Big Frog, here I come

As many of you know, the Big Frog 65 is a race that takes place near the Tanasi White Water Center. It's about 65 miles with quite a bit of elevation gain. It's a sister race to the longer Cohutta 100, which is part of the NUE series. It's April 28th.

I've done this race on two other occasions. Once 3y ago on my geared 26in bike and 2y ago on a 29in singlespeed. This year I'll be doing one of two very different things: riding my lovely Fisher Superfly SS or riding a Trek Superfly 100 elite. Hardtail ss or geared FS. A variety of things are influencing which ride I'll use, but it's not an easy decision. The ss is so light and easy while the FS will give a smoother ride with the perk of derailleurs.

This year, at least four of the US-Stove Company women are racing in 65 or the 100.

With only a few more weeks of training before the race, I've got some serious mileage to put on my legs/bikes before I'm ready. Stay tuned for updates!

Here's to speedy and safe finishes for all the US-Stove/Trek racers.

Cross season 2011

After a fun cross country season, cross season began. My husband and I travelled primarily to races in the Georgia Cyclocross Series and the Bama-Cross series. While he raced in the singlespeed category on his Traitor crusade, I got to enjoy the plush ride on my Trek Cronus cx. Thanks to the fast bike build by the guys at the Chattanooga Trek store, I was on the bike early in the season. It is one light bike. It handles great, tracks well, and overall, suited me very nicely.

This was my first season racing as a cat 3, so it meant doing a lot of chasing the faster cat 1-2-3's from behind. It also meant racing for 45, instead of 30 minutes. Talk about high intensity training. In addition to the high intensity and short (shorter than cross country distances) races, cross season also means it's time to bring out the skin suits, aka unitards at their most stylish. Our US-Stove Company suits are really sleek and comfortable, and heck, who doesn't love the wood burning stove inspired flames we have on one sleeve? Thanks to our sponsors, our clothing not only looks good, but feels good.

Overall, the cross season was eye opening-- the cat 1-2-3 women are one fast group of racers and 45 minutes is a whole lot of time to be pushing hard. I didn't break any records or sweep any series' podiums, but it was immensely fun and I really look forward to the 12/13 cross season.

Photos from the cross season will be added soon!