Season Opener

photo by Art White

I am excited to report that the rain curse on the Campmor H2H series has finally been broken. May 2, 2010 marks a day of beautiful sunshine and oppressive heat that beat down on happy racers at Wawayanda State Park for the first race of the series this year.

Going to the start line on the tail end of a cold, I did not have great expectations for my own race. I had spent the last three weeks riding only 5 to 6 hours a week trying to recover from an elbow strain and a cold that hit me harder than the average cold. As soon as the race was under way, I surprised myself by getting off to a very good start. I guess that says something about being well rested.

My bike handled perfectly and whatever obstacles and traffic was thrown at me, I seemed to stay focused and floated through without getting flustered. By the time I reached the end of Sitting Bear Trail, the two pros and Serruto were already out of sight, but I sat in the front of the next group of women, who were all strong racers. Things separated out over the next few miles, and by the pines I found my placement for the race. At one point I got excited when I easily reeled in a big bunch of racers, only to find out that I was lapping the back end of the Cat 2 race. I felt a little bad when I came flying by on my first lap knowing that these racers had been at it for a few hours and were struggling to finish. So, I tried to offer them a few words of encouragement, knowing very well that I would be feeling like them in two more laps.

Somewhere in lap 2, Darlene bridged up to me. We may have traded places a few times, but she seemed to want me to set the pace, so I did. Willy had an unfortunate DNF, but was thoughtful enough to handle the feed zone for the team. He saved my day with a cold bottle for lap 3, as I had miscalculated and was out of water. I think I drank half the bottle in the feed zone. Unfortunately it was too late and my feet and calves were already cramping in the technical sections. On top of that my toe was screaming and it felt like my arms were going to fall off. I guess it was hot, but there were so many things that hurt, that I really did not notice the heat.

At the end of lap 3, Dar and I had several men in tow. Dar was talking with them, and I was so tired that the words went right through my head and did not register anything. I had to dig deep, but both Dar and I rode up the little stinker hill at the end. I knew I was in the home stretch and it felt so good. I encouraged Dar to pass me, but she would not and I was too tired to argue. We rolled into the finish line for first and second place, one right after another at three hours and twenty minutes. It was a very long challenging race, and although my climbing had room for improvement, my descending and technical handling was more than I would have expected. It was a good day to ride a bike.

A Backyard: Green and Full of Life

How Much Is Enough ?

As I sit at my computer on a sunny day, 51 years into my life, two decades into bike racing, feeling a little tired, a little apathetic and trying to ignor my aches and pains, I ask myself: “ how much is enough? ” Bike racers spend so much time riding and recovering, but finding the exact balance of those two elements of training can be difficult to figure out on your own.

I spent a lot of time on my bike this past weekend. It was an annual training weekend that I do every year. The event is made up of a casual group of 20 like-minded mountain bike racers who ride for 3 days, 14 hours, and with what seems like a gazillion feet of elevation gain. We sprint to graffiti, KOM at mailboxes and climb big hills by an unofficial clock. There is suffering, laughter and some more suffering. The only rule is that there will be no whining. We eat, ride, wash, rinse and repeat, all weekend long.

Last year I rested for a few days afterwards and tried to return to normal riding within the week, only to fall behind for a month. I’m not sure what I did wrong or what I thought I could do and could not, but this year I am resting longer and expecting less. It is good to put in some longer saddle time, but as a XC racer I am not sure if this many hours are needed. One good thing about doing long miles is that it helps build mental toughness, and everyone knows that climbing is 50% mental. In that respect, I find that long rides can be good training, but as soon as I lose sight of my true passion to ride a bike, it is time to look more towards quality and not quantity.

This leads me back to the title of this post… How much is enough? For those of you that have read these words in hopes to find the answer to this question that we all seek, I hate to disappoint you, but I still do not know. And as the next few weeks of my recovery unwind, I may not be any closer to knowing how much is enough in terms of hours on the bike, but I do know that a bike ride that ends with a smile is always better than one that does not.

For those of you that thought I meant something else ….


Some video from the weekend here: http://gallery.me.com/ellenandart#100310

Rain, Rain ... Now Spring

do not know this fella's proper name, but lets call him "hope"

Way Out West - Camp Week

The Purpose: March 5, 4:00 p.m.: As I step out of Tucson International Airport, I am greeted by a dear friend … “sunshine”. Marianne points to Tara who is standing in a sunny patch on the sidewalk. I step next to Tara and roll up my sleeves, tilt my head up and take in all that I can. I feel the sun and a gentle breeze that touches my arms in a way that is familiar but not been felt in a long time. As cyclists, we enjoy so many sensations that add to the beauty and excitement of riding a bike. In winter, many of these sensations are muffled and bound by the cold and all the many layers we wear to fend off the cold.

Finally I was here in the land of sunshine, standing on the sidewalk with 100 smiles burning inside of me. As I looked around, I realized Marianne, Tara, Patti and I were all in sync with each other, in sync with our surroundings and in sync with our purpose for being here; 500 laughs a day, sunshine and riding our bikes.








The Riding: Tucson has some good riding, but most importantly, the weather in March is wonderful. This year the weather was a little funky. They had been having a bit more rain than usual and frequent snow down to about 4000 ft. Although these conditions made for some beautiful snow topped mountains, the run off of rain and snow melt was much more than usual. Our access out the back yard previously took us across a sand pit or a few trickles of water, but this year we had a full river with current. Each day’s ride began and ended with some sort of adventure and wet feet. Our first day, I may have resisted that concept a tad, but after some great riding, some sunshine and laughs, the doubts dried up as quickly as my socks.

We experienced a good variety of riding, from rolling to long climbing and from swoopy to big drops and technical. Some trails were popular and some secluded. Different areas had different vegetation. You could ride whatever you pleased, just don't get too close to the vegetation. Out there the plants have an attitude all of their own, and need to be respected. One thing I did learn is that if you hit the cacti past the apex, you are less likely to take on as many needles. The cholla are a PIA, and I only got two chunks of them stuck to me during the week. One chunk stuck to my little toe through my shoe. They are barbed, and when I went to pull it out, it just pulled my toe back in forth in the shoe, until it finally let go. Although the plants can be intimidating at times, the whole riding experience is a perfect mix.

Ski to Ilgenstein

Last week the snow gods were good enough to gift us another snow storm. After 2 days of shoveling, it was time for me to get out of the house before I went crazy. The mountains, just north and west of us had received two to three feet of snow. This is an incredible amount of snow for New Jersey. Many of the parks had not plowed their lots and some were just plain closed from snow damage. The thought of riding through the woods on a bike was becoming a lost dream.

Ringwood had a few parking lots plowed, so I declared a new route ski mission: XC ski to Ilgenstein Rock from Skylands Manor. Normally this route is too rocky to ski, but there was close to three feet of snow up there with drifting in the higher elevations. Art and Nate were the only skiers to show up for my mission. I really had no idea how far it was or how long it would take. Art guessed 4+ hours and was skeptical about the whole mission.

10:15 we set out on skis behind the gardens on the crossover trail. A set of tracks was already set from the day before. It was slightly glazed, offering little kick but plenty of glide. Up hills were tough without much kick. Once we reached the intersection of the Ringwood/Ramapo trail, the ski tracks stopped, so we broke our own. It may have been a little bit slower, but seemed easier to me.

By Ice Pond Rd, we were able to pick up my friend Nancy’s tracks from the day before. We took them all the way up Pearson Ridge to where the Blue trail turns off the road. Huge snowdrifts crossed the road creating a roller coaster affect as we rolled through the drifts. Nate pretty much dropped us on this climb. You can tell who has been keeping up with their secret training.

Once reaching the blue, we broke our own tracks all the way out to the lookout on Ilgenstein. As most mountain bikers know, the trail underneath is very rocky, but today we sailed over a blanket of white snow without a rock in sight. Trail markers were partially buried, and even the blueberry bushes were all under the snow. We had to stop several times to find our way, by searching familiarity, and contours, with no rocks or bushes to guide us.

The biggest problem was getting back up after you fell. The snow was so deep that you could not push off the ground with your arms. At one point I cramped my leg trying to get up. It is somewhat of a comical and helpless feeling. Actually much of XC skiing feels comical and helpless.



On our way back we skied more single-track and added in Warm Puppy to complete the ski mission at four hours. It was an amazing day. I don’t know if we will ever have this much snow at Ringwood again, so I am glad to have experienced this epic ski.


Today it is warm and the sun shines. The snow is melting fast and an old friend peeks out.

Snow, Water and Trees

Big Snow continued ...

Waway ski



Finally enough snow to ski Harriman, and it was a beautiful sunny day as well. Nate and Art joined me, but I found myself mostly skiing alongside my shadow. The sky was deep blue and the late afternoon sun sparkled off the snow like candy for my eyes. We do not get this much snow that often, so it was great to be able to take advantage of the opportunity to ski in a winter wonderland.

The soup chronicles:

CJ soup

I have been on a bit of a soup kick lately. I roast a chicken each week, and use the carcass for making soup base. I started making soup because most processed soups contained too much MSG and garlic. I got a little tired of the typical chicken soup, so I have been spicing it up each week. The first week was "potato leek". The second week was "squash ginger" which also contained sweet potato.

Today I was inspired by a soup called "Tortilla Soup" that WOW host, CJ made when we were in Arizona. I had to wing it a bit, as I could not remember exactly how it was made. I mainly remember that it was really good and he crumbled chips and a mild cheese on top. My version was basically chicken soup with yellow pepper, corn, rice, southwest spices and fresh cilantro. He may have used mesquite smoked chicken, which I did not have, so it was missing some of the traditional local flavors. Although my soup was good, it was still not the real thing. Maybe because of the spice and maybe because I was eating it here in New Jersey looking out over a foot of snow. I look forward to returning to Arizona to taste it's flavors and feel the sun.

Big Snow 2010

Wednesday's snowstorm dumped a ton of snow on New Jersey. I spent my day making soup, shoveling snow and skiing through town....



skiing mount onto the rings ...



past big snowmen and little girls ...



and back home for Squash Ginger Soup.

Cycling Through the Seasons

Just when you think things are looking gray, Mother Nature covers our little world in snow, making everything look clean and new again. Two inches of snow may just have been a tease, but it renewed my spirit enough to get me out on the road bike once again. Yes, I know many may think that riding a bike in winter is nuts, but winter riding can be quite beautiful and an enlightening experience. I think it has less to do with any immediate training goals, but has more to do with feeling alive through the long haul of life. If you can imagine having the cold take your breath away and still be breathing hard, being chilled while sweating, and loving the sun and hating the wind all in the same time. It makes me feel alive in a way that only a few take the time to experience.



As I neared the lee side of the mountains, I was surprised to see so little snow. I noticed water running down ice-lined crevices in the hillside. One particular branch lay suspended across a stream, draped with a curtain of ice. The higher I climbed, the more the snow there was. By the time I climbed up to the lake, snow covered the ground and the frozen lake. The sun was almost blinding as it reflected off the lake. It was a whole new world up there, well worth the effort of climbing. The effort may have actually made it better.

I enjoyed the accomplishment of the climb, but descending down out of the park was quite cold. I ended up riding my brakes in hopes to avoid any extra wind chill, which allowed for some extra sight seeing along the way. Everything looks different in winter. There are longer sight lines, animals are easily visible, and the landscape takes on a less cluttered and honest look. Throughout most of the descent, I was just bracing myself against the cold that had crept into the sweaty nooks and crannies in my under layers.

Finally, I reached a little uphill to pedal myself warm again. It was just a matter of time before muscle memory kicked in and it was business as usual pedaling home. Just like in summer, the sun was getting low in the sky on my return. Whether I dreamed of summer, or embraced the cold, it felt good to be outside taking it all in. It is good to ride a bike in any season.


homemade soup of the week: chicken, potato, leek