It's Because We're a Family

So we finally got a team shot of our sweet cowbell tattoos:

(Me- tat on the hip, Matt- on the back of his leg, Mark- on his arm, Charlie- on his back)

We are so cute!

Seriously, this is what being a team is all about. Good times, good racing, and some fairly ridiculous decisions...

We're Gettin' Famous!

(This is my crew.)

Scarlet Cyclists Brave the Jersey Roads and Show their Competitive Edge
A venerable sports club has grown steadily and is attracting more women

By Jeff May

"Spinning your wheels is no way to get through college – unless you’re a member of the Rutgers University Cycling Team.

The team, a club sport established more than 30 years ago, has grown steadily in prominence over the past decade. Rutgers riders are now a force in cyclocross, a deviant strain of steeplechase that requires cyclists to slog through mud and rough terrain with frequent dismounts to scale stairs or leap over barriers.

It goes without saying that training in New Jersey takes a tough mindset. The state has a well-earned reputation as a snakepit for drivers, so it’s not exactly a hospitable place for pedal-pushers who share the road."


And here's the super funny part:
The composition of the team has changed in recent years as more women have joined. Molly Hurford signed up this past year to help with her off-season training as a triathlete, but wound up loving the sport. Her enthusiasm for cycling is summed up by the title of her blog, “Death Before DNF,” a racing acronym for ‘did not finish.’

“Anytime where you get to go 25 mph or 40 mph on a downhill is pretty awesome,” said Hurford, a graduate student working toward a degree in English Education. “It’s just a really, really great way to spend a weekend.”

Hurford doesn’t do things by halves, including training.

“I’m arguably the craziest on the team,” she said. “I train 25 hours a week pretty much throughout the year. Most guys do 8 to 12 a week.”

Check the full article out here.


Hilarious....

Off Road Adventures!

The Dream Team

Even with a couple weekends away from road racing, I've managed to stay pretty busy. Months ago, Mark and I made plans to do the Hibernia Off Road Duathlon as a co-ed relay team- the Rutgers Cycling Team, to be precise, and since I do love my position on the team as "that triathlete," I very quickly agreed to do the run. Mark was in charge of destroying the competition on the mountain bike section, and my job was to kill it during the run. Can I just say, Mission Accomplished?

From Mark's brief race report:
"Molly and I crushed the team event. Rutgers won this last year, but had a fairly lackluster finish in the overall standings. This year with a much stronger team, we destroyed it. Molly had an amazing run and got me on the bike in third place. I passed the guy and second and got within 45 seconds of the race leader. He was, however, ridiculously fast, and I never made the catch. I did, however, put some serious time into everyone else. Molly and I did a flawless transition, and Molly KILLED the second run to come in 2nd overall.

Yeah, we beat all the other teams, male-male, coed, female-female, AND all the individual athletes (except for the overall winner who was sick,) some of whom were pretty elite."

Mark and I right after the race. Don't I look tired? In my defense, I just finished the second 5k, while Mark had 20 minutes to recover before this was taken!

So, my "race report":

The race was in Hibernia, which is about 2 hours from my parents house. Up at 5, on the road by 5:30- bleck. Dad (our unofficial team Dad, as many of you know) couldn't make it to the race but woke up at 5 am to make sure that I was ready to go and out the door on time with all my gear. Gotta love him!

Anyway, the directions from the website sent me to the right area but wrong Park Avenue- I was about ten miles from the race site, along with a few other SUVs toting mountain bikes, so we formed a small caravan and I somehow ended up finding our way to the park through guesswork and frantic calls to Mark. Luckily, we made it there on time.

It was nice doing a race where the only stuff I needed was shorts, a shirt, and my sneakers- normally pre-race is hectic because of all the equipment, from bike to wetsuit that needs checking, but this race was awesome in that regard. It was less awesome because it was the coldest day of April- hovering in the 40s with some wind. I was not psyched about the middle segment when I'd be waiting for Mark to finish the ride, waiting around sweaty and chilly.

The race was awesomely chill- no racks for bikes in transition, super nice race director that knew Mark (which led to some hilarious antics at the award ceremony), and generally a more relaxed crowd than any triathlon I've done.

The starting line was at the base of a grassy hill, and the course was 2.8 miles of off road, then an 11 mile (2 loop) mountain bike, then another 2.8 mile run. The director yelled Go and we charged up the hill. I knew that the trails would narrow fast, making passing tough, so I gunned it up the hill as fast as I could and hit the trail segment in the top 10, the first female. It took a good mile before people got strung out, and in that time, I worked my way up to 6th or so, still the first female. The trail was awesome- lots of rocks, streams, mud, logs, and general crap to hurtle, jump or run around. Plus, a lot of short but intense up and down hills. This is what I'm good at, so I was happy.

By the time the trail was easy enough that I could look back, there were only two guys in my line of sight, a decent way behind me. The course went way faster than I expected, and when I realized we were almost to transition, I stepped on the gas and sprinted it out. Apparently, I surprised Mark (shocked the hell out of myself too), since I was the 6th or 7th person overall (including some runners just there to do the 5k trail run), and the first woman (I would have won the 5k!).

Mark took off up the same hill I had started on, chasing down two men in front of him. When he came around to start the second loop, he had passed one of the men and was in second. The guy in front of him, as he said, was clearly elite, and he put more time on Mark in the second loop. Mark put a huge gap between himself and the people behind him though, so when he came into transition and I started, I knew I didn't have to worry too much about anyone coming up behind me. Even with the first man 2 minutes or so ahead of me, I still was entertaining thoughts of closing the gap, unrealistic as that may have been, so I went hard.

Mark coming into transition.

The second loop was easier in some ways but mentally harder- with no one behind me and one person way ahead, it was hard to keep my head in the game, but I think I managed fairly well. I have no idea how close we were to that guy's time, but I was really pleased with how we did finish.

Me looking amazingly silly after hitting the finishing chute.

This race was awesome- I realized that I'm better at trail running than I thought, and that Mark and I make one awesome team. Ahem- Duathlon Off Road Nationals next year, perhaps?

When they did the awards and they got to the co-ed relay category, the director pointed out that not only were we the first co-ed team, but we were the first relay team overall, and the second ones to finish the race in general. I was stoked that the director came up to me and said, "you must be a runner, right?" (to which I replied, "heck no, I'm a triathlete!") and Mark got about a million compliments on his mad skillz on the mountain bike. In all, it was an excellent use of a Sunday!

Making the Best of Things

This weekend ended up being a mandatory rest weekend, instead of a race on Saturday and Sunday. This was both good and bad.

Bad, because it was due to the fact that my leg cramp issues have come back, making it almost impossible to ride a bike at the moment, and they seem to be getting worse and spreading. It's a problem, but one that I'm painfully used to. It sucks that I am, but the fact of the matter is that this is what I seem to be stuck with. Right now, I'm trying a few things, including doing a rest week now, and a 3 day juice fast to "flush toxins" (more on that later). Robbie thinks I should see a chiropractor, and my coach recommended a bike fit for my road bike, since he thinks I may just be hitting a nerve weird. My friend Blake is thankfully willing to help me with that, so hopefully the fitting will help. I'm checking into the whole chiropractor thing, but my problem is that my health insurance isn't all that great. Still, it may be worth paying for even if it is pricey.

But the good side of things meant that Robbie and I had a really nice weekend together. We went to a huge used booksale (I came out with 4 bags of books, yay!), went to a party and saw a lot of old friends, went to a poetry reading where Robbie did a wonderful job reading, got "gourmet" veggie pizza, spent a lot of time on the couch reading, and went for a nice long walk by the Delaware River yesterday, since I couldn't run or ride.

Aren't we cute?

And here's me on this awesome suspension bridge in Frenchtown at a kid's park by the canal. The bridge swings when you walk on it! Awesome. I admit, right after this picture was take, I had a "minor" freak out because my leg started cramping even though I was just walking, and I got pretty upset and frustrated. Poor Robbie, thankfully he's super-understanding and great about stuff like that.
So, this weekend was chill, but in a good way (cramp issues excluded)... It was nice to be a non-athlete for a couple days, and spend the whole weekend with Robbie instead of only seeing him for dinner.


As for last weekend, I have pictures from Bucknell:

Warming up pre-team time trial. That's right, Rutgers Cycling Women's crew REPRESENTED at Bucknell, whereas our men's team only had 2 out of the 30 or so male racers. Can anyone say "Girl Power"? (OK, we also talked about the Spice Girls. A lot.)

Sunday's crit on the university campus- 8 turns, 2 hills, one massive downhill ending in a corner, a chicane, a speed bump, and a lot of potholes. Fun!

We look like we were dubbed into this idyllic farm picture. I love Amish country. We even saw a horse and carriage while racing!

Post race hang time- we're one wild and crazy team!

I'm sure in the next 72 hours there will be more posts from me detailing why I'm very very hungry and very sick of juice. But I think in the end, 3 days of juice fast will do me a lot of good, for a few reasons.

1. the whole "toxin" thing
2. the fact that I've been eating like complete crap and I need a serious kick in the ass to get back to healthy habits
3. it's a rest week, so might as well give my digestive system a rest too
4. I'll be so much better hydrated!
5. I'm hoping the toxin thing will help flush the crap out of the muscles in my legs, getting rid of the cramping
6. I read it does wonders for your complexion, as well as attitude. And with some of the annoyances in my life at the moment (cramping, USAC issues, job, school and financial questions about next year, et cetera), I could use a serious attitude adjustment.

So, wish me luck and I'll keep everyone posted.

Gahh!!

OK, I promise I'll write more soon. Hopefully later today, in fact. But just to let everyone know I haven't disappeared off the face of the planet:


More soon, I promise. Suffice to say despite some minor setbacks, my cycling season was/is going pretty well, finally got enough points to upgrade to cat 3, though I'm waiting on the approval for that, and while I'm done with collegiate racing for the season, I'm super psyched about doing some real racing this summer. It seems like I'm actually good at this stuff, so who knows? Maybe I'll try to find a real women's team to race with, we'll see.

In the meantime, this weather is getting soooo nice out, it's making me really really miss triathlon!

It's been a really long few weeks, I'm looking forward to some kind of mini-break. We've had a lot to deal with apartment-wise (a bedbug problem that turns out may not have even been bedbugs but meant we had to wash everything and live out of garbage bags...), a lot of holidays and weekend races, watching good friends get crashed, bikes destroyed and pretty beat up- it's scary. Of course, it's also been fun (frozen margaritas in Philly with some super awesome dudes after the insane Philly Phyler race weekend), it's also been tiring, and I've just been beat mentally, emotionally, and obviously physically, and it hasn't put me in a frame of mind conducive to writing.

Like I said, more later. For now, I'm at work, then going out to enjoy the amazing Spring weather.

Race Season in Full Swing...

Another successful weekend, but less successful on the blogging front, sorry! It may be a rest week, but it's Spring Break. Which for me is more hectic- we've been booted out of our apartment thanks to a bug infestation, and we spent the last couple days cleaning and we have to wash all of our clothes. Super fun. So we're carpetbagging between the parent's houses and trying to get it all worked out before school starts up next week. Between that and work, it's been a tough week. Thankfully, it's also been a rest week, which was sorely needed- and I wouldn't have had time to train anyway, so it works out perfectly!

Anyway, the interesting stuff: it was a great weekend, despite hurricane conditions, ridiculous wind and rain and freezing cold weather.

Grant's Tomb Criterium: 1st B (5th A/B woman)
Steven's Circuit Race: 2nd B (6th A/B woman)

Race season is going better than I could have possibly hoped. And I know it's cheesy to quote other blogs, especially about you, but frankly, I'm not used to reading about myself, so here we go.

From Ian Sullivan (one of the ECCC directors) blog, we have this on his "Quick Thoughts on Leading Teams" post under "Outside Wonders":

Rutgers: With Molly Hurford nailing it in the Bs (soon to be As if I was a betting man) and a decent contingent of men racers, they are certainly a force. If they bring out a few more key players and up their game. They could definitely finish the season in the top 10.

And from Joe Kopena, the ECCC Director's blog, there was this:

Watching from the sidelines, it definitely seems that the Women's B racers are out for overall wins and placings, and if they have to take them from the Women's A racers then so much the better. One of these days one of those B women is going to make the perfect move, have a great day, and totally take a race from the Women's As. I'm going to put my early money on Molly from Rutgers for that distinction.

Freaking awesome. I'm afraid I've become totally intolerable to my teammates and Robbie though. I'm so stoked about how the season is going and I think it comes off as obnoxious when really I'm just insanely shocked and excited. So, sorry to anyone reading this that's finding me annoying. I honestly had no idea that this season was going to go well, and I'm constantly in shock that it has started off this great. Hopefully I can keep it up!

The races this weekend were crazy. Grant's Tomb was some of the worst conditions I've ever ridden in- I legit thought I was about to be blown over most of the time. I missed the 3 woman breakaway, and no one in the pack had the legs for a breakaway except me after that. I kept trying, getting off the front, and realizing I was half a lap ahead of the group but totally alone. Maybe I should have gone solo, since I ended up pulling so much anyway, but the results would have ultimately been the same, so it all worked out. After the race, I got lots of hugs and stuff from a bunch of the other women racers. What awesome ladies we have in the conference- I even met a fellow ex-Irish stepdancer!

I was completely freezing and I couldn't eat for 30 minutes because my teeth were chattering too much. I raced in just a skinsuit and used embrocation on my legs to keep them warm, and I think I was probably better off than the multiple layer girls who were soaked and weighed down.

Steven's Circuit Race had slightly better weather, though we got there with very little time to spare because of a ton of roads closed from flooding. Still, we made it so I had time to register, hear from one of the directors of the ECCC that "don't worry, you'll get the breakaway one of these days" and get on the trainer to get a bit of a warmup.

Kathryn was right on the money though- the race started and here I'll add in part of the ECCC News Network's race report:

With one lap completed, the peloton was comprised of every single rapid racer, A and B riders alike. Buckley was still at the top for the second lap, this time accompanied by teammate Laura Ralston and Elle Anderson of Dartmouth College. These three worked together to pull away from the rest of the field, which instantaneously split into two additional groups. Only two distinct groups emerged the third time around the course, with Molly Hurford representing Rutgers as a B rider among a group dominated by A riders. (Hurford won Rutgers’ Criterium for the Women’s B category the previous weekend, and finished third for Rutgers’ Road Race in the Women’s B category.) The second group encompassed a majority of the B riders, with the exception of several Women A riders.

The field remained split in two for the duration of the race, with a few riders straying. Hurford, Anderson, Buckley, and McLoon refused to slack off in the first group, refusing to allow any riders from the second group to even mildly consider catching up.

Ha! I caught the breakway! The A women work like crazy in the breakaway though, using crazy race tactics and strategy that was totally beyond me. I stayed in the pack, led way more than I should have, started the sprint too early at the end, let them ride my wheel 100 feet to the finish line, and then got outsprinted by all of them. Yeah, I need to learn how to race my bike one of these days. I did get some compliments from the major A women though, and one of them was really grateful for one moment when 3 of the 6 of us broke away and I caught us back on when the other girl couldn't. So I feel like I'm on the map to some extent. I filed for my A upgrade, though I'm lacking a few points, and hopefully I get it before this weekend. If not, I'll just be trying to get it this weekend and with any luck I'll be able to get it for the week after, but I'm a bit antsy and I really want it. I'm landing in the top 6 in every race, so it stands to reason that I should be able to race As. Though as Joe did point out, it would be pretty awesome if a B woman won a race overall, and it would be even cooler if that woman was me!

Philly Phlyer is this weekend and I'm really excited to see some 'cross friends- and the weather should be mid60s and sunny! Heck yeah to running between/after races in short shorts!!


In other news, happy birthday to Robbie! He's finally 20, and even if we can't celebrate St. Patrick's Day in a bar, as long as I'm with him I know we'll have a great time. He puts up with a lot from me, and I love the poor guy beyond reason. Pictures of his birthday present will be coming shortly- I hope he likes it, though I'm sure most of you will feel sorry for him when you see what it is!

Best. Day. Ever.

Holy Crap:

"The sprint finish also highlighted some of the tremendous strength and speed of some of the Women’s B racers. The Forth spot overall was snatched up by a hard charging B Racer from Rutgers, Molly Hurford. Her appreciation of the win noticeable and audible as she pumped the air with her fist and shouted. As she was able to beat about three-quarters of the Women’s A field, one would have to assume that she will be a force to be reckoned with as the season progresses."
(http://ecccnews.wordpress.com/race-reports/week-1-rutgers-frozen-toed-season-opener/womens-ab-criterium-report/)

Yes!!! (Noticeable and audible, love it!!)

Also, mentioned in VeloNews: http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/03/news/mit-wins-rutgers-race-in-season-opener_107417

And, my article got picked up by Triathlete and is somehow making its way all over the internet:
Running Tops for Women—Science, Fit, and “Feel”
What Finding the Perfect Sports Bra Can Do For You
http://competitor.com/2010/02/sports/running/running-tops-for-women%E2%80%94science-fit-and-feel_4821


So yeah. Today was a good day!

Grade for the Weekend: "Exceeds Expectations"

Please note the super attractive face that I'm making as I outsprint the A rider at the finish for the crit.

Excuse me for a second while I brag a teensy bit.
B Women's TT: 3rd
B Women's Crit: 1st
A/B Women's Crit: 4th overall
B Women's Circuit Race: 3rd
A/B Women's Circuit: 8th overall
*to explain: the women's A and B fields were combined this year, so we race as a pack. It's generally expected that the A's will finish before the B's, so to be 4th or 8th overall is huge. Hopefully I'll be in the A's pretty soon.

In addition to doing really well, I got to help the team and garner a huge amount of points for us. Between me and the other amazing racers- including a ton of A men- we did really well this weekend. It was a huge shock to start the crit on Saturday and do that well.

As everyone knows, I've been super nervous about the races. I was sick, not feeling up to snuff, and generally nervous as hell. The time trial- 3 miles- went off smoothly, though I wasn't quite as fast as I had wanted to be. Still, it was enough to put me in third, only 5 seconds off the winner. I would have been in the top 5 A women had I been racing A's. I found that out seconds before the crit started, so it was a good way to get going and motivated!

Another major motivator: about an hour before the crit, DON showed up from Baltimore! I don't think I've ever been happier to see someone- I relied on his pre-race pep talks last year, and this year I was so bummed I wouldn't get one. Luckily, he got there right in time.

The crit started and I was literally shaking- so much that the girl next to me pointed it out. I naturally started in the back, as per usual. And got yelled at by everyone on the team, and my dad. So when we started, I jumped up and tried to move up. As we hit the first corner, I realized something: my heart wasn't racing, and I hadn't even noticed that we hit the corner! In fact, I didn't so much as touch my brakes. Very exciting stuff. Suddenly, I realized that I was moving up in the pack, in a very big way. And feeling great. When we hit the second lap, I realized that I was in the top three- out of A and B riders. Whoa.

I passed Cristian, who was marshalling, and he just yelled, "Whatttttttt???" then, "Go Molly!" It was awesome having someone in every turn cheering, and my dad and the A guys warming up were going crazy at the finish line that I was passing every lap. Finally, with one to go and 2 A women off the front of the pack, we were on the road right before the turn to the finish, when 2 other A women jumped. I was leading at the time, so I jumped with them. We hit the corner, and started sprinting like crazy for the finish. I passed the one girl (see the picture above) and then it hit me. I won my first race!

I've won triathlons before, but with them, you never know you won until after results are posted. And besides, you don't get to decide what your "winning stance" is. I found out that mine is a huge grin, one arm in the air, slighlty dazed and confused. I rode my cool down lap very hazily (apparently) telling everyone "oh my god, I won!" After the race, I rolled back to my family, grinned at my dad, who prior to the race I had told "oh god, I just hope I can stay in the pack." He just smirked at me, and says, "smartass."

Later, George said I was grinning like crazy the whole race, and he was right. Because it didn't hurt, I felt great the whole time! I should have jumped with the two A women, but I wasn't sure I could keep up. Oh well, next time... I'm finally thinking about race strategy, not just survival.

I texted Blake about it that night and he called to congratulate me. Apparently, coming in 4th with the A's is a pretty huge accomplishment, and to be honest, it kinda came out of nowhere.

Then, onto Sunday, the circuit race on the 2.4 mile course on Livingston Campus. I was crazy nervous, more so than on Saturday. Having set such a high bar for myself, I was terrified that it was just a fluke.

But, the race started, I positioned myself out in the front, and started another great race. To quickly summarize, I missed a 4 person breakaway by only a few feet and never managed to bridge up, but I pulled off in a 5 person breakaway of my own with some riders who I really have come to like a lot. We had a great few laps, almost catching the lead group, but not quite. Between the 2 A's and 3 B's in our group, we duked it out at the end, and I ended up the 3rd B woman in the race.

Rockin' the pace line in the breakaway

After my race, I had to run the 2.5 miles around the course, so I could get a small brick/cooldown in, and so I could cheer on my A boys! It was a great way to cool off after a long race, and definitely earned me some weird looks. Our team coach told me as soon as I finished racing, "go put on a jacket" I said, "hold my bike, I gotta run." He just laughed.

In all, it was a great weekend. But as my coach reminds me, this is just the small fish in the grand scheme of my race season- the important race is still months away! It's pretty great to get to race again, even if it is only "training" races. I'm having a great time, though the down side (kidding!) is that there's no taper or rest before each race- which is every weekend now through May. I kinda love that though.

So, a thank you to my team, who I most definitely want to stand with, throw down with, and completely and totally love. Mark did amazing racing B's, his leg seems to be in awesome shape and he did great. Matt and Charlie blew me away with their first foray into A racing, Will, Pat, LJ, and Greg all did great in the A's, as we knew they would, and everyone had a fantastic weekend. Charlie did a wonderful job organizing the race, and it was definitely worth the efforts we all put in, between getting race ready in terms of logistics, course setup, promotion, training, and everything in between.

"As for the rewards... For those and what they might be, you only had to watch the ECCC's awesome women for a little bit today and see how much happier almost all of them seemed to be. Sometimes you have a good race." -Joe Kopena, ECCC director

And I leave you all with this final view of the race:
Lovely.

Race Day #1

Just a quick update-

Time Trial: 3rd Women's B

...and...

Crit: 1st Women's B, 4th Woman in the A/B combined field.


And it felt fantastic. My teammates made fun of me because I was grinning like crazy the entire race.

So stoked for tomorrow!!

More details to come...

Feet don't fail me now!

Tomorrow is race day. In about 9 hours, I'll be setting up the course and getting ready to (attempt to) kick ass on a 3 mile time trial and then a sketchy crit.

Feet (and legs) don't fail me now!!


In less good news, I think the spider bite I have on my arm is making sick. Like, really sick. At first I didn't notice the quarter sized swollen spot on my arm til it got really red. And I guess I should have noticed the two tiny holes in it that don't seem to be healing. But it started to go away... at the same time I started feeling really crappy. So I'm a bit nervous. Nothing like racing while potentially infected with some sort of spider serum. Let's just hope my spider senses are helpful in a race?

Seriously, it sucks to have started this week so positive about the race and now be totally bummed because I feel so out of it. We'll see how everything turns out...

Now, tea and bed.