When Calls Have a Curve Ball

I'll admit, last week was the week from hell. I didn't like it and I, truth be told, I don't actually KNOW how to deal with "bad days," let alone a "bad week." It's due to me being one of those annoyingly, ridiculously happy people who always have a damn reason to smile and laugh. Always. Everyone has a funk, though, and it's okay.

Wednesday of last week started on an early morning call to my vet, mentor, hero, father-figure, you name it, Jack. My horse had been lame for 5 weeks with minimal work, so I knew something was wrong and it had to be checked out. A simple call, a simple trailer ride that my horse loves (trailer-ride whore).

I got to the barn, hooked my trailer, and started to get things ready. Problem? The computer wasn't working. Great! I was able to fix the connection enough to have lights and blinker/brake lights, but my brake connection wasn't working. No worries... It's a short drive and I can use my engine to brake. I load up The Spanky and off we go! About a couple of miles into the drive, I hear a bad sound. Of course my mind starts racing... Shit! Did the board break through? Is my horse okay? Did I just get a flat? I pulled over and noticed I had no flats, but that one of the tires had ripped off. Are you kidding me!? I had to drive somewhere; I can't leave the trailer with a horse on the side of Auburn-Folsom Rd. Jack's place wasn't much farther, so I decided to keep going... Slowly.

I get to his house fine. The Spanky is happy as can be in his trailer. Jack then says, "Before we look at your horse, I need you to drop everything and I need to talk to you now." Oh, crap. Either the absolute horror of his wife passing away happened or the not so bad news of me being in deep shit and he was going to rip me a new one. "I need to put two horses down, and I need your help."

One of the horses was a big chestnut gelding with extremely bad navicular with an attitude to match it. I'm sure that the pain he was in didn't help. We put the guy down. Yep, I shed a few tears. Putting a horse down is always bad for me, which is why I quit vet school. I'm a wuss, I know. As we were walking back to the barn, I got a phone call, which I completely blew off and still feel quite bad about. I tell people to call me if they ever need to talk but this time I couldn't do it. I was in the middle of having to put an old friend to sleep.

I started crying like a baby before I even got the halter on CrackerJack. Oh, good ol' CrackerJack. He's the horse that taught me how to play polo when I was a kid. He was probably the most patient and gentle polo horse I've ever ridden. Jack would give me a couple of polo balls and a stick and he'd send me off to practice on CrackerJack, and boy did I practice! And I made so many mistakes, from "posting" the canter incorrectly for the first few rides to hitting CrackerJack in the face when I did a poor swing, stopping him at bad moments, losing the ball and trotting around like a fool trying to find it in the field. We'd even play fetch with the dog; I'd be in a full gallop on CrackerJack, hit the ball, and JoeJoe (rip, buddy!) would chase it! Jack would get mad because Joe would take the ball to Jack, and Jack would have to throw it back in the field. Hey, I was a girl having fun with horses and a funny dog!

I put the halter on CrackerJack, hugged the guy, and cried. Cried, cried, cried. I haven't cried that hard in a long time. Even thinking about it now is making me cry. We walked him to where the other chestnut was, and I kept hugging his neck and petting him. Jack sedated him, I kissed CrackerJack's nose, and the shot was given. In minutes he went down and finally fell asleep. Jack gave CrackerJack the same amount he gave the chestnut and CrackerJack needed more... and he was nearly a hand smaller. He was a powerhouse.

CrackerJack was my teacher, my leap into the polo world, my mentor, and my buddy. At 15.3hh, gorgeous chestnut, beautiful build, and an amazing temperament. He lived to be 35-years old, and Jack owned him for 33 of those years. If I feel this sad, I can only imagine how sad Jack feels.

After that, after I was able to stop crying, we checked The Spanky out and he has a torn flexor and suspensory. This will be a fun recovery road... Or not.

The saddest thing is seeing that empty field. The one where, as a kid, I would gallop around and have a bunch of fun. The field where I learned how to play polo on, where I'd chase other horses while "practicing" polo and Jack telling me to stop harassing the other horses and to actually hit the ball, not the horse's face. I never did learn how to properly swing over my shoulder to the left side. (Polo players are only allowed to hold the mallet with the right hand. If we want to hit the ball on the left side, he have to swing OVER the horse's neck with the right arm on the left side. Easier said than done!).

I miss you, CrackerJack. Hopefully you had a peaceful walk over the rainbow bridge and you're once again galloping with Who Knew.

My First DNF

Well, it looks like I haven't updated in quite some time. I've done a few more races, even my first MTB race! That went well. I've only done two, but that's fine. I've been racing a single speed against geared bikes, too. Hey! I think it's pretty awesome. But, since then, things have been going really well.

On Monday, I took Mac (aka The Spanky, my horse) on a trail ride to train for the Gold Country LD ride. While I was heading to the cow pastures, I saw some dude on a Motocross bike leave one of the neighborhoods. Great. I went to the cow pasture and he turned to go up the road. Then I heard him go back and forth... back and forth. Ugh. He's going to go into the cow pasture. Where he's not allowed to be in (but all OHV don't give a shit and trespass anyway). I kept going and Mac did a huge trip, almost falling. Great. Not even half a mile in and this is happening. I get off to see if his foot with deep thrush is okay. He seemed okay, but then I heard the bike. Fuck. I waved and yelled at the guy, who wasn't stopping, until I yelled at him even more. He revved his engine while coming up on a horse (wtf? really?) and I laid into him. I really, really wanted to slap that kid. I told him he wasn't allowed here. He said he was and asked where the sign was, to which I said, "There ARE signs and you just went through a LOCKED gate." I guess he just goes through anyone's locked gate if he (purposefully) doesn't "see" a sign. Sigh. Went our separate ways and I bumped into him AGAIN head on, and he didn't stop. Ugh. The Spanky was fine with the bike. I wasn't due to an accident that happened when I was a kid out there while I was breaking The Spanky out. The bikes spooked him, he dumped me, and ran back to the barn and CROSSED Auburn-Folsom Rd. Luckily, there were NO cars at the time he did that (The Powers That Be must really love him). Since then, I'm not too happy with the bikes. The Spanky is a champ and is over it. Still, the guy was trespassing and a douche-waffle.

Whatever.

Finally, after a lot of maneuvering in the cow pastures due to crappy trails because of the weather we had, I got to the trail that leads to the lake. The lake is really flooded! Mac kept tripping a lot, more than usual, but I kept going.

Went past Granite Bay and by the levees, did the hill twice, nearly stepped on a rattle snake, and then went home.

On our way home on the Pioneer Express Trail, Mac did a huge trip and couldn't get his feet. Down we went. I got back on and went home. He kept tripping, and now I know that the thrushy foot WAS bothering him and I should probably not have ridden that far. Oh well, have to get home somehow.

The ride was stressful. I think that his tripping was really getting to me and I didn't like it one bit. Oh well, I'm treating his foot now so it'll be fine.

16.5 miles total. Not too bad.

Rode with some buddies the next day (Tuesday) on Salmon Falls (bikes this time). Climbed better than I ever have, so I thought it was a good sign considering I was pretty sore from the fall. Got home, rested, then got ready for the TT. Halfway through the TT my back gave out. I couldn't get onto my aero bars. I was done. My first DNF.

Rode back to the start line, told them to DNF me, and sat while my back was in a lot of pain. I was in near tears when I was riding back. I haven't felt that horrible in a long time. Friends talked to me, asked me if I was okay, I told them what happened. Everyone gave the "ouch" look. A friend asked if I needed a ride and I gladly accepted a ride to Folsom Bike. I probably wouldn't have been able to ride the 20 miles back home.

Yesterday SUCKED. I didn't do a thing because I couldn't. It was too painful to even move. So, I laid on the floor. Great. I eventually sucked it up around 6pm to go treat Mac's leg. The people leasing him went by and extended the contract another 6 months. Awesome. Then I went to a mexican restaurant with the barn girls and "self-medicated" myself there. Also awesome.

I feel better today. I'm going to go on a little spin on my bike to see if I can handle it. Then I'll go treat Mac's foot. Poor dude. At least it's healing well.

UNR Collegiate Race Report

Better late than never...

Crit, Saturday April 9

It was windy, it was cold, and there was elevation. I've been having issues with a pinched sciatic nerve, too. The women's B and C were combined, though scored separately. We lined up and off we went.

The race was going great. The more I ride with these girls, the better it gets. I was enjoying this pancake-flat course. The backside was windy as hell, but it was flat and flat is my forte.

Halfway through, that damned nerve shot pain up my spine and down my left leg which make it completely numb. There went my sprints, my primes, any chance of getting top 5. I was pissed and tried to hang on, then I realized so what? It's a flat course, but I can't have every race. It just won't happen. I finished with the group, but I couldn't do the sprint. Sucky. I love sprinting, but it happens.

We stayed to see the women's and men's A races, in which the CSUS riders did well in. We went out to eat and went to bed, ready to race the road race in 35-degree weather.

Wait... WHAT???

Road Race, Sunday April 10

It was flippin' cold. It was 35 degrees around 8:30am. The higher divisions (A/B) went out first since they had longer races. I knew that there was going to be a lot of climbing, so I knew that this wasn't going to be my race and I was freaked out about my leg going numb. The women's B/C started together again. As we were going, a UCD girl almost pushed me over the yellow line (pretty sure she just didn't see me). The yellow line rule was strictly enforced and the Sheriff was following us (had one for every group). Team Rev's coaches (John, Reese, Tank, etc) had been teaching us bumping and being comfortable in close quarters, so I simply tapped on the girl's leg to tell her I'm there. It avoided me getting pushed over and a crash, which was great!

We had all made a unanimous decision at the beginning of the race to start and "warm up" slowly. We followed through. No one tried to take advantage of that for a breakaway. A couple of girls dropped their chains, so we waited for them (Yea, guys! Chicks aren't as catty as you think!).

Rollers. It was going well. I'm glad I "under dressed." Then a climb. The Bs took off. I dropped back. Downhill. Caught a UCD girl who said, "You're an awesome descender. It's my best skill and you're right on me." Nice compliment.

We kept riding down the hill and two other UCD girls joined us. So, 3 UCD and 1 CSUS. One of them said, "Let's all work together. Sac State, you're a B, right?"

"No, a C, but I'm up for working together." So we did.

We saw snow on the shoulder, which cued my "WTF NO!!" As we rode down to the turn around, I was having a blast because hey, downhill. Then, it hit me: I'm going 45+ mph, it's an out-and-back course... I'm going to have to climb back up this.

We turned around and stayed together for a while. When we got to the main climb, one girl went by faster, the other got away, I followed, and their best sprinter got dropped. I eventually caught the 2nd girl and we stuck together to the very end.

As we saw the finish, UCD wanted me to get in front but I stated patient. I had to keep telling myself to not jump too early. She slowed down to get me in front, I stayed back. She knew I was onto her plan, so she sped up. I drafted. Then, the sprint (uphill finish, to add insult to injury). I had it. I sprinted after her and got ahead. Finished 6th. It's not the best finish, but I was happy at a) I learned my lesson and finally didn't pull the other rider to the sprint; b) my leg didn't go numb; c) I can sprint (the crit had me worried. Yea, I know.. a numb leg doesn't help).

It was a fun and cold race. My last collegiate race for this season. It was a decent first collegiate season for me.

My Sea Otter report will come soon.

Nevada Derby

Because we couldn't make it to Rides of March, I decided that I was going to sign up for the Nevada Derby on April 2. This ride was 5 miles shorter (I signed up for the 25-miler), but whatever. I wanted to do my first ride of the season, already!

At first, a bunch of us were going. Shit happens though, and it was just Kathy and me. We were getting ready on Thursday because we wanted to leave early on Friday... JUST IN CASE. A lot happened that day, though. I found out I have a pinched nerve while I was riding Folsom Lake Loop with the Sac State cycling team, the barn was chaos, the manure truck got stuck at the orchard, Kathy's filly got kicked by the percheron mare on the hock (all the way to the bone), and Randy's car decided it wanted to commit suicide (he and I were pushing his car back into his garage at 2AM... AFTER it got towed there, of course). I went to bed at 3AM that night knowing I had to haul two horses a little past Reno. Awesome...

Whatever, right? We got to the barn, things were running smoothly. I bathed Mac. He hated that and started shivering. Loaded up the truck and trailer. Loaded the horses. Off we went. Paid for gas. Died a little inside again. And to the race!

The weather was beautiful. No snow on the road, only the sides. Then, my trailer's brakes fail. I have NO brakes on my trailer going down the pass. I try to fix it, get it done, and after bumping on the amazingly smooth roads of I-80 (hurr no), they fail again. Connection gone wrong. The good thing is that I don't panic and this has happened before on much worse roads (to hell with you, Diamond Springs!). I used my engine for brakes, so my truck's brakes didn't even stink. Yeah, I know I'm good (it's okay... you can admit it, too).

I pulled off when it was safe and fixed my connection (again). This time, I used vet wrap to keep the damn thing in place. Oh, vet wrap, what would we do without you? And it worked just fine!

We got to the ranch, unloaded the horses, signed in, set camp up, and vetted both horses. They were just fine, so we hung around until the meeting. Saw some people at the meeting whom I haven't seen in a long time! (4-H peeps).

We ate dinner and then started getting ready for bed. We had a long day ahead of us!

Throughout the night, the horses kept playing with their buckets, hay bags, and the trailer. Mac would smack his bucket against the trailer and then decided to dump his water. My happy ass had to get out of bed to fill up buckets. Then, they hay bag started. Mac and Lucky were so bored that they decided that playing with Lucky's hay bag would be fun. After a while of quietness, Mac started to chew on the trailer, then look through one of the windows. Sigh...

We woke up and got everything ready. We saw the 50's go out. We warmed up and headed to the starting line. Since there weren't an enormous amount of riders, we decided to start right at 8am.

We kept on going and Mac was getting more and more excited. Someone lost his privilege of a snaffle! Right after the creek crossing, Mac was about to explosively drop his brain, but Kathy had crossed the creek by then as well, so we were able to contain Mac's brain in his skull for a few more minutes.

We kept on riding and the hills started. Sweet. We actually had to canter/hand gallop up some of them due to how steep they were, which was great for me because that took the edge off Mac. All of that extra nervous energy he had was drained out a little.

Riding with us was another gentleman on his gray. He had an extremely well behaved horse. When Kathy said, "Your horse is so good! We keep cantering up the hills behind him and he doesn't even care."

"Not bad for a stallion, huh?" The guy said. Whoa! Really? That was pretty impressive. We didn't even know that the horse still had its balls.. it was THAT well behaved. Naturally, Kathy inquired about him and his breeding. She wants him to be her filly's baby-daddy. If I had a (good) mare, I would totally breed her to that horse... and I'm not that into breeding! That says something.

We kept on going. We had quite a bit of flat road ahead of us, so we all trotted in a group. Mac got something up his ass and he decided that we were going to trot BIG. We had a Tennessee Walker, the stallion, Lucky, a black arab, and Mac in the group. Eventually, I told Kathy that I can't fight Mac anymore and that I'll wait once he gets tired out a bit. That wasn't until mile 16. Awesome. But Mac eventually walked.

We had a 10 minute hay and water hold. We had to be honest about our times and whatnot (and we were). We all hung out and talked and had a blast. One lady even popped a pee in front of everyone (she asked if we were okay with it first). Mac started to shiver because he's a pansy. And, we took this:

Where is this Team Revs bottle?!

(Don't say on top of a horse's head... I've heard that joke way too many times now. Good gods..)

As I said, Mac eventually walked, and Mac and Lucky were able to get the same in and out times after the vet check. They both passed, thought he vet told me that there MIGHT be a slight soreness on Mac's left front. Weird.. that's Mac's GOOD leg. She said that it's not wroth noting, and he passed everything else with flying colors. Of course, Mac had TRIPPED on the trot out, so that could have been it. I, of course, was all paranoid but Kathy told me that he was trotting just fine. He was, but you know... that damn horse needs to stop sabotaging our vet checks!

Mac and lucky were fantastic. Kathy, the horses, and I ate lunch and then we set out for our last 5 miles. We trotted for about half of it then decided that we were going to take it easy and we waled. We saw some donkeys, which Mac did a "OH HELL NO!" about it. C'mon, horse! you've been ridden for 22 miles and you STILL have the energy to be crazy? Then, we saw 4 Clydes pulling a cart, and of course, Mac did the, "Oh holy shit! There's a cage that ate a few humans and now it's chasing those 4 horses and they don't even KNOW. It's going to get them then us then we're all going to die!!!" We, naturally, survived. It didn't help that they were to our left then there were cows on the right, and Mac also did the, "That's FUGLY horse!! WHY THE FUCK IS IT SO UGLY???? And why does it go MOO?" He survived and got over it within seconds. Gotta love that horse.

We came in, took the horses to get water, untacked, let them eat, and then vetted them. Kathy was ahead of me, and Lucky vetted like a champ. So did Mac, and he didn't trip this time. Lucky finished a minute ahead of Mac. We took them back to the trailer and then walked back to see the results. Apparently, Lucky and Mac came in 6th and 7th and were in the running for horse of excellence. Sweet! We went back to see if we got it, but the gentleman with the stallion go it. Ah well! We top 10'ed!! Without even trying!

The horses looked pretty tired. We packed up and then went home. Unloaded the trailer and I went to Randy's and passed out on the couch after a shower. He woke me up because he made me a yummy dinner, and then it was bed time.

What a great race! It was so much fun. Mac and Lucky are a fantastic team and Kathy is great to ride with because she calms down MY craziness. I'm looking forward to our next endurance ride!

The Race That Didn't Happen: Rides of March

I signed up my horse for a 30-mile endurance ride. I had to leave later than the others because I had an exam that day. After class, I met up with the boyfriend's parents to get the chains for my truck. Roni and Kathy had some for my trailer, I got them covered for the truck. We were golden! Went to the barn, got stuff ready, loaded the horses up, filed up the tank with diesel (and cried about the price), and off we went.

It was raining fairly hard. We drove for an hour and it started snowing. Got out at Applegate to ask chain control what was up. He said that traffic was stopped due to the storm. Huh.. weird, but okay. I had the chains, we were golden. Checked the news, which said to expect 2 hour delays. Hey, that's not too bad.

Drove a bit more and BAM, we were greeted by a bunch of stopped traffic. AND it was snowing. Alright, it not too bad. I was looking at how pretty the snow was because, let's face it, I was born at sea level, lived at sea level in Mexico, then moved to the Sacramento area. In short, I don't see a lot of snow!

So, we waited. And we waited... and we waited some more. After we moved about 100 feet and were stuck for 2 hours, we decided that chains were going to be necessary for the trailer. The catch: I've never put chains on my trailer...

I did the most logical thing and decided to ask a truck driver. Lucky for me, I asked the newbie truck driver! Good job, Kasea. He was extremely nice, though, and helped us as much as he could. Another guy, who had never put chains on his pickup, said that if he figured it out, he'd also help us. So we had two gentlemen helping us.

After we put the chains on, a third gentleman and experienced truck driver, checked on the chains and said they were golden. Yup... I've never seen THAT on my trailer.

So, we waited some more. The reports kept saying the same thing - 2 hour delays. But we WERE on hour 2.

This is what my truck and trailer looked like on hour two..

And this is my truck on hour 3-1/2... With chains on, too, because the roads were getting pretty bad. I had a chain monkey put on my truck's chains because I'm not experienced at ALL with chains (I've never had to use them), and he says, "It seems like you have a lot of weight in that trailer."

I reply, "Uh well... I have three horses back there."

"Oh really!?" He said. "They're so quiet! You should have them pull ya, haha!"

"Yup. We know how to train our horses," I told him.

We then started hearing rumors about what happened. 40-car pile up due to a big-rig crashing. Then, we heard it was because of spin outs. That only 80 West was closed. Then, we heard that a hydrogen truck had exploded, which made other trucks crash, including a cattle truck, and then the other cars crashed. Later on, we heard about the fatality. Then, we heard that the highway would be closed for another 5 hours. At that time, we were already 5 hours into that trip (by the way, in those 5 hours, we had gotten from Loomis to Baxter grade). So, we decided to wait it out.

Since we were stuck, we kept checking on the horses and decided to give them a little breather. In this picture we have (from left to right) Mac, Boomer, and Lucky. Surprisingly enough, the horses didn't make a peep in the hours they were in a trailer. They didn't get exasperated, angry, angsty, or anything! We were proud horsewomen. Kathy offered the horses water. Mac politely refused his water after touching it. Boomer, on the other hand, decided he going to dunk his head in the bucket (past his nostrils) and to throw the bucket of water at Kathy as if saying, "FREEZE AND DIE, BITCH!" Not a happy boy. But at least he was passive-aggressive about it and not loud. Lucky didn't drink. I think he was too petrified of what was going on so he just stood quietly.

Since we knew we weren't going anywhere, people decided that they wanted to say hi to the horses. They were a hit! Everyone loved the 3 horses that were in this clusterfuck. At least they brought a bit of a change and some relief. Seeing them out there was definitely a trip. We found out that there was another trailer ahead of us, though we didn't see it.

The other horses may have been upset about being in the trailer (though, as I said, they were very well behaved and quiet), but Mac was having a blast! He was in his trailer and in the middle of a lot of attention. I threw a snowball at him (his first time ever seeing snow) and decided he was going to eat some snow, too. Good thing it was freshly fallen snow!

We were stuck for a bit longer. We started to move, just to get to the front where we saw a stuck big-rig and a few spinouts. So, stuck again. Some guy came to talk to us, so we chatted a bit. Kathy talked to an AT&T guy who said that he heard a report where 80 was going to be closed over night, so we were most likely going to be turned around. Damn! All of this for nothing. Then, another man comes to my window and asks, "Hey, can you back your rig up so we could pass you?"

... WAT?

Looking back on it, I was very civilized to this cockgoblin. I replied, "No. NO I cannot back up my rig so you can pass me. I'm not going to risk my horses just because YOU want to pass me." We were stuck for 6 hours. WE'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!! We're getting turned around!

So, he did the logical thing and squeezed past me. And others followed. I told Kathy and Roni, "Watch some dumbfuck crash into the wall." Lo and behold, as soon as I said that, I heard a grinding. A dude in a little Honda car with NO chains crashed into the wall. Sigh...

A truck driver, whom we called "Big Daddy," had then come up to us and asked what happened with the dude who asked me to back up my trailer. I told him the story, he looks back, then looks at me and says, "Where are you going to back it up to?" Exactly... He goes off and talks to another truck driver, then comes back and says, "Okay. I got that guy to move. I'm going to drive behind him and I'll flatten the snow up. You girls drive right behind me, okay?" Big Daddy-o, you're awesome! If we could have given him a hug, we totally would have.

This is the mess we left behind...

We finally get turned around. The road is in horrible conditions and people are speeding past me. Great... we'll see more accidents! I decided to follow the plow because, hey! Freshly plowed road? Hell yea! Well, people were TAILGATING the plow, even with the sign that says "Keep 100 feet behind." Really, people? REALLY?

We get to Colfax where it wasn't snowing as badly. I pulled off because I needed to get the chains off. After much maneuvering of my trailer in a very small parking lot on Colfax, which had lost power, I park the trailer and try to take the chains off. After 9 hours of this BS, I was done. A guy comes up to us and asked if we need help. Since I was so exhausted, I said yes... yes we do. He took the chains off and we went back home.

It amazes me that even though I had a fully loaded trailer with THREE horses, we didn't have ANY issues. Minimal slipping, no crashes... but people kept crashing and spinning out. Drive smart, people! You'll get there! I promise.

After 9 - 10 hours of this, I decided to keep the truck and trailer hitched up and had the boyfriend pick me up. I was stressed, exhausted, and I wanted to sleep. We unloaded the horses. Lucky and Boomer hi-tailed it out of there. Mac, as I've mentioned, loves his damn trailer so he did the, "Oh.. but you know, I have hay... and shavings, and I'm in my trailer :) :) " Until I tapped his butt and told him to hurry his little Arab ass up. THEN he decided to slooowwwly back out of his trailer. Nice, Mac. Really nice.

We tucked the horses in (or threw them in their pastures. Whatever.) and we all went home.

I'm bummed we missed the ride, but there are plenty others. I mean, we most definitely had stories to tell! It was an adventure and a huge bonding day for Roni, Kathy, and me (haha!).

I signed up for the Nevada Derby, which is near where Rides of March is. Hopefully we have less drama and better weather!

So there you have it. The race that didn't happen. We survived!

UC Berkeley Collegiate Race Report

Those who were to go in my truck met up on Friday, packed up, and headed out to Berkeley. We got there earlier than the others, so we decided to get some coffee. By the time that we found a place, found parking, walked to the coffee shop (because we had to park a few blocks away), and walked back to the truck, the others were close. We went back to the hotel and checked in, got a bit settled, chatted, and decided that we'd go get dinner.

As we were walking down the street, a lady stopped us and said, "GO OVER TO ____. It's the best Greek food around!" Oh, okay. We kept walking and found the place.... so we decided to go in (after some debate). This place apparently had the "biggest" pita sandwich in the city, so we got it. I expected a pita sandwich with some meat, obviously, and a bunch of veggies. Boy was I wrong! It was pita bread stuffed with a whole fucking lamb (or beef) and half a chicken. Where the hell are the veggies!? Whatev. We then talked about nonsense and the race, and apparently the road race had a 2-mile hill at a 10% grade. Yeah.. I knew that this was NOT going to be my race.

Saturday morning, we eat breakfast and head out to the race. We barely made it on time because we got lost. We rushed to our start times. The Women's B and C groups were supposed to race together, a total of 3 laps around the course (30 miles total, 10 miles a lap), but at the start line, the officials told us that we were going to race separately. Okay... Cool. Then, one of the officials asked, "You have a choice. 2 or 3 laps?" A girl yelled 3 so the official said, "Three it is!"

Dammit. I almost got away with being lazy.

So, we start. The group was together. There was a hill at the beginning. One of those easy hills where I can easily big-ring it and feel fine. We went downhill for some time (reached 40 mph as a group, not bad, ladies). Then a climb, a flat-ish climb. We kept going on a flat area where I saw a left bend and went, "Oh sweet! More down hill" when the course peeps yelled "UP THERE!!!"

Oh. Snap. Son.

THAT was the hill. And yeah, I got dropped like a fucking rock. It was hard, it was unexpected, and did I mention that I got dropped? As I was riding through that horrible portion of the race, I was able to pass a chick, whom I found out was a B so it didn't matter. The reality is that only the first part of the hill was hard; the second part wasn't bad at all. Hey, this is why I do flat, sprinty races, okay?

Downhill. Back to the start line for lap #2. Caught a UC Davis girl and passed her on the first hill. When it got back to the horrible hill, she caught be. Damn skinny climbers. Downhill. Lap #3, caught her and another UC Davis chick. Decided to stay behind them so I didn't have to do much work. Lost one girl on a climb after going through Crockett. Lost skinny climber on the big hill. Didn't catch her after that.

I finished the race 14th... out of 16 riders. Hah!

Watched the Men's A, D, and Women A. Went back to the hotel, showered, and we went to dinner. Some italian place that was not very close to the hotel, so we naturally walked over, ate. Went back to the hotel. Slept. Fuck you, day light saving's time!

Woke up, ate breakfast. Went to the crit on time! Found parking, registered. Watched the Men's D and C races. Then I went. Catch. There was a hill.. and an uphill start. I'm doomed.

Race started. Within 3 laps, the leaders were ahead. Stanford, UC Davis, and Sac State. Yeah. Not as doomed as I thought. The thing with this hill was that it was one of those I can easily big-ring. Sweet. Stayed behind the Stanford and UCD for a bit, got second on a prime, and then lost the other two. I kept passing other girls, some more than once... twice.. I felt sweat on my face. Wtf? That much? Nope. It started raining. The officials confused the hell out of me and didn't ring the bell when I had a lap to go. So, I asked them. They said keep going. Bleh. I went. As I passed the finish line, one of the officials said, "Now you're done with the leading lap. You were the only one the first two leaders didn't lap. Good job." SWEET! I think the fact that I rode really right, fast corners helped me a lot since the other two girls took extremely wide turns.

Placing: 3rd out of 15. My first cycling podium finish! ON A HILLY CRIT!

The race was a lot of fun. I got to spend time with some teammates, left the valley for a little, and had got a 3rd place! Overall, I had a great time. It was the hardest race I've ever ridden (both road and crit), and one of the funnest!

Team Revolutions Clinic

I got the day off on February the 20th so I could do a Team Revs Race Team Clinic put on by John, Reese, and Matt. I drove to the wrong spot, which is one of the few times I definitely enjoyed having a Smartphone because I was able to check my e-mail and the Google map. Sweet. (If I would have just looked right at the stop light, the whole team was there. How I missed them? I don't know. Quit judging me!).

We warmed up for a few minutes, then Matt gave us a skills lesson on clipping in during at the start of a race. After doing that a few times and no bad incidents, Reese took over and gave us a lesson on racing, tactics, and what goes on/what can happen during a race. We asked questions and then we headed to the start.

We got into teams (team captains were John, William, Reese, and Matt). We then had a 4-rider breakaway, the peloton (which I was in), and the chase (which I believe consisted of William, John, and Matt). Everything was fine and dandy, the speed was fine, I was okay with people being close to me, and then the U-turns came. God. Damn. U-turns.

We did a 25-mile course on the canal. The canal is 5 miles one way, so basically we went over the course 5 times, 2-1/2 times if you count the out and back. I got in the back of the group so I didn't feel like I'd mess up and kill someone on the second to last U-turn that by the time I completed the actual turn, the group was pretty far. Tried to catch them but damn... could not do it.

Yeah. It fucking sucked.

Last turn and last "lap," I got together with Terry, Karen M., Reese, and I believe James (a newer member), so we worked together. Reese totally used my stupid ass on the sprint, which I basically led him out to it. Lesson learned.

So, since the speed didn't bother me, I know it was the U-turns. People touching, bumping, whatever didn't bother me, though it was a little uncomfortable, I think that if I simply learn to turn, I'd be okay. Same thing happened to me on the Folsom Cyclebration Circuit race... those turns just get to me.

At the end of the race, we all got together and I asked Matt if they would be willing to make a skills clinic on turning, bike handling, etc., for dumbasses like me. He said that they would be. Also, he explained that out bikes are made to turn, and it would be hard to lay down the bike on one of those turns simply because of how our bikes are made (if that sentence made sense, congrats to you!). Basically, I'm sure that what that meant was, "Dude, Kasea. Man up. Turn the fucking bike." I gotta put my big girl bibs on.

So, it didn't turn out the way I would have liked it to. I was pretty bummed that because of a turn, I got dropped. So, confidence level went down, though my cycling confidence has been in a ditch right now. No idea when it wants to come back out of that stupid ditch and actually join me on some rides. I'm sure that practice will make me better and more confident. I'm pretty lucky to be in a team that actually offers such clinics. I know most recreational teams don't, so I'm super thankful. Thanks John, Reese, and Matt. You guys are awesome!

UC Davis Crit Report, 2/13/2011

Now that I feel better, I guess I could now write my report for the UC Davis collegiate criterium (or the second attempt, at least). I ought to realize that most people enjoy reading the rainbow-shitting-puppy type of report, so here it goes!

I'll begin by noting that the weekend of the race was the wort weekend I've had in a couple of years (for those who don't know what a couple is, couple = 2), including a huge panic attack. I haven't had one like that in ages; I had forgotten how horrible they felt. I didn't race the road race on the 12th due to work, so I only raced the crit on the 13th. After having such a large anxiety attack on Saturday night, I figured that if simply finishing the crit would be an accomplishment.

I got packed and drove to William Land Park. When I got to registration I noticed that the time for my division was moved to 10:20am instead of the original 9:30am start. Crap, because I had somewhere to be after the race! Turns out that the Men's D class was divided into 2 fields because. I'm not sure why because when I saw the first wave, the size didn't seem extraordinary so who knows what the reasoning was. The first wave had one CSUS rider. The second wave had two. You could probably guess that CSUS was completely outnumbered by every other school!

On to my division, which was starting even later. My boyfriend, Randy, had gotten there in the middle of the second Men's D wave and took some pictures. I lined up with the rest of the girls. One of the UCD coaches (I'm assuming. I know they had a coach there), came up and said that because this was a first race for a few riders, there were going to do a 2-lap pacelining clinic. Damn... It was late, I wanted to get this over with before nerves got to me, and I needed to be somewhere... did I mention that we were already starting fairly late? Okay.. I can appreciate what they're doing, but what a shitty day (for me) for the schedule to get all messed up.

I was put in a group with several Humboldt riders, one of them who was riding in regular running shoes and flat pedals. As we were taking turns at the front, Flat Pedal took her turn and when she moved off, instead of going to the back of the paceline, she cut the second person off. No big, shit happens. She got corrected and all was well. On her second turn, the exact same thing, but before she hit the 2nd rider (one of her teammates) and the 3rd (me), we both said, "NOT YET!"

The issue I had with the mini clinic was that they put emphasis on pacelining instead of riding as a group. But I guess that comes more naturally with experience. I'm pretty sure I rode more paceline-like in my first couple of races.

We lined up for the actual race and started. It was a 30-minute race. The group quickly separated into those who have race and the bran new racers. UC Davis had about 4 or 5 girls working together. I was the only CSUS rider. I got to the front, Davis was drafting me and wouldn't switch off so I started to yo-yo with a purpose of making someone move to the front. Davis took that bait. Then they send an attack, which I countered and heard the Davis rider yell, "DAMMIT!" Apparently, she was pissed (Randy has a picture). Hey, toots. It's racing. Your plans aren't always going to go as intended. Another attack, in which UCD, UCLA, and I were in the breakaway for a bit. We all got back together.

Prime lap and UCD and I attacked. I got 2nd for the prime. First time I've ever gotten any sort of prime. I backed off. UCD kept sending kept sending attacks, which I didn't counter after a while because I wanted to have some legs for the last lap. UCD was getting pretty anxious, mostly because their attacks weren't weeding anyone off, I think (UCLA, Humboldt, and I were on them like flies on caca), and they were making some stupid, stupid mistakes. I called an inside for a corner and nearly got pinned on the curb. Whether it was intentional because they were pissed or a mistake, I don't know, but it happened several times. Another UCD girl nearly rammed into me even though I made sure she knew I was there. Choice words were said. Eh, it happens.

On the last lap, I made sure I didn't get boxed in. I attacked on the last corner by making a really tight turn since most of the time, all of the girls would slow down since they yelled out "slowing!" on every. single. corner. Knowing that I could make quick, tight corners, I decided to use the gap they opened on the inside and tacked. A few girls were in front of me, we sped up, and finished. I wasn't sure of my placing, but fuck it, I finished, avoided crashes, and that was that.

Got my results and I got 6th out of 23 girls with points for a prime. I left to get to Randy's dad's 60th birthday party in Placerville. I didn't get to see the rest of the races, so I don't know how the guys in the Men's C and A did.

In my next crit, I'm going to try and ride a bit more defensively instead of offensively. Maybe I'll be able to save some energy if I don't work as much and I'll be able to get a better placing. Pictures will hopefully be posted soon. For now, training until the next race.

Cal Aggie Criterium

I decided that I was going to race the Cal Aggie Criterium two nights before the event. I signed up, decided that eh... just another race. Went to bed just fine.

The morning of (January 29), I was freaking. It was wet (super foggy), and uh.. it's a race! This would be my second crit and I still have no fucking idea what I'm doing. Got up way too early (about an hour before my alarm), ate, freaked, got my kit on, brushed my teeth and did all of that girly shit, freaked, got my bike and gear ready, and freaked some more.

I got lost in the park because I'm awesome like that. I eventually found the crit because derp, road closures. Signed in and freaked some more. Texted Heather who gave me some good tips. Bumped into Reese, a Team Revs teammate who was racing the Master's 4/5, also bumped into some CSUS teammates. Then I bumped into my ladies TR teammates. It was Karen's birthday, Andrea was debating the race, Andie signed up. Eventually, Andrea and Karen caved into peer pressure and signed up.

Goal: Don't crash on the wet asphalt.

At the line up, I was nervous. Really nervous. It was wet and I've never raced on wet asphalt before. It started and off we went. There were a LOT of sketchy riders. Hey, whatever. I eventually decided to yell at Andrea to get on my wheel because we were going to the front. I pulled for a few laps, in which I was dying in because WTF dude I've never ridden up front in a crit or that aggressively. At that point, I didn't care if I blew myself up too much, I just wanted to get out of the sketchy field and if one of my teammates could take advantage of that, then awesome! The group did its natural rotation, and then I attacked again. I wanted to be up front because some of these chicks didn't know how to handle their bikes worth shit. Corners? Forget about it. Whatever. A couple of UC Davis girls were all over the place. At several points, one of them was close to hitting my front wheel, to where I told her to watch out. In all honesty, I wanted to say, "Hey, bitch. If you hit my front wheel and take me down, you're coming down with me!" I went with "I'm on your right..." I kept calling my lines on the corners. Hell, I was talking a lot because I didn't want to crash. The point of me calling my line was so that they didn't bump into me. The point of me calling my lines was not so that these chicks would take them!!!! Hey, it happens.

We kept on going and on the last lap, I made a stupid move and got boxed in. Shit. I couldn't find a way out. I decided that on the last corner I'd attack any opening, and I did. Problem? A UC Davis chick cut me off before the sprint. Damn. At that point, I knew it was over, but decided to take a bit of a sprint to at least move up in placings. It's racing. If you don't have your tactics down, you'll get no where. Brute force will only take you so far! I learned my lesson in this one. Pay attention, dip shit!

At least I learned what to look for and what to expect. It's only my second crit so I'm still not sure of what to do and, most importantly, when to make a move. My cornering and bike-handling skills are better than I thought on wet asphalt. This was a good first crit of the year. I feel like I have the strength, though I can get stronger. Now I need my tactics!

Results? Out of a field of 30 women
Andrea: 14th! Chica was on fire!
Me: 18th
Karen: 22nd
Andie: Unfortunately flatted.

Lessons:
- Keep talking and communicating. No matter how annoying it is, it'll save your ass.
- Don't attack so soon.
- Keep track of where the other chicks are so you don't get boxed in.
- Be confident on those corners. They're never as bad as they seem.
- Sprint. Fucking. Harder.
- I love me new wheels.

I think that if the TR ladies can get some tactics together, we'll have an amazing team. For being so new, we're already showing a lot of potential. Thanks to Reese, Mike, and everyone who calmed us down and helped us out, and more thanks to Reese for letting me use his trainer to warm up a bit. And thanks to Heather for all of her help! She's amazing!

Next race is a collegiate race. The UC Davis collegiate race. Hey, Aggie chicks, watch the fuck out.

Wheels

After nearly 3 years of cycling (My "anniversary" will be in April!), I decided that I wanted to get new wheels.

I have a 2009 Felt F75. I originally had the same bike, only the '07 model, but it got stolen from the shop I took it into to get a tune-up (I now do my own). The dude is awesome and obviously replaced it with the '09 model. Okay, an upgrade. Problem? It's a fucking tank. Last time I weighed it, the scale read 22.5 pounds.

Stock wheels: Felt Hubs/DT Stainless Steel Spokes/Mavic CXP-22 Rims, 28H front/32H rear. I did the Death Rid on these babies. Please note that I am not a climber by any means of the word. I suck at climbing. I love climbing, but I suck at it. I have the ass of a quarter horse. But for not being a climber and riding a tank, finishing the Death Ride is one of my proud moments.

I also upgraded my crank to a compact full speed ahead. I never knew that carbon cranks were so effin' nice.

Now the question: What wheels did I get? I got a set of Williams 19's. Not the "fanciest," but I'm cheap... and I have books to buy... and a horse to take care of. Okay, enough with the excuses. My main concern was, "What if I made a mistake." These wheels were the perfect first buy for a rookie like me. They don't break the bank, which is cool when you're going, "OMFG I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE FUCK I'M DOING!!!!"

They got here within 2 days of ordering them. Damn. Grabbed the box and asked, "Uh, are they even in here?" They were. And they looked pretty. I was as excited as a fat kid in a candy store and took a picture of them. I then went over to the boyfriend's where I used all of his tools (because I can) and put in one of my cassettes (11-28. Shut up my fat ass needs it for the hills), and put on tubes and tires. I was happy with the aesthetics of them.

Took them out for a test ride on the hills the next day. Yeah, I felt the difference. I did some repeats on the neighborhood ass-kicking-I'd-like-to-die-now-PLEASE hills. These wheels are significantly lighter than my tanks, so I thought that handling on the downhill would be a bit sketchy. I ride like a bat out of Hades on the downhill... but I tried it. At 48.2 mph, they were still amazing. They felt steadier than my tanks. Turning at 48 mph was like rolling on velcro with a cool velcro suit on. Dude, they STUCK. Impressed, I was.

Today, I took them out on the flats. I rode to school and back, with a 15 pound backpack and dense fog. 51 miles. Fantastic on the flats as well. I mean, wow. Sprinting was great. It took little effort (compared to the tanks) to get the wheels going. Smooth and quick to respond. Super happy with this.

I have a criterium this Saturday (I got conned into this!!!) - the Cal Aggie Crit. I'll be racing as a Women's Cat-4 (durp) so I'll definitely get to test how well this velcro-wheel works. These will be my racing/climbing wheels, while the tanks will be my training/every day wheels. I'm happy with this purchase. If anyone is looking into buying a set of wheels but have no idea as to what to get/do, I'd say these are good wheels to go for. Plus, their costumer service is amazing, which is the reason why I bought these and not a set of Eastons.