Back in the saddle

Once upon a time I tried to convince my Mom that mountain biking was a safe sport. Not so much. On lap two of the 64 mile suffer fest that is the Growler, I went down hard. I swear there are invisible mountain lions out there! Causing me to cut a two inch hole in my knee. Luckily with the support of Dave Weins, who drove me out to the base, the Alpine Orthopedics staff, and the Amazing Dr. Rhett Griggs I was quickly on to the road to recovery... well not the road, more like the couch to recovery.

Thankfully the body heals, and two weeks after my crash I was ready for some shammy action. Pulling out those yellow Mavic shoes I realized they still had three crusty drops of blood, reminisce of an irrelevant memory, for nothing could stop me form grinning for the next two hours.

Now, four weeks have gone by and summer bike ridding is all back to normal. With the Fat Tire 40 under my belt and many more races to come, I'm just giddy with excitement. Once again a big thanks to AO and Dr. Griggs for getting me back in the saddle in no time!

New Teammate Zach Guy Killing it at the Salida Big Friggin Loop

The Salida Big Friggin Loop, a new addition to the Colorado Endurance Series, started out in classic style for me. Scrambling to print out course maps, a McD’s power dinner in Gunni, and rolling into Salida to camp in the Walmart parking lot around midnight. About 70 riders took off from downtown Salida the next morning to loop around the Colorado Trail to Buena Vista and back via the Arkansas Mountains. There was a long loop (~110 miles) and a short loop (~90 miles), and the race organizer emphasized at the start that you would definitely get lost without a GPS on the long loop. Without a GPS to my name, it sounded like a challenge. My plan was to follow tire tracks or latch on to someone who knew where they were going. When the course hit the Colorado Trail about 10 miles out of Salida, I started moving up through the pack and found myself in first. Without any tire tracks to follow, and with temperatures already becoming uncomfortably hot, the idea of the short loop was growing in appeal. The deal was sealed when I crashed off a sidehill section of trail and snapped my front brake hose, leaving me with just a rear brake. Dozens of skid turns and off-trail mishaps later, I was resupplying in Buena Vista with a bag of gummy worms and water to mix with my Aclimate for the last 50 miles back. Coming off of the Midland Trail, I caught up to Chris Phenicie, who had passed me after the crash, and we were both happy to have company for the brutally hot dirt road return back to Salida. We were the first to roll back into town together in just under 8 hours, both a bit delirious from the heat and dehydration. Over the course of the day, all I could stomach was a PBJ and a bag of gummy worms because the heat spoiled my appetite, but my Aclimate mix and the thought of a cold beer at the end kept me rolling. Thanks for a great ride!


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Hey, It's Janea

The Original Growler haunted me for months.  From the moment I hit "submit" for my online registration, I knew I was committed.  Thoughts of the race appeared in my mind every day.  "Are you ready?" was the reoccurring question the day before the race.  Yes?  No?  Maybe?  Does it matter at this point?  I arrived at the start line excited, nervous, and shivering from the mountain morning.  My first "real" endurance race in five years, the first since having two kids, stood there looking me in the face.  It was time to rise to the challenge or retire for good into mommyhood. 

After hitting dirt, I worked my way up kill hill trying to figure out if I should ride hard to avoid the singletrack bottleneck, or save some energy for the many hours ahead.  The first hour was very mellow, with nowhere to pass and lots of easy riding and walking sandwiched between dozens of riders.  All in all, the first lap felt great and those downhills on Bambis, Joshos, and Rattlesnake were awesome.  Crew members at every station told me I was in 3rd and I just wanted to stay in that spot.  Riding through the lap zone made my day:  two kiddos and my man handing me food and drink and cheering for me, someone handing me wet rags for my face, and an amazing AO crew to work on my bike.

As for lap two, well that felt great too until about mile 15, when all of my reserves suddenly disappeared.  A bottle of ice cold coke at the bottom of Bambi's and my daughter screaming for me was just what I needed for that final push.  Rattlesnake might have been more fun than ever before on that last lap.  Nothing like some caffeine for the girl who never drinks any.  In the end, my 3rd place finish put a huge smile on my face.  It was so fun to be back in the world of racing.  And I could not have done it without my awesome AO support and my bomber gear:  Pearl Izumi clothes, Santa Cruz Tallboy, Stans NoTubes Rims, Rudy Project helmet and glasses, and A LOT of Acli-Mate.  Thanks everyone!