Noth'in like a little wine to finish out the day...

A little halfwheeling is good, right? Rebecca and I riding up Mt. Lemmon in Tuscan

Dell, fixing the spare tire on the truck- she totally rocks. i means seriously, she just raced short track, got 3rd, and will also kick ass the next day in the xc. and fixes trucks too. she is my hero.

Megan M. and I after the short track-
so, which way is it to the GUN show? ha!

yeah, i was helping load the bikes after the race... ok just took a sec to document how cool the truck was that it could fit so many bikes... and to prove i was there- ha!

The spot girls in AZ- Megan Monroe, Dellys Starr, and Jen Gersbach. Nice truck! We were waiting around to start the xc- saving our legs, yeah thats it...

its been a while...

ok, so have been horrible at updating this thing- the race season has started, although i think my body still thinks its winter for 2 reasons: i didn't start riding again until march, and its still only in the 40's and almost May. what the hell. i went riding today and put on all the standard winter weather stuff- leg warmers, long sleeve base layer, wind jacket, ear cover, extra gloves for the downhill. uhh. no wonder the races have not been going so well-
so, the first one was in Phoenix, AZ (2nd norba national) and drove down with the spot girls (jen g. and megan m.) and erin huck. we met up with dell starr and i haven't had that much fun over a race weekend in a long time- i mean, the racing was ok, but that group was a blast to hang with. ok so maybe i should mention the race- i did the super d, and yes i suck. its ok. i have done only one before, so no expectations. then short track- which actually was ok, midpack somewhere, (a whole 18 minutes- hellz yeah) but wanted to save some for the xc. so i started the xc on sunday last into the singletrack. yep, probably the worse course to do that on- i was behind melonie myers and i watched her endo so hard trying to pass some girls- i never saw her again. the first lap was a joke, trying to weave around everyone- finally second lap i got free, but it was only 45 min. long so i ended up 20 something. not too bad i guess considering... then we drove home, and went from 90F heat to snow in boulder. yay.
the next race was fruita, CO. i wasn't sure if i was gonna make this one, but i had never raced there so i ran out of work on saturday, hopped in the car and got in at 11pm that night- stayed at my teammate Noel's place and teammate kristin was also there- getting the old school band back together! we were the originals of the velo bella/kona pro team. ahh memories...
anyway, so no preride on the course, but everyone said it was fine and super fast- so i took off hammering past katie compton and 10 minutes later cracked hard. uhh. i recovered and started downhill- i launched myself over some rock dropoffs that looking back i am not sure i would have, but i was wedged in between the semi-pro guys and couldn't see in front of me- it was some of the coolest single track i have ridden i a while- i wish i could have enjoyed it more- instead of trying not to kill myself and pushing as hard as i could. i will have to go back there someday and really ride it. overall it was a good race day, but preriding for me seems to be mandatory... but i am happy i didn't loose it on some of that stuff- as i was flying through the air-
next and last, sea otter. well, what can i say, i always have a bad race there. this marks three years in a row. but again, the company was great, and to me that seems to be more important these days. i flew into SFO and met up with teammate barb howe where we made some excellent dinner (with lots of strawberries thanks to her new special friend who rides for them) in berkley. the next day we drove down to Salinas and stayed with Laura Sanchez (one of the origional starters of velo bella, no kidding) in her zen room- it has a vortex, and i think thats a good thing... and each day went to the venue in Monterey to preride and hang at the VB booth. i didn't do the short track since it was $90 and thats just ridiculous. so i prerode for free and met up with a lot of people at the venue i hadn't seen since last year. good times. oh yeah and then i 'raced' sunday. if you could call it that- i started well, and then it went downhill from there. i got stuck behind people that descend worse than me- unbelievable. lost a lot of time, then i cramped in my left leg (the one i fractured) and then i almost quit, and then i finished. woohoo. but afterward i met up with my sister kristin and we drove back to san fran and went shopping and to the MOMA and then had awesome sushi with her husband simon and got really drunk and took stupid crazy pics with damian who decided to shave his beard except for his mustache which made him look like the guy from reno 911. pretty funny. there seems to be a pattern so far this year- i am having way more fun traveling and doing the social thing than racing- but this could be too that i am sucking right now since i haven't really gotten in any good training due to the crappy weather in boulder. if only it would be warm, things would be much better. more motivating. more enjoyable. nicer. well you get my point...
oh and i really miss tasha. its not the same around here without her...

a view from mt. lemmon- the 27 mile climb had amazing views

me and tash after riding elephant head trail outside of Tucson- brutally hot. and rocky and dry. but awesome. very very tired.

tasha's version of packing- well sort of. amazingly it took her all night to pack. it could have something to do with the two beers in her hand...

this is what we left last week in boulder- the snow, and the dog. i missed Casey, but glad to be leaving the snow!!!

packing for our trip to Tucson, AZ. tasha wanted to document the fact that i looked a little lost packing my bike- yeah its been a few months- out of practice i guess...

so this shirt i thought was pretty funny- ironic i think- and, casey seems to like it...

i found a bike in sante fe, NM which was part of an art gallery. tasha, casey and i stopped half way down to el paso to hang out and check out the downtown area. pretty cool place-

does this picture really need a caption? no. it doesn't.

el paso, texas. repelling down some non-ridable stuff. the single track was either super easy or crazy hard-made riding interesting. but it was warm and sunny. and thats something.

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" -Mary Oliver

umm, yeah. so i have some tan lines. sweet. wait, i think thats a burn. we were too busy enjoying the sun in el paso to think about sun screen.... but hey, our new patagonia clothes look PIMP...

tasha showing off her tan lines after our el paso trip- oh and our sweet new patagonia clothes we just got in the mail- its pretty much the best sponsor- ever.

damian and i skate skiing in park city, UT. we decided to get away for a few days and ski a bit. it was hard- of course, we decided to do all the hardest loops, including the Olympic course and another called rollercoaster, each ranked a double black. sweet.

here is one of the trails damian and i skate skied on- it was called rollercoaster, and for a very good reason... crazy hard~

skate skiing on valentines day! be my valentine....

snowy day! park city, UT on valentine's day. Damian was being nice and wiping off my car with his jacket. as you can see, it snowed. and was cold. good times.

and here you see, i have the cure for the common sinus infection/bronchitis:

1. ice cream! thats right, every night! any flavor will do, but my favorites are mixing mint chip with cookie dough...

2. the drugs- wonderful mucinex and antibiotics!!! where would the human race be without them! good thing, since without them i would be out of a job....

here i am standing in front of all the drugs i give out to people...

some people ride bikes, some people sell stuff, i mix up drugs. oh yeah.

bright and early at work. woohoo, yay. this is where is where i spend half my life. good times.

Here is a pic of me attempting to ride on ice with a tad bit of snow covering it- it looks safe...

SIKE!

tasha and i slid out too many times to count. good thing i have a crack in my femor- hopefully the doc isn't reading this. ha! ice is NOT my friend. how ironic though, considering i grew up on it as a figure skater... Mmm.

ahh, left hand. been up it many many times- but this time i actually looked around for once, and noticed how cool the climb up is...
i mean, i was going slow enough- what else was i gonna do? it was great to be out in 60F weather, even if i was going about 8 mph.

yep, you are reading that right- 121 watts- woohoo! i was going so slow i almost fell over. the doc said to take it easy, and this one's for the coach. see, i can ride easy. promise.

and here is the documentation that yes indeed, i was actually on my bike today... riding. for real. and it was fabulous.

ok so everyone and their dog knows where this is- good 'ole left hand. but has anyone ever really stopped to look at the scenery? i mean really....

Renewed love...

thats it- i have rediscovered my love- my body not knowing exactly what to do at first, my legs unsure of where to be, my arms quivering as i rolled out- and then, it happened. i began to ride. not smooth at all; my feet making almost perfect squares, but it didn't matter. i am back on the bike...
my first pedal strokes felt so foreign to me, as if i had never done it before. i took the last 5 weeks off- longer than i ever have. my legs have only known the flutter kick during that time since i have been swimming. but alas, i have now remembered why i love to ride my bike! its glorious! the wind, the fresh air, the rhythm, the mechanics, the power output to propel this machine underneath me- so natural and good.
ok so maybe my average power was only about 120 watts (yeah, i know) but it doesn't matter- because i am back on my bike- and to me its the most exciting thing that has happened to me since i heard the bad news of the fracture. the doc gave me the "ok" to ride yesterday. the swimming has been fine, but definitely not fun- back and forth in a pool for 3.4k everyday with no music just the gurgling of water in and out of my ears- now finally some music! its wonderful. really. i was only allowed 30 minutes, and it took me that long to get dressed for the ride! but it was well worth it- to have the feeling of the bike, rolling over the pavement, smooth. now i know why i ride. because i love it.

yeah, we're plumbers.. professional.

me and tash decided we were gonna fix the sink- because we are professionals. i figure if you are a professional bike racer, that should span across to other professions like plumbing, right?

home improvement....

ahh, nothing like a little home improvement- as you can see, even bike racers can have plumber's crack- and fix sinks too! this is natasha by the way....

broken, again

i am not sure what is wrong with me, but i am the most accident prone person alive i think. so in some previous posts i wrote about my knee bothering me, not really paying much attention to it since i figured i just whacked the hell out of it and needed some time to heal. but in no way would that include time off the bike or not racing...
after cx nationals on sunday when i couldn't move it or i would get shooting pains through my leg i thought it was just swollen and i was being wimpy. after 2 weeks of pain, i decided that i should get it checked out. I got an MRI which showed a fracture in my fibula and a really bruised bone. huh. maybe i'm not such a wimp after all- the bad part about it is that now i have to be off the bike for 6 weeks- no riding, running, hiking, snowboarding, skate skiing- absolutely nothing fun- the doc didn't exactly say that but he might as well have. i am supposed to be using crutches too. they hurt my arm pits. i started swimming again- i used to race back in high school, but i wasn't any good. its really boring. i hope i can make it through the next 5 weeks and 1 day. yes, i am counting. every... single... day...

my dog Casey, trying to pick his way down the logs- he had already ran up and was coming back down to get us- apparently we were too slow for him...

So the other day tasha and i decided to go for a little hike with the dog to get some fresh air- as we started up the "gentle hike" it was apparent that we were in for more than just an easy stroll. the sun was setting, and the rocks and logs were covered with ice and snow- probably not the smartest thing to do with my messed up knee. i am finding that in colorado, its all or nothing- if you go on a hike or ride or anything, its gonna be epic and/or very dangerous. coming back down we squealed like little girls afraid of slipping. yeah, i swear we're pro mountain bike racers....

the afterparty- nothing like a little gin n tonic and video games- whats better than that? maybe a mechanical bull....

while driving into kc on wednesday night through the icy abyss, amy insisted on licking a rock that she thought was sugar coated. wierdo- i told my dog casey to bite her ass, but he wouldn't. that would have been pretty funny.

ok, so i had to put this picture up- its the essence of what the whole weekend was about- crashing all twisted and contorted, bruises all over as if we had been beaten- badly. nice work, amy. thanks for the wicked grimace on your face as your about to create your 3rd knee. awesome.

mmm, the stairs. it looks like i am
on a sunday stroll-

la de da, just walking up some stairs, in the
mud, la la la....

a little hotel trainer time....
by the way, those are all natasha's clothes.
everywhere.... hehehe
and, i am not sure why amy is hiding behind the curtain... she's a little crazy, that one.

friday's race
riding by the "no tilly zone"
i told them they spelled my name wrong...

hello again, kans-ass.

so this past weekend the boulderites of velo bella drove to kc- back to my roots, and where i started this crazy cult-like following calling cyclocross. amy dombroski, natasha cowie, casey klein (my dog) and i packed into my jetta wagon and headed towards the icy abyss.

we got a late start wednesday, and got into lawrence where we stayed with my coach and good friend adam mills. after sleeping in until about 1pm thursday we headed to the course which was a mud pit. not exactly what i was expecting, since the last time i rode this course it was fast and dry. after one lap i was pretty much done- wet cold and covered with mud. after a few sprints and feeling like total crap, we headed back to rest up and clean clothes- we were getting good at the mud cleaning thing- with plenty of experience from portland.
the next day i was racing the masters race- yeah i know- i am now a master! ha! it was nice to have such a big tent area set up for us, and with only anna milkowski, shannon gibson and i racing, we had plenty of space and support. it was fabulous. shannon raced before us, and won her race. awesome. as soon as i went to the start line, the sun went away and the temperature dropped about 10 degrees. the mud and turned to peanut butter from previous races so it was a struggle to keep the pedals turning. after the start, i warmed up fast and felt really good- my legs felt strong but i had lost the front group. i hovered around top 10 for the whole race. at the end, i was with 2 other girls which made for a great last lap and hard sprint. my legs were tired, but i felt good about my 7th place finish. unfortunately anna had some mechanicals which set her back- i will later in the weekend be able to relate to her issues....
saturday morning i woke up early (well, not as early as natasha and amy who got to the venue before the sun came up- crazy u-23's) to watch our youngsters of the team tear it up in the snow and ice. there weren't many people out watching which was a shame, since amy dominated the race. natasha was not far behind, gritting her teeth to push through the rutted up icy course. i was so proud of them- i ran around the course cheering like crazy and taking pics. probably not the best thing to do before the elite race the next day...
we did a little trainer time in the hotel room saturday, which is always fun- nothing like sweating like crazy while inhaling burning rubber and watching bad tv. good times.
sunday came around fast- and before we knew it we were all on the trainers under the tent (all 12 of us) preparing for the biggest race of the season. all the traveling to chase points, all the intervals and training, all the time and money spent to get to this point in the season came down to this one race. no pressure- ha!
amy and i sneaked onto the course to get a quick preride in to see how it had changed since the day before- every day of the weekend the course was different. today, the sun was out which meant that the top surface had melted, but the icy ruts were still underneath. this made for some really technical riding, which i was fine with- time to pull out the mtb skillz.
i was lined up 3rd row, not too bad considering there were almost 100 girls. i had a great start, being in the top 15 or so. i crashed early on the dirt, trying to take a line that was a little risky. getting back going, i knew i could make up some time. i felt good, and i knew i had the potential to do well on this course. on the second lap, i flatted. but i knew that riding it to the pit and switching bikes wouldn't set me back too much. wrong. the pit crew wasn't ready for me, and although i appreciated the volunteers helping our team out, it would have been good to have them know who i was. so i spent some time in the pits. a lot of time. after rolling my tubular i went to switch bikes again, and the same story. i stood in the pit waiting for a bike. i crashed and bent my handle bar so i wanted to switch bikes. i came into the pit one last time, and again there was no bike- "give her a bike!' someone yelled as i stood there, watching girls pass by. they grabbed a bike off the rack- it was amy dombroski's bike. yeah, its size 45 or something. i jumped on it and i felt like i was in the circus- my knees were hitting the handle bars when i sat and pedaled, so i had to stand the last lap. thats not easy to do on ice. so, needless to say i placed horribly, and i was pretty upset about the whole thing. mechanicals happen, and bad bike changes happen, but not 4 times in one race. uhhh. next year i will do things different- i will take this as a learning experience, and know that things can go wrong- its part of racing. some things are preventable-and for next year i will make sure this doesn't happen again.
the season is over, and now its time to hang out without the bike, at least for a few weeks. it was a good first attempt at doing the bigger cross races, and my first time chasing points. i am hoping to get a little better for next year, and possibly accompany barb and wendy across the pond...
but for now its time to get the snowboard out, dust off the skate skis and enjoy all the snow and the mountains here in boulder...

ok, so this pic was from nationals this past weekend in kc, but i was just as muddy after friday's race as i was after portland. all the races are starting to blend together... cold, rain, mud...

saturday's race in portland-
coming up to the barriers. its early in the
race, as you can see i am pretty clean stil...

Portland usgp

i know its been a while since this race happened, but things have been a little crazy since then and now that i am warm and dry again i can finally try to remember some of the details of the portland weekend.
going into the race, i knew that it was going to be a sloppy mess. last year i came out to watch so i had some idea of what i was in for. i flew out with teammate amy dombroski and stayed with another teammate sara johnson who lives in portland. it was raining when we got there, and didn't stop until i left- i saw the sun the day i was flying away. i have no idea how people live there. seriously.
amy and i went to pick up anna milkowski at the airport and headed to the course for a preride friday, and it was muddy, just as expected. it was a different course than last year, but really fun with some good technical/off camber sections which made it interesting. so after riding until it was dark, we headed back to clean our stuff- which we will have down as a routine by the end of the weekend...
waking up saturday morning to snow was not what i was expecting in portland. but, i would rather have that than rain. sitting on the couch, amy and i decided that if we lived in portland, we were pretty sure we would never go outside, and just eat all day by the fire in front of the TV.
but a race was waiting for us- we bundled up and headed to the venue. unfortunately the snow turned to cold rain, and the conditions were just as muddy but the puddles were a lot colder as it splashed up onto you. ahhh, cross racing- a little snow, a little rain, and a lot of mud. what more could you ask for?
sara and her friends graciously came out the races to help us over the weekend- i think i will be forever in their debt- no amount of beer could repay them for standing out in the rain fixing our bikes and being in the pit- they did a fantastic job, and things couldn't have been smoother in and out of the pits. considering most of them had no idea how to hand off a bike, i would just like to say i would never had known- thanks guys if you are reading this. sara and the gang had things going like clockwork, and we really couldn't have raced without them.
i started ok, not great. after standing around waiting for call ups, i got really cold and by the time the race was on, i might as well had not warmed up. it wasn't a bad race, but not a great one either. i figured i had another day to get things going, so i left it up to sunday to try again. my knee was killing me, and i limped around afterward trying to loosen it while overdosing on ibuprofen.
waking up sunday morning was almost the same as the day before- only it was pouring rain instead of snow, and after a phone call from tim brennan telling me our kona tents had blown away during the night, i was a little worried about the day. we packed our bags full of every piece of clothing we owned (and borrowed some from sara too) and headed to the venue. it was true- no tents. so amy and i scouted around searching for another team to mooch off of- luckily ben turner was there with his trusty set of green clif tents and allowed us to use their space for warm up. i have no idea what we would have done if those guys weren't around- thanks again to another bunch of people who helped out the velo bellas.
in the pouring rain, we lined up waiting for the gun to go off. it was the longest 2 minutes of my life. i was shaking so hard from being cold and wet, and the race hadn't started. needless to say, i never got warm, only colder. the wind began to blow harder, and it was a constant 40 mph with gusts so hard it ripped up a tree on the side of the course. i wanted to quit after the first lap- my body was freezing up and i would never get warm throughout the race. i thought to myself there is no way in hell they will run the men after us, these conditions are too bad. after finishing horribly i rode straight back to the car and ripped off all my clothes. i didn't care if anyone saw me. i was so cold that i just wanted all things wet off of me. after putting dry clothes on over myself (and over all the mud still coating my body) i sat in the car with amy and we cranked the heat- i shivered uncontrollably for a good hour. i considered going to the hospital since i had never been that cold before-
it was over. my portland experience. i have to say that it was NOT epic, and i am not looking back and glad that i did it. i could have done without that weekend i think, although in between the racing was fun. i made it through but you could not pay me to ever live there, thats for sure.
i did realize one thing- if i could finish a race in those conditions, being that miserable and cold, i could do any race. nothing could ever be as mentally tough as getting through those races. at least i have that experience. oh and a lot of mud stained clothes.

Ahhh, another pic of me running on sunday- yeah getting pretty good at that...

Running through the sand on saturday- did quite a bit of this since i couldn't keep my power up through the 50 feet of it- at least i look like i know what i am doing...

This was before the race on Saturday, before the embarrassing crash over the barriers which cracked my ribs- yeah thats why i had a smile on my face...

Teammate Kathy Sherwin and I trying to keep warm while watching the guys duke it out on Sunday...

USGP #2

ahh, finally got my chance to race a gp, since last year i spent every one of them on the sidelines. i was really excited to get on the start line with everyone- i have been doing other cross races but this series is the one that matters- and since i was sick for the first gp in KY, i was definitely looking forward to this set of races.
we arrived in the philly airport thursday night (barb, amy d., and kathy sherwin) and headed towards trenton NJ. luckily we found a whole foods near by and ate some tasty salad bar stuff that night. the next morning we headed to the course to check it out- it was cloudy, windy and cold. the course was pretty flat and grassy with plenty of twists and turns. There was a long sand pit, which i almost made it through once, and a fly over which had really steep stairs on one side, a short platform to remount, and a steep ride on the backside. it was a little freaky to ride it the first time, especially since at the bottom the transition was not good, and 100% of the time i wasnt clipped in so it was sort of sketchy.
before saturdays race, i did a easy prelap to check out how the legs were feeling and make sure there were no changes in the course. i was pedaling around chatting with katerina nash behind me, and came up to the barriers- i guess i forgot how tall they were, and i carelessly tripped over the first barrier and fell flat on my face. i was so embarrassed, and katerina picked up my bike for me- i guess i was so concerned with whether or not someone saw me that i didn't realize how much i had hurt myself. i finished warming up and got lined up. it was really cold, and my body didn't feel like going hard in the beginning- i was also having pedal issues which prevented me from clipping in- the candies don't work well with wet sand i found. i got so frustrated with it that i basically stopped racing, and just rode around until the end of the race. needless to say i finished horribly. i was determined to have a better race on sunday.
i woke up sunday and i could hardly move. i had gotten some tape from the drug store and taped up my ribs which felt better. my dad was driving from hershey, PA to see me race, so i wanted to do well- but i was hurting pretty bad. the rain had started during the night, and soaked the course. the temps dropped and the wind was howling. perfect cross weather- the course turned out to be way better than the day before- only i couldn't breathe deep due to my stupid crash. i was determined to race anyway- i had more fun riding (yes, i said riding, not racing) on sunday- even though i did horribly, i got to see my dad, and play around in the mud. i did crash once on the last lap onto my bad side which knocked the wind out of me- that hurt. i think my teammate melonie thought i was dying- i was gasping for air and she kept looking back to see if i got up. i finished the race, and went back to the hotel to get warm. we all went out for dinner that night to celebrate the team's good work (amy d. rocked it sunday, getting most aggressive rider) and everyone else did really well. its always nice to have teammates around to get you through the rough patches of racing- it can be tough sometimes, especially when you're frustrated with mechanicals or injuries- and in my case i had both... overall it was not the weekend i was expecting, but i made the best of it, and now i am trying to heal up before portland. its nothing that a little percocet can't help...

boulder- the windy city...

Alright, so calling boulder the windy city doesn't seem quite right, but after my weekend of racing here thats what i am going to call it, at least until my wounds heal...
so this past weekend here in boulder held two UCI races- the redline cup and boulder cup, both within 10 minutes from my house- and that is something great- no bikes to pack, no airports/shuttles to deal with- fabulous.
after being really really sick from food poisoning and missing out on last weekends usgp, i really wanted to do well and grab some points. at least that was the goal. saturdays course wasn't my favorite, but ended up flowing better than i expected- more sand than i have ever ridden/ran through (more running than riding most of the time) which made it much harder. i was the last one called up (hence the reason to nab some points) and went aggro on the start, moving up to top 15 by the first part of the lap. i felt really good, and continued to reel in more spots throughout the race. i was happy since i didn't fade, which has been my problem since the beginning of the season. i was closing in on 10th, but as i was rounding the corner towards the last set of barriers and the last few minutes of the race, a barricade along my right side which held a banner decided to fall on top of me. a gust of wind had caused it to blow over right as i came by...talk about bad luck- it pinned me to the ground and spectators had to pry it off of me, while another guy straightened my bike out- i thought i broke my wrist, and was pretty pissed off. i finished the race in 11th place, right out of the points, again.
the next day i was determined to be top 10- i was really excited about the course too, since last year i had to watch everyone race it on the sidelines. the wind was strong, and i made a point to be no where close to the barricades this time... but alas, the wind would be the fall of me at this race too- and a bad cleat/pedal combo. Being called up at the back i had a plan to sprint crazy hard behind my teammate barb at the start. well, after pulling out of my pedal 3 times within the first minute, i knew i had to go through the pit to change bikes. i had decided to ride the new bike that i had put old pedals on. not a good decision on my part. but before getting to the pit, and trying to improve on my horrible start i was sprinting around some girls on the back side of the course, and as i was pulling up on the bars my wheel caught a bit of air (i was wearing my carbons) and a gust of wind got my wheel and threw me to the ground- hard. i laid there for a while, wondering if i should get up. now i really needed to go to the pit, since my bike was slightly off to one side from the crash. so, i cruised down, wandered around in the pit for a while looking for my second bike, and then decided to keep riding, since i needed a workout for the day anyway... i was way off the pace, a good 5 minutes. i did end up catching a few girls by the end, but my head wasn't into it- i mentally gave up after the crash. i knew i didn' t belong back there in 25th place. i thought about quiting the whole time, but thats not me. having a DNF next to my name is something i absolutely hate seeing. its only happened after major mechanicals in 2 races the past couple years at norbas, and i was very upset about it even though there was nothing i could have done to finish the race. so, since i had a working bike i was determined to cross the finish line. i did, but very far back in 17th. not one that i am proud of. there is always another race, and this coming weekend in durango i hope to get my revenge...

Sunday's race in Gloucester- i was a hurt'en puppy thats for sure...

Gloucester

i was really excited to do these races last weekend, since i had heard how great the course was- and its on the coast. i was definitely looking forward to seeing the ocean- being landlocked is rough sometimes..
so megan m and i found some plane tickets and headed toward boston- upon landing, the wind was blowing and the rain was coming down in sheets. i was thinking maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all, since i had come from 75 degrees and sunny in boulder-
but, my teammate anna picked me up and we headed toward rebecca wellen's house which was about 45 minutes away from the course. i went for a spin in the cold and actually felt ok considering i have been not feeling so hot since vegas...
we woke up saturday morning, met up with megan (who took the red eye- crazy girl) and the weather was amazing- sunny and no clouds or wind. it was gonna be a good day-
after spinning and doing some sprints i was ready. surprisingly there were 40+ women on the start line. got called up 15th or so, no bad considering i haven't done any races this year really that count. lynne was there, but she had already done the men's 3 race so she was tired- ha yeah right. my start was shitty again- i gotta work on that. so i spent the whole race picking off girls from about 30th- by 2 laps to go, i had made it to the top 10, with lynne only about a minute 20 sec in front of our chase group. too bad i hadn't started better- i would have saved some energy. i was in a group of about 4-5 girls- including my teammate melanie which was nice to have someone on my side instead of attacking me. i tried to get away a couple times but i had no power left- and on the last lap i got a leg cramp which forced me to fall off the group and finish alone, in 12th. good thing points were only top 10. sweet. i was determined for sunday to stay in the top 10, but things don't always work out how you want them-at the start after the first lap, i knew the race was going to be ugly- everyone was out for revenge it seemed, and racing faster than saturday. unfortunately for me it was windier and harder to jump alone through the girls. my legs were flat, and tired from all the work i did on saturday. i have to get better at starts...
overall it was a great course, beautiful weather and good competition- what more could i ask for? although i was a little disappointed in my finishes, it just motivates me to want to race that much harder for the next races- and the fact that i constantly had teammates around me was pretty cool too- the team did great, and i was proud of everyone who raced. im definitely looking forward to louisville..