Good luck Jari!
Friday, September 30, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Eszter Survives the Vapor Trail 125
The Vapor Trail 125 is a beast of a race. I've never raced Leadville 100, but even though the Vapor is only 25 miles longer, finishing times tend to be double that of Leadville. The fact that it costs half as much and still will only get 50 people to sign up is a testament to it's difficulty. Roadies need not apply.
This year, I went into the Vapor with a bit of a disadvantage. I'd been at sea level for two weeks and regardless of how much Aclimate I chugged in the week after returning, I could feel that my lungs weren't functioning nearly as well as they had before I left the high altitude of central Colorado. But I couldn't stand the thought of missing the race, it is my favorite after all, so I took my single speed.
I figured if nothing else, it would give me a good excuse to walk my bike when the going got tough.
The race started as it does every year, with me getting dropped during the neutral roll out. Knowing that the only way I was going to survive the day was to pace myself, I settled in for the long haul.
Eight hours later, I arrived at the Snowblind campground where I gorged myself with Dave Wiens' pancakes and sausage. Quite possibly not the best idea before starting the 9 mile climb up Old Monarch Pass, but c'est la vie.
I was pretty shelled by the time I made it up to the Crest, but mustered the energy to enjoy the trail riding, because once at the top, it's mostly downhill. Except the parts that are uphill.
In the end, I finished in 18:27 which was a solid two hours faster than I rode the course last year. It was definitely a long day in the chamois, but all the pain and suffering was quickly forgotten over beer and BBQ post-race. Maybe that's why I keep coming back year after year, I just can't seem to remember how bad it hurts.
This year, I went into the Vapor with a bit of a disadvantage. I'd been at sea level for two weeks and regardless of how much Aclimate I chugged in the week after returning, I could feel that my lungs weren't functioning nearly as well as they had before I left the high altitude of central Colorado. But I couldn't stand the thought of missing the race, it is my favorite after all, so I took my single speed.
I figured if nothing else, it would give me a good excuse to walk my bike when the going got tough.
The race started as it does every year, with me getting dropped during the neutral roll out. Knowing that the only way I was going to survive the day was to pace myself, I settled in for the long haul.
Eight hours later, I arrived at the Snowblind campground where I gorged myself with Dave Wiens' pancakes and sausage. Quite possibly not the best idea before starting the 9 mile climb up Old Monarch Pass, but c'est la vie.
I was pretty shelled by the time I made it up to the Crest, but mustered the energy to enjoy the trail riding, because once at the top, it's mostly downhill. Except the parts that are uphill.
In the end, I finished in 18:27 which was a solid two hours faster than I rode the course last year. It was definitely a long day in the chamois, but all the pain and suffering was quickly forgotten over beer and BBQ post-race. Maybe that's why I keep coming back year after year, I just can't seem to remember how bad it hurts.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Eszter visits Single Speed World Championships
Last May, I won the single speed category of the Whiskey Off-Road 50, thus securing myself a round trip ticket to Ireland for Single Speed World Championships (SSWC) at the end of August. What the prize didn't include was transportation, lodging, and food so my hubby, Chris, and I opted for the low-budget trip to the race: Riding to the race from the Dublin Airport (120 miles on motorways), camping and staying in hostels along the way, camping at the venue, and then taking the bus back to Dublin after some more sightseeing. It was a brilliant plan, if perhaps not the best race preparation. But then again, I was a mere 2 weeks off of finishing the Colorado Trail Race, so I figured my chances of being able to ride really fast for a two hour cross country race was slim to none, so I might as well enjoy the experience.
Upon arriving in Dublin, we built our bikes in the parking lot, dropped the bike box off at Left Luggage, and started pedaling towards Dublin City Center. Riding on the left hand side of the road was terrifying! It also didn't help the situation that the Irish drivers didn't inspire a lot of confidence and the 20 miles that it took to get out of Dublin and the surrounding suburbs made me wish we were normal people and had rented a car, or at the very least, taken the train. After 6 hours of white knuckled riding, we camped in the yard of a friend of a guy (who raced with Wiens back in the day) who we'd befriended in a bar over Fish 'n Chips.
The following days of riding went much smoother as we made our way south-west towards the host town of Kilfinane. We arrived early afternoon on Friday to a quaint little village, complete with a street of pubs, a delicious breakfast place, and a Mr. Kebab's, which would end up providing many of the calories, if not much of the nourishment, for us in the following days.
We dropped our BOB trailer at the campsite and immediately went to go pre-ride a lap of the course, resisting the urge to join and quickly growing crowd of 'racers' congregating at one of the local bars.
The race was held at a trail center, which is all the rage in the British Isles. Professionally constructed trail which was fun to ride, but definitely lacked the technical riding which I've learned to take advantage of during normal racing. Still, there were plenty of sketchy bridges, fun berms, and forests so dark I had to look over my sunglasses to be able to see anything.
We rolled back into town and joined and swelling mob drinking Guiness, watching racer and racer stumble home, fairly intoxicated. There were riders from all over the world, many who make it a yearly ritual to attend SSWC for the party and excuse to travel someplace new and mountain bike, rather than to actually race.
Race day dawned clear but quickly turned into an average Irish day with periods of heavy rain followed by partial clearing. Those wooden bridges were going to be fun with 600+ sets of muddy tires going over them. Around noon, people shook off the previous night's debauchery and dressed for the Parade of Nations, a 30 minute neutral roll out to the start of the race. We lined our bikes up upside down and went to listen to bad music in the rain while the race organizers moved the bikes around, creating a cluster to remember.
We raced two laps. It rained some. The sun came out some. I found my bike in average time and started in on passing as many people as I could. In the end, I ended up 5th, which considering my leadup to the event, I can be pretty happy with. No tattoo for me this year, but I guess now I have an excuse to try to make it to South Africa next year for the event.
The party that night was one to remember, or not remember depending on the amount of Irish Cider and whiskey consumed. It was a bike event focused not on the race itself, but on the bike culture, on the simple love of bike riding. I don't know if I'll be able to swing South Africa next year, but I sure would like to get myself one of those tattoos someday.
Upon arriving in Dublin, we built our bikes in the parking lot, dropped the bike box off at Left Luggage, and started pedaling towards Dublin City Center. Riding on the left hand side of the road was terrifying! It also didn't help the situation that the Irish drivers didn't inspire a lot of confidence and the 20 miles that it took to get out of Dublin and the surrounding suburbs made me wish we were normal people and had rented a car, or at the very least, taken the train. After 6 hours of white knuckled riding, we camped in the yard of a friend of a guy (who raced with Wiens back in the day) who we'd befriended in a bar over Fish 'n Chips.
The following days of riding went much smoother as we made our way south-west towards the host town of Kilfinane. We arrived early afternoon on Friday to a quaint little village, complete with a street of pubs, a delicious breakfast place, and a Mr. Kebab's, which would end up providing many of the calories, if not much of the nourishment, for us in the following days.
We dropped our BOB trailer at the campsite and immediately went to go pre-ride a lap of the course, resisting the urge to join and quickly growing crowd of 'racers' congregating at one of the local bars.
The race was held at a trail center, which is all the rage in the British Isles. Professionally constructed trail which was fun to ride, but definitely lacked the technical riding which I've learned to take advantage of during normal racing. Still, there were plenty of sketchy bridges, fun berms, and forests so dark I had to look over my sunglasses to be able to see anything.
We rolled back into town and joined and swelling mob drinking Guiness, watching racer and racer stumble home, fairly intoxicated. There were riders from all over the world, many who make it a yearly ritual to attend SSWC for the party and excuse to travel someplace new and mountain bike, rather than to actually race.
Race day dawned clear but quickly turned into an average Irish day with periods of heavy rain followed by partial clearing. Those wooden bridges were going to be fun with 600+ sets of muddy tires going over them. Around noon, people shook off the previous night's debauchery and dressed for the Parade of Nations, a 30 minute neutral roll out to the start of the race. We lined our bikes up upside down and went to listen to bad music in the rain while the race organizers moved the bikes around, creating a cluster to remember.
We raced two laps. It rained some. The sun came out some. I found my bike in average time and started in on passing as many people as I could. In the end, I ended up 5th, which considering my leadup to the event, I can be pretty happy with. No tattoo for me this year, but I guess now I have an excuse to try to make it to South Africa next year for the event.
The party that night was one to remember, or not remember depending on the amount of Irish Cider and whiskey consumed. It was a bike event focused not on the race itself, but on the bike culture, on the simple love of bike riding. I don't know if I'll be able to swing South Africa next year, but I sure would like to get myself one of those tattoos someday.
Eszter's Colorado Trail Race Report
So I realize that I'm well over a month late on this one. But I have an excuse, like going to race in Ireland for Single Speed World Championships between then and now, but I'll talk about that in my next blog post.
For now, Colorado Trail Race was a blast. 470 miles of unsupported racing along the trail from Denver to Durango. I wrote up a more detailed report here for anyone interested.
Long story short: I finished the race in 5 days and 5 and a half hours, breaking my old record by just over 24 hours. I ended up 5th overall and first woman, just behind Jarral Ryter of Gunnison. I didn't sleep much, I ate a lot, and by the end, I was pretty tired.
I'd like to do it again someday because I think I can go under 5 days, but for next year, I have some bigger fish to fry in the bike racing world.
For now, Colorado Trail Race was a blast. 470 miles of unsupported racing along the trail from Denver to Durango. I wrote up a more detailed report here for anyone interested.
Long story short: I finished the race in 5 days and 5 and a half hours, breaking my old record by just over 24 hours. I ended up 5th overall and first woman, just behind Jarral Ryter of Gunnison. I didn't sleep much, I ate a lot, and by the end, I was pretty tired.
I'd like to do it again someday because I think I can go under 5 days, but for next year, I have some bigger fish to fry in the bike racing world.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Park City Point to Point and NUE series.
Jenny's report
I made a whirlwind trip to Utah this weekend for the Park City point to point race. Coming out of Leadville I wanted one more go at a long day, for experience and this event promised a stellar women's field, 80 miles of single track, excellent passionate organizers, and an equal payout 7 deep $5000 prize purse.
My race didn't go quite as planned, past 50 miles, but thats fine and I came away with a few good lessons.
1. Need sleep. Despite excellent accommodation ( thanks Kathy and Chris Sherwin) and really from the drive my sleep was 45 minutes the night before.
2.Check equipment. My cleat threatened to fall off 20 miles into the race. Luckily I had an Alan key set.
3 Look after my back and core. My back has been a bit problematic lately and Spasmed and drove me to distraction in the last 30 miles ( 4 hours of this race).
4 Still working on race nutrition. Fuel + not feeling ill. Liked the potato chips in the last 2 aid stations: helped with the grovel.
The best part was grovelling to the finish line and knowing I am done for a bit.
Next up Brian and I are going to defend our mixed title in Brasil ride www.brasilride.com 23-29 October, but for now its time to Sonya Looney quote ' rebuild my mojo' and my core.
Cycling News's article:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/national-ultra-endurance-nue-series-park-city-point-to-point-80-ne/80-miler/photos/189528
I made a whirlwind trip to Utah this weekend for the Park City point to point race. Coming out of Leadville I wanted one more go at a long day, for experience and this event promised a stellar women's field, 80 miles of single track, excellent passionate organizers, and an equal payout 7 deep $5000 prize purse.
My race didn't go quite as planned, past 50 miles, but thats fine and I came away with a few good lessons.
1. Need sleep. Despite excellent accommodation ( thanks Kathy and Chris Sherwin) and really from the drive my sleep was 45 minutes the night before.
2.Check equipment. My cleat threatened to fall off 20 miles into the race. Luckily I had an Alan key set.
3 Look after my back and core. My back has been a bit problematic lately and Spasmed and drove me to distraction in the last 30 miles ( 4 hours of this race).
4 Still working on race nutrition. Fuel + not feeling ill. Liked the potato chips in the last 2 aid stations: helped with the grovel.
The best part was grovelling to the finish line and knowing I am done for a bit.
Next up Brian and I are going to defend our mixed title in Brasil ride www.brasilride.com 23-29 October, but for now its time to Sonya Looney quote ' rebuild my mojo' and my core.
 |
| Amanda Carey and I somewhere in the first 50 miles. Amanda rode a superb smooth ride to win the PCP2P. |
 |
| Womens Podium: Amanda Carey, Erica, Sonya Looney, Rebecca Rusch, Me, Evelyn Dong, Kelly Beim Boniface. |
http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/national-ultra-endurance-nue-series-park-city-point-to-point-80-ne/80-miler/photos/189528
Results
| Result | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amanda Carey (Kenda) | 8:17:33 | |
| 2 | Erica Tingey (White Pine) | 0:14:03 | |
| 3 | Sonya Looney (Ergon) | 0:18:55 | |
| 4 | Rebecca Rusch (Specialized) | 0:19:52 | |
| 5 | Jennifer Smith (Alpine Orthopaedics/ Sram/ Breezer) | 0:29:11 | |
| 6 | Evelyn Dong (Brian Mazzola ) | 0:38:03 | |
| 7 | Kelly Boniface (Moots) | 0:42:05 | |
| 8 | Kc Holley (Trek 29Er Crew, Mad Dog Cycles, Powerbar) | 0:44:22 | |
| 9 | Erin Collins (Sbr Sports) | 0:44:52 | |
| 10 | Jenelle Kremer (Revolution Peak Fastner) | 1:03:59 | |
| 11 | Sonya Bugbee (Epic Endurance Cycling Team) | 1:55:11 | |
| 12 | Jill Damman (Moots) | 2:07:56 | |
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