Chequammeve

Tomorrow morning at 10 am, the cannon will blow and we'll be off down Main Street Hayward through the woods on the Birkie trail, crosseyed and out of breath-- on the verge of cramping the entire way... I can't wait. I'm excited. Last time I did the 40 was in 2007 at 26. Now, I'm old... 29---- time to get moving. ha!

Today was pretty eventful- after a long easy morning of icing my leg and having a cuppa coffee (and of course having some pumpkin cookies...), I headed up to Teleworld to cruise on the Superfly- pick up my #, and eat some grub with some good friends!

This weekend is always so awesome. Food, friends, mountain biking everything. I'm realizing one of the best things about the race is that it includes everyone. I have my "elite" friends where we all talk tactics, tire pressure/selection, fuel, etc etc... then there are all of the other people who will be happy to just finish- those who are trying to beat their time from last year-- or eat as many doughnut holes as possible.... the local Co-op donates 10,000 doughnut holes. I'm going to eat at least 30 tomorrow.

Some photos from the day: Ken from Trek! Setting up the Superfly that will FLY tomorrow. :) Thanks to Ken and Chris Shaw for your support this weekend! Next... you'll see the registration operation that accommodates 2,500 racers in only 4 hours--> Talk about STREAMLINE. Balla. One minor thing, I need to get my bib #'s for tomorrow! My pack didn't have the numbers... my bad for registering LATE! boo! Last-- since the Lodge is closed-- they ended up with a big TENT! it's huge! :) Well done.

Here are a couple photos from 2007! My pa, me and The PHAT man himself, Gary Crandall! 2 of my fav people! :) Next to them, you see my dad's handi work pre race. He used to do course set up for the 40 and they always seemed to have some extra time to set up the mannequins legs in some precarious position! This, by far was my favorite.... just beats out the time they put the legs in the middle of a huge mud puddle a number of years ago! :)

Big day tomorrow!

time to hit the haaaaaaaaayyyyyy stack! haha!

kr

Chequamegon prep. 2010.

Special note: In the photo is the best cookie that has ever been made. Hayward Bakery is the best. I'm having one of these cookies every day I'm home.

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Two days until the big event-- I haven't trained this specifically for anything in a while! Thanks to a good friend who has been helping me with a very specific training plan and encouragement-- I feel fit, rested and ready to rock! This month's prep consists of a number of criteriums, hard solo workouts, motorpacing, and rest--- I even quit having any of my fav adult bevvies!!

My last ride in Asheville was a little mtn bike ride-- I opted for bent creek... always a good little ride especially if I'm goi

ng out solo. Ride was EXCELLENT--- until I hit the deck hard. I clipped a pedal on a log, went over my bars and found myself trailside on my belly. I was stunned and couldn't feel my right quad.....I pushed myself up not knowing if I was severely injured-- I know I sound dramatic, but I was a wreck. Luckily, I landed directly on a rock and wasn't impaled or broken! I almost started crying-- like a little girl! ha! I found myself picking my bike off the ground, noticing 2 flats, a completely broken front brake and blood coming from my thigh and the back of my leg... conveniently a guy named Chad rolled up. He asked if I needed help, and obviously didn't know what he was getting himself into! He helped me change my flats and gave me a tube (I had one--not two!)... and usually I'm the one helping change flats, but I really had a hard time keeping composed! blahblah blah....

Leg is fine now, BUT still very stiff and about 1.5 times the size of my other thigh. At this point all I could think of was that my race was in only 5 days! TIME TO HEAL! I've been diligent with epson salt baths/icing/ibuprofen/stretching so hopefully my crash wont' effect my performance on Saturday!

This little voyage began on this past Wednesday-- my roommate Tom was nice enough to give me a ride to the Asheville Airport-- 15 mins from our house. Flight was good-- trashy mags, tomato juice, and nice conversation with the lady next to me made for easy flying. AVL-DFW-MSP. Pa picked me up in Minneapolis. We had a nice ride back to Hayward in the rain.

Being home has been awesome- I am fortunate to have most of my family here and spent much of my morning visiting and hanging out! We also had some excellent spaghetti at Coop's Pizza with Mark Hirsch and his fam! Great people!!! :

This weekend I'll be racing in my friend's shop kit-- New Moon! Thanks to Joel, Chris and Judy! :) Right on!

xo!

~~~~~~

kbr

SpeedWeek!

Asheville is great! I just had a day to hang out and recover from a tough week of racing-- mentally and physically. After spending much of my day at Hearn's, my bike is taken apart and the 'ole ride is READY to ROCK!!!! Working tonight slingin' steaks, so I'll post more later... I just wanted to make the next post THAT much easier to write.... Until then here are a couple sweet photos of a couple GREAT teammates. Thanks for the week. Love you girls!

HOLLA!!

Here's to a new week!

~~

kr