Mad Skillz at Ham Lake

By Maria Stewart
Minneapolis, Minnesota

I continued my trend of stellar athletic performance 36 hours after crossing the Atlantic Ocean, this weekend- maybe you heard, last Sunday I won the 5k Gastroenterology Fun Run in Paris, France. The Ham Lake race on Saturday turned out to be the best race of my season so far with a 2nd place finish. It really helped that the women received a delayed start so the men could get themselves sorted out. The race started fast with Linda Sone leading the pack. Linda Cooper got a stick stuck in her derailleur briefly, and we never saw her again. Linda S, Margot, Amber from B-wood and I were together going through the mud pit when Margot endo-ed. She was lucky she didn’t get hurt. Amber crashed behind Margot and dropped her chain, and I slammed on the brakes so I didn’t run into either of them.

Linda S was long gone, but the three of us were still pretty close. Margot and I took off after the crash, and Amber was a little behind. Margot and I traded leading for a few laps until Amber caught on. I was getting tired, so I dropped back behind Amber until she started letting Margot get away. I definitely had a moment during the race when I thought, "Is there something wrong? Are you going too hard? You haven’t been this close to Margot all year!" I pulled back up to Margot and on the last lap, I took the lead going into the woods. I had no idea what I had left, so I figured I’d better go for it. The last 2/3 of the lap was bumpy and sandy with some tricky corners. My superb handling skillz really paid off and I was able to drop both Amber and Margot to take 2nd place.

I was really thrilled because I just installed my new SRAM groupo on Saturday morning and didn’t have any mechanicals during the race (except learning the new "double-tap" shifter set up). My pink brake hoods must have been key.

Grumpy’s race on Sunday was payback for my awesome race on Saturday. Not only was the course really slow and muddy (probably from the soccer field irrigation system), but after 2 laps, I lost all of my good kharma and my body went on strike. Some of the bad kharma moments included skipping my pedal on a piece of plywood and nearly sending my bike sideways, and single tapping my "double tap" shifters when I need to get into an easier gear (single tap = harder gear), and tripping over a barrier. I made it my mission just to finish the race in one piece, and thats what I did. Not a race to be proud of, but I think all of my bad kharma is out of my system.

I’m not sure if I’ll make it to Milaca next Sunday, but you can expect to see me at the State CX race on Nov 17!

Clicky for Results.

Bike Club TT Challenge– Rocker’s version

So the withrow time trial REALLY wasn’t a race, but Marjie wanted a
RR. Here is her novella.

This is a time trial, with a “20k” and a “40k” option. I put them in
quotes b/c, for whatever reason, the 40k is ACTUALLY 26+ miles, as
opposed to 24.83. It always has been…yet they insist on calling it
40k. Whatever.

I’ve always done the 40k in the past, but this year I just haven’t
been riding. I think my longest ride was like 19 miles, and that was
just an easy putz. The bulk of my rides have been 45 minute sessions
on the trainer while watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And…well,
er, the tri bike hasn’t actually been out of the house since last
year when I sort of stopped racing midway thru the season. So I
figured I’d just do the 20k.

A host of mechanical issues made leading up to race time a logistical nightmare. Let me just tell you all…before you let a loving spouse replace your crank set, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE CORRECT BOTTOM BRACKET. Isis drive 10-spline BB + Shimano Ultegra Octalink 8-spline crank = Oops, you’ve f**ked the BB and crank.

But, okay, thanks to a VERY nice good Samaritan (Joe Johnson, from
Mankato, MN, you are my HERO!!!), I was able to ride. And, like a
fool, I signed up for the 40k option.

Actually, not like a fool. The weather was nice. I had already paid
$30, and I NEEDED someone to get me out and get me doing longer rides at an effort. In short, I REALLY needed the workout. Although after I signed up, I had like 5 people go…”Er, you’re doing the *40*???” The RD was like, “Rocker, you could clean house in the 20k, and win a nice wheel set or aerobars. Why do the 40?” And this is true–all things considered, I would have done fine in the 20k.

But, I heard my dad’s voice in my head when I was contemplating
it “Get out and get your a$$ kicked. It’s good for you. Being a big
fish in a small pond and not working it isn’t going to make you
better. Being a little fish trying to swim with (and not get eaten
by) the big ones will. So suck it up and get out there.” And 40k it
was.

For once in my life (or in the history of this TT, anyway), I was on
time for my start, well warmed up, and didn’t flat, have a brake
rubbing, or have my hubs pinched. Yeah, there was the whole
crankset/bb/stay in your big ring only issue, but that was in the
past.

Course is constantly rolling; no BIG hills, but steady ups and downs. Some nasty road surfaces in places (please, MnDOT, repave these roads), and a decent wind of maybe 15-20 mph. But sunny, and good temp. In a jersey, arm warmers, shorts, and tights, I was perfect. Not too hot; not too cold.

Came thru the 20k marker thinking, “Wow, I feel not too crappy. I’m
glad I didn’t do 20k–I’m just getting warm.”

Then I hit about 19 miles, and my legs decided they had better things to do with the rest of their day. Like napping. or gardening. Or possibly a long soak in the hot tub. My lungs felt great–I can tell I’ve been running. But the legs just tightened up and were done. The last 6-7 miles were MORE than enough to convince me I may need to actually get out and ride once in a while

But at any rate… finished in 1:15:53 for 26.somethingish miles.
About a minute slower than my PR on that course (1:14:4x), so not too bad. And I was even a minute faster than the last time I raced it (1:16:56), so even better. I was 7th OA, out of the money by two
places, but I’m not really complaining.

Unlike Bruce (and most of you roadie people, I’m guessing), I LOVE
the 40k Time Trial. It’s just flat out hammerfest fun. And holy
catfish, there were some sexy hot ladyeez working Corner Number Five
at this race

All in all, I got a good workout (which I needed), it was a nice day
(which I enjoyed), and muscle memory is a wonderful thing (thank god
for that).

Saturday Ride

I got up early to do the NOW ride, but apparently the Bike Club folks were all at the TT? In any case, Brook showed up, too, so we decided to go on our own. I had the idea to ride out to Withrow to see the TT, and to visit with Marjie and Jenn G. who were volunteering. So we took off toward the Gateway trail to head out that way, and ran into lots and lots of MS Tram riders, who were starting their ride on the Gateway trail. At one point we even got our pictures taken, so if I can find it, I’ll post it on here.

Anyway, to make a long ride story short, we went further than we needed to (Manning Ave.), and by then we were so tired we just headed back to St. Paul.

So, sorry that we didn’t make it out there, but it was a noble effort! Thanks Brook, for keeping me company for 4 hours and 50-some miles.

Hope the TT went well for Barb and Megan. Post about it.

I gotta go, I’m kinda tired now…

Training clinic 1

Mad props to Bruce for pulling this all together. And yay! for getting a ton of people together on a school night to come out and play. Comment if I’m missing anyone… Brooke, Molly, Kate, Barb, me, hotpinkevil, eclectchick, rocker, Sara(n), Leslie(?), and more came out to practice pacelining (or learn how to paceline), bump tires and bump shoulders… ’tis great fun. Grieber made a cameo appearance after the clinic ended. Bummer, girl. Missed ya.

Next one next Tuesday. Same bat time. Same bat place! Bring your homework:
1. How big are the rings on your crank?
2. How many gears are in the back? How many teeth are in the small one? How many teeth are in the big one?

All of yous who had your kit, you looked hot out there! I sorta had mine. The blue Patagonia jacket. I LOVE the 2006 full zip jersey when it is 80+ out… but it’s still a lil’ chilly for it to be my outer layer. (and it WREAKED anyway). And unfortunately, my 2005 is painfully tight right now. I guess that means more time on the bike is needed. GRR. Hopefully pictures might happen next time. I have a digital camera that used to be cool in 2001 to donate to the cause.

MWCMR clinic this Saturday!

Couldn’t get enough road skills at the previous VeloBella clinic?

MWCMR is holding their women’s only racing clinic this Saturday. 9am-1pm. Midtown YWCA. $10. Bring your bike, bike helmet, and clothing appropriate riding gear.

This clinic is open to any woman interested in bike racing… Most the local teams will be represented. It’s a great place to work on your skills and meet other women interested in racing.

Why? MWCMR sponsors a series of races that have a separate Cat 4 (beginner racer) Women’s field. There are a total of 7 races in this series with your best 5 races counting towards your standing in the series. There’s even a series leader jersey at stake.

Come on out!

Members Only Perks

Today we having a 3 hour road clinic. 3 hours on road bikes praciticing road racing skills. This is one or the perks of membership. Coming soon, we have regular team trainings on the calendar… Details TBA.

Last Sunday we had a calendaring/training clinic. One of the most helpful things I’ve heard was use time as a measurement of training… not distance. The overarching themes were consistency and commitment. Those 2 words are intimidating naughty words to me.

I’m stoked for today’s clinic. The weather is foggy and cool. It feels like… summer at grandma’s to me.

Tuesday night OUCH.

NOW hosted another kickass Tuesday night ride.

On the first ride, we did a relatively mellow loop in Saint Paul (high street bridge, lilydale, mendota, and river road back)… and this last week, we ended up on the Lake Pahlen, Indian Mounds, Shepard Road loop. That loop is my nemesis. It hurts. It always hurts. It especially hurts when you’ve got a wicked headwind… after you hauled ass out to the shop against the same wicked headwind. ouch.

It was mostly a great ride. When we rode through the Minnesota Wild hockey crowd, and we met one of my Top Ten Peeves in the Midwest: Cops that do -NOT- know how to direct traffic. Look– it is really hard to hear you when I’ve go my helmet on, and the wind is blowing had, and there’s tons of cars around. So… if you make a gesture like you are waving us through, -that- is what someone gonna respond to. I’m just saying.

Guy on the red Cannondale with disc brakes handled that situation way way better than I would have. Do we have a bail fund in case one gets arrested while on a group ride? Mostly joking…

Ugh. Sorry… I’m horrible with names. I’m bad with faces (Tracy at NOW looks way different in his wintery bike gear), but I kickass at drooling over YOUR hot bike.

anyways, it was great to have good company on a killer ride.

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