Kristine Contento-Angell

Category: training

  • Season Wind-Up

    Season Wind-Up

    My next target race is Nationals in West Virginia. With some humbling experiences at the Sea Otter classic fueling my passion to work harder and smarter, I set my focus on quality training and local races, mostly cross country but I take whatever I can find.

    I even jumped into an Eddy Time Trial!

    Time Trial - kristine contento-angell 2018 3rd

    On the local scene, my race skills and race legs were starting to come together.

    I was beyond stoked with the size of the Women’s field at the Stewart Poison Ivy Mouse Trap. I was even more stoked with how awesome my fitness felt. I made a small mistake early on into the race – crashing and stabbing my handlebar into my quad. I was able to get back on the leaders wheel, and stay there, until that quad started cramping on the last lap.

    The most monumental of the xc races for me was the Lewis Morris Challenge. Typically, I have had poor results at this race venue – there is very minimal technical riding and a whole lot of climbing, plus quite a few road-racing riders give this race a shot and their road strength typically pays off big on this course. I headed in with a clear plan – I counted out 5 hills per lap, 3 lap total, and planned to attack each climb individually, focusing only on the current climb, planning to return to a lighter tempo pace in between the climbs, during which I could recover. It didn’t matter who else was on the start line, it didn’t matter what anyone else’s strengths were. Nothing else mattered. I was solely focused on my own performance on each individual hill.

    I executed my plan. It worked perfectly. I not only won the race, but I proved to myself that I can overcome my greatest weaknesses, opening the possibility that anything is possible.

  • Rolling with the unexpected, March 2018

    Rolling with the unexpected, March 2018

    The slew of Nor’easters this past March has been a real downer for my race schedule. All four of the Cross Country & Short Track races I had planned to ease back into the racing mindset have all been cancelled.

    The silver lining is that I have been able to spend more quality time with my family. I’ve had more time to focus on diet/nutrition & interval workouts & high effort training. In fact, I’ve achieved a number of personal training PR’s this month. On the nutrition front, I’ve been playing around with the Paleo Leap meal planner and found a new favorite salad recipe (included below).

    Whole Food, Paleo nutrition plan

    My high school mtb team, Essex Offroad, has also been suffering with limited trail time. But we were fortunate enough to gain access to a giant parking lot (Thank you Metal Cutting Corp!) and we’ve held a few skills sessions in that space.

    Coaching mtb team Essex Offroad

    MTB skills coaching - Essex Offroad

    The other shining moment of March was the arrival of my 2018 race whip – a Santa Cruz Highball! A big thank you to Pedal Montclair, Juliana Bicycles & Santa Cruz bicycles for setting me up this year. Their ongoing support has been amazing & inspiring.

    It’s a bit torturous to have such a beautiful weapon in my grasp and have no trails to ride it on! I decided to go with a hardtail this year to accommodate some of the less technical race courses I encounter through the season. And with my Juliana Joplin to attack the rocky, East Coast race courses, I’m perfectly equipped to handle everything on my schedule.

    With that in mind, I’m insanely excited to see how the Bonelli Park US Cup race & the Sea Otter races go. Wish me luck!

     

    Blueberry & Orange Salad
    (adapted from PaleoLeap.com)
    Ingredients:

    • baby spinach
    • fresh blueberries
    • 2 oranges, peeled and sliced
    • 1 avocado, pitted and diced
    • 1/4 red onion, sliced thinly
    • Walnuts

    Dressing:

    • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
    • 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
    • 3 tbsp. fresh orange juice
    • Juice of 1 lime
    • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

    Put all the ingredients on a plate or in a bowl. Whisk together the dressing ingredients. Pour dressing over salad.

     

     

  • 2018, here we go!

    2018, here we go!

    2018 is starting off with a bang!

    Ticked off a bucket-list item this weekend at Egg Harbor Township BMX Track! Had an absolute blast racing the 24″ wheel category (cruiser class – 1st place), the Women’s 20″ wheel category (expert – 3rd place) and jumped into the Pro-Am class too. (20″ – didn’t place). I love trying and learning new things and this did not disappoint. The women were just amazing – so welcoming, friendly, helpful and lightning fast!

    Kristine Contento-Angell 1st BMX Cruiser class

    The start gate was something totally new. Starting in a track stand and jumping as the gate drops is a whole ball of wax I had no clue about. Some great tips from John Gill Jr. and I was rocking those starts… well, the track stand part, the jump part can certainly use some work. 😉

    Kristine Contento-Angell BMX EHT - Jack frost race 3rd place 20" W class

    The track itself is like riding a pump track on steroids – and the burn that sets into your legs by the last stretch is brutal. I really enjoyed pushing through that fire. When it’s only going to last a few more seconds, it’s easier to push that burn aside and dig in – a very different experience to the mental fatigue of feeling that burn on an xc course.

    The day was chilly with gusting wind. A physically demanding aspect I hadn’t anticipated was shivering in between motos. No matter how much i bundled up with blankets, huddled behind wind blocks and layered on jackets, I simply couldn’t not stop the sheen of sweat from the race from chilling my body. Then, of course, the challenge became warming back up for the short and intense race. I had 9 separate race starts spread across 6 hours.

    Major shout out to Pedal Montclair for setting me up with the whips to make all this happen! #supportyourlocalbikeshop

    Big thanks to both John Gills for all their advice, instruction and for manning the New Jersey Interscholastic Mountain Biking – NICA tent.

    Juliana Bicycles #pedalmontclair MTBNJ.com O’Neal Gu_energy Elite Endurance Training Systems Spin Central Laundromat #onealriders#girlswhoshred #gojuliana #morekidsonbikes

    Photos: JPennucci Photography

    Next up is the H2hrace.com mountain bike series, race #1 – Mayhem in South Jersey.

    Kristine Contento-Angell BMX race

     

  • September 2017 Update

    September 2017 Update

    Racing

    Nearly 8 weeks out from my ankle injury and I’m finally back on dirt!  The Bad Bear Enduro at Bear Creek is one of my nearby favorites. I was really stoked to give this a go. I headed out on Friday with a few friends to pre-ride the stages. Man did I ride like crap! So stiff, so tense, such a struggle. Rusty, I guess. A lack of confidence. A decrease in finesses. I ate dirt over and over again on features that weren’t even the challenging ones! Man it was a tough pre-ride.  We sessioned different sections, trying new lines and eventually I started to feel like myself again. By the end of the day, I was bruised, sore and exhausted, but I caught a glimpse of the flow I was so in tune with in July.

    As I geared up on race day my shoe strap ripped apart! Granted these shoes were my backup pair -they had a long and satisfying life, and needed to be retired – but my primary race shoes had broken boa straps and I hadn’t gotten around to replacing them (my bad). Likely the lace up boot I have to wear to protect my ankle was putting to much strain on the strap, and LUCKILY it happened in the parking lot and not mid-stage run. In another stroke of luck, my teammate had a roll of electrical tape, and was willing to donate it to me, so I was able to tape the shoe onto my foot and carry the roll in case the tape needed to be refreshed mid race. (Thanks Jeremy!!).

    Struggling through Friday’s pre-ride to get a sense of that flow again paid off. I went into the race focusing on being relaxed, having fun and most importantly, staying upright. That goal might sacrifice overall speed, but a crash tacks so much time onto a run that, for me, it would be faster to go slower. It’s funny how self-doubt can be self-fulling. There were a few features that I had been hesitant about, and subsequently struggled with on Friday that flowed smoothly on race day. A relaxed mindset has such a huge impact. I was really happy to feel the near vertical drop & road-pipe cross over to another near vertical descent with 90 degree turn flow super smooth during the stage run – what had I been worried about?

    Skills Coaching

    The Pedal Montclair Beginner’s Ride Series continued each Friday (except the Bear Creek Enduro Pre-ride). I enjoy hosting these, and I was particularly excited to see so many women come attend. I was also able to start scheduling private skills coaching sessions again.

    NJ NICA

    The annual Leader Summit – an empowering, inspiring and educational weekend workshop – was mid September. I was able to attend a NICA specific Wilderness First Aid & CPR course. Really empowering stuff. Hopefully I won’t ever need those skills, but it’s confidence-inspiring to know what to do in a worst-case scenario. In the glove picture below we are learning about the transfer of bodily fluids. I always carry a first aid kit on rides I host/coach, and realized that in all that time, I didn’t have rubber gloves in it! (That’s been rectified). In the other pic below we are engaged in injury scenarios, – assessing our victims, determining their injuries and figuring out how to keep them alive.

    I joined the coaches ride post workshop on Saturday. Look at all those mtb enthusiasts that are willing to spend time and energy to get more kids on bikes. So freaking awesome. I can’t wait to see what the student enrollment for season 2 is going to be!!

    End of day one coaches pic:

    Training

    Back into the full-on training schedule! I’m shooting for at least one endurance race this fall – the Erie 80 – as well as a few more enduros. My birthday is at the beginning of Sept, so the month started out with a team birthday ride! I was really heartened to have so many teammates join me for this ride. Some I haven’t seen all year. Plus, Sean’s birthday is the same weekend, so we celebrated him as well!

    Family

    In an effort to clear out my basement, I pulled out my dusty CX bike to wipe off, photograph and sell. Soon as I look away my son jumps on it and starts riding around the block. Wouldn’t you know it’s the perfect size for him? We swapped out a shorter stem, and headed out for a bike ride. It’s awesome how much he enjoys it – the freedom, the speed. Our first road ride ended up a solid 14 and change in miles, with a stop at Applegates for homemade ice cream on the way home. Now he’s using it to commute to school, and to practice with clipless pedals. I had bought a pair of new shoes online after the strap tear at Bear Creek, but they were a little too big for me – they ended up being just perfect for him, though! Glad I didn’t opt for the neon pick pair!

    I can’t believe how fast he was charging up some of the hills – it won’t be long before I’m struggling to keep up. And here he is, slightly annoyed at me for making him change his own flat tire. Yes I could do it much faster, but some things you just have to suffer through.

  • August 2017 Update

    August 2017 Update

    Racing & Training

    Racing & traning was on hold this month while I recovered from a sprained ankle.  Soft tissue injuries seem to take forever to heal. Not easy to miss some of the big races – Boston Rebellion is one of my favorites, and I had hopes of making it to Windham. I took the opportunity to get out on my other wheels.

     

    After a few weeks of complete rest, I was able to get back on the trainer.

    Beginners Clinics

    With the break in training and racing, I found this an opportune time to start the Beginner’s Clinics Series of rides for Pedal Montclair. I’ve always felt that a series of clinics is a highly effective way to improve skills – focusing on just a few main skills and drilling those into muscle memory. Then building upon that foundation in each subsequent clinic.

    Pedal Shop Rides

    By the end of the month, I was able to join back in on the Thursday Shop Ride.

     

  • July 2017 Upate

    July 2017 Upate

    Racing

    Port Peter Pounder – H2H race series, Port Jervis, NY

    July started out on a decent note. Port Peter Pounder in NY – I loved this course, was having a great race but smashed my wheel on a sharp rock and flatted big time. Normally that’s not a big deal but I had some difficulty getting the tubeless valve out and breaking the tire bead. Eventually I got it rolling again, put the hammer down and got back into the pack.

    Pro XCT – Eastern Grind – VT

    Tough day of racing. Love this venue, plenty of gnar, great A-lines and some seriously flowy sections of trail. The heat was brutal, as was the climbing.

    Kenda Cup East – Eastern Grind

    I had a much better day of racing at this one, I felt relaxed and consistent. A top 5 finish in a Kenda cup race has been on my bucket list for a couple years now – I didn’t expect to check that one off, particularly after feeling sludge-like the the day before, so I was absolutely THRILLED when I came through in 3rd.

    Pro STXC – Short Track

    Just lining up with this caliber of racer is a win in my book, so despite being thoroughly FRIED form the Kenda Cup race in the morning, I was stoked to give this one a shot. It seems to me that every moment in this realm contributes to my bank of racing experience, providing confidence and knowledge for future races. As expected, my tank was empty, but I enjoyed the small battle I had at the back, gave it my all and left the weekend on an absolute high.

    Nationals! Snowshoe WV

    A bit of bad luck – I sprained my ankle on day one of Enduro Nationals. That put me out for the rest of the week (no short track or xc). But the town is really cute, and atmosphere is great and I had a fun time being tech support for my son, and photographer for other racers.

    Training

    This year I’ve been focusing on proper recovery food after training and racing – adding a solid dose of protein into my system right away. Seems to be contributing to quicker recovery and less “post race-day hangovers”. One means of doing so is smoothies with protein poweder and a scoop of BCAA’s.

    Family Vacation

    Spent a week mid-July in San Fran, CA with my family. The kids & I spent one day biking all around the city.

  • June 2017 Update

    June 2017 Update

    Bloomfield Bike Fest

    Second annual Bloomfield Bike Fest in the books! Again with the rain! The volunteers enjoyed a lovely downpour during setup. Lucky for the riders that it cleared up by the start of the first race and was gorgeous the remainder of the event. We had kids races, an obstacle course, a parents on kids bike race and I roped in some Essex Offroad Riders to lead a skills clinic and help spot kids on the obstacle course.

    Best podium shot of the day – 2nd is the first loser!

    Coaching

    Essex Offroad

    Wrapped up the NJ NICA season with the final race. The students were amazing. The league is incredible.

    That’s me squeezed into the staff pic – I joined the League effort earlier this year – helping out with the website & social media. Surprisingly time consuming, but totally worth every minute.

    NJ GIRLS ROCK

    Also stoked to be part of this initiative to get more girls on bikes!

    Father’s Day

    Tuned up my husband’s road bike for father’s day – he hasn’t ridden much since college. Hoping to inspire a new trend. 😉

    Training

    Started jumping into the Pedal M0ntclair shop rides. Always a good time – lots of fun features on the trails and cool folks to shoot the sh!t with.

  • May 2017 Update

    May 2017 Update

    Luck was with me – no flat!

    Racing

    Not much racing happening in May. Nice to have a bit of a break heading into summer. July is going to be LIT.

    Bike-Vacation

    A break from racing made for a great opportunity to camp & ride at Raystown Lake with some MTBNJ.com peeps and my family. The dirt was absolutely perfect on the Allegrippis trails. The Juliana Joplin with dropper post was so freaking perfect. My fitness is coming into form now too, so I could take my son out for a few hours of riding, and then sneak out for a few more hours at my own pace. I likened it to a motorcycle track day – I would just drop down into the cockpit of the bike and let her rip. So unbelievably fun.

    Here we are at the Raystown skills park – My daughter Madison, my son Kai (good heavens that form is awesome), Norm & my husband Jason.

    Mother’s Day

    Kids took me to the town skate park to celebrate.

    Coaching

    Top pic is my favorite picture of the the middle school boys squad of the Essex Offroad team.

    This pretty well sums up the awesomeness of coaching a NJ NICA team.

    https://vimeo.com/217272540

     

    Team is going strong. Love seeing them progress each week. The team is racking up team wins, individual wins and lots of personal bests. I had a chance to rip around on the League E-bike at Gloucester. 🙂 🙂

    Group Rides

    I’m looking to lead more group rides this year… Here’s the first one at Jungle Habitat – pretty good turn out.

  • April Update 2017

    April Update 2017

    April means Sea Otter! This is such a fun event – amazing attendance, an incredible vendor village, every race you can imagine and the list of hot-shots that are floating around is sick. I was also able to hit the Juliana Night at the Santa Cruz factory. Great group of folks, great line of bikes.

    Racing

    H2H – Ringwood

    A lesson in executing patience, both in race strategy and shifting was what Ringwood was all about. I broke my chain, fixed it poorly (direction of the rainbow chain link is pretty KEY) but flexed my ‘never give up’ attitude land in 3rd place.

    Sea Otter

    I like to maximize my time at Sea Otter by entering tons of races. I like the idea of having lots of chances – much less stressful than coming all the way across the country with my bike for a one and done situation. I race better on less stress, so it’s a win-win.

    First up is the Enduo, then mtb road crit – err, i mean short track, then the cross country course.

     

     

    H2H – Mooch Madness

    No sleep on the red eye back from CA. It was full force into activities the moment I landed, catching up with my family, packing up my son for his first NJ NICA race and deciding last minute to hit up the Mooch Madness race, since it was just a few mins away from the NICA race course. After checking in at Chester, seeing ample coach support I zipped up to Allamuchy for some rock-love and a first place finish!

    H2H – Waywayanda 

    More rocks! Love me some rocks. The course is long and brutal, but I really like the challenge.

    Coaching

    The first NJ NICA race! The Essex Offroad team had an amazing day, lots of firsts and lots of expectations exceeded.

    Our team joined a Rail Trail clean up day. Such great kids.

    Training

    Balancing training blocks with racing. Training becomes more predictable during the week as many days are spent preparing for the weekend’s races.

    The mtbing community is super friendly. I love that I can approach random riders at parks and join their ride.

    A few pics from a long cruise on my hometown roads in upstate NY.

     

  • March 2017

    March 2017

    New Sponsors!

    Very excited to announce some new sponsors for 2017!
    I’ll be riding this gorgeous Carbon Cc Julian Joplin with the XX Eagle Drivetrain! Dang this baby can descend!

    I’m also excited to announce sponsorship from Pedal Montclair!

    And this awesome pic made it onto www.bikerumor.com!

    Racing

    Short Track MTBNJ

    So far this month I’ve been racing the MTBNJ.com Short track series. Very proud to take a podium spot in the men’s field at the final race. 😉

    H2H Series – March Mayhem

    First xc race is always a shock to the system. Tough one! Check out the full race recap here.

    Coaching

    Essex Offroad

    The middle & high school mtb team for Essex County has been holding weekly indoor spins session at Architect Studios  and longer weekend practices. Keeping me really busy – generating game ideas, skill drills and keeping short attention spans engaged.  Here’s a little press about the team.

    Skills Coaching

    Been having fun with private skills sessions. Tip – focus on just 1 skill each time you ride and drill it into your muscle memory!

    NJ GIRLS ROCK!

    Hit the trails with the NJ GIRLS ROCK group. Love encouraging more girls to ride bikes!

    Training

    Lots of hills, intervals and high intensity training. Looking to conquer the Sea Otter Road Climb.

    View from the top of Eagle Rock – my favorite spot to do hill repeats
  • The $5 training secret no one talks about

    The $5 training secret no one talks about

    I’m going to let you in on a secret training tool that has helped me immensely over the past couple years.
    It’s so simple you’ll probably scoff.

    It’s a “Bike Journal”.

    Before you close this post, bear with me. Bike journals are more common than you think, but no one talks about them. Just as seasoned cyclists don’t bother telling newbies that chamois and undies don’t mix, no one talks about their journal. There are many different types of bike journals, ranging from objective data recording to the pouring out of one’s soul, each offering a unique benefit.

    Bike Journal  #1: The Training Log

    Arguably the most common journal athletes keep are training logs. Entries typically include workout distance, duration, intensity structure (intervals for example), cadence, heart rate and power. Some are likely to include comments about nutrition, perceived exertion and environmental issues. The best way to track and see your training progress is by logging it. As data collects over weeks, months and years, you have a means of evaluating progress and goal attainment.

    Bike Journal #2: The Training Blog

    These are digital blogs where athletes share the nitty-gritty details of their training. Though training is the central topic, the posts usually include everything in the athletes life that either supports or distracts from their training. More than you can imagine is covered – family, work, money, friends, travel, equipment, nutrition, weather, clothing, injuries, pets, socks etc…. The benefit of a public training blog is that a community of followers develops and provides feedback, support and advice. For many, this public awareness helps keep them accountable and less likely to let goals slide. See examples here.

    Bike Journal  #3: Race Recaps

    As the name implies, ‘Race Recaps’ are usually limited to the experience an athlete has during a race, but will often include the state of mind and important events that impact the athlete heading into that race. The athlete may also include lessons learned, equipment used, whether the equipment was a good choice or not, as well as details of the terrain and course. Here are two public examples: Race Notes: Short Recap & The Heckle Report. I prefer to record mine the old fashion way with pen & paper.

    Bike Journal #4: Race Planning

    No matter what cycling discipline you adore, pre-race notes and goal setting will improve your race performance.  I find it particularly useful in preparing for an enduro stage race. While pre-riding the course, I jot down notes on my phone after each stage (pen & paper rarely survive the sweat & humidity of my pack). At the end of the day, I take my pre-ride notes and enter them into my bike journal with expanded details like overall stage characteristics, lines I’ve settled on, environmental markers denoting when certain sections are approaching, gear choice, seat height, tire pressure, how to tackle tricky features, etc…

    I also use my bike journal to set goals outside of specific race results. Of course winning would be awesome, but a podium finish is typically a culmination of a dozen different factors, all aligning at just the right moment and less a goal that I as an individual have absolute control over. So instead of obsessing over race placing, I focus on things I can control, specifically choosing one per race, for example:

    • Staying calm under pressure
    • Riding my own pace
    • Looking down the trail
    • Maintaining speed through corners
    • Maintaining speed over logs
    • Relaxing my arms
    • Elbows out, knees out
    • Etc…

    When race nerves hit, I find writing out my training and race preparations settles things right down. Jotting down positive comments and inspiring stories keeps my perspective grounded and priorities healthy. And when things aren’t going as envisioned, the journal is a great place to vent my frustrations.

    Bike Journal #5: Skills Development

    If you’ve attended a typical mountain bike skills clinic, you will know just how much material is covered in a very short time. It’s nearly impossible to remember all the details. Jotting down the main points that resonated with you is an easy way to optimize knowledge retention. The notes also become a great reference for trail rides. I pick one main point to focus on for the duration of a ride and practice, practice, practice.

    Bike Journal #6: Coaches Practice Notes

    Being an assistant coach on the NJ NICA team Essex Offroad, I quickly discovered the usefulness of writing out practice notes. With over 20 athletes on board with varying abilities, our team practices involve breaking into groups constantly. Once practice concludes, the coaches quickly chat about what worked, what didn’t, the progress of the students in their group that day, skills that need to be revisited, any incidents of note and to share ideas for future practices. We sum these comments up in a an email chain and it gets transferred into a shared Google document. Not only does this create an easy reference for practice planning, it also enables any coaches who were not at practice the means to stay up to date on team progress and happenings.

    All these uses and at a cost of $5 or less

    Given all the benefits a bike journal can offer, and the fact that a notebook costs under $5, is there really any reason NOT to use one?

    What about you?

    Do you use a bike journal? I’d love to hear about any other ways you find it useful that I didn’t cover. Comment below or send me an email.

    Thanks for reading!

     

     

  • Today’s ride is just to ride

    Today’s ride is just to ride

    It’s been cold, rainy and gray for days.

    Today coach had a leg & core strength training workout lined up. Goal was to completely trash the legs – which I did. As I lay on the floor, an intense beam of sunlight blinding my eyes, I mustered up a bit of motivation, wobbled my way into cold weather riding gear and headed out for some time to myself.

    Between kids, work, volunteer projects and training, my life typically has a steady undercurrent of ‘rush’. The last 6 weeks I’ve been running overcapacity, throw in a death in the family, illnesses (my kids) and a rapidly approaching race season, of which I’m no where near prepared for, and there is potential for early season burn out.

    So when the notion to go ride for the pure joy of it strikes, I have to bite.

    Reconnecting with the love of riding, for the pure joy of it, its the antidote to burn-out, with the added benefits of clearing my head, brightening my mood and widening my perspective.

    Aren’t bicycles amazing?