::Leana Gerrard::

I did the Stevens Pass snow fourcross race this weekend and ended up getting second place. The snow was a bit soft so ruts were forming very quickly making the course really difficult to ride. It was a completely new course this year, starting higher up on the mountain and with a few new super long super steep straights which made for higher speeds throughout. The key was not getting caught in a rut, which I managed to avoid my first heat but not the second. It was tough for me, because the chick that won was tiny and I think that was her advantage. It sucked cause I was choosing the great lines and for the most part avoiding the ruts and pedaling and she was doing none of that and still pulling away from me. The only thing I could come up with is since she was so much lighter than me she stayed on top of the snow where as I sank more. Anyways, Robin Pitt was out there shooting photos for Fabel Headwear. I'll put some of his photos up later this week. He is a super nice guy and very talented so you should check out his website.

So right now, my life is kinda slow. Well, I don't have heaps of time on my hands or anything like that. I am just living a normal life right now, an average lifestyle, and I can not express how over it I am. The funny thing is I always think that I would love to have a 9-5 job.I don't know what it is about it that makes me think this. But I know I would be so over it in a few months.

My friend Sarah and I at the spa. Notice the beautiful bruises on my left knee. Really classy for a nice spa.

This week is dead week, and to be quite honest it’s not as bas as I’ve had it in the past. I’ve had a lot of presentations and papers due lately rather than tests, so that’s cool. Oh I did a presentation this week on mountain biking and pumped out a 5 page paper in 30 minutes. Easiest thing I’ve had to do in college thus far.

I have to do a monologue for acting by next week. The hardest part for me was picking out a monologue. I liked this one cause I get to act like a whack job.

In Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe
By Jane Wagner
I know what you’re thinkin’; you’re thinkin’ I’m crazy. You think I give a hoot? You people look at my shopping bags, call me crazy ‘cause I save this junk. What should we call the ones who buy it?
It’s my belief we all, at one time or another, secretly ask ourselves the question, “Am I crazy?” In my case, the answer came back: A resounding YES!
You’re thinkin’: How does a person know if they’re crazy or not? Well, sometimes you don’t know. Sometimes you can go through life suspecting you are but never really knowing for sure. Sometimes you know for sure ‘cause you got so many people tellin’ you you’re crazy that it’s your word against everyone else’s. Another sign is when you see life so clear sometimes you black out. This is your typical visionary variety who has flashes of insight but can’t get anyone to listen to ‘em ‘cause their insights make ‘em sound so crazy!
In my case, the symptoms are subtle but unmistakable to the trained eye. For instance, here I am, standing on the corner of “Walk, Don’t Walk,” waiting for these aliens for outer space to show up. I call that crazy, don’t you? If I were sane, I should be waiting for the light like everybody else.
They’re late as usual. You’d think, as much as they know about time travel, they could be on time once in a while. I could kick myself. I told ‘em I’d meet ‘em on the corner of “Walk, Don’t Walk” ‘round lunch time. Do they even know what “lunch” means? I doubt it. And “round.” Why did I say “round?” Why wasn’t I more specific?
This is so typical of what I do. Now they’re probably stuck somewhere in time, wondering what I meant by “round lunchtime.” And when they get here, they’ll be dying to know what “lunchtime” means. And when they find out it means going to Howard Johnson for fried clams, I wonder, will they be just a bit let down?
I dread having to explain tarter sauce.

So, yes this is my little life story for this month. Super exciting, I know. Haha. But starting this coming weekend I will start racing almost every week, and then things will "get movin' movin'."

February Riding in the NW

Winter in Washington. The time of year that really cramps my style. Most people that live here, love this time of year, everyone I talk to is so stoked about the snow in the mountains that that enthusiasm overrides all the crappy weather in the low lands. I hate winter. There is no beating around the bush. It is wet, cold, dark and miserable. I leave for school in the dark in the morning and get home in the dark in the evening. My only saving grace is to count the days until I can leave this place and go race and ride somewhere south. Okay rant over.

So I’ve been riding Galbraith heaps lately, which is my local cross county mountain. I’m not gonna lie, I would probably not be riding if it weren’t for my fireman riding buddy who calls me early in the morning before my first class and tells me to get my ass out of bed and on the mountain. So thank you Brian!

Last Friday the trails were all ice, well at least on the way up. It was pretty lame and I ended up walking most of it since you could get in about two pedal strokes before spinning out. The trails that were in the trees were alright except for the occasional snow pile, which consequently was frozen on the top and slushy underneath. Today there was far less ice on the ride up, so we could actually ride most of the way. The trails were alright too, but there was still heaps of snow in some spots. At the end of the trail today there was a massive pond that we had to ride through to get out, just reminded me of the Valentines day classic I used to do when I raced cross country. The feeling of being frozen and miserable with your feet so numb you can’t feel yourself pedaling.

Freakin freezing!

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22nd Birthday

As it was a holiday weekend most of my friends were home and game for throwing down. We started out the night how I wish every night could start: with sushi in the swanky Seattle district of Bell town.

From there we headed to Fremont to check out the Red Door.

I had a great time and I want to thank all my friends again for ditching their families on this holiday weekend!

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Collegiate Nationals

Tuesday: As my professor drones on about marketing research techniques I am doing a check list of everything I need for Collegiate nationals on my page of “notes” next to my little dream beach house and palm trees I have doodled all over the sheet. Oakley Goggles, helmet, coffee, knee pads… I rush home to pack everything and head out on the two hour drive south to my parents house where I have just enough time to pack my bikes. I meet up with the rest of my team at the check-in at Sea-Tac only to find out that bike boxes are being weighed and can’t amount to over 70 lbs. Mine both miraculously came in at 69.5, I’m not sure how that happened. Only, the buzz kill came a few seconds later when I was informed that it would cost $95 for each bike to travel. Damn. Might I not recommend Continental.

Wednesday: After a sleepless night on the red eye flight to Newark, we decide to watch Earthed 4 for the 3rd time already on the trip. A few hour layover and 4 cups of coffee later we are on the final leg of the trip to Ashville, North Carolina. As we waited for our bags the bikes began to roll out. My downhill bike showed, however the other one was MIA. $95 to get it here and it doesn’t show up! You can bet I let the baggage lady know about it. Another two hour drive and we finally arrive at Banner Elk two bikes short.

Friday: Downhill practice took place in the sloppy conditions of Western NC. The course was pretty sweet as they ran us down the NORBA track. I couldn’t understand how the XC girls on XC bikes where going to get down it as there were some rock faces and technical sections with no go arounds. There was one section on the open ski run under the chair life that was pure slop. I made the mistake a few times of just brushing my front brake and getting sent sliding down the mountain. Qualifying went well for me with only one crash but they had me listed as 5th to last place. I’m not sure how that happened as most of the girls were seen running down the course, and one was even seen throwing her bike down a section and then just sliding down to it and then throwing it again. Timing error.

The cross country race also took place today. The course called for more of a duathalon style format as about 80% of the course was running. The mud was so thick that even my Washington teammates were struggling on the technical downhills. My teammate Chris Parrish ended up getting 4th.

Saturday: I don’t know what it is with American event promoters but downhillers are not known for getting up early, so why do they always try to start us at 8:00 am? The top of the mountain was in a heavy layer of fog with visibility at about 10 feet. Of course they can’t run us in those conditions as the course was already hard enough it could only spell disaster for the XC girls trying to race the course. They postponed it until 9:00 when the cold had thoroughly soaked into our bones and our fingers were so numb that we couldn’t feel our handlebars. My run was pretty solid, I had one crash in the flats near the bottom, but the course was far worse than the day before so I was happy to have made it down with only one crash. I ended up getting second place and my WWU teammate Chris Bateman also finished with a second place.

Photo: Went Knipe

The Short track saw improving conditions as the sun was beginning to show up in the late afternoon. My teammates Kyle McGilvery and Logan Wentzel finished 3rd and 5th place behind some pretty heavy hitters. Steve Noble, the Western Washington coach, won the coaches race absolutely demoralizing the competition.

The notorious banquet took place on Saturday night with guest speaker US national dual slalom champion Chris Herndon. As usual the drunk XC racers were causing a ruckus and all were getting ready for the annual naked crit which was to take place on top of the mountain. The parties were awesome for such a small town. Half the students of the local Lees McRae college were there throwing down with the best of us.

Sunday: After last night I’m missing several things of importance:
1. My pink razor Oakley glasses
2. My black hat
3. My Cannondale Prophet

I pack my downhill bike into the truck to head to the dual slalom course figuring if my Prophet wasn’t stolen that it should show up there. As I pushed my downhill bike up the course I catch a glimpse of my 4X bike leaning up against a tree, awesome. As it turns out it slept outside the Fort Lewis condo on top of some shrubs. I qualified first out of all the girls and started pumping out my heats. My hat and glasses also somehow showed up later that day; let’s just say I was super lucky.

There were some spectators who were putting dollar bills in the top of the poles which outlined the courses. Half way through my heats I learn about this and inform my teammates to yell “DOLLAR” at me if I have a big enough lead by the second corner in my next heat. I guess word spread quickly of my intentions and everyone headed down to the part of the course where the dollars were stashed. When I come around the corner I hear everyone screaming dollar, even though my teammates were only debating whether my lead was big enough or not. The pole was placed right before a step down so it was pretty much impossible to grab the dollar while still rolling. Needless to say I came to a complete stop unclipped and reached up and snatched the dollar. The girl I was racing pulled ahead of me but I was just able to out sprint her to the finish.

I won the rest of my heats and took the national title as vindication for the day before. My teammate Patrick Means got 3rd in the omnium after competing inall the events.

Photo: Went Knipe

Collegiate nationals are pretty much one of the events I look most forward to each year. Everyone there is looking for a good time and the atmosphere is so much more relaxed than at any other race. It pretty much is impossible to get better than a bunch of college students and mountain bikes.

What I learned in the Dirty Dirty:
1. Sweet Tea and Whiskey ain’t as good as it sounds.
2. Lees McRae closes their library at 4:00 on Friday.
3. Y’all = you all, bare= beer, ah’ll= I will, jew here= did you hear,
4. When I ordered a soy double tall latte the lady looked at me like I was insane.
5. If you order green tea you will get sweet tea.
6. The guy to girl ratio in the naked crit is about 10:1.
7. “Well shut my mouth I do declare!”
8. The foundations are smaller than the houses.
9. Biscuits and gravy are standard procedure.
10. It is faster to hike up Sugar mountain than rid

e the chair lift.