Full Race Report

OK, since everybody is doing this, I am doing it: Here is my report of the Crocodile Rock Race.
I didn't know until Friday, how to get down to KS, since Martin was sick. But Friday he announced that he could as well be sick in Kansas and so we (he) packed all our stuff and after I did my Road Training Saturday morning, off we went to KS.
We've been there last year before. Perry State Park is nice to camp. Before we put up the tent we drove up to the race course and Martin asked me if I wanted to pre-ride it.
Pre-riding is something I learnt last year from racing in KS, on courses I have never been on. You go out and ride it, so when the race comes you don't think: Heilge Scheisse! No, you say that the day of the pre-ride, because nobody else is out there...
Well, I had done a 1.45 hrs road ride with 30 TTT (race speed) and it was in the upper 80ies, so my motivation was not the biggest, but I did get my behind on the bike, made it through the first rock garden and after 20 minutes out there, all by myself, my heart started laughing. YES, this is it! This is why, I am riding and training (so hard) to go to places like Perry Lake and ride there.
The course was a bit different then last year but I could already tell, that I was better prepared.

Race day= HOT!! Those folks down in KS start their races at noon. So, all of us were standing out there in the heat, waiting for the race to start. I had ridden those first few rocky down hills again in the morning and by now, I knew, I just had to point my bike down them and go...
So off we went and other then in the road racing you often have to gain your positions in the very beginning, before you hit the single tracks (that's why they are called "single", because, there is often not enough room for two riders next to each other). I sprinted as fast as I could and reached the woods in first position out of my group. All good till the next climb... I just kept pushing really heard and after a few miles I realized that I had nobody behind me, en contraire, I was passing people, so knowing the length of the course was 5miles, I just kept going.
The tricky part is, that on these windy trails, you never know, how far behind the others are, so you can't really slow down...
Well finishing up my first lap, I had passed quite a few people with flat tires, crashes and just slower people. I realized, that I rode strong enough to pass guys on hills, on rocky sections and that was the real win in that race!
My second lap was slower, even for me. I had only one bottle of water. It was 91 F (my HR monitor records the temperature) But, I knew I could keep going. It was almost like spacing out the heat. Had to get off once or twice on the very steep parts, due to guys on the trail and me just getting weaker but other than that, I kept spinning.
On the last mile, I rode behind two guys and I thought, I let them pull me in, but they were too slow, so I gathered my last bit of energy (that last bit goes uphill), passed these two guys and came over the finish line...OK, time to breathe and to get some water.
After that, I went to the finish line to check and for sure, I was the first female rider in my class:))
Gotta check out the times, when they get posted. Should be interesting to see mine compared to other folks.
GOOD TIMES!!

Won my first race!

My medal: Winner of the Beginner Women's Class at Crocodile Rock, Perry, KS. Some folks might say, whatever, female riders just have to show up and finish to make the podium and sometime that is true but today was a bit different: Yes, I was the fastest beginner woman and there were only three of us racing.
BUT, first of all, it was 87 F or as it felt HOOOOOT.
Still, I was racing strong and finished ahead of quite a few beginner men:)) That was the really cool part.
Die Bergziege in action. You can't see it here but Crocodile Rock earns it name by a lot of rocky sections, but my Blur and I powered through it. And it was really hot, but I just spaced it out, didn't help me in the end, since I did two laps (10 miles) with just one botttle of water... dehydration taught me to plan better next time.














Still Life

One tired d o g after the race, trying to stay out of the sun. He was such a good sport all weekend.










We camped at the lake and in the morning, Martin made breakfast tacos...no recycling needed (lol)











Thanks to my Dream-Team Martin and Mr. Whiskers for a wonderful weekend.
Well, most thanks should go to Martin. He was actually sick but knew how much I wanted to race down in KS, so he packed all our stuff up and cooked and took care of all those little things that make my life with him so wonderful:)
Good times!!

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5 Star Accomodation

Full Service Racepreparation: Coffee and Jimmy Deam

On our way to KS

Going to Kaaansaaaas

That is me down in Kansas after my VERY first XC race. I made 3rd against two very good riders (and there were more in the field)


Going to Perry, KS to race the Crocodile Rock Race : YEAH!!!
Various reasons to be excited about. First of all, it is NOT raining down there...
Second, even though Martin is sick, he is coming with, THANK YOU!!
And last but not least I like to race down in Kansas because, that is where I started racing last year and it brings back good memories, plus, I like to see how I will do this year with a few more riding miles (or kilometers) under my heart rate monitor.
That is after the last race of the Heartland Series last year. I made 4th in that race on got third overall.....I was happy about it!

Tuebingen, Germany

Town Hall



Tuebingen is about a 30 min drive from my little home town away and that it where I went to school.
Like I said, the Eberhard Karls Universitaet was founded in 1477.

The building with the fountain in front is the Law School

View from the Neckar River on a front of old houses. Walked along there MANY times.....

I have even been on one of these boats. Every fraternity has one and it is a tradition to go out with beer and something to bbq...good times:)

My Home Town and other old STUFF....

When I started this blog, I gave it a German title, since I am German. But I also had in mind to tell a bit about my heritage and where I am coming from. So on the last trips home, I tried to take some pictures of places that mean something to me.

I actually don't have nearly enough pictures, but I will find some more on the Internet...



Today, I put some pics of the little town up that I spent most of my life. I moved there when I was three years old. It is called Neuweiler and it was first mentioned in an official paper in the 1295. These little towns or villages were founded to support a close by monastery in Bebenhausen by Tuebingen

Tuebingen is also the town, where I went to law school. The university of Tuebingen is one of the oldest in Germany. It was founded in 1477.



Oh my, I already see that I don't get far with this, because there is so much to tell.

But I don't want to bore you and thought I just put up some info every once in a while to show you where I am from and why I am who I am:)

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Swanson Park

Isn't that beautiful? Spring finally made it to Nebraska.
Thanks to Tom, also a member of THOR, did I get all these pictures. He took them last Saturday while we worked on the trail at Swanson Park in Bellevue.


You see these guys repairing one of the downhills that got washed out during the last winter. It takes some time and knowledge to move the dirt to make sure that the trail is made better and will be more sustainable against the bikes and the elements.
We also cut out some fallen down trees, raked the trails and clipped a lot of branches and bushes that started to grow into the trail.
For right now Swanson is in great shape for the Psycowpath Race next weekend on May 5th.

How many riders live in this house?

....there is one more helmet that doesn't fit on that shelf....!?!?!?

Well, three of them are in use, if that helps:)

We had a busy day today. This morning, we spent almost 4 hours at Swanson Park, doing trail work. Thanks to everybody that came out there to help. We put a big dent it and it should be ready for the race in a couple of weeks.
This afternoon Martin and I saddled up our bikes. This time, I was back on my beloved Blur and we went for three laps at Swanson. Since I had to ride for some more I decided to ride home from there and with a hard headwind, added another 35 minutes to my ride time...pooooh, now I am tired!
I hope it won't rain tomorrow. Martin got a loaner road bike and we want to go out and ride together:)) I am excited about that.

Well, I hope all you LP folks, teamFire and whoever else is racing down in Lincoln puts the pedal to the metal and gets some good results!! I am thinking about you guys. That wind is definitely a kicker...

Spring is here!!

Some impressions from my yard....

New Ride

I have a new Ride: an Intense Spider . It's Martin's but he hasn't been riding it for a while now since he got his 29er, so he got the idea, that I should make that my race bike:) Hey, no complaints here.

I will try it out tomorrow night at the TNR. Will see, how it climbs at L&C...
I Just hope, my Blur, won't feel neglected...

Isn't this weather Yummy? I worked in the yard today. I still had some bulbs to plant that I didn't get in last fall before the freeze. I tried to trick them out, by putting them in the fridge for a couple of weeks. We'll see if they will come up.

I also have another box of summer bloomer bulbs sitting in the sun room that need to be planted. I forgot what I ordered...Dahlias maybe? I will let you know once I opened the box...

Swanson Park Trail Day

Do you ever ride at Swanson Park in Bellevue? If not you should definitely give it a try. It's a blast!
Whoever has been there, knows what I am talking about...

Have you ever wondered, who is taking care of the trails out there? Cutting back grass, weeds, bushes, cleaning up fallen down trees and branches? Doing rerouting or even add new trails?

Well, a lot of volunteers go out there on a regular basis to do all this work and we have an organization called THOR (Trails Have Our Respect) that is dedicated to make sure that the trails in our area stay ridable.
I am a member of THOR and I help as often as I can when we have Trail Days.
We go out in a big group and do whatever needs to be done that day.
It only takes a few hours and it in my opinion it is always a great time, because it is a chance to meet other riders, get to know the trails better and on top of all, you get a much higher appreciation for a weed- and branch-free trail that is ridable all summer through.

Sounds good? (ever ridden through needles??)

Then join us this Saturday, Saturday, the 21st of April at 8:30 am.
Bring some loppers or a shovel, maybe some water and if you want to, your bike for a test ride afterwards:)

We will provide some beverages and snacks!

Rest-Day and Chica Ride

What a beautiful day we had here in Omaha. Almost 80 degrees and Sunshine!!
I picked these Daffodils in my yard, aren't; they pretty? I normally leave them outside, but the frost had pushed the blooms down and so, I came to the rescue and now they make my living room look pretty.

Tonight was out first Monday Nite Chica Ride. I didn't want to go at first, because, today was to be a day off they bike, but I thought, I few slow laps at Swanson can't hurt (in hope that some beginners show up). Well, Pam and Charlene, Charlys Mom, came and we had a good ride. Unfortunately, did Charlene biff pretty hard, butt bless her heart, she got back on the bike and ket on going. I hope she is OK....

MetrO Mountain Bike Challenge

First Impressions from a well organized Event .Organized by a great group of people. Thanks for all their work.

Some people, here a member of teamFire, from Lincoln, made it look easy to come up this hill.





Others took it with a running attitude... Either way, there where more "goodies" on the other side of that.






It must be spring: green everywhere...















The Winner takes it all... Roxz and Donna getting their prizes for making the podium. Good Job Chicas!!!






Mr. Whiskers played with Cody, a 6 month old Alaskan Malamute, or did Cody use Whiskers as a chew toy?!?! They had fun at least:)























Picture of die Bergziege herself, after a good race. I race advanced, 2 lps a a little bit over 2 hours. No where near the podium, but a good fast training ride. My thanks goes out to Dave who helped me to get through this! Thank you!!

If you look really closely, my actual ride lays next to me and I am sitting on Sydney's Badger.


Sydney had bad luck and had to dnf. She blew her tire out and had not the right tools with her to fix the problem during the race. Better luck next time Syd!!!

This picture is taken after I took it out for a short loop....ahhhhh, how nice and smooth that was, I am loving it, dang it, I shouldn't fall in love with a custom bike .

And by the way I LOVE the ERGON Grips.
They where balsam on my hands after a long week of riding and an race. I definitely want a pair for my bike.

















Afterwards, R&R had us over for some BBQ, Ryan just got this beauty of a grill: yummy!!
And we could taste all the goodies....nothing like a good after-race-meal, where you think, "Oh, I can eat that brownie. Today, I really deserve it..........."

Berg ZIEGE

Someone asked me how to pronounce my blogname:

Here is the pronunciation for Ziege

Is this legal?

The Easter Bunny moved in

We have a new tenant:

A Baby Bunny that lives in one of my flower beds. It is tiny and very cute:)









So, how do I explain it, not to eat my flowers?
What should I feed it?
How do I keep the Foussa away?

Wanna race somewhere else?

Anybody up for a road trip to Waverly, IA? I got an invitation from Jeff Kervove and I would love to try my legs on some different soil.



It's a day after the Swanson race, so it would be easy to jump in the car and make it a Saturday Nite in Des Moine. I have never been there.

I am getting in my race mood as you can tell:))
I hope, I will feel the same about it tomorrow, when it comes to my sprint training in the rain...

This weekend, I have the choices between THREE RACES: Pedal in the Pasture on Saturday, Lake Manawa Weekend,
and a Heartland Race Series Race,
at Crowder State Park on April 15th.

Happy Easter ! Froher Ostern!

Some Easter Impressions that I caught with my camera in Germany and in our yard.
Pretty cool floral design that I wanted to share with you:)