Saturday, September 27, 2008

goLDen, CO cross'in it



CROSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS RACING IS HERE!!!!! first one of the season in Golden, CO


i did a cross race in golden, co a couple weekends ago- just as a warmup for vegas to see how i would do/get the cobwebs out of the lungs. it was put on by green mountain sports and they did a great job with the course- it was not cross weather though! 87F and sunny, i took a few handups from chris- that water was a lifesaver! i think he was getting a kick out of feeding all the girls in the field... :) i felt good, and ended up 4th overall. not bad for the first time going hard in a while...

ahhhh! cross time!!!

yep, its that time of year again. i took some time off the bike, and that is why my blog has been seemingly left of dead. things are kicking up, time to get back in shape and begin the new season- the one full of racing your guts out, freezing your ass off, and drinking beer to celebrate! thats what you call.... cyclocross! woohooo!

i recently got back from interbike in vegas(last night) and i tried to refrain myself while i was there from becoming so overly exhausted, hung over and broke as i have in past years. i think the main reason this worked is because i was already sick (some sort of wicked cold that makes me cough like a goose) when i got there- which also meant that the cross racing wednesday night was going to be something i shouldn't be participating in, but i was there, and what the hell else was i gonna do? so i rested the best i could leading up to the wednesday night race and got called up 12th as, 'the always dangerous jen tilley!' ha! by richard freis. which i thought rather amusing. nevertheless, the race started, and i had a great first lap! top 12-15, hanging with teammate barb howe and then it happened- i couldn't breathe. i had no choice but to slow down, ride around by myself and try to salvage the race. i would rather not race sick anymore. now i am continuing to cough and hack today, still not recovered from doing an effort like that with no lung capacity. dang. live and learn....
thursday chris and i walked around the convention center, looking for all the new toys coming out for 2009- it was nice to enjoy the show and not work for a sponsor this year- of a few things to note, cliff is coming out with some very tasty 'protein malt balls' that were excellent! cliff rocks, i think they called them. i tested them at least 8-10 times, just to be sure i liked them... :)
vanderkitten has a few sweet new looks- a retro jersey, an 'REI' jersey, and the race kit which now comes in pink! sweetness. went by oakley to check out the new stuff, saw my most favorite rep, Andy who has graciously given me awesome glasses to race and hang in. Finally met Max from FSA who has been so patient with all the crazy ordering for the team and thanked him while checking out the hot new carbon wheels they have... sooo sweet.
lots and lots of new stuff, too much to list.. but there were definitely a few things that caught my eye- should be a good year for bikes in 2009!
now i just need to get healthy again, and build back up for the cross season and the upcoming 24 hours of Moab!!! 2 weeks away... its gonna be a hell of an adventure- our team of 4 pro women- we have been racing against each other all season, now racing together on a team! woohoo!