I finished 3rd today, in the Red Rocks Race at a state park off 470. I think it was called Bear Creek Park. It was a pretty cool place. The course was nice and Mtn Bikey. It started uphill into a sandpit, then descended briefly into a sandy, dirt technical section, before a long climb ( a run up ) into a flat piece of land, that could be seen as double track if you stretched your imagination a bit. The course, happily descended into some uphill barriers and off camber hills.... and then back to the climb. I loved the course. I did a few warm up laps, and then waited patiently at the start, so I would have a good starting position. The race started, the girl next to me veered into my path, so I had to put my foot down. I started passing people on the sand, and hung on during the single track to continue passing people on the run up. Boy did all my running in Chattaqua over the summer come in handy. I felt happy and content, and rode myself into second place behind Judy Freedman. Judy is a pro mtn biker, and I figured all I could do was try to keep up with her. She got a good 40 second gap on me, and kept it for a number of laps. I began loosing my cool, after the third lap, and a mtn biker from Tokyo Joes who had been sitting on my wheel for a while, jumped ahead on the concrete climb by the start. I stayed a few seconds behind her for the remainder of the race. By the last lap, I was trying so hard to catch her, I was stumbling up the run up. I got my composure back together, and continued to power through in control. Although I was out of breath when I finished, and ready for some water, I didn't want to let the experience go. So, it was a blast.

This past weekend, Justin Torrellas and I packed up and headed to Frisco for some cross racing and cold weather. The weather wasn't really bad. Just really invigorating! For me, the first race of the weekend, was an intense battle to the end. I got off to a bad start, and picked my way past people. The course was nice and suitable to people like me who spend a lot of time mountain biking. It had a nice climb, and an easy descent, which switch backed around into a stretch of lawn, and a loopy little technical section that left you with more lawn and barriers before you began climbing again. It was a hard race, with Kelly Emmit, Ann Trombley, and Del Star taking the top three spots. I ended up in ninth. But it sounds a bit worse than it was, because there were so many great riders in the race. Justin warmed his legs up to cyclocross in the Men's 3s race. That was won by Georgia Gould, who has catted up to a pro-man. She had quite a lead over eveyone. It was insane. Justin and I stayed in Copper, at the schwanky resort. The place is sort of desolate because it's the off-season. They blast music on the PA system in the morning, for what reason??!#!? we were not sure. We both crashed pretty early. I guess the mtn biker chicks wore us both out. It was suposed to snow overnight. There wasn't much of a dangerous amount of snow on the ground in the morning, however. I was thankful to that. I am kind of still warming up to the idea of snow around here. The summer just flew by, and I need some cold days before I ride through the snow, I think. Race number two of the weekend was a bit more technical. There was a good sandy hill, that I couldn't figure out how to ride up. The sand was right into the corner.... you rode down a descent, and took a left into the sand and up the berm. I finally figured out how to do it during the race.... next time. I ran up the thing. There were some nice rocky descents, sand, gravel, a good off camber into a sharp corner, and log jumps. The course was really well done. I thought it was going to snow, so I put on three layers including my jacket. I was hot while I was racing, and wished I could strip off a few of them. I again, got a bad start... I'll have to work on those. I quickly got up front, although it took some riding off the single track and onto the rocky edge of the course. That was fun, though. Amy Dombroskie shot up front. I sat in fourth for the majority of the race. I guess if I could have ridden up that berm, I would have made up some time. I ended up fourth. There were a lot less people there. Tiffany P. was ahead of me, yesterday, while I got her on Saturday. A girl with fresh legs took second. I am currently ahead in the standing for best all around cross racer in Colorado, in the Women's Open, according to the ACA. I like this, because I've been racing so much. It probably won't last for too long, because I will go race some USGP cross, and miss some local races. Cool, though. Next weekend is Gunnison Cross, in the beautiful town near Crested Butte. Can't wait!

I drove the four hours to Gunnison, CO, on Saturday morning to race. I barely got there an hour before the race. I had to pull some crazy highway maneuvers. I don't like it when people do these, if I am in a calm mood. I'm like, what's up? Why in such a rush? Problem, is, when I am late somewhere, I think everyone should get out of my way, or face some sort of curse. It was way too early to get up, but I was psyched to race. I blew my legs out the first few laps. The course was grass, mostly, with a bunch of switchbacks. Girls kept getting in front of me and crashing. This was most annoying. I chased Ann Lennan, Laura Kropsch, and a Trek regional rider around until I wore out. I think I ended up 6th, or somewhere around there. I really enjoyed all the cornering, I just wasn't mentally prepared for this sort of course. Anyways, it was way fun. I also enjoyed being in the Mtns, again. My doggie barked for me as I rode around. We stayed in a dive of a hotel. I wish I could have seen the place before I forked over the money for the night. The #s on the phone stuck, so you couldn't call out, easily.... the TV was small and didn't get much in the way of clear reception..... the coffee maker was moldy, and nothing you would dare to drink out of! But I slept for 11 hrs. I must've been in need of that nights sleep. I grabbed some coffee at the super-hip coffe/ breakfast joint, The Bean, in Gunnison. I drooled over the veggie breakfast burrito, but when I got to the ordering part, they said, they couldn't make it vegan. ???#!?$? At least they had soy milk. Counted my blessings. The forcast called for snow. Rumors were anywhere between seven inches to a light dusting. I was relieved that there wasn't even a light dusting, but just rain. The course was nice and slick. It required being gentle in the corners, and gunning it on the straight sections. I got off to a nice start, faded back to sixth, and crunched to get myself up front, into fifth. I wanted to race, not to contemplate life in the corners. Ann and Laura bailed due to a broken seat post, and a flat... respectively. I really enjoyed the technicality of the course. It was good to my mtn bike skills, and the fact that I have been working on my cornering. With one lap to go, the girl in second crashed into a corner, and I happily rode by. I really wanted that spot. Pain is not real, I thought to myself. Perhaps it's not. Definitely it wasn't as bad as I made it seem sometimes. Anyways, in truth, pain IS temporary. I happily rode as hard as I could to finish second. I finished second overall for the weekend, and received $40 in cash, and a gift certificate for a free pair of shorts. They will mail out prizes they said, for the Omnium. I should have done pretty well in that. I don't know how they are doing the points. I'm probably first or second, in that. The girl from Trek was first both days this weekend, but the Omnium counts the races last week in Frisco, too. The drive home was a little trecherous. There was snow by the Monarch trail. The road was snowy for a bit, and made me nervous. The rest of the drive was rainy and snowy. I listened to Mindy Smith and Jewel on my ipod/ tape/ car stereo hook-up. Thought about how much I love Colorado, the mtns, the nice people, and the sense of freedom and vastness, that I feel here. Willow slept with her nose on my messenger bag, and kept me company.

The showdown at the Broomfield CX course went down, yesterday. If you've ever raced cross in Boulder, you KNOW it's a big deal! The day was perfect! The fall colors, beautiful....... everyone and their mother was there. The course was the way it usually is. I think I've got it dialed in, now. The new part of the course was a majorly steep run up, that was muddy and slick. You careened (or I did, others may have more control, and looked swifter at it) into a big muddy puddle and then into the run up. The course then had some easy corners and dove into a sweet technical section, that kept you on your toes. Powered into a cool berm, and some muddy grass that required major power..... straight pavement into a technical barrier section. One hill barrier, into a hill remount, then sand pit, then short grass section into some barriers, before a hill that dove back to the grass section, where major power again was required to get around some tight corners, and an off camber before the muddy run up, again. The barrier section was weird, because you wondered if you should bother to remount and peddle, or if it would be quicker to just run?! I did the remount/ peddle method. My warm up went great, although it's hard to warm up during the Cat 3s race, because the field is stung out, and it's a challenge to stay out of people's way, while getting in a warm up. Then, I felt there was a rock in my shoe, 10 minutes before the start of my race. I tried to undo my buckle, and it wouldn't unlock the tab completely. So, I pulled my shoe off, got out the pebble, and then in an effort to unclog my buckle, I cranked it up to the tightest. Not a smart move! It was stuck! I got my shoe over to the Boulder Cyclesport tent, and the mechanic there unscrewed the thing, and then had me put the shoe on, and screwed it back in! Fantastic! I gave him a big hug, and got to staging just in time for my call up. I got called up first, because I am first in the Best All Around Rider contest, currently. This is determined by the local races. I got off to a good start, and was peddling happily in 4th, when on the second lap, I slipped on the run up and couldn't get back up, because I kept slipping. My bike had me pinned to the hill, and I could hear everyone running by. This is close to the weirdest thing that has happened to me in a race. I had to wait till the hungry pack rode by, and unpinned myself by sliding my bike from on me, to the right, where I could manage to get to my feet. I was disappointed to loose my spot, and at least a minute. But I got back in and fought myself up to near my previous position, eventually. This took some technical savey, and a lot of effort. I found the best way to run up that hill was to take the far right line, and stay on the remaining grass, there. I worked on taking my corners more agressively, and really sprinting out of everything I could. I think I ended up top ten. They haven't posted results, yet. It was a good thing to learn that I can take a spill, and get back in and catch back up. Judy Freedman was almost mine, and got me by a second at the line. She's been farther ahead of me this season, at every other race. So, I am stoked I almost got her. I spent the pro-mens race taking pictures, while Brandon took names. He won by a major margin. Today it is snowing, and I feel like getting charged up for the USGP races in KY next weekend. There's a race I'm skipping in Evergreen, about an hour away. This is probably the first of many storms this winter. Re-charging... re-charging.....