12 Hours of Mesa Verde-2013

Once again Shannon and I loaded the car and traveled out of state for yet another bike race.  This time it was to Cortez, Colorado for 12 Hours of Mesa Verde.  Shannon and I teamed up for our third attempt to win the race and chase after our coveted goal of nine laps.  We finished second in 2009 and 2012, both times barely missing the cutoff time for a ninth lap.  This year not only did we win the co-ed duo category (where Shannon and I team up and alternate laps relay style on the 16-mile course), but we also completed nine laps for a total of 144 miles.

Here's how it went down:  Actually, it almost didn't go down.  As I mentioned in my Whiskey50 post, Shannon had an allergy flare up in Prescott which turned into a full fledged sinus something.  Not only did he barely ride his bike in the week leading up to Mesa Verde, he was still on antibiotics.  I was okay with staying home, but Shannon, being a bit stubborn, insisted we race.  So, after work Thursday, we loaded the TDI with 3 bikes and Dizzy and drove the 3.5 hours to Moab for the night.  The following morning we rolled into Cortez before noon to burn a lap on the racecourse.  I had packed my beloved Pivot Les hardtail race bike as well as my brand spanking new Pivot 429carbon full suspension bike.  I was honestly torn as to which bike I should race.  My hardtail is so fast, but the dualie is sooo fun.  In the end, I decided to race both, but I'll get to that in a minute.  First, with the exception of a little hiccup, Friday's pre-ride was amazing.  Even though I have raced Mesa Verde twice before, I had forgotten just how fun the course is!  We ripped a lap and then I took Dizzy out to burn some puppy energy.  This is when the little hiccup occurred, one minute Dizzy was running behind me, the next he was gone.  I'm sure he just got distracted for a split second, but I was worried.  Some other racers pre-riding stayed on lookout while I rode back to the parking lot where I thought perhaps he got distracted.  Well, he eventually turned up on the trail where I lost him.  Thank you Tara and Chris for helping me find the little bugger.  Good thing he's so darn cute because he was in big trouble!

Naughty hound puppy

Back to the racing.  Saturday morning we woke up at the butt crack of dawn to eat before the 7AM start.  Shannon was to go first which made me especially happy because it was a LeMans start.  A couple hundred bike racers in carbon soled shoes running a 1/4 mile or so to their bikes is a pretty hysterical sight.

The LeMans start

Shannon is not much of a runner and he was about midpack by the time he got to his bike.  He then had a couple of miles of dirt road to pass as many racers as possible before funneling into singletrack for the remaining 13 miles of the lap.  Shannon's first lap put us into 4th place and I was a bit worried that he wasn't feeling well.  As he came through the transition area, I grabbed the baton clothespin and took off not wasting a single second to exchange words. My goal: to make up as much time as possible. My lap went relatively smoothly and I was able to pick off 2 racers putting us into second place.  After my lap, I checked out the real time standings.  We were in 2nd place by about a minute.  Not a large margin to overcome, especially with 9+ hours of racing left, however Shannon's first lap was six minutes slower than the leading team's male rider and I was only five minutes faster than their female.  If those margins stayed consistent we would finish second yet again.  Fortunately, Shannon was feeling fine and he put in a strong second lap putting us just a couple of minutes behind the leading team.  I was able to overcome this deficit my second lap to pull us into the lead.  For the remaining six hours, we both stayed consistent and by the end of the day had about an hour lead on second place.  We finally won 12 Hours of Mesa Verde and perhaps more importantly achieved our 9 lap goal which meant Shannon had to go out for a fifth lap.  Hehe, poor Shannon:)

Now to the bikes:  Pivot Les versus Pivot 429Carbon.  Honestly, it is a toss up.  I rode the Les for my first lap.  It is so light and stiff that it is a huge advantage on the climbs.  I absolutely love racing this bike.  I switched to the 429Carbon dualie for my second lap.   The full suspension was so smooth and effortless through the rock sections plus it was just plain fun to launch over roots and rocks.  In the end, due to the nature of the course, I stuck with the 429.  The fun factor and smooth riding over six hours of racing won out!

Whiskey 50

Even though two years, three months, four days have passed since my diagnosis, for some reason I am always drawn back to 2011.  This weekend was no exception.  In 2011, prior to my diagnosis, I had pre-registered for two events.  The first, 12 Hours of Mesa Verde, I conquered last year.  This weekend, Shannon and I traveled to Prescott, Arizona for the other, The Whiskey 50.  I have done this race in the past, but not since it started offering a HUGE prize purse and drawing the fastest and deepest pro women's field in the country this year including an Olympic medalist and World Champ.  

We drove the 9.5 hours straight through on Thursday.  With good company (my hubbie) and a fast car (VW TDI), the drive went by quickly.  Prescott is an interesting town.  Although in Arizona, Prescott is definitely a mountain town sitting at >5000 feet elevation with lots of unique shops, restaurants, and bars lining downtown.  Instead of having a Main Street, Prescott has Whiskey Row, which is appropriately named; from what I could tell there is a lot of partying in Prescott.  Saturday night, Shannon and I took a walk downtown before bed.  There was a live concert and people drinking and stumbling along the street.  It reminded me of the rowdy late night walks back to the dorms in college although in Prescott this was the scene at 8:30 at evening!

Our lodging was this super cool retro lodge a short bike ride from the race venue.  It really was quite cool and very comfortable.  I wish I had photos.  Immediately upon arrival Shannon's allergies and chronic sinusitus flared up.  Cough, hack, sneeze, blow all weekend long.......

Racing started Friday evening for me with the fat tire crit.  I don't have a lot of experience racing or riding in large groups on the road so I was quite nervous.  The course consisted of two short super steep hills followed by a ripping descent, repeat for 20 minutes +3 laps.  Lots of rowdy fans lining the course and cheering us on.  Besides a bottleneck around the first corner, things spread out quickly enough that the racing seemed safe and since the course either went straight up or down drafting wasn't a big issue.  I had a bit of a slow start, but was catching and passing racers each lap before I eventually was pulled.  Although I am not exactly sure of my placing as results are incorrect, I was satisfied with my performance.

Racing my MTB on the road in the Fat Tire Crit

Saturday I supported Shannon during his Singlespeed race.  Unfortunately he succumend to his allergies.

Sunday was the Pro race.  Fifty miles, some 7000+ feet of climbing, an open course, and $40,000 on the line.  The Pro Men went off at 8:30 and the women followed ten minutes later.  Despite the relatively early morning start, the streets were lined with hundreds of spectators cheering us off.  Apparently folks in Prescott are so good at partying that they don't get hung over!

The start of the women's pro race

Locals cheered from their lawn chairs as the race parade traveled from Whisky Row up to the mountain trails where the real racing began.  Once the speed quickened, I couldn't stick with the leaders while maintaing a 50-mile sustainable pace, and I admittedly flailed on the steep climbs with logs and loose downhills, however I eventually did find my racing rhythm and was having a really, really, REALLY good time.  As we approached the Skull Valley turnaround I was feeling well hydrated and ready to make some moves on the pivotal 13 mile climb back.  That was until my tire started hissing.  Long story short: found hole large enough to stick my finger through in the tread of my tire, took excruciatingly long to put a tube in, this random piece of metal fell out of my tire,

tube valve stem was flawed and tube wouldn't inflate, ran out of air and out of options as I watched the racers go by.   Since the race was an out-and-back to Skull Valley, I saw the leaders of the race and was super psyched to see some of my Utah friends racing at the front.  Huge shout out to Evelyn and Erica!  Eventually a nice man sweeping the course with an off-road go-cart came along and offered to give me a ride to Skull Valley.  Knowing that this would mean the end of my race, I was reluctant to accept the help, but I was out of options.  I graciously took the ride and then got another ride back into town where I met Shannon.


Although disappointed and frustrated with my race, at the end of the day, if the worst thing that happens is I get a flat tire, while being healthy and strong enough to race my mountain bike at a fantastic event, on superb trails, with super awesome women, it is still a pretty good day!  And while I did not conquer Whiskey 50 in 2013, I'm not one to give up easily.  On our way out of town we made reservations for 2014.  Redemption!

Triple, Double, Single

Way back five whole weeks ago, when I first got my Pivot Les bulletbike, I had hoped to build it with my brand new XX1 drive train.  Unfortunately the driver I needed to make the rear wheel XX1 compatible was not yet available.  So, I had GoRideBikes throw on an old XTR triple crankset that we had laying around.

Build 1: Pivot being built with XTR triple

While I was really excited about the brand new XX1, I couldn't really complain about having a spare XTR crank as a temporary replacement.  Poor me:)  Two whole weeks later I learned about the new WickWerks chainrings where you can convert pretty much any triple to a double.  Loving the simplicity of fewer chainrings in front, I rebuilt my bike with a 24/36 double and it has worked flawlessly for the past three weeks.

Build 2:  XTR triple crankset converted to 24/36 WickWerks double

Last weekend, the coveted driver arrived so my bike was back at the shop being rebuilt for the third time with XX1.  Not to brag, but check out this badass set-up:

Build 3

-Pivot Les carbon 29er hardtail
-SRAM XX1 drivetrain 30x10/42.  And yes, I am a bit embarrassed by my ultra wimpy gear ratio:)
-Stans NoTubes Race Gold wheels
-Conti X-King Protection tires
-Xpedo M-Force 8 Ti pedals
-Rock Shox Sid XX World Cup fork
-Ergon GX1 grips and SM3 Pro saddle
-Enve stem, bars, and seatpost

I'm pretty sure I have the coolest bike ever!  I can't wait to race it!

While it may seem like all I have done for the past few weeks is build and rebuild my bike, I have managed to find some time to race.  We traveled down to St. George for the 2nd ICUP race where I finished 2nd and then the following weekend I finished a very tired 5th place at the Rumble at 18 Road in Fruita.

This week, I have been getting in some quality rest and am really looking forward to racing my new rig at the first USCS dirt circuit race tomorrow in Alpine, Utah.

True Grit 50

Part of being kind to myself is not doing races that are so crazy hard that they make me feel like crap for a week.  So, even though the National Ultraendurance Series was making a stop less than four hours from my home, I opted to race the 50-mile version as opposed to the full hundie (well, 90 miles to be exact).  I like to think I made a smart choice.  Racing 90 miles on dirt is hard.  Doing it in March is... well....(put your own descriptor in here)

We drove down to St. George Friday afternoon and got the bikes out on some dirt.  This was my first real ride on singletrack on my new Pivot Les and it didn't take long before I felt totally comfortable.    Good thing too as the True Grit course is one of the most technical courses I race all year.  The bike felt fast, but I didn't yet know just how fast it was.

Me and my new buddy

We then went through the pre-race routine:  got dinner, Thai food of course, registered, and put together our feeds for the following day.  Then off to bed.  Even though my race didn't start until 9, we had a 5 AM wake up call to get Shannon to the venue in time for his 7AM start for the full 90 miler (he chose to race the full True Grit.  You can add your own descriptor of his intelligence here:) Note:  Shannon KILLED IT and finished 3rd overall singlespeed!!!  Anyhow, anticipating this early morning alarm, I did not get the best night's sleep.  Regardless, I woke up feeling mostly rested and any lingering drowsiness was soon masked by some quality caffeine.  Then I drove Shannon to the race in the dark.  Saw him off in the dark.  Sat in the car and waited to get ready for my race.

About an hour before my race it was time to get going.  Fortunately the caffeine hadn't worn off yet!  I got a short, but effective warm-up in and rolled to the start line.  The Pro Women were to start with all the other female racers behind about 300 men.  Our start was a bit confusing because I thought it was women only, yet there were a few men mixed in.  So off the start I hopped on a guys wheel and waited for someone to attack.  No one did.  No one even rolled up next to me.  So at about 3 minutes in, I pedaled down a hill and realized that no one was on my wheel so I just pedaled away.  Attacking at 3 minutes into a 50 mile race wasn't exactly my plan, and some may say that it is not very smart, but I wouldn't really call it an attack.  It just kind of happened.  I led for the next 4 hours and 45 minutes.  Although I didn't see another girl the entire race, partly because I never looked back, it never got lonely; there were plenty of guys to pass, cheer for, and ride with.  In the end, I came away with my second win of the season.  HOLY COW!!!

True Grit 50 Pro Women podium

There are lots of things that I am psyched about right now.  I'm psyched that all of my hard work is paying off with some solid race results.  I'm psyched that I won my first race on my super rad new bike.  I'm psyched that I chose to race the 50 and feel pretty good just two days after the race.  I'm psyched with all the sponsors that are supporting the MTBracnews.com race team.  I'm psyched that two years and two months after my cancer diagnosis I will finally have all of my medical bills paid off.  I'm super psyched that I can wear a ponytail (I'm pretty obsessed with my ponytail if you haven't noticed:).  Most of all I am psyched that I am healthy and able to do the things that I love.  I do not take a single day of this for granted.  Life can turn upside down in a split second.   Take the time to enjoy it and make it great!

Off to the races

It has been a tough winter to train in Salt Lake City.  The weather has not been cooperative.  The combination of miserable cold and poor air quality has led me to spend more time on the trainer, commuting to the mountains to ride, and venturing down to the desert to get in some solid blocks of training, not that I'm complaining about "having" to ride in the desert!

Cruddy weather doesn't stop Utah racing from starting the first week of March.  Last Friday, we traveled down to St. George, Utah for the first ICUP of the season aka my first race of 2013.  I was a combination of nervous-it had been ten whole weeks since cross season ended- and excited to race.  Mostly excited.   When we arrived in St. George I was pretty giddy.  The weather was perfect and my legs felt good; it was hard to contain myself on my pre-race ride.  After riding we picked up some Thai food for dinner.  Riding, of course, is my favorite part of traveling to St. George.  Getting yummy Thai food is a close second:)

Anyhow, back to the race.  Here's how it went down:  The Pro Women's field was small but fierce with anyone of us capable of coming out on top.   My plan was to attack at the first little hill which was only  a few minutes into the race.  Nothing like being a bit over eager to take the lead!  So, I led through the rollers and essentially pulled the other girls to the first legitimate climb where Meghan attacked and took the lead.  Our pace through the wash was manageable, but when we hit the double track climb I couldn't quite match her speed and she got a small gap.  Joey Lythgoe soon came around me too and tried to bridge up to Meghan.  She wasn't quite able to catch Meghan before the downhill where I was able to make up some time before the second climb of the lap.  On the second climb I passed Joey and set my sights on Meghan.  I knew I had to pass her before we started descending.  I went as hard as I could and snuck by her just as we went into a singletrack section right before the final downhill of the first lap.  I led the race for the final 2 laps, trying to race fast, smooth, and smart all while being too afraid to look back.

This photo has a story:  Shannon heard I was winning so with one lap to go in his race he stopped and waited for me to finish, took a photo, gave me a hug, and then took off for his final lap.  Best.husband.ever! 

So, all those freezing rides in the cold and boring sessions on the trainer seem to be paying off.  I was really psyched to have won, but even more so to beat my goal of a sub 1.5 hour race time.  2013 is off to a really good start!  Full race report here.

Thoughts:
2013 Mantra remains the same:  No excuses, have fun, be kind to myself!

Dizzy loves coming to the races.  

The red sand makes him so dirty that he looks like a Redbone (as opposed to Black and Tan) Coonhound by the time we go home. 

Next up we travel back to St. George for the True Grit.  I will be riding this beauty!

I should be happy about this, right?

 A few months ago a "groundbreaking" new breast cancer treatment study was published and presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposioum, where the latest and greatest breast cancer information is shared.

What was the study?  It is called the Atlas Study which stands for Adjuvant Tamoxifen, Longer Against Shorter study.

What were the results?  10 years of Tamoxifen is more effective than the traditionally prescribed  five years.

Mainstream media quickly picked up this story as a promising new treatment for women with Estrogen Receptor Positive Breast cancer (that's me).  Headlines Read: "Longer Use of Tamoxifen Cuts Deaths" and "Extending Tamoxifen Saves Lives".

Here are links to some of the stories:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/CancerPreventionAndTreatment/extending-tamoxifen-saves-lives-reduces-breast-cancer-recurrences/story?id=17879346

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/health/extended-use-of-breast-cancer-drug-suggested.html?_r=0

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/05/tamoxifen-breast-cancer-deaths-use-time-duration_n_2244540.html

http://www.today.com/video/today/50102069

I should be psyched, right?  This is great news!  According to the study, five additional years of Tamoxifen-on top of the traditionally prescribed five years, which research shows reduces risk of breast cancer recurrence by 50%-will additionally reduce risk of breast cancer recurrence by another 25%.   For example, if a person has a 50% risk of recurrence, taking Tamoxifen for five years will reduce this to 25% risk of recurrence.  The new research shows taking Tamoxifen for an additional five years, ten years total, will reduce this to 18.75% risk of recurrence.

Despite this, upon hearing the news, my initial response was:  CRAP!  Don't get me wrong, I am happily taking Tamoxifen right now to reduce my risk of recurrence-I want that 50% reduction real bad!- but I have been counting down the days until I am done with Tamoxifen and an additional five years seems, well, unfathomable.  I was not alone in my thoughts as this seemed to be the consensus with my young breast cancer posse.  Why weren't we more excited?  Well, Tamoxifen comes with some unpleasant side-effects, especially for young, pre-menopausal women.  Some mild and some not so mild.  A simple google search of Tamoxifen shows some of the less severe but crazily annoying side effects as being:  hot flashes, irregular menstrual cycles, bone pain, joint pain, weight gain, fatigue, swelling in hands/feet, vaginal itching/dryness, headaches, dizziness, depression, and thinning hair.  Some of the more severe side effects being: endometrial cancer, blood clots, stroke, and cataracts.  And while the conclusion of the ATLAS study was that the benefits outweigh the risks, this is not a decision to be taken lightly.

While most of the media reports stated the facts of the study accurately, the implications of extended Tamoxifen use, especially for young women, was not discussed.  Despite there being dozens and dozens of stories reporting the new study, I only found one, from the Young Survivor Coalition, that helps explain my "Oh CRAP" response.

http://www.youngsurvival.org/blog/?p=2037

It is a fine line between preventing a recurrence and over-treating breast cancer  causing other often life threatening or debilitating conditions.  I am not sure the answer, but I do know that I have 3 1/2 years to make a decision on extending my use of Tamoxifen.  In the meantime, as I continue to countdown the days until I am done taking Tamoxifen, I can only hope for better, more effective, and less debilitating treatments in the future.

On another note, check out my sweet ponytail!  I chopped my hair off almost two years ago and then proceeded to lose it all during chemo.  That is a long time for me to go without a ponytail.  Hair!  Long (well relatively speaking), glorious, beautiful, hair....that fits in a ponytail.  Yippee!

Camp Lynda V6.B

Each year, Lynda Wallenfels of LW Coaching, organizes an off-road training camp in St. George, Utah.  Over the past six years this camp has grown in popularity and mountain bikers travel from all over the country to ride the pristine Southern Utah trails and test their early season fitness.  Lynda has alternated the dates between the last weekend in January and the first weekend in February.  Even though it is only one week difference, whenever the camp is held the last weekend in January it is cold and rainy.  When the camp is held one week later it is 60s and sunny.  This year, the official Camp Lynda V6 was scheduled the last week of January, and the weather, as tradition calls for, was cold and rainy.  Despite the crummy weather dozens of die hard mountain bikers flocked to southern Utah to get in some early season miles.  Some of us wimpier folks, me included, decided to postpone the trip for one week, hope for better weather, and Camp Lynda V6.B was coined.

Friday morning I got out of bed well before any intelligent person would consider to drive the four + hours to St. George and be ready to ride at 9:30AM start time.

The weather did not disappoint!

(Photo: Lynda Wallenfels)

Over the weekend there were lots of smiles to be had 

(Photo: Dave Harris)

and lots of desert miles put in

(Photo: Fixie Dave)

 Who says cyclists and equestrians can't share trail?  

These cowboys were extremely friendly and even passed around their iPhone 

 photo of a rare tortoise that they spotted on the trail.  

 As always, Southern Utah scenery is breathtaking

and the trails are rippin' fast

(Photo: Fixie Dave)

All-in-all I got in three solid days of singletrack, 14 hours on the bike, and 120 miles of good times.  A bit of a shock to the system being only ten days removed from Mexico, but 2013 training is now in high gear and I am psyched!