Earthquakes and Stampedes

Good Morning, Readers!

EARTHQUAKE

Last week was an exciting one, as far as weeks go. Certainly the talk around West Michigan has been the 4.0 earthquake centered several miles south of Galesburg.

It just so happens that we were camping at Fort Custer State Park in Galesburg when the earthquake quaked(?). And let me tell you, it was noticeable. We were surrounded by RV's that are not all that stable, so when the earth shook, they were rocking and rolling. Mostly rocking. All of them rocking and none of them literally rolling.

Sage, who was inside the camper at the time, was knocked to the ground thinking the RV was collapsing. She ran outside and asked Chad if we had an earthquake, at which point he replied "no, we don't have earthquakes in Michigan." Children, let this be a lesson that parents are not always right.

Shortly thereafter emergency sirens sounded and military helicopters were flew overhead. It was disconcerting but, thankfully, turned out to be no more than an interesting story to share.

For geeky information on the earthquake, check out WZZM's Bills Blog.

STAMPEDE

The annual Fort Custer Stampede mountain bike race was held on Sunday. Sage raced Beginner 10 and Under, Bear competed in the children's race, and Chad made a return to Sport.

Sage and Chili Dog at the Beginner 10 and Under Start. Look at all the awesome kids!

This was the first race of the season for the family and I'm happy to report that everyone had a blast. Sage was excited for the race swag. But as a parent, the best part is seeing the perma-smile when she crosses the finish line.

Bear was all business at the Kid's Race

While Sage was set on racing all weekend, Bear, on the other hand, insisted he wasn't going to. Bear and I planned to hang out at the campground. That changed 30 minutes before the start of the kids race. Bear and I were sitting around the campfire when he suddenly jumped up and started bouncing excitedly. He was struck with the urge to race.

We rode our bikes as fast as we could from the campground to the race venue (2-3 miles) and arrived just in time. I rarely see such a look of determination etched on his face. When they said "go," he stood and hammered for the entire two laps.

Both kids are looking forward to the next race and can't wait for Dirt Dawgs to start. The Brewer Family's next stop will be the Hanson Hills Challenge in Grayling. Look for us in the large Jayco. And it appears that I will be making a return to racing. I can't wait.

A few more photos from the weekend:

Sage is working on mastering the log pile.

No pollution. No signs. Just the trail and nothing to be bothering me. --Bear

Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you on the trails,
Heather

Dirt Dawgs

Earlier this week was the first parent meeting for the GRBC Dirt Dawgs, West Michigan's first youth development mountain bike team, headed by Danielle Musto and friends.

There has been serious anticipation for this team in the Brewer household. Sage considers Danielle her BFF and can't wait to hang out again. Meanwhile, I'm excited that we'll be able to participate in the sport together as a family.

The Dirt Dawgs will focus on developing a healthy lifestyle and natural resource stewardship alongside learning to mountain bike and growing friendships. There are races on the schedule for the kids that are interested in competition.

It sounds like an exciting program and Danielle's enthusiasm is contagious. No doubt the kids are all going to have a blast this summer. The team is capped at 50 kids, which I believe has already been met. It's exciting to see how many kids are already interested in this new program. And it will be fun to watch Danielle try and organize that many children at once (kidding, she'll do awesome).

In other news, after a few months hiatus, I'm back at making homemade Sugar/Gluten/Dairy-Free ice cream for the kids. We love this stuff. It's so creamy and delicious. Sage had an ice-cream party at school last week and she actually requested my ice cream over store-bought.

I base my recipe off of one from the Spunky Coconut. She is a genius when it comes to allergen-free baking. I can't tell you how many times I've found myself holding her Paleo Chocolate Lover's Cookbook to my bosom--she's that good.

That's it for this week. Hoping to ride more single-track this weekend--if it would just stop snowing.

HB

Iceman: Slushcup Edition 2014, PT 1

Icemans of Past 2010 and 2012) 

This was my first year attending Iceman as a Slushcupper. I was worried that once we arrived at the expo that I would have regrets about not signing up for the whole shebang. Let me tell you, that was not the case. It was AWESOME!

The dreaded weather report of 34 degrees, rain and wind (arguable the worst conditions for a mountain bike race ever) was a blip in my radar--after all, I was only going to be out there for an hour. One can endure just about any kind of conditions for that long. Sleep and nutrition--other aspects that generally heighten my nerves were of no concern. I wasn't racing! There was, for once, no pressure. I was looking forward to a day of riding with awesome, inspiring kids followed by indulging in the spoils of one of the biggest parties in Northern Michigan.

Sage, Gage, myself, and a photobomber sizing up her competition at the Slushcup start line

My riding buddies of the day were my daughter Sage and a friend of ours, Gage. Sage has gained some mountain bike racing experience this summer having competed at Big M, then doing her first solo races at Skirts in the Dirt, and Pando Fall Challenge. I had never ridden with Gage before and was uncertain what his experience was to that point, but I knew his family rolled with Team Troll. I could tell both Sage and Gage were very nervous.

We were assigned Wave 4 (the last wave in the Slush Cup). As each wave proceeded to be ticked off and the crowd amassed forward, both Sage and Gage were inclined to stay put. Eventually it seemed like there was a good 20 foot gap between us and the rest of Wave 4. I casually mentioned moving to the front but S(G)age implored me to stay right where I was. The crowd was clearly increasing their apprehension. I think if S(G)age had their way, they would have had a Wave 5 created just for them.

My competitive nature was twitching to shove both kids to the front of the line. But, this was their race and I was just along for the ride ;) If we never, ever passed one person (Sage has been known to start last, catch someone, stop, let them get ahead again before starting to ride) then that's what we were going to do!

Before we knew it the race had started! And S(G)age each had one foot on the peddle and the other on the ground, letting the chaos at the start line clear while they stood motionless for the moment.

. . . But then we were off!

The End of Part 1.
I'll finish the rest tomorrow! This mom only has so much time to write in one day . . .

Our home at Iceman / Timber Ridge

Another Cyclist in the Family

If you're friends with me on Facebook than you've already had your newsfeed splattered with my gushing over this most recent development. But, for those of you that aren't, this weekend we added another cyclist to the family:

This 3 year old bad-boy has learned to ride his bike without training wheels! This also happens to be the same bike that his good friend Levi learned to ride on when he was 3. Levi, at the tender age of 4 is a rockin' rollin' veteran trail rider. Bear is so excited he'll be able to jump in on the single-track fun with his friend.

A little video of Bear learning to ride. 

Yes, I realize he is not wearing a helmet. I deserve to be blasted for that oversight. It won't happen again!

When I'm not riding . . .

This week is kind of great. I don't have to do any 4, 5, 6+ hour rides :-) Don't get me wrong, I LOVE riding my bike. But trying to string together that many hours of riding in a row means that something some things in the schedule suffer. The house falls into disarray. Grocery shopping doesn't happen. The kids end up eating sandwiches and carrot sticks every night for dinner. All that is fine, but what isn't fine is missing time with the kids.

After LJ100 I have no big races scheduled. Nada. Nothing. Not until Peak 2 Peak and Iceman. Which means I am taking the summer off. I plan on spending almost all of the time I'm not riding playing with the kids.

Beginning this week—since I'm tapering and I don't have any long rides to do.

I have two exciting things going on this summer to ensure lots of family time.

1) I'm hosting U8 pick-up soccer at the park. Last night was our first gathering. I wasn't sure what to expect. I arrived at the field with my kids about 15 minutes early. The park was eerily abandoned. I wondered if any other kids would show up.

I am hosting pick-up soccer this summer because Sage asks me ALL the time to play soccer with her. I love kicking the ball around in the yard, but it gets boring for her quickly. We'll invite friends over to play soccer--but they don't want to play. Usually they want to come inside and watch a movie.

Surely there are other kids out there that like kicking the ball around as much as her. So I posted on FB to all the area U8 soccer families I knew and some I only knew of. And no one really responded, but I moved forward with it anyways.

6:00 PM arrived and we were still the only ones in the park. No problem, I was there to play soccer with Sage. If it was just us, so be it. Bear and I took turns playing goalie while Sage dribbled around and kicked the ball at us.

And then it happened. Cars started rolling into the parking lot. Kids hopped out of the car and ran out to the field. One after another until we had enough kids for two teams. It was perfect.

There was zero coaching on my part, other than to assign positions and say "go" or "out of bounds"! The kids already knew a lot about position and rules. They did well passing and working together. I had so much fun playing soccer with them.

It was great. Simply great.

2) Family Mountain Biking Club. We have a couple of families with some great kids that plan on meeting on a weekly basis for family trail rides. We're hoping to develop a community of cyclists for our kids.

We had a planning meeting months and months ago. The families got together and the kids were introduced. Ever since then the kids have been asking "when is our mountain biking club starting?" I'm so happy I can finally say that it starts tonight!

I'm going to pack a picnic dinner for the kids so we can tail-gate pre-ride at the trail head. And then its riding trails to their little hearts content. This is a no-pressure, fun ride.

I've been guilty of pushing Snoose to try sections of trail that made her nervous when we ride together. I know this causes her anxiety. But encouraging her to go outside of her comfort zone has done wonders for her self-confidence when she realizes that she can do so much more than she thought she was capable of.

But Family Mountain Biking Club is not going to be a place where I push her. I want it to be a fun, friendly, and encouraging environment for her and all of the other kids. The objective of this club is FUN family time.

It's going to be an awesome summer. 

The Bravehearted

>Check back later this week for a post about my first 50 mile single track training ride.

Courage doesn't always roar.  Sometimes courage is the little voice 

at the end of the day that says I'll try again tomorrow.  

~Mary Anne Radmacher

This past weekend we went on a family XC ride. The kids were bouncing with excitement when we told them. Bear rides in the Wee-hoo and Sage rides her own 20" Specialized Hot Rock. 

Wee-hoo'in'

The ride started out great, taking a very non-technical and flat 1-mile section of trail. After warming up with two laps we headed over to the "hilly section." Bear was excited, it's like riding a sweet roller coaster. 

Sage, however, was nervous. I could see in her eyes a battle waging between her wanting to conquer the trail and her growing fear. The feeling must be like trying to push negative sides of a pair of magnets together.

This section starts with a small drop into a narrow single-track. Sage rode out front and I could hear little gasps escape as her bike gained momentum, shooting her down the trail. After managing to navigate some tight turns she stopped cold at the top of the first big drop. She wasn't going to do it. I helped her walk her bike down the hill. 

And then, as it usually happens, we had to ride back up a hill. Thirty seconds into the climb and she started complaining that her legs hurt. I bet they did. It's not comfortable cranking a bike that weighs as much as you do uphill. 

But we still had a ways to go and we weren't going to walk up every climb. It was time to pass on a secret from mother to daughter, mountain biker to mountain biker, the nugget of wisdom to carry you up any hill gleaned from Jens Voigt: telling your legs to  Shut up! I informed her that they even make T-shirts that say "Shut up legs!" She thought that was pretty darn cool. Up the hill she climbed, not complaining once after that. 

And then we came to another drop. This one was down a hill and onto a ridge overlooking a river. Sage stopped again. By now the stopping and starting was getting old. 

She was frozen with anxiety. We stood there for 15 minutes. I felt helpless watching the tears spill down her cheeks as she internally waged war against her fear.

Me - Just walk your bike. 

S - No!

Me - Okay, then ride it.

S - I can't! 

Back and forth we went. As a parent, this is incredibly frustrating. I know she can do it but she didn't believe in herself. 

Finally we had to go. We had some place we needed be and we couldn't wait any longer. I grabbed her bike, walked it to the nearest safe passage and we took the shortest route back to the trail head—leaving Sage utterly defeated.

I was frustrated and upset. We had spent more time standing around and listening to Sage cry than we did riding. Ugh. I didn't know if I was ever going to take her mountain biking again.

And then I remembered when I first started mountain biking. I was afraid. Still am a lot of times. Mountain biking is scary. Any one of us that has ridden single-track can admit to having a white-knuckled, goose-pimple raising experience.

Sage must have been consumed with fear and anxiety standing at the precipice of that dark, harrowing turn of the trail down the chasm. The drop must have looked really steep, the ridge really narrow, the river really wet and cold.

And yet she was sitting in the backseat of the car asking when we could go mountain biking again. 

My Brave-hearted Girl.

The more I thought about it, the more I began to admire Sage. Mountain biking is really scary for her and yet she still wants to do it. Sage doesn't quit. She doesn't let the fear win. She knows in her heart that she will come back and she will conquer that section of trail. If that's not courage then I don't know what is.

She is one brave little girl.

2nd Annual Skip School to Go Mountain Biking Day

Thank you Ada Bike Shop for giving me a legitimate reason to take my daughter out of school in order to have Mother/Daughter bonding time and to chase down some sweet single track. Last fall Ada Bike Shop hosted their very successful first annual Ladies Night offering giveaways and expert advice. I saw this as the perfect opportunity to expose my little shredder to an amazing community of women cyclists.

And if we were going to drive all the way to Ada for the evening, it only made sense that while we're there we hit some of the trails in the Grand Rapids area. It was an amazing time and I am looking very much forward to going again. See poster at end for the details.

Pre-Ladies Night Ride at Luton

Post-ride refueling at Schnitz World Famous Deli. Look at that smile!
The kind of smile you only get after shredding some sweet single-track.

Getting the party started.

I have a few dance moves of my own.

Sage meeting her new idol, Pro-racer Danielle Musto. Sage still talks about this . . .  

There were probably a few disappointed women when a 6 year old won the pair of Speedplay pedals. All I have to say is that she had been asking for clipless pedals for months. That was the only thing she wanted. It was a dream come true when she won them. And don't call her a future cyclist. She IS a cyclist. Ride on Sage!

Look where you want to go.

I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday weekend. I know many people that were able to get out for trail rides Friday, Saturday, AND Sunday. Wow!

Sadly I've been battling a mild illness—I'm not sure if its allergies or a cold. After being up coughing all night Thursday and early Friday morning, I opted to not do a 5-hour training ride. A friend called me early one morning and said there was room for one more in their car if I wanted a ride to Yankee. Initially I declined, still feeling rather lousy. But the pull of the trail was too great and I gave in. It was awesome to get in a few laps of single track (even if I couldn't breathe).

Over the weekend we attempted a family ride. My daughter has been relentlessly asking me to take her on a "long" bike ride around Bear Lake (about 7 miles). With no plans on Saturday and my husband off on his 4-hour ride on the NCT, a bike ride with the kids seemed like the perfect activity.

As a mother I feel like I am constantly hounding my kids: look both ways, use your hand breaks, stay on the side of the road, etc.  Eventually I felt like our fun family ride was turning into a nag-fest and so I decided to shut my mouth when I saw her looking over there, over here, behind her, etc.

What happens when you're not looking.

While distracted by some kids playing she looked behind her, unknowingly turning her bike and riding face-first into a fence. Sage learned this weekend exactly how important it is to look where she wants to go.

Her two front teeth were knocked loose and she has a giant gash on the inside of her mouth. It's gnarly looking. Thankfully they are baby teeth and everything will heal up as it should.

She was one tough kid, riding her bike almost 2 miles back home with barely a tear nor complaint. As one of my friends pointed out (and us mountain biker's like to say), she's hardcore. 

Look where you want to go . . . 

Reflecting on her accident I became philosophical and reflective. I've been feeling like I'm hitting a wall of my own: I'm unmotivated and stuck in a bad cycle of poor nutrition and slack training. Perhaps I've been focusing too much on the place I'm at now instead of looking to where I should be going. Where do I want to be as an athlete in 6 months? A year? Two years?

I purposefully have not allowed myself to think about goals. Daily life can be so overwhelming that I have not wanted to put time and energy into thinking past the kids bedtime each day. However, it might be time to make the time. 


The last thing I need is to repeatedly and bewilderingly slam into a wall. This week I am hoping going to sit down with a pen, paper, and an open mind to begin mapping out goals for the short and long term.

Cramming

The last two weeks have reminded me of the only time in college when I pulled an all-nighter. I was a Biblical Lit major and while the class in itself was not remarkable, the final was exhaustive. If I remember correctly, there were 30 essay questions and 50 Bible verses that we were supposed to memorize. Fifty. And, in true 'Heather' fashion, I didn't read the study guide until the night before the exam. Ooops. I had not memorized one single verse. I remember wandering the halls of the dorm at 4 AM, mumbling "stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord . . ."

It was not a good day.

And now the mountain biking season has snuck up on me. Barry-Roubaix is just two days away and I feel ill-prepared. I've tried cramming 3 months of training into 10 days. 

I'm finding myself facing the hard fact that there is no over-night substitute for months of hard work. And as I recall, I didn't do so hot on that final exam either. 

If I were to get grades for training, here is what my report card would look like:

Pre-riding the BRX course — F

Spinerval Interval workouts — Incomplete

Cross-Training (running) — B-

Hilly Training Ride — Incomplete

Steady State Intervals — A

Strength Training — C+

Extra miles riding with the family — A++++

Shall we call this an 'E' for Effort???? 

My big plan was to do a 3 hour gravel, hilly ride on Saturday last weekend. However, my husband ended up having to work and I was unable to get out for a ride. I spent the day playing with the kids and had a nice cookout at my parents house.

Sunday, to make up for my missed ride, I was going to ride the BRX course one final time with Matt, Jim, and Jim. But that was going to be 3 hours of driving plus 2.5-3 hours of riding. I didn't want to be gone all day.

I compromised, doing a 38 mile ride along the Lakeshore Trail from North Muskegon to Hoffmaster State Park and back. It's not gravely, nor hilly. I didn't get much of an interval workout, but I did try to keep my intensity level up. Then, that evening, we took the kids on a 15-mile bike-ride to the Muskegon Channel. 50 miles in one day is near record for me, especially when considering I was towing an extra 60 pounds for the last fifteen miles.

By the way, the Weehoo is a HUGE hit. And the extra weight is an "equalizer." I don't completely disappear behind Chad now on family rides. 

My legs were trashed by the end of the weekend. 

Wednesday I have a standing lunch road-ride scheduled with a friend. Typically its a recovery ride for me, an easy pace for 24 miles. Being the genius that I am, I thought I would up the intensity and ride my mountain bike this week instead. 

What I learned is that riding a road bike at 17 mph is a nice recovery ride, but riding a mountain bike at 17+ mph for 24 miles is a freaking challenging workout.

After thoroughly destroying my legs, I am taking two days of complete rest—for better or for worse.

Barry-Roubaix Strategy

I'll admit I don't have a race strategy. I still consider myself new to xc racing even though this will be my third year competing, this is my first time racing BRX. Every race is different and full of their own unique challenges. One thing is for certain, this will be a race for the teams and the cross bikes. Even though I may not be competing for a place on the podium, this race will be an accurate gauge of my fitness going into the three months preceding the Lumberjack 100. In that respect, I do have a goal in mind . . . but that is only for me to know. I like to face my demons internally, alone, mano-y-mano and suffer in silence.

Read more BRX preview reports and interviews:

Cycling Dirt: Kim Thomas Interview

Cycling Dirt: Adam York Interview

kolo t.c. 2012 Course Preview

Splurge!

Years ago when I became pregnant with our first child, I panicked. My husband was working a bazillion hours then and I knew that I would be home alone with this kid that I had never met. I imagined myself being anchored to the house. I was suffocating.

Even though we didn't have the money at the time and my husband was vehemently against it, I spent the big bucks and bought brand-spankin' new Burley Solo AND a Burley Piccolo bike trailer. Bike rides, I imagined, would be my great-escape.

Turns out, those were investments well worth it. I've spent hours and hours and miles upon miles riding with the kids. When everyone became cranky and ornery, I'd pull the bikes out, strap on the helmets, grab a few snacks and the stress would fly away in the wind as we pedaled.

I have never regretted spending money on either of those products. However, there is a myriad of baby products I was told I "must-have!" that I completely regret buying (Bumbo, boppy, babyswing, the 'Travel System' . . .  trust me, do not waste your money on a travel system).

A few years have passed, we find ourselves with 2 kids, ages 6 and almost 3 years old. And our 3 year old is wanting to do everything his older sister is doing. Which means he does not want to ride in the Solo Trailer, he wants to ride on a tag-a-long bike.

Our 6 year old has some good bike handling skills and is in good shape--she is more than capable of going on 3-5 mile bike rides on her own bike, freeing up the Piccolo for our son.

However . . .

Who is happy just going on a 5 mile bike ride? That's great for after dinner on a week night. But what about those long 12 mile rides to the beach? The ice-cream shop? Around the Bay in Traverse City????

Once again, I found myself splurging this morning. I gagged the part of my brain that attempts to be financially responsible and ordered one of these . . .

It's a Wee-Hoo I-Go trailer (who wouldn't want to ride on a Wee-hoo?).

It should arrive on Monday morning. I. Can. Not. Wait. 

Disclaimer: Why didn't I get another Burley Piccolo? I have to say that I love, love, LOVE my Piccolo. However, our son is a little young and too short to comfortably ride sitting up on it yet. At almost 3 years old, I was concerned about him balancing and hanging on for long bike rides. The Wee-hoo will give him a more comfortable ride while allowing him to participate by pedaling and sitting in the open.