Knowing When to Quit

Sometimes you just have to know when to quit. Tomorrow is the Ride for Glory in Ishpeming, Michigan. I never thought I would cut this race out of my schedule because it is only an hour and a half away. A large number of my team is going. I finally decided not to.

I feel a bit stretched. My car still isn't unpacked from Superior Bike Fest and I feel like I've been gone almost every weekend . . . probably because I have. I am getting a bit raced out.

Kryptonite

Sunday marked a rather unmemorable event for me. It was the last day of Superior Bike Fest and the mountain event, my best event, was the order of the day. After Saturday's road event, it was no surprise that I was less than eager to begin this race.

My legs were stiff, although soreness wasn't really taking effect. They were heavy and energy failed to renew with the changing of the day.

One mile in, I decided that my only goal was to finish the race. This is pretty sad considering it was only sixteen miles and I've excelled at distances longer than this. The pack lost me right away. By mile three, I was seriously considering a big DNF (did not finish). By mile seven, I pretty much confirmed that I was going to DNF. Sure, I kept telling myself that I was almost finished with my first lap and that I could survive another one, but the truth was that I couldn't climb hills without getting off and walking. My legs were dead. It was almost like I was Superman, force-fed kryptonite.

The final decision came at the end of the lap and I headed straight for the finish with a final "F-YOU" to the Marquette Mountain course that I loved so much on any normal day. It was a sad, sad day – my first DNF.

Superior Bike Fest: 35-Mile Road Race

My first real road race. We had an easy roll-out led by a beautiful, red Corvette. After a couple miles, the Corvette took off and the real race began. The riders immediately separated and I stuck with the lead peleton only for a couple minutes. We were headed up a long, very gradual hill and I was losing speed. Before I knew it, I was leading the second peleton and they invited me to drop to the back to take a break. We headed for the hill in front of Marquette Mountain and split apart. I led the downhill and the long, steep climb began. Riders began passing me and we all spread out to the point where I thought this was it: we were riding alone.

Mid-climb, I began feeling better and my cadence picked up. I shifted into a harder gear - twice - and caught up with the gal in front of me – Sarah. I passed her and noticed my new friend, Janet, up ahead. I said to Sarah, "Work with me to catch up to Janet."

"Ok," she said in reply. We quickly moved up and I yelled for Janet to pick up her pace and jump on the back of our newly forming peleton. We proceeded forward and picked up another gal. The four of us worked together for quite some while and we picked up riders and dropped riders throughout the race. Janet primarily led the climbs as she was better suited for this; I led the downhills. I could get really low to make myself more aerodynamically friendly and I was able to really pick up speed. We found ourselves speeding up quite a bit even though we would be coasting. We hit 38.5 mph in front of Marquette Mountain on the return trip.

As we headed to the finish line, I knew I had to plan my breakaway. The time came when we were nearing the end and I took off. I didn't know it, yet, but Sarah was hot on my trail, er, road. We were heading for a strong wind and I selfishly asked her if she wanted to lead the way a bit. She said, "sure," and helped me regain my energy for a final sprint. I don't think she knew what she was doing, but I sure appreciated it. We rounded the corner bringing the finish line within view and I took off. I was the first of my peleton to finish and it wasn't a moment too soon.

My legs had been hinting for the last several miles that they were ready to strike. They had it. My adductor muscles (upper inner thigh) were tightening immensely and immediately halted my ride so I couldn't do a roll down on the bike. I stopped, in great pain, and managed to finagle myself off the bike. I didn't really walk – I couldn't. I merely shifted my hips to get my legs to move in such a fashion that would produce a forward motion. I used the bike kind of like a walker, although it was more of a burden at this point.

I attempted to stretch these muscles, but found that any stance, other than feet together, called upon the necessity of these muscles for stabilization. Simply put, I was screwed. I took about thirty minutes simply moving. While I chatted with my team mate, Pat, I marched in place. This seemed to help a bit. I wasn't able to stretch until later. Sure, I could've lain on the ground, but then there was the issue of getting back up. It wasn't happening.

I showered, stretched, and headed to a party with the Chocolay ACE Hardware team for some beer, brats, and bugs.

Superior Bike Fest: Twilight Criterium

I was nervous. It was my first crit, and my first road race. I worked a twelve-hour shift, Thursday, so I had no time for preparations that day. Friday morning, I packed up my bikes and my dogs. Unfortunately, it took much longer than I expected and I didn't arrive to Marquette until 4:00 p.m. I had very little time to get my packet, get ready, and start my race.

I started strongly. I hopped out in front, as racing articles said to do, and I lead the pack for the first lap. I took corners at top speed, leaning my bike into it while maintaining stability and grace that I only possess on the bike. The end of the lap met some difficulty as we hit a hill. I slowed and the rest of the pack went by. Unfortunately, most of them were just as fast as I on the rest of the course, but they were good climbers, so they dusted me.

The second lap brought a lot of pain as my chest burned from my deep, intense breathing. I was racing. My climbing got slower and it took longer for me to get up to speed on the straightaway at the top of the hill. By the third or fourth climb, I had to slow down for a bit and regain some of my breath. When I caught my second wind, I began climbing more strongly and the pain eased up only a bit.

I finished in tenth place that night. I was last. However, I noticed my riding skills were superior to some of the other girls as they braked like crazy into the turns and coasted down the hills instead of picking up speed by pedaling. I will continue to work on my climbing and I will come back to next year's crit with a vengeance.

Keweenaw Chain Drive Recap

Di (left) enjoying her second place age group finish. Photo by Sean Evans and edited by Di.

I realize I rushed through my Keweenaw Chain Drive commentary. I didn't really say anything except, "Here ya go!" . . . basically. One of my team mates started a thread for Chain Drive recaps and I decided to do my race play-by-play. Here you go! ;-)

After realizing how well I did in O2S last year, and doing a few wave starts this year, I realized I needed to start up toward the front. My starting position was going to make a huge difference in the results. I was right. I was able to keep up with the guys until we got to the further side of Hancock and started the little climbs. I'm a better climber this year, but I still have lots of work to do, and I most certainly will not be able to keep up with the front runners, so it's not like that was a huge loss for me. I knew I was still in front of most of the pack.

I used my roadie skills to get an edge. Everyone would pass me on the climbs and I would blow by them on the flats and downhills. Crazy how that works. We reached cemetery hill and some guys went by me, but I actually had a very good climb at a personal best speed. I popped in front of Bruce P at the entrance of Iron Ring and we moved forward rather slowly. I used special superhero techniques (near trackstands) to allow people to get ahead of me so I could maximize momentum on the uphills while my competitors worked harder than I. Some people behind me weren't too happy with me, but Bruce knew what I was doing. Hey! I know the course! It hurts! Don't waste energy on the first couple miles.

We reached the doubletrack and I seriously opened it up while navigating the rocks - you know, the trail with a couple of dirt spots in it. ;-) We reached that first nasty, nasty hill and I walked up the middle of it to avoid blocking the rider line. For the rest of the race, I pretty much just got down to business.

The end was like every other race: some lady got behind me and made me super nervous, but I really couldn't push that much harder. Being an uphill, the end is a great place to get the best of me. I had mixed feelings when I saw who was passing me.
1. Relief - it was Tammi, fellow Red Jacket, and she is not in my age group.
2. Hurt pride - it was Tammi and she was finally going to beat me in a mountain bike race this year.
3. Camaraderie - it was Tammi and I was happy that I was crossing the finish with a fellow Red Jacket - who also happens to be the same Red Jacket who usually finishes within seconds of me even though we never really ride together.

I got to the finish and several people came up to me and chatted and congratulated me and asked me how the race went and we compared stories. It was awesome. I absolutely love the social atmosphere of riding in the Keweenaw, and this year's Chain Drive was peak happiness.

Lesson learned: avoid aid stations, even when you're trying to be efficient. If I didn't dally trying to get some fluid in my mouth at the aid station, I most likely would've beaten Tammi. ;-)

2008 Keweenaw Chain Drive

Di racing her heart out.

It couldn't have been any better! I had the pleasure of meeting new people, chatting with familiar friends and acquaintances, and putting forth a great effort on a course that was in great condition! Last year, the course was so dry; my face was black from the sand and dirt. This year, it has been raining off and on, and the trails were dampened enough to keep anything from flying up. My snot wasn't even that black afterwards!

I raced hard beating my time last year and reaching my goal of less than an hour and thirty minutes. I placed second in my age group, twelfth for the women, and in the top fifty percent overall.


The Red Jacket - Bluesky Health Team after the Keweenaw Chain Drive.

Hanson Hills Challenge - June 1

A couple of my team mates and I began the month in racing fashion down in Grayling, Michigan for the Hanson Hills mountain bike race. We left very early Saturday morning and arrived in Grayling in the afternoon. We unloaded the bikes and did a leisurely pre-pride. I, being the slow rider, set the pace around the flowing 10-mile singletrack.


James, Di, and Pat. The picture has my name on it, but it was actually taken by Pat's friend, Dennis. Whoops!

Hanson Hills has some gradual climbs and fast descents. Overall, I found the course enjoyable and noted that it definitely has the weeee factor and the wah! effect. It lacks any kind of technical terrain making it a less than ideal race course for the gravitationally challenged, yet skillful mountain biker - like me. This MMBA Championship Point Series event proved to be the most competitive race I've done considering my category. I raced Sport Women 30-39. My friend, Ali, showed up, and she's fast, and I know it, and I told her so, so I knew I wasn't going to beat her. Fortunately, I was able to share in the post-race joy of her victory over our age group. Six women finished within twenty minutes of each other proving that we were all well-matched and exceptional riders. ;-)

Glen and Ali looking all lean and mean with their first place plaques. Glen really needs to get that lip thing checked out.

Glen and Ali on a more normal note.

I finished fifth place. The only setback I experienced was when a Clydesdale's rear tire slid off a bridge and he stood there straddling the bike and bridge while contemplating how to get back on his bike. This cost me the lead I gained on the approaching downhill section and I knew it when I finally yelled, "Pull it off! Pull it off!" He pulled the bike out of my way and I proceeded only to be immediately overtaken by my competition. Blech! Before this occurred, I believe I was running in third, but it didn't cost me this position because I was doomed to climb slowly over the next couple miles. Fun stuff. I may have taken fourth without this mishap, but I take full responsibility for my placing.

I had the great pleasure of hanging out with Glen and Ali and chatting with Nick and Marty a bit. I only get to see them at certain races, and these meetings definitely make the race experience more enjoyable.


Ali, Nick, Marty, and Glen. This was the only picture of these guys where Ali was standing somewhat close to Nick. I'm not sure if he smelled, or what, but she just didn't want to get too close to him. ;-)

Craig Morris meandered by and joined in on our mountain bike thievery. Pictured: Di, Glen, and Craig. Picture from Craig Morris' blog.

Keweenaw Chain Drive Pre-Ride

Pat and James after conquering a Maasto Hiihto hill I can't climb.

My team mates James, Pat, and I embarked on a "32-mile" ride today. Our course wasn't really 32 miles because we were doing the Keweenaw Chain Drive long course sans parade rollout.

The "long course" consists partly of all the trails in the Churning Rapids trail system. These are the trails near my home that I will be riding the most this year. The course was creatively plotted and amazingly includes all the singletrack, however not in the order I prefer. Great Oaks is a wildly fun, technical trail on the descent, but a beast on the ascent. It is a climb in the race and I found it quite challenging when we rode it today. We did the usual favorites such as Drunken Sailor and Pow Pow and headed back to Maasto Hiihto to finish up the race course. Towards the end, both of my knees were getting achy, we were all talking about pesto pasta at the Michigan House, and decided to cut out the last singletrack and simply head back to our vehicles.


Di riding under the Twisted Tree, also the name of the trail.

One of the new trails in the race was recently created because a beaver dam caused flooding of our singletrack. Here is the beaver dam and its newly created reservoir:


Pat noticed how the beaver dam, the sticks and brush at the bottom of the picture, is concave resembling the Hoover Dam.


Pat riding across the new bridge adjacent to the beaver dam (on the right).

We rode at a leisurely pace with me leading the way – twenty-seven miles in three hours and forty-seven minutes. We might have gone a little faster had I not been suffering from a hangover resulting from the previous night's Stanley Cup Finals festivities.

Even considering my less-than-preferable physical state, I decided that the thirty-two mile course was not on the agenda for this year's race. I have every intention of completing it this year and will continue to concentrate on climbing and endurance for my training this year. Next year, I plan to move up to the longer races.

Improve Your Riding With a Good Book

I like books. Whenever I start a new hobby, I buy books. Bicycling wasn't any different.

When I started mountain biking, it was pretty obvious I had a lot to learn regarding technique. I didn't know how to climb steep hills or maneuver through rock gardens, and the only advice I was given was "ride more." Well, that advice really doesn't work. The following are the books in my collection.



Mountain Bike Magazine's Complete Guide To Mountain Biking Skills was the first cycling book I bought. It was a fun and easy read. I would read a chapter, visualize what I was reading, and then go try it on the trail, with few exceptions. I've attempted a wheelie, but that ended in disaster and I haven't tried since.

I highly recommend this book for beginner mountain bikers and for those that don't got skills. For the men who would like to encourage their girlfriends or wives to ride, this an excellent book to give as a gift. It will take a lot of stress out of learning how to ride because the very important unspoken information is in the book. It really will make climbing and technical riding easier.

I like to think of Bicycling Magazine's Complete Book of Road Cycling Skills as the roadie companion to Mountain Biking Skills. It is set up the same way and has short, easy reading articles. What is great about this book is that it doesn't only have articles pertaining to fit, skills, and racing, but it includes men and women only chapters containing many of those embarrassing to ask questions.

This book is geared toward roadies, but it contains lots of great information for all riders. It serves as a great compliment to the Complete Guide to Mountain Biking Skills.

My riding partner lent me Ned Overend's Mountain Bike Like a Champion. I'm still reading this book. I recommend this book for someone who has been riding for a few months. It is a great read after the Complete Guide to Mountain Biking Skills as it just seems to be written on a more experienced level. Not surprising, and quite enjoyable.

Ned goes more in depth about basic and advanced skills and gives information about racing and training as well. What I found quite enjoyable about this book are Ned's anecdotes and his admissions that he isn't particularly good at everything, at least not in his mind. It's refreshing to learn from such a great rider that it's ok not to be able to master everything. Just do what you can.

When I joined the Red Jacket – BlueSky Health Racing Team, I decided it was time to get a training book. I didn't get the one that everyone recommended, because it just didn't speak to me at the time. After about an hour sitting on the bookstore floor and thumbing through some cycling books, I purchased The Lance Armstrong Performance Program after much thought.

This book has a lot of great training information including riding programs and goal-specific workouts to include in your training. It is full of Lance experiences and tactics and is quite inspirational. If your training program is lacking something, this may be just the book you need for a little inspiration and a lot of great ideas.

National Bike Month tip of the day: buy a bicycling book for inspiration and skill improvement.

Spring Road Rides Beneficial at Cable

The following is a write-up I did for the Red Jacket - BlueSky Health Racing Team web site.


The Red Jackets traveled to Cable, WI this weekend for the Cable Area Off-Road Classic. Two hundred thirty-nine riders, 216 men, attempted the 23-mile race and 120 riders attempted the 18-mile race. Although 14 racers did not finish, all of the Red Jackets had successful races free of any mechanical difficulties.

Pat Szubielak, 50, and James Bialas, 31, accepted the 23-mile challenge making strong 6th and 25th place finishes in their respective age groups. About fifty percent of the course consisted of sweet singletrack requiring cyclocross-style maneuvers over freshly fallen trees from the previous night's rainstorm.

"After a crazy fast start I finally settled into a manageable pace," Pat commented. "I felt I did great in the singletrack – not getting passed – but when we hit the open road sections, that's where the roadies took over and gained ground. I also enjoyed coming up on team mates and offering encouragement." Pat and James were going to race together but were separated by a gaggle of enthusiastic racers entering the first bit of singletrack. When asked for a comment, James said, "Hi, Mom!"

It was the second race of the year for the 18-mile Red Jacket men. Brett Hamlin, 38, felt his performance well-exceeded that of Iola and found himself back in his racing groove finishing 9th in his age group. Chris Lehto, 40, finished 8th in his age group just four minutes ahead of Brett. Terry Kinzel's 9th place finish received an exciting Red Jacket greeting as he rolled across the finish line smiling as always.

Tammi Lehto (left) and Diane Ursu (right) received 3rd and 2nd, respectively, in their age categories.

It was the Red Jacket women, however, who made a podium presence for the 18-mile race. Tammi Lehto, 41, finished a well-earned 3rd in her age category while Diane Ursu barely rolled into 2nd place with the 3rd and 4th place finishers crossing the finish line within 45 seconds of Diane. "I was following the guys in front of me and we went straight at a T-intersection when we were supposed to turn right," Diane said. "The woman behind me kept questioning the direction and we went back. I lost a couple of minutes there. I also began riding about 6-8 mph over the last mile and a half, which was railroad grade. My legs were dead and we were riding into a strong headwind. I knew I had to make up for the previous course blooper, so I really had to muster up some strength to more than double my speed in order to jump on the draft of one of the 25-milers into the finish. Looking at the finish times, it was a wise decision."

The Cable Area Off-Road Classic was a well-run race designed to bring the riders in together. The 23-milers started 20 minutes before the 18-milers and the two races converged for a group finish. "I thought the long course was very challenging and would recommend trying this race," remarked Pat. "About 50 percent of it was singletrack." It makes for the perfect spring race because the great majority of the race is ridden on gravel roads, which is beneficial for those riders restricted to road riding through the spring.

Inspired by the Red Jacket – BlueSky Health van presentation of the Lance Armstrong Tour de France performances, the Red Jackets are preparing for their upcoming races in Rhinelander, Wisconsin for the RASTA Rally Mountain Bike Race on May 25 and the Hanson Hills Challenge in Grayling, Michigan on June 1. Check the calendar for upcoming events.

My First WORS Race - Iola, WI

I was nervous. For some reason, WORS had a bad reputation with me. I've heard/read things about them and everyone *knew* that it was cutthroat, physical racing.

Wrong.

Everyone on the course was very friendly at all levels. My team left quite satisfied with the competition. Everyone said please and thank you, some were chatty and encouraging. The course was hard - lots of steep climbs. In fact, before each wave, the announcer told everyone to communicate and "ride kind[ly]." It seemed more like a Yooper cyclocross course in that it was anaerobic for the most part. It was a real test of strategy to catch your breath.


My teammate, Chris, riding expert.

All of the sport women started together. The first lap was frustrating. I never had a chance to pre-ride the course, so I had no idea what to expect. Everyone expected this "one hill" to force most of us off our bikes and walk, because that's what a lot of the riders did. I kept asking, "Well, what about Copper Harbor? If I can ride those hills before Dancing Bear, is this particular hill going to stop me?" "Yes," seemed to be the answer. There was doubt in me completing that climb.

I can now tell you that, yes, if you can climb the hills preceding Dancing Bear, you can clear the Iola course. It hurts, and it's one heck of a challenge, but you can do it. One thing that makes the Iola hill of death much easier is the nice, packed dirt. Copper Harbor is loose and requires a bit more finagling to succeed.

I was still forced to walk part of many of the hills on the first lap because my fellow competitors kept falling in front of me. I realized I was riding too hard to keep up with these gals because my breathing was hard, and we weren't even three miles in, yet. I realized that many of them were breathing just as hard and decided to ease up and let them move on ahead. I lost view of most of them.

My shifting was awful the first lap. I kept shifting down too much before my climbs and I couldn't effectively use my momentum combined with pedaling to clear the hills more easily (the climbs weren't very gradual, more steep and long enough to be respectable).

The second lap went much better. Toward the middle of the second lap, I started passing many of the gals who smoked me on the first lap. They didn't ease up like I did. They were getting tired. They were still walking up the hills while I was riding (much faster to ride, even if it just 4 mph - twice as fast as my walk). The shifting was getting much better and I had room/clearance to maximize the downhills and swoop up the hills.

The third lap was painful but my technique was great. My shifting was dialed in and I was clearing the climbs, even though my legs were shaking on the second lap when I had to dismount to get around some people on a short, rooty climb. I didn't get to clear that climb at all because I didn't have a choice of lines because someone was alway off their bike on that climb.

I spent about one-third of the third lap trying to catch up with the girl in front of me. We were pretty evenly matched while I was chasing her. It was that rooty climb where I passed because she dropped her computer. Another girl started catching up with me, one who gave me difficulties earlier in the race. We were approaching the tight, twisty, technical singletrack. She wanted to pass, I moved over so she could, but I shifted up and hammered so she couldn't. I wasn't going to let her pass me just before the section where I was going to dominate. As a sport rider, technical and downhill seems to be where I prevail. I love technical and I'm not for braking on downhills. I love to go fast.


My teammate, Mark, on a nice long hill just before a tricky, steep, long, climb. I think this is the section where I got my max speed of 29.1 mph.

Through this little pine section just before the finish line, I noticed one of my teammates up ahead followed by Dr Bruce. Feeling I was being chased down by two other women, I yelled, "GO HOUGHTON! PEDAL! PEDAL! PEDAL! FASTER!!!" Brett and Bruce hammered and the three of us sailed across the finish line together. It was sweet. I love ending races with my friends.

Iola was aerobically challenging. Anyone who raced sport (15 miles) deserves respect because just one lap there is painful.

One of my teammates and I both grabbed second in our categories. The girl who got third in my category was 20 minutes behind me, so the two I was racing weren't even an issue as far as medals go. However, I'm very competitive, so I couldn't let them beat me.

My lungs HURT after that race. We sounded like a bunch of unfiltered chain smokers on the car ride home. It was a great race.

Set a Mileage Goal

Someone from one of the mountain biking forums I frequent gave me the idea of making a mileage goal each month. I have been tracking my mileage for a couple years. Adding a goal gives it more purpose.

Last month, I set my goal at 400 miles. For whatever reason, I only reached 250 miles, 84 miles more than last April. In comparison, it's not too shabby! Last May, I did 193 miles. All of that was mountain biking. This year, I'll be commuting as well. I'll set a goal of 400 miles for May. We'll see how that goes.

Tracking your miles can be a very useful tool. As you have already seen, I was able to determine this month's goal by looking at what I did last year and considering what I am already doing this year. I also use my log for predicting race times. I can compare the race course to one of the trails I have already ridden and determine how long it might take to complete the race. It's nice to head into a race with an idea of how well you may do.

Since this is National Bike Month and everyone is motivated by the onset of spring to get out there and ride, this is the perfect time for you to set some goals. Pick the number of miles you'd like to reach by the end of the month, keep a log, and ride.

Red Jackets Ride Strong at Pontiac Lake

The following is the news tidbit I wrote for the Red Jacket-BlueSky Health Cycling Team web site.


Pat Szubielak took first place in the Sport Men 50+ category and 19th overall. Left to right: Niel Scharphorn – Cross Country Cycle, Pat Szubielak – Red Jacket–BlueSky Health, Glenn Willyard, and Roger Pelkey.

The Red Jacket – BlueSky Health Cycling Team swept the Pontiac Lake Time Trial this weekend in Waterford, Michigan. Pat Szubielak took first for the Sport Men 50+ category and Diane Ursu took first for the Sport Women 25-39 category. There was a good turnout despite the snow with 170 racers. The one-lap race had 114 competitors who made a clean finish after the Expert and Elite racers cleared the water from the course with a grueling two-lap race.


Diane (right) took first for the Sport Women 25-39 category and third for Women's Sport Division, and 97th overall. Jennifer Fischer (left) racing for Tree Fort Bikes took second in the Sport Women 25-39 category.

The race started off at a tropical 30° F with light snow and progressed to a breezy, sunny 38° F. Overcoming heat exhaustion, our polar Yooper citizens pulled out all the stops to show the world the Red Jackets are a new force to be reckoned with.

Pontiac Lake is an intermediate course located in Michigan’s beautiful Oakland County. The course is packed full of varying terrain with respectable, longer climbs and fast, challenging descents along with varying technical terrain including soil, sand, and clay, log piles, and drops combined with rock gardens and root systems. It is understandably one of Lower Michigan’s most popular trails.


Diane Ursu taking off from the start line on Sunday.

The Red Jackets would like to thank Robert Linden and his Tailwinds crew for their hospitality and a race well done.

Inaugaral Mountain Bike Ride Of 2008

The third great Keweenaw blizzard of the year began yesterday. The whole state of Michigan had fallen victim to rather unhappy weather. It didn’t change our plans, though. My friend, Pat, and I drove through the blizzard, then the winter storm, then the rain. We completed our trip this morning and did a 10 a.m. ride at Pontiac Lake Recreation Area. PLRA is, in my opinion, the best trail in lower Michigan. No, I haven’t ridden them all, but I’ve ridden some of the best.

I was willing to forego our ride, today, but Pat insisted that we were going to ride since we just drove 550 miles to get here. We met up with two of his friends and ended up having a great ride. Halfway through the ride, I was smiling and laughing and thinking, “Wow! What a great trail for the first mountain bike ride of the year!"

With all the snow in the Keweenaw, mountain biking is a slightly distant thought, but there’s a race tomorrow at Pontiac Lake. This is why we fought the blizzard to be here.


This is US-41 just south of Calumet during the blizzard. Look carefully. There is a plow truck in front of the pickup truck.


This is US-41 between Chassell and Baraga.


There is something strangely beautiful about the Keweenaw Bay at its worst.


The Keweenaw Bay. The white-capped waves look small. In reality, they were at least three feet high.


We were expecting to get pretty muddy at PLRA. We wanted before and after pictures.


This is what the guys looked like after the ride.


They felt like they were in a lineup because I made them turn for another picture.

My Pipe Dream

The fact is I know better. When living in the Upper Peninsula, expecting not to see any snow in early April is a pipe dream. Just as the wheel tracks in my driveway were opening up to muddy potholes, the heavy, wet snow began falling from the sky. Driving down my driving, I noticed how beautiful the view was. Two inches have fallen already. The bright side is that I no longer have to scrutinize the ground for dog poop as I walk out to my garage. Two little dachshunds are poo machines that contribute excessive fertilization of the non-existent lawn surrounding the entryway to my house. Not only does the snow make this natural fertilizer highly visible, it covers the existing fertilizer that I diligently sidestep.


A great benefit of snow is the high visibility of the dog poo one wishes to avoid stepping in.

Spring fever? Check. Sick of snow? Check. Need exercise? Check, check, check, exclamation point! It’s not that I don’t enjoy the snow and no longer want to ski. It’s that I’m tired of throwing on layers of clothing and driving to the nearest ski trail for fun. I’d much rather leave my front door with minimal preparation to get my exercise. It’s time for a compromise. I am going to weight train instead.

I have been weight training at Michigan Tech since January and showing wonderful results in strength gains. I haven’t been going lately because I’ve been riding, or at least trying to ride in between snow and rainfalls. I also believe it is time to go on a maintenance program since riding season has officially begun, even though there is snow on the ground. Snow or no snow, it is here. Heck, my first race is this coming Sunday.

2008 Goals

The sky is blue, the pines are green, the snow is still here. To those inexperienced with life in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, one might think it is still winter. Look closer, and one will see that it is over 40 degrees Fahrenheit and the snow is sliding off the roof.


A good sign of the spring thaw, icicles forming as the snow melts off of the roof.

Many of us have already started riding. All we need is a cleared off road and sunny sky to motivate us. With spring in the air, many of us are thinking about the dreaded “T” word - training. Ok, this early in the year, most of us are enthusiastic about the “T” word, and we’re very much looking forward to it.

This is the time of the year when we map out our goals and decide how we are going to meet them. I had already verbalized my goals for 2008 by the end of last year’s cyclocross season. I started out with the bigger goals, then I moved onto the little goals that will help me get there.

My Cycling Goals For 2008

• Podium finishes for all my races in my age group; first place age group finishes for the Keweenaw Chain Drive, Great Deer Chase, and Fat Tire Festival
• Lose fifteen pounds
• Become a stronger climber
• Use the bicycle as my primary mode of transportation
• Include cross-training to balance it all out

Race Finishes

I had podium finishes for all of my races last year except for Ore to Shore, when I took seventh. It is difficult to improve when your goals are the same as your results from the previous year, so instead of stating “I want a podium finish for all of my races,” I raised the bar to achieve first place in all the races I previously placed in. Realistically, I may not achieve the second part of this goal this year, so it’s a great goal to carry over to next year. I am certainly off to a good start.

Lose Weight

Last year, my goal was to lose twenty pounds, and I did it! I gained five back after about a week, and I gained ten more while on antibiotics this winter. I’ve lost the antibiotic weight already, so I’m still down fifteen pounds. In a nutshell, I am at my 2007 cycling weight.

My goal for 2008 is to lose an additional fifteen pounds. My goal was originally twenty pounds, but I feel fifteen is a much more realistic weight loss goal. I currently weigh 170 pounds, and my body loves this weight. Fifteen pounds would bring me down to 155, a weight I haven’t been for over ten years.

Losing this excess weight will do a lot for my cycling. This has been my greatest motivator. I’ve found that putting in at least eight hours a week on the bike helps me to easily achieve weight loss.

Become a Stronger Climber

Most places are fairly flat with some hills thrown in. The Keweenaw is the opposite: many hills with a few flats here and there. It is difficult to find a flat section of road to train on. For this reason, most of the cyclists in my area are very good. Even the mediocre cyclists are good by other people’s standards. We get a hill workout every time we ride. How we use those hills is what separates us.

This year, I plan to tackle the most difficult hills with enthusiasm and gratitude.

Commute

With rising gas prices and my goals of become a better, stronger rider, it makes perfectly good sense to ride my bike to work (6 miles) and school (11 miles). School will automatically give me four twenty-two mile road rides per week. With careful planning, I may lengthen that commute a couple times a week.


Even though there is still snow on the ground, the weather is warmer and some have already begun riding to work and school.

Balance My Training Regimen

Cycling alone can help you achieve a muscle imbalance thus setting you up for injury. This winter, I began incorporating a regular yoga routine along with weight training into my week. The yoga promotes muscle balance by maintaining flexibility while minimizing the possibility of pain and injury. I began an upper body weight training program to strengthen the muscles that tighten the most while cycling. I figure that a stronger upper body would minimize the muscle-tightening that is throwing my body out of alignment, because the added strength would minimize the stress (this is my own theory). It also makes climbing easier.

That’s a lot!

It may seem like I have a lot of goals for 2008. However, I really only have one pinnacle goal, while the remaining goals serve as the plan for achieving that goal. It is much easier to achieve the bigger goal in little steps. The best part? I’m making positive lifestyle changes that will benefit me not only physically, but financially as well.

I Was Only Gonna Do One Race

My goal for 2007 was to do the Copper Harbor Fat Tire race and look like I belonged there. My goal was quite a contrast to my performance in 2006.

The people I ride with all race. They race and they’re good at it. The Keweenaw Chain Drive was the first race of the season, and I was often asked if I was going to do it. “No, I’m not.”

“Why not? You should do it!”

“No, I don’t want to do a lot of racing. I’m just doing Copper Harbor because I couldn’t ride it last year. I did a hike-a-bike, more hike than bike.”

“The Chain Drive is right here, though. You should do it. Come on, you’ll have fun!”

I succumbed to peer pressure once again.

The same scenario occurred for Ore to Shore and The Great Deer Chase. In a nutshell, I did all the races and did very well in them. I raced in the 30-39 age group, Female division and had the following finishes (all age-group finishes):
• Keweenaw Chain Drive: 2nd
• Ore to Shore: 7th
• The Great Deer Chase: 1st
• Copper Harbor Fat Tire Festival: 3rd


Di on the podium for second place (right) at the Keweenaw Chain Drive.

In late September, I was invited to join a team that was thrown together for cyclocross: the Red Jackets. We traveled to Marquette to compete in the UP Cyclocross Series. My cyclocross skills certainly aren’t like my mountain bike skills. I found cyclocross to be the most difficult thing I’ve ever done. Due to my dedication - my willingness to show up to multiple races - I earned enough points to take second place overall in the season.


The Red Jacket cyclocross team. Di is #23.

My First Mountain Bike Hike

“Di, are you going to do the race in Copper Harbor?”

I had fear. “Copper Harbor? Uh, no. I don’t want to race mountain bikes. I just want to ride and enjoy.”

“Do it with us. It’s going to me and another girl. We’re just doing it to do it. Ride it with us. We won’t be going fast.”

“I don’t know. Isn’t it really hard? Do you think I can do it?”

“Yeah! Just sign up online and we’ll drive up together.”

“Ok.” My first moment of succumbing to mountain bike related peer pressure had come and gone as easily as one breath. I hopped online and signed up. I thought I was crazy. I still think I’m crazy. What I didn’t know was that this race was going to be a transforming event.

Michelle introduced me to Kristi. Kristi was a new rider as well, and the three of us were going to ride merrily along bringing up the rear of the race. We made it up the first road, and I do mean up – it’s all uphill. We rode along some interesting singletrack and made our way down some more roads. Then came Dancing Bear.

Dancing Bear is a long, uphill trail with some uphill bridges and uphill rocks. Everything seemed uphill, but I guess I’m not really exaggerating when I say it is. That’s how Copper Harbor is. It can be likened to riding out west because you spend a lot of time climbing a hill just so you can ride a thigh-burning, long descent. It’s great fun . . . unless you’re a beginner.

Just before we got to Dancing Bear, Michelle took off. She knew she had to keep going if she wanted to finish the race. She had to stay in the zone. I knew I had to stop and breathe so I could survive. Period. THEN came Dancing Bear. I’m almost afraid to admit that I walked almost the whole trail. My hike began on the two uphills on the road just preceding Dancing Bear.

Kristi spent the rest of the race with me because she also needed to breathe. When we got to the top of the hill, we got back on our bikes and rode just a little of the end of the Bear. Some of it was too technical for a beginner. We were relieved to get off the singletrack until we realized that we weren’t really to the top of the hill. We had to take some doubletrack to the Red Trail.

I absolutely love the Red Trail. It is one of my favorite trails and it offers a great challenge and an adrenaline rush every time I ride it. I didn’t appreciate these qualities at the time of this race, however. Kristi and I walked most of the Red Trail, and had to move off the trail to allow other riders by. Yes, we were being lapped. Paul’s Plunge followed. We walked that, too. I was scared while I walked it.


Paul's Plunge - the great finale of the Copper Harbor Fat Tire Festival.

I guess one could say that we hiked that race. I was so exhausted afterwards that I lay down in the grass and stayed there. I didn’t care that there was free beer and food. I think the fact that I couldn’t drink beer was a good indicator of how hard this race was on me.

Copper Harbor had proven just how inexperienced I was as a rider, and I didn’t like it. I had a new focus in life. I had a vengeance. Copper Harbor had conquered me. I had to conquer Copper Harbor.