French Facts

1. To be a fashionable female, you must have two out of three of the following fashion pieces: (1) skinny pants (2) tall boots (3) scarf.

I have none of the above.

2. Coffee is always served in tiny Dixie cups, whether its the complementary coffee at UEGW or the kind you pay for.

3. Always say "bon jour," "au revoir," and/or "merci" when speaking to a French person, when applicable.

4. French are very proper. When they defecate in the bike path tunnel, they always wipe with toilet paper.

5. French are very inproper. Example: While I was running in Bois Bolongne (big city park in Paris) today, I witnessed the following scene: A man dressed in a sport coat and nicer jeans jumped out of his car and started peeing next to the sidewalk.

6. The Paris Metro system in hugely popular. I think its awesome too.

Racing recap

I missed posting about last weekend races- The Twine Ball Race in Darwin, and the Mill City Race at Powderhorn- due to the lack of excitement of racing at home. Both days were slow feeling due to mud and hills, but I raced hard finishing 4th at the Twine Ball and 6th at Mill City. The my cheering crowd at both races was great. My mom, brother, and some neighbor kids watched the Twin Ball race, and the entire VB crew, U of Mers, and other random people were out at the Mill City race. It was great to have such enthusiastic support.

This weekend, I traded my bike for running shoes and flew to Paris for a 5k Fun Run. I actually came to Paris for yet another gastroenterology conference, and the Fun Run was part of the conference. October has been pretty shitty!

I had no expectations for the Fun Run except to finish. I knew I was capable of running 5k (3.1 miles), even if I was 7 time zones away from home. To my surprise, I ran really well, narrowly missing my personal records (PR) in both the 4k (16:15 from 1998) and 5k (20:36 from 2000). I'm not really sure what happened, or rather, why I ran so fast. I suppose, last weekend with the run-ups, I put in some serious running interval training. I kinda want to do another 5k, just to see if I can PR.

This was a nice way to erase my memory of the 2007 5k Milk Run, which I also ran the day after I flew across the Atlantic Ocean. Flashback: I had spent all day on Saturday riding my fixie around town, using strange muscles in my quads to stop my bike. Sunday, I felt good at race start. The first 2 miles went well. The 3rd mile, which is almost all down hill, was terrible. Those fixie-stopping-muscles are the same ones that you use when you run down hills. They were so upset, that I was getting passed by old men! I ran my uphill mile (2nd mile) almost as fast as I ran my downhill mile!

Next weekend will be filled with more jet-lagged competition (I return home Thursday night): Ham Lake and Grumpy's

Racing in the Keystone State

My residence was temporarily relocated to Philadephia, PA for a poop conference this weekend. Luckily my bike was able to join me. Its been 3 years since I raced my bike in Pennsylvania, and I'm continuing a streak of having a good time. Saturday didn't offer any gastrointestinal learning of interest, so I headed 2.5 hours west of Philly to Pine Grove Furnace State Park for the Iron Cross Lite CX race. I would have preferred to race the 62 mile suffer-fest, Iron Cross V, that's going on today, but instead, I'm stuck inside babysitting my poster about fiber. Such is life.

The Iron Cross Lite race proved to be a good use of time and resources. Wait, when is bike racing not a good use of time? The women's elite field was only 6 riders strong, but they were strong riders, alright. I could really feel the effects of the racing format we have in MN- women 1/2/3 + Men 3/4 and 45+. Usually I start in the back of the men's pack, start out pretty slow, have to stop at the first barrier or where the course narrows, rarely see any of my female competitors... When there's only 6 women and the top rider sprints off the line, you sprint too. So that's how it started- Maria riding as fast as she could right off the line.

I settled in fighting for 3rd place and reeling in 2nd place. This turned out to be the most tactical race I have ever experienced. I didn't know you could (or were supposed to) attack in CX racing! My strengths and weaknesses were evident on this course. I rocked out my technical riding skillz (I could stay on my bike and hop a log in the woods, railed through the downhill single track, and took the tight corners faster than my competitors) and my barrier jumping/bike carrying was in good form. Unfortunately, my weakness was pedaling. Pedaling is pretty important. I think my pedaling woes stemmed from my saddle being too high. I taped my seatpost when I packed my bike, so I didn't think it was too high until my lower back informed me that there was something extremely wrong. Maybe the TSA had something to do with it...

Needless to say with pedaling being a weakness, my position slowly dropped to fourth and then fifth, but not without a hard fight. I think if I had one more lap (that's always the story, right?) I could have re-caught the 4th place woman. I actually don't know what would have happened if I rode one more lap since I was dry heaving after the finish. I have spent the last 24 hours (and counting) hacking up yellow stuff from my lungs. Guess I raced pretty hard.

I met some PA Bellas who were helpful with a tire pump, pit wheels, and, most importantly, cheering. There's nothing like racing a gazillion miles from home and having some scream your name while your barreling through a turn. Thanks!

Next up- Twine Ball CX in Darwin, MN, and Mill City CX at Powderhorn Park. It'll be good to be home!

Returning home to the USA

Well, while I was in Finland this summer I kept you posted (sort of) via my blog. Now that I'm back at home, my blog will keep you posted on my bike and ski racing.

This fall I'm racing with the Velo Bella- Kona Elite Cyclocross Team. Its been a great motivator for training and racing in adverse weather. Its also kept my work at the University of Minnesota from driving me crazy. Now I have a legitimate excuse to get out and ride.

Keep checking back for race reports. Next up, Iron Cross Lite in Pennsylvania (and the American College of Gastroenterology Conference in Philly) 10/13/07.

Introducing.... Tarmo!

On Sunday, I did the ultimate tourist activity in Savonlinna- I rented a kayak and paddled around the town. Savonlinna is essentially built on a row of islands with bridges between them, so I was able to paddle around almost the entire town. I saw summer cottages (kesämökkiä), my friend Tarmo, and the castle, as shown below.

Tarmo is my boat-friend. I met him on my first day in Savonlinna, while running. Tarmo and I usually visit twice a week. If I were going to leave Savonlinna by boat, it would have to be by Tarmo. I have never seen Tarmo moving, but it floats at least. One of my American friends in my language course identified exactly why I like Tarmo. Tarmo could Thomas the Tank Engine's lake-going counter part. I actually envisioned the Disney cartoon from the 60s with the little tug boat who eventually had to push the trash barge.

I ended my Sunday with a soccer game. I didn't know what type of team it was, and it turned out to be the 17 year old boy's traveling team. I haven't watched as soccer game since highschool, but I'm pretty sure these guys were better than any American high school soccer player I'd seen.

There's another game on Wednesday, so if it's not raining, I'll be there.

The evolution of bicycle touring (for Maria)

If you had asked me a year ago what I thought about bike touring, I would have said its for old people. Now, either my geriatrically-behaving boyfriend has rubbed off on me or I'm getting old, because I'm really interested in bike touring. It probably started after my boundary waters trip last year. This spring, Fruita planted the seed of off-road point-to-point riding with camping. Then, something happened and Sideburnz and I started going on ridiculous rides around the twin cities, on the hottest days of the summer, with minimal support supplies. For example, we decided to go fishing one Friday afternoon at Keller Lake (near Lake Phalen) and then took the Bruce Vento trail to downtown St. Paul and headed back to S. Minneapolis via Summit Ave. This would have been okay except that we had fishing equipment, lawn chairs, my school bag, and cooler. AND, I was riding my fixie with the Bob. Despite my severe state of dehydration and near heat exhaustion, I still thought it was fun.

Today I embarked on my first official bike tour. The goal was to ride about 40km to the town of Enonkoski where I could obtain information about the near-by Kolovesi National Park. I hoped to obtain the exact location of a kayak rental service so I could ride the remaining 20km to the park and take a kayak to see the ancient rock paintings.

The first leg went exactly as I expected. The information center was small and had a little interpretive display about the endangered seals that live in the lake. I was disappointed to find out that only 28 seals live in the park and its hard to spot them. I successfully asked the information lady where the kayak rental service was located, in Finnish. AND, which is really the more amazing part, I understood her response in Finnish!!!! It was 17km to the rental service, located at point number 6 on the local map she gave me.

I left Enonkoski feeling pretty good about my Finnish skills. About halfway to the kayak place, I came across this sign on the road.
The road was following the lake shore, so I interpreted it as "steep cliff." I was wrong. It really means if you keep driving, you'll drive into the lake. Around the corner from the sign was this:














It was a ferry (barge style). At first, I wasn't quite sure what to do. I looked at my map to make sure I was still going the right direction. When everything checked out, I got in line with the cars and boarded the ferry. The ferry chugged across the lake. The lake was maybe 100 meters wide, so I thought it was pretty funny that there wasn't a bridge. It has to be more expensive to pay the ferry operator and run the ferry over the course of many years.

Riding the ferry was one of the most unique things I've done in Finland. A half hour later, I reached the kayak outfitter. Unfortunately all of the kayaks were out until Wednesday, but maybe I could get one next Saturday. I headed to the national park to check out camping options and hike the 3.3km (2 mile) nature trail.

Unlike American National Parks, this park was really new (created in 1990) and very undeveloped. After some lunch, I departed on the nature trail, thinking it would take 30 minutes or so to walk it. I was wrong. This "nature trail" that sounded so benign, was some of the most rigourous hiking I've ever done. The land that the nature trail crossed was amazing. It was as if Porcupine State Park in Upper Michigan, the Boundary Waters, and the "Fred Flintstone" area near Grand Junction, CO* mated and this was their kid. Over the course of 2 miles, I meandered through a northern rain forest, carefully walked through a bog, climbed over car sized boulders, climbed up a huge hill (well, a few of them) and looked out across the lake.
*My name for the loop is Fred Flintstone, its actually called Holy Cross, look at those pictures in the link
After I finished the nature trail, I contemplated my return options.
1. Return the way I came.
2. Make it a loop, but it would probably add an extra 20-30km
Well, being the over-achiever that I am, I opted for the loop. Loops are more fun anyway. I made it home in one piece and had an enjoyable time.

Here are the stats for my ride:
Total time: 9 hours and 45 minutes (including lunch and nature trail)
Time on the bike: 8 hours and 20 minutes (riding + snack, map, info and potty stops)
Time actually pedaling (via bike computer): 7 hours and 7 minutes
Distance: 156.0 km (96.72 miles)

One might wonder, "You were so close to a century (100 miles)! Why not 3.3 more miles?" I have multiple responses:
I was really stoked about reaching 150 km.
Driving the Cross-check (probably 50lbs with my panniers) is tough enough, the extra 3.3 are freebies. Besides, I rode at least 7 of those miles on dirt roads.
If you had seen me climbing the hill (not a very big one) to my dorm, you would understand.
And lastly, I rode my bike for more than 8 hours! Give me a break!

And the aftermath of riding for 8 hours:
1 microwave lasagne 390 kcal
1 frozen pizza 500 kcal
1 glass of orange juice 40 kcal
2 pieces of toast with jam and butter 250 kcal
1 pear 80 kcal
Running total: 1260 kcal
And I'm still hungry!

The internet energy expenditure calculator guesses that I expended 3968 kcal. I guess I should keep eating.

Finns are on time

On the first day of class, my instructors warned us not to be late. I have been very punctual to class, but I can't seem to be on time for trains. On Saturday, Janet, my grad student-beginner Finnish friend, and I decided to take the train to Lappeenranta, a town about 200km from Savonlinna. We planned to just spend the day there taking a boat cruise, visiting the old fortress, and seeing the giant sand castle (photo left). All was going well: the boat cruise was lovely, the fortress was old, and the sand castle was HUGE.

We arrived at the train station in time to catch our train back to Savonlinna on Saturday evening. As we were chatting, we heard the announcers say "the train from Helsinki is arriving on track 1." Well, neither of us figured out that the train FROM Helsinki was the same one that went towards Savonlinna. We finally went out to the platform when the train TO Helsinki was pulling up, some 10 minutes later. A moderately sketchy guy started talking to us and wanted to know where we were from in the US- he used to live in the US. Then, he asked us what we were going to do in Helsinki, since the train we were about to board was going to Helsinki. Oops! We scurried back to the station and checked the train schedule again. Sure enough, we had missed our last train WHILE WE WERE AT THE STATION! Considering that Janet and I both hold advanced degrees, its a little embarrassing that we couldn't manage to catch a train!

We roamed the city of Lappeenranta for several hours trying to find a place to stay overnight, but everything was booked. Fortunately, the receptionist at the Scandic Hotel (think Euro Marriot) phoned about 7 places and found us a room in another city, 20km away. We were lucky that a bus was heading that direction, so we managed to catch the bus and arrived at Gasthaus Joutseno around 11pm. Since the sun hardly sets in Finland, it was still light out!

After spending the night in a room that was not normally available to guests, we were greeted with a nice breakfast buffet and took the Sunday morning train to Savonlinna, arriving a mere 13 hours after we expected.

As if I didn't have enough adventuring, on Sunday afternoon I set out on a 75km bike journey to get in shape for the Sideburnz and Maria Sweden Exploration next month. I followed a loop on my regional bike route map that took me on all types of roads, from 2 lane highways with 2ft of shoulder and 100km/hr (60mph) traffic to logging roads. I found this neat restored windmill with an unlocked door so I was able to investigate the gristmill and gearing inside. The mosquitos and black flies in the woods were likely to carry me away, despite the continual drizzle (all 3.5 hours).

Savonlinna Windmill (photo left), The Cross-check hits some rough terrain (photo, right)



















I think it had rained in Savonlinna for about 5 days straight. Earlier in the week, the rain was scattered, but by the weekend it was pissing non-stop. No wonder so many Finns moved to the UP! Today I was greeted with full sunshine, so it was hard to be in class from 9-5 (we had a special movie showing: Kalteva Torni, so we were stuck inside an extra 2 hours).

I have struggled with my beer options in Finland. Not only is beer expensive, but the choices of quality are minimal. I have tried to be openminded and try the popular fruit cider. The first flavor I tried was "forest berry," which I would liken to boozey Kool-Ade Fruit Punch. So then I tried the generic brand (probably the Finnish Roundy's) EuroShopper Pear. Unfortunately, I purchased "Cider Light", which is an artificially sweetened cider for all the calorie, or should I say Joule, counters. I think this claimed the "worst beverage ever" title. This tastes like straight up chemicals. Oh wait, there was that Smirnoff Black something malt beverage that tasted like Windex...

Anyway, the lack of good beer and abundance of disgusting cider will definitely save me money.

Stay tuned for more fascinating facts about Finland.