Out of Retirement and into the Growler

Gunnison Growler Race Report! We have a race report!!!









Well, well, well................We are back! So much for an easy retirement... No more eating pizza and drinking beer, no more eating cheese and drinking wine, and of course we can't get all sentimental and keep reliving the races we did 5 years ago.....

Why not come back out of retirement and do one of the hardest races EVER? Um, okay, we did not know it was going to be so @#*% ridiculously challenging. This race was the knarliest mountain bike races either one of us has ever done.

So I signed us up for the Gunnison Growler about 3 months ago. You would never know how easy it is to sign up for a race that far in the future when the weather is quite lovely (it was especially easy for Chuck who didn't even know I signed him up :^). It was sunny and 60-70 degrees in March when I entered us in the race. Good training weather. However, I'm pretty sure it went downhill from the moment I hit the "Submit Payment" button. Every single day that I had off from work we would get a huge blizzard or it would just alternate between rain and snow and slush and crap for a couple of days. Needless to say we did not get long training days in.

Suddenly, before you know it, May arrived!!!! The Growler was fast approaching and no longer in the distant future. I am definately someone who gets pretty nervous and worked up before races, so about 2 weeks before the race I think my stomach started eating itself. I forgot everything I knew about racing, but then again, I was a roadie and this endurance mountain biking is a whole entirely different scenario. I was at a level about 10% below panic for many days before the race. I don't know what the heck to eat before an endurance event, or what to eat during an endurance event. I only know what to eat after the race, and that of course, would be pizza and beer. Yeah, yeah, sorry, not gonna give that up!

So every racer knows to do a trial run of what you eat for breakfast on raceday and definately what you put in your bottles and eat during the race. In the past I have done a whole lot of criteriums that are no longer than 45 minutes and road races that are about 2-2 1/2 hours, how on earth am I supposed to know what to do for an insanely ridiculous stupid hard 4 hour long mountain bike race?

The answer, of course, would be to put a little bit of everything in my jersey pockets, and whatever I grabbed is what I was going to shove down my throat. Clif bloks? Check. Powergels? Check. Endurox gels? Check. And a weird concoction in the water bottles which somehow ended up with 250 or so calories a bottle? Check.










Here we are after arrriving at the KOA campground in Gunnison, Colorado. This was one of the very few sunny moments of the entire Memorial Day Weekend.



So, we established camp and headed off to preride the course at Hartman Rocks. After a two mile neutral roll out from town, the race was to start up the dirt road in the middle and center of this photo. I know, it doesn't look that bad, but believe me it is STEEP. See the tiny dot of a person before the bend in the climb? He is walking!! Slowly!! Check out the angry sky which would unleash torents of rain to make the road nice and slippery and peanut buttery for the race the next day.






Here I am preriding the course, climbing the two track through the sagebrush before we hit the first section of singletrack. My heartrate would be maxed out here during the race, but little did I know then that this was going to be the easiest part of the race by far.

We ran into Namrita and Eddie O'dea during our preride. They both did the 64 mile Growler and race for Team Ergon. And they are super cool to hang out with :^)

Here is my husband showing of some mad wheelie skills, making the nephews proud.

After the initial doubletrack climb we would drop into this singletrack.

Unfortunately we could preride only a small portion of the singletrack because we didn't want to tire ourselves out for the race the next day.





Chuck is descending the very last little section of singletrack before the race finish line. The wonderful, glorious, happy, lovely, spectacular finish line.



And back at camp.....

Camping did not turn out to be the best idea. Rain, rain, cold, hail, and more rain drove us into a hotel room after the first night of zero sleep in the tent.

This is a petty accurate depiction of the experience on raceday. This mural was painted on the building of a restaurant in downtown Gunnison. One of the awesome race volunteers that we met when we checked in and got our race numbers actually got struck by lightning at this very race the year before. Now that is hardcore! Wow. Glad I learned this fact AFTER I was done racing.

So the race recap: Huge climb, HR 185, climb some more, no recovery, singletrack, rock step up, rock drop off, rain, mud, slippery rocks, hike a bike, rotting carcass at mile 15, death drops of death, 2 second front wheelie of almost death, muddy steeeep climbs, more rain and wind, "Dismount Recommended" signs (yes, I obeyed), exhaustion, a growling stomach (I sadly only had 2 gels and 1 1/4 bottles for this 3hr, 55 minute race), and finally after 32 miles, in pouring rain.......... Done!!!!!!!

I somehow ended up with second place. I thought I got last place because I was suffering like a dog the entire race. I never felt good, except on the easy 2 mile neutral roll out, and I did perk up when I saw the finish line. Chuck handled the technical rocky sections and descents like a pro and ended up with 7th.

All that was left of our race numbers was this little scrap on Chuck's bike. The rain started about 15 miles into the race and wreaked havok upon the course and our numbers. They lay every so often on the side of the trail as they got more and more soggy and finally gave up the ghost. The first half of my poor number 238 is probably at mile 19 or so, and the second half of it hung on for a while, but blew off around mile 23.

Time to hit the road and get back to the Springs.... All in all, it was a successful weekend. We met some very awesome people, did an epic race, raced with former olympians (they all live in Colorado, I swear!), and finally got some new material for the blog.

The grey and purple skies let a tiny bit of sunshine through and highlighted the peaks of these fourteeners on our drive home back to the Springs. Sometimes I still can't believe we live here.

Tagged!!!!!!

Apparently my friend Danielle (see her picture above!) knew I had absolutely nothing to do today. I don't have to work, its too cold and snowy to ride, the dog has been walked, its too early to Christmas shop (for a procrastinator) and all I have to do is stare out the window!

Danielle "tagged" me in an effort to get me to update the ol' blog. This means I have to come up with 6 random things about myself to share with you. Hopefully if you're reading this you are not digesting Thanksgiving leftovers and so my six things plus a little tryptophan don't put you to sleep!

1. When I was growing up, I wanted to become a veterinarian. I love animals and have had the following at one time or another: 2 dwarf hamsters, a ferret, a goldfish, bunnies, cats, turtles, dogs, and I dated a guy with 3 iguanas. The dwarf hamsters had babies and then ate them. Maybe that's when I decided working in the world of animals would be a little tough.

2. I grew up in Grand Haven, Michigan. It was a pretty cool place to grow up and I spent a lot of time at the beach and swimming in Lake Michigan. We also had woods behind our house where my brother and I would hang out and play in the swamp. We would catch frogs and race them and play marbles and climb trees and leave pennies to get squished on the railroad tracks that bordered the woods. My brother was very cool to hang out with me, seeing as I was 5 years younger than him! We would also sneak over to Mother Hubbard, a convenience store, and get candy. My favorites were Tangy Taffy, Nerds, Tootsie Rolls, Now and Laters, and those Jolly Rancher stick candies that cut your tongue when you sucked on them.

3. I was the very last of all my (high school/college) friends to get married. Some of them had even been divorced and remarried by the time Chuck and I met! I'm pretty sure my mom thought it was never going to happen. The thing is, I wasn't going to settle, and it took a while for the right guy to come along. A few of the guys I was dating must haved scared my family, like the super-tattoo'd-septum piercing-guy, or the crazy-military-death-like-stare-guy. There were a few normal dates in there, but they were usually boring! Thank God Chuck came along and saved me from the messy, gory world of dating.

4. I love Arnold Schwarzenegger movies. Even the stupid ones. I am sad there may not be any more Arnold movies in the future, seeing as he's a governor and all. My favorites are, of course, The Terminator series, then I liked True Lies a lot, Total Recall was awesome, and Predator. Arnold better have a cameo in the Terminator Salvation (OMG, can't wait!) movie that's coming out next summer or I'm gonna be very upset!!!!!!!! Check it out--(http://rss.warnerbros.com/terminatorsalvation/motionposter.html)

If you don't think that's cool there's something wrong with you!

5. I'm a sucker for adventure. This year alone I have done many adventurous things for the first time (also detailed in our last blog):

--Wakeboarding.... And faceplanting into Reed's Lake on the wakeboard.

--Go-kart racing (the real fast 60+ mph karts!). You have to wear a jacket, neck guard, gloves and everything. Its the real deal. And I didn't crash!

--Riding a supermoto and crashing on the supermoto. Sorry about the bike, honey!

--Riding a dirt bike, and yes, crashing a dirt bike. Good thing it was a rental :^)

--Downhill skiing on real mountains and occassionally, biting it on real mountains.

--Then, of course, there's the mountain biking. Here in Colorado I have been challenged to ride on more technical terrain than I have ever ridden.

--And with an adventure rating of 9.88 on a scale of 1-10, having only 2 extremely stressed out days to decide to move to Colorado after 35 years of living in Michigan, when I didn't even have a job and we'd have a house to sell. I do now have a job, of course, but we still own house in Michigan!

A successful year, I must say. Especially because I didn't break anything with all that biting it and all. And we haven't crashed and burned yet here in Colorado Springs. And it ain't gonna happen!

6. I'm taking a ceramics class. Wheelthrowing, to be exact. I took it so I could try something new, and I haven't used the right/creative side of my brain in a loooong time. Here are some of the first few things I made. Actually, its the second batch of things because the first few were UGLY.

There you have it. I think I'll tag Chucky now. YOU'RE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Six Sweet Months

We made it. We moved to Colorado in February and have now been here for 6 months already. I can't say its been easy, but every time I go outside and look up at the mountains, I feel a bit of peace.

What's so great about mountains, you ask? Well.... Mountains are not just majestic and beautiful, but can also be your stairclimber, your therapist, your playground. They call for you from your comfy place on the couch.

You can't possibly think about work when you are in the mountains. When I ride my mountain bike all I can think about is staying on the mountain bike and the 10 feet of trail in front of my wheel. It is not an option to lose control, because if you crash you could tumble right down the mountain (unless there is a strategically placed a pine tree to abruptly and painfully stop your fall). While riding, my sense of hearing is in overdrive as I listen for the tiniest rustle in the woods. Its probably just a squirrel, but I am on the lookout for bears and mountain lions.

Luckily the only bears and mountain lions we've seen were in the visitor center at Mueller State Park.

So this has been a very busy, exciting, adventurous six months. Here are some of the things we have experienced in the last half a year:

1. We went downhill skiing on REAL mountains. Since it was pretty much my first time (my one time at Cannonsburg doesn't count), luckily Chuck is a good teacher.

2. When it was too early to mountain bike, we did some hiking in the mountains (a.k.a. sucking wind and getting used to the altitude).

3. We travelled to the top of Pikes Peak, a mere 14,115 feet tall. Complete slackers that we are, we drove to the top. Pikes Peak is known as "America's Mountain" and is the most visited mountain in the U.S. This is probably due to the fact that there is a road to the top!!! The song "America the Beautiful" by Katherine Lee Bates was written about Pikes Peak. For Purple Mountain Majesties............

4. We went dirt biking, luckily Chuck is a good teacher :^) . I had the time of my life and only bit it once. It was pretty cool riding my own Monster Energy Kawasaki :^)

5. We took a road trip to Michigan, our first time home since the big move. I noticed that all the nephews kept growing without us!

Here are Noah, Simon, Sawyer, and Charlie

While in Michigan Chuck and I learned a brand new sport: wakeboarding! My good friend Angela and her boyfriend took us out on Reeds Lake. I wasn't sure if I wanted to try it--I was actually a bit worn out from trying new things all summer!!! But in the end, I couldn't let the opportunity pass me by.

6. We made it up the incline. Everyone in the Springs knows of the infamous incline. Torture! It is an old railway bed that is one mile long and it goes straight up the mountain. It climbs over 2000 feet in that mile, has an average grade of 41%. The steepest grade is 68%. Being the competitive person that I am, I went for a fast time. Not smart, I could barely walk the first few days afterwards and my legs were sore for a week!

That is not the top of the incline-you can't see the top from this photo!

7. We went to Aspen to ride and visit with friends. It is incredibly beautiful there and we had an awesome time. I actually ran out of memory on my camera (2Gig card!) I took so many pictures. Oh, and on one of our rides, Chuck rescued a dog from a turbulent whitewater river. I thought for sure the poor thing was a goner. The dog got swept away by the water and all I could see was a tiny patch of black on his back, then he was gone. Thank goodness there was a growth of trees in the middle of the river which somehow he got stuck up on.

8. I made it to Fort Collins to visit my friend Jill. She moved out to Colorado 4 years ago so we got together and rode some sweet and challenging trails. To rehydrate from our ride, she took me to the New Belgium Brewery for some taste-testing. They make Fat Tire, my new favorite beer since Founders is 1250 miles away.

Here's Jill on a rocky climb in Fort Collins.

Here I am on a rocky section. There were lots of rocky sections.

9. We got a short visit from my good friend Danielle and her husband Scott. We were pretty excited to see them, our first visitors since we moved to the Springs. We showed them as many gorgeous views as we could, and took them riding at Rampart Reservoir, all part of my scheme to get her back here as soon as possible!

Here are Danielle and Scott posing by the reservoir with Pikes Peak in the background.

Here I am with Danielle on the trail.

10. We have huddled under pine trees during a mountain bike ride to try to shelter ourselves from the hailstorm that suddenly came through. Okay, I huddled and Chuck stood there and took it like a man. Its a good thing it blew over and we didn't have to do anything that I have learned from watching Man vs. Wild.

11. We rode go-karts. I know it doesn't sound any too adventurous, but was actually kind of crazy. We rode these super fast racing karts that go 60 mph+. We had to get all dressed up in safety equipment before we could go--motorcycle helmets, jackets, gloves, and this funny neck protector thingee. Chuck and I raced eachother, and he beat me. :^( He didn't beat me by that much, though!

12. We went to the Olympic Training Center to get pumped up before the Olympics. The OTC is right in Co. Springs and is where many athletes do their training and get expert coaching. It is also where visitors can live out their dreams and stand under the Olympic rings on the top step of the podium, hands raised overhead in victory!

2010?

13. We saw our first real live rattlesnake. Snakes don't usually give me the creeps, but seeing this rattler made a shiver go down my spine.

14. We went riding in the mountains and saw the beautiful fall colors. I think I'll save those awesome pics for the next blog. Which will hopefully be soon....

We're not going Mountain Biking?

Chuck and I obviously have a passion for anything on two wheels. I have always, always wanted to go dirt biking. Luckily with an awesome, adrenaline junkie husband like Chuck, I got my chance. We have been hunting high and low for a place to rent bikes from since we got to Colorado and found a place in Divide, about 30 miles west of Colorado Springs.


However, as much as I wanted to go riding and imitate the ways of Ricky Carmichael, I needed to learn how to ride a motorcycle first. (Scary). My mountain bike weighs 21 pounds. Chuck's motorcycle weighs 295 pounds. (Very Scary).


Actually Chuck is a very good teacher and brought me to this empty parking lot to learn on his supermoto. I was pretty relaxed thanks to his calm and mellow demeanor. Wasn't he worried about a girl smashing up his beautiful stylin' motorcycle? Guess not.



I was wondering how on earth I would be able to master the clutch (left foot), front brake (right hand), rear brake (right foot), throttle (also right hand), and the gear shifting (left foot). That seems like a lot to get straight and I was longing for the time I would be able to ride without thinking and concentrating so hard and having my heart beat out of my chest.



So learn to ride I did. I know people do it every day, but the next day I would be doing it on trails with roots and rocks and gravel pits and hills!!! Added pressure!



Here we are with the rig all packed up and ready to head to the trail. Finally I am going dirt biking!!! I am no longer going to be a poser.

That's me on my Monster Energy Kawasaki!!! Check out my sweet new duds Chuck got me for my birthday.

I can't believe that's me!

So why did we ever retire from racing our road bikes and mountain bikes? So we could have time for this kind of fun. I cannot wait to go out again. I think the next time we go out I will be more relaxed and able to enjoy myself without being as nervous about crashing and smashing up the bike and my body.

Aspen Adventures

Sorry for the blog-drought lately but we have been quite busy having the time of our lives. We had to get out there so I'd have something to write about.

We went to Aspen for a few days to visit some good friends last week. It is so gorgeous there you wouldn't believe it. Maybe the price of real estate there will convince you--it costs around 8 million dollars for 0.6 acres of property. No house, just land. And maybe a couple of trees.

Playing tourists in our own backyard. Can you tell its summertime?

Since I am wearing sandals and shorts, it is quite obviously summertime... As I was walking around enjoying the awe-inspiring views, I kept getting snow in my sandals.

Here's a little perspective on the depth of the snow up here. Notice even the graffiti in Colorado is environmentally friendly.

So while in Aspen we had to do some riding. And ride we did. Chuck and I did 3 "epic" rides in 2 days including about 18,000 feet of climbing.

So the term "epic" is an oft abused adjective when referring to mountain bike rides. I, however, am very careful to use this word wisely.

You are probably asking--what in the world made our rides step it up into the "epic" category?

Well, let me tell you.

First of all we were riding with our friends from Michigan, Laura and Craig Webb. They are the first familiar faces we have seen since we've moved to Colorado. Then there was the whitewater rivers we passed, the constant view of the snowy capped mountains, riding at an oxygen deprived altitude of 11,500 feet, and most importantly, the icy mountain streams.

The icy mountain streams were sometimes knee deep and we had to ride right through them because they were flowing over our trail. One of the giant water holes we rode through had a big pile of snow melting right into it. As we rode through and kept knocking snow into the water, it created a nice icy mountain Slurpee. Fun.

Halfway up our trail we found this old miner's cabin from the mid-1800's. Apparently miner's were not especially tall.

I would have to say this is the first time I have encountered an avalanche during a mountain bike ride. It is also the first time I have ridden on snow in June. This would definately qualify our ride as "epic." While I was hiking across I kept getting snow in my mountain bike shoes. Definately not the best day to wear shortie socks, but that's what I get for being vain and trying to avoid the dreaded biker tan lines.

Here's our friend, Laura, hiking her bike accross the wreckage.

So how many flat tires are required to add to the matrix of the "epic" ride? I'm thinking three would be about right. Well, my downhill bombing, self preservation disregarding, adrenaline junkie husband got 5 flats. FIVE. All by himself. Luckily we were riding with enough people and he totally cleaned them out of their spare tube stash.

Together the other six riders on our journey got one flat. I am left to wonder if now there will be a karmic shift and Chuck will win a lifetime supply of free tubes or perhaps have 5 good years with no flats.......

We were lucky enough to end our time in Aspen with a Disco Party. I was very fortunate to obtain a sparkly green disco outfit so I could get completely funky. Or maybe I was just buzzed enough that my fun loving co-party friends convinced me to squeeze into a stretchy green superhero suit from the 70's that just happen to be laying around.

So there you have it. It may have been a long time between blogs, but we were busy being tourists, sucking wind, fixing flats, trying not to bonk, cleaning snow out of our shoes, thawing frozen feet, getting our freak on, drinking beer, and practicing our best disco moves.

I love it here................