Frustration

Another doctor's visit. Finally a chest x-ray. The doc says the x-rays look fine. She listens to my chest. "Sounds clear," she says. (Ok, come listen at 3 am when I awake wheezing and coughing.) Apparently, I just need to drink fluids and get some rest. (There's a new idea.) And I certainly should not be doing any kind of aerobic exercise, she says. Training is a distant memory to me. And I feel no worse after racing this past weekend than I did before. Feeling crappy with a massive post-nasal drip and and coughing is just status quo now. Sorry I am so frustrated. I just want to feel healthy again. And I just want to ride my bike!!

See the pics from Colorado? Damn it looks beautiful there.

What a Weekend

I sure can't complain about this past weekend. (But I will complain about my health!) All logic pointed to rest; after two rounds of antibiotics, I still have a massive post-nasal drip, chest congestion which causes me to wheeze and cough all night, and a general fatigue. But I LOVE the Chainbiter and CycleSmart races, and I was feeling so pent-up I just couldn't resist.

So I arrived at Farmington without really having ridden since the race in Ludwig's corner, PA. I tried a workout 2 Wednesdays ago, but just felt like crap and got sicker afterwards. I was a little bit worried about racing, but I had similar situation going into Gloucester and decided just to go have some fun and try to hack the rest of the phlem out of my lungs. I had a good start. Amy and I hit the curb first, and she performed a pretty spectacular endo, allowing me to continue on out front. Mackenzie passed me going into the first sand section, which I completely expected. What I didn't expect was to see Amy on my wheel at the end of the first lap! What a come back! I just didn't have the extra juice to catch them; I almost caught on several times, especially up the hill, coming within just a few seconds, but I just couldn't make it. It was torture to see them right there, 5-11 seconds ahead for almost the entire race, but my legs felt totally flat and I just couldn't push that extra. I will not complain about my first Verge podium ever. :)

Sunday the legs were tired and the lungs were wheezy, but I was psyched to race! Mackenzie went out hard as always. I didn't want to be out in the wind too early so I stayed 4th wheel at the start, but moved up before the sand. I felt like I was closing on Mackenzie in the second lap and in my excitement went into the barriers a little hotter than I thought... I think my front wheel didn't clear the first barrier, whipping me off balance and sending me headplanting into the second barrier. I cracked my helmet and bashed my right shifter. Cyclocrossworld's race report said I "cartwheeled," and I appreciate the graceful assumption, but I can assure you it was nowhere near that nice. I managed to get up as fast as possible and assess the damage to the bike. By some luck, Ward had run over to this section of the course to cheer me on and saw the whole thing. He came running over thinking I had surely broken bones, so I could yell "PIT!!" to him when I saw my shifter. It was bent in making my rear brake and shifter almost completely inaccessible. I couldn't afford to try and bend it back stading there, I had just been passed and had fallen to 4th place with 5th coming up fast. He B-lined for the pit, grabbing Matt to help. I rode in the drops to the pit with my helmet flopping on my head. I wouldn't feel my neck and back aching until much later.... I grabbed my heavier-than-hell Voodoo and went after Amy and Betsy. After catching them, I rode past, knowing I would pit again to get my lighter Stevens bike back the next time through. I got passed again when I took the Stevens back, but when I hit the road section the next time, attacked as if it were a crit, wishing I could make it up to Mackenzie for the last lap. I rode clean and fast the rest of the race. I wish there was one more lap!! But I am very happy to have finished second place, and only 16 seconds back- not too far considering my crash and two bike exchanges. Thanks so much, Matt for helping out in the pit!! And best wishes to Mandy, who raced and still made top 10 with the FLU!!

So next weekend... I really want to do the mid-Atlantic races... but that PA race near Harrisburg is sooooo far....

So, check this out! What a lovely afternoon for a cyclocross race! I mean... a nap. I got a little nervous.... I couldn't believe this sight. These people didn't move for a LONG time. It was frightening - they looked dead. Guess cyclocross isn't as exciting to everyone!

Sick and Tired of Being Sick

I can't really call this a race blog this week. It's baaack. Whatever exotic strain of avian flu I've contracted, it's back in full force. I did actually take a day off work to go to the doctor. I've been on antibiotics for 3 days and feel even worse now. I got some nasal spray, too, and that might be helping a little. Anyways, you don't want to read about all that. So let me share what I've been doing OFF the bike lately.

Ward and I made a yummy breakfast after soaking up the extra hour of sleep this morning. We made omlettes with mushrooms sauteed in white wine and tarragon, parmesan cheese, and dill. I also reheated the roasted new potatoes with butter, parsley, and dill from last night's dinner, and toasted some ancient grain peasant bread I got at Whole Foods.

Then we went for a walk around Horn Pond, which we live alongside. (I will spare you from the details of how doing this made me hack and cough and feel so weak I couldn't even walk the whole way around.) I love the spot where we live! There are trails through the woods and the hill alongside the pond, perfect for a spin on the cross bike. People are always out walking with their kids and dogs, and benches line the shore, calling out to share a quiet reflective moment.

Ward and I are busy planning our first Thanksgiving together. We hope to host our families here at our house. We love to cook, and we've been trying out some possible recipes this weekend to see if they will make the cut for the dinner roster. As I type this, Ward's making his crust for a special harvest pie (roasted butternut squash with sugared pecans on top!), and I'm trying out the mashed root vegetables with buttermilk and chives for tonight's meal. Last night I made the green beans with toasted hazelnut lemon-butter, but I think I will add bacon on the big day. I only wish we could afford a dining table and chairs! But with a trip to IKEA at least we'll escape the possibility of paper plates. :)

I'd better feel well for next weekend. I'm starting to feel incredibly pent up, so look out!!!!

"The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!"

Here we are! "It's the most wonderful time of the year." Perhaps the melody of a festive tune from a old claymation holiday special lights up in your mind.... but NO! I'm not speaking of Christmas! It's cyclocross season, of course!

After battling with some ridiculous bronchial infection for several weeks and earning notariety as "influenza girl" (coined by RF in Maine, I was informed), I am finally feeling better. No longer can I be heard hacking phlem around the track.

The season recap to this point:

Raced Williston weekend sick. Made self sicker. Coughed and hacked and raced with a fever on Sunday. Perhaps not smart. As a racer, doesn't it seem like the hardest thing to do is NOT race?


Skipped the Northampton weekend. Spent 3 days knitting on the sofa with a fever and feeling like I'd contracted the bubonic plague. (Hence the new striped scarf you may see me don at the races.)

Gloucester!! I love this race! I hadn't ridden since the VT weekend, but I rode well and finished top 15 both days. despite my hacking, I felt good - just didn't have any endurance. Makes me think NOT training might make a good experiment... anyone else ever try that??

GLOUCESTAH and LOBSTAH! Two of my many favorite things. (and Ward... that makes three of my favorite things!!)
Do you like our bibs? =D



Let's see... after that was New Gloucester, Maine. (How many places in New England can be called Gloucester, anyway? The colonists weren't too creative.)
Luckily, this course wasn't as RIDICULOUSLY muddy as last year.
I didn't feel too hot. Earned the distinction of "influenza girl" by our esteemed race announcer when my hacking beckoned my arrival around the course. I didn't race up to my potential.

Finally, the cough began to dissipate in the next few days. Ward and I attended a family dinner at my brother's house on Friday night, but I still wanted to race Granogue. Oh, what an amazing spread of food and libation prepared by my bro's girlfriend's dad, who's a chef! It was after 10:30 by the time we finished the pumpkin, apple, AND pecan pies!!
Ward and I left central Mass for Delaware at 11:15 pm. We slept in the cab of his truck at a rest area in CT once our eyes were drooping beyond recovery. At 5:30 am, we awoke freezing and continued the drive. We hit the beautiful Granogue estate around 10:30 am. You know, searching for a roadside motel and bearing the ensuing cost just didn't seem worth the 5 hours we might spend asleep. We're unfortunately used to camping and sleeping roadside after the past summer's adventures.

So I didn't expect to have a great performance at Granogue. And a great performance I didn't have.
I felt like a fish out of water on my bike: timid and off-balance in my bike handling, and powerless everywhere except the road straight.

We salvaged the day having sushi with friends for dinner, and the ginger and sake recharged my soul! I had a good race Sunday, except for hitting the deck twice in the off-camber u-turn. That cost me a little time, but what held me back the most was that I didn't have a teriffic start. The first quarter of that course is very technical, and I needed to be riding top 5 through it, but I was further back than that. But I gave it what I could, felt good in terms of bike handling, and managed a top-10 result. I had fun racing. And that "spiral of death" was great! For a fleeting moment, it allowed you to feel you were catching the riders in front of you!

I have to say, THANKS for all the cheers!! I love hearing my name all around the course, from Maine to Delaware. I appreciate your support - it keeps me pushing hard through the pain. One day, I will find the other side.