Alpenrose Velodrome Challenge 2010

Well after 2 years of non- motivation and/or being out of race shape, there seems to be some hope for this old broad. For that time I've needed to race more with the muscle between my ears. It was frustrating to be less than successful, even knowing the reasons.

Most of the top riders in the country and Canada came to throw down some hurt. It was quite competitive. One of my goals this season is to ride under 40 seconds in the 500m. TT. I came close and feel it can happen in the next month. Usually at AVC, 2-3 ladies will ride under 40 seconds. This year.... 9. I got 10th place with a great time for me. Crazy.

I posted a good time for 200m.TT to seed 5th or 6th for sprint tournament. Lost the first ride, but eeked out a win in the reps. The last ride placed me 6th overall. Keiren went well also.

Details aside, the results might not show that I did very well this weekend. But I honestly was very happy with my riding AND with the level of competition. I'm totally looking forward to next weekend up in Seattle.

WALK THIS WAY!!!

The 1st Annual Daybreak Middle School Walk-a-thon is on Friday, May 7th. This walk-a-thon raises money for the American Cancer Society. Part of the money goes to our school's ASB account. Many teachers at my school and friends of ours have been affected by this disease. I don't know if you know this, but racer, a official, David Hart's wife is going through chemotherapy right now.

Teachers can choose whether to volunteer to help that day... or participate. It wasn't a hard choice.

How it works: Our walk-a-thon is 2 hours. You sponsor me a certain amount of money per lap I walk. Remember, I have long legs and determination. Your amount per lap can be as small as $.25 a lap up to... as much as you want. The estimated lap total is 15. You can also indicate a maximum donation, in case I walk more laps than you can afford. Finally, you can also just donate a flat amount.

You can send me a message privately or get excitement going, by replying to this note publicly. List your sponsorship like this:

Name, $ per lap, Maximum donation
ex: Sally Smith, $2.00, $50.00

P.S. My class has a goal of $1000. At 25 people counting me, we estimate that each person only has to raise $40 in lap sponsorships!

Cryptococcus and a Criterium

This year's Icebreaker Crit turned out to be a nice "break"through for me. As too many of you know, I contracted a blood infection last fall through a wound I got in a cross race. It took until mid-January to discover what it was.

Cutaneous Cryptococcus is rare. The doctor who removed most of the infection from an area on my leg had never seen it. It's quite rare to contract ever. Of those that do get it, most have HIV. Then, of those that get it, most get it by inhalation, so by the time is shows up on the skin, the disease is pretty advanced. My version was that tiny % of a tiny % of a tiny % that actually contract Crytococcus through a wound on the skin.

Since then, I have been on a heavy dose of an antifungal medication. Luckily, it only targets the infection, not damaging healthy cells. However, liver was working double time, my appetite was practically non- existent, and I spent the last 3 months, quite disappointed in my racing. I started 7 races and finished 3. Although I tested negative for the disease in early March, the doctor wanted me to stay on drugs for another month to be sure it was totally gone.

I came home from visiting mom and Larry in Kentucky on Saturday, the 3rd. I attempted to race a cat 3/4 criterium on Sunday. It was flat, and so was I. The 35 minute race only lasted about 10 minutes for me. That was it. No more drugs.

My logic: I had tested negative, and was now taking medication for an infection that only had about a 1% chance of still being in my system. The next Wednesday, I finally saw doctor again... and he agreed, after much SYA discussion.

So, on to the crit yesterday....

We had 12 riders, which by Oregon standards, from what I can remember, isn't too bad for a crit. Or course, I haven't really raced much on the road for two years, so no clue what field sizes have been like. The race was pretty typical. Lots of riding tempo around and around, with the occasional attack. There was a nice wind coming from the north. I spent most of my energy playing a game called, Stay Outta da Wind. Not too many ladies seem to know how to play this game. Oh well. If you want to ride directly behind the wheel in front of you with a strong wind hitting your left, then your right side... that's cool. The only trick to this game on a "D" shaped course was in the last turn (think bottom of the big "D") on to the front straight, trying to take an inside line to stay wind free.

Early on, I launched a little "I'm-not-really-attacking-just-opening-up-the-system" attack. It was good! I took the 2nd prime- a large pizza for a pizza joint in Eugene. Super great.Because I'm in Eugene about 2 times a year. Like I mentioned, pretty uneventful. A comical part was when this girl (snicker) thought she could (giggle)... push E-Charb....(hoooooo) off of a wheel she wanted. Um, yea. Not even I can get Emily off a wheel she wants. OK, maybe I could, but she's my home girl, so... I probably never will. There was a firm elbow and a shoulder check,along with a little bumping. There were a couple "Woaaaaah"s from behind. I was off to the side (refer to wind game).... laughing.

OK, enough rising actions here. Finally we were down to 3 laps to go. If you were following the conflict that I have sucked at racing this spring, then we've already hit the climax. I survived feeling all right. If you're following the conflict, that I haven't placed well in a criterium in a few years, the climax isn't much better. At 2 to go one women attacked pretty hard. Of course, I was about 8th back in the group and this girl had attacked a few times already. (ding dong) 3 women linked up quickly to chase, followed by another 3 including me. Now sure how it all went down, but in the end, I finished 6th. Had Emily and I chatted and planned a little before or during the race, we could have at least been better positioned to be 2nd and 3rd. Had we felt even more confident, we could have surprised out little party and worked together to... win. Next time.

I'm just excited to finally feel like my training all winter, fighting infection and drugs is going to pay off. I'm actually looking forward to spending my Tuesday nights this month at PIR with the boys.

Ha ha! I figured it might be fun to throw in another post for 2009. I think that makes it a total a 3 posts for the year. To anyone that is following, I'm going to be closing this blog. I'm on facebook. Befreind me if we are not already. If I don't know you, please indicate so I don't ignore you

ADIOS BLOGGER!

Heather VanValkenburg
Vancouver, Washington

It's About Time


So...uh... I guess it's time to update the bloggy blog. Not sure if I'm going to keep this going. Facebook seems to be easier to post stuff and stay tuned.

I thought about completely closing this blog, but I don't want to lose some pretty funny stories. Maybe another rainy afternoon, I'll go find all my posts and copy them into a document. Hmmm

Oops! Computer is about to die. Guess I'll figure it out later.

Might I Race This Year...?

It's possible. I threw on the new duds and rode to the coffee shop. Then I continued riding to Swan Island for some crit intervals. My knee is little tweeked, but nothing Kurt can't fix.

Nationals Recap

Tuesday night, Jeanie, Nathan, Charlie, and I boarded Alaska flight 560 for LAX. Nationals. Finally. I had light expectations, considering the season I've had and my weak motivation lately.

Our house was a 3 minute walk from Manhattan Beach. The beach was not heavliy used, even on the first hot, Wednesday morning. Brian was surfing before most of us got up. I put it on my list of things to do the next day. That afternoon I did not have a race, so I hopped on the track for a bit to regain my bearings. It takes a few laps on ADT to shake the feeling that you're going to slip. This year's turnout looked to be light compared to the past 3 years I've been here. Brian, Nathan, and Mark put out a standing 250 and the rest of us... stood. And cheered.

Thursday morning, I spent more time in any ocean than I ever had. Jeannie, Mark, Brian, and I, along with our house quiver of 1 surf board and 2 boogie boards went down to the beach. It wa about 9:00am and 70 degrees! I had SO MUCH fun. I didn't let that evening's race affect my wave time. Nothing irrigates your sinuses like a few salt water waves crashing on your head.

The water romp must have been a good idea because that night I rode my fastest 500m. time on that track, 39.021. SO close to sub 39. Oh well. I'm far from fastest though, as that time placed me 9th. But I was content with a PR at the end of a blah season. Cari won her first gold metal of the week.

Friday morning, we were awakened by members of the other house, so I was a GRUMP. I big, nasty why-did-you-not-be-quiet-and-let-me-sleep grump. But after breakfast, Jeanie and I went to the beach again. The waves were grumpy and rip-like, so we mostly sat on our boards right where the water stretched and dug our feet into the coarse sand and absorbed the sea air. Very nice.

The morning's rage was released in my first heat of the keiren. I won the heat with quite a gap. I was confident going into the semi-finals. I got into a box- no problem, but right when I decided to crawl out, another rider bumped my onto the apron. Not a huge deal. Rubbin's racing, but it messed up my rhythm, and I finished 4th. 3 went to the final. Grrr. Then in the minor final, I finished 2nd behind Liz, which landed me 8th. We later found out that Liz was disqualified after a series of bogus calls, so I was placed 7th.

Saturday morning, my legs did not agree with the idea of going to the beach. Instead, I enjoyed it from the big windows of our kitchen. I hung around, ate lots of granola and yogurt, and made a spreadsheet of everyone's 500 splits. I also looked forward to the sprints that night.

Well, I think my lack of training this... year affected my endurance. I was TIRED- during warm up, while waiting to ride... and apparently in my 200 meter TT. I posted my official worst time ever on this track. 12.9 is .2 slower than last year, and .4 slower than the 3 times before that. Crazy. The 4th-7th qualifying times were all 12.9 something. Tight!

My first sprint was against Colleen. The first ride was very close- photo finish in her favor. The second ride was not as close, but she successfully sent me to the minor final in 2 rides. I wasn't too disappointed. I rode smart and did my best. She had quite a turn of speed and eventually earned a bronze medal.

As I was spinning on the rollers, waiting for the 5-8 final, a lady in a USADA shirt came up to Jeanie and I and asked who Heather was. "Guess what Brian, we're going to be here until midnight again. I have to pee in a cup." At that moment, I began drinking lots and lots and lots of water. I still had to race, so that bought me some time. After finishing my sprints, where I finished 3rd in the group to earn 7th overall, I continued to take in liquid and change bike wheels. Eventually, I decided to go with the lady to the super secret place. And in a surprizing short amount of time (read August 2005), I "produced." It helped to have the lady talk to me about everything else but peeing. I was back to the track in time to watch Brian and Dean in their keiren minor final.

So, all in all, it was a good week. I'm glad to have had successful races under all my circumstances. Cari swept the sprint races- 500, keiren, sprints, and I ahve to assume the team sprint. What a great birthday gift for herself. We hopped to 6:15 morning flight back home and I spent the entire day laying around and cuddling with kitties.

It's not a Bucket List


On the sly, I've discussed with a few friends my plans for the fall/ winter. They say, "Oh, like a bucket list." No, it's more like a "I've ignored it for 8 years and now I want to do other things than ride my bike...list"

There you have it. How did I get here? First, I fell off my bike last December... onto my shoulder. This injury put me off the bike for a while, but I wasn't too sad. Then, I caught the super flu in late February and couldn't get out of bed, let alone train, and I wasn't too worried (since at that time, nationals was, 1..2..3...8 months away.) Then I began my Mary Kay business in April. All those little white boxes and trips to the bank (to make deposits) are pretty intoxicating. When that happened, I set my training aside. Then my close friend's mother passed away and I began thinking about what I've done in the past few years... and what if it all ended tomorrow. Once the new Mary Kay adventure reduced to a simmer, I was struck with Guido, the intestinal demon that destroyed my system.

Finally by August, I was healthy, my business was underway, I was looking forward to a new school year, and...



I'm still not motivated to train.


At this point, I'm going through the motions. Ryan Triplett passed away last weekend and again, I"m reminding that it's a big world out there to explore and I need to get on it. I LOVE racing, but I'm not IN LOVE with the training anymore. I need to be IN LOVE with something to give it my all. I want my last hoo-rah at Nationals to be fun and worthwhile and I have the motivation and the spirit to hang in there and do the work for 3 more weeks.

This fall and winter, I'm planning to do all the things that I've put aside. Some are get-back-to's and some are want-to-try-them's. So, add my on your list to join you...

hiking
climbing (want to try)
fishing
quading
dating (you may need to help me supply the date)
riding- yes, i still plan to
snow shoeing
xc skiing
snowboarding- i have a little- 10 years ago
backpacking
camping
um...
dating
hash running
kayaking
ok, now i'm starting to visualize the floor plan at REI
rugby
football (i think)
dating
bbq
chili feeds
running- a little at first

I think that's about it. The point is, my goal is to be outdoors every weekend, and some weeknights from mid- October- end of February and beyond.

Call, email, post to my facebook, whatever!

A Fortnight Condensed

1. Began a new school year. So far kids are pretty cool. And we have a collection of 7th and 8th grade teacher assistants, so its nice to have help throughout the day. I've already changed 2 projects in my curriculum, and this reignites my motivation.

2. Kitties are still not friends. Nougat is totally into Pepper. Pepper wishes Nougat would go back to the pound. What a bitch. I'm trying to give Pepper her own loves, but she still won't get along with the little one.

3. My dear friend, and amazing cyclist, Jennifer lost her husband on Sunday. Ryan was rock climbing and fell. My heart is breaking for her. I love you very much, Juice! Ryan was your perfect partner and a funny ass story teller.

4. My other friend and racer extraordinaire, also a Jennifer (Featheringill) won the match sprints and 500m. TT at Master's Nationals. Great job keeping it in the Alpenrose family! Woo hoo!

5. I've made the decision not to train seriously this winter. I'm going off a formal training program. I want to ride still... for fun and fresh air. I might get back into a program next spring, maybe not. It's time to chase other activities. So if you hike, campy, ski, sled, walk, boat... invite me any weekend after Nationals! My goal is to do something active and outdoors every weekend possible.

Cat Attacks Mouse- Only in Bedroom.

The latest is that Pepper has a "private" area in the spare room. There is a big rubbermade tub that blocks the way to the room/ bathroom (not that Nougat couldn't jump it), that Pepper seems to feel is a good barrier. She is sitting on top of it. If Nougat walks by and pauses or even looks at her, she cat growls at her. Yes, I read all th website about keeping them separate and putting new cate in a separate room. But now that Nougat has been here a couple days, it throws a different dynamic in. Now Pepper is sort of like the intruder. These videos were taken from the other end of the hallway. Notice how Nougat only daudles with the play mouse in the hallway. Then she picks it up and carries it into my room before the beating begins. It's like she doesn't want to play in from of Pepper or have Pepper take her toy.

P.S. Made my first meat loaf tonight. When the recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of onion, do not add more. Too much onion not good

Guess who was crying to get inside when I got home from the track today? Pepper. She was a little pissed when, as she was eating, I little kitty came tip-toeing into where she was. Since she was gone for about a week, she was pretty hungry and now pretty tired. 20 minutes later, she has fallen asleep in the spare bedroom. And as long as Nougat stays out of the room, all is balanced in the world for now.

The track racing has been fair to good lately. Last week, I qualified for nationals by getting 3rd in the 500 with a 40.7. I also did a team pursuit in order to help a couple of other ladies qualify in the endurance races. Yesterday was Masters State Championships. This time,my 500 was on par with others when I've been in shape 40.35. I really cannot complain. I didn't even really like my start and my quad is still a little weak. Then I got 2nd in the sprints and 3rd in the keiren. I'm back.

Hey, this is Pepper. I snuck on to give my 2 cents on the new pooty tooty. I am not happy! I am free to come and go as I please. So flippin' what that it was a week this time. I'm 3 years old. I can do whatever the heck I want. So I finally decide to come home, since I was famished and there's a stupid burnt marshmellow meowing and following me around. Right now, I'm bathig myself and she is watching me. If she gets closer... I'm going to have to remind her who rules this place!

"New" Gut

Don't worry this has nothing to do with my digestive system....

Nougat came home with me yesterday. She's a Blue Point Siamese and Domestic short hair mix. She came with the name Esther, but I wasn't keen on that one. Jeanie and Courtney came over shortly after we came home to go for a ride and eat dinner. We rolled around the names Dulche, Mak Pao (coconut in Thai), Coconut, Praline... All were either harsh, too long, or lame. Since we ate a Tiger's Garden (Thai, Loasian) we asked the guy how to say coconut in Thai. It sounds a little sharp for a cat. So late last night I was trying to think of other names that were creamy and fluffy. Mmmmm... Nougat.

I originally went to the Humane Society to see if Pepper was there. She went outside over a week ago and hasn't come back. If she does come home, she's in for a surprise! So after not finding her amount the 40-50 cats there, I spent some time looking at the dogs. There were a couple that stuck in my head. I finally decided that between school, training, racing, and Mary Kay, I don't have time to walk, run, hike, and love on a dog. Maybe once the season is over. Also, I got a little upset, almost crying a couple times- somewhat because they were there, and a little because I kept thinking of Sadie.

As a side note, later, when I was adopting nougat, 2 of the dogs that I stopped a little longer at were getting adopted too, so I didn't feel so bad about leaving them behind. Yey for Buster and Porter!

Then I went over to the kitty ward. Nougat was the second one to catch my attention. She didn't say much, but when we took her out of her cage, she was very cuddly on me. And after 5 minutes, she was in no hurry to get off my lap. Of course, now that she's home, she's all over the place and doesn't care too much about me. And in the time that I've written this note, she's found a head band... and a tennis ball... and my duffle bag.... She obviously has a big day ahead!

She just noticed that I was talking about her and wants to say. "aau4lq2[nlfjyf" as you can see below.

State Championship Criterium

Well, according to the results I didn't do very well today, but I was very active in the race and I got one of the two primes (cash is good.) The prime came with 6 or 7 to go. I was driving the group i through turn 1 and 2, when another rider jumped through. I jumped on her wheel and followed her tight until about 100m. to go and came around for the sprint.

After that effort, I was spent, so I hung out in the group... a little in the middle... and eventually in the back of the group. I made a couple feeble attempts to creep back up, but was really satisfied with the race overall. Going into the last lap, I was toward the end of a 20 or so person train. I think I COULD have, but I was in a "can't be bothered" at that point.

Man, it feels good to be getting back into shape. Might just be ready for nationals in 6 weeks!

A Funny Read


My friend, and fellow bike racer Jeanie tried to submit a letter to her creator, concerning warranty on her knee...

Bitter-butt-sweetness

Yea, these are the things my pretty little head juggles on warm summer mornings...

My weight before Guido the Gut Detroyer: 187
My weight after Guido the Gut Destroyer: 173 this morning



Most people say..."Yea, not a bad diet. You're looking great!"

My first reaction was..."I lost my butt! Have you seen my butt! Guido ate my butt!" And my looser fitting shorts have prompted, "I have chicken legs!" I can't believe that I"m complaining about weighing less than I have in 5 years.

Racing friends use the standard, "You look "fit" (which is code for skinny.) But most understand that this is result of the Everything-in-everything-out diet.


Loss of 10+ pounds pros:
Revisit some old shorts I haven't worn for few years
Ability to fly uphill when doing hill sprints- fun
Guiltlessness of eating ice cream
Not having to suck in the gut all the time!

Loss of 10+ pounds con:
Loss of muscles

Believe it or not, the con almost outweighs the pros.

But if I plan it right, maybe I can get back the muscles and leave behind some of the... not muscle.

FSA-OK

A few folks have quietly asked about how FSA went. They assume that since I didn't blog it, that... I didn't love it- the results that is. That's mostly correct. The racing was hard. The womens' field was stacked. It might as well have been nationals! Only 2 big national sprinters were not there. Being that I was still coming back (still am), I wasn't that strong.

Bt outside of racing, it was a blast. I love having everyone in town for those 2 races. It's like summer camp, really. You see them and hang out for two weeks, then everyone goes home... and adds each other on Facebook!

New Sport

I went to pick up Cari and the MAX station yesterday by PIR (Portland International Raceway for you out-of-towners) and we decided to hang up the pedals for a new sport. Ran into Bill Cass out there and well, it just seems like a natural progression!

Speaking of PIR, us girls (Cari, Shelby, and Cristin) rode out to PIR today so I could show them the track. The gates were open, so we casually pedaled down by the watch tower... onto the track...and heard a "HONK" followed by, "What are you doing?" I explained that I raced out there and we wanted to take a lap, so I could show them the track." He agreed to our one lap. Whew!

AVC 2008

The report you've all been waiting for! Well, it wnt pretty well, considering the last month of my digestive/ athletic life.

Friday afternoon was the 500 meter time trial. I got an acceptable time of 41.1. ANy other year, I would NOT be OK with a time one second slower than my PR, but since it was over a second faster than last week.... ROCK ON!!!

Saturday morning I rode a 13.81. I was thrilled to see a time under 14 seconds. Again, it's about a half second slower than I'd like, but whatever. I qualified 5th for the sprints. The sprints themselves didn't go so well. We began with 3-ups in round one. I finished 3rd. Then in the reps... I got... not first. So, I raced for 7-10 and that video is below.

The keiren was Sunday. In the first round, one rider went to the finals. Everyone else goes to the reps round. So, when I knew I wasn't going to be first, I just rolled in. In the next round, I raced like a racer. I went long when the motor pulled off (not the smartest idea with no endurance) and the crowd cheered. The issue with taking about 5 weeks of not training hard... is the inability to sprint for 2 laps. I got caught in the last half lap. As someone put it, "Yea, we saw the monkey jump on your back," to which I responded, "and his brother." But I felt good about the effort.

Regardless of the results, I am finally on my comeback!

AVC 080719 Heather

Sam Beardsley got my 7th- 10th sprint final. It's a start...

My Life As A Zombie

How those zombies can break it down effortlessly in the Thriller video is beyond me. Coming back from the dead is very hard.

I'm struggling with what to expect and what to accept right now. Since I'm no longer hunched over in gassy pain every moment and I have the energy to turn the pedals, it's hard for me to accept my worst times ever. I know people use the words "ever" and "never" much to loosely, but I can honestly say the a 42.5 and a 14.3 are both my worst times on the track in an important event- ever. My first ever 500m. was at AVC in 2001 and I think I did a 41.7. And I've only been over 14 seconds in the 200 on a couple of Friday nights- but never anything that has ever been recorded. Ugh. Not that you need this little nugget of information, but I lost my first sprint today, then got 3rd out of 3 in the rep ride for the sprints. I've never not been on the podium locally in the match sprints for state championships.

My big track family has been AMAZING! Everyone reminding me that I'm pretty much coming back from the dead, that I've had about a month of no training, that I've lost a large amount of muscle in 10 pounds, that I'm just now retaining any calories, and that I should go easy on myself. And I'm really trying. Some have listened to me unload more than they've expected, having an ear turned and just the moment when I'm about to lose it mentally. But I am so grateful that I have people in my racing life that support me and are only trying to encourage and love me, even when I'm so down.

I've had to melt quietly, which has made me a bit of a poor sport lately. My training girls- Amelia, Meg, Emily, and Camille are shaping up so well. Amelia ROCKED at 40 second 500m. last night and made a sweet move on me today. But I'm so wrapped up in my own pity, that I can't even be a good enough sport to congratulate her. And Jen ran a low 39 second. I did have the energy to talk to her last night though. And Meg discovered a big gear today for the keiren. I love watching her become so confident and strong this year. Emily, not a big sprinting fan, took the day to watch some bike racing. She'll kill it tomorrow.

I know its going to get better, but I've never been patient. I have to find a way to suck up the pity and put on a good face and be happy with whatever happens next weekend.

Here's an amazing picture that says a lot. Interpret as you will. Steven Beardsley's dad, Sam sent it to me today. So there I sit, with my national jersey on- from "back in the day." Meanwhile my bike chills patiently, waiting to go fast. "Gee mom," she says, "bring it back already!"