ballard crit review

Wickly fun 4 corner course with some potentially disasterous obstacles (man hole cover on turn 3, slick steep bumpy section on corner 1, brick that's as slick as snot at the finish/start line). I was hanging with the combined field, had just pulled a move to advance to the front of the pack and then on the back hand side, right before corner 3, I watched a woman attempt to make an advance on two women that wasn't really there and then go down. Unfortunately I was right behind her and went down too. I landed right on my butt - hard. My elbow got scrapped up and my pedal nearly impalled my left shin. I was able to walk away - although, my bike handle bars were cracked. Damn carbon fiber. Molly suggested I send them back to Easton and see if they do anything for me.

So the woman who went down is also the woman who won. But she was DQ'd because in the field sprint she blocked both Amara and Annette. I was glad to see kharma bit her in the ass.

Falling - it's part of racing. I'm just lucky and glad that I'm not seriously injured.

Oh yeah - and for the record, Ryan had practically the same crash on the same corner, with matching scrapped elbows and hinnie. Lame!

decisions, decisions

do i put up with one ruthless and cruel individual so I can enjoy my other teammates/friends? Or do I say goodbye to any negative energy and move on? Melinda had a great suggestion - doing a team meeting. so who calls the meeting? if I do it Joyce will feel even more threatened that i am trying to take over her leadership - which I am not - but if the team isn't aware of the situation then how will we be able to resolve this? this is a team thing - it's not an individual situation. to me, that seems like a very good and viable option.

back to normal

the meeting with joyce went really well. I am so happy that it did. We had our moments where we both put our baggage onto the table - and ultimately she apologized for her email and attacks. I told her that it is hard to approach her when she says one thing and then demonstrates another in person. I also mentioned Rachel about the "mediator" yet on Joyce's side thing. I told her that her upgrade question made me feel like I was set up and she admitted not meaning to do that. We basically had a meeting of the minds and are both willing to contribute to making this an amazing thing. I understand where she is coming from and she understands where I am coming from as well. Damn that woman has a lot of baggage. But she also has a vision and it should shine through in the end.

the bike is here. it is a machine. i would like to take some time and get together to ensure it is properly fitted. do you have any time this weekend?

And then I got home and started processing our conversation. I started to get angry - really angry. What she is pleading for me to do is to throw races to sacrafice my own performance for the team. Sure I understand this to an extent - but at the same time that's like asking an Olympian to step it down a notch and give it to another person. She had the audacity to say if you hadn't of won then Katy would have been third. Well then why the hell am I there? Why am I competing if it's not to go for the very best each and every time? This is all just crap.

endurance miles

went for an endurance ride with katy yesterday on the burke. her handling and threshold mirrors mine. it was great! we worked on some lead outs and 3 -10 minute lt tempo runs.

on a side note - my bike is in!!!!!!! i pick it up in a couple of hours. i feel like a little kid again. headed out to the track tonight....yahooooooo!

foiled again!

stinking rain - spoiled track practice again. I am not risking it tomorrow - I am going to ride in the morning and get some endurance miles in again. I hope the rain goes away soon.

I don't remember the last time I woke up from a nap and felt so disoriented. I glanced at the clock - thinking it was 4 am and realized I was in my bed but in vertigo land.

Today was a low energy day. Throwing a party, winning a race and riding to Ballard for lunch is enough to exhaust anyone. I feel emotionally drained too - and when my mom called and insisted I make a dentist appointment I nearly lost it. I hate the dentist. I have bolted out of the chair before. All I have to hear is the drill and then it's curtains for me. Last time I needed some work done they had to perscribe me valium. I laugh at myself but it is a serious fear of mine.

Track was cancelled due to the rain. Lame. I went on a short easy ride. I also met up and carpooled with Kele - Lief Clark's girlfriend. From our conversation, I must have caught him on a bad day. I didn't tell her my thoughts on it... it just goes to show how damn small the cycling community is.

Ah what a week

I'm pooped. I didn't sleep well last night due to the recent drama in my life and having to race with that cloud hanging over my head. But I must say - it couldn't have gone better. Podium, Katy 4th, Melinda prime, etc etc... nice work

track rulz and i'm getting kicked off the team...

some shit is going down. tons of details - but I need to focus on the race tomorrow...

Well the vacation did wonders for my cycling game - I stayed with the guys the whole time. I would have finished with the pack had some yahoos not crashed right in front of me on the last lap. They were maybe two bike lengths. I slammed on the brakes and stopped to help the carnage up. Dang! Oh well, there's always next week.

The legs felt great - and today I'm feeling even better. I should be good to go for the weekend and the upcoming track! Boy am I excited for that! My mom and I might be traveling to Hawaii later this month to visit with the family. Will that be an issue for my training?

if you didn't want to win....

then why did you chase me down after the meet the team ride? Excuse me, but isn't a goal of racing to win? I'll never forget the Mason Lake race that you came up to me and said something and I said, "we're here to win, right?" Well apparently this is not the case.

I am a type A personality. I set goals for myself and then go after them with a vengence. If I don't succeed the first time, then I try and try again until I get it. Racing fills that need to succeed. Hosting team meetings, contributing to the website, volunteering to be the voice at meetings - thanking the team after events via email and encouraging them to strive for excellence... apparently that is not enough team contribution. I can't help it if my teammates are not at a level playing field. That they don't have the same drive and desires as I do. I certainly don't expect them to.

"So, when I read your thoughts about upgrading, and I put on my team
manager hat, I have some thoughts. First of all, I really don't see
anything in your note below that talks about supporting your teammates
or team work. Your goal below is about upgrading so with an eye toward
getting on a national team and this is an individual goal. I've thought
about this a lot and I'm not sure that the team is not in a position to
support this, for a number of reasons, most of which I outlined back in
December and have continued to talk about during the season. I'd love
to sit and talk with you about how can we either find a way to support
our mutual goals or think about how we transition you to another team
that can support you in this endeavor. I'd prefer to just have this be
a conversation between you and I, vs. including others so that we can
both speak freely. I'm really hoping that we can get to a place that
works for us both. I seriously applaud your enthusiasm and your dream,
but need to think about the goals & objectives of the team (which have
never been about results) and I also need to make sure that I can keep
the promises I've made to the other 9 women on the team by continued
focus on supporting them in their development - that's my job :)"

First day back

It took me a few revolutions to get back in the mode - I thought to myself - aie crumba. Racing starts back up this weekend. But half way around the south end - with the threat of an oncoming thundershower approaching - I found my legs again and picked up the tempo. Once around Boeing the showers let up and then I ran into a friend - Paul - who is an avid recreational cyclist. Then I took him through the arb - letting him cruise first to run out his legs and then zoomed by him and sprinted to the bridge. The legs are back and feeling strong!

On the drama tip - Ryan and I ran into Joyce on our way to the climbing gym to which she said, "We need to talk." Dude - I feel like I'm grounded or something! Apparently my comments regarding Upgrading ruffled some feathers. This is what I said in an email....
Upgrading - I've been talking with my husband about this a lot lately. On one hand I would like to win the BARR - which I have a great contention for this year. But on the other hand - that means remaining a Cat 4 until August. Not saying that would be a bad thing. On the other hand - I would like to continually improve and feel I will by leaps and bounds by upgrading and getting my arse kicked. I'm also thinking about the future - for elite level cycling. If I were to show my resume to a national team - what would be more weighted - a BARR winner or upgrading to Cat 3 in my first season? Dilema, dilema. Any input would be wonderful.

Oh well - you can't make everyone happy all the time.

Excellent Vaca

Ahhh - what a kick ass time we had. Did some stellar rock climbing, hiking, etc. Amazing. We took some great photos. Got on the bike yesterday when we got home and spun down to GG - my bike felt weird. :)

asta la pasta

10 days of kick ass yosemite valley ! I am stoked!!! I will come back stronger than ever! I can't wait to get some vacation time in.... yahoo!!!!

The Secret Hill

Tonight Rachel showed us where the "secret" hill is. It is an excellent training hill - exactly how I pictured it in my mind. We all worked our intervals despite the thunderstorm and torrental downpour. I happily ate sushi and drank my miso soup afterward.

the legs are feeling recovered - much better than this weekend.

last night we had an advisory meeting for the women's track program. it went well - with lots of ideas for getting more women involved. I am excited to get involved and contribute to getting more women out there (aka more competition).

boxing

had a nice spin this morning before the drizzle began.

my mom showed me an article from the seattle pi about a new boxing gym on capital hill. I called and am thinking about going maybe once a week as a upper body cross trainer. my intention is just for the cardio/upper body strenthening, not the sparring or competition. ryan's a little freaked out about it - i just think of it as a workout. i miss hitting things. :)

I was looking into the month of June to see what else I can squeeze into my schedule as cross training... between swimming, cycling, track, yoga and now boxing, not to mention climbing and weight training... hard to prioritize. Life is too short not to fit it all in.

Monday Madness

Woke up with severe allergies this morning and through the afternoon. My body was slightly tired - and once I took a nap it seemed to clear my allergies up. It must be something in the air...

I did some reflection about the weekend. Sure I didn't have the best results - but if doing an event tired and heavy legged means still a top 10 - then I'm okay with that. It was a great learning experience and I have some areas that I would like to work on (climbing and dialing in a TT position). I would like to try and dial in the best TT position as possible... could you help me with that sometime in the near future?

Also - Yosemite Valley is flooding right now - we may not go to Cali. We'll see what develops during the week. There is a small chance I will do the MT Ecology Race instead!!!

Wipped out

Dude. Talk about being tired.

Worked it this weekend - the end of a three week build cycle. Boy am I stoked - and more stoked then I actually show - how excited I am to relax this week. My body is tired - from about my waist down - and my mind is exhausted too.

In retrospect - I would have taken Thursday off from Seward. However, my fitness is that much stronger now. The TT was good - 9th place with 26.08 and 4th in the crit, 15th in the RR with a 9th place overall. Melinda rocked the house with 7th place in the RR and 10th overall. A very commendable effort.

My legs were pretty heavy in the TT and then during the RR. They felt pretty solid for the crit - but with only 20 minutes it was either collect the preme or go for the gold. I won $40 - but didn't get the points overall to shoot me up in the Omnium. Oh well - lessons learnt.

Hills - I must get faster on the climb. I know I have the mental endurance - but I need to work on the climbing to be unstoppable. UNSTOPPABLE.

Ok - now I'm really delirious - bed time for me. Happy birthday my friend. Great party.

Sort of Seward Spank...

Went for an excellent massage this morning -and for the first time I didn't have anything specific for her to work on. She even commented on how relaxed my body was - including my calves and back where I usually have issues. A tall tale sign that I'm finally learning how to ride my bike!

Had a great ride today - rode down to Seward to watch the 5:30 roll out - and jumped on. Managed to keep up and stay with them and sprint at the end of the effort - beating 5 guys right at the end. You have to finish strong, right?

Tomorrow we're leaving at 1 if you want to hitch a ride with us. LMK.

Hill repeats

Had some nice grinders today and was able to quickly recover from once I stopped chugging up the hill. My fitness is getting better and better. Tomorrow morning I get a massage. Nice.

Loop 2

Got a really good workout last night. I was feeling slightly under the weather in the morning - popped some Vitamin I down and felt better in the afternoon. Matt and I worked on lead outs - he reminded me to be spinning closer to his wheel vs. pushing a harder gear and grinding it to stay close. It worked great. By the third try I had it down and it felt good. It still has a ways to go and practice will make it perfect - but in the meantime I'm happy with the results.

Tonight is a hill workout - should be good. I had a crazy dream last night that you and your dad came over and weed eatted my yard. Strange.