Monday, June 25, 2007


Noel, me and kristin after the crested butte race. kristin did awesome, scoring a third place while Noel had a mechanical, and well, i wasn't feeling so hot. the views were amazing though, and some of the best trails i have ridden this year.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Deer Valley 07

I was really looking forward to Deer Valley, since its the first norba at altitude and finally some climbing. i was ready to test out my fitness and if doing all the climbing in boulder has helped- and i have to say i felt way better this year at this race than the past two years. i got the chance to drive to a race finally, and save the money of flying and packing the bike which i was glad to miss. i got in thursday night and met up with some teammates at kimber's house, who live about 10 minutes from the venue. the next day i prerode with kristin and shannon and the trail was faster than i remember- or maybe i just felt better. who knows. but i was pretty excited about it. yeah, there was quite a bit of climbing, but thats the part i usually like. but on this course, i liked every part of it- the downhills where so much more fun than last year. on saturday, we had the luxury of racing earlier, while the men's race didn't start until 2pm- they sweltered in the heat. it was hot for our race, but i was pretty glad we started at 11am, so we were done by the time it got sticky hot.
anyway, i had an ok start, and then i got caught behind some chaos (as usual in a women's field) that set me back a bit on the first lap. it was frustrating, but knowing that i had 3 laps i figured i could make up some time. as the race went on, i felt better and better. on the third lap though i think i settled into my rhythm too much and could have pushed a bit harder. but, i am happy with my result, which was 28th. although i had thought after finishing i was 26th, but oh well. i am feeling stronger at every race, so thats something.
the next day was short track, and i had a great start. i was second row behind chloe and shonny, and after discussing starts with Wendy, i felt like it was now or never- i went for it, and was top 10 for about 2 minutes- and then chaos found me, and i was stuck behind crashes and girls unable to ride their bikes in front of me. how do i always get stuck in that? needless to say, i had an ok finish of 30th. kinda sad since i knew i felt good, and i had the perfect hole shot.
afterward krisitin and i went and rode away our sorrows from another pitiful short track by riding some trails.
the next morning i drove back to broomfield, back to work and reality.


This pic is from the Teva games a few weeks ago.
that was a pretty fun race, with plenty of climbing.

Monday, June 11, 2007


so this is one of my favorite shirts.


Here's some pics from the vanderkitten photo shoot after sea otter. just found out they are up on the website. we were hanging out in this crazy Indian restaurant in san francisco. pretty fun- but my tan lines are definitely not flattering. i'm working on it...

Saturday, June 09, 2007

Winter Park Hill Climb

Wow, so i guess i am not a climber- i just got my butt kicked at the hill climb in winter park. it starts at 9,000ft and it climbs up service roads for 5 miles to Mary jane ski area, to over 11,000ft. i heard the view up top was cool, but i just went through the finish, and immediately turned around and rode back down. i know, i shouldn't be such a sore looser, but i felt like i was going backwards and everyone passed me after the start. i pulled my way back up to 6th, but i didn't feel very good. i figured that i needed a good warmup for this, so i rode for about 2 hours before. didn't help. i am the kind of rider that always has a better second half of a xc race- so i am blaming it on the fact that if i had another 5 miles or 2,000ft, i could have won. just kidding. but seriously, i am hoping i was just having a bad day, and that i really am ok at climbing. really.

Thursday, June 07, 2007

Teva Games

Last saturday i went up to Vail to meet up with a couple teammates and a climber for the teva games. i really had no idea what it was all about, other than there was a huge purse for the pro racers and i figured i would give it a shot since there is usually no money in mountain bike racing so what the hell. i drove down friday night and we all stayed in this nice but small condo- there were a set of bunk beds in a closet (no joke) that i had the honors of sleeping in- i called the bottom, in case i got too claustrophobic. it was pretty funny actually. barb got the room, which i figured, she did all the logistics of it, and Shannon G got the couch. Gabi claimed the top bunk, but she is so tiny i don't think it bothered her. by the way, she rocked the climbing competition- she's 16 years old and got 9th in the pros. crazy.
So the morning of the race, we got up and rolled down to the main event at the mountain. there were so many tents set up- so much free stuff to be had! i have never been to an event that gave out so much good stuff for free- t-shirts, running clothes, camelbaks, and the usual stuff like granola bars. there were good sponsors like VW (who also had a killer band playing), teva and Trek. Barb and I went to town getting everything we could- we went back to the hotel with 2 bags full of stuff. awesome.
so i suppose i should talk about the race- so i prerode the first small loop of the course, and i think i forgot how to ride technical stuff for a second- we haven't had to ride anything hard in the norbas yet, and my balance was way off. i was flopping around like a fish. so there ended up being like 25 girls on the start line, which was good but bad since they only pay 5 deep. so we start by climbing for about 10 minutes, and i didn't warm up at all. so that hurt pretty bad. probably one of my worst starts of the year. great. the first lap hurt so much and i was pretty far back from the front girls. i didn't think i would make it through the next 2 laps. but as the race went on, not only did i warm up but my skills got better- it was actually a fun race and after my body remembered how to descend technical stuff, was even more fun. i moved up 5 places on the last lap when i finally started getting my legs back. I caught up to Barb, and its always more fun to race with a teammate and keep each other going. its funny, the last couple races we have raced together finishing close- hopefully we will be able to do the same for cross this season too. it just proves how important a good warm up is. if i had more time, another lap maybe, i could have done even better. i was pretty sore the next day- and the day after that. yeah, its all about the warm up. seriously.
that night Barb and i celebrated by getting some ice cream and going to the bars in Vail. who knew that there was such a raging night life there? we met some interesting people and got our groove on at the Red Lion until pretty late. luckily i was not doing the hill climb the next day, which a few of the girls who did the mtb race did- overachievers. we woke up Sunday morning/afternoon, got more free stuff and said goodbye to the teva games. Gabi, Barb and i went back to boulder and hung out for the evening, rewarding ourselves again by getting some good burritos. tasty.

Friday, June 01, 2007

Quad Cities, 2007

Another weekend, another race. i was super excited to fly back to kc to see all my old training buddies and to drive up to one of my favorite races, quad cites up in Iowa. The first race was on Saturday- snake alley. this one is my favorite, since its almost like a mountain bike short track- nice steep brick climb and super fast decent. i was really hoping to do well since i have been working on my sprinting and descents in CO. as the women's race grew near, the black clouds and lightning started. great. i didn't really care since it was about 80 degrees, and most girls are scared of descending in the rain. perfect for me. so it poured before the start and drenched the course. as we began, i felt really good up the first climb. maybe in 7th or so. as i came around the corner for the second lap of 14, my chain broke. i couldn't believe it. third mechanical in the last 3 races. talk about bad luck. but then a bella who i had just met before the race stops, and hands me her bike. i was like, is this legal? i hopped on her bike and rode the rest of the race. considering i had almost gotten lapped after the chain thing, i managed to salvage my placing of 16th. i was so thankful i got to finish- that was so nice of her to do that for me, and sacrifice her own race. if you are reading this, thank you!
The next day, Melon City, i was on a mission. i was ready to finish a race. the crit course had a nice long hill before the finish which suited me just fine. i felt really good, and got to the front by the last climb. unfortunately i didn't sprint so well, but still ended up 5th. i'll take it. That was the best finish i had ever done at quad cities, so i was happy, and made a little money. sweet. Rock Island was on monday, and the course is flat and fast. i was concerned about being able to sprint all the corners, since i hadn't done a crit like that since last year. it turned out i felt really good, and placed myself top 10 most of the race. instead of power, this race was won on tactics- which i don't have much of. i ended up 7th, but i do think if i had used my head a little better and had more practice doing crits i think i could have been a bit better in the sprint. i was happy though since my friend Catherine Walberg won. all in all it was a great weekend, and good training for upcoming races. i am hoping to go again next year, and tackle that snake alley again..