42hr Texas Road Trip

Less than 20hrs after my surgery, Bryce and I jumped in the van and headed down to Matador, TX for his last moto race of the season.

No, it probably wasn't the smartest thing I could have done, but definitely not the dumbest either. I figured if I was going to be sitting around anyway, I might as well do it in the car with Bryce and keep him company for the 10hr drive there and back :) The drive down wasn't bad at all and we there in time to chat with a few people, get B registered, have some dinner and crash at the hotel.

Sunday was a typical early morning but a bit more rushed than normal. This was a 'timekeeping' event (I still don't get how it works) but at any rate, you need a special computer to keep you on pace and that still needed be mounted to the bike. Luckily he had a few guys give him a hand or two and made his start time with a few minutes to spare!

This was at the 2nd gas stop at mile 50. As you can see by the killer 'dust stash', it was pretty sandy and dusty. Although it wasn't his best of finishes (14th), he actually had a great race and had he been just a few seconds faster in each test, he would have been in the top 1o for sure and possibly the top 5. Great job B, that's your motivation to get faster for next season! Check out his race report at The Braap Spot.

The drive home - Since B drove the whole way down and raced all day, I figured I'd try to do a short section so he could rest his eyes a bit before the long haul home. Driving a giant van isn't easy and doing it 2 days after knee surgery isn't any easier! However, it did allow us to get home safely with only a few 10min power naps on the side of the road in the middle of the night. I'm now back on the couch resting, recovering and waiting for the time when I can run again :) Hehe.

Surgery #2

I went under the knife again this morning at 10am with Dr. Paul at the Boulder Surgery Center. The plan was an ITB release as well as a release of the small septum near by. The other part of the procedure was the smooth out the bone where the IT Band attaches called the Gerdy's Tubercle since it was a little misshaped causing the band to pull in a funky direction.

I wasn't nervous at all going into the surgery as it honestly feels like yesterday when I had the first one even though it was back in April. I was more anxious and excited than anything because I really think this is going to be trick in getting me back running. Everything during the procedure itself went as planned and was perfectly executed. The only concern was that the bursa he originally drained 6 months ago was more inflamed than any other bursa he had ever seen during surgery. Of course he drained it once more and cleaned it all up again and think it's definitely a byproduct of all the irritation so I should be all set to go.

Although I'm feeling much better right now than before, I'm definitely felling the aftermath of this surgery versus the first. Right away after I woke up I was in lots of pain so the nurse gave me some Morphine which made me super nauseous. Just what a girl who is terrified of throwing up needs, right? The pain subsided immediately but before I left, the nurse was adamant about me taking a Percocet so that the pain didn't return. As expected, that thing didn't sit well either, especially after eating only a half a cracker and a sip of ginger ale over the past 17hrs. Luckily I have one amazing boyfriend who has been taking great care of me and my ridiculous headaches and nausea spells. I absolutely hate being taken care of but I guess it's okay because I did the same for him last weekend when he had his wisdom teeth extracted :)

On the mend I am!

Deadmau5

This is just a small sample of the madness we experienced last night down in Denver from 10pm-2am :)

We had a great group of people head down to shake our little booties til we couldn't shake them anymore. Bryce and I got a total of 3hrs of sleep last night and will be completely worthless today! WORTH EVERY SECOND :)

Warren Miller's DYNASTY

There's nothing like a good ski/snowboard movie to get you pumped up for the winter season. I don't think I've missed a Warren Miller film yet since I moved to Boulder in 2002 and they just keep getting better. Although I enjoy the show itself, I really like the free lift ticket that you get when you walk in the door! Bring on the snow :)

Halloween and Teeth Removal

Halloween was very chill this year as Bryce had his wisdom teeth removed the day before. We sat around, watched moto movies and handed out candy to little kids...well I ate half the bowl, but that's okay :)
I thought I'd be nice and not take a picture of B and his swollen face, but now I wish I would have because the one above doesn't do justice. I never had any problems when I had mine done so I was hoping Bryce had the same luck. I don't think his recovery was quite as quick but he did do great and is definitely on the mend. Maybe he'll actually be able to eat something solid today!!!

A little taste of winter...in October

The Denver and Boulder areas got absolutely pounded with snow on Wednesday and Thursday this week. It snowed Tuesday night through Thursday night nonstop. The above picture is from my deck at 3pm on Wednesday afternoon after only half the storm. Pretty crazy, huh? No worries though, it's supposed to be in the high 50s for the weekend and all through next week. I'm looking forward to a muddy mess EVERYWHERE!!! Wooohoooo.

Pumpkin Carving Party

Monday evening we had a bunch of people over to carve pumpkins, grill, bake and rock out to some good tunes.

Everyone's except Tingle's was a great success. Notice how the one on the far right doesn't have any kind of 'real' design! It's supposed to be a butterfly but we're not too sure what happened. Courtney and Tito spent a good 2-3hrs on theirs using all the store bought tools and outlines so they definitely get the award for the best looking designs. Tito was very proud of his intricate 'wolf pack' carving...absolutely hilarious. Bryce and I decided to see who could finish the fastest (we aren't competitive at all...I swear) so ours look pretty ridiculous.

And yes, I did win.

Along with cookie and pumpkin seed baking, we stuffed little Bella in Brad's pumpkin...no comment.

Tis the season to play on dirt bikes

Saturday was the big Enduro Cross MX Event downtown Denver. After an early morning of checking in and getting numerous practice laps in, B was ready for some racing.

The guys make this stuff way easier than it really is.

In person, these obstacles are way bigger and scarier!

Bryce did so great considering this is not his specialty. It was a tough day and he was pretty worked afterward. We spent the remainder of the evening fixing his moto and getting ready for Sunday's race in Milliken.

We knew the weather wasn't supposed to be nice on Sunday but pouring rain and 37* is definitely NOT nice. We were both a little apprehensive about how muddy the course was going to be but turns out the race course didn't get hit nearly at all. Other than a few flurries and a couple wind gusts, the day was actually quite nice. The format was a little different for this race. Bryce started at 9am and I went at 1pm. His parents were in town so I got to hang out with them and cheer B on before I went. He had a great race and finished 6th overall. That was super impressive after his long day on Saturday. With some killer support, I finished my first race and had an absolute blast. Other than a few good bumps/bruises and a busted hand guard, I made it out pretty good. Bring on the MX racing!!!

KrughPhoto

Allen has always been a Rockstar Photographer but has recently stepped it up and has been taking some unbelievable photos. Check out his site www.krughphoto.com for some kick ass stuff. Also, please contact him if you need any photography work. He's super flexible and won't disappoint!

Fun pics from the Moto Track in Milliken last weekend!

For more photos from the track click here

Password: ktm

A fun day at the moto track!

85* on October 18th!?! For real!?? I'm pretty sure it was 20 and snowing only 5 days prior. Gotta love Colorado for it's varying crazy weather patterns :)

Like everyone else, we took total advantage of the sunshine and played outside all day. I rode my bike 40 miles out to the Leahy Family Farm Moto Track in Milliken to meet up with Bryce, Allen and several others. Bryce was testing out his new suspension with Stillwell and cranking out some pretty quick laps. I don't know how those guys do it. I was super content just getting my bike off the ground and and only crashing twice for the day!

The pic above was taken by Allen of Bryce ripping around the vintage track later in the afternoon. Allen shot over 1000 pictures of Bryce, myself and a several others. Once they're all edited and up for viewing, I'll post a link. Stay tuned.

My Mom is a Rockstar!

Can you believe it has only been a year and a half since I got my Mom her first road bike and she completed her first century?!? Actually, she rode 101.5 miles averaging 13.5 mph! So proud of her! I'm totally convinced she was able to finish because of the power from the tattoo she got last week :) Hehe.

I will soon be running again!!!

After absolutely no progress with my knee over the past 4 months, Neal suggested I go see Andy Pruitt at BCSM just to see if he had any other ideas. He works very closely with my other two docs so he was well aware of everything that has been going on. He had a different theory of what was causing the pain and cut right to the chase. Within 2min of hearing his thoughts, he stuck his finger in a specific spot in the side/back of my knee and whamm...I honestly almost flew right off the table it was such an intense pain. 'That's the spot' he chuckled. Then he told me that I'll be needing another surgery to release that spot (I'll find out what it's called Tuesday) along with my ITB. He then told me that he was going to inject one last cortisone shot into the area so I could go for a short test run then we would reassess the next week. The run went well with no pain but because the shot went all the way to the bone, I was completely out of commission on the next day. My knee hurt so bad I couldn't even drive to my clients and had to be taxied around all afternoon. Although I will most likely be missing Iceman, I'm still really eager to get this final surgery underway so I can get back to running :)

Day 3 and 4 with Mom

This is what we woke up to on Saturday morning! Pretty ridiculous for early October, huh? I was supposed to race in Denver but with temps under 20* that was the absolute last thing I wanted to do. Instead, we lounged around morning, did quite a bit of shopping, okay, a lot of shopping, and had a fun lunch at Hapa.

Sunday was very similar. We woke up to 22* and the thought of racing was just nauseating. Drinking coffee and relaxing sounded way better. We eventually got our butts moving and met up with the Bingham's who drove out from Vail with their beautiful Saint Bernese Bosco and took him for a walk along the creek path. After a fun lunch, we drove up Flagstaff then headed home for a quick spin on the trainers and another relaxing evening watching moto movies :)

As always, it was a blast having my Mom in town. Unfortunately she chose the one weekend of shit weather but it's okay, we still had a great time. Thanks for the visit. LOVE YOU!

Day 1 and 2 with Mom!

After picking my Mom up from the airport Thursday afternoon, we swung by Bryce's place of work to see what he claims to be doing on a daily basis :) It's actually a really cool place. I'm pretty sure he was more excited about the chocolate covered espresso bean trail mix from Trader Joe's that we left with him than our actual visit itself...haha...JK!

Later that evening we met up with Will Kelsay, his wonderful new girlfriend Shelby and a few others for a great dinner at the Med and some gelato at Amante for dessert! Mmmmm...

Friday was the 'big' day! The tattoo day! We had an enjoyable afternoon with lots of sunshine then headed to the parlor at 5pm!

My mom was a big wienie so I had to go first. Although I was told putting the word towards me was technically 'upside down', I did it anyway. The artist just laughed at me. The word on my right wrist is 'Neart' meaning strength in Gaelic.

I was originally going to get a nautical star on the back of my leg right below my calf but got talked out of it by both my mom and Bryce. Instead, I found this design and had it inked on my left forearm. Pretty crazy, huh?!?

The best part is that my Mom got the exact same design as well. Although hers was much smaller and on the inside of her ankle, it's still pretty cool to have the same tattoo as your Mom :) She did great and got through it without a peep.

We were a bit late for our own BBQ, but Tingle held down the fort and got the grill going and the beer flowing! We had a great turnout and lots of fun. As always, Jen's White Chocolate/Craisin/Oatmeal Cookies were a hit but our Reese's Peanut Butter Cup 'Buckets' were just as popular!

My new best friend :)

As you've been hearing, my new lowered suspension is the greatest thing EVER! I had the opportunity to take it to Alan Stillwell who is one of the world's best suspension tuners. Click on the pic above to check out his work.

Stillwell has also recently become one of Bryce's new sponsors. Alan will be traveling with him to the Endurocross here in Denver on October 24th and fully supporting him throughout his 2010 season. Check out the video below of what Endurocross is all about :)

Frisco CX

Day 1 of the Frisco Cyclocross races was absolutely gorgeous! The course was amazing and we had a great turnout!

I had a decent race considering my little spill about half way through. I took a corner a little too hot and toppled right over! Got the hip pretty good but other than that was good to go. Had an enjoyable time watching Corey and Joe chuck water bottles at each other during the Open Men's race and had a blast cheering for Bryce as he steps it up every race in the SM 4s!

Day 2 was super fun as well but a much tougher course with a big 'run up'. Not exactly what the knee likes, but I hobbled through it.

I'm definitely getting better with every race under my belt but still trying to get myself back into that pain cave :) I've been enjoying the relaxed training and racing but I think it's time to get my head in the game and actually start suffering a little more. I think I'll be a lot happier with my results and I would imagine it might help me for Iceman on November 8th.

Although it was a much cooler day, it was still another great day. Everyone came out to cheer. My moto girls - Mandy and Nicole - came out from Vail to watch and give Bryce a rough time, the Torrance boys and their parents drove out from Boulder to race and the Bingham's swung by to drop off Bella (the animal we were 'dog sitting') and see B get his cyclocross racing on :)

Birthday FUN!

After a crazy, busy week, Bryce's Birthday BBQ finally came! We had a bunch of people over to my place on Thursday night to celebrate and have a great time. We asked for people to bring stuff to grill and we would provide the sweets but apparently they didn't have confidence in our baking abilities and more desserts were brought then we could possibly handle! The mini peanut butter cookies with a Reese's in the center that I made were definitely a hit, but the German Chocolate Cake that Bryce and I worked so hard on was by far the favorite! Ohhh, it was sooooo good!

For Bryce's actual birthday, we drove up to Vail on Friday morning and had a great lunch with his parents. We then met up with our friend Kevin who lives in Breckenridge and jumped on the dirt bikes to go play on all the trails that Bryce grew up on!

It was an absolutely gorgeous day and after a little snow from the night before, the terrain was perfect!
We topped off the day with a delicious chili and cornbread dinner at the Bingham household and for the finale, we were served homemade Angel Food Cake with fresh fruit and whipped cream. I'm pretty sure Bryce might have been a little spoiled for his 25th birthday!!!

Another Amazing Weekend

After a little swim and cross ride early Friday morning, I finally got to test out my new lowered suspension on the dirt bike with Dan and Allen. We headed up to Switzerland where we enjoyed some great trail and beautiful scenery. The trees were glowing like crazy and it was absolutely amazing. Not only was I in total awe about how pretty it was, I cannot believe what a difference lowering my bike 2 inches made! I LOVE IT!

Saturday was a full packed day as well. I rode out to the Louisville Rec early with Tingle and did the first race in the Boulder Cyclocross Series. Yes, I raced with the big girls so it was definitely a lot harder than the previous races. The course was really fun but super bumpy and after about 4 laps, my lower back was not so happy so I decided not to smash myself and just finish. I crossed the line in 10th then spent the rest of the day handing out bottles and cheering on everyone else racing with Brad and Bryce's parents who came down from Vail to spectate.

After a great dinner at the Rio with the Bingham's, it was time to celebrate Brad and Jen's birthday in style.

Let's just say it started off pretty tame but got quite rowdy by the end of the night. There might have even been a stop at the local strip club and an ambulance ride or two for the morons who can't ride their bikes under the influence...everyone is okay now!

Sunday was by far the best day of all. After a killer pancake, banana, strawberry, walnut, powdered sugar, cinnamon and syrup breakfast, Bryce and I drove up to Nederland to go play on the mountain bikes for a few hours. Not only was the weather more perfect than ever, the trail was in immaculate shape as well. We even ran into a few friends out there which was really fun. As planned, we met up with Bryce's friend Trevor after our ride so he could show us some great moto trail around Gold Lake. Although it was pretty technical, it was by far the most fun ride to date. I was actually riding fairly well minus one good digger after clipping my handlebar on a tree that sent my bike one way and me the other. I'm pretty sure I almost gave Bryce a heart attack as he was right behind me and saw the whole thing! Yeah for body armor...I was totally fine.
Although we were both totally exhausted, we quickly drove back down to Boulder and met up with everyone for Brad and Jen's official birthday dinner at the Rio. We missed the dinner portion but enjoyed some of the delicious triple layer cake that took all weekend for them to make...mmmmm!

Spanish Peaks Motocross Media

I know you're all so anxious to see how ridiculous I look riding my dirt bike so here ya go! Tons more pics can be found here and here.


Bryce obviously looks way better...hehe...

Probably the best weekend EVER!

Friday started off well with a super fun ride up Left Hand with Banjo on the dirt bikes. Everything was going fine until we took the wrong trail and ended up on some crazy rocky terrain that was totally not ride-able. I then proceeded to dump my bike and snap my clutch lever right off. Let's just say it was NOT an easy ride back down. I definitely had to bail numerous times and even ripped the horn right off. Luckily Bryce came to the rescue and got all the spare parts I needed and fixed it right up.

Later that evening we headed downtown Denver to see the Cirque du Soleil show. It was absolutely phenomenal. I would highly suggest going to see it if it's in your area :)

Saturday morning was filled with packing, bike maintenance and lots of running around. After loading the big van, we finally set off to Golden for a little cyclocross racing.

Since I didn't know I was automatically upgraded, I again raced with the CAT 4 women. It was a really bumpy and slightly technical course but lots of fun. I jetted to the front at the start and took the lead from the first turn and held it throughout the remainder of the race.

It was a lot of fun and although I should have been racing with the big girls, it was nice to chill out and not suffer like a dog...especially with a big day ahead of me on Sunday! I did, however, get stung by a bee on the inside of my lip on the first lap which absolutely killed but eventually went numb and just got super swollen. After icing it for the half hour after the race, I was good to go!

Bryce used to be a rockstar mountain biker but hasn't raced in a few years. He totally kicked butt and finished his first CX race in style. He even asked for a Red Bull when I was handing him his water so he couldn't have been feeling too crappy!

And for the rest of the weekend...After the cross races, we jumped in the van and headed to Trinidad, CO. We met up with a couple of Bryce's moto friends for dinner at this hilarious Italian restaurant where they sing throughout the whole night. It was hilarious. After a good night's sleep, we woke up at the ass crack of dawn, grabbed breakfast then headed to the race site for my first motocross race. I got the rundown on what do just a few hours prior to the start and even though I was completely clueless, I was super excited. Bryce was more nervous about me racing than I was...how cute. The race was by far the hardest, most fun thing I have ever done. I had no idea what to expect and it was by far not even in any range of what I was thinking. I probably dumped my bike, got stuck, fell over, etc 45 times...and I only got through one lap! Bryce absolutely killed it finishing 6th overall. I guess that's what you do when you're a seasoned pro, huh? I'm already planning my revenge to kick butt on October 25th at another race! I'll post more pics when they're available and if you're lucky, we'll even have a little video of Bryce taking a sweet face plant in the log crossing during the extreme test. We hear there's some good footage out there :) After a long drive home, we decided to have a cookie making extravaganza at my place. We made delicious peanut butter cookies with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups melted in the center....mmmmm, so good. I'm pretty sure they're already gone!!!

Swim, bike and run?!?!

That's right! For the first time since July 12th, I was given the okay to run up to 30min with my kneecap taped up and aligned properly to see how it felt. Let's just say that I am almost 99.9% certain I will be only bike racing next year :(

The first 20min were absolutely awesome with no pain and I surprisingly felt great. However, it quickly went downhill from there. At 21min my knee got super tight and at 25min I was in total agony. Same shooting pain I have been getting since the beginning of January. Ugh. I tried really hard to compose myself but after attempting to bike and swim later in the day and almost having to quit both because of the horrid pain, I got super frustrated. I have been swimming and riding like no one's business for the past 2 months and haven't had any issues. How is it that one short jog can completely destroy me like this? I'm definitely not giving up and I will get to the bottom of it, but after a good chat with the coach, a focused direction in road cycling and mountain biking is looking like a more realistic approach for 2010!

Cyclocross Season is here!

After two short cyclocross practice sessions earlier this week, I jumped into my first race at the Boulder velodrome on Sunday afternoon. Since I've never raced cx before, I automatically got put with the CAT 4s. From the gun, I jumped out in front and never really looked back. It was lots of fun and pretty technical. We went inside the velodrome and up and over a few ramps, obstacles, etc which made for lots of excitement. I'm totally hooked :) However, I think once I get kicked out of the 4s, the effort output might be a bit higher!

Saturday was supposed to be a big day on the motos but unfortunately it decided to rain ALL DAY! No worries, it's always good to have a lounge around day, right? Well, that just meant that I had to cram my cyclocross race and a solid moto ride in on Sunday. Since my race wasn't until 1:45pm, we decided to go for an easy spin the early morning then wait until after the race to go moto. It was absolutely gorgeous all day until about 4pm when it started pissing rain. Grrrrr...that's exactly when we got up to the trail to go shred it up. No, we didn't end up going and turned back around...boo :(

A good day!

After several attempts to get my dirt bike certified to be street legal, it's finally over. Bryce and I waited in line at the Golden Police Station forever Saturday morning to get a vin inspection then I went and got it all registered and plated with the State Monday morning! Wooohooo. No more trailering the toys to the mountain :)

All afternoon I was able to catch up on lots of work which was great. It was followed by a fun and relaxing evening with some delicious fondue with french bread and apples! Totally brings me back to the days when I grew up in Europe. We would take family trips to all the mountain towns and have fondue all the time. I'm sure I could even dig out some old pics of my brother and I stringing cheese all over the condo from the big pot of goodness :)

Somebody's getting a tattoo!!!

Okay, two people are getting tattoos :) Bwahaha!

I kicked my Mom's butt in our little weight loss contest so we'll be hitting up the tattoo parlor on October 9th when she gets into town. I have no idea what she will be getting but I'll be having the above star inked on the back of my left leg below my calf! Hehe.

Day 3 & 4 of Steamboat Racing

Sunday's road race was a super fun, hard, hilly and challenging course. The first mile was a neutral roll out on a dirt road and of all things, I lost a bottle and didn't even realize it until it was way back. We were only supposed to have cups of water at the feed zone but luckily there were a few bottles and I was able to snag one. If not, I would have been toast! At any rate, there was an early break of 2 that stayed away for 80% of the race and had over 5 minutes on us at half way. We finally got organized and chased them down but it wasn't easy. The monsoon rains and hail storm midway through the race didn't make it any easier either, but hey, it was interesting. I was able to stick with the group until the final climb to the finish (which I didn't even know was coming bc I missed the 1K sign), but only finished a minute down and 9th which wasn't bad considering I didn't push myself to the finish. Marilyn, again, rocked the house and took the big win and put herself 1st overall.
Later that evening, we went to the Moots factory for a BBQ and took a peek around. What a cool little place.

They also raffled off a brand new Moots frame and the little guy above was the lucky winner. How cool?!?Day 4 came fast and I could definitely feel the prior days work in my body. After a couple of breakfasts and a good bike cleaning, we headed out to the Crit course to watch some of the other races. Although my girl Flora should never have raced in CAT4, she took the overall hands down and made herself some good money!

The course was super fun with a gradual incline leading into a steep little kicker at the top which made for lots of excitement. It was fast and furious with NO crashing :) I worked a bit then sat in most the race as I just wanted to keep my GC spot and not go down. I did just that and because my left hammy cramped during the last 2 laps, I didn't even get up to sprint, but finished with the bunch and won a bit of money for my overall place.

Marilyn, on the other hand, finished strong and took the overall win for the ladies field. I learned a lot from her this weekend and I look forward to another stage race next season with her by my side!

A big thanks to Corey Piscopo for putting on such a stellar race that was beyond well organized! Let him know you feel the same way so we can get this back on the schedule for next year :)

Day 1 & 2 of Steamboat Racing

After a smooth ride into Steamboat Thursday night, we headed out for a fun dinner with Dean, our amazing homestay. Great conversation and turns out we all know tons of the same people. Such a small world!

Since we didn't start our TT until 6pm, Marilyn and I went and visited the Smartwool Headquarters (per my client's request) and came out with a nice pair of winter socks! We then headed out to do a few laps of course to spin out the legs. Super fun course with a killer climb.

The course is a 4.5 mile loop at Marabou Ranch, which is absolutely gorgeous and has a big climb as well as a ripping fast technical descent! Although I've never done a 10min hard TT effort like this before, I was really excited to see how it all panned out. Definitely a lot harder than I had anticipated but I managed to finish 12/23 for the Women's 1-2-3, 35+ category.

Since we didn't race until 3:15pm today, we took another trip (on behalf of a client) and visited the Sports Authority in town to take a few photos of displays, etc., then went and wandered around town, hit up the Farmer's market and people watched all the tourist around for the holiday weekend.

Today's race was again at Marabou Ranch. We actually rode the same loop as the TT, just backwards...and several times over for that matter. We were supposed to do 8 laps but since it was silly hot and the course was so brutally hard, they decided to change it to 6. Marilyn and I were both kinda bummed at first, but laughed about it afterwards as 8 might have killed us.

The circuit race started pretty mellow for the first lap. The girls definitely pushed the first climb and luckily I slipped into the lead pack. The 2nd and 3rd laps was pretty uneventful but a bit harder. Right at the base of the climb on the 4th lap is where things got interesting. An attack was made and there was no way I was gonna be able to hold it so I tried to stay with the other girls who couldn't either. The main group split into 3 smaller groups. I moved into the last one with 2 other girls and rode with them until midway through the 5th lap where I totally exploded and ended up riding solo for the lap 1.5 laps. I'm pretty sure I was going backwards at that point and lost over 2.5min over that distance. Luckily I was able to stay away from the group behind and finished 10th and moved into 10th for GC. Nothing special but I definitely know what I need to work on if I want to be able to hold that intensity for a long period of time :) The best part of the day was that Marilyn kicked butt and took the big win!!! Way to go Chica, you're such a rockstar!

Check out the race blog for more exciting news and I promise to post more exciting pictures as soon as I can get my hands on them!

Steamboat Spring Stage Race

Today I will be traveling to Steamboat Springs, CO for a 4 day stage race (click on the pic above for the website)! I have never been to Steamboat before and cannot wait as I've only heard amazing things. I'll be traveling with Marilyn MacDonald who made the big switch from Ironman triathlon to cycling this year and has been absolutely rocking it. I'm super excited to learn to ropes of this whole road racing thing as well as have some good times. Stay tuned for updates and photos from the madness :)

Friday - TT
Saturday - Circuit Race
Sunday - Road Race
Monday - Criterium

More road racing for this girl

Saturday I drove out to Masonville to race the Rist Canyon Hill Climb. I've never ridden out there but have been told it's absolutely gorgeous so I gave it a shot. The CAT 3 and 4 girls lined up together and although were racing in the same group, we were being scored differently. I glanced back at the girls I thought were in my race and just told myself that no matter what happens with the others, just stay in front of those 2 to get some upgrade points. To make a long story short, I let one girl go off the front with no desire to chase as I thought she was a 4. After riding a fairly easy race sitting in, I finishing 2nd to her and was stoked to get a bunch of points for being the first 3 to cross the line. Turns out she was one of the other CAT3 riders...DAMN ERIN! Total rookie move...

No worries, I decided it would be a good idea to go out and get a little stupid that night to make up for it :) I hardly ever drink so 1 or 2 drinks does me in for the night...seriously! After a good dinner at the Southern Sun, Hamity and I met up with the crew at the West End and had a fun night. Let's just say it ended with Ryan driving my car home for me then him biking another 30min back to his house at 1am in the morning! Thanks Buddy!

The next morning was not pretty at all. My stomach felt like absolute crap and the thought of racing was just nauseating. I did, however, rally myself and met up with Flora to ride out to the Koppenberg Circuit Race. It's been canceled several times this year because the infamous hill (above) was too muddy to ride, but this time it was on. The race is road cycling event with dirt road sections modeled after the infamous European Roubaix race. The 5.5 mile loop consists of a 2.5 mile dirt section that ends with a short but very steep hill. The 200 meter long "Koppenberg" hill has a 17% slope and takes its namesake from the legendary hill in the Tour of Flanders hill in the Tour of Flanders. The remainder of the course is rolling paved road. It's freaking HARD!

I somehow and miraculously, ended up with the lead group of 7 and hung on for dear life for the 5 laps of the race. It was a lot of fun and the dirt was especially loose this year so as a mountain biker, it suited me very well.

Yes, I did suffer like a dog and this picture describes exactly how I felt. I finished 6th overall with the CAT 1-2-3 riders and 2nd for my category. I was super stoked as I now know (even feeling like total ass) that I am capable of hanging and racing with the 1-2 girls. Bring on the upgrade points :)

Fun times on knobby tires with motors!

Friday afternoon, we set off up the mountain to meet Melissa Thomas out at Switzerland trail for a little moto action. Dan, Tom and Natalie and myself took off in style and rode up Sunshine Canyon to Four Mile then up the trail. When we met up with superstar mountain biker and motocross extraordinaire (MT), she took us on some super fun/technical single track I had never been on. The bike only went down once and it was actually quite comical. But hey - isn't that what Tom and Banjo are there for...to pick up my bike when it's on dumped in the bushes?!? Haha. Bryce promises my lower seat will be here soon so I can finally stand over my moto instead of hopping off and balancing it on one leg every time we stop. Damn, I wish I was just a little bit taller...

At any rate, it was an absolute blast and I'm so glad I finally made the splurge. Don't Tom and I look so cute?!

Who wants to analyze my dreadful swim stroke?!?!

Meet Doug...

...Doug Berner to be exact! He's the mechanic for the Team Type 1 pro cycling team and the Timex Multisport Team. He travels around the country all season in big trucks with all our gear and equipment. He's one of the coolest guys I know but only get to see him a few times a year since I don't race on the road anymore.

Out of nowhere, look what showed up in my driveway yesterday!!! That's right, Doug Berner and the monster TT1 truck :) He was traveling from the Tour of Utah and heading to Greensville, SC and decided to take a pitstop for the evening in Boulder. Sooo exciting!

Doug's an avid mountain biker and I've been trying to get butt out to Boulder to play for years. Luckily he had a few hours to spare this morning before hitting the road again.

We went out to Hall Ranch for a little mountain biking...or something like that. My foot is still killing me and today turned flaming blue so the riding wasn't so spectacular on my part but super fun.

Now I just need to get him back here when I'm fit and healthy so we can go shred some serious trail together! Thanks for stopping by Doug, I miss you already :)

I fully DO NOT support what I am doing...

I would normally be absolutely against any kind of accelerated weight loss programs but if it involves winning or losing a contest, you better believe my competitive spirit is gonna kick in.

The game - who can lose the most weight in 2 weeks starting Monday, Aug 24.

The players - myself and my mother

The prize - when I win, my mom has to get a tattoo with me (if she cheats and wins, she gets some ipod thing of her choice)

Why I am going to win - I AM A FAT ASS RIGHT NOW! You think I'm kidding, but I'm not. Just ask Dan and Tom :) I have eaten 3 half gallons of Reeses Ice Cream, 2 pints of Ben and Jerry's Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream, about 20 Mike's Hard Lemonades, a whole bag of Reeses Peanut butter Cups and more pizza than you can possibly imagine over the past week. Except for my freshman year of college, I have never weighed over 120lbs and today I was 124.2!!!

I'm sooooooo winning this contest...watch out mom!

And no Marky V, I didn't leave the PT in there on purpose. It just happens to be on the counter every time I take a picture on my phone.

A Great 25th Birthday

Welcome to the lake at 65th and Nelson

This is where we spent the majority of the day - boating, water skiing, wake boarding, BBQ-ing, making fun of Erin and Tom, you name it!

As you can see, Shep was without a doubt enjoying the nice breeze!

He even showed off some of his wake boarding skills too. I wish I had a picture of him trying to jump the wake and totally eating it face first...it was awesome!

I didn't get tugged around behind the boat, but definitely enjoyed the sunshine and great company. I'm pretty sure my entire chest is going to peel of in a few days too...damn sunscreen didn't work.

We all know Dan Banjo is a rockstar skier, but Melanie was a close second. She was killing it doing lap after lap and looking like a pro :)

Forest even came out to drink some beers and eat some brats...good times had by all.

Bye Bye Lake at 65th and Nelson, we will be back soon!

Erin gets the Gold Star Award...

...of Stupidity that is!

After screwing around and dropping my motorcycle on myself Monday evening, I was in such denial because of silly it was that I just downed a half dozen Ibuprofen put an ice pack on my ankle and got in bed. Because my foot was throbbing and hurting so badly, I never actually fell asleep and honestly tried as hard as I could not to cry all night.

When the morning finally came, I was pretty convinced my ankle was busted because of the intense pain and swelling so Pamela took me to the ER. Luckily it wasn't but the tendons and ligaments are totally fried. I have been going to PT to get ultrasound, inter ferential therapy, massage, etc., multiple times a day ever since. My ankle is still the size of a grapefruit and as of today, I still can't move anything in my foot other than my toes. It's a good thing I'm not racing anytime soon as my training has been absolutely non-existent since the crash from Saturday and this ridiculous incident!

Is this damn year over yet?!?!

If ya can't ride, might as well go play :)

So my bike crash on Saturday wrecked me a little more than I had anticipated. Not only did I sleep like absolute crap that night, there was no way in hell I was racing again at 8am the next morning. I could barely get out of bed much less hop on a bike and ride hard for 45min...so the Niwot Crit was out of the picture.

Instead, I wiped down the entire kitchen, vacuumed the whole house, took out the trash and rearranged my room. Around noon, I got a phone call from Banjo asking if I was up for a little golf. We headed out to Longmont to hit a few balls around. It was really ugly...and not just because I was wasted off Mike's Lemonade either... On our way back into town, we stopped at the private lake on Nelson and 63rd where Banjo has his boat docked.

Forest and Banjo did a few rounds on the slalom course and hit the wakeboard while I sat in the boat and enjoyed the nice breeze :) I forgot how much fun it is playing on boats. We ended the day with a little BBQ at my place!

Oh the love of bike racing...

Yes, that is me on the ground, and no, it didn't feel good at all! As a matter of fact, it hurt like hell! Guess that's what I get for racing road crits, huh?!? It all happened in the final sprint...I had a killer position, stood up to take the win and wabam, got tagged on the left, hit a wheel on the right and on the ground I went. I assume the girl who didn't hold her line did it completely unintentionally, however, she did lose her first place and wasn't too happy with me.

A little post crash photo...hey Tristan, could you please send me another pair of XS bibs?!?

Life doesn't get much better than this...

Enough said...

Conquering Hall Ranch

Yesterday morning I met up with my good friend Brett Lindstrom, whom I haven't seen in months, to do a little mountain biking at Hall Ranch in Lyons. Although I was stoked to get out on my mountain bike and ride with Brett, I was a little apprehensive about riding at that particular trail. I honestly haven't ridden there since March of 2008 when I crashed really hard, broke my wrist and had to ride 2hrs back home with Shep. I should never even have thought twice about it as I completely forgot how unbelievably fun that section of single track is! What a great morning.

Thank You Boulder County Parks and Open Space, it's amazing to have programs like yours that are constantly developing and maintaing giant playgrounds for us crazy athletes to bike, hike, run, etc!

Supplemental Oxygen Training

After an hour spin in the heat, I got to the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine Center to meet up with the usual crew and coach Neal for our Wednesday hammerfest. I knew we were doing VO2 work but until Neal came out of the CompuTrainer studio, I had no idea it was going to be inside. Luckily, we got a little assistance - a full tank of oxygen - to use throughout the session. Although I felt like a total lab rat and looked very similar to the dude in the picture above, it was so cool to see how much harder you can push yourself and how much stronger you are with extra air! My legs were totally shattered a few hours afterward but after a good PT session later that evening with Bob Cranny at Altitude PT, I was good to go.

Toys, toys, toys...gotta have lots of toys!

Start getting REALLY jealous right now...you there yet?!? Okay, good! That 2008 KTM 250 XC-F above is officially my new toy of the week! It's so sexy, orange chain and all. I know Tom, Tony and Banjo are so bummin' right now knowing my ride is so much hotter than theirs...bwhaha!

My friend Bryce rides for KTM so he sold me his race bike from last year that was only ridden a few months. He hooked up a killer deal and promises to be my mechanic and teach me how to ride like a pro! Ohhhhh, I'm sooooo excited :) Single track with knobbies and a motor, here I come!

More riding with the ladies!

This morning was a great Team Timex Ladies ride. Tingle, Sharpie and I cruised around town for a bit then up to Jamestown. We shared endless stupid stories and laughed the entire time. It was absolutely fantastic!

I even went to FAC for the first time since the beginning of May for Wolfgang's masters swim. I can't believe how awkward it is swimming in a 25 meter pool versus the 50m one I've been at all summer. At any rate, it was really good to catch up with the 50 or so people I hadn't seen in a few months that thought I had fallen off the face of the planet so that was good too.

Another win for Allen :)

The absolute best part of it all was what came out of my mouth as they were lined up at the start. I was totally joking around by told Sean (the guy in the green jersey and the one still taller than Allen on a shorter block) that because it was his birthday he was going to get second but only because Allen was there and he of course was going to get first. Apparently I'm psychic because the two of them did just that...a pretty good call for a field of almost 75 dudes! Sean is not only a cool guy from Tasmania with a killer hairdo, but also our massage therapist. He told me his rates for massage are now going up...riiiiiight!

Since I took these photos on my phone, the quality really stinks but you get the point. Allen had WAY too much fun spraying everyone with champagne after his victory :) He might have even had a little too much fun out on the town later that night! It's okay though, a good celebration can't hurt anyone. So proud of you Sweetie!

Fun with Aqua Sphere

Are you kidding me?!?

So I turn on the garbage disposal this past weekend and it sounds like there's a fork stuck in it. I stick my hand down it (yes Dad, I turned it off first), and found nothing. After a few hours, the sink starts clogging up. I try resetting the disposal and nothing. Grrrrr.

After waiting 2hrs for a plumber to come, he is there for 10min, finds the above crushed pennies in the disposal, resets it and is on his way...92 freaking dollars later!!!

Seriously!

Sometimes girls just wanna have fun!

After an early morning swim, I met up with Melanie Long, Jen Tilley, Megan Monroe and Jen Gersbach for some killer mountain biking up in Nederland.

Unfortunately, powerhouse Jen Gersbach broke the belt on her 29er singlespeed and had to bail early. The rest of us, however, ripped it up like rockstars for the rest of the afternoon.

I don't think I ever posted this picture from my trip to Moab earlier this spring, but figured it was appropriate for this post. Riding with the girls is always such a blast and I wish we did it more often. So on that note, let's make it happen ladies :)

A Snotty Mess

Since my introduction to triathlon and the pool in 2005, I have had major issues with getting 'stuffed up' while swimming. It's rather disgusting how much phloem and mucus I produce and it's really hard to swim through it. Not to mention, I am always coughing like an 80 year old smoker at the wall and people think I'm insane. At first I just thought I was allergic to chlorine and that I would just have to deal with it, but then realized it happens in open water as well so it couldn't be the chemicals. I have also been told that my seasonal allergies might be causing it as I swim outside year round, but it happens all year and even when I do swim inside, so that theory is out too.
After a great meeting with Lisa Brone of All Sports Medicine of Boulder, we decided that I should try using Afrin nasal spray before getting in the water.
Neal Henderson thinks I should the Afrin for the sinus congestion and Mucinex for the coughing. Did I mention I hate taking meds? It's a good thing because Tingle is convinced I'm going to become addicted to Afrin...haha

A weekend of Tom Torrance and road racing!

The weekend started out with attending the Rockies baseball game with the crew from one of my clients (Franklin Resource Group) Friday evening.

Not that either one of us understand or enjoy the sport of baseball, it was lots of fun and I even got to wear my cool Rockies shirt :)

Yes, they did lose!!!

Saturday began with a great morning swim. I then headed down to Denver for the Federal Center circuit race at noon. Thought for sure I would be able to pull away from the group with 3min to go but got caught about 150 meters from the line and finished 5th...oops. I had lots of fun though :) Later that afternoon, I met up with Tom, again, for another road ride. He was on verge of bonking so we stopped at a gas station where he came out with a six pack of powdered sugar donettes and a coke. He then proceeded to get more sugar on him than in his mouth...absolutely hilarious. However, it cured the bonk and we had a very pleasant ride...minus the insane 2o minute downpour :)

Sunday's wake up call was at 4:30am so I could be in Denver by 7am and ready to race another road crit. After working well with another girl, we formed a break of 5 from the main pack. I took 3 of the 4 primes and finished 3rd in the sprint. Had another great time and even made a little money :) Afterward, I drove straight to the pool to hammer out a 75min masters. I'm not going to lie, but I honestly wanted to eat someone's hand off after that swim. Since I had nothing to eat at home, I figured going to the grocery store was a good idea. I defintely bought way more than I should as my stomach was dictating what to buy!!! Let's just say lunch was mmmm good.

Even though we had planned on riding again together, I really didn't want to join Tom in the high country after my swim because it looked like a massive storm was coming and the last thing I wanted was to get soaked far away from home. However, as he was coming back down the Canyon, I just so happened to run into him as I was going up so of course I made him rally and finish the last 2 hours with me! When we started riding, he said that he was just thinking that he might run into me and I would try to convince him to go ride Betasso again...funny how things work :)

After a delicious dinner and some great chatting on the porch with Jon, Jen and Pamela, we decided to head to Glacier for some dessert where I ate an entire pint of peanut butter fudge gelato in one sitting. Let's just say I had the WORST stomach ache for about 5 hours afterward and falling asleep was not so fun...such a dumbass, but so worth it :)

Anti Monkey Butt Powder

A few weeks ago, I received an email from this company asking if I wanted to test out their products. It was way too ironic as I had just been complaining about saddle issues a few days prior. At any rate, I accepted the offer and received a box of product just a few days later.



Anti Monkey Butt Powder is specially formulated to absorb excess sweat and reduce frictional skin irritation. It is Ideal for butt busting activities such as truck driving, motorcycling, bicycling, horse back riding, and extreme sports. May also be applied inside footwear, under sports pads, and other areas prone to chafing. Indoors or outdoors, work or play, or on occasions when you sit on your butt all day, don’t let your buns get red, use Anti Monkey Butt Powder instead!



I have been using the powder primarily while mountain biking and road cycling but have also tried it during longer car rides in hot conditions as well. I have been super impressed with it and have been passing out samples left and right to all my friends. If you'd like to try it out, let me know, I may have one or two left :)



They also have a women's version of the powder which I haven't tried but can't wait to get my hands on. Check out their site below for more info.

http://www.antimonkeybutt.com/

Summer Outdoor Retailer

Will Kelsay and I flew into Salt Lake City on Monday morning to attend the Outdoor Retailer Show with the Timex Group.

Montage from Erin Kummer on Vimeo.

We gave a brief presentation and showed the video above to the entire sales rep team then headed to dinner at Squatters with the crew. A great introduction to fun week :)

Tuesday morning was the beginning to our 'modeling' adventure. We were supposed to run around the show advertising our beer party and let everyone see the new Timex licensed apparel by Sugoi. As you know, I don't really do pink, but I didn't have a choice. It sure did catch lots of eyes though. That, and everyone who saw me in it and knew me almost about fell over because they were laughing so hard...haha...very funny.

As always, I was told to go take my picture next to the Headsweats booth where my photo still displays proudly. Not really sure what I was thinking when I took this pic!

After running around the show all day, we went directly to the industry party where there was lots of beer and a dogdgeball tournament. Rob, Will, Jim and I were a team and totally sucked it up for the first 3 games but then we played 4 others from Timex and eventually won. I nailed Herbie to get him out which drew a big cheer from the crowd then the rest was history. We finally got our free Timberland shoes after a series of super fun and injury free games!

The day was wrapped up with a delicious family style dinner (chosen by Dave) at PF Changs! Mmmmm...so good :)

Day 2 was a little more 'hoppin' at the show. Because there were way less meetings and more play from each of the vendors, we went from booth to booth just having an absolute blast and attempting to get as many people as we could over to our side of the show for the beer party at 3pm. Since we became such good friends with the guys from Timberland (they sponsored the dodgeball tournament), we visited their booth where we got to cycle on a bike to blend our own smoothies. Of course Will and I had to have a friendly competition for the crowd. I'm pretty sure I got my butt kicked, but I swear mine had way more ice than his...haha. Good times.

We also visited the Technica booth where they were doing grafitti on everyone's calves to promote their new trail running shoes. We didn't waste any time on this one either and got all marked up to show off as we pranced around throughout the day.

Finally...BEER!!! We marketed a keg at our booth with the first 200 people receiving a free mug. It was a complete success and we had tons of traffic and got through those first 200 beers in no time. Not only was there lots of great conversation, but many great connections were made and we had an absolute blast :)

Start #4 of the 2009 season

After 7 months of running with shooting pain, a gazillion doctor visits, shots and surgeries, travel to 6 races with the sole intention of finishing and numerous meltdowns, I think I've finally pulled my head out of my ass! Coach Neal and I sat down early this week and decided that calling it quits for the season and getting my knee fixed for good is probably the best option at this point. I have several doctors to check out and until those visits, I plan on just riding and swimming a lot. I've also decided (pending cycling is okay for the knee) that I will just race road and mtn bikes for the rest of the season with a slim chance of going to Ogden just for the $$.

Although I was super bummed that I didn't participate at my home championship race this morning, I have to give a big congrats to my boy Branden for snagging his second podium spot after a killer race. Great job to everyone who raced today...it's not easy going hard at 10,000ft!

Along with doing lots of swimming and riding, I want to integrate a lot more fun events into my regime since I will be traveling much less. Even though our cookie making extravaganza happened to be for an open water swimming fundraiser, it was super fun getting a bunch of ladies together to gossip and bake more cookies than we had a clue what to do with. Yes, we did eat more than we really should have and they were GOOD :)

After an 11hr drive in the van from Boulder to Boise today, the Rio Grande cycling team raced a big crit at 8:30 this evening. This wasn't the original plan but apparently it didn't make that much of a difference as Allen took 2 primes and 11th overall in a tough field. Pretty dang good if ya ask me! I bet Doug Berner is super impressed too. Right Doug?!? TT1 doesn't need an exceptional sprinter/climber for next year do they?!? They'll be heading to Bend, OR for the next 2 weeks for the Cascade Classic and pro nationals.

After another 2 mile open water swim tomorrow morning with the crew, I will finally be heading up to Nederland for a fun day of epic mountain bike riding! Then, I take off with Will Kelsay to the Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City first thing on Monday. We will be running around on behalf of Timex. If you're at the show, come by our booth :)