Independently Wealthy-2

Part 2 of my Independently Wealthy series where I will highlight at least one thing on my mind recently that I want or want to do--if I ever strike it rich.


Garmin Edge 705 WITH maps and all the cycling accessories

Yes, this little gadget fits a lot into the mix.

-Heart rate monitor
-Speed/cadence sensor
-Stores custom created workouts
-Pace alert
-Interval training
-Barometric altimeter
-Unit-to-unit transfer
-Power meter compatible w/ ANT+ enabled power meters
-MAPS
-MicroSD card

With all the goodies, it's still under $1K, but I already have 2-3 gadgets that do most this stuff. (Maps are the exception; my GPS unit downloads the waypoints, but I can't view them while riding.)


So, I'm too cheap to buy this and can't justify it. Therefore, it goes in my wish list. And by the time my other techno widgets become obsolete, maybe there will be a better version of the Garmin Edge 705--like one that automatically routes my bike rides around ice cream parlors!

A Bad Case of Hubris

Bicycle Station Team Pic

After race pic. See my tan lines?

Down hill to the finish. Sweet!

Thanks to Matt L for the pics.

I've been on a high from the Brown County race a couple of weeks ago. With it being one of my top goals for the year, I achieved success. I raced my best and felt good doing so. Following the race, I attended skills camp. Learning good, solid techniques felt very empowering. Upon leaving, I felt I was equipped to go out and gain some seconds here and there.

So, yesterday's race at French Lick didn't go as well as the past couple of weeks. I had a superb start at the line, but when I got in to the singletrack, that LONG, long, long climb began. I thought I could try to hang with the other girls for a little while. I thought I had it in me to minimize the time gap at the finish. I thought the girls behind me would stay behind me. I thought I could push harder. I thought I wouldn't get beaten so badly. I thought I could handle what was thrown at me. I thought I wouldn't get lapped by the pro men. I was wrong on all accounts.

At some point, halfway through the lap?, I knew I had to back off. The peanut butter mud covered rocks were slick, and I was doing some really stupid stuff on the bike. Perhaps I should buy a lottery ticket b/c I didn't crash. But I knew I should back off. So I did.

One by one they passed me--Katherine and Meredith went by. I was off my bike when Meredith came up to me. She asked if I was OK.

"Yeah, I'm bonking." I said. But that wasn't it. I had plenty of food and had eaten well. What's the word? It's something else that's going on--I just couldn't think of what it was. Why did I feel like throwing up? My stomach wasn't that bad earlier. Why did my legs have NOTHING? What was wrong with my lungs?

"I'm not going to finish. I'm pulling out at the lap." I told her. She told me not to.

I was now in last place and Meredith was pulling away. It didn't matter; I wasn't finishing anyway.

I got back on the bike and pedaled some. My HR was down to an acceptable level, and I was riding quite freely now. I caught back up to Mer and started chatting.

"I'm not bonking. I think I overheated." The temp was in the high 90s, I think. For some reason, I felt a need to clarify.

We chatted some more then came upon a Cat 2 Woman rider who had blood all over face. It looked bad. We stopped to check her status. Extremely swollen cheek, cut on her face, pupils seemed fine. She was resolute in wanting to finish the race, which was this lap. However, we told her we would find someone to come back and check on her. She seemed a little shaken but got back on her bike and tried to follow us. We asked her to just take it easy and finish.

While chatting with my teammate, I forgot to pull out of the race at the lap marker. We came around and started that awful climb again, so I decided I would give it another go. This second lap felt good, so I pushed it again trying to back off when I felt bad.

On a double track section, I caught up to Katherine and passed her. With 3-4 miles or so left to go, the pressure was on to stay in front of her. I had to really focus now and try not to blow up.

Success! I finished 4th and had a pretty good 2nd lap. Unfortunately, I lost much time on the girls in front of me when I was hoping to minimize that gap.

Good news: I learned my lesson. I must keep working hard and not let one good race influence my judgment. Conversely, I must keep working hard and not let one bad race influence my attitude. So, I'm more than pleased I kept going and finished strong despite the blow up on my first of 2 laps. As for skills, they didn't come soon enough. I flailed around and am looking forward to some parking lot time to work on drills. Cheryl? When are we going to do that slow race again?

French Lick Course Map lifted from DINO's website.

Skills Camp - I'm Stuffed!

Three days of mountain bike skills camp was phenomenal! Cheryl and I headed to North Vernon to brush up on our trail skills with a Gene Hamilton clinic. We have many drills to do now! Thankfully, we can perfect our techniques right in our very own yards. The instructor was terrific, the trail conditions weren't so terrific, and we totally lucked out with the deluge of thunderstorms and rain that encompassed much of Indiana the entire weekend. Oddly, North Vernon is quite a mystery as it escaped much of the lightening, wind, and hail from nearby storms. Bored one night, we decided to cruise town snapping photos of some of the local spots. Enjoy..

Fancy Yard Sale

Storm a brewin'

The sign that started the photo rampage.

They don't make 'em like they used to.....
way back in 1985

A people shot

Creepy or Classy? Wait...that could work for the photo above, too.

Muddin' (the white truck--not the red one)

Oddly, the prettiest thing in North Vernon was on a public restroom at the park.

Who wouldn't want to eat here?

"I'm Stuffed" is the name of the dining establishment.

HOT!!!!

Hmmm. Horse on a Porch!

Glamorous--indeed.

Another statue outside a restaurant!

Sadly, we had no gold nor silver parts on our bikes.

If you're ever looking for a carpet store...

Too bad we didn't see this place BEFORE dinner.

Brown County - DINO-2

Sunday was the culmination of much training and many sacrifices. This was the day I had chosen to do my very best. So what was wrong? Why wasn't I excited? Could it be nerves? Yes, I put so much pressure on myself to do well I made it not fun. Could it be the conditions? Yes, with rain in the area over the past several days, trail conditions were questionable. I don't think it's a secret that I don't do well when it's slippery. Could it be my attitude? Yes, it was time for a mental talk.

I was already bummed at having skipped out on my friend, Season. We were going to spend this week doing girly things then I bailed after having some work issues to sort through this week. (I already have another date in mind, though, and I'm going to try to couple the trip with a race!)

I got to Brown County State Park early. After taking a team pic with the Bicycle Station team, I headed off to warm up. I didn't quite get all of my procedures accomplished as I'm still trying to figure out the routine. Nevertheless, in all cases, any warm-up has helped how I feel during a race.

Bang! We started 14 minutes behind the Pro men to a fast start with Nicole & Emily powering up the steep hill. While on road rides, I don't mind the short, steep ones, but this one gave me fits. Uh oh. Panic. Why did my legs hurt? Haven't I been resting? Oh yeah, it's a steep hill. Thankfully, when it became more gradual, I relaxed and settled in to somewhat of a rhythm before entering the singletrack.

I was breathing steady! I wasn't blowing up! THANK YOU, WARM-UP!! I focused quickly on the chase as I was the 5th (out of 6) Cat 1 into the woods. Within 10 minutes I caught 4th place and passed her and a Cat 2 rider. I was ecstatic to have caught her as she is an excellent climber and rides steadily. Now the race pressure was on. Not only did I have to defend, I had to catch!

Ordinarily I would start settling for whatever place I was in, sort of give up on the "race" aspect and finish out the ride. I've been different this year giving it my best. Sunday would be no exception. The Aynes hill was not as difficult as I remembered; I rose up the hill steadily passing several guys. I stalled at the top to let Griff go by on the downhill as I knew he would be right on my tail. He shouted, "Follow me, Ange!" However, when I started pedaling, he was already gone. Someday I'll downhill like Griff.....

I caught him again as we neared the HP connector when he crashed on a slick root. Fortune was with me; I witnessed his demise and steered clear of the peril. Thank you, Griff, for showing me the way.

One of my favorite sections is the downhill after the HP connector. It was slick on only a couple of spots, so I punched it a little gaining confidence with the conditions. Along the uphill section on the North Tower Loop, I caught Mary from Louisville. As I came behind her, she shifted gears and I heard a terrible grinding. Off her bike, she scurried out of my way to let me by. I nearly rolled over her chain that was laying in the middle of the trail. Bad day for Mary.

Now in third place, I actually thought about catching 2nd place, who I presumed was Emily. Around the lap marker, I got a time check from a spectator; Emily was only 20 seconds up!!! Then, I saw her! I can DO this. I came to the Aynes hill again with an excitement only to end it with pain. It was starting to hurt now, and I had to back off a little.

OK--new strategy. Steadily climb the Aynes, focus like hell on the downhill, then punch it with everything on the climb out on North Tower. Wait. Isn't that always the strategy? Duh...it was nearing the end of the race. Whatever.

Catching 2 guys on the last downhill I was actually thinking I should go around them b/c I could out maneuver them. I still think I could have, but it's hard to make up time on the downhill and Emily was nowhere in sight. I accepted my 3rd place position; the guys didn't slow me up that much, so I don't think it made a difference. Emily must have made another 10 seconds on my as her finishing time was around 30 seconds faster. Results are here.

Anyway, I started having fun and my attitude came around. I was surprised at how focused I was while having fun; I didn't give up in the middle or succumb to the hurt. I'm very pleased with my podium spot, enormous $$ winnings, and a PR on the home course! YAY!!!!

What's My Excuse?

So much has happened. Where to begin?

Rainy Hill Repeats:

I'll start with a pic. Right after I got my road bike back from the shop, I did rainy hill repeats along Southshore, which runs almost the length of Lake Lemon. I stopped to get a few pics of this guy. There are always people fishing along the causeway; I wonder if they ever catch anything. After showing this pic to Thurston, he replied with the proper way to cook a carp--which is what he says this looks like. Get a log good and hot; smoke the fish on top of the log; discard the fish; eat the log. I'm guessing carp doesn't taste good.




Fox - Cat Standoff:

Later that week, Mr. Wonderful called me to the window where I snapped a grainy pic through the screen of a cool Fox-Cat standoff. The cat is seated in our compost pile where the fox wants to peruse the goodies. I was surprised to see the cat win when the fox retreated. Who knew?

Ride 2 Recovery:
Engaged with some volunteer duties, I missed some training time. I sometimes stress over missed days, but I understand things will pop up every now and then. One such occassion was the Crane Cyclefest that I helped organize. As part of the national Ride 2 Recovery program, this bike ride raised $$ to help wounded veterans go through bicycle rehab for their injuries.

Our venue raised over $35,000, mostly in corporate sponsorships. I had the opportunity to go to dinner with and ride with a couple of the veterans that travel around. These guys (and girls, I presume) have overcome severe challenges and continue to have fun on 2 wheels. What a tremendous achievement and attitude. From now on, I ask myself, "What's My Excuse?" whenever I'm feeling sore, tired, or defeated. These guys are super cool and it was a pleasure meeting them.

Delvin McMillian:

Juan Carlos Hernandez:

Racing:

Twice yesterday I had to tell myself to keep going and to keep pushing it. The French Lick DRT race was a 27-mile race with over 3,000 feet of climbing. OUCH! I had a goal to try to stay with the fast girls. That lasted about 90 seconds when we started climbing on the single track. We didn't finish climbing until mile 6 of the 9-mile loop. One sweet down hill on the back side then it was all climbing again. I had the EXACT wrong set up for this course. With my stiff seatpost and 1x9, I was begging for a granny gear and suspension. The trails are quite new, so I was bouncing around all over the pace. I'm definitely riding my thudbuster for the US Cup qualifier DINO race. In other news, I'm getting my new bike next week, so I'll have a granny on at least one bike!

Yesterday I rode in a time trial--a fund raiser for HMBA. This event took place on the flat, twisty turns at Town Run Trail Park. It's a terrific place to practice cornering--something I really, really, really need to work on. Perhaps a road trip is in order for me. I was the 3rd of 5 females--respectable in my opinion.

Tractor:

And last, I have to mention the new tractor. I've driven it twice now, and I have to say it is WAY COOL. I'm sure I'm not as excited as Mr. Wonderful is, but it's certainly a workhorse. Coming down to the wire, I was sure he would get a John Deere, but he changed his mind at the last minute and went with the Kubota. It has a bunch of hydrolic hoses & stuff--seems like a lot that could go wrong and be a pain in the butt to fix. I guess that's the trade-off for all the goodies: front end loader, back hoe, mower, & tiller.

Independently Wealthy-1

I think I need to start my "Independently Wealthy" series. This is where I just highlight one of the things I would do or buy if I were Independently Wealthy. Granted, there isn't enough space allocated to me by Blogspot to show everything, so these posts will likely be random.

Today, Mr. Wonderful was talking about an acquaintance who recently went on a motorcycle trip. With his newly purchased Kawasaki KLR, this guy rode his dual-purpose (off road/on road) bike to Story, IN on some backroads. Then, the clan met up and journeyed over some gravel roads, dirt roads, trails and through creeks! Yes, there is a cult of some sort where people as geeky as mountain bike riders jazz up their rides and do crazy things! I LOVE IT! I think I should get in to it. I already have a motorcycle endorsement on my license; that's a start, right????

Imagine all the cool gear and skillz I could pick up if I were to buy one of these. The bikes themselves are around $6,000 MSRP--hell, some bicycles cost more than that. So, it's not a huge cost, but I would need lots of time off to go play, lots of new gear, lots of goodies and adaptations for the bike, and lots of lessons. Therefore, this interest, for now, goes in my Independently Wealthy Wishful Thinking series.

2010 - DINO 1 - Winona Lake

This is how it played out:

Results from DINO website:
Rank Finish Time DINO# First Last Team/Sponsor
1 1:40:08 90 Nicole Borem DRT Racing
2 1:43:02 23 Sara Krause Krause Sports Performance
3 1:43:22 154 Amanda McKay Shamrock Cycles
4 1:45:45 109 Emily Benson DRT Racing
5 1:50:55 22 Jayne Prater DINO Adventure Racing
6 1:51:35 129 Katherine Mowat Kirks
7 1:51:50 102 Angela Breeden Bicycle Station
8 2:08:54 54 Meredith Link Bicycle Station
DNF 24 AnnaJean Dallaire Alderfer Bergen

While AnnaJean is a pro and Meredith is an awesome rider, these ladies had a bad day. So, I'm considering myself last. At the same time, I consider myself quite victorious.

1) Again, I felt strong this entire race. Quite honestly, it was the slick conditions that kept me from totally punching it. My time was actually 8 minutes slower than my personal best at this course. Given the conditions & back-asswards way they ran the course (opposite direction from usual), I'm happy with the time. As Luther P. pointed out to me after the race, "You're just faster than your bike." Awesome. I totally was faster than my bike yesterday. I get it. I had more to give at times. Or perhaps I just need to work on my technical skills. Lol.

2) For the first time ever, I didn't get lapped by the Pro men who started 14 minutes in front of me! I saw Matt B, my sponsor, on a certain part of the trail as it meanders through a grassy field. Snaking our way through the field, I knew I was in front of him, but didn't know by how much. I set a new goal: DO NOT LET HIM CATCH UP. He crossed the finish line about 30 seconds behind me, on his 3rd lap--my 2nd. How neat to find motivation in odd ways!

3) I crashed and didn't hurt anything. My bike was fine; I had a little scratch on my leg; it was fine. The only negative--2 guys saw it happen. I stood up and asked, "So, what's my score?" Thinking a 6.8 or 7.2--something along those lines, one replied, "25!" I hopped back on the bike and contemplated what 25 could possibly mean for the next 30 minutes.

-Was it out of 100? Surely not. The crash was not that lame.

-Was it out of 25? No, my landing was not very graceful, and the audible grunt/low scream was not very ladylike. I would not have received a perfect score for this.

-Was it some other obscure system I wasn't familiar with?

It turns out, Luther P. was one of those guys. As I'm relaying this story to him after the race, he says, "That was me and another guy!" I asked about the significance of 25.

"You were the 25th person to crash at that very spot."

"Oh. I guess I'm not a complete klutz then."

4) I finished only 15 seconds behind a girl that was beating me by 90 seconds last year. I will have to get better!

5) The 3 days leading up to the race, I was in a foul mood due to the forecast of rain, rain, and rain. Knowing the course would be muddy drastically lessened my desire to participate. As I was on the starting line, I told myself to suck it up, get over it, and have fun. I did. I overcame those negative thoughts.

6) And last--who can not feel like a champion at the top of a short, steep hill where strangers were ringing cow bells and cheering me on giving me motivation to dig deep and CLIMB? I thanked them both laps telling them it was just what I needed.

Sure, it would have been MUCH more fun if the course had been less wet and the roots less slickery. But it could have been much worse. I'm excited to keep it up and see what I can do next! Maybe I'll even gain a couple of positions by the end of the year.

I don't have any pics from this year, so I'll put some in from 2 years ago as I crashed out last year; my tire rolled off the rim in that one.

All smiles....

I'm just coming over the logs laughing at Matt.