Thru Endurance We Conquer!

Ufdah! Fast, lots of climbing and fast descents, and too few rocks on the bike - that's my initial impression from the Xterra USA National Championships in Ogden/Snowbasin today. It was was a perfect day for racing, with clear weather outside of the media storm. Melanie M rode away for the win (and I think the win in the America Tour Series as well). Lesley P placed second, with Danielle Kabush in third. Kelly Cullen finished 4th and won the American Championship ahead of Emma G. I finished 13th pro, 17th overall - there were plenty of speedy women out there today! The new bike course added plenty of climbing and some great views - but I was suffering too much to enjoy! I had a great run, reeling in three women who had passed me on the bike. It wasn't quite enough though - still need to spend some quality time on my bike over the winter. Heading for the finish along Snowbasin's fun single track Photo - Nick Thelen

A race report about not racing? How does that happen? Very easy - I was running support and Nick was racing! This was his last big race before 24 Hours of COS and it was training for both of us. Him for riding his bike for a while and me for support! After the rain on Wednesday and Thursday, the original course was completely trashed - there were wash out ruts nearly two feet deep on sections of Palmer Point trail. Obviously, it wouldn't be safe to run the race right through those ruts. So Saturday am, the course was changed to a five mile lap that Nick would be riding 10 times. Ufdah! That meant my planned "easy" day of sitting around and reading, then handing out a bottle every now and then was gone. I would have to be on my best game to keep Nick with bottles and food. Nick had pre mixed two half gallons of drink, had food in the cooler and I had my game plan set. At first, a bottle every lap - on a short climb just outside the tents. Then when the heat picked up, it ...

Coming off the Notch on the last lap Photo - About the Shot (abouttheshot.com) Our third year of racing at the 24 Hours in the Sage and it was still a grand time. The KOA has fully embraced the madness of the noon to noon race, making the venue the best of all the 24 hour races we've been to. Add in the fun of Hartman Rocks and it's clear why 24 Hours in the Sage has become an annual pilgrimage. But besides the fun, the racing is also serious. Last year Nick and I won a close race in the Co-Ed Duo class and we came to Gunnison hoping to defend the title. Despite some hiccups and completely scrapping our pre-race plan, we kept it together. As usual in 24 Hour racing, the weather proved as much an opponent as the other teams. It was a close race for most of the first day and into the night. At the end of the day, Nick and I - racing as Happy 2 B Here - turned 20 laps, finishing at 12:08. We even beat the Men's Duo team by a few seconds! The second place Co-Ed team, Keepi...

So two days after I promised Nick that I wouldn't do any night rides alone, I found myself getting lights and heading out at 7:00pm to hit the trails. And I wasn't planning on meeting anyone - had just gotten home from work late and it was too nice to not ride outside. Given the type of ride I was supposed to do, it seemed like a great night to take the single speed out for a spin. Texted Nick that I was leaving and was planning on riding about an hour - and off I rode into the twilight. I saw a few other groups of riders finishing up as I climbed into Stratton. But I was alone - just me, my light and the cat toy I'd swiped as a bear bell. It was kinda nice at first, the silence and stillness of the trail - isolated in the trees. But as the darkness consumed that trees, it started getting a little freaky. There was literally no one around and I kept seeing eyes staring at me. Although I knew that the eyes were from the deer I'd seen browsing in the fields as the sun wa...

While I still haven't gotten the race report from 24 hours in the sage written that doesn't mean I've been slacking! It has been a busy few weeks. We just finished painting the bedroom, a really warm brown that looks great. Still waiting on getting blinds and such, but now one step closer. That meant that yesterday's ride turned into a night ride. We headed out about 7:00 with full lights and meandered up thru stratton. The plan was to just ride Buckhorn and Jacks, then meander home. Stratton was quiet on the way up but Gold Camp road was crazy busy. And none of the cars wanted to either slow down or give us an inch of space. Really frustrating. And the road was really dusty which made things even worse. Finally on Buckhorn and full darkness. With no cars and no hikers it was perfectly still. Just the two of us and the beams of our lights. Had a good climb and stopped to adjust lights at the top. Then down we headed. And I was slow this time! Between my normal hesitancy...

With Nick racing the 24 Hours of Colorado Springs in a few weeks, it's time to head back to Palmer Park and get to know the trails a little better. I'm not racing, but I am supporting, so knowing where he's riding is a good thing. We were supposed to do a course recon on Wednesday, but did not have a map printed out yet. So we just rode around with Kristi, showing off some of the fun trails the park has to offer. We did ride sections of the course, but for the most part, just had a good time on the bikes. The trails were pretty quiet so we were able to keep the tempo high. Up the hill, along the mesa's edge, down one of the rocky trails, then back up and around. Nick took us on one of the social trails on the south east corner of the park that I had had difficulty with the last time. No issues on the this ride, and even better was that I was able to stay on my bike on the next "goat" trail we chose! We meandered our way to little Moab, where it was time to...