Beer, Bikes, and Snow

I had one more Enduro on my calendar for the 2019 season - the Glen Park Enduro.  It would be the last race for the 2019 MASS series.   I enjoy Glen Park - it's very flowy with some steep chutes and some small hits.  I knew the course would be mostly marked by Friday afternoon, so I headed out after school to pre-ride.  I had two stages under my belt and feeling good.  The sun glare was challenging as the light was getting low.  I started my third stage, which was Stage 3.  Going into one of the early corners, I washed out on a soft berm covered in leaves.  Luckily I was just a bit bumped but as I started my ride again, I heard rattling.  I broke the lever to my dropper post.  My saddle was stuck down - which made for any pedaling or climbing to be a challenge.  I finished out the other three stages but was stiff and feeling a bit anxious. I arrived at Halter's first thing Saturday morning to get my lever repaired....

About nine years ago, a good friend of mine accepted a postdoctoral position at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. Prior to accepting this position, she lived in Boulder, Colorado for seven years. So when she told me she didn’t like AR, I thought she was just spoiled from living in one of the most desirable places in the United States. And then I went to visit her...and well, I didn’t disagree with her. Fast forward to now. I was going to Bentonville, Arkansas for the NICA National Conference . And I couldn’t wait.  I will reflect on my NICA National Conference later...but for now... Over the past few years, Bentonville and Northwest Arkansas (NWA) has become a mountain bike mecca . Apparently the Walton family has found a love of mountain biking and dumped millions of dollars into building insanely fun trails. I have heard first hand how awesome the trails are - all free to the public and accessible from town. Our National meeting was Wednesday June 13th thr...

This post is sort of long...well, longer than I'd normally post - but it's two races packed into one post! And I apologize for the lack of photos. I was too busy riding my bikes. So I see on Eastern States Cup website that there are two races at Blue Mountain on the same day.  Both Enduro and Downhill.  Which do I do?? The Enduro was 5 stages, of which 4 had lift-service transfers.  And, if I registered for the Downhill, I'd get a lift ticket for Saturday (not included with the Enduro registration).  How can you argue that deal? I planned on pre-riding Saturday, bringing both my Juliana for the Enduro and the Fury for the Downhill.  I got my registration set away and headed out for the first stage of the Enduro.  My plan was to ride each Stage, go back and re-ride ones I wanted practice.  Then get on the DH bike. I waited patiently in the lift line.  I guess you can say I'm spoiled with the speed and capacity of the gondola at Mountain ...

I woke up to that sound.  I was hoping it was just wind but I was wrong.  Rain.  I packed an extra set of everything and headed out in the dark to my race.  I got out on the course to pre-ride with my raincoat and hood up over my helmet.  The course was wet but not muddy.  I spent some time going over lines and made myself aware of roots in the woods.  As I headed to registration to pick up my number, the sky opened and was raining hard.  I opted to sit in my car and try to stay as warm as possible. I warmed up on the trainer for a bit but had no motivation to ride in the drizzle.  I headed over to the start to find my group.  The access driveway was muddy and I noticed the racers finishing had mud splattered on them.  We lined up, shed our jackets, and waited for the official to blow the whistle.  Off the start, I was hesitant on the first corner - conditions had changed since I pre-rode earlier.  More mud and greas...

Cooper River (CRCX) is flat.  And tends to have long stretches that require a lot of power.  Typically not my favorite type of CX course.  But I know what i need to work on.  So it's good training for me.  There were only a handful of the Master's women but some of my usual competition.  It was going to be a good race. As always, I arrived early enough to get out on the course before the first race.  Since the course was oriented east west, the sun glare made it difficult to see some of the turns and how the course flowed.  I worked on some different lines and watched the first race.  I've always hated the pavement to grass transition at the start of the CRCX.  This year was no different.  But while watching the grass to pavement transition before the finish also had me a bit nervous.  Plenty of men went down or crashed into the barrier on that corner.  Two things I wanted to be careful of. As our women's field lin...

Day 1 I knew that the course would be similar to previous years - it was just a matter of where the barriers were and how dusty the course would be.  I still arrived early to get in few laps before the first race.  Just as I expected, but the barriers were in the infamous "mud" area (note: it was not muddy).  I picked up my number, watched the little Belgium's race, and got ready for my race. I'm starting to know who the ladies are in my group - we all hung out at the staging area, waiting for our call-ups.  I picked my spot and waited for the countdown.  I've always hated the "traffic light" starts at Nittany - but this year they said to start on the whistle. Day 1 Master's field - photo by .S. Roberts I heard the whistle blow and nailed my start.  I was third going into the first set of turns.  And then the leader went down on a turn I know well (I crashed on it a few years ago).  Somehow 2nd place and myself got around her without ...