Amanda Miller

Jingle Cross Rock (the long version)

Friday:
After I got off work at 1:00pm, I made the trip to IA City to pre-ride the course for Saturday (why, I don’t know, because I didn’t race Saturday). It was pretty sweet.
Saturday:
After I got off work at 5:00pm, I made the trip back to IA City. I pre-rode the course for Sunday. Sweeter. Then headed to Jim’s. He was getting ready to go for a townie ride with a group so we joined. The ride was supposed to start at 8:00pm, but didn’t start til at least 8:30pm. We met at the Old Capitol. At first I thought I was going to be the only girl, but was glad when Karla, Jackie, and Christy showed up. I think there were around 20 of us that showed up. We rode through the streets of IA City, on sidewalks, through parking lots, on walking trails, through a cemetry, down a really steep hill that was extremely scary on a fixie, up a gravel hill that everyone ran up (except for those on geared bikes), back down the same hill (really scary on a fixie), and some other crazy places. The ride stopped at a bar, where we would stay for quite some time. I was the only under-age person there so the bartender made me wear these toothpick like things in my hair. They eventually fell out though. After the bar we made our way to Coralville to JM’s house for a bonfire. We were there until 12:30ish. He rode us back to IA City. I hadn’t ate supper yet (I forgot to mention this earlier). Everyone else was hungry too, so we stopped at Paul Revere’s (I think?) to grab some grub at 1:00am. Then I headed back to Jim’s and went to bed by 2:00am. Talk about a late night. It was a good time though!
Sunday:
I woke up at 8:30am. Grabbed some bagels at Brueggers Bagel shop. Then I headed to the course. I hung out and watch the races. John Eppen kicked some butt in the SS and cat 3/4 race. That was pretty cool. To top it all off, he even raced the Elite race later on! My race wasn’t until 1:30 so I had plenty of time to kill. I started warming up at 12:30 because I was bored and there was a break in the action.
The Race:
21 other women lined up for the Elite race. I think about 10 of them got called up (including myself) for front row starting. Pretty neat that I got to start on the front row. I was scared that I would hold some people up. I don’t think I did, but who knows. I couldn’t decide on a goal for the race. I kind of just wanted to finish I guess. Being in the money would be cool, I was thinking, but it paid 18 deep so I wasn’t too worried about that, being there was only 21 people in the race total. So, I started the race, without any goals. The race started extremely fast as expected. I stayed with the lead pack for the first 1/2 lap. Not sure where I got gapped, but I did. I was left strangling by myself for quite a while. A group of 3 or 4 others caught me and we worked together. Eventually two of them got in front of me and the other girl, so then it was down to two of us. She eventually dropped off and I was alone again, until the last lap that is. Pam Hinton was coming up behind me strong. She caught me on the hill run-up. I stayed with her and dropped her through the last barriers. I came across the line 11th. Not bad. The last lap going up the run-up was a killer. My legs were shot. I felt like I wasn’t moving. It was weird. This race isn’t comparable to any other race I’ve done. It was such an adrenalin rush running up the hill, people screaming and the radio blasting. I couldn’t hear myself breathing. People were cheering me on all over the course (thanks everyone!). It’s a great feeling to be at races as big as this one and people know your name! I really liked the course and the Meehan’s did an excellent job on the race! Much thanks goes out to them!
The Course:
Wow. This course rocked! I started off with a fairly long straight-away and then hit some s-curves. More straight away section and then some climbing up Mr. Krumpet. Finally a short downhill where you could keep your momentum going into the next sections. I don’t really remember the order of what came after all this so here is some other things that were included. One that really sticks in my mind, and I can feel in my legs today, is the run-up up Mt. Krumpet. At the bottom was an extremely high barrier that I had to stop in front of and then hop over (I’m not that coordinated yet). Then it was up up and away running up the hill (or walking, or prancing, or trying to run, whatever you want to call it). I still haven’t figured out to how to shoulder my bike so I just pushed it. Seemed to work alright for me. After we crested the hill there was a really bumpy downhill. My wrist popped out every time and now it hurts today. Oh well. There were two sets of 3 barriers. I hit them rather fast for me. I guess the practice I had on Tuesday worked well. It was the first time I had ever practiced dismounting and mounting my bike. (Note to self: practice and train for cyclocross next season). The course ran through a few barns, one which was dark and kind of creepy, another that had a sand pit in it that was rideable but still squirly, and another that was just paved. I really liked this course. It was fast and flowed really well.

So my legs are feeling the burn today, along with my wrist. But I don’t care because it’s the end of the season. What’s in store next?? I haven’t a clue! I’ll try to post a season re-cap sometime this week. For now, keep on riding!!!!
-A

Jingle Cross Rock (the long version)

Friday:
After I got off work at 1:00pm, I made the trip to IA City to pre-ride the course for Saturday (why, I don’t know, because I didn’t race Saturday). It was pretty sweet.
Saturday:
After I got off work at 5:00pm, I made the trip back to IA City. I pre-rode the course for Sunday. Sweeter. Then headed to Jim’s. He was getting ready to go for a townie ride with a group so we joined. The ride was supposed to start at 8:00pm, but didn’t start til at least 8:30pm. We met at the Old Capitol. At first I thought I was going to be the only girl, but was glad when Karla, Jackie, and Christy showed up. I think there were around 20 of us that showed up. We rode through the streets of IA City, on sidewalks, through parking lots, on walking trails, through a cemetry, down a really steep hill that was extremely scary on a fixie, up a gravel hill that everyone ran up (except for those on geared bikes), back down the same hill (really scary on a fixie), and some other crazy places. The ride stopped at a bar, where we would stay for quite some time. I was the only under-age person there so the bartender made me wear these toothpick like things in my hair. They eventually fell out though. After the bar we made our way to Coralville to JM’s house for a bonfire. We were there until 12:30ish. He rode us back to IA City. I hadn’t ate supper yet (I forgot to mention this earlier). Everyone else was hungry too, so we stopped at Paul Revere’s (I think?) to grab some grub at 1:00am. Then I headed back to Jim’s and went to bed by 2:00am. Talk about a late night. It was a good time though!
Sunday:
I woke up at 8:30am. Grabbed some bagels at Brueggers Bagel shop. Then I headed to the course. I hung out and watch the races. John Eppen kicked some butt in the SS and cat 3/4 race. That was pretty cool. To top it all off, he even raced the Elite race later on! My race wasn’t until 1:30 so I had plenty of time to kill. I started warming up at 12:30 because I was bored and there was a break in the action.
The Race:
21 other women lined up for the Elite race. I think about 10 of them got called up (including myself) for front row starting. Pretty neat that I got to start on the front row. I was scared that I would hold some people up. I don’t think I did, but who knows. I couldn’t decide on a goal for the race. I kind of just wanted to finish I guess. Being in the money would be cool, I was thinking, but it paid 18 deep so I wasn’t too worried about that, being there was only 21 people in the race total. So, I started the race, without any goals. The race started extremely fast as expected. I stayed with the lead pack for the first 1/2 lap. Not sure where I got gapped, but I did. I was left strangling by myself for quite a while. A group of 3 or 4 others caught me and we worked together. Eventually two of them got in front of me and the other girl, so then it was down to two of us. She eventually dropped off and I was alone again, until the last lap that is. Pam Hinton was coming up behind me strong. She caught me on the hill run-up. I stayed with her and dropped her through the last barriers. I came across the line 11th. Not bad. The last lap going up the run-up was a killer. My legs were shot. I felt like I wasn’t moving. It was weird. This race isn’t comparable to any other race I’ve done. It was such an adrenalin rush running up the hill, people screaming and the radio blasting. I couldn’t hear myself breathing. People were cheering me on all over the course (thanks everyone!). It’s a great feeling to be at races as big as this one and people know your name! I really liked the course and the Meehan’s did an excellent job on the race! Much thanks goes out to them!
The Course:
Wow. This course rocked! I started off with a fairly long straight-away and then hit some s-curves. More straight away section and then some climbing up Mr. Krumpet. Finally a short downhill where you could keep your momentum going into the next sections. I don’t really remember the order of what came after all this so here is some other things that were included. One that really sticks in my mind, and I can feel in my legs today, is the run-up up Mt. Krumpet. At the bottom was an extremely high barrier that I had to stop in front of and then hop over (I’m not that coordinated yet). Then it was up up and away running up the hill (or walking, or prancing, or trying to run, whatever you want to call it). I still haven’t figured out to how to shoulder my bike so I just pushed it. Seemed to work alright for me. After we crested the hill there was a really bumpy downhill. My wrist popped out every time and now it hurts today. Oh well. There were two sets of 3 barriers. I hit them rather fast for me. I guess the practice I had on Tuesday worked well. It was the first time I had ever practiced dismounting and mounting my bike. (Note to self: practice and train for cyclocross next season). The course ran through a few barns, one which was dark and kind of creepy, another that had a sand pit in it that was rideable but still squirly, and another that was just paved. I really liked this course. It was fast and flowed really well.

So my legs are feeling the burn today, along with my wrist. But I don’t care because it’s the end of the season. What’s in store next?? I haven’t a clue! I’ll try to post a season re-cap sometime this week. For now, keep on riding!!!!
-A

Jingle Cross Rock (the short version)

To make a long weekend short, I spent most of it in Iowa City. I raced today. It was fun and fast. My goal, well I really couldn’t decide on a goal, so I just raced. I ended up 11th of 21 or something like that. My legs are bruised and sore. The run-up was the worst run-up all season. I’m sad the season’s over. I’m going to be like a lost dog, trying to find it’s way…until March that is. Lessons learned for the weekend: don’t stay out until 2:00 the night before a big race. I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m still up at 11 tonight. To tell the truth…I don’t know. Time to watch TV. I’ll write a better description tomorrow. Also, look for a season re-cap in the near future. It might be lengthy because I just counted that I did 54 races. No wonder my legs aren’t feeling it any more. Good night!
-A

Jingle Cross Rock (the short version)

To make a long weekend short, I spent most of it in Iowa City. I raced today. It was fun and fast. My goal, well I really couldn’t decide on a goal, so I just raced. I ended up 11th of 21 or something like that. My legs are bruised and sore. The run-up was the worst run-up all season. I’m sad the season’s over. I’m going to be like a lost dog, trying to find it’s way…until March that is. Lessons learned for the weekend: don’t stay out until 2:00 the night before a big race. I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m still up at 11 tonight. To tell the truth…I don’t know. Time to watch TV. I’ll write a better description tomorrow. Also, look for a season re-cap in the near future. It might be lengthy because I just counted that I did 54 races. No wonder my legs aren’t feeling it any more. Good night!
-A

Middle Park CX

Yesterday I did a race. It was bad. I started off to fast and tried to stay with a cat 2 CX/expert mtb’er. About half way through the race, I started to feel like crap. It wasn’t my legs, it was my stomach. I think I could have pushed myself, but for some reason I gave up. No excuses there. I do wish I had a smaller gear in the back (a 27 instead of a 25). Also, I wish I would have eaten better before my race. All little mistakes I made and learned from. I got caught and passed by Tammy and Robin. Which was ok because they are both super strong. I thought for sure I had just watched the championship disappear from me when Robin dropped me. But, I was able to hold off 1st place and won the Iowa Cyclocross Championships. That’s all I really have to say. The course was alright. A run-up that killed me. An uphill that killed me. And a double set of barriers that killed me. But, there was a sweet jump in the course. You got enough speed because it was a downhill with a small lip in it. I had fun with that. The first lap I got some HUGE air and my bike made weird noises. Anyway, this weekend is Jingle Cross Rock. I’m signed up for the Women’s Elite race on Sunday. I have a feeling I’m in for a butt kicking. Oh well, it will be a good experience. That’s all for now!
-A

Middle Park CX

Yesterday I did a race. It was bad. I started off to fast and tried to stay with a cat 2 CX/expert mtb’er. About half way through the race, I started to feel like crap. It wasn’t my legs, it was my stomach. I think I could have pushed myself, but for some reason I gave up. No excuses there. I do wish I had a smaller gear in the back (a 27 instead of a 25). Also, I wish I would have eaten better before my race. All little mistakes I made and learned from. I got caught and passed by Tammy and Robin. Which was ok because they are both super strong. I thought for sure I had just watched the championship disappear from me when Robin dropped me. But, I was able to hold off 1st place and won the Iowa Cyclocross Championships. That’s all I really have to say. The course was alright. A run-up that killed me. An uphill that killed me. And a double set of barriers that killed me. But, there was a sweet jump in the course. You got enough speed because it was a downhill with a small lip in it. I had fun with that. The first lap I got some HUGE air and my bike made weird noises. Anyway, this weekend is Jingle Cross Rock. I’m signed up for the Women’s Elite race on Sunday. I have a feeling I’m in for a butt kicking. Oh well, it will be a good experience. That’s all for now!
-A

Green Valley CX

Stupid computers. I just typed a race re-cap for this weekends race and accidentally deleted it. I have a hard time with this stuff for some reason!!!

Here’s a description of the race borrowed from a post on bikeiowa.

It was very cold out…well for me anyway. I was cold standing around but felt over dressed during the race. There was some wind, nothing to big, but enough to make me suffer in the head wind sections. The course got a lot of rain two days before and made things quite interesting. I hate racing in the mud, but today’s course was actually pretty fun! Things started off with a few “s-curves”, a straight-away, and a set of barriers. Then it came to the first dirt road that had a nice big muddy ditch to go through and a dropped tree to jump over with another larger one to negotiate around and then some more mud. Then going back to the sand pit was another dirt road that was full of nice water and mud. The first big creek crossing was after the sand, which seemed to be the tamest section on the whole course. It was the only dry crossing for the entire race. Then there was a section of sand before the second barrier leading to another ditch crossing onto the black top road. Next was the run through back to the grass. This ditch crossing that had about a foot of standing water in it. After the ditch was a few more “s-curves” and then the finish.

The Women’s race started a minute after the Men’s 4 race. 6 of us lined up (I think). I couldn’t get clipped in because of my shoe cover. By the time I did we were almost to turn onto the single track. I finally got clipped in and made the hole shot. I had a gap for the first 1/2 lap. Tammy Meehan caught up to me and we worked together the rest of the race. She would pull on the straight-aways and I would take my turn through the technical sections. Mountain bike skill came into play in this race. I think that’s why I actually enjoyed the course. After a few crashes and sloppy situations, I was able to put a gap on Tammy on the last lap and held on for first place. I had fun, beside the fact of being muddy. Next up: ICCS #8 in Bettendorf. That’s all for now…have a good week!
-A

Green Valley CX

Stupid computers. I just typed a race re-cap for this weekends race and accidentally deleted it. I have a hard time with this stuff for some reason!!!

Here’s a description of the race borrowed from a post on bikeiowa.

It was very cold out…well for me anyway. I was cold standing around but felt over dressed during the race. There was some wind, nothing to big, but enough to make me suffer in the head wind sections. The course got a lot of rain two days before and made things quite interesting. I hate racing in the mud, but today’s course was actually pretty fun! Things started off with a few “s-curves”, a straight-away, and a set of barriers. Then it came to the first dirt road that had a nice big muddy ditch to go through and a dropped tree to jump over with another larger one to negotiate around and then some more mud. Then going back to the sand pit was another dirt road that was full of nice water and mud. The first big creek crossing was after the sand, which seemed to be the tamest section on the whole course. It was the only dry crossing for the entire race. Then there was a section of sand before the second barrier leading to another ditch crossing onto the black top road. Next was the run through back to the grass. This ditch crossing that had about a foot of standing water in it. After the ditch was a few more “s-curves” and then the finish.

The Women’s race started a minute after the Men’s 4 race. 6 of us lined up (I think). I couldn’t get clipped in because of my shoe cover. By the time I did we were almost to turn onto the single track. I finally got clipped in and made the hole shot. I had a gap for the first 1/2 lap. Tammy Meehan caught up to me and we worked together the rest of the race. She would pull on the straight-aways and I would take my turn through the technical sections. Mountain bike skill came into play in this race. I think that’s why I actually enjoyed the course. After a few crashes and sloppy situations, I was able to put a gap on Tammy on the last lap and held on for first place. I had fun, beside the fact of being muddy. Next up: ICCS #8 in Bettendorf. That’s all for now…have a good week!
-A

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