24 Hours of 32x18

After a many-year hiatus from 24-hour team racing, the stars aligned and the conditions were right to crawl out of my presumed retirement. Condition 1: Riding on dirt in February. Condition 2: A direct request that I join a team of fast singlespeed women. "IN!" was all I could say, and soon I was registered for 24 Hours of Old Pueblo.

The moment I clocked out of work Thursday afternoon, the fun was in full force. I drove down with duo racer Cameron Chambers, his lovely better half Amber and support mechanic extraordinaire, Jeremy. A few texts back and forth with GF BWBF, aka Ms. Bossypants (aka Stephanie Jones-son) and we've got an address in Show Low with invitation that we all crash on her Mom's floor, joining her crew of Dug, JC and Sean. Next morning we had a lovely spontaneous BWR breakfast team meeting with all of the above mentioned in addition to Mother and sister of Ms. Bossypants. Half the fun of the weekend was seeing a small glimpse of Stephanie's hometown.

The fun continued in full force. One by one team Singlespeed Sweetness trickled into 24 Hour Town on Friday and I FINALLY met Paula Bohte, fellow Minneapolis homie, who's path I had somehow seemed to narrowly miss repeatedly when we both resided there. I took advantage of the pre-ride to learn the hard way to STAY AWAY from the cholla! And, that night I got a fabulous night's sleep on the floor of Cameron's dad's friend's rolling motel room, ready for my post-retirement era to commence.

Noon Saturday: WMBA's Sarah Gibeau kicked off the le mans start for us, clocked a fantastic time, which was -- for the next 23 hours -- followed by 18 more laps of fantastic times. I was lucky and grateful to have been a part of such a solid team of women riders who provided such positive energy and inspiration all day and all night. The energy and inspiration was equally as high from our mechanical and moral support provided by Jeremy and Beto Villegas, Paula's partner. I think we all shared in the high of our finishing 2nd place in the Women's Open category, just behind a geared team that included a World Cup racer and ex-Olympian.

And, the riding? Well...I was RIDING! On dirt. In February. And, I saved my favorite BWR jersey per the photo above for the final glory lap.

This was the first 24 hour race where I stayed up all night. And, it was well worth every minute.

K-O

Feel your feet underneath you.....no, really.

So, as many of you may have read; I acquired a feisty little case of frostbite a couple weeks ago whilst racing the Leadville Winter Mountain Bike Series. In the past couple weeks, I've been nursing a Franken-toe and struggling with being able to ride because I haven't been able to keep it warm....which is key if I'd like to keep my toe. With the advice, assistance and gifts from many I've finally formulated what it will take to keep my wheels rollin'....and I thought I'd share with y'all so you can keep your tootsies warm too.


1. Multiple pairs of socks...I've been (at least) doubling up on smartwool socks.
2. Little Hotties....those maxi-pad looking things stuck to my socks are little packets of AWESOMENESS. Toe warmers times two is the key - one on top and one on the bottom.
3. It seems like over-kill, but I REALLY like my toes, so I've got some shoecovers too. They're nice and snug around the ankle and help lock in heat.
4. Lastly, I took the advice of my gal-pal Alabama and slammed a hot beverage right before heading out to get my whole body feeling toasty warm. Beverage of choice is Yogi Green Tea Kombucha....so tasty and green tea is just good for you. Duh.


If that doesn't keep your feet warm....I don't know what will. Frostbite aint no joke folks & there is no need to be cold - EVER!

Stay cool...but warm,

Stephanie

First time racing in Colorado…..first time in Leadville….first place!!!....first time with frostbite!?

This past Saturday, Doug and I would venture to the infamous Leadville to participate in one of the lovely Leadville Winter Mountain Bike Series races (presented by the Cloud City Wheelers). I’d like to mention that it’s probably been only a handful of times I’ve been higher than 10,000 feet in my life and having a dose of acli-mate pre-race sure did wonders for whatever altitude-related goofiness I was feeling. WOW. The experience was absolutely magical; riding my mountain bike under a nearly full moon with amazing people, the snow glittering in beams of 1,000 lumens & crunching beneath my beloved schwalbe nobby nic (skinny?!) tires. Oh yeah, all of this occurred in temperatures as low as -6 degrees, but it didn’t matter. Not until after the race anyway…it seems as though I’ve come home with a slight case of frostbite in one of my toes. Super surprising to me, I ended up winning my class...which makes me feel a whole lot better about the possibility that my toe may fall off. HAHA. By the way, the shwag & food was TOP NOTCH. High fives to everyone who raced and especially to my Bandwagon folks & honorary folks who kicked ASS: Kristi, Doug, Eric, Brett & Michael. Peruse the Bandwagon website to see what you kind find about those guys and other stuff…it’ll make the boss happy. And me happy. And everyone….happy. Lastly, if you're a stats geek, check here to see the (my) race by charts & graphs...or here??? :

Oh yeah...be kind to your digits.......& listen to your body.