary Fisher Superfly SS 29er. I've never built a mountain bike from new parts before and am very excited about seeing it all come together. The guys at the Chattanooga Trek store have been great about helping me pick and choose parts for the new ride (a special shout out goes to Mike Teff-- thanks so much for your time and input!!). All the parts are trickling in I'm crossing my fingers I might be able to ride it for the March Snake Creek Gap. It will be the nicest ride I've ever had and I will be working hard in order to ride it to its capacity.

The first team training camp of 2011 was last weekend and I'll add some pictures and commentary about it soon.