_______________________________________________________________________

All the places racing took me in 2007:

Arizona (Phoenix)

California (Visalia, Exeter, Fresno, LA (Torrance/Carson)

Colorado (Ft Collins, Boulder, Cherry Creek, Durango, Morrison, Denver, Golden, Deer Trail, Colorado Springs, Longmont, Idaho Springs, Salida)

Kansas/Missouri (Kansas City)

New Mexico (Silver City)

Oregon (Portland, Kaizer)

Wyoming (Laramie, Albany [Pop.15])

12-28-07: Today is Rob's birthday! Poor guy, he has a birthday only three days after Christmas AND his sister's bday is the same day so growing up he really got the shaft on birthday presents!!

The Hottman Christmas was in Omaha, Nebraska this year. We all converged on my dad's brother's family on Monday afternoon and left on Wednesday morning so it was a fast and furious celebration. Shown here, my dad and my grandma Jane:

The Hottman girls, Tiffany, Jessica and Heather, showing their Under Armour shirts that Rob and I gave them. Seriously, watch for them on the cover of a CD someday (soon), they are incredibly musically talented:

At this morning's spin class, RaNae brought me the cutest gingerbread house -- for dogs (thank you!)!! Phoenix was very excited as you can tell:

I let the pups take nibbles:

In other news . . .

Last week I had an (un-expected) interview with a Denver Law firm and was offered a job. However, I was told that "cycling would have to go." Huh? Seems I've managed to pick a profession that makes work and cycling mutually exclusive. Luckily, they were willing to take a rain check so I can still give this season a whirl. I also received an exciting email from the FBI asking me to come in for the Phase I exam in a couple weeks. As you probably know, that's step one of a thousand, but it's a start; I don't expect I'll be asked to attend the academy any sooner than 2009.

I'm already doing pushups and pullups to get ready for the physical exam component. Ok, not really, that'd be a bit premature. It's really hard to be a formerly-very-strong-person-who-is-now-a-wimpy-cyclist. When I go to the gym, I THINK I'm still strong and lift the weights that I USED to lift and then I find myself incapacitated for about a week from soreness. Oops.

***

12-22-07: so my first week of retirement concludes with almost 15 hours of actual ride time. I looked back over my 2007 training log and discovered there were only a few weeks I was able to get in that kind of riding while I was working. Now, I'm hoping it'll be a weekly occurrence!

Rob and I decided to take a "family photo" for our Christmas picture of 2007. After about 20 retakes (we set the timer on auto and Rob had to jump across the rocks each time to reset the camera while I wrestled with the pups), we finally came up with one where all 4 of us were looking at the camera. I am sure it was quite a spectacle to observe ;)

***

12-19-07: It's very encouraging to me that within just 3 days I've logged more ride time than I've been able to do on a weekly basis these past few months while working. I am excited about actually coming into a season with more miles in the legs. It was cold and windy today, but the sun was out so I can't complain!

***

12-18-07: click here to watch my dog exercise using a fitball, it's hilarious. On day #2 of my "retirement," I went on a bike ride at the warmest part of the day. There are still spots where the snow was packed or it was icy (ie anything in the shade) but overall the roads were clear.

12-17-07: It is a Monday morning at 9:15am. I am not at work. I am at home, drinking coffee, working on my laptop, in sweats. Life is good.

I can't say this enough --> if there is something you aspire to achieve, or to be, you need to do it. Live your life according to YOUR plan and not the way the world expects you to live it. Yes, it's scary. Things like health insurance and retirement savings are always good reasons to keep slaving away at "the day job." But it is SO worth it, to go out on a limb and try something else. As I see it, if it's a success, it's a huge success, because you bucked the system and won. If it's a failure, at least you tried and you'll live your life knowing you tried. Is it scary to be intentionally unemployed? Heck yes. Might I regret it down the road? Possibly. But I'll know that, wherever it is I end up, it's because I put myself there, not because I merely went where the system sent me.

I talk to so many people who are MISERABLE at their jobs. Does having a GREAT job make your entire life great? Not necessarily, but it sure is a start. If you hate what you're doing 40, 50, 60 hours a week, it carries over into every other aspect of your life. Into your marriage, into your friendships, it affects your health and your mental wellness too. Too often, we live in fear of "making our boss mad if we leave," or "creating a gap in our resume."

I tell my clients all the time, "If you don't make time for yourself, no one can do it for you. And if you don't make yourself happy, no one else can." I think we have to work hard at not merely going along with the norm and instead, to challenge ourselves to ask "what is it that I truly want?" It is so cliche' but it's true -- we only have this ONE LIFE to live. It really is up to each of us to make the absolute most of it.

***

12-16-07: I am looking for a local accountant here in Denver, preferably someone that works with small businesses. If you are one, or know of one, please contact me at meghottman@hotmail.com. Thank you!!

***

12-13-07: tomorrow is my last day at work. Sometimes departing a place where you're comfortable is bittersweet, but tomorrow will simply be sweet for me. I am ready to move on. I am moving on to the world of mediation and to motivation (in spin classes, cycling/triathlon coaching and telephonic wellness coaching) as well as to pushing myself with my own training and the realization of my goals. We welcome referrals! www.coloradomobilemediation.com

***

12-10-07:

Carol "tagged" me and this is what you do when you get tagged: you tell 5 things about yourself and then pick fellow bloggers to tag and then they post things on their blogsite, etc. I'm not sure how this started, but I'd imagine some bored cyclist during his/her offseason made it up and I think it's a clever way to pass blog time until the season begins again.

So. 5 things you probably didn't know about me, but now you do:
1. I don't eat red meat. In high school PETA got ahold of me and I was a die-hard vegetarian for about 7 years. When I got into weight lifting in college I decided I'd better add some fish and poultry back in but I still don't do the red meat thing. My reasons are complicated so I won't get into that here.

2. I was born during a blizzard. That's not a big deal, until you consider the fact that my birthday is in mid-May.

3. I met my now-husband Rob when I dropped my race license at a crit in 2003. I wasn't even supposed to be at the crit because I'd just done a 1/2 ironman the day before and then was out all night at a friend's wedding. But, something told me to go to the crit. I went, dropped my license, Rob picked it up and the rest is history. We were married at a bike race 2 years later.

4. I didn't buy my first road bike until I was 22 and didn't race until I was 23.

5. I ran 3 marathons inside of 12 months. My knees didn't really like that. That's when I stopped being a runner.

I'm gonna go ahead and tag some of the gals on the DFT team with blogs so you can learn a bit more about them, too: Dawn, Michele, Robyn, Julie and Erin. Of course, this assumes that they read my blog, because if they don't they won't know they've been tagged. I suppose that's half the fun?

***

12-9-07: these past 5 weeks have nearly done me in. When I gave my notice at the beginning of November that I was leaving my job, I anticipated my last day would be mid-November. So, I began picking up some part time work and additional responsibilities. Instead, my last day was "pushed back" to December 14, so while working full time I have had all of my new part time gigs going on as well. Add the bar exam application (example of a question on the app-- "list every address you've lived at for the past 10 years and the name and phone number of a neighbor at each of those addresses"), starting a new business, and a 50+ person clothing order to the mix (which NEVER goes smoothly) and you get a very stressed out Megan, right in the midst of the holiday season.

However, in five short days I'll be stress-free (well, I should say, low-ER stressed); I can put my current full-time job behind me, and I will have time to focus on my training and my pursuit of a career that really makes me feel good on the inside. I hope to have the new business I'm starting ready for announcement very soon and you better believe the first place I'll start advertising is right here ;)

The final talent pool attempt starts tomorrow out in Carson. I really wish I was there instead of here, but I decided it didn't make much sense to try and hit the pursuit time in December when I knew my fitness would be lacking. Still, I want to wish the best of luck to the people trying their luck one last time for the 08 talent pool. Lots of good racing is going on over in Beijing on the track, although it sounds like everyone is getting sick.

Sorry I never have pictures on my blog, I know that's boring. Here's one just to spruce things up a bit -- it's my friend Andres. This photo officially made him my hero.

***

12-5-07: today's shooting in Omaha, NE is the first shooting nationwide that had impact on me personally. It's where I spent the majority of my high school, college and law school years and I have family and lots of friends that live there. So when I heard about the shooting at Westroads mall it scared the crap out of me. Not that any other shooting in the country has been more or less important -- they're all scary. I just didn't have any connection to those cities. But the one in Omaha definitely got my attention. My mantra lately has been "life's too short" and I guess today's incident illustrated that. Just another reminder to tell your family and friends you love them every time you can!

***

12-4-07: I want to wish a speedy recovery to team member Michele, who was just in a bad car accident. She missed her marathon as a result of the injuries she sustained but we are so grateful she's ok and on the road to recovery.

I got this from mom (they're emails called "Healthy Reflections") and it was so timely for me -- I wanted to pass it along:

Becoming the person you want to be

Take a look at your priorities and your goals. Where did they come from? Are they the products of soul-searching, self-analysis, and careful planning? Or are they a reaction to pressures from other people? Did you find them within yourself or within the pages of a magazine? The answers to these questions are important because they tell you if the person you're becoming is someone you want to be. Here's another way to look at a goal: do you want it, or do you just think you should want it? It's not easy to follow your own direction in life. But it's more possible than you may think. Question everything. Every priority in your life needs to justify why it's there. If you can't come up with a good reason that actually comes from YOU, maybe it doesn't belong.

To be nobody but yourself--in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else-- means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.

- EE Cummings, poet
***

12-1-07: 2 tricks that allowed for blissful rides in the cold today:

1. Take some of those foot warming packets (normally used by skiers) and place it on TOP of your cycling INSIDE your shoe covers. That way it warms the toes but doesn't cause pressure (as it does when the packet is placed INSIDE the shoe).

2. Break up long rides into multiple short rides. Today we did 2x1.5 hour rides, coming home and warming up and changing between rides, and it worked out great.

While it's tempting to scratch the outdoor riding altogether, I remembered today what last winter was like, where I would've been outside in -10 degrees if I could've but the streets were always covered with melting snow or ice. So -- now that the streets are clear, it's worth riding outside even though the temps leave a bit to be desired.

2 things I would not survive without:

1. Pearl Izumi lobster-claw gloves

2. Under Armour heavy-duty longsleeved turtle neck (base layer)

***

11-30-07: Lesson: when you live in a condo building with secured entries (ie all exterior doors are locked) and you take the dogs out at 415am, bring a cell phone or keys or both. BECAUSE: when the door that you carefully propped open with a rock decides to close (because your little dog is anxious to get back inside and she bumps it) you will find yourself locked out, at 415am, in your pajamas, with 2 dogs, in the freezing cold.

Yes -- this was me this morning, panicking because I had no way of getting in, nor of letting the gym know I would not be making it to teach spin class at 530.

THANK GOODNESS the paperman showed up 15 minutes later.

Visual image for you to ponder: As the paperman shows up and begins to let himself into the building, here comes this frantic girl in her pajamas, hair mussed, and 2 crazy dogs chasing after her. The first thing he hears from her: "ohmigosh am I glad to see you!" [I think I scared the man half-to-death].

Long story short, crisis averted and I made it to class with time to spare.

***

11-28-07: results are in (thanks for participating if you voted):

Results:

Yes
60% (9 vote(s))
No
40% (6 vote(s))

Day after t-day when I suffer from a turkey hangover: and yes, I had to work . . . Even though I felt like a complete sloth. I swear, too many calories can be hazardous, especially when you're not used to eating that many carbs in one sitting.

So -- 51. That's the final headcount on the team/club for 2008. Somebody pinch me, I am so happy! Three years into this adventure and the fun continues. Have I mentioned how excited I am for the season to start?? And thanks to Squadra and team member Dawn's help, we'll be sporting our new 2008 threads in mid January. Talk about "on time."

***

TURKEY DAY 2007: I couldn't stand the thought of passing up a work-free day mid-week without at least attempting to ride, so I put on every piece of cold weather gear I own and braved the 22-degree temps. I lasted only an hour and a half before my toes were so bad I had to head home. Even with 2 pairs of shoe covers on, I could not get them to warm back up. But other than my face and toes, everything else was warm and I was glad to get out for a spin before I proceeded to consume WAY too many calories for dinner at our friends' house this evening (pics coming soon). I spent much of today realizing how much I truly have to be thankful for. The list is quite long and I feel so lucky. Life is good.

***

11-21-07: kudos time in the customer service department. As you probably know by now if you've been reading this blog awhile, I am a BIG proponent of paying people that provide good customer service, every compliment in the book when I can.

We are placing our team/club clothing order in a week and we've been working with SQUADRA again this year, after our positive experience with them in 2007. But this year they have even gone a step beyond and I cannot say enough wonderful things about them, their service, responsiveness, quality of product, you name it. We work with Don on the graphics side and Greg on the sales side and these 2 guys have REALLY made life easier on us as a team working to get our clothing order assembled.

After shopping around and talking with 5-6 other companies, the clear choice for us was to return to SQUADRA and I just wanted to publicly thank them on this website for all of their help. I highly recommend them!

***

11-20-07: HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! Knowing her, she'll do a 50-mile bike ride today!!

If you're looking for that special something to serve for Thanksgiving, I just got this suggestion by email:

" bustergophechiduckneaealcockidgeoverwingailusharkolanbler (a bustard stuffed with a turkey, a goose, a pheasant, a chicken, a duck, a guinea fowl, a teal, a woodcock, a partridge, a plover, a lapwing, a quail, a thrush, a lark, an Ortolan Bunting and a Garden Warbler)."

You may want to start your shopping now.

***

11-19-07: I forgot to write about something really strange that happened on our group ride yesterday. Towards the end of the ride everyone was just taking it easy, riding their own pace so we were all spread out. This rider apparently catches on to the back of our group and then decides it's his job to put his hand on the two gals' butts that were in back and pushed them for quite some time (apparently under the impression that they were dying or something). Ok weird but the gals admitted to secretly enjoying the push because they got to recover a little bit.

So then the group is back together and we're making our way back to where the cars are and again, the pack stretches out a bit so what does he do? U-turns to the back of the pack and again -- same two girls -- his hand on their butts, pushing them (not just for a second either, we're talking uncomfortable minutes). So I'm riding near them this time and I observe this and think to myself, "never in the the years I've been riding, have I witnessed a complete stranger repeatedly push women when they did not ask for help, nor were they struggling." Ok so now we're almost back to our original meeting place and he takes off and rides with the front folks and so these 2 gals and I are chatting about how totally bizarre this behavior was and lowandbehold, for a THIRD TIME, this guy comes back and does it to them again.

Now - should I have said something to him when it wasn't my butt he was pushing? Should these women have said "uh, no thanks dude?" Or is it just common enough practice that you (a) only push people by the butt if you know then (b) always ASK if they want a push first and (c) usually only push one time, not THREE TIMES!!! It was quasi-creepy and I felt bad because I think the girls were a little weirded out. So --dude out there that likes to push women who are perfectly capable of pedaling their own bikes thank you very much -- STOP IT!

***

11-18-07: last night Rob and I had the rare opportunity to get all dressed up. My friend Casie and her husband were throwing a little cocktail party so we had a reason to dig out our dressy threads (which more or less collect dust in our closet most of the time!). No one there recognized me without my tevas.

Today we went on a DFT club ride with some of the Denver folks. It was a really fun, low-key ride that gave us the chance to get to know one another a bit better.

***

11-17-07: new DFT website record: 642 hits today as folks check out our elite squad -- that's incredible!! I'm hoping by Monday at the latest, the club team info can be posted as well. We've got OVER 45 people on our team/club in 2008!!! I am inspired by the number of people investing in their health by trying out new sports!

***

11-16-07: ok I am not gonna lie, the time change is killing me. The days I pack my bags to ride in to work haven't worked out because it's been too cold -- like 23 degrees (my limit is 30 degrees) -- and by the time I drive home from work it's dark so I can't ride outside at night either. I liked it better when it was dark in the morning and sunny in the afternoon! Oh well. In a month the days start getting longer again.

***

11-14-07: tomorrow is the last day for people to join the DFT club and I must say, based on the response we've had already, the numbers are far-surpassing my expectations. It's really exciting to see us expand into more states and grow our membership as we approach our 3rd season! How-to-join info here. I am hoping that I'll be able to reveal the elite team and club team rosters on the website along with our AWESOME sponsor lineup, VERY SOON!!

***

11-12-07: Veterans' Day today which means no work for Megan. Rob's the one that should have the day off since he's the veteran but no such luck. So I did some riding this afternoon but waited just a bit too long; about an hour into the ride the temps really dropped as the cloud cover thickened. This picture says it all (note the white middle, ring and pinkie finger). I hate being that cold on the bike. I guess it's time to drag the lobster claws out of their hibernation.

I realized today that we have 4 kennels, but only 2 dogs. That's because one kept getting bigger and bigger but we always thought she was "done growing" so we kept buying "one more kennel." So we have 2 for sale if you want one. Email me at meghottman@hotmail.com

***

11-10-07: I woke today with good intentions: I planned to race the CX race this afternoon because my qualifications were met: it was nice outside and the race was here in town. However Rob and I and our friend Chad took off on a ride this morning and it just went longer than expected and I was still riding home at the time my CX race was scheduled to start. oops. I think it was for the best though, because on Wednesday I accidentally took out my life's frustrations on the weights and I am STILL paying for that little endeavor (i.e. I could barely walk on Friday).

It was a good ride today-- we took a different non-mountain route that had us down south in and around Chatfield res. After living here over a year that was my first time in that part of town, funny how little exploring we've done!

here's rob and chad from the back as we approach the base of Deer Creek Canyon.

We decided that if Rob was a vehicle, this is what he'd be ;)

***

11-7-07: I thought I would share some of the encouraging emails I received when I was trying to decide what I should do, in case someone out there reading this page is also in need of inspiration to make a change in their life:

"The decision you are in the throes of making is just that...your decision. Your first obligation is to live a life that maximizes your potential which does not necessarily mean meeting someone elses deadlines. If it is a matter of honoring your word and worrying about burning bridges, taking on the risk and opportunity of living a life that aligns your skills and passions will garner you much more respect in the future than staying somewhere after you have already decided to move on. The energy and excitement in your 2 weeks announcement email was electric! This is not a rash decision, but one that you have spent a lot of time and energy on. It felt right, because it was. Since I left the cube world, I have had not one regret about the decision. In my case, I'm still not quite sure what I want to do, but I knew I had to get out of the corporate life to allow myself to find out. You on the other hand have a plan and ambition and dreams. I see no regrets in that!"

"WOW!!!! GREAT DECISION!! I was hoping you would go with this, even though I never said anything. Without kids and a home you have SO many opportunities in front of you and this is the PERFECT time to do them. I am envious of your freedom, even if it is a little scary. But, you know what? Excitement and adventure IS scary. That's what makes it fun! And, you'll always have your law degree behind you when you are ready to be stable again. There is plenty of time to be stable."

"So now you have made a great, new decision for your lifeand I want you to know that we will all be behind you in whatever you decide makes you happy and we will LOVE you every step of the way. You will always be able to go back if it is your desire because of your abilities and your work habits etc. I will continue to pray for you as always and hope that God's blessings will shower upon you so head up and on with your new life. "

"Here’s our quote of the day: “Sometimes persevering is not the wise choice. Especially when you are racing in the wrong direction.” J How do you know when to hang in there in a tough job, and when to start circulating your resume? How do you know when to keep trying to make a relationship work, and when to say goodbye? How do you know when to start over with life. When you play scrabble and need to toss in all your letters, you're allowed to start over because you can't make anything out of what you've got. How do you know when to move to another town and start over? We are not quitters! We would not have gotten this far in life if we were. But sometimes persevering is not the wise choice. Especially when you are racing in the wrong direction. In his play, The Wild Duck, Henrik Ibsen uses the metaphor of a hunting dog who relentlessly dives under water for a duck that has fallen in the weeds, until the dog himself is in danger of drowning. How do you know when to keep going after the wild duck, and when to leave it buried? Sometimes we are drowning in our failure. Sometimes we are drowning in our success, becoming so much less than we use to be, and than we want to be." http://www.natpresch.org/sermon.php?d=2000-03-12%200000

***

11-6-07: one component of my "new adventure" will involve my work as a wellness coach for USCW. Please click here to watch a brief video about what we do!

***

11-5-07: many of you that've been reading along in my musings for the past couple of years know that I'm a "waffler" -- I've vacillated between the legal world and the world of health and fitness(including bike racing), always indecisive, always putting off the "big decision." My hesitancy to commit to what I love and pursuit of things I did not love, was based in large part on what I call the "societal expectation that you hate your job." I mean truly -- isn't that what we learn? College, job, work work work work, retire. THEN live. I think the statistics are pretty depressing -- maybe 10% of the working force actually love their job and feel challenged and satisfied by their work? Shouldn't we ALL love our job and feel satisfied by it? 2080 hours/year spent doing things we don't really enjoy, just plugging away day by day until the magic day when you've saved enough to quit your job and join the retired folk. THEN, and only then, do you get the freedom to pursue your passions.

Nope. Not me. Today I decided to stop waffling.

We've only got this one, small life, to live. It goes by fast and opportunities can pass you by, just that quickly, if you don't step out on a limb and take a chance.

Today I decided to take a chance and pursue my dreams and passions. I might regret it, I might not. This is new, unchartered territory for me but it is exciting. When I am older, I will be able to unabashedly say that I "lived without regret." To me -- that's what life should be.

***

11-4-07: today was not such a great day. Rob and I both woke up sick -- headachy-chills/sweats-very dizzy. It was awful. We kept looking outside at the beautiful weather (75 and sunny!) and that made us even more miserable because we were both looking forward to doing a nice long ride today before the week gets away from us. So instead, we were inside watching re-runs of movies we've already seen far too many times and trying to choke down a sip here or a bite there to get our energy back. We're both hoping to goodness it's gone by tomorrow b/c we're both looking at marathon mondays at our jobs.

***

11-3-07: today was a great day. I didn't have to wake up early and rush off for anything, DFT member Julie Hurley is making her way through her first IM as we speak in Florida, and I got to enjoy a nice 3 hour ride with some DFT members/prospective members on a gorgeous day. Rob brought his camera along and tooks photos of our ride which included Lookout Mountain:

(l-r, Hillary, Amanda and Sarah) approaching the pillars

Amanda smiles as she drops me ;)

***

11-2-07: don't forget to set your clocks back an hour on Saturday night!

Post II: I decided that post about clocks from earlier was just outright lame. This page needs some color. So here are shots of Melissa and Monica, two Kansas City DFT-ers tearing it up at a CX race last weekend. They rock!

See how much fun she's having -- Melissa even has a chance to smile!! (huh, where's all the sand? is that just a boulder thing? if it is, that's good because I think it's mean to make people ride and run in the sand).

Monica's all business (nice bike Monica!)

***

11-1-07: one of my co-workers just shared this with me. Seriously!?!? Talk about a GIANT chink in the armor for Lance in my book.

ok, but then I got this in an email from Melissa and it brightened my day!

***

10-31-07: happy halloween! I decided to re-use my costume from 2003 (5 halloweens ago!) when I went as an FBI agent and Rob went as Kenneth Lay (Enron):

. . . except I made a few minor adjustments. Today I am wearing a shirt that says "Ozzy pit crew" on the front and "Fargo sheriff" on the back and I have warrants falling out of my pockets. Why? I found this very obscure piece of news yesterday and found it so funny I just had to model my costume after it. It's funny for two reasons -- one being that it happened in Fargo ND of all places and two, that people actually fell for it:

"About 40 people heading to the Ozzy Osborne-Rob Zombie concert at the Fargodome won't make the show. They were caught up in a sting operation set up by the Cass County sheriff's office. The department set up a phony pre-concert party at a local bar, and invited people with outstanding warrants. About 40 people showed up, and were arrested." Apparently the sheriffs dressed as members of Ozzy's crew, complete with shirts bearing skulls and crossbones - -except one of the eyes of the skull was a sheriff's star. Clever. Eh?

So that's what I am for halloween.

You know -- they say costume selection tells a lot about a person. What does it mean that I've been an army ranger, GI JANE, an FBI agent and now a sheriff? Hmmm . . .

***

10-29-07: I am so sore today from running in the sand. Results are in from yesterday's adventure: http://www.americancycling.org/results/2007/oct/boulder-cx3.html

For some reason they placed me in the CAT 4 category even tho my USAC lic shows me as a CAT 2 track (same as road, I assumed?). Guess ACA does it differently. So I'm back to starting from scratch and working my way up!

***

10-28-07: remember how I was bragging that I'd made it through a season without crashing? Well I took care of that today (if you count tipping over in the sand as crashing; technically it should count because I actually broke the skin twice). Yes, I finally worked up the courage to do a CX race. Apparently everyone else did too -- there were about 60 women there today. I waited for them ALL to start before me so that I would not risk messing up anyone's race. Then I just focused on working my way up the pack, one rider at a time. I don't think I passed that many though -- I was mostly preoccupied with staying upright.

This is me "pre-riding" the course (notice I'm not riding) and laughing out loud saying to Rob "I am so screwed when this race starts!"

I think on the first lap I tipped over about 4 times, then next lap 2, and then 1 and then finally was able to make it through the last laps without crashing. In a nutshell, it was 45 minutes of hell for me. You have to remember -- I've been mountain biking less than 5 times in my LIFE. Off-road handling skills -- I have none. Lara K (lipton) won and at the very end of the race she passed me so when we finished it looked like I was in 2nd place. But I wasn't. Thankfully, her passing me saved me having to do another lap ;)

Rob took photos when he wasn't laughing his butt off at my rotten mounts/dismounts. Ask Carol Hutton about how bad they were -- she videotaped my graceful mount and I think the tape is like 7 minutes long.

The trusty Trek X01 -- (And, FYI, Creighton University also goes by "CU" so no, I'm not pretending I graduated from CU law school. You just can't see the Creighton on the top of the frame. People ask me about this all the time so I thought I'd fill you in.

Running uphill in sand in bike shoes pushing a heavy bike is hard

As you can see Rob didn't move around the course very much so you're seeing the same part of the course from different angles. There was also an uphill obstacle (uphill dismount) and a boat ramp used as an obstacle that made things interesting.

It was pretty fun. I'd race next weekend but it requires a UCI license and I don't feel like spending $90 on a license that expires at the end of this year. so I'll wait until another sunny day for my 2nd CX race!

Super-stud Andi Burnam has really been tearing it up on the CX scene - she's a fellow KS-transplant and cool chic so it's awesome to see her smoking the competition!!

***

10-27-07: not a good week for Megan as far as training goes. In fact, I think I set a new record low: 4:50 total training time since last Sunday. That's what happens when I'm in trial all week and things go from 3x12 hour days to 5x10+ hour days -- paired with the days getting shorter and veloswap, etc it was a downward spiral. I don't think I've trained less than 5 hours in one week since . . . well, I don't know when.

It gave me pause because it's not what I want.

I think I've finally reached the point where I'm ready to say "I'd rather be flat broke than continuing to be a mediocre athlete." Maybe someday I'll be sick of being broke and I'll want to invest myself in a "high-power legal job" but for now I've got new resolve with what I want my life to be about. And it doesn't include 5 x 10+ hour days.

***

10-26-07: does this ever happen to anyone else? you go like a year or more without any flats and then within a span of a couple days you get like 5 flats and blow through your entire tube supply? I think it's safe to say I need new training tires on my bike. good thing veloswap is tomorrow!

***

10-23-07: reminder: anyone can join our DFT club, regardless of where you live! Men and women are welcome -- whether you are a runner, cyclist, swimmer, multi-sporters, adventure racer, track racer, CX-er, MTB-er, you name it! The deadline to sign up for our club is November 15, 2007. Click here.

***

10-21-07: waking up to snow: VERY BAD. Checking your mail and getting the official registration of your trademark: VERY GOOD. Our DFT logo is now a federally-protected trademark for the next 10 years!

***

10-19-07: "hey, that's my bike!"

My parents are here so we'll be doing some fun riding (weather permitting? snow?) and then checking out veloswap next weekend.

Part II: do you have any idea how lucky I am? I have two parents that enjoy riding bikes, and have the good health to do it! I am truly blessed. I rode with dad up to Evergreen and back and then we hit the trails with mom -- while it was super windy here, the temps were nice and warm. It's pretty cool, I think -- that my parents taught me to ride a bike as a kid and now I can help them ride as adults. Makes me happy ;)

here are 2 shots mom took of dad and me riding up 74 towards Evergreen:

And -- I'm sorry to bring up track nationals again ("geez Megan, Move on already!") but Liz is a phenom writer and this is a must-read.

***

10-18-07: since I don't have much to report right now, I thought I'd get all philosophical on you. Actually, I just wanted to pass along this tidbit my mom emailed me:

The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.

- William James, philosopher and psychologist

Living a Meaningful Life

Looking for meaning? Having trouble figuring out how to make a difference? The answer may be closer and simpler than you think. Ask yourself: If I were gone tomorrow, what will I be most proud of having left behind? The answer will be different for each of us, but it may tell you something about why you're here. Your answer can be as involved as a foundation you helped start, or as simple as a favorite picture that you took. Something will be here when you're gone. What would you like it to be? What one thing would tell the world what you were all about? Maybe it's your child. Maybe you're already working on something that could turn into one of your greatest accomplishments. If so, give it your all. The more of yourself that goes into it now, the more people will be able to see you later on.

Some really cool opportunities have presented themselves to me and I am trying to decide if I have the courage to pursue them. It's always easy to talk about the "what-ifs" but when it comes down to being a reality then the safe path tends to look even safer. But sometimes "safe" = lame. Sorry, I know I'm not making much sense.

***

10-16-07: a must-read by Colby -- racer turned USAC coach turned racer again.

And . . . maybe it IS time for Megan to take an off-season. I want to quit while I'm still ahead--while I'm still hungry and thirsty for this sport of cycling . . . so that 08 can be much better than 07. . .

Sigh. I am CLEARLY not good at making decisions.

***

10-15-07: I've decided block training should be renamed "rubber mallet" training.

That's because your legs feel like they've been assaulted by a rubber mallet by the time you get to the end of the block (but of course, that's the point). I know, block training isn't typically part of "off-season" or base miles season, but that's because I haven't given up hope on December's talent pool just yet.

After all the track-specific training I've been doing the past 2 months, it felt good to get back out on the roads. It's that time of year again when you have to pack 1/2 of your wardrobe to go out and ride here in CO. Ear warmers, shoe covers, a dry pair of gloves for the descents. A bag to put it all in while you're roasting your butt off on the climbs. Too many layers on the way up = sopping wet mess when it's time to come back down. Cloud cover seems to make the temps drop by 30 degrees, but when you're in the sun you swear it's 80 degrees. So it's really hard to dress appropriately.

I can't say I'm a big fan of fall. I like spring and summer. I can see snow on the mountains from my patio and I am not happy about that. Even though I've skied my whole life (albeit, infrequently because I grew up in the midwest), I haven't been one time since we moved here. Mainly because we can't have TWO mega-expensive hobbies but also, the risk for injury is very real and would not be worth giving up cycling for, in my opinion. But if it's another winter like last year I think we may need to take up XC skiing or something else besides "mind-numbing hours on the trainer" like we did last winter.

***

10-12-07: "PROPS!" To Lakewood Lube and Repair! I picked up a nail in my car tire and was losing air in a big way. I stopped in and even though they were swamped, they plugged my tire, charged me a mere $10 and sent me on my way in less than TEN MINUTES! Ladies, I know you'll agree with me that when it comes to car service, it tends to invoke a sense of dread -- because you know you're gonna get ripped off or even if you don't, you feel like you are because we weren't born with that magic "car knowledge" chromosome or gene that men seem to possess. So -- these guys are GREAT, friendly, locally owned. Bad customer service can make a day turn sour but great customer service -- as rare as it is these days -- is a day MAKER!

And while I'm "plugging" . . . a website that's quickly making its way into my top 5.

What is NOT up for me this weekend: CX racing. I know I said I would try it, but the races last weekend and this weekend weren't local and I don't think I need to be traveling for CX at this early point in my CX adventures -- so, maybe next weekend. But only if the weather is nice. I'm not only a "local-cx-er" I'm also a "fair-weather" CX-er. And before next weekend I am sure I can come up with a few more criteria (is plural criterium?).

***

10-10-07: school continues for me in Team Director 101. I made the silly, silly assumption that you can take people at their word and rely on promises. I know they mentioned something about that being a bad idea in law school but I must've been asleep in that class. I'd love to drag this particular company's name through the mud on this forum but I won't. Suffice it to say that if their business practices continue they won't be around much longer anyway; their own conduct will be their undoing, they don't need any help from me. No worries though -- every step backward has led to 2 steps forward and this was no exception. Big things happened for our team today and I cannot WAIT to announce it all very soon.

Also -- I want to plug a new company that has a vision I completely believe in. Every company out there can benefit from these services -- just think, reduced drag on health care, less sick days . . . Be sure to tell your CEO or boss about it and tell them I sent you (I'll be coaching for them very soon). If you ARE the CEO or boss -- what are you waiting for!?

***

10-9-07: look at this adorable face . . . c'mon, you know you want a t-shirt! Click on the store button to get one!

Many thanks to MITCHELL CLINTON for taking (and sharing with me) the photos he snapped at track nats:

10-7-07: reports from the last day of racing reveal that Cari (and Liz) won the team sprints --wahoo! And Brent Stein took 3rd in the men's kierin, so that's great news. We drove straight through and arrived home late last night -- apparently old man winter came while we were gone; there was snow in the mountains and more coming down as we came back towards Denver.

Here are the pics Rob took of my pursuit last week:

My pre-race pep talk with Coach Des:

Watching as they load my bike into the start block:

Getting clipped in and ready:

"deep breath"

And I'm off . . .

"huh, my splits sure are slow . . . I wonder why . . ."

Here's a pic of Des and "Blatchey" laughing about something, I can't remember what though:

Ok so mentally, here's where I am, now 3 days post-race-debaucle. If I'd known pre-trip what I know now . . . I still would've gone. Rob and I had a terrific vacation, we met lots of great folks and got to know other associates much better. Yes, it was expensive, but without races as reasons, I'm not sure we would travel.

December offers one final chance to make the time cut -- aka, the talent pool. And yes, in case you're wondering, I would really like to make it into the talent pool. So I suppose if you ask me where I go from here -- that's where.

Mom sent this and I thought it was worthy of passing along:

Become a "Bounce Back" Believer -- By Liz Noelcke, Staff Writer

Bounce back. Reevaluate the goals you should have set for yourself at the beginning and retool them as necessary. Goals should be realistic and specific, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be flexible and are allowed for minor impediments. Instead of looking at your project as a disaster or failure, view it with success. Instead of focusing on a possible unsatisfactory performance one single time, take a moment to sit back and reward yourself for all that you have accomplished.

Above all, don’t live with regrets. Approach life with perseverance and dedication to the things that matter most to you. Success is never easy. It remains up to you whether you will give up, or fight through the tough battles to earn whatever it is you want.

A fragment of a poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson is telling:

"Finish each day
And be done with it.
You have done what you could.
Some blunders and
Absurdities have crept in.
Forget them as soon as you can."

***

10-5-07: Today was the women's points race. 100 laps, with a sprint every 10 laps -- 5, 3, 2, and 1 points at each sprint. The race feels a bit like a crit with really big primes being offered, except it's the "primes" and not the finishing order, that determine the winner. 24 of us lined up.

After the first 3-4 laps I decided to take a solo flyer, for no other reason than to make sure I finished the race with at least 5 points. I opened a nice gap and took the 5 points at lap 10. Ok, 90 laps to go and I'm toast. Oh dear.

From there, I more or less hung on for dear life . . . a couple times I came close to scoring more points, coming in 5th or 6th in the sprints, but missing the points and just cooking. I tried to stick on wheels as much as possible and stay away from the riders going slow. A few times I found myself having to jump across gaps that slower riders allowed to open in front of them. Slowly, slowly . . . 100 laps went by. I finished the race with 5 points, which put me in the top 10 (10th place).

I wasn't elated, but I wasn't disappointed either. I stayed upright, I finished, and most importantly, I made yesterday as distant of a memory as I possibly could and tried to just race today as a new day. I got to watch Blatchford put on a few more champ jerseys and saw Cari duke it out for 3rd in the sprints (only to be relegated to 4th because she moved up out of the sprinters lane, I guess?), I was so sad for her as I know she was going for the bronze. I am learning much about this sport and the many ups and downs that accompany it. What else have I learned? Simply because one qualifies for nationals, does not mean they should attend nationals. One should attend nationals only if they are in contention to win, not merely "for experience." Unless they're independently wealthy -- otherwise, it's too expensive to get "experience" at this level. I am tired of "getting experience" -- aka, being mediocre at events where I'm in way over my head. I won't be doing any more events where the goals is "to see how I fare" against the competition. Working full time to afford the cycling addiction is not the right approach.

Now -- where I go from here . . . I'm not quite sure . . .

More pics will be posted when we get back; Rob took tons on his camera but did not have his cord for me to download them.

***

10-4-07: I woke up with million-dollar legs today. On my ride over to the track I tested them and could do no wrong. I checked in, got my bike weighed and measured against the templates and found the start list. I was first up, and alone on the track (new people go first and the odd # of riders resulted in me riding the track solo).

My start went perfectly and I felt awesome into the second lap. Then the splits just took a nosedive, I could not pull the time back. I wasn't even clocking times that slow in practice when I was trashed. And I kept slipping down the track-- I nailed a couple of the blue foamy things that are there to keep you on the track. It was awful.

As soon as I hit the finish line and rolled off the track and onto the apron, my chain fell off. Without brakes and without a chain connected to my pedals, I could not stop. I started shouting at the volunteers as I flew by -- "I can't stop, someone please grab me."

So when I finally got stopped, we looked at the bike to see why the chain had suddenly come off. Any guesses? . . . . .

When I started my pursuit, apparently the torque of my first pedal stroke was enough to loosen my rear wheel in the rear drop outs, pulling my rear disc sideways so it was rubbing on the inside of my rear triangle (seatstays) the ENTIRE race. Coach said he thought he heard it when I started and could hear it rubbing as I rode by each lap but he didn't want to stop me and the race for fear that, if something had NOT been wrong, my race would've been over. But by virtue of the fact that I rode the entire race, I could not ask for a "re-do" due to a technical. The crooked wheel explained my inability to hold a straight line and the reason the bike kept pulling down-track. If only I'd known. I don't think I could've made the time cut but I think I could've easily been in the top 5, which would've meant a chance to set foot on the podium. Sigh.

It was, quite possibly, the biggest disappointment of my life. My time? 4:15. 14 seconds SLOWER than the time I turned out 7 weeks ago at the state champs. Pathetic. Embarassingly pathetic.

Never mind that I've practiced starts over and over again and have never had a problem with the rear wheel. Never mind that we double and triple-checked all the bolts and tightened and re-tightened everything before my race. Never mind that we did everything in our power to make that the ride of my season. It was apparently not meant to be.

It's been a "comedy-of-errors" kind of season. Start with the TT I flew out to Cali for in March, only to take 50th because my brakes were rubbing. Then there's the RR in CO where I jumped off the front for the win and learned I still had 12 miles left, finishing dead last. How about the Cherry creek TT where my seatpost slid all the way down and my seat went vertical on me? Or the TT at Bear Creek park when I rode off course? My other favorite was getting to the tour of the Gila only to learn I had horrible tendonitis in my knees. In light of all that -- perhaps I should have seen this coming?

About 5 hours later, I "got back on the horse" and rode in the women's scratch race, which is 40 laps and the winner of the last lap, wins (like a crit). I made one good aggressive move about 10 laps into the race and initiated a decent break which a couple other riders bridged up to and I thought for a second we might be able to lap the field, but everyone sat up and we were caught (and I was shelled). The rest of the race just seemed like pandemonium to me, very erratic and unpredictable -- similar to how I felt in my first criterium. I didn't have a good finish, but I wasn't pulled, I didn't crash, and I did not suffer any mechanicals.

I'm not sure what else to say. All that hype, all that buildup and then boom, big fat let-down. Today was a test and the only way to pass it is to remain positive, composed and to let strong character dictate and not succumb to pity-partying. I'm trying, I really am.

Cari scored a second medal in as many days which was very exciting. "Blatchey" won again (sprint heats) -- finals are tomorrow. Click here for photos and results.

***

10-3-07: today I chilled out. I got a wonderful pep talk from Cari H. and her coach, Missy T, and also received a motivating email from Kelly B that really brought me to my senses. Thanks to everyone that's taken the time to send reassuring emails and well-wishes, I REALLY appreciate it! I'm rested, I'm not under any stress, I've been eating like a madwoman and I think I just might be 100% ready for tomorrow. And let's not forget -- I'm on vacation!

Technically, I'll race several times tomorrow. First is the pursuit qual. If I make top 4, I move into the pursuit finals, which are later in the day. If I don't, I'm also registered for the mass start race tomorrow -- I can't remember if it's the points or scratch race. So either way, I'll be racing a minimum of two times tomorrow. If I make it to the finals, I'll skip the mass start race.

We went over to the track to cheer for Cari and Mike and Brent, the 3 I've been doing most of my training with in the Springs (even though they're all sprinters). Mike (Blatchford) won the standing 250TT, Brent (Stein) narrowly missed top 5 and when we left, Cari (Higgins) was winning the 500TT. I am hoping results will be posted on usacyling.org, velonews.com or cyclingnews.com by tomorrow morning.

It was good for me to see how everything works as a spectator before I do it as a racer. The start blocks are air pressurized, so your bike is locked into the block and the clock counts down and then a person has to push the button to release your bike. There's an element of human error there, as the clock beeps and THEN the button gets pushed to set you free. While we've practiced starts ad naseum in practice, it's still crucial to get it perfect at the beginning of the race. Timing will be everything. In case you didn't know, in the pursuit they start two riders at once, at opposite sides of the track -- so we are each other's carrot so to speak. If you are caught, it's not a good thing. I am hoping I'm not paired against Dotsie Bausch (Colavita) -- I think she's favored to win the pursuit. Sarah Hammer is not here this year so I suppose it's wide open.

Here's a shot of the track with everyone that raced today set up in their areas, warming up, etc. It really is something to see!

***

10-2-07: 3rd day at the track and it was very short-lived. I got there early enough to snap a few shots of the track, trying to find better light than the ones I took a few days ago.

Look straight down behind me, where the dark blue painted rectangle is. That's turn # 1.

Following a nice long warmup, I did my first effort and found that my legs were toast. The past couple days caught up with me and there would be no going forward today, only moving backward if I stayed for the training session. I was "reminded" that I'm competing against people that train full time, don't have jobs/other responsibilities, and who put in twice as many hours each week as I do,etc . . . yes yes yes I know all of that. I guess I was hoping I could come out and prove it's possible to do both -- the career and the athletic pursuit.

So today was a regroup day. Rob is the king of pep talks and really turned me around and got my head straight again -- we spent the day eating and resting. We hit the beach at Santa Monica, it was beautiful. The water was a balmy 63 degrees so we walked in the water to stimulate repair in my legs.

Tonight we had dinner with another racer who's been at this for awhile and he offered some really great perspectives on all of this. Most importantly, how crucial a positive attitude can be and to what extent we must push all thoughts of negativity or doubt out of our minds. Despite how frustrating today was, I still remain optimistic about Thursday's pursuit. I came out here to show I am capable. I want to demonstrate potential. Everyone here has the same objective, I recognize nothing will come easily. If you want something bad enough, I know you have to go and take it and fight like hell for it.

Tomorrow, the racing begins and we'll be over there to watch and cheer on my compatriots from the CO track.

***

10-1-07: 2nd day at the track . . . and yes, I successfully slid off. Turns out the "g-force" of the corners got the best of me as I warmed up (too slowly, apparently) and I slid right down the track, barely missing two other riders. Thank goodness we were only there with other CO folks, versus yesterday when everyone was there! So, got that out of my system . . .

We are still experimenting with gears, trying to find the right combo. Even though the track is indoor and wood, it is NOT faster than the CO track, which is outdoor, at altitude, and concrete. In fact, it's the opposite -- this seems to be a slower track for everyone because the corners are so tight they just EAT up your power as you push through them (again, it's the g-force at work). And once you lose speed, you can't get it back. I liken it to riding in quicksand or through wet concrete; it's that significant.

The other difference is that this track has longer straights and two turns at the ends- "cigar-shaped" they call it, where as the track in the Springs has a bit more distance between turns (and of course, it's 333m whereas this track is 250m). It all adds up to being just different enough that we are still trying to dial everything in before Thursday. I am SO glad we got out here as early as we did. I could not have imagined it would be this different. I'd be lying if I said I was happy with the splits I've been posting so far. I'd hoped they would be faster.

After practice we drove to Venice beach but found that the beaches yesterday were much better; the Venice area is a bit tougher, more graffiti, etc. Still, we got to look at the ocean and enjoy the sunshine. I'm hoping we can score some fresh sushi for dinner tonight. Sorry, no photos today but maybe tomorrow.

***

9-30-07: ANOTHER DFT woman has taken the plunge and registered for an IRONMAN! Robyn is going to Louisville IM 08!

My mom sent me this quote today:

Be not afraid of going slowly; be afraid only of standing still. - Chinese Proverb

which was incredibly timely seeing as how it was day #1 on the track, where I was told not to ride any slower than 18mph or I'd slide out. Yes, the banks are THAT steep.

For some reason I was cursed with lots of mechanical/equipment difficulties today, made even worse by the fact that we were on a tight time schedule. Plus, much to my dismay, we have to pay $20/day to train on the track. Ouch. So much for Universal Studios!

So afterwards, we decided to "unwind" at the beach.

Redondo and Hermosa beaches are only about 20 minutes west of our hotel, so we plan to spend as much time in the sand as we can this week. The doggies loved the boardwalk (I wanted to introduce them to the ocean but they aren't allowed in the sand).

We played the "one day when we're rich" game and picked our favorite beach-side house (I can't even begin to guess what it'd sell for).

Then we wrapped up the day with dinner on the beach at "On the Rocks" -- they even offered a place for doggies while their owners eat and drink. I thought this was so cool -- complete with a food log and beer bucket full of water. Only in California!

Tomorrow, back to the track. We'll have the equipment issues under control and I'm hoping that "my first day at the track" syndrome is behind me. Seriously, that track is intimidating. Slippery wood. Steep banks. Tight corners. Oh, and lots of smoking fast athletes gearing up for nationals.

Final thing -- completely unrelated to the above. Click here for one heck of an eyebender!

***

9-29-07: after over 15 hours of driving in a single day, we arrived at our hotel in Carson, CA. We took the route to Grand Junction, to Vegas, into LA. Rob and I had never been west of Grand Junction on I-70 so the scenery in Utah was a pleasant surprise - it kept changing colors and shapes, and might just rival the Grand Canyon?

Rob had never been to Vegas so he got to see it from the interstate as we drove through -- you can tell he was not impressed ;) Rob drove from Denver to Vegas, leaving me with just the short stint from Vegas to LA.

Syd took everything in from the back of the Tahoe in her crooked little house

***

9-28-07: one number continues to pervade my thoughts: 3:49.12.

That's the time I need to post at nationals to take this thing to the next level.

That's over 11 seconds faster than the time I posted at the state champs on 8-19-07. Taking off 11 seconds on the track is like shaving 2.5 minutes off your best 40k TT time -- it's huge. I am bracing myself for the fact that the difference between first and fifth places may only be tenths of seconds apart. That means I have to leave it ALL on the track because getting beat by 1/10 of a second would be the WORST -- can you imagine?

I'm bringing the trusty laptop and the hotel offers wi-fi so I'll try to keep everyone posted. I am assuming results will be posted here as well.

***

9-26-07: after 4 years of racing I have yet to make it on Velonews.com. However, my father managed to sneak one in during the TOM, apparently while having a heart-to-heart with "big george." (If you're wondering which one is my dad, note the DFT jersey).

Part II of the day's post: I'd imagine most cycling households have done what we do when we get a new bike/new fork -- we file the fork dropouts down to facilitate easy front wheel swapping. Lesson: when you file down your dropouts and you are cruising down the interstate at say, 85mph with a bike in the rack on top (and into a headwind), be prepared to hear what I heard today: THUNK! That was the sound of my road bike dangling next to the side of my car as I'm driving 85mph. The headwind + speed worked the fork loose from the fork mount of the bikerack and the only thing still holding my bike to the rack was the little plastic piece you put through your rear wheel. Luckily -- neither the bike nor the car suffered so much as a scratch. Don't ask me how. MORAL: don't file dropouts or mount your bike rack backwords so it's rear wheel first into the wind.

I am officially registered for 3 events at nationals: pursuit, scratch and points. The pursuit is the one I care about, the other 2 are for fun and learning experiences. So, there you have it.

9-25-07: I'm headed off to my last day at the track before nationals. I just counted and since the state championship on August 19th, I'll have made 14 trips (including today) to the velodrome. Doesn't sound like much, until I tell you it's 180 miles roundtrip, which in my car is roughly 1/2 tank of gas. So that's 2520 miles traveled and approx 42 hours of driving just to train down there. Don't forget to add in $3.49 for the pumpkin spice latte I treat myself to en route to the track or the $1.25 I spend on a sprite when I'm at the track. Or the $2.99 I spend on Target scones to eat on my way home. I swear in between all of that eating and drinking, I actually do train.

Since I don't use blogspot I don't have the ability to post blogs I think you should read on the right side of my page, so instead I just stick them in here now and then. Here's a new one definitely worth reading. Carol and I have actually been racing against one another since 2003 (gateway cup?) but we didn't know it until we started looking at old photos and results. We officially met this year at a TT early in the season and after that we TT-ed each other's legs off. Carol's blog refers to me as "multi-tasking Megan," which I like because it definitely sounds better than "jack of all trades" or "Megan can't make up her mind" both of which are probably closer to the truth, haha. Well we're all just glad Carol final broke down to blog.

Ok so I'll be registering for nationals today and I'll be sure to post what events I'm actually doing out there.

***

9-23-07: one week from today I'll be in LA! I am so excited, I can't wait. On Tuesday we'll make the final decision on what events I'll be doing out there (options: mass start test, individual pursuit (3k), points race, scratch race, any/all of the above). [I cannot do any of the sprint events because I am only qualified in the endurance category. So the 500, 200, keirin, and sprints are all events I am not eligible to compete in this year]. Click here for a really interesting track racer's blog (she's a sprinter).

Here are a couple photos from Thursday at the track, referenced in my Thursday post (below): Phoenix likes Dr. Pepper, and look at the sunset!

Someone told me the other day "Life's not what it is, it's what you make of it."

***

9-22-07: two realizations of the day:

1) I survived the entire road season, which for me started way back in February, without a single crash. I can safely say that, now that the season is over. Wow. That's a first.

2) I have also managed to make it through the year without a single sunburn -- in large part because I've been a good little suntan-lotion-puter-oner. I highly recommend it, your skin will thank you.

***

9-21-07: last night was the last night of track racing for the season at the 7-11 Velodrome. Rob and a couple of my coworkers came down to watch, and we had a women's field of 7 (which means a payout is offered in each race!) The first race was a 3-lap scratch to seed us for the sprint matches. I won the scratch and Renee took 2nd so we were paired for the 2-lap sprint match (similarly, 3rd and 4th were paired against one another). Sprints require one rider to roll out front of the other at no slower than walking speed for at least the first 1/2 lap; after that it's a "sprint" to the finish. I attacked Renee before she'd finished her 1/2 lap on the front and held out for the win. It was a good start to the night. Brad Huff showed up at some point and began to commentate on the mic so that made things more interesting for the spectators.

The next race was a 1-mile scratch, or 5 laps. Renee caught me off guard at just the right moment and took the win with me in 2nd place.

So that you know who Renee is, I lifted a pic of her off the USAC website (she is just as fast as she looks!):

Our 3rd race was the very last of the evening, a 5-mile (24-lap scratch) race. As is tradition, the race started out as a paceline with each of us taking our pulls and then the attacks started (gulp-early) with about 18 laps to go. I don't even remember how it all unfolded, I just remember that with the final 500m to go I was sitting on Renee's wheel and came around her on the finishing stretch and we sprinted for the line side by side. That stinker, she beat me again! It made for a late night and we didn't get back home untl 10:30pm, so bedtime was late late late. 430am wakeup to teach spinning was especially tough this morning but once I was up, I was ok.

It was a fun nite of racing, I made a few bucks and I got an awesome shot of the sunset which I'll post this weekend. Many thanks again to Renee for showing me the ropes (and then schooling me!) as I think it'll really help me out when I do the mass start events at Nationals!

DFT members and sisters Deb and Laura suprised me in class this morning with a cool bracelet bearing the inscription "INSPIRE" to get me revved up for nationals -- it is SO cool! Seeing as how THEY are the ones that just signed up for IM wisconsin, they INSPIRE me!

***

9-19-07: fresh off 3 victories in SD, dad scored two thirds and a fourth at the Kansas State Senior Games!

9-18-07: today, my dog ate a bee (unphased), a fox leapt onto the track and ran a 1/2 lap before darting off, and I had a much better day of training (whew!). Now -- it's 3x12 hour days for me for the remainder of the week.

***

9-17-07: my heart is bursting, I'm so happy about this -- DFT won the division 5 (1-30 members) club champs, bringing home a national club champion title and $1000 in prize money. I am so happy and so proud of the women that competed. Every single one finished, and finished in the top-20.

Today on the track: not pretty. It takes the bad days to remind a person how good the good days truly feel. I woke up feeling semi-out of sorts, I twisted my ankle walking into starbucks for my latte, then at the track it was cold and so windy the backside felt like you'd hit a wall. All combined with the fact that my legs hated me after Saturday and so today, I paid. And paid. And paid. But I refused to let a bad day get me down -- when it hurts that bad, you grow as a person. Because at nationals, you can darn well bet that pursuit is gonna hurt. So today was a lesson in pain, and getting a good workout in even when everything was awry. I'm looking forward to tomorrow because I know it'll be a better day!

Two weeks from today, I'll be here:

One more thing: Sarah Hammer claims her "secret to success" is lots of sleep:

http://womenonwheels.bicycling.com/2007/03/index.html

I certainly don't disagree -- having these extra couple of days off each week to train and rest certainly goes a LOOOOOOONG way as an athlete. How will I ever return to standard 8-5 hours!!?!?

***

9-16-07: lots to report, bear with me . . .

(1) I'm told the first round of competition at the USAT Club champs was successful and several more are racing today. All results should be posted here very soon.

(2) Mom and dad were able to attend the TOM TT stage in Branson last week and took lots of pictures from their perfect vantage point, including the weighing of the bikes. You can view them in a pdf slideshow here.

(2.5) DFT 2008 team apps are now posted: http://definedfitnesstraining.com/join.html

(3) Track training continues to go well and I am still learning alot. I spent yesterday morning behind the moto again and find my confidence getting closer to that rear wheel, at higher speeds, is growing. I am trying not to get too excited about nationals because I don't want nerves to be a factor out there but truth be told I'm really looking forward to pushing myself against the best in the country and seeing how it comes out.

(4) Last night was the Parker twilight criterium in downtown Parker. We raced around 630pm so it went from sunny to dusk during our race which meant they turned the lights on in the corners. The crowd was really loud and the race was so exciting. If I had a top-5 list of the "funnest" races I've done, that one would definitely be on there. We had pro women from Lipton, Aaron's and ValueAct in attendance which made things very active, plus they threw out something like 15 primes during our hour-long race. I decided beforehand that I wanted primes more than a good finish, to make some $$ for nationals. Last year they threw out $100 primes and one $500 prime (I took $600 in primes) and I was hoping that was the case this year. (It wasn't, each prime I won was only $20).

At three different points in the race I sprinted for primes and took them. Finally with 2 laps to go, I pulled a suicide move and launched off the front, getting clear of the pack. I held it for a lap and then Kori S (lipton) must've decided she'd had enough and reeled me back in, at which point I just tried to hang on to the pack and ultimately came in 11th. I think if I had not trained on the track earlier in the day, I might've been able to pull it off, it's hard to say. Either way, no one crashed and we all had so much fun. I think when it's the last race of the season, there's a mixture of relief that it's over combined with a bit of sadness to see it end. I know I'm still thirsty for racing and am in no way ready to call it quits. After nationals I plan to try CX just to keep racing.

Rob got some pics of our race last night and one of my nifty skinsuit (thanks to Melissa and Squadra!) --

going after a prime:

Amanda Miller (ATLAS) smiling (see, I told you everyone was having a good time):

***

9-14-07: GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF THE DFT LADIES GEARING UP FOR USAT CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS AT INNSBROOK RESORT THIS WEEKEND! They will be competing in 1/2, 1/4 and 1/8 Ironman distance events (and some women are doing 2 events this weekend!). Their results in each event earn points for the team in the club champion runnings.

People often ask me how I can get up at 4:30am on Fridays and teach a 5:30am spin class? Well, truth be told, it does make me a little tired in the afternoons but this morning's class was the perfect example of why I teach, and have taught for the past 7+ years: it was a completely full class, music worked out perfectly, everyone was high energy, no talking, lots of focus, you could tell they WANTED to train hard -- the room was full of intensity and positive energy and I actually walked out feeling energized. [Two women who recently competed in triathlons gave spin classes the credit for their strong bike legs -- I LOVE hearing stuff like that].

Classes where everything goes perfectly and everyone is in sync, don't happen all the time but when they do, it's completely awesome. It's something I enjoy so much that it really causes me to hesitate in considering certain career choices that would prevent me from teaching.

No track racing for me last night. I spent yesterday afternoon behind a motorcycle going 35+ mph, getting used to riding a big gear at a higher cadence. I was spent, to say the least, and was instructed that it would not be wise to also race. Bummer, since I later learned Katie Compton raced with the women (normally she only races with the men).

Just to add some color, here's a photo I lifted off the internet showing several riders behind the moto, most likely racing, not training:

I found a great website for track racing info and very helpful explanations of the races: http://sdvelodrome.com/faqs2.htm.

***
9-11-07: first day of the Tour of Missouri! To think, a major tour like that comes to town AFTER I move, that's not right. . . now if only the state could be as progressive in its no-smoking efforts! Yesterday our DFT team bike shop sponsor, the TREK STORE OF KC, hosted team Discovery for autographs and photos. My dad got in line and managed to score all 8 autographs from the team, on a DFT t-shirt, how AWESOME!

Signed by: AlbertoContador, Levi Leipheimer, George Hincapie, Johan Bruyneel, Yaroslav Popovych, Benjamin Noval, Antonio Cruz, Fuyu Ki, John Devine)

To see all of the pics taken, click here (pdf file).

Not many people know this, but I was involved in the initial Tour of MO discussions last fall with the folks from the Govr's office. It was pretty exciting stuff, I am so pleased the whole thing came to fruition, in just one year's time! You can follow along with the tour here: http://www.avftracker.com/tom/TourTracker.html

***

Second post of the day: two more DFT women take the plunge -- Deb and Laura are registered for IM Wisconsin 2008. That makes SEVEN WOMEN on our team gearing up for Ironman events in the next twelve months (Courtney and Julie are headed to IMFL in Nov 2007; Erin and Leslie are doing IM AZ in April 08; Dawn is off to IMCDA and Deb and Laura (sisters!) are in for IMWISC, all in summer 2008.

9-10-07: wanted to upload the pics of dad sporting the "bling" from his 3 wins this weekend at the S.D. Senior Olympics (he cleaned house -- 3 gold medals!)

(shown here with my Grandmother, Jane):

***

9-9-07: I had a great day on the track yesterday and feel at this point like it's impossible to say too many thank-yous because I am so grateful and humbled by all the help I'm getting. I want to make sure everyone knows how much I appreciate it! All of these folks have gone out of their way to help me adapt to track racing, learn the secrets, and improve my chances for nationals as best they can with their advise and experience. They've truly gone above and beyond and it's raised the bar in my book of what someone in the sport should do to help out a newcomer -- I hope I'm able to repay the favors forward some day soon.

BIG THANK YOUS to-- John Cotton, Steven Truesdale, Renee Eastman, and Melissa McCafferty.

Thanks to their help, my starting lap splits have come down by 6 seconds -- that's a big deal because it takes a bit of pressure off the remaining 8 laps so I'm really hoping that improvements are still possible this close to nationals!

And -- my skinsuit arrived from Squadra (13 days ahead of schedule!). Oh my gosh, it's awesome. Our team design gal, Melissa Dehner, really did an amazing job on our kits this year and I had sort of overlooked all of the cool details she added until I saw it all assembled in one piece and seriously, her ideas and design are incredible.

***

9-7-07: I had a great time at the track yesterday and last night's racing was fun and exciting. The gals were great to me and so helpful! Renee Eastman (VC) was back from a successful weekend at Gateway Cup and put the hurt on me. I got lucky and snuck a win on the first race which was a 1-mile scratch (5 laps, winner of last lap wins). Then the second race was a 10-lap tempo, where 2 points are given to the winner of each lap and 1 point to the second, and on the last lap, 5-4-3-2-1 given on the line. She beat me in that race and I learned the true reason her nickname is Sparky (as in spark-plug!).

The third race was a 5-mile scratch (24 laps; same format as race #1), which usually starts with the women riding a paceline to get through the first 10-16 laps or so. Then the attacks started and Renee and I found ourselves alone off the front. We jockeyed a bit and finally I could tell she wasn't going to come around me so I just put my head down and hammered for the line. She JUST pipped me at the finish, bummer -- but a great race! I owe Renee a BIG thanks for all of her advice and suggestions to help me prepare for nationals. It is obvious she is an awesome coach (CTS) and I am sure her clients adore her.

The only rough thing about Thurs nite racing is that the road crews do night construction on I-25NB (since the traffic is too heavy to do it during the day) so my commute back home takes longer. It makes for a short night when bedtime is 1030p and wakeup on Friday is 430a-gulp!

There is absolutely NOTHING on the race calendar for this weekend -- that's a rarity out here. Next weekend is the Parker Crit followed by the start of the CX season in Breckenridge. But for the time being, just more training on the track for me! Dad is up racing in South Dakota and just took 3 first places!! Go dad, go!

***

9-5-07: 2nd plug:

Need a lightweight, wind and water proof jacket that's cheap enough to throw away at the start line and small enough to wad into a ball that easily fits into a jersey pocket? Fall's coming, which means cool morning starts and chilly descents! Grab a DFT sportshell jacket for only $8 (plus shipping) here.

9-4-07: little plug for the DFT team fundraising efforts here since we've got a bunch of gals gearing up for the USAT Club Champs on 9-15-07:

Want to support "fast women?" GET ONE OF THESE COOL T-SHIRTS FOR YOURSELF! 100% OF PROCEEDS GO TO DFT TEAM TO HELP WITH 2007 ENTRY FEES!! CLICK HERE TO BUY.

***

Labor Day: not much to report in light of the fact that we opted for a pure training weekend. I did watch a great DVD though. I think most athletes would enjoy it in a humbling, looking inward sort of way like I did. It's called Peaceful Warrior and it's about a male gymnast. It reminds me of Stick it" and Prefontaine.

Observation: it is absolutely amazing how clutter can sneak up on you when you're not looking. We get so busy sometimes that piles just start accumulating in our house -- mail to go through later, empty boxes, magazines, old clothes to sell/donate that never get sold/donated . . . today I'm taking advantage of a short, hard training ride that's left the remainder of the day to weed through all my clutter. Feels good.

***

9-1-07: today Rob and I dusted off our sweet MTB gear and took the old steeds out for a nice spin. My legs were grateful after 2 days on the track, and we had a good time. Here's one example of the totally extreme stuff we were riding (insert sarcasm here):

Here's a shot of my super-high-tech MTB shoes (circa 2000):

Finally we made it to our actual MTB destination: Green Mountain.

Here is Rob modeling the ultimate in MTB equipment. He bought his Specialized 10 years ago but I beat that with my Bridgestone BB-1 from 13 years ago -- purchased on my 15th birthday for "big money" (I thought it was a pretty big deal back then). Now I ride it because it's a classic (do they even sell rigid frames anymore?). Plus, it goes with my shoes (and weighs over 28# which makes for a great workout).

(I know secretly everyone wishes they had a MTB like mine).

Something about being on that huge honking bike made me giggle -- we would be bouncing along on the trail and I was behind Rob just laughing my butt off. It was funny to me, probably because without a front shock, I looked like one of those bobble-head dolls people put on their dashboards. See -- now you're laughing.

After our ride we "ran errands," which is something we have time to do about twice a year. It was a fun day.

Here's a great read from the infamous Marvin Z, the mastermind behind the mind:

http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=5246&status=True

8-31-07: off to the track soon, but first, yesterday's recap.

I was able to get down to the track yesterday to train and then stuck around for the Thursday night races. I am quickly learning where road racing has led to some weaknesses, which became very apparent to me after practicing starts over and over last night (I am so sore today!). But that's good -- I'm flushing out the areas for improvement now while I still have almost 5 weeks before nationals!

Then the weather turned to this:

Luckily, the rain held off and so we raced! The Thursday night races are not "training races," like a Tuesday night crit might be -- these are actual USCF-sanctioned and officiated races, with payouts and upgrade points and season points on the line. But of course, they ARE great training, too.

I won the first race, which was a 12-lap points race (every 4th lap you sprint for points and the person w/ the most points wins). The next event was a 5-lap scratch (first person wins, like a mini-criterium). I got 2nd place* in this event. I skipped the 3rd one to get back to Denver since Fridays start with a 4:30am wakeup call.

*Learned a lesson last night that Lance himself learned when he allowed Marco P. to win a stage once in the TDF -- it resulted in Lance catching a lot of heat, which led to Lance's philosophy: "no gifts." Last night I learned this lesson and I won't learn it again. There is simply too much money, time, and effort on the line for gifts. I was there last night to race for wins, for upgrade points, to prep for nationals. If that makes me a bad person, then call me Dr. Evil but last time I checked, people that race, race to win. Last night I envied men because men would never put their fellow male cyclists in the position in which I was placed.

Will any of this matter in 5 years? No.

Did it make me a better and wiser cyclist? Yes.

My mother in law was on hand and took some shots of the racing action (as you can see I grabbed the wrong shorts!):

The start of the points race:

On my solo attack for points:

I'm not really smiling here, my calf is cramping ;)

Up for this weekend? Who knows!? Options:

1) 3-day stage race in Lamar, CO. (Never heard of Lamar? Don't feel bad; even CO natives haven't heard of it).

2) TT record challenge in Moriarty, NM (12 hrs of driving for a 40k TT?)

3) MTB racing at Keystone

4) Train, train, train

Eenie, meenie, miney, mo . . .

Several CO gals made the long haul to my old neck-o-the-woods for the gateway cup. You can read about how they battle the humidity (and fast midwest competition) at:

http://bfisk.blogspot.com/ or

http://vcsparky.blogspot.com/

And I'm pretty sure KB will be there as well.

***

8-29-07: Team Director 101. . .

Excitedly, I find myself offering more to riders for the 2008 season than I have ever been offered as a rider myself by the teams I've raced for. I think that's a pretty cool thing in light of the hits that cycling has taken as a sport in recent years, as well as other sports' let-downs (Bonds, Vick, to name just a couple). It shows that people/companies still want to invest in healthy people in their communities at the amateur level, where sport can be its purest and enjoyed to the fullest.

I am learning a TREMENDOUS amount as I embark on forming an elite road and multisport squad for next year. Riders are asking me the same questions I used to ask of prospective teams and I am realizing from a director's perspective how hard and tricky giving those answers can be. For example -- it's difficult to disclose to a prospective rider who her potential teammates might be, because I do not want to disclose names of women who might be leaving their present team for mine (nor would the woman asking want me to disclose her name to them). Another interesting dilemma is that sponsors want to know who the racers will be and racers want to know who the sponsors will be. Cart, horse; horse, cart.

The entire process has its ups and downs, but it's always extremely educational. Since I am an optimist I know all will work out and the team will be just as it should be for 2008. In the meantime I have to be patient as prospective riders sort out their options -- something I used to do at the end of every season. Even when a woman declines to join, our exchanges have given me a chance to get to know her a bit better -- and that's a good thing, since I'll still be racing with these women even though they won't be wearing our jersey.

This is definitely an experience I recommend every racer try at least once. It has made me want to call up my former team directors and simultaneously say "I'm sorry" (i.e.-for asking you when my ___ would arrive") and "thank you."

***

8-26-07: no weekend race results to post since there wasn't any racing for me. As I mentioned, I skipped the triathlon. Instead, we did some hard training on the track on Saturday -- the place was a ghost-town with everyone at either masters nats (click here to read about Kim's ventures to T-town: http://rocketlettuce.blogspot.com/) or out in Cali wrapping up the talent pool. So I actually had the track to myself!

Today the ACA schedule offered up a criterium but I decided to train instead. Crazy, I know, since the opps to race are winding down but as I said, I'm trying to really keep priorities in mind. Who knows, maybe after nationals I'll give CX another try. Last year I kind of chickened out, but this year, CX nats ARE in ol' KC after all!

[And while we're on the subjects of track and CX -- I google-d Katie Compton, a smoking fast track and CX racer and guess what -- she's actually listed in Wikipedia! I think that's so cool -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katie_Compton).

A bit of a lifestyle change coming up -- For the next 5-6 weeks I'll be working 3 12-hour days at work so I can have a few extra days off for training to try and get ready for nationals (well, as much as someone with only 3 months of experience on the track can really get "ready!"). The 12 hour days will be long but the extra chances to train will make up for it. I'm so lucky I have a boss supportive of my endeavors!

And finally -- The 2008 DFT team is really coming together with sponsors and everything, it's pretty exciting. It's hard NOT to be looking forward to next season already. . .

***

8-24-07: if you've been reading my blogs for any extended period of time, you might've noticed I have a hard time "keeping my eye on the ball" with my endeavors in cycling -- ie, I'll get enticed by a triathlon, or this or that . . . I just like to do a little bit of everything. While it keeps things fun, my "jack of all trades" mentality has its draw backs (ahem, remember the Mt. Evans hillclimb?).

Well, not any more. I've got new-found convictions about track nats. So much so, that I'm skipping a triathlon this weekend in Steamboat that I paid 60 perfectly good dollars to do.

I have a whole new respect for Lance's "tunnel-vision for the tour" because it is so hard to sit pass up races. I think I speak for most racers when I say we live for weekend racing -- we pine for the adrenaline rush and it certainly beats the heck out of training!

But. I have a goal in mind and I can't, CANNOT, allow myself to get derailed so easily. If I'm going to extend my season into October and journey to CA, I've decided it will not be a fruitless venture.

[Many thanks to Profile Design for hooking me up with better bars for the pursuit and Squadra for printing me a sweet skinsuit for nationals!!]

***

8-23-07: if you're looking for some fun times over the labor day weekend, head to STL, home of the Gateway cup. I raced it in 03, 04, and 05 --quite possibly THE most fun you can handle in 4 days, it is such a riot. Tim Ranek does a fantastic job with the event and the venues are outstanding. http://stlbiking.com/gateway_cup.htm. In the years I raced, the women's fields were strong -- Kori S. (then, K. Kelly), Kelly Benjamin and other super-fast gals have been known to show up for the event which always makes things exciting!

***

8-21-07: Bicycle Colorado recently gained approval for bicyclists to use the Road Rage Hotline to report aggressive drivers who put bicyclists at risk. The phone number for the Road Rage Hotline is simply Star CSP (*277) when dialed from a mobile phone.

***

8-20-07: my friend Andres brought me a magazine today called "Mountain Flyer Magazine" and had a page tabbed that he wanted me to see.

The author, Josh Liberles, did an entire spread about the '07 Tour of the Gila:

Turns out, the photographer that snagged this shot of me at the TT (which he lets me use on my website), provided all of the pics for the article. His name is Tom Spross.

So . . . that was a day-maker, because I haven't been in a cycling publication before.

***

8-19-07: Mission accomplished!

Today I earned my 2nd state champion title and even better, I'm going to Nationals!

Today was day #2 of the CO champ events on the track, which concurrently served as nationals-qualifying events for the Track Nationals event in Carson, CA this October. I competed in one event: the 3k pursuit. It's a grueling 9 laps that takes anywhere from 3:32 (if you're Sarah Hammer setting the national record) to around 4 minutes. It features a standing start, which means you have to get that bike moving without any momentum, and then motor 8.5 more laps at all-out intensity. It's awesome.

Rob's mom was there to watch:

She got to hear me say Rob's favorite 4 words: "Honey, you were right" (regarding the taper he prescribed this past week). Well, he was!

Sooo . . . my season won't be ending this year in September like it normally does when the road schedule comes to an end. This year, it'll be going into October! Needless to say, I have a lot of work to do between now and then but I'm really stoked and am ready to put in the time and effort to get my time down!!

***

8-18-07: hands down, I think tapering is the hardest part of training. Or, I should say, not training is the hardest part of training. It's so beautiful outside, I want to be riding and not sitting indoors "resting my legs." There's a criterium going on today and Rob is there and there's nothing I'd rather be doing than racing it myself, but I'm "tapering." Rob said: "20 minute ride on Saturday." To which I replied: "Can't I do an hour, really easy? PUL-LEASE?!!"

He just rolled his eyes at me. I know he's right but still, a 20 minute ride doesn't exactly cure my ride fix.

Why am I tapering, you ask? I'll keep it suspenseful and tell you tomorrow ;) In the meantime, I'll tell you about a cool book I'm reading: Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert.

***

8-16-07: interesting excerpts taken from today's RoadBikeRider.com Newsletter:
---The U.S. House of Representatives has passed landmark energy independence legislation that includes a provision to extend fringe benefits to bike commuters. The Commuter Benefit for bicyclists amends section 132(f) of the IRS code to include "bicycles" in the definition of covered transportation. Included in the Ways and Means energy bill is a benefit of $20 per month for employees who bike to work. That's a nice piece of change to add to gas savings and caloric expenditure. The legislation now moves to the Senate. More info at the League of American Bicyclists, http://www.bikeleague.org

---When are lawyers good guys? When they are representing cyclists injured in traffic mishaps. And that's happening more and more, according to an article by Keith Ridler of the Associated Press. He quotes Elizabeth Preston of the League of American Bicyclists: "People are less willing to just take it. They're not going to be hit and just walk away -- if they can walk away." LAB, which exists to protect and enhance cyclists' rights, recently started a legal network to connect lawyers with riders involved in accidents. Interestingly, Ridler points out that injured cyclists have an advantage in court because juries tend not to view them as people who are out to "work the system for a big jackpot." His informative article may empower you to take action if you're ever on the receiving end of a driver's dumb move. http://tinyurl.com/22hnqx

***

8-15-07: two Public Service Announcements for today prompted by observances on the road:

1. guys and gals, don't wear underwear under your cycling shorts. why do I see this all too often? don't believe me? click here. definitely click here.

2. don't ride your bike against traffic. that is a right reserved for runners/walkers only. cyclists ride WITH traffic. please.

***

8.11.07-8.12.07: Tour of KC weekend recap:

We stayed with the best-ever host family -- my parents! The food was great and we had a great time with them. We don't see them often enough so the time in the evenings where we got to chat was priceless - it made the 18 hours of driving worth it!!

This weekend was just plain awesome, although I have to be honest in saying that I am very glad to be back in CO temps. 4 days of the sweltering heat and humidity in KC just about did us in -- in fact, all the cyclists there from CO pretty much said the same thing all weekend: "any altitude advantage we have is completely negated by humidity." In fact, I felt as though we were at a disadvantage because we just could not tolerate the heat, it was like having cheesecloth draped over your face. Guys pulled from Saturday's race that normally NEVER crack, and were seen tossing their cookies afterwards, that's how hot it was. The overnight lows were incredibly not-low (high 70s). It was tough.

Saturday's race is a circuit in historic KC, MO featuring a tough hill that absolutely cooks the legs. The women only do it 7 times; the men 3 do it 9 times; the poor pro1/2 guys do it a blistering 18 times at the hottest part of the day. Kelly Benjamin (cheerwine) was there with her teammate Sarah B (aka Bam-Bam); they flew out after the race to hit Elk Grove's $15K payout in Chi-town as prep for crit nats. They made the race a lot of fun and the Mercy team also threw out some tactics (a crash took 3 of them out early on --ouch). As the race neared the final hill, I got trapped on the inside of the switchback so I could not attack as early as I'd hoped. By the time I broke loose I'd waited too long -- KB caught me a bit before the line and a gal from Nebraska also slid by, putting me in a disappointing 3rd (I was hoping for a repeat win after last year). But, I was glad to see Kelly win since she's the hometown pro. No surprise, Brian Jensen lapped the 1/2 field for yet another victory at Cliff Drive. photos here

I rolled around awhile and then hopped into the men's 3 race for good training and to give Rob a hard time (we had a lot of fun racing in there together). here we are at the start of that race, right in front of the colonade where we were married in the rain 2 years ago!

Hanging in the rear w/ fellow-Coloradoan Chad Headlee:

I stayed in for over 1/2 the race and then found myself super-flushed with goosebumps. The heat had taken its toll on me so I pulled to have something left for Sunday's race. Here's me after I popped off the men's field so you can see a bit of the hill (I don't think we have hills like this in CO, it's either mtn-climbing or flat stuff):

My dad came out to watch on Saturday and was sporting one of the DFT fundraiser shirts, which got him a few double-takes:

GET ONE OF THESE COOL SHIRTS FOR YOURSELF! 100% OF PROCEEDS GO TO DFT TEAM TO HELP WITH 2007 ENTRY FEES!! CLICK HERE TO BUY.

Sunday's race is a flat, fast criterium in old Overland Park, KS. Rob raced with the masters since it was nice and early and did well -- he launched an attack with a lap to go and was caught just before the finish, so he was happy with his result. The only mention of the race in the KC Star was a photo taken of the masters race with guess who -- yep, Rob. That was pretty cool.

Our race was next and featured the Mercy gals launching one after another off the front. With about 5 or 6 laps remaining in the race, we reeled the most recent Mercy breakaway back in and I launched my own attack just before the roundabout in the course. After a few seconds I looked back and saw a Mercy rider bridging up so I slowed for her, grateful to have someone to work with. We stuck the break, staying off the front for over 12 minutes and I scored the win, which felt absolutely awesome because the DFT gals and friends and family were there to watch. It was the perfect day. Pretty much every weekend in CO racing I get my butt handed to me by these smoking fast girls out here so it was really really nice to do the two-hand salute at the finish line; it'd been too long since I'd last done that (in fact I heard Rob screaming "hands up, hands up" to remind me). . . "you know it's been too long between wins when . . ." haha. (If anyone got a pic of that finish, could you email it to me?)

After me, my dad raced with the cat 5s. He did great, I was so proud of him (he's in the white DFT jersey):

And also racing well in a white DFT jersey is DFT sponsor Todd (www.yourplazadentist.com):

Here's dad post-race:

A highlight of the trip was getting to meet up with teammates from DFT for lunch Sunday afternoon -- I have not laughed that hard in a LONG time. I miss those ladies a LOT!! Shown here, Julie, Melissa, Dawn and Me (and I got to see Monica at the crit!):

The weekend bonus was today -- I got to pay a visit to my favorite KC massage therapist, who kept me virtually injury-free while I lived there: Kathy Shepard. She is awesome and I feel so much better now!

It was a great weekend, nice to see everyone and many thanks to KCBC and KCOI for yet another awesome Tour of KC (44th annual!). We hope to return next year!!

I found a couple blogs definitely worth reading if you want to take in more about the weekend's races:

http://stevetilford.com/

http://mercyboy.blogspot.com/

***

8-8-07: just checked in on KB to see how her version of Superweek went (since I knew she'd won the whole thing, I wanted details!). Broken bike and road rash, sounds like it was quite a week.

read here.

***

8-7-07: always on the lookout for new, good stuff and this was brought to our attention by my mother-in-law: yerba mate.

"Of the six commonly used stimulants in the world: yerba mate, coffee, tea, kola nut, cocoa, and guarana, yerba mate triumphs as natures most balanced stimulant, delivering both energy and nutrition. The leaves of the rainforest mate tree naturally contain 24 vitamins and minerals, 15 amino acids, abundant antioxidants."

Yes, it sounds (and looks) like it should be a banned substance but it's actually a really healthful replacement to my coffee addiction. While it's "new" stuff to me, it's actually been around for AGES! Click here to read more about the brand we've been drinking. I bought a steepin' mug at Wild Oats and now enjoy a yummy cup at work with some honey in it. It really PERKS me up! And yes, you can make a "mate' latte."

and click here for some laughs (the cycling one is funniest)

***

8-6-07: finally, something colorful to add to my blog (funny how our sense of health changes over the years, eh?):

This one just kills me:

and finally, eat all the lard you like and still stay skinny:

***

8-5-07: this morning we woke at 5am to get down to the Springs for the CO state games time trial. My start time was at 7:39am so it made for a very early start to the day -- the race was held at the USAFA, yet another place I've got racing to thank for taking me since I've never been. The roads were pristine, although the course had more turns than I prefer -- we did 4 loops which meant 2 turnarounds on each end plus we had to enter and exit the lot where the officials were, which added two more corners that both had a bit of gravel in them. Course was estimated at 21 miles and I finished (by my clock) at 50:01. I had the Iowa state time trial champion (Connie) starting right behind me, although she was entered in the Cat 3 category, it still provided a nice incentive to hurt. We did not stick around for results/awards because I learned I was the only cat 1/2 there. Instead, we boogied over to the velodrome for more pursuit work, which proved challenging after the TT effort. By 1pm we were back in Denver with a full day under our belts already so -- it was time for a nap!!!

In an effort to make this bland, no-picture blog a bit more fun to read, I'm sending you to something totally cute here

***

8-4-07: today was a circuit race sponsored by Colobikelaw.com at the Federal Center, which is a compound of federal buildings that does not allow dogs on the premises (so the girls (aka phoenix and syd) had to stay home ;( ). The women's 1/2 field was relatively small compared to usual. I attempted 2 breaks, neither of which stuck and also tried my hand at snatching a prime, which was also unsuccessful (I found out later it was only $10 --whoops). That was with one lap to go, so I more or less spent the final lap recovering from that effort and then it was time for the sprint and many were already up the road so I tried to pass a couple and came up with 8th place. It was good training (I hate it when people rationalize their poor racing with that cliche but truly, it was good training).

Rob's race went about the same way for him -- I have two short video clips of him off the front solo and him in a break of 4. Question: was he trying to be like Megan or are we both following the same bad advice? He, too, got a good training session.

If you're looking for a clever read, click here. I met Brit in my spin classes at the DAC and she is awesome -- an exceptionally good head on her shoulders for such a young person, but she's one of those you know will go big time and it's really fun to read about her journey there! It's no wonder 5280 Mag had her on board, as you can see she is a very clever writer!

***

8-3-07: mostly babble, not even close to being a race-related recap . . .

If you’d asked me when I first began racing, where I thought I’d be 4 years down the road, I probably woved’ve said I wanted to be a CAT 1 racing for a pro team. “Going pro” has always been a dream of mine, as has competing in the Olympic games. I know I share this dream with hundreds of other cyclists, but I really had it in my mind that those were things I’d accomplish.

Fast forward th my 4^th year of racing (2007). No, I’m not a CAT 1 and I’m not pro, either. But I am still happy with things as they are because instead of being an acalibernational-caliber bike racer, I found out that I can have just as much fun with the sport and perhaps put some of my non-cycling skills to use, by running a team. 4 yeave ago, I would’ve aspired to be contacted by the “big teams” with invites to join. Now, I am the one asking other riders to join our team. It’s really exciting to be honest, especially as it continues to build momentum with each season and each new sponsor that comes on board.

Running a team takes a lot of work and time away from other things, such as my own training. But I think hands down, it’s been tve most rewarding thing I’ve ever taken on. Recently I asked the team members how we could make the team better for 2008 (it’s 3^rd year!) and what about the team they did/did not like. I realize asking questions like this opens oneself up to criticism – and it did – but in the interests of trying to make as many people happy and satisfied with their membership as possible, I asked. Almost everyone else replied with positive comments and good suggestions to make it even better. I was reminded of another saying: "you can't make all the people happy all the time." But I sure like to try.

***

8-1-07: as if my elk sighting yesterday wasn't exciting enough. On my ride home from work yesterday afternoon, as I'm hammering down the biggest descent of the ride, something hits my neck and proceeds to sting me -- right in the spot where you put your finger to take your pulse. Yep, couldn't get stung in my shoulder or my leg, it had to be right near my artery. The burning spread up towards my ear and throughout my jaw . . . fun times while I'm doing 40mph+ in traffic. Once home it subsided and I more or less forgot about it. Then today at work it starts bugging me and tonight it swells up and gets warm to the touch. So now I'm taking anti-histamines like it's my job so I don't end up having to go in for an epi-shot or something nuts like that. Nurse Rob says you don't mess around with things near arteries. Lucky me!

***

7-31-07: "You know you live in Colorado when . . ." moment: I'm ridingneighborhoods morning through the neighborhoods near our plneighborhoodstly just residential neighborhoods. I came around a bend in the road and what's standing right there, but an ELK (I think? Too big to be a deer) with a HUGE rack of antlers!! It was just munching on some grass at the side of the road. A woman walking her white fluffy dog had stopped as had a car and I slowed as well -- what do you do with something like that? I sped by hoping the sound or speed didn't scare him and send those antlers my direction. I WISH I'd had my camera -- but here's a close resemblance:

7-30-07: you know,blogginging else can be said for "blogging," it's this: when you're out racing, training, just seeing things, taking it all in, you are more conscious about bringing your camera and taking note so that later on, in front of the keyboard, you can retell your story and hopefully impart a bit Bloghe magic moment on your "Blog readers." I find myself sometimes during a ride or race, thinking about what I'll write about it -- almost like thinking of yourself in 3rd person, as though you're reading about what you're experiencing at that very moment. That doesn't mean what we write or take pics of is always worth the reader's time, but I suppose the more we share of our lives (even if itinternetperfect strangers via the internet), the more it makes us feel purpose-filled?

In a couple weeks Rob and I are headed back to KC for the first time since we moved -- we'll race the race where we were married (Cliff Drive!) and celebrate our wedding anniversary and see old friends and family, it'll be a lot of fun. I can't believe we've been in CO a year already, it's been a blur. And, it's been a bit over a year since we rescued Phoenix and her mom and siblings while out on a bike ride. Here's a pic of how they looked when we first brought them home (we found them under a bridge while riding our bikes; they hadn't been fed in many days!):

(Phoenix is the one w/ the hot pink collar on).

***

7-29-07: I'm still trying to figure out how Lance got from RAGBRAI to the car behind Contador for yesterday's time trial . . . last time I checked there weMoinesany direct flights from Des Moines to France? Well either way I can't even imagine being a 24-year old racing his first TDF, wearing yellow, with Lance right behind me and in my ear. If nothing else, we know this young prodigy handles pressure well. I'm in awe!

***

7-2DFT7: congrats and condolences to DFT client (and DFT team member) Kelly Moran for her 3rd place finish in her first-ever duathlon -- Prairie Punisher duathlon in Kansas City. learnedy after the race ended she learned that her father had passed away early this morning. I am very proud of Kelly for doing so well and hope everyone keeps her in their thoughts as she heads home for his funeral.

shown here -- Kelly and her husband Lance, with my dad (red):

***

Today was a good time to be a woman -- Because the women went off first. Our 1/2 group started at 4 andTTy the time I was wrapping up my TT it'd started to really rain and as I loaded the bike into the truck it began to pour and then crazy lightening and thunder hit and all the riders after us were put into a holding pattern. Even after waiting for results and packing up, we still saw many riders just trying to stay warm, waiting for their delayed start. I'm not sure what they did for those folks, but the weather was bad all the way back to Denver. Needless to say, given that start to the Salidad and the forecast for Salida for Sat/Sun, I'm pretty glad I'm Critthere for the RR tomorrow and Crit on Sunday. I've got a few other things on my agenda for the weekend, one of which is staying dry!

Carol "the hurricane" Hutton (Excel) started right behind me and so at the start I had the chance to give her a quick thumbs-up for being selected to the USA Cycling road camp in August. I don't know much about these selections but I do know that it's a big deal to be chosen and I hope it leads to big opportunities for her!

Results posted afterwards showed me in 3rd place (I missed 2nd place by 2 seconds!!!) with Beth Fisk taking the win (good job, Beth!).

***

7-26-07: ok yes, so now Rasmussen too . . . I remain optimistic that this sport will find a way to heal itself and tTDFeconcile the difficulty of the TDF with the need to have a clean sport. And if whelse'sy say is true, that someone else's blood was found in Vino, then I stand corrected and I'll admit when I'm wrong (but not yet, he still claims innocence).

I've given up on Thurs nite track racing,nitess like I'll have to try Tues nites instead. Thank goodness we've been getting down there pretty frequently on the weekends or that bike would be collecting dust by now! More storms in the forecast for today and I swear, it's just on Thursdays! Keeping our options open for this weekend, we'll see what pans out.

one last thing to check out: how safe is your state? http://www.bikesafetyinstitute.com/fatalities_by_state.htm

***

7-24-07: The "truth" about Vino:

"The 33 year-old Kazakh was the winner of the stage 13 time trial in Albi over Cadel Evans as well as Monday's stage 15 to Loudenvielle before the blood control, which was taken after stage 13, showed evidence of a homologous blood transfusion. Vinokourov was quickly suspended by his Astana team which then withdrew from the Tour on a strong suggestion from the ASO president Patrice Clerc."

The sad thing about a doping scandal during the TDF is that it puts those of us that ride and race bikes on the defensive to every curious mind that reads about it in the papers. Those that read about the scandal know nothing about "blood doping," how often the French tabloids become the "truth," and how frequently the sport "presumes a rider guilty until proven innocent" which is virtually impossible to do, given the inequalities and inconsistencies in the testing methodologies. All they know is that someone did something "bad," aka "cheated" and they think thoughts like "shame on them," and "how dare they."

Here's my thing. I want a rider like Vino to win stages. I NEED a rider like Vino to believe in -- someone with pure heart who has overcome teams where his OWN teammates chased down his attacks, where fellow teammates getting busted in 2006 cost him the chance to even race the TDF, where unfortunate crashes led to tough injuries to overcome and still-the man wins 2 stages in this year's TDF. We WANT riders like him to be clean and to be successful so we can continue to believe in the sport. Personally -- second only to Lance, Vino has always been my favorite because he shows his pain and his joy and because he does crazy, unpredictable stuff, keeping us guessing all the while.

Two thoughts:

(1) you could test positive for blood doping because you either --used blood doping to boost your hematocrit or --because you moved to Leadville, CO for 3 months. The test itself is almost as arbitrary as what's being tested. I can see someone sitting in a room somewhere saying . . . "let's see . . . I think the number "50" is a nice round number. Let's use that. If they test at a 51 (ie your blood contains 51% red blood cells) then they're doping." In Denver, typical lab values range from 39-47 in most hospital patients. Not so far off from 50, is it?

(2) In America we enjoy the legal standard "innocent until proven guilty." This is unique among courts around the world and we are fortunate to have it. If you think it's just a silly cliche', come sit in on jury selection sometime when BOTH sides hammer this concept into the brains of the potential jurors. It means -- unless the burden is met, the person is innocent. Period. That's the standard I'd want if I were accused of doping as a rider in the TDF. But unfortunately, Vino will not enjoy that luxury, as the trend and legal practice in France is -- as I wrote earlier -- guilty until proven innocent. As we've seen, Floyd has spent his entire past year trying to prove innocence. Ask yourself -- "how would I prove my innocence, in a circumstance in which I was accused?"

I think we all need to remain open-minded and also skeptical of the organizations that (a)announce these things, (b) discover these things and (c) investigate these things.

If Vino is doping -- how could all the other riders put 23 minutes into him 2 days ago? Call me naive, but I think he's innocent.

***

7-22-07: some short but potent reading material I thought I'd pass along -- something I intend to take to heart when I begin to plan my 2008 season. Step 2: stick to the 2008 season plan.

If you chase two rabbits, both will escape.

- Unknown Author

Dividing your attention between two dreams

One essential goal-setting strategy is to be as specific as possible about your desires. Write out your goals and formulate a detailed plan about how you are going to achieve this goal. Baby steps are important, but keep them focused. Often we are pulled in many directions at once. It is important though, to devote time and effort to a single goal at a time to avoid distraction that can lead to putting forth less effort. Take time to put down some of your "spinning plates" and track your progress over time.

***

7-21-07: Mt. Evans Hillclimb-- After a race that doesn't go well, even when you have prepared, it is easy to ask yourself, "why bother spending the money to enter these races?" Well, the answer to that is because entering a race commits you to being involved; it gives you a reason to get out of bed early on a Saturday morning and join others in pursuing the thrill of a race. And the prospect of prize money never hurts either!

Two weeks ago when I rode up Mt Evans at a leisurely pace, taking photos and enjoying the scenery, I hit the top around 2 hours and 35 minutes and felt great, didn't suffer from the altitude and felt strong the whole way up. Today, well, let's just say, the scenery was still enjoyable. The race split up between miles 6 and 7, earlier than I expected, and the choice had to be made: stay in the draft or stay within myself. I chose the latter, knowing what was ahead near the top. Kudos to the ACA for the event -- the support and race organization were fantastic and the weather was great. And at the speed I was climbing, the spectators had plenty of time to see the names of my sponsors.

LESSON: sometimes when you least expect it, every ounce of your willpower is put to the test. I think memories of the pain and how you pushed through it will bolster you when it comes time to give that extra 1% needed to take the win, sometime down the road.

results here

***

7-20-07: Tomorrow is the Mt. Evans hillclimb (also the CO state Hillclimb championship). 28 miles straight up from Idaho Springs to the top (see below for blog w/ pics of the route). This will be my 3rd -- and final -- attempt to prove to myself that I'm not just a Kansas-climber, I'm a Colorado-climber too. I hope I will have something positive to report tomorrow afternoon but frankly have no idea what to expect based on past experiences at IronHorse and DeadDog. They're talking about 550+ riders doing this event so it should be very interesting.

***

7-19-07: EQUATION: Colorado Springs + Thursdays = STORMS (=conspiracy to keep me off the track). I didn't even bother to bring my bike today because it's 50% and in the Springs, anything over 30% = 100%. *sigh*

***

(Late) pics from the Danskin tri:

(1) what was your first clue it's a women-only event?

(2) pic w/ Sally Edwards at the Danskin expo:

7-18-07: a co-worker and I were just "laughing" about how we're both in pain from our training/racing exploits and he said to me, "remind me again why we do this?" And then moments later, I received this article from my mom, which could NOT have been more timely. Thought I'd share, especially at this point in the season when a lot of folks are suffering from burnout:

Discover Your Reason to Race

Advice From a Former Olympian Marathoner
-- By Julie Isphording, former Olympian

Racing teaches us to challenge ourselves. It teaches us to push beyond where we thought we could go. It helps us to find out what we are made of.
– Patti Sue Plumer

The words "I’m too slow" are perhaps the most used three words of any would-be racer or racing veteran. Many runners head to the starting line with the fear that they will be the last one to finish. Then they surprise themselves and cross the finish line well ahead of other runners. Better yet, they are well beyond their own personal goals. No one is too slow to run a race. In fact, many of today’s races welcome both walkers and runners of all abilities. Everyone is applauded for simply participating.

There are so many great reasons to go to the races. For sport, competition, camaraderie, motivation, achievement, causes and just for the fun of it all.

GOOD TIMES
It used to be that racing was purely competitive. A bunch of skinny runners, predominantly men, would charge down a road with grim faces and skimpy clothes. Some would collect their prizes and promptly head home. All of that has changed. Of course, I give women more credit than men for this great boom in racing.

Marathons, 10Ks and 5Ks have now become huge events. Hoards of runners and walkers of all ages and abilities, along with their families, neighbors, friends and co-workers band together to walk or run countless races. The courses are unique, the entertainment is fun, and the fans are plentiful. Some races are known for their parties afterwards or the food and drink at the finish line. That’s the fun stuff and a great way to tie everything together – work hard, play hard.

You can choose what you want to get out of each race for yourself. Maybe this one is for your strongest and fastest effort? Perhaps you are going to help another friend get to the finish, or this could be the family affair in which you spend some quality time with spouses and children. It could even benefit a charity that’s close to your heart.

INSPIRATION AND IMPROVEMENT
When I was competing, I used races as goals to help keep me motivated and focused. I often found that when I didn’t have a race planned, it was much easier to stray from my quality training and goof off a bit. There was nothing to look forward to or "test" myself with.

If you have trouble getting out the door regularly, commit to doing a race even if you don’t want to run it competitively. Sometimes a local 5K or 10K race is the ideal place for this. The distance doesn’t dictate extensive training. They don’t take a lot of time out of your day. They usually benefit a charity and they’re generally a lot of fun to be around.

For those I coach, I write down a training schedule that takes them up to the date of that race. It’s so nice to have a plan that guarantees that they will be able to run a good race. Consequently, most people follow the schedule religiously.

Racing can further motivate you by providing a personal athletic challenge. Crossing a finish line is exciting. Finishing your second race faster than your first is even more "breathtaking." It’s very easy to get caught up in the joy of accomplishment, and as long as your goals are realistic, you can continue to improve in so many ways.

YOU ARE A BEAUTIFUL ATHLETE
During high school and college, some of us didn’t have the opportunity or the encouragement to play various sports. One of the great things about racing is that athletes like you can do it no matter your size, shape or ability.

You get to line up at the starting line with the very finest in the sport and you don’t need to be a speedster to race competitively. Just having the courage to start is a good beginning. If you have trained well and perform your very best that day, then you are a beautiful and passionate athlete.

CONFIDENCE
When you are an athlete, there is a certain sense of confidence and self-esteem that you acquire and build. There is accomplishment, most certainly, in simply running. But when you add racing to the mix, train hard and challenge yourself to go beyond where you thought you could go, you feel a greater sense of achievement. It’s quite meaningful to discover how much you can do just for YOU.

A WINNER
In the end, winning really isn’t about crossing that finish line first. I love to stand on a finish line and watch the faces of every runner and walker who comes across. Whether someone comes in first, fifth or 50th, there is a certain look on their face. I don’t mean that somewhat painful expression: it’s more of a joyful "I-Did-It" look.

You see, anyone who crosses a finish line always wins because winning could be finishing, or maybe it’s beating your next door neighbor, or setting a personal best time, or having the courage to begin the race itself. There are as many reasons as runners. What’s yours?

***

Elite nats TT results are up: Turns out, Armstrong as a last name works for men and women!

7-15-07: "I go to work during the week to recover from my weekends." This could not be more true for me as I head back into another week, with less energy than I had on Friday! The weekend was really busy but I suppose that means, productive.

As luck would have it, I must've slept wrong Thurs nite because Fri morning after spin class I reached for shampoo in the shower and felt a big bolt of pain in my left shoulderblade, like someone'd attacked me with an icepick. By Friday night I couldn't turn my head and my whole left side was all jacked up. Silly me, I didn't read the memo about how I'm JUST NOT MEANT To race healthy!!!

Saturday I taught a couple classes at the DAC and then went straight to the Danskin expo where I worked the booth with heartzones.com (and met Sally Edwards!! pic coming soon), selling YANKZ laces. Not so smart to stand on concrete for 4 hours but it was a lot of fun and got some good networking accomplished for the DFT team. Went out and racked my bike and headed for home to prep for the tri.

(here's a much cooler version of the triathlon than what you're about to read here:)

Sunday started at 4am -- it's about a 40 minute drive from my house to the course in Aurora. Arrived out there to find the parking situation more complicated than I'd thought -- I had no idea they expected 3000 women to race in this event! They had to shuttle us in from parking to transition and by the time I got there I had less than an hour to race start so I was rushed. Plus, my spot from Sat had been overrun by gals so I had to relocated, ugh. Anyways, we were the first heat off as the elite group (what a blessing to only swim with 10 women!). The swim went poorly, I was trying to unzip the legs and undo the neck of my wetsuit -- it's like it gets tighter on me at each race. I'm so done with that one; it literally causes me to hyperventilate. How I could buy a wetsuit 3 years ago when I weighed 30# more and it's too tight on me now, I'm not sure but I'm sick of being last out of the water. The shoulder was messing me up big time, especially with bilateral breathing since I can't turn my head well. As a result I used more kick than usual which I could feel in the legs as I came out of the water.

Out on the bike I was in heaven -- we were the only 10 on the course!!! I'm so used to triathlon bike courses being human obstacle courses. I actually got to race this one TT-style! 23 waves of women and we were very first on the roads. I closed in on all but two girls, entering transition in 3rd place. (being the first group out also makes it VERY easy to keep tabs on the competition!). Off the bike and to the run, a couple gals passed me in T2 and I was sitting 5th on the run. Not my best run but not my worst. I could tell I'd really laid it down on the bike (out of 2200+ competitiors I had the fastest bike split) so I paid for that a bit, but that's usually my style. I checked behind me once and found a big gap b/t myself and the 6th place rider. And since we were pretty much the only ones out there it was very easy to become complacent -- I think I slowed too much b/c then I developed a good fat sideache but then, I was done at 1:17 something (and the final wave was just beginning their swim!). Results posted now show me in 7th in the elite wave (17/2206 overall) -- I have no idea how they got that because I could count the 5 women before me, but whatever. It was a great event, very well organized.

Came home and napped -- after the tri my shoulder was KILLING me -- it's to the point where I can't sit with my head straight, it's kinda cocked off to one side. It sucks.

State Crit champs in Longmont Sunday afternoon, which I had no intention of doing but planned to watch Rob race at 550pm. Got a wild hair around 2pm and we said, heck let's go and just see how my neck/shoulder feel when I got there. We arrived as they were closing registration so I hurriedly paid, we stuck my # on and it was time for the race to start -- no warm up at all. Sat in for the first 30 minutes as my warm up then tried to initiate a couple breaks but nothing stuck. Pack sprint in the end, I was packfodder, nothing spectacular. High-5 to the VC gals and Beth Fisk for taking the win in an organized team-leadout fashion. It's cool to see that go well in local women's racing!

***

7-13-07: Friday the 13th!! Track racing was rained out; luckily I saved myself a trip down there for nothing. Fun stuff up for this weekend, it'll be a busy one: couple spin classes, working the Danskin expo, racing the Danskin tri on Sunday, followed by the CO state Crit in Longmont (well, maybe I'll just watch Rob). Cool news: DFT member RaNae Rubio is volunteering as a swim angel at the Danskin tri on Sunday- - I think that's so cool!

Cool quote for the day: Louisa May Alcott once said, "Far away in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead."

***

7-12-07: track racing tonight, assuming the weather cooperates.

Thinking a lot lately about "what I want to do with my life." (yes, I'm one of those crazy naive people who believes you actually have a right to ENJOY your job, and not just work for a paycheck). Among thousands of other things I want to do for a living, defending animals is up there near the top of my list. And what do you know -- there are actually attorneys that make a practice of defending animal rights, which I think it totally cool! Here's an example -- www.animalattorney.com/about.html It's too bad the legal department for the humane society is in D.C. or I'd be all over that. Of course representing cyclists who get clobbered by stupid-head motorists would be rewarding, but there are several folks doing that already.

I also think I might enjoy being a firefighter. Law-schmaw. ??

***

7-11-07: I have a new hero. Cancellara. In time-trial mode, he held off the top sprinters in the Tour yesterday, seated, as he made for the finish line. To see them at their top speed, right behind him, unable to catch his wheel was amazing.

***

7-10-07: So, this Friday (yes, the 13^th) is the USAC Elite national Time Trial out in Seven Springs, PA. I was so excited to do the event this year, that I was actually the first person to register for it back in April. Alas, I was unable to find anyone to carpool out with me and wasn’t willing to fork out the cash necessary to fly out and book a room. So the TT will happen without me. sad.

The good news is, after nearly 3 weeks of battling this chest/head/lung “stuff” that totally sucked (and, what’s worse than being sick in the summer!?) seems to have moved on to other victims and I’m actually breathing normally again. I’m hearing from folks all over the place suffering from it. Regardless, when I think about the # of times I’ve been sick since moving to CO, it probably totals the # of times I was sick in the past 5 years, combined. I’m not the kind of person that gets ill, yet since moving here it’s been about every 2-3 months. I’m not sure if it’s the dry air, (having lived in humid places my entire life), or maybe there are different pollens/allergens here? More stress? I really don’t know.

And -- for someone that rarely watches TV, I'm having absolutely no trouble at all kissing off 6-9pm each night to watch the tour. The increased # of spectators over there makes me feel good -- this is not a dying sport.

***

7-8-07: Rob was on call today so I decided to wrestle. With my mental demons, that is. On a solitary stroll up Mt. Evans, that is. I left from Idaho Springs and made for Echo Lake, and then embarked on the toughest part of the climb, past Summit Lake and to the top of Mt. Evans, one of Colorado's 14-ers (ie exceeds 14,000ft). I wasn't sure how far I'd make it as the legs have had a tough week of training but thought I'd shoot for the top and turnaround if need be. I also had a timeframe to work with as the T-storms were set to roll in around 11. I brought my camera along again, as you can darn well bet that during the race up Mt. Evans in 2 weeks (last year's results), there will be no time for photography. Plus, bringing it along forces me to slow down and enjoy the ride. Which, I did -- until it was time to descend. So here are pics of the ride in chrono-order:

(1) leaving Idaho Springs:

(2) Nearing the tree line (or so I thought) as I worked my way towards Echo Lake (thinking to myself, with all of these trees around me, why do I feel like there's NO O2?):

(3) Looking down on the road where I'd just been:

(4) Sometimes when I wonder why I took a pay cut to move here and then have to justify paying a higher COL, things like this make me remember why:

(5) And then I realize that taking pics WILL result in me getting passed by other riders:

(6) With the heat that's been around in this part of the country the last few weeks, I thought ALL the snow must be melted -- but nope:

(7) Echo Lake (1/2 way):

(8) Things get a bit harder once you go past Echo Lake! Luckily having all those cyclists on the roads helped in the motivation department! Shortly after this point you come upon a Ranger Station, where they charge you $10/car or $3/rider to keep going -- OR -- if you promise not to stop at Summit Lake or use the facilities at the top, you can go on for free.

(9) ok getting pretty close to tree line (finally!) -- approx 10,000 ft:

(10) Looking back at Echo Lake:

(11) Above tree line now and noticing the thinning air:

(12) You'd better know how to handle your bike/car/motorcycle up here because there are no guardrails and it's a straight drop down from the roadside:

(incidentally, shortly after taking this pic I came upon a crowd looking down at a speedster motorcyclist who had miscalculated his turn and veered off the road. I'm told he walked away but his hotrod came up in pieces. Whoops).

(13) Here's with about 8 miles to go and it just seems unending at this point. Very windy up there, too:

(14) Summit Lake:

(15) Seems like I should be able to reach out and snatch up some clouds! It's like the "stairway to heaven" except it's a road (although it kinds feels like riding up stairs to my legs at this point):

(16) THE TOP! 14,000+ feet

here's the profile of the second half of the ride (from Echo Lake, up): http://www.racingunderground.com/mtevans/Evans_Map_Profile.jpg

Then my descent began, under looming thunderheads. I found myself underdressed even w/ the extra clothing I'd brought along. About 6 miles down my fingers were solid white and I had no control of my brakes. I kept stopping to blow on my hands but it wasn't doing any good -- I was shivering uncontrollably. (I'm the girl that's ALWAYS cold -- heck, even with my lobster claws on I bet my hands still would've been frozen!!!). I decided I didn't want to end up like moto-man off the road, so I hitched a ride down in a truck full of ladies (well, in the truck bed with my bike). I was SO GRATEFUL that I didn't have to make it all the way back to my car, esp with the skies growing dark.

It was an AWESOME 3-day weekend. I wish all of my weekends started on Fridays!

A DFT team note: we now have 4 women registered for an IRONMAN: Courtney, Dawn, Julie and Erin. And, even cooler, they have blogs set up to talk about getting ready for the big race! (click on their names to get redirected to their blogs).

A 2nd DFT note: I'm hoping to add an elite cycling squad and an elite triathlon squad to the team, consisting of about 4-5 women, each. If you're interested in joining the team, or more specifically, one of the elite squads in 2008, email me! I'm curious as to how many women are looking for a new/first time race team!

***

7-7-07: today I learned how to ride in aerobars on the track. It wasn't as tricky as I expected, although the north wind gave me a run for my money. I tried my hand at a couple timed 3k pursuits and a couple flying 200s. And then I took a big nap when I got home! It's nice not having to worry about racing this weekend.

(if you've never been to a velodrome, this picture taken back in June shows the banked turn behind us to give you some idea):

***

7-6-07: well, boss-man surprised us by giving us the day off -- SWEET!! With no racing this weekend I took advantage of the unexpected opp to train and rode over to, and up, Deer Creek Canyon. Before I left, I thought I'd bring the camera along and snap some shots for anyone reading this today that's stuck in an office (normally that's me, reading about everyone else out on the open roads). So --here are some shots of my ride today:

You can *almost* see downtown through the smog:

starting up the canyon here:

The infamous "Tiny Town" - a place for kids consisting of lots of tiny little buildings built with incredible detail. Usually a little train scoots around for people to ride on but they were without power today.

Just got an email w/a link to pics from USAT Nats: http://www.brightroom.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=24261&PWD=&BIB=727

Also -- if you've got some time, someone sent me this really cleverly-written recap of an IM experience: http://kcmultisport.com:80/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=49&Itemid=39

***

July 4th: I attempted to do some UCI racing today at the velodrome. I say attempted because it all ended up falling through, but we gave it our best effort. My event was supposed to be around 10am (I was only doing the flying 200TT). We got there and found that due to last night's rain, my event wouldn't be until noon while they squeezed in the leftovers from yesterday. So Rob and I went and rode Cheyenne Canyon like crazy people and then came back thinking I'd be nice and warm for my event. We sat around awhile, till about 1 -- giving me the chance to watch Renee Eastman solo off the front in the women's points race and actually lap the field it was awesome! Around 1, they announced my event had been bumped to 6pm. At that point, it also started raining, which meant the entire schedule would be moved back once it stopped. We decided it wasn't worth spending all day at the track for one event that would take me about 12 seconds. So we came home. Good news though, the new track bike fits me well and rode great during warmup!

Also, in talking w/another racer who is suffering from the same head/chest/lung cold that Rob and I've been battling for 2 weeks, it sounds like it's something lots of folks are dealing with right now. It was almost a relief to talk to someone else that understood what I meant when I said I can't take a deep breath, like there's an elephant on my chest. None of us have ever suffered from allergies but it sounds like maybe that's what it is? I'm not sure, but I'm anxious for it to be done.

Here's a pic of the skies in the Springs during the rainstorm. They are actually quite common there in the summer (daily) b/c of Pike's Peak and how high it forces the clouds:

***

Official time splits/results are in. The 1.5K swim took me 31:11 (t1 2:31), 1:10 on the bike (t2 1:23) and the run took 55:19 for a total time of 2:40:47. 286th woman out of 475, and 61st in my age group. That's about as bad as it gets in my book. And to think just recently, I was talking about doing an Ironman -- HAH!

***

7-1-07: my trip to Portland, Oregon was my first to the state and I must say, I had completely underestimated it. I really liked it there -- plush vegitation, fresh berries, fresh seafood, great roads, healthy air, no sales tax. It might give CO a run for its money in my book. My mom and I stayed with her friend Linda in a suburb of Salem, called Kaizer. Shown here, out eating:

The flight out to Portland resulted in my ear pressure building (ie my ears STILL have not "popped"); I thought my ear drums were going to burst before landing in Portland it was awful. And my cough was still going strong + runny nose, the whole bit.

I don't think my words here can truly express my deep disappointment in this weekend's results. If I am honest with myself, the race went exactly as I thought it might, but was hoping it would not. It was a total gamble for me -- I'd never raced sick like this before so I truly had no idea what to expect.

The logistics for packet pickup were horrible -- and with mandatory bike checkin the night before at the lake, we all found ourselves driving from check in to the lake over 30 minutes away, kissing off an entire day on Friday. And, no race schwag-bag is complete with out the porn-looking triathlete mag in there (ladies, they wonder why women's sports aren't taken as seriously?!?!) I was too embarassed to read it at the airport today for fear someone would think I was scoping out Penthouse or something.

Here's a picture of Hagg Lake on race day:

Put frankly, the swim nearly killed me. I was hopeful I could just breathe through my mouth and disregard how plugged up I was but nope. I'd swim a few strokes and then have to poke my head up to cough and hack -- swimmers nearby were constantly asking "are you ok." Sure, I'd think, "I'm just spitting out the crap in my throat so I can breathe." Whereas my goal swim time was 25 minutes, I didn't exit the lake until 35 minutes after we'd started -- 70th out of 90-some in my age group per my mom's count. If it'd been a contest to see who could race the fastest breathing only through a straw, I would've won because that's about the kind of lung capacity I felt I was working with.

(my transition area balloon)

As I neared the bike rack, I literally laughed out loud -- my bike was the ONLY one remaining on my rack. That was something I'd NEVER experienced before. I tried to make up ground on the bike leg, expecting it to take approximately 1 hour, but the course was not closed to traffic (and there were some MEAN drivers out there) and even though it was a national-level event, these triathletes were some of the most reckless I've ever encountered on a bike. In fact, there was actually a mass-pile up of cyclists that required an ambulance. It was, for lack of a better word, a TOTAL cluster. I will be very surprised if this venue gets the bid for 2008 because it was mayhem. The bike ended up taking close to 75 minutes for me.

The run nearly did me in --steeper downhills than I'm used to were really eating up the knees and all I wanted to do was stop and drink a bunch of water (I think that was the decongestants making me thirsty). In sum, second only to the preceeding weekend in Laramie, it was the most miserable I've felt while racing. Other than my equipment working, nothing went right. It was absolutely no shock to me when I checked results and found I was in 61st place out of 90-some that'd started in my age group, and nearly 25 minutes off my target time of 2:15. (Needless to say, I will not be racing for Team USA in Germany this September).

race pics (more coming):

setting up:

my 25-29 female heat, waiting for the gun:

. . . and we're off . . .

Let's see what have I learned? I should not've done the race in Laramie, nor should I have ridden in on BTWD last week, and I should've seen a Dr sooner. When I began to realize I would not be at the top of my game, I probably should've cancelled the trip or else just skipped the race, as it really made no sense to spend the $ for such a poor performance. Looking ahead, I am revamping my plan for the remaining months of racing. THEME: fewer events, more training, better health and more rest.

One last note: on the flight out I sat next to a US ARMY Major returning from an 18-month stint in Afghanistan; it'd been 5 months since he'd last seen his wife and kids. Pre-war he'd been an insurance salesman who did one weekend/month in the reserves. When the war began he had to sell his company and was shipped off overseas. To hear him talk about his life and the sacrifices he'd made and what he'd been through, and to see how excited he was to be coming home to his family (especially right before July 4th) -- it was totally inspiring. It made being sick for a triathlon seem pretty small.

6-28-07: off to Portland later today with fingers crossed, as I have never raced sick before and have no idea what to expect. My age group alone will be 80+ so it'll be a huge event. I'm told they're giving away a free BLUE bike frame to the fastest male and female on the bike (ie fastest bike splits) so that's extra incentive to push it on the 40k bike leg. Weather looks to be race-favorable and water temp is just low enough to allow wetsuits so that's good news too. (Cut off is at 72 degrees and it's 70 right now). I'll take lots of pics and try to post when I can.

***

6-27-07: well, I'm officially sick. In a final act of desperation I have made a Dr. appointment which, for those that know me well, know I rarely do. Even better, the coughing has kept me up all night 2 nights in a row so I'm also under-rested. The ONLY positive I can think of right now is that, when my throat hurts this badly I tend to drink a lot more water so at least I'll be hydrated.

On a happier note, we made the trek into work today on RIDE TO WORK DAY. I have never seen so many bikers out on the roads of Denver, it was awesome! I wished I was feeling better so I could've really enjoyed it. Still, we had fun in our little group making our way towards Golden:

***

6-25-07: as of today, my mom has driven over 1800 miles to take my bike to AGN for me.

I hope the race goes well so as to make her effort worthwhile. She is doing me SUCH a huge favor!! THANKS MOM!!!! (shown here, post-chicago marathon).

***

Update on dad's status at the Senior Games -- yesterday was the 5K TT. Results here. I believe today was a 40K road race. I'm totally psyched that he's out there doing the event!

Sunday:

Yesterday's road race (Stage 1 of Dead Dog in Laramie, WY) was a total travesty and I really can't blame anyone but myself. If a client had presented with my symptoms and I knew she had a major race the following weekend, my response to her would've been "hell no you're not racing this weekend. Rest and recover." Every part of me was dreading the race and I knew knew knew I should not go. Yet, I went. And after the first few flat miles of the RR, it went up. Sort of like Ironhorse, except it didn't break up it was more or less straight climbing. Benassi (excel) took the pace high and higher riding women off her wheel right and left. [I know the kind of training it takes to be able to ride like that and her win was definitely deserved after those kinds of efforts. She is a TRUE climber!]

I stuck with the lead group for awhile and then my triceps and calves starting cramping and next thing you knew, "snap, crackle pop" I was done and was getting passed by every single woman out there. So -- I slowed it down, turned it into a training ride and once I saw Rob out there around mile 47 or so, I pulled myself from the race and hopped into the truck. My throat hurt so badly. How stupid -- I was stupid to go. I met my mom and handed off the TTX to her care for next weekend and then we returned to Denver where I'm going to attempt to recover from yesterday. If next weekend in Portland goes badly, I am fully to blame.

POSITIVES: Rob got the chance to reunite with several of his teammates from Kaos, which is a Nebraska-based team. (If you didn't know this about me, we're "from" Nebraska, as we only lived in KC two years).

I also saw my first MOOSE.

***

6-22-07: A former teammate of Rob’s from Nebraska (who now lives here in Denver) was involved in a bad bike crash last Thursday (stage 1 of the omnium for the CAT 3 men). I’m told he fractured his collarbone in THREE places. Additionally, I heard another guy in the crash lost most of his teeth. A few months ago, a racer in KC went down in a crash and now he may be paralyzed forever. This is pursuit of a passion, at all costs, and it's scary to me sometimes.

Coolest parents in the world update: my dad is competing at the national sr olympics right now.

web site is: http://www.2007seniorgames.com/ (he's doing the bike events, of course!)

My mom is meeting me in Wyoming this weekend en route to Portland for AGN next weekend and will be driving my TT bike from Wyo to Portland for me so I didn't have to fly it. How cool is that!?!

in 2005 and 2006 I did Nature Valley and absolutely loved the race. I'm a little bit sad to be missing it this year -- I really like how they bumped the TT to day #3 and moved the crit to day #1. I bet they figured out that was the only way they'd EVER beat the Friday night rainstorm curse on the crit. Last year it hailed like mad on us and there we were racing in it less than an hour after the storm.

Well our little 3-stage race this weekend in Laramie also has a different approach -- the RR is day 1 and then the crit and TT are day #2. I've never done a SR where the TT was the last event. You can imagine how that will have a large impact on the strategies as they take form. Good climbing in the RR though and I think I've got better legs on than I did at Ironhorse but still can't shake the sore throat so I'll just be taking care of myself keeping my eye on the ball, which is doing well in Portland next weekend. No internet at the motel 6 so i'll try to post results via my cell phone.

***

6-21-07: slight change in plans, no track racing for me tonight. Woke up with what I like to call the "athlete's scratchy throat" which oftens follows intense racing or training or just hectic life in general for me and generally is a subtle signal to me to slow things down a bit. Results from last week's track adventure are posted: http://www.coloradousac.org/results/june_14.xls (you have to scroll among the races at the bottom).

***

ok so you might've noticed this page has been down this week. That's because I didn't like what I read about me on a blog. I try to remain neutral and factual when I report stuff that happens in races, but I've learned it opens me up for critisicm on the internet, which i'm not a big fan of. That said, derogatory comments about me or my blog just aren't going to get me down. Freedom of speech comes with some price tags, one of which is that people can write whatever they want about you on their websites, and, short of slanderous content, it's all fair game on the information superhighway. So that's my $.02 on blogging. One thing that is not cool is this: friendliness to a person's face while "blogging" smack about them. If you can post it on the internet, you should be able to say it to their face.

My blog has been going since I started racing in 2003 and I started it for friends and family who wanted to know what I was up to. That's my motivation in posting; nothing more. Not to be deceptive, not to be deviant or spiteful.

***

6-20-07: meet my new track bike. Add it to the TT, CX, MTB, and road bike of mine and i've got a regular collection going! Actually I think I may need to sell my CX bike to make room and recoop some costs so I'll post my link to its listing on ebay once it's posted.

6-20-07: had an awesome thought-inspiring conversation in the locker room after spin class this am with DFT member RaNae. She's amazing inandof herself--she's lost 122 lbs through WW, eating right and working out. And now she's a swim-bike-run guru! Anyways . . . we got to talking about how much it sucks to be an "office monkey" and how much I miss working for myself, having been at this full-time office job gig now since 2004 (prior to that I worked part-time jobs and self-employed as a personal trainer in college/law school). I've come to realize I'm not very good at taking orders from others and I certainly wouldn't do well in life consumed by the "billable hour" which is what'll happen if I take a gig w/ a law firm. When she had kids, RaNae went to her employer and negotiated a unique situation whereby she only worked 11 days/month. Initially, her employers said no but because she was hitting all the magic numbers (and then some), they couldn't say no. Now she works with her husband, and they work for themselves. It totally inspired me -- like she said, find something you're passionate about, study up and get good at it, and then work for yourself and tell "the man" to kiss off.

So. What am I passionate about, such that I can make a few bucks doing it? I've already decided it is NOT going to be as a professional cyclist. Even as a pro athlete of any kind, there's no longevitity -- you're restricted in years by the way your body holds up and assuming no injuries, that might be 20 years for me. But then what?

DFT NEWS: www.republicoftea.com sent the DFT ladies a bunch of samples of their new bottled teas, specifically the LUNA line. I am anxious to get the ladies' feedback but in any event, it's super cool when companies do stuff like that!

One week from today is RIDE TO WORK DAY in Denver -- it's a huge deal, they set up breakfast stations and everything!!! I have rallied some of the troops here at work to ride in with me so we'll have a little group coming in all sweaty, it'll be fun.

***

6-19-07 (again): I'm not doing too hot in the Colorado "BAR" (Best all-around rider) competition. Suppose I should've done a few more of those key events = oops. http://www.americancycling.org/points_competitions/bar_bat/2007/BAR/barsw1.htm

6-19-07: if you can believe it, the sun was actually coming up here before 5am today. I mourn this Thursday's arrival because it signals the beginning of the shortening of our summer days. I love summer here -- it's going way too fast. I suppose the agony of this winter was well worth what I'm enjoying now. Even with temps in the 90s, it's not terribly hot; you can be outside walking and not break a sweat. I can't say I miss that KC humidity but on the other hand, it's so dry out here you wake up all night coughing from dry throat and even drinking 120oz a day doesn't touch hydration standards . . . still, life is good ;)

Not much to mention this week -- I'll be racing on the track on Thurs nite and then off to Laramie, WY this weekend: www.deaddogclassic.com. (Yes, you read that correctly, Laramie). Rob played Div I football there back in the day so he's excited to go and do some "I remember when . . ." - ing.

Finally -- check this out: www.doggles.com

***

6-17-07: HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, DAD! My dad started bike racing a couple years ago, at over 50 years of age I think that's a pretty cool thing. He's currently prepping for a national bike competition -- And -- today is also my parents' 35th anniversary! (Aren't I lucky to have such great and dedicated parents!). (shown here w/ dad in KC)

Curtis park crit was on the schedule for today (part III of the omnium) but with temps over 90 and the crit being at the hottest part of the day, and with age-group nats only 2 weeks out, I opted out. Silly, I know, since I paid for the omnium and am (was) sitting in the $ at 4th place, but with age-group nats 2 weeks away, skipping is the ONLY way to guarantee I don't crash. Ironically enough I think I still finished the omnium in 5th place.

Finally -- reading blogs yesterday made me a bit upset when I read a posting referring to me in a derogatory way. Bike racing has not, nor will ever, replace my "day job." As such, it is supposed to be fun. When it stops being fun I'll stop doing it. That's me, keeping things in perspective. We are not saving lives, we are racing bikes and that's that.

***

6-16-07: we did the Hugo road race today. Approximately 60 miles long and just as I suspected, it felt exactly like Kansas racing -- relatively flat, extremely windy, and very hot. It's like pinball, only it doesn't cost $.25, and it's called gutterball but you're still bouncing off other riders and all the debris on the shoulders where you're trying your damndest to find an ounce of a draft behind the rider in front of you who is doing the exact same thing. I am not really sure how to describe the way today unfolded, other than madness -- on so many different levels. Very non-traditional team tactics were employed, leaving many of us scratching our heads. Early on, two riders (Renee- VC and Trich- Rio Grande) escaped from the field without most of us even noticing because shortly thereafter, a crash went down, occupying our thoughts. One rider spent almost the entire race on the front, which I was grateful for because it kept the pace high and made us get busy racing and not social hour type stuff. An attack went during a pee break, and also as we hit the feed zone, so we were all definitely kept on our toes the entire time. Not knowing the race course, I played it safe and waited until the final stretch to begin sprinting it out -- Beth, Carol and I found ourselves sprinting for 3rd place, uphill and into the wind. I concur with Beth's comment when she said it was the "hardest sprint ever." Carol took 3rd, Beth 4th and I took 5th by throwing my bike at the line (official results). This puts me into 4th place in the omnium, with Beth and Renee tied for 2/3 and Carol holding 1st).

To read about the race from other racers' perspectives, click on these links below (in turn, they offer other links to other racers' blogs so you can read all night if you want!). I think it's always good to get several different points of view to piece something together and, like the blind men in a room with an elephant, this race probably looked very different depending on whose eyes you saw it through!!

http://bfisk.blogspot.com/ or http://vcsparky.blogspot.com/ (vitamin cottage)

http://www.maatjebenassi.blogspot.com/ (excel)

As an aside, I think it was about a year ago that I returned home early from Nature Valley and spur-of-the-moment did the KS state crit. That event was memorable for me because following the race I was actually confronted by angry spectators -- I'll never forget the vitriolic reaction I got from them about the (standard, text-book) race tactics I used to place 2nd, and the email I later received from someone not even there, criticizing me, my abilities, my race tactics, and my race blogs. This instance came to mind today because, in the midst of a large local field (cat 1-2), where 3 teams boasted at least 4 riders each, and where the race unfolded in a very complicated and often confusing way, I realized how glad I am that I've moved here where women, and their families/spectators, understand that "racing's racing" and that tactics and mind games are an integral part of this sport. I'm not knocking Kansas racing at all -- just that particular incident. And so, while parts of today's race made me feel like Switzerland, the politics and animosities and rivalries are all part of this sport and it's what keeps us coming back each weekend for more.

***

6-15-07: did my first mass start race on the track last night: "Miss-n-out" in which the last rider each lap gets pulled until you're left with three riders, who then sprint it out for the finish. It was a blast, I sprinted for 2nd place. I wanted to do the last event of the night but had to get going -- it was 8:40 when we took off for Denver and they weren't even close to wrapping it up. I can't say that I'll race every week - it was 180 miles round trip and I didn't get to bed until 11, but I'll try because i really like it and love how friendly everyone is.

This morning was stage 1 of the Rocky Mountain Omnium (www.rmomnium.com). The TT was short and I made a slight error near the turnaround, going thru some cones and extending the course for myself by a few feet before realizing I was headed the wrong way and got turned back around. Whether it was that or just being tired I'm not sure but I was passed on the way back in and it definitely did not FEEL like a good TT for me. It was very exciting to have Deb from the DFT team out there doing her very first TT in the women 4 field; when we passed one another she looked very strong so I hope she had fun! Tomorrow's stage is east of Limon so it'll probably feel a lot like Kansas Road Races did.

***

6-14-07: more track racing tonight, soon to be my new Thursday nite routine into September. it's about 1.5 hours from my work to get there, so 3 hours of driving each Thursday might get old but I'm gonna give it a shot. Here's the schedule of events : http://www.coloradousac.org/track/tandtsched.php

click on the format/rules link to learn about the different events (yes, it IS confusing)

***

6-13-07: pics from the triathlon are in: click here

here's something to make you laugh (if it works, I've never tried movies on this site). The first one is Phoenix punishing herself for being bad and the second movie is our minpin Sydney, being bad.

6-12-07: results from track racing are posted. Click here. I find myself with "fixie-fever" after my taste of the 'drome and am reading up trying to educate myself as the season officially starts this weekend on Tues/Thurs nights at the track in the Springs. For a few tid-bits and pics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velodrome

***

6-10-07: well there were two perfectly good road events (a RR and crit) this weekend in Ft Collins with huge womens' fields, but I decided to do some other stuff instead. The triathlon yesterday, and today -- my first time racing on the track. I had an absolute BLAST. Having no clue what I was doing, I signed up for the 500, the kilo (1000) and the 3000 pursuit events. Essentially, they are super short time trials. (the 500 = 1.5laps, 1000 = 3 laps and 3000 = 9 laps). Racing on the track means you have one gear, the bike is fixed gear (meaning if the wheels are moving so are the pedals; there is no coasting) and no brakes. The track is banked like in NASCAR, making it feel as though you're either going to clip a pedal or slide down the track.

You go out, do your event, then come back into the middle of the track, rest, and then start basically warming up for the next event. But the intensity -- holy cow. It's like my hardest time trial ever x 10. The fixed gear forces you to take it up to super high cadences to increase your speed and your arms and lats and everything are involved because you start from a dead stop ("standing start"). I learned soooo much in one day, I can't wait to go back. As far as results, I didn't win anything but I was in the middle of the times posted on all 3 events so I didn't feel too bad about that given that I was on a borrowed bike, no aero bars or aero helmet. Special thanks to Steven Truesdale for lending me a bike and giving me a 1000 tips for getting started! Everyone was SO friendly, it was awesome!

Days like today are the reason we moved to Colorado. I'm really glad I stepped out of my comfort zone and tried something new!

Here's a recap of this somewhat epic week of mine:

1 triathlon, 1 house party at our place, 2 good friends in town, 2 spin classes, 3 track races . . . all culminating in over 14 hours of training/race time for the week combined with 40+ hours at my day job. No wonder I'm tired ;)

***

6-9-07: yesterday I met one of two friends I've kept in touch with since elementary school in good ol Sioux Falls, SD - He was in town for a wedding so we met for lunch. He owns a company called Missouri River Expeditions, which takes folks out on one-day to week-long trips down the Missouri, cooks them gourmet meals consisting of fish caught on the trip, the whole deal it's awesome. It's cool to talk with people you've known almost your entire life and even though we hadn't seen one another since my first year of law school, it was like no time had elapsed and we picked right up where we'd left off in our last discussions. I'm so blessed to have such neat people in my life. Chad-- I hope you find everything your heart is looking for!

This morning I did the "Tri the Creek" triathlon sponsored by the DAC at Cherry Creek res (800m, 22k, 5k). QUITE POSSIBLY the MOST organized and well-run event I've ever done. Registration, schwag bags, running on time -- they had it all nailed, and an awesome post-event setup as well. I am definitely doing it again in 2008 (and I'm not just saying that because I teach there). Early wake up, transition area set up you know the drill. Race went well, although I think my wetsuit may be what's causing me some troubles in the swim -- I'm going to pursue other options. Also discovered on the run how to make my sideaches go away: run fast (my fastest run split ever happened today). Not like that's a fun option but it beats the alternative. Results posted after the race showed me 2nd in my *rather large* age group (42!) and 8th woman overall (172 women); I also posted the fastest women's bike time. I didn't stick around for awards b/c I needed to get home for a stretchout ride and then we're throwing a small shin-dig tonight so I wanted to boogie. Here were my splits:

Megan Hottman Denver CO 1:13:04.80 13:44(s) 2:40 32:44 (b) 0:48 23:08(r)
Official results posted at http://ccrtiming.com/races/results/2007/07TriCreek.htm. More fun stuff ahead for tomorrow -- I'll keep you in suspense ;)

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6-8-07: no, I didn't ride yesterday. 70-90mph winds here in Denver and I met Dawn after work for dinner, so those are my excuses. There's just nothing like good friends. Our discussions prompted a realization on my part: I think we all have 2 main "driving forces" in our lives (a) we want to do/be something great -- the "make our mark on the world" pressure and then (b) the pick the right job-live in the right city-buy the right house-make all the right decisions pressure (so that when we grow old and grey, we don't look back on our life and say "I wish I would've . . .). These aren't BAD pressures, but they are always on the forefront of my mind and it was reassuring last night to learn others feel the same way. I think what happiness boils down to is waking up in the morning and having a day (job, family, tasks) that you look forward to (not dread) and then going to bed at night satisfied. There is no such thing as "the perfect life" but we all wear ourselves out looking for it and in the meantime, I think we miss out on all the good stuff. In light of this revelation, I'm going to start keeping track of all the places racing has taken me this year -- it'll be at the bottom of this page and i'll update it each month.

fun times coming up this weekend, stay tuned.

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6-6-07: my good friend Dawn from KC was in town last night; it was so nice to see a friendly face from Kansas since we haven't been back and we moved here almost a year ago! On the commuting note, day 3 today and all denver motorists get gold stars. I had a perfectly pleasant ride in this morning (they must've all read my blog from yesterday?). (confession: I had to cheat and drive to Target last night).

Observation: I think driving may actually be cheaper than riding into work and here's why -- the extra double-shot carmel macchiato I have to get each afternoon in order to stay awake and make it home is costing me roughly $3.94. That's over a gallon of fuel. And -- the extra riding is making me extra hungry, so I'm buying more food. So riding may be more expensive. Hmm.

Right now, while you're reading this, click here and order "share the road" license plates!

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6-5-07: day 2 of commuting and here's what I've decided: motorists in Denver suck. Now, since we moved here I've tried to bike to work once or twice a week so this isn't an entirely new experience, but now that I'm temporarily disowning my car completely, it's taken on a whole new meaning. I have big plans to start carrying rubber bouncy balls to launch at jerks that think "near miss" is funny (ie "let me see how close I can get to that chic on the bike with my side mirror"), whereas I think in terms of "attempted vehicular assault." I think I need a sign for my back: "my 20/20 vision saw your license plate and my law degree just memorized it." Seriously. I hate to sound so litigious but it is downright scary. My favorite is when they gesture towards the sidewalk as if to say, "see that, that's where you belong!" Um, I'm a "roadie" not a "sidewalkie." Furthermore, the CO legislature decided that cyclists are entitled to all the rights that motorists are:

C.R.S. § 42-4-1412. Operation of bicycles and other human-powered vehicles

(1) Every person riding a bicycle shall have all of the rights and duties applicable to the driver of any other vehicle under this article, except as to special regulations in this article and except as to those provisions which by their nature can have no application. Said riders shall comply with the rules set forth in this section and section 42-4-221, and, when using streets and highways within incorporated cities and towns, shall be subject to local ordinances regulating the operation of bicycles as provided in section 42-4- 111.

So there.

this is my new favorite drink to sip while at work:

This organic Rooibos-based herb tea provides a lift, without the jitters. It is partnered with tonic herbs that support the adrenal glands including Eleuthero (Siberian Ginseng), Ashwaganda root (the ginseng of India) and Panax ginseng root. Studies show these unique herbs help the body cope with stress, while increasing endurance. Rooibos and blueberries contribute antioxidant properties that are vital when body is being stressed by physical activity. Further, gotu kola leaf helps maintain mental focus.

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6-3-07: I've historically found that when I put things into writing, I stay committed; this discovery came about when I prepared for my first marathon. I've decided that I am going to go all week without getting into my car. To work, spin classes, 530am masters swimming -- it's all gonna happen vis-a-vis my bicycle. 2 exceptions: rain and emergencies. Otherwise, I'm converting to pure commuter this week to save some gas $ and rack up some miles. I figure I spend at least one gallon per day driving to/from work,so that'll save me 5 gallons of fuel ($16.25) and I'll cut down on the unnecessary "errand-running." Thank goodness I just bought dog food! hahhh! I'll be sure to post my progress!

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June 2, 2007: first post for the month: the CO Time Trial championships, held hear DIA here in town. It was nice not having to travel to a race I considered important. And, the day could not have been better. Awesome weather (sunny, low 70s, breezy), bike worked perfect no mechanicals!), my body worked as it was supposed (albeit with hesitant knees thanks to Iron Horse last weekend) and the race plan unfolded exactly as I'd hoped. In the words of Ice Cube, "Today was a good day." http://www.americancycling.org/results/2007/june/co-state-tt.html

Here's what Rob and puppy were doing:

(all kidding aside, Rob worked his butt off helping me get ready and passed up his Saturday ride to drive out there and support me -- I owe him dinner for SURE!)

And -- these are completely belated but I'm finally pulling pics off my digital cam and so here they are, better late than never:

My birthday -- with my friends from work!

In Boulder near Ward, with our friends from Kansas.

The party in Silverton at the conclusion of the Iron Horse Road Race

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http://bfisk.blogspot.com/ or http://vcsparky.blogspot.com/ (vitamin cottage)

http://www.maatjebenassi.blogspot.com/ (excel)

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click on the format/rules link to learn about the different events (yes, it IS confusing)

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6-13-07: pics from the triathlon are in: click here

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Days like today are the reason we moved to Colorado. I'm really glad I stepped out of my comfort zone and tried something new!

Here's a recap of this somewhat epic week of mine:

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fun times coming up this weekend, stay tuned.

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Right now, while you're reading this, click here and order "share the road" license plates!

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this is my new favorite drink to sip while at work:

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Here's what Rob and puppy were doing:

(all kidding aside, Rob worked his butt off helping me get ready and passed up his Saturday ride to drive out there and support me -- I owe him dinner for SURE!)

And -- these are completely belated but I'm finally pulling pics off my digital cam and so here they are, better late than never:

My birthday -- with my friends from work!

In Boulder near Ward, with our friends from Kansas.

The party in Silverton at the conclusion of the Iron Horse Road Race

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5-31-07: last entry of the month and this one is as equally random as the past few have been. I get these sporadic impulses to do an Ironman. There, I've confessed. I love Arizona and so if I was going to do an IM it'd be in AZ in April so I could still have something of a bike race season. So I check to see if there are still spots for 08. Yep. So I check to see how much it is. Brace yourself: $475. Folks, the next time you watch the Kona highlights and you see those people suffering and in agony, wishing they were dead, say aloud: "and to think, they paid nearly $500 to do that." Wow. Guess my checkbook will need to start training before I do if I ever get serious about doing an IM ;)

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5-30-07: the big event of the week: MT HOOD -- http://www.mthoodcyclingclassic.com/2007results/results_stage01.htm

Watched the Robin Williams movie where he runs for president and wins -- made me think, maybe I should run for Congress (House/Senate) because they really only work 3 days/week and they get a couple months off summer -- even better, the CO state legislature is really only "on the clock" 3 months a year -- that would be PERFECT for racing and training! Hm, wonder when I should start my campaign!? Is it ok to use campaign contributions for race entry fees? (yes, I am joking).

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5-29-07: if ever one needed incentive to try and earn the right to represent the USA abroad (in a USA cycling jersey), this is it -- http://www.alipowers.blogspot.com/

Scroll down on her blog to the part where -- They rode with the mega-hunk of all time, Cippo (Mario Cippolini). Wow, I am totally going to crank up the training ;) and -- this is TOTALLY something that I would do (so nice to see that there are other clutzes out there!):

Miss USA Rachel Smith takes a tumble during the evening gown competition at the Miss Universe pageant. (May 29)

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HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY TO MY HUSBAND AND ALL THE OTHER VETERANS THAT'VE SERVED (or are serving) OUR COUNTRY!!!

5-27-07: IronHorse Stage II: Crit in downtown Durango. Rob and I got out and did a nice ride Sunday morning up one of the climbs from Saturday's stage and then packed up and made for downtown Durango. The crit started at 1pm with a solid field and from the word "go" felt fast to me. About 12-15 minutes in, a $100 prime was offered right as I'd launched off the front of the field; the timing was perfect. I roasted myself off the front for a full lap with Webcor (Abbott) in the chase and she almost caught me at the line. So--$100 richer, I was feeling pretty pooped after the effort and sat in and held on.

Attacks went by Excel and VC -- Tibco and Webcor gals did a lot of work to bring everything back to ensure their chances. I heard the announcer say "that peleton has more splits in it than a divorce court" -- the pace was just high high high and gaps would continually open and close. Honestly, it made for a really fun and exciting race -- the course was PACKED with spectators. With about 6 laps to go, Webcor rider Mara Abbott rides off the front and the pack attempts to chase though the motivation just wasn't there and everyone seemed content to wait it out for the sprint for 2nd. Clearly, that did not include me as I hate pack sprints. With 1.5 laps to go I launched off the front and tried to hold on for 2nd place. Just near the final corner before the final straightaway, Beth Fisk passed me and then right at the line another rider passed me, just kicking me out of the payout at 4th place. Still, I was happy with the result as the field was strong and the $100 prime helped with the weekend's expenses! I must say, VC rider Lisa Matlock was totally awesome this weekend, encouraging me when I was on the breaking point on Sat and also giving me props during the crit a few times -- racing with women like that with positive things to say really makes the sport fun -- thanks, Lisa! To see all of Rob's pics from this weekend click here for (Works format). Here are a few of the best:

beth on the front at the beginning of the criterium

staying low as we head up the hill

taking a solo flyer

pics courtesy of Beth's hubby, Jon:

pedalin' through a corner

hanging onto lisa's wheel

Took a different route home and only spent 6 hours in the car this time, not 8.

One year ago this weekend I suffered my worst crash to date in a men4/women 1/2/3 combined field in a RR in Nebraska. A dude took me to the ground hard and it resulted in a fractured elbow for me which made it virtually impossible to use my left arm, including making shifting in/out of my big ring, well, I couldn't shift at all. I would not wish that kind of pain on anyone and I suffered with it for nearly 2 months. So I'm glad to see that I don't have a Memorial Day wknd curse or something like that -whew!

Overall weekend results: 13th RR, 4th crit, 6th omnium overall (tied with 5th place)

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5-26-07: IronHorse Stage I: we left Denver @ 415pm yesterday and finally got here to our hotel at 12pm; after getting up at 430am Fri morning it was almost a 24 hour day for me -- I was TOTALLY exhausted and got less than 5 hours of sleep b/c I had to wake up at 5am for checkin. Sheesh. Women's field was large and the race rolled out around 815am. Flat stuff then the first climb -- silly me, I tried to stay w/ Tibco (Asplund) and Webcor (Abbott) thinking I'm a climber --hah! They rode the legs right off me and I faded back to the chase group which consisted of about 7 gals -- 2 VC, 2 Excel and then a couple of us "randoms." Parts of the main pack caught on and we continued on, nothing really exciting to report. Once the massive climbs began, everything broke up and I watched as the other women climbed away from me. Not pretty. I tried to mete out my efforts and be consistent. I was over dressed (although it was nice to have once the descending began) and was running out of water. The climbs took us up over 10,000 ft -- brutal -- I was sucking wind like a flat-lander. Weather was gorgeous though and because the race is run concurrently w/ a group ride, there were people all over the roads cheering us on as we went. Finally I made it to the top of the last summit and the descent into Silverton began. For a RR that was less than 50 miles, it took me just under 3 hours to complete.

Initially the results didn't even include my name -- not funny after working hard for 3 hours. I protested and they found me and put me in 13th place, although Rob and I thought I was in 12th (3 of us finished at 2:57:39, I was the first of the 3 b/c I sprinted for the line, but they put me as the 2nd in our group, so I really should've been 12th at the very least) --I was so tired I said forget it and we returned to our hotel for a nap.

Results -- and especially time gaps -- will be illustrative of how poorly today went for me. Still, it's given me a chance to see new parts of CO and Rob and I are having fun so that's important too! http://www.ironhorsebicycleclassic.com/

Rob and me, post race in Silverton

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5-25-07: ok I think we'll be able to pull off doing Iron Horse this weekend . . . do I really WANT to, that's the question! The race website boasts about the road race: "Climb a heck of a lot of vertical feet (5700ft) and scale two almost 11,000 foot mountain passes on this 48 mile ride through Colorado's San Juan Mountain range." (Can you hear my nervous giggles)?

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5-24-07: last TT of the series was cancelled due to weather so results from the first 6 were used to determine overall winners; I suppose if nothing else goes right this season, at least one of my goals (winning the series) has been fulfilled. Things are up in the air on our trip to durango now too, due to work commitments for both Rob and I. This is why trying to race while working full time is so damn hard.

On a positive note, I couldn't be happier with how things on the DFT women's team are going! I think we had at least 8 women competing in KC and 1 in Memphis last weekend -- they're all "going for it" and setting aside apprehensions and nervousness and just downright getting their feet wet in all kinds of sports. It's exactly why I started the team and it makes me proud that we're expanding the field sizes at events all over the country! Be sure to read THEIR recaps -- far more exciting than these!

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5-22-07: last Wednesday nite TT tomorrow night -- if weather conditions are favorable, I'm gonna give that course record my very best effort. Up for Memorial Day weekend: my first trip to Durango, CO which I'm told is about 6 hours from here. I'll be having all kinds of fun on Saturday morning: http://www.ironhorsebicycleclassic.com/raceMap.html (check out the profile!)

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5-19/20: the blessing/curse of living in CO is that there are races every weekend, both days. Blessing: you need not go far to find a good race w/ large fields and solid payouts. Curse: it's hard to force yourself to train when it means you have to skip a race -- it's more fun just to race than skip a race or show up toasted from hard training done the same day. And so it goes, the Colorado bike racer's dilemma. There were crits both Sat and Sun this weekend. However with a group of bike friends in town from Kansas we opted for a mountain ride with them in Boulder on Saturday, as opposed to racing. Crits are not my bag anyhow and they certainly aren't going to get me ready for events like IronHorse or Mt. Evans. After all, I moved to CO to climb, not race flat crits -- there was plenty of that back in Kansas! So we climbed and rode w/ our friends and it was a good time. Sunday Rob and I went out and did some structured training and again passed on the race. . .I'm finally over the bug I had this week and it just felt good to feel good again today, and to be out enjoying the sunshine and friendship.

Time trial results from all 6 weeks are posted, only one more to go. I'm kind of bummed they're over with already, they make for a great mid-week effort! http://www.americancycling.org/khmtt/docs/Week6-Overall.pdf

Finally, this has got to be the saddest thing I've ever seen: legless puppies

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5-17-07: last night's race was the most miserable of my life; I just wanted it to be over so I could go home and go to bed. There's nothing like racing with 50 total calories in you (I'd only been able to keep down a banana w/in 24 hrs). Nonetheless, I survived it and I'm glad I did because had I skipped I would've lost the chance to maybe win the overall series. http://www.americancycling.org/results/2007/may/khmtt-051607.html

5-16-07: I'm battling a nasty bout of the stomach flu, which started last night and lasted through about, well, it's still going. I drug my sorry butt into work so that I could at least attempt to ride the TT tonight; I'm expecting to post the record-setting slowest time since I haven't been able to keep food or liquids down = my tank-o-energy is empty. Rob thinks it's from all the lake water I swallowed last Sunday! I'm still oogling the w 1/2 course record wondering how the heck Mari did it that fast back in 1999.

SW1,2

Mari Holden

22:38

05/19/99

28

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5-13-07: Happy Mother's day to all the moms (and especially mine!). On the agenda: Little Foot Triathlon in Morrison. Wake up was at 4am this morning (ludicrous, I couldn't figure out why in the hell I thought this was a wise idea); drove to the site and did all the pre-race stuff. Wiggled into my wetsuit to stay warm and around 615am we all wandered down to the beach for a final pre-race announcement. My feet were white they were so cold and I was shivering uncontrollably, not good. Water temp was supposed to be around 60 degrees -- ohmigosh it took my breath away when I got in, it was insanely cold. Once my feet were numb they felt fine. We start our wave and I take a few strokes and as the water creeps into my wetsuit I feel myself hyperventilating, I couldn't breathe it was like my entire torso was constricted. I see people swimming towards the lifeguard boats for help. I flipped over on my back, tried to calm my breathing down and then flipped back over for some more freestyle. And so it went -- I could not make my limbs work, I could not breathe, the cold was just too much for me. I'm not sure how but eventually I made it the 750m and finally stumbled up on the beach trying to eek my way back out of the wetsuit. I had sideaches on both sides and the final 1/3 of the swim the water had been so choppy I actually felt I had motion sickness, I was completely discombobulated. My brain wasn't working well and it was hard to walk with numb feet. I totally botched T1, slowing down to dry myself off and trying to warm up before starting the bike leg. I bet I was there 5 minutes, it was pathetic. NEVER again will I do a race in water that cold. I simply don't do well when I am freezing.

On the bike I began to regain some life, starting off with a strong tailwind out of the west, I started to feel my legs and arms and get my breathing in sync. It was an out-and-back three times for a total of 15 miles. Towards the middle of my 3rd lap I didn't see many folks ahead of me anymore -- I started to panic and thought maybe I'd done an extra lap? I'd gone from mass humanity to the occasional rider. Hm. Back in for T2 which went smoothly and then off to run, at which point I realized why the bike course seemed suddenly sparse. The only people out on the run (1.5m out and 1.5m back) were the pro "trisuit has the USA flag and last name on it which means he's a pro"). Whoa, it occurred to me I might be the first female on the run course. As those guys went flying by me on their way back to the finish I grew a bit optimistic. As I neared the turnaround, I saw one female. Then 2, 3 and 4. SMOKIN' fast. They were too far ahead to catch on the run and I didn't remember seeing them on the bike which meant that their swim/T1had been so fast they were eons ahead from the get-go. MY sideaches were still going strong; I had to stop twice and bend at the waist to make them die down. My goal became holding onto 5th place, having seen 2 women behind me chomping at the bit. As I neared the finish I kicked it into a full sprint.

Lessons: in CO, there is no such thing as a "small local event" whether it be cycling or triathlon. As evidenced by the Lipton pros at yesterday's bike race and the apparent USOC/Olympic triathletes there today, an athlete in this state MUST expect that on any given day a professional athlete will be in your midst. Therefore, there is also no such thing as an "Easy win." Folks in this state take their sports seriously, that's for sure. Lesson #2: No cold water for me again. There's a saying in triathlon: "you won't win a race in the swim, but you can lose the race in the swim" and I am proof of that. My swim today totally cost me the race, of that I'm sure. Even with all the masters swim practices, in cold water I was no use. Even with faster run splits than I've ever done, and a smoking bike leg, it wasn't enough to cover the gap that the strong swimmers (with apparently warmer wetsuits?) made up on me.

Results: 2nd place a/g; 5th women o/a

http://www.summitracemanagement.com/littlefootresults2007.htm

Results ARE posted from yesterday's race and, no surprise, Beth Fisk took the win (again). She is such a bad $%^ and she's also super fun to race with. Also not surprising, KB took 2nd place in the RR at Joe Martin yesterday. She is also a bad $%^ and I am super happy her season is going so well with Cheerwine!

One more note while I'm off on my tid-bit tangent. If you are ever summoned for jury duty, and you are in fact selected to sit for the case, do yourself a favor: leave the dictionary home. Many people do not realize that jurors who conduct outside research on the case, above and beyond the evidence presented to them, may likely be to thank when the case is declared a mistrial and the entire thing must be re-tried. While I've never been a juror (and probably won't, as no attorney would let me remain on the panel), I am sure it's a frustrating process and there are questions a jury wants answered that are never addressed. HOWEVER, extraneous research and inquiries are inappropriate and are not allowed. So- there's my public service announcement!

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5-12-07: Wheels of Thunder at the State Patrol evasive driving course was the race of the day today. Entirely flat, wide open with no real "corners" and high speeds, plus cash primes offered every other lap. I went early to watch Rob's race at 11am (mine wasn't until 4pm). Rob seems to be getting the best of his knee pain and has found a knee-taping method that is working well, so he was very pleased with his race. Afterwards we talked about my race and decided against me doing it. Several pros were there and I anticipated a full field containing a lot of sprinters. A course like that ABSOLUTELY is not for me and so I decided to save my cash for another day. Plus, I'm doing my first triathlon of the 2007 season tomorrow morning and I'd really like to do well there, so I felt the crit today would compromise that chance. I also thought I'd err on the side of letting my knees do a bit more recovering, as it's a long season ahead and I don't want to end it prematurely. So--while it would've been a fun race today, I skipped it.

I picked up my packet for the triathlon this afternoon and was reminded of the stark differences b/t cycling and triathlon. Cycling: $25 entry. Triathlon: $70 (over $100 is NOT abnormal). Cycling: pin a paper number on your jersey. Triathlon: cover yourself in your # with permanent marker that your coworkers will look at with skepticism on Monday. And Tuesday. Cycling: race time: 4pm; wake up at 3:00pm. Triathlon: race time: 6am; wake up at 4:00am so you have time to lug all the crap the race requires to the transition area and get your spot all set up. Cycling registration lines: it's not unusual to see racers acting like a tough guy, wearing their hardest-core race shirts and sporting tattoos and attitudes. Triathlon: polo shirts and khaki shorts are prevalent and everyone's all chipper and friendly. Cycling: "on your left" prompts a competitor to move to their right, as in a TT. Triathlon: "on your left" prompts the person to attempt to look over their left shoulder at you, thereby causing them to steer their bike left, resulting in a near crash or your ultimate pass of them on their RIGHT. Differences aside, I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's race, which is nice and short and a good way to start off the tri season. Water temp is only 60 degrees -- BRRR!!

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5-10-07: CCTT #5: I was a bit trepidatious about racing the TT last night after how the knees felt last week, but since I took a full week off, I thought it was worth a shot. I feared the legs might feel a bit stale, but after a short warmup I found them rested and strong. The obsessive ibuprofen/ice treatment on the knees seems to have done the trick as well. Last night's result was another win, besting my own best time by nearly 2 minutes and beating 2nd place by almost as much. I'm still nowhere near touching the women's course record, which is around 22:38--whoa (suppose that's why she eventually went on to race for T-Mobile!!?!?) Results: http://www.americancycling.org/results/2007/may/khmtt-0509.htm

and--today's my birthday!! I'm just glad to be alive, enjoying the sunshine. It's been a good life thus far ;) [and the scare at work was due to a suspicious bag which appeared to contain a pipe bomb but ultimately was determined to be harmless]

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5-8-07: wow, reality check today. In the midst of our jury trial this afternoon the sheriff came into our courtroom and told us the building was being evacuated and we were all to exit the building asap. I asked him if he could tell me anything about why and all he'd say was that there'd been a "substantial risk." Course I rode my bike today so I had to frantically change my clothes so I would have transport home; when I emerged from from changing I found myself alone, the only employee left on our floor -- it was completely surreal. My heart was totally racing with the "what-ifs!" I asked one of the sheriffs standing near the exits if it was a drill, to which he replied "I wish." The streets outside were all shut down; employees were milling about all over the place on the perimeter, most on their cell phones. I'm hoping tomorrow we'll find out that it was in fact a standard drill, but it sure scared the heck out of me. I mean, how many courthouses/judges/governments around the country have been threatened, bombed, etc. It's certainly far from being an impossibility. Anyways as I rode home tonight I felt completely silly for complaining about my bad luck in cycling this year. All it takes is one thing to put everything back in check, which is good I guess, given that nothing bad actually happened today.

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5-6-07: home from NM; the end of a vacation is always so bittersweet. Once the racing for me was over, that's exactly what the week became -- a much needed rest from the daily grind. After dealing w/ the fact that one of my peak races of the season was passing me by, I've decided not to name anything a "peak" event anymore . . . such a title seems to be the kiss of death in my cycling plans, so from now on, I'm just "racing." I feel I've spent the past 3+ years, but especially this past year, chasing a sport that becomes more and more elusive to me. I move to CO to improve as an athlete and wham, the state suffers the worst winter and spring in the last decade so my off-season training suffers. Then I attempt 2 early season races and suffer from a laundry list of maladies: illness, team debaucle, equipment malfunctions, lack of base fitness, you name it. Finally the weather improves and I feel I'm turning the corner on my season and I pull a totally amateur screw-up: I don't know the race course and take last place in a local event. Add that to the time I spent a TT on a vertical seat, and the time I went off to my big NRC race of the season only to be able to do 1 of 5 stages. Seriously. It's like a line from a bad country song: "I'm in love with a sport that doesn't love me . . " I'm learning the more I want "it" (success, results) in cycling, the further away it becomes. I'm starting to wonder if the phrase "if at first you don't succeed, try try again" wasn't made up by some stupid idiot like myself, too stupid or bull headed to give up when the thing just truly wasn't meant to be! Ever since I began racing in 2003, people always told me "this sport takes 5 years to really 'get it.' Give yourself 5 years and if you're not making it, then re-assess at the end of the 5th year." Hmm. I'm 3.5 years in and my patience is waning. If nothing else, it'll never be said that I'm a quitter!

In cycling news, KB took 2nd place to Tina Pic in the NRC crit this weekend out east (Race 5 - May 3: Uptown Greenwood Pro Cycling Challenge). I am so happy for her!!

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5-2-07: GILA STAGE #1: the beginning and the end. the TT was a bit over 16 miles which starts off right away with a long grinding climb for over 4 miles -- into a headwind. There are a couple descents and shorter climbs, then the turn around and a descent, followed by another long grinding climb before you hit the final 4+ mile downhill. I tried to give the thing all I had -- instead of being passed like last year, I managed to pass 3 gals, including my 30-second person. However, right at the very end, within the final few meters, the woman that started behind me (Webcor rider) passed me, which meant that she'd made up 30 seconds on my time. All in all, I was able to shave almost 5 minutes off last year's time, and took 16th place, as compared to 48th place last year. That kind of a course really is all about equipment. http://www.tourofthegila.com/2007race/day1womens123.html

Here's a pic taken of me on the final descent back to the finish, having just passed my 30-second gal (team expresscopy) (and Rob's tahoe following me down):

here's one courtesy of www.TomsProPhoto.com :

Ultimately though, it would prove to be the most expensive TT of all time, because it was the first and last day of this event for me. My good friend "tendonitis" came back after my little stunt in the road race last weekend and while my right knee was really bothersome after that, I thought that maybe Sunday, Monday and Tuesday would be enough time. Then after all the seated grinding climbing in the TT here, the knee signaled it'd had enough. Rob and I talked at length about what to do -- I mean, here we are at my peak event of the season . . . but if I even did one more stage, let alone 4 more, the knee would be totally done, quite possibly for the season. The only cure for tendonitis is rest and a break from mashing on the pedals, which is what the 2nd stage would've been--especially with a 6.7 mile STEEP mountain top finish.

I am very very sad. Mentally, I'm there. Physically, I'm there -- my legs feel so strong. However, I can't push the knee or the rest of the season would be a wash.

POSITIVE: these are hard to think of right now when I'm so bummed. The first that comes to mind is that now instead of having to suffer through excruciating ice baths at night, I get to sit in our hottub and relax. And, I suppose, now that I'm not racing, the stress level just went way down and we can actually call this a vacation. (Still, it's hard to rationalize our taking a week's worth of vacation from work to hang out in a city we would normally NOT pick as a vacation hot spot!)

***

5-1-07: we made it and all is well. Took the legs out for a short spin and got caught in a bit of rain, but then 2 brilliant rainbows appeared over Silver City and I thought to myself, "this is gonna be a good week." Nervousness has been replaced this year by excitement, to see how well I do stacked up against the best gals in the sport. Our little cottage is great as usual and the doggies are loving vacation as much as we are! My start time tomorrow is 11:29am so we'll see how close I can get to the 40 minute winning time from last year . . .

***

4-30-07: thinking about stage racing? Lemme tell you how fun it is to pack. 3 bikes, 8 wheels, 4 cassettes, 2 dogs (and 2 kennels), leashes, dog food, human food, clothes, tools, ipods, sunscreen, aloe, crash kit, patch kits, glue, tubes, tires, pumps, shoes, 3 helmets, skinsuit, 4 kits, more food, baby wipes, towels, water, doggie treats, cameras, maps, race bible, a husband, me, "and a partridge in a pear tree!" The tahoe is bursting at the seams!! Here's to safe travels, we're off early in the am!

***

4-29-07: pre-gila stuff:

First, weather looks perfect:

Wed
May 2

Partly Cloudy
70°/40° 10%

10 %

How You Can Reduce Air Pollution

Thu
May 3

Sunny
78°/42° 10%

10 %

Fri
May 4

Sunny
80°/41° 10%

10 %

Sat
May 5

Mostly Sunny
77°/36° 10%

10 %

How Ozone Affects Your Health

Sun
May 6

Sunny
74°/37° 10%

10 %

here's where we stay: www.carriagehousecottage.com (it's adorable)

here's the race website which should have daily results and pics posted: www.tourofthegila.com

My thoughts: I went to this race last year w/ the wrong equipment (someone told me I didn't need aerobars for the TT--whatever, the last 4.4 miles is all downhill! I also didn't have a Disc wheel or a TT bike and had only a black long-sleeved suit and black helmet which caused me to melt during the TT). Plus, lately I've really be making an effort to focus on my TT abilities and the mental aspect of time trialing. Speaking of equipment, I also only brought one saddle last year: an SLR (135grams) saddle, because I thought having something light was important. WRONG--I got the most unimaginable saddle sores ever known to (wo)man and it more or less led to my demise out there. Also, I went to this race which is around 6500-7000ft coming from near sea level in KC last year. This year I come from living at 5300 and working at 6200 5 days a week, plus I'm used to being in a drier climate now. I know all 5 days' courses, and I know a lot more about my competition than I did last year. Furthermore, the field size is smaller this year (albeit dense--there's a lot of talent in there!) so I think the chances for crashing are much less. In short, I think I've got a substantial advantage over myself at the gila last year and I really really hope it leads to some success, as this may end up being my only other NRC event for the season (it's so damn expensive!).

I'll be sure to post updates as I'm able. Rob and I are looking forward to our first "vacation" since we moved out to CO. Well . . . as much as 18,000 feet of climbing and nearly 300 miles of racing can be considered a vacation ;)

***

4-28-07: Deer Trail RR, Deer Trail CO (1 hr east of Denver): today's course was slated for around 67 miles for the women 1/2 race and we started right around noon . . .temps were great, low 70s and low wind. We got there early enough to preview the course and Rob and I selected the spot at the base of a hill approx 1 mile from the finish, where I decided i'd go for it if the timing was right. The course was relatively flat w/ rollers (reminded me of KS!). The course was a strange one though--most RRs are loops; this one was an out-and-back, then out-and-back on the same stretch, then back through town towards a different stretch which was, you guessed it, out-and-back. The beginning of the race was mostly a warm up, lots of chatting and it was a nice chance to meet some of the CO gals I didn't know and chat with those I did, it was very low key. At some point someone decided in the interests of finishing before dark we'd better get underway so an echelon was organized for the 1st half of the race on the flat out-and-back x 2. About an hour into the race I checked my odometer in my polar watch and realized it wasn't picking up. I adjusted my sensor to the point where it was hitting the magnet and still nothing. Bummer, it's always nice to know how many miles are left!

So as we made our way through town to begin the 2nd half which featured more climbs, a crash went down in the field and nearly took me with it. I managed to hold it up even though another rider and I were into one another, but we stuck it out (I think 3 gals went down?). From that point on, the race was definitely on and things began to heat up.

As we raced out towards the turnaround (leaving us with 6 miles to go to the finish) I started really hammering on the water and powergels to make sure I had enough energy for the TT effort I was planning (aka breakaway to the finish). On the way back towards the finish, I looked down at my clock and noted that our time was going to be about the same as last year's race (roughly 3 hours). As it was, I'd decided that waiting until 1 mile to go, was not far enough out and would need to go at the base of the 2nd to last climb (approx 1.5 miles from the finish). And that's what I did. I hammered like I've never hammered before and went for it, occasionally looking under my arm to see the pack. Amazingly, they didn't start chasing right away. . . I began to mentally melt down, every time I looked down my HR was 190 and my arms began to feel numb. I thought no way am I gonna make it . . . I looked back and saw that Beth (fisk) and Sharon (allpress) had made it off the front of the pack and were chasing. I knew they were the strongest 2 in the whole pack and was NOT going to let them pip me at the line for the win. I dug even deeper, hurting so bad I nearly ran off the road. Hr: 191bpm. I was DYING. I turned myself inside out, seriously I've never hurt like that. Looked back again, the 2 were gaining on me but the finish line was just ahead. . . goosebumps, oh my gosh I might actually make it. As the finish line came up the realization that I'd held off the pack sank in and while I wanted to, I was too tired to sit up and throw my arms up, so I just raised one arm and thought wow, I just learned how much it hurts to win.

And then I heard 6 words I'll never forget as Sharon and Beth went whizzing by: "that was not the finish line." What? Pack goes whizzing by. I can hardly stay upright on my bike. I roll along and see them flip a u-turn around an orange cone and head back towards the loop we'd just done. And I realized, we had to do 2 laps of each part of the course. I went from elation to sheer and complete devastation in a matter of seconds. Leaving me alone to finish the 12 mile loop by myself. Out of water and powergels and completely toasted, that's what I did. I finished that race, probably 30-40 minutes after the rest of the women. For the SECOND time, I crossed the finish line, this time feeling like a huge baffoon and hating the fact that I felt so awesome today and I'd thrown away the race with my stupidity.

the sad, sad results are at: http://www.americancycling.org/results/2007/april/deer-trail.html

Positive: good training, met new gals, will have something to laugh about down the road (not for some time though). Apparently, the effort I put in also won me a $100 prime, so I suppose it was worth coming in last to make some cash!

Lessons learned: I learned a new pain threshold today, lasting about 6 min at MAX MAX hr. I learned that when the race flyer is unclear and the instructions at the beginning of the race are unclear, ask lots of questions, even if you have to ask your fellow racers. Apparently I was the only one who thought we were finishing the race, everyone else knew we did 2 loops. I learned that you MUST make sure your equipment (all of it) works. Had I looked down and seen we'd only done 52 miles, I would've known, "oh we do this again to get us to the 64 miles." The odometer malfunction cost me big time.

From now til Wednesday, it's easy miles and recovery in preparation for the gila. I'm going to officially register for it now -- I was waiting to finish today's race just in case I got hurt (I've learned that lesson before--don't register too early or you end up losing $$!)

[as an aside, it looks like people are still talking about my smoking rant I was on while living in KC; thank GOODNESS everything out here in CO is smokefree!]

http://ashleighandpaul.com/page.cfm?PageID=98

***

4-26-07: CCTT#3:

Being able to leave work early last night ended up being my saving grace, because normally I get there and have to more or less head to the line—last nite I had the great fortune of being able to get out on the course to warm up a bit and low and behold—the start line was moved a long ways away from the normal spot b/c part of the course was under water (and there weren't any signs or course marshalls telling the riders of this change!). This also meant they had to add a new part to the modified course, which I had time to pre-ride. That benefit, along w/ having a bit of time to warm up the legs, locked up another win for me! It really tested me because with a shorter course, I knew every second would count and the difference between 1st and 2nd place would be slim. Sadly, a lot of riders missed their start time and many also missed the race completely . . . results at: http://www.americancycling.org/results/2007/april/khmtt-0425.htm

I learned a bit about myself (the benefit to these TT series!) which was that I've actually not been pushing myself hard enough in my TTs. Last night I couldn't even swallow my breathing was that hard, and I had snot coming out of my nose and saliva running out of my mouth--I completely didn't care about runny noses or anything other than pushing the biggest gear I could at top speed . . . my focus was, how do I say it? More "honed" or I had tunnel vision? I write about my runny nose not to gross out the reader, but to illustrate that my focus wasn't on anything else but GOING ALL OUT! Anyways, the pain was fierce and I don't think my HR was lower than 90% the entire 15 minutes, but it was worth it! Each time I do one, I learn, and that's the whole idea! Now it's time to begin my taper to the Gila which will consist of less training & less intensity, with the exception of a 67-mile RR I'm doing this weekend in Deer Trail. Only a few more days before I depart for NM!

***

4-22-07: today's crit was sponsored by the Tokyo Joe's team; the course featured a gradual up and long fast down--really only one "corner" to speak of, the rest was wide sweeping turns. The women 1/2/3 field had a great turnout-I think there were at least 30 of us?? About 3 laps in, I took a flyer up the left side as we went up the hill, just to test the legs a bit and see if anyone came along. One gal (America's Dairyland) came with and we chuckled as we let the pack catch back up, that we only had 40 more minutes to hang onto our breakaway. As it was, this was not a course for breaking away, so I had to force myself to sit in the pack (something I hate) and ride it out--it made for a relatively easy race. At one point they announced a prime ("preeme") and I knew dinner for 2 at Tokyo Joe's was up for grabs, so I sprinted up the hill w/ Renee Eastman (Vitamin Cottage) and took the prime. I could hear the women up the hill breathing pretty heavily, several sounded like they were hurting. So I decided to spice it up a bit by accelerating up the hill on the next lap, and I think I did it one more time after that, I can't remember.

Then we were down to 3 laps to go and I knew I couldn't stay away because I just couldn't go as fast down the hill as the pack could. So I sat in (painstakingly!!) until 1 lap to go. Several of the fast gals began really heating it up on the back stretch (at those speeds, any crash would've been BAD!) and I found myself sitting in about 8-9th wheel back in a singlefile line as we took the final left into the uphill stretch to the S/F. Much to my dismay I got boxed in and actually had to slow to free myself an open stretch where I promptly began to sprint my heart out, but the top 4 were already way up the road. I think I ended up in a disappointing 6-7th place, but the dinner at Toyko Joe's tonight was DELICIOUS!! results at http://www.americancycling.org/results/2007/april/golden-spring.html (they've got me in 9th place, guess I should've stayed around to protest...oh well).

Rob again played picture man:

on the front in my DFT gear!

on the front w/ Beth on my left

***

4-21-07: Haystack Mountain Time trial (Boulder CO): approx 13.6 mile course w/ 4 right hand corners and rolling hills. Temps were in the 50s--not too hot, not too cold; really no wind to speak of (9-10mph?). Had enough time to pre-drive the course which always helps!! Rolled nice and easy off the start and then started hammering! Ended up finishing in 32:01, enough to take 1st place in the women 1/2 event by 22 seconds, so I was pleased with that!

On the way back, I had Rob drop me off about 9 miles north of Golden so I could get more miles in. I rode towards Golden and then ventured up Golden Gate road, which turned out to be a nice gradual climb for a bit less than 1 hour, taking me up past 7000 ft (still snow up there!). It was a fun descent and then I made my way towards Golden. Just to test me, I think, my bike decided that my right shifter would disconnect from my rear der (cable frayed) just as it was time to climb up towards the courthouse. Did my rear der stick me in the 25 or perhaps 23? Nope; I was stuck in my 11! So my choices were 53-11 or 39-11. It SUCKED because my legs were so torched from the TT and GG road. I had to bury myself to push that monster gear to get home--I feel as though I spent an hour on the hipsled w/ heavy weight! POSITIVE: despite the large gear, my knees still feel ok and while not planned, it made for good strength work.

Rob's been battling some knee probs, so he skipped the TT and took pics instead. Here are a couple from this morning, starting with me laughing with Beth Fisk (purple and orange) about how it looked like I'd used 80000 pins to hold my number (420) in place (she thought it was hilarious!); taking off on my start, and within 1000m of the finish. results at http://www.americancycling.org/results/2007/april/haystack-tt.htm

4-20-07: one of my all-time favorite races is going on this weekend: Lincoln Plating , but I won't be able to make it due to work stuff... so that's a bummer. Instead I'll be doing a local TT in Boulder and a crit near Golden. If you're reading this and need an event to do, I HIGHLY recommend LP in Nebraska!

***

4-18-07: CCTT#2: REDEMPTION!! The bike worked, and so did I!

The wind was wicked; I probably had no business riding a disc and deep-dish front wheel but I figured what the heck, I'd never know what I could handle unless I tried it! At a minimum, the wind was 22mph sustained with gusts upward of 30mph. I was tossed all over the place on the way out w/ a mean side/cross wind. Several times I thought I was going down; people were swerving all over the roads. But then the sidewind turned into a bit of a tail wind and the next thing I knew I was pushing my 53-11 doing what felt like 40mph...it was awesome! I had a ton of strength coming back and pushed as hard as I could to the line. Rob took this pic of me within 1km of the finish. I know it looks like I'm smiling but I wasn't, that's a grimmace ;) Let's hope the results reflect the effort. It was just SO SWEET having equipment that WORKED and WORKED well! Love the new TT bars too! It was a good night to have an integrated stem on my bars because there was so much arm tension trying to keep the bike under control I have a feeling any other setup would've resulted in my pulling up on the bars and loosening them on the stem...

I need to say a special thanks to my boss for allowing me to leave work a bit early to do these TTs and also to my co-worker Juliet for holding down the fort for me while I'm gone. Having supportive folks like this makes all the difference; if it wasn't for their support, I couldn't do fun stuff like this!

Results at: http://www.americancycling.org/results/2007/april/KHMTT-0418.htm

***

4-15-07: happy "tax" day! No racing this weekend for me, though not for lack of trying. We woke up at 6am on Saturday (ugh) and drove down to Colorado Springs so I could register for the Cheyenne Canyon hillclimb, a race similar to the one up Lookout Mtn except CC is steeper and although a bit shorter, tends to yield about the same times as Lookout. So we got down there and low and behold, the HC had been cancelled because apparently there was some "ice at the top." I was bummed. So we grabbed breakfast while we let the temps climb a bit and then did a few warm up laps in Garden of the Gods before heading over to the nasty climb up to Cave of the Winds (should be called Caves of Pain) because at those %s your legs feel like they're going to break off! Today was a good solid day of training as well, with over 5 hours in on the bike including more intervals here in town. My legs are toast but the Gila is only 2 weeks from this Wednesday-yikes! CCTT#2 this week...I got my new aerobars to replace those bontrager ones-these are made by Profile Design and allowed me to drop my elbows a full 1.5 inches!!! So the price, and wait, were well worth it I think, since they'll help me get more aero on the TTX.

2 lessons I've learned recently, that I thought I'd share:

1) don't get sucked into the president's day car sales because your tags will expire right around the time your taxes are due and you'll end up paying registration fees on the car about the time you need to write a check to the IRS. That stinks!

2) don't join a bike team where not a single member of the year's previous team has returned. Something is obviously awry.

****

4-11-07: CAN I PLEASE JUST GET A BREAK HERE!?!!?!?! CYCLING GODS, IF YOU ARE LISTENING, THERE'S A GIRL DOWN HERE ON A YELLOW BIKE THAT COULD REALLY USE SOME HELP !!!!

CCTT #1: they say a picture is worth a 1000 words:

this was the state of affairs about 10 minutes into my TT tonight. Not only did I only have 7 minutes to "Warm up" after I battled traffic for 30 minutes, stood in a long registration line and changed in my car, but then as I approached the start to synch my watch with their time, I heard someone holler, "hey no u-turns here, penalty is DQ!" Well, despite this they allowed me to start and I have to say, my legs have never felt so awesome. I've never done a TT without at least 45 minutes of hard warmup, but honestly, I felt amazing. Until I began to notice that I was sitting about 3-4 inches too low (achy knees brought that to my attention) and then I found my seat WAAAYYY nose up (ouch ouch ouch ouch) and I sat up several times and tried to pull the seat from behind me but it was stuck in that position. At about the 1/2way point I knew there was no way I could finish the rest with the seat like that so I got OFF MY BIKE AT THE SIDE OF THE ROAD and tugged on the seat trying to level it out. This worked--except then I found my seat was loose and like a teeter-totter. Great. Ultimately, it ended up getting stuck in the position you see it here and so I faced a headwind on the way back in, unable to really rest myself on the seat because girl parts + a seat angle like that = PAIN!!! so my biceps and forearms had to do all the work to keep me on the bike so I didn't slide off the back. I swear, that bike is cursed. It has successfully sabotaged me now 3 times out of 3 TTs this season. POSITIVE: I found myself reflecting on Julie's blog (see below) and said to myself, "Megan, if you can power through the end of this tt and finish with a seat that's practically vertical, you can handle just about anything." So-I did. I have no idea what my time was and I don't even want to know (oh yeah, my HR monitor also decided not to pick up any data for me tonight)...I'm sure I came in dead last in my category. But I have 6 more to attempt to redeem myself and maybe still have a shot at the win for the series...now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go ice my knees after being down so low (and my crotch!).

ok I lied, results are in: http://www.americancycling.org/results/2007/april/KHMTT-0411.htm

***

4-7-07: no racing for me this weekend, only hard training. Snow here today (ugh), but taught a couple hard spin classes this morning and got to come home knowing I had the rest of the day to relax with absolutely nothing going on or things that HAVE to be done. Relaxing is a good thing now and then ;) After I got home from the gym I made a wicked chocolate cake w/ choc frosting. Hey--I didn't just push it hard for 2 hours for nothin!! I was reading DFT member Julie's blog about her journey to IMFL and especially liked this comment: "Last summer Joe Friel gave a talk at HalfMax about the power of your mental state, and one of the things I took away from that is that every single workout you do, you should file away something positive in your head." And I realized she was absolutely right and I need to start pointing out the positives more in my blog as well as in my own head. So--starting with last weekend's race, the positive was -- when I was getting cussed out by a fellow rider, I was able to summon self-control and keep my thoughts to myself. So that's good (right?). And today--the positive part of this morning's training was that I worked on pushing through the heavy concrete feeling in my legs (during 12, yes 12, power intervals) which tends to be a sensation that really slows me down in race situations because it makes me panic and feel I cannot go on.

The CCTT series starts this week on Wed nite--it's a 7-week TT series at Cherry Creek State Park here in Denver. Unfortunately, we are also starting a 2+week murder trial at work this week so I don't expect the first 2 TTs will be my best since I'll be rushing to make it on time from trial. Got some sweet stuff from SPIUK--new helmet, TT helmet and skinsuit. Gotta say, the company makes some slick stuff, I'm really liking it. I didn't think about it when I ordered the skinsuit (yellow) but I will look like a silly canary in a yellow skinsuit + yellow TT bike. POSITIVE: Oh well at least I know the officials won't miss me at the finish lines! So--happy easter to everyone and thanks as always for reading!

***

4-5-07: I finally got my own digital camera so I can spruce up this log with some pics...i actually took a shot of the 50m pool where I do masters swimming every week so you can see how long it really is (yep, been at the swimming gig 3 whole months now!)...this morning we did some side-by-side races (50m each) and I actually won both of mine (it's the small victories!). My arms and legs felt like rubber--that is one tough sport...So--hope to get some color added to this page very soon, as soon as I get the camera all figured out ;)

***

Oredigger Classic part II, April Fools Day, 2007:

Sunday’s circuit featured a nice long course around the campus of the School of Mines. It had a screaming fast downhill, quite a few turns and one hell of a climb—you hang a left after the descent, climb, hang a right, climb, wind back to your left, keep climbing all the way through the S/F…about 10-11 women showed up for the women open event; I think most of the big names were at a RR in superior CO instead of this event. On the very first lap, as we approached the base of the climb, I attacked and soloed 2 and ½ laps by myself and then slowed to let the 4 chasers catch me so I’d have some draft and to catch my breath. One of the gals wanted to spend the race cussing me out. At one point she said “quit racing like a F@#*I% Cat 5” because I wouldn't work for her on the front whenever she wanted me to, and at another point as we went through the S/F, she screamed out “they won’t F#$*%$ work with me!” I felt really bad for her sponsors. I was proud of myself and my self-restraint. Back in the day, I would’ve responded to things like that with some ZEAL and a few choice words myself. But I’ve learned it’s better to remain silent and besides—I was representing Defined Fitness—ME being the primary sponsor, I wanted to represent myself and our team well. So I kept my mouth shut.

With a bit less than 2 laps to go, Gwen attacked on the downhill and made up quite a bit on us. I really wanted her to stay off the front for the win since she’s such a nice gal…but as she hit the base of the climb I could tell her legs were toast. So—the “cusser” and I went side by side (since I refused to let her draft off me) all the way up the hill, passing Gwen and more or less finishing the race drag strip style, side by side, upping the pace trying to ride the legs off one another. As we approached the line, she stood up for the sprint and when I did the same, she made up a bike length on me and took the win. Fair is fair, she clearly had the legs at the end. So—wrapped up the weekend with 2 second-place finishes. The ongoing theme of the season: “not bad, but not great.” I found myself quoting Ricky Bobby post-race when they asked how the finish had gone: “If you’re not first, you’re last.” Results at: http://www.mines.edu/stu_life/organ/bike/07circuit_uscf.pdf

here's me on my breakaway at the beginning of the race: PHOTO and working w/ another rider: PHOTO

***

3-31-07: well a pathetic 2nd place in today's race up lookout mtn, a race I was hoping to shave 2 minutes off my best time in (22:15, coming in around 20 min) and ended up taking over 24 minutes due to the unrelenting wind out of the north, which is the direction the races starts out--I could tell my legs were torched too soon, when I got to the spot where I was supposed to lay it all down, and simply didn't have it...I missed 1st place by 14 seconds, but beat 3rd place by nearly a minute. Tomorrow is a crit in downtown golden--however I'll be doing hill repeats beforehand so who knows how my legs will feel...

My frustration comes from the fact that I was pushing almost 90%HRmax the entire time today--I'm seeing higher HRs lately than I've ever seen before, which makes me think "oh good, I've figured out a way to push myself harder," but the results aren't reflecting my efforts whatsoever...so apparently my 100% isn't good enough and I need to find a way to improve my training and racing to raise the bar again...hopefully that'll start to happen soon. http://www.mines.edu/stu_life/organ/bike/07hc_results.pdf

***

3-30-07: couple local races in Golden for this weekend, one of which is a TT up Lookout mtn, should be fun.

was re-reading my old recaps b/c I recalled a crash where I went down right in front of Rob and he didn't even look back to see if I was ok--the photo is priceless. For some funny reading, see: http://definedfitnesstraining.com/oldrecaps.html

3-24-07: big dogs are all out racing Redlands right now, one of the biggest events on the NRC calendar: www.redlandsclassic.com. It was rainy all day so we saw a movie: "300" --ladies, if you want to see lots of men with six-packs wearing nothing but speedos, this is your film! oh yeah, and good story line, too ;)

***

3-20-07: (Happy Birthday, dad—and happy 1^st day of spring!) So I’m back to commuting to work by bike and it feels great! Somehow I need to lighten up that backpack though—that sucker was almost 30# this morning and it’s all uphill coming in ;) Probably no racing for awhile so not sure when I’ll have recaps to report next-mostly just hard training for the next 2 months to prepare for Tour of the Gila…stay tuned and thanks for reading!

***

The sequel to the Quad Knopf TT...I could just vomit right now. I just unpacked my TT bike and reassembled it--yes, there are paint chips and things that I could've gone without, but here's the kicker...in transport on the way out there, or at some point, the bolt that holds the front brake on became loose. The front brake was hanging and the heavy side pulled it sideways onto my front wheel...which means that noise I heard throughout the TT (and simply attributed to the high tire pressure combined w/ crappy roads) was my front brake banging around on my wheel. Folks let me restate this: I had CONSTANT tension on my front wheel the entire 30k. Is this some lame post-race attempt to excuse my horrible results? No--I wish it were. I flew out there and spent a crap-load of $$ on that event and guess what...mechanical malfunction screwed me. I am just sick about it...I knew something was wrong when my HR was right on target and the legs felt pretty good, and I left nothing on the bike, but the seconds and minutes just kept stacking up...man, I am so so sad ... I suppose the good news is, perhaps my fitness isn't as far off as I thought it was!?!? My HR info when downloaded revealed my HR max was 190 and my avg was 183 or 186...which means I was RIGHT ON TARGET...

***

3-19-07: Quad Knopf (aka Sequoia Classic): Visalia and Exeter, CA:

Well the results of my races were so poor I’m not even going to discuss them. Long story short, I have jumped the gun with this early season racing, as I’m still in my strength phase and haven’t even begun hill intervals or high intensity training. The competition was world-class this weekend; T-Mobile, Colavita, Cheerwine—all present with strong legs and strong teamwork. The criterium was the fastest I’ve ever raced I think. We were near 27mph when I pulled (yes, it was that bad). The temps were also mid-high 80s all weekend so I was suffering from the heat. But--again, no excuses. I don't have my race legs yet and these gals did and I more or less spent a lot of money to train really hard for 2 days !!

The more note-worthy event of the weekend was meeting some of the most amazing people ever. Craig, the owner of the bike shop in town (Visalia, CA):

paired me up with some of his friends including the local dentist and his wife (Darren and Stephanie): ,

who in turn opened their home to me and welcomed me with so much hospitality. They hosted friends and family at their home both nights I was there and several times I had to pinch myself, as a reminder that I’d just met these people—I felt as though I’d known them for ages. We laughed and laughed — it was so much fun I can’t even describe it. And they absolutely bent over backwards for me—from helping me assemble/disassemble my TT bike and driving the TT course (Thanks Darren!), to loaning me a bike for the crit (Thanks, Don!), to putting me up in their homes (Thanks Rebekah and her parents!) to feeding me (Thanks Stephanie!) to loaning me a trainer and rear wheel for warm up (Thanks Johnny!) to cheering me on and supporting me. It was absolutely amazing—the most unabashed welcome I’ve ever experienced. I told them I’d never be able to stay in host housing again because they’d set the bar too high! Shown here warming up for the crit w/ host Rebekah:

Flying w/ the bike was a bad experience—I won’t do that again. And of course the airline lost my bag last night so I didn’t get home until 1:30 which made getting up for work today pretty tough (and no makeup!). But I learned a LOT this weekend—a new word “Aggro,” short for “very aggressive.” I learned that you have to make time to connect with people—that it will always be easier and less time consuming to be a hermit but it’s worth it to make friends and nurture those friendships. I learned that I have a lot of work to do if I think I’m really going to be a decent time trialist.

***

3-15-07: my flight leaves tomorrow for Fresno; i'm really nervous about packing up the ttx and putting it on a plane, but i'll never know how this whole process works till I try! Forecast for the weekend is 80s and sunny, no rain! TT times are posted: http://www.sequoiaclassic.org/SCC_2007_TT_StartList.pdf

3-13-07: well today's post has quite a different feel from that of 2 weeks ago when I was like, "yeah, I'm going for it, tons of NRC races, I'm so there, I'm gonna race my pants off!!" No...the theme now is: this sport is a hobby and it is supposed to be FUN. Fun means hitting races with Rob, not going alone. Fun means low stress. Fun means small races, local or regional, which don't require missing a full week of work and kenneling my dogs for just as long. time to back her down, baby--I'm racing for FUN again. I have respectfully requested that I be allowed to withdraw from the Vitesse roster so they can recruit someone who fits the bill of being more serious and hardcore. I thought I was that gal. but as it turns out, I'm not...so now it's back to the drawing board on my goals (if any) for this season. I am still going to race Sequoia this weekend in Cali but with low expectations since I'm sick and my heart's not really in the game right now. After that, who knows!?

***

3-11-07: temps near 70 today, man it makes such a difference in my disposition! I took the TTX out on our ride today to get shifting and position a bit more dialed in and pulled a few TT efforts out *tough when you can't breathe well through your nose, though! Surprisingly, legs felt pretty good and I'm hoping to hold onto that until next weekend for the Quad Knopf TT which features two climbs, according to their website.

***

3-10-07: well...I think I can safely say, misunderstandings have been put behind us (I hope), to the extent at least, that we have put out the major fires. On a scale of 1-5, 5 being "what stress?" and 1 being death of a loved one, I'd have to say my life thus far has consisted mostly of 5s and 4s...nothing too serious. However this past week, I'd say I had a couple "3s" converge on me simultaneously and it just about overcooked my motherboard. My mom's definition of whether something is truly a big deal or not is whether "this will have any affect on your life whatsoever five years from now." And yes, I think I can say some of the stuff in my life would have that impact. I am good and sick and seriously under-rested. Good thing my first NRC race of 2007 is in a week, huh? (http://www.sequoiaclassic.org/images/tt_course.jpg) Of course the weather would dramatically improve this weekend, just in time for me to be under the weather...

As someone said to me this week: "Megan, you need to just settle down..." I intend to try that.

In racing news, KB took 3rd in the RR at CVC yesterday--she is such a stud.

***

3-4-07: a great weekend and great day of riding today, although sadly the weekend's been clouded by turmoil on the pro team. For the first time in my life I can honestly say I am completely disenchanted with the sport. Short of messing with my family, nothing makes me more upset than when people mess with my (a) dream (b) time and (c) money. These folks have successfully managed to do all 3 in one fell swoop. The irony? I finally bit the bullet last week and instead of continuing to "toe the water," I made the leap and booked flights and committed myself to 2 huge NRC events, confident that this would be the path to pursuing my dream and proving myself to my new teammates. Several days later, I find myself having incurred expense to cancel those arrangements and race registration because I was told on Saturday night that I would not be able to participate with the team at CVC (or receive any team funds to help with the costs) because my inability to commit to the trip until the very last minute cost others "Stress and expense."

Made me run right out and register for a triathlon.

On a much more positive note--my father, who started riding seriously and racing at the age of 56, competed in the perry lake RR in Kansas today. He took 6th place and I'm so proud of him for entering and finishing--good job, dad!

***

3-3-7: well, I'm a wuss...I drove all the way up to Ft Collins today for the TT and got there, only to find 15mph wind from the west with gusts much stronger--and of course, dummy me, all I brought was my disc--which, combined with that wind would've found me promtly in the ditch ;) While speaking w/ the promoter, I found my ears and hands numb within moments--it was just too cold. Rob said i'd end up with frostbite or pnemonia, or both...so I came back to Denver and we caught a movie instead-WILD HOGS--TOTALLY Funny!!

Sadly, I will not be racing at CVC for team-related reasons I'm unable to mention here right now; looks like local racing for me next weekend!

***

3-1-07: In two weeks I'm headed to Quad knopf--an NRC race in California in a couple weeks. I have NEVER raced prior to Mid-april, so we'll see if this messes me up later in the season. With the weather like it is here, I figure at the very least I'll race myself into shape!! I might be broke and burnt out by the time my "a" races roll around, but then again maybe not...I figure I'll never know if I don't try it out once. i couldn't do this event without http://www.sierrabicyclewerks.com/: These guys are hooking me up with a road bike so I only have to fly my TT bike out--HOW COOL IS THAT!!?!?!? www.sequoiaclassic.org is the site if you're curious-check out those payouts, $10,000 each day!! 2-25-07: thankfully, a snow-free weekend allowed for big miles. I ended up putting in 6+ hours of quality training this weekend between spinning and outdoor riding...tough thing about riding out here right now is that while climbing, you get all hot and sweaty and then when it's time to descend, you freeze your BUTT off--actually, more like fingers and toes, usually my butt is fine ;) you almost have to pack a 2nd wardrobe to put on at the top. Next weekend is my first ACA (Colorado scheduled) event--the "Frostbite time trial," which incidentially, is about the same distance as the TT I just did in phx. It will be interesting to compare the times given the difference in altitude, temps, and nerves...it'll be a good chance to begin dialing in my TT bike position, as it needs a lot of work. Simply slamming oneself down as low as they can on a bike DOES make you aero, but it often deprives you of a lot of power you'd have normally, sitting upright on the bike. So-time to begin working on that! Poor Rob is still waiting for his TT bike to arrive from his team shop...

***

2-23-07: FINALLY, after a month of car shopping, I am officially outta that 4-cylinder and back into a v-6 (which means out here in the mtns, I can actually now do the speed limit!) And--the finished TT bike pre-VOS, for your viewing pleasure:

VOS "after-word..." You know what I realized? When I'm at work, all I can think about is bike racing. When I'm racing my bike, all I can think about is not crashing and disfiguring myself for my work and professional career. What a paradox. As I told someone today, I feel that as long as I'm doing both, I'm only ever going to be mediocre at either. Both require 100% and by dividing myself maybe I'm limiting my potential? Aarrrghhh. What a dilemma. final results: http://wmrc.org/vos/2007/gc.htm

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2-19-07: stages 2 & 3, and overall: the RR on Sat was HOT and WINDY!! the temps exceeded 85 which was way too hot for my body, and I quickly ran out of fluids...the crosswinds were so strong, it was a big game of gutterball, except luckily on the one climb of the course, we had a nice tailwind. The loop was approx 16 miles, which we did 3.5 times around. On the 2nd lap, the pack split and about 10 women separated themselves off the front. I hung back with the main pack and ended up finishing with them, somewhere around 17th place or so I think.

The crit course was technical and very rough--a big pileup went down about 9 minutes into the race, which I was right behind and had to chase back onto the front group. Then a 2nd crash went down, which absolutely squelched any remaining moxy I had--I saw the 2 girls go airborne somehow and then both landed hard--and I don't think either one moved from their landing spot for the rest of the race--at least one was taken out by backboard after the race was over. Yikes...I kept thinking about the long drive home and how badly I did NOT want to be all rashed up! All of a sudden it was 4 laps to go and I couldn't make my way up--too fast already and too many corners...so battled it out for a low place finish, keeping 15th place GC overall. Sad that I tied with 14th place and ended up in 15th place...how does that work you might be asking? USAC rulebook:

4C2. Individual General Classification.
(a) Each rider's general classification shall be calculated by
summing that rider's time in all individual stages, taking into
account any time bonuses and penalties. In case two or more riders are
tied in their final general classifications, their order shall be
determined by adding their places obtained in each stage. Should this
not suffice to break the tie, their places in the final stage shall
decide the order. Other methods for breaking ties may be used if
specified in the race regulations.

While I was initially bummed with my performance, since I really expected more, I also had to remember that I drove almost 2200 miles all by myself, wasn't feeling well before I left, and also have only been out on the roads riding TWICE since early december! So--I'm not too unhappy with how it all turned out. Next up is CVC, a stage race in Cali in early March! I am beat after all that driving--time for bed before work tomorrow!

***

2-16-07: stage 1 of VOTS: the drive out to az absolutely wore me out. After battling a bit of food poisoning on Wed I went to work and then left for AZ wed afternoon. I drove to Santa Fe, NM where the weather started to get bad and decided to pull over and sleep in the truck. After about 2 hours, the truck was so cold it woke me up to find the puppy and I shivering--so, I started driving again. The roads were almost a total white out; it was white-knuckle driving for awhile. I made it to Albuquerque and decided to sleep again. Truck got cold after an hour so I began driving and made it almost to Gallup before my eyes shut on me. Pup and I crashed for about 3 hours (intermittently starting the truck to rewarm) and then started driving again around 6am Thursday. I pulled into phx around 12:30 and went straight to Usery pass, which is just east of Mesa, to hop on the bike and ride out the legs. Man it felt GREAT to be in short sleeves and shorts and the legs felt great! I went to my gma's house and hung there for the evening and ended the day with a walk w/ the pooch and my grandma in her neighborhood. I proceeded to sleep VERY Well on Thursday night--i was beat!!

well, the TTX looked absolutely awesome and it went fast. However, the rider didn't-apparently, based on the results. I took a very disappointing 17th today in the TT. It was about 14.4 miles and I think I clocked a time around 35 minutes. I didn't pass anyone, but no one passed me either. Headwind going north and then after hitting the turnaround-wind in the face coming back, too. Weather is great tho-temps over 70 today. I think I win the whitest skin award here~ time bonuses are up for grabs in the 50+ mile road race tomorrow, so I'm hoping to work with teammate Nicky (www.vitessecycling.com) for us both to make up some time, as this weekend's GC is time-based. Today was not a shining moment and I've got a million excuses, including that bear of a drive to get here...but truly, it boils down to training--or lack thereof--this winter. This race has really prompted me to take a 2nd look at my training schedule and figure out some way to get those miles in, snow or not. OF course, it is the EARLY race season...Till tomorrow--

***

2-12-07: the final preparations are underway for my trip to AZ. One of the hardest things about these early season races is to resist the urge to taper back my training so i'm fresh for the race--but I can't. These races are really not important-other than the time and $ invested in getting there, they truly are tune up races, both for the rider as well as the team...so I'm going into it with non-fresh legs from a tough training weekend, but hopefully well rested and well fed. It appears as though i'll be driving so I can take both bikes, now that my