Well... so maybe I lied... just a little...

When I said that nothing's been going on lately. Well, at least nothing new and exciting. I have been riding my bike on the weekends... a lot. Which in and of itself, really isn't anything new.

TMBRA racing starts next month with the first XC race being part of the Mas-O-Menos marathon held in Terlingua. Besides getting ready for the TMBRA series, this year Alan and I are doing the Ouachita Challenge (OC) on April 5th. The OC is a 60 mile mountain bike race. This event is longer than any mountain bike event I've ever done, so my "training" is focusing on that more than the shorter XC races.

To add an extra twist to the OC is that I'm doing it as a Team In Training (TnT) event. Last November I did the 109 mile El Tour de Tucson as a Team In Training guest. This time I decided to jump in with both feet and do it right, which means that I am raising funds for Team In Training, which raises money for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I would appreciate it if you would be so kind as to visit my Team In Training page and if you feel inclined to make a donation... well, that would just be a wonderful thing.

Being an official part of the TnT event also means making the group training rides on Saturdays. Since the Team's Coach is also my husband, I can't skip out on a training ride without a really good reason (like doing a 6 hour race solo instead). So when last Saturday's high of 41deg was at 12:01am and ride time temperature was 32deg it didn't matter. I was there (with 6 other hardy team members), layers and all, ready to ride. 3-1/2 hours and 30 miles later it had warmed up to a balmy 34deg... woo hoo! At least we were at a mountain bike trail that had very little open areas, so the gusty wind wasn't a factor.

Sunday was a road trip to St Jo, TX and the mountain bike trails at the -H Ranch. We had also gone up to -H the Sunday before, but that was just for trail work. 6+ hours of helping to get the trails ready for the race in March. Since most of the work had been done the weekend before we knew that we could get in a ride this trip.

When going to -H, I always think of our first trip there. We had heard about the trails on the ranch and that there was a good bit of climbing. As we're driving we are greeted with this





Climbing? Where?

Turning onto the road to the ranch entrance, the scenery changes






as you ride the trails you see




can you see the "-H"


how about now?


Last, but not least, some pics of one of the locals








Well, I'm tired... so goodnight!

Not so much...

yep, that pretty much sums up what's been going on lately.

FIRE!

Well... not really... but we did get a visit from the fire department at work yesterday.


At the end of the day the guys in the suite next to ours got a whiff of that "something is hot, but not on fire yet" smell. They couldn't find anything in their offices so they checked the electrical room for the building, which is next to their suite, and the smell was much stronger in there so they called the fire department.

Before long we had a fire truck completely accessorized with an ambulance, EMS supervisor truck, Special Operations truck and a police car to assess the situation.


Checking out the room wasn't enough... someone needed to get up on the roof, too.


It turned out that the main panel for one of the other suites had overheated and was "cooking" the insulation around it.

So, luckily the guys that are only in their offices 1/2 the time were there at the end of the day. Not only did they notice the smell, they checked it out and called the fire department and the source of the problem was found. Scary to think that it could have easily not happened that way.

6 hours of Erwin Park - redux

Saturday saw a return to the scene of my last 6 hour solo mountain bike event - Erwin Park in McKinney.

Last month I did a 6 hour event with David, one of my morning Starbucks buddies. We did fairly well and decided that if the weather was nice we would partner up for the next event. As time to race came closer life (work and family responsibilities) seemed to start to get in the way for David and ended up that he would not be able to do the race. The weather wasn't looking very favorable either with a high in the low 50s and 15-20mph winds.

I've never claimed to be real smart - so I signed up for the 40+ solo woman's class. It helped that Kyle was racing, too, in the 2-man relay. At least I had a partner in the "let's get up early, freeze our butts off and go race"madness. BTW - on the way out to the trail the car thermostat went from 40deg to 34deg when we got to the park.

Considering the cold and wind there was a good turnout for the race with 119 solo racers and 42 assorted 2-person relay teams (which was a larger turnout than the previous 6 hour in warmer temps). It's nice to know that we weren't the only ones that couldn't find a good reason to stay in a nice warm bed.

This time we were able to use the entire course for the race, almost 8 miles, with all of the technical sections in play. Tight-twisty somewhat rooty single-track, rolling dips, open fields and a couple of larger than normal log pyramids make up the trail. A fun course, but one that can wear the body down after multiple laps.

In 6:01:01.663 hours I completed 6 laps for a total of 46.5 miles. I didn't have much down time between laps, my longest break was less than 10 minutes after the 2nd lap when I stopped at the car to put on my booties... my toes were FREEZING!!!! After that it was only stopping long enough to grab a fresh bottle, shove some food in my mouth and the occasional visit to the little blue buildings. I was so happy to hear the announcer countdown the final seconds and close the course to additional laps before I made it to the finish line. I don't think I could have made another lap and it would not have moved me up in the placings. My 6 laps was good enough for a 3rd place finish and a little cash in the pocket.

The next race won't be until February when we head to Terlingua, Texas, and the start of the TMBRA Spring Championship Series.

Ice

Looking back

No - this is not a review of 2008 and what I hope for 2009. I'm not one to make resolutions, I'm old enough that I don't want to change; besides, I'm very happy with my life the way it is.

I was looking though old pictures the other night it started bringing back some memories.

1978


09/25/80


Somewhere during the trip to the hot air balloon festival in Alburquerque


Before the bicycles were the motorcycles...

1982 - Pit Tootsie extraordinaire


1983 - My turn






Who needs to ski Colorado? I'd rather ski Jamaica!


Like most girls I've always had a thing for horses

Late 90s




Chorus line front...


and rear.


1997 - There always that first race that kicks your butt and has you asking for more.


I wish you and yours the best in 2009 and beyond.

"Dance like nobody's watching; love like you've never been hurt. Sing like nobody's listening; live like it's heaven on earth." - Mark Twain