Banana Fofana

This blog has taken a turn for the lame lately. Sorry. Last week was back to reality with work, some riding, and a whole lot of unpacking.

Today was my first "real" day of training. For some reason I thought I was going to shock my coach with some crazy new power that I developed after coming back from Colorado. I'm not sure why I exactly thought that, but I did. Needless to say, the ride did not go as planned. If anything, my coach will probably be shocked by how quickly I exploded :-)

I also made the mistake of grabbing a few of my leftover Banana hammergels for my ride. They were what I raced with at Breck and let me tell you...bad memories, bad memories. I couldn't get them down for the life of me. I think I'm going to have to take a few months off from the banana flavor. Sad, since they were a staple in my racing/training diet.

Tomorrow I have an easy mountain biking day with my bike shop sponsor Mike, and then more intervals at the end of the week. Hopefully by then I will be able to produce some sort of power:-)

P.S. If anyone is camera shopping I highly recommend this one. Scott bought it for me this past winter and I've been carrying it in my sweaty and sometimes muddy jersey ever since. Well, something happened today that makes it seem almost indestructible. I was flying down a hill on my bike and tried to grab a water bottle out of my back jersey pocket. Not only did my camera fall out, but it bounced repeatedly down the street. I had to watch a stream of cars drive over it before I could go get it. I was scared to look at it, but it looks the same, minus a new dent or two. And it still works! Phew!

Back in G-Rap

Sigh. There's no place like home!

I left Denver last night at 8:30 p.m. and pulled into Chicago this afternoon at 3:30. Talk about a long time on the train. The biggest reason why I went on the train was that it was cheap, but by the middle of the night the novelty had worn off. I woke up and everything felt insanely sticky and damp. At first I thought that something was going wrong with the heating and cooling system, but then I realized that I was back in the midwest. The humidity always felt normal to me, but after 2 weeks of dry Colorado I can totally feel it now.

I was only in Chicago for about half an hour when a guy stopped me and asked if I was a cyclist. How funny is that? Cycling in the midwest is more of a sub-culture, so it seems like all cyclists have to acknowledge one another whenever we see any signs. In Colorado the whole culture seems to be built around cycling and other outdoor sports. It was great. I've never seen so many hikers/bikers/climbers and just plain in-shape people in my life. The next time I go out I definitely want to explore more. Juli and I spent a few hours in Denver before my train left and I really, really liked it.

Now it's time to unpack and finish recovering. I keep taking huge, deep breaths of air. It feels really good. I'm going to have the opportunity to hammer really soon, since I'm scheduled for a 20 minute power test next week. Gotta love those power tests!!!

Breck 100 report

I'm leaving Colorado today. So sad. I'm happy to return to my family and dog, but I'm going to miss the riding out here. All in all, it was a great vacation and I'm absolutely loved every moment out here...minus the day I raced. Because on that day I felt no love whatsoever :-)

Before I hop on the train I thought I'd put a brief recap of the race down, because I'm ready to leave the memories of that day behind. But first, I should probably mention that I can't even classify the Breck 100 as a race. Because I really didn't race for one moment. It was a 100 mile bonafide death march. I'm also going to be completely honest with the fact that I did NOT have fun racing. At all. I feel really guilty saying that because the course was so beautiful and there were so many great people out there. However, it was really frustrating not being able to push myself, or even go at a decent place. I've come to the conclusion that going on vacation and riding at altitude is a blast...but racing at altitude is not. And that's just my opinion. I'm sure a lot of lowlanders like it. Or at least a few do :-)

Lap 1- I woke up at 4 a.m. to get ready for the 6 a.m. race start. Egads. I was fantasizing about 24 hour racing and the noon start while eating breakfast. I hate early mornings. Anyways, the race started out neutrally, and we eventually started to climb a dirt jeep road. I didn't pre-ride lap one so I had no idea what to expect. We ended up climbing to 12,400 ft. and it was completely surreal. By far the highest that I had ever been and I felt really lightheaded. We were above treetop and it was kind of windy. As far as I could see people were pushing their bikes up narrow singletrack and I kind of felt like we were on a different planet. After we finally reached the top there was a narrow singletrack downhill that seemed to go on forever. I'll be the first to admit that I completely freaked out here. We were so high up that I felt like I was just going to catapult right off the side. And it was weird not having trees lining the singletrack. Eventually I got to the bottom and the rest of the lap is kind of a blur.

Lap 2- My "stomach of steel" completely turned on me and I couldn't keep anything down. I just kept the pedals moving and marveled at how freaking slow I was going. It was unreal. Since I couldn't eat or drink anything I also started bonking. The only thing that kept me going was the camaraderie of the racers around me and the sweet downhills. All of the singletrack downhills on the second lap were absolutely great, and I had a puke-smeared smile on my face anytime I hit them. When I came into the transition area I was pretty convinced that I was too sick to go on, but Jeff handed me my hydrapak, some hammergels, told me that I was going to finish, and I was on my way.

Lap 3- The race promoter switched this lap last minute so that the 10 mile dirt climb was now a 10 mile dirt singletrack climb. I ran into Juli and some other racers on the climb, and we all got lost at a creek crossing. We had to pull out the directions and they were very confusing. From what I heard a ton of people got lost in this spot. It involved bushwhacking under bushes to find the right arrows, but I was a riding sick zombie by this point. I just followed everyone. We did do a miserable hike-a-bike for nothing, but I'm looking at the bright side. I'm now a little bit better at pushing my bike :-)

After the singletrack climb I reached the dirt road that would dump me into more singletrack. I ran into a sports medicine doctor who told me that I had altitude sickness (Duh!) and that I could ride down the hill with him into town since he was quitting. I probably sat there for 10 minutes thinking about it, but I hate quitting. I would rather have a big DFL next to my name then a DNF. Partly because so many people help me out, and partly because I never want to think of quitting being an option. So he turned back into town, and I turned up another little climb. I think I ran on complete fumes for the last half of race, but I finished!!! And since I finished it means that I never need to do the race again...hooray!!!!! This race has to go down in the history books as being the slowest I have ever pedaled, but oh well. It's over. My race season has definitely had some topsy-turvy moments this year, but it's making me less afraid. I'm learning that I can deal with a lot of stuff and still keep the pedals moving.

Thanks to all of my Colorado friends for being so great these last couple of weeks. I will be back. Knowing me I will probably sign up for the Breck 100 again, and so I'm depending on the blogosphere to remind me of this post. Stop me if you can :-)

Thanks also to the Topeak-Ergon crew for helping out at the race. I've finally met the whole team and they are all super nice, fast and welcoming. Plus, I like their grips :-)

P.S. I was cleaning out my hydrapaks last night and my lap 2 hydrapak still had 35 ounces left in it. I started out with 50. That means I had only had 15 ounces of liquid in over 4 hours. That is so bad while riding at altitude. It's no wonder I felt so bad yesterday!!!

Ugh

Hi, I'm still alive and kicking.

All I have to say is now I know why my coach said I couldn't go into this race with many expectations. It's because racing at Altitude can completely destroy you. That's why!!! In my case, I think I actually acclimated in reverse. For instance, I felt relatively fine the first time I went up to Breck with Scott and Juli. Yes I was out of breath, but everything else was good. I started to get a headache the second time I went up, and by the third time I went up I felt really awful. In hindsight, I think I should have stayed in Breck for 2 whole weeks before racing (which was impossible) or have just shown up the night before the race. But live and learn!

I plan on doing a full Breck 100 report, but first I need to get some sleep. As my friend Jill says, I've been Breck Wrecked!!!

Breck part 3

Well, I am back in Breck again. This time for good until after the race, which happens to be tomorrow. We start at 6 a.m....gaaaaa! I understand why we have to start so early but that still makes me want to shed a tear-or two.

I have mixed feelings about this race. On one hand I'm really excited because I've never raced so high up. The weather is looking good, and it's so beautiful up here it makes me really happy. On the other hand I'm really intimidated. I have no power up here, and I get nauseous really easy. I even get car sick up here, which never happens to me back home. Not to mention I've been drinking like a fish this entire vacation. As in drinking water. I think I've consumed more water on this vacation then I do at home in a year, and I'n still thirsty all of the time. The other day I was talking and my lip cracked and started bleeding. Nice, real nice! And you should see my skin. I think I'm turning part reptile :-)

But enough about that. Back to what I've been doing. Juli and I drove up to Breck yesterday late afternoon, and were lucky enough to have breakfast this morning with Erika T. , who is also racing the hundred miler tomorrow. Erika is an awesome endurance racer and I met her through the NUE series two years ago (in the bathroom at Lumberjack of all things!). Anyways she lives in Breck so she was able to fill us in a bit about her home turf. She also gave me the low down on bears, mountain lions, and lightning!

The women's field is small here, but definitely tough. There are some female racers who live in Colorado who have been coming up every weekend to prepare for months it seems. However, I've decided that I can't concentrate on anyone but myself tomorrow since I have no idea how my body will react to racing this high up. My goal is to pace myself, keep taking in the fluids, and have SOME FREAKING fun!!! I'm racing in one of the most beautiful places I've ever been too...I can't get that down and out if I am not going my usual pace!

Anyways, wish me luck and send good race vibes my way starting at the crack of dawn tomorrow. I'll try to represent well for all lowlanders :-)

PS. I was looking through our hotel handbook and they give a number for emergency oxygen delivery. Do you think I could call and have them deliver some half-way through the race???? I could be like, "meet me at the top of this mountain, asap!"

Breck part 2

Monday I did an impromptu trip up to Breck so that I could do a little more riding up high. I still feel slightly out of breath in Colorado Springs, but I wanted to get that really dizzy feeling again in Breck...cuz it feels so great!

My friend Jill drove over from Fort Collins to pick me up and we made the rest of the drive in a thunderstorm. Luckily it cleared up shortly after we arrived. My initial goal was to ride the first climb of the Breck 100 course, but our directions were pretty vague. I think it would have been better if we had a local with us, because they would have recognized the points of interest on the directions. But oh well. We managed to find a random climb to do anyways...which is not hard to do in Breck:-)

Jill climbing...
and climbing some more...

I only had to ride for 1.5 hours easy, so we went at a pace where we could talk for the most part. I didn't have my power tap on and I felt like I was riding naked-though it was kind of nice not having to look at the low numbers. Finally we reached snow.

Snow in July!!!! The only time I like it!!!

Jill showing off her brand-spanking-new-to-her bike. When I say new, I mean new. It was like 5 days old.

The next day I had to do another really easy 1.5 hours with a few intervals thrown in, so we hit the rail trail. Ok, at this point I would like to point out how kick butt my friends are out here. First of all, Juli rode day after day with me last week, so that we could follow my training plan. Second of all, Jill drove all the way to Breck with me, just to do intervals on a rail trail. I'm really lucky to have such great friends-who just so happen to live in a really great state :-)

Anyways, back to the intervals. They were level 3, but I had to do them by perceived exertion. My first 2 intervals went well, but my last one was kind of "iffy." A female roadie passed by us just as I was starting, and turned into my rabbit. Half-way through my interval I realized that I had one eye closed, the other was watering, and I was breathing like an elephant. Definitely time to slow down!

Jill breaking away on the rail trail
So freaking pretty....and it was cool to see so many people out riding!
We had to stop and ride this little pump track...

On our way back to Colorado Springs, we stopped at an ice cream shop in Idaho Springs. I have to admit that I don't eat ice cream that often (I have other vices in the form of grande vanilla double-shot lattes), but this was no ordinary ice cream. It's all made from scratch with no preservatives, and I think they might also sneak a little crack in it as well. Because it was amazing. Amazing!!! While I was eating a little voice in the back of my head kept asking, "should you really be eating this when you have to climb up a freaking mountain?" and another voice was like, "absolutely...this will make you faster going down!" ha ha! Seriously though, if you are ever in Idaho Springs-you must stop!

Now I'm back in Colorado Springs. Tomorrow is going to be a really easy day of spinning and resting and then Juli and I are heading back to Breck Thursday afternoon.

Did I mention that I love it here? :-)

It's already been a week?

I guess today is my one week anniversary in the land of no oxygen. I can't believe how fast time is flying!!! Yesterday I had to drive Scott back to Denver, and I couldn't believe that it was time for him to go home :-( It seems like just yesterday that we were taking the train out here.

On Friday we all went to Rampart Reservoir and got about 4 hours of riding in. So much fun. Initially I wanted to bring my HT out here, because it would completely rock on the long, dirt road climbs. However, I am so, so happy that I brought my full-sus. That bike makes the downhills so freaking fun, and is really rocking on some of the more technical climbs.

I find myself trying to ride everything out here, and I think it's because I seem to get more out of breath when I have to get off of my bike and walk. So far Juli has witnessed 2 completely asinine crashes on my part. The first crash was when we were riding on a rail trail of all things. We came across some construction workers who were putting down fresh cement. They told us that we could ride along the side the trail if we stayed off of the fresh cement. I probably don't need to mention what happened next. Lets just say that I'm lucky the cement was hard enough that I didn't leave a full body imprint!!!

And then the second crash happened at the reservoir when we happened upon a fallen tree. Remember how I said I hate getting off of my bike here? Instead of getting off it and hopping over the tree I tried to ride my bike over the tree trunk. It did not go as planned!!!

Oh well, I barely have any bruises and it's been good for a few laughs. For some reason everything seems funnier when you are up high.

Now it's time to taper down, a hard thing to do since all I want to do is ride my bike out here. Tomorrow I am heading back up to Breck with my friend Jill for a little more riding, a little more coffee drinking and a little more exploring...

stay tuned!

I could get used to this!

I'm not quite sure where we went riding today (somewhere near Colorado Springs) but it was a lot of fun. Juli and Chuck were telling me the names of the trails as we rode them, but I was too busy breathing to pay much attention. We didn't go as high as I would have liked to have gone, but we did top out at about 8,000 plus feet. Plenty high enough for me to completely crack on one the climbs half-way through our ride.

Juli going through a tunnel...

Once again we had awesome views...

Scott waiting for me to catch up...
I think we got about 2.5 hours of trail riding in, and then Juli and I rode back to her house. Our total ride time was about 4 hours-just what the coach ordered. Since we were riding lower the temps were a lot hotter. By the time we got back I was completely cooked. Not to mention starving!

We headed downtown for one of my favorite foods of all time...

And yes, I ate this entire pizza myself...oink, oink!
After stuffing our faces we headed over to the Velodrome to watch racers suffer. It was my first time watching track racing live, and it was super cool.

I think my favorite race to watch was the one where racers had to start from a standing position and only had one lap to sprint it out. Talk about a puke-fest.

Katie Compton was there hammering away...so fast that it was hard to get a picture

This was one time where I did not mind being a spectator!
Tomorrow we ride again!!!! Not sure where, but I am sure of two things...

1. There will be a lot of climbing

and

2. I will be out of breath!

Riding in Breck...can someone send me a great-granny gear???

Scott and Juli climbing and climbing and climbing....

I've been trying to recap the 2 days of training that I did in Breckenridge with Juli and Scott but it almost seems like it didn't happen. When you combine phenomenal views and trails with thin air, the riding takes on a dream-like feeling. 

We did an insane amount of climbing, and some of the dirt road climbs are the kind that I love to do. The only problem is that they are at 11,000-plus feet. That makes it a little harder :-) I visited Colorado for 2 days last year, but this was my first time really riding high up. I NEVER use my granny gear in Michigan, but it's definitely getting some major use out here, that's for sure!!! 

Juli crossing a creek on day 2

I have to admit that the thought of racing 100 miles in Breck seemed insurmountable after our first day of training. I have never worked so hard in my life to go so slow. But deep down I'm really excited for the race too. It's going to be a challenge, make no mistake about it!

Thin air aside, my biggest concern is actually about the course markings. I've had SO many people warn me about the trail not being marked well, and about lots of people getting lost, that I've become Uber-Uber-Paranoid. So paranoid in fact, that Scott found me in the rescue aisle of REI looking at different tools and rescue items. You know, just in case I need to build a shelter out there and live off the land :-) What can I say, sometimes my imagination gets the best of me. 

I just really, really, really hope the promoter does not skimp on the course markings!!! And when I make the font bold with lots of exclamation points you know that I am being very, very serious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow we are all heading out for another day of riding. I'm not sure where we are going yet, because Juli's husband is going to pick the trail since it's his birthday. After a day of rest I'm ready to get back out and explore some more! Today was a rest day, and definitely needed. I was a little surprised by my legs though. I thought they would be a lot more tired from all of that climbing, but they actually feel pretty good. I'm guess that's from losing power due to riding higher up. I couldn't push as hard! 

Here's one last picture from our ride. Sometimes I had to get off of my bike just to look around. I could very easily fall in love with this State!

High as a kite

I'm back in Colorado Springs after 2 days of riding in Breck! I think we got about 9 hours in and I am completely exhausted. I'll post a training recap tomorrow. In the meantime, here's some pictures. My camera does not do justice to how absolutely beautiful the views were. It was completely unreal. Also unreal? How hard I was breathing. I think I left a lung somewhere on the Colorado trail. Maybe I will find it when I return to race up there. 

The last couple of pictures are from a French bakery that we stopped at on our way home. The views in the dessert case were also beautiful :-)

Here!

Hello from Colorado....

Our train arrived this morning and today flew by. Right now we are staying with our friends Juli and Chuck. They actually live on the Air Force Academy, which means that we have to pass through a check point any time we leave and come back. It also means that if anyone tried to mess with our bikes it would be a federal offense. I think this is the safest that they will ever be:-)

After unpacking and getting some food we headed out for a spin. There is a 13 mile mountain bike trail right out the door and it was pretty fun. I think it topped off at 7,000 ft. and I could totally feel it. 

Oooohhh....so pretty!
Juli leaving me in the dust....
Tomorrow we are leaving for a 2 day training trip in Breck. I plan on doing lots of riding and lots of gasping for air. Be back soon!!!

Counting down the days....

Well, this week was a complete bust. I basically worked, and when I wasn't working I was sleeping. Scott caught a little cold from work, and it turned into a horrible cold/flu for me. Bah! My coach has been on vacation this week, and I'm sure she's going to see my empty training logs and ask if I decided to go on vacation as well :-)

Anyways, I'm finally starting to feel a little bit better. Not great, but good enough to start training again. Yesterday I kicked it off with some VO2 max intervals, which my lungs probably didn't appreciate. Cough, cough. 

These next couple days are going to be downright frantic for me. I have a few hours to put in on the bike, a wedding to attend, and a ton of packing to do. Scott and I are taking a train out to Colorado bright and early Saturday morning and I am SO EXCITED I can barely stand it. I haven't been on a train since I was really little, and I think it's a genius way to travel. Yes, it's a lot longer then flying, but I absolutely abhor going up in the air. Plus, the train is cheaper, and we get to take our bikes on for free! And I know that Scott is going to like the train simply because he won't have to deal with me waking him up every minute or so asking him if the plane sounds ok!

We'll be arriving in Colorado Springs early Sunday, and that's when the real fun begins!!!! But first I have to find something to wear to the wedding. I'm also going to have to bandage up my knee again. I'm sure whatever I wear will be above the knees, and I don't want to gross out the other guests with an oozing wound :-)