Steel City Endurance Racing

Lost River Barn

Mathias, West Virginia

April 15-18, 2010

Saturday, April 17 - Today, after enjoying our coffee and breakfast, the team headed out from the barn at 10AM. It was a little chillier today – mid 50s, so we layered for the ride. We rolled down the mountain and found our bike legs again. About 8 miles down the mountain we met our host, Jay, who led us on another fantastic ride. Today’s ride took us on the other half of the Lost River Classic Race course, and let me tell you, it is going to be a whopper of a race. There is a most excellent double-up climb, sweet sweet descents, and an uphill finish. Although schedules are not perfectly planned out for the mid- and late-summer months, look for some of SCE racing there July 24.

Our ride continued down to the valley, and into a vigorous headwind. We took turns on the front of the paceline, and enjoyed conversations with Jay. After crossing the Virginia state line, we went on a sweet 7-mile loop, with a few rollers, all through farmlands and on smooth roads. At one point, we play around with a little bit of jumping and chasing, as the tailwind is just too sweet to not ride like a surfer rides a sweet wave in the ocean. When we headed back towards West Virginia, Pam and I played a little bit with jumps and starts. I tried to get on her tail when she did short sprints uphill. Fun fun. The ride had nice ebb and flow, short sprints when you wanted to, relaxed pace for the most part. But, I have to admit that the final climb felt a little longer today than yesterday.

For dinner, we cooked chicken on the stove top – some in a garlic and white wine reduction, some with cumin and pepper – with quinoa, vegetables sauteed in olive oil, and asparagus with a garlic and white wine reduction. It was delicious, and we were definitely hungry after today’s work. However, the best part was definitely the company. After dinner, Coach and Stacie said their goodbyes. They were heading back to Pittsburgh tonight. We had already said goodbye to Pam – she had to get back home today as well. It was a little sad, seeing camp starting to come to a close. This weekend has been so much fun, and has definitely flown by. The rest of us chilled out, some work, mostly relaxing in front of the TV, then an early bedtime as we were tired from the day’s work.

Sunday, April 18 - I woke up this morning around 5AM. It’s like my body knew that it would soon have to go back to the real world. After making coffee and working on my laptop awhile, I noticed a beautiful sunrise. It amazes me how quickly the sun comes up, once it really decides to and shows itself. I enjoyed a cup of coffee on the back porch, listened to the morning chorus, felt the coolness of the morning, breathed the clean air, and took it all in. Soon after, the rest of the girls slowly woke up. Wandering into the kitchen, we enjoyed coffee and breakfast one last time, warmed up around the fireplace a little bit on the cool morning, and then packed up to slowly travel back to Pittsburgh.

I say slowly because we stopped at the art cooperative, Rach and Kate drove down allowing Barb and I to glide down the mountain on our bikes one last time. Fun, sweeping turns and the cool, brisk morning – I enjoyed my relaxing ride with Barb, chatting about garden plans and just life (although a couple of small punchy hills on the way down reminded us we’d been riding a lot this past weekend). After an hour easy spin, just to loosen up the legs, we met up, loaded up the cars with bikes and souvenirs, and headed back across the mountain and back to Pennsylvania.

Concluding Thoughts - What a wonderful weekend! We got to get away, ride our bikes, eat good food, and just spend time talking, biking and whatever. Although parts of our rides were definitely challenging, especially with the 10 mile hill climb to finish each day, and the headwind on Saturday, the focus of this weekend was really on getting in some miles and reminding ourselves how fun it is to just ride the bikes.

As I rode with my team at camp, laughing and climbing, descending and coasting, I reflected on this weekend, and what it means to be on SCE. Riding with this team is truly a privilege. These are quality people, and when Coach Suzanne got us together 3 years ago, most of us hadn’t ever raced our bikes. Yet Coach worked with us, taught us some skills, and cultivated our interest and passion for cycling. We have grown, and somehow this group just gelled. Now there is a chemistry, the kind of chemistry where you poke fun and tease each other. The kind of chemisty where you can sing in the car or on the bike. The kind of chemistry where you can sometimes be in a bad mood or stressed out, and your ‘mates just get it. The kind of chemistry where you can just act silly, and it’s more than alright. Riding with these people is just fun. No matter what’s going on in your life, whatever pressures you feel, you always feel like you have your ‘mates on SCE. And we just ride. Sometimes really fast.