it's only almost october

but i can't help thinking about next year. you see, the great thing about 2009 is that i (finally) graduate from grad school in may. that means the options for long trips for racing are endless. let's see....i have a sister in NorCal, friends in SoCal, friends in Colorado, Oregon, Vermont, Arizona...the possibilities are endless.

Then there is the obvious NUE (100 miler series)
A new stage race in Colorado
Vision Quest
VT50
Leadville 100
Creampuff 100
A 24 hour race in Italy!
USAC Endurance series (lap courses, though)

Of course, as Eddie nicely points out, I still have to make money once I graduate...unfortunately the diploma doesn't drop $100K in my pockets. Darn.

sponsor news

....sorry, none yet! these things take time. we are in talks with people. interbike went very well for us but nothing has been decided or finalized. i will say one thing is **almost** definite....i won't be racing SS exclusively next year. this decision is based on the fact that i've raced SS-only for two years now and i need a change. that, and some of the races i want to do next year would be less fun on a SS. i will definitely keep a singlespeed around for some key races, though, like SSUSA. on the SS front i'm leaning towards one of these or one of these but, again, no final decisions have been made. these are also pretty but i haven't ridden one yet. the SS will be a 29er, that's for sure.

BTW, have you heard where SSUSA is going to be?

stuff i like

Interbike Day 4

Staying up late (x 4 nights) + working all day (x 3 days) + many cans of Dale's Pale Ale x 31 years old = hurt

I didn't care, though, I was having fun. Let's see...Friday I finally met the Light & Motion guys, American Classic, FRS, Tifosi, and some of the MTBR folks. I said hi to Mark Weir and we had lunch with Jason from Pivot Cycles.

At the end of the day we helped the Twin Six guys pack up their stuff and went to try to find a new hotel. Our roommates, Carey, Zeke, and Krista had all left Friday AM so we were on our own but wanted to find a cheaper place to stay. I was spoiled by our previous hotel because the one we ended up in...the Tropicana..was gross.

Crank Brothers had invited us and Brent & Ryan to dinner at this super nice seafood place. We got to meet some new people and had a really good time. Eddie and I even came home with some sexy new Crank Brothers skewers that should match our new rides perfectly. Thanks, again!!

I have a bunch of pics to upload so I will get to that next. As soon as we left Vegas I started feeling sick and now I have a full-blown cold. I guess if I'm going to get sick, now is a good time before I start training again. For now, it's time for fun rides and beer festivals!

Interbike Day 3

Thursday was more of the same...visiting sponsors, hangin at the T6 booth, rubbing elbows with celebrities, etc. The highlights of my day had to be:

Standing next to Leonard Zinn on the hotel elevator

Sitting next to Greg Lemond at lunch

Meeting Chris Sugai, the owner and founder of NINER BIKES ...if I was going to race Singlespeed again next year the ONE 9 would be an appropriate weapon of choice. And, the new color is hot! Chris was super nice and I was pleasantly surprised to find out he actually knows who I am! Yay me!

Meeting Chris Cocalis, the owner and founder of Pivot Cycles...and we saw the Mach 4 built up to under 21 lbs. I have a pic to prove it. WOW!!! They also have a women's specific Mach 4/5 and the Firebird is new. (Even though I wouldn't do it justice I really wanted to ride the Firebird at the Dirt Demo but so did everyone else..that thing was out all day.)

Getting my picture taken with Elden, aka Fatty

Meeting Dave Weins (......wow..if I wasn't already married I'd say more :)

Meeting Tim Grahl from Crooked Cog and Guitar Ted!

We had happy hour with Ergon and Crank Brothers and then headed to watch the crit. I was a little disappointed with the crit, it didn't have the same fun factor as Cross Vegas did. Still, we ended up seeing Tina Pic win 2nd in the pro women's field, drank a bunch of free Dale's Pale Ale, and hung out with the Swiftwick guys.

Interbike Day 2

The show was completely overwhelming. I've been to many tradeshows, but none like this. While I saw quite a lot of lust-able material there, I have to admit my sponsors make the best stuff around. The bike shopping was really fun, though. It's amazing how much I've missed in the past two years by only riding and racing a singlespeed. I worked the TWIN SIX booth all three days for about 5 hours each day, and then used the rest of the time to meet with all my current sponsors. The TWIN SIX booth was crowded with celebrities such as the Fat Cyclist, Travis Brown, Jesse LaLonde, and more. It was pretty cool. In between, I was even able to meet with some new sponsors so it was a success all around.

As the show was winding down we hit some happy hours with PowerBar and Paceline Products.

Cross Vegas was Tuesday night so we piled into two cabs with our AVX friends who were out in Vegas for the show and for a bachelor party. We had the cabs stop at the package store on the way out to the race and picked up some big bottles of Arrogant Bastard Ale...yum. The guys also picked up a gallon of Vodka and a whole case of some other stuff...Good enough for at least an hour and a half :) When we got there there was two security guys checking bags...now it was time to drink some of the goods and sneak the rest of it in. No problem, I had faith that these guys could get it done. We got to the race after the women had started and then the mens race came soon afterwards. That race was so fun to watch! Lance was racing and I also got to see Adam Craig jump the barriers every time except one (which was really funny). Hello, he's got skillz. Danielle was there, as was Mary and Brendan Collier of Siren Bicycles. I also got to hang with the Crank Brothers guys, George from Bike29, and the guys from Squirt Lube.


(I have a new love for beer out of a can..Dale's Pale Ale and PBR!)

After the race we visited the Mafia Racing guys and had some PBRs...their kits are so hot. Then, we took the cab to the sushi bar. Awesome day 2!

Interbike Day 1 (Dirt Demo)

Our flight was delayed so unfortunately we got to the Dirt Demo really late. It was crazy, demo bikes were hard to come by with the masses of people waiting to ride. Because we arrived late and bikes were hard to come by, we only got to ride a few bikes. We did, however, score some beers and I got to meet some cool new people like the folks from Santa Cruz Bicycles. We ran into the SORBA folks and the guys from Dahlonega Wheelworks who were out for good times. These are the only pics I have from day 1 (thanks to Robin)





After Dirt Demo Eddie and I caught up with the guys from TWIN SIX for dinner and they prepped me for the next 3 days since I was working their booth at the indoor show. Our cab ride there might have been the most exciting part of the entire week, haha :)

Day 2 writeup up next.

2009 Twin Six line is out!

Collect your money...it's time to go shopping!

12 hours of dauset (or 11 hours of pain and suffering)

So, I raced for exactly 11 hours today, which was..oh...about 10 hours longer than I wanted to! Let's just say I learned first hand (again) the "5 Ps". In a nutshell, here's how my day went:

8:30 am: Arrive at Dauset and pick up number while Eddie secures primo pit location for me and Mark B. Mark B got 3rd at the FM.24.08 race two weeks ago and he was already going to attempt his first 12 hour solo today.

8:32 am: The highlight of the day...my number is....420! Woohoo, go me!

8:45 am: A guy comes less than one inch from running over my bike with his huge truck..d'oh!

10:00 am: Waiting for the Lemans start..someone tells me that we are NOT going up the gravel road like in years past, instead we are hitting the singletrack immediately. Why do I always blow off the pre-race meeting? Now my bike is staged on the wrong road and I will have to go way out of the way to pick it up after the run. UUUUGGGH.

Lap 1: In the lead, feeling good, but fork feels very stiff. I feel every dang root and there are a ton of them.

Laps 2-4: Fork is definitely NOT working properly. It's a FOX but it sure doesn't feel like one. I don't know how many times I stopped on the trail and in the pit after every lap to adjust compression and rebound settings.

Lap 6: Still in the lead, Eddie finally checks the shock pressure and it's way too low. That explains some of my problems. (Lesson: Check the shock pressure BEFORE the race)

Lap 7-9: My brakes are gone (Lesson: Check brake pads BEFORE the race). I can only sort of slow down by grabbing a fistful of front brake. My right hand is not functional because of being beat up by roots and fork issue. (plus lingering right arm tendonitis from 24 hours of conyers)..so what's left of the rear brake is kept for only emergency situations.

Lap 10: Finished one lap up on 2nd place. I had more than enough time to complete another lap but I could think of a million things I would rather have done than ride 10 more miles in the dark with no brakes and no health insurance (but that's another story!). My hands and feet were so beat up, any small root on the trail was making me cringe. Unfortunately, there are a lot of roots and a few rocks. I accidentally brought my "training" shoes instead of my "racing" shoes..and my feet barely fit into my "training" shoes. Not a good idea for a 12 hour race.

I overgeared my singlespeed for this race (meaning, I was too lazy to switch out the gear the night before) so it hurt a lot. Oddly, though, the climbs were not what was killing me, it was the flats and the downhills with all the roots. I really wasn't being pushed too hard in this race and I'm not sure what would have happened if I was. Either it would have been good to take my mind off the pain or it would have done me in pretty fast. In the end, though, I still came away with a super huge 1st place Gone Riding trophy! I wanted to quit for at least 10 of the 11 hours I was riding. I can honestly say I really didn't enjoy this one..only because I should have prepped my equipment better beforehand.

As far as I can say now, I am DONE racing for this year. I'm really looking forward to Interbike followed by some off-season chill time and then some base miles and cross-training.

Congrats to Andy Applegate (Wobble-naught fitter) and Carey Lowery and her team for 1st place finishes!

Thanks to Eddie and Mark B (who had to pull out from the race early) for the support crew help and for packing up and driving me home :)

You can always count on Mark D for the race pics..here are some

Waiting for the start with Scott and Mike

Shane, sportin' the 'stache.


420!!!


It got cold when the sun went down.

Eddie reading up on the new Kona line

Mark D and his team took 2nd!

Solo women podium, check out my big trophy!


Solo men podium: Eric Watson, Andy Applegate, Marcus Seymour. Congrats!

One year older...

Not me...yet. Eddie turned 33 yesterday and what a celebration it was. We started the day by sleeping in, playing with the dogs, and then lounging around waiting for the sun to come out. Even though the forecast was 75 and sunny it was still 65 and cloudy at 2pm so we decided to head out anyway. We rode bikes to get ice cream and had planned to actually make 3 ice cream stops around Atlanta, but we were both freezing after the first one. The sun just never came out! Instead, we rode to Johnny's Pizza in the highlands and had a warm slice. Then, I randomly decided to get my haircut so I can look good in Vegas next week..yep in my full roadie kit, white shoes, and all in a fancy salon. While I was doing that Eddie was starting on his first beers of the day down the street. After rushing home to play with the dogs one more time we hitched a ride to Neighbors to pick up a little surprise for Eddie...then we were on to the evening festivities. No more details are necessary but let's just say we're still trying to recover tonight. I'm glad we only celebrate Eddie's birthday once a year...Ouch!

Fall Women's Weekend Oct 24-26 in Ellijay, GA

Women’s Mountain Bike Weekend at Mulberry Gap Mountain Bike Getaway



Join Namrita O’Dea for an all-women’s mountain bike weekend at the beautiful and cozy Mulberry Gap Mountain Bike Getaway in the North Georgia Mountains. Mulberry Gap is located in the middle of the mountain bike capital of Georgia. Ellijay, GA has some of the best mountain biking in the state and trails for all levels of riders. The theme of the weekend will be fun, healthy food, and good riding. It will be a great way to make new riding friends while spending a weekend in the mountains!



Amenities:

Supported rides (snacks, drinks, packed lunch, ride guide, mechanical support, vehicle support provided in case of emergency)

Hot tubs, massage ($1/minute), movies, relaxing cabins, bike wash, clean and cozy bathhouses, campfires







All meals are included and all organic foods will be used. Alcoholic beverages are not provided at Mulberry Gap, so feel free to bring your beverage of choice to share!

Cost: $170/pp



Weekend Schedule




Friday October 24
5:00 - 7:30 pm: Happy Hour, meet and greet

7:30 pm: Dinner
Harvest Lentil Soup and corn muffins with honey butter
Salad
Blackberry cobbler

Saturday October 25
8:30 am: Breakfast
Banana pancakes or waffles
Eggs and turkey sausage
Fresh fruit
Coffee, assorted teas

10:30 am: Morning Ride

12:00 pm: Lunch delivered trailside
Chicken and wild rice soup
Veggie or turkey wraps
Ginni’s homemade energy cookies

2:00 - 6:00 pm: Massage appointments and hot tub relaxation (massage appointments must be made when making reservation)
Afternoon snacks provided

6:00 pm: Happy hour and Q&A (tips and techniques, tech talk, nutrition, etc.)

7:30 pm: Dinner at Mulberry Gap
Homemade hummus and pita appetizer
Homemade lasagna
Tossed salad and warm garlic rolls
Baked apples

Sunday October 26
8:30 am: Breakfast
Homemade fruit danish
Bagels with choice of toppings
Yogurt and fresh fruit
Coffee & assorted teas

10:00 am: Morning Ride

1:00 pm: Lunch at Mulberry Gap
Homemade chicken Salad and pita crisps
Dessert du jour

2:00 pm: Pack up and good-byes

The weekend is open to all levels of mountain bike riders and depending on the size and level(s) of the group, rides may split into different groups. No one will be left behind on any ride. If you need to rent a bike, please let us know. Helmets will be required for all rides. Email diane@mulberrygap.com to reserve your space. There is a limit of 10 women for the weekend. Proof of health insurance is required upon arrival.