Halloween Cyclocross!

Last year, a bunch of the women on our team dressed up as roller derby girls. We had a lot of fun with our costumes and I was inspired to do a themed costume race once again.  Our theme this year was a tribute to our sponsors - Olympia Orthopaedic Associates. They are our title sponsor and were nice enough to lend us scrubs and patient gowns for our costumes. Everyone had their own spin on their costumes. I volunteered Brian to be a patient and wear a fake ass sticking out of his patient gown. It was priceless!

Here are some pictures of Brian and Derik's costume:

Picture by Laurie O'Brien

Here is a group shot of us before the race.

It was a rainy, muddy race and consequently our costumes got really really wet.

I took a different spin on the costume idea. I think if you are going to race in a costume, it should be as skimpy as possible. The skimpy is necessary so that you aren't hampered by extra material and you can breath in your costume. My research in this field has led me to realize that the only type of truly functional cyclocross race costume is one that is skimpy, aka slutty. So - that is what I did!

They key piece to my costume was a push-up bra. It wasn't just any push-up bra. The tag said it GUARANTEED to give you an additional 2 cup sizes. I'll take it! The sad part is, I think that people really do buy these bras to wear on a regular basis.

Here is little Bitz - she somehow stole my bra. It looks good on her!

And here is the end result on me. That bra worked amazingly well.

The finished look!

I couldn't stop grabbing them. Seriously, if you poked me, I wouldn't even be able to feel it through all of that padding. My biggest worry was whether the ladies would stay put during the race. They did, I am thankful for that.

We had a fun race. I'm glad we dressed up as a team. Here are some other photos of my teammates.

Michelle, Stef and Karen

Mud fest

Kat and her husband Cole

Can't wait until next year. Hoping we can come up with a theme that is just as good!

Silver Lake Race Recap

Silver Lake has to be one of the most technical cyclocross races that I've done. The previous two years that I've raced this course, it has completely kicked my ass. It is a course that is really unique and has absolutely no grass and very few flat sections. Just long beach sections and hills.

The morning of the race, my stomach was churning (which is normal) and I was completely dreading the amount of pain that I would have to endure at approximately 1:30pm. We carpooled to the race with our friends Michelle and Derik, this definitely helped take my mind off the upcoming pain.

Brian, Derik and I rode a practice lap together. It was all going well until I got a bit cocky and was making fun of a guy who passed us and then I crashed. It was a harmless crash, I was able to ride the ladder* so the crash itself didn't really hurt. I got a couple of scratches on my new bike. Glad I got that out of the way.

I got to the start line and pretty much felt like I was going to vomit (or vom as my co-worker Kaelyn says). They did the call-ups and my name got called around 8th or 9th so I was able to get a front row starting position. I made idle chit chat with the people around me. I noticed the girl in front of me had socks with unicorns and rainbows. They were really cool - I need to get some of these.

My strategy for the race was to take off like hell so that I wouldn't get caught up in the first sand section's craziness. When the gun went off, I took off and quickly found myself in 2nd position. For a moment I thought to myself, "holy crap, what am I doing in second place?" then I realized that I should continue pedaling so I could get through the sand. I think this turned out to be a good move early on in my race.

 In previous years when I've raced this course, I have typically wished for a flat tire or wanted to quit half way through. Each time I would come around to the start/finish, I'd dread to see how many laps were left. This year, it didn't bother me a bit. I kept my focus on being consistent, trying not to make mistakes and keeping my pace with the women ahead of me.

Below is a picture of me going over one of the barriers. Oh, the barrier was in sand, uphill and a had sharp right had turn before it. It was awesome.

So the race continued on and I tried to catch the people in front of me. I kept hearing Michelle cheer and shout encouraging words to me. I found myself having fun during the race. I think I was smiling at one point. My new bike performed well. It is so light!

After the race, I was relieved to be done. I once again felt like I was going to vom, but at that point I guess it would have been ok. When results were posted, I was shocked to see that I had placed 4th. I earned 2 upgrade points with this placing. I wasn't expecting to earn any upgrade points this year.

Sunday night and Monday morning were a little rough. I was pretty exhausted and it took me until Monday afternoon to begin to feel better. I am happy to have raced at Silver Lake. It gives me more motivation to do my dreaded VO2 max intervals this Wednesday. It also gives me motivation to push myself harder during races. I suppose that is good since I have a race every single weekend from now until December 11th. Yikes!


*Ride the ladder is an industry term for staying tucked when you crash your bike and not flailing your arms like an idiot when you crash. Ok, it isn't really an industry term, it is a term from my Dad for when you are picking apples and your ladder gives way. You "ride the ladder" all the way down so you don't hurt yourself. It is a really useful phrase for bike racing. 

New Bike Update

It is glorious in every way. I can't wait to race it tomorrow. Also, I have an updated picture of it. Turns out I pasted a copy of the 2011 version of the bike.  Below is the 2012 like mine. It looks shiny in the picture but it is actually matte black. Tomorrow's race will be a good test for the bike!

I don't really need a new bike.......

Well, of course I don't. I have plenty of bikes, indeed. Two road bikes (winter and race bike), two mountain bikes (one of which is currently on craigslist) and one cyclocross bike. Not to mention the many other decommissioned bikes we've parted out. So, I don't really need a new bike.

But, here is the thing. I really like bikes. And, sometimes when there is a possibility of adding a new bike to your fleet - it gets very exciting. Also - it helps to have a fantastic husband that is completely supportive of any and all bike purchases. (now if I could just get that same response for all my clothing purchases :)

So there you have it. As you have probably guessed, I am getting a new bike. A new cyclocross bike. A Scott Addict.

It is real pretty. I like the extra white touches on the seat post, saddle and stem. That will look fantastic after one muddy race. I've never ridden it nor have I ever seen this year's model in person. But, I am sure it is going to be fantastic because it is light and made of carbon.

I can't wait to race with this bike. I can't wait to roll up to the start line with a shiney new bike. I can't wait to smell that "new bike smell". Maybe when I crash on this bike, it'll hurt less because it is brand new. Better yet, maybe I won't crash at all because my bike will be like a super robot that auto-corrects when I make a mistake on the race course. They have that function in cars, I don't know what is stopping them from adding it to bikes.

Anyhoo, looking forward to a new bike. I think it'll be in next week. Can't wait!!!!!!!!