San Ardo 2008 race report

san ardo - non racing action mostly 004
Originally uploaded by SWoo

Ann, Emily, Vanessa, and I raced in Cat 4 women at San Ardo last weekend (can you spot Emily and me in this photo?). It was two laps of a 24-ish mile loop starting and ending in San Ardo, California. The results haven't been posted online yet as far as I can tell, but I'm pretty sure I came in last.

I stayed with the pack for the first lap, but then fell off at the beginning of lap two. I tried too hard to get back on, which compounded my two big(gest) mistakes during lap one, which were: (1) not drinking enough, and (2) pulling for too long on the backstretch coming back in to San Ardo.

Vanessa also fell off the pack about the same time I did, so she and another woman and I all worked together to get back to the finish. Actually they both worked harder than I did, because I didn't have anything left (see above) and was a pathetic whiny mess. By the time we got near the finish line, we all told each other we probably weren't going to have anything left to sprint with. But then we all tried anyway. I could have out-sprinted the other woman, but I let her cross the line before me because she really did much more work than I did on the second loop. I guess that's not very competitive of me, but whatever. Does it really matter whether I come in dead last, or just second to dead last?

Ann and Emily fared much better -- Ann made top 10 for sure, and might have been #8 or #6, she thought. Emily stayed with the pack the whole ride so probably didn't do too badly either. Vanessa was much cheerier than at Winters, and actually seemed to be enjoying herself.

Weather was warm but not nearly as hot as Winters the weekend before. Everyone but me agreed that they liked San Ardo much better than Winters. If I hadn't felt so awful, I might have agreed with them as well. Maybe if I'm still racing next year, I'll give it another shot then.

Winters road race report

My very first road bike race was this past Saturday, in Winters, California. I had spent the prior six weeks training for it through the Tri-Flow development program run by Lorri Lee Lown of VeloGirls. On race day I was there with fellow Tri-Flow program members Emily, Kat, and Vanessa, as well as Lorri and race team member Lala. Tri-Flow member Ann was out of town, but I'm sure she would rather have been at the race with us....

The course was a 24 mile loop, starting and finishing in Winters, that we rode two times (some of the higher categories rode the loop three or four times). It started out mostly flat, but at about mile 11 it started becoming hilly, with a steep grade at about mile 13 followed by a steep, narrow descent with a very tricky switchback. After that it was almost entirely flat again on the "backstretch" and leading up to the finish line.

The Cat 4 women started sometime after 9 a.m., by which time the weather was already quite warm. I know our start time was delayed but I wasn't wearing a watch so I don't know for how long. Lorri led us out and set the pace. At the start, the pack stayed together. It was very interesting to ride in a group with everyone so close together. I was amazed by the reorganizations that happened early on -- I would be in the front, and then all of a sudden I'd be in the back... and then just as quickly I'd be back in the front again.

At the hilly section, I started to fall back, and then just after the feed zone I dropped my chain, and wasn't very efficient about getting it back on. In retrospect it was a good thing, because then I knew I had no chance of staying with the leaders, so I didn't kill myself trying. I did push myself up the hill, passing a few women, and down the other side. But I wasn't feeling very strong at the back. Vanessa caught up with me there so we worked together around the backstretch and then the beginning of the second loop. She hadn't been feeling very good -- she said she was having chills -- and it seemed to be getting worse as we continued into the second loop. She apologized for slowing me down and said I should go on, but I didn't want to work by myself for the whole second loop, and it's not like I was in a big hurry since we had no chance of catching the lead group at that point anyway.

Near the start of the hilly section a woman came past us and invited us to "get on her wheel" -- she'd had to stop and change a flat and was racing faster to get back to the pack. We tried to stay with her but soon stopped. I knew there was no way I was going to be able to go another 20 miles at that pace! So I was by the side of the road, slowing down to wait for Vanessa to catch up to me again. I turned around to look for her, and that's when I veered off the road into a gravel ditch. Very stupid. Fortunately the only damage to my bike seems to be that the left brake lever is scraped up and looks ugly; maybe a new scratch or two on the fork but otherwise everything seems OK. Vanessa came up and helped me up, suggesting that we hurry because a peloton of men was coming! I brushed myself off quickly and got back on. I'm quite sure that none of the men even noticed us as they whizzed by. It was funny.

When we got to the hill section again, just before the feed zone Vanessa told me to go on and she'd catch me on the back side again. I didn't think I was going to make it up the steep grade the second time. I spent the whole time fantasizing about stopping to rest but I managed not to. I'm not sure I've ever breathed so hard in my life! Fortunately the steepest grade is nearly at the top, so even the remaining 30 seconds or so of incline afterward seems like a rest. Vanessa never did catch up to me, so I ended up riding the rest of the second loop by myself. On the backstretch the second time I felt much stronger and was able to keep my pace at 20 to 25 mph most of the time. I crossed the finish line feeling pretty good -- I was happy to stop, of course, but could probably have gone a bit further if I'd had to, and my pace was still up. Of course once I stopped riding, my road rash started to hurt -- I had been mostly able to ignore it up until then.

Overall I felt really good about it, despite getting left behind early as well as the stupid crash. This was not the farthest I've ever ridden in a day, but it was the longest I've ever ridden without intentionally stopping (if you don't count the dropped chain or the crash), and certainly overall I rode it faster than I normally would have. *And* it was hot out there.

I'm glad I did the race, and am particularly grateful that I did the Tri-Flow program. I can't even imagine how lost I would have been without all of the training, both learning about how races work as well as just the fitness aspects of it. I certainly have more work to do before I can stay with the pack, but it doesn't seem unachievable, provided that I keep working at it. It has been really fun working with Lorri and the other "girls" for the past six weeks. I'm going to miss it when it's over!

Red and her teenager

Red and her teenager
Originally uploaded by queenjill

This is my horse and her teenager, Kate. It's way too cute for words.

Jill and Nancy crush the Tierra Bella 100K, 2008

Jill and Nancy at Uvas Reservoir rest stop
Originally uploaded by queenjill

We made much better time than last year, which is surprising given that we're in much worse shape than we were a year ago, but not surprising when you account for the fact that last year the skies were dumping buckets of rain on us.

Looking forward to next year. We're talking about doing the imperial century, which would add another 35 miles and 4,000 feet of climbing. That might really suck most of the fun out of it, so I bet we stick with the metric century.

Dexter

Dexter
Originally uploaded by Savvyminx

I'm obsessed with this show. I just finished the third DVD of the first season and it's KILLING me that I have to wait two days until Netflix can send me the fourth one. KILLING ME.

Fasting

Three-tiered Tea-for-Two
Originally uploaded by Maulleigh

Molly sent me an article yesterday about all of the benefits of fasting. It suggested fasting once a week in order to extend life, reduce cravings for sugar, increase popularity, solve crime, etc.

This morning, I tried to put on my size 8s. It was embarrassing.

So now, I'm trying to fast. I had a PB&J sandwich for lunch around 1:30 p.m. today. Now it's 7:45 p.m., and all I've had since the sandwich were my evening "vitamins," if you know what I mean (some of them actually are vitamins).

I think I can probably make it through the night, but the morning will be interesting. I wonder if I can make it 'til lunch tomorrow?

I'm a bitch.

Nocebo
Originally uploaded by LouisCypher

And ugly, too.

Yippee.

Nippy

Hillsdale Mall
Originally uploaded by queenjill

It was cold again today. I was dressed in warm clothes. Unlike this mannequin whose dress was so low-cut as to be obscene.

I should have gone in an checked out the price. How much is too much to spend for a dress you can't actually wear out of the house without getting arrested?

Cold and misty morning

Cold misty morning
Originally uploaded by queenjill

This is the reservoir next to one of the routes that I cycle on most frequently. This morning was very cold. My fingers and ears were freezing. Even with my wool socks and toe warmers, it took over 30 minutes for my feet to regain full feeling once I got indoors. We cut our ride very short and included a coffee shop stop halfway through. Brrrr. This is California! What gives?

Pumpkin pie

Pumpkin pie
Originally uploaded by queenjill

I made the pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving dinner this year. It turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. I should probably have made two so that there would be leftovers, but I didn't have enough heavy cream. Probably for the best.

Foggy ride

Misty morning
Originally uploaded by queenjill

All week I was planning my Saturday bike ride -- I was finally going to ride to Pescadero from my house. The good news is that it didn't rain. The bad news is that it might as well have been raining, for as wet as I got and as low as visibility was due to very thick fog. I spent most of the 50 miles wiping off my glasses every 15 seconds or so. But Pescadero was pretty.

This makes me cry

I want this horse, and I want to ride this well, and I want british guys to gush about me while I do it.

Gobe

This is a test. A cute test, using a beagle puppy. I wish all tests were like this. (A Pup test?)

A week 'til Thanksgiving

Stuff on my desk
Originally uploaded by queenjill

I am really looking forward to Thanksgiving. As much as I'd like for it to rain now and then so that everything in my yard can stop dying, I'm hoping that the long weekend will be dry so that I can do a lot of biking and horseback riding. And I'm hoping that I can resist the urge to work too much. Because after that, I think it'll be work work work work work 'til Christmas.

Life in the well

Stuff on my desk
Originally uploaded by queenjill

I have a lot to do at work these days, and it's weighing on my mind. I can't ever get ahead. I spend 45+ hours at work every week and at the end of the day each Friday, I rarely feel like I've made any positive progress. I feel like the snail in that word problem, where the snail slimes its way 2 feet up the wall each day, only to slip back down 1 foot at night -- how many days until the snail finally gets out of the well? Except in my case, the well is much deeper, and people are always at the top of the well building the wall higher. I'm tired all the time, and to compensate I do nothing but eat sugar and junk. So I'm getting fat and out of shape too.

I'm really looking forward to getting a week off at Christmas.

Autumn in New England

Pumpkin Festival, New Milfrod Green
Originally uploaded by LBfromBufaD

OK, I haven't really seen many pumpkins since I've been here in Merrimac (truth be told I haven't seen much besides horses), but I like this photo.

Last year during our trip to Merrimac the weather was cold and drizzly and generally unpleasant. This year the weather has been great. We've been riding in the outdoor arena, which is ringed with trees turning all kinds of lovely colors -- and yesterday it was warm enough for just a t-shirt. Aaahhhh. I could get used to this.

Another (finally) awesome day

Numenor October 2006
Originally uploaded by queenjill

I rode Numenor again this morning. He's a bit of a lazy bastard -- at least at the walk -- so I ended up poking him a lot with my new big-ass spurs. I'm not used to riding lazy-ass horses, so I was kind of nagging at him until Vitor told me that if I kept doing that, the horse would buck me off.

My morning lesson started OK -- not great -- and then went downhill from there. Vitor was yelling at me a lot because I couldn't keep the horse straight. Finally he put me on the long lines to help me out. We mostly worked on keeping the horse straight, with Vitor correcting my position. We did a couple of flying changes which were so smooth that I could hardly tell they'd even occurred. We did some half-pass at trot and canter. Finally Vitor just put me on a circle -- still on the long lines but with him in the middle of the circle -- and helped me find my own balance and balance/flex the horse and work on (for the horse) getting the hind legs stepping under and (for me) lengthening/shortening the stride with my post. I don't remember how it happened, but it all culminated in a canter pirouette that was so amazing. So light, so effortless. At the end I burst into tears just as the onlookers burst into applause. Amazing. Really amazing. All day, every time I've thought about it, I've cried. Amazing.

I hope I never forget it, although knowing me, I probably will.

In the afternoon I rode Niquel, who is a much more forward horse. It was a beautiful afternoon -- sunny and warm enough for shirtsleeves (for those of us who were riding, anyway) -- so we rode in the outdoor arena which is set back among the trees (all fall colors). I had a semi-private lesson with Vitor, who alternated between me and Debra. He kind of turned me loose to play around with Niquel but also coached me on my position and on bending the horse and the importance of the circle in getting the horse to load the hind legs correctly and set up for half pass. My left hip did not want to cooperate most of the time but it was fun anyway.

I have to find a way to come here more often. There's no way I can do this only five days out of the year. It'll take me a million years to progress at that rate.

Bliss

Numenor Oct. 2006
Originally uploaded by queenjill

Almost exactly one year after I took this photo*, I'm back at Vitor Silva's riding school in Merrimac, MA. I rode this horse, Numenor, today. It was so incredible -- I can't even begin to describe it. For those of you who know dressage, you will understand how cool it is that I PIAFFED on this horse today. It was so amazing, I cried. ACTUAL TEARS AND EVERYTHING. Of course, getting to that point wasn't easy -- I was doing a lot of stuff wrong and the horse was objecting -- strenuously -- in some cases, to the point of rearing and bucking (and me without my stirrups!). But SO AMAZING once I got it.

For those of you who don't know about dressage, please understand that piaffe is one of the most advanced movements that a horse can do. Not many horses advance to the level where they can do this. So not many people get to experience this, although most of us dream about it.

Tomorrow will be a huge disappointment, of course. That's just the way these things go. There will be ups and downs the rest of the week. But today was incredible.

*I have to post photos from last year's trip because, like a dumbass, I forgot to bring the cord to download photos from my camera.

Cuti & Dolly tie the knot

They finally did it!

My new camera!

My new camera!
Originally uploaded by queenjill

I finally got a digital camera of my very own. No more borrowing mom and dad's. Now I can immortalize all of those really important moments in life, like the state of my desk at the office last Thursday. Look out world -- prepare to be dazzled.