The Harbor: Living in the Moment

Friday morning I woke up and packed for a nice three day weekend at my grandparents house by the lake. I was planning on riding Saturday morning at the Washburn trails right down the road so I only packed one kit. I also packed half the toiletries because I basically have my own drawer there.
After a few days of parties, baking, and waterskiing we were packing up and gearing up to hit the highway. Then mom comes into my room and asks, “Do you want to go to copper harbor?”
So here I am- sitting on a Mexican woven blanket in copper harbor with barely any soap. 😉
Uncle Jeff took us up to Houghton Sunday night and we set up camp at Hancock campgrounds. Monday morning we woke up and headed out to ride the tech trails for a few hours. Shane and I rode with Jeff for an hour or so then he headed out to do some actual training for a few. Shane and I, on the other hand, hit up some of the really technical stuff because it’s still hard for me to breathe.
After we rode, we showered, did some laundry, and drove out to McLain State Park to walk around a bit and check out the lake. Then it was back to camp and off to bed. Tuesday morning we packed up camp and made the drive up to the harbor. Shane wanted to stop at Jacobs Falls for a quick bout of rock climbing so him and Jeff climbed up and I stayed at the bottom due to my poor choice in footwear.
Once the boys returned to ground, we headed out to Fort Wilkins State Park to find a camp site suitable for our picky likings…just kidding. We picked a lake front site on Lake Fanny Hooe.
Jeff needed his fix of historical knowledge so we went on a tour of the fort. It was pretty cool, except for the actor that followed us everywhere…super awkward.
I was pretty excited to ride so we suited up and mounted our bikes. I think we took the stairway to der we went to ma maki and after that everythings a blur. Some how we made it to the top of the edge and rode the flow down and then back into town for more water. The boys headed back out and I headed back to camp because I wasn’t feeling well…again 😦
Thank god we picked the lakefront site because after riding and trying to waterski, I was so sore. the worst form of sore EVER. so I went swimming! which actually means I did some awkward water yoga and stretched out and walked out. I took a long hot shower and painted my nails on the beach. (glitter polish of course ;] )
The boys returned and while they showered I made supper. Spaghetti and meatballs hit the spot and the warm food warmed our hearts as lake fanny hooe was giving off chilly, hurricane force winds! (sorta)
We sat by the fire for a bit then I headed to bed. This morning my eyes were practically swollen shut (no exaggeration) so I tried to relax them a bit but they wouldn’t budge. after struggling hard core with my antibiotic drops, they started to ease a bit and I decided to just chill today while the boys ride.
So here I am- laying on a woven Mexican blanket, in copper harbor, listening to music, writing my blog, and enjoying summer.
thanks uncle Jeff for teaching me that living in the moment can be fun and how to use a propane stove.
I encourage everyone to come up here and ride sometime. not going to lie to you, you’re either climbing or you’re climbing here. its fun, gorgeous, an much different than riding the kettles. nothing will make your heart rate spike faster than riding on a skinny bridge over a little valley only to meet a rock wall on the other side. oh and also, the guys here aren’t too bad looking 😉
I won’t be racing this weekend but I will be everybody’s superfan!! only a few weeks until 24/9…better get feeling better soon.

Love, Hugs, Copper, Glitter & grease,
maja

Jr. MTB Camp- Houghton, MI

Wednesday morning I woke up sore, tired, and excited out of my mind. Shane and I were headed up to Houghton, MI for five days of riding the Keeweenaw Peninsula  with professional racer Brian Matter. The drive was about 6 hours and I was beyond excited when we finally reached The Michigan Tech Campus. I have never been more happy to be in a building called ‘Wads’ in my life!

Day 1: We said our typical goodbyes to our dad and he was off, but so were we. Our group of 15 campers headed up the hill the tech trails for some easy, leg loosening riding. We did some fun drills and relays to warm up then headed out for a lap of the Outer Limits. The rest of the group did two laps, I only did one due to the fact that I caught a tree in a corner with my bad shoulder so Coach Joe had me go back to the dorm and ice up.

Day 2: My roommate, Emily Shull, and I had stayed up pretty late the night before messing with our dorm supervisor. The wake up call was slightly frightening but it was all good considering what we had planned for the day. We ate some breakfast, suited up, and loaded up the bikes and bodies for our drive up to Copper Harbor. Hell. Yes. The trails were in awesome shape and with the Flow recently finished, I was beyond excited to ride the stairway to heaven. When we got to the top, the feeling of being in that spot in that time was overwhelming. After our yearly photo on the outlook, we mounted our bikes ready to shred some dirt. Brian, Dan, and Osk led us into the flow and soon dropped Caleb, Tervo, me, and Emily. The rest of the group sorta split up at their own pace for the ride down which was totally acceptable. Reaching the bottom was a long ride but sooooo worth it! I couldn’t stop smiling….Until Brian said we were gonna climb the mountain on the road. It wasn’t too bad until we turn the corner and saw the gradient ahead of us. Dan and Osk raced up to the top but Moriah and I took it pretty easy (4 mph up that ‘hill’). You kept thinking it was done and you were there but no, she kept going. Though feeling ready to quit and wondering why I even ride a bike I knew that feeling of happiness was almost with us. Being back on the top of that overlook was a very fulfilling feeling. After the group met back up, we rode some more great trails to the bottom. After eating some box lunches, we loaded up again and headed back to Tech. On the way back, we stopped at a waterfall off of the road for a break. Curt climbed that thing like no other…he deserves the name he self-awarded himself: Spidermonkey. When we got back to Tech it had started raining and instead of going riding, Coach Joe told us to get some running shoes and gym clothes on: It was core time. We did some stations in the weight room for about 15 minutes then played dodge ball the rest of the time. Like Brian says, “If you can dodge a ball, you can dodge a tree”.

Day 3: This morning we headed out to pre ride the Chain Drive race course. It had been raining that night, but stopped right before we headed out. The ride started off with cemetery hill, which will leave you in the cemetery and 6 feet under if you aren’t ready for it. The course was great and the pace was slow so the pre ride was going pretty well. Our youngest rider, Caleb, had mixed a Monster Energy drink, MTN Dew, and Gatorade in his camelback so I don’t think there was one quiet moment in that ride. After the pre ride, we headed back for lunch and some down time before a talk with Brian about being a pro racer. Then we headed up to the tech trails for a private Trek Demo. I rode a Trek Remedy, a pretty sweet bike! Of course, I had to hit the jumps and it was pretty fun watching Osk and Brian fly through the MI pines. I went a few times and got pretty warmed up to them so I tried the bigger line. My jump skills are pretty much shit now. Resorting back to the small line, I followed Brian and ate dirt pretty hard. Even got some bad ass bruises to vouch for the crash! My head hurt pretty bad too but I thought I was alright…so, I went again. Bad idea. I got super shaky after that so I headed back to the tent to just sit down. 

Day 4: Race Day!!! I was nervous out of my mind and my head was pounding. I was pretty pissed at myself for going back to the jumps for another shot. The race started off great, the roll out was awesome. I love this aspect of racing where everyone started together and just rode through the host town. My race after that was pretty rough, I felt like an idiot because I couldn’t ride in a straight line because I was so dizzy. The race was amazingly fun and I enjoyed riding with  my friend Alex Yosick  for most of the race. I finished pretty bad and wasn’t feeling well at all. I stopped by the medic for some ice but when I was telling him about the headache, it was hard to not tell him about the crash. He thought it was a concussion and should take it easy the next few days and not ride, and he was going to talk to the Coaches. Bummer. Regardless, I got second in my  age group and 12th overall in the women. After we finished, the group headed back to the dorms for a quick shower then back to the venue for awards. Then we went out to McLain State Park for an ice bath before going to the fireworks.

Day 4: I had to sleep in Moriah’s room that night because Emily and Liz left for some racing in WI instead of doing the chain drive. Coach Joe took me to  the trainer after we dropped the rest of the riders off at the the trail head to get my head checked out. The trainer went through a huge set of questions with me and looked and my eyes, told me I had a concussion and sent me to my room. I slept until the rest of the riders came back and woke up to Curt hugging me..awkward. He took some of me and Emily’s food as well.

 

It was great meeting and getting to know new people as people- not competitors. We broke some rules, had some fun, and rode some sick trails. Thanks to Coach Joe, Brian, Andrea, Doctor John, Ian and Ryan Tervo for helping us learn to ride a little better and for teaching us about how to care for ourselves during training- but most of all for being good role models.

 

Surgery is tomorrow morning so I’m out!

Love, hugs, Bugles, Glitter & Grease:

Maja Holcomb<3

 

Bikes, American Pride, and a Band Uniform

This four day weekend was a tease for summer. We didn’t have a snow day this year (what?!?), so we got an extra day off. I was pretty excited, as I had some plans with my bike and a little mud on my mini-vacation.

Friday was an easy one- a short road ride in the heat. After that, I did some post ride gardening. Much to my dismay- my hamstring did not enjoy that what-so-ever. I could not believe the tightness of these buggers! Anyone know any remedies or special stretches for me to try?

Saturday was an early Mountain Bike ride at Evergreen in Sheboygan, Wi. My new friend Jack picked me up and we headed out despite the chance of rain. He is pretty new to mtbing so we took it at a good pace and stopped and did some skill work while we were out there. I was riding moms bike and until I hopped on, didn’t realize that I had the wrong pedals. Not being able to clip in, I knew I was in for a wild ride trying to hold on to my bike going over the roots. It was a little wet from the previous nights’ rain and it didn’t take too long for Jack to realize why we call our trails ‘Roots of all Evil’. As a regular out there, even I was sliding everywhere on those greasy devils! Crazy, right? 😉

Sunday ended up being a great family ride. With dad working a lot and everyone’s schedules being soo packed, it was great to get out there as a family even if we did end up doing race laps! The fam damily loaded up the truck and we headed out to New Fane MTB trails for a mad shred session. We met up with another family out there as well. All seven of us started riding together but the pace started rolling pretty quick. Christian, 11 and Allison, 13 were killing it out there! Christian is a great climber and Allison has mad skills in the single track. Christian and I ended up doing a lap in about 30 minutes upon estimation. Three minutes later, the rest of the group met us in the lot. No wonder WORS is calling 2012 the Year of the Juniors- THEY ARE SICK FAST. Not gonna lie, these two had me trying to keep up a bit! Good Work! Dad and I went out for a fast lap after that and he dropped me right away. I could see him through the woods in a few spots but decided that I just wanted to enjoy the ride at that point.

From there I just want to remark at how amazing I was feeling rushing through the trees at a dangerous speed. There is no other feeling in the world that matches up to the feeling of riding a bike. It actually bewilders me the emotions you can feel zooming through the trees and over rocks. It’s just so…peaceful. Corny right? I don’t care! There is no better feeling.

I hope everyone enjoyed the weekend and got a ride in along with remembering our fallen soldiers!

God Bless the U.S.A.!

Love, Hugs, Glitter&Grease-

Maja♥

A Ride with the Boys

Yesterday morning me and Uncle Jeff headed out to Evergreen in Sheboygan for some trail time. We met up with Brian, Jon, Jesse, and Alex in the lot and talked some post- WEMS talk before heading out. We ran into a couple Sheboygan guys out there as well, holla at y’all- Sheboygan Represent!

Anyways, the trails are in great condition. The club, FatKatz, out of Sheboygan does a great job keeping up these bad boys. I am part of the club and we tried to do a trail day in May, but the weather pushed us away. I admire the guys who take time to go out there on their own time to do some work. Dedication at its best!

The ride started with all of us together and the guys were smoking me! I need to train more basically…so then I lost my seat pack and had to mess around with it. The guys sped off and waited for me on the other side of the river. We kept riding fast and I was feeling a little better as I was speeding through the trees.

It’s really hard to explain how you feel during a ride. I honestly thought this blogging thing would be a lot easier. Really, it makes me see all the things I do that I could change, things that I could change to improve my race and rides. When I hop on a bike; be it my mountain bike, my road bike, or the jump bike- I get a high. No joke, it’s like I cannot stop smiling. All these kids in high school smoking and drinking, I don’t need that. You see if you find something you really love- you don’t need anything else. Those bad rides are like little arguments, and you might wanna just not ride for a couple days but I compare it to a relationship. If you get in a fight with your significant other, you can’t just not talk to them. Talking it out makes things better, and riding it out always makes it better.

My Uncle Jeff rode two laps with me after the other guys left and I am so glad he did. If he hadn’t been there, I probably wouldn’t even do another lap. We did two laps on the Evergreen side at a nice, low heart rate zone. We talked a lot about training and we are gonna work on getting me set up with using a heart rate monitor. I have one, I just never used it or knew how to train correctly with it. I’m so excited for this season to get rolling, and I am so grateful for all the people who want to help me succeed.

Typical me, I forgot to put sunscreen on and got the first burn of the season, leaving me with the infamous jersey line on my arm. Let’s just say I’m wearing a cardigan at school today. 🙂

After the ride, Team Captain Brian Benson and his family came over and hung out on the deck and talked racing. I like the personal level of the team, and I think it makes us work better at races.

This weekend we’ll be heading up to Hodag Territory for some racing. Rhinelander is my home town, and my family will be staying at my grandparents house. Maybe it will be warm enough to hop in the lake?

Hope to see y’all up there-

Love, glitter, and chain grease-

Maja

You can find information on The FatKatz on facebook, twitter, and our website. Thanks Everyone!! 🙂

https://twitter.com/#!/FatKatzClub

https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/FatKats-Mountain-Bike-Club/114898768592575

http://www.fatkats.org/index.htm

Racing as a metaphor to life..

“But to say that the race is the metaphor for the life is to miss the point. The race is everything. It obliterates whatever isn’t racing. Life is the metaphor for the race.”
Donald Antrim