So this is January...

2011 has blasted out of the gate! Two races already in the bag with heavy weeks of training- on and off the bike...indoors and outdoors.

The 5th annual Cold Bear Challenge Series put on by Rich Omdahl and the Dirtwerks Crew has been a blast. Competitive but low pressure and just fun! The CBC series consists of three races at one of my favorite courses to ride- Hillside Park in Elk River, MN...racing at or around 0 degrees in snow...in MN...ahhh the fun factor of these events. There's a certain amount of pride that comes with rolling up to the starting line at these races.

Race #1 - January 9, 2011: first ever race in snow. Initial strategy was to simply stay on the packed stuff, keep an even pace, and just have fun. This worked really really well. Went into the singletrack after the 1/3 mile road sprint in about 7th- no worries though as was feeling strong with a lot in the tank still. Stayed smooth got the 'focus'

and quickly found myself in 2nd place after the prologue and 1/2 way into the first lap! I held this until I realized my Camelback spout froze...and it was inside my final layer! (testament to how cold it was that day) The pace I was on...there was no way I'd be able to keep it without hydration so while fiddling with that (including two corner slideouts) three racers went by that I never could catch again. Had a fun final push in the last two sections of the course with Angry Catfish Bikes and Coffee rider Ben Rogowski- great 100 yard sprint to the finish. Finished 5th- first top 5 of 2011 though and fitness levels feel strong!

Race #2 of CBC was today...happy to report the fitness level feels even stronger...however, the course was not nearly as fast as before and I (and many others) was

pushing the bike through mushy snow more than riding in some sections. One of my booties kept sliding up over the toe of my shoe exposing the mesh to the snow and foot was beginning to turn into a popsicle. I wasn't feeling like two laps of this so called it after one- I had fun still- and got a GREAT high intensity workout in...heart rate was definitely bouncing off the rev limiter for most of it!