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♥

Shout Out

Huge shout out to Amy Dykema for being a great role model, leader, and inspiration in my life!

Amy loves to ride her bike but also has great talent with a camera! Thank you Amy for this great post-race shot at Rhinelander!

RIDE ON!

Check out Amy’s great pictures on Flickr-  http://www.flickr.com/photos/19091172@N02/

Race Report #2- Crystal Lake Classic

The race weekend started on Friday afternoon. I got home from school and packed and looked over my bike a bit more. Dad was still building a bike to race on Sunday when we finally departed for Hodag Territory at 5:30- only two hours late. 😉

We arrived at the Steckbauer homestead around 9:30 and I crashed immediately. I was sick with a bad infection this week and on top of that spent two days in the Dells, so I might have been slightly sleep deprived. saturday morning I woke up early and did some chemistry homework with the help of uncle Jeff. 8:00 is just too early for homework.

We headed over to my great grandma Agnes’ house for a visit and garden tour. 94 years old and still has quite the garden, drives herself, and even volunteers at the retirement home in town- you go granny!

When we got to the race course I knew my ride was gonna be hot and dusty. I pre rode with Jenaiya, knowing she would keep me going. Jenaiya is riding her first year in sport and despite mechanicals, has been doing great in her races. when we first started riding together we were both citizen riders and to see her grow as a cyclist like she has is very inspiring. holla at ya Jenaiya- love you girl!

Anyways, the preride started pretty well. we cruised through the long lead out. the roads are mostly this sandy gravel deal and It was tough to keep balance with speed. the sand only got worse, along with the dust. When we finally hit the single track, we were engulfed in a dense dust. the shadows were misleading in the woods and made it hard to decipher sand from dirt. I slipped out in a couple of corners but got my bearings back soon.

I was feeling good until we got back onto the sandy double track, when I started having breathing issues. call me wheezing willy, I could NOT breathe! I had to sit down and just try to relax. it was quite frightening, really. after I got that under control, we finished off the lap at a slower pace. Jenaiya stuck with me the whole time, thanks again.

Sunday morning was a little hectic. 10 people to one bathroom on race morning proved to be quite the issue. as soon as we got out of the house, we realized that it might not rain as soon as we had expected. It didn’t rain at all over night, so I was really worried about course conditions. once we got to camp, mom, Emily and I went to go register and scope out the competition.

We watched the juniors and citizen racers kick up dust like no ones business. for a minute, I actually thought I clicked my heels and was back in Kansas! I suited up and warmed up with Travis and josh for a bit, and much to my dismay was having breathing issues already. the humidity was a little out of whack to say the least.

And then it was race time: holy. crap.

Not gonna lie, I was nervous. The field was big, and I knew I was gonna finish in the back. as don counted down, I couldn’t stop smiling! this is what racing is about- standing on that line and thinking, “hell yeah, I got this.”

Once we started, I knew I needed to find my legs so I didn’t blow up on the lead out. those girls were pounding like crazy and definitely putting the hurt on some of us. I got to the single track before a good group of ladies but soon found that the two races before ours had really loosened the dirt (Iactually mean sand). As I was speeding through the trees, “call me maybe” got stuck in my head and I knew we had a problem. After getting back on the double track, some girls passed me and cranked out the big ring. I was already hurting….I guess I should probably train more? 😉

I pulled a last place in age group thanks to Rachael totally Kicking my butt. that girl is crazy fast!! I had tons of fun out there with everyone and would personally like to thank the Sport Cylde dude with a broken chain for pushing me up a hill TDF style. Hell yeah bro, you rock! Huge shout out to Shannon, who was a total animal out there despite the fact she just popped out a beautiful baby girl like the other day. Ride on momma!!

Had a great post race talk with Helme and Amy D., two very inspirational women. They always have good things to say And are both wonderful role models for me.

After I showered and cleaned up, I did some water hand ups for some Uncle Jeff, Neil and Nate Guerra. Everyone was totally crushing it out there in cat 1. It started to pour and thunder half way through their race, and seemed to settle some of the dust.

The weekend was dusty, hot, and fast. We are driving home right now with about two hours till we reach Plymouth.. I’m pretty beat, and have school bright and early.

see y’all at Wausau and keep pedaling.

love, hugs, glittler& grease,

Maja

Pete took the win at Rhinelander, good work Peter.

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