tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-192303462024-03-14T00:26:51.872-05:00D A N I E L L E M U S T ODanielle Mustohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11780175857761747942noreply@blogger.comBlogger1217125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19230346.post-69227518503262132122016-04-20T07:27:00.002-05:002016-04-20T07:27:49.526-05:00Barry-Roubaix race reportThis past weekend was the Barry-Roubaix and I figured I should post a quick blog about it. Because if I don't post about the race it didn't really happen, right? :-)<div>
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Barry-Roubaix is one of my favorite races ever. It's the biggest gravel race (participant wise) in the world and has all the elements that make a really great day. Awesome course, awesome atmosphere, fun after party, Founders beer, and great organization. </div>
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This year the race was moved from March to April to allow Michigan a little extra time to warm-up. Even with the later start date there was no guarantee that the weather would be nice. After all, this is Michigan. In fact we had a snow storm the weekend before Barry-Roubaix and temps were only in the high 20's. However, by race day we lucked out. All the snow had melted and temps reached the 70's. None of us had time to acclimate so it felt really, really hot out there on the dusty roads. </div>
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Naturally race day began with a perfectly synchronized coffee selfie with my friend and GRBC teammate Courtney. Unfortunately Starbucks has not yet agreed to sponsor us but don't worry...I'm not giving up :-)</div>
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We arrived in Hastings, got our bikes ready, did a short (TOO SHORT!) warm-up and then lined up with over 3,000 other racers. I was racing my fat bike Skittles in the 36 mile-fat bike division. Before I know it we were off. There was a crash right at the beginning right in front of me which slowed things down but I was able to bridge back up to the tail end of the main group. Once we hit the dirt though...it was everyone for themselves. So, so dusty! There's a series of hills in the beginning called the 3 sisters and between the hills and the dust I felt like my lungs were going to explode. </div>
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I had a great race and was happy to be on the podium with such strong women. We were given Founders All Day IPA to spray from the podium and I will be the first to admit that I had a huge podium spray fail up there. I shook the can...opened it..and nothing. Oh well :-)</div>
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I spent the rest of the day hanging out with all of my teammates. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to be part of such a great team. </div>
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By the end of the day I was completely exhausted and slept like a rock that night. However I had to be up super early since I had a really important job to do. I had to lead out over 2,000 female runners for the Gazelle Girl half-marathon. I think I was more nervous about this than racing the Barry-Roubaix!</div>
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I arrived really early and the first runner I saw was my friend/teammate/neighbor Liz! </div>
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Leading out the race was a lot of fun. I got to pretend that I had the GR police department motor pacing me and I also had a front row seat to watching the race unfold. </div>
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After the race there was a huge celebration and I wanted to stay and hang out but instead headed out for a 3 hour ride. Talk about a long, awesome day outside!</div>
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The next couple of weeks are going to be busy. Between winter racing, the Lowell 50 and the Barry-Roubaix I've been able to get some short and hard efforts in. But now I really need to build up my endurance because on June 4th I'm going to be racing the Dirty Kanza 200 on Skittles. There's a fat bike division this year...NATURALLY I had to do it. Even though I raced the Dirty Kanza last year I still don't really know what I'm doing when it comes to long gravel road racing. Last year I made a million gazillion mistakes...but I'll save that for another blog post. </div>
Danielle Mustohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11780175857761747942noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19230346.post-73535357336040518222016-04-02T06:54:00.002-05:002016-04-02T06:54:42.462-05:00Bring on the gravel...Good morning!<br />
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I figured that I should drag myself out of Dirt Dawg land for a little bit and update this blog. A lot has happened since my last post but I'm just going to skip right to the present.<br />
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Which is me, drinking coffee, and getting ready to race the Lowell 50.<br />
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Technically there isn't a 50 mile race in the Lowell 50. There's either a 34 mile race or a 57 mile race. I'm racing the fat bike division in the 34 mile race. Initially I was bummed out that I had to do the short one (I have to get to the bike shop for try-on's) but after looking at the weather...NOT SO SAD. Snow and 25 mph winds with 40 mph gusts of wind. Plus it was raining last night which means mud...lots of mud.<br />
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Potential for an epic race is very high my friends.<br />
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Stay tuned...race update coming up later.Danielle Mustohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11780175857761747942noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19230346.post-14970559556375766202016-02-12T14:06:00.004-05:002016-02-12T14:22:25.156-05:00Fat Bike double-header<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
How is it already Friday already? I'm still recovering from last weekend, which was one of the most fun (and busiest) weekends of winter. To sum it up: 3 days...2 hard races...over 22 hours of driving. I lost track of coffee stops but there were a lot of them. </div>
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Here's the low-down. Kati and I left bright and early Friday morning for the Cuyuna Whiteout. Our goal was to be on the road by 7 am and I think we managed 7:30. Close enough :-) Naturally our road trip had to start with a coffee selfie...</div>
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Even though our goal was to get to our destination as quickly as possible, we did make a few exceptions for picture opportunities. As you can see our picture with "Ranger Rick" did not go well :-) At least I managed to get in the photo a little bit.<br />
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We finally arrived at packet-pickup for the Cuyuna Whiteout after 11+ hours of driving. It was great seeing all of my 45NRTH teammates and catching up. I was also given a "kind of important" part for my Beargrease. Thanks <a href="http://www.salsacycles.com/">Salsa</a>!!!<br />
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After such a long day in the car I had zero issues falling asleep. The Cuyuna Whiteout didn't start until 12:30 and it was a novelty not feeling hurried in the morning. We had a nice non-rushed breakfast and then headed to Cuyuna to get ready. Matt Acker led our warm-up and I should note that warming up with him felt like I was going at race pace :-)</div>
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As always the hour before the race went by ridiculously fast and before I knew it we were lined up and ready to go. The start was a little mushy and a few people had to put feet down. I normally love mushy conditions but not this time because I couldn't get started again. The lead group was gone before I could get back on my bike but luckily enough I was able to latch on to the wheel of the super strong Anna Zawadski. Holy moly, she has power!!! It was all I could do to stay on her wheel but she pulled me to the singletrack entrance in no time!</div>
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The course was packed down but slightly slick in some areas. I was really happy to be running <a href="http://www.45nrth.com/">45NRTH</a> Dillingers (still one of my all-time favorite tires) with studs. Because let's face it..there are two things that I don't mix well with. Ice and/or wet bridges. In this case there were actually some slightly slick icy bridges on the course as well, so I was SUPER HAPPY to be utilizing all of my little studs. Thanks 45NRTH for keeping my biscuit safe :-)</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo credit: 45NRTH</td></tr>
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I had a blast racing. The course was almost all singletrack and it was amazing. Hard work, but so fun. Everyone should go and ride the <a href="http://cuyunalakesmtb.com/">Cuyuna Lakes trail system</a> at least once (but you will want to go back) because the trails are phenomenal. </div>
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I was really happy to be able to share the podium with April Morgan and Sonia Pond. These ladies are amazing athletes and great ambassadors for the sport!</div>
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That night we drove a few hours back to Minneapolis, did some laundry, ate some pizza and prepared for the next day. Once again we were treated to a noon start which means I had time to visit April's bike shop to swap out wheels in the morning (THANKS NICK), go to breakfast and once again enjoy not being rushed to get to the start line! For the Penn Cycle Fat Tire Loppet I was riding my other favorite tires, 45NRTH Vanhelgas.<br />
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During my warm-up I realized I was in for a challenge. Part of the beauty of the <a href="http://www.greatlakesfatbikeseries.com/series-schedule-1/">Great Lakes Fat Bike Series </a>is that no race is the same. Some courses favor racers with a ton of power, while other courses favor endurance...and so on. The Loppet was groomed to perfection, wide open, and windy. Definitely not conditions that favored me but I've learned the only way to get faster on power courses is to keep racing them.<br />
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The start was ridiculously fast! I saw Anna Zawadski zoom by and decided to hop on her wheel. Ha!!! She was gone before I could even latch on. Plan 2 was to just pedal as hard as I could and not get blown over in the wind. I was in my "bleeding from the eyeballs" zone and hanging on for dear life. It was basically a road race...but on fat bikes.<br />
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This was the hardest race of the season to me but it was still a blast. The Loppet course is absolutely beautiful because the entire course takes place right in the city and half of the course runs across a lake. Maybe multiple lakes...since I was near blacking out I couldn't be sure :-)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo Credit: James Kauth (thanks for the cheers!!!)</td></tr>
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We had an incredibly stacked field of women and I was happy to crack the top 10 with a 8th place finish. Honestly, I was happy just to make it to the finish line in general...because there were a few times on the lake when the wind was so strong I was sure I was going to never make it back. It's just more proof to keep pedaling!</div>
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The only bummer about the weekend was that we couldn't hang out to cheer on everyone for the podium. Right after the race Kati and I jumped into the car while still wearing our cycling clothes to drive home. We found a Caribou Coffee connected to an Einstein Bros. bagel shop (score!!!) a little out of the city and it was the best thing ever. </div>
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Needless to say we had a lot less energy on the way home. We finally pulled into the driveway a little after 1 am and I still feel like I'm catching up on sleep. </div>
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This weekend is the Fat Bike Frozen 40, race #7 in the series. Good luck to everyone racing it!!! I'm sticking closer to home and racing at the <a href="http://www.shortsbrewingfatbikeseries.com/king-vasa-fat-bike-race/">Vasa</a>! Temps have been mild this winter so far and it felt warm racing last weekend. This weekend will feel like a cold slap in the face as temps will be in the single digits...brrrrr! Hopefully I remember how to keep my biscuit warm :-)</div>
Danielle Mustohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11780175857761747942noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19230346.post-62416669210810726642016-02-03T21:38:00.001-05:002016-02-03T21:39:31.785-05:00Hello sun, nice to see you again!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I'm back from Florida! Technically I got back late afternoon on Monday but this is the first time where I can write about it. </div>
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I flew out Friday late afternoon with my friend Julie. We were planning on reaching our friend Ray's house at dinner time but with a few delays our 2-hour trip ended up being a lot longer. By the time we reached our destination it was late, late, LATE! Naturally we all had to catch-up and talk about ride plans the next day so it was 1am when we all finally went to bed. </div>
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It took about ten cups of coffee to get me going in the morning but I was so excited when I went outside. I had completely forgotten what it felt like for the air to NOT hurt my face. We quickly threw on bike clothes, grabbed bikes and headed out the door to a nearby mountain bike park, called Santos. </div>
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This probably goes without saying but we were VERY excited!</div>
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It's funny how it can take months to acclimate to cold weather but only about 1 minute to get used to warm weather. Temps were in the low-70's and it felt surreal to be riding on hard packed dirt with green palms around. Just the weekend before I had been racing in a winter wonderland at Crystal Mountain so I felt like I had transported myself to some sort of alternate universe. </div>
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We ended up riding for a little over 2 hours and I had so much fun. This was my first time ever in Florida but the trails at Santos were super twisty and had a ton of cool features. Plus did I mention that it was 70 degrees??? I would have stayed out all day but we had the opportunity to go see the Cirque Du Soleil La Nouba show at Disney.<br />
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Disclaimer: I've never been to Disney and I've never been to a Cirque show before so I really didn't know what to expect. It was amazing and by the end of the show I reached the conclusion that if I were to try any of the stunts in the show I would be broken within the first 2 minutes. Afterwards we were able to get a tour backstage and I felt incredibly out of shape after meeting some of the cast. I went from not knowing anything about the show to becoming a super fan in about 5 minutes :-) Again, we went to bed pretty late and my eyes were shut the moment my head hit the pillow.<br />
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The next day (Sunday) we rode a little over 40 miles of single track. Again, so fun and so awesome to see so much green! After our ride we went and rode on one of the skills parks that Ray built. It was really cool. A tons of kids were riding it effortlessly and it was right at the trail head, perfect for warming up on. I decided to ride the rock garden feature and came very close to crashing in front of all the little kids...haha. Clearly we need one of these here so that I can learn how to ride my bike :-)<br />
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I spent the majority of the day on Monday in the airport, and Tuesday and Wednesday catching up on work. Now it's time to finish unpacking my bag, do laundry and then get ready to hit the road early Friday for a back-to-back race weekend. I am so excited to head to Minnesota to have out with all of my 45NRTH teammates/friends!!!<br />
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On Saturday we will be racing the <a href="http://cuyunawhiteout.com/">Cuyuna Whiteout</a>! It's been a few years since I've been there but the area is absolutely beautiful. The only thing I'm not looking forward to is the long drive to get there but oh well...it will be so worth it! Then on Saturday night we head back to Minneapolis for the <a href="https://www.loppet.org/cityoflakesloppet/register/">Fat Bike Loppet</a> race on Sunday. I have no clue how I will feel after traveling and riding this past weekend but I guess we will find out soon, right??? I can't wait!!!</div>
Danielle Mustohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11780175857761747942noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19230346.post-69424410661369426022016-01-29T09:33:00.001-05:002016-01-29T09:41:58.522-05:00Winter race update! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The last two weeks have been really busy but I figured I should take a minute (or two) and update what I've been up to. To sum it up....racing, more racing, running, riding with friends, running with friends, and having a lot of fun along the way. </div>
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Now for a more detailed race report, starting with one of my favorite races in the <a href="http://www.greatlakesfatbikeseries.com/">Great Lakes Fat Bike Series</a>, the Brewery Vivant Farmhand Fat Bike Race. </div>
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This was my fifth year racing the Farmhand race and I was just as nervous as I was the first year. Maybe even more so. That being said I was also really excited. Not only was the race at my favorite trail (Cannonsburg ski area) but it was also sponsored by GRBC. I was so excited to spend the day racing my bike with all of my teammates/friends. </div>
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When I arrived at the race course everyone was busy setting up. To the left you can see the new Flyover the Farm Team built. It was pretty awesome and fun to ride over!</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hkspQxCQQc4/VqduOo8ErCI/AAAAAAAATcA/SZsD4BV-cgw/s1600/Farmers%2Bflyover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hkspQxCQQc4/VqduOo8ErCI/AAAAAAAATcA/SZsD4BV-cgw/s640/Farmers%2Bflyover.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Leading up to the race we had really great snow but temps rose to 40 degrees the day before the race and it rained half of the day. <span style="text-align: center;">I was not able to pre-ride much of the course but a few people had warned me that there were a few parts that were ICY. </span>I'll just speak for everyone right now...ice sucks. My goal was to stay upright and not crash on my tailbone (like last winter). </div>
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The course was super fun. But even more fun was the fact that I was able to ride with one of my bestest friends and teammate Kati Krikke. We went back and forth the entire race and she was nice enough to put up with me calling out "ice" warnings every couple of minutes. There were a few times when I'm pretty sure I was averaging about 1 mph in the singletrack. We had to pedal up the tubing hill and it was really funny having the tubers standing on the magic carpet and going up the hill with us. Some of them actually tried to have conversations with us but it was really hard to talk while gasping for breathe!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--UWLjC28FA8/VqdqW4w7VdI/AAAAAAAATbo/sRmXCh9KVuk/s1600/Farmers%2Brace%2BDanielle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--UWLjC28FA8/VqdqW4w7VdI/AAAAAAAATbo/sRmXCh9KVuk/s640/Farmers%2Brace%2BDanielle.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo credit: Rob Meendering</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo credit: Rob Meendering</td></tr>
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I managed to stay upright the entire time out of PURE LUCK. Such a good day and having all of my <a href="http://www.grandrapidsbicycles.com/">GRBC</a>/<a href="http://www.grandrapidsbicycles.com/">45NRTH</a> teammates and friends cheering us on made it even better. I was so happy to be on a podium with these awesome ladies! Plus I won a shovel and you can never have too many of those when you live in Michigan :-) I also have to give a HUGE THANK YOU to my teammate John Depres for doing hand-ups for me!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo credit: Jack Kunnen<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">The week after the Farmer's Fat Bike race flew by and before I knew it I was getting ready for the <a href="http://www.shortsbrewingfatbikeseries.com/">Fat Chance</a>, race #3 in the <a href="http://www.greatlakesfatbikeseries.com/">Great Lakes Fat Bike Series</a>. This race was up at Crystal Mountain (about 2.5 hours away) and once again I was able to enjoy the luxury of sleeping in my own bed. I was not sure how I was going to feel for this race because I was getting over a cold and had crashed my brains out on ice while riding my fat bike on a golf course the Wednesday night before the race. However, I figured there was no point worrying about it because I was going to race anyways! </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Crystal Mountain was absolutely perfect. They had a ton of snow, the sun was out and it was warm enough that I didn't have to worry about my asthma at all. Yes I was breathing hard during the race but I could actually breathe. The race ended up being one of those perfect races where I loved the conditions and I felt great. It was much shorter than the Farmhand fat bike race but I made sure to enjoy every moment of it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I was super excited to be on the podium with my teammates again!!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Our annual Short's Brewing fat bike series selfie :-)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">From this point on the GLFBS will be either West or North so lots of driving will be done over the next couple of weeks. It's been so much fun being able to see all of my fat bike friends week after week...I'm going to go into some major withdrawals after the season is over. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Speaking of the summer season...I'm signing up for a few races but it seems like most will be in the early spring or late summer. The Dirt Dawgs are going to take up a huge part of my summer and I absolutely can't wait for the Dawg season to begin. This year we are putting on a <a href="http://grdirtdawgs.com/dawg-days-of-summer/">kids only mountain bike race!</a> Already I'm thinking about it all...day...long :-) </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">This coming Saturday is the Ironline fat bike race (#4 in the series) but I'm going to miss it. I'm trading the cold North for a quick trip down South to Florida with my friend Julie. We are on a Dirt Dawg mission so it's going to be a short trip but I will be so happy to see the warm sun! I am pretty sure I will go into shock. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Time to finish packing. I'm managing to bring an awful lot of workout clothes for a 2-day trip :-) Good luck to everyone racing Ironline!!!</span></div>
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Danielle Mustohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11780175857761747942noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19230346.post-7231520634878674802016-01-12T22:48:00.002-05:002016-01-12T23:06:03.992-05:00New Year, New Blog Post (Finally!)So, it's been a while since my last post. Like a year ago or something.<br />
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I was planning on doing a huge recap of what I've been up to but instead I'm just going to give myself the "worst blogger of the year" award and stick to the present. Right now I'm busy, busy, busy with a few different things.<br />
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1. Planning our program for the 2nd year of the Grand Rapids Dirt Dawgs!!! To be honest I never thought I would find something I like more than racing but I did...and it's the Dawgs. This summer is going to be so much fun and I can't wait to get started. Plus, I get to dress up in a mascot costume every now and then.<br />
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Disclaimer: I am quite possibly the most awkward Mascot EVER!!! We will be having auditions soon :-)<br />
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2. Fat Bike Racing!!!<br />
I am so lucky to be a part of the <a href="http://www.45nrth.com/">45NRTH </a>and <a href="http://www.grandrapidsbicycles.com/">GRBC </a>teams. Every day I count my lucky stars to be on such great teams with so many awesome people. This year I'm racing on a new <a href="http://www.salsacycles.com/">Salsa</a> Beargrease that I love. This is the first time in my life that I actually named a bike. Meet Skittles.<br />
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3. Hanging out with friends!!! I'm lucky to have a great group of friends to ride/train/eat donuts with on a regular basis. We manage to cook up some crazy adventures at times but I wouldn't have it any other way!<br />
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I have quite a few races coming up in the next couple of months which is awesome! It means that I get to see my winter racing friends on a regular basis and get some really great "coughing up a lung" workouts in.<br />
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Coming right up is one of my all-time favorites...the <a href="https://www.bikereg.com/farmhand-fat-bike-race">Brewery Vivant Farmer's Fat Bike race</a>. There were 3 racers in the female class the first year I did it. This year there are 17!!! We finally got a little bit of snow too...FINALLY! Let's hope that I remember how to ride in it!Danielle Mustohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11780175857761747942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19230346.post-25016476549610837192015-10-29T13:00:00.001-05:002015-10-29T13:00:41.317-05:00Marji Gesick 100 interview on MTB Radio!Instead of writing a blog post about the Marji Gesick 100 I recorded an interview with Ben Welnak from Mountain bike radio! Here is the link to the show. <a href="http://www.mountainbikeradio.com/inside-mountain-bike-radio/danielle-musto-marji-gesick/">Click and listen!</a><br />
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Honestly the race was truly one of the hardest that I've ever done. But that being said it's the only race that I've ever signed up for as soon as registration opened. There are less than 100 spots left..I highly recommend this race! The waffles at aid station 67 are really, really good. You just have to get there :-)<br />
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<br />Danielle Mustohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11780175857761747942noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19230346.post-91209154914441864812015-10-08T08:08:00.001-05:002015-10-08T08:08:14.596-05:00Georgia on my mind...Holy moly! I don't know what's more impressive...the fact that I remembered the password to my blog or the fact that I'm actually writing something. I was planning on writing a big long summary on what I did this summer but at this point I'm going to sum it up in a few words.<br />
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I raced a little bit.<br />
I had a lot of fun with friends.<br />
I mastered the art of keeping popsicles from melting on 90 degree days. Trust me, that is no small feat!<br />
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That was my summer in a nutshell. It flew by and all of a sudden it's fall...the best time of the year to do long rides.<br />
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Now it's time to head down to Georgia. I'm going down for an Imba certification but MORE IMPORTANTLY I get to see my friends Namrita and Heather. It has been way to long since we have all hung out and I am ridiculously excited to catch up with them. <br />
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I will update this blog again when I get home...at least by December :-)Danielle Mustohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11780175857761747942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19230346.post-87828362745539764582015-07-17T07:34:00.000-05:002015-07-17T07:40:59.444-05:00The Dawg(s) Days of SummerUntil this summer racing was hands down my favorite thing to do. It was all I wanted to do and all that I thought about.<br />
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Then along came the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/GrandRapidsDirtDawgs?fref=ts">Grand Rapids Dirt Dawgs. </a></div>
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All of a sudden I've had to shift gears a bit. Instead of being hyper-focused on racing and <i>"how do my legs feel?"</i> I've been focusing on all sorts of different things. Things like volunteers and number plates and making sure we have enough popsicles for 71 kids after our weekly practice. It's been by far the best experience of my life and I am so, so, SO PROUD of those Dirt Dawgs! Monday nights have become my favorite night of the week because nothing compares to seeing so many kids on bikes riding through the woods with smiles on their faces!<br />
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Some of the kids already have fat bikes which can only mean one thing. Dear <a href="http://45nrth.com/">45NRTH</a>, how soon can you start making kid sized wolvhammers??? :-)</div>
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Besides hanging out with the Dawgs I've been having a lot of fun. Taking a month off from racing after Dirty Kanza and Lumberjack was the best thing that I could have done for my legs. After those two races I felt tired and my legs felt like poo for a really long time. It feels so good to be bouncing back and riding my bike every day without feeling like I need a 10-hour nap. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of days where my legs still feel tired. But they are the good kind of tired!</div>
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Next up for me is one of my all-time favorite races, the <a href="http://www.wausau24.com/">Wausau 24</a>. This race is such a blast I can't wait. To sum it up...you get to race on a fun course, hang out with friends in-between, AND there are taco trucks on site. That's a perfect race in my book!</div>
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Danielle Mustohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11780175857761747942noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19230346.post-83879077149103227032015-06-24T09:05:00.000-05:002015-06-24T09:05:36.034-05:00Time for a staycation!This is not a post about the Dirty Kanza...yet! I swear I will do one soon (at least before I line up to the start line next year) but things have been so BUSY around here the last couple of weeks I've barely had time to sit down. Much less process that race. Between home renovations, hanging out with some of my favorite friends, working on the Dirt Dawgs and racing the Lumberjack 100, I feel like I've constantly been trying to play catch-up with everything.<br />
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I will be the first to admit that right now my living situation is less then ideal. Trying to pack for a race when all my gear is packed away was a little challenging. I will be the first to admit that packing did not go well and stressed me out. For the first time EVER I forgot something for a race. I didn't bring jerseys :-)<br />
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The good news is that I finished another Lumberjack. That's 11 years straight! I know I said that I was going to take a break after 10 years but that's stupid. I love the course, it's a great race and it's only 2 hours away from where I live. I'm just going to keep going with it!<br />
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This time I raced my SS in the open division and learned a few things...<br />
1. I should train on my SS before racing it 100 miles<br />
2. I should race my SS in the SS division<br />
3. I LOVE my SS<br />
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The biggest thing that I learned actually came from my friend Sonya Looney! She flew into town for a few days to race the Lumberjack 100 and also did a clinic at the Grand Rapids Bicycle Company. I'm so ready for the Dirty Kanza next year because now I know how to correctly carry my bike during hike-a-bike situations!<br />
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Anyways, Sonya is an amazing athlete. Super fast and really great at technical stuff. Everyone knows that, right? However, she's also super kind and really positive! We all went out on a group ride the Thursday before Lumberjack and she had one of those stupid, freak crashes that always seem to hurt the most. She hurt her wrist and couldn't race the Lumberjack 100.<br />
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Most of us have been in this sort of situation and we all know how much it sucks. It's part of being an athlete but there is no denying the disappointment that comes with getting hurt and not being able to compete in something you have been training for. Instead of pouting or being grumpy Sonya still went to the Lumberjack race and cheered us all on and helped do support for all of us. She is an amazing ambassador of the sport and I really am happy that I was able to get to know her better. Hopefully she can come back next year...not only does she have to race the L100 but we only scratched the surface of local breweries!<br />
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Now it's time to chill out for a while! I have done zero help around the house and I promised Scott some major painting time. Plus there's these 3....they need some extra hiking/cuddle time!<br />
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If I do a race in July it will be local but right now it's looking doubtful. For the most part I think I'm going to just focus on getting a good training block in. I might just get around to my DK200 report yet :-)<br />
<br />Danielle Mustohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11780175857761747942noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19230346.post-84624614296158730932015-06-06T08:04:00.001-05:002015-06-06T08:04:32.971-05:00I survived!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I survived my first Dirty Kanza! I almost can't believe it because there were times during the race when I was pretty sure that I was going to be pedaling in that wide open space called Kansas FOREVER! It was so hard I almost can't wrap my head around what happened out there.<br />
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I also survived FORGETTING to apply chamois butt'r before a 200 mile gravel road race. Seriously who does that? And while we are on the subject, who schedules a yearly physical 4 days after a 200 mile gravel road race? Message to myself 4 months ago...<i>what were you thinking????</i><br />
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The first couple days back from Kansas I was deep in the pain cave. I felt like I had the flu twice over. I think it was a mixture of the race taking 16 hours and 18 minutes, having to carry my mountain bike for an insanely long time and having a few nights in the row where I only got 4-5 hours of sleep.<br />
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It did not help that I had to hit the ground running the moment I got back. It's been a busy week and to top things off we have to pack up our entire house so that someone can work on our floors. I, of course, waited until 10 pm last night to start packing and we have to be packed up today.<br />
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So...back to packing. There will be a Kanza post....just not today! Maybe tomorrow :-)Danielle Mustohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11780175857761747942noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19230346.post-63516872521596438312015-05-22T06:55:00.003-05:002015-05-22T06:55:50.350-05:00Time flies when you are having fun (and eating donuts!)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Whoa. I thought I should take a minute and update this blog...at least with some pictures. It's been busy around here! </div>
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Last week was Active Commute Week and Friday was Bike to Work Day. The weather was not cooperating but that did not stop commuters in Grand Rapids. Tons of businesses had pit stops with really good food and coffee. I am not going to disclose how many donuts I ate...mostly because I lost count :-)</div>
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I've mentioned before on this blog that I'm starting a kids mountain bike team (with the help from a TON of amazing people) and on Friday I was able to go on air with Shelley Irwin (WGVU) to talk about it. What made the experience even more fun was that Sage (one of the kids who gave me the idea) was able to go on air with me. We biked down to the station in pouring rain and it was so much fun. I can't even begin to say how proud I was of Sage. We biked through the city, got drenched and then went on air...and she handled it all like a pro!</div>
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Of course after our ride we had to go out for more coffee, hot chocolate and another dessert (because the donuts weren't enough!)</div>
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Saturday I woke up early to (guess what?) more rain. Michigan is clearly the new Seattle. After a quick breakfast I hopped on my bike to meet my teammates Juli and Melissa for a very important job! We were leading out 3,000 Girls for Girls On The Run! SO...MUCH...FUN! I couldn't help but notice that my knee-high socks were right on trend with all the girls around me. Glad to see that I'm staying hip :-)</div>
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The promoter sent us directions a few days before and I was like, "perfect! I can practice following a cue sheet." I've been so busy I haven't had time to do any sort of practice for Dirty Kanza (not thinking about that now!) Anyways, somehow we all managed to miss a turn within the first mile and a half. Oh dear...things are not looking good for me in Kansas. </div>
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But back to the race. It was incredible to see so many Girls On The Run!!! Lining up at the start was slightly terrifying as the promoter kept telling us to go out hard. Let me tell you...those girls are FAST! For one brief moment I thought I was going to get passed by them :-) By the time I was done my face hurt from smiling so much!</div>
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Sunday I woke up early again but it wasn't raining! Hurray! I met up with my teammates and friends and we did 7 laps at Yankee. Technically I should have been riding gravel but oh well...riding my Spearfish on singletrack is just too much fun. I was pretty tired by the time I was done and was reminded of how much I love my Spearfish. Best bike ever!!! </div>
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Grand Rapids Bicycles hosted the WMMBA bi-monthly meeting on Monday and I was able to talk about my favorite-est subject ever...The Grand Rapids Dirt Dawgs (kids team). The rest of the evening involved bikes..beer...and food. Such a good rest day :-)</div>
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Tuesday was the Skirts in the Dirt trail day at Cannonsburg Ski hill. We made a little new trail and...my arms are still recovering. Holy Moly, trail work is a really good upper body workout!</div>
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Wednesday night was our ladies ride at Luton Park and it felt like it was ready to snow. It's funny how I can ride in 20 degrees in the winter like it's no big deal but when temps drop to the 50's in May I feel like I'm going to freeze to death. We had a really great ride though and I have to admit that Wednesday nights are one of my favorite ride nights of the week. </div>
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So yeah..that's what I've been up to! Which brings me to FRIDAY!!! I'll be at the GRBC Ada location from 10-2 and 5-8 helping out so stop on by to say Hi if you are in the area. This weekend I'm going to be in full on panic mode. When I signed up for Dirty Kanza I thought that I would be 1,000 times more prepared then I am. I'm trying not to think about it because then I get really, really, really stressed about it. Luckily I don't have any long rides this weekend so I'm hoping I can get the Garmin that I just bought out of the box and figure out to use it. </div>
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I hope everyone has a great weekend!</div>
<br />Danielle Mustohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11780175857761747942noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19230346.post-37323852774859681052015-05-03T07:20:00.002-05:002015-05-03T07:57:06.371-05:00CoHURTa 100A little over a week ago I was driving into Tennessee with my <a href="http://www.grandrapidsbicycles.com/">GRBC</a> teammate/friend Laura for the Cohutta 100. I was a little worried that I wasn't ready to race 100 miles so early in the season but I didn't really care. The day before I left Michigan it was snowing and 39 degrees. Tennessee was warm, sunny and flowers were already blooming.<br />
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Once we arrived to the race venue we met up with our other GRBC teammates (Jill and Tyler) and our friend Matt. It was great seeing so many fellow endurance racers and friends that I met over the years racing the N.U.E Series. I have to admit that it makes me want to do as many hundred milers as possible this summer.<br />
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My super fast friend <a href="http://careylowery.blogspot.com/">Carey Lowery</a> gave me some of her amazing bread that she makes and told me to save it for after the race. In hindsight I should have just eaten the whole darn loaf immediately :-) Everyone was talking about the race day weather forecast...which was NOT GOOD! There was a 100% chance of rain, severe thunderstorms, severe lightening, hail and even the chance of a tornado. Usually I try to not focus on the weather because it's one of those things you can't control and everyone has to deal with it. However, the thought of tornadoes and lightening strikes was a little scary. I didn't want to go up in the air with my bike all <i>"Wizard of Oz"</i> style.<br />
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Carey and Zeke had to take off, so after saying our good-byes (boohoo), Laura and I put our kits on and hopped on the course to pre-ride some of the singletrack. The trails were in great condition and so much fun. In hindsight I should also have just ridden 100 miles on Friday...haha.<br />
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After our pre-ride we checked in at the Copper Inn Motel (that's my last time staying there for real), got our aid station bags together, dropped aid station bags off and then got ready for bed. It never fails to amaze me how quickly the day before a race goes by.<br />
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Sure enough we woke up to pouring rain. Finally, a chance to use the super fancy <a href="http://us-store.sugoi.com/collections/mens-bike/products/72749u-rse-neoshell-jacket">rain jacket</a> that I had bought for Scotland. Since it was raining hard there was zero warm-up. To tell you the truth I never warm up much for a hundred mile race anyways. They all start so early that it seems like I'm getting ready until the very last minute. I lined up with everyone else in the rain and before I knew it we were off.<br />
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From the get-go I could tell that it was going to be a long day in the saddle. My legs felt crap-tastic! Never a good feeling when you know that you have 100 miles to go while feeling that way. I think the biggest reason why I felt so bonky was that we had spent 2 days in the car and I did a lot of snacking on car food instead of eating full meals. I know better and take 100% responsibility...stupid, stupid, stupid!<br />
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The first bit of singletrack wasn't too bad for all the rain we were getting. It was fun. I was riding a brand spanking new <a href="http://www.salsacycles.com/">Salsa</a> El Mariachi with <a href="http://www.velocityusa.com/product/rims/blunt-ss-622">Velocity USA Blunt SS</a> wheels and <a href="http://www.industrynine.net/">Industry Nine</a> hubs and the bike was 100% amazing (thanks Ted for being such a great mechanic)!!! Let me tell you those wheels kept me upright on wet roots when I should have gone down due to rider error. Of course, now I want the wheels on all of my bikes now!<br />
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By the time I made it to the first aid station at mile 22 (I think) I was HOT and losing air in my back tire. This is what happens when you go tubeless and enter a race without getting a few rides in beforehand. I was at the aid station way too long trying to cram my rain jacket into the ziplock bag, putting air in etc. Finally I was on my way.<br />
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Once the sun came out I felt like I was overheating big time. I'm not someone who ever feels good in the heat but usually I can manage it IF I have time to acclimate. This time I felt like I was riding in a muggy, hot rain forest. I had to stop at the 2nd aid station to put more air in my back tire and then stopped at the 3rd aid station to refill on CarboRocket. One of the volunteers kindly cleaned my sunglasses since they were covered in mud but accidentally took my lenses out. It was hard to get them back in with all of the mud that was everywhere. <i>Oh well! </i>Usually I am in/out of aid stations really quickly but this time I was spending so much time at them I felt like I was on a first name basis with all of the volunteers.<br />
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The rest of the race was more of the same. I got REALLY lost (flew down a hill and took a left when I should have gone right), had one of my aid station bags disappear, etc. etc. etc. But to tell you the truth I really didn't care. I was suffering big time but was still able to enjoy the view (at least once or twice). Plus I got extra mileage in for Dirty Kanza. Now that I think of it maybe that's why I took a wrong turn in the first place. Subconsciously I WANTED to ride longer then 100 miles...haha. That's my story and I'm sticking with it.<br />
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Towards the end something kicked in and I started to feel good. Maybe it's because I got to rest and cool down while trying to look for blue arrows in the gravel when I got lost...who knows!? The final singletrack flew by and I enjoyed every second of it. Before I knew it I was crossing the finish line in 5th place and was back with my friends. Once the drop bags were returned I was also reunited with my missing drop bag.<br />
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My brand spanking new bike is no longer new! In fact I'm sure that I will be finding Cohutta mud on it a month from now.<br />
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Huge thanks to the race promoters and volunteers for being so great. It's hard enough to put on a race in good weather conditions. Conditions were definitely less then ideal this year but everyone was helpful and cheerful...even when standing in pouring rain. I WILL BE BACK next year for another Cohutta. Hopefully next year is the year I crush those Cohutta hills instead of them crushing me :-)<br />
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Now it's time to focus on Dirty Kanza...eek! And speaking of Dirty Kanza I did an interview with my Salsa teammate Andrea Cohen about the race. You can listen to <a href="http://www.mountainbikeradio.com/girls-gears/andrea-cohen/">it here!</a>Danielle Mustohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11780175857761747942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19230346.post-84689845578998889262015-04-29T08:29:00.002-05:002015-04-29T08:29:39.664-05:00Back in the Mitten!My plan was to update this blog with short posts on a frequent basis.<br />
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This last month has been extremely busy. Not just with training but with starting a kids team. Once it's up and running I'll be able to just focus on the program but right now...we are building the program. There are so many logistical things to work out...aggggh! I absolutely love it though and I can't wait for the first practice.<br />
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This past weekend I went down to Tennessee to race the Cohutta 100. I would like to say I had a perfect race but not so much. A lot went wrong but oh well. That's part of racing. I still got a crazy good workout in (how can you not when you are climbing non-stop) and it was awesome seeing all of my friends.<br />
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Cohutta post coming up soon!Danielle Mustohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11780175857761747942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19230346.post-48493374761463997202015-04-09T17:30:00.002-05:002015-04-09T17:30:30.455-05:00Welcome back to endurance training...Last week was my first week with longer rides and I swear I'm still recovering. I think my legs/arms/everything went into shock. It seems absolutely crazy that two weekends from now I'll be racing a hundred miler. Eek!<br />
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I'm hoping the rain stops as I have a long ride to do tomorrow. And now that I'm no longer training for a race in Scotland I don't feel the need to ride in the rain...ever :-) Then on Saturday I'm off to speak at a ladies night in Fort Wayne. I think the event sold out with 120 ladies and I'm excited to be a part of it.<br />
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Be back soon...in the meantime check out the <a href="http://grandrapidsbicycles.blogspot.com/2015/04/win-beer-city-usa-short-sleeve-jersey.html">instagram contest</a> that Grand Rapids Bicycles is holding! The contest ends April 20th so there's plenty of time to post pictures!Danielle Mustohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11780175857761747942noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19230346.post-15622415904673664242015-04-03T14:14:00.002-05:002015-04-03T14:22:34.213-05:00Barry-Roubaix race report!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>Barry-Roubaix!!!!</b><br />
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I always get ridiculously nervous for Barry-Roubaix. I'm not sure why but I think its a combination of the sheer awesomeness of the event, combined with the fact that 3,000 people compete in it, combined with the fact that it's a local race. I wanted to represent!<br />
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Jill and I arrived in Hastings a little over an hour before our wave was scheduled to go off. We had already picked up our race packets the day before (during our GRBC finish line recon ride) so there was no rush. After the Birkie debacle (where we almost missed the start) we already felt like we were winning. All we had to do was finish getting dressed, run to the bathroom a million gazillion times and then head to the start line.<br />
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<a href="http://www.grandrapidsbicycles.com/">GRBC</a> had tents on both sides of the start line which was really nice for shedding layers. However, it was SO cold out so I really didn't have to shed any layers. I think temps were hovering in the low-20's at race start. After wishing all of my teammates good luck it was time to line up with hundreds of other racers. Barry-Roubaix is one of the first races of the season and everyone was excited/nervous. I know I was!<br />
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After a few moments of chit-chat we were off. Our start was controlled but picked up speed as we hit dirt. I had to multitask by staying with the main pack but also watch out for potholes that seemed to pop up out of nowhere. My legs felt kind of dead but I ignored the feeling and kept trying to hammer. It wasn't long before I was climbing the 1st of the 3 sisters (series of 3 hills that are one right after another).<br />
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The roads were in perfect condition and I was so happy that it was sunny. I was using a hydrapak with Carborocket (yum!) in it and was shocked when I went to take a drink. The liquid in my tube was completely frozen and I couldn't get anything out. I couldn't believe it.<br />
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Actually, let me take that back...<br />
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I could believe that the water in my tube froze because it was cold out AND it happened to me all winter. What I couldn't believe was that after an entire winter of racing and having my water freeze I managed to do it AGAIN (at the end of March).<br />
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I started to get very, very thirsty towards the middle of the race and downright bonkish by the end. I spent the last 10-miles looking at other racers back pockets and wondering how much food they had left...haha. I'm always happy to see the finish line but this time I was EXTREMELY happy to see it.<br />
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The Barry-Roubaix is a great race. It's a total hammerfest and the hills hurt...a lot. However from start to finish the race is top notch and the after-party is so much fun.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wearing my new Velocity USA hat...that's me at the bottom :-)</td></tr>
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So happy to be on the podium with these awesome ladies. The first year that Barry-Roubaix had a fat bike class there were 2 females. This year we had 16!!! <br />
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As happy as I was to take the win I was even more happy just to hang out with my teammates after the race. All of my teammates had great races and I was so proud of everyone. If this is any indication of what the year is going to be like we are in for a lot of fun :-)<br />
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Next up for me is TRAINING and lots more TRAINING. I have the Cohutta 100 coming up at the end of April and I am nowhere ready for it. Last year I died a thousand deaths during that race. There's a good chance that might happen again this year :-)<br />
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And then one month after Cohutta is<a href="http://salsacycles.com/culture/dirty_kanza_or_bust"> THIS RACE</a>...EEK!Danielle Mustohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11780175857761747942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19230346.post-74475338591022109552015-03-16T06:27:00.001-05:002015-03-16T06:43:19.180-05:00Fat Bike Birkie race report!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Well it's official. My winter fat bike season is over. There were times when the season seemed to drag on forever (when my tailbone hurt) and there were times when I was having so much fun that I felt like every time I blinked another week had gone by. I had bad races, good races, and great races and learned something new every single time I raced :-)<br />
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I'm SO excited for long summer nights, riding on dirt and training hard for some big races this summer. However, I'm going to miss the craziness of winter racing and everything it entails. Checking weather forecasts 100 times a day, trying to figure out the perfect layering combo and most importantly...going around at the start line and squeezing everybody's tires. Because + 1 or - 1 psi can make or break a race when you are riding in the snow :-)<br />
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<i>Actually, now that I think of it I'm definitely ready for a break from the layers and craziness of driving in the snow. But without a doubt I'm going to miss seeing everyone on a regular basis! Hopefully we can have some reunions this summer...</i><br />
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Ok, back to the Birkie! Since Scott was really sick for the Polar Roll he decided that he was going to drive over to Marquette after the Birkie to get one good day of riding in before the snow melts. That meant taking two cars up to the Birkie. Kind of a pain but it worked out in our favor because we had to transport the series trophies and swag besides all of our bikes. Scott and Steve left bright and early Friday morning and Jill and I left a little later...after stopping for coffee (of course!)<br />
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The drive was loooong! We managed to break it up a few times with the usual stops (Chipotle, Starbucks) but by the time we pulled into the cabin the sun was setting and I was tired. After unpacking our stuff, and exploring the cabin, we drove over to registration, ate pizza and then it was time for bed!<br />
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There were 9-10 of us sharing a cabin but we all managed to get ready in the morning without bumping into each other too many times. Everyone started rolling out and before I knew it Jill and I were the only ones left in the cabin. This is where things turned a little crazy.<br />
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Normally I try to get to the race venue one hour before the race starts (at the very least). I hate feeling rushed and having extra time is always a bonus. I was shocked when I looked down at my watch and realized it was a little past 8 and we hadn't left yet (the race started at 9). Clearly I had spent way too much time in the bathroom :-) We headed out to the car and realized that EVERYONE had left including Scott and Steve (Scott had to get there early since it was the season finale). Normally that wouldn't have been a big deal but we were planning on following...someone. We had zero service so we couldn't look up the address to the Telemark Lodge (race start), we couldn't call anyone, and our Garmin wasn't cooperating.<br />
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We headed in the direction that <i>we thought</i> was the right way but eventually we came to a fork in the road (literally) that had a big sign next to it. Jill mentioned that she didn't recognize the sign so we turned around to go in the opposite direction. At this point it was 8:15 and I started feeling panicked. Not only did we have Steve's bike in our van but Steve was sitting 2nd in the series and I was sitting in 3rd. We both had to finish the race or we would lose our spots.<br />
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I started looking for a house to stop at to ask for directions. The only problem is that most of the property near us were vacation homes. None of the driveways were plowed..no one was home. Jill found an address to a saloon that she saw near registration. We breathed a sigh of relief and headed in that direction. 10-15 minutes later we arrived in the middle of nowhere. We both went from being mildly panicked to freaking out in .01 seconds.<br />
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Jill started scrolling through the Garmin's history and luckily found the Telemark Lodge address about 5 pages down. After typing in the address we were on our way. The Garmin said our ETA was 9:05 which was problematic since the race started at 9. I'm not quite sure how we did it but we managed to pull into the parking lot with 7 minutes to spare. The rest is a blur. I remember everyone grabbing bikes, hearing my name being called to the start line and the rest is history. We had zero time to warm up, zero time to go the bathroom but none of that mattered. I was so happy just to be on the course and able to race.<br />
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The Birkie course is hard but ridiculously fun at the same time. It's kind of like being on a perfectly groomed roller coaster. There were a lot of downhills followed by uphills where you could get so much momentum going down you barely had to pedal up. BUT THEN there were also some super steep and super demanding hills that made my legs scream. I still had a cold and didn't feel the best but I tried to just focus on staying upright (the snow was getting soft on some of the downhills). It was the warmest race of the season with temps in the 30's and it felt downright balmy. I wore the <a href="http://45nrth.com/products/softgoods/merino-wool-liner-glove">45NRTH liner glove</a>s on my hands and was toasty! I also think this was the first race since the Solstice Chase (in December) where my water didn't freeze. Being able to drink during a race...I'll never take it for granted again :-)<br />
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Towards the end of the race conditions started to turn mushy and I had one very dramatic fall where I lost control of my bike on a downhill and landed on my face...haha. Landing on snow is much more forgiving then landing on dirt. Hopefully I got all of my crashes out of the way for the season!<br />
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Finally I heard sounds of people cheering and before I knew it I was at the finish line and rolled across in 6th place. Whew! That was a tough race. We had 60 women racing the longer distance, by far the biggest female fat bike field yet.<br />
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Racing in the winter can be hard. I hate driving in the winter and trying to cram a bunch of races in a short season can be tiring. But it's totally worth it. When I look back at this winter I think I spent the majority of my time racing with a smile on my face. Even when conditions are really hard, fat bike racing is so much fun. Not to mention it introduced me to so many great people. I have so many awesome memories from this past winter.<br />
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I want to give a huge thanks to all of my sponsors. This winter wouldn't have been possible without their help. My <a href="http://www.salsacycles.com/">Salsa Cycles</a> Beargrease makes racing pretty darn easy :-) Thanks to <a href="http://www.grandrapidsbicycles.com/">Grand Rapids Bicycles</a> and Ted Bentley for keeping my bike in tip-top shape and a ton of support. I loved heading into the bike shop Monday mornings with a race report :-) I also want to thank <a href="http://45nrth.com/">45NRTH</a> for supporting a all-female fat bike team and giving us top notch support and gear. It is easy to represent a company that makes such great product but the people behind the company are amazing.<br />
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Last but not least I want to thank my amazing teammates April Morgan, Chelsea Strate, and Jill Martindale for being so awesome. I'm truly lucky to be part of such a great team. If I had my way we would all have the same summer schedule as well!<br />
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Onward to spring and gravel racing (gulp!)Danielle Mustohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11780175857761747942noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19230346.post-90204654104850057522015-03-06T05:28:00.002-05:002015-03-06T05:28:48.781-05:00Fat Bike Birkie or BustTime for my last fat bike race of the season. The Fat Bike Birkie is the season finale of the Great Lakes Fat Bike Series and the biggest fat bike race in the country. I think there are 800 fat bikers signed up between the two distances. That's pretty awesome. <div>
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Full report when I come back. In fact, I'll have to do a summary of the last 3 races that I've done. I meant to blog sooner about them but these last couple of weeks have kicked my butt. Scott got really sick with some sort of cold/bronchitis thing right before Marquette and even though I tried really hard to avoid all of his coughing, sneezing germs, I got knocked down too. I haven't been sick in a really, really long time so I can't complain...that much :-)</div>
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So time for the last road trip of winter! I'm excited to race, I'm excited to see my friends and then I'm excited to be home for a while. After these last couple of months of hurt tailbone/frostbite/cold I am ready to get some good training in. And (I can't believe I'm saying this) I'm REALLY ready for winter to be over. Don't get me wrong, I love winter and I love riding in the snow. But by the time March arrives I'm always ready for it to disappear immediately. Especially because this winter really kicked my butt. Plus our granny greyhound (Naomi) has been having the worst time this winter. She's 12.5 years old and watching her trying to maneuver through the snow and on ice has been painful. I absolutely can't wait for the first warm day when she can just relax in the sun outside. </div>
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Bring on the sun, bring on trail and bring on fat bike rides on the beach!</div>
Danielle Mustohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11780175857761747942noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19230346.post-34756023056399886482015-02-18T21:48:00.003-05:002015-02-18T21:52:36.364-05:00Frozen 40 race report!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Well after a month of sitting on my butt and letting my tailbone heal I was finally able to race this past weekend. I wish I could say that I had this awesome "comeback race" where I felt amazing, was super fast and everything went flawlessly. But that only seems to happen in the movies :-) If anything my race was the exact opposite of "super fast and feeling amazing." </div>
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Here's the low-down...</div>
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I left for Minneapolis bright and early Friday morning with my friend Steve and little Lolo. Our mission was simple-drop Lolo off to her new family and then make it to Minneapolis at a decent hour. Lolo was THE PERFECT passenger in the car and slept (and snored) the entire way. I couldn't believe it! Steve and I were very nice and shared the "puppy holding time." <i>Note: I should get friend bonus points for letting Steve hold the puppy because I really, really didn't want to share :-)</i></div>
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I will be the first to admit that I was blinking back tears as we got closer to Lolo's new home. Luckily I didn't bust out crying because that would have been <i>awkward..f</i>or both Steve and I :-) I would be lying if I said I didin't get attached to her. I mean, I get attached to dogs that I see in commercials...haha. However, once we arrived at Lolo's new house I was happy. She won the lotto when it comes to her new family and I know she is going to have THE BEST life!</div>
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After dropping her off we hit the road again, went to packet pick-up and then settled in at T6 Brent's house (my race home away from home). For the last couple of weeks I had been waking up every night for puppy potty runs and let me tell you...I had zero issues falling asleep that night. </div>
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Even with a good nights sleep morning came way to quick. It was cold out. The type of cold that hurts to breathe. </div>
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From the start I knew that I was going to have a rough day in the saddle. I know I mentioned that I have asthma a million gazillion times on this blog but I'm going to mention it again. I've outgrown it for the most part but it still flares up in really cold weather. I've been really fortunate so far this winter because temps have been fairly mild. That came to a grinding halt at the Frozen 40. Not only was it -4 out but there was a windchill of -20+.</div>
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I basically felt like I was riding at Breckenridge or some other place at a higher elevation. No matter how hard I tried to pedal I had zero power and felt like I couldn't get enough oxygen in my body for the life of me. My teammate Chelsea passed me early into the race and I tried to yell good job at her (twice). Looking back it was comical because I was trying so hard to yell and it just came out in a giant whisper. There was absolutely NO WAY that she could have heard me. I watched her pedal away and if I had a rope I would have tied it to her bike. Chelsea totally would have pulled me through the trees...for a while at least! :-)</div>
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The race was run incredibly well and the course was awesome but I am not going to lie. I really, really wanted to stop. Seeing the finish line was so, so GREAT! It ended up being 46 miles and I was out there for 4:43:00. Definitely a hard day but oh well. I finished! And the good news is that my 45NRTH teammates April Morgan and Chelsea Strate took 1st and 3rd. What can I say??? My teammates ROCK!!!</div>
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A few of my friends were at the finish line and almost immediately my friend Jeff was like, "you have frost bite on your ear. Go sit in the car." I have never had frost bite in my life and I will be the first to admit that it's not normally something I have to worry about here. Like I said earlier, temps have been on the milder side this whole winter and it's not like I go out on long training rides when temps are in the negatives. Apparently my left ear was slightly exposed and I never felt it. The moment I got into the warm van it felt like it was someone was stabbing me with a giant knife. Holy OW!!!!</div>
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Since I didn't know much about frost bite I spent the night "googling" it which is THE WORST thing you can do. After reading a few articles I started neurotically checking my ear every hour to see if it there were any signs of it turning black. It wasn't black but it was swollen and leaking. Gross. Frost bite = scary stuff!!!</div>
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Needless to say morale was low on the drive home the next day. Steve and I were both sore, tired, and frost bitten. Worst of all....we didn't have a puppy to cuddle with. </div>
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Monday I went to the doctor to get my ear checked out. He took one look at it and was like, "yup, you have frostbite." He was nice but basically gave me the same information that I read online. In fact, I'm pretty sure the printout he handed me was straight from Wikipedia :-)</div>
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On the mend 4 days later but still gross. My future as an ear model might be over before it even began...</div>
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Winter has not been kind to me this past month. The tailbone and asthma were both due to ice and cold weather but I'm pretty mad at myself for letting myself get frostbite. I should have been more aware. I just keep reminding myself to keep things in perspective. In the long run this is no big deal. In fact, in terms of frostbite I think I'm getting off really, really, REALLY easy. Based on some of the pictures I've seen online mine is the equivalent of getting a small burn. </div>
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This coming weekend I'm racing up in Marquette. Scott drove up today with our granny greyhound Naomi and I'll be driving up Friday. I'm not sure how my lungs or legs are going to feel next weekend but I can tell you this. I'm MUCH more equipped to handle what winter has to throw at me!</div>
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Danielle Mustohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11780175857761747942noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19230346.post-18060194713490483442015-02-03T08:59:00.000-05:002015-02-03T08:59:53.490-05:00Throwing myself a tailbone "pittie" party...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
This past weekend turned out completely different then I initially thought it would go. First I was planning on traveling to MPLS to race the Loppet. On Wednesday my tailbone was still hurting...grrr! I figured that it would probably be in my best interest to avoid the long drive and decided to go up to Traverse City (about 9 hours closer to home) to compete in a fat bike race up there. I woke up Friday to a "still hurting" tailbone and by Friday night I decided to be smart (for once) and not race. Talk about being bummed out!</div>
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I basically spent the whole week missing workouts and freaking out about it. My poor coach and poor Scott :-) I will be the first to admit that I do not handle missing workouts well (even if I know that it's in my best interest). </div>
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So I spent the weekend having a tailbone "pittie" party for myself. Literally.<br />
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Let me start out by saying NO we did not get another dog. This cute little puppy (Lolo) was adopted by my friends in MPLS and I will be delivering her to them soon. In the meantime I'm trying to potty train her. I'm totally using Ben and Jeannie to do it because she will follow them outside and watch them. If they go she usually will. It's safe to say that I have never seen my dogs so tired. Jeannie usually LOVES going outside but now that she's been going out every hour on the hour I think our backyard is losing it's novelty :-) </div>
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Hopefully taking time off from training will help my tailbone heal. In the meantime I'll just take lots of puppy pictures and post them. Because who doesn't think this is cute???<br />
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<br />Danielle Mustohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11780175857761747942noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19230346.post-46074512794206397762015-01-27T08:33:00.001-05:002015-01-27T08:35:11.209-05:00Dear Ice, You SUCK! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
This past week was definitely NOT a good week from a training standpoint. Michigan keeps having Jeckyll and Hyde weather. One day will be warm and everything will start melting, the next will be cold and all the melting snow turns to ice. Ugh. </div>
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Intervals on slush and ice are always fun! NOT!!!</div>
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For the most part I've been able to stay outside and upright but everything came to a crashing halt at the Thursday Throwdown.<br />
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The Thursday Throwdown is fat bike Time Trial at a local greenhouse. It's super low-key and a ton of fun. You can find more pictures <a href="http://www.rulesofendurance.com/reports/frozenendurance">here on the Rules of Endurance page. </a> Having a training series like this is really awesome for getting a hard effort in. Last week the course was icy so I decided to take it easy. I hate ice and trying to go all-out on it didn't sound like a good idea.<br />
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We had to do 6 laps and right about 2.5 laps in I hit an icy patch on a slight downhill turn and the next thing I knew my bike was flipping out from underneath me, my feet were in the air and I landed directly on my tailbone. It was a very dramatic fall for not going very fast. I hit the ground so hard there was a moment that I thought I was either going to poop my pants or puke my brains out. I kid you not...landing hard on the tailbone SUCKS!!! I'm not sure how long I sat on the ground but it felt like a long time. The only reason why I eventually got up was that I knew my friend Steve was going to be coming around the corner and the last thing I wanted to do was be sitting directly in his path on a bunch of ice.<br />
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I'll be the first to admit that initially I thought I was broken. Standing up hurt, pedaling hurt...my butt hurt :-)<br />
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I pedaled when I had to and coasted whenever I could. After a few minutes I realized that if I was able to pedal I was probably just really bruised. So I soft pedaled my way around the course twice more (I had less then 3 miles left) and finished.<br />
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I thought sitting around for a while would make me feel better but in all actuality I just started to hurt worse. So I took off, shed lots of tears on the way home and spent the entire next day walking around like a 95-year old lady.<br />
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The good news is that I'm on the mend. I'm able to sit on my bike and pedal which is awesome because I've bruised my tailbone once before and I could barely sit for the first 2-weeks. It hurts to pedal hard but oh well. I'll deal.<br />
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This Saturday we are heading to Minneapolis for the Loppet race. Racing hard will be hard but to tell you the truth I'm more worried about the car ride over. Luckily I've had numerous offers to borrow one of those <i>"cute, little" </i>donut pillows to sit on. Something tells me I'm not the first mountain biker to land on their tailbone :-)Danielle Mustohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11780175857761747942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19230346.post-41001898976725810062015-01-18T10:00:00.001-05:002015-01-18T10:00:51.688-05:00Absence makes the heart grow fonder?? Finally...a blog update!I can't believe that it's been almost a month since I've posted on this poor blog. I don't remember winter being this BUSY before. Last week I did 3 fat bike races within 7 days, had two fun weekends with friends, and then Scott went out of town for a week. The races were a blast and I was really happy with both of my results. More importantly I'm happy to see so many more women racing fat bikes this winter. The field seems to have doubled this year and racing against fast women is just going to make me stronger. It's amazing how riding on snow covered double track can be just as technical as riding rocky and rooty singletrack :-) Every time I cross the finish line I feel like I've learned something new.<br />
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We also had our <a href="http://www.45nrth.com/">45NRTH</a> Happy Hour at the <a href="http://www.grandrapidsbicycles.com/">Grand Rapids Bicycle Company</a> and then a "Conquer the Cold" ride the next day. All of this fun is making winter fly by and I feel like spring will be here before we know it..unless we have a spring like last year and it will be winter until June :-)<br />
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Anyways, it's impossible to write about everything that happened over the last month. From this point forwards I'm going to start doing small updates every couple of days...even if it's just a picture. Expect a lot of cute dog pictures...haha.<br />
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In the meantime, here are some of my favorite photos from the last couple of weeks....<br />
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PS. I also did a radio interview on WGVU about Fat Bikes! Naturally I had to bring my fat bike along with me. Here's the<a href="http://www.wgvu.org/wgvunews/index.cfm?id=tmsdetail&sty=30125"> link to the show!</a> I hate listening to my own voice while getting interviewed so I haven't listened to it yet myself. Maybe I'll save it for the next road trip over to MPLS!!!!<br />
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Danielle Mustohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11780175857761747942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19230346.post-89753684696706116502014-12-23T10:08:00.003-05:002014-12-23T10:22:46.292-05:00The Solstice Chase-race report!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
And...I'm back. Talk about A LOT of driving and A LOT of fun. I think we spent a total of 20 hours in the car. Luckily we had a few breaks for coffee and Chipotle.</div>
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Heading into this race I had no idea what to expect. After a <strike>few weeks</strike> full month of couch surfing after Worlds I slowly started training again but for a different type of race. I was hoping to do the Tuscobia 75 in early January. To make a really long story short I was really, REALLY broke after Scotland and couldn't sign up. When I finally could it was sold out and I was put on the waiting list. By now I've come to terms that it's not going to happen. Bummer!!! Oh well...if anything I got some good long-ish rides in and I'm going to keep building up on those rides for some early summer endurance races. Throw in some of the Great Lakes Fat Bike Series and I'm going to be training hard and racing hard. That's the plan and I'm excited about it :-)<br />
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Anyways, back to the race. On Friday morning Scott, Steve, Jill and I all piled into the FatBike-mobile and headed West. Last year Jill and I drove by ourselves to most of the races and I think the ride over was a little "eye opening" for my hubby and Steve. <i>FYI: Yes it is possible to laugh for 9 out of 10 hours!!!</i><br />
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At every gas station stop we perused the aisles for the foods with the highest amount of calories. Jill is racing the Tuscobia 150 and one of the race rules is that you have to finish with 3,000 calories on you. We did find a package of sausage that met the requirements. The only problem is that Jill is Vegan...so IF for some reason she did have to bunker down for the night, sausage probably wouldn't be the best emergency food.<br />
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This cookie...definitely not enough calories!<br />
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It was dark and cold by the time we reached our destination of St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin, and we were hungry and tired. My pre-race spin consisted of me pedaling up and down our hotel hallway a few times. We went to bed pretty early and I had one of those dreamless sleeps. No nightmares of missing the start or losing socks...hurray!<br />
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As always our alarm(s) were all going off way too soon. We layered up, and then headed down to see what our breakfast options were. Part of "race morning excitement" is the continental breakfast. You never quite know what you are going to get. This one was pretty good...I settled on oatmeal, a banana and coffee. Living large :-)<br />
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The race venue was less then 10-minutes away and we were some of the first racers to arrive. It was super organized and the registration spot was a barn decorated with Christmas lights. I loved it!!!<br />
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Since we arrived so early <a href="http://www.jillmartindale.blogspot.com/">Jill</a> and I headed over to another heated barn to hang out until our 45NRTH teammates <a href="http://april--morgan.blogspot.com/">April Morgan</a> and Chelsea Strate arrived. When they finally did it was like a big old fat bike reunion. I am so lucky to be part of such a great team!<br />
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Finally it was time to line up! <a href="http://www.45nrth.com/">45NRTH</a> was there with a tent and I felt "oh so pro" being able to hand off my winter jacket. I know I just mentioned how lucky I am to be part of such a great team but I have to mention it again. Words can't even describe how thankful I am to represent such great companies and have such awesome teammates. I was smiling a huge grin at the start...until the promoter said <i>"go"</i> and then that grin turned into me gasping for air.<br />
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My start was chaotic at best. There was a bit of a cluster within the first couple of feet. A few people tangled wheels and a few handlebars were entwined. I can't quite remember where I was in all of this but I know I had to put at least one foot down...maybe two. It took a while to get going but once I got clipped back in I started chasing. As painful as it was I remembered how much I love fat bike racing.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo Credit: Kurt Barclay//45NRTH</td></tr>
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The course had a ton of climbing and some of the doubletrack sections were really bumpy. After about 20-25 minutes I finally started to feel better and settled into a good pace with a few other guys. I was riding along, feeling good, when all of a sudden I hit a patch of ice and then immediately hit the ground. It took a few seconds to get back on but luckily there was no damage. After a lot more hills I was finally done with one lap. Heading through the transition area I was told that April was about a minute up. I knew that my speedy friend Megan Barr couldn't be that far behind along with Jill and Chelsea.<br />
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I felt much, much better on the second lap. I caught a few guys and eventually started riding with a guy who set a really good pace. Half-way through the lap I mentioned that I needed to watch out for the icy spot where I crashed and within a few minutes of saying that I was on the ground again. OMG! Talk about feeling like an idiot. I can't believe I managed to crash in the same spot TWICE!!! I freaking hate ice! Luckily my bike was still OK and I wasn't hurt (minus a few bruises and a REALLY bruised ego!)<br />
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The second lap seemed to go by faster then the first and before long I was crossing the finish line in 2nd place behind my teammate April Morgan. My friend Megan Barr (Twin Six) finished right behind me in 3rd and Chelsea and Jill finished in 4th and 5th. It was so cool to have such a strong field of women racing fat bikes!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g9gmo9mjgz4/VJlUrkMyiPI/AAAAAAAATDE/TMVDtqwhmtg/s1600/solstice7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g9gmo9mjgz4/VJlUrkMyiPI/AAAAAAAATDE/TMVDtqwhmtg/s1600/solstice7.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With my teammates April and Jill (Chelsea had to leave early)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ahzh9yWB67g/VJlVHm92yZI/AAAAAAAATDM/nYmhi-UEbkE/s1600/solstice6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ahzh9yWB67g/VJlVHm92yZI/AAAAAAAATDM/nYmhi-UEbkE/s1600/solstice6.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Last podium of 2014</td></tr>
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I can't say enough good things about <a href="http://www.cyclova.com/2013/10/the-solstice-chase-50k25k-fatbike-race.html">The Solstice Chase</a>. The promoters and volunteers do a great job putting on the race. We hung out for a long time afterwards in the heated barn. Outside they had a wood fired stove for pizzas...it was pretty awesome.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xnIWahYvzyg/VJmItBA8CJI/AAAAAAAATD4/nDRWN1-oj-I/s1600/solstice2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xnIWahYvzyg/VJmItBA8CJI/AAAAAAAATD4/nDRWN1-oj-I/s1600/solstice2.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
Finally we packed up and left and headed to stay with Twin Six friend Brent for the night in MPLS. We stayed up way too late and had to leave way too early. I think the drive back was probably the most painful part of the entire race.<br />
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We stopped in Madison for lunch and found a "s'more station!" Talk about a whole lot of awesome!<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J2K79yG-3Is/VJlWC5ZYA9I/AAAAAAAATDY/DpzH7wKd9xE/s1600/solstice4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J2K79yG-3Is/VJlWC5ZYA9I/AAAAAAAATDY/DpzH7wKd9xE/s1600/solstice4.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9unQasXdhIo/VJmBaVEGPPI/AAAAAAAATDo/9kmHRPufWHI/s1600/solstice9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9unQasXdhIo/VJmBaVEGPPI/AAAAAAAATDo/9kmHRPufWHI/s1600/solstice9.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
It felt really great to go out and race. I have a few early season endurance races in the Spring so I won't be doing the entire winter series. I did that last year and it was too much time in the car and too little training. However I'm definitely going to do at least 5 of the races. All of the races are so much fun and so well run...I can't stay away. One thing that The Solstice Chase taught me is that I have a lot of work to do before <a href="http://www.trailheadoutdoors.org/cohutta-100">this race!!!</a><br />
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Next up is <a href="http://www.crystalmountain.com/events/fat-chance-fat-tire-bike-race">Fat Chance</a>! I'm still a tiny bit bummed that I can't race Tuscobia but Fat Chance is an awesome race and venue...I can't wait!Danielle Mustohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11780175857761747942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19230346.post-12047710884146782472014-12-19T05:42:00.003-05:002014-12-19T06:52:31.485-05:00Let the winter race season begin (EEK!)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Happy Friday! </div>
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It's 5 a.m. and I am trying to tie up last minute things before we load up the van and head over to Wisconsin for the first race in the <a href="http://www.greatlakesfatbikeseries.com/">Great Lakes Fat Bike Series</a>. To tell you the truth I've been so busy that I haven't had much time to think about the race. I started a new gig at my <a href="http://www.grandrapidsbicycles.com/">favorite bike shop(s)</a> in the world and it's been nothing but awesome. I love everyone that I work with AND I get to spend time riding my bike with really great people. I love it!</div>
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One of the things that I'm most excited about is that I'm going to be starting (and coaching) a GRBC striders and Devo team. I ABSOLUTELY can't wait for this. It's going to be so much fun to get more kids out on bikes and working with them on a weekly basis. Plus we are going to be at some of the local races in town and have a pro set-up for them, complete with shop tent, mechanic on hand and juice boxes :-)</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LnRc0FNMxQ8/VJP-hyhtLMI/AAAAAAAATBc/_61lG5KRi00/s1600/ladies%2Bride3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LnRc0FNMxQ8/VJP-hyhtLMI/AAAAAAAATBc/_61lG5KRi00/s1600/ladies%2Bride3.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SHdP54ULGNY/VJP-o7HZpPI/AAAAAAAATBk/IBagL52aA_M/s1600/ladies%2B4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SHdP54ULGNY/VJP-o7HZpPI/AAAAAAAATBk/IBagL52aA_M/s1600/ladies%2B4.jpg" height="400" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Strider bikes are so freaking cute!</td></tr>
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Besides being super excited about the GRBC kids team I've been having a really great time riding with friends! Last Saturday the GRBC ladies (and friends) invaded Sietsema Orchards. We had over 20 women show up which is pretty awesome. Especially in December on a Saturday morning. After our ride we hung out, ate fresh doughnuts and had flights of Cider. Yum! More pictures are up on the <a href="http://grandrapidsbicycles.blogspot.com/2014/12/grbc-ladies-and-friends-invade-sietsema.html">GRBC blog!</a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mOuQ5ABE5R0/VJOfQ6I4hSI/AAAAAAAATBA/YaeYParoJzo/s1600/ladies%2Bride.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mOuQ5ABE5R0/VJOfQ6I4hSI/AAAAAAAATBA/YaeYParoJzo/s1600/ladies%2Bride.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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On Sunday I did a 5 hour ride on my fat bike and finished the ride by rolling down to the Midwest Regional Cyclocross Championships with Scott to cheer on our friends. It looked painful :-)</div>
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The only un-fun part of the week was having to rush sweet little Jeannie to the vet. On Tuesday I came home from work to find a bunch of plastic containers that were on the counter on the floor, along with a bunch of grapes. It didn't take me much to figure out which dog did it since Jeannie immediately ran to the corner when I got home (plus Ben and Naomi were still sleeping on the bed in the same positions that they were when I left them). </div>
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Here's what you should know about Jeannie. She is the nicest, sweetest dog and when she does something wrong she becomes mortified. When I walked into the kitchen and saw the mess she put herself into the corner. I "googled" dog and grapes and immediately had a panic attack. After a quick call to the vet we rushed over so that they could induced Jeannie to vomit. </div>
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As it turns out she hadn't eaten any grapes after all. PHEW! I was very, very happy on the drive home and Jeannie was like, "why did we just drive to the vet so that I could puke?" I felt like a really, really bad dog mom. Lesson learned...I will never, ever leave grapes on the counter again. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b_DL1YfRcc4/VJOfIM3v16I/AAAAAAAATA4/Fs_hNhDpbUs/s1600/ladies%2Bride1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b_DL1YfRcc4/VJOfIM3v16I/AAAAAAAATA4/Fs_hNhDpbUs/s1600/ladies%2Bride1.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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They warned me the shot they gave her to puke might make her "loopy." She seemed OK on the way home but the moment we got into the house she headed to the couch and stayed in this position for a few hours :-)</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-46e7J7X4GIw/VJOfAq00vKI/AAAAAAAATAw/zTyFydUUf_o/s1600/ladies%2Bride2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-46e7J7X4GIw/VJOfAq00vKI/AAAAAAAATAw/zTyFydUUf_o/s1600/ladies%2Bride2.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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Well time to finish packing. Since Worlds I haven't done much speed work and I have a feeling that this race might be really ugly my friends. Eek! That being said I'm still really excited to see my <a href="http://www.45nrth.com/">45NRTH</a> teammates and do a mini road trip with Scott, Steve and Jill. Naturally this road trip will involve stops for coffee and chipotle. </div>
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Let the winter race season begin :-)</div>
Danielle Mustohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11780175857761747942noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19230346.post-5105995678295029222014-12-08T21:44:00.000-05:002014-12-08T21:45:13.716-05:00GRBC fun!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
How is it Monday already? My entire weekend centered around bikes...which made it really fun...which made it fly by. </div>
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First of all a ton of new 45NRTH product arrived at <a href="http://www.grandrapidsbicycles.com/">GRBC</a>. The Sturmfist gloves are THE BEST I've ever used (<a href="http://grandrapidsbicycles.blogspot.com/2014/12/conquer-cold.html">read about them here</a>)! I've been testing the Sturmfist 5 out since the Iceman in a range of temperatures from low 20's to mid 30's. Last year my hands got cold all of the time but they have been nothing but toasty in the Sturmfist 5. The cool thing about the gloves is that even if my hands get warm they never get sweaty. I can't wait to try the Sturmfist 4 but first it has to get colder here. Minus the one snowy week we had in November the weather has been very mild.</div>
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Naturally Jill and I had to model the <a href="http://45nrth.com/products/softgoods/toaster-fork">Toaster Fork</a> and<a href="http://45nrth.com/products/softgoods/lung-cookie"> Lung Cookie</a> :-) </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bZcfA1s44dA/VIZYfN59e7I/AAAAAAAAS_k/T9OuiUFbkaw/s1600/45nrth3.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bZcfA1s44dA/VIZYfN59e7I/AAAAAAAAS_k/T9OuiUFbkaw/s1600/45nrth3.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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It turns out I'm a horrible model because I'm not wearing the Toaster Fork correctly. It's supposed to go around the face but clearly I was jealous that Jill could cover her mouth and nose...haha. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hp1vP_q9uSY/VIZYjGaNzhI/AAAAAAAAS_s/se3KMGmUnIA/s1600/45nrth2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hp1vP_q9uSY/VIZYjGaNzhI/AAAAAAAAS_s/se3KMGmUnIA/s1600/45nrth2.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thumbs up for 45NRTH!</td></tr>
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Friday we built a snowman in the window, just in time for the Tinsel and Trolley event Friday night. Thanks to <a href="http://www.velocityusa.com/">Velocity USA</a> this snowman is NEVER going to melt :-)</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-megWjK-BDi0/VIZT9baI6UI/AAAAAAAAS_I/Ebk0oo-JzGE/s1600/santaparade3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-megWjK-BDi0/VIZT9baI6UI/AAAAAAAAS_I/Ebk0oo-JzGE/s1600/santaparade3.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clearly we all like the new GRBC military caps!</td></tr>
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Saturday I was back at the shop bright and early for the Ada Santa parade and more importantly...Global Fat Bike Day. Let's face it...every day should be Global Fat Bike Day :-) It was a really fun morning with lots of Christmas decorations for our bikes and lots and lots of coffee!</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NLOFVp66Su8/VIZTqu4_shI/AAAAAAAAS-4/ZycfpRrui4I/s1600/santaparade5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NLOFVp66Su8/VIZTqu4_shI/AAAAAAAAS-4/ZycfpRrui4I/s1600/santaparade5.jpg" height="400" width="225" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">just being my normal self :-)</td></tr>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MJTQCWg8HN0/VIZUMm1lAhI/AAAAAAAAS_Y/fmtl2HrR2Dg/s1600/santa%2Bparade.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MJTQCWg8HN0/VIZUMm1lAhI/AAAAAAAAS_Y/fmtl2HrR2Dg/s1600/santa%2Bparade.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fMww8dzoKuE/VIZTkHPGcNI/AAAAAAAAS-w/aw_eokLwgmo/s1600/santaparade6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fMww8dzoKuE/VIZTkHPGcNI/AAAAAAAAS-w/aw_eokLwgmo/s1600/santaparade6.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
The parade was fun. We had to ride really slow so we all got to practice our balancing skills...something I clearly need to work on. I think I must have put a foot down at least 100 times. <i>New goal for next year: learn how to do a track stand! </i>After the parade I went back to the shop, ate ANOTHER bagel, more candy, and more coffee. Finally I forced myself out of the warm shop to do my ride. The sun was out and temps were in the high 30's...surprisingly warm for December!<br />
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Sunday I had an endurance ride so I took my fat bike out to the beach. Since we don't have snow right now I figured the next best thing was to ride on sand. I arrived at the beach in record time and was patting myself on the back for being so speedy :-)<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IwbIyWIpKS8/VIZdhOeVVvI/AAAAAAAAS_8/GerVm4tFZ1U/s1600/beach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IwbIyWIpKS8/VIZdhOeVVvI/AAAAAAAAS_8/GerVm4tFZ1U/s1600/beach.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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I had the entire beach to myself and it was awesome. Riding next to the waves will never, ever get old!</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xuxsPUYP7TI/VIZdpLiSv6I/AAAAAAAATAE/VDI0zTBvTxg/s1600/beach2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xuxsPUYP7TI/VIZdpLiSv6I/AAAAAAAATAE/VDI0zTBvTxg/s1600/beach2.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
On my way back I realized why I was so speedy on my way there. I had to deal with the wind blasting me in the face the entire way home. By the time I finally pulled into my driveway I had been pedaling for almost 5.5 hours. It was a really good workout but now I am pooped. So glad that today is a rest day!<br />
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Tomorrow night spin class at GRBC (ada location). We start pedaling at 6 p.m! Hope to see everyone there!Danielle Mustohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11780175857761747942noreply@blogger.com1