Weekend Fun
It was an action packed weekend . . .
Friday - Volunteer and Sponsor Appreciation Party. It was super fun to have everyone over to the house for some food, drinks and schwag raffle. Everyone's help was truly appreciated by John and I and it was nice to be able to get together with everyone. We have such a great local cross community!
Saturday - I had a lot of things I wanted to get done and surprisingly I got most of them done. I got up early enough to hit the Farmer's Market before it got too crazy busy and then Dave and I had breakfast at Marigold's downtown. Then it was time for landscaping! I was off to the garden center where I picked up some bulbs to plant. Thing is that I really shouldn't go to the garden center on my own as I have a tendency to get carried away. When I got home I got right to planting and planting and planting. Dave finally came out and asked me how many bulbs I had bought. I didn't really know so I started counting them . . . 65. Let's just say that it takes a long time and a lot of digging to plant 65 bulbs. If they all survive and come up in the spring our yard is going to be flower central! I was pretty tired after planting 65 bulbs, along with a couple of decorative fall flowers and a little bit of deadheading summer plants. However, I really wanted to go mountain biking. I vacillated between bagging cross racing on Sunday to go mountain biking or just going even though it was getting late and I was tired. I finally decided that there was enough time to get in some mountain biking if I just went out to Blackhawk so I did. I rode until it started getting a bit too dark in the woods and it was a perfect Fall evening for riding although my legs were not loving all the climbing that you end up doing at Blackhawk.
Sunday - Prairie Cross. You may have read on MadCross that CVC dominated the race. We did!! Okay, that may have been a bit of an over statement since it was just Michele and I in the women's race but since I write the headlines I can say what I want. Not to mention that I have to play up my wins since I only score a win every few years (the last being in 2005).
THE RACE: On the start line it's just Michele and I in the "elite" women's race. We start with the men's field and neither of us is totally prepared to rip off the line fast. However, I quickly shift it into the big ring (why wasn't I there to start with????) and try to represent well for CVC. Michele's just behind me along with a guy.
Lap One I take the lead but Michele and the guy are right with me. 3/4 of the way through lap one the guy passes me as we go into a bumpy field that leads to a set of corners around trees and the lap/finish area. On most of lap two Michele and I are basically riding together and even side by side at one point as the guy gets a good sized gap on us. Finally I was able to get a little gap on the run-up due to Michele's tired legs from adventure racing the day before.
Lap Three was tough for all parties. It was hot, several of the climbs were right in the bright sun and the legs were feeling the pace. Michele told me that for her this was the hardest lap for her and I felt like I was getting sun stroke in the 80 degrees. For those that haven't heard me whine about it before I don't like to race if it is at all hot. I'm a big baby about it. Luckily there were some sections that were shaded or I don't know if I could have kept going. I was trying to hang tough though and reminding myself of the fun swoopy turn section with the little whoops that were super fun to ride.
About half way through the lap I started to see the guy from lap one and I could see that he was starting to slow. As we approached one of the little climbs I could see him ahead of me having to get off and walk. I finally got up on him in a straight away and came around him. That renewed the motivation as I was suddenly 2 out last place.
Lap Four was killer as I was completely overheated and needed someone to dump cold water over my head. However, I was determined not to let anyone catch me so I tried to keep the pressure on. When Dave finally lapped me I had to ask if it was our last lap yet. He said yes which was sweet relief to my ears as he passed me right before the hill run-up which once you crest all the tough stuff is over. I tried to stay strong and run . . .well, more of a trot actually . . . up the run-up and then I knew it was just a downhill, some bumpy grass, one short but annoying climb to some fun corners around the trees and then I was done.
In the end Michele passed the guy who was fading (I think he may have raced earlier in the day as well but I don't care as we were able to complete a race without scoring Lantern Rouge points). And then the best part of the day as we were swarmed by a gaggle of little girls with an average age of about 5 who were excited to hang out with two such "pro" gals. They had questions about our bikes and most especially about our matching jerseys. Never have I had so many fans. Possibly one of them is the next Anna Young or Katie Compton! We did our best to encourage them to do the kid's race next year!
All that and we each won a pair of sweet Salsa socks and were treated to home baked chocolate chip bars. You can now expect me to say things like "Yeah, I wasn't on form today like I was at Prairie Cross." OR "Well, you should have seen me at Prairie Cross" OR even "I peaked for Prairie Cross and now I'm just riding out the season."
Kudos to everyone involved with Prairie Cross. It was super fun and everyone was really nice and it was just a fun, laid back race atmosphere. We have to get more people from Madison out there next year.
And to top off the race day we stopped at a roadside stand on the way home and procured a pumpkin! That topped off this weekend perfectly!
Friday - Volunteer and Sponsor Appreciation Party. It was super fun to have everyone over to the house for some food, drinks and schwag raffle. Everyone's help was truly appreciated by John and I and it was nice to be able to get together with everyone. We have such a great local cross community!
Saturday - I had a lot of things I wanted to get done and surprisingly I got most of them done. I got up early enough to hit the Farmer's Market before it got too crazy busy and then Dave and I had breakfast at Marigold's downtown. Then it was time for landscaping! I was off to the garden center where I picked up some bulbs to plant. Thing is that I really shouldn't go to the garden center on my own as I have a tendency to get carried away. When I got home I got right to planting and planting and planting. Dave finally came out and asked me how many bulbs I had bought. I didn't really know so I started counting them . . . 65. Let's just say that it takes a long time and a lot of digging to plant 65 bulbs. If they all survive and come up in the spring our yard is going to be flower central! I was pretty tired after planting 65 bulbs, along with a couple of decorative fall flowers and a little bit of deadheading summer plants. However, I really wanted to go mountain biking. I vacillated between bagging cross racing on Sunday to go mountain biking or just going even though it was getting late and I was tired. I finally decided that there was enough time to get in some mountain biking if I just went out to Blackhawk so I did. I rode until it started getting a bit too dark in the woods and it was a perfect Fall evening for riding although my legs were not loving all the climbing that you end up doing at Blackhawk.
Sunday - Prairie Cross. You may have read on MadCross that CVC dominated the race. We did!! Okay, that may have been a bit of an over statement since it was just Michele and I in the women's race but since I write the headlines I can say what I want. Not to mention that I have to play up my wins since I only score a win every few years (the last being in 2005).
THE RACE: On the start line it's just Michele and I in the "elite" women's race. We start with the men's field and neither of us is totally prepared to rip off the line fast. However, I quickly shift it into the big ring (why wasn't I there to start with????) and try to represent well for CVC. Michele's just behind me along with a guy.
Lap One I take the lead but Michele and the guy are right with me. 3/4 of the way through lap one the guy passes me as we go into a bumpy field that leads to a set of corners around trees and the lap/finish area. On most of lap two Michele and I are basically riding together and even side by side at one point as the guy gets a good sized gap on us. Finally I was able to get a little gap on the run-up due to Michele's tired legs from adventure racing the day before.
Lap Three was tough for all parties. It was hot, several of the climbs were right in the bright sun and the legs were feeling the pace. Michele told me that for her this was the hardest lap for her and I felt like I was getting sun stroke in the 80 degrees. For those that haven't heard me whine about it before I don't like to race if it is at all hot. I'm a big baby about it. Luckily there were some sections that were shaded or I don't know if I could have kept going. I was trying to hang tough though and reminding myself of the fun swoopy turn section with the little whoops that were super fun to ride.
About half way through the lap I started to see the guy from lap one and I could see that he was starting to slow. As we approached one of the little climbs I could see him ahead of me having to get off and walk. I finally got up on him in a straight away and came around him. That renewed the motivation as I was suddenly 2 out last place.
Lap Four was killer as I was completely overheated and needed someone to dump cold water over my head. However, I was determined not to let anyone catch me so I tried to keep the pressure on. When Dave finally lapped me I had to ask if it was our last lap yet. He said yes which was sweet relief to my ears as he passed me right before the hill run-up which once you crest all the tough stuff is over. I tried to stay strong and run . . .well, more of a trot actually . . . up the run-up and then I knew it was just a downhill, some bumpy grass, one short but annoying climb to some fun corners around the trees and then I was done.
In the end Michele passed the guy who was fading (I think he may have raced earlier in the day as well but I don't care as we were able to complete a race without scoring Lantern Rouge points). And then the best part of the day as we were swarmed by a gaggle of little girls with an average age of about 5 who were excited to hang out with two such "pro" gals. They had questions about our bikes and most especially about our matching jerseys. Never have I had so many fans. Possibly one of them is the next Anna Young or Katie Compton! We did our best to encourage them to do the kid's race next year!
All that and we each won a pair of sweet Salsa socks and were treated to home baked chocolate chip bars. You can now expect me to say things like "Yeah, I wasn't on form today like I was at Prairie Cross." OR "Well, you should have seen me at Prairie Cross" OR even "I peaked for Prairie Cross and now I'm just riding out the season."
Kudos to everyone involved with Prairie Cross. It was super fun and everyone was really nice and it was just a fun, laid back race atmosphere. We have to get more people from Madison out there next year.
And to top off the race day we stopped at a roadside stand on the way home and procured a pumpkin! That topped off this weekend perfectly!
posted by MadCross at 10:22 AM
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