Out but not down

I may have been out of the race scene for six weeks after TSE, but I wasn’t down.  Well to be honest my initial reactions to being out of action were filled with why me’s and why now’s. Well it turned out not to be dreadful.  It was pretty much the most pleasant summer I have had in years.  The rest did me wonders and now I am back at it fresher than ever.  Following is a short top ten list of my time back in the saddle:

          10.       Southern Michaux trail rides with cupcakes to get the skills back.

9.      My S works epic.  It helped soften the ride.

8.      TNW rides to get the top end running

7.      Curse of Dark Hollow, Michaux PA 1^st place.  Great test of how my injury would respond to the demands of technical riding.  Thank goodness for my specialized epic.  It was a grand day of riding and hanging with friends.

6.     Wilderness 101, Coburn, PA 1^st place.  Yikes, that was hard.  Again my bike was the bomb and my body responded well to the distance.

5.     Houseboats and the Allegripis Trail system.  Pure fun and enjoyment. 

4.     Rattling Creek 50, Lykens, PA 1^st place.  Super fun, fast, and techy.  Best prize swag which included Toasted Head Wine. 

3.     Bear Creek, PA 1^st place  PA state champion

      2.     New Hampshire 100.  Old School raw trail system, great venue, perfect B&B, a race weekend turned holiday.

      1.     Planning my trip to Fools Gold.  Cheryl Sornson - WINNER - Fresh for the EPIC battle

Pills

Some are small, chewable and manageable; others are sized for a horse and hard to swallow.  Injuries are similar to pills. This season I was given a horse pill injury to swallow.  The kind that takes awhile to fully accept how traumatic it really is.  The kind that hurts so deeply it reminds you how old you are and leaves you wondering if you’ll have to live with the pain forever.  Ok, I am exaggerating just a bit.  I did not need surgery and I wasn’t immobilized with a cast or anything, however when movement, breathing, sleeping, and a beating heart hurt it sucks.

I was in a race and went to pass a rider, however the rider turned into me rather than giving trail.  I ended up off trail to avoid collision.  Once off trail my pedal hit something and I hit the ground harder than I ever have.  It was weird because it definitely was not high speed or anything.  My head hit first and fortunately my helmet did its job but sustained life ending damage.  Next up my shoulder, upper back and hip hit the ground as I tried to roll out the fall.  As I hit all my body weight compressed and I heard this horrible CRACK.  All the oxygen left my body and could not be replaced for what seemed liked forever. 

This all happened the weekend summer officially started for me.  What a disappointing welcome I initially thought.  It turns out that it wasn’t such an unwelcome entrance. Despite my pain and worry that it wouldn’t go away, I began to feel thankful things weren’t worse.  There are far worse injuries amongst our ranks that others are dealing with or have dealt with.  Yes I would miss some key races, but it gave me the freedom to relax and enjoy the beauty of my home along with the pleasant company of my family and friends without any expectations or pressures.  I swallowed the pill, let go and allowed myself to heal in more ways than I knew I needed.

Fun times

Waking up for work this morning was pretty rough.  I guess the dream I had about riding in the TSE epic, winning three stages and taking the overall wasn't just a dream after all.  It is a strange feeling when 7 days of racing your mountain bike are over and you return to the normal routine of life.  My normal routine does involve bike riding, but not to the extent of last week.  I am now back to being a mother, back to being a wife, back to caring for my two dogs, back to work, and back to all the other details of life off the bike.  As hard as the racing was it was a treat to only focus on one thing.  I treasure the time I spent at the TSE meeting new people, pushing my limits, and enjoying an extremely well run event.  Big kudos to Ray Adams and Mike Kuhn. 

photo credit TSE

We all won last week.  Congrats to all and a big congrats to my teammate Kaitlyn Broadhurst.  You are a huge inspiration to us all.  Keep rocking sister! 

photo credit TSE

Next up will be Lumberjack 100.  Until then I'll be recovering with some serious couch time!

Conquering the mind

One more day


Trans-Sylvania Epic, Stage 6: Rothrock Tussey Mountain

Conquering the mind

Well its down to one more day. I can definitely say I am ready for it. It has been a tough week. Probably more mentally than physically.

My body is sore and tired, but my mind is extremely tired. It is such a battle to put yourself in the mindset to crush yourself each day. It could be so easy to let the sensibility of the mind allow you to slow down.

"Yo, ya know you really don't have to ride that fast. It hurts you fool, slow down. No, No don't you dare go after that wheel.".

I beat my mind down and stayed focused for the course. I won the stage today and continue to keep the leader's jersey. .

We missed the storms during today's ride, but will pay for it with sunshine and MUD tomorrow. Mountain biking is so much fun!.

Our camp has had two mascots all week: Jeb and Molly. So calming to reach down to pet them and allow them to remind you how simple and fun life can be. .

Off to bed. Sweet dreams...



Cheryl Sornson may have the GC locked up
Photo: © AELandes Photography



Up, coffee, feed, gather, race, rinse, repeat

Up, coffee, feed, gather, race, rinse, repeat


Trans-Sylvania Epic, Stage 5: R.B. Winter State Park

In the groove at the Trans-Sylvania Epic

Cherries

That was the subject line of an e-mail from my husband, Lee. HMMM, wonder what that is about. Well it turns out that the cherry trees on our property are booming with lovely yummy cherries. I miss home.

Hump day is over, and I am excited about the last few days of this race. It has been a tough one. I know that I am a strong rider, but it is hard to accept that I am elite enough to be where I am right now. I truly have to fight back thoughts of not belonging and only being lucky. Some of the other ladies have some pretty impressive backgrounds that give them a fighting edge. I hope to be aggressive and competitive enough to pull this through.

However, I bet no other rider got a phone call and an e-mail from their 12-year-old son to discuss the pros and cons joining band or chorus next year in school. He is not feeling it and this Mom believes it to be important. Recently he has gotten the mountain bike bug and is all about it. It could be easy to let riding and competing take over your life. I like balance.

Yesterday's stage took some fight out of all of us. It was supposed to be a little lighter, but it took a lot of energy. People are tired and sore. It was also a lot of mud to deal with. Sorry bike and mechanics.

The routine of stage racing is taking over and draining as well. Up, coffee, feed, gather, sign in, race your heart out, rinse, repeat. It's the rinsing and repeating that is the toughest. Although we here at the CF compound have some luxuries there are some that are missing like a laundry. Should have spent that extra dime on the service. Fortunately the sting of the race is soothed with the summer camp atmosphere and attitude of all involved. Especially that Ray Adams character, all you have to do is look at his shirt and your reminded that this is vacation. The venues always offer a lake or pond to cool the stress of the race and tell war stories with your comrades. It truly is a summer camp for mountain bikers. Definitely worth the week off of work.

I again have to give kudos to our mechanics. They have been dealing with a lot of bikes. There has been broken wheels, broken bikes, tires to change and everything else thrown in between. While I'm tucked in for the night they are still working. They always wake up with a smile and never complain of their chores. We are very lucky to have Shane and Matt taking care of us.

Well today I broke the curse and took the stage win and added five minutes on my overall GC lead. I hooted and hollered when I crossed the line. Thankfully Zach Adams was there to share in my short lived glory. Oh and our sweet Kaitlyn again finished a stage. Truly inspirational.

Cheryl Sornson (Team CF) extended her lead

Photo: © AELandes Photography

 

Slipping and sliding around Raystown


Trans-Sylvania Epic, Stage 4: Raystown Lake

Keeping the GC lead during a slick stage 4


We woke up to beaytiful skies and cool temperatures. Too bad it rained like hell last night.

Muddy girls after stage 4
Photo credit © Jennifer Smith

Raystown was slick today. I never equated those trails with mud, but now I know. It made for more resistance, lots of slippy sliding, and a total mud bath for body and bike.

Regardless of the mess, the trials at Raystown provide lots of fun twisty pump track style terrain that puts a smile on your face. Well that is until the momentum ends and the course sends you up a grassy climb.

I continue to hold the leaders jersey, but lost about 15 seconds to Sue Haywood. She won the stage by pulling a great super D finish. It is sort of a repeating story. I hope to make it different tomorrow.

Tomorrow is a short stage, but a technical one that will wear you out.

Kaitlyn (Team CF) speaks about her team and what it's like to race with cystic fibrosis

Our Epic team, Team CF, continues in first place with key rider Kaitlyn finishing yet another stage. Her rides are much more exciting than ours. Today our team mechanics teamed up with her for her last lap around Raystown. They had a blast. She has been absolutely amazing. She is so full of life and keeps us all smiling. At awards tonight she talked to the crowd about how our team was created and why. Most importantly she discussed how important it is for those with CF to exercise in order to keep their lungs functioning properly. She thanked the bicycling community for their support and she is proud to be a part of it.

The women's podium on the Raystown Lake stage

A measured approach

A measured approach

Trans-Sylvania Epic, Stage 3: Bald Eagle Coburn

Day 3 proves tough but there's plenty left in the tank

Spin, Spin, Spin… Today involved a lot of pedaling. It was a road stage for sure. It involved scenic country gravel, pavement and some singletrack mixed in. A dry day, but the sun was out in full force turning the heat on us.

I woke up feeling a bit uneasy. I wasn’t sure what the day would have in store. Fortunately, I got a good start and settled out with only Sue Haywood. Another day of us working it out together was in store. We were able to work with a group and then in the last five miles we took off together and wished for the finish to be soon.

Time for some post race recovery

The finish included a bit of downhill singletrack where Sue was able to put the hammer down on me. I stayed close and finished a few seconds back. Would have been nice to win the stage, but I did defend the leaders jersey. I hope to be able to do the same tomorrow. I’m getting tired as I am sure we all are. Today, although we raced I do believe I was able to conserve a bit to put out later in the week. Each day left includes some technical, skilled riding. I’ll need to be focused and recover well.

Lots of cool happenings around Camp CF. Today is Dr. Jim Wilson’s birthday (he is the founder of team CF). We helped him celebrate with Little Debbie’s shortcake rollups. He celebrated his birthday with a third place finish today in the Men’s 50+ category. Our Epic Team is also in first place.

Dr. Jim Wilson celebrates his birthday

Team CF on top

Kaitlyn has finished each stage so far and our mechanics continue to do an awesome job keeping up with all the bikes and working the feed zones each day.