Monday, June 30, 2008

FORCs go International


There is mountain biking in Taiwan , and Kerry managed to get invited to enter a race under a local team’s banner – 2nd in the over 30’s – on a truly hideous day, on a borrowed bike.
The Forcs go global…

Kerry's looking forward to seeing everyone at 24-9 as she'll be back in the states.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Tuesday Road Rides

I finally got out for my first Mad FORCs Tuesday ride last night. For those of you who haven't been on one yet all I can say is that you need to get in on the fun! This week it was Diane, Deb, Michelle R, and myself and we headed to the lovely Goodland Park and back.

Now I showed up for this ride with too few miles on the bike and legs that were tired from too much running and rollerskiing. However, it can be hard to concede that you are no longer a biker when hanging with your teammates. To that end I knew I would need to employe every trick I've learned in my days as a "roadie" to hang on to this ride.

Here's some tricks for those of you who might have few miles on the bike but a strong desire to look like you've been riding:

1. The most important thing you can do to ensure that you look like you've been putting in chamois time is to always (and I mean absolutely always) ride on Diane's wheel. The more wind the more you must never let anyone else on her wheel. Diane is taller and broader shouldered which translates to a killer draft. This works double for me as I can get an amazing draft and since I have very narrow shoulders I give a very small draft which adds to the sensation that I'm fit. This proved to be my saving grace last night!

2. Try to always be at the front of the group when you get to a hill. This serves two purposes: 1. You get to set the tempo and you can set it at a pace you can survive. 2. If someone passes you and increases the pace you can still fall off the pace and remain in the group since you are starting at the front.
*As a sidenote, if you can't be at the front at the hill then do whatever you can to make sure Deb isn't as she can set a blistering pace by slowly inching up the pace and leaving everyone in the dust. Ouch!

3. If you don't have the fitness for the hills then you better work double time on your descending skills because you're going to need them if you don't want to be feeling sad and spit out the back.

4. Keep your time at the front of the group short and sweet. Although Diane wouldn't cut me any slack in my attempts to not pull through it can be beneficial to try and time things. As mentioned taking a pull on the hill is good so you can set your own tempo. Pulling downhill with the wind at your back is also a sweet move. Taking the pull right before a stop sign and then kindly rotating to the back as you clear the intersection can be a nice move as well.

I've got a few more tricks but I think I better keep them to myself or I'll find myself at the front of the group taking a long pull into a hard wind!

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Family Night at the Time Trials

What an event it was! Racers, kids, dogs, people jumping off the new jumps and total craziness everywhere you looked. The grill was going and the night was action packed.

A few shots from the evening:



















Monday, June 16, 2008

2008 Women's Dirt Retreat

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What an amazing weekend! It was so fun to hang out with all the great gals who came as participants and as instructors. Here's some photos of the weekend.