You know your blog is bad when Jeremiah tells you to get it in gear! Well, I've got a few pictures that will make him jealous he didn't get them posted first...
Last week I received some family photos from west coast Uncle Brad. My Aunt Julie's grandfather was a bicycle racer, and from the collection of winnings pictured here, we're all pretty sure he could've challenged Jeremiah to a track race... and won.
Check out the tiger skin covering that trophy base!
Talk about a trophy case. And, notice the note on the photo, "some of his prizes." Whew!
As for me, I had a fun July, attending Jeremiah's races in Windam and Mt Snow. It was an incredible experience to cheer him on during the Short Track National Championship race. I'll make a deal with you; my next blog will include photos, and I'll link to the video I captured of Jeremiah making what would become the race-winning attack!
For now, I'm tired again and am going to take a nap.
ErinLabels: Good Spectating, Photos
Lots of good stuff to report, so little time to do so. We've been out and about and on the go.
It poured in Harrisonburg last night.
Nohohan gave a smug look and nodded when the clouds parted and the sun burned through the falling rain. I went outside to investigate. My photos are up in the Gallery.
Over the most recent weekend, Jeremiah and I journeyed over the mountains deep into West Virginia for the Appalachian Classic mountain bike festival. With time trial, short track and cross county races, for Jeremiah, it was a great opportunity for some high intensity training/racing. For me, it was a chance to survive.
The time trial was first on Saturday afternoon. I didn't have any mishaps to speak of, just tried to find that perfect pace that I would be able to maintain without collapsing before the finish line. In all of my spring adventures, I'm pretty sure I never tried to ride that intense and I had a difficult time settling into a good steady rhythm. I almost croaked of heat exhaustion at the finish... but I reached the finish! About five minutes later, the pain was gone, and my brain had already played that amazing trick on me - what I'd just done was fun.... a great time... I'd do that again.
Good thing it worked. I was signed up for the short track event that took place a few hours later. I watched Jeremiah and all the other pro/expert men race around the course and I got excited about giving it a try. It was just Betsy Shogren, Mandi Riddle and myself for the women's race, so we lined up with the sport men. I was surprised as my legs were able to power up over the first climb. I passed a guy or two, was passed by a guy or two, and saw Betsy up ahead getting ready to rocket down the descent to the whoop-de-chute. I settled into what was a difficult pace. I go hard up the first 3/4 of the climb, then find a manageable gear to make it the remainder of the way without exploding, crank it into the big ring for the ridge and then try to recover on the descent. I enjoyed dropping into the finish chute and trying to preserve my momentum around the sharp u-turn back onto the climb. This routine worked pretty well until I fell victim to the most unimaginable mystery pain that came out of no where and practically paralyzed me. How's that for drama? But seriously, my gut hurt in ways that are indescribable. I didn't know what was about to happen, but I knew I didn't want it to happen in public. I ducked under the tape and headed for the woods! I writhed around for a few minutes, but nothing happened. Got gas? So, I climbed back toward the course and it still looked like so much fun. I jumped back in where I'd been riding - rules? When I got to the start/finish again, after a noticeable 3-lap absence, I was like "I'm Baaa aacck!" A few laughs from J.R. and I knew I was good to go. So I had a great time and finished up another four or five laps.
We enjoyed the evening listening to the Weedhawks sing about hillbillies and love, had some tasty pizza down the road at Gino's and hit the hay tired from an afternoon of racing fun.
Sunday was the cross country race, and that is a whole other story so maybe I'll wrap this one up and fill you in later.
Photos from the weekend are up in the Gallery. Look for Down-Home Racing.
- ErinLabels: Bike Racing, Festival Fun
For the past two weeks, I've been playing catch up in all areas of life. Despite the unrelenting hecticness, one thing I've managed to maintain is my daily escape to play outdoors. I've hiked in the Shenandoah National Park, fished in ponds and lakes on both sides of the Blue Ridge, continued running - something I rekindled my enjoyment of in Germany, and have had an absolute blast on my mountain bike.
Here are some pictures from last week's Ladies Ride. (If you haven't visited the SVBC's new forum, it's a great place to connect with the club and find new rides and events.)
More photos in the Gallery.
-Erin
Labels: I Heart Harrisonburg
