Winter Park Hill Climb

Winter Park has a well run super fun mountain bike series that starts off each year with a true suffer fest...the hill climb. Nothing makes your legs and lungs burn like 5.2 miles all uphill race starting at 9,080 feet and ending at 11,142 feet. I was super excited for this race because it was my first race on my Specialized 29er. The race went out hard and my first thought was oh dear, I'm going to blow up. I was patient and knew that very quickly women would start coming back to me. Sure enough before the first mile I was in the lead and held it to the end for the win. Check out these pictures to see just how much snow is still up there:http://www.mountainmoonphotography.com/Cycling-5-dollar-downloads/Mountain-Biking-2011/Winter-Park-Hill-Climb-2011/16291074_2dsQ8#1333006154_kRVxZP7

Beti Bike Bash

The 40 minutes of uphill suffering at the hill climb just wasn't enough suffering in one weekend for me so I headed to the Beti Bike Bash at Bear Creek State Park the next day. I was super excited about this event because one of my amazing sponsors, Stan's No Tubes, was a huge supporter of this women's only mountain bike race. Stan's provided prize money that in turn attracted some of the best riders. It was a mini World Cup race with Georgia Gould and Katie Compton int he mix to name a few. The course was not technical at all and was a super fast power course, perfect for my hardtail 29er! There was no place for rest and it was all out for 1 hour...a really long short track race basically. I faded a bit on the last lap but until then I was right in the mix (minus Georgia, Katie and Erin who had a good lead on the rest of us). I ended up 9th in a super stacked field. It was so great to see so many women on mountain bikes! Hopefully, some will see that mountain biking is where the fun is and come back for more! I know I'll be back at the Beti Bike Bash again next year. Thanks Stan's and Team Yeti Beti for putting on a great event!

Neat picture of Rebecca Rush and I representing Specialized

Teva Games - Ultimate Mountain Challenge

It's been three days since the Teva Games and I'm still feeling worn out. The Teva Games is hands down one of the best run big events in Colorado and I see myself attending and racing it for years to come!

Last year I did the mountain bike and trail run and was left barely walking for a few days afterwards. This year I decided to punish myself a little more in my quest to "get fit fast" and signed up for the Ultimate Mountain Challenge consisting of kayaking, mountain biking, trail running and an uphill road time trial. I signed up not knowing if I would kayak since I have no experience or equipment for this and Gore Creek was rapidly rising. I contemplated renting a kayak and just going for it but in the end decided to opt out of the kayak and take a 30 minute penalty instead. I just spent two months recovering from a ruptured disc and really didn't need to risk getting hurt again and hey, why not have a 30 minute penalty for an extra challenge.

Saturday I slept in and didn't attend the kayak. I was later told that the water was surprisingly calm and I would have been fine...darn. I knew I was likely not going to be able to make up the 30 minute penalty with Sari, Gretchen and Kelly racing so, I changed my mindset and decided this year would just be my "intro to the UMC". The start line of the Mountain Bike was full of fast women, Georgia Gould and Heather Irmiger to name a few. There's nothing like racing a National level race with a few World Cup level athletes thrown in there right in your own backyard. The course was 4 laps of a 5 mile, deceivingly hard course. I was feeling good for 2 laps and then blew up like I never have before. I lost contact with all the UMC women and was playing cat and mouse with a few girls mid-pack. It was all I could do to turn the pedals and finish. Doug's race was only 3 laps so he magically appeared on the course in various spots to offer me words of encouragement when he was done. I wish I could have put a wig on him and sent him off to finish the last lap for me. It was in the 80s and my body doesn't seem to be used to the heat of Summer yet. Big thanks to Tony T. who gave me water bottles...I might have died without his help. I was hoping for a free IV when I finished but no such luck...I had to sit on the ground in a daze until I regained myself and cooled off in the icy stream.

Sunday was the 10K trail run which I have decided is indeed the hardest 10K out there, no seriously, it is ridiculous! Lots of climbing and this year big snowfields and mud bogs to get through. I ended up 9th overall in the 10K...pretty respectable considering my almost 2 hours of pain from Saturday and the fact that there were some very talented trail runners in the field. A little over an hour after I finished the run and shoved some tasty Honey Stinger and Infinit into my body I was on the start line for the 10 mile uphill TT. 37 minutes later I was done and dreading how I would walk the next day. I ended up 4th out of 5 girls in the UMC. Kelly Cullen (who is going to be a force to reckon with at the Xterra Mountain Championships) was 1st, Sari Anderson 2nd and Gretchen Reeves took 3rd. If I had kayaked I likely would have been 3rd. Thanks for letting me play ladies, I will be back next year with a life-vest and kayak in hand.

Close to being done with the run

I'm very serious when it comes to TT racing. Note the awesome Specialized Crux Cross Bike and Stan's Wheels

The best part of the weekend was how supportive Doug was! I really need to find more double day racing events so I can enjoy more of Doug shopping, cooking, bringing me glasses of water and insisting that I lay down. Oh wait, that's this weekend with the Winter Park hill climb Saturday and the Beti Bike Bash on Sunday.