24-Hour MTB racers: Bad-ass enough to suffer big. Crazy enough to do it again.

I’m about 700 miles deep into this trip, and so far not too much to report. Left Portland around noon on Sunday and stayed over in Coeur d’Alene Sunday night. Took the Titus out on a Canfield Trail which rises above the city. Started with a couple-3 miles of climbing up a very rutted, rocky, loose, chicken heads. It was a bit much on my hip to start that way, but I just granny geared it up. Kept passing these two guys (stopping a lot to check the video camera, take pics etc) and then finally just started riding with them, getting the 411 on the area. They pointed out a sweet descent option, part single track, part bridlepath. The trail is listed as beginner in some online references and intermediate in others. I would say it definitely leans more toward intermediate. I had to walk twice where it was just too gnarly for me, but otherwise, well, let’s put it this way… Suspension ROCKS! If I had gotten a suspention bike a long time ago maybe I would have kept mountain biking. I lovelovelove my new bike! I was able to throw it around pretty easily, and freakin’ railed downhill. No air (sorry Josh) I decided to go smooth and buttery yesterday, riding a BIT more conservatively than I might have otherwise, just until I get a feel for the bike. Honestly, I can’t imagine having a better bike for me. Well, maybe a lighter one…

Damn! This blog is turning into an Ode to Titus… Okay, back to other things besides new mountain bikes…

I’m in Big Sky Montana now. I’m heading in to Bozeman to hit the rock gym for awhile and keep working the technique/drills. It was snowing when I awoke this morning, so I got to do yoga to this amazing vista of monstrous snowflakes falling fat and unhurried to their melty demise. It didn’t stick, so I might get out for a bit of a mud ride this afternoon if it clears. Hoping to get to Yellowstone tomorrow for some road riding but if it’s crap weather then maybe just some hiking. It’s only 40 minutes down the road, so I’m DEFinitely going.

I’m staying with my buddy Fritzy who is a rad 24-hour MTB racer. He raced at Spokane this weekend. Originally was scheduled to race as a 4-person team, but it fell apart so Fritzy sucked it up and gutted it out and dug deep into the suitcase of suffering for a 2nd place finish on a 2-person team! Not bad for someone who was just planning on riding HALF the distance he ended up riding! I’d say that qualifies for superhero status on the Uma Scale.

My other superhero 24-hour race buddy and Portland homeboy Joe P. also raced this weekend at Spokane. Joe races SOLO SINGLESPEED, and this weekend he brought home the gold–1st place and something like 250 miles. Holy ****, that’s just a whole new level of pain and suffering (and crazy and OCD and lots of other things no doubt).

Mad props to the crazy 24-hour boyz in the dirt. You rock!

…it’s just like riding a bike…

Last night in my advanced yoga class we were working on a tricky pose called mayurasana. It requires a great deal of core strength, a little arm strength, and a lot of balance. In attempting the pose one of my students lifted up a little too strongly and flew forward onto her chin and split her chin. Ugh. I get shivers still just thinking about it. I went over immediately to check her out and sure enough… a deep gash all the way through the chin. Not too much blood for a facial inury, but some. We get a washcloth for her to hold against the wound and a bag of ice, and as she lie there compressing to stop the bleeding I asked her what she wanted to do. Now, I don’t know this person well, but she did the spring teacher training with me, and turned out to be one of the most resilient, gritty, determined, and humble students I’ve had the pleasure of working with. So with her usual aplomb and in a very nonplussed fashion, she replied: “I want to do yoga!” When she spoke the gash split open again and would start bleeding, but all she wanted to do was finish her yoga practice.

Another student I work with is a semi-pro bike racer. He doesn’t know this but I refer to him as “The Mutant”. Actually I refer to everyone who is supremely gifted, genetically superior athlete as “mutants”. It is a term of endearment… but I digress. So this particular Mutant takes classes pretty regularly from me, and has on a few occasions informed me that what kept him going in a race, what pushed him up that final hill, or past a competitor were the tools he gained through yoga. Whenever I hear things like this I feel a resounding and emphatic YES! inside.

This is what yoga is about… Tools that support you in whatever it is you are doing with your life.

Nine years ago this week my teacher died in a climbing accident. It was my introduction to teaching yoga, as I suddenly found myself taking over her classes while her business partner collected his wits about what to do next. At that time, I pretty much categorically rejected climbing as an undertaking I would ever be doing. Until I was forced off the bike last winter. I took up indoor climbing for the same reason I took up racing…. As a way to explore the limits of my own resiliency, my own strengths, weaknesses, and or the clarity that comes from being so singularly focused on the task at hand. What I never expected is that I would come to love climbing. I also never expected that I’d get back into mountain biking. Not that I was ever really into it. I used to ride dirt in Cali, but gave it up when I overreached too often to keep up with much better riders. I think perhaps the biggest change in me that’s allowed me to get excited about it again is I no longer expect perfection of myself. That’s the yoga talking, now. Life, like riding, is full of crashes. Just gotta pick yourself up and get back on the bike. Or the yoga mat. Or whatever it is that allows you to experience your own completeness.

This week I celebrate Callie’s life, and my own resiliency as I embark on a long over-due road trip: Yellowstone, Boulder, Vail, Fruita, Moab. Road bike and new Racer-X, a full rack of climbing gear and a helmet cam. Two weeks on the road climbing and riding with old and new friends.

The life of the modern mystic is a glorious one. But the gear is hella expensive. Athletes get pro sponsorships all the time. Surely there must be someone who’ll sponsor a modern mystic! Hmmm. Talk about the wheels spinning….

Tonight: Beers with Gretchen, and packing and organizing for the odyssey, and the 24-hour countdown clock starts tomorrow morning.

well, butter my buns and call me a biscuit…

Apparently a few people do read this blog.

Apparently, it is odd/strange/unfathomable that a girl like me should get herself a big ol’ two niner full suspension MTB. Well, I did. OK? Like I said. I rode quite a few bikes from that other bike store, and then another few at that other other bike store, and this was the only bike I wanted to keep riding. And a subsequent visit to test another size on the Ti frame, confirmed it. I almost went in to give Bill’s Moots a ride but the second ride on the Racer-X just left me feeling pretty secure in the knowledge I’d found my bike.

People I gotta tell you, those Cyclepath guys rock. They didn’t make (too much) fun of me about my pink fetish, and have been amazingly helpful and really listen. Actual conversations take place instead of me saying I want a bike, and them saying here try this. So yeah, stop by the shop and say hi to the guys and if you MUST, inquire about my bike. But NO TOUCHING and NO DROOLING. That’s kinda personal, you know.

All I’m waiting on waiting is my wheels. If they were here I’d be riding now instead of writing now! And the helmet cam doesn’t work so I gotta scramble to get it replaced before heading out next weekend! Oh yeah that sexy pink Ellsworth that started this 29er fever in me? After seeing this photo, I am soooo glad I didn’t get the Ellsworth. Granted this is a road bike, but still…

Oh Yes She Did!

Haven’t been blogging much. Been working like a dog, finishing up some major projects and launching into new ones. The hiatus from racing has been great for my career in terms of helping me redouble my otherwise laughable efforts at developing/finishing the new media projects. I’ve still managed to keep climbing 3x a week, and am pleased to report as of last Thursday I am pretty consistently hammering 5.10s now. The teres minor is still barkin’ like a dog every time I climb, especially bouldering, but I’m getting rolfed again soon, and Jeremy always knows just what to do to make it right. Dude is the best rolfer in Oregon. I know I said that last time. But it’s true.

Apparently, I have a little talent in climbing and turning it into skill is a challenge I enjoy. I can’t go back to racing full time for physical reasons, and frankly it’s just better for me to do different things. I need to ride, sure, but focusing on track and just a few crits and other events will allow me to keep climbing. I have accepted that I’m just a dilettante. A rank amateur. I gotta do what I love doing. Life is short and it’s not the adrenaline of these sports I crave, it’s more the experience of being alive that I feel when I’m deeply engaged in them. In other words everything is yoga.

Speaking of bikes, though…It finally got nice enough on the right days for me to test ride mountain bikes. I rode probably eight different 29ers, and a handful of 26ers. One stood out among them… In fact, when I brought it back from my test ride and was pulling in to Cyclepath to return the bike, I felt this uncontrollable urge to just keep riding. I figure any bike that talks to me like that is probably the right bike to get, so I got it!!!!

Sorry about the punctuation abuse, but when you see what I got you’ll understand. I got this:

KICK ASS 29ER
Oh yes she did! I can hardly believe it myself! All the parts are in and I’m hoping the bike may even be built this weekend. I got a few upgrades to build a custom whip, and yeah… it’s gonna be sweet! Can’t wait to hit Moab, Fruita and Boulder in a couple weeks! And I’m already thinking about a 24 hour race towards the end of the season thanks to an enthusiastic little nudge by one of my fave riding buddies.

Before you even THINK about asking me: Yeah, you can borrow my bike for a little spin, IF you ask real nice, butter me up with a nice shoulder massage, be my belay slave at the rock gym when I need you to be, or take me out for a couple pints at Hopworks, but no drooling, please. And if you’re one of my old roadie friends shaking your head going “WTF?!?!?” don’t worry…

I am still planning to shave my legs.

Back in the Saddle Again

I am knocking on wood as I type this this morning, but it seems to be true: I’m back in the saddle. Managed 4 consecutive days of riding last week and no hip pain. Nada. None. Okay, a couple twinges on day 4 on the mountain bike, but hardly worth mentioning, and zero pain afterward that day or the next. All I can say is it felt damn good to be riding that much again. My fitness sucks, but my leg speed was pretty good, and it felt great to experience muscle soreness in my quads instead of debilitating nerve and joint pain. For over six months I’ve had to bail out on even moderate rides because of pain. And now… healing! I credit my team of care providers. These folks provided the bulk of my body work and rehabilitation for the past six months, and all do a lot of work on endurance cyclists. If you end up going to see any of them, tell them I sent you!

PRO BIKE FIT
Seth Hosmer, DC Health and Performance Chiropractic

ACUPUNCTURE
Uma Dawn Tupper, LaC at Yoga Pearl

SPORTS MASSAGE
Gretchen Kloeppel at Yoga Pearl

ROLFING STRUCTURAL INTEGRATION
Jeremy Sutton, Vancouver Rolfing

I am hugely encouraged that I’ll be back to racing form soon, but I’m still working on rebuilding my base so who knows when I’ll be ready. Plus I am still developing my super-secret strategy to riding my way back to racing form. I can’t tell you what the plan is because, well, then it wouldn’t be secret anymore, would it? And unless you count chocolate, coffee, and beer as “doping”, then no… it doesn’t involve doping. Meanwhile, I’ve learned my lesson and I’m training conservatively, because we all know what happens when you get too cocky about things… THIS is what happens: