MTB Racing Review

I did what I set out to do this spring.  My goal was to race Black Partridge and Farmdale and I did both of those races.  I added one more to the list and raced Wildlife too.  Came in second at BP and first at Wildlife and Farmdale in the Women's Novice 30+ category. 

Yesterday was the Farmdale race.  8 miles of singletrack and 19 other Novice Women!  Great turn out ladies!  During my 10 years of MTBing I've always wanted to race Farmdale and now I have.

I love after the race when all the women riders gather at the finish line cheering all the other ladies in.  Then we talk and celebrate our ride.  That's one of the major differences I've noticed on the racing circuit between men and women.

Mike and I are planning on racing the Illinois Series next year.  To participate in the series, you have to race 6 out of 9 races in order to qualify for any awards at the end of the season.  Now that racing is over for the year, it's time to just ride for fun.  I'd like to do a few more night rides this fall and I'm pretty sure Mike has an extra set of lights I can use.  

Novice Women & Juniors at the Starting Line

Getting ready to Ride!

At the Finish Line

Novice Women Post Race

Novice Women 30+ Podium

Wildlife Wild Race

In the beginning of this years Mountain Bike season, I vowed to race twice.  I added one more to the list last week.  I raced Novice at Wildlife Wild in Kickapoo, IL and didn't do to bad.  First place Overall Women Novice.  There were 10 women that raced (which is alot when it comes to women racers) AND I beat 21 novice men!

Felt strong on the bike and enjoyed it.  I made the 8 miles in 44:10.  Love the women that I meet when I race.  All so interested to talking about mountain biking and life.  It was a perfect Sunday.

At the Starting Line

PAMBA DAY!

This was the turn out for PAMBA Day (Peoria Area Mountain Bike Association).  Members from young kids to adults came out for group rides, potluck and endured the storm that rolled in during the afternoon.  It was a HOT day and I had to bail early on my ride because I got overheated. 
Great day, good food & beer and awesome friends!

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

More canning.  Yesterday Amy McG and I made Strawberry Rhubarb Jam and a few sauces.  Long process for such a small yield, but that's what I'm learning from canning.  We made the jam then had left over strawberries and rhubarb but not enough for another batch so we made some sauce and it's delicious warmed up over vanilla ice cream.  Amazing!

Onions, Blueberries, Peppers and more Tomatoes

Mike & I ventured into canning by ourselves this time.  We used the pressure cooker this time but we learned a few things and probably will be attempting the cold pack method next time.  Oh, the adventures in canning.  Other than more tomatoes, we now have 10lbs of Blueberries in the freezer thanks to my mom.  She has a girl trip every year to Michigan and brings home a car full of blueberries and peaches.  The crop wasn't very large this year so I didn't get any peaches.  However, the blueberries are portioned out and are now frozen in our new deep freezer.  Mike harvested the onion crop last week and they are beautiful.  I was home sick yesterday and decided it was time to cut up our pepper harvest and freeze them too.

And we are Canning!

My mom and dad came over to Mike's house yesterday to help with canning tomatoes.  Mike & I haven't canned in our adult life, so dad was there leading the way.  We didn't have mass amounts of tomatoes but there will be more coming which makes more canning coming too. Looking forward to eating these tomatoes when there's a blizzard outside this winter!

More from the Kitchen

More pizza on the grill.  This is so delicious.  We use Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Pizza Crust along with pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, black olives (on my half), onions, yellow peppers and cheese.  I hate to brag, but it's some of the best pizza ever!

My first attempt at making Gluten Free Sandwich Bread.  Didn't rise as high as I would have liked but it tasted good as far as GF Bread goes. 

Strawberry Protein Shakes!  Delicious on a hot day.