Half Fast--Half Moderate or...

A Breakthrough Ride for Debbie!

Due to a meeting later in the afternoon that I will have to ride downtown for, I opted to not go the full distance the main part of the Team was going (70+ miler).

We all met at the park, and started together. Manek, Jeff, Debbie, Katie, her friend, and I planned to do Johnson Creek. That would be about 50 miles. We figured we would stay with the Team until Tenino. Then, they would continue South and we would continue to Johnson Creek.

It was a cloudy day, but 0% chance of rain. Most everyone was on their race bikes or had at least taken off fenders. I was, of course, on Tessa. The pace out of town was fairly peppy. A bunch of us got stopped at a light. Fortunately, DJ and Trisha (on their tandem of awesomeness--really, it's DJ and Trisha who are the awesome ones) were also stopped at the light. After the light turned green, we took off. We made the turn onto Lee. DJ and Trisha were ahead by about 20 feet. They slowed down until I caught their wheel, then they pulled me back to the group that hadn't had to stop at the light. When we were near the main group, DJ and Trisha dropped back to pull the rest of the group up too (I was able to close the distance and catch up). They are amazingly good at that (as well as being extremely kind)!

I wondered if Manek, Katie, and Debbie were already dropping back but, pretty soon, Debbie pulled up beside me (Woo Hoo! Good job Debbie!). In fact, I was wildly impressed as we made the corners and Debbie flew through them and stayed with the group. She was riding nice and close to the wheel in front of her. If the guy pulled ahead a bit (like on the corners), she would jump out of the saddle and catch the wheel again! That's the way to do it!

I was paired with Bob when we got to the front of the line. I knew Debbie was right behind us. Bob and I peeled off and that put her in front with Brad. I heard her say she wouldn't stay too long. Brad said to stay just 90 seconds on the front. After their pull, they peeled off and Debbie was drifting back. I was paired with someone else now. As I saw Debbie moving back I asked the guy I was with if he could let her in (it is too difficult to keep up if you end up at the very back in all the turbulence). About that time, she asked another guy if she could get in. Of course he let her in, and she was back in a good position in the middle of the pack.

Next we had a couple of short rollers. Going up the first one, Debbie started to drop back. I came up beside her and urged her to fight it up the hill. We had a downhill on the other side. If she could just stay with the pack to the top, she could rest on the downhill. She fought (and complained) and did it! She stayed with the group!

We made the turn onto 143rd (after a sketchy incident with a dumb-ass driver who actually roared around us just as an oncoming car had almost reached us--the oncoming car had to pull to the side to avoid a head-on collision with the dumb-ass driver!). 143rd has some more rollers plus a couple little longer hills. I had a sneaking suspicion this was going to be it for Debbie. The longer hill and the pace at which the guys go up it would spit her out the back. I hung with the pack, knowing we would be splitting at Tenino anyway. I was doing pretty good on the hills. There is a part where we come down the hill, go over the train tracks, and make an uphill curve. I actually managed to fly up the hill with no problem (first time I haven't had to work like a dog to catch the group!).

DJ and Trisha came up from behind. I heard them ask if we were just going to leave "that gal" behind. I knew they were talking about Debbie, so I said I would circle back to her. As I was headed back, I saw one of the team guys coming. He signaled for me to turn back around. I did, and when he caught up to me he said to catch up to the team. Debbie would keep coming. I would circle back for her at Tenino. So I hooked on to his wheel and he pulled me along. We caught up to the team right at Tenino. They went on, and I went back for Debbie.

She wasn't that far behind, so I didn't have to go back that much. The team guy (I'm blanking on his name) had told me to tell her to unzip her rain jacket. So I did. The rain jacket is great, but it was in the mid 40s, and it's just too hot. Plus, she had a polar fleece vest on too (she didn't want to be freezing like yesterday).

We waited for awhile before we saw Manek, Katie, and her friend coming. When they got to us, they took a little break. Sergio came back. We told him we were doing Johnson Creek (we had told Brad at the beginning). He had to head back the way we had come.

Once everyone was rested and fed, we headed on over to Crowder Rd. About half way down Crowder we caught up to Jeff. He was still planning to do the shorter route. We did a single paceline, taking turns pulling on the front the rest of the way down Crowder, onto 184th to Skookumchuck, and over to Johnson Creek.

As we were going along Johnson Creek, up and down the little rollers, Jeff took off up one of the rollers. I pretended he was executing an attack and went after him. I caught up to his wheel, but we didn't really slow down. Pretty soon we were ahead of the others. We eased up a bit and talked about which races we were doing. When the others caught up, we agreed to take a break on the trail after crossing 507.

We decided to take the trail back. Jeff and I got ahead again, but that was okay. At Fir Tree, Jeff got on the road to head back to the park. I circled back to Manek, Debbie, and Katie. I told them how I like to do Form Sprints at the street crossings. Katie gave it a try.

After Rainier, when we got back on the trail, I started riding closer and closer to Debbie. She was wise to what I was doing, so I put my hand on her shoulder. Then she took her turn and put her hand on my shoulder. After a couple of wobbles, she smoothed it out and did just fine. I was proud of her, and she was proud of herself!

At the bridge, I headed for home. We all did great today, but I was especially pleased with Debbie's performance. This was truly a breakthrough ride for her skill-wise. She took to heart what we learned yesterday and put it into practice. Great job, Debbie!

Bring on the Cap and Gown...

Today, Super Biker Woman took a class on how to ride a bike. Okay, it was a little more than that. It was the Intro to Racing class put on by Cycle U in Seattle. There were quite a few cyclists. OOA was well represented by both men and 5 of us women.

We started out by signing waivers (WHAT? There is danger???) and giving our USA Cycling License numbers (so we can receive 3 Mass Start upgrade points). Then we went to our trusty steeds and rode to the UW parking lot for the "lab" portion of the class.

First up was learning simple cornering. We split into two groups and did big ovals around two cones. First clock-wise, then counter-clockwise (or, as Jean would say, "anti-clockwise"). Then we paired up with a buddy (Jean and I were a pair, and Debbie and Fumiko were a pair). Now we had to continue going around the oval trying to stay close beside our buddy. It was a little tricky at first, but pretty soon Jean and I got the hang of it. We switched inside to outside and also direction.

Once most were comfortable with that, we moved on to one person putting their hand on the other person's shoulder. After a few wobbles (because the one person has only one hand on their bar), I got pretty comfortable with that. I would just let Jean pull me through the corner. Then we switched and I pulled her through the corners (Now, if we could just get a whole line of this one hand on another's shoulder, we could have a circus act!).

Then we moved on to bumping and riding along touching elbows, then shoulders. First we were supposed to just touch elbows, then progress to actually leaning on each other while rolling along. Jean and I could even lean on each other through the corners! Debbie and Fumiko were a little more nervous (I'm sure Debbie would use the term "TERRIFIED"). Jean and I were following them around the oval. Most of the time they were a good two to three feet apart. Jean would say, "Touch elbows!". We would see their elbows come out, but they were still about a foot apart from each other! In all fairness, it is tricky to do when you are going slow--and we were definitely going slow--maybe 5 miles an hour.

Through with the touching, we moved on to adding a third person (we added Katie) and riding around the oval as a trio. The goal was to stay close together and do the corners as a unit. We took turns on being the middle, outside, and inside person. We were moderately successful.

For the final skill (by this time we were all freezing cold and there was a light misting rain), we counted off 1 through 6. We enlarged the oval into more of a rectangle and rode as a peloton. First the ones, then the twos, and so on. As we were riding around with Kristie as the "lead car" (even though she was on a bike), Colin would holler out for the sixes to move up to the front. They were supposed to work there way to the front of the peleton. Then the fives, and so on, until the ones had their turn moving up to the front. Then it was fives and sixes moving up, then threes and fours, and, finally, ones and twos. On one of the corners, two of the UW riders got tangled and one gal went down. Since we were still going slow, she wasn't hurt. In fact, she did a nice little roll, almost like it was in slow-motion!

We warmed up a bit on the ride back to the Cycle U building. We put the bikes back on the bike rack on Fumiko's car and went inside for about an hour of classroom work. Colin went over the different types of races (road, circuit, crit, time trial, and stage race). He also covered some of the nuts and bolts, such as how to pin your race numbers on your jersey.

Then it was time for the final. I think I passed the test (no, I'm SURE I passed the test!).

I was hoping for a graduation ceremony, but no. We just handed in our tests and were free to go...not even a little Pomp and Circumstance! What kind of University is this???

Well, at least we had a post-graduation dinner at The Ram in U Village...

Doing It Again...Just For Kicks

In the last blog post, I said there would be a next time because I had to do it right (well, left actually). Today I did just that!

This time I rode Stella instead of subjecting Star to the dirt and gravel. Stella is much more capable of "off-road" riding.

I was really only interested in doing the Fort Lewis property part, so I didn't ride to Yelm first. I just rode from home out Yelm Hwy to 510, and then to the "pothole" road. It's maybe 10 miles to get to the turn (just past the "Military Crossing Ahead" sign (yes, that sign is for the road I was going to go on).

Once I was on the road (a term used somewhat loosely in places), I went the same way I went before, until I came to the "T". This time at the "T" I turned left. The road was similar to the other way--more potholes, some packed dirt, a variety of gravel and rocks. There were more longer and steeper hills (one I even got down to Super Granny--that's saying something on Stella--probably would have had to walk Star). There was also a pretty steep downhill. Again I went VERY SLOW. I was down in the drops and had the brakes pulled as hard as possible. If the hill had been any steeper, I would have had to walk down.

This went on for, seemingly, a long time. I came to another "T". This time I did not trust my instinct. I pulled out my phone and looked at Google Maps. I determined which direction led to Rainier Rd. (this time right was correct). The road even had a name--Johnson Rd.!

I continued on. Again I came to an intersection--this time a "Y". Out came the phone--this time, left was the correct way. I was still on Johnson Rd. In some places the road was pretty good--not too many water-filled holes and just the right amount of gravel.

Finally I came out of the forest, out into sunshine, and a grassy prairie. Oh, and a big sign that said, "STOP!". It also said, "NO-vehicles, NO-horseback riding", and a bunch of other "NO"s. Hmmm...what to do? Since I was at another intersection, I looked at the map on my phone. Yeah...the option with the big "NO" sign was the way to Rainier Rd. Had there been no one around, I would not have thought twice (I would just hope for no camouflaged soldiers lying low in the grass waiting for some unsuspecting intruder, such as myself, to pass by). As it was, there was someone on a tractor off to my left. I decided to just go for it, and beg forgiveness (or ignorance) if I got stopped. I knew I didn't have far to go to make it to Rainer Rd.

There was an oncoming vehicle (didn't appear to be military), but it turned before it got to me. I kept going. It didn't come back to me. I saw the vehicle that the tractor came on, but didn't see any people. I came around one last corner and there was Rainier Rd. I made it! I rode the rest of the way home on the road.

This loop was only 25.8 miles, but it took me 2 hours to do it. The pothole/dirt/gravel section was only about 8 miles, but it was a slow 8 miles. Now I can say I've done the road from Hwy 510 to Rainier Rd. I don't need to do it again!

A Workout AND an Adventure!

On Tuesdays I usually do the Night Ride with the team but, since the other gals weren't going tonight, I opted to do my own training ride in the daylight. According to my workout plan, I was to do a 2 hour ride working on Force Reps (big gear--low cadence). I also wanted to work on Form Sprints and Intervals. My plan was to ride the trail to Yelm and the road back. After my warm up, I thought the trail with its upward, but never too steep, trend would be good for the Force Reps. It's also good for the sprints (there are several street crossings). So, I did all that on the way to Yelm.

At Yelm, I worked my way over to the 510 Alternate. Once I was on that, there was a pretty strong crosswind and occasional headwind. I worked on more Force Reps.

I had not worn, or brought with me, my rain jacket so, of course, it spit rain off and on. It was nothing too terrible and I was riding Star (my now designated "rain" bike) anyway.

When I got to the road that goes off to the right and onto Ft. Lewis property, I decided to ride it as far as the bridge over the river (Nisqually?) then back to 510. It means a steep downhill to the river which I would then have to come back up. I did it anyway. As I came down one of the steeper parts of the hill (the part with the curve in it), I got going pretty fast. Into the curve I got a little nervous and started to brake. Then, in my head, I was saying, "DON'T BRAKE! COUNTER-STEER! COUNTER-STEER!!! HOLD ON!!!". I made it through the curve holding a pretty good line. My max speed was 47.9mph. Whew!

I turned around, as planned, at the bridge. Coming back up wasn't too bad. I don't think I had the 12-27 cassette last time I came up this hill. Plus, last time, coming back up the hill was much later in the ride.

When I got back to 510, I decided to cross the Hwy and go on the road that goes on another part of Ft. Lewis property. The guy, Tim, had told me, while we were on the other ride out this way, that this road went over to Rainier Rd. He had said it was paved, but with potholes. I thought, no problem, I can dodge potholes. So, off I went.

There were indeed potholes--lots of potholes! I was dodging and weaving around them without problems. I had gone, maybe a couple of miles, when I came to a section with a lot of potholes and gravel. I picked my way through, then realized I was no longer on any kind of pavement. The dirt was packed and although I was still having to negotiate around holes and rocks, I felt I was doing pretty good. I thought, maybe the pavement picks up again down the road. Uh...no. No, it did not.

I continued on, thinking this road must eventually come out to Rainier Rd. It reminded me of when I took Stella to the end of Thompson Creek Rd and kept going onto Weyerhaeuser property because I was sure it would eventually spit me out onto Tono Rd. (not quite, but close). Only this time, instead of Stella's beefy 32mm tires, I was on Star's less than beefy 25mm tires. But, I was doing okay! Except on the downhill parts where I went VERY SLOW!

I came to a "T" in the road. My sharp instincts told me to go right. Right would take me to Rainier Rd. Left would take me...who knows where? More gravel, more dirt, and lots more potholes later, I started seeing signs of civilization. Well...bunches of garbage. I figured I must be getting close to the road as people would not drive too far down a dirt road to dump their trash. Sure enough, after I came down an awfully steep hill, and around a corner, I saw a car go by out on the paved road. Ta da! I had made it to...Hwy 510. I was NOT on Rainier Rd. In fact, I was only about a mile from where I had left 510!

I guess my instincts were not so sharp afterall. Where I turned right? Yeah...I should have gone left. Next time (and, yes, there will be a next time--I've got to do it right--I mean LEFT!) I'll go left at the "T". Maybe I'll take Stella. However, Star certainly held her own (makes me think maybe with some cyclocross tires Star could be a worthy cross bike???).

The Planets Aligned...

...For a great day on the bike!

First, there was 0% chance of rain. Yay! I can ride Tessa! Next, I chose the perfect combination of clothing to keep me warm, but not cooking. I do so much better if I don't get too hot. I also brought just the right amount of nutrition to keep me fueled for the whole ride. Finally, there was a large group, including 6 of us women. The guys were generous in not going at race pace the entire time. We also regrouped a number of times (and I wasn't always the one having to catch up!).

The route for the ride seemed like it should have been longer in miles. In looking at the map, we did cover a rather large chunk of Thurston County. We started in Tumwater, worked our way up to Capitol Forest, came down back to Delphi, then kind of cut across all the way over to Hwy 99 on 113th/McCorkle. Then it was a short jog over to Waldrick, where we continued our cut across the county. About half of the guys did the Tempo Lake loop. The rest of us just stayed on Steadman.

On Spurgeon Creek Rd., we all did the Sun Lakes loop. This was a new road for me. I had actually looked for it when I rode Tessa for the first time on Friday (Brad had mentioned it on a night ride a few weeks ago). I thought it went off to the right, but it was the left. It was a hilly little number, but still kind of fun. It came back to Spurgeon Creek. We took the briefest of breaks, then continued on to Yelm Hwy. After a short section on Yelm Hwy, we turned at Meridian, then right at Mullen. I thought to myself, I know this section and it has hills. Fortunately, there are good enough downhills to get a decent run on the uphills. I kept up just fine!

On Hwy 510, I stayed pretty close to Jo, Jean, Michelle, and Derik up one of the longer hills of the day. The rest of the guys circled around until we caught up on Reservation Rd.

Coming down Old Nisqually from Reservation, I was already thinking about (read...DREADING) the next hill we would be climbing. It was the Steilacoom Rd. hill (a segment on Strava called Salmon Lane). Years ago when I started riding more and training to do the STP on my Giant Cypress DX Hybrid, I mistakenly went up this hill. That bike had a really low gear, but I still had to stop at a driveway about half way up as I felt I was going to have a heart attack at any moment. I rested, then rode the remaining section but, since then, I have never gone that way again. I've come DOWN it many times. Coming down, it is one of my favorite hills to see how fast I can go (I think my top speed is 47.9 on my Trek). Well, no amount of dread was going to get me out of doing the climb. I dropped down to the small ring in the front, and progressively shifted the back until I was out of gears. Tessa has a pretty decent easy gear on the back. Still, I was popping little wheelies as I pumped up the hill. Strava puts the hill at either an 11.4% grade or 12.7%, depending on whether you look at the Salmon Lane, New Version segment or the Salmon Lane Climb segment. All I can say is, it felt like about 27%! I was most definitely last up that one (BUT...at least I could still see the other stragglers ahead of me!)! AND, I did not have to stop and rest!

Now, you might think we just continued straight on Steilacoom back to town. No, no we did not. We turned on to Dutterow and crossed Martin Way in Hawks Prairie. We worked our way over to Willamette, came around by Jubilee, and over to Marvin. At the next roundabout, we swung right on to Hawks Prairie Rd, and followed that to South Bay Rd.

Where South Bay Rd. crossed the Chehalis Western Trail, that was my cue to leave the group and head for home on the trail. I must admit, my butt was getting tired. The saddle on Tessa is different from Star. It doesn't have a cut-out. However, since I am able to comfortably ride somewhere around 60+ miles, I'm not going to change it out. Besides, it perfectly matches the rest of the bike! My butt will just have to get used to it!

According to Strava, I rode 70.7 miles. The ride time was 3:55. My average was 18.0 mph! There was 2146 feet of elevation gain. Aside from being a little tired (no duh!), it was a perfect ride. The planets were definitely aligned to make it a great day!

Plays Well With Others

Today was our first women's team training ride. It was orchestrated by Michelle with the assistance of the other veteran women racers--Jen, Maria, Jean, and Jo (hmmm...I think the rest of us are going to have to change our names to ones that start with either "J" or "M"). There were the 5 veterans and 5 of us newbies.

We met down at the Farmers' Market. Michelle went over some nutrition tips and we learned a handy trick of licking and sticking Shot Blocks on the top tube for easy access. Jean had some with her and, lo and behold, it worked! After the nutrition tips, we went over to the parking lot and practiced cornering, utilizing counter steering techniques. That seemed to go pretty well.

Next we headed out toward Boston Harbor. We watched the "J"s and "M"s demonstrate a rotating paceline (a constantly circling double line), then the rest of us joined in. First we went counterclockwise, then later, clockwise. To me, clockwise is more intuitive, but I was getting the hang of both.

We continued doing the rotating paceline onto Zangle (after we all made it up the hill). At the top of 81st we regrouped to pick up those that had dropped back a bit. Next up was observing Michelle and Jen carrying out an attack (if you are picturing them going at each other with swords or something, you'd be mistaken). I discovered Tessa is pretty responsive and easy to accelerate. I also discovered, at high rpms, pedaling out of the saddle was a little squirrelly. I sat back down.

Sarah had a mechanical (dérailleur cable broke--I think the front?) just at the beginning of the downhill on 81st. The rest of us circled back. They got it so that she was in the small ring on the front (so she could go up the hills), but she was also having problems shifting in the back. She seemed to be pretty much stuck in one gear.

We practiced some more attacks (namely, going like mad to catch up to either Jen or Michelle when they would initiate the attack) on the way back to Boston Harbor Rd. on Woodard Bay Rd.

Back at Boston Harbor, a few gals had to head back (Sarah, because of her cable). The rest of us did another "lap". This time we took turns attacking and bridging. I found myself in the front too much (just wears me out faster). Jen was telling me not to be at the front all the time, so I drifted back and let everyone go by (except Michelle). Then Michelle told me to bridge up to Jo who had attacked. I did and, voila, I was back at the front! I guess I'll have to work on that strategy a little more.

When we completed the second lap, we headed back into town, again practicing the rotating paceline. Back at the Market, we commented on how we were all just a little wheezy. Katie thought it was abnormal, but we told her we all felt the same.

Jean and I rode together as far as the bridge over Yelm Hwy. where she went right and I continued down to 67th, then home through Horizon Point.

Today I learned a lot and had fun doing it. Tessa played well with the other bikes. The biggest adjustment I have to get used to is not having a rear view mirror. Fortunately, in a race situation, you don't spend a lot of time looking behind you!

When I got home I wiped every bit of dirt off Tessa. White bikes do not look good with dirt on them!

Introducing...(drum roll please)...

The latest addition to Super Biker Woman's stable of Super Bikes...TESSA!!! Tessa comes from the royal lineage of the Scott CR1 family. She is of the Contessa Team line, sporting the 2013 color scheme of white with beautiful bright lime green accents (the photos do not do her justice!). Her Shimano 105 gruppo along with her mere 17.4 lb. carbon frame, will propel her down (and up) the road with ease. TESSA everyone (I can hear the oooos and aaaahhhhs)!!!

Now, I think I'll go for a ride!