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...