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August 25, 2010
It was beginning to be an epic, hot, blister-causing hike up in Sabino Canyon. We stopped for lunch. I was ready to get the hike over with and was up and ready to get moving. TJ was taking his time, and I was getting impatient. He then asked for my hand, and thinking he was asking for help getting up I had a sassy reply, “no, get yourself up!” Then I realized he was kneeling, then he asked me to marry him and !!!!!!!!!! Anyway, it turned out to be a beautiful, wonderful, easy hike after that.
Go to the Source – choleforsman.missingsaddle.com
Filed by Chole Forsman at August 25th, 2010 under Chole Forsman, MTB Blogs
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August 15, 2010
MTB Nationals
Ugh. I had really hoped to have a strong performance at Nationals, but instead, I DNF’d the cross-country and crashed myself out of the lead group of short track. The cross-country started well and I found myself in 7th or 8th position after the first 1/2 lap and held that spot clear through the first full lap. Then I pretty much dove straight back through the field on laps 2 & 3. Devastated I wasn’t pulled before the final lap, I pulled out of the race with one to go. The problem that day was part physical (low back pain), but mostly mental. I hated the course, hated the altitude. There was a problem before I even started the race.
Short track was no less frustrating for me. I crashed myself in the second lap, lost and jammed my chain, and wound up dead last. I chased really hard for a number of laps, caught the top-10, and settled into a rhythm. Then Katie Compton lapped me, and I buried myself to move up before I got pulled. But I didn’t get pulled. Despite the fact that there were no more than 12 women on course at that point (the rest getting pulled), the officials messed the results up and had me finishing in 20th. In fact, I finished in 9th place. I’d like to set that record straight.
On a positive note from the race weekend, team Tokyo Joe’s & Co had the best host housing accommodations one could hope for. Huge thanks to the Tanner’s for the cozy house, wonderful meals, and great company. It was also a highlight to have my parents, Miriam, and Nicole come up to the race and make some noise for me.
Euro World Cup #2
Val di Sole was sunny, dusty, and the course had climbs too steep for my gearing and corners too sharp for my big wheels. Well, not quite. It was a hard course, agonizingly short hard climbs followed by shorter steep descents and 180 corners up another wall. I made do with my gearing and big wheels, and maybe went faster on account (I certainly would have used any bail-out gears I had). I finished 41st out of 100+ starters. During the race I had no clue if I was top-30 or top-80, there’s too much mayhem to really have any clue what’s going on. I just pedal and enjoy the ride.
New home
TJ and I are now (town)homeowners in Tucson, AZ. We jumped at the opportunity to take advantage of the first time home buyers tax credit and interest rates around 5%. Now we’re stuck in Tucson for quite a while and we’re thrilled about having a semi-permanent home in one of the best cities for biking in the country. Currently, I’m trying to identify some of the flora in our courtyards (front and back). 
I think we have 5 different varieties of succulents in our yard, 2 mesquite trees (one with thorns, one without), 1 nandina (or Heavenly Bamboo) bush, 2 Mexican Birds of Paradise plants, mint, lots of vines, an ugly juniper-ish thing (which unfortunately didn’t die over the summer), and 2 or 3 unknown plants. We also have a lot of dirt and rocks in our yard. Luckily, the yard is very low-maintenance and looks pretty. I am hoping that nothing dies on my watch (my plants need to be very resilient).
New job (Intership #2)
For my last semester, and last requirement in my program, I have a six-credit internship to complete. Just this past week things have fallen in place and I’ve wound up with a paid internship, working on a project I’m very excited about (but may also kick my butt). I’ve been hired by UA Parking & Transportation as a Student Office Assistant, but my time will will be spent working on CABPNP (Campus Area Bicycle & Pedestrian Network Plan). CABPNP will take more than a semester to complete, and the report may be completed by an independent contracting firm in the end, but the final product will provide a sort of roadmap for meeting certain goals related to bike and pedestrian use on and around campus (within a 5-mile radius). The goals relate to bike/ped traffic flow, updating facilities, revising design standards, increasing education and encouragement efforts, and providing an implementation plan for recommendations. I’ll be a part of the committee involved with the study and it seems my work may involve data collection, research, and writing. Anyway, this is a pretty exciting opportunity to be involved with the creation of a document that will help guide future infrastructure projects, policies, and programs relating to bicycle & pedestrian use around campus.
The BAC
I am now sworn to, “protect our Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” That’s a lot of responsibility. I’m not quite sure how I feel about that… Anyway, I am now an official representative for council office Ward 4 on the Tucson-Pima County Bicycle Advisory Committee. This was a somewhat unexpected arrangement, but I’m happy to be a part of the committee and hope that my multiple bike community hats will come in handy (racer, commuter, race promoter, UA Cycling Club ex-treasurer, secretary and vice-president, former TDOT employee, and current PTS employee–whew!). The meetings are entertaining and always open to the public!
Sis
Shannon has been exploring the world, and has traveled to Turkey, Jordan, Isreal, Egypt, and is now in Shanghai, China with my Dad. The two of them are beginning a two-month journey from the headwaters of the Mekong to the delta in Viet Nam, along the way they’ll be photographing hydroelectric projects along the river. I guess this trip is the beginning of a joint photo-journalism project for the two of them. Hopefully they will stay out of trouble.
TJ
The stud just won Ore to Shore, one of the triple-crown races of the Midwest. He pointed out to me that, “the win is worth about 3 mortgage payments.” Oh my. I think TJ has now pulled in more dough than me bike racing this year. I need to catch up…
He’ll be joining me back in Tucson for the next week and a half. Then he’ll be off doing his own adventure in Europe for two months. He’s going to be a research subject in the French Alps in a study related to altitude training for elite cyclists. Maybe he’ll start blogging again in Europe…make it at least two posts in a year.
I am guessing my Mom may be the only one to make it through this post. Over 800 words and only 1 picture–I think I just broke every rule in blogworld. Well thanks for checking in!
Go to the Source – choleforsman.missingsaddle.com
Filed by Chole Forsman at August 15th, 2010 under Chole Forsman, MTB Blogs
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August 13, 2010
Summer is rapidly closing in on the start of school, my last semester of school. It will take me 4.5 years to finish and I’ll graduate with a B.S. in Community Health Education. With that degree, I want to race bikes. While I’ve kept up bike racing through school, traveled to Argentina, Chile, Italy, New Zealand, Scotland, Canada (x3), Australia, and probably 10 states for bike racing, I’ve identified myself as much as a student as a professional bike racer. I hauled a chemistry textbook to Scotland, wrote papers on airplanes, finished readings in cars, and memorized the names of microorganisms responsible for various diseases while at the World Championships in Canberra, AUS. I joke that everything I do is half-assed. I miss too much school to be a straight-A student, my mountain bike results have stagnated for three years, I imagine a hundred ways to up student involvement in the UA Cycling Club but things rarely come to fruition, and I never do the core fitness work I desperately need.
But, I’ve traveled more than anyone else I know my age and I don’t hesitate at taking on a difficult task. There are weeks that, in retrospect, I don’t believe I made it through without throwing in the towel. I’m truly thankful for all my opportunities and for everyone who’s given me encouragement and believed that I can do something great in academics, professionally, or on the bike. Now the question keeps popping up about what’s coming next in my life. I’ve started to tell people that I’m going to race bikes. Part of my rationale is, “I’ve made it this far so why give up now?” Or, “I wonder what I can do if I live, train, eat, and sleep like a professional athlete.” Or simply, “I love riding bikes.”
So, I’m going to consider this semester as my transition into professional athleteism (sorry, I think I made that one up). I won’t be racing (probably not true) or following a training plan, but I want to improve my overall fitness to a ‘fit’ point. Currently, I’m fearful of hurting myself if I do a cartwheel. Yoga, weights, jogs (closer to slogging), early bedtime, stretching, etc. So let that be Goal #1. My second goal is to get my sh*t together in the cyber world and start taking social media seriously! I neglect my Facebook profile, and inbox (so sorry if I didn’t respond to a message), and don’t even know what to do with my Twitter account. These things need to change. And I’m officially going on the books to announce I’m going to launch a website, which Shannon will help design and build. (She’s currently in Shanghai, China with my Dad. They are getting ready to set off for the headwaters of the Mekong for a two-month journey down the river visiting and photographing hydroelectric projects. So, the website project will start in November.) For the final goal, I want to be an advocate for slow biking–commuting, errands, joy-rides, and social rides. I want to help legitimize cycling as a form transportation. I want to make it my transportation as much as possible, and luckily, I live in a beautiful bike-friendly community.
With that, I’m going to introduce my slow bike. This bike is almost #1 on my list of all-time favorites:
Make: Gary Fisher
Model: Simple City 3
Year: ’09
That’s it for now. Thanks for checking in!
Go to the Source – choleforsman.missingsaddle.com
Filed by Chole Forsman at August 13th, 2010 under Chole Forsman, MTB Blogs
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Hello!!
Please change your saved link!
The new address is www.sonyalooney.com and click Blog!!!
New posts today!
Go to the Source – sonyalooney.missingsaddle.com
Filed by Sonya Looney at August 13th, 2010 under MTB Blogs, Sonya Looney
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Hello!!
Please change your saved link!
The new address is www.sonyalooney.com and click Blog!!!
New posts today!
Go to the Source – sonyalooney.missingsaddle.com
Filed by Sonya Looney at August 13th, 2010 under MTB Blogs, Sonya Looney
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August 7, 2010
I am here and I still can’t believe it. It feels like a dream. Tomorrow morning at 9 AM Europe time (or 1 AM in Boulder, CO), the gun will go off. I’ll be lined up next to the best marathon distance racers in the world, about to depart on a 107kM adventure of the body ,mind, and spirit, and most likely it will be in the rain. I hope my legs show up because my heart will be there, 1000%!
Yesterday, I rode the parts of the course I missed. It’s all very similar and at race pace will be very painful!
Plenty of gravel in the pain cave
Proof there is some fun singletrack on the course
Thanks to Lars, our mechanic, for taking great care of us. That is my lovely teammate – Sally Bigham.
Today, I met up with Krista and we did an hour spin on the last section of the course. It relaxed me to ride with someone I know, who is having similar experiences here in Germany.
Harvesting wheat… for beer, and for all the yummy bread.
My USA teammate, Krista. The irony of it? We both were born in New Mexico and we both graduated from UNM Electrical Engineering program for undergrad. Is there something in the water… or perhaps in the green chile? Her husband Todd has been a great support too!
I saw this outside someone’s house by the garbage. Whoaaa crazy! Jager bombs? 
The grocery store here is surprisingly HUGE. Like 3 stories and a moving sidewalk for your cart. A German man was watching me take this. I tried so hard to be discreet so I didn’t look like a stupid american, but I failed…and he laughed. 
THREE aisles of sweets. I will be returning next week to buy some fun stuff to bring home.
I was overly amused riding in Dave and Sally’s van. They are from the UK, so the steering wheel is on the left. Weird!!
I have spent most of my time in the hotel, doing it all right. I wake up, enjoy a german breakfast, get out on my bike (ride to the venue, ride parts of the course), come back and sit in bed or nap, eat dinner, then go to bed. This is something I’m not used to. I’m used to being constantly busy, constantly on the go and NO time to relax.
A few pre-race thoughts.
I am not nervous. The night before marathon nationals, I was a nervous wreck. For this race, I have no expectations. My only goal is to ride my hardest and hope with all my heart that my legs feel good. I have learned a tough lesson with jetlag, and it really effects your body for racing. The nervous system is still asleep. I hope mine is awake and ferocious. If I had a chance to redo it all, I’d come out even earlier. I know I am capable of doing really well, I want to do really well. I want more than anything to feel at my strongest pedaling up that first hill and charge through the race like Wonder Woman(haha) in my kit.
A tremendous THANK YOU to my sponsors, especially Ergon. I could not have done this amazing adventure without you. Thank you to my Topeak Ergon teammates here, and especially to Dirk(our team manager), Lars (team mechanic), and to Theresa and Werner (team physiotherapists) for all your hard work.
I feel incredibly lucky to have this opportunity in my life and am not taking one second of it for granted. I feel fortunate for all the wonderful support I have from my friends – it has been overwhelming to see that, especially on facebook. Wow! This experience something I will always have and always remember, regardless of the outcome tomorrow. Hard work does pay off. I will always know that I was selected and rode the World Championship representing my country in 2010.
Bring it on!!!!!!!!!!!! Let’s kick some ASS!
Go to the Source – sonyalooney.missingsaddle.com
Filed by Sonya Looney at August 7th, 2010 under MTB Blogs, Sonya Looney
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August 5, 2010
Alright. So at home, it’s 3 PM. Here in Germany, it’s 11 PM and I am wide awake, so I’ll make good use of my time before counting little Rotwilds (translation: Red Deer) instead of sheep to get to sleep.
I’m doing what all good little pros are supposed to do. Sit in bed wearing compression socks and drinking lots of water. I wonder how many days I can keep THAT up 
Today was my first full day in St. Wendel. I like this little town from what I’ve seen. The hardest part about racing here is NOT walking around all day long. I want to walk up and down a bunch of streets and snap photos of all the old, white buildings and go laugh at some of the Euro fashion shops, but I am attempting to conserve energy. My trip to Germany has been fun so far! I’m actually really lucky I came here back in May, because now I kind of understand how things work although my German could use some serious work! Simple things suddenly don’t become quite as simple… but I like a challenge. I’m extremely lucky because my team – Topeak Ergon, is based in Germany and I have the best people in the world supporting me, and setting an example for me (my European teammates are all top-notch, world class athletes, and it shows). I feel like a freshman entering high school again… inexperienced and maybe a little embarrassed around them. They are super nice, but this is my first time racing in Europe. Translation – amateur hour? But then I give myself the pep talk…the one that I appreciate from all my facebook/twitter supporters. “Sonya, you deserve to be here. You earned this. Believe in yourself.” Intimidation factor for me is admittedly higher than I’d like, but it’s exciting. It’s a whole new experience. Morale factor is high. I’m excited and extremely fortunate just to be here.
Back in May, I got to fully take in German culture meaning lots of pig eating, and sampling a variety of beers. Today, I realized I haven’t had a real German on this trip. I am not freely slurping one of my favorite beverages, but I decided that changing my ways just because it’s a world championship isn’t the way to go, so I finally enjoyed a German beer! and make it DARK (dunkel)
Just one though… and early in the evening and not right after a ride. See? I do have some tact.
Let me backtrack. This morning, I enjoyed another lovely german breakfast. The bread is so good…as is the jams, fruit, muesli, yogurt, and various meats and cheese. I normally don’t ride a lot before a big race, but I needed to inspect the course. The race is 2 different loops totaling 107K or 67 miles. A lot of it is road, doubletrack, or mowed fields but there is some little bits of singletrack to get my blood boiling with excitement. Short little bites of it. There is some climbing too… sharp, short little bites of that too…enough to zap your energy. Enough for you to say, “man, my legs feel like crap from something, and my heart rate is really low, and wow, I feel like shit today.”
Course profile.
I enjoyed the scenery today like I said I would. It was very Oregon-like. Lush, humid, mossy, and really muddy from the rain. I even had some company for half the ride – our team mechanic Larry who is FAST! zooooom!
Oregon has though banana slugs I posted a photo of a few weeks back. Germany has these bright orange slugs…everywhere. It’s kind of fun!
I didn’t enjoy how my body felt. I have found out that jetlag really takes a toll on the legs. I had zero power and could barely get my HR out of zone 2 or “riding along” heart rate, but the effort felt much harder, so I tried not to push too hard. Tomorrow is a new day. I drank a lot of water today, ate a lot of food, and laid in bed for the afternoon. Hopefully that will help because I know what my race beast looks like on a good day, I saw him last weekend on a training ride and he is mean and hungry. I want him to appear, foaming at the mouth on race day. Patience and faith that they will come around. Fingers crossed. If not, Sunday will be… not a great day. haha. They will feel better.
Pics from the pre-ride. I rode the 2nd lap of the course.
The wind generators hovering 100s of feet above the course are so cool and poetic.
and huge..that is a person up there.
Mowed bumpy fields….
Wheat. Wheat thins? 
Forest doubletrack.
Singletrack
Cornfields
Get it, Larry!
and muddy messes to clean up when the ride was over.
“your face is a muddy mess!” My face, I mean… Your face jokes, like “that’s what she said” jokes…do not get old. I probably rode too long today… 3.5 hours but if that doesn’t get the blood flowing in and out of my veins, I don’t know what will!
I met up with Krista and Todd Park. Krista is the other woman from the USA racing.
Teammates? shake and bake! Does that blow your mind?
I got my USA kit today. It means a lot to me to wear this kit. It’s something that every racer dreams of.
Tomorrow, our little crew will be joined by the rest of the team and support crew. I can’t wait! I’ve enjoyed hanging out with Lars, Sally, and Dave!
And a few from town right outside our hotel.
Off to bed. Schlafen. Sleep. G’night!
Go to the Source – sonyalooney.missingsaddle.com
Filed by Sonya Looney at August 5th, 2010 under MTB Blogs, Sonya Looney
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August 4, 2010
I arrived in St. Wendel in the early evening yesterday. Our mechanic, Larry, got my bike together in true pro fashion and I took a 1 hour spin on the course to move some blood through my legs after 2 days off, and a long plane flight. I definitely felt like I had “airplane legs.” Something I plan to rectify today!
Here a couple of quick pics I snapped. The course is mostly road/dirt road/double-track. That’s kind of a new thing for me as we are used to (and spoiled) with lots of singletrack in our races. That means one thing – it’s going to be FAST!
The scenery was great. I’m glad I’m pre-riding the course over the next 2 days so I can enjoy the scenery because I have a feeling I won’t be looking around much in the race with my tongue hanging out on my top tube, and my eyes crossed from the pain!
I love German breakfast. Speaking of, it’s time to go eat some German Frühstück!
I’ll get more pics up of the course later. I have a longer ride planned to get my body back on the riding program, and my head in the game. I still can’t believe it when I see arrows and signs saying, “Marathon World Championship.” I am really here.
Go to the Source – sonyalooney.missingsaddle.com
Filed by Sonya Looney at August 4th, 2010 under MTB Blogs, Sonya Looney
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Hello from Germany!
I left the USA on Monday, and arrived in Germany on Tuesday! I had a crazy week leading up to my departure, so sitting on the airplane for 9 hour was actually a relaxing and welcome experience. I had to move over the weekend as well, and have some nesting/unpacking to do when I get back. But for now, I can finally start focusing on one thing – the marathon world championships. I’m trying not to focus on it too much, because then I’ll get nervous. I focused a little too much on our marathon national championships, turned myself into a head case and couldn’t perform on race day. I’m hoping to NOT repeat that this weekend.
My first day in Germany nice. My Ergon family welcomed me and it was fun to return to the Ergon World HQ in Koblenz, Germany. We even had a picnic by the Rhine river.
and I got to enjoy Koblenz! It was fun to return here after visiting Koblenz for Ergon meetings back in May.
Coffee… very useful for jet lag.
You know you’re in Europe when the streets are narrow!
I’ve been anxiously watching the Colorado Trail Race that started on Monday… Check it out here Self supported, navigated, and 500 miles mostly on singletrack. I can’t think of anything much more epic. Good luck to my very brave friends, especially Jeff Kerkove, Eszter Horanyi, Cat Morrison, and Dave Harris.
Today, we will go to St. Wendel and I’ll get to start inspecting the course. I heard it’s a lot of fireroad which doesn’t really play to my strengths on the bike, but that’s ok! Go big or go home!
Go to the Source – sonyalooney.missingsaddle.com
Filed by Sonya Looney at August 4th, 2010 under MTB Blogs, Sonya Looney
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July 28, 2010
When some of my friends and I made a grand plan on July 4 to have a training weekend up in Steamboat, we were all pretty stoked. After all, what could be better than good times with friends, epic rides on alpine singletrack, and mountains? Not much.
My skis WILL touch down here this winter.
I got in a good little training block before starting the grand taper to Worlds. 3 days. 2 hour ride Friday, 6 hour ride Saturday, 5 hour ride Sunday… almost exclusively on singletrack, and all badass riders. 
The weekend can be summed up in photos.
Saturday, there was about 10 of us.
Um, dude. Your bike? Unicycle??? HOW?!?!?! And furthermore, how can I sell you Ergon grips if you don’t have a handlebar?
I was kicking myself for forgetting my helmet cam.
Pete’s communal meat stick. I swear when you bit into it, pockets of fat would seep out. haha
The wildflowers were off the hook.
Goobers.
Re group.
Guns Masticator.
By the time we got to this lake…I ran towards it lickety split and got in. Chamois and all. At least I took my helmet off.
Powder…. Pig.
The top.
Kelly Boniface is one of my favorite race buddies. We were working on our game face. She wins.
A looong sweet downhill. Butterflies in tummy.
Massive rewards after 6 hours in the saddle.
Sunday was a smaller group – myself, Dax Massey, Nate Bird, and Essam Welch
The trail was more “underground” style riding. Trail that was not buffed…but loose, technical, and with tons of fallen trees to hike up and over.
Sometimes hiking is part of an epic ride.
I was cursing my short legs.
The group taking in the view at the summit at aha – Summit Park.
Hey boys. These two (Dax and Nate) are racing duo at Trans Rockies in 2 weeks. Git ‘em.
Kids bday parties have pinatas and pin the tail on the donkey. Grown up parties have things like very sharp samurai swords.
Peoples’ bdays such as:
Birdie and…
Rob the Carni
in action.
Max. I want one.
Couldn’t think of a more beautiful night to end a weekend to remember.
Here is a secret…. my blog is going to have a new look very soon!
I took a couple days off after the epic weekend and headed to short track for my last one of the year. Unfortunately, my race ended pretty quickly. I was stoked that I rode right off the front of the race, but I guess I was a little too excited. I went down pretty hard in a corner and couldn’t pedal anymore. Very very bad timing before worlds. I admittedly was choking back tears of disappointment and frustration. I’m doing a bit of icing… I now have what looks like two kneecaps. Nothing major, but I don’t have many precious days left between now and worlds. It’s not a bad thing I have to rest, but I had some things I wanted to get done on the bike. Oh well. That was my first crash in a short track so I consider myself lucky.
Back to packing and moving…. and packing….
Go to the Source – sonyalooney.missingsaddle.com
Filed by Sonya Looney at July 28th, 2010 under MTB Blogs, Sonya Looney
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July 27, 2010
Two days ago I lined up for my first European World Cup in Champery, Switzerland. I finished in 49th place out of a 110-some starters. I’ve never spent so much time off my bike–running, stumbling, slipping around in mud. I’ve also never had so many girls yell at me in languages I cannot understand. I raced hard, but a little apprehensive at times on the technical sections. Overall, I had a great time and am happy with a top-50 finish. Dave McElwaine took some good pictures of me which he published on cyclingnews.
Champery, Switzerland is beautiful place.
Next up: Val di Sole World Cup in Almazzago, Italy. I hope to have this course dialed before race day.
Go to the Source – choleforsman.missingsaddle.com
Filed by Chole Forsman at July 27th, 2010 under Chole Forsman, MTB Blogs
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