Cowbells & Grapes: Ronde Von Jakob

Rockin' the knee socks for the first time this season! *Photo cred: Mike D.

Cross season definitely has arrived. Sunny, 50 degree temps and wind set the perfect mood for a cross race. Steph, Klucker and I loaded up in big black and headed to Southern Illinois. The venue was the von Jakob winery in Alto Pass. After a slight detour to tour the actual vineyards, we got to our destination. Being as it was Southern Illinois in near Shawnee, I was expecting hills. The good news was there weren't any monsters. The bad news was that the course was far more technical than I expected.

The layout of the course was as follows: long bumpy straight away, sharp turn into gravel, turns through to a short STEEP downhill (let me point out this was a 15 foot section, about a 60%angle) with an immediate left at the bottom. Next was around the barn with three 180s, back down the straight away followed by four 180 off cambers to the straight away leading to the barriers. The barriers were right before another 180 leading through a row of grapes, ending in a 90 degree turn followed by two more 180s. It went long and straight through tall grass, around a corner, over some discarded bricks, back to two long straights through high grass, one being a long, small grade climb before turning onto another loose gravel section and around a corner to the start/finish. I'm tired just typing that all.

We were early enough to take two laps on the course before Klucker's race started. I hatedthe bumps, the cliff, and the off camber 180s. I loved the long sloping sections--that's fun riding. Steph and I watched the Men's 4 take off and most of the race. We went down to the off camber turns to watch the line they were taking. The way I spent this 35 minutes was my first mistake of the day. I should have noodled around, ridden up and down the road, done something to keep my legs warm. Nope, instead I enjoyed social hour. It was interesting to see the men doing the barriers, who remounted right after and who waited until after the 180.

We got our call up to the line. There were ten women there--Carrie, Allison, Cory, Sally, Soli, Steph (her 1st cx race!!!), Beth, Kelly, Flavia, and me. Carrie and Allison were racing W123 and the rest of us were in Women's 4. (Side note . . . I didn't upgrade my cx license.)

The race started fast and I was in fifth off the start. I hesitated through the bumpy section on lap one, but then I concentrated on riding my race and was in third by the third lap. I knew I was riding aggressively, almost carelessly, because I felt my wheel slip in several spots. I passed Sally during the third lap and headed down the bumpy straight, gaining ground on Cory who was in first. I came up on the little cliff and took it hard and fast. I must have changed my line or went at it too hard because the next thing I knew my back wheel was over my head. Jumpin' Jesus on a pogo stick, can't I keep the bike upright! I unclipped because, yes, I rode my bike the whole way through the flip, and looked for Sally. There she was . . . pickles! I got on and took off. At that point I would have sworn to you my hand was broken. Sally followed me and passed me behind the barn because my bike handling wasn't quite golden by that point.

Cruising through the grapes . . . needing a hand-up of those in liquid form. *Photo cred: Mike D.

I worked to stay on Sally's wheel through that lap, even coming up even with her towards the barriers only to have her pull away. We were on two to go, after the grapes when I passed her again. This time I didn't look to see where she was at, I just pushed it. I realized when I went through the start I put a good deal of space between us and that as long as I stayed upright, I would hold second place. I also realized that Cory was no where in sight and had first locked down. I kept going hard and ended up with second.

Strong points for me this race: riding aggressively and consistently. Much better over the barriers--my timing for them was much better. Steph racing her first cx race. Cory getting her first real win.

Struggles: my warm up was too early. My legs weren't ready for the hot start and I had to work to get my place. Remounts weren't great but some of that was due to the fact that there was a 180 ten feet after the second barrier.

The next cx race on the schedule is Bubba #1 in 12 days. I'm hoping our women's fields continue to get bigger as they have been so far this season. I also hope my racing continues to makes the incremental improvements that I've seen over these last three.

The Aftermath

I hurt. I don’t like hurting. I can’t run, ride, move or breathe without being reminded of my crash. Showers are uncomfortable. Taking off a sports bra brings tears to my eyes. I cringe when my kids are on my right side because I’m afraid they’re going to bump the wrong area. I haven’t slept well in days because moving or rolling over wake me up because I jostle a sore spot.

I’ve tried to be proactive about my injuries. I diligently iced my hip 15 on/15 off during my drive home from Springfield. I stopped every hour and stretched as well. I spent more money than I won on good first aid supplies to protect my road rash. I’ve seen the world’s most wonderful chiropractor twice for adjustments, ART, kinesiotaping and muscle stimulation, but I still hurt.

I feel like a guy. I don’t like being injured and I don’t take it well. I don’t lay on the couch and whine, but I can’t sit on the sidelines either. And then I get crabby because I hurt or can’t perform as well as I think I should. My friends and family outside of the racing community don’t get it. They just tell me to rest. They don’t understand that my last seven months have been building for the two races coming up this weekend. I’m not going to be 100% for them. The best I can hope for is 80%. Is my 80% going to be enough to take against everyone else’s best form? I will be a Cat 3 racer next year, I will race hard, but I know my chances of taking a state race will be slim. This is my last best chance for a jersey.

I did power sprints this morning. The deep breaths weren’t as painful as I expected, but getting out of the saddle made me wince every time. I know the girls against whom I am competing, and as much as they care about me, they won’t take it easy on me and they shouldn’t. How will I react to the attacks? Can I stay on? Can I give the sprint I’ll need to give at the end? I don’t know if I can even support my weight in the aero position for the tt .

I believe there are a reason and a purpose for everything. I am trying to maintain a good perspective on this. I now know how I will react if I go down; I’ll get back up and race. I know my injuries could have been worse—the girl who hit me/ran over me has a broken wrist. I know this weekend I will give my all to my races and I will learn something about myself and my skills. I always do. And I know that even if I was healthy, I would be going up against tough competition and anything could happen.

It Was Bound to Happen Sooner or Later!

What a day! Let's start with the course...I loved it! It had seven corners, all 45 degrees, the pavement was beautiful, and there were some false flats but no real climbs. It was about 75 and overcast at race time. The second half of the course had wind to contend with, but not awful.

I got to the course, registered and did laps. Women's 4s was the first race, so I was able to do my warmup on the course. We pulled up to the line and had about seven in our field. A few triathletes, two other bike racers, and a few first time racers. We also had about 12! juniors in our race.

We got the go and the ABCycles girl took off. I had flashbacks of Carondelet and wasn't about to let that happen. I immediately went after her and by turn four was on her wheel. I hung on her wheel for the first three laps until she finally got tired pulling. (I was willing to let her go the whole race.) I took a pull, and waved Mandy (Tyson) around. I realized as I moved back, I realized there were only four of us by this point. We took turns pulling. At one point, the ABCycles girl tried an attack, I answered and held her wheel. We had about a half block gap when she sat up. I urged her to keep going, but she was spent. The others, with some lapped riders, jumped back on. We again took turns at pulls. It came down to 3 to go, then 2, then the last lap.

The ABCycles girl took off after turn five. I went after her and sat on her wheel until the final turn. I had figured out a good sprint point during my warm up so I knew where to start. I eased into my drops at turn six. We made turn seven and I was up and off. I added gears and spun up until I crossed the line. Win number two for me in the books! SA-WEET!

I went back to registration and got my Women's Open number. There was Aubree Dock from Tulsa Tough. She's a strong, strong three. I knew then the Open race was not going to be a walk in the park. I spun easily around the neighborhood and kept my legs warm. The 4/5 race ended and I jumped back on the course for a few laps. The clouds had cleared and the sun was out in full force by the time we pulled to the line.

Nine women lined up, beside Aubree, Pam Hinton, the women's open MO RR champ was there. Three other women from the 4's race was there and another girl, Megan, in her first race ever. We got the whistle and Pam went out hard. I went right after her. My legs felt great and I was ready to play! The first lap was fast. We got back to the start/finish and it calmed down. Pam, Aubree, and the girl in yellow were happy taking pulls. I made sure to sit 4th or 5th wheel so I would be ready to answer anything that went. About three laps in, Pam yelled at Megan because she was all over the place. Pam and Aubree gave a few more attacks, and I felt comfortable going after them each time. I took my turn pulling, but made sure not to work more than I needed to. 21 minutes in came the prime bell. I toyed with what I wanted to do. I decided to wait and see who jumped. Pam and the girl in the yellow went. I gave chase, but just enough to stay on their wheels and not be gapped. The girl in yellow took it. Aubree and Pam each launched another attack. They were quickly reeled in. We cruised past the start finish with 38 minutes on the card. I remember thinking, next time we'll get 4 to go.

Mandy was in front pulling at this point. I was sitting second wheel and our pace had slowed. I knew to expect something, I just didn't know when. We made turn seven and Pam went. From her earlier attack, she always took the far right. I glanced over my shoulder and saw her coming. The girl in yellow was hot on her wheel. I was up and out of my saddle, ready to go with them. Holly Guacamole! Mandy wasn't going and there was her wheel. I moved right but still grazed it. We were on the cobble strip and I felt my back wheel go. KABOOM! Helmet meets cobbles, right side meets pavement. I heard skidding behind me and felt someone ride over me. It was Megan and down she went! I jumped up and tried to figure out whether to grab my bottles or bike first. Megan was face down and groaned. I wondered if she had broken a wrist or collarbone. My first thought was that I couldn't believe I had raced so hard and lost it so close to the sprint. Someone picked up my bike and I asked if it was ok. He said the chain was off. Somehow that caused me to think what Larry told us at the start, up until 4 to go, we got our free lap. We hadn't crossed the line with four to go when I crashed. I got a free lap!

I told the guy, "Give me my bike, I wanna race." I started fussing with it to get the chain on and I heard Richard ask me if I was ok. "I just wanna race." He told me ok and took my bike. I grabbed my bottles from someone. Larry was running down telling them to get me to the pit. Richard told me go and I ran 50 or so yards and went in the pit. Megan followed. The pace car came around and I saw the pack. We were warned to jump on the back. Someone gave me a push and I jumped on the back of the group. The crowd went nuts cheering. There were three to go and I immediately worked to get in a good spot. Somewhere on the lap I heard "Hey Big Shark, glad you're back." We got the bell and I was calm and ready. I was sitting sixth wheel and knew the sprint would be hard. The pace of the lap was fast. In no time we were on the finishing straight. Let's see how bad I was hurt. I was out of the saddle and sprinting with all I had. I ran out of gear and kept going. I knew I had 5th, but tried to take 4th from Pam. I came within a wheel of getting it!

I took a cool down laps and found the medics and let them clean me up. The sum of the damage is as follows: quarter size abrasion on my right knee, some good scrapes on my right forearm, a softball size lump on my right hip, pain on the right side of my rib cage when I take a deep breath. I know my run will be slow and laborious tomorrow. Hopefully, with some TLC, tape, and stim from Dr. Matt, the ride tomorrow afternoon won't hurt.

Roxi looks good. She'll need new bar tape. There's a scuff on my seat. Gotta love a ti titan! I think my helmet survived too. No holes in the kit...most of the road dirt came out in the wash, but there are a few marks there to remind me.

Crashes happen. They suck! If you're going to ride or race hard, you're going to meet the pavement at some point. If you never do, you're not going hard enough!

Race Report: Living the High Life on the Highroad

I usually do a lot of research for races when I'm not familiar with the course. I typically plot them on mapmyride.com and make myself post-it notes of what to expect and study it for a week prior to the race. I'm pretty happy I didn't on this one. Because, if I had, I probably wouldn't have raced today. Now, I knew I was getting into a hilly time trial. I knew this was the course the pros had used twice in the Tour of Missouri. And I knew there was at least one climb where I would probably need to come out of my aerobars. I had no idea how long and big thes climbs would be though.

It was a long drive down to the course and that gave me plenty of time to hydrate. I have to disclose that I did have a slight detour on one of my nature breaks. I thought I was turning on the road that led to the gas station, instead I was turning onto 44, heading back to StL. Oops! Other than that, my trip was calm.

I turned off of 65 and realized that I was actually driving in on the second half of the course. I was immediately intimidated. The hills were incredibly long. I got down to the end of the highway and parked. I was still trying to decide which bike I would ride. I was worried about riding the 11/23 on the TT bike and I had my road bike with the 12/27 on it. I decided to warm up on the course on my TT bike and see if I could handle the hills on it. On my way back from registration, I met the promoter and he advised the TT bike. He also told me to ride about the first four miles of the course and then come back. He said I would hit the biggest hill that way. He neglected to say the one immediate prior to that was only a slight bit shorter. Again, in this case ignorance was better.

The warm up went well, but I realized the second half was going to hurt. There was a diagnol wind, that coupled with the hills, had me crawling in some places and feeling unstable in my aeros on some of the downhills. I got back and continued to spin around to keep my legs warm. I put ice in my bra and and ice pack at my lower back and headed up to the start/finish. Larry called me up (I was the first on the course) and gave me a countdown. Just as I was taking off, the starting tent started to collapse! I ducked and pedalled and took off. The first down hill was less than a hundred yards. This is the first time I ever have been able to get this bike into the 54/12 and maintain a +90 cadence. I think I hit 44-46 on that first descent. The first climb was small. I was on the second longer climb when I was passed for the first time. It wasn't long after that I got passed again. This climb went on forever. It never got really steep, maybe 4-7% at the most, but it was long. There was a steep long descent and then another long climb to the turn around.

I made the turn and had a great descent. I was passed the third time there. The climbs on the way back were much harder. I found myself struggling to maintain a 50 cadence. I was able to stay in the aerobars on the descents, but had to sit up for the climbs. The last two climbs I had to alternate sitting and standing to climb to keep forward momentum. The final climb was about a mile long. I was glad I had pre-ridden it because it gave me a great psychological advantage when I was tired. I knew how much longer I had to go and could gauge how much I had left to give.

I did some light spinning for a little bit after the race and continued to hydrate. There were only three women racing today; no one in the Open race (yes, I tried to race it but they told me only 1/2/3). I finished about 4-5 minutes ahead of the woman in second and about 22 minutes in front of third place. It was a physically hard win, but a race I really enjoyed in spite of it. I'm glad I made the trip and hope tomorrow's crit goes as well.

The Pain of the Pursuit

Last summer my first “group ride” ever was with a small group of women about two weeks before the WG crit. We met one Saturday morning and basically did the Hub ride. That ride stands out to me because my friend Stephanie said something to me as we did our last climb (don’t ask me where because I was so turned around by that point I was dizzy) that really has resonated with me and stayed in my head, “This route is great because the hills challenge you but you forget how painful they are as soon as you’re done.” For a girl who sometimes has trouble getting her words out the way she wants, she nailed this one!

Fast forward to last week, my buddy Kate and I were chatting about racing and effort. She remarked about “the amount of suffering in the sport.” I made a flippant remark about soaring heart rate, but in my head I was thinking, “Suffering? Sure I work hard, but It isn’t that bad.”
Fast forward to last night. I walk into our team meeting and several folks were looking at photos from Sunday’s race. Amy said, “There she is. Show Suzanne that photo.”

My "race face"--Photo cred: Dave Nelson

And there it was. It all came crashing back. The searing pain in my quads, the pounding of my heart, the sickeningly sweet taste of the Gatorade as it threatened to rise up. I suffered. Racing hurt. My self-talk from the race started coming back like flashes from a drunken evening. I remember telling myself, “She’s not going to get you twice.” and “There are only three laps to go. A body can endure anything for six minutes.” And from the Open race, “Pain is temporary, money buys new shoes.” followed by “you can’t let them catch up to you…that would really suck.” Then I remember talking to Sandy right after the 4 race and not being able to do more than just shake my head because I was afraid of what would come out if I opened my mouth.

Great Bob, Almighty! Why didn’t I remember all this before? Why do I do this to myself on a regular basis. Then Stephanie’s comment came to my head with a little adjustment—Racing is great because it challenges you but you forget how painful it is as soon as you’re done. How true that is! Although I think I’m going to make the picture my Facebook profile pic for a reminder and a motivator to train. Hmmm, maybe if I train harder it’ll hurt less??? hee, hee, hee *she giggles coyly*