So Far in the Off Season

I haven't really had much to write about. My race season is over, so there are no reports for me to write. I've been working the Sac CX races, which have been going well and Rodeo 'Cross has started. It's been fun. I got the sickness from hell and was down for two weeks. In fact, the first five days of this illness were horrible. I was bed ridden. If I attempted to get up, my vision would black out. This made for trips to the bathroom a lot of fun, especially in the middle of the night.

The illness has mostly gone away. I have an annoying cough that won't leave me alone, but I've been able to ride my bike. Very little efforts cause a lot of pain. That sucks. I never knew my lungs could actually get sore. Either way, after two weeks of no riding at all, I was happy to be back on the bike, even if it's extremely slow and pathetic.

See how happy I look?

Aside from being sick, I've been mountain biking a lot more. Enough so that I actually see an improvement in my skills and don't crash every 20 feet.

I've also been adequately hydrating before a ride, 

During a ride,

And after a ride,

I've also carved pumpkins for the first time in my life and made myself look creepy as fuck for Halloween, which we all celebrated at Rodeo Cross since Halloween fell on a Wednesday this year.

I was the only over-dressed female that night.

I've also been working a lot by teaching lessons and riding horses. My horse is doing well, though this whole roller coaster of a temperature we've been having has been making his arthritis act up. That's okay, though; it's easily fixable with nice and steady exercise. I've also been planning a lot for my future. If the "master plan" doesn't work, I'm going for the "not so master plan but it'll still take me to my goal" plan. I'll talk about the Master Plan once I know if it's going to work out. For now, I'm going to leave you in suspense. 

I'm not sure why he has that look...

I've been meeting awesome people.

                                                   

Work and fun has been at a happy balance right now. So hooray. It'll be more fun when I'm over-scheduled again, but for now I'll enjoy having the fun. 

I'm now a CAT 3 road racer. Go me!

And that's that. Work, training, work, and fun have been my life right now. We'll see what these next few weeks bring. Send me the positive Master Plan vibes; I'll need 'em! I'll be sure to actually update more often.

Placer Valley Grand Prix: The End of the Season

Let's be real. We all want to win races. We all want to do some epic shit when we're racing, too. Breaking away, lapping the field, all of that awesome stuff. I've gotten honest with myself and realized that I'm not a rider to do such epic shit. Let's face it, I have more concussions than a professional football player thanks to breaking out horses, I'll most likely need hip replacement at 35 (again, thanks to horses), and I learned how to ride a bike at 21-years old. I'm not an extraordinary rider and to be more truthful, I'm usually the domestique. I like to ride bikes, and I'm happy doing so. Still... a person can dream of doing some epic shit during a race, right?

Scott working on my bike.

The last crit of the season was hosted by LeadOut Racing. It was a challenging and technical course. Everything I love, basically. This was definitely my last crit this year. I'm burnt out. I've been racing since January and my body is telling me to go to hell.

I rode the Women's 4 with Tamara. We were both nervous. I don't know why I've been getting nervous before crits. I guess I still have the crash in my head, especially on this course; some of those corners were effin' tricky. Also, my bike was having issues with shifting again, but Scott from The Hub was my pre-race hero and got me dialed in. Thanks, Scott! You're awesome! Either way, it was my last race, so it was going to be a fun one. But not only was it the last race, it was the first year my team put on this crit, so dude, have fun with it!

We didn't have many women signed up. Four women had signed up. More walk-ups came and we eventually ended up with nine. Okay, cool, at least we have some sort of race. We lined up, Tamara and I were goofing off because it's racing and it's fucking fun, okay? People who are too serious about this, chill out and have fun. Anyway, we asked the official if we were going to get a neutral lap. He said no. Er, everyone else has had a neutral lap, and with this course, we most likely need one. So, we were expecting to not have a neutral lap. When he blew the whistle, we ended up following the chase car into a neutral lap. Okay, I'm glad everyone is communicating well.

I'm glad we did the neutral lap, because I almost missed a turn. Some of the turns were sharp and sketchy... this was going to be a fun last crit.

The race started. My dumbass self got to the front again. After a lap, I decided to fall back a couple of places to get a wheel. Prime lap. A girl popped her tire and nearly crashed. I dodged her, caught back up to Team Revolutions, who led me out to the prime. I'M $50 RICHER, BABY! I sat back up to get back into the group, looked back, and realized, "Oh shit. I have a gap." That's when I heard past advice from Marissa Axell: the best time to do a break away is after a prime. You're ahead, if you have the legs, do it. Then I remember my coach saying to take the risk, all or nothing, just do it. Okay. I took off.

I kept going, just trying to get a big gap from the field. Bob Langley was marshaling one of the corners and after about 10 minutes into my break, I yelled at him, "Hey asshole, you better start yelling at me because I'm getting tired." And he did. Thanks for being an asshole, Bob! My teammates kept telling me my gaps. At one point, I had a 30 second gap, then an Early Bird chick brought it down to 11 seconds, but gave up. After that, I guess the pack gave up or something, and I kept gaining time on them. At one point,  I thought, "Shit, Tamara, block them for me!" Little did I know that she was definitely playing those games with the pack. How awesome is she?


Each lap I'd get times, teammates yelling at me, Matt yelling, "Hey Kasea, quit sucking!" Haha love it. I kept getting 40 seconds, a minute. What? A minute, really? I heard Scarlet, Asa, Frank, Brook, and a bunch of my friends kept cheering me on. I was deep in the pain cave. People were standing up to see this epic break away. Dude! How awesome. At one point I saw people timing me with their phones. I'm usually the person on the sidelines doing that! I've never had that happen.

Hugging the best teammate in the podium!

Three laps to go, and I just kept digging, because I was afraid that the pack would catch me. So I kept going. Two laps to go and I dug even deeper. On the final lap, I didn't let off my speed, but I heard Kevin say, "You have a minute-thirty on them!" I went through the maze type turns that the course had, entered the race way once again, and enjoyed the moment. That was it. I was able to win a race in an epic fashion. I never thought I would be able to pull off a breakaway like that. Tamara did a freaking amazing job at blocking the other girls.

Tamara had asked me how she could help me before the race. I told her if she could just lead me out to the sprint that it would be great, but she didn't have to do it. She said she would try. It's only her fourth crit so she's still learning tactics. We didn't plan for a breakaway and we didn't plan for her to block, but she executed everything perfectly. It felt awesome having a teammate work for me.

I saw the sprint, where Tamara did awesome, and then we hung out with friends after the race. Talked to my coach about it, and he was proud of me. I wouldn't have improved in my skill or fitness without him. He has witnessed my racing career since day one, was the one who taught me how to corner, be comfortable in a pack, etc. I'm lucky to have the best coach around. He's too humble to admit it, but we all know it's true. Actually, if it weren't for him, I'm pretty sure I'd still be severely injured and not able to ride a bike. I'm dumb like that.

The podium was great. Finally, I was able to step on the top step at a crit! The podium boy didn't do his job. It was disappointing to the point where I figure I should just call Chuck Hutcheson to be the podium boy. You know you had a pretty disappointing podium boy when you consider Chuck.

My moment!

So thanks, guys. This was a victory I never thought I would be able to pull off. Thanks to Bob for being an asshole and yelling at me throughout the race, all of my teammates for encouraging me and telling me the gap times, Scott for helping me with my bike before the race, Tamara for being the teammate of the year, and my coach for making me into a better rider. You gotta give my coach a lot of kudos, guys. He was able to teach me how to ride a bike in a race and let's face it, I suck at not falling. Also, big thanks to John Novikoff for organizing the race!




Since it was a LeadOut race, we stayed all day. I saw Mary Maroon win her race as well and shared a "recovery" drink with her. It was so strong, that I definitely forgot about the pain in my legs. Saw Chuck Hutcheson sort of win his race. After that podium, we cleaned up and I got distracted by a cowboy. I wish I had taken a picture of that. Finished the P/1/2 podium, cleaned up a bit, then went to Sam Horne's with Asa, Frank, my coach, his wife, and other teammates to celebrate a good season, a good race, and a possible new chapter in my life.



200 watt average power? I'll take it!


Epic shit, man. A ten-lap solo breakaway for a win and a one minute thirty second gap from the pack... That's definitely how a season should end.

Tough Mudder Tahoe (Big Mudder)

I've never had a desire to participate in a Tough Mudder. Everything about it is horrible. The distance, the obstacles, and the complete mental and physical challenge is brutal. Watching the videos is terrifying. One of my friends was going up to Tahoe and wanted company on the drive, so I said that I would go and watch the race. Let's face it, I can't just watch. Two of the team members had to bail out, so I had a free ticket in. I said, "Fuck it, I'm in."

I said this 3 days before the actual event.









I've never done anything remotely close to a Tough Mudder. I knew I had the cardio for it, but the strength for all of the obstacles? Uhhh, especially my upper body strength ('sup, I'm a cyclist), is shitty. I mean, really shitty. This was a 10K run (lol, more on that later). Let's keep in mind that since my polo horse accident, I've done one trail half marathon and the most I've ran since is 7 effin' miles. That's it. Shall we remember what my hip looked like after that accident?

The night after the accident.

Okay, so we head up to Truckee at 6 am. Jill and her brother are already up there, so we were to meet up with them at Northstar. Too bad that when we were about 10 minutes from the place, we got a text that said that the parking lot was 95% full. We call Jill and we decide to meet at Alpine where they have shuttles for the Tough Mudder. We meet there and we get on the bus. On the buss ride, I said, "It's only a 10K run. It'll be tough but not so bad, right?"

"Uhhh... it's not a 10K," Said Jill. "It's like, a 20K."

Oh fuck! I was doing the Big Mudder. I told Tamara that I hated her and that I'm going to suck at this because I haven't run that much!!! Look at my hip! Whatever, no turning back now, so I just sucked it up. As we got closer, I said, "I'm going to cuss like a drunken... drunk." We got to Northstar, registered, and went to the start line. Everything was really organized and freakin' awesome. Got a motivational talk, got effin' pumped, and we started the event. Let's also remind everyone that I'm a total chicken shit and I hate water, heights, and tight spaces. This is important. 

Before we started Tough Mudder.

 We start a long hike up the mountain. The hike turned out to be 6 miles up the mountain then 6 miles down, 20 obstacles. We ran what was reasonable to run and walked the super steep stuff. The first obstacle was crawling under barbed wire. This was intimidating, but we got through it. That set the mood. We were stoked, pumped, hyper. We were going to do this. One down, nineteen more to go. 

The next obstacle involved water. We were warned that if we couldn't swim to go around the obstacle. I can swim, I just freakin' hate water. Remember. I'm a chicken shit.


Not only is this obstacle water, we have to climb up a ledge and then jump into the water. What? Oh, crap. I climbed up. Jill and I were going together. I knew as I got to the ledge that if I hesitated once, it was over for me. The officer counted: Three, Two, One and down I went. And it was terrifying. We fell into ice cold water and I was not happy. I swam to the end, got out, and was shaking not just from the cold, but from the fact that I just did that. Two fears in one. No hesitation. Just go. Fuck you, fears.

We kept going up the mountain and some stuff was getting pretty steep. We get to other obstacles, not bad. Then we get to the "Artic Enema." We jumped into ICE. Had to go down a foot and a half in ice to get to the other side under a board, and jump back out. As I was trying to jump back out, I couldn't. My hip seized up. Jill was also having trouble getting out, so Tamara grabbed her. I was trying but failing at getting out, so Larry grabbed my right leg and pulled it out, which gave me enough leverage to get out of that ice. I got down the ledge and was seized up. I started to jump up and down, walked with a huge limp, then started to jog. 5 minutes and I was able to jog to the next obstacle. Team work at its finest there.

Each obstacle was getting more and more challenging. Not only were we hiking up a mountain, we were tested more and more on each challenge. We went through tubes that were half filled with water (hello, fear of tight spaces and water), we went through trenches which were freakin pitch black (ugh ugh ugh), we went through walls. Oh, the walls. So challenging and while some people were able to climb them on their own, we (except Larry), needed help. So Larry and another amazingly strong (and good looking) guy helped us up. Team work. It all worked like that. Complete strangers were helping each other as if we've known each other for years. We didn't care. We were going to get through this one way or another!

The scariest one for me was probably the "Spider's Web." We had to climb up a net, go over it, then climb back down. I hate doing that. I was talking to Tamara and I said, "Oh man, I don't know if I have the upper body strength to do this."
"Um, excuse me, ma'am. May I interrupt you?" A gentleman standing next to us said to me. Oh yeah, total military dude and he was so polite about interrupting us! "It's not your upper body, it's your lower body. Also, grab the vertical ropes; the horizontal ones give too much slack. You can do this!" Alright, Polite Dude, I'm gonna try.

I climbed up and I started to freak out. I got to the top and I said, "I can't do it." Tamara said I could. I started to freak out more. So people cheered me on. One guy climbing next to me saw I was freaking out and he said, "Hey! Kasea! I'm Chris. Let's do this! You can do it!" So I got over it. I climbed down. People congratulated me. I was in near tears. There was another fear conquered that day. I was shaking, I was scared, but I was really damn proud. Thanks to Polite Dude and Chris (whomever you guys are) for cheering and helping me like that!

More challenges. At this point we were going down the mountain. My hip was pissed off but whatever. I was so close to the end. We could hear the finish line. Two more obstacles. Only two more. So we went to them, we attempted, some of us couldn't complete them, some of us could. All in all, it was fucking awesome. 

I'm glad I did this. I didn't know I had it in me to run 12 miles and do 20 obstacles, some of which terrified me. The amount of team work we had, within our own team and with strangers was amazing. It gives me the chills just to think about it. Everyone should experience this at least once. I amazed myself. I never knew that I would be willing to put my body and my mind through such a challenge. While the cardio didn't affect me at all, it was all of the obstacles and the mental strain, having to conquer my fears, and actually going through all of the pain to conquer them that was the most tiring. I never knew that I would ever be able to complete something like this. I never trained for this, I just decided three days before the event that I would participate in this event, an event for an awesome cause. I just went for it, pretty blind as to what challenges I was going to face. I don't think people truly understand how proud I am. I conquered what I was afraid of, and as of right now, this is the proudest and best accomplishment I've had in my athletic career. This is nothing short of amazing to me. 

What's the aftermath of the event? Check these pictures out!

Definitely getting new shoes!

These are some of the bruises on my arm.

I know, my bruises compliment my horsey boxers well.

BAM! Trophies.

So, thanks, Tough Mudder, for challenging me, for helping me conquer so many fears in 12 miles, and for doing this for a great cause. I know I said I would never do this again, but Tough Mudder 2013 may be in my training plan... Miss Kay is going to get through this even stronger next time!

Dunnigan, Giro Di San Francisco, and Burning Out

I figured I should post something about my past few races or whatever. To say the least, I'm burnt out. At one point I didn't even want to ride my bike. In fact, I wanted it to go play in traffic. I told this to my coach and he gave me two weeks off the bike. I ran and went to the gym so I didn't become a huge fat kid.

I raced Dunnigan Hills 6 days after my crash at Fast and Furious. Was it smart? No. But I wanted to get that first race post-crash out of the way. The race was fine, nothing really exciting happened, until I couldn't use my left foot at 10 miles to go. I was basically pedaling with just one leg. I couldn't put any weight on it and at one point I thought that I had gotten a stress fracture. I stayed with the group, but I didn't sprint. Asa helped me hobble back to the truck and we left. I looked at the results and it said I DNP, to which I e-mailed the promoter and asked about the mistake. I didn't hear back from them for a week, when all of a sudden I get an e-mail from the chief official, telling me that I got 9th place. Cool. They fixed it. Not bad for only pedaling with one leg and not sprinting, eh?

Giro Di San Francisco:

Photo by Alex Chiu. 

 The Giro... oh man. I was a nervous wreck for that race. This was the first post-crash crit, and it's a decently technical course with a hill. I didn't sleep well at all the night before the race. A friend was nice enough to call me and give me some tips on the race, which calmed me down some, but I was still nervous. 

We got up at 4 freakin' AM and headed to the race. That was awesome. Especially since I didn't get much sleep because I was freaking out and because one of the cats loves to open and slam cupboard doors. Whatever, cat. I also had another cat decide that my butt was really comfortable so she slept on it. Awesome. I know I have a big ass but dude. Oh well. 

Anyway, we got to the race after two and a half hours of being in the truck. We registered, changed, warmed up, etc. I went for a few warm up laps and my bike was shifting very poorly. Crap. Where's that bike mechanic I need to start dating? 10 minutes before the race and I realized that my cable was too effin' tight to adjust. Okay. Frank helped me a bit and we got it as good as it was going to get before the race. Oh well. I did a few laps and got used to that shitty shifting and went on with the race. 

Photo by Alex Chiu. 

The hill in this course wasn't bad at all. It's the kind of hill that I'm able to power up. The difference this time? I'm now on a standard crank instead of my compact. I'm really liking the standard, but sometimes I just wish I had that little extra give when I'm climbing a tough hill.

I was pretty cautious in the turns. I didn't take many risks as I usually do because I was pretty nervous. I also had just ended that two-week break from the bike, so I was getting back into the swing of things. I sprinted for a prime and got it, which was pretty cool. Tamara also got a prime as did Asa. So we all went home with stuff. I like stuff.

The race was uneventful, really. I was just nervous, Tamara was super strong, etc. That was her third crit ever so it was awesome to see her race so strong.

Photo by Alex Chiu. 

Last lap and I'm ready for the race to be over. I got a bit more comfortable with my cornering but I always had that doubt; I didn't want to crash again. It amazes me at how nervous I was. I didn't think that the crash had affected me so much, but it did, and while I know it's normal, it's very frustrating.

I was in the back on the last lap but got to the front in on the back side of the course. I lost too much energy on the last two corners because I didn't pedal through, mostly because I was being extremely reserved in the turns. I sprinted and crossed the line in 7th place. So, I got a prime and top 10 on my first post-crash crit. I wasn't too upset about that.

Photo by Alex Chiu. 

 I'll eventually get over the cornering. I'm getting a bit more comfortable. My next and last race of the season is going to be the the Placer Valley Grand Prix, being hosted by LeadOut Racing. Come out, race, heckle, and enjoy the beer garden!

I won't lie; I'm looking forward to an off season.

The Big Announcement

Things have been in the works for me. Graduate school and career seeking is just around the corner. In the meantime, I've relied on my equestrian skills to get me through school and to pay the bills. I love it. Horses are a passion for me. I'm lucky to have two passions in my life; horses and bikes. Horses however, have gotten me through life, whether it's companionship, competition, leisure, and financially while bikes have been more fun (and a money leach; not that I mind!).

Road racing season is coming to an end, which means that weekends will be freed up a bit. Sad but good at the same time, because this opens up a lot of time for work.

I've been a traveling trainer for a few months. I'm happy to announce, however, that it has changed, and I'm now the trainer at Coulson Ranch in Granite Bay, CA! We're offering English, Western, Trail, and Dressage lessons, boarding, and training packages for your horse (and you!). It's a nice, fun place. Come out, check us out, feel free to call or e-mail me and ask any question or to make your next lesson appointment!

Click to make it larger!

Spread the word! For those of you who wanted my blog to include more of my horsey adventures, you're in luck! 

Fast and Furious: The Love Triangle

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Upcoming Events: Sacramento Cyclocross

Photo by Jeff Namba.

Okay, this is pretty much the time of the year we all look forward to. Whether you're a roadie or mountain biker, everyone loves cyclocross; it's the best of both worlds! For some, road and mountain bike season is used to prepare for cyclocross. For others, like myself, cyclocross is the off season, a time when we can still "race bikes" but it's simply for good fun, laughs, and beer. Yes, beer.

A lot of people ask me if I'm racing 'cross this season. My response is always, "if by racing you mean beer laps, then yes, I'm racing 'cross."

Cyclocross is all over, with some pretty big races in the Bay Area. Fear not, though, Bicycling Events puts on the Sac CX Series, a grass roots type races with technical courses (set up by Asa), timing by Gene at Time Your Race (yup, chips and all, people!), and a bunch of fun with different local teams and bike shops sponsoring different races.

Photo by Alex Chiu. 

Kids, adults, beginners, seasoned riders, professional riders... everyone is welcome to join in on the fun. We keep it in a fun, family-type atmosphere (whether your family consists of you, a spouse, and kids or just you and your pet pony). Everything out there is for smiles, laughs, and fun, and come on! Who can't have fun while riding a bike?

The race courses have a little bit of everything. Barriers, stairs, sand, grass, and most importantly, a lot of heckling. What's a cyclocross race without the heckling? And cowbell. We can never have enough cowbell.

Okay, so let's get into the real deal here. The Sac CX series schedule is up, so check it out and see how many races you can attend. You don't want to miss out on any of the fun, so come to at least a few, if not all of them. On the schedule page, you'll see the date of the race, the shop/team that sponsors that specific race, the location of the place (duh), and the times that the waves of riders start their race.

Photo by Jeff Namba.

Let's add a bit more to the fun. The Men's A and Women's A have a cash payout. While it won't make you rich, it will make you a little more famous and will give you some bragging rights.

Registration is now open for this series. For those of you who are too lazy to click the link, prices are:

Adults (this means 18 and over): $35 for the first race and $25 for each race after. Season passes are available at $180 online or $190 on race day.

Juniors (this means 17 and under): $20 for the first race and $15 for each race after. Season passes are available at $110 online or $120 on race day.

If you're a total bad ass and want to race two races, the second race is $10 for adults and $5 for juniors.

Photo by Jeff Namba.

Please bring your helmet to registration every single race. The price includes a bib number and a timing chip, which we put on your helmet. We need your helmet with the chip so we can register you for races. And, for the love of all the bike gods out there, keep your bib number and the chip on your helmet for the whole series. We can replace it, but it will cost you. Not much... but it will!

Okay it's like $5.

And maybe some beer for me, since, you know, I have to replace your stuff.

Photo by Jeff Namba.

The only issue we've had with chips is that other races use different companies to time their races. Gene at Time Your Race has his shit together, so his program filters other timing systems. If another series asks you to remove our chip, then tell them to get their crap together, too, and to at least help you out with the cost. It's 2012, people!

I mentioned this is a grass roots race, so a USA Cycling license is not required. Yay! It makes our life easier and your race cheaper.

Photo by Alex Chiu. 

We encourage goofiness and fun people.

Photo by Alex Chiu. 

We also encourage your own stunts for our amusement.

Photo by Alex Chiu. 

Photo by Jeff Namba.

So come out and race! You won't regret it, I promise. If you say that you didn't have fun at one of these races, then that just tells me that you don't have a soul.

A shout out to our local photographers for going out there and taking some of the best pictures you could ever see while you're out racing your bike. Alex Chiu, Jeff Namba, Dale Tapley, and Tim Westmore, to name a few!

Once again, if you're a Twitter user, follow our account @TimedRaces for quick updates.

Upcoming Events: Fall Flash

Photo by Brian Joder.

As many of you know, I work registration at a bunch of races put on by Bicycling Events. Prairie City was an absolute blast. People had fun, raced bikes, and had even more fun. Something similar to Prairie City is Fall Flash, a four-week series that we put on for some more dirty fun.

Fall Flash is as grass roots as it gets. It's going to be simple; you come, race your bikes, have fun, and go home. There are no awards. It's just racing for fun at the Prairie City State Park. You don't get another chance to ride this OVH park on your mountain bike unless you race with us.

Photo by Brian Joder.

The coolest thing about the race this year? We've added a new class, "First Time Racer." I know a lot of people shy away from racing due to faster guys passing them really, really (holy crap really) fast. We've all been there... I was there earlier this year and ended up winning my category in the spring series! This class will have a chance to race one lap around the course with the juniors. Even better, we're offering mentors during the race, so you can ask questions, improve your skills, and realize that you really want to keep racing mountain bikes. We want new racers to come out, have fun, and conquer some fears, whether big or small, and we're there to help you have the time of your life on your bike. Bikes are fun... Racing them is freakin' awesome! First time racers will be allowed to race in this category for all four races. We want you to have fun, gain experience, and become comfortable in a race. Yes, you will be racing against juniors, and yes, this means that a junior may beat you. That's okay... kids on striders kick my butt all of the time! It's about having fun on bikes!

Our race categories. Click to enlarge. 

Registration is now open. On the left are the classes that we are offering. Like I said, it's a smaller, "grass roots" type of race. Low key, to have fun, etc. Prices are $25 for the first race and $20 for the rest for adults, and $25 for the first race and $10 for the rest for juniors. Just as with the Prairie City Spring Series, we don't require a USA Cycling race license.

Races are on August 22 and 29, and September 5 and 12 (all Wednesdays). The Juniors/First Time Racers wave (1 lap) goes off at 5:45pm. Other waves go off at 6pm. Beginners do 2 laps, Sport 3 laps, and Experts 4 laps. As far as miles, it depends on the course each week.

There are more events to come, so keep tuned! If you're a Twitter person, follow our account @TimedRaces to get updates on when registration opens for some of our other events, such as the Sacramento Cyclocross Series and Folsom Rodeo Cross. More to come soon, so stay tuned!

Menlo Park Grand Prix

I wasn't originally going to do this race, but Asa bribed me into it so she could have some help in the crit. It didn't really take much. Before I knew it, I was out at the Menlo Park Grand Prix, checking out a bunch of lovely beautiful legs awesome bike racing and enjoying the day.

I'm too young to race any of the championship classes. Ten years too young. Sucks being a puppy, but hey, my parents had not met (and lived in different countries) nor were old enough to even think about having a child.

Asa raced the championship class at 1pm, which was cool to watch. It was an all-category race, so Asa was racing against some tough women, including the freakin' awesome Mary Maroon (have I mentioned she's pretty much my freakin' hero?), who won the race... and then won the P/1/2!

Photo taken by Team Mom, Cab!

After Asa's first race, we hung out for a while. Someone was driving by us and said hi (or probably some dirty comment), so we look up, and it was Cab and Tamara! Awesome surprise! Asa, Tamara, and I warmed up and Cab played team mom and helped us out a bunch. Thanks for being team mom, Cab!

The race was a W4 and a W4 35+ combined crit but we were picked separately. We lined up, had some chit chat (basically looked like a bunch of parakeets at the start line because, as women, we don't stop talking), and we went off.

It was a good race. The course is long for a crit (1.2 miles) and the backside was really windy. There was only one sort of technical chicane, which really wasn't that bad. Two long straightaways, long sprint at the end. We had a few hot laps with primes, which I got two (wine and a certificate to a cyclocross clinic). I'm a prime ho.

A Pacific Crush girl did an attack, to which I reacted to, when on my right I hear Breana Hill from UC Davis (whom I know through collegiate racing) say, "C'mon Kasea. I owe you one anyway" (story: I was gassed out at Conference in Reno so I gave her a leadout). I followed her, we caught Pacific Crush, I looked back and told Breana, "Shit go go go! We have a gap!!!" And we booked it. 3 laps to go, we had a gap. 2 laps to go. Gap. Holy shit, maybe we can pull it off, but Breana was gassed and I couldn't pull it off on my own, especially with how windy the back side was. We got caught at about 3/4 of a lap to go. Damn.

It was a risky move. I knew that if the move was to fail, we'd be gassed at the end and we wouldn't have the sprint. We surprised the field, that's for sure, but in the end we got caught, we took the risk of not having enough legs for the sprint. I rolled through the finish line in 7th place.

I can't say I'm super happy, but hey, this is only the second time I tried a ballsy move like this and the longest I've ever been able to stay on a breakaway. We were close to it, Breana and I have worked together in collegiate races before and we were able to organize ourselves enough to pull such a risky move. I'm actually really happy we were able to do that. You don't see many of those moves in the W4s.

After the race, there was a mixup. Asa got put in the wrong category; instead of being put in the 35+ W4s (which she would have won), she got put in the open W4s (in which she got third). She protested because it was a registration error, but the USAC officials decided to keep results as they were originally placed.



We'll see what the future brings. I'm not sure if being able to pull off moves like these are good or not. My next race is either Fast and Furious or Dunnigan Hills. We'll see what the results are in those.