Slept in this morning after an amazing Madison Clinic run by Adrian and Dan. Those two have their exchanges down and are excellent teachers! We had 18 people show up - with 4 teams of women and 5 men. Adrian and Dan broke down the Madison into easy chunks with lots of practice. Then we started doing it at speed and finally behind a motor. It was awesome! It was great to learn from such experienced teachers... and I can't wait to try it out at FSA!

Restless

I've been having trouble sleeping in lately. Maybe it's the early morning daylight, maybe I'm anxious about something. But each morning at the crack of dawn, I wake up and can't shut the brain off. The past couple of mornings I figured it was my metabolism waking me up and screaming to feed it - but I'm starting to wonder if that's the case. I keep thinking of a million things to do around my piled house... but maybe it's from going so hard for 5 weeks in a row that my mind and body is having a hard time settling down and thoroughly enjoying a break. When you GO GO GO sometimes it's hard to just stop.

Of course being a rest week - I thought of a million things I could do around the house. Power wash the deck, get the downstairs prepped, reduce the ever growing gear pile of bike and rock climbing gear in our living room, clear off the bed in the spare bedroom and put some of the bikes in the basement, weeding, planting, etc. etc. But I must remember the definition of rest - and to tackle the piles one at a time.

Ryan and I are definitely spending this Fourth of July together - the first time in two years. For the past couple of years my mom and I have made an annual trip East to Colorado to check on her condo in Beaver Creek and then to a race at the Springs. Unfortunately the race is usually interrupted by thunderstorms and both times was nearly rained out. We spent last 4th of July partly huddled in a rental car wondering if the golf ball sized hail was going to cost us when we returned a dented SUV. Since the racing was delayed thanks to the rain and fireworks (they had to shut off the lights during the show), we decided to high tail it and get out before the masses. I will miss the excellent buffet that next morning though at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort. And of course the outlet malls. :)

I wonder if part of my problem is that I just needed to unwind - to take a moment, collect my thoughts and relax. Deep breathe and sigh - I'm starting to feel much better - and getting a little sleepy...

FIAC 6-Day National Champions

Couldn't sleep in this morning as I was so excited about the week's conclusion. Miranda and I made the history books yesterday by becoming the first women's FIAC 6-Day National Champions. We got received national jerseys (slightly different than USA Cycling's), medals and the Assos rep kicked in a killer 6-Day set. Stoked!

And one thing is for sure - I'm really looking forward to this week's rest week!

Also got to have an excellent pizza dinner with Mark and Miranda in South East Portland at Ken's Artisan Pizza. Super yummy! We each ate our own salad, pizza and had two beers a piece. Yet I still woke up this morning at 5am hungry. My metabolism is kickin'!

Let's see racing highlights.... we had a 20 point a lap race. I was able to contest several laps and barely managed to win. The legs and mind were tired! In the meantime we lapped a lot of the field. The key to those - stay in the front! I gave the final sprint a big effort, which I think tapped into my already depleted reserves. The next race - a progressive points - was DOMINATED by Jen - which is great as she and her team were quite a few laps down on us. And then our last race - a 20 minute Madison was slow and quiet. It felt good to suck some wheels during the race but during the final sprint, I thought I was going to pass out from heat exhaustion. I got that tingle arm feeling and was talking gibberish for a good twenty minutes afterwards. It was hawt!

All in all a fantastic weekend with some great riders and fun racing. We're really looking forward to representing it again at the women's Madi in a few weeks....

The Last Day...

It's going to be a scorcher today. Temps are predicted to be in the upper 90's and we're racing in the dead heat of the day - 3pm. Someone mentioned they might bring a kiddie pool - I hope they don't forget! A cool dip in some water will be just what the doctor ordered!

We had another successful night last night. I tied with Jen for points - but we were able to take the omnium again for the win. First up - a 20 lap points race. The last set of points are worth double down here - so if you don't place in the first couple of sprints, you can certainly make up lost ground in the final. Jen had an excellent sprint for the final lap and obtained maximum points. I love competitive racing!

Next on the agenda - a miss and out. I got to the front and led it each lap, only accelerating as much as necessary to ensure I was in the final three. Once we whittled down the field, we had three laps to go to determine the winner. Jen lead it out - and as we were on the back straight coming into the final lap in corner three and four, she stood up, giving it more gas and some how I was able to muster up enough energy to come around her at the end for the win. It felt great but I felt like collapsing afterward too.

Last race - the Madison - this time 20 minutes. The first sprint things stayed together, but once the second sprint happened, the pack shattered a little bit. Next thing I know, I'm chasing down Jeanie for the sprint lap and we end up having a serious gap. Then we just maintained tempo - grinding it out, dialing in our exchanges, collecting maximum points in the sprint laps and next thing we knew we had lapped the majority of the field, putting us up three laps on the nearest competitor. A very warm and successful night - and killer training.

Afterward we decided to go for a quick spin on our road bikes and I almost bucked myself off the bike on the first pedal stroke. What's this free wheel shit? Oh - you have to pedal to go forward! Nonetheless it felt strange to get on my road bike after being on my Tiemeyer all week.

So - one more day of racing and then I get to enjoy a well deserved rest week. YAY!

Pooped with a capital P

In the process of trying to rip other peoples legs off tonight, I in turn ripped my own off. Won all three races tonight - including my specialty - the miss and out. In the Madison we lapped a tired field and I'm too tired to type... headed to bed and will give you the gory details in the morning...

Fatigue, Points and Miranda the Madison Rock Star

Fatigue settled into the legs today. The first race, a 9 lap scratch felt like I was pedaling with brick columns for legs. Andrea had an excellent move on the field, taking a high flier on the group with 2 to go and holding off a charging field for the win. I was boxed in for about a 1/2 of lap - wiggled my way out and then charged toward the finish with some not-so-zippy track legs for 2nd. Miranda did well too - coming in 4th. Go Veloforma!

I started to worry though - especially since my legs felt sluggish and exhausted since I didn't spin down last night and didn't eat enough food at the right time today. Lesson learned though - I made sure to spin, eat and hydrate tonight.

The points race was super short - 15 laps, with sprints every 5. I think I was able to hold off the rest of the field for first - and Miranda, the wonder woman, has found her track legs today!

Because they combined the regular Thursday night racing program with the 6 Day, all of our races were short and condensed. This made for some HARD racing. Better suited to the sprinters in the bunch, that's for sure. Our final Madison was only 10 minutes due to lack of sunshine (they don't have lights at the AVC) and Miranda gunned it from the start. We made the other teams work and were in the front the entire race, with the exception of maybe two or three laps. At the first sprint lap and with 1 1/2 to go, I gunned it and sailed through to collect max points and then set up Miranda for the final sprint and she ROCKED the house!!!

It was funny - as I was laying on the massage table getting the nightly rub down by the miracle worker Molly (who is the best masseuse in the world and if you are ever lucky enough to be at a bike race in Oregon, it would be ridiculous for you to pass it up!), I over heard some woman say something about "those Veloforma girls..." A smile spread across my face and a deep satisfaction settled into my soul.

Day three of 6

Last night my legs felt refreshed and ready to go. We had a 25 lap points race to kick off the night and the field shattered fairly quickly. I don't see how the officials keep it all straight - who got lapped, who's on lead lap, who's bridged and eligible for points, etc. But somehow they manage to kick out the results by midnight each night tabulating the previous evenings pedaling in circles. Not to mention the final sprints in a points race are worth double the points!

Miranda and I both collected some great omnium points in the points race - always contesting the sprints and being the front mix at all times. The 20 lap tempo race or point a lap, was brutal. Poor positioning from the neutral lap left us digging to bridge up to the three leaders who were gobbling up the points for about 10 laps. The front straight had a serious head wind so you either dug deep to be in front or played it smart, sitting second wheel and had power left in the legs to contest the constant sprint laps. Miranda and I obtained some points - but by no means were we in contention for the win. It was fun - but I think we were both really looking more forward to the Madison.

Have I mentioned that I have a new love in my life? :)

It was an action packed Madison - and being reduced from 30 minutes down to 15 left little room for error. If you weren't chasing a recent attack, then you might be left in the dust. We had some dead on exchanges - one of which I heard a little whoop! from Miranda. We decided to exchange on the front straight to be eligible for the sprint points (you cannot be in contention for the points if you exchange after the 200m mark on a sprint lap) so each time we dialed it in, and gained as many points as possible. I had one scary moment though when approaching another team doing an exchange on the track and another team who was trailing me just about to exchange. The front team had the right of way and I was going to pass over the top like normal, when the relief from the second team trailing my wheel came down and pinched me in a tight spot. BACK PEDAL BACK PEDAL BACK PEDAL hard! I escaped collision by the hairs of my chinny chin chin. I'd rather not experience that again!

I did manage to kick off a chain ring bolt during a sprint. I came back to the infield after the race and found it, and had Dean help me tighten them. He also informed me my Mavic wheels are LAME in that the hub doesn't line up with the chainring and it's ruining an expensive chain. The wheels are best used on a fixie - and as soon as I get my Cane Creek's I'll retire that wheel set to my Bianchi. POS (the wheels that is!). By having an improperly aligned hub, I'm losing massive wattage and trashing a $60 chain. You learn something new every day!

Miranda and I won underwear from Day two - who knows what's in store for today! More action packed racing later tonight....

The After racing party...

This is just way too funny NOT to post. Adrian and Dan doing some baller moves.

Racing starts in a little less than two hours and I'm getting nervous already! Today I killed time by getting a pedicure, stopping off at Bike Central and buying a new track sack and some fresh water bottles. Super cool shop owned by Jen Featheringill and her partner.

Tomorrow I'm meeting up with Miller for some breakfast goodness at Mother's Bistro. Should be fun!

But tonight - we tonight there's more racing! YAHOO!