CCCX MTB, 3/28/11

After what seems like weeks of riding in rain and wind every day, I was looking forward to the local CCCX mountain bike race scheduled for Sunday, as Sunday’s forecast was sunny and lovely and oh-so-nice. But as luck would have it, the race got rescheduled for Saturday. Saturday’s forecast = more rain, more wind, more misery. It turns out those meteorologists know what they are talking about once in awhile.

Ft Ord is usually the best place around for getting some mountain biking during the rainy winter months because the sandy soil drains so well. In fact, Ft Ord is at it’s best in the winter as everything is generally remains rideable, as opposed to the summer months when huge sandpits make the trails better suited for cyclocross than riding. Unfortunately we’ve had so much rain over the last week or two that even the Ft Ord trails were a muddy, mucky mess, and the rain was still falling. This was going to be epic.

Check out this picture from Tim Westmore.

Beth's full race report can be found on her blog - check it out!

Madera Stage Race

Big thanks to Mike who lent me the bike, and Nils who lent me the helmet, despite the duct tap that stuck to my hair... was it really that much more aero!?

Getting Gritty at CCCX

We had another wet weekend here in Santa Cruz. At one point on Saturday night I was a little afraid for my life. Thought Cole and I were going to be washed out to sea! Wet or dry I had the best of both worlds - weekend at home and a fun day of racing! On tap - Central Coast Circuit race with two awesome teammates Joanne and Devon. One of the greatest parts about having a teammate is when you don't want to race or are simply hiding from the clouds and cold under warm covers, and looking for reasons not to leave the house, a good teammate will say "well i'm going rain or shine, cause what else am I going to do?" Which is usually enough to kick in the competitive juices and ignite that little fire that keeps the passion to push through a little more pain burning.

I was really impressed by the group of women that showed despite the less than ideal conditions. And, i'm SUPER glad I went because as it turns out it didn't even rain! I would have felt really bad about staying under the covers due to "bad" weather...geesh!

The race was really exciting and fun with three of us Bike Station girls in the field. We had a few surprises up our sleeves, and experimented with some fun team tactics. Devon busted out a mad sprint at the end for the big victory, I got fourth place and JT took a solid 8th. Go team!




Had to add this one - we had fun out there. =)



Thanks for reading!

New LOOK Blade Pedals!

Im super stoked to announce LOOK as our official road pedal sponsor. We recently put the new Blade pedals on our road rigs, and love them. They have a slightly wider platform, and very innovative carbon spring that makes the pedal slightly lighter, but more importantly creates a very unique and snappy engage compared to a conventional Keo.



I like how secure my cleat/shoe feel when I clip in and know my foots not goin' anywhere in the field sprint!

The pedals also come with an extra set of cleats, and cleat covers (bonus!) which I thought was a really nice touch.

We continue to "LOOK" forward to riding this and other product from the French company.

Team Bike Station Aptos @ CCCX #2

We had a few racers at the last Central Coast Cross Country race last weekend. Check out the pics below of fellow teammate Beth Welliver on the Cannondale Scalpel 3.

New Sponsor - William Hopkins, The Foot Doctor

Big thanks to William Hopkins and his team at The Foot Doctors, in Watsonville. We spend a lot of time on our feet standing, walking and of course pedaling our bicycles, and are happy to have the support of Dr. Hopkins and his team of experts. If you haven't checked them out, here's a link to their web site and list of services they have to offer.

William is an avid cyclist himself, and can be spotted riding his super awesome Pinarello (black and neon - hot!) around the hills and farmland of Santa Cruz County!

Final Day of Merco

First of all, I want to thank all of the people who encouraged and supported me throughout the stage race. The kind words, advice and direction meant a lot and helped me get through sore legs, some broken heart feelings, and fatigue. Thanks to my coach - Brian Conant, my teammates - JT, Devon, Beth, and AMJ - and all of my great friends. Also, big thanks to Trey and Roman for covering the shop while I was out!

Final race report - Almond Blossom Road race - 72 miles - place 24th

Packed everything up the night before because I knew it was going to be an early morning. I tried to go through my equipment a little, because the poor bike, wheels, chain, etc were definitely under some stress. I can see how having a team mechanic is helpful at the bigger races! My bike wasn't shifting great, but I showed her some love and hoped for the best.

I was feeling tired, and pretty heart broken after the cirt - which i was pretty excited for. But, a good friend reminded me that there is always tomorrow - and so I did my best to put the past behind me, and look to the final day - a solid 72 mile RR with rolling terrain. It was all or nothing - i mean seriously - what did I have to loose!?

Alarm went off way too soon. I looked at Cole, who was in a sleep coma on top of me, but peeking through a little slit of one of his eyes as if to say "really??!!". I was up and out the door in less than 20 min, off to you know where - Starbucks! Glad I woke up early, cause they didn't open till 6 am..nice.. waited around for my vente coffee and instant oatmeal, and then plotted my course to the race start.

My brain just felt fuzzy as I drove the same farmlands i'd been driving all week long. I was sleepy, tired, and really questioning my sanity at that point in time.

I got a sweet parking spot, front and center and proceeded to sign in, get some free food (powerbar, drinks, etc yay!), and then back to the car to warm up. Clouds looked threatening but no rain yet.

Sure enough - start time was there, and I was shoulder to shoulder with the same women i'd been racing against all week. I couldn't help but remember the story JT told me about Teutenberg - how she yelled at Kristen Armstrong when she started racing on the road. Great, here I am the only Cat 3 racer in a group of pro's - i'm probably going to get shoved off into the ditch by Tuetenberg... here goes nothin!

Race started along with the rain. Kind of reminded me of cross, which made me excited a little. My goal - to hang on to the end.

The race was FAST! we did 72 miles in 3.07.21. Talk about having to pay attention! At first I stayed towards the back, until I realized I was getting tossed around like a YOYO - then I moved up to mid pack where the pace was a little more consistent. It was raining and really hard to see and everyone was SUPER close together. Kinda freaked me out a couple times when I hit a center line reflector - made an awful sound and bumped my entire rear end almost sideways...nice. One thing i noticed is that in a P123 race - you command your space or get walked on and shoved out of the way..kinda crazy, but you have to be confident and claim your little area, or wheel that you're following - or someone else will.



There were a lot of attacks, a couple breakaways and the pace always picked up as we drew near to the finish - I think they wanted to show off so they throttled it every time. When we came up on the last lap, i knew my moment of truth was coming up. I'm not really religious - but I said a little prayer to the people I usually pray to. Then, somehow I was third wheel! I sat there in the draft of an HTC and Tibco girl for about 15 min - nervous as all get out. Again, I heard JT's Tutenberg story in the back of my mind. I'm kind of afraid of her - she's big and SUPER fast. =)

That was probably the coolest moment of the race for me. It was raining, the final lap, I was still there, and the entire field was behind me. Rad.

Then there was an attack, and another attack, and another attack - I hung in there mid group. We headed into the final turn, and the group picked up. Still there... with 300 meters to go the pace increased yet again, and someone broke - 100 meters to go the field sprint and I passed some Cat1's! Holy shit! What a race. So glad I did it, and showed up. My heart was full, no more heartache. That's the cool thing about racing. There's always tomorrow, there's always another race. End result - 24th place and same overall time as the lead group. Merco box -