Chipseal, Cobbles, and Pedals

Check out my new blog at: thecowgirlcyclist.com!!

Thanks!

Melissa

Spring is finally here! And with that comes many different things: racing, motopacing, hours and hours in the saddle, daylight savings, future cycling chics…aka: girl babies! (not me, my two brothers and our friend Torrance just had a baby today!), rain, flowers, and my parent’s 30 year anniversary!  What else does spring bring?  Well, for the cowgirl cyclist, it brings a fresh new look to my lovely blog of 4 adventurous years. It took a few months of work, but spring is the time that I have decided to launch this thing! So please let me know what you think and as always, I hope you enjoy!

Here’s my new blog: thecowgirlcyclist.com

Enjoy!

Stars shining bright above you

Night breezes seem to whisper “I love you”

Birds singing in the sycamore tree

Dream a little dream of me

Say “Night-ie night” and kiss me

Just hold me tight and tell me you’ll miss me

While I’m alone and blue as can be

Dream a little dream of me

Stars fading but I linger on, dear

Still craving your kiss

I’m longing to linger till dawn, dear

Just saying this

Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you

Sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you

But in your dreams whatever they be

Dream a little dream of me

This past week, Aaron had the pleasure of using up some good ol’ vaca time and spent the entire week logging hour after hour on his bike. It was his very own “Rosco Training Camp”. Every day looked like 70-90 miles and he’d come home, put his legs up on my lap and give me the puppy eyes. Fortunately we planned ahead and he was able to get a massage (relieving me from my soigner duties).

Saturday, I took the day off of work at the shop and spent the entire day with Aaron, on two wheels. He had to do 5 1/2 hours and I took him up on the adventure. I had to do my power weights in the morning first, and then I met Kate, Luke, Torrance, and Aaron at the shop for our big adventure north. We took off and rode up to Concord and further west. Torrance had to leave early on but we kept trucking away. My awesome home-made energy bars got me through great distances (recipe below). Plus, Aaron pulled most of the way on the front as he had to ride a bit harder than the rest of us. We looped down and through Foxboro and back into Medfield/Dover area. Once we were almost back, I had to start my 15 second standing-start sprints. I was already a bit fatigued from the long ride, but as Aaron said, “This will prepare you for the race – where it really counts.” He was right. I left Aaron, Kate, and Luke and started my efforts. My legs screamed in pain with each effort. I could barely spin my pedals between each interval, but when the time came to ‘go’, I went with all my might and then some. I think they may have been the best sprints I’d done thus far…even with all the fatigue, but at the back of my mind was an image of all the races I want to win this year and that this moment was the moment that must count.

I finished at the top of the hill by our apartment and rolled home. We got some grub, even went to Trader Joes and slept like babies through the night.

Sunday was where my cockiness started. I’m not saying that I was cocky like I was really full of myself. It’s just that I felt really good and I was pretty blown away by the fact that my body didn’t feel destroyed. I woke up, made pancakes, and then Torrance met us at the apartment to ride into Brookline to meed at the Cafe Fixe. We discovered Cafe Fixe last weekend when we met up with some of the Met Life riders for a big ride. The experience of sipping the espresso down, made the ride into the city, worth every mile and bump in the road. It was as if I was being transported into Europe, sitting at a little cafe on a ride. The taste was like a bitter and frothy caramel. It was so good! And once that wonderful concentration of caffeine went into my system, it was as if I had been charged up by rocket fuel! My body started to shake a little, my excitement rose, and I was too excited to hop onto my bike. Torrance and Aaron had the same feeling too.

Aaron and Torrance at Cafe Fixe in Brookline

We waited at the cafe for just a little while, but decided that we’d missed the other group of riders, so we took off on our own. The air was slightly humid but overall I felt excited and full of energy. Aaron led for much of the way (as usual, using his “Ross Bicycle Global Positioning System”) but soon we adventured to some little hills where my confidence started to take over. I’d accelerate and look over my shoulder to taunt Aaron, but all of a sudden, Torrance would come flying around the side and try to take on the KOM. Aaron would chase after him and I would hang back as my legs would suddenly remind me that all their juice was used up the previous day. This happened much of the ride and a few times, I thought I might actually take on the town line or KOM, but it just didn’t work out. I was very surprised how well I felt and still kept and eye on my food/water intake.

But almost immediately after Torrance left us at 3hrs 15min, Aaron and I started to ride up Pine Street in Medfield. If you’ve been on Pine Street, you understand that it’s a longer climb. Anyhow, I knew I needed more energy, so I took a Hammer Gel and continued to day dream as I rode Aaron’s wheel up the hill. It was as we peaked the Pine St. hill, that I suddenly came back to reality and realized that my legs really hurt and all of a sudden, it was like my body hit a wall. I lost all my energy! I was soo close too! We started to turn and I called after Aaron, “Aren’t we headed home?” He needed more time. I followed him, but soon he kept distancing himself. I was losing altitude. I felt light headed. I kept stuffing my face with food and drinking. I caught up to him as he had stopped to wait for me. “You can go Aaron. I’m holding you up. I need to go home.” He was concerned but let me head back. I started back home. As my blood sugar came up, my energy picked back up. Once I was home, I grabbed some food and crashed on the couch. Aaron came home soon and continued to make me lots of food, so by the end of the afternoon, my energy was much higher.

It was a great weekend. And yes, I did get a little to cocky but I’ll blame the espresso on that! To top it off, we were invited over to our friend’s the Kraus’ for a dinner of buffalo steaks! Now that’s what I call real recovery food!

Here’s my recipe for energy bars:

Best Energy Bars Ever

1c flour
2 1/2 c oats
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c coconut
1 c chopped nuts
1/2 c dried fruit
1/2 c chocolate chips

Mix separately:
2/3 c all natural crunchy peanut butter
1/2 c milk
2 eggs
1/2 c honey
1/2 c brown sugar

Mix wet ingredients with dry. Line plastic wrap on 9×13 in baking pan. Spray with baking oil. Put mixture and spread evenly, cool in fridge for 30 minutes or so to let it stiffen. Take out of fridge and cut into desired sized bars. Place bars on cookie sheet (lined with foil and greased) with space in-between. Bake 300 degrees for 20-22 minutes. Cool and then wrap bars in foil/plastic, or put in mini snack size bags to carry on rides.

Old dirt road
Knee deep snow
Watching the fire as we grow old

I got a man to stick it out
And make a home from a rented house
And we’ll collect the moments one by one
I guess that’s how the future’s done

How many acres how much light
Tucked in the woods and out of sight
Talk to the neighbours and tip my cap
On a little road barely on the map

-Mushaboom, Feist

It seemed to be the first snow ride of the season. Last year when we were buried head to toe – this year is a tropical paradise! As it’s made the winter training marvelous, I can’t complain. Right now, Aaron and I are doing our weight training, so the riding usually happens on the weekends. The previous weekend, it was frigid cold and we battled the chills by bundling up and hitting the road. Our ‘extreme’ winter crew includes: Phil Golden, Torrance Kopfer, Bob Mortensen, and sometimes Kate will drive up too.

Sometimes the winter air has a bite…almost as if Jack Frost were real. I truly believe that the ‘bite’ is what brings us up. We don’t always appreciate it, but we sure the heck have a great story to tell and learn about ourselves along the way. It’s also the ‘bite’ that tests us and helps to keep us grounded when life can be a bitch. Like life, when it gets you down, when you are riding in the bitter cold, you just have to keep your momentum, push through it, and make the most of it. Over the last couple of weeks, I have gotten videos from back home in Wyoming from people taking extreme circumstances and turning them around. For instance, two guys went ice climbing in the Snowies (not far from Laramie, WY) and had a terrible accident where the ice gave way and one of the climbers fell 200 ft, breaking his ankle in the process. Instead of giving up, the guy that was seriously injured repelled and he crawled the 3 miles back to the car. He turned his film into something that could be shared to inspire others. You could tell in the process that he’d focus his attention on his filming, rather than the pain. Another instance was my former housemate, Dave from Laramie, was skiing in Jackson Hole recently and was caught in an avalanche with his camera on too. Here’s his video: http://youtu.be/8NTg81jaLBk. He was fine, swimming through the snow. But he didn’t let that life and death situation keep him from doing what he loves to do best: ski the powder.

I guess what I’m trying to say is (since so many people ask, “How can you ride in the cold?!!”) that it’s the experience that makes us stronger and gives us something to share with others. It probably makes us legally insane, but I’m ok with that! Plus, if you compare riding your bike in the cold to riding and avalanche or falling while ice climbing, it’s really not that big of a deal. Personally I think it’s a great adventure.

Here’s the video of our ride this weekend. I promise, I’m getting better at cutting it down;)

So, it has been awhile since my last update. Since I discovered my Jedi knight powers back in Providence, I soon began to lose some of ‘the force’. My races were full of crashes and soon I was just plain tired. My main source of inspiration was the beer feeds that came in the middle of the race. Yes, it’s illegal to take beer feeds in a race, but it’s cross and everyone is throwing dollar bills and beer at you…especially when you are obviously not even contending the back of the field! By Ice Weasels, I was completely fried. However, since I was racing single speed and kind of there for the ‘fun’ (and Ice Weasels is really the best cross party on the planet), I got a surge of ‘the force’ and became an unstoppable force! As I was coming to overtake the girl in second place, the announcers (who were no where near sober by then) were cheering, “And look…Melissa is coming to overtake her!” And all of a sudden, my cleat was stuck in my pedal and I ate it so hard, right into the barriers and landing on my ribs. I laid there for a second, “…and maybe not!” the announcers paused, “we should help her up!” Every one was cheering and I pulled myself up, hardly able to breathe yet, and got back onto my bike. The crowd cheered and everyone tried to high five me and hand me beers. I even managed to eventually overtake the lady and ended up placing 2nd. It was the funnest race I’ve ever done in cross and was a great closing to the season. To top it off, Aaron and I both won the raffle drawing (I an Ipod and Aaron a backpack). We topped off the evening by stopping at Sam’s Liquor store (the owner Jay had watched our race) and he gave me some extra special ‘recovery’ wine drinks.

After our end of the season party, we took two full weeks off of any sort of exercise and got to pretend to be carefree and eat whatever our hearts desired. Perfect time for holiday cookies, fudge, and you guessed it…lots of beer. Aaron’s parents came to visit for Christmas and we even went to the homeless shelter in Boston and served Christmas dinner. It was a great Holiday.

For our final hurrah before returning back to our regular schedules, Aaron and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary by spending the New Year’s weekend on Nantucket. Below is the video of our adventure. If you can’t view it for some reason, go here: http://youtu.be/i07LcqAC-lE.

Enjoy and Happy New Year!

Yesterday, I became a whore.  Not just any whore though, a ‘cyclocrossist whore‘.  Now, you may be wondering what a cyclocrossist whore is and what it entails.  According to Urban Dictionary, a Cyclocrossist is:

(noun) a person who rides a cyclocross bike.

Now, a whore is: a. Someone who does something excessively.  b. It’s not exactly legitimate to call somebody a whore unless they are paid for what they do.

When you combine the two definitions, you get a ‘cyclocrossist whore‘ being basically: an idiot running while carrying his/her bike while getting paid with dollar bills.

That was me, just one day ago.  This past weekend was one of the biggest cross races of the season, the Grand Prix of Gloucester Cyclocross.  Some of the top racers came from all over the world and the biggest beer drinkers and fans were there in numbers.  A couple of the riders who came happened to be the girls I lived with in Belgium, 3 summers ago; Helen Wyman and Gabby Day.  As I was on my adventure and very much alone, Gabby became a very good friend. We not only lived together, but traveled to races in Holland and as far as the Czech Republic.  She really helped me get through the home sickness and just dealing with mearly surviving the races (aka: getting my ass kicked!).  I hadn’t seen her since I left Europe so it was very exciting to be reunited with my friend.

I think this is where I started to lose some steam.

The first day at Gloucester went very well.  There were almost 50 women that started and I was staged in the 2nd to last row.  I knew that in order to have a chance, I had to move to the front as quickly as possible.  As my cross race three weeks ago had gone very well against some of the top women, I knew I could do it, it would just come down to positioning.  So, as soon at the gun went off for the start, we sped up the paved hill.  I was unable to move up, but I didn’t panic.  After about 200meters, we came to a sharp right, then a sharp left.  I squeezed past about 25 riders on the right!  Then we had a short straight, then a right hand turn and some steps to run up.  Quickly, I passed another 15 people and soon I was in the top 10 riders!!  Wow!  I could hardly believe my luck!  I looked at who I was next to and was nearly start struck.  I kept going.  We zig zagged around in the soft mud.  It had rained earlier in the day and the mud had began to dry so it became almost like a soft clay. We came to a steep run up – off the bike, shoulder it, then up the hill.  I tried to put as much momentum and spring into every step.  My thighs burned. Then back onto the bike and around more zig zags, over some barriers and through the lap.  Our race was 40 minutes. After about the 2nd lap, I started to lose some steam. Girls started passing me.  I tried to stay mentally tough, but subconsciously I worried about the person behind me passing. “Focus on what lies ahead,” I tried to tell myself. Soon, a few more girls passed.  Then I hit a rock with my front wheel.  My tire pressure was low to begin with due to the muddy conditions so I became paranoid that I had a flat. I slowed down more, I took the corners too cautious. Finally after half a lap of my silliness, I realized my tire was not flat and I needed to press forward.  Each time up the muddy run-up, it took more and more out of me. “Keep your momentum going!!” The fans cheered.  I was just trying to move forward.  (Here’s a picture of me.)

Gabby Day and me after the race on Sunday. Notice my 'recovery' drink.

Finally, the race was over and I had finished 22nd.  It was good, but I knew I could do much better.  But immediately when I crossed the line, that’s when I saw my friend Gabby Day.  ”Gabby!!!” I screamed and immediately went and gave her a huge hug.  She had finished 5th.  Helen had won. “I’m so sorry I didn’t bring Keiren and come crash your wedding,” she said in her British accent. I was so happy to see her.  She had come alone to the States for the first time (kind of how I went to Europe) to do some cyclocross racing and not knowing where she’d live or what would happen.  But it all worked out for her.  ”I’m going back on Tuesday,” she said, “and I don’t want to go because I love it here and the people are so nice!”

Sunday, I was ready to tear it up.  I knew that I could do much better than the day before, I just needed to a: have a good start, and b: fight off the demons in my head. I headed up a little bit earlier to the race so I could have a better pre-ride on the course and a good warm-up.  Aaron had the day off so he did a big ride all the way to Gloucester from our house.   As the day had been much drier than the previous day, I decided to ride with a little more pressure in my tires.  But because the weather decided to turn after our start, this turned out to be a bad decision on my end.

Thinking from previous years, I anticipated that Sunday’s race would hold less running, more turns, faster, and much more better for me.  I was wrong.  The course designer (he’s really an artist/engineer and genius with his course designs) decided to switch  it up from years past and add more running!!  You’d think with my extensive running background, I’d be excited, but as I have barely run in years, and the fact that cyclocross running is nothing like running a 5K, I knew I was in for it! The course not only involved the run-up from the previous day, but also included a massive sand-pit by the ocean followed by a steep staircase of 33 steps.

As I was again positioned in the back, I had to focus on my start.  The gun went off and we all took off up the hill.  I was caught behind some riders and soon, had trouble moving up as the course weaved in and out along the grassy hill slope.  I stayed focused and passed some riders, but still not where I wanted to be.  In hind sight I should have been a little more optimistic as I wasn’t as far back as I thought.  But as I pushed through each lap, the ground became more slick as the air became misty. My hands started to slide on my brake levers and I became more and more sloppy on my dismounts and remounts.  At one point I thought I’d run into the barrier with my bike.  I almost tipped over sideways in the sand pit too; somehow managing to catch myself.  I was regretting the extra tire pressure as I struggled to get traction through the corners. But then, something changed.  Maybe it was the tide turning (the high tide started rushing over into the sand pit). Or it was that suddenly on my third lap, I noticed some dollar bills as I was dismounting and running up the stairs next to the beer tent.  ”Money!”  I was going to make some money today, some way, some how.  I think that was the exact moment that I went from just being a cyclocross racer to a cyclocrossist whore.  I reached down with my left hand and swooped up the dollar bills, running and carrying my bike with my right hand. I could have tripped, but I didn’t.  The far from sober fans were screaming with excitement as I stuffed the cash into my back pocket.  I hopped back onto my bike, now on a new mission! If I couldn’t get top 10, I was just going to have some fun today, I had decided.

Got my wad of dirty money!

I moved through the course and finally back to the sand pit and up the 33 stairs.  I saw some girls moving in on me, but I wouldn’t let them catch me.  I reached the top of the staircase and looked back.  A dollar had fallen out of my pocket onto the ground.  ”YOU LOST A DOLLAR BILL!!” Someone screamed at me.  I smiled, shook my head, and kept going.  They screamed as if I would turn around for a dollar.  I kept going, confident I could make it up on the next and final lap.  As I rounded the next lap, I came through the pit with this time, more dollars on the ground.  I could feel my chest rise with excitement.  I was fatiguing and getting more sloppy on my dismounts, so this time, I nearly face planted as I swooped my hand down to grab the first dollar.  I could see the girl behind me raise her eyes as I kept snatching all the dollars on the ground, leaving nothing for her.  I was losing some coordination so I quickly tucked the bills in my pocket and hopped back onto my bike.  Aaron was by the fence.  I put three fingers up and smiled at him.  People were yelling.  It was crazy!

The last lap I stayed in the same position.  As I came through the final sand pit and up the stairs, I could hear the screams, “YOU LOST YOUR DOLLAR ON THE LAST LAP!”  I smiled, “It’s ok, I got more!” I finished, just psyched I made about $5.  I pulled the wad of dirty money from my pocket and showed the other girls.  They all laughed as I told them my story.

I saw Gabby after and she had gotten 3rd place!  ”I’m so happy,” she said, “what a great way to end my trip!”  She was headed off to world cups in Europe.

So, that’s the story of how I not only reunited with a great friend but became a cyclocrossist whore.

As I sit here, banged and bruised from starting cyclocross training, I am thinking about the finale of my road season.  The next two weekends will be the biggest cyclocross races of the year and although I haven’t really touched my cross bike too much yet, I feel ready. I feel strong.  I mean, I woke up in the middle of the night with water oozing out of my eye. I went to the bathroom and discovered my eye was very much inflamed, swollen and I proceeded to flush it out with saline solution.  Seemed to do the trick.  Must have gotten some muck in my eye last night at the park when I was practicing. That’s cross for you.

But before I move onto a very epic, extreme, and gnarly sport, I must give you the play by play of my road season’s finale in the heart of “our fair city,” Boston.

Sunday was the annual Mayor’s Cup.  $20,000 were in payouts for both the women and the men’s fields.  $5,000 of that was cash primes.  Boy after last weekend in Portsmouth, I was ready to take home some money!  The last two years I’ve done the race, I was able to hang in, not so much as ‘being the race’ but being ‘in’ the race, if that makes sense. This year, I was much stronger so my goal was to get on the podium and even win.  I visualized it all week.  I did the play by play of the final corner  in my head on how it would go down. And when I awoke on Sunday, my nerves were indeed racing.  I made some pancakes and prepared.

The week before the race, my partner in crime, Silke, hadn’t registered for the race.  I needed her there. So, every single day, I emailed her and texted her, “Did you remember to register? Our friend Bob says he didn’t see you on the start list and your Norwood fans will be there cheering.”  Finally on Saturday (very last minute) she texted me, “Alright already! I will be there tomorrow!” She was on her last matches for the season, but I knew she could pull through.

Our race consisted of over 50 women.  Many great sprinters from some of the top women’s teams were present too.  I knew it would be a very fast race, but I was ready.  At the start line, I looked up at the announcer’s podium and saw our friend Ed Ryan.  He was putting money down on a prime.  He raised his hands, “10 laps Melissa, 2 place prime!”  I nodded.  I had to win Ed’s prime.

We started with a crowed of people lining the streets. The pace was high.  I took two laps to get my feet under me and then I began moving up at the front and actively chasing attacks.  The first couple of primes I went for, but every time on the last corner, I wasn’t in the ideal position. After the second prime, I attacked past the start line, but once I rounded the turn, I hesitated as I approached the two girls who’d gotten the prime.  The pack wasn’t too far back so I eased up and abandoned my attack.  There were several other attacks during the race that I was able to bridge up to. None of them lasted but a quarter of a lap, as we’d get caught by the peleton. But I tried.  Meanwhile, Silke hung in.  She saved her legs for a few attacks, but I could tell she had just a few matches in her.

Bridging up with 10 laps to go. Picture complements of Velo News.

Coming up to two laps to go, one of the Colivita girls came smashing down onto her hips. She was right in front of me and somehow  I managed to avoid running her over.  I heard her screams echoing on the brick buildings. As we came through the two laps to go, I started to move up the left side, but a Juvederm lady moved over as I was coming up and I was pushed almost colliding into the wheel pit’s Sram car and hitting the metal barriers.   I caught myself and was able to counteract my balance.  I knew then that it would be a fight for the finish.  With one lap to go, I still needed to move up more. Teams were starting to attack and up the pace.  I had to push to the front.  I stayed on the left side on the last two turns and saw a few girls go early on the inside. Shoot! I grabbed Lauren Tomayo’s wheel (last year’s winner) as she took off and sprinted my brains out, hoping to at least beat her.  I threw my bike across the line but she just had inched me out.  My eyes started counted the riders ahead. I hoped for a top 10.  11th. Well, 11th isn’t so bad, but when it is so close, you know you can be at the top. It was all positioning.  Happened so fast but every millisecond counts.

Silke had fought for top 20.  She wasn’t in an ideal position but sprinted around a ton of riders at the end and got 19th!  The payout was for top 20!  We both took home a lot of money and she was really happy I bugged her all week into racing.

Aaron also did the men’s pro 1-2 race.  He’s wanted to do it for years.  There were 135 men and he was 77th, so it wasn’t too bad for his first time at Mayor’s Cup.

Now onto the epic, extreme, and gnarly cyclocross season! This weekend in Gloucester will include some top riders in the world, so stay tuned!