fantastic friday

Last night Ryan and I went on a date. We went to see Double Take, an art exhibit showing at the EMP. There were pairings of paintings from Paul Allen's personal collection - from Monet to Lichtenstein. As the curator repeated over and over again, it was fantAAAstic! Definitely worthwhile and cool to check out. I think the show's running thorugh September.

Afterward we were headed to Bizzarro's for some yummy Italian food but they were closed for a private function. Too bad - they changed their menu recently and Ryan has been dying to get in there and check it out. Luckily the Latona pub has excellent food and tastey beers on tap... a good standby when you're starvin' marvin'.

Earlier in the day I met up with my friend Nina for a short hour spin. It was good to be on the bike with her - and she reminded me just how crazy things got before I desided to start racing. In one summer I did STP (210 miles), RSVP (185 miles) and RAPSODY (145 miles). Holy moly. That's a lot of mileage - especially condensed in one day! How did I manage that one? I'd die if I had to do that now. :)

Actually, I really enjoy the long rides for the sheer fact that it feels so good to be off the bike and rehydrating/fueling. It makes those 100 mile road races a piece of cake!

Some not so random thoughts....

Last night I had a 3/4 mental break down. I'm not sure how it snuck up on me - but suddenly I found myself slightly paniced and wondering if all the intensity I've been doing is really going to benefit me. I was tired and fatigued and found myself in a conversation that created doubt in my training and ability. After finishing a 5x5 points race with the Master's men field I started getting really harsh on myself. When you've been working so hard toward something and believe in what you do - well let's just say it was a slap in the face. A reality check of sorts. Tears welled up, emotions ran wild.... I almost broke down. Thank goodness Ryan was there to encourage me - he dusted me off, picked me up and reminded me again that it's the long term goals that I'm after. Pain and suffering is part of the process.

"Why do you ride your bike?"
"Because I love to."

And that's all that matters.

Fam-damily

My little sister took an amazing photo of the whole family while we were down in Oregon. My brother had to toss Coleman up in the air to try and get him to calm down and smile for the camera. After about 20 tries we finally got it!

And no, I am not wearing flip-flops. :)

Workout Windup

This is my heavy week for training - a good track push before I settle down, get some recovery time in and then attempt to kick some serious bootie at nats. For all of you trackies -here's a break down...

Monday - road threshold day. 6x6 min with 1:1 recovery.
Tuesday - Fast Track - 3x3k fly, 3x2k fly, 3x500m SS, all undergeared. OUCH!
Wednesday - AM Road Threshold work 3x10 min OG Z3/4, PM - Race
Thursday EZ
Friday - Race with the 1/2's
Sat - 3 hr road ride

Last week by the time Friday rolled around I was pretty worked from all of my pursuit training. Hopefully this week my body is adapting to the increased load and I will be able to work on sustaining an even harder work load. I've been eatting well - mmmmm heirloom tomatoes! and trying to load on the carbs before a big effort.

It's cloudy today - I wonder what's up with the weather.

mellow monday

Do you ever have the feeling that if your life wasn't full of events or things to look forward to during the week you might go stir crazy? I am driven by goals - small and large. I have to be constantly working toward something or I will find something to occupy my time. Fortunately I set my professional life up to a point that it requires minimal thought, energy or stress - and am just reaping the benefits. I mean really, who wouldn't enjoy 20 hour work weeks where your commute is 1 mile away, the environment is super supportive and everyone there enjoys what they're doing? It's a dream job. So waking up Monday morning feels just as good as waking up on a Friday. And what used to be a ridiculously long work week has now shrunk to nothing. I know, it's disgusting.

Ryan's in Durango right now working with some fellas to get a top secret program up and running. Sounds like he made some great progress with them as well as experienced their local mountain biking scene. He called and told me he was single tracking it with Walker Thompson, this local bad ass, and he took a corner too hot, lost control and bashed into a boulder injuring his hip. Poor guy! What's he trying to do riding a bike? Just teasing. :)


Sunday I hung out with my mother in law Trish and we went to the Asian Art Museum to see Night Sounds: Nocturnal Visions of Mark Tobey and Morris Graves. It was amazing. One of them lived near La Conner in the 40's in this handbuilt house on top of a bluff where the only access was to climb up the bluff into the house. He was isolated from people, industrial sounds - and surrounded by the ocean, animals such as owls, fish, etc and painted some amazing pieces of a northwest winter. This one painting really struck me - he captured the turbulant black water that is constantly moving, only highlighted when it peaks and catches the moon and disappears back into the black abyss. Art is so amazing when seen in person.

And yes, for the record - I did do some yard work yesterday. This morning I'm headed to the dump to heave our mammoth lame counter top Ryan disassembled. Fun times. :)

Quiet time...

My mother in law just left - and it feels really strange to have the whole house to myself. It's rather quiet and boring if you ask me. I'd much rather have company all day and avoid the nagging chores I've been ignoring all month. But I suppose I better snap to and get something done... having quiet days like this only come around once in a blue moon.

I got the call, again.

As if the first time wasn't bad enough. Last November I was about 10 minutes into my workout at the gym when Nina's phone started ringing. It was Ryan - frantic because he was stranded on the side of the freeway near Lynnwood. He had run out of gas. He even admitted thinking that he had to get gas, passed about 20 stations on his way to the freeway and just spaced it. So I rescued him - releaved he was ok but a little upset that he doesn't pay attention to such critical details.

And then last night after track, while preparing a fabulous feast of chicken indian food - I got the call.

"The van just died. I don't know what's wrong."

"What do you want me to do about it? If you're stranded call 911 to let them know you're there."

"No, I'm going to see if I can get Maggie (the van) going again - it was wierd, she just powered down all of a sudden. No warning - nothing."

He hangs up. I continue cooking - things are smelling really tastey in the kitchen. My mouth starts watering. Two minutes later the phone rings.

"I'm out of gas."

NOT AGAIN!!!!

Luckily this time he was on I-5 right at where the 520 exit merges off of the 5. I looked in the garage - and voila! A full gas can ready for rescue.

A quick cruise to the freeway - and there was poor little Maggie - deader than a doornail in the split between the two roadways. I was a little pissed at first - next time - well, there's not going to be a next time. What's up Mr. Triplett?

We got home and had our great dinner around 11pm and I got to tell him stories about my race night. He told me he had climbed 4 pitches of 13c. We went to bed and dreamt of sugarplums. ;)

Rain

It started misting this morning. That just means I have to wait another 1/2 hour for the roads to get washed down of all the slick debri built up before going out there and grinding my 10x10s standing starts. Fun times! Actually it hasn't rained in Seattle in over a month - so the yard will be happy for sure.

Last night was my first solid pursuit effort in prep for nats. I had 6x 3k overgeared flying efforts and they were hard. As the night wore on, my times were getting slower and slower but that's when it counts, so I kept on. I actually feel good this morning - but we'll see how the legs respond once I get on my road bike. :)

Later, jen

Shots by Deb...

Marcy got a new job - as a high school photographer. She had to set up shop to practice and make sure everything works. So I had her take a pic of Makiah and I. Check out the cheesy background.

Oh - and Amara took this saweet shot at the FSA challenge. It was taken during the 200m TT - getting my best time yet, 4/10ths of a second then my previous PR's at marymoor.

"Don't let Mindy or Jen catch us!"

I will definitely take that as a compliment. Someone said that's what Gina told the small break away from today's Gig Harbor Road Race. Is little ol' me really a big ol' threat? It made me chuckle. :)

So the race was only 35 miles - on rolling terrain with one 1/4 mile steep rise at a 7% or so pitch. Then once you summit you continue on a false falt that puts you right into a head wind. It was a great course - and it was nice to see how far my climbing skills have come. I just wish I would have some sort of power data from the race - cuz I know them watts where flowin'!

We basically got a break of 8 right from the first lap up the hill and then held on from there. It widdled down to 4 - Dana, Beth, Gina and Suz on the final climb and Mindy, Trisha, Shannon and I were trying to chase them down. Unfortunately my track legs were slightly taxed from last night and I couldn't pull an ounce harder than I had before. Oh well. The finish was good - a sprint between me and Trisha. All in all - a great day of racing. I really thinking my training has come a long way - not only physically but mentally.

Oh - and last night I raced with the Cat 3 men and got two 3rd places - one in a 25 lap scratch race and another in the 10 lap tempo. Saweet! And I used a much bigger gear last night - 51x15 and it felt good. I think it's safe to say I finally graduated to a bigger gear!

Ok... enough rambling... time to shower my stinky butt.

It's Friday, already?

Today is the first day where I had some extra time to kill after work. I'm amazed at how quickly the week flew by - and am glad the weekend is here! The fam damily is headed down to Seaside on Sunday for a week and I get to join them for a couple of days. Should be a ball.

I just bought tix today for T-town. So I'll be able to confirm or deny the rumors about it... I also heard Tamarack might be able to find some additional funding for the trip. Saweet. :) I know I've said it before, and I'm definitely going to say it again and again, but it's great having that kind of support.

mmmmmm pasta ... carb loading for tomorrow.

Later!

hump of the week

This is a pic of Tyson on Chronic.. Ryan didn't have any of himself on it. But it will give you the general idea.....

The weekend threw me off a bit - I kept thinking today was Thursday. Racing on Friday and Saturday instead of the typical weekend days confused me. :) (HAHAHAHA~!!! I just read my last blog entry - proof I was confused about what day it was!)

Last night was fast track. I did some 600m efforts with Annette in the pursuit position. Which brings up two things - my seat squeeks like crazy when ever I sit on it... and second - my starts are lame because my bars are too high. Time to get those fixed today. But on to better and much more important news.....

Headed out to North Bend tonight to watch Ryan do some climbing at his home crag little Si. The hike to the wall is about 20 minutes - through a really cool forest. Our dog Makiah knows it so well she herds us all the way up. It's definitely her crag too. We went up on Sunday and stashed some beers in the river - a well deserved and tastey beverage on the way back to the car.

Ryan nearly sent this hard 85 foot overhanging route. He one hung it from the top - almost completing a redpoint. Then he climbed 5 other pitches of equally hard routes and could barely wake up on Monday morning. Then last night I called him on the way home from the track and he redpointed Chronic - a 13b. Bad ass!!!

Tonight is his 4th day on and I'm going to bike out there to join him and watch. Hopefully I'll remember to take some pics...

Where did the week go?

Suddenly it's Wednesday and I am trying to remember all that happened in the past few days. First - my sister took some awesome photos from the sprint session. My favorite of which:

http://www.marcysutton.com/stuff/jenn/072806_037.jpg

I'm excited about what lays ahead for nationals.

Ryan and I went for a ride out to Mercer yesterday and did some tempo work. My goal was 1:1 15 min threshold tempos - and easily tackled that goal. Ryan sat on my wheel while I grinded out the power. It felt really good - I haven't worked my aerobic base in a while.

Well back to work...

Qualified!

So after watching track on Wednesday night, I had a really hard time sleeping. I kept thinking about this weekend and the stakes at hand - worried about making the national qualifier because on Thursday we bought our tickets. I visualized the points race- covering the attacks by Murdin and Annette - making sure they didn't get a gap or a lead... building my confidence up in my head and repeating positive thoughts to myself.

The challenge started with the Pursuit on Friday morning - something I have never done nor trained for. My intention was to podium so the pressure would be off for qualifying. Well Jen, expecting to place top 3 just doesn't cut it when you've never done the event, let alone practiced a lot in that position. So I was a little bummed with a time of 4.18 - but hey, you have to start somewhere, right? Then Amara, Kele, Annette and I did the team pursuit - and let me tell you how much FUN that event is. We actually executed it as if we practiced it a lot. We placed 4th out of 5 teams. It was great!

Break for evening session... headed to Miller's parents house where they cooked us some treats and made espresso. Well whatever was in the espresso proved essential in the points race. I opted not to do the Keirin because I wanted to make sure I qualified for nats in the points race. Wise move. I had enough gas in the tank to win 2 sprints and a single point in the race. Unfortunately I missed the first sprint round and PANICED! I knew I had to kick it up a notch and race my race - not let those ladies get away with my points. I ended up winning the next sprint lap, then got one point in the 3rd sprint and took a flier around everyone to clinch a 2nd place to Jennie Reed. YES!!! Podium hair! I can't tell you how excited I am! Ryan got to see it - so did my mom and Marcy. It was incredible! Thank you all!

I LOVE track

I wonder how many times I have posted that as my blog title. It's definitely more than once. But in all reality - I really really do LOVE track. It is one of the funnest sports to compete in and watch. My friend Jill and I went tonight to watch Wed. night racing and there's such a good energy there and people are so friendly. I really think I might have some serious clients for the skirts too. Fun times.

The FSA GP is this weekend - hopefully we have a full field of 8+ women... otherwise they will nix our mass start races. I think we will have enough though. Should be fun! Feel free to come watch - racing starts at 7... there's a beer garden too!

The Morning After

Fired up from the night before, I had a really hard time catching some zzzz's Saturday night. The following morning we had a super early crit - and because the local promotors put it on - it was important to Tamarack to support the race. We rolled in at 8:40 - the race started 5 minutes later - only to be delayed while they towed several cars that were parked on the street. With 7 teammates and only 24 racers total - we were able to work on leadouts, team tactics, attacks and solo ventures. I paired up with little Brooke (not to be confused with the other Brooke who leads the team - they call her Mama Brooke). We were designated to go for the second prime together. I kept near the front for most of the race - just waiting for my chance. But unfortunately when the prime bell rang Brooke was near the back of the group and we weren't able to execute out plan. No worries though because Tamarack flooded the field and was able to win it.

At one point M. Brooke asked if I felt ok and told me to attack HARD off the front of the group. I nailed it - no one responded and soloed for 3-4 laps. Ok - note to self: don't hit it so hard you can't recover but learn how hard you need to nail, be able to recover and pursuit it in for the win. Timing is everything. But I gave my first really hard attack a go - and it felt good - real good to do that.

I was taxed for the finishing sprint - and when the leadout train started was unable to pull it together. I still managed 7th - but was pooped from my solo attack. Fitness will only cure that! All in all a great weekend. It definitely built my confidence and I'm really looking forward to staying home this weekend! I've been gone every weekend since the tail end of June!

The Twilight

As predicted, Lipton had attacked about three times before they had Kristin attack and sail off the front for a time trial effort for the win. Lipton did a really good job of slowing the pace through the corners and unfortunately we didn't organize a paceline soon enough to reel her back in. The rest ensued in a series of counter attacks and fast paced action around and around downtown Boise. I was feeling good - really good - in comparison to last weekend. Resting and nursing the cold was exactly what the doctor ordered for a good performance.

Since Kristin was off the front she was unfortunately given prime after prime making the rest of us fight tooth and nail for $25 here and there. And since I was feeling so good I decided to go for it and nailed a prime. It was close though and I had to give it some serious gas - I actually think I got to open my sprint up full throttle and see how it compared to the full time pro cyclists. All I can say is that things are coming along and the planets are aligning again. :)

To get over the hurrdle of moving in the pack I mentally rehersed the situation over and over for several hours prior to the event. Constant positive affirmations were key to gaining confidence... and it showed! As a group we rode really strong together and Brooke was able to pull 3rd in the field sprint, Jen 5th, I was 13th, Carrie 15th, Mary and Jana and little Brooke following (sorry, I can't remeber where you ladies placed!). We were all stoked about how hard we worked as a team and with a little practice we should be able to put the odds more in our favor.

I was barely able to sleep that night - replaying the whole crit in my head looking for ways I could improve and reliving my glory-hardest-$25-prime-EVER... seeing us form a paceline that would have caught Kristin.... The sheep counting trick took awhile to work.. plus the fact we had the Morning After Crit at 8:45am in less than 7 hours....

Boilin' Boise

Temps are well over 100 here in Boise... and tonight is the 20th Anniversary Twilight Crit. We should have a small but stout field - locals Kristin Armstrong brought a couple of her Lipton teammates and are sure to keep things fast and interesting. Tamarack has seven racers - so we have a top heavy team. I'm looking forward to seeing how well my body has recovered from having a cold this week. It's hard to figure out the best way to tackle the heat - do you warm up inside? Do you warm up at all? Do you even worry about doing any laps on the course prior to the start? Hmmmm... one thing is for sure - that beer, I mean recovery drink, is going to be TASTEY!!!

Watching the Tour

Last night we headed down to Magnuson park to watch a big screening of the Queen of all stages. I sat there mezmorized as Rasmusson tapped out a tempo no one could rival. He gets into the zone and just tap tap taps. His upper body remains calm, his lower body working like a well oiled machine.

And poor Flyandis. He cracked hard. He only had 10k to go - and as expected, the attacks started coming. His teammates were well behind him at that point and he didn't have anyone to shepard him. The final climb is a doozy - and it broke many a man. Unfortunately it also broke the mallot juane. So many times I have been there myself - cracking under the pressure... unable to continue on at that tempo. Is it a mental thing? Look at how many other guys were ok with continuing on at that pace, surprized when they realized they were passing poor Floyd. It's almost as though you have to hypnotize yourself while in the pain cave and just plow right through it - ignoring all feeling and shutting down your brain from any self doubt. I definitely think it's a mental thing... now if I can just unlock that pain cave and battle through it...

Still fighting this persistant cough. I rode yesterday and made the mistake of getting my heart rate up. It hurt. I guess I'll just have to save that for the weekend....

Suspicions confirmed....

Yes, I have a cold. Dang. Getting sick is almost as bad as an injury as an athlete. I've been pumping the fluids and cold meds for two days now and am starting to feel better. And it's always a catch 22 whether training when feeling under the weather is helping or making it worse. So I've been staying off my bike. And I'm going to miss the Gastown crit. Oh well.

Pole con mole

So some people have a hard time spelling things - but I have a hard time pronouncing them. Tonight at dinner I ordered pole on mole - (pollo con mole). Whopps - I butchered that one!

This morning I woke up with a slight hack - Jana and I went for a nice morning ride and then I came back, showered and felt like poo. I decided to give the race a go - mainly because the course was so much fun and I came here to race. And I was doing my goals - positive self talk during the race, moving forward constantly and not being the last person in the race. And then boom - I hit a wall and started feeling terrible. Once the pack caught me, I had an asthma attack and had to pull over before passing out. Darn - two races in a row where I have terrible performance due to things outside my control. I had taken a couple of hits from my inhaler prior to the race and unfortunately that didn't have any effect. I still feel a little wheezy hours after ward - and think I may be fighting something. Tomorrow will tell.

After thoughts

So after today's less than stellar performance... I've had some time to reflect and think about how I can turn it around and look at the positive side of things. And - I learned that I am strong enough to be in the crit and am more comfortable cornering with the pack around. In the first few laps of crit I felt great - and then I stopped fighting for positioning. So tomorrow I'm going to fight - if but one person at a time and work my way up to the front. A new day - a fresh start!

Day Poo - I mean two....

Woke up as usual in the middle of the night with a hungry stomach. Luckily I didn't lay there as long as usual before heading to the kitchen to eat some left over pizza. I fell back asleep pretty easily and next thing I knew it was time to get up and start putting some breakfast down for today's crit.

During the warmup my legs were feeling a little heavy and I felt slightly hungry - psyching myself out a little bit. The race started and I had a hard time moving up in the field. The course had a slight hill on it and the field started falling apart right away. I managed to get stuck behind a couple of slow riders and next thing I knew I had no gas left in my legs to make the bridge. Two ladies caught up to me and we worked together for awile until we were lapped. I jumped on the back of the group and tried desparately to hang on and move up in the group - only to be shot out the back with 24 laps left to go. I figured I might as well call an ace an ace and pulled myself because I wasn't only destroying my legs, but also killing my confidence. I pulled over frustrated and disappointed. A quick call to Bubba and he cheered my spirits - as he always does.

Jana and Mary did really well. Jana pulled 18th and Mary was 24th. They both fought hard to stay where they could and Jana even pulled a prime. So what happened to old Juicey Poo? Is the fatigue of racing and traveling starting to take its toll? Time to dust myself off and pick myself up and go out tomorrow and do it again!

Day One - Shorewood

Today was hard. 60k in humid heat with a strong international field. It was a pretty straight forward course - basically 4 corners with one little S curve in it. And they were yelling out primes constantly which kept the pace blistery fast. My seat might be a tad low - so I should fix that up tomorrow. I'll tell you what though - hesitating at all will prevent you from moving up and staying up. Women were braking a lot in the corners - which prevented smooth transitions. I went for one prime - but lost it by a world champ sprinter. Tomorrow is a new day though and with that experience under my belt I'm ready to take them on tomorrow.

Milwaukee

From the airplane I was struck by how green this area is. It makes sense though - it's America's Dairyland and that doesn't happen from land that's not rich. It took about 10 hours of travel time to get here - and our host housing rules. I slept like a bear in hibernation - over 12 hours. Apparently I needed it. We race later this evening - 60k!

Yesterday's Monday Madness

Ryan and I headed out on an early evening ride yesterday - an easy jaunt down to Seward park and back. We came across several people who obviously woke up on the wrong side of the bed. First it was this guy driving an I-Rock in our neighborhood who thought he had the right of way taking a left and yelled, "what'd you say punk?" Big man, let me tell you! We laughed and continued on.

Then we passed this commuter who I had told "on your left." Well apparently he didn't hear me and yelled, "DID YOU SAY SOMETHING?????" Yes, dildo I said on your left and you just got passed by a GIRL! Too bad I wasn't on my pink bike.

Then we were cruising through arb - where I always have some kind of interaction with beast, car or rider. But nothing happened. That is until we pulled up to the light at the U and two Broadmark riders were chased down by an angry bike commuter who yelled at them for passing him in the arb. Agh - what was up with people yesterday? Seriously - it's not like summer suddenly gives these people the right to take it out on cyclists. Does my jersey scream "lay your emotional baggage on me?"

What a weekend!

So the competition at the AVC was a lot more stacked in comparison to IDGP. In most of the mass start events over 12 women showed up and about 5 or so women were there to race. Dominating the field of course was Becky Quinn. She won every race with the exception of the 5 mile - it was agreed before the race to let Kele solo off the front and win it. Annette was there to race, as was Kele, Auna-Brit and Heather too. Heather did much better at her home track and after a little thought - we think she was feeling the pressure of having the national coaches and pro teams at the IDGP. She had several podium finishes and it was great to see her do so well.

I ran too small a gear for the final Keirin heat - I should have geared up an inch or so. I ran a 50x15 and should have been in 51x15. Oh well. Lesson learned.

And I'm done with Miss N' Outs. I didn't even get my heart rate up. Oh well.

The points race was great! I was definitely collecting a lot of points - up 14 when suddenly I pulled up track and moved in behind Noreen. Then she let a gap open up and I had to close it to the main group. Then the group took off again for a sprint and I couldn't hang from exhaustion of the early points. Unfortunately the group ended up lapping me and I slowly clawed my way back up to 0 points. 75 laps with sprints every 5 laps - we averaged over 28 mph. I ran a smaller gear - 49x15 and the legs felt better... but I'm thinking I may have been better off with a larger gear. Oh well - I managed 5th.

On the last day we had our 5 mile scratch race. It went well - I was definintely in control of the race. Although at one point I was in the sprinters lane, following Becky Quinn and Annette. Annette didn't look down track when she followed Becky and Mary was trying to sneak in between us. Unfortunately that caused a crash and Mary went down, grazing me and lucky I just kept pedaling and snuck through the crash. At that point we had maybe 10 laps to go. The wind up slowed down as we stayed up track and continued racing. Then the final sprint came and I got behind a slow poke and had to come the long way around for 5th. Annette was relegated for failure to hold a straight line, which put me into 4th place. All in all it was a good race - despite the crash and near wipe out. I'm stoked that I'm learning from my experiences and putting my knowledge to the test. It's so enriching to have such good competition - and I'm stoked that I'm getting hungrier for a win - I can sense it coming together. This level of competition just shows that you have to be on your toes at all times and take advantage of every situation. If you give these women an inch they'll take a foot. I ran a 50x15 for this race and the gear felt perfect.

Now two days at home and then I'm off to Wisconsin!

Shweet

SO I just did a search trying to find results on the IDGP and came across an interesting article written by USA cycling on talent pool world qualifications. Check it out:

www.usacycling.org/forms/selection/track_talent.pdf


Specifically, look at the women's qualifications and the list of ways to make it a possibility. Rockin... looks like I'm going to T town this summer after all! And back to Colorado Springs....

Ahhh feels good to be home....

If only for a day or two. I woke up this morning thinking about the awesome view we had from our hotel balcony - the springs sure were pretty. Yesterday morning mom and I headed to our hotel buffet breakfast and I ate my heart out. We leisurely loaded up the car and then headed to the airport. Little did we know our return flight not only stopped in San Fran but it also was a commuter plan and first stopped in Las Vegas. We would have been traveling through airports for 8+ hours! But Mom had a good hair day, which means good things are going to happen. :)

We arrived at the airport and a porter saw our loads of gear and helped to cart us upstairs to a clerk with no line. The clerk then put us on a standby direct flight to Seattle leaving at 2:30. And we made it on the flight! Come to find out our other flight was delayed and who knows when we actually would have made it into Seattle. Phew! Ryan picked us up from the airport and we headed straight to Sushi. Yum. I leave Friday for Portland for another track extravaganza. And I also saw T-Town has a women's challenge that was changed to September 1. Sweet.

IDGP Wet wrap up

This weather is very unpredictable. After touring the Garden of the Gods and checking out the local scenery, mom and I headed back to the hotel for an hour of down time before going back to the track for the evening session. Secretly I was exhausted and praying for rain! And rain we did get - but not until after our first series of sprint competitions. I was paired with Anna-Brit - a really fast Canadian sprinter. I figured my only chance was going to be to jump on her early and try to get a gap to hold her off - but instead we did a little cat and mouse game where I tried to pin her up against the rail. And she pretty much knew that was my only chance. So she stuck to my wheel like a fly on ..... yeah. And beat me when she jumped first. It was a good match and I learned a lot - eager to improve that skill. I need to remember flicking and then diving down.... but really my legs felt like lead weights and they wouldn't go any faster even if I wanted them to.

And then the thunder clouds moved in, lightening flashes, thunder, pouring rain and gusty winds. We all headed into the tunnel for some dry huddling and waited it out for about 2 hours. Then it stopped raining and it started to clear up, just in time for another warm up and our sprint rep. Heather and Cari Higgins were in my heat. Again, my legs weren't feeling too spectacular. But you only get stronger if you give it a go! And the three of us played a cat and mouse game - I hestitated a slight moment, throwing out my chance... and Heather had the jump on Cari but pulled up track 100m from the finish, giving Cari the opportunity to win it. Why she pulled up track? She said she has been burned time and time again by not pulling up track. But you never ever ever give up your line! That move cost her the race. But she was content with beating me.

Finally we had our points race. They shortened it from 30 laps to 24, with sprints every 6 laps. Our field was small but stout - Katie Compton and a couple of roadies who always quicken the pace. After the neutral start, katie took off like an animal and we didn't see her again till the end - when she caught us. She didn't do any other races though so her legs were super fresh. So the rest of us pacelined and worked together and I managed to get all the second place points mainly because the other ladies didn't realize what was on the line. My tank was out of gas when Katie caught us on the last lap and I swung up track to only get the last point. But my work was done and it secured me into 2nd. I almost fell over from exhaustion.

All in all it was a great weekend and I'm really glad we came. It gave me a chance to train at altitude and against some of the nations best. I'm looking forward to the AVC next weekend - but think I'll leave the sprinting to the sprinters. :)

IDGP Session 2

We woke up early this morning to beautiful blue skies - a far cry from last night's drizzle. I put some food in the gullet and off we were to the track for the morning session of Kierin and Scratch race. In my first heat I pulled my rear wheel off track and they had to restart. I didn't make the final - but had another chance to redeem myself a few minutes later. I asked someone to hold me at the start - I drew position #1. Unfortunately my bike holder didn't throw me at all - he just released holding me. And I wasn't able to get on the bike soon enough - nor was anyone jumping at the chance to grab the bike wheel so they relegated me and I got 9th. :( I was a little bummed - but rather than dweeling on a rookie mistake, I thought, hey this might give me more juice for the scratch race! Mom was there too to pick me up, dust me off and say go again!

And go again I did. The scratch race was awesome. A couple of roadies were throwing attacks left and right - increasing the pace quite a bit. As soon as the pack would all catch they would swing up track, and so would I. I ran a smaller gear - 88" and was able to jump sooner and get a gap off the field. I could sense the attacks coming and was well enough up track to make my jump identical to the roadies. Becky ended up pulling with 2 laps to go - I sensed a time when I could have jumped on her because I could tell she was taxed... but alas I didn't. Cari and Cheerwine both tried to come around us but my spin was unstoppable. Becky won, I was second and Cari 3rd. I'm so excited my mom was there to see it! Tonight I get to show off my podium hair! Yeah!

Rained out. :(

5 minutes before the start of the second session of the day, a hard drizzle saturated the track. Unfortunately it didn't stop - and they announced racing will commence tomorrow at 9am. Which means I have a stinkin' long day ahead of me! Yowsa! But these kind of hickups are becomming the norm I think - last week with the broken seat post, this week with the quadruple events back to back... life as a bike racer!

We had a great dinner with Anna-Brit, her coach Konan and Heather. Anna-Brit is a hoot and definitely an inspiration. They made fun of my chicken legs today! We had a good chuckle out of that - my mom has been making comments all weekend saying I'm the skinnest track racer out here.... and now it's been confirmed! Bak bak bak gggggbak!!!!

PS - I really hope my seat post fails so I can show them all just how well I can low ride. :)

Experimenting? Or is it called development?

This track is fast. I posted my fastest time yet - with a 12.69, over a second faster than before. Not bad - but not even close to the other ladies. Jennie Reed grunted harder resulting in a smoking time of 11.6. So maybe if I grunt more I can come within fractions of a second of her? Who knows. One thing I do think is that I'm better off spinning a gear vs. using a big grinder. My legs are just more adapted to spinning faster, resulting in me getting up to speed quicker as well as maintaining it. Dang. But it was a learning experience and for only doing a handful of 200 m tt's... not bad.

Tonight we have Kierin heats and final and then a 5 mile scratch race. Hopefully more women will show up for the mass start events. We only had 7 women this morning.

The Springs

Mom and I drove down this morning after watching a gripping tour and went straight to the track. It's super nice - outdoors and concrete and the dust in the air lands on the track making it even faster. The transitions are really smooth and after a brief 40 lap warm up I did some efforts. The first one made me feel like my lungs were going to pump out of my chest. The air is thin here - elevation 6010 feet. Yowsa - that first one hurt. After resting for a while, basically to make sure I wasn't going to ralph on the big phone, I headed back out. By this point the national team members and Spike were out doing an afternoon workout. I got buzzed a couple times by Becky - she was letting me know she knew I was on the track. I laughed, to myself. No one seemed extremely friendly but coming from Washington where everyone makes you feel at home - it's definitely a little different. Oh well. Tomorrow morning starts the spring qualifier. 8 women advance - hopefully my legs will do me well. More then!

Colorado!

July 1, 2006

I opened my eyes this morning to the familiar mountain presence of Beaver Creek – listening as the steady stream of cars made its way up the main Boulevard toward the ski lifts. Without snow though, who knows where they were getting an early bird start to. I tried to sleep in longer but considering I went to bed at 9 pm last night, my internal clock was urging me to get up and hydrate. The air is dry here – perfect for producing massive boogers.

Yesterday we made the venture from Seattle to Denver. Mom called at 5am and I realized I had missed my original wake up call so it was a mad dash to shower and throw all my bike gear in the car. Things at the airport were moving slow and technically we didn’t have any time to dawdle so I had to buy some food out of the vending machine. Mmmm granola bars. And I’m usually so good about packing travel food!

We got to Denver, rented a HUGE Suv (mainly to hold my insane amounts of bike gear) and fought lunch time traffic into Lakewood, a suburb of Denver. The car temp read 113. It’s hot and dry here. Our other objective on this trip is to do some inspections so we headed to Gam’s Lakewood Starbucks and met with the store manager and our property manager. Both were super welcoming and super happy with the way things are run at that store. Easy trip. And a tax write off! I talked with the property manager about the doping scandal a little – both of us amazed at its implications but the sad reality of the situation – drugs run deep in the system. That’s too bad.

We continued on our way up I-70 West into the mountains, only to make it about 15 miles out of the suburbs when traffic came to a dead halt. When we finally made it to the scene, a Class A motor home had caught on fire and burnt all but the frame and fireman were frantically hosing it down with water. We turned on the radio and heard that all weekend traffic was stopped and backing up toward the 470 toll highway - boy were we thankful we made it out before it got crazy!

It’s a long ass trip up here to the mountains – definitely a full day of travel. But once you’re here – it’s beautiful and everyone is in resort mode. Smiles come easy and the service is amazing. Ryan and I came in December and spent Christmas skiing the slopes – to see it in the summer is such a contrast! Everything is super green – but much different than Washington. Not to mention your at about 8,000 feet. I’m happy to have a couple extra days to acclimate though.

We will spend another night here and then head down to the Springs to do some bike racing. Oh yeah – come to find out one of my mom’s old friends from Eugene called yesterday and her daughter Paige is dating Adrian! Small world!

Nice Jeorb!

Uh, whad you say coach?

http://homestarrunner.com/cantsayjob.html

Check it.

suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuushi

is my favorite food. Last night we went to Chisou, our weekly regular hang out, after Fast Track. There was another couple sitting adjacent to us at the sushi bar and they watched in amazement as we ordered roll after roll, nigiri after nigiri. They couldn't believe the amount of food we could put down. But that was just a typical sushi night - all under $70. Ryan went out with Lincoln last week and they managed to spend $70 each! Oh it is so worth every single penny.

The owner, Tai Chi, loves hearing about our adventures and always says, "let me know when you kick some more ass!" I am still considering a jersey that says: Powered by Dragon Roll.

I woke up with the sweet and salty sushi taste in my mouth - I can't wait to go back again...

recovery...

Have you ever woken up Monday morning after a weekend adventure to feel like you've been hit by a train? your whole body aches - legs throbbing, arms feel like they could and should fall off your body, back tight, legs so heavy you can barely lift them enough to walk, and you hope and pray it's not a normal Monday at work which requires mental capacity? Yet something about making your body that worked, that fatigued, felt so good that on Tuesday, once the muscles have calmed down and your recovery is well on it's way... doing it again the next weekend already sounds appealing. :)

Yes, I'm addicted to cycling.

But no, I'm not doing any wicked long rides this week. The longest ride? 3 hours - tops. The terrain? Flat as a pancake. The pace -negative zone 1. As much as I'm ready to go again - most of that is due to adrenaline and it would be silly to attempt anything ridiculous after such a long SR. Good food, good sleep, plenty of relaxation and I'll be well on my way to this weekend's grand prix.

101 mile final stage ...

They started the women early on Sunday morning at 8am, mainly to beat the heat. Temps were supposed to hit the upper 90's - a zapping heat that destroys what ever you may possibly have left in your legs. No warm up is necessary because the first incline starts at about mile 27. Up we went - and I hung for about 1.5 miles until getting shot out the back. I was joined by two other cat 3 women and we were able to catch back on... just in time for hill #2. Unfortunately when we rejoined I had adrenaline rush through me and I went up front. Not even two minutes passed and we hit hill #2. Out the back I went - not to see them again until the finish line. Fortunately I met this guy Scott from Lake Tahoe area and he said he would much rather ride with someone else in because the next stretch up to the base of the final climb was just brutal. Boy was he right. Luckily the Master's men caught us and I was able to draft in their field - until the official told me I had to hang back because we were approaching the women's field. I never saw them though! Darn. Scott continued on in their group - and I just kept pedaling away - breezing through the feed zone and catching on to another master's chase group of 3. They pulled me for about 15 miles. And then there was a slight incline and I had nothing left - bonking. Did I mention it was hot out? Eventually I hit the hill and slowly made my way up the 8 miles to the finish line. At one point there wasn't any wind whatsoever and I pulled over to the side of the road and cried. Then I picked myself up, dusted myself off and continued climbing. I have never been so happy to see a finish line in all my life! And my time bumped me into 10th in the GC! Nice work.

Tamarack had a great weekend - Jana placed 6th in the final road race, despite her apprehension about doing a long 101 race. We had a lot of fun and brought home some cash!

Next stop - Colorado 7/11 Velodrome....

Despite everything...

So despite the little seat slipage yesterday - today I pulled it around. The TT this morning was a 10 mile out and back - on a rolling course that was downhill on the way out. I felt great - despite the achy knees and issues yesterday. :) I felt fast and imagined cutting through the air like a knife. Using imagery and keeping focus and repeating positive affirmations worked like a charm. I ended up with a time of 25:36! Excellent... excellent.

Then tonight we had our crit - and in between stages I went to the hardware store and found something to make my seat clamp work. Well it worked for about 16 minutes and then my seat slammed down to the frame again. I ended up riding it out and placing well. Tamarack did great - chasing down attacks and winning about $350 in primes! Not to mention the winning of the stages that we get to pick up. Saweet!!!

The best part was calling my mom and she always answers the phone... "are you a weiner?" And I got to answer - YES! Twice!!! Hearing her scream in delight was priceless - I love hearing that. Thanks mom - your support means the world!

Elk-toot-your-horn-stinkin-seat-post-what-was that stage one

So today was going well until about mile 31 when I realized my seat was starting to slip. I lagged back and asked support for an allen wrench and ended up stripping my stinking bolts that hold the seat clamp. So at mile 34 it completely dropped down - and suddenly I'm battling a low ride seat with 40+ more miles to go. Ouch. But quitting is not an option - it never is! So I rode it out and completed a long hilly 40 miles solo. Turns out I was only 36 minutes behind the leader and not second to last, nor third to last - who knows where I stand but I'm not last! So tomorrow I may be able to rock the TT - and the crit. All is looking up!

Jenn did great! She got 2nd and Jana did well too. This means Jenn gets to stay through Sunday and do the long 100 miler. Ok - time to ice the knees....

Packed and ready to go!

T Minus 1.5 hours before blast off to the land of Eastern Oregon - where 95 degree temps await and 101 mile RR will unfold. I packed the car full of the essentials - carbs, pillows, wheels, rollers, books, etc - and now I'm just killing time at work before my scheduled departure of 1pm. First I head up North to eat lunch with Ryan and then I continue on my journey 6.5 hours south east from Seattle. I'm staying tonight by myself at the hotel - Jana and Jenn will be joining me tomorrow morning. And then it's show time!

near breakdown

Yesterday I nearly had a meltdown. I can't quite put my finger on what happened - but suddenly I found myself in the middle of the evening session on the verge of tears. Thank goodness no one walked up to me at that moment - I surely would have melted. So of course, being the over-analytic female that I am, here's my venting about what I think happened....

I like to read people's blogs. I find it eye opening and reaffirming that what I'm doing is right. Well yesterday I read one that had a negative affect on me and from now on I refuse to read it. It's written by another track racer on FGF and yesterday's rant was spewing negativity and I think some how penetrated my usually happy and optimistic demenor.

Second - we had a morning session of motor pacing. And quite honestly I don't think my legs were fully recovered from the weekend. Friday kicked it off with back to back racing in the men's and women's field. It was a great time - but I needed more time to recover. Sunday was another crit race at Seward, which by no means is flat - so it took more out of my already depleted legs.

I took Monday completely off from the bike. I should have spun them out, if only for an hour to release some of the build up from the weekend.

Then during the evening session, Nick crashed during their team pursuit practice. I didn't see it - nor was I around when it happened - but next thing we know he's being taken to the ER by Molly.

It was just after the crash when I had my near meltdown. I remember trying to float on the back of Kenny, Adrian, Dan and Woody's team pursuit with Jenny Reed and just couldn't maintain. So I came into the infield and had a pitty party.

It's funny - the last time I felt this down was last year during the AVC. I had no idea what I was doing - nor the purpose of the race I was racing in. I was up against the Nations finest (Olympians and World Class athletes) and I quit. I went to the car and bawled my eyes out. Luckily my support network was there to catch me and throw me back into action. I guess sometimes you just need to hit the reset button in order to keep going. You never know just how exhausting things can be until you take a breather and relax. Wanting to become a world class athlete and Olympic hopefully can be slightly overwhelming. :)

Anyways - back to my original story.... so basically I came home after track, cooked up a carb feast and salad and chilled out. I did all the things I needed to get done, Ryan came home from climbing and we talked. It is so nice to have someone who loves you and supports you 110%. He encouraged me and said to not forget what I've done so far - and how far I've come in such short time. Yet I still have a long journey to go - but will get there.

Motor Pacing

So last night I discovered that my front zipp 404 has a bunk tire on it. Apparently the nozzle inside of the deep rim was screwed on too tight and got stuck. I tried for countless hours, which only increased my mounting frustration, to unscrew the nozzle. Finally I gave up and requested that Ryan pop the tire so I could reglue it. What a process taking an old tire off a rim is! I've already logged in about 8 hours of scrapping time and probably have a least 2 more in just prepping the rim for the next glueing. I swear I should find some meth addict and have them tweak out in it.

Almost done.... and then the wonderful process of gluing.

This morning we (being Grant, Chris, Adrian and I) headed to the track for a morning motor pacing session. Miller showed up and lead the way on the Keirin bike... ramping our speeds up to about 32. For some reason my legs are not fully recovered - I'm wondering if that's because I didn't ride yesterday to spin them out? A sure sign that my body is certainly adopting to be being on the bike.

Later tonight we head back to Fast Track for a evening session. I'm so excited that track season is here. But I'm feeling awefully tired right now - could I still be feeling the effects of the weekend jaunt? Maybe I need more down time than I thought. :)

Headed to Elkhorn on Thursday. Unfortunately driving it solo. 6.5 hours in the car - time to update the music in my play list. I heard the crit is super fun though - so we'll give it a whirl!

Ciao.

Us against them...

We had a Seward park crit this morning going counter clockwise. And believe it or not - our field was actually pretty big! Both TGH and Wines were strongly represented and both had two breaks that made it up the road. One was reeled in by their own teammates and the second one managed to get a 45' gap on the field. TGH and Wines both slowed down the pace siginificantly so the rest of us had to do the chase effort. We all should have talked before the race to make a counter game plan - but unfortunately we didn't. Maybe next time.

Racing with the fellas sure is paying off. I can feel the harder efforts in my legs and they don't scream at me as much as they used to. I'm not saying today wasn't painful because it was but I really think my form is coming along. Bike racing is so much fun.

Here's a shot Amara took at the track on Friday. It's funny - I have such determination when I race track - you have to with the guys or else next thing you know you're spit out the back.

I like the second shot too because you can see the downward motion of my pedal stroke.

Double Duty

Last night was the usual Friday night track series. I told myself that I would always race with the men, and if need be, race in the women's field to keep women's track racing alive at Marymoor. We have had low attendence in the women's fields - I sure wish we could convince more women to participate... and they are out there, it's just making them aware of track, I think.

The men's field is strong this year. Some say it's faster than the end of the season last year. There's a 18 year old phenomonononon Yuri who is smoking the field and keeping the tempo up. And then there's the half dozen or so other competitors who keep the races action packed. Then throw in a bunch of other men who fill the gaps in between - no sketch riders this time around though.

We started with an unknown distance race - basically you don't know when they're going to ring the bell for a sprint at the end. So to spice things up, I threw two attacks. You never know if they'll pan out - but why not go for it? It definitely livened things up. And apparently due to my short hair, I'm being mistaken for young Ryan Miller. Both attacks were unsuccessful - but if you don't keep throwing them and testing yourself to the limits, then you'll never know how far you can test yourself. I ended up in one of the last positions - but stoked.

Immediately back up to the rail, we had a women's 10 lap Win N' Out. Unfortunately we had a crash about 3 laps into the race. People kept pulling up the track - and I kept coming under to keep the pace up and make them work. Well on the last attack, I heard the crashing noise of bike parts slidding on concrete... down went Deb, Tamara and Amara. From Amara's account, (she was in the back), Deb saw me attack and went down track without looking taking out Tamara and Amara landed on top of Tamara. Poor Tamara cut her head and was rushed to the hospital to get stitches. I hope she has a speedy recovery! Deb had a sore neck - possibly whip lash - and Amara bruised her right side. They had us restart - now with 6 riders instead of 9 and Emily threw a sweet attack - gapping the field. She had a great jump and was able to hold off the field.

Back to the rail after the Kiddie Kilo and two 1/2 races for a 12 lap Snowball. That race is all about pain and suffering. Unfortunately I got behind a failing engine, which resulted in me being gapped from the main field. Dang. So we just pace lined around and around the track. Lame. Nick made the move around the guy and I got pinched, resulting in lameness. Oh well - you win some you lose some. Actually, come to think of it - I learned that valuable lesson again in another context... so all is not completely loss....

Back to back - women's race... miss n' out. Fun times. I conquerred that fear and was able to win! Yeah! Emily and I went head to head in the final sprint, I jumped early and she wasn't able to come around me. Our field was small - but fun. Ingrid and James were there and they cheer so loudly - it was great.

Then the final races - a 4 x 4 progressive. On the first sprint I was able to get some points following the lead of Erik who threw a great attack. I'm checking right now to see if I nabbed any points for 2nd place... nope. Denied. Oh well. After that the field caught us and I struggled just to hold on. But I finished the race - which increases fitness.

Last race - women's 6 lap scratch race. Emily threw another stellar attack and as a team, we chased her down. Alynda pulled, me second and Taylor came around to chase her down, nearly pipping Emily at the line. It was a great attempt. I got to bring home some money as a result and get some points in the women's series. It was Taylor's last night - she's headed down to LA to train.

There's some great upcoming races that I'm really looking forward to... Colorado, Elkhorn, AVC, Superweek, Gastown, Boise... and my form is coming on.

Dialed in

I had my TT bike fit to me a week ago and got an opportunity to try it out today on the Burke Gilman trail. The seat feels a lot higher compared to all of my other bikes - but it feels stellar when I get into a tucked position. My average speed was 17.8 on a zone 1 ride. I can't wait to try it out during a time trial - and next weekend I'll get the opportunity. I also bought some pursuit bars and take my track bike in on the 28th to have that position simulate my tt bike. I look forward to the challenge of tt'ing and pursuit - strange, I know.

Got an EXCELLENT massage this morning. My back knot is shrinking and Genevieve was actually able to work with it today. Usually I cringe too much and it's impossible to touch. And my $30 foam roll is working on my muscles - I wasn't nearly as sore today. (Granted I got a my last massage in the peak of stage race season....)

Mom's gone again to Honolulu to stay with Gam. I haven't heard from her so that means they must be getting along. We leave for Colorado on the 30th - should be fun!

Madison Practice

Last night Leif set up a Madison session out at the track. Amara and I paired up and practiced our hand slings and next thing we know we're in full exchange mode mixing it up with the fellas. It was super duper fun! I was giggling like a little girl! Miller was watching and gave us more pointers on how to sling/be slung. We went back our and practiced it more and more - getting it down.

Woody, mr. track regulator, commented to Miller that the ladies were getting the slings down better then the men! Haahahahaha. (For those who don't know Woody - to get a compliment is rare, if not impossible.) Yeah for the women!

Giving back

Last night I attended the weekly NWWC group ride that leaves every Monday at 6 from Gasworks. We had a huge number of women show up - 12 to be exact. But there was some confusion because Michelle had asked CBC to lead the rides and hadn't informed me of the situation. It worked out well - and I personally felt better as CBC requires a rider release form to be signed to protect themselves from being sued due to any mishaps. We cruised down to Seward park and back - and some of the women commented how fun it was to go faster with a group of women downhill vs. a snails pace. It was great being surrounded by women who are excited to be on their bikes and are actively taking their health and well being into their own hands. I hope they show up again!

It's been raining since Sunday off and on. I'm not sure what the dealio will be with the track tonight but I'm contemplating PIR as well. Jill and Sile are headed down there - which can only mean a barrel of laughs!

Good Times, Good times.

This weekend was action packed with lots of fun racing and decent weather. Friday night kicked off the festivites with Track racing - and kicking it in the men's cat 3 field. We had a lot of men show up - maybe 20 in our field? The women wanted to have our own race so we did a miss n out - which I did much better in than previous attempts. Emily even came out and won that race! It's great to have her out there.

The final race was a 4 x5 points race - and I made one big move to sprint for points, only managing 6th place and the points are only up for grabs for the top 4 places. Damn. Better luck next time. It was hard to get up front and stay there - but that's what you need to do in order to be in contention for the sprints.

The following night was the Ballard Twilight Crit. Last year Miranda Duff crashed me out so I definitely had something to prove to myself that I could finish the race. I did great - staying in front and catching the poor cat 4s in 11 minutes after the race started. People were shelled left and right. But I kept myself up front with a positive attitude and it paid off. Right before the corner three in the last lap Noreen pulled a crazy move and nearly took out the field. It scared a lot of people from being in the running. Patricia Bailey seized the day and won! She's so amazing and strong. Very impressive. Yours truley forgot she was on a road bike and that you can shift down during a sprint. I spun myself silly up to the line - pipping a Ti Cycles girl by a bike throw. It was a great race and I look forward to viewing the pictures.

I can see my break throughs coming out more and more as the season progresses. I am enjoying myself every time I get on the saddle. It's great.

Fluid motion

Floating on the track is all about being light on your toes and able to read a situation. It's a fluid motion - one that needs to be practiced over and over until it becomes second nature.

Patience.

My sprint is wild. My bike shakes from side to side - not traveling in a straight line but following my upper body. It's fast - but can and will be faster. Instead of rocking so heavily from side to side and having the bike follow, pull the bike in like a bicep curl and have the bike move, without losing the line your following. Fluid = efficent = speed.

That's just the tip of the iceberg of what I learned last night during fast track. I have to keep some of my secrets to myself. :)

I did buy a book yesterday on sports physcology and it works on breathing and relaxing exercises. They are already helping.

You never know who you'll be up against...

Racing is RAD

Friday night back at the track. I was so excited for racing - it gets me amped just thinking about it!

The rain looked threatening but we managed to hold it off. The lighting was awesome.





Mr. Leif Clarke - Looking good with those new Zipps. I didn't see much of him this winter....



Take a look - I'm digging DEEP. I think this was during the 20 lap scratch race where I was chilling in limbo between a chase group and the pack for 3 miles. It HURT.



But it paid off - I pulled 5th in the GC.









And you can't beat the action shots. I love this one - look at the grimace on everyone's face - except... either I mask pain well or I wasn't feeling it as bad as everyone else. :)

I LOVE track

yeah! it didn't rain Friday night! That meant heading out to Marymoor for the first Friday night series. Regardless of how many women showed up I decided I would race with the Cat 3 men this year to improve my fitness and racing agility. This means giving up some of the immediate and easy cash to be had - in sacrafice for a potential National Championship medal in October. It wasn't a hard decision. :)

And Friday night reaffirmed my decision. There were only three women tonight so we all raced with the men regardless. Laura Moen, Amara and I battled it out with a field size of about 20. I decided to use a bigger gear - 50x15, which proved invaluable with racing against men. Racing with the men is different because their average speed is higher. So you need to pick a gear that you can jump with going at those higher speeds. A smaller gear would make you spin like a sewing machine - and unless you have insane leg speed - might be hard to keep up let alone over take the men. I swapped out my road to a track hub earlier on my disc wheelset - and oh was that nice. I haven't riden on my wheelset since last racing... and it made a world of difference. They are so responsive and aero... I get giddy just thinking about it.

Our first race was a 10 lap win n' out. I figured I wouldn't spend myself for the first couple of sprints - but would give it a go at any gaps and breaks off the front. I managed to place 4th - the last of the point earning spots. Yeah! My winter training/ stage racing is already paying off. My increased fitness is licking the snot out of the boys. I often heard comments of - "this is way faster than last year," to which my thought is, glad I can contribute!

Second was a 10 lap tempo race. I managed to reel in a point. But instead of continuing at pursuit style, I sat up, and when the chase group caught me they just continued on for the next sprint and off the pack I went. Luckily I grabbed Tim's wheel again and he pulled me in. What a guy. I learned a lot from that race and look forward to the next one!

Last was a 20 lap scratch race - one of my favorites. The announcer kept saying what a LONG race that was - to which I snickered to myself. No it's not! 100 laps is long. Not 20. Byrne rolled off the front and his teammate contributed to slowing the group down. Broadmark attempted to reel him back in - but to no avail. I don't think they communicated enough to effectively put a plan in action. Then there 2 groups of 2 men or so that tried crossing the gap. At one point I jumped to join the rear group and nearly caught on.... stupidly pulling up when I caught them. So when they jumped, I had nothing left in my legs to chase and I dangled in no man's land between the second chase group and the main group. Luckily I held the main pack off to the finish and placed 7th. All in all a great race - and I really laid myself out on the table. It definitely took determination to do what I did.

Oh I love track racing.

Molly overheard some guys saying, "obviously she's faster than us. We should duct tape her legs together." That made me laugh!

Ryan was cheering me on in corner 2 - I love the support!

thunder showers bring july flowers?

June in Seattle is wet. And lately super wet - thanks to the thundershowers that have been floating through the area. The biggest downfall? No track racing when it's wet. I'm hopefull that I'll be pleasantly surprized for tonight's racing... but with a 90% chance of precip right now and more showers on the way.... well we'll just have to wait and see. If track doesn't happen then I'm headed to Magnolia for some serious hill repeats. The intensity must go on!

I bought my plane tickets yesterday for Colorado for the Independence GP and Wisconsin's Superweek. Should be fun times in July. I'm really looking forward to it! Then in between is the AVC, Gastown, Wells Fargo Twlight Crit and Elkhorn. Saweet. Some serious intensity coming my way!

Random

Can you even remember your New Year's Resolutions?

What was the last movie you saw at the theatre?

What are you going to do when you run into the woman with the yellow bike again?
I think I'll mooooo at her. Surely mooooooing transends languages. Silly cow.

(for the record her bike isn't broken, for I saw her today doing laps in front of my office window. Mooooo.)

blogger down!

Unfortunately I am not going to recreate my super long boring post from yesterday that got lost in blog land cyber space. Sorry.

So while I've been pedaling in circles around the track, my younger sister has been having the time of her life in NZ. She's a recent grad from Brooke's institute of Photography and has some amazing photos. She traveled to Australia to see about a boy and is coming home at the end of June. Yeah! But who knows where she'll land. She's trying to get her career going - and that might take her to odd spots of the country... like Dallas Texas. I wish her the best of luck - especially there! :) If you have a minute check her site out.... www.marcysutton.com/gallery

Training is going well. Emily came out with me to Fast Track last night. GREAT workout. Except when we were doing our second warm up paceline (10 @ 23mph, 10@ 25mph, 5@ 28mph, and 5 @ 30mph)... guess who had to pull the first lap at 30 mph? Moi. And right after that I was shelled. I caught back on though and used my sewing machine legs to ease back into the pace. Then we did some mini jumps with Miller, Woody and Randy. We got up to 38mph - and being in a small gear (49x16) means my cadence was at least 150. That's what I'm talking about. Some serious leg speed. The first Friday night track racing starts this Friday. I'm going to race with the fellas because although $35 per race would be nice to take home, a medal at nationals would be priceless.

Weekend Review

This weekend Ryan and I headed up to Bellingham to hang out with family and friends. We stayed at his mom's house and she cooked this amazing corned beef and cabbage meal - traditional Irish style. It was amazing. Later that night we went out with Josh and Camille to Clark's point and watched the sunset. It made me realize how much I miss Bellingham.

Later that night we ended up at this Irish pub and ran into Erin, Tyson's step sis. She invited us to a family BBQ where Ty would be - Ryan was stoked to be able to see his best friend. It's been nearly 5 years since they last saw one another. Tyson now has a 4 year old and is looking good. It was fun to see him. Tamara was there too - and she seems to be getting along just fine. She is such a sweet lady - tormented by drugs unfortunately. But she's been sober for 6 months so she's doing well. Their son is beautiful and a spitting image of Tamara.

The next morning we woke up and had some corned beef hash - yum - then headed up to Galbreth Mountain with Josh for some wet and wild mud feast mtn. biking. I giggled like a little girl. I was only thrown from my bike twice - and avoided any serioius bruising. It was cool to see how many people ride their bikes in the Ham.

Later that night we went to a ski to sea party and watched yet another gorgeous sunset. I miss watching it dip out of view over Bellingham Bay. And listening to the train toot it's horn as it passes through town. I met one of Molly's coworkers - small world.

It was nice being off the bike for the weekend. Although I was feeling a little guilty at first. But now that I'm back into training and motivated - I feel awesome and excited to race again. Miller and I went for a three hour tour yesterday - and it felt good to get a little intensity in. Tonight is fast track - saweet.

I LOVE RAIN

Maybe it's the fact that I want to get on the track really bad that the rain is sticking around. Whose idea was it anyway to put an outdoor track in rainy-9-months-out-of-the-year Seattle? It just makes those sunny days that much sweeter.

Miller and I were skunked on Tuesday - we even made the drive out east. Only to discover a super wet velodrome. Tonight is Friday night racing - but with the sprinkles and no sign of sun - I get to look forward to a roller workout and climbing session at the gym.

We head to the Ham this weekend. It's been a while since we last visited. Should be fun.

TT action and dodging the rain clouds

I managed to avoid any serious thundershowers today and headed up North to Juanita for some shallow side hill repeats on Anna Belle. It feels good getting used to that position - and I think I can even get more aggressive in stance. On my climbs I concentrated on relaxing the upper body and not gripping my bars at all. It felt great - and then on my third repeat I discovered I had a rear flat. It took me a little longer than usual because the tires are new and not as stretched out... for some reason I always struggle with getting the tire back on the rim. Swearing usually does the trick.

Decending in a TT position is a little freaky at first. It feels like you are out of control completely - but if you glide into your turns and relax you can haul ass.

Flat #2 hit me about .15 miles from my house. I rode it out until the hill to my house and walked the rest of the way. I'll have to fix that flat before I go out again. The roads were super dirty from all of the rain we've been having. Lots of glass and debri. (sp?)

oh - and I figured out a trick to my bike. I have rear dropouts on the P2C and often I would stand up to get some power out and would pull the wheel to the non-drive side. This happened over and over again. Finally I got smart and changed my quick release skewer to the opposite side and viola! No more issues. You have to be really careful about rubbing the rear wheel on the frame - it doesn't have much clearance and things could get ugly really fast.

Other than that - I've been making cycling plans for the summer. I'm headed to Colorado for the Independence GP and then Portland for the AVC. Shortly followed by Superweek in Milwaukee with the girls. And then later in the summer headed down to LA for Manhattan Beach and again in October for Nationals. Saweet. Should be fun!!

Rain rain go away!

The rain's back. Thank goodness it didn't happen over the weekend though. Enumclaw was rough enough with the climbing and all. What a great course! Now if I can just figure out how to climb. It must be a mental thing - and hopefully I'll overcome that plateau.

Just remembered - I have to do an amended tax return.... later.

Anna Belle

I had a great aunt that passed away nearly a year ago and she left some inheritance money to her heirs. My mom received her check Friday and uttered to me, "let's go buy you a bike!" Seriously? I jumped at that and we headed down to Speedy Reedy, a local tri/TT shop within 1 mile of my house. Amazingly they had the perfect bike - and it's a perfect fit. I'm calling it Anna Belle: The Time Machine.

Yesterday I got to take it out and race it during stage one of Enumscratch TT... and did really well. For having only done a handful of TT's - I'm starting to get better and better at them. Gina's been my bench mark and I've been whiddling down my time closer and closer to hers. In the beginning of the season I was roughly 45 seconds off... and yesterday I was within 8 seconds. 8 seconds! I can make that difference up if I dialed in my position and slapped my disc wheel on. Fabulous!

Later in the afternoon we had our 40 minute crit. The Symmetric team showed up - cleaning house. They dominated us mere amatuers. Except I did pass one of them with my TT time. :) But they shelled me from the crit - about 20 minutes into it - the surges and being in the back of our small pack just killed my legs. My mom's convinced that if I had a radio and ate more (she claims I'm the skinniest woman out there - cha right!) I would have had more left in the tank to take it to those ladies. I wish that were the case. The fact of the matter is the Symmetrics team kicked ass and have lots of hard fast miles in their legs. I'll get there - it's all part of the process.

Lesson learned though - Mandy was in a solo break and I bridged the gap up to her - and she quickly sat up. I talked to Miller about it later and he said Canadians only help Canadians. Maybe I should sew a maple leaf on my jersey. ;)

Today's the RR - I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be an ass kicking - but we'll survive. 4 times - up Mud Dam Mountain. More to come later....

Round and round and round and round.....

Have you ever tried something and realized about 20 minutes later that you're in way over your head? And the only thing that kept you from realizing it earlier is sheer stubborness and determination?

I had one of those days yesterday. I did the 6pm Seward Park crit - 45 minutes of going round and round. I had a great starting position - but then fell further and further back in the bunch as the watts continued being pushed out and my little legs started to fatigue. If I had only maintained my spot in the front 1/3 I would have hung a lot longer. I rode with my powertap - and averaged about 350 watts for 1m. Not bad. It'll only make me stronger!

I don't mind having my butt handed to me on a platter - it lights a fire in my belly to do better each and every time. So maybe next week I'll stay in longer - and put more time in the front position. Let the boys know I'm hear to play and stay in their group.

The CLAW's this weekend....

Rest Days

Ahhhh - there's nothing like three rest days in a row.

Monday I did a short spin with Eden and got to remind a road raged driver of RCW code 46 - riders are legal riding two abreast. (This guy pulled over, admitted he rides 9,000 miles a year with his buddies at 5:30am to avoid traffic and apparently nothing pisses him off more than when riders are two abreast in the arb. I happily reminded him to Share the Road and that we're protected by law. He should know that rule if he's pedaling that much. What a wierdo.)

Tuesday I headed to Fast Track and only did about 27 minutes of workout - the legs were just not feeling it. Then we went out to sushi afterward to celebrate Miller's birthday.

And today I woke up early with some extra energy and started right away on yard work. I was out mowing the lawn by 8am this morning! And I plan on power washing during the afternoon. It's nice to have a mental and physical break from the constant stream of training. JIll and I are planning on attending the Ride of Silence tonight to pay tribute to cyclists killed by motorists. It's an effort to bring awareness to riders and cyclists alike to share the road and make it safe for everyone.

My body finally feels like it's recovered. The CLAW's this weekend - should be fun!

peas.

Wenatchee, the apple city

Apples are what Wenatchee is best known for - but it's also the location of the WA state stage race omnium (read hilly ass kicking course). I had a good time this weekend - even though I didn't have the best results... but that's not what cycling is always about, is it?

I ended up hooking up with host housing - and stayed with a very nice family, the Clerc's. The father, Christian races in the masters category although he recently took a tumble resulting in a broken collarbone. His wife, Allison is a body builder. She's stacked! Very into fitness and nutrition - it's inspiring really. They have two boys - one was out of town, so I got to sleep in his room filled with sports trophies - actually the whole house was filled with trophies.

The morning of the TT I was super nervous. Luckily I parked next to Jill and Sjla (pronouced Shelia) - and we had a good laugh about me ALMOST taking a tumble on the rollers.

Notice me precariously perched next to my open trunk. Not such a good idea.

Jill and Sjla laughing about it - as everyone else in the parking lot was expecting it.....

But I held it together and moved next to Jill's ride for a sturdy wall.

The TT itself - well, it was ok. Actually I'm not really happy with my performance. It was a 9.14 mile rolling course - with a serious headwind on the way back. I knocked over 2 minutes off my time from last year - 24.44 - but had a hard time putting out consistant power. New bike - different fit, adequate warm up... contributors for sure. But I will say when I passed the finish line I felt like barfing. So that's a good sign that I layed it all out in the finish - but what happened in the inbetween time? We may never know. :) I got 11th - 10 seconds shy of omnium points!!!

Our crit started at 6 that night - and I felt really good. My legs had snap in them ... my warm up was perfect. It's a four corner course with really bad roads, but that adds to the danger and fun of crits. The final corner is a mad dash ... and unfortunately I got pinched in the corner. So basically my finish was from a standing start from the corner... and I beat out all but 4 women. Not bad considering over 25 started. I'm still working on the crucial positioning in the final two laps... as soon as I get that down I'll start winning some stinkin' races. It's frustrating because I know I can do better - but I keep making this stupid mistakes. I knew better than to take the inside line too.... I had been pinched there earlier. Oh well. I got 5th - and points toward the Omnium.

That night Sjla invited me to stay in her hotel room since Jill was headed out to Moses Lake for Mother's day with her family. I was happy to do it - she's great energy and always looks at the positive side of things. She said something to me about hills - she said, maybe, just maybe, I don't know how I'll do on the hills because I haven't been given the opportunity to practice them enough. Well put - that's looking at it in a positive light. And she's right - I need to work on my weaknesses.

Our RR didn't start until 1... so it was HOT. The course is basically a 13 mile hill - determining right away the climbers from the non-climbers. I was shelled within 1/2 mile of the start of the hill - and was actually DFL... but I finished the course. I guess it's the determination in me, not wanting to give up. Telling myself it's for fitness and practice to climb those monster hills. I found that whenever I would stand up I would sap more energy when I sat back down. Then it would take a few minutes for my legs to recover ... so staying consistant is key. I will work on that.

Here's a pic - courtesy of Amara - of me riding into the finish. Notice the smile? It's because I'm doing what I love and although I came in LAST - it won't always be that way. Attitude is everything and as I always say, a champion is made a day at a time.

On a side note - Lisa Dunwald came up to me after the race and was very encouraging. She won the GC competition - and is a kick ass cyclist. She said it's a process, don't get discouraged. Just keep at it... you're improving leaps and bounds and it's hard to remember that sometimes. It was extremely gracious of her to say that and I am very thankful for it.

I hope it's broken!

Childish rant - yeah, I know. But really - what else was I supposed to say? I mean she wasn't remorsefull or anything. I keep waiting to see her pass by my office window. Any minute now she should be headed out. Unless of course, she did break her bike?

I dropped my excited husband off along with his climbing buddies last night at the airport. They were taking the red eye to Kentucky for a week long rock climbing trip.

So what's Kentucky famous for? Horses, moonshine and that's about it. At least that's all according to Kyle, who did grow up there.

I head out to Wenatchee tomorrow for the state omnium SR. I'm looking forward to. My Kona Kona is being built up today - so I'll get to rock the TT with it. Plus the weather is supposed to be amazing - upper 70s Sat and 80s on Sunday. That'll make for a hot road race. FUN!!!

Taking a header

Some woman just head on collided with me on the trail by the canal. It's the same woman I've been watching travel back and forth on the trail for the past few weeks. She has this bright yellow road bike and her seat is far too low. I noticed her going back and forth like a hamster on a wheel - and often wondered why she doesn't venture further on the Burke.

Well today I found out why. As I was going home from work, traveling no more than 12 mph... I slowed as I passed a man walking on the left. I stayed far right. And just as I was about to go up the ramp, the woman on the yellow bike appeared out of no where and didn't vere to miss me - instead butted me head on. Then she yelled at me in a foreign language. I stood there in disbelief - that a) I just had a head on with another biker and b) no damage was done. She immediately tried to pedal away.. but her chain fell off and she didn't know how to fix it. I told her, "you're supposed to stay right." But I don't think she understood.

The man walking said, "what are the odds of that happening?" and continued walking.

I started up the ramp and heard her still struggling with her bike. To which I responded, "I hope it's broken."

Shaken up from the whole obsurdity of it all, I am finally calming down 20 minutes later.

What possessed me to comment like that? Weird. Oh well. No harm done.

There IS a god....

And his name is Specialized Jet saddle.

I can't tell you how thankful I am they put some research into women's specific saddles.

The catch phrase on the rack display? Eleviates soft tissue hot spots.



Maybe my crotch will heal now. If not I WILL let you know. That's what you get for reading my blog. :)

Morning Rides

I've forgotten how much I enjoy getting an early morning workout in. It's the perfect way to start the day. A brisk morning, with lots of neon commuters battling their way into work over the ruts and bumps of the Burke - breathing in the fresh spring, lake air. Ahhh - there's nothing quite like it. I used to commute to Bellevue daily - along I-90 and get to watch the sun come up. It was always a welcomed excuse to be late to work - for not only was I making a difference and having one less car on the road, but I was also taking my health into my own hands. You know it's funny - if I thought about where I'd be now in regard to racing and general fitness - I wouldn't be that surprized. Cycling is such an amazing lifestyle. It has opened my eyes to a bigger picture - yet whiddled it down to a narrow scope. I wouldn't change it for the world.

Training's been going well. I'm so glad I put in the 90 miles this weekend. I just checked out the Elkhorn logistics and it looks like it will be a challenge. I'm trying to get Emily to come with so we can camp in Maggie. Good times - I just hope she takes me up on it.

Champions are made a day at a time

My whole body is throbbing right now. Especially the ball of my feet for some reason. And then there's the lingering pain of hunched up shoulders - relax. Breath - ahhhhh I'm okay now. I don't have to think of my bike for just shy of 23 hours. Thank goodness - today was a mental test. And guess what? I passed! 90 miles in zone 2. It took me just shy of 6 hours - and a lunch break inbetween. I went out to West Seattle and found some kick ass back roads - but then detoured back towards Seattle once the rain set in. Amazingly I didn't get drizzled on once today! I managed to avoid it for all 90 miles even though the weather report stated otherwise and all the surrounding areas looked like they were being dumped on this morning.

One older gentleman on the trail today asked where I was going to parachute from - I must have looked like the hunch back from Notre Dame - I had everything I could possible need with me and you could tell. Luckily I didn't need any of it. Turns out this older guy met Mike Miller earlier this week - and was looking how to get in touch with him. I gave him Ryan's website to try...small world.

I'm pooped - nothing like a full day in the saddle after some hardcore racing to do you in. I'm just shy of 300 miles for the week.

Elma State RR

Every time I call my mom after a race she always asks the same thing, "Are you a weiner?" And it seems like lately I always say, "well, sort of. But not in a winning way...." and then she gives me encouraging words and listens as I recall and evaluate the race to her. It's awesome to have such wonderful support - I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

I think the hill repeats earlier this week, if anything, gave me a mental edge. Somewhere in the process of climbing 5 times up Norway I told myself that quitting is not an option and neither is giving into the pain. Well apparently that hand played out nicely during today's state road race.

The players - TGH - about 6 of them showed up. On WOW - about 5. Then Ti Cycles had about 8 women. And a few of us straglers - Byrne, UW, Axley, etc...... it was a good race. Surprizingly no one attacked on the first hill - and we stayed together as a group. The decent scared some people off - we were cruising at mach speeds - my favorite. Attacks were thrown left and right but I knew because the teams were out in full force - they would reel them back in. The only one that looked truly threatening was Lisa's attack - to which I said just loud enough to motivate Tia - "well there goes the race." She immediately steam rolled up to Lisa and quickly shut down the gap she had on the field. I sat on for dear life. I'm finding that if I stay positive and not let the "I'm burning matches" infiltrate my brain - then I surprize myself. I don't think I give my body enough credit. It's in incredible shape - although it still has a ways to go - but it can handle the punishment. Pull a Murdin and grind it out.

Ok - got off on a tangent there... sorry. So basically we continue on the attack, attack, chase, chase routine - and we always group back together. Until the very last lap, which goes super slow. The winds were definitely a factor today - they were super strong and you couldn't stay out in them in full force. The final climb came - I was passing people! And then I stopped passing instead of continuing to grind it out and lay it all on the line. Ending me up in a 10th place finish. I know the exact moment I should have gone - and I hesitated. Darn. Well I guess that's what experience will do for you. And I guarentee I won't let that exact situation happen again without giving it my all. It's not like I wasn't tapped when I got to the top - but for some reason if I don't find myself in the top contention for winning then I seem to settle for where ever I end up - and that's not good. I need that killer winning instinct to come out again - regardless if that means 1st or 9th - or where ever - time to give it more -- finish STRONG.

It was a better race for me - I stayed with the group and suffered through the pain with the best of them. I hit this one pot hole though that sent a shocker up to the crotch. Owie. But I'm happy how I did - and the fact that I'm learning is great. To give myself perspective - last year at a state crit I couldn't even finish the race. These road races are wonderful endurance training for the track - preparing me for a national level track comp. Oh I can't wait for the sprinting!!!!

Doin' the duty

Ahhh spring weather. Guess what that means? Yard work. And not just any yard work - but jungle maintenance. Every spring the yard has to be whacked back down to size and the deck needs power washing. I'm procrastinating on the later - only because then I'll have to stain the back deck. And when it's this gorgeous out - the last thing I want to do is yard work. But that means being outside - so it's not a wasted day.

Training's been going well. I connected with Emily yesterday - it was really good to see her. She's getting thin - she commented that nothing really sounds good to eat any more - except Muffins. And I was more than happy to treat her to one. We cruised down to West Seattle - and hit just about every pot hole on the way down there. She's been exercising like a mad woman - which is such a healthy way to get the emotions and drama out of the body. We also talked about starting boxing practice. I think we'll get together sometime this next week and I'm going to show her a trick or two. Miller was into it too - so it looks like I might get an upper body afterall! Sweet. I'm looking forward to throwing some punches - it's been a while.

Amara posted some photos - and as you can tell I had NO smiles going on. It was all business - but I had a blast. Why is racing so appealing? Is it the addictive endorphine high? The rock solid body? The way you can consume everything in sight and not feel an ounce of guilt for eating it?

Oh yeah - our schedule - looks like the team is doing Elkhorn SR, Superweek, Boise, Cascade?, Manhattan Beach and whatever else comes up on the schedule. Not to mention track season - sweet.

Still fighting

this persistent cold that I've had for about three weeks now. I just can't seem to kick it. Maybe it's part allergies - maybe my body is trying to tell me something - whatever the case may be - this has got to stop soon!

The weather is awesome out right now. Perfect conditions for track practice. I also heard from my teammates and we're trying to get a game plan going for our upcoming racing. Looks like we're going to do more stage races. Fun times!

I had a great spin last night with the NWWC ladies. One woman showed up who was honest saying that she has no intention of racing but was looking for additional groups to ride with. She said she's done lots of Cascade group rides etc. I admire her enthusiasm - but it brought up a question in my head whether or not to start including the recreational rider. It's a slow and social pace - but I like to teach people about bike handling, race tactics, etc and if they won't listen to the information being passed on.... I might run into problems there.

I'd hate to turn anyone down but I think at the same time I have to be honest about why I'm there and leading the group - I want to help grow a sport that I feel passionette about. Recreational riding is great - and I applaud everyone who gets on their bikes. And I don't want to discrimate against anyone who loves pedaling too - it's just my motivation is different from the average rec rider. And I think that's an most important thing to convey right off the bat.

Hmmmm.... I just thought of something.... maybe at the beginning of the ride I can tell everyone that this is a great introduction for someone interested in racing - whether that be to race themselves or to support the community. Ask any questions - and hopefully I can answer them! I talked to my mom about it and she said it will probably resolve itself.