Race 8 - Indian Lakes

Photo by Alan Treuthart

Alan caught the carnage at the beginning of the 3s race on film. Nice shot! If you look behind the crash, I am just to the right of the folks going down. I am looking up in a red helmet, and I have my foot unclipped -just in case. Fortunately, I was able to squirt out of there, but look how many riders are already ahead of me, and this is seconds after the whistle! I even lined up on the second line!


After the first set of double barriers, one had to immediately and smoothly remount, so that you could hammer up the hill. I managed to nail this every time. If you had to run it, you would have been passed by anyone on a bike. I am passing this gentlemen here. (He may have beat me in the end, though.)

And then down the hill. Catch some air here.

I ran the pits every lap. It was soft and thick. Kind of beachy, or golfy?

I avoided the deep mud on every lap but one. It was really hard to hit the gas here because this is where you would have just finished two hills and two sand pits. Nonetheless, time to go!


Leap of Faith

by Charlotte

I decided to not race the P123 race today. Something told me last week that my body had gotten everything out of racing for one hour and 45 minutes that is was ever going to get. In other words, enough is enough. Because the race took place on Saturday, we had planned a nice three hour endurance ride for Sunday morning. While bending over Sunday morning, I felt a twinge in my lower back. I tried to walk and stretch it out, but within two minutes, my lower back locked up and screamed anytime I put weight on my lower spine. I didn't walk again until 4:00 p.m. and those were very slow and small steps. Still at home today, actually. The doctor prescribed the steroid, Methylprednisolone. I believe this helped with any swelling, and it also cleared up my sinuses, which have been a mess since Jackson Park. Anyway, I'll be fine. Woodstock is iffy. Hope I don't get tested at Montrose!

Race 7 - Northbrook

Beautiful weather! Arm warmers and knee warmers not necessary. Thanks to the Garner Club and Flatlandia for a really fun day. And thanks Northbrook for letting us torture ourselves in your park.

In the 3s race, I started third line so had to fight pretty hard in order to make up a few spots. That was okay though as my objective today was to not go out so hard that I loose control -or whatever. Well, I did hit the dirt once but sprang right back up. I did lose a position, and a position that I just recently gained. On the previous lap, I passed a racer before the first trip through the sand. I may have kept the gap, but who knows. As the race progressed, I got stronger and smarter. I grabbed a fast wheel into the wind and became smooth in the woods and off-camber sections.

Once, going through the pit the second time, I felt the sand suck the strength out of me, so on the next lap I ran it. Probably just as fast, with about two to go. I didn't get close to top ten, but held my own and finished 18th. Much better than the previous two weeks. I raced hard and found myself thinking about skipping the P123 race. Almost puked once. After a drink and some food, a dry jersey and some sitdown time with the dogs, I punched in and lined up for the one-hour paincave tour.

The whistle blew and when I hit the first turn, I was last. I have been having issues with maintaining power for the entire hour (in other words, I have been bonking) so I bolted on the bottle cage and loaded up on the Cliff stuffs. It's not that I don't eat well the day before or that morning, or even after the 3s, it is simply a matter of my body becoming a caloric blast furnace that knows nothing except for the concept of consumption, digestion, and waste. Kind of like a capitalist neo-liberal. Well, I made sure to drink through out the race, and I past racers who crashed or had mechanicals. I passed one or two riders who looked pretty green.


I was lapped by the leaders and thought my race would be over. In the past races, I did not have to finish the last lap once lapped. Well, as I motioned to the officials that I was lapped and done, they informed me that I had one to go! What a heart breaker! Oh well, I took off again and finally finished 20th.



See ya next week.





As usuall, I was lapped by Scott, and then by four of the leaders. YES!! One more lap! As I pulled over for the finish, the officials standing there shook their heads and smirked, " uh uh, one to go. You're not done." I tried to convince them but to no avail. I rode one more lap at tempo, and then called it a day. See at Indian Lake

Race 5 - Bartlett

Photo by Michael Young
3s Race

I went into turn one smooth and found lots of room. I was able to choose a line, get out of the saddle and hammer. On the straight concrete path, nothing stopped me from pedaling as fast as possible, which I did. Rode really fast through the woods and all around the turns until I got the second part of the woods. I was going so fast, and the front wheel was doing its own thing on the slippery woodchips, that I lost control and crashed into the ground. Thump. Once again, like last week, my chain had come off, the jump stop bent, and me unable to fix either for 2-3 minutes. After a few laps, I was close to contacting a few teammates, but then I stuck my foot into my front wheel and endoed. This incident pretty much ended my race, so I then rode the remaining two at high tempo so that I might save some gas for the P123.

P123

After the first turn, I set a goal to stay in contact with the back of the racers. I also brought on board some Gatorade and gel. It is really hard to drink or eat anything during a cross race. You breath so hard that you can't swallow and often end up choking. I also had issues getting my bottle back in the jersey, so I tossed it off to the side. When it came time to put down the gel, I had nothing to wash it down with, so the shot kind of lingered around in the back of my throat. But what I did eat helped. I did not bonk unit 3 laps to go. By the last lap, many riders passed me and I had to go into endurance zone. Thankfully. My last lap was a cool down. This was my best race of the day, and my best P123 race of the year so far.

So far, the season has been more difficult then expected. I am also really, really tired. Looking forward to my restweek, with this Sunday off! Uf dah!