I finished writing my previous post just before beginning my warm up for the Crested Butte Mountain States Cup cross country race. At the time it was a pleasant 60-65 degrees and sunny. Very quickly, that changed. It became windy, the temperature dropped into the low 50's and bouts of heavy rain were followed by lighter rain which were followed by heavy rain. It made for very messy, slick conditions that made most off-camber sections of single-track unride-able. The first lap was great since I went out conservatively from the start and everything was still rideable. Over the course of the first 7mile lap, which climbed over 1600 ft, I made my way into 7th or so place. On the second lap, when it began raining harder, I figured they'd cut the race down to two laps, so I rode hard to leave it all out there...and forgot to eat a gel. Then when I came through the start finish area, expecting to be finishing, they said "ONE TO GO" at which point I was like, "WUH-OH!" I quickly got a Clif Shot and some energy drink in me. They also told me I was in fourth place! I'd made up a couple of spots on the long, tricky descent! I hadn't gotten a top 5 in the Mountain States Cup pro field before, so I was determined to hold my position, no matter how hard the last lap felt.
As I began my last long climb, it became apparent that the steep road they sent us up in one section was no longer going to be ride-able. Our tires were clinging to the wet dirt like it was their job and it got to the point that you could barely PUSH your bike up it. For a couple of minutes, the lack of glucose in my body and the pain of struggling to push my bike up an incredibly steep, long, muddy hill almost cracked me. I felt like this...
But soon enough the Clif Shot kicked in, I got into the single-track climb that you could still ride, and I regained my motivation to race my bike to the finish line. I rode well, especially on the climbs where I was able to maintain a strong focus and in the fun, technical, slick single-track. I lost one place on that final 1600ft of climbing - not too shabby - and finished in 5th! It was a great day. My high-altitude climbing and racing legs are really coming along. As I like to say, "Good job, legs!" They worked really hard.
I felt like a dorkus when I rushed to clean up, take a shower and get to the podium where they USUALLY call up top five...but this time they only called up top three. I had a camera and everything, all excited for my first Mountain States Cup podium. The sound to describe that is: BWAAA BWAAAAAAAAAA (higher note BWAAA and lower note BWAAAAAAAAAAA). haha.
I could've taken more time at the bike wash where my bike and my body needed some serious mud-removal! Luckily Shimano, one of my incredible sponsors, were supporting at the race and helped me with getting my bike in working order for the next day where I trained on the mountain. I needed all sorts degreasing, regreasing, grit removal and some new parts! Thank you Shimano for getting my bike working perfectly again!
That night I decided to camp out along a beautiful creek in Crested Butte... (see picture below...)
...but I should've checked the weather forecast. I woke up in a big puddle and had to laugh. I'm sure it looked funny. Needless to say, I was at a coffee house early Sunday morning and treated myself to some yummy hot beverage and scones as my pre-high-altitude-training-ride/post-hard-race-day-and-night-in-a-freezing-cold-puddle-tent fuel. lol. I actually was able to train really well, so maybe I should camp out in a puddle more often?!
This week has been a nice busy one, and I've needed to sleep a lot. I was either going to go to sleep at 5:00 wednesday night, or go do the CU Cyling Boulder Short track race...and it was the first one that wasn't rained out since I've moved to Boulder, so I went and raced. These fun, local races are a great way to get in good training and get to know more people. It was a great course and the event attracts lots of good people who love racing bikes. We had a solid field for our Women's A group; around 20 women! I worked hard off the start to get in a good position. I was feeling good but knew my fatigue level was going to kick in at some point in the 30+ minute race, so I got into the lead and just raced hard. I figured if I cracked I cracked, but if I got a good enough lead, I could potentially hold first. I got caught on the second to last lap and finished 2nd which I was still happy with!
After cooling down (my ride back home...all on bike paths :)!, I prettied myself up for a cruiser bike ride into downtown for a beer and burger with some Mafia teammates. What else could I ask for?! Yep, still lovin' on Boulder! Becca Blay, one of my teammates, and I decided to race the FireCracker 50 up in Breckenridge as a two-woman team next weekend, but I'm looking forward to having this weekend off from racing!
My nagging lung inflammation may mean few other cyclocross races this fall, such as this one from last weekend's UCI event [Becca and I in the sand pit!]. But the good news is steady, fun mountain bike miles are still a-ok. And I can feel legit in giving myself permission to be as cozy and cuddly as I'd like, just like this little doggie... 
