Grammo News

Time to say Hello.....

2012-02-24T17:38:00.001-08:00

Yes its out with the old in with the new time at Grammo.

Check out the pre-season deals on Toa and all the new F series wheels.

For a limited time we are offering the Toa 29er carbon frame with a free carbon fork, that's a saving of $175. But it doesn't end there, buy before the end of February and get free shipping in the continental US or 50% off shipping anywhere in the world !

During the same crazy pre-season we are also offering any of the F Series wheels with a free tire package from Continental, that's a saving of $197, and yes you guessed already, in does not end there. Buy before the end of February and get free shipping in the continental US or 50% off shipping anywhere in the world !

The Tire package is available now , but the details will not show on the site until Monday. The frame package is also available now and is derived by the frame being discounted by $175.

The shipping deal is available in both cases by using the coupon code "preseason" at check out.

Watch out for new deals including Toa and a wide range of suspension forks coming to the site very soon.

If you don't see a deal to match your needs, give us a call.

Time to say farewell..

2012-02-23T13:26:00.000-08:00

The time has come to say farewell to a trusty product from the Grammo catalog.

After 5 years of service the Viper line of carbon wheels is finally come to the end of its production.

With the internal development of the Flow Wheels and their latest version the F Series, Grammo now have wholly owned and developed rims and wheels that will take them forward for the foreseeable future.

The Viper line has been globally successful, and while not a unique product, they have been everything they were destined to be. Part of race success stories all over the world.

With the initial testing of their successor back in 2010, some may think that the new models have been slow to hit the market, we would say they have been tested and proven in the lab and in the real world for just the right amount of time to consider them now the correct replacement for the trusty Viper range.

From a distance they look the same (round and black) but get up close and you see the differences that make the new F Series wheels out perform the older Viper wheels in every area.

The rim is a wholly owned and produced design that features a new slippery profile, rim depth and width. The attention to detail does not stop at sheer looks, the rim was tested in software (computational fluid dynamics) then in the wind tunnel at Auckland University, before finally being fit to bicycles and tested in the real world.

The results speak for themselves, with documented proof that the F Series wheels out perform the Viper wheels, it is not a leap of faith to realize that they also out perform much of the competition.

So to the initial point of this message, the Vipers are now at the end of their career, and we are offering them at around 50% off the MSRP.

They won't last long at that price.

Bicycles Away!!

2012-02-18T18:34:00.000-08:00

Hey all! So last weekend I raced a crit. As many of you know, I am not an experienced roadie at all. I have grown up on the dirt, I love the dirt, I know DIRT. I use the road bike for training, more and more as time goes on, but I have raced very little road.

This was my 3rd ever crit, and my very first racing E 5 with the adults. I was a little nervous, but very excited because I have honestly enjoyed the speed and tactics of crits. My mom, on the other hand, does not like them. She would rather have me competing in Red Bull Rampage or Crankworks Slopestyle, because at least then I would be padded up, on the dirt, and in full control of whether or not I crash, with no outside interference. But I wanted to race it, and my coach said race it, so I did.

I was really happy to have some friends in the race, and went into it planning on working with them. Off the line, I got up into the front with my friend Scott Hooper and another friend Jared Kessler. We all stayed up in the front for most of the race taking turns sitting in on each other and other riders and attacking and reeling in other attackers.

It was cool for me to race with Jared. He’s a Pro mountain bike racer for BMC, and most of my races I end up in another category because I’m high school expert/varsity. It was fun to work with him, and he and Scott gave me some good pointers after the race. Anyway, I digress.

So we were all up in the mix until 2 laps from the finish. Shit hit the fan. There was a crash on the turn before the start/finish, and another on the next corner! I didn’t know about the first until after the race, but I can’t believe I didn’t go down in the second. Apparently one of the riders behind me dove the corner too hard or slipped on the paint (it was misting lightly), got squirrely, and took out riders in front and behind him. Someone hit my rear wheel hard enough to leave a rubber mark all the way down the decal on my Grammo 580 wheel (wheel is fine, rubber cleaned off easily). One of the riders next to me said he saw it and he can’t believe I stayed up. My girlfriend was standing on the corner while this all happened, and watched me almost crash. I don’t think it makes her want to race crits at all.

But I stayed up, and tried to catch the front of the race, but I had lost a lot of speed in the mayhem, and couldn’t get back up in time for the sprint. I was a little bummed that I finished mid pack. Jared won the sprint finish, and Scott was up in the top 10 as well. I had fun and learned a lot from this race. Big thanks to Alex Chiu for the awesome race pics, he's a great photographer!! Thanks again, Alex! I’m excited to race another soon, and hopefully get my upgrade to E4. Tomorrow I’ll be racing TBF, then the NorCal High School XC season opener the following Sunday. Both are at Folsom Lake and on my home course. The NorCal opener is going to be a massive race. This will be my first Varsity NorCal race, as well as my first NorCal race on my Grammo Toa 29er! Hope to see you all there. I’ll keep you posted.

Grateful for Grassroots

2012-02-15T22:49:00.000-08:00

Every winter since I was 6, I’ve started my mountain bike season with TBF, a local, grassroots racing series based just 20 minutes from my driveway. The first few years, when I was little (I know, I still am little) these races were the biggest things I did. I looked forward to them all year; they were my own little World Cups. I raced 6 miles, and it kicked my little butt.
Over the years, I moved up through the ranks from the 6 mile juniors all the way to the 24 mile expert women. As I advanced, I started going farther away to bigger races. All my important races became travel races that are in cool places, on cool courses and with cooler venues. These big races became my A races, and the local ones became less and less important. Sometimes I’ve even considering skipping these races and going on training rides instead. But I never do; I race them every year. These races have taught me so much and somehow they always feel like home.
This year at TBF, I was confident for race #1. I raced 18 miles in High School Expert girls, and felt strong with a 2nd place. Race #2 added a lap, and I was a little more nervous for the longer distance. In the end I felt pretty good, my Grammo 29er was rolling perfectly, and came in 2nd again. For the first time ever in race #3, TBF is lengthening the course and my division will be racing 32 miles. I’m not so sure about this; I’ve ridden more than 32 miles in training but to race that long is a tall order. It would be my longest cross country race of the season, and in February. As of right now I’m pretty conflicted. I don’t know if I’ll be racing this one or not.
I’m so grateful for these local grassroots races, but I might just have to skip this one.

Announcing

2012-02-06T19:25:00.000-08:00

As I have mentioned in my earlier blogs I've been doing some announcing at some local races. Well, it's earned me some notice and I'm tickled to be recognized. I have been nominated as a candidate for "Best Local Announcer of the Year". Thank you Mary Maroon. Then today I found out I've been included in a Facebook photo album entitled "The people behind the scenes of bike racing." By Alex Chiu (Albums) Part of the comment reads as follows "This includes photographers (such as myself), team captains, announcers, USAC officials, and other dominant figures." Wow dominant figures!! Go figure. Thank you to all those that have recognized the small part I play in Nor Cal racing. And a special, heart felt thank you to all the members of the bicycle tribe for letting me feel like I truely belong to something very cool. I love you all.

Kickstarting 2012

2012-01-26T18:52:00.000-08:00

The first race of the season was a success for me. I was going to race High School Expert girls, even though I’m in eighth grade. It was a small local race, but I was there with something to prove. This would be my first season as a 15-18, and I won’t even be 15 until December. All I wanted was to start the season and prove to everyone there that I've stepped up my game to race with older competitors.
The TBF Kickstart was on Sunday the 22nd. The venue was dry early in the morning, but it was freezing and overcast. High School Expert girls would do three laps on a six mile course. I got in a pretty good warmup on the trainer, and despite the cold I was warm on the start line. The Highschool Expert boys and girls were started in the same wave, so the start was pretty crazy. I got stuck behind some of the boys until the first wide open muddy section, where I took the far inside line and passed a few of them. I was in second when I hit the main climb, and I could see first ahead of me. By the end of my first lap, I was about 30 seconds back from first.
It didn’t start raining until I was halfway through my second lap, and my hands were getting stiff on my handlebars. But it was okay, because my legs were still going, and I was still catching and passing riders from other categories. The rain was coming down when I rode into the neutral pit (ran by my parents) at the farthest point on the course. I got a fresh bottle and before I knew it I was back to the start/finish, heading out on lap three. My legs were burning pretty good by now, and it showed on the climb. I was tired, and I started making stupid line mistakes on easy technical sections I’ve been riding for years.
The last half of my third lap was pretty brutal. I was cold, muddy, and tired. I could barely see through my glasses from all the mud and water. The final descent and flat section couldn’t have come sooner, and I was happy to shift up into my big ring to pin that last mile or so.
Crossing the finish line felt good. I came in 2nd, and I knew I’d proven that I could hang with the older riders. All in all it was a good day, with Wyatt coming in 4th in the High School Expert boys and some of the other Placer Foothill MTB club riders’ completing their first race.
Keep chasing…

Grammo Takes on Xterra World Championships

2012-01-23T09:42:00.000-08:00

Coming into my first Xterra World Championship triathlon I was anything but confident in my ability to perform well. With a little bit of work, sweat, and blood I managed to take #1 in 25-29 F West Region for 2011, which laid down the brickwork for a strong-newbie to WORLDS. CRAZY!

Making it through the whole Xterra season on my pony: Specialized Safire- 26er”, I branched out and feel in love with the Grammo Tao 29er”, which I refer to as: Shamrock.

Kapalua, Maui is the new home for Xterra World Championships. Kapalua provided a wonderful bike course of coffee fields, twisty-turns single track, loose rock descents, and of course- LOTS OF CLIMBING.

All to say that “Shamrock” is a climbing rock-star! I remember the conversations I had with fellow racers climbing uphill: “what kind of bike is that? If it climbs like that, I NEED to get one of those!” Their comments made my heart smile.

I gave my valiant effort at Worlds where I finished intact and with a huge smile on my face.

I am a WORLDs Finisher!

Also, much love to my bike made my experience amazing and excited for the future races I will embark on Shamrock.

Cheers!

Stephanie Miller- Woodland, CA

Let the Storm Roll

2012-01-20T21:51:00.000-08:00

Hey all! So, the storms are rolling. All across the country, winter is finally hitting, or almost here for some of you. There is a huge amount of weather coming, or so we’ve been told. The rain just started yesterday for me, conveniently right before I started a solo road training ride. I have a race this weekend, and it was my easy day, so I was only going medium for an hour and half. The first hour was alright, cold and wet. The last half hour was brutal, though. Frozen numb, past the point of caring about getting wet because I was soaked. But I still got it done, and that is what I talked about in my last blog. I have been trying to live up to that standard I set for myself a few months ago, and I have been training hard. I just got home from the gym, and Sunday is my first race of the season. The TBF MTB Kickstart. Granted, it is a training race, and I will still be in hardcore training mode for many months to come, yet I am still nervous and excited. This will be the first time I have raced against many of my friends and competitors in many months, some of them haven’t even raced against me on the lightning fast Toa yet. It’s gonna have a super fast build on it this weekend, fully rigid with my race wheels. Later in the season I’ll be adding a 2x10 XO race groupo, and the World Cup SID by Rockshox. All in all, I’m going to be running a wicked race rig this year for XC. I’ve also been practicing becoming super smooth with the rigid fork, and I’ve watched myself get smoother and faster. All in all, I am so stoked for this years’ racing season, even with the inclement weather. Hope to see you all on Sunday, thanks for your continued support and encouragement; I couldn’t do it without you all. I’ll keep you posted!

2012 new models

2012-01-12T18:47:00.000-08:00

12 days into the New year and we have the dates for the 2012 Grammo C4 road frame and the new model wheels.

The new 580 carbon/alloy clincher, the revised 540 and 840 tubulars are all in stock now and available for immediate shipping. We currently have 5 color options for the graphics: Silver, Orange, Yellow, Blue, Pink, Gold.

The new Race derived Grammo C4 road frame is also, nearing completion. This frame is the flagship model for 2012 and features press fit BB, Taper, integrated headtube, full internal cable routing and 989g.

The most up to date design and race winning geometry make this a frame worth the wait.

Watch the site and news pages for pre order offers on the C4, availability expected March.

Big Girls Don't Cry

2011-12-15T19:15:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, things go wrong. When you’re racing, you have to make a decision: do I push on or do I throw in the towel? The answer to this question has always been so clear to me.
This last weekend was Bay Area Super Prestige #4 at Coyote Point. It was the final race in the series, and I was hungry for a podium. I had a great start position; with the fourth call-up I was on the front row and set up to take the inside line on the first turn. It played out perfectly. I was on the front of the start and as we rounded the turn and headed up the hill, I was in a solid 3rd. Coming into the long sand section, I lost one place and another as I was running through the sand. I picked these two back off on the pavement section. I was catching 2nd as I hit a little rise at the very back of the course. I stood up out of the saddle and snap-my bike slipped from under me and my face plowed into the grass (which, if you’re wondering, doesn’t taste too different from dirty spinach). I picked up my bike in a hurry, and to my heartbreak-my broken, wasted chain lay tangled in my spokes.
My first thought? Disbelief. No. Way.
My second thought? Anger. NO EFFING WAY!
My third thought? Sadness. No way…
I started running my bike along the side of the course, and a little chunk of my heart died as each rider passed me. I felt like crying. Cut it out, you little sissy. Time to take off those Huggies and put your big girl pants on. I kept running, and as I came into earshot of the announcers, I realized that people had stopped passing me. I was in last. I put a strong face on and forced myself to keep running.
Big girls don’t cry…
I finally reached the finish chute and saw the neutral bike pit just 50 yards ahead. I switched out my CX bike for my Grammo Toa 29er, jumped on and pedaled hard. I knew what it would take for me to get back into the race, and I forced myself to believe that it was possible. But my cross country bike wasn’t designed for cyclocross; it couldn’t get around the turns the way a CX bike can. Halfway through the course, there was still no one in sight. I was still in last.
Big girls don’t cry…
I grabbed a bottle from my dad, and hammered the flat back section. When I reached the finish, The SRAM guy had put a new chain on my CX bike and was holding it on the side of the course. I switched back and yelled thanks to him as I rode away. I immediately felt worlds faster on the light, agile Grammo Paru cross bike. I finally started picking off riders. 1, 2, 3, 4. I wasn’t in last… but that wasn’t nearly good enough.
With one lap to go I could see the next two girls; 5, 6. I caught 5 and then 6 soon after. At the second to last turn, 7 was in sight. But I was too far back, and I finished 20 yards behind her. I was crushed, but I’d fought hard. I stopped to thank the pit guys again and then rolled off to cool down.
I finished 13th.
Big girls don’t cry…
When I picked up my cross country bike, the guy put my broken chain in a bag and gave it to me. Honestly at that moment I would have been perfectly happy throwing it at a wall and screaming some unpleasant words. But instead I’ll keep it, and it will sit in my garage as a reminder to never give up.
So, when I was faced with the decision to push on or throw in the towel, the choice was clear. Never give up. You never know just how strong you truly are until your only choice is to be strong. Failure isn’t falling down; failure is staying down.
Keep chasing….

Click, click, BOOM

2011-12-05T18:54:00.000-08:00

Hey all! So last weekend I raced BASP #3 at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. The BASP CX races are the biggest cyclocross races that I go to, so I always bring my A game and lay it down. This time I had a call up, and got to start in the second row of my race, which was again 100 B men. The online cap gets full so quickly, I pre-registered 2 weeks prior to the race. Anyway, I was on the line with my friend Sean, who finished one spot ahead of me last race. I was happy to be able to race with someone that I know and could work with.

The countdown, the gun. The race was on. The start was crazy, just because of the number of people going into the corner at the same time. Then someone fell in front of me, but I was able to get around the mess. There was brief mayhem, as I fought around the other riders, then I was through, into the next corner, and the top 10. In the next laps, the real race became clear. The 1st and 2nd riders disappeared off the front, never to be seen again. The real head to head racing was in the 3rd through 11th racers. I was in the mix, and we were all red lining and racing as hard as we could. We all swapped places repeatedly, playing a bit of tag.

Early on in the group of riders battling up front, we very nearly suffered a fatality. As we came through the paved start/finish at high speed, the rider in front of me suddenly swerved, for no apparent reason, and stuck his derailleur in my front wheel. In that instant, I thought that I was going to be catapulted face first into the asphalt, and go meet the local EMT’s. However, the medical personnel had to do without my acquaintance, as my wheel rattled and clanged on his derailleur, but I was able to swerve and save myself. Fatality averted. Everyone in our pack of riders yelled at him, and then in the next lap, we strung out, and I dropped him for the remainder of the race. Afterward, Sean told me that this guy, “the Menace”, repeatedly caused problems for him, blocking, cutting him off, and taking him out. I guess he was able to get free of him, because soon I heard Sean (and his screaming brakes) catch back up to me.

Now, I was in 4th, the racer in my sights was in 3rd, and Sean was on my wheel, 5th. We all played tag until the last lap. As we came off the single track onto the pavement road before the finish, I was in 5th, with Sean 5 yards ahead of me, and the racer in 3rd 10 yards ahead of him. As soon as we hit the pavement, I was up, going after them with everything I had. Click, click, boom. I was hammering away, sprinting as fast as I could. I was making up ground, I passed Sean, I was gaining on third, gaining, gaining, but the finish was close. I wasn’t sure if I could take him… huge bike throw… but it was not to be. I crossed the finish line with my front wheel almost even with his front hub. My momentum rocketed me past him, and down the straight, before I went to cool down with the guys.

I was so stoked to have my first BASP Cat B podium!! 4th out of 100 B men is excellent, I am very happy with that finish. Final BASP is Next Sunday, and then I will be solely focused on training for a few months. Hope to see you all at Coyote Point Sunday! I’ll keep you posted.

Things That Go Bump In The Night

2011-11-22T21:56:00.000-08:00

Most people wouldn’t think of San Francisco as a place to have a bike race. A Cyclocross race, at that…but San Francisco (and the Bay area) is home to the Bay Area Super Prestige Cyclocross series, one of the biggest CX series in California. The second race, a night race, was at Sierra Point Park just outside of the city. I guess it would be kind of a curious thing, night racing, to someone unfamiliar to the sport, but what can I say? Cyclocross racers; we go bump in the night. It’s simply our nature.
I was pretty stoked on BASP, and even though the competition’s stiff I was hoping for a top ten finish. The sun was setting while I was on the trainer, watching my brother’s race from the parking lot. He did awesome, getting 12th out of 100 Cat B men.
It was fully dark buy the time I lined up for the start with the Cat A, Master Cat A, and Cat B (me) women. The race officials had decided to start all 3 categories at once. Whose idea was that?! There would be over 100 racers in the start with a tight, sketchy turn just 100 yards ahead. I would be towards the back of the start, since I was cat B and because I didn’t have a call-up. I didn’t like the concept; I was used to being on the front two lines at every race.
When the starter blew the whistle, it was partially a mad dash for the hole-shot and partially everyone riding through the crowd like lost goats…the best (and nicest) word for it would be… interesting. All at once, the top A racers were dukeing it out at the front of the race and us B’s were trying to figure out where the front of our race was.
I decided to hold on to the wheel of one of the Sac CX regulars who I knew was around my speed. But this wasn’t the kind of course that complimented me. I’m more of a climber and descender, but this course was mostly flat and twisty with a few rises and drops.
By my 3rd lap, I knew I was still top ten but I was also off the podium by a few spots. I was in no-man’s land, with the next few riders a ways ahead but the riders after me also some ways off. But when I came through start/finish to start my final lap, I was getting tired. I heard 3 other riders coming up behind me, but I knew I didn’t have enough engine left to hold a gap. My only option was to stay with them and hope I could out-sprint them. When they caught up to me, I couldn’t hold on.
I was only able to hold one of them off in a sprint finish for 8th place. I’m super stoked on getting that top ten, but one of the women I’ve raced with at Sac CX was 4th. The next BASP is this coming weekend, and I know that if I’m on my game I can place better.
I’m sure that night racing would seem a little strange to some people, but like I said: it’s what us Cyclocross racers do. So beware, the next time you go out in the dark…beware of the things that go bump in the night.
Keep chasing…

FACEPLANT (take two)

2011-11-22T19:44:00.000-08:00

Hey all! So, I raced Sacramento Cyclocross on Saturday. This race was in Ione. It was great to have good weather this year, last year the rain was falling sideways and it was a little miserable. This year we had almost perfect weather, sunshine, and I raced in a jersey and shorts. My race ended up just going OK, though. It wasn't really bad, but it didn't go how I wanted it to.

I officially am not ready to ride barriers in cross. There was a log barrier on Saturday. I cleared it the first time in practice. Then, I went to practice it again, faster. This time, the success was that of the log. I was totally fine, but I was a little frustrated. I am officially putting my barrier-hopping attempts on hold. I need to spend some more time honing my CX skills with some of the longtime CX riders I know. I would like the ability to ride these smaller barriers, as well as faster mounts and dismounts in general. Other than that, though, my cross has been OK. I just can't seem to get the speed I want. That's probably because my body is in base training mode, not racing mode. My training focus now is to get strong for mountain bike and downhill season next year. I am still racing cross, and I can still do well, but I know that I would do better if this was what I was focused on. This is one of the dilemmas you run into when racing multiple disciplines. Yes you can do well in all of them, but to really excel you have to pick one or two and FOCUS on that. Right now I am spending time building strength, and spending long hours on the bike, because my focus is on the 2012 mountain bike race season.

It's very funny, because since I am training so much, coupled with the whole, "being a teenage guy" thing, I am always hungry. I finish a meal, and I'm hungry half an hour later. It's like I never stop eating. After my long morning mountain ride in the rain yesterday, I absolutely decimated my Thanksgiving dinner. And then, I was still hungry later.

Regardless of the amount of training I am doing, and the lack of barrier-hopping abilities, I am very excited to race BASP CX in Golden Gate Park on Sunday. My field, Open B Men, has been full for a while now, capped at 100 riders. I would like to do as well, or better, than last time. I really enjoy racing BASP, they are very well done events. And I will continue base training and eating all the food in my house. I hope to see all of you at BASP Sunday, that you all had an excellent Thanksgiving, and enjoyed the opportunity to be with loved ones. Now I'm gonna go find a snack. I'll keep you posted!

Stop Signs are Optional

2011-11-14T20:52:00.000-08:00

It has now officially been 2 weeks without a cast. I'M BACK!! And it's good to be back.

5 weeks off the bike was BRUTAL. I've already hit 5 Cyclocross races since I've been back. Cross is just a ton of fun. However, even though I was still running on my little break, jumping right back into riding was a little frustrating. My first two races back I was a little bit behind the guys I was with before. Even though I knew that's just what happens with time off the bike, it was still maddening as hell! But that 3rd race, day 2 of the Sacramento Cyclocross double weekend, was much better. A true Cross race in the mud, I finally felt better and came in 7th in the B men. I was so stoked to finally be feeling better.

Of course, then last Wednesday I went and put my pride in a sling at Rodeo Cross. I came into a set of barriers with the intention of riding them. First one was beautiful, but the second, something happened, and I was up, up, up,....... FACE PLANT! Compound fracture to the pride and the ego, right in front of friends!!

The rest of me was fine, and my pride miraculously healed Friday with some downhill shuttling with my buddies. I had missed DH so much on my time off. I was feeling great, boosting high, riding smooth, and trying some new tips from my super good downhill friends. This was where my title for this blog came from. One of my friends who was driving missed a stop sign on the hill, swore, and then said, "S'ok guys, stop signs are optional up here" It got me thinking about how awesome it was to just come back from my injury right into racing and riding. I've seen people take it super slow after injury. I understand being careful after an injury and riding smart, but it was so great to not wait to jump into the swing, and it paid off on Saturday.

Saturday night, I raced my first Bay Area Super Prestige Cyclocross race of the season, the second one in the 2011 series. It was at night, at Sierra Point, in Brisbane (Just outside of San Francisco). These races are MASSIVE! The cap for the Open B Men was 100 guys, and it was full on Tuesday, shortly after I signed up. This was my biggest mass start of the year. I got out of the car and hopped on the trainer. After some good, zoned out iPod time warming up on the trainer, they opened the course to pre-ride. I got one practice lap in, and then I was behind in the pack on the start line. They call up the top 24 riders from the week before, so I ended up starting about mid pack. Off the line, across the pavement, hopping a curb and the race was in full swing. I was instantly passing and fighting through the rest of the adults, fighting for positions. We hit the power section across the back, and I came into my own. The were three straight aways with hairpin turns in between. I hit this section, and put the power down. I motored around packs of guys, going at breakneck speeds at the corners, then slamming the brakes and whipping around the corners (without the amateur-ish burning of rubber, of course). While doing this I would drop gears, then shift like a drag racer as soon as I had space to go. I repeated this each lap, powering around groups, and then further putting distance on them in the twisty grass, filled with more turns, a ton of short, sharp rises, and barriers. There was even a stair run up with a wooden ramp on the other side. I just kept hammer down for the entire race, passing a couple of people each lap, until I finished in 12th place out of 100 B men. I was super happy with this result, and hope that the call up will equate to an even higher finish next race. My sister, Avery, also did well after me in the B women.

Then it was up the next morning for a 60 mile base road ride, and then gym training Monday. Stop Signs are Optional. It's good to be back. I'll keep you posted!

Double Crossing

2011-11-14T19:00:00.000-08:00

Finally! My broken finger has healed and I’ve gotten back into the swing of things. And by the swing of things, I mean weekly gym workouts with Coach Paige (the best coach in the world), long training rides and races every weekend.
In my last Cyclocross blog I mentioned aching to put some wins in on my carbon Grammo CX bike, and I’m proud to say I’ve done just that! On November 5th and 6th, Ace Course Design and BicyclingEvents.com put on two back to back Sacramento CX races; One at Lembi Park and one at the Folsom Rodeo Grounds.
Saturday, the morning of the Lembi park race, was bitter cold. The Lembi course was almost entirely on grass and was for the most part flat. I was stoked though, I’d had a win at the Condon Park race two weeks before and I’d been doing well (winning the B's) at the Wednesday night RodeoCross races. I really wanted to land another win at Sac CX. There were a few new faces on the Women’s B start, but I was still hoping for a top spot.
I had a good start and by the end of the first lap I had a little gap. It wasn’t big, but it was certainly enough. The last thing I wanted was a sprint finish. As fun as they are to watch, they’re stressful and it can be embarrassing if you don’t come out on top. All I had to do was hold them off…for four more laps. Easier said than done, eh?
With 2 laps left, I was still in the lead but at every hairpin turn I could see second place gaining fast. I was gonna have to hammer my last few laps. I started to shift into my big ring, and heard something no racer ever wants to hear. Click, click, crunch. Click…crunch. My chain wouldn’t shift up. I tried again. Nothing. I stalled out in my third attempt and saw second fly past me. I gave up on my shifters and chased after her, but I needed those gears.
One lap to go and she wasn’t ahead by much. But again, it was just enough. I was almost around the last turn as she crossed the finish line. I was happy with second, but I had that nagging feeling in the back of my head…What if I’d had those big gears? What then? Fortunately, the next morning I’d get to see.
When we arrived at the Folsom Rodeo grounds on Sunday morning, it was drizzling rain and freezing cold. But lo and behold, my lovely Mad Cat teammates had set up a four pop -up, walled off, food-stocked team compound complete with a space heater and carpet.
I liked the course at Rodeo a lot better than the Lembi course. It was muddier, but it also had more climbing, like the course at Condon that I’d done well on. I got another really good start and was off the front from the very beginning of the race. But I knew that this first lap could make or break my race; I could make a solid gap or I could blow myself up early.
By my third lap my lead was holding up, and I was right on long-time friend Robert Terra’s wheel. I felt really good, and my Grammo CX bike’s light and stiff build allowed me to bunny-hop the low set of log barriers at the end of the course, buying me some valuable time.
With one lap left, I pressed my SRAM shifter and my chain went straight up into the big ring-thankfully-and I pushed through the short, twisty grass section and down the sketchy descent before the steep climb. Afraid to shift back into my little ring, I destroyed what was left of my legs on the climb; but all I had left was the last set of barriers. I crossed the finish line muddy, tired and pretty stoked.
Paige (best coach in the world) and her son Will had come out to watch and cheer, as had Marianne from Placer Foothill Mountain Bike Club. I’m super thankful for all their support through the different race seasons.
I’m also stoked that I’ve finally gotten some good results and some solid wins this CX season.
Thanks to Grammo and Unreal Cycles for my amazing Grammo CX bike!
I’ll keep you up to speed on the 2011 Cyclocross season as we finally get some real CX weather.
Keep chasing…..

Well, That Was Awesome (Sierra Nevada State Champs)

2011-10-31T22:10:00.000-07:00

It felt weird to get up for a cross country race in October. Even weirder to get there four hours early to watch my Dad run the half marathon (Go Dad!) before all the races started. I actually got an extra hour of sleep in the car before I went to pre-ride the course. The Granite Bay course had finally dampened with the heavy rain a few weeks before, so the trails were nice and moist, which was a nice change from the summer dust. I felt awesome, and the weather was also…awesome. My bike? Awesome. The turnout? Awesome.
So, if it’s not too obvious, I was pretty stoked on the Sierra Nevada State Champs. It was on my home course and pretty much everything that day went awesome. There were 5 other 13-14 girls on the start line with me, and I’d never raced against any of them before, so I didn’t really know what to expect. My category also started with the cat 3 high school girls, and I didn’t know if I’d get to race with them either. But when the starter yelled “On your mark...Set…GO!” I hit the big ring on the sand start and found myself off the front of the pack immediately.
I didn’t look back when I hit the main climb, and in the first rock garden I was already passing the junior guys who’d started in the wave ahead of me. I learned (or was reminded of) the poor sportsmanship some young boys show when they realize they’re about to get passed by a girl (OH NO!!!!!!)
At the top of the course I was feeling awesome (yes…awesome). My Toa’s racy stiffness is perfectly crafted to destroy the climbs. I was feeling fast and loose on the descent, barely in control of my rear wheel around the turns. If it weren’t for that rad tacky dirt, I’d have crashed for sure. I didn’t know how far ahead I was, but I did know I wanted to be farther. I was pushing a huge gear on the flat section coming into the start/finish, and my legs were just starting to get to the point where I was feeling my gear choice.
I was still fighting my way through the junior boys all through my last lap, but I needed to pick up the pace. Easier said than done considering how difficult some of the boys were when it came to getting passed (by a GIRL!!!!!). By the top of the course I was through most of them and I was ready to pin the descent and flat into the finish. I knew this course so well I was fully willing to take some serious risks. I’ll admit that the downhilling I did at Northstar over the summer saved my butt a few times.
It was an awesome feeling to cross the finish line and hold my hands above my head. This would be my last cross country race as a Junior. Next year I’ll be a Cat 2 15-18. A State Championship win was a great way to end my last Junior season. I’m so proud of my accomplishments in Junior and I’m stoked to move up to 15-18.
After the racing was done I cooled off in the lake with some friends; Ventana racer Cayla Crockell and Mad Cat teammate John Bickel. We ended up headed to the podium completely soaked after an epic splash fight (you know, ‘cause we’re 5 years old and everything)
By the end of the day I was sore, exhausted (probably stinky) and pretty freaking stoked. It was an awesome day and I had an awesome race.
Congrats to Cayla for her 11-12 girls win and John for his 2nd place finish in the 11-12 boys. Thanks to my sponsors, teammates and family for the support and of course my Toa for once again delivering me to the finish line in one piece and taking the win.
Keep chasing…..

The final race of the season, Maui

2011-10-31T13:10:00.000-07:00

It has been a long season, this was my first entire Xterra season yet. 10 months ago I set a goal of getting to Maui and having some fun along the way. It wasn't an easy season, had its ups and downs but man it was sweet. October 23rd came fast and before I knew it I was packing my gear for Maui to race against the worlds best in one of the prettiest places on earth. I have to thank Grammo and Standing Stone Brewing Company for their on going support this season because with out it there is no way I would have been able to get to half the races I did.

The night before my flight was out I still wasn't packed for Maui. I got home from work around 12:30 am and needed to leave the house by 2 am to make my flight which was out at 8:30 am leaving from Portland. I decided I should probably check the Stan's sealant as I hadn't changed it in 3 months. Man was I glad I checked that . . .

It was all dried up, I added some sealant packed everything up and was on my way to the airport. I didn't account for rush hour traffic in Portland and ended up missing my plane. The best they could do was get me out the next day. No biggie just had to kill a day in Portland. I phoned a friend and set up a place to stay. I'd like to thank Erin for that as well as Barbra for hosting me.

I made it to the airport with lots of time to spare and made it on the plane with no issues. I was headed to Maui. I had never been to Hawaii before, I was excited to see Maui and get in some warm water. Stepping of the plane and making my way towards baggage pick up I was greeted with this view . . .

My good friend and racing buddy was on his way to pick me up from the airport and head back to the condo. One stop before the condo, I managed to forget my pedals so new ones where needed. The drive to the condo was gorgeous. When we arrived we decided to set the bikes up and just take it easy for the day and go out and do a very lite pre-ride on Saturday.

The pre-ride was interesting, we hit a little single track and decided to keep it to 4 miles to make sure we didn't burn ourselves out. The course was beautiful, however it did not play to any of my strengths. Not a technical bit on the entire course and 80% jeep road with tons of climbing. Something around 4,000 feet and then the run course had 1300 feet of climbing in just 6.2 miles. On top of all this climbing it was hot. Coming from Southern Oregon I was not ready for the humidity.

Bike Course Profile

Run Course Profile

After seeing the course and riding for just a bit in the heat I knew it was going to hurt, I just under estimated the level of pain I was about to experience. Race morning and it was crazy 675 ish of the best in the Off Road Triathlon world were toeing the line getting ready for the mass start swim. Crazy, I've been in some pick swims this year but nothing like this . . .

The cannon blows and nothing else matters, its time to race. The swim was insane, the entire first lap I was in a pack of what felt like 75 constantly hitting and kicking everyone around me. By the second lap we thinned out a bit but was still in a pack. The water was gorgeous and crystal clear, you could see the ocean floor the entire swim. I exited the water and was a little bit better than middle of the pack. I felt alright but as always I was exited to get on the bike.

The bike started with a climb on pavement, I decided I was going to try to pace myself for this race because of all the climbing. Up the road to the single track there must have been a pack of 50 people. A racing buddy of mine passed me and I jumped on his rear tired. Kept on it for the first 2 to 3 miles until we hit the jeep road. I just couldn't keep his pace. Slowly I watched him disappear. This would be the case for the next 6 or so miles, people would pass I'd hang on, heart rate would spike and I would have to let them go. At mile 8 we hit the down hill. Time to catch some people back. I was passing people by the dozen, my gps read top speed of 38, I was hanging it all out there trying to catch all those that passed me. After the big decent we had a lot of small up and downs. I found myself exchanging places with a lot of people for the next 6 miles. They would catch me on the climbs ( Due to my lack of fitness) then I would reel them in on the downhill. There was this one girl in particular who hollered out as I was bombing past her on a decent " I'll see you on the next climb" I just smiled. And sure enough the next climb there she was. At this point of the race I was just out there to have a good time and I was. The bike was coming to and end and the run was right around the corner.

Heading into transition for the run I had a few supporters cheering me on. It was great to have a friend and riding buddy from home at the race. John just happened to be in Maui the same time as the race. My goal for the run was just to survive. That is exactly what I did. I could not believe how hot it was, the humidity was killing me. I was taking my time at the aid stations making sure to get as much fluid as possible to keep the cramping at bay. About half way thtough the run the helicpoter that was videoing the race was right above the pack I was in and this for some reason motivated me to pick up the pace a little. The run course was essentially straight up for three miles then down with one little climb at the end. I have to admit I did more walking than I have ever done before, it was painful. I wasn't able to open it up on the downhill like I normally can. With the beach in site and the noise of the crowd I was thrilled to be on the verge of finishing. The beach run was extremely hard and I saw a age grouper just ahead and knew I wanted to catch him. And I did, I pushed and left everything I had out there.

Man was I excited to be done. That was a hard course, on a hot day. During the race I questioned what I would be doing next season, but as I cooled off after the race slightly disappointed with my results I told myself I'll be back. It was an awesome experience and seeing Lance Armstrong race and being out there racing the same time as him was awesome.

I ended up 16th out of 27ish in my age group and 327 out of 675ish. A ways of my goal with a time of 3 hours and 42 minutes. This race left me hungry for better results. I am a little relieved that the season is over and I can go back to just having some fun for a little while before I have to start working on base training. Coach said I can take 3 weeks to do nothing. YAY . . . next season I think I am going to do the entire Oregon Super D series and 5 Xterra's most likely making the Canadian Championship my A race. Towards the end of the season I got a little burned out, next season I am going to do my best to keep that from happening. However right now I am itching to get back to training. It has been a little over a week with nothing, I'm already putting my schedule together for next year. Man this stuff is addicting !!!

Here is a short video put together by the great people with Xterra TV reviewing the race . . .

In the Interim

2011-10-27T18:52:00.000-07:00

Hey all! So, I'm still Casted. I know last week I said I was hoping to have it off and race Sacramento Cyclocross #3 at Condon Park , but the doctor thought otherwise. He told me that he wouldn't take the cast off until November first. All my feelings about the cast that I expressed about the cast last week still apply (I hate it, it's terrible, it's messing up training, I hate it, it's annoying, oh, and, I HATE IT) I was hoping to get the cast off this week, so I could race Folsom Rodeo Cross #2, and ride this weekend, but alas, here I am typing with a cast still shackled to my arm.

On the bright side, I did very well on my finals in school, pulling out a solid 4.0. Also, last night I had my final high school cross country running race of the season. I ran an 18:16 3 mile XC race, 47th out of 87 varsity guys. I am finally getting back to the times I was hitting before I was sick a few weeks back. Our HS team has continued to destroy this season, we had 6 guys in the top 10 of the varsity race last night, our boys and girls winning 2 more league banners for our school. Now over half of the banners our school has have been won by Cross Country or Track. Hopefully next year will be even better, and good luck and congratulations to our guys and girls moving on to sections and state.

I, however, am now fully into CX mode. I have still been hitting gym workouts with my coach, Paige Ramsey, while I haven't been able to ride. I have also still been running and working on my bikes. Since I haven't been able to race CX yet, I have been volunteering at all the local events. I got to try my hand at being an announcer last weekend, as well. Supposedly I was a big hit, everyone said I was a natural, and fun announcer. I had a great time. I filmed a bunch of the Folsom Rodeo Cross this past Wednesday night, and a friend is going to make it into a video. I will share it with you guys, my awesome readers, as soon as it is ready. It has still been very weird to be at all these races but not race, I cannot wait to get this cast off on Tuesday and go shred. I am hoping all the running will make for super fast barrier running next week. I'm planning on racing Folsom Rodeo cross on Wednesday, then there is a double CX weekend. On Saturday the is a race at Lembi Park in Folsom, and on Sunday there is a race at the Folsom Rodeo Grounds. It is gonna be a wild and crazy weekend of Cross, I hope to see you all out there! I'll keep you posted! Have a happy Halloween!

Improved Customer Support

2011-10-25T16:10:00.000-07:00

Grammo is always striving to better our customer experience and today we've taken the next step.

We've added click to chat to our website http://grammo-bici.com

Whenever you see the icon above in the lower right corner of the website, http://grammo-bici.com, there is a customer service representative available to help you.

You can now have quick questions answered as well as receive updates on your order without having to make costly international calls or wait for a response by email.

As well as chatting with us on our website you can join fellow Grammo-Bici supporters on our facebook to ask questions, show off your bikes, and share stories about your rides.

https://www.facebook.com/GrammoBici

Final prep for Maui

2011-10-19T17:37:00.000-07:00

David, sponsored Xterra athlete, prepped and packed his Toa 29er into its Polaris bike case today ready for his trip to Hawaii.

He leaves tomorrow morning and will be competing in the 2011 Xterra World Championship in Maui, HI.

Read more about the event here: http://www.xterraplanet.com/maui/index.html

Stay tuned for updates on David's Progress.

Best of luck David!!!

Casted

2011-10-17T22:17:00.000-07:00

Hey all. So, a few weeks ago, I broke my arm. Remember when I said that I raced downhill? Well I didn’t mention that I crashed in my practice run, and then raced on it anyway. It kept hurting really bad, so I ended up going and getting it X-rayed the next night. And what do you know, it was a hairline fracture to the radius. A week later, I had to go back in and get it casted, after the swelling went down. And then, I got to discover just how much casts SUCK!

So, with this cast, I am not allowed to ride. Only ride the spin bike, at the gym. I wasn't able to race the last cyclocross race, so I volunteered to work registration. That is a hectic job! It was very strange for me to be at the event but not racing, but I still had a good time. It’s a good thing my doctor is letting me run, beause otherwise I think I would go crazy from lack of training. The cast does start to smell after a while, though, from the sweat of working out. But I am still running in it, and I have even raced in the rain with it! That is the bright side of the cast. The doctor had said that if I didn’t get it casted, he wouldn’t let me do ANYTHING!

However, I am right handed. The cast is on my right wrist/hand. See the problem? It is very hard for me to write. When you are taking 3 college level courses that are writing intensive (AP Language and Composition, AP US History, and AP Calculus), struggling to write is maddening. All we do in AP Lang & Comp is write essays, practice writing essays, and talk about writing essays. AP US isn’t as bad, only tons of notes. But everything in Calculus has to be written out. So, this is incredibly irritating. And all of this was happening going into midterms. I ended up doing pretty good on my midterms though, so that’s good. It’s also hard to use utensils, which took some learning. Good thing nothing can keep me from a good meal! Even with the cast, I still remain in good spirits and grades, and full of good food.

I may have cheated a bit on the whole, “no riding” thing. After we finished a bunch of renovation/reclamation on a friends pump track, I might have jumped on a bike and shredded a bit. Maybe ;) It was fun! But that’s about all I have riding wise. I’ve been a little frustrated, and I would be even antsier to ride if I wasn’t still running my butt off. My last high school Cross Country running race should be coming up shortly, just as cyclocross season is getting going for me. Hoping to see all of you out at the next Sacramento Cyclocross race on Sunday, it’s gonna be awesome!! I may be able to race this weekend, if the doctor takes my cast off this week. My advice to you this time: Don’t break bones! Other than that, keep shedding, my friends. I’ll keep you posted!

It Began With A Dream

2011-10-14T10:43:00.000-07:00

I get asked all the time how I got into bike racing…and I honestly have a foggy memory of it. I can’t remember far enough back to a time that I didn’t race. It’s a part of me…without it I would never be the same. But when I was 7 years old, racing a bright yellow Kona Makenna, I never thought I’d have the opportunity to go as far as I have. I never thought I’d get to go to Nationals someday. But I had a dream...and here I am.

I can’t do justice to the way my heart swells when I walk into my garage and see the three beautiful pink Grammo bikes that I have the privilege to race. In some ways, these bikes are my very best friends. They will always be right under me when I need them, they’ll never abandon me. Bikes are one thing that can make me smile when I feel like crying. And no matter how many times I crash, or have a bad race, nothing could ever make me love racing less. Nothing will ever be able to make me happy the way racing does.

I know how hard it’s going to be, how much blood, sweat and tears…how many hours in the saddle, how many early mornings and how many 10 hour drives. But in the end it’ll all be worth it. And I know I’ll do whatever it takes to live my dreams of being a pro mountain bike racer.
So, when people ask me how I got into racing, maybe I’ll just say two words. A dream …and that’s what keeps me going still today. A dream.
Keep chasing…

The New Guy: Love at First... Ride?

2011-10-11T14:41:00.000-07:00

Whoever said that love at first sight doesn’t exist is probably right. Love at first ride, however, is a different story. Now, now! Don’t be dirty; I’m talking about a bicycle.

I first laid eyes on the pink C3 when I saw Asa’s and Avery’s bikes at a local criterium. Was I jealous? Yes. Did I want one? Uh, yeah! Pink and black are my favorite colors, but I wasn’t on the market for a bike just yet. Later on, I decided that I needed an upgrade and after several different rides on many different bikes and plenty of heartbreak, Avery’s mom, Kris, offered to let me ride and race Avery’s bike.

Since I obviously didn’t decline the offer, I rode it a few times and then took it to the Winters Road Race in, you guessed it, Winters, CA. Avery’s a bit taller (okay, okay… so I’m short!) so the bike was a bit too big for me, but it had a great feel to it and it was light. The uphill was fine (though she has a standard crank on it and I usually ride a compact. Found that out on the up – whoops!), the handling was amazing, and the descent was even easier.

I was sold.

A couple of weeks later, Kris gave me the okay to ride the bike at the Folsom Cyclebration Criterium. Once again, the bike was too big and I definitely felt it after being in the drops for 40 minutes, but the handling, cornering, and speed surges were no problem on it.

Actually, the cornering was amazing. (I know, the stem is too high. The whole bike was too high!)

I also took the bike to Sac State to attract more people to join our cycling club. It worked. People loved it, others couldn’t stop from touching it, some drooled over it, and many asked questions.

Very importantly, as a 24-year old college student, I have to say, awesome dude magnet.

Did I mention I was sold?

So, I did the natural thing and called Peter and ordered a bike. As far as components I got full Sram Force and a compact crank. Pink brakes, pink skewers. Pink, pink, pink! I just need to get a pink/black saddle and

I’ll be golden! I didn’t get the awesome wheels that Avery’s bike has because I want those to be my carrot for when I get enough points for a category upgrade. Hey, gotta have something, right?

After [im]patiently waiting for my bike to arrive, taking it out of the box, and jumping like a little school girl, I took it to Asa’s and she built it for me because, as we all know, she’s awesome. Once I got the message that it was done, I once again jumped like a school girl while smiling like a fool and went to pick it up. Got a quick fit and off I was. I got a new toy!

I’m looking forward to the race season. I’ll be racing collegiate again, and, as far as I know, I’ll be the only one on a Grammo out there. Not only on a Grammo, but on an awesome pink and black Grammo! On a frame that’s just my size, too. This is my very first nice race bike. I predict that there will be some hurt being thrown out there.

I was wrong... Love at first sight exists.

(Cyclo) Cross My Finger

2011-10-09T11:05:00.001-07:00

Cyclocross…it’s a pretty crazy sport in the first place, but combine it with a broken finger and you get pure insanity.

The first Sacramento CX was last Saturday, and the day before I’d broken my finger. Honestly, I was in denial over my broken finger and I just kept telling myself it was fine and I would hardly notice it. Boy, was I wrong.

My finger felt pretty good when I got on the trainer, but I still had my splint on. For the race, I taped my broken finger to it’s neighbor in hopes it would help stabilize it. When I got to the start line I was still optimistic about my finger, and on my first lap it felt pretty good. The finger didn’t really start to give me any trouble until my third lap. As much as I hate to say it, I wasn’t surprised. It was a bumpy, rough, technical course on a fully rigid Cyclocross bike. By the time I got to my 5th lap pain shot through my finger with every little jolt. It was pretty humiliating, to be honest, to be seen by so many people when I was looking like I was about to cry. Trust me, I was. It was a lose-lose situation for me, because if I gripped the bars too tight my finger hurt, and if I didn’t grip hard enough the bars would wobble around and jar my finger.

I ended up finishing 7th in the Women’s B, which wasn’t bad but I expected better. It was a bummer, to be there on a beautiful day with an amazing bike and for one finger to mess it up. Ironic, though, that the broken finger happened to my middle finger. At the time I would have liked to give a middle finger to my broken middle finger.

But no more of Ms. Grumpy Gills, it’s time to talk about this amazing bike I mentioned. My full carbon, light-as-a-feather and totally pinked out Grammo C3CX. It’s got Mavic Ksyrium wheels, a full SRAM Apex group, anodized pink Grammo Cantilever brakes, and hot pink IRD Crossfire tires. The frame is full carbon with pink graphics with a blackish composite base. It’s just plain beautiful. But what is beauty worth when you’re soaked in mud? Nothing. But this bike rides like a dream. It’s a super stiff frame, so it’s snappy and provides me with amazing acceleration.

Anywhoo, hopefully my season turns sunny-side-up and I can put some wins in on the C3CX. Until then, keep chasing…

Air Time

2011-10-02T12:15:00.001-07:00

Hey all! So, last weekend was Air Time weekend. The first Sacramento Cyclocross of the season. The venue and the course were awesome, I had never caught that much air on a CX bike, ever! There was also a good power section along the back of the race. This was my first CX race in men's B, and I did alright. I took off with my customary start that I honed during mountain bike season, it is indispensable for hole shots. I led about half the race, or took turns pulling with someone else. I was feeling really good, and having a ton of fun. There was a really cool pump track section on the course, which even had a bridge going over another section. A lot of people were able to catch air off some of the lips, which I personally had never done on a CX bike. I had a blast, and I can't wait for the next race.

Afterward, I got to hit up the indoor pump track on my dirt jump bike. This resulted in some fun hang time, using up my remaining energy. That was a workout!! But it was worth it, there were a couple of cool wall rides, and about a million wicked lines. I also got to watch this crazy kid on a bmx bike bust out 360s.

The next day, I had my very first downhill race, the Tara Llanes Classic at Northstar. I had blast, but my race didn't go quite as well as I had hoped. I still had a great time, and got to see some of my good friends, and had a great day riding with great people. I was pretty happy with my riding later in the day, I had never hit a lot of the jumps as big as I did. Practiced some very nice show air coming down live wire, boosting higher than ever, and I finished every run of the day with a giddy smile and laughter. I really enjoyed my weekend of flight, I wonder my total time off the ground? Anyway, more CX to follow, I'll keep you posted!

Change of Pace

2011-09-20T17:29:00.000-07:00

I can’t believe it’s already September! It feels like yesterday it was January, and I was just beginning the grueling 6 month cross country mountain bike season. It’s crazy how so much has happened in a season that went by in the blink of an eye. I’m so proud of my accomplishments this season, my last season as a junior racer. Next year I’ll be a Cat 2 15-18…and it’s going to be a whole new game. I turn 14 on December 30th…so I’ll race 15-18 for the 2012 season but only be 15 for one day of the year! So, the 2011 Cross country cycling season was over in the blink of an eye, and now cross country running season is in full swing.

There’s actually a lot of good competition in the middle school league. There were almost 50 runners in the 8th grade girls division at my last meet. I’ve had two school meets so far this year, and I’ve came in 4th both times, to a different 3 girls both times. I’m pretty happy with that, but I know I can do better. I know, I know. I say that way too much.
But on the cycling side, Cyclocross season is about to start. With the first Sacramento CX race coming up this Saturday in Clarksburg, California, I’m armed and ready with my new, fully carbon and pinked out Grammo C3CX Cyclocross bike. I’m telling you, this thing is rad. It’s at least 3 pounds lighter than my last cross bike, and it has an awesome SRAM Apex groupo, pink anodized Grammo brakes, Mavic Ksyrium wheels, and amazing pink IRD Crossfire tires. And it rides…so smooth. The stiff frame gives it amazing acceleration, which is essential for Cyclocross, considering it’s a 45 minute sprint. I’ve been practicing on it for about a month, and I absolutely cannot wait to race it.
Speaking of racing, I’m also doing the Tara Llanes Classic at Northstar this Sunday. It will be my first downhill race, in borrowed pads and on a borrowed bike. But I’m still totally stoked. I’ve been bugging my parents to find a downhill race for me to do for a while now. Downhilling itself just makes me so happy. It feels so different to be padded up and have 11 inches of travel to soak up your mistakes. I feel almost invincible, and I’m not afraid to keep on going faster and faster and jumping higher and higher. It’s such a cool feeling.
The days are starting to blur together and I’m sure in the blink of an eye it’ll be time for cross country biking season again. But for now I’ll enjoy a good change of pace.
Keep chasing….

Down with the Sickness!!

2011-09-20T10:32:00.000-07:00

There is no "opportune time" to get sick. I am sick now. Hopefully it will only be a day or two thing. Seriously though, if you're a busy person, getting sick doesn't just suck, it also messes up tons of stuff in your life. Even though I don't have an event today or tomorrow, just two days have totally messed up this week.

I couldn't do cross country practice last night or this morning, which is REALLY frustrating for me. I'm trying to make varsity this year, or get strong enough that I'll make it next year. So, even more that it used to, every missed practice feels like a missed opportunity to improve and a failure to my team, my coach, and myself. I couldn't miss school yesterday, since I had a big unit test in AP US history. I did miss today, which isn't, "a big deal", since there were no major tests or assignments due. But it is a big deal, because tomorrow, if I'm well enough to go to school, I'll have to get whatever lessons I missed from teachers or friends, and make up the homework that I missed. It doesn't sound like a lot, but when you're taking 3 college level courses, it is.

I'm also a little worried about this weekend. I have my first cyclocross race of the season, the opener of the Sac CX series (super fun venue and group of people, go check it out if you're in the area). Later in this season I hope to be racing the awesome new Grammo Paru CX bike. Even bigger for me, I have my first downhill race. EVER. I have been dabbling in DH for a while now, but I haven't been able to fit in a race. Until now. I am super stoked for this, and to have to worry about not being 100% really makes me angry. Especially since I have friends from all over the state coming to the race. If you've kept up with my blogs, over the summer I went to the National Interscholastic Cycling Associations Invitational training camp. Some of my friends from the camp will be at the race, and we'll get to ride, hang out, and RACE! It'll be interesting for us to compare times. Since most of us only race against each other in the high school cross country mountain bike races, I've never seen many of these guys outside of that discipline.

I know it's not just me who gets really frustrated with little injuries and sicknesses. A little cold cannot even compare with Asa's injury (Badly fractured femur from a crash in Whistler), I can't even imagine what I would do. My longest injury was actually shortly before my very first blog, when I was out of commission for about 3 weeks from stitches in my shin. I could go on and on about how any little injury or illness messes up an athlete in so many ways, but I think everyone already knows it; I guess that this has just been my little rant for the day. Anyway Illness/Injury (anything taking time away from daily life) SUCKS!!

I'll keep you posted.

Cross Training, Cross Season, Downtime, Downhilling:

2011-09-10T16:03:00.000-07:00

Why Choose? I'm taking some down time from Cross Country mountain bike racing to do some of my other favorite things while they're in season. Currently, I am competing in my 3rd year of high school Cross Country running. This is my first year training as Varsity (you have to be one of the Top 10 guys). However, I will race some races as JV, because I am not top 7 Varsity. My coach will decide which races I will race JV, and which ones I will race Varsity. So far this season, we are doing awesome. Yesterday both our Boys Varsity and our Girls Varsity won a very big invitaional meet, and I medaled for the first time in JV at the opening meet!! Our team has a rigorous training program, and some very good and dedicated coaches.

While I am doing this, I am also training to get ready for our local cyclocross season. The new Grammo Paru disc brake CX bikes are going to be awesome. Part of the reason that I am so stoked about the new disc brake design is because before, with cantiliever brakes, I never felt like I could actually brake. This was because I often felt they had a huge lack of power and control in high speed, muddy conditions. This greatly affected my high speed cornering, which will hopefully get much faster and smoother. I love CX, and this seaon will be a ton of fun. I was out working on one of the courses for the Sac CX series on Sunday, and I've gotta say, it's gonna be a sick race. Super awesome venue and course, everyone who shows up is in for a treat.

I am also catching the end of the downhill season. DH is one of my favorite disiplines of riding. The speed, the jumps, the split second reactions, the skill, I just love it. And yes, I do know that I say this about almost anything on a bike. But I really mean it!! I'm very excited for my first DH race at Northstar later this month. Trying to fit all of these different activities, along with 3 yearlong AP courses, is quite the balancing act. I've had a bunch of conflicting race days, and that is always frustrating. Even so, I am having a blast doing all of these fun things. As I said in my last blog, it is often important to take a break from your main sport and have fun with other disciplines. I am certainly acheiving this now, and I am already looking forward to the start of next Cross Country Mountain bike season. Meanwhile, during this downtime from XC MTB, I am as busy as ever. I'll keep you posted!

Xterra Whistler . . . WOW

2011-09-09T00:10:00.000-07:00

Since I first heard about this race some time last year I knew it was going on my calendar. All I heard was technical, technical, technical, the most technical course in the WORLD! Sign me up. September 4th could not come fast enough for me. This would be my first time to Whistler the mountain bike mecca if you ask me.

Driving up from Southern Oregon was a task, something like 12 hours. The ride up was the prettiest ride I have ever been on. I grew anxiously excited the entire ride and couldn't wait to check out what the most technical course had to offer. We got in at 7am after driving 12 hours straight through so the nerves would have to wait a few hours to let my body recover. I'm surprised I got to sleep, I was a little excited.

When I woke up from my mid day nap I threw my gear on put the Grammo Toa in the truck and headed over to Rainbow Park to see if this race was going to live up to its hype. When I arrived it was hard to find the park but after much searching I discovered it. I wasted no time in the parking lot and headed right into the trails, which were so well marked for the race. Instantly a smile, I couldn't believe that they were hosting an Xterra on these trails, it was a dream come true. After pedaling around for a few minutes I was passed by pro Adam Wirth and decided I was going to stay on his heels and follow his lines. This was my first time meeting him, super cool dude and a fellow 29er. Him and I went around for maybe 20 minutes then he bailed off and I continued for another lap. I met up with two other races both from Canada and one who was in my age group. Both strong riders who were accustomed to such technical riding. I was paying close attention to Patrick, he was the one in my age group. We seemed well matched and I looked forward to racing with him.

After the pre-ride I decided to check out the run course. I had heard so many rumors about how technical and gut busting it was. Well 20 minutes into it and I was a believer of all I had heard. Over 1800 feet of climbing in just 6.2 miles.

After seeing most of the course all to do now was get some rest and be ready Sunday morning for what I had been waiting almost a year for, not to mention is was one of my last chances to qualify for Maui. For the race I installed a Reverb seat post dropper and was sporting a new Blue Seventy Axis wet-suit thanks to the kind folks at Unrealcycles.

Race morning was beautiful, the water temperature was perfect and I could not wait for 9am to start this race. For the first time I was going into the swim with a little confidence as my coach has had me swimming 4-5 times a week since we had our swim analysis about a month ago. Finally 9am and the count down, I always feel a rush when the announcer says 10 seconds racers 10 seconds, right there nothing matters, not how fast someone did the course last year or what your goal time is. It is all about to show if you put in the time or not. You have no choice, something you have been waiting for a long time is literally seconds from starting and nothing is going to change that. Then the announcer yells . . . 1 go !!! And like a pack of crazy's we are in a race for the first buoy. I wanted to just get out in front a little bit and settle into a pace I knew I could maintain. I felt great and was doing an awesome job of spotting.

After the first lap it looked like I was in decent position but I wasn't to worried about that as I had another lap to swim. Exiting the water I had asked my friend to shout out my position but I told him if it was anything over 75 to just yell at me to go faster. When I passed him I was pleasantly surprised to hear "47th get going".

Into transition, ahhh the bike I couldn't wait. Had a good T1 and was off for my favorite part. It was a two lap ride that started out with a bit of climbing. It felt like the climb was over before it began for the first lap and I was on my way. About 3/4's of the way through there was a girl asking anyone and everyone as they passed if they had an extra tube, I hollered at her what size she needed and of course it was a 29er. I couldn't leave her stranded when I had one in my pack so I stopped and gave her my only tube. After doing this I was a little scared what if I were to need it, oh well don't have it anymore. This first loop went well however I did get passed by Patrick at the end of lap one and knew I couldn't hold onto his pace so I watched him slowly creep away. A little into lap 2 and I felt leg cramps coming on. I knew I had to back off and take it easy because of the run that was just around the corner.

My second lap time was nearly 15 minutes slower than my first and I was a little down about this but the cramps had stayed away and I was getting ready for the run. My T2 went smooth and fast and before I knew it my favorite part was over. Now all I had to do was survive and hold everyone else off.

Part of the run course

The run was extremely challenging in a few ways. First it seemed to climb, climb, climb and then climb a little more and then when you would get a decent it was so technical you couldn't just effortlessly fly down it. I entered the single track with a runner 100 yards at most in front of me and I was determined to catch him. However before that would become a possibility I was passed by a Clydesdale of a racer who ended up pulling me along. It worked out great, I would pull him up the hills then he would tear the downhills and I would follow his lines. We caught a few people solely because of his ability to rip on the descents. The nameless Clydesdale and myself stayed with one another to almost the very end until we hit a decent that I just couldn't reel him in from. Luckily my choice to take it easy on the second leg of the bike had paid off and the leg cramps stayed either minor or not at all for most the race.

I ended up crossing the finish line at 3 hours and 34 minutes, about 20 minutes over my goal time. I wasn't overly concerned however, I was exited to have just survived! Looking back I realized that my swim time for the mile was 24 minutes. That was 6 minutes faster than previous best time. All those early morning swims turned out to be worth it. As they were posting the results I realized that I had finished second in my age group behind Patrick but had earned a spot at Maui.

A few moments across the finish line and I was told that my generosity had paid of big for someone. The tube that I had lent to the girl ended up getting her into T2 where she kept away second place and earned a Maui spot as well. She was a little excited, it felt good to hear that it made a difference.

WOW Whistler Xterra I can't say thanks enough to the race directors and volunteers who put on such an EPIC event. All I can say is I will be back next year and will hopefully be bringing some more athletes along with me to share the best that Xterra has to offer. I would also like to thank Standing Stone Brewing for their on going support! Next Race Maui World Championships . . . Yeah ya !!!

Eat Up

2011-09-07T20:16:00.001-07:00

Nutrition is (or should be) a big part of everyone’s lives, especially athletes. An athlete can train all they want, but without the right foods in their body they won’t be able to perform to their full potential. My coach, Paige Ramsey, is very strict about my nutrition. She’s worked to find foods and supplements that work well with my appetite and lifestyle.
Protein, for example, is essential to an athlete’s diet. I usually get my protein from lean meats such as chicken, turkey, pork, and fish. Other protein sources in my diet include steak, eggs and tofurkey. In addition to foods, I also use chocolate milk/chocolate protein shakes after hard workouts to help build muscle.
Another thing that has helped me is always check the ingredients on the back of drinks I buy. High Fructose Corn Syrup is very common in drinks, and is poisonous to your body. I always stay away from it, as well as soda. Soda has the same effect, and does nothing for you.
I also stay away from sugary cereals and other breakfast foods like donuts and pastries. I usually eat things like bagels with cream cheese or fruit. I love coffee, but I try to stay away from sugar and sweetener loaded drinks like frappacinos. I get things like white mochas, or just plain coffee and add milk and sugar.
Another thing that I should mention is fast food. It’s cheap and easy but their food is…cheap and easy. A Whopper from Burger King has 42 grams of fat and 700 calories, a Big Mac from McDonald’s has 33 grams of fat and 600 calories, and the Six Dollar Burger at Carl’s Jr. has 62 grams of fat and 956 calories. The small amount of protein in these burgers is far outweighed by the fat and calories. When I need something fast to eat, I get a Subway sandwich, which was much less fat and calories. For example a 6-inch Turkey Breast sub has 3.5 grams of fat and 210 calories. That is a HUGE difference.
For me, nutrition is about knowing what I’m putting into my body and the calories I’m taking in and putting out. And of course, making the right food choices.

Grammo Paru frames are in the air.

2011-08-29T22:04:00.000-07:00

Less than a week to get your pre order in and take advantage. Link below.

http://grammo-bici.com/ProductDesc.aspx?code=FR0021&type=3&eq=&desc=Paru-Frameset-Preorder&key=it

Toa Review

2011-08-25T11:46:00.000-07:00

I have had the privilege to ride the most epic mountain bike course in California two weekends in a row; "The Flume Trail". This trail is a great combination of long steep, sandy climbs + fun fire roads + ridge trail along Tahoe + granite rock formation rock gardens. The first week that I rode this trail I was on my trusty full suspension, aluminum frame, 26er. It was great and a lot of fun, but it was not until I rode Grammo's, full carbon, 29er the following week that I truly had fun.

The lightness of the bike made climbing a lot more enjoyable, enabling me to complete steep ascends without expending tons of energy. I also noticed that the rolling power of the 29" tire allowed me to cover more ground and obstacles with more ease. The angle of the top tube of the frame and the handlebar position set me up to be more aggressive downhill, without feeling like I would go over my handlebars.

The only thing that was different for me was getting use to bouncing on my seat when going through technical areas because I am used to the FSR effects and not hardtail. Once I learned how to respond to bouncing on my seat, the rest was gravy.

The Grammo 29er was an awesome ride and is definitely a climbing machine.

Pre order yours here: http://grammo-bici.com/ProductDesc.aspx?code=FR0020&type=3&eq=&desc=Toa-Frameset-Preorder&key=it

Mountain bike workout preview . . .

2011-08-23T22:55:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow early am, hitting the trails for some VO2 Max efforts. Thought I would share with you how I'll be spending my Wednesday morning.

Workout plan straight from the coach . . .

Wu 30-45min (Building Zone 1-3)
Perform a couple of sprint pick-ups (10-15sec) with complete recovery
3x3min (VO2 Max effort) on a 6-8% grade with 3-4min recovery (repeat the same hill)
CD 20min of easy spinning (Zone 1-2)
Drop the hammer - This will hurt! (Remember HR will take a little while to reflect the effort)

Yay should be fun . . . Luckily it's only 3 and the TOA loves it some climbing!!!

Back to training . . .

2011-08-22T13:14:00.000-07:00

Wow! Since my injury I have been slowly getting back into the swing of things. However I only have two last chances to qualify for Maui. With time running out, my training needed to be picked up and it was. For the first time in I don't remember how long I swam 4 times this past week. Surprisingly each time felt a little better than the previous. And, on a side note, I found a pool where I am living that doesn't keep the water temperature at 86 and is only open for lap swim. I can't believe it took me over a year to discover!

A few more weeks and I am headed to Whistler for the Canadian Championship race. I am a little disappointed I can't find someone to join me but I am super excited to see the course as I think it will play to my strengths. Also I've never been to Whistler before so I am super stoked to just check it out. The race is at Alta Lake just outside of Whistler and I found a great deal for rooming just outside of Squamish (thank you Craigslist). The trip is coming together nicely. I look forward to bringing the Toa up there and killing some fun single track.

Here are just a few things said about this course . . . Conrad Stoltz "For sure the hairiest, most scary, most technical XTERRA course I’ve seen. I walked some of the most hectic sections to check them out, then get on the bike, motivate and attack. Felt the rush of adrenaline, realized I forgot to breathe. What a rush. The riding here is in a class of its own." Marcus Barton "I love, love, love, the outstanding, awesome, excellent, bombtastic, sweet, superb, wonderful, fabulous, magnificent, beautiful, and technical trails at Whistler!" Man if that doesn't get you excited! Here are a few pictures from the course itself thanks to Marcus Barton.

I CAN'T WAIT !!!

Steelhead 1/2 Ironman - err.....Duathlon.....(boo!)

2011-08-16T11:54:00.001-07:00

Steelhead Duathlon

On: 08/16/2011 09:03:48

This past weekend Jerome and I headed over to Michigan to race Steelhead 70.3. I have always wanted to do this race and it is only less than 2.5 hours from our house! I have never done it before! And, this year I was going to do Nationals but I opted to race Steelhead instead.

ON Saturday we ended up going to the PRO meeting because I wanted to visit with Stacey Richardson, who I work with...and we were able to hear that the swim was going to be a major IF....I just knew in my gut we were not swimming. Not only was Lake Michigan aggressive (so....) but everyone seems to be so gun shy now about swims. Sorry, but that is just how much Triathlon has changed over these years. Jerome and I were laughing - about 10 years ago we did WHIRLPOOL Olympic in the same area - water was much worse and the RD was like, "off you go...." as we poured in the angry waters.....not anymore!

I will not say that I was not disappointed. Let's call a spade a spade. The swim is my strength and I need the swim to put the minutes on the AG - but what do you do? You adapt and do the best you can!

So, we did a TT start - 2 riders every 3 seconds. Lame. But, I just went off and did my own thing. The course was crowded and busy. I did really like the Steelhead course and felt good out there. I did race with power and I actually did enjoy it. I did not let it run my bike ride, but I was interested in the data afterwards. It is always so hard in a TT bike race - how hard to ride? In hindsight I maybe should have biked faster - but then could I have run a 1.36? I rode 2.37. Who knows. That is why it is a race! Here is me on the bike:

And, with the TT start I had no idea where I was! I REALLY prefer to race head to head....I dig that way more.

So, I just rode and ran and we finally had a day that was not 90-100F degrees so that felt awesome! Great to run fast w/o the heat!

While I was disappointed in my finish placing, there was not much more I could do - I did my best in a non-triathlon race and rode fine and ran super well. I am very happy with my run off the bike...I needed to have a good run and I did!

Jerome had a good race too and for someone who just goes to play a bit - he always does just super!

I am recovering now - and thinking about the next one and onto the Ironman training !

And, this pic is so fake. I am smiling after the race and just wanting to say: "F*CK YOU....I wanted to swim." HA. :) la la la la la

Xterra Portland 2011 . . . (Picture to follow soon)

2011-08-15T20:18:00.000-07:00

Just got back from Xterra Portland and am excited to report with good news. First I want to talk about the course. It is located just outside of Forest Grove Oregon and could not be an prettier. The swim was gorgeous the water temp was 77 degrees so wet-suits were permitted. The mountain bike loop was 17ish miles of fun single track with a few technical parts and a couple of hair pin turns to keep you honest. Finally the run was kind of wacky really the only part of the race I wasn't crazy about. It was a little more pavement than I would have liked and they ran us through a just mowed section of field that had small divots all over the place. With that being said there were two pretty fun climbs that got your heart rate up.

Coming into the race I really wasn't expecting much after just breaking both of my arms only two months prior. I was viewing it just as a welcome back race. That all changed when we lined up for the swim. I took off with the front pack but was quickly dropped and struggled to get out of the water. Luckily it was only a 3/4 mile swim so I wasn't in the water too long. Upon exiting I realized that Jake England (Points series leader for the Northwest) was just as bad of a swimmer as I was. I had a pretty slow transition and exited T1 just after Jake.

Time for my favorite part, the bike. I powered up the short little hill which was pavement and was able to pass Jake fairly quick. We had maybe 1.5 miles of pavement before the single track and I was using this time to allow my heart to recover from the swim. As I tucked into the single track everything clicked. Felt like I hadn't missed a day of riding. The Toa was at home on these trails. I was moving along fairly well and knew my swim was sub pair with all the traffic on the trails. I got passed by one guy who was ripping. I decided I could tuck in and let him pull me. It worked well for about 2 miles. We came up on a slower rider and he passed her on a corner and I couldn't so I had to wait. Just after the corner was a climb with a large downed tree that had been cut. I was trying to eye a line to pass here and wasn't paying attention to my line and clipped the tree with me left peddle. This sent me up and over the handle bars and my lead pony was now out of site. Luckily I was alright, slightly agrivated my left wrist that had just healed but not a big deal. I was a little dissapointed and it took me awhile to get back into the flow. From that point on no one else passed me and I had made up some good time. The entire bike I was looking over my shoulder for Jake knowing his strength was running. I was trying to get as much space as I could to hold him off. 2 miles out of transition I began spinning and loosening the legs up. As I rode past a group of spectators they hollered "your 12th". I knew I was going to have to have a good run to hold him off. My goal coming into this race was to break into the top ten, I was almost where I wanted to be.

T2 went a lot better than T1 for me as I was in and out. Still looking over my shoulder no sign of Jake yet. I took off on the run a little conservative knowing that it was two loops, I wanted to finish strong. After 15 minutes into the run I finally caught up with 11th place and saw a few more racers a ways ahead. At the turning point for the second loop it got confusing on who you were passing as many were on their first lap. Not 3 minutes into the second loop I looked over my shoulder and saw Jake mobbing through the field like a deer. I knew I was in trouble. I down shifted and tried to save a little energy before he passed me hoping I could hang on and put a kick on at the finish line. As he passed me I kept on his feet and was only 20 seconds behind as we hit the pavement section. Unfortunately this is where he put some space in between us. I tried to hang on but just couldn't. I crossed the finish line one racer after Jake and felt slightly defeated.

It was a fun race and great to go back in forth with someone. I later found out a little more about Jakes running achievements and didn't feel as bad. I ended up 12th overall on the day and 3rd in my age group. Not to far off of my goals. I had the 6th fastest bike split and the guy who's tail I was riding until I crashed had the second only 6 seconds off the fastest.

Another fun thing about this race was it was Alicia's first triathlon. It was a cool feeling to know that she was out there the same time I was going through everything I was. She had a blast even with her mountain bike crash that took her nearly 15 minutes to recover from. Both her and I entered T1 together and she was shouting at me to get going and catch up with the leaders. It was a awesome experience having her out there.

Back to training, I have a long ways to go in a short period of time. Next race is Whistler B.C., the Canadian Championship on September 4th and one more chance to qualify for Maui.

Grammo Toa Jersey is so fast...

2011-08-15T12:16:00.000-07:00

This sent in from California in the USA.

If you too want to look this good and this fast purchase your Toa jersey here:

http://grammo-bici.com/ProductDesc.aspx?code=AP093&type=1&eq=&desc=Toa-Jersey&key=it

For full effect you'll need to grow the beard too... http://www.rogaine.com/ ...try this?

New kits . . .

2011-08-12T08:45:00.000-07:00

Well at least now I look the part. The kits came in just in time for my first race back, Portland Xterra. They came out awesome. When I get some more time I'll post pictures of the bibs and jerseys. Pictured below is the tri race kit. I'm little nervous about my first race back but from what I hear the weather is suppose to be great and the course is a lot of fun. Look for a race recap when I get back.

Till then GONE RACING !!! (its good to be back)

It's Getting HOT in HERE!

2011-08-02T17:06:00.000-07:00

HERE I AM!

GEEZ! I am just having so much fun this summer. You know, a lot of us Midwesterners wait and wait for our summer – so when it is here, we try to jam in everything you can imagine! We have been to the Dells (think huge water parks), friend’s cabins on the lake, pools, lakes….just trying to live it up and soak it up. The kids start back to school in 2 weeks from today …and as soon as Labor Day is here, well….our summer comes to a screeching halt! So, that is why my blog has been so quiet!

And, I am getting down to business! No messing around in July and August! Ironman Wisconsin is just over 1 month away and I have a big group gearing up for this race! I am so excited to see everyone race. This past Sunday Jerome and I took a large group – about 30 – up to ride part of the IMWI course and do a little run. I didn’t order up the nearly 100F degree temps, but they decided to show up to the party! Great! We had a ton of fun and it was nice to connect a lot of JHC athletes and see them suffer = I mean have some fun!

It is race season! Everyone is racing and it is awesome and the highlight of my year.

Other than that, let’s see. I have been doing NOTHING. Eating bon bons and shopping. OHHHHHH wait a minute, that is my other life. Nope, just putting my head down and training. If I am not training or working, I am at a water park with the kids this summer. Those 3 options are not too bad in my mind.

Now, training…things are really good. I raced a ½ IM 2 weeks ago and had a great race – even in temps at 100F. I think I am finally acclimated to it now. PERFECT – because it will be gone soon! LOL…And, I am racing next weekend at Steelhead 70.3. I have never done that race and it is somewhat local – just over in Michigan! So, I am looking forward to that race. As I have mentioned before, I switched coaches…and I am very happy now. I don’t take that decision lightly or easily, but something needed to happen. I was over-worked and under-paid (kidding). No, seriously, since I coach and have LOVED my past coaches – I really wanted to have a great fit with my new coach. I was lucky enough to work with Mary HW, Ange B and Elizabeth W for a few years (Elizabeth since she was born, but who is counting) and they recently moved over to Kurt P…so last month I decided to go and work with him (and he has NOT fired me yet). At first I thought that was nuts to work with someone who is working with my athletes (not “my” athletes, but you know what I mean) – but then I said, “I DON’T care what anyone thinks (you stop giving a shit at 40, BTW)!” (except Jerome). So, I went with my gut. And, now we are one big, happy family again! I always say, it is the cumulative coaching in your life that makes one the athlete they are….and for that I am always grateful for some great coaches I have had over my entire life – and now moving on to another opportunity.

THE one exception: I had to get a power meter. I KNEW this would happen. HA. Of course I have a computrainer and powertap, but I HATE HATE THE POWERTAP (personally as an athlete) so I got the QUARQ (Jerome loves this one best) and I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE IT. WOW. Simple and easy – which I need. If anyone is thinking about the QUARQ – we love it!!!! I did my bike test on it today and had the best result EVER. So, all is good in power land.

And, that is all she wrote. I have my head buried in Training Peaks lately, so I apologize for blog slacking…and with the kids going back to school in 1.5 weeks (who’s counting?), and we have been gone enjoying life every weekend…. summer is moving fastly and before I know it, I will be training in winter gear. GASP. So, until then, I am enjoying the 100F temps and hot hot hot days! J NO complaints from me! Even our water in the lake was 90F 10 days ago! YES!!!

Grammo Sponsorship Program

2011-08-02T12:32:00.000-07:00

For 2012 we are looking to give back to the racing community and are now taking resumes from athletes and teams who will be great ambassadors for Grammo through our grassroots sponsorship program. Grammo offers products that range across several cycling disciplines and therefore if you race a bike on the road or in the dirt and have a genuine passion and love for the pain and suffering of racing we are looking for you.

Sponsorship levels include everything from product to team discounts. The level of sponsorship will depend on race experience, past results and upcoming 2012 race schedule. Please send a resume that includes as much information as possible in regards to these areas. Because we want to give back, we want to know in a cover letter how and what you do to give back to the your community. We also want to know why you ride and race, what has the bike done for you. Finally include a picture of you doing what you love, and just to clarify that, I mean riding your bike.

Send completed cover letters and resumes to sales@grammo-bici.com.

A Clean Ride (Soap Stone)

2011-08-01T15:00:00.000-07:00

Hey all! Epic, incredibly scenic ride yesterday!! I have been staying and working in Oregon for the past week, and the ride we did yesterday got a huge amount of hype from the local riders. The ride was called Soap Stone, near Castle Crags in Northern California off of I-5. It was worth the hype.

The views were absolutely incredible, riding along mountain tops, cliffs, and exposed faces on the side of mountains. The entire time you could see the enormous Mount Shasta dominating the horizon. I wish I would have had a helmet cam to capture the views.There were also some really cool rest stops, such as a large fresh mountain stream running down some giant rocks.

Out of 17 riders we had 12 flats, not including the one on the shuttle truck when it was being driven off the mountain. But we still had a great ride, because if you’re going to flat why not do it where you can sit on the side of a cliff with a view like a screen saver and fix the tire.

My Grammo Toa was a great bike for the day; the 29 inch wheel is really stable and rolls so nicely. The Toa and I managed to stay rubber side down the entire ride, and there were a couple of spots where a mistake would result in a few hundred foot fall onto rocks! Good thing everyone stayed up.

It was a pretty big group ride, and there were some really interesting characters out there. I definitely need to give a shout to Dave Patterson (AKA Fish) for giving me a hand with some shifting problems at the outset of the ride. Thanks again dude! Anyway, it was a great ride and just a great day! Hope everyone’s been having a great summer. I’ll keep you posted!

Fight Back

2011-07-26T12:45:00.000-07:00

I was never the stereotypical little girl, who wanted to be a princess when she grew up and glided around the house pretending to be a fairy. I wanted to be an Olympian; I ran around the house launching myself off furniture at full speed.

To young bike racers, USA Cycling Nationals is a shared dream. To wear the stars and stripes on your shoulders and a gold medal around your neck. That’s always been my dream. I was excited and nervous out of my mind when we got to Sun Valley, Idaho, for the 2011 USAC National MTB Championships.

The morning of my cross country race, my mind was already on the start line. My head was spinning and I was completely disconnected from the world. When the time finally came, there was a nervous silence in the staging area during call -ups. I had the third call-up.
After the start whistle, everything sort of went into a blur. I was in great position at the top of the climb, on 3rd place’s wheel, right with the leaders. I was stuck there on the switchbacks, not having enough room to pass. And then, in a split second, 3rd place slid out in front of me. I slammed my back brake, but I was too late. My bike hit hers and I was sent into a tree, a stubbly branch slamming into my ribs. The breath was knocked out of me, and I saw the others rushing past me. I grabbed my bike and jumped back on, my ribs screaming with every labored breath. I was now in 9th, hitting the short road section. My throat burned and I reached down to grab a bottle-but my bottle wasn’t there. Panic washed over my brain. What if my dad wasn’t at feed zone yet with my spare bottle?
He was, and by the climb of the 2nd lap I was back in 6th place. The climb is short, steep, loose, and brutal. A 13-14 boy who I was about to pass was clearly a victim of the climb. He swerved, and hit my handlebars, knocking them sideways. It was a slow motion crash, but the loose gravel dug into an old wound on my knee. I was now in 7th as I re-mounted my Grammo Toa. I put myself back into 6th by the top of the climb, and I railed the tight switchback downhill. I came out into the open section, and I couldn’t see any of the riders ahead of me. I don’t know what hurt worse, the pain in my rib, the sting of my knee, or the fact that I was so painfully close to my dream, but not nearly close enough.
Reaching the climb on my 3rd lap, I caught the next girl. The stiff Toa frame allowed me to power up the climb. I could see 4th place up ahead, and I was reeling her in. The anger in the pit of my stomach and the disappointed pain in my heart powered a fire to redeem myself. At the summit of the climb I shifted up into my middle ring, now only about 15 yards behind the 4th place. And my chain dropped, right clean off the cranks. I let out a string of choice words as I forced my chain back onto the chain rings. I got back on after losing around 10 seconds, but it was 10 seconds I couldn’t afford to lose.
I was in a monster gear coming through the start/finish. I came into the up-and-over bridge hot, and launched off the lip at the top. I cleaned the difficult rock garden and hit the climb, with 4th place back in sight. The steep, loose climb hurt on my 4th time up, and as I shifted up at the top my chain dropped. Again! I was furious, seething out of my mind. The announcer at the bottom of the climb roared “Fifth lap! Fifth lap!” over and over again.
I came to the rock garden, which was about 75 yards long and very difficult, with no obvious line choice. A spectator was very close to the course tape, leaning over it and screaming commands. I was taking a line close to the tape and was distracted by the spectator, my front tire sticking between two rocks. I went down, a sharp rock digging into the knee I’d already hurt on the climb. I let out a pained cry, getting up and running the last 20 yards.

The climb was terrible on my 5th go, but this time my chain shifted up cleanly. I took the descent dangerously fast and sketchy, coming into the tight turns with a lot of speed. When I got to the finish arch, the words “One to go, one to go, one to go!!!” were all too welcome to my ears. Almost over. My entire body hurt, my rib, knee, and shredded leg muscles. The only comfort I had was knowing that this was my last time up the brutal hill. Crossing the finish line, I laid my arms on the bars and slowed to a stop in the finish paddock. Alex Wild, a U23 racer and friend, noticed that I was actually hurt and not just bummed. He took my bike and I limped into the med tent. My family hurried to the med tent to check on and console me! My injuries were mild, a cut and bruised knee and a rib contusion.
I was disappointed because I knew I could have done better, but I was proud of the way I’d fought hard. I came in 5th place, and on the podium! This just wasn't my year for the stars and stripes, but I'll be back next year.
I owe a huge thanks to my awesome sponsors, Grammo, (and my Grammo Toa 29er). Special thanks to my Mom, Dad & Grandpa (Opa) who made the trip possible. Finally, I couldn’t have done it without my coach, Paige Ramsey, my Cycling Godparents (Asa Salas and George Dunkum), my bike shop Mad Cat Bicycles, everyone at Placer Foothill Mountain Bike Club, and all my friends and family who supported me to no end.

I’m proud of my accomplishment at Nationals, and I know that next year I’ll be coming back to Sun Valley with a drive and one goal: redemption.
Keep chasing..

Grammo Goes to US Nationals

2011-07-24T10:43:00.000-07:00

Hey all! My first trip to US Nationals went pretty awesome! The venue at Sun Valley, Idaho, was absolutely beautiful. The weather was perfect, the sunshine was endless (doesn’t get dark till 10 p.m.) and there were big cheering crowds every day.

Honestly, the Grammo Toa was THE bike for the XC course. Because my points had me in the top 10 in the Nation, I got a call up to the front line. Without this, my race would have been very different. I took the lead off the start, and heard huge chaos happening behind me. I led the charge up the brutal climb (best feeling EVER) with my competitor and friend Alec Crowfoot close on my wheel. My Toa was stiff, light and fast on the climbs, with excellent power transfer. The race was brutal, and my biggest problem happened early on during the first of the two prologue laps when I got taken out hard on a fire road corner by another racer. I don’t even know what happened, I was hammering, and then out of nowhere I was hit and landed hard, somehow ending up with a foot through my frame. But the bike and I were fine, up and back in the race instantly. I did manage to tweak the bars, but this was remedied while riding though use of strong contact to the wheel/tire (I punched my tire with my fist until it was straight with my bars while riding at full speed).

At the start of the long amatuer loop, there was a long technical section of single track climbing that got clogged by earlier waves and was later titled the “Conga Line” by racers. Although it was miserable to get caught in the Conga Line, it was really nice to have the internal cable routing of the Toa, so while I was jogging with the bike I could pick it up without worrying about the cables. I was psyched when we hit the decent knowing that I was in the top ten. I took off like a rocket. The tapered head tube and stiff frame of my Grammo is super responsive and snappy on the switchback descent. This helped me aggressively pass people on the inside of the switchbacks. I even got some thanks from racers I passed on the final descent, because after I passed them they liked the way I was cornering, and used it themselves. The descent was all skinny single-track and hard switchbacks, so the only way to pass without the rider in front stopping or dismounting was to rail the inside of the corners, moto-ing with a foot out and brakes locked, blowing dirt all over the place. It was awesome. I honestly think that I was faster through the corners on my Toa than the full suspension I used for the Super D. I was so stoked with how my race went. A top 10 finish in XC was what I needed to win in the All Mountain competition, and I WON! This is the official end of my XC MTB race season, and what a way to end it! I had my best race of the season, beating most of my usual competitors. I took 7th out of about 70 Cat 2 15-18 riders. I went into the race hoping to be top 25. To get into the top ten and come so close to the podium was such a great feeling.

I have to thank my parents and grandparents, without them I would have no way of doing all of this, I love them very much! I want to thank my awesome coach, Paige Ramsey, who coached me through an excellent season that helped get me to Nationals and peaking there just as planned. Her advice on being more aggressive in regards to passing helped a ton, as did the advice to increase cadence on the climbs. All the hours in the gym doing those awful dead lifts, thank you…I think! I also want to thank Asa Salas and George Dunkum for everything they do for my sister and I, especially for hauling us to races all the time, making sure we have bikes to race, and laughing along the way. Huge thanks to my sponsors at Grammo, my bike shop Mad Cat Bicycles, and my friends at Placer Foothill Mountain Bike Club who support me on and off the trail and have been central in helping me realize my racing goals this year! Last but not least, I want to thank everyone who reads my blogs, cheers me on, and encourages me daily. Without all of this support my season would not have been possible nor would I have had so much fun and so much success. I’m off to Northstar to celebrate with some down time (or air time), hopefully I'll be racing some downhill soon. I’ll keep you posted!

Just a 5k . . .

2011-07-23T13:42:00.000-07:00

Hahahaha anything but just a 5k. This was "America's Friendliest 5k link to race website" put on by Maya and Jenn, both from Rogue Valley Runners. It was a blast of a race and I'm glad I signed up. It's always awesome to see so many people out enjoying themselves. For me it was a training run and of course I wanted to do well. My goal was a sub 30 minute 5k but as soon as we headed up the mountain I knew I totally underestimated the challenge. After bear clawing my way to the summit it took me a good 5 minutes to get my legs underneath me, at which point I had been passed by a lot of people. I started to feel ok and got passed one more time and I said NO MORE !!! I picked it up and was able to pass 3 of the people who passed me. Heading into the finish I was pushed from behind, and I found myself running some ridiculous pace (for me) but I wasn't going to let anyone else pass me! Well just wanted to share a day of training off the bike . It was a great race and I will absolutely do it next year, hopefully I'll be in a little better shape. I finished 21st overall out of (I think) 185, and finished in just over 31 minutes. Check out the garmin link below. This was the single hardest race I have ever competed in. I set a new high, my heart rate 192.

Never know when your going to need a GU . . .

2011-07-18T14:19:00.000-07:00

Wow, so a few weeks ago I was out on one of my first bike rides back since my injury. Ben and I decided to climb up Green Springs (mind you he had rode his bike from his house to mine which is 27 miles) and cut over to Dead Indian then home. It was suppose to be a semi fast 3 hour ride because I had to work at 11:00 a.m. As we began making are way up Green Springs we realize we were apart of some sort of group ride as we are among 50 to 100+ riders. It was neat to see so many people out riding, I normally see ten at the most on any given ride. We found out it was the local Tour of the Lakes ride and people were doing either a 56, 100, or 136 miler. The route we were going was the 56 miler. I couldn't believe Ben was on his TOA mountain bike with a front fork, he made Green Springs look like a fast flat. It was cool to see him pass people and then watch their expressions . . . "no... no he's not on a mountain bike" . . .

This is how his bike was set up for the road ride . . .

At the summit of the first climb we turned left. The climb felt ok I was just excited to be out on my bike. When we took the turn we had more climbing, on this section is was just massive rollers, one after another all the way until Dead Indian. Once we hit Dead Indian I was pretty tired and couldn't wait to hit the summit so I could enjoy the 8+ mile downhill to finish the ride.
Finally the summit, nothing but ripping downhill to follow, maybe. I made it to the first huge 180 turn and I flatted on the front tire. I'm guessing I was going 20+ miles an hour. I consider myself extremely lucky. I was on the brakes because of the turn coming up. If I had been anywhere else it would have most likely ended bad. I changed the tube and started down again, a little gun shy and made it 100 yards and POW another flat on the front. After inspecting the tire we realized I had a small blow out and with only one tube left we had to be creative. By this point I was late for work and needed to get down the mountain and of course no cell reception. Ben had an old GU packet and he placed it between the tube and tire.

Now I was extremely gun shy, I couldn't take my eyes of the front tire on the way down, I was just waiting for it to let loose at any moment. Needless to say I took it extremely slow the rest of the way down.

It wasn't my fastest decent of Dead Indian but I made it down. I thought it was funny the pressure pushed any remaining GU out of the packet. I ended up being an hour late to work but lucky for me I had a witness. As I walked in a customer said "Were you just flatted out on Dead Indian, we came from Klamath and saw you changing tubes on the side of the road" and I gave them the short version of the story.

Success at Door County 1/2 Ironman!

2011-07-18T14:13:00.001-07:00

YES! I am just so happy with my race this weekend. Funny…I did NOT race Racine 70.3. That is another Jennifer Harrison – from Wisconsin and younger than me! LOL. Funny…I have always had people with the same name as me – that is what happens when you are a JENNIFER! I actually raced Door County ½ Ironman up in Northern Wisconsin. It is a fun, hillier race and usually cooler. Ha! Not this year.

I was really looking forward to racing. After my heat debacle at Eagleman, I have done nothing but work hard at getting down my rest and training and nutrition. I actually absolutely re-did my entire nutrition plan. I realized I have not done well in the heat in longer races lately – so something massive had to change.

First, I rested a lot. I think I went into Eagleman a little tired. And, well, we know if we are tired even 1% we are in trouble. Second, I could have easily of done Racine 70.3 – it is MUCH closer for me, but honestly, I wanted a hilly course. If I was going to race another ½ IM in July – it needed to be a new one and a place I wanted to go. And, I had 8 other athletes – 5 of who I traveled with – doing Door County ½.

For my nutrition, I changed my drink. My old drink combo was not working and the sodium/electrolyte count was not good (too low). I changed to EFS and LOVE IT. I changed my gels. I was taking GU – but the electrolyte count was too low – so I went back to my standard Power Gels that I used to race on…that have 200 mg of sodium each. And, I changed my electrolyte /salt supplement. I went to the Salt Stick – again, more electrolytes.

I wrote down my entire race day nutrition plan – down to the grams of CHO per hour I would take in. And, I followed it like a robot.

The heat at Door County was oppressive. The race did not start until 8am and it was going to get to 100F during the race! Honestly, it was a tough day…but I was prepared. I knew that in order for me to have a good race, I had to under-ride the bike. I was able to step back from the race itself and dial my bike back so much that I felt like I was riding a tricycle out there. I knew I was going slow – so slow I could have sang the entire time, but honestly, I needed that. And, I did NOT wear my AERO helmet – I wore my helmet that had 1000 vents in it so I could pour water down it at every chance I got. And, I raced in the Elite wave, which went off 1^st, versus my AG that went off 55 minutes later! Eeks!

The water was AWESOME! 70F degrees up there and it was awesome – choppy and head on current. I just stretched it out and kept contact with the one gal in front of me and just chilled out. Got out the water in 2^nd and passed the girl right away on the bike. Now being in 1^st and being chased by everyone – while deciding you were going to ride so easy is not the easiest thing I have ever done. But, I did not care. I needed to under-ride that bike so that when I got off, I could run in 100F temps. THIS would be the difference in the race for everyone this day.

One gal passed me – around mile 35. She was either going to blow up or win. She ended up winning (LOL). Then another girl passed me at mile 45, but she was off. She was working too hard so I ended up passing her easily around mile 50 and I am not sure she finished the race. She just rode too hard in those conditions, I think.

I got off the bike and was in 2^nd place. WHILE we were all running pretty damn slowly out there – the good news is that we were running. I rode and ran all by myself. When you race in the Elite wave, you are solo out there – which is fine for me. We had minimal shade, so open country roads with 100F and blasting sun. OUCH. And, this is not a 70.3 race so aide stations were not every mile. But, b/c of the heat advisory, the RD stepped up the fluids and he did a great job considering we were in a sea of ambulances all day!

I was running well. In fact, I felt amazing. And, you know what? I WAS HAVING SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!! I had turned my watch off because I knew it was going to be slow for everyone – including me – my job was to find the 1^st place girl and hold off 3^rd place. I felt so good I didn’t know what to do with myself. I would have hammered that pace if was not so hot, but I had to behave. It was a hilly course, so I needed to be a good girl. I stuck to my race plan.

I ran the entire half marathon solo. Like 1-2 guys anywhere near me. But, coming back I was so happy because I saw so many athletes heading out on the run – fun!

I held on – even in that melting heat for 2^nd Elite….I crossed the line in 2^nd, which was awesome. I was so happy that I felt good, put together a solid race and held everyone off while totally riding super light. I knew that some AG gals could push me down a bit, but podium at this race was TOP 5 overall. When it was said and done, I was 5^th Overall and I won my AG by 20 minutes! STOKED. So, even though we were all so slow, I threw out all my times and raced the conditions and the girls instead of the clock.

Here is what I ate/drank on that bike that saved my ass in that heat:

As soon as I got onto the bike I started drinking my EFS. I immediately took an electrolyte tab and took one every 30 minutes. I drank 100 oz on that ride in 2.4x.. 75 oz of EFS and 25 oz of water. I also dumped water over my head EVERY aide station. I took in 5 powergels for the ride…and honestly wanted more. I never had one stomach issue and even peed a ton clear in T2. I know that if I can do that, I will have a good run. I got out on the roads and I had my legs and felt amazing! So, it worked. In my guesstimation, I under-rode that course by 7-8 minutes. Yep, that much…but that was worth it and the reason I ended up overall much better.

And, you know what else I did? I called Kiwami and asked for a 2 piece TRI SUIT…..I had to get out of my one piece hot black one. I love it, but in that heat, I need more vents. I have not raced in a 2 piece since before I had the twins….but at 40 I don’t care anymore, stretch marks and all. I had ICE down my top the entire race to keep my core temps down and that helped a ton, of course. I just stayed soaking wet all day. And, because I was out on the course early, the water was cold in some places! The volunteers were awesome!

And, lastly, I went in TOTALLY topped off on my glycogen levels. I ate pancakes on Saturday, I had a bagel, huge bag of pretzels, pasta….I was totally sick of carbs, but damn did it work and double damn if I did not feel like 100000 bucks.

I am so tired of the sun. Yes, I said it. After I finished I was crazy person trying to find everyone out on the course – it was going to be a very long day for most – and I did not see Barb or Terri, but I happened to see everyone else! Since it was a late start, we didn’t leave the race venue until nearly 5pm! Congrats to : Mia (PR!), Katie, Emily (4^th AG), Karen (4^th AG!), Marc J, Stacie J-M, Terri and Barb for a great day on a tough day. And, hats off to Katie and Mia who drove with me 5 hours each way – and listened to me blabbering and singing to Kid Rock. Gotta love them!!! We had some interesting chats. J

And, I did make a coaching change and he has been so great. Very happy. More on that later.

Congrats to everyone who raced this weekend – it was a HOT nasty day out there- so kudos to YOU!

Toa's are here! So let's talk about them

2011-07-15T18:01:00.000-07:00

    Having just heard that the first batch of production Toa's are available, I figured it was time to give a personal assessment of the the carbon Toa I have been riding for the past couple months. After the first initial couple of races where the bike was great and the rider not so much, I decided to take a few weeks and really put in some time to get a good base block in and try to lose the giant cookie around my abdomen.
    The Siskiyou Mountains south of Jacksonville has hundreds of miles of paved and dirt roads intermingled with single and double track that is a base blocks dream. Over the past eight weeks I rode at minimum 14 hours a week and collected about 12-15k in elevation gain per week. All of this was done on the Toa and I have come to feel a oneness with that bike. Here is a sample ride.
Switching to the the carbon 29er scared my in a couple of ways. My first fear was riding a carbon hard tail and that it would be too rigid. Those fears were flush away pretty quick. The ride is supple and with the bigger wheels that roll over instead of into obstacles, I never said "wow this is rigid". In fact I looked for it and couldn't find it. The downhill stability, due to bigger wheels and wider wheelbase, has really stood out as well. It has allowed for faster speeds on descents, a skill I have been traditionally weak at. My body never felt beat up, just my legs.
   The frame itself has handled itself really well. The tapered head tube provides superior steering precision, where the handling of the bike begins. The big down tube into BB30 junction gives plenty of pedal resistance to make every pedal stroke worth it. Another notable feature that I love is the internal cable routing. It adds a clean look to the frame and highlights the great lines like the smooth transition from the top tube into the seat tube of the carbon frame. Just one crash so far, a descent on a dirt road where my front tire washed out on a switchback turn. It was my fault for not having scrubbed enough speed and is no reflection on the bike.
    The second fear was switching to a 29er with its sizing and ride position changes. I knew it wasn't going to be a match to my 26 inch bike that I really had a nice fit on and loved to ride. Going 29er means finding a whole new groove. Buying a frame and saying "to save money I will switch over the cockpit from my 26 inch bike" doesn't necessarily work. In some cases it may but accommodating a higher front end means that getting a similar position requires angled stems and flat bars. Just as the last shovel full of dirt on the grave of flat bars were being thrown, 29ers have come in like the Medici family, to rescue them and has fostered a renaissance of the old skool.

I am right back to where I was in 1997 when I started riding mountain bikes. Except my Yo Eddy Fat Chance had a 10 degree stem flipped upside down with a 19 inch wide flat bar. No wonder I crashed all the time and was scabbed head to toe. I always told myself if wasn't crashing I wasn't riding hard enough. That was stupid thinking. I spent half my rides flying over the handlebars as my 70mm Judy fork acted more like a rigid setup and finished the job of an insane cockpit setup to launch me to the ground. Now in 2011 it is back to raked out stems (17 degree Thomson flipped) and flat bars, except now 26 inches wide with better sweep.

Happy customer with a 18lb Toa 1X1

When considering sizing a rider can't say I ride a medium so I have to have a medium. An analysis of the geometry recommended and most important is the top tube and head tube length. One of the design characteristics of the 29er frame is the steeper sloping angle the top tube has to take from the head tube to the seat tube to accommodate the higher front end. This usually comes out to mean a shorter seat tube for an appropriate top tube length. But once you can find your groove the benefits of the 29er are pretty amazing.

There really is not many arguments left against 29ers, besides sizing for shorter people. But I know a girl that is under 5 foot and loving her custom 12 inch seat tube hardtail 29er, so that dispute may be a non issue in the end.

My traveling partner

Weight is another issue for riders and racers alike. I just weighed a small frame and it came in at 1170 grams. Notubes wheels and lighter suspension forks and tires have done amazing things to further the 29er cause. The white Toa I have been riding weighs less (21lbs) than my lightest 26 inch hard tail ever did, making the 29er a legitimate world cup racing machine as well as a great option for the weekend warrior.
So if you are pondering a wheel size switch or looking to upgrade your current big wheeled machine, the Grammo Toa is a well dressed bike at at brilliant price.

Carbon Toa's have arrived

2011-07-14T11:15:00.001-07:00

The first batch of carbon Toa's have landed. They are all for custom paint colors. So anyone that has placed there order for a custom paint color should be expecting their frames withing a week or two.

Custom orange and green

There are still some available from this batch but they will not last long. We are also still taking preorders for the factory painted frames. If you preorder and pay now we will throw in the matching carbon fork free.
sales@grammo-bici.com with any questions

Monkey See Monkey Do

2011-07-10T16:32:00.000-07:00

When you’re in a Criterium, there are spectators all over the course. Every turn, every straightaway, and especially the finishing stretch. It’s the job of the racers to give them something to watch.

In many of the bigger categories, a breakaway does the job pretty well. But when you’re in a junior race of less than 30 riders, that isn’t always the case. Granted, juniors are probably pretty fun to watch in general, I thought it would be entertaining to try to stay up with the boys at the Davis 4th of July Crit.

The girls 14 and under field had 7 riders, and the boys had around 15. I don’t know what some of those 14 and under boys are eating (I’m thinking whole cows), but a few of them were just plain huge.

Once I passed the junior rollout, I was able to get up into the front of the start line. After a crazy start, 3 of the boys got out ahead, and I was in the second group with one boy and one other girl. I get all paranoid and worked up over strategizing, so me and my inexperienced crit racer self took the lead and hammered away, just to see if they could hold on.

After 3 laps, they were both still there, so after one last surge to try and get away, I pulled up and let the others lead. I sat back there most of the middle of the race, only taking the lead for one lap. On the last lap, the other girl and I had left the guy, and I latched on to her wheel. I was jittery and unstable, preparing for the sprint as we rounded the last two turns.

She braked and took the final turn wide, so I accelerated and took the inside of the turn, just as she shot across and slammed the door on me.
That pretty much killed my sprint, but I chased her anyway. I was making up time, but the finishing line came too soon, and I finished a few yards behind.

I was 2nd girl and 5th overall.

Later, Asa (my team manager) just laughed and said, “Patience, child. You’ll get the hang of it. Watch the older racers; see what they do.”

I spent the rest of the day watching the races with my friend Aliya Traficante, who has a lot more road racing experience than I do. I learned a lot from her just by watching her race the women’s 3/4 race, and how she maneuvered. As I watched, I experienced many ‘LIGHT BULB’ and ‘Oh...Duh’ moments as I realized how many obvious mistakes I’d made.

It was a great experience, and at the end of the day I had fun. I learned a lot, but I still have a lot to learn about criterium racing.

Keep chasing....

Lessons from the Crit Side

2011-07-08T21:27:00.000-07:00

Hey all! So last Monday I raced the annual Davis 4th of July Criterium on my Grammo C3. This year’s Davis crit could have been called the 4th of July Crash-fest! Anyway, back to MY story. In some ways my crit race went bad for me, but in a lot of ways it was very good. We were running late that morning, and I didn’t get enough of a warm up before my race. Lesson learned. Also, in Junior road racing there is a rule called Junior rollout, which limits your max gearing so that it’s better for our young growing bodies and it teaches us good cadence. Right, well I don’t have that gearing set up normally. My dad tried to set up the gearing right the night before and unfortunately it was slightly off. Lesson learned. So right before the race I had to limit another gear. This caused my bike to not shift correctly off the line. This coupled with my lack of a full warm up and my inexperience in crit racing… left me out in the cold and dropped right off the line. Halfway through the first lap, I was shifting right again, but it was too late. I was on my own. I don’t know a ton about road racing, but I knew that this was bad. So I put the hammer down. I was pissed at everything and I wanted to catch that lead group. I got in my own personal hurt locker and stayed there, alone for many laps. I was blasting through small dropped groups, and then I finally caught the first chase group off the leaders group. I made a mistake here too. Instead of motoring right on by, as I learned later that I should have, I rode up alongside their group and took the lead. Lesson learned. I was hoping to work with someone to try to catch the main group. One other guy took a turn up front, and then I was back on. Then I tried to let someone else take a turn, but the guy behind me wouldn’t go. I tried to move off to the side a few times, and I hollered at him, but he wouldn’t come around. Then he suddenly came around me on a corner, as well as two other guys, and they all started to sprint. I had forgotten to look for lap cards, and it was the last final lap. Lesson learned. I got up and sprinted it in, coming in the middle of our small pack. I ended up placing 13th out of 22. I did learn something encouraging after my race. Apparently I attracted a lot of attention from spectators, as a lone rider, on a really cool bike, trying to catch the field from behind. The dad of one of my sisters top competitors, who didn’t know me at the time, noticed me, thought I was looking strong, and started taking splits. Afterwards he told me that six of my solo laps (once I was shifting better and completely warmed up) were faster than the lead pack as a whole! I was super stoked to hear that, and knowing that makes me even more excited for my next crit. So, in the end I learned many lessons, I enjoyed the race, and I didn’t crash! I’ll keep you posted!

New Bike+New Friends=Good Times

2011-07-02T22:52:00.000-07:00

Hey all!
So, last week I was at UC Santa Cruz for the annual NICA (National Interscholastic Cycling Association) Invitational training Camp. NICA is the huge organization that runs all the high school racing leagues in the country.

Their goal is to have high school racing leagues in every state in the continental US by 2020. They have done so much in the past few years for high school racing, especially in Northern California, where organized high school racing (NorCal), and NICA itself started.

Anyway, this camp is a training camp where you learn skills, nutrition, training for racing and riding, as well as the physiology involved. One of the main points of the camp is the competition to qualify for the NICA travel team for Nationals.

We raced a series of time trials (2.5 mile hill TT, 4.7 mile road TT, best of two short hill repeats, and a short-track TT), and the directors picked a certain number of riders out of each category based on the group size and GC (combined event times). It sounds complicated, but basically the fastest riders get to go.

In between rides/races, there was time to eat, socialize with riders from all over the country (There were 42 top level high school racers) and then we usually had a presentation by a pro racer, or a pro coach.

I had just gotten my brand new Grammo 29er for the camp, and I was super stoked to ride/race on it. I had it set up fully rigid, mostly because I had no time to procure a fork, but also because I was confident that I wouldn’t need a suspension fork for the riding, and that it would be faster for the races.

It was my perfect setup for the hill TT, the road TT (which we did on mountain bikes), and the hill repeats. It was also pretty good for the short-track. In my category, Cat 2 men 15-16, I was 3rd in the hill TT, 3rd in the road TT, and 6th in the hill repeats. The hill repeats were rough, because we raced the road TT that same morning.

The top 4 riders in my category qualified for the travel team, and at this point I was in 6th in the GC, with a chance of catching the other guys.

I was so disappointed with my short-track race , because I wrecked through a corner and lost a bunch of time, ending up 16th in the short-track and 10th overall, out of 20 something guys.

I was disappointed, but then a little less disappointed when I realized that I was racing some of the top guys in the country, and crashes happen in racing. I absolutely love this bike, especially now that I have ridden it a bunch, it's super responsive, but also very smooth and stable through corners.

I had such an amazing time at the camp, for so many reasons.

We had extremely knowledgeable and fun coaches/mentors. I personally learned some very useful information from the lessons with the pros. One of the biggest things for me was having 42 top high school racers in one dorm building for 5 days.

Let me tell you, as a 9 year junior racer, this NEVER HAPPENS! It was a great bunch of people too. Yeah, we were basically racing a MTB stage race against one another, for a big reward, but there was an awesome feeling of brotherhood among the guys. We all got along awesome, became great friends, and had an incredible experience.

It was also way cool to have about 10 top level GIRL MTB racers in one place, there is a devastating shortage of junior women in mountain bike racing.

You can ask my sister, she has raced many races where her only competition is herself. I got a kick out of scaring them with stories of my sister racing some of the JV girls at local events, and then mentioning that, oh yeah, she’s in 7th grade.

I got a lot of, “Holy $#!#, I’m glad I won’t have to race her when she’s in NorCal!”

Ha-ha, Go Ave Go!!

Anyway, I had a blast and made some great friends at the NICA camp, and I love my new Grammo mountain bike.

Life is pretty crazy right now, but as usual, I'll keep you posted!

Grammo Toa Jerseys

2011-06-27T17:17:00.000-07:00

We all like to look our best, because when we look good we feel good and when we feel good we can rip peoples legs off with angry pedal strokes. Well to make sure you look good with your new Toa hardtail we have matching jerseys from UK based Polaris to go with them. They will be available next week in black and green. Cost will be $45.

Click to buy: http://grammo-bici.com

Back in Black

Green front

Making Lemonade!

2011-06-27T14:10:00.000-07:00

Ok, let’s picture this scenario.

Jenny is at home for ONE full week without the kids or Jerome.

For many this is normal. For a mom of two little kids….this is a NICE little break. Let’s call it a mini-vacation.

I had been looking forward to this week for a long time. In fact, the kids go to the same camp up in Wisconsin with their cousins every year. It is their favorite week of the year. And, one of mine too. At 9 ½ years old…the kids need this where they swim, play paintball, do games, zipline, bungee jump on swings….oh yep!

So, there I was….driving up north dropping them all off. I drove home in peace in quiet and had the entire week to myself. All that stood between me and my bike was my lovely job and well…..the weather.

IF you had 1 week to yourself without your significant other OR kids what would you do?

A.) A.) Lay around the house naked, having parties, drinking beer and watching bad TV?

B.) B.) Train your ass off and go out with friends and do some work

C.) C.) Go to Tucson for a mini-getaway

D.) D.) Spend 2-3 days laying on the bathroom floor hoping your MOM will save you?

E.) E.) All of the above

OH dear friends, I decided that D would be the best option! DING DING DING, winner!

On Monday I just had a swim. So, I just swam. Like a good girl. I follow rules. And, then I worked all day – tried to get through as much work as I could so that I could play a bit. Oh and had a nice lunch with my old co-worker/boss!

Tuesday rolled in and I was up to do my brick and out of the house by 5:30am. You would think that I would sleep in….and that would have been nice but I had an appointment mid-morning! During my brick I felt…good but it was hot and humid (for once here) and I was a little nauseous. I went to my appointment and still felt OFF. SUPER tired and nauseous. Came home and took a NAP. Yes, I napped. WHO naps at 2:00? Oh right, I do without kids! I had dinner plans with my mom/sister and I started to not feel any better. In fact, my stomach hurt. My stomach never hurts. I just wanted to sleep and/or throw up. I barely ate dinner (not like me) and we went to see Bridesmaids….cute movie.

And, that was the extent of my week. From that forward on (overnight Tuesday into Wednesday AM) I was a hot mess. I spent the night tossing and turning, feeling sick…and wanting to vomit and all that good stuff.

I should have known. The kids PLUS Jerome had the flu last week.

On Wednesday…let’s just say it was a bad day. You know that sickness where you cannot watch TV OR even get on the computer? That was me. I have not been that sick in years. I laid (yes laid) on the bathroom floor praying that I would just feel better and I was dripping in sweat and it was not pretty. I had to practice my BIRTHING breathing. Seriously.

And so went my week. RIGHT down the toilet, literally. NO training (of course), no dinner out with friends, no swim race, NOTHING but feeling so awful for days that all I could do after Wednesday was work. NICE.

And, then I had a Sprint Triathlon to race on Sunday. NOW by Friday I was moving ok and functioning and eating real food. That is the kicker – SO low on food that you get into a huge hole. I slept a ton. I ate as much good food as I could. I felt so-so on Friday but was out and about a bit. On Saturday I got on my bike – before I went to pick up the kids from camp – and I rode easy and I was so weak. I thought…..uh oh….but each day I felt a little better – you know how that goes.

I went to bed at 8.30pm while watching LOCK UP (don’t be jealous). My race started at 6.30am the next morning!

This race is so fun. Rolling old school I call it. It has been around for so long – I actually did it in the mid-late 90s and then I didn’t do it as much and then I did it last year and had so much fun that I had to do it again this year. Since it is local, there are so many old friends there, people I used to race against years ago and it is just so fun! And, that sometimes is what we need!

I warmed up and felt – well, my legs were TOTALLY FRESH but I was a little flat just b/c I was still recovering from the flu…I started in the 1^st wave. It was fun to know ½ the wave and chit chat before the start! The swim is 1/2mile or so – maybe shorter – and I was able to get out so it was not too aggressive for me. I am always trying to beat my friend Dean out of the water – but he beat me by 35” – that is a lot of time in a sprint! Anyway, I was 3^rd or so on the bike I think? And, first women. Off I went.

Bike was fun. I think it was 14 miles – very technical in neighborhood kind of race. But, it was fun and SO early (like 6.45am on a Sunday) so we had full open roads. FUN! I actually felt good on the ride…and then off on the run. When I first started on the run I felt super in the legs but I needed a HAMBURGER feeling so I had a gel (this race took me 80 minutes total) and I felt a little better.

I never saw another female that day. My friend Eric DeWitt – who I was trash talking all week – came running by me like I was standing still – he was running sub 6 min pace. And, he did end up beating me (clearly). So I need to stop trash talking now! Point made!

Anyway, I had fun. I raced well. I won. I smiled. I talked too much. I high fived my friends. My friends and athletes had great races. The sun was shining and it was a perfect day. My good friend, Dean won for the men. Dean was the best training partner back in the day (before Kids). And, I was at my parents house eating eggs and quiona at 10:30am. Goes to show you can make lemonade out of lemons!!!

Congrats to everyone who raced this weekend – an awesome weekend of racing! And, thanks to Kate G and Karen K who came out and cheered for us at 6am!

Here is a pic of Jeff, Dean, myself and Eric at the Awards ceremony!

Toa's are getting dressed up

2011-06-23T16:25:00.000-07:00

The first production batch of the Grammo Toa carbon 29 hardtails are done and getting a
painted and decals. The stock colors are green and black. Custom colors are available as well, so pick out your favorite color and see if we can match it for you. Delivery for stock colors are end of July.
The better news is that frame that will be custom painted will be here in two weeks. So get your pre-order in now to be sure you get one. Toa ride review coming soon.

Toa custom: white with grey decal and brown Oregon mud

Too soon . . . ?

2011-06-22T23:45:00.000-07:00

Five weeks waiting for today, my first ride back. Sure it wasn't a mountain bike ride like I would have liked but it wasn't on the trainer either. Summer hit two days ago and boy did it hit. Both days in the 90's and me still on my trainer, well not today. It was as if my bike was begging me to take her off the hamster wheel and get some asphalt under the rubber. How could I argue I figured it was at least worth a shot.

On the schedule was a moderate hour and a half ride so I was headed to my favorite road, green springs. It has a little bit of a climb at the end with some gorgeous views. Because of the climb I decided to go out an hour and then turn around figuring I could make it back in half the time, which proved to be true. It was a great ride all accept for one detail. In the very beginning there was a set of rail road tracks with some nasty dips and gaps around them. Last time we went out my buddy bunny hopped it and I never had thought to try it. So today I figured I'd give it a shot, not a good idea. When I came down it literally felt like I had re-fractured my right elbow. I'll be interested to see how it feels tomorrow. My optimistic outlook of an early July return to the mountain bike seems as if it is no longer a reality. With that said I think I will be able to stay off the trainer and get some real miles under my belt on the road bike while I heal, waiting to return to the mountain side of cycling.

Sorry trainer the weather it just to nice . . .

My new hopeful return, the end of July. I think with a few more weeks I should be good to go. I can't wait to get on the mountain bike but for now the only trails I'll be on are the ones I'm running on. In the meantime I don't think I'll have to hard of a time with all the beautiful rides right in my backyard and the amazing weather that Southern Oregon is offering up.

Turn around point on today's ride . . .

Crash and Burn

2011-06-21T19:14:00.000-07:00

According to my dad, sometimes I “get caught up” in the moment of things. These things include cycling. I sometimes….okay, a lot of times… have so much fun on my bike that I forget to brake and consequently over-brake at the worst of times…and, pay attention. I’m also, admittedly, a teensy bit of a showoff. (Teensy bit)
So, at the Prairie City Race Series on Wednesday night, I was thrilled to see that the course included an ATV track…with jumps. At the start of my race, the Sport Women 34 and Under, I pushed off the start to insure a clear shot at those jumps. There were a couple photographers taking photos of racers, so I just had to jump a bit higher than planned. Just a bit. I took the jump, and let me tell you, I flew. Later I was told that I got almost three feet of air. My response? “No way!!! RAD! Did you get it on film?” My mom’s response when she saw the photos? “A little less air time please, Ninja Princess.”
I stuck the landing perfectly, and I was in perfect position right behind 1st place. The course hit a steep, rutted downhill that I totally railed. The descent wasn’t the issue. It was the slippery dirt at the bottom that threw my rear wheel into a rut. I washed out through the corner, landing hard on my right side. I heard someone yell, and blinked. When I opened my eyes, there was a guy standing there, pulling my cleats out of the pedals. He looked at me. “Wow, kid. You were out for at least 10 seconds. You alright?” Confused, I squinted up at him and said, “Um, yeah. I think so.” A woman was there, too, rolling my bike off to the side. She asked what happened. Still a little out of whack, I said, “Uh, well, I just kind of washed out, I guess.” I didn’t remember blacking out, but they both assured me I’d been knocked out in the crash. The guy showed me a hole in my number plate and my handlebars, which had been bent crooked in the crash (the carbon bars were fine; he straightened them out for me).
The roving EMTs arrived in their buggy a few minutes later. The guy who’d helped me to sit up explained that he was a paramedic and he’d seen me crash and told them I’d been out for a few seconds. Renee, a local EMT who knew me by name (Ergo, I get hurt a lot) asked me a few questions to the tune of my name, age, team, and the approximate time of day. I answered pretty well and said, “I’m feeling better. Can I try to finish?” (Random Monty Python moment: “I’m not dead yet! I’m feeling better”!) Renee laughed, showing me a crack in the back of my helmet. “Nope, you’re done. You banged yourself up good this time.” Tom, the EMT’s assistant, whom I also know well, examined the damage on my right arm and knee. “Well, you got some good road rash on your arm.” I hadn’t even noticed that yet. “Oh. It doesn’t hurt.” Laughing, they told me, “Oh, it will hurt.” I also had a deep cut on my right knee. I groaned, seeing I’d gotten blood and dirt on my new kit and socks. They let me ride back to the pit, but I was extremely bummed that I had to quit. My dad and a few others came rushing to the med tent where I was getting cleaned up, and every time, I said, “I’m okay, I’m okay” I actually looked pretty badass in a dirt-covered kit and my white bandages made me look super tan. My helmet was ruined. So were my chances of winning the points series for the 34 and under Sport women.
The next day, I woke up so sore it hurt to move. Besides the worst injuries on my right arm and knee, I found more cuts, scrapes and bruises on my right hip, right shoulder, left arm and some worse bruising in my right ribcage. People asked me what hurt worst. My answer? Everything.
Keep Chasing….

Despite delay . . .

2011-06-20T23:36:00.000-07:00

There is no doubt that the past months and 4 days has been a little more difficult than first expected. Prior May 17th training was going as scheduled. I had a few not so great races but no major set backs. As of recently I have really fallen off the wagon. Its mostly lack of motivation on my part, I am still able to get out and train (not on the bike yet, that's soon to come). However I have placed myself in a rut that I wasn't to sure I was going to get out of, until just a few hours ago. Sure I've put together a few good days in a row but I was yet to have a work out that motivated me to the level I was at before the crash.

Before I go any further I have to give credit to my friend Jace who is an extremely strong runner for snapping me out of my funk. Through this low I have learned a bit about myself and most importantly, I am not a fun person to be around if the endorphin's aren't flowing and I really enjoy sleep if I'm not training. I've become extremely unmotivated until today. On the schedule I had a run where I wanted to go out for an hour and a half. The second half of the run was suppose to be faster than the first and at no point in the run was I suppose to hit race pace. Well after work I was actually looking forward to the run and on my way home I got a text from Jace who I hadn't talked to in a few weeks asking if I wanted to run with him. I took it as a sign and gave myself no time to think about the fact that I was going to run with him and texted him right back "see you at 6:00". A little bit about "him" he recently finished 3rd in an ultra run out in Sisters Oregon where for 48 miles he averaged 6:45 minute miles with a decent amount of elevation gain. Hence the quick thoughtless response. I had a route in mind and told him I partially wanted to treat it as a training run and he had no problem with that.

At 6 o'clock we were off. I am going to spare you all the details of the run and just insert the information but I will tell you this, I have never doubted myself, my training or my future racing plans more than I did today on this run. That was until we crested and I knew it was pretty much level to all downhill the rest of the way. At this point I was ready to go and got a second wind. When we finished the run I had a sense of accomplishment and a feeling of being back on track. So despite the delay which took all of one month and 4 days I would like to think that I am ready to get on with the training and self punishment. This low is over . . .

Next race Jacksonville Oregon Stagecoach Cross Country, 23.5 miles 5,200 feet of climbing. After that August 7th for Xterra Black Diamond Washington, August 13th for Xterra Portland Oregon, September 4th for Xterra Whistler, then possibly September 24th for Xterra Nationals in Ogden Utah and hopefully October 23rd Maui Hawaii for Xterra World Championship.

Ah, Home!

2011-06-18T17:31:00.000-07:00

Jerome and I set out last Thursday at the crack of dawn with the kids...we were heading East to Philly and ultimately to Maryland to race Eagleman 70.3. THIS is my all time favorite race! It is a 1.2 mile swim in the Choptank River, 56 mile ride and 13.1 miles of running. This course is windy, hotter than hell and flat. I LOVE THIS COURSE...except that the joke was on me /us as we live in Chicago - wearing full winter gear until just recently!

Jerome and I have done this race...since 2004. I missed 2008 due to racing the ITU World Triathlon Championships in Vancouver....otherwise, I have done it every year. And, every year but last year I had won my AG and qualified for Kona. No pressure.

However, I do not go to Eagleman with any expectations. Year after year it is hard and the conditions and pacing and fitness have to be SPOT ON to do well here.

The race morning dawned and it was humid. I will not make excuses but it was going to be a tough day. I came out of the water in 3rd place and passed the 2nd girl in the transition area.

Onto to the bike..I LOVE my NEW HOT PINK GRAMMO bike and I had several spectators yell, "LOVE THE PINK BIKE!".....I rode well and held onto 2nd place until mile 48 or so. Then, I just got so HOT. I was drinking but everything was coming back up. I was over-heating and once you get to that point, it can be a slippery slope. I drank all I could....but I was SO SO SO HOT. I finished the bike in a slow time for me: 2:37, which is 21.5 mph...but the wheels were coming off.

I flew off the bike and put my running shoes on and headed out in 95+ F degree heat to run 13.1 miles. It was OVERWHELMING because I felt so horrible. I wanted to DNF SO SO bad. But, that is the easy way out and I have never DNFd in 16 years, and I was not going to start. Medically I was "ok" - I was just slow and it was humbling to be passed when your mind wants to GO but the body will not.

I did end up finishing - far from 1st place..but it was a huge accomplishment against the elements that day for me!

Next up: Twin Lake Sprint Triathlon here locally - next Sunday the 26th of June! Can't wait to get out there and hammer in a short race!

How much longer?

2011-06-16T08:00:00.000-07:00

Cicero in action. Early defender of natural rights.

In writing to his friend Atticus, Cicero, the great Roman orator, begs a question by starting "How much longer must we ..." in reference to the direction of the soon to be doomed Roman Republic. As I listened to the lecturer go on about this example in reference to realpolitik throughout the course of history, I found myself pondering the same question "How much longer..." in regards to the ridiculously long, steep hill that I was climbing that seemed to never end. The Jacksonville trails are a blast to ride downhill on the Grammo Toa but can cause a mountain of negative self reflection on the way up.
Amazing how much fitness a person loses in the course of a year. I suppose an over indulgence of Standing Stone's sweet potato fries (and that dip is so good!) and a bounty of homemade cookies help get me here. I haven't been completely inactive however, but certainly not in a training mindset. Riding and training do not even belong in the same sentence as far as that goes. Sure you ride while training but you train to race. Training is specific targets that must be reached day by week by month and then cross your fingers in the end and hope that you got it right.
Where riding is fun, training is sobering. Training brings a grimace, riding brings a smile. Riding is good for socializing, training makes breathing hard let alone talking. Training takes as much mental exertion to stay focused on goals as it does physical energy to push the body towards those goals. Riding is a stress reliever that brings one back to our natural state as human beings.

I am a big fan of the periodization training technique that Joe Friel preaches using 3 building weeks into a 4th recovery week. Within the 3 weeks, time and intensity increases each week until the 4th week where the body tries to make sense of the pounding incurred over the previous 3. All the while counting calories, trying to get enough sleep, and oh...live the day to day. I am by no respect a coach and will not even attempt to offer tips, but it points out the scientific nature that can go into training.

Leaving transition at Granite Man with Toa in hand

I have started doing some races locally like the J-ville STXC, that caused me extreme pain, suffering, and brought me to the closest I ever signed up for vomiting while in race mode. On Saturday I produced the fastest bike split at the Granite Man Off Road Tri in what amounted to an off road TT for me, as I was just the bike leg of a relay. In the latter I felt some good turnover, merely brief reminders on the racing fixation.
So the questions begs to be asked to myself, "How much longer?" until I have the fitness of yesteryear. I don't know the answer right now, but I am crossing my fingers and hoping I get right for cross.

Granite Man a different race . . .

2011-06-13T14:20:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know, Granite Man is Southern Oregon's local off-road triathlon. Earlier in the year I was looking forward to challenging the course record. That all went out the window when I went over the bars a few weeks ago and ended up with three fractured bones. The first week after my crash I was a little down because I thought I was going to miss the race. Though, a friend of mine was over talking about mountain bike racing and it just clicked, RELAY. Sure it's not the same as doing it all yourself but heck, with the state I was in I would take anything if it meant I could race. After a little persuading of my friend Zane and a quick call to my fish of a friend Matt (pictured below)

we were . . .

Two and a Half Men!

Matt,Myself and Zane

Zane was worried before the race because he hadn't ever road the course nor the ridiculously fast Grammo Tao I lent him. I decided my bike was what he needed to ride for this course and he said he would give it a shot. We put a little bit of pressure on him by having Matt as our swimmer. We knew Matt was going to be early out of the water, most likely top three. This meant Zane was going to be out in front of 60 plus mountain bikers.

Sure enough Matt came third out of the water doing what he does best and Zane was off. I told him if he saw a white Grammo powered by Ben to tuck on his rear wheel and not let him go.

That was Ben leaving transition 3ish minutes after Zane

Zane went out and road his butt off. There was a 4 to 5 mile stretch where he positioned himself in the lead and was able to hold it. He was later taken over by Mike Thomas, a local stud of a mountain biker riding a single speed. Zane said when he got passed by Mike, he held onto him and only lost a few seconds. He rode behind him for awhile before being over taken by the first solo athlete who was putting a blistering fast race time together. Again, Zane was able to keep Rich Arvizo (the solo athlete) in his sights. I had warned Zane of the one steep climb at the end and told him after that climb it was all downhill. Ben later told me that his Garmin read a 22% incline for part of the climb. Zane said when he started climbing he looked back and Ben with his bright yellow Mavic's was moving in on him fast. This meant Ben had made up 3+ minutes. At this point Rich had left the field and now had a minute lead over everyone. But, in an exciting fashion, Ben, Zane and Mike had a sprint into transition 2. In the picture below Zane is on the left and Ben on the right. You can tell they both gave it all they had!

Zane and Ben right after the mtb ride

All there was left to do was the run. Rich was out on the run around a minute before anyone else. All the guys that came in together were a part of a relay team. My team had put us in a position to win. I took off out of transition slightly earlier than the other two teams and had Rich in my sights. I knew he wasn't a team so passing him just meant we would have the overall first finish. I reeled him in and felt kind of bad because he was working his tail off as a solo athlete. He deserved to be out in front, not a fresh guy like me just doing the run. That feeling only lasted a little bit and I pulled in front of him on the last hill before we hit the single track. I had gone out slightly faster than I wanted but it was so easy to do because the first mile was on the road. As we tucked into the woods I gave a glance over my shoulder and saw I was putting some space between myself and the pack behind me. Now it was my race to lose and there was no way I was letting my team down. I settled into a sustainable pace and the 5 mile run went by like nothing.

I crossed the finish line and the timer read 1 hour 45 minutes and 8 seconds, just 27 seconds ahead of the second place relay team. I'm not sure what the course record for a relay team is but I am certain we were close if not set a new one. Congratulations to Rich, the solo athlete, who crushed the old course record. I'll be looking for him next year. There ended up being 20 relay teams that entered the race so we were all extremely happy with our results. This was my first relay and I have a feeling it won't be my last. It was so much more fun than I thought it was going to be and I got to get out and race with some great friends!

I want to thank Grammo and Standing Stone Brewing Company for their support and another thanks to Grammo for being out at the race. I would also like to thank anyone and everyone who had a hand in putting this race on, especially all of the volunteers. Also I want to thank Leah for taking some awesome pictures. It was a great weekend and a great course!!!

The Tracer

2011-06-12T22:45:00.000-07:00

Hey all! So it’s officially been a week since I built up my new Grammo C3 Pro Edition! It weighs 17.7 pounds with bottle cage and pedals on. It is fitted with the Grammo 580 handmade wheel set, and Grammo stem, bars, and seat post. It also has the awesome, super light, self-centering Grammo Viper brakes. I fitted it with the Sram Force groupo. I have a cool Ragley saddle that matches the bike, and my favorite orange Lizard skins bar tape, with matching orange Jagwire cable housings. It has officially been nicknamed “the Tracer” (after the bullet, not the car!).
You know you love your new bike when you find yourself holding a track stand at stoplights, and then drag racing the cars on green, WINNING for quite a ways. I am having a blast on this bike, it sprints awesome, and it rocks the climbs! I got to race my first time trial on Tuesday, and the bike and I performed very well posting a 24 and a half minute time on a 10 mile course, which is a 24 mile an hour average sped. Being new to time trials, I automatically drafted a guy who passed me for a little while. Ooops!! Good thing it was just a local time trial for fun! I am looking forward to finding a road race or a crit in a couple of weeks, and getting some good rides in on “the Tracer” this week. Next weekend I am going to be racing the Ashland Super D, and then it’s off to the NICA training camp. I’ll keep you posted!!

And so the great war began...

2011-06-06T15:42:00.000-07:00

These are the words which Herodutus used in writing about the war between the Greeks and Persians. And now I apply it to myself. I have told my self that I would not race any more for the past three years. It has only been in the past year that not racing has become a reality. It had become a self civil war between time on the bike and time with my family and other important issues. Striking the balance was a tough task and so I surrendered and chose time with my family.

Toa race ready

Grammo Toa race ready 21.9 lbs

Almost 4 months ago with agreement of Lenor my wife, we moved our family to Southern Oregon to take a new job. I joined Zedsport Inc. as the Titus face. With their recent move to Portland and my decline to move with them, I have accepted a position within Zedsport to be the Sales and Marketing Manager of their Grammo brand products. The product line is amazing and offers high level product at a great price. Everything from road, MTB frames to high performance carbon wheels and components it has rejuvenated my desire to ride.
With this new position I found myself motivated to get back on the bike to promote the products. What better way to say you should, than by saying I do. So far so good. I have been really back on the bike for a couple weeks and I am starting to feel the fatigue of the early mornings and the miles of steep hills around the Rogue Valley. I must say that I have not seen a more beautiful place than what is here in Southern Oregon.

Never get sick of this view. Mt Mcloughlin

I am also starting to look at the landscape as only a biker does. Silently I question "I wonder what the gradient is on that road?" and excitedly pronounce "That would be a sweet road to ride up". Other traditions that bike riders celebrate such as shaving legs and counting calories may have to be recognized and celebrated once more.
The next step is to incorporate proper rest and nutrition to accommodate the miles and time and gain the necessary fitness needed to be at some competitive level again. All this while of course striking the balance that bike riders often have a hard time finding. Hopefully the past year has given me valuable perspective that will ultimately help me find what Aristotle called the 'Golden Mean', the fine balance on which happiness hangs. I will be doing some local MTB races over the next few months as I try to ramp up for a full Oregon Cyclocross season.

New disc specific CX bike

With a new cross bike coming from Grammo this summer and the already great line of carbon wheels, I want to be out testing and promoting the product while hopefully having a great time racing. I should rephrase that. Racing is never fun but being fit, feeling like I can compete at a high level, and being an example of being goal orientated for my boys, are the reasons that motivates me to get up at 5, dress up like a mummy in lycra, and brave the still cold temperatures of early June. My goal for writing will be some valuable product review, good training ride stories, and any decent race results to keep it interesting.

Ride Like a Girl!

2011-06-04T14:18:00.000-07:00

I ride like a girl. I’m younger and smaller than most of the junior boys. And, the fact of the matter is, I’m proud of that. I’m proud to be the only girl on the junior’s start line at many races. I’m proud to race with the boys. I’m proud to ride like a girl. This blog is for the girls. For the young girls who get flack from the boys… For not being big enough, or strong enough to compete with the boys. Well, let me tell you, girls: You are big enough and you ARE strong enough. We are as strong as we believe we are. So, be proud.

I held my head high on the front of the start line of the Folsom Classic Criterium, my 5’5” being towered over by 16 year old boys with giant muscles. I stood over my Grammo C3, the Pink Ninja, ready to give my all. On the neutral lap, I will admit that I protected myself, hugging the wheel of my 6 foot tall brother Wyatt. Wyatt didn’t mind me hiding in his shadow. I knew that if I let them, the other boys would bully me. I also knew that Wyatt would have NONE of that.

I was able to stay in the pack for the first lap, until a humongous boy from Teini Duro attacked, and the pack recoiled, flying off after him. I just couldn’t stay with them. A group of about 6 other boys were dropped as well. I worked with one of them for a lap or two, until I attacked and dropped him on the 3rd lap. I picked off the other chasing riders, and on my 4th lap I could finally see the pack. So close…but just out of reach, as the Teini Duro boys attacked again and the pack flew away. So Close.
I was now in the deepest, darkest place in the world; The Pain Cave. As I passed the start/finish on my 6th lap, I could hear the announcer: “Wow. Talk about perseverance from the lone female in this race.” And the spectators screamed. That made me proud. I pushed harder, my lungs on fire and my legs beginning to shake. I swallowed hard. I could hear the pack behind me. I was going to get lapped. Lapped.

Wyatt patted my shoulder as he went by, and Hunter Olivier, a Diamondback factory racer I’d known for a long time, encouraged me as he went by. I tried to hold the pack for as long as I could, but they were just too big, and there was too many of them.
After 9 laps, I was dog tired and the grimace of pain on my face clearly stated one thing: I am not giving up. On the last lap, I was breaths away from losing my breakfast, and every pedal stroke was agonizing. It took every inch of determination in me to stand out of the saddle and push with what little I had left across the finish line, to the sound of the crowd cheering, and the praise of the announcers. My knees buckled as soon my muscles relaxed. I’d given everything I had. I’d raced with the boys, and I’d gotten my butt kicked. But I raced. I wasn’t afraid of them, and it was clear by the look of approval from the boys I rode by on my cool-down that I’d earned their respect. I was proud of what I’d accomplished, my 14th place out of 25-some 16 and under juniors.

So, to all of the junior girls: Don’t be afraid to race with the boys who have years, pounds, and feet on you. Never give up. You are stronger than you know.

Ride on. Ride like a girl.
Keep chasing….

What Goes Up

2011-05-28T20:26:00.000-07:00

Weaverville is the cutest little town. So cute, I wanted to stick it in my pocket and take it home with me. It’s one of those towns where the shop employees know you by name, and everything (yes, EVERYTHING) is on Main Street.
Five teammates and I stayed in a little hotel about ten minutes away from the race venue, which was at Trinity High School. I was woken on Saturday morning by my Team Mad Cat teammate, Dee Larsen, jumping on my bed saying, “Morning! Up, up, up! GOOD MORNING AVERY!” Well, good morning to you too, Dee.
I warmed up in the parking lot of the high school, mostly doing circles around our pit area. A quick team photo, and then we lined up to start. I was shocked at how the course literally exited the high school campus straight onto trails. Before I knew it, I looked up to a dauntingly steep and long fire road climb. Not really what I wanted to see, but I decided to not over think it, just pedal through it. That, my friend, is easier said than done. This is one of those climbs that, no matter how optimistic you are going into it, crushes your spirit after the first mile. Every time I thought it would be done after the next turn, the course kept going up…and up. It went up until I could see a panoramic view of the area below me. The little town of Weaverville was now tiny in the distance below me, and I felt as if I could touch the clouds. And, as my odometer read 3.2 miles (of straight UP) the course flattened. The first thing that went through my mind: ‘OH YEAH! Who’s bad?! That’s right: ME!’
I recovered surprisingly quick, and soon I was back up to full speed, flying along the flat fire road. After another mile of dusty, twisty road, the course turned down onto a singletrack. The last 7 miles of the course were rolling, beautiful downhills. The course ran along a river, and from the trail I could hear the rushing water, which was a little surreal. The course led through rambling, fairytale forest trails until the course dropped back into the high school. It was a really tough course, and after my second lap I was cooked. Completely, totally, undeniably cooked. I, trying to find the energy to go out again, sucked down a Monster energy drink.
It didn’t work. I sat down for about 5 minutes, and when I tried to get up, every cell in my body said “NO!” The clock was ticking, and with only 2 hours left and so little gas left in the tank, I knew I couldn’t make another lap.
I stayed in the pit, took photos and was a one-person support crew for my teammates, who were heading out. I, being the only 18 & Under girl, won my category. Asa and Wyatt also won their categories. At the raffle, I won the last prize package, and the biggest. It consisted of an entire flat of energy drinks, two free coffee coupons, a free saddle coupon, a t-shirt, two KENDA tires, and a water bottle.
Asa, Wyatt and I crewed for George, who amazingly did 7 laps in 12 hours, taking 2nd. Way to go George (I bow to the Jedi Master)! Afterwards, we went to Round Table and stuffed ourselves with pizza. Pizza, and, (of course) many, many Monty Python jokes. (What is the average flight speed of a fully laden swallow?)
It was a great weekend, and I’m already looking forward to returning to Weaverville next year on the new Grammo Toa 29er hartail.

Keep chasing…
CAMELOT! ‘Tis a silly place!
(Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)

Go Long!

2011-05-27T10:31:00.000-07:00

Hey all!! So, first off, I am officially a High School Junior!! Finals are done, schools out, and I am stoked for this summer! Last weekend was the Weaverville 6 hour mountain bike race, and I was there to defend my junior series win from last year. We had the whole Sacramento division of Team Grammo there (Avery, Asa, and I) and there were also three more Mad Cat teammates with us this year making a very fun group of 6 racers (George, Phil, and Dee)! It was so much fun; we all stayed in one big hotel room and the pillow fights were epic. The 12ish mile course was basically a giant Super-D course. After the steep 3 mile fire road climb in, the rest was all either light downhill trails, or gently rolling XC trails that had a downhill attitude. The descent was so much fun, super fast with super smooth, flowy bits and some nice little kickers. I had an awesome time doing little whips and tweaks! I did 4 laps, which was my maximum from my coach as I was still recovering from state champs. On my last lap, I got to pace and cheer for a teammate who was hurting. I stayed with her and encouraged her until she had to walk and told me to keep riding. I was really happy to be able to help out a teammate who really wanted to stay ahead of her competition. Weaverville was a blast, the only exception to the good times was me being the only junior racer there other than my sister. I wish there were more teenage guys hitting the endurance race scene! I might race a crit this weekend, I’ll keep you posted!!

2011 Toa 29er Frame

2011-05-26T17:41:00.000-07:00

The 2011 carbon 29er frames are just about ready with expected delivery in July.

The graphic designers have been hard at work locked in their offices until they completed their task

Here's the latest:

Pre order now and receive matching carbon tapered fork at no additional charge.

Features: tapered heat tube, internal cable routing, BB30 bottom bracket to name a few.

Read team rider David Conley's blog posts detailing his exploits at Xterra Triathlon on his Toa 29er.

For all the details and to pre order now: www.grammo-bici.com

Flex . . .

2011-05-25T23:11:00.000-07:00

After Santa Cruz I was planning on taking a week off and resting. Wednesday night I decided to go for an easy ride at my favorite place with a good friend. Turned out I'll be getting a month plus off!

This was the jump that decided I needed to rest a little longer. I've hit this 30+ times never an issue, till last week. I'll spare y'all the details and myself telling the story one more time but I can shorten it up by saying I landed pretty far left (if looking at the picture) and managed a head first dive into the ground.

I knew I was in trouble almost right away and when the shock wore off it was obvious I was about to have an expensive day! I ended up with three fractured bones and managed to mess both sides up. Like I always say go big or go home and I don't go home, really both sides ? Injuries, fractured left hand and wrist and a fractured right elbow which is by far the most painful.

So whats flex, well obviously not me but my attitude is. Doctor said I can start running in a few weeks and biking in 5-6. This is how I am going to make this 6 week down period go by.

First . . .

Friends, and boy do I have a bunch. Yeah there is a girl in this picture with a broken left arm. Her name is Adrian and she's a fast downhill girl. I busted myself up two days after she broke her arm at the Ashland Down Hill. My friends thought it would be nice to have a few people over and share stories. On top of this get together I have had so much support and am so grateful to everyone for all their thougts and efforts but I would like to ask you all to please stop brining over desserts! I think they are trying to slow me down.

Second . . .

Well this is the before . . . and the after . . .

Thats right, thanks to the guys at Grammo I got myself a computrainer to borrow until I get better. Doc said I can get on this thing right away and spend as much time as I can stand. Should be in operation tomorrow.

And finally the thing I might be most excited about. Due to this injury I had to wipe a few races of my schedule, one of which is my home race only 40 minutes from the house. At least I thought I did. A friend was over talking about mountain bike racing and I asked him if he would be interested in doing the Granite-Man (http://granite-man.com/triathlon/) our local race and he said he's not much of a runner and never swam. This is really where the flex comes into play. I offered my bike to him and suggested a relay. He accepted and instantly I was on the phone with my other buddy who can't run anymore but I swear he lives in the water. At the end of the day we had a team. Still nameless but June 11th we will be there so watch out. I'll be an easy spot, I'm thinking I'll be the only person out there running in a cast. Just excited to be able to be racing!

granite-man 2010 swim

Sure things went pretty bad that Wednesday afternoon and I lost a few races, probably have to really bust my butt to get back in shape to have a chance to qualify for Maui and absolutely my most expensive ride yet. But all things considered I feel extremely fortunate. I can honestly say I've never had a better group of friends, its great to have all of their support. Next race Granite-Man, not the way I thought but at this point I'll take what I can get, I'm racing.