Cold & Cough takes down a Tillmanator

Fri 11/01 - Cold N Cough Day 1 - Nasal drip.  Yum.
Sat 11/02 - Ignore, ride MTB
Sun 11/03 - Complete Denial.  Race Ed Sanders. See former blog.
Mon 11/04 - Sick.  Raspy. 
Tue 11/05 - Knucklehead goes MTB with fast boy crew.  I bail at 45 min.  Lungs are singed.

Wed 11/06, Thursday 11/07, and Friday 11/08 - SICK, finally resting.  I give up.  Dammit, my cold "competitor" took down the Tillmanator.  I fought.  I tried.  It won.

Sat 11/09 - I ride easy in woods.  Goal = therapy.
Sun 11/10 - repeat.

I am still not feeling well but I'm inching back to normal health.  Man, this cold sucks. 

Mon 11/11 - Rest
Tue 11/12 - Easy rollers in the AM

So, many think I'm insane.  Why would I push this hard especially when I'm not feeling well?
Some understand my motives.

I'd love to think I would be feeling super well by weekend and ready to race Rockburn.

Maybe I will be.  Maybe I'll be at 80-85%.

Regardless, this damn cold competitor taught me a few lessons the last few weeks.
I have some great friends and colleagues who look after me.  They mirror what I find hard to see.

I do need to chill more.  Somehow.  Ideally without a cold bug "putting me down."
I need to ride for fun more.  Play dates and no goals make things fun.

Ed Sanders 11-03-13

Hmm.  What I learned this week:

- racing with a chest cold is probably not the best decision but I missed racing after my Cancun long wkd trip

- racing with a cold freaking hurts even more

- racing with a cold guaranteed that I would sound like a Kathleen Turner on Monday morning.  A Kathleen Turner who smoked a few packs of cigarettes and boozed it up all  Weekend.  Yeah seriously raspy husky voice.

Oh well.  After racing with my cold, I took it easy this week....and it looks like I'm choosing to bail on this weekend's racing so that I can pursue and maybe realize some r&r.  Although I foresee some mellow woods time... ;-)

Your hard headed CX racer Tillmanator!

Pix from Ed Sanders:

Cancun

Crazy week leading up to Cancun. 

Wednesday 10/23
After doing my 6A before sunrise road ride, Tracy told me my passport expired.  Thankfully she had a whisper in her mind that AM telling her to pull the passports out in preparation for our trip.  Emergency trip to DC in lieu of work that day.   Got my passport.  Sigh.  Could have been much worse had I discovered that boo-boo Friday morning at the airport.

Thursday
Back to work one more day before our trip.   2:30P during a project team meeting.  I fell out.  From totally ok to feeling like I was going to pass out.  Lightheaded.  Slurred speech. Hot flashes.  Cold Chills.   Emergency trip to Patient First.  After a few hours, I was released and cleared to go to mexico.  Doc even told me to extra chill with the help of a few adult bevys.  What a day?  What a week? I have a habit of ignoring early warning signs from my body.  T now says my body goes to extreme measures to get my effin attention.


Friday
Left house at 6:30A for our AM flight.  Beltway was jammed clogged so this time it was an emergency get off the flippin' highway and take the backroads.  Added an extra 30 min but made it in time to check in and relax a quick second.

Flight left and we arrived Cancun 12-1p their time.   We expected a private car to have a Tillman/Pafel sign at the airport exit based on our trip last year. No sign.  Tons of taxi drivers.  Tons of other locals with signs for other travelers.

Emergency cell phone call (thanks to a local) to the hotel.  They were showing our reservation for the trip was cancelled.  ***SIGH***

At this point, we told local cell buddy to hook us up with ride to the hotel so we could speak to our Mexican friends in person and try to figure out what the @#*%^ was going on.

Told T I must stay chill or my arse was going to end up in a Mexican hospital.  :-/

We arrived and the hotel was "already on the case" for us.  4 STAR mega service.  2 hand massages for each of us and 2 margaritas and we started to relax.

Just a bumpy start, wouldn't you say?  Just a tad.

Friday - Saturday - Sunday - Monday AM

View from our Room

Skies were a tad threatening but dammit we enjoyed our beach time

Cancun.  While the weather was not perfect with intermittent rain and mega storms and partly cloudy skies in between, we made the most of it.   The food was amazing.  I had dessert with EVERY meal.  I had cocktails starting very early in the day *wink*.  
I made the decision early to try to do things I normally don't do.   Chill.  Eat.  Drink.  Repeat.  Then Repeat again.  It was nice.  No more emergencies during this part of our trip.





Monday 
We left the hotel around 1030A.  Our quick trip quickly came to an end.  At the airport about 30 min prior to boarding time, Air Tran announced that the flight was cancelled.  Hydraulic hose broke.  No more flights back to Baltimore (or the U.S.) that day.   Emergency hose was called in and was expected tomorrow.  103 passengers.   It took a little while but Air Tran did ok.   They arranged buses back to Cancun and a hotel, the RIU. 

While we really expected to be back in our cozy home with our furballs, we made the most of it.
We bonded with our 103 new friends at the hotel and drank Dirty Bananas while cheering the Cardinals in the World Series game.

Tuesday - extra morning
We were on the 2nd flight for Baltimore that day (1 of 2) at 2:00P.   That meant we could enjoy most of the morning out in the sun.  We suited up and enjoyed the first amazingly sunny day of the trip.  :-)

Back to the airport by noon and this time, our flight took off.  No emergencies.  Thank God.

We got home around 10P.  Finally!   And we got Air Tran to comp us 2 more round trip air tickets.

Next Trip.
LONGER, maybe 5 nights...
And we're thinking Dominican Republic in February.

DCCX

I was looking forward to racing DCCX all week.

Saturday, I did my race openers in my favorite place, the woods.  I head out on my geared mountain bike with the boys and played.  It was so much fun.  No real goals, just not to over-push myself....which in and of itself can be tough.

90 minutes of woods time was perfect.  It was exactly what I needed.

On to Sunday...Mom, aka Mominator, met me at my place and we were out the door by 815A.   The women elite race was at noon.  I arrived with plenty of time to pre ride the course a few times.  The course was typical DCCX-awesomeness.  Dry.  Fast.  Tons of turns and some nice technical turns.  Plenty of off cambers.  Punchy climbs.  And some hard false flat and road power sections.

Saw Heather H before the race and talked her into racing the Singlespeed race at 2p.  Why not double up?  I had a "buy" weekend coming up :-).

Women's race had some solid competitors in the mix.  It was wicked start off the whistle, as usual.  I did ok (still need to work on my starts....ah) off the start.  I was able to hold on and claim a few positions before finding 10th place.   For the remainder of the race, I had 9th in my sights, close.   And 11th was yo-yoing off my rear wheel and holding on.  We were a solid trio.  Great race action within the race.

On the final lap, I knew i wanted to blow out my matchbook and make moves that would stick and get me 9th.  I made a move after the start/finish area and took 9th.   Our lady friend in front did not like that idea too much and clawed right back in this cat and mouse game to reclaim her spot.  I was right there holding strong thinking about the next move.

After the barriers on the far side there is a long sidewalk drag.   At the end of that drag you drop off a small curb and fly into a grassy descent.  That must have been the place where my race went south.   Onward I went still feeling ok.  Passed the pit and on the long drag I knew something was wrong...flat.  Bah.   Right there in that moment, I said goodbye to 10th place and settled into 11th.  There was no way I could hold that pace and take turns aggressively when my rear tubular was slopping along.   Nothing like riding road or bumpy sections on a rear wheel with zero pounds of pressure.  Luckily Webber built me a solid race wheel and it was still spinning true after... on to the story.

The double foul of the day was my idiot self didn't realize the pit was double sided.  Yeah, um things to just freaking know, really?  yes, really really.   Luckily for me I kept 11th to the finish line.

My Tillmanator Sister, Amy

I ended that race super frustrated to say the least.  I had a small little vent and moved right along to the idea and emptying my frustration energy in the Singlespeed race.   And all in all, an 11th place finish despite that issue was pretty damn good.

Meanwhile - post-frustration in between races, I hung with fellow team mates recapping the race and hanging with my super cool awesome "running" Tillmanator sister, Amy.   So cool to have her there cheering me on.  She ended up hanging most of the day and took in the cycling sites -- DCCX was def a mix of "hipsters meet punk rockers" scene.  (well said Amy)

Photo Credit ~ Carla Williams

Rolled up to the line at 2p for the SS race and ended up in 4th row next to the three other women in the all 30-35 man soaked field.  Pretty cool?

Photo Credit ~ Bruce Lindsay  (Singlespeed Race)

The goal - spend all my matches.  Play as hard as I could.  Race my geared bike as a one gear and have a freaking blast. 42-22!  It was simple.  It was fun.  I had a blast.   And the beer hand up mid-race was a nice add to the mix.

Mominator, Tillmanator x 2

After the singlespeed race, Mom, Amy and I hung out for awhile and enjoyed the amazingly beautiful Fall day.

Sunshine,  good friend, family and solid racing.  Life is sweet.   And in the end, it is just a race.


Special thanks to my favorite PB, Djordje.  My crew and I love him!

Pre DCCX thoughts

Work has been busy and getting busier.  Life in general has been hectic.  It has been a daily practice to stay Zen, in the moment, and prioritize renew time.

I just signed up for DCCX and I am looking forward to this wicked fun race before jet-setting to the beautiful, tropical and super calming Live Aqua (all inclusive) resort in Cancun.

7 weekends in a row of 'cross racing + busy day job = time to check out.
Cancun....

Tacchino Cyclocross

Stressful week felt mega spent and drained


Bailed on racing Saturday
slept till 10a instead...
Saturday with Tracy was a nice way to renew.


Weather this week brought many inches and inches of rain
Mega wet
Lots of rain makes for lots of wet grass and mud
Serious 'cross conditions
Bringing low key low expectations to 'cross means more fun
ZenJen
Being Heckled while you race
Smile and stick out my tongue!
Laugh.
Riding in the mud
I'm squirreling
and grinning

Rewarding one self post race
sharing Belgium ales
and stories
sharing good times

Sipping my beer, I hear "Tillman" on the announcer's speaker...
Turns out I took 5th today
I'll take it!
:)

The Orange C3 Crew!

Local Weekend of hotter than hell racing in October

I decided that making a trek to Providence RI this weekend for the UCI races was just too much after a busy work week.  Why drive so far and add the extra stress when I could be close to my T and race 15 min away Saturday and 1 hr away on Sunday.  So I made the wise decision to stay close to home and race.  I'm glad I did!

Saturday:  PsychoCX in Sykesville Md

90 degree temps and a punchy course left most of our race field with chills (heatstroke) during the race.  

The race takes place on the Springfield institution property -- a bit creepy having vacant brick institutional buildings throughout the race course.

A small fumble wreck early in the race put me in 4th place and gaps grew from there.  I finished in a sprint to the finish against the young, 18 yr old Glamour Hammer, Ginny Jeppi, hot on my heels.  I took 3rd place.

Sunday:  Hyattsville CX

Tillmanator support, Djordje (George) and Mom, came out to support me.  It wasn't quite as hot as yesterday but still warm especially for October.

I got to preride a few times with Cheryl Sorensen, 100 mile NUE champion -- and damn good CXer too!  It was fun following her lines, super smooth in all those turns.

Race was fast from the whistle with some major hustle to build gaps right away.  I held on to the lead group into the first half but just didn't have the rocket fuel to hold their speeds.  I was 5th into the technical woods section and wanted to ride the hairpin off cambers and punch the short climb over the roots.  While I executed this well, the faster move was to run the inside line, hustle up the hill, and remount.  Carla showed me this first hand takin my 5th spot.  She, and her rocket powered legs, took me to school on those fast flat sections.  Ouch!  It hurt as I "tried" to catch.  Well done Carla!!

The woods, thanks for the pix Tammi!

I took a bottle for this race after ehat stroking yesterday.  I held 6th for the rest of the race.

It was a super fun day & it was a good day to be outside and taking in all the cyclocross community fun.  I love this sport and I am truly in awe of my fellow racers.  Really cool, fun and diversely interesting people.

But really, can we please have just a little cold.... 

:-)

Grateful tidbits from the day:

- mom mega spectator

- awesome pit crew

- cheers from so many, especially training partner Tammi!

- cheers from Jenn Maxwell and Libbey while racing, how cool?!

- prerides with amazing humble cool athletes

- drinking a beer and cheering the Bs, esp those 2 crazy women in that race

- post race brain fail shared moments w Traci from WV

- and my best love waiting @ home with dinner for me and my Tillmanator Mom

Yeah, life is sweet

Zen Matters.

Saturday:  met 4 friends and rode my Tillmanator Singlespeed MTB in the woods.  It is amazing to be outside in the woods with friends on days like Saturday.  It was a play date.  We climbed.  We peddled along the sweet singletrack.  We stopped to wait up for one another.  We played.  It was just what I needed.  So nice.

Sunday:  first cyclocross race of the Super8 Mabra series (1 of 3 series in our area.  It's the 2nd largest).  Race 1 of this series was in Winchester Virginia, about 1h45m from my house in Owings Mills.

• I packed the Element mobile garage Saturday night.  (all the usual race gear and bikes...)
• Left Baltimore around 7A
• Drove 70 to 340 through Harpers Ferry and beyond to Winchester. 
• It was a beautiful drive with misty fog still clearing and views of the mountains reflecting the early morning sun.  It was a ZenJen day from the start.  :)
• Got to the race around 9A
• Pre-rode my "B" bike around 9:45.  
• Course was dry with 3 "off the bike" sections:  a short steep run up, one HUGE run up they call the Belgium wall (yeah, that one hurt) on the backside of the course, and a set of barriers.  They also had two woods sections with really dry, loomy dirt.  Through the woods, it was important to see the lines avoiding the big roots.
• As I finished my first pre-ride lap, my front tubular flatted.  Damn, I have been racing 4 seasons and no tubular flats.  Guess it was time.  
• Loaded the B-bike into the car and pulled out the A-bike for a preride lap about an hour later.
• To ensure no flats, I put a little extra air in my A-bike tubulars.  
• Race was at 12p
• Small field, 9 of us.
• I had a short eyes closed "intention" setting at the start before the whistle blew.  ~~~ Jen....have fun.  Do my best.  No matter what happens, it is all good.  Enjoy the race.~~~
• Whistle blew and I had a solid start.  Held 3rd wheel into the asphalt to grass transition.
• Held 3rd into the first mile.
• Into a hairpin, there was a wreck right behind me.  Still 3rd.
• I raced hard and tried to close the gap in front of me.  The gap was about 5-10 sec and no matter how hard I pushed, the gap remained the entire race.
• Meanwhile I had heat on my rear wheel.  4th and I traded places a few times throughout the race but in the end I had 3rd.
• On last lap, 5th had overtaken 4th.  I could tell 5th, now 4th, was aggressively pulling her way up.
• I high-tailed it into the last 1/2 lap and took 3rd on the line.  4th was 5 seconds behind me.  2nd was only 10 seconds ahead of me.  1st - 30 seconds.

Overall, it was a super fun day.  Beautiful fall weather.  I felt pretty damn good.  Very Zen.  In the moment.
Felt good to stand on the podium.  Caught up with a few friends after the podiums and cheered some of my Teammates on in the 1p race.

Life is very good.  

Charm City Cyclocross weekend

Charm City Cyclocross is my team's big cyclocross event in Baltimore.   My team, Twenty 20 Cycling, does not mess around when it comes to putting on a top-notch, "A" game, PRO, kick arse CX event.  This team lives for Cyclocross season and that is the reason many of us have wanted to join this squad....and IMO, the best squad in Balm-er.

The event runs both Sat and Sun from 9:00A to 5:00P.   We were expecting 1,500 races from Oregon to the UK and many places in between.

Everyone on the team volunteers.   One kick arse crew does course logistics (course design, coordination with the City, setup which includes a Zillion course stakes, tape, and the installation of stairs and barriers among many other things...)  Another group handles host housing.  Another volunteer coordination.  Another registration.   Add parking, medical, race officials, race timing, marketing and PR, prizes, announcers, food and hospitality and everything else I'm forgetting and you get an idea of what it takes to put on the event.

It's like a carnival.  A Carnival of kick-arse CROSS.   Yeah Twenty 20!

I'll take you through the week leading up to the big races and a few highlights.  Thanks for reading!

Wednesday:  race registration closed online.  Crunched all the data w Matt.  1500 racers sorted by points with bib numbers assigned.

Thursday:   "Dry run" of the registration process cause Matt and I both want to nail the real process this weekend! 

- 2 laptops, check (+ more on Saturday)

- Printer drivers installed, check.  

- Printer works, check.

- USB drives, check.

- Excel templates ready, check!  

Now we were ready to register the racers on Saturday/Sunday and distribute all final data to Announcers, officials, and Results team.  We aimed to have excellent data quality!!

Saturday:

- Woke around 5:30A

- Arrived registration area @ 7:00A and worked til 12p.  

- Got a few pre-ride laps in

- Then warmed up 

- Race started  @ 2:30.

Here are a few race day pics:

The "planter" barriers.   This is a park feature that our Twenty 20 boys make into a race feature every year!

Course area near the podiums/announcers/food restaurant row/beer garden and coffee area.   Tons of spectators in this area.  It was great to hear all the cheers! 

Another picture of the "Planter" barriers

Sand!  Two volley ball sand courts are turned into two sand pits separated by a short grassy section.  After each race, they rake out all the lines so we can hit 'em fresh again and make our own new lines.

Hitting a u-turn

Overall
- Good day but  def had some self-imposed stress with me
- Almost 40 women.
- I finished 22nd after two small crashes that cost me some precious seconds.

In hindsight, I needed more Zen to balance my Tillmanator on Saturday.   The race hurt.  5 laps of suffering and 180+ heart rate averages.   I pushed my body as far as it could go and more.   I was trying too hard and made a few mistakes.  

My best races are when I am relaxed while suffering beyond belief...

It was ok in the end as it always is....As I reflected that evening, I changed my perspective and that perspective is what I wanted to take forward into my Sunday race.   I wanted to race hard and enjoy the painful race process.   I wanted to take in more of the race and the overall experience of the day.  I wanted to relax with the day.   I wanted to appreciate more.

On to Sunday (after schlepping home, cleaning my "A" bike And recharging w food)

Panoramic of one half of the course

Sunday night weather 

Course held up pretty well despite the rain we received all night.

Sunday 

Registration was running smooth!

My Race at 2:30P

Rubbin is racing (-thx for pic Joe)

The finish!

Best part of my weekend - my Tillmanator support crew. I love them!!
 

Mom, Tracy, Amy, me and Ally

The race actually was filled with all kinds of challenges today.
- I had an ok start, nothing great (I am not the best sprinter.  Must. Work. On. That. in. Practice)
- I was riding hard and stayed with the lead pack
- After the first set of barriers, I felt my rear wheel rub.   Had to stop and inspect to see if I could adjust the cantilever...  I lost 5 seconds there before I remounted.   I kept going, it didn't feel like it was rubbing anymore.   Two women passed me there though ... bah ... so I had to chase back.  I had heat on my rear wheel.   Going up the hill on the backside of the course after the stairs, she passed.  Raced on.
- Into the sand the first time around, I had two women squirreling in front of me.  I ate "course tape" right at the end of the pit and had to un-snaggle quickly before getting back to speed in time for the 2nd sand pit.  
- I had my chase "on" again and I caught up to 3 women in front of me.  Women I wanted to pass. 
- This went on.   The course was fast today.  The rain had actually helped keep dust down and made turns stickier.   I felt strong but had to keep digging deep to chase back on to the groups.  This was racing.  Sh!t happens.  You deal.  And you keep racing.
- Coming out of the stair section/back side of course, I felt my rear wheel rubbing again.   No, I didnt want to race with my rear brake rubbing so I pitted.   The 3 women that I was chasing gapped me as I took my pit "B" bike.   My pit transition was pretty smooth though and totally worth it to have a good running bike for the rest of the race.
- I chased again but i never did close that gap.
- Despite the trials of the race unfolding to meet me, I raced really well.   I caught two women in the last lap.  I kept pushing into my suffer cave and gave it my all.
- I had fun. 
- It was painfully hard but I did the best I could given what the race threw at me.
- I managed through the challenges with more ease.  I just plain out accepted and moved on.  I had to.

And best part,  I had amazing loved ones, friends, and team mates cheering me on the whole time.

The other Tillmanator, my sister Amy.  I am trying to get her to try CX...

Yes, the crew was sporting the super hip Tillmanator shirts!   LOVE.

All the Race Stuff packed away until 2014

 So as you can see, I am smiling pretty big.   

 C3 Twenty 20 Cycling IS the freaking best team ever.   This crew is special.  They put on what will probably be one of the best CX races of 2013.  I am stoked to have been apart of making it happen.

Come on out to Charm City Cyclocross @ Druid Hill park this weekend

  

• Come on out and check out the super cool and wicked fun CX scene this weekend in our own Druid Hill park!             
•  Races run both Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 (novice men) all the way through the afternoon w Elite women at 2:30 and Elite men at 3:45.
• Our sponsor and local brewery, Union Mills brewery, will be serving up a variety of beers in the beer garden.....AND food trucks from the Gathering will be offering snack options!
  
  
  Bring a partner, a friend, a kid or two and come heckle the racers and have some fun!
   

South Germantown Cyclocross Sun 9/15

This weekend I had one local race in Germantown MD.
Saturday, I went single speed mountain biking with the boys to open my legs.   Sunday I raced at 1p.

My Mom joined me for this race and drove down with me.

Here were the highlights:  

• 70 degree amazing weather -- was actually hot for racing
• Course was like a grass criterium  (fast, lots of turns - many were hairpin, one set of barriers.)
• There were a ton of bumps throughout the course
• Laps were about 8 min.
• I got the hole shot off the line (10 Cat1 women) up the first of many uphill false flat turny sections.  Made it past the pits before the pressure was building
• 3 women passed within the next 1/2 mile
• Another strong "adventure racer" passed me on lap2.  She created and kept a 5 second gap on me.   While I made attempts to pass her, I was her "carrot" to keep her own hammer down.
• Finished 5th overall, good enough to be on the bottom of the podium steps. 
• Felt like my lower vertebrae had fused together.  Freakin' ouch.

It was a solid training race.   Nothing more nothing less.  It was the best I could do, today.   I came home, unloaded my mobile garage (my Element), showered, and iced my lower back.   Tracy reminded me that I have to be smart about next week before our team's BIG CHARM CITY RACE @ Druid Hill.  I must give this 37-year old bod a tad more time to recover.  I must.  I want to feel like a rocket next weekend.

On to rest and prepping for C3 Charm City Cyclocross.

Thanks for reading.


My metrics from the race:

• Red:  heart attack line, avg 170 beats per minute
• Blue:  speed, avg 12.43 mph (over 9 miles)
• Orange:  elevation profile

Nittany CX Pix

Thanks to my cousin Gail and teammate Shawn for many of the pictures!

Nittany Cyclocross Weekend #1

Packing Friday Evening after work:   this trip consists of...

• 1 racer (me), 0 passengers
• 1 full Honda Element "mobile garage solution" with 2 CX bikes, road wheels, trainer, chair, table, gear, tools, trash bags...
• And a few more race day supplies to add in the AM.

This weekend:

• Nittany Cyclocross UCI Race Weekend
• Race Saturday 2:30P
• Race Sunday 2:30P
• Nittany is a UCI race (international points race) and attracts racers from up and down the eastern seaboard since it is the only UCI race on our coast weekend.   IOW, the talent would be showing up.

Honda Element Mobile Garage Vehicle

Saturday 9:00A departure, drive 2.5 hours to Trexlerstown, PA



Owings Mills to Trexlerstown

Arrive 11:00A in time to pick up my numbers, pre-ride the course a few times, get my stuff together, and warm-up.  

(It was fun getting some practice and chit-chat time in w/fellow teammate A Breyla)

Race time was 2:30P with call-up's at 2:15





















The course:

Saturday Key Take-away's:

• No specific goals for the race other than to race my best "in the moment" and have fun with it. 
• I felt good before the race but I never know how I'm really going to feel until I am in the race with the afterburners on.   Plus, I never know what will happen in the race ... so it is best to just meet the moment when it comes, adapt as necessary, and let my training just "kick in"
• We had 7 women in the ProWomen field Saturday (and Sunday).  Yes, SEVEN.  How freaking cool is that?!!
• My Mom's cousin Gail and her husband, Jay, live 10 miles away and were coming to the races to cheer me on.  How cool!   Plus they were putting me up for the night.  Bonus family visit!
• Because I have ZERO UCI points (international series points),  I don't get a preferred call-up in the starting grid.  IOW, it is the luck of the "lottery" system and this go around I had last row luck.
• I raced smart.  I felt amazingly good.
• I felt calm at 180 heart rate beats per minute
• I was calculated. I made smart moves.
• I raced up to 17th place out of 40 women.
• I raced "my" race.
• And I had fun.
• ZenJen and Tillmanator were both present during this race.  Two unique sides to my own Racer profile.  They worked together quite well.
• I felt great and I did the best I could that day. 

I spent Saturday evening hanging with my family (Gail and Jay).  They fixed me a super healthy nice dinner and we relaxed and got to know one another.   It was a very sweet cherry cap on a solid day.  1st day of racing was in the books!  (the cookies for dessert and home roasted coffee were probably my favorite)

Sunday:

Still no specific goals for the day other than to do my best and have fun with it.

Race course was run backwards today.  We ended up racing six laps instead of five like we did on Saturday.

During warmup's, I felt a tad fatigued.  My body def felt the effects from suffering hard on Saturday.  Still I could only do my best, whatever that would be today. 

I was in the 2nd-to-last starting grid today.  Woot, one row ahead of the last row.  Small things.  :)

My family came out to cheer again but this time they brought their bikes.  Yah.   Bikes rule!

From the start, it was going to be a wicked fast day.  The accelerations and overall pace felt faster today.  The leaders were off and the group stayed in touch with them during the first lap.  (Imagine nearly 30-40 racers in a fast line all trying to over-take that rider in front of them while racing as hard as they could)

I made a few small tactical errors in the first few laps.  For example, I tried to overtake a racer in a turn when I probably should have just conserved my energy and "burned that match" later.  It was ok.  I was learning in the moment and re-calculating the rest of the race using my ZenJen Tillmanator selves to create balance. 

I was suffering.  Man it hurt so much more for me on day 2.   I had a few carrot racers out in front of me.  I'd catch their wheel, they'd pull away a few seconds.  I'd catch. Repeat.  Cat & mouse.   Good solid "races within the race" action.

On the last lap, I made a few moves and over-took a few other strong women out on the course.   Some must've spent too many "energy matches" on Saturday's race and/or early in this race.   Either way, I passed and they fell off.  Obviously, I had at least one more energy match than they had at that point in the race.

My ZenJen Tillmanator decided that when I was overtaking on that last lap, I had to give it everything I had (and MORE) and do it smart enough to create (and KEEP) a gap

I applied a Tillmanator after burner match early in last lap and gapped two women and kept the gap.   I was where I wanted to be in the woods section.  

I had been jumping the log (on bike) vs. running with bike like most women had been doing.   In this wood section, spectators huddled to watch.  Jumping that log earned me LOTS of awesome cheers from the crowd.  I loved that.  I grinned so big and played into the crowd.  F-U-N.  good times.  To those 10 year old kids hiding in the trees, I was a superstar.  Thanks kids.  Each lap, they'd scream "jump the log, do it" (something like that).  Heckling action.  When I successfully jumped, they cheered like crazy.   (the adults nearby were fun as well, especially those that had a few Ales in them) 

I finished with 10 sec or so on the two behind me.  22nd place on day 2.  

I gave it a solid effort.

I gave it my best during that race in those moments.

And now I'm back to my "day job" until next weekend.

Overall
I am pleased with my first wkd of racing. It was hard. It hurt.  I had fun.  I raced hard. I feel strong.  I feel open to what the season will bring.  ZenJen Tillmanator.  Interesting merge of two sides of good ole' "me" may be the recipe for the season.   It'll be interesting what things get added or subtracted as the season progresses.

Cycling is a great laboratory for life experimenting...

thanks for reading.

_ _ _ _ _

Next up, probably MedImmune local race on Sunday 9/15 to help me get some more training racing in before the Charm City UCI weekend.

Race Date		Series		Race Name	Alternates
a	09/07/2013	MAC	UCI	Nittany day 1
a	09/08/2013	MAC	UCI	Nittany day 2
	09/15/2013	Sportif		MedImmune
	09/21/2013	MAC	UCI	Charm City - Day 1
	09/22/2013	MAC	UCI	Charm City - Day 2
	09/28/2013	MAC		Whirlybird
	09/29/2013	Mabra		AppleCX
	10/05/2013	New England	UCI	Providence RI,  Day 1	Local Alternate:	Psycho Cross
	10/06/2013	New England	UCI	Providence RI,  Day 2	Local Alternate:	Hyattsville
	10/12/2013	Sportif		SCCX
	10/13/2013	Mabra		Tachino
	10/20/2013	Mabra		DCCX Cross
	Cancun!
	11/02/2013	Sportif		Patapsco Cross	UCI Race:	Northampton MA, Day 1
	11/03/2013	Mabra		Ed Sander	UCI Race:	Northampton MA, Day 2
	11/09/2013	MAC		FSVS Cross
	11/10/2013	Mabra		Schooley Mill
	11/16/2013	Sportif		All Hallows
	11/17/2013	Mabra		Rockburn
	11/23/2013	Off?			UCI Race:	SuperCross NY
	11/24/2013	VACX		Luray	UCI Race:	SuperCross NY
	12/01/2013	Sportif		Taneytown
	12/07/2013	MAC		Limestone at the Kiln	UCI Race:	NPX Rhode Island
	12/08/2013	Mabra		Capital CX	UCI Race:	NPX Rhode Island