DCCX Sunday race and the days before the race

This week was wicked hectic at work. 5 day workweek felt so much longer.  Last week I had hit the fatigue wall.  This week I wanted to ensure I could rebound for Sunday's big, super fun race in DC.  DCCX.   

Below was my past week at a glance:

Monday:  rest. Just work.  Plenty of work to do!

Tuesday:  AM short Intervals, decided to skip the crossfit (very wise, very wise).  More work!  Lots of it!
             PM speaker series season kickoff w Bill Clinton (super fun Fall/Winter ritual with some cool ladies)

Wednesday:  mo-work then...cross practice locally. Short Intervals.  Fun on my CX bike!  Felt great being out, felt like "play" with some efforts.

Thursday:  more work...  running errands with T, crossfit and house chores

Friday: work count down to 5p...then evening easy road ride

Saturday: easy road w opener.  hair cut.  lunch out.  chores.  then rest.

Sunday:  RACE


This week also represented the "countdown to Cancun week" as well.  
T minus ____ days to Cancun.   

Tracy and I booked this trip this past March (what feels like a forever ago).   Two primary reasons.  
1) We/she would need a break from the endless CX weekends...
2)  We needed a warm weather getaway
3) Maybe three reasons....we haven't had a big trip in too long...

The goal:  create a 4-day escape to a warm weather climate where we could just chill, relax and be pampered.   Yeah.  Tracy is wicked smart for booking this trip.   We leave Friday morning.  4 days to Cancun. :-)    And I have a feeling we'll be sure to introduce more out-of-Baltimore, vacation time for the 2013 season.  I have some good influences at work too who help remind me how awesome "Quarterly" vacations are... :-)

Anyway, back to cycling! 

DCCX:   
Morning was weird or should I say:  I was reacting "weirdly" to circumstances...

1.  Tracy was nearly sure she had strep throat.   My concern should have been her health and well being but honestly I was having an episode of Jen-self-ish-ness.   I wanted her at DCCX.  She was the only one I wanted there.  Well.  Even when T is not feeling well, she is sooooooooo patient (yes, def a key for an eight year relationship lasting, thanks T).   She dealt with my cr@ppiness until I came around.   So while I head out to the races with the Mother, again all dressed in pink from lipstick to fleece, T went to Patient First.

2.  Sister was supposed to join me at Race before she returned to Va Tech in Blacksburg.  If anyone has heard me talk about Amy, you get that she and I are def alot alike.   I had ALWAYS thought of her as my younger, 24-year old Hero.   She is just so smart for her age.   Just gets life and puts herself first.   I freaking love her so much...   

This weekend I learned not only is she my Hero, she is human and maybe more of TILLMAN than previously thought.  Yes, Amy was up for a wedding this past weekend and like so many do at weddings, Amy drank.   And drank.  And drank.   Well needless to say, she was also sick Sunday morning.  Her date was with a cool looking piece of porcelain.  

Sorry you missed it Amy but honestly, you seem more like a regular 24 old to me now.  It's a good thing.  Ha.


So that left Me and Mom off to DCCX.





All the locals love this race.   Why?

• It's a great course, punchy.  Twisty.  Tough.   This year it was wicked dry and crazy fast.
• Tons of vendors, lots of beer drinking to be had.  None for me though.  I'm a bit boring in that area as of late.  At least others in my bloodline are drinking enough for me, thanks Amy.
• Tons of racers from all over the Midatlantic come out for this event

There were over 40 Elite women preregistered for DCCX this year.  Some seriously fast women from the area were pre-reg'd too.    Our favorite CX results "race predictor" had me at 15th place if I recall correctly.   Last year, I finished 15th and the competition def was not as thick.   I was curious about this year.  Also curious as to whether my body received enough rest and recovery nourishment to fuel this race day effort.

Officials had their typical 30 sec and 15 sec warnings before the whistle blew.   I was lined up in the first starting grid since I've been able to race most of the local MABRA series.  The whistle blew and we were off.  A big field racing for the first turn.




I was 5th or 6th wheel off the start.  I had an issue clipping in but don't remember it bothering me too much.   I was in the right gear, I was able to get clipped in and I was racing/chasing the leaders hard and fast.


I remember thinking:  "I really don't care if I burn all my matches this race.  Freaking burn the book Jen, just burn it all."


Sometimes you think you have more and you don't.
Sometimes you think you should conserve and you shouldn't.
Today, I decided I would race my first lap wicked fast and hard and continue to go as hard as I could for as long as I could. Today would be a day to deepen the pain cave.  

By eliminating the "match" question, I freed up some brain space to just focus on enduring the pain and suffering and race my @ss off!!!!! 


Into lap 1, I got passed by Erin and Laura.   In the meantime, I continued to play a good hand of tit and tat with my friend and training partner, AT.  Honestly, I was surprised to be so close to her as she usually has rockets in her calves.   But I was and I was pushing.   I found I could really put down some serious power in the flat, long sections on the grass and the road.   I'd make a pass, she'd pass back.  I'd make a move, she'd pass back.   It was actually fun in a painful sort of way to be racing against a friend who has been part of my training history.  Anyway, we did the cat / mouse thing awhile (trying to ignore some of the ruckus from the sidelines, right AT?) and eventually AT pulled away in the last lap.   We were hustling through 3/4 traffic by this point and it def was hard trying to stay attached to her wheel and get around the 3/4 racers.  


I remember sprinting up the road section the last time, the road before the turns/barrier and standing up and just hammering up to that left hand turn grassy turn.   I can remember the feeling of my quads boiling.  I tried to chase down and get back to AT by the finish line but in the end she had me.   


It was an awesome race.
I "felt" my training pay off today.   
I felt more rested than previous weekends.
I still feel blessed to have my health, be surrounded by my people at the races and have a few awesome friends within my inner circle to share it with.


It really is an amazing sport. And I love my Reflections after the race when all goes quiet for awhile, when my body stills, and all that is left are my thoughts.  What did I learn this week?  A lot.  For that unveiling, I'd need another blog... 


- Erin, thanks for your comments on the starting grid line.  It meant a lot to have that compliment come from someone I chase regularly at the races.
- Tracy R, thanks for calling me a rocket off the line.  Trust me, now I know listening to my fatigue warnings was def the right thing to do.
- Mark, thanks for ensuring my bike doesn't fall apart anytime soon.  Ha.  2 nutz.  You help me the other six days a week when we're not racing.  Really awesome stuff.
- Mom, thanks for cheering.  Maybe we can filter some of the cheers next week ;-)  It is all about the fun at end of day anyhow!
- AT thanks for being my race carrot this week.  Thanks for being a friend.  We've taught one another a lot this past year and this season has been an absolute blast racing with you.  Keep smiling.  And yes, that is def a challenge!!!!!! 
-Laura M - thanks for being you.  You are fun to be around.  Strange and so very cool.  Keep bringing that fun to the races.
- Tracy P - thanks for loving me.
-Allyson J. - thanks for seriously spoiling me.  You know exactly what I mean!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  



I'll be taking some time over the next week to seriously Renew my body in Cancun.  
And then I'll be back to racing and more blogging.

Until then.
Peace 

Today is Sunday, day after Seneca Creek CX.

Tracy is killing the bag.  Kill-Kill-Kill.  Take That.  BAM.

Today was the "Fight for Mike" charity CrossFit workout at our local box, Arenal Fitness.  Tracy needed a workout partner and I was very pleased that she would invite me.  ;-)  While I've been focused on cycling, she's been getting her ARSE in the best shape of her life doing various CrossFit workouts including Striking, Kettlebell, regular CF as well as creating her own CF workouts.  (Some of which she "assigns" to me.  And they are no effin' joke let me tell ya!)

Ropes!  Bad Ass!

To give you an idea of what my tough ass partner is up to while I'm spending endless hours on one of my bicycles - see pix.  Yeah.  That is my toughie.

All I have to say is her first CF competition is November 18th.  Yeah baby, I'll be there with mad cowbell and crazy cheer.  Mom's coming out too.  I've been training my vocal chords T, I'm bringing my A+ crazy cheer game.  Can't wait to see what you bring to that event.  You are awesome!

Anyway.  Tracy is awesome.  This weekend I knew I had only one race so I agreed to spend a Sunday, my first in a longgggggggggggg time, off the bike.  I made the right choice.

The Last Week:   
This past week has been tough.  9 races, 5 weekends.  Performance ok by the #s but I knew I was digging a hole.   Question was:   Was I knee high?  Hip high?   Response:  stop digging or pay the price.   I was so tired this week.  When my enthusiasm wanes and I find myself staring into space with minimal brain wave action, I know I'm in a hole.  

A friend said:  Jen, most people have a caution flag along the path of exhaustion.   You on the other hand, not so much.  By the time your inner voices begin speaking a "slow down" message, you're experiencing what most people would call a serious RED FLAG moment.

Anyway.  red flag, yellow flag.  I'm slowing down....or trying to...

The Race:  

C3 Bad Kat and Me.  Call me Snot Rocket? :)

Seneca Creek CX was awesome.  2 sand pits.  2 sets of barriers.  What felt like 200 turns.  Sunny day.  Mom cheering.  Lots of C3 ladies and a few C3 boys came out.  

My body:  still tired.
 

No special hugs on this week's podium, boo!  :) Laura on top.

I decided to do the race despite my fatigue this week.  Still glad I did.  THere were 9 elite women on the grid.  the start was a downhill grass straightaway into 2 turns and some off cambers.  BF launched herself off the start like a rocket and I grabbed her wheel.  2 turns in and I made a break for the lead-out into the first set of barriers.  Took the lead, hopped the barriers and began charging the backside of the course. I looked back, no one.  Huh????   Bad Kat, fellow C3-er, said she did some blocking but WTF?!!  I was leading with a gap.  Man, sometimes it just seems like following is an easier bet for me.   Anyway I led through the backside back up through the 2nd set of barriers and out onto the "other backside" of the course toward the start.  Bad Kat was on my wheel with Laura Murray 3rd.  Laura's a powerhouse.  Even with her cracked helmet (do I have a concussion?) pre-ride episode, she applied her mega-watts and overtook both me and Bad Kat for the lead.  Yeah, while we chased, she stayed out in front and built up what would be a 1 min gap to the finish.

Thanks Joe's Bike Shop for a great race

Bad Kat hung on my wheel for a bit before she made her break.  Kat charged and I didn't grab the wheel.  While I tried to close that 10-20 sec gap the whole race, the gap neither gained nor lesssened.  Bad Kat is a fellow CF-er a bit more experienced than me but man she's been working hard and it's awesome to see her perform.  Way to go Bad Ass Kat!  
Anyway, I rode well.  4th was more than a minute behind me.  The whole race field spread out pretty good.  I am pleased with my bike handling.  The corners, off cambers, riding the sand pits, clean barriers, standing.  YEah, it was good.  But overall it felt C+/B- to me.  Why:  fatigue.

So Sunday:
So sometimes you need perspective and well I received a big dose of that yesterday.

• a dear friend and fellow cyclist was hospitalized yesterday.  Blood clot in the brain.  Long story short, she was out for a long road ride, began feeling symptoms, she/friend called me, they were blessed by Universe to receive special help, arrived hospital in ENOUGH time to MAKE A LIFE LONG DIFFERENCE.   Yeah.  Sometimes too many things come together to call it a mere coincidence.  Call it good Karma.  Call it spirit guides working overtime.  I'll call it:  close call with pure awesome ending...although it's not quite over.  Yeah.   So after racing, i was at the hospital.  I usually sweat into a panic attack entering hospitals.  T too.  But not so bad this go around.  As we walked into the room for our visit, my friend's spirit, while tired, lit up the room.  Some people just shine, she shines.  Friend, while you had a crazy day, you still put some energy back into me.  You know what I mean.  You are special sauce sweet positive blend of energies.  Glad to have met ya.  Glad to have you around for awhile longer. 

This friend and the end of week lesson reminded me of my beginning of week start.  I'm tired.  While cycling lights up my life, it is not everything.  Life is short.  Life can be unexpectedly short.  I can wear myself into a hole or I can pace myself and pull back on the Jen reins.  

While I'll never be a "chill" sit still person,  I am focused on all the blessings I have in my life.  Amazing partner, awesome health, great family, sweet-sweet-sweet life.  Very grateful.

At the end of this day and the end of this week:

• I have my feet up.  
• I have my closest loved ones very close, furballs DEF included.  
• And I will ensure I rest up over the coming weeks so that I can continue to race hard, play hard, and give my best in the many areas of my life.

Peace.   Thanks for reading.

October 6 & 7 - back home race weekend

I had a few thoughts for this blog entry but not quite sure what I exactly want to say this week.   There was no major trip 450 miles northeast this weekend.  No epic races for me with 50+ crazy elite women racers from all over.  I was so "high" from my trip last week.  It took me a few days to come down and I could feel myself shift into a diff mental mood space.  (My body felt it immediately tho -- more deep tissue massage is def needed).

This week was a local weekend. In the end it made my life much easier --- managing my transition "back to work", getting my cross bike maintenance taken care of (thanks Twenty20), and spending time with my family T, Rascal, and Roxy Bear Bear.   But I def didn't have the same enthusiastic energy from last week.  My body didn't have that extra zip either....my 36 year old body was def wondering, do I get a  rest yet??  Pllllaaaeeeeze.  (No dammit, not until Cancun end of October.  :)

Anyway... without the excitement of a trip weekend, I shifted and became aware of other things.  I became very aware of why I love my local race scene and how lucky I am to have a community of friends, teammates and fellow racers to share it all with ...

So Saturday:   race was 12 miles away.  pretty RAD as some of my friends may say ;-).   Yeah 20 min and I was there.   Afforded me extra time to run errands in the AM and grab some BBQ supplies for the team.  Race was in Sykesville on the property of a closed down former mental institution.  They call it PsychoCX.  :) 

The cat 1/2 elite women field was small, 1 row of riders in the grid.  Yeah 1.  But the course was impressively challenging and included:  

• two run ups quite meanly close to one another.   
• Tons of off camber turns.  
• Short punchy rises.  
• A nice log obstacle.  
• And a set of barriers.   
• And teammates, friends, and T cheering us all on

 

So the course forced us off the bike 3x per lap and put some grimaces on many of our faces.   My Gloucester travel partner and friend, AT, took 1st Saturday.   And it didn't come easy.   She and LM were battling it out hard core.   They pretty much gapped me in lap 1 on the first run up.  Both were riding strong and so there they went, bbbbaaaabye.   But since the course was tight I could see that they continued to tit and tat one another in a cat and mouse game the whole time.  Nice racing ladies.

Meanwhile, Traci from WV was putting a hurting on me.   She raced into 3rd and was my carrot for the remainder of the race.  Thanks Traci, you were a good carrot.   Mentally, I was a bit fried from 5 weekends of racing.   Physically, I knew my bod was tired well before i started.  Regardless though, I raced well .  It was hard not to push myself especially since I could hear my Tracy roaring "GET ON HER WHEEL" from the sidelines.   Always feels like Tracy is EVERYWHERE on the course - finding me - and encouraging me with her authoritative, commanding, and scary-to-disappoint-her cheers.  Well Tracy gets in my head in a good way in the end.  Don't want to disappoint the Coach.  Naaaaaooooo.

The team atmosphere was great too.  Bruce had his pug and a big cooler of bevvy's.   Shea brought his friend and Allie.   Joe and Jay were in the mix.  Saw Shawn out there racing.  And there were a few others in black and blue.   Good stuff.

In addition, the temps were in the 70s and the rain held out.  Yeah, a dry course was a nice luxury on Saturday.

Oh and my friend Heather crushed the cat 3 field taking her first win of the weekend.  Well done Heather, very well done!

Sunday - Hyattsville Race northern DC:  so the weather forecast Saturday evening into Sunday was reminiscent of Gloucester.  Rain.  100% chances of rain.  Only difference was temps were projected to be high in the 40s.  Mentally, I prepared myself for mega mud.  Somehow in my mind, as of late, my mental image projection of the race course IS MUCH MUCH worse than reality.  For that, I thank-you weather for not matching my crazy imagination.

I carpooled down to DC with my travel bud again.   Ellie, my Element, was once again packed with tons of CX equipment.  Rack still on top.  3 bikes.  Tons of cr@p.  Yeah TONS.  Makes me laugh.  Ellie's a trooper.

We made it down to the cousre around 9A - enough time to get an early pre-ride lap before the rains made the course worse.  Hyattsville was much as I remembered from last year.  Same start.  Same turns around the courts.  Felt like they had super highway grassy straightaways for those crazy roadie power folks.  Bah!  A few off cambered switchy turns.   And a crazy woods section that would have been SO much easier on my 29" mountain bike wheels.   Yeah that section was a bit dicey.  The woods included:

• Loose loomy soil
• a nice fast descent into a rooty, tough right hander

My super sweet carbon zipp wheels, while super nice, had negligible braking.  Yeah, felt like no braking actually.  So I steamrolled right into the orange fence on my 2nd attempt during practice laps.  Yeah thank-you for working that out during the practice laps.  Niccccccccccccccccce.  Ha.  Decided that taking that last turn slow would be the key and then I could nail the finish single track back out in to the open grass.

By the way, I watched the Master 3/4 men go through that section twice during their 10A race.  Man, testosterone is a crazy chemical.  Men were flying -- some were yardsaling hard core and some were so freaking squirrelly yet remained up right.  Just made me think - a little dose of that crazy (?) manly hormone before a race might be the secret to pushing myself really far outside my risk comfort zone....anyway....

Shea rocked his first podium in the Killer B's today, that very same field.  Way to go Shea.  Really sweet seeing you out in 2nd most of the race and then knowing you were able to make a go at first in the woods and keep the lead.  You rocked today.  Yeah man.

So my race was okkkkkk.  Still tired.  Got  a decent start and held the lead pack into the woods.  The first three ladies just had more OOOOOoooomph than I did and bbbbaaaabye they went in front of me.   Today though I was Traci (from WV)'s carrot.  Yeah Traci sucked my wheel the entire race.  Just COULD NOT shed her dammit.  I tried.  My tracy was not there but I kept standing, sprinting up to high speed thinking, get this girl OFF my wheel.  WEll my Tracy would have been proud to see me standing and powering up but it wasn't quite enough gas to shed this WV gal.  Traci from WV made a move with a lap to go and needless to say that gap made it to the finish.  I KNOW she felt the pressure and we shook hands congratulating one another after the race.   She and I raced hard and we had each other in the race to keep one another very honest.  Traci - your welcome, I was your carrot today.

So there was another podium to be happy for after the race and I was kind of so-so about it.   Not disappointed but not enthusiastic.  Some of my punchy Jen chipper energy just wasn't there.

I was a bit in my head for the remainder of the day alhtough most would never know....at least from what I could tell.

I was thinking about other things - like:

• Heather winning another race (two wins in a weekend).  She rocked it.  God, her smile was so big.  She replayed her race report to me after my podium and her energy was awesome.   It was great to have that "share out" time with her.   It was even better to do all the LISTENING in that conversation.  Well done Heather.  Time to upgrade?????  tee hee.  Come join us - you are welcome here!
• Mel.   Mel, I am so effin proud of you.   4th place.   I still need a more formal 1x1 report out from you.  But looking you in the eye and really listening to you about how you beat out two opponents that ususally get you made me so proud.  So happy for you chica.  That feeling is awesome.  Makes you want to bottle it, doesn't it?   Makes you want to keep coming back right?   Anyway.  I was thinking about how far you've come in such a short amount of time.  You're going to school me soon.  Until then though, I'll keep reminding you how you have "kick ass" power in your genes.  Yeah, I'm a tad jealous of that.  Good jealous.
• Shea, you're the man.  That's all I have to say.  Way to bring major positive energy to the races both days.  Your win was sweet.    
• Emily, you rocked today.  Your plastic bag with your beer was very ghetto cool.  Ha.  You were an important part of my daily lesson today.  Your kind words about "us fast girls" really gave me perspective.  Part of me quickly dismissed your compliment and for that I apologize.  You reminded me to tell myself about my journey in this sport.   You also helped me see that I needed to let go of some of my perfectionism today.  so mega thanks for your kind words.  It was really cool seeing you both before and after race today.  Your smile lights up the race.  I love that.  Can't wait to see you at Seneca next week.  Yes, Seneca will be your DCCX warmup.  YES MAAM!  *WINK*
• C3 boys, you rock.  Thanks for all the cheers during race.  I needed 'em.
• And Hyattsville, thanks for hooking us with a great race today.  Very cool how we have so many races in our Midatlantic area.  Some small, all of them growing.  All within an hour, two or even 12 miles from my house door-to-door.

In the end we race because we love the way we feel when we do.
Today, it was awesome feeling and taking in everyone's energy.   I love this sport and I love what it continues to teach me about others and more importantly, myself.

I also want to thank Loki and AT for the lively entertainment post race.  I dig you both.  And A, somehow I think we can remain friends for another 350 days.  2013 CX planning.  i love that we are all starting to plan next year right away.... sweet stuff.   Nice to know we made it through trip 1 as friends.  :) ha.

Gloucester Gran Prix Weekend 2012 - amazing trip!

So I feel like I have to take divide this awesome experience into three main categories:

1. Before Gloucester (BG)
2. During Gloucester (DG)
3. After Gloucester (AG)

Before Gloucester:  
I was in planning mode a few weeks before the big trip.   Allyson T. and I had agreed to make the pilgrimage to Gloucester together, sharing expenses along the way, and hopefully remaining friends throughout the trip (our joke was that we would try to focus on remaining friends throughout each major stage of our journey).  We each are accustomed to our individual independence at races so merging our ways was going to make it interesting or so we thought.  

Becky Frederick had hooked us up with an awesome host up near the Gloucester race.  Becky had made the journey the year before and told me how awesome the Cotting's were and that I should def reach out to the family and see if I could take advantage of their hospitality.

Sandy Cotting, his wife Jane, and his daughter Sarah Anne agreed to host us and it was one of the best decisions of the BG phase! :-)

Meanwhile, Allyson and I kept an eye on the weather as we approached our departure date.   Monday 9/24 it was all sunshine and roses.  Midweek, chance of rain.  Friday RAIN.  

And well, Rain was the theme.   The big green blob followed us wherever we roamed.  From CT onward, it was rain, rain and more rain with some mild gaps of fog and cloudiness to break up the rain.

Conditions would be epic.
 
 

Epic Rain forecast for New England

BG - Car Ride North:   AT and I split driving on the way up.  We pushed off around 11:00A and by late afternoon learned that Kris Auer was about 30 minutes or so behind us.   We decided to find a local restaurant near Worcester Massachusetts to stop and grab dinner.

• Remember the Vegetarian Delight restaurant with what looked like bullet-proof glass...yeah....
• We were all using our Smart phones to locate another possible restaurant...smart phones didn't feel all that smart...maybe it was us?
• We landed at the Dancing Rhino, what a name, and was able to pull off our varied food diets of:
• Meat-a-tarian, no wheat 
• Vegetarian, no dairy
• Vegetarian

Funny really.   
Anyway, 2 hours later or so and we arrived at the Cotting's.   We met Sandy and his dog, Abbey, and quickly settled in to our new room for the weekend.    

 During Gloucester (DG):   Race Day 1
We woke early and looked out the window.  Yes, rain.
I went on the search for java bean almost immediately.   I have two major addictions in my life:  cycling and coffee.   After foraging through every cabinet, I located the beans.  Life was good.  (Thank-you Jane for being a coffee junkee, seriously!)

Sandy was racing the Men4 race at 9:00A so he was gone before we woke.   Our race was at 2:30P but we wanted to try to get over to the race mid-morning to setup, ride the course, and get ready.

We quickly found the C3 gang - thanks Arley, your camper made it super easy to find the group.

Day 1 setup behind Arley's camper

We pulled up and unloaded our ton of supplies and got ready for the day ahead.   

Surprisingly, Gloucester was fairly dry considering the large volume of rain they had received late in the week and into the day.   It rained throughout the morning but spared us in the afternoon.   We actually had the sun poke out for a short time before it ducked back in.   

View from our Setup Location

Call up time  - the raffle system.   If you don't have UCI points, you have to "try your luck" in the raffle system.   Allyson pulled #47 and wasn't too happy.....until she saw my number, #102.  Yeah baby.   call me freaking lucky, not!


I started 2nd from last and had approximately 50 fast and crazy Elite women riders ahead of me in the starting grid.  Yeah, this would be awesome practice and training.

The whistle blew and we were off.  Right up a hilly road into a nice roundabout right hand turn, still on pavement, and then quickly onto the grass with a hard left hander.

I don't know how I did it but I got a few inside breaks early in the start and was able to cut into traffic and gain position into both turns on the road.   I had AT behind me, doesn't happen often, felt good having "friendly company" somewhere near me at least  for a moment.   She was moving up quickly and held me for a quick second before yelling something like "let's go Jen" and made her pass.  I held her wheel until I bobbled in a set of S-turns, fell, and lost my chain.  After remounting she was gone on her attack and I chased.  That felt normal.  :)  Except me chasing included chasing 90% of the field.  Yeah elite in New England is an entirely different league of freaking fast.   Uber fast.  :-)

View from "the Rock" - one half of the course

The course was def faster on Saturday compared to Sunday.   Average HR was the usual Heart Attack zone 177-180 bpm.  My first lap was def pretty awesome, at least in my mind, but it def felt like I lost some go-go juice as the race progressed.  The course demanded attention.   Fast turns.  Ruts.  Run-ups. Twists.  Fast flats.  Fast road sections.  And lots of pressure to hold speed or the New England ladies behind would chew you up and spit you out.   

The C3 gang which included Mark and Diane and Auer screaming "go Tillman" from the pit every lap was awesome.  Matt Means had made the trip and I think I heard him throughout the race as well.  Thanks Matt!   The racing was awesome.  I closed the day in 37th out of 50+.  

Day 1 and Day 2 run up.   this picture doesn't do it justice!

Considering my starting grid 2nd to last position, considering the course and considering the field -- I was happy but it take me a quick second to find that ZenJen happy.   5 minutes after the race, I did my sulking.  Sulking about being/feeling slow.   But it didn't take long to switch that sulk to a positive mood.   After all,  I had my team C3 and all their support during the race. I had the experience of Gloucester with its crazy spectators.   I experienced a truly stacked field of uber Elite women racers.  I learned a lot.  I didn't get lapped.   I had a great travel friend.   We had a good race setup/tent.  Yeah eff-that bad attitude.  :)   Def turned rest of day into ALL smiles (and soreness and bruising).

We ended up back at the Cottings around 7p.   We all decided to grab dinner in Salem.   Again, we had to balance the Meat-a-tarian No Wheat with Vegetarian No Dairy with those (ha, the Cottings) who had no food rules.

We ended up having Indian at a cool little place in Salem.    It was a nice way to decompress and chat about our lives intermixed with a lot of cycling and post-race recap chit chat.  

Sarah Anne:  is that a challenge?  That quote became a theme for AT and me.   It was also immediately clear that Allyson and I related VERY well to a 10-year old maybe better in fact than the surrounding company of adults.  Ha. 


Day 1 to Day 2 Transition - Saturday PM into Sunday AM

• When you're wicked tired, you reach Stupid Hour or Silly Hour.   Why the heck were we screaming "Timmy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  to each other as we were falling asleep???  Who the hell knows.   All I remember is laughing so effin hard my abs hurt.  Good stuff.  eventually we got quiet, took a second.  :)
  
• And Note to self - Allyson crashes in her sleep.  I'll never forget the high speed crash into the side of my twin bed at O-dark-thirty.  Ha.   I don't even think AT said anything --- perhaps she thought it didn't really happen or was confused or something.    But yeah, this girl crashes in her sleep.   Or maybe she was practicing putting those New England girls into the tape.!

 During Gloucester (DG):   Race Day 2

50 yard  (or so) beach run then this on Day 2.

 Day 2 represented the day of process improvement.   We experienced the process on Saturday and refined the process on Sunday.

• Setup system was in place, check!
• Course inspection, via foot though, check!
• Registration and crappy raffle pick numbers, check!

 We had a ton of rain overnight and steady rain all morning into our 2:30P race.   Yes, today was muddier.   We both decided to forgo any pre-riding and save our bikes some.   

We walked the course during the 11 and 12p races and noticed the new challenges.   

• the beach run into the stairs 
• the s-turns on the front side of the course, from yesterday, were now mud slicks.  Yes, we knew that would be a run section.  And def smarter to run as we compared guys riding vs. running.
• The run-up on the backside of the course was still in.  And yes it hurt.
• The small set of stairs near the spectators
• The barriers were still in the same spot but the exit from them now put us right out on the finish area, the road.

so yes, at minimum, 4 dismounts per lap and REAL RUNNING (not this three steps and you're done crap.  No this was freaking running)  Lap times were dramatically increased too from Saturday.   I averaged 15 min or so I think.  Nothing impressive compared to the Brits and US elites.   But all I can say is:  Imagine yourself running for 1/3 of that, well it felt like a third.   Yeah, that hurt. 

Remember my start from yesterday?, I moved up just a few places. Ha.   Same start.  but much harder to find gaps and get ahead today.

The start too had changed.  After racing up the hill we all poured into the backside of the course.  Lots of turns.  Deep ruts.  Sloppy mud.   Yard sales everywhere.   It was difficult to move up positions while in those sections, at least for me.   I focused on staying loose and letting the bike do what it wanted to do.

Me, Allyson, Sandy and wicked smart Sarah Anne

Needless to say, Sunday was the hardest race of my CX career.  But it was also some of the most fun.   The mud was so crazy.  

 We ended up finding Sandy and Sarah Anne after the race.   They stayed to watch us and tried to pick us out of the 50 riders.   once they did, they were cheering for us like crazy.  thanks guys!

we all climbed up to the Big Rock and hung out while the last of the Elite men finished their final lap.  I really dig this picture.   Love the shoes Sandy!

And Sarah Anne, you're a bad-arse 10 year old.  Remember how you ran all the s-turns in your rain boots after the Elite men cleared?  I thought you were crazy and tough.  Awesome combo in my mind girly. :)  Tough little chick, yeah, watch out New England!

 
Other highlights:

• Post-race Kris Auer interview @ Alchemy.  I learned a few things but don't think my interview was all that good.  :)
• Lots of veg dish shared plates, pure awesomeness.
• Gin N Tonic direct to brain.  Only one.  One was enough!
• Italian bakery for Cotting dessert delivery
• Washing our kits 2x because 1x just wasn't enough!!!!!!!!!!

  After Gloucester (AG):   Day after Races, Monday

We rode out to the Beach with Sandy on one of his 1 hour routes Monday morning.  Super beautiful.  No rain, only clouds.   God it was nice just to spin, ride and take in the sites.

Allyson:   Sandy and I loved your run into the bay/ocean.   You had us for just a second...had us thinking you were going to strip and dive in that is.  Funny.  Yeah it was the day after an epic weekend and the three of us were feeling happy just to be riding in a relaxed way.  Everyone was light.

Awesome Monday road ride out to the Beach with Sandy.   Most relaxing part of the trip!

I won't write much more about the details other than to summarize via a few bullets:

• The Cottings rock, all of 'em.  Cats, dog and peeps
• The trip was freaking amazing.    Would I do it again?  Absol-freaking-lutely!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• My travel partner rocked.   Our friendship survived and strengthened this weekend.  I've never seen AT smile so much.  Yeah.  
• Kris and the C3 gang are awesome.  Thanks dude.  
• Gloucester is epic.  You love cross?  Go.  That is it.  You got to try it.
• Massachusetts, New England.  Yeah, I love it.   Love the New Englanders.
• And well be careful on your return drive south.  Bronx parkway was not in the plan or so I thought! ;-D

 And there'll always be:
More to practice, more to learn.  More fun to be had.  More mud to experience. 
Next year repeat? 
Magic 8-ball says:  very likely

Peace.