Kicking off 2010 with the Togwotee Winter Classic was brilliant!



I am not a fan of getting up in the morning, so I am fortunate to have a husband as wonderful as JayP, who makes the coffee, takes care of the dogs, loads up the bikes and then still patiently waits for me. Thank you love.




I am also fortunate to be riding an alunimum 9 zero 7 (which eats snow for breakfast, lunch and diner) from Chain Reaction in Anchorage, AK. This bike is dynomite! It is 2lbs lighter then my Pugsly and switching the parts was cake for my mechanic a.k.a JayP. The 9 zero 7 frame is an 15 inch compared to the 16 inch pugs, so it feels more like my MTB cockpit, which I am really enjoying.


Jan 9th, 2010-Seven snowbikers met at Togwotee Mtn. Lodge in Moran, WY for the 9 am start of the 3rd annual Togwotee Winter Classic snowbike race. As each of us arrived we fiddled with our gear and questioned what we would wear. The overnight temps remaind around zero which helped keep the track firm. The start was approx zero as well with the temp rising to almost 30F when we finished. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel and was a little nervous. Ready go! We started off climbing and continued to do so for approx 8 miles. About 5 mins into the race, JayP of course takes off, bye-bye! At this point it was JayP, the Junkie, and Fitzy ahead of me with Keith hot on my tail. It took me about 3 miles to finally start warming up and the climbs were feeling really good. After a short battle with Fitzy on the climbs I was able to pull ahead and focus on what was ahead of me.



I could occasionally see Dave Byers in front of me and really wanted to catch him. I continued to drink, kept the pedal strokes strong and efficient and kept pushing the legs and mind to go! The course was in great shape with 98% of it being ridable. The terrian is wicked fun, lots of steep climbing with supa fast DH's and lots of rolling in between. At about hr 2:12 it accured to me that I could beat the women's record, with this motivation and the focus of trying to catch Dave I was really pushing myself. I finished 3rd overall and set a new women's record with a time of 2:57, 6 minutes behind Dave and 20 minutes behind JayP. It was a blast having racers to chase and wondering how close the racers behind me were. I didn't really eat much during the race, approx 5 chocolate peanut clusters, due to the homemade breakfast burritos we chowed on the way to the race. I drank about 32 oz of the 96 oz of the water I was carrying. I get nervous about running out of water and am getting use to carrying the full bladder.






After we all finished we had lunch at the Lodge, which was generously purchased by Athlete 360 and received great prizes from Fitzgerald's Bicycles, the Bunnery and JayP. We exchanged stories from our rides, laughed and went over some tips.



Looking forward to the next adventure!