Follow along with me on TWITTER or FACEBOOK: meghottman

"TREADS.COM/DFT" team blog: http://dftwomen.blogspot.com/

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8-30-10: last nite i attended my first-ever concert at Red Rocks -David Gray and Ray LaMontagne.  i've done intervals and training at Red Rocks for years, but have never been there for a concert.  Wow -I had no idea so many people could fit in that park ;)  It was fantastic.  Weather was perfect, there was a gorgeous moon above the concert stage, and the music was great.  What a wonderful experience -I highly recommend it to anyone who's never been!

8-21-10: tomorrow is our team-sponsored crit in south denver -come by and say hello or even better - RACE!!  http://www.americancycling.org/sites/default/files/Site_Files/Race_Flyers/2010/HART.pdf

8-16-10: Kasey did a nice writeup of this past weekend's races so i'll just paste the link here to share: http://dftwomen.blogspot.com/2010/08/teamwork-to-max.html

8-12-10: scary fast . . .is how the road season's gone.  A few more weeks, then labor day will pretty much conclude the 2010 road season.  Sheesh it seems like days ago we were at Redlands and now it's over.  With that, comes a turn in focus to the track season.  I just made my plans for track nationals today.  NRC entry fees "ain't got nothin" on track entry fees holy moly.  $200 just for one event.  Youch.  But -it's the kickoff event to a winter season full of international track racing and I cannot CANNOT wait.  Will I miss my off-season?  I'm sure there will be days when racing year-round will test my limits.  Won't know till I get there ;) 

8-9-10: "all good things must come to an end . . . "  a few weeks ago, I made the decision not to run a team next year.  A lot of factors played into the decision, not the least of which is that after 5 years of running a team and club, I decided that things had run their course and it was time to move on.  I realized I was ready to have that 15+ hours/week of my time back -to devote to work or training or volunteering or maybe to nothing at all other than rest.  I am ready to return to my role as a racer and to allow others the chance to play director. 

There were a lot of positive moments in the team's 5-year history, and of course some negative moments too.  This season was particularly challenging when our title cash sponsor decided to bail on the second monetary contribution mid-season.  This was punishment intended for me because of my decision to discontinue my employment there (lesson: never have your boss be your team's title sponsor), but the punishment was really exacted on the entire team, as all of the girls suffered by having their contract benefits cut or eliminated altogether due to lack of funding.  It was the first time in my 5-year history of running a team that a sponsor bailed, and it left a big gaping hole in the team bank account.  Because I felt somewhat responsible for this, I tried to personally fund the team.  Bad idea.  

So the long and short of it is that it's time to move on -time for the girls on the team to find or start new teams, time for me to move on to a new organization and time to just mix things up and keep it fresh.  Sometimes people get too comfortable and take things for granted, and I think change is the best way to keep everyone appreciative of all the benefits we receive in this crazy sport called cycling.  I hope it will lead to new teams formed, new team directors getting a taste of team management, new cyclists coming into the sport, and perhaps eliminations of the negatives like entitlement and assumptions.  I think change is always good to make things positive again, and to give new starts and new chances.  It was a really hard decision for me to make, to disband this thing I've built up from a very small club to a large team and 100+member organization.  But after a few weeks of the decision sinking in, I know I made the right call -for me, for the team members, and for the sport.  

So -- here's to "new -and improved" -to people doing it better than I did, and to growth and improvement in the sport.  Many thanks to ALL the athletes and sponsors that have supported our team and club since 2006.  What a journey!!!   

8-6-10: so, last nite at the velo was pretty darn awesome.  I was persuaded/convinced/peer-pressured into the doing the men's races, which included two madison races (40 and 80 lap) as well as 5-lap and 15-lap scratch races.  The entire night was run as a team omnium.  My teammate was Steven Herzfeld -who was forewarned that I was brand NEW at madison but he agreed anyway.  He was a great teacher, though I'm guessing when he threw me into the race I got a bigger boost than when I threw him in (he's about 6ft and probably has 40# on me) ;)  I was nervous NERVOUS for the first madison, having just learned how to do the exchanges the day before, but I began to pick it up and as the night went on, the lightbulbs kept going off as I put more pieces together.  There's a lot going on in a madison race -looking for your partner, riding over other teams' exchanges, paying attention to whether it's a sprint lap for points, who has how many laps on the field, etc.  It's like being in a blender trying to concentrate ;)  what a blast!!!  If you've never seen a madison on a velodrome simply visit www.youtube.com and search for madison track races.  There are plenty on there to watch! 

7-31-10: Colorado state track championships this weekend -I needed to race it in order to qualify for nationals this fall.  I raced the 3k pursuit (took 2nd), the points race (took 1st), and then was asked (nicely) if I wouldn't mind racing with the men in my final event -the scratch race (place unknown), which was a total blast.  It was a fun day @ the velo, esp since the hubby is getting into track racing more.  He raced the 4k pursuit -isn't quite ready to mix it up in the mass start events just yet but i'm working on him.  The mother in law came out to cheer and then we had a great lunch together after the racing.  A fun day, and we lucked out that the rain held off!

Points podium:

I also had the chance to use my brand new CycleOps track powertap hub and Joule CPU, which TREADS graciously built into a sweet Zipp wheel for me. 

This thing was FAST and RESPONSIVE- and also showed me all of my data from the day at the track.  Max watts for the day -819 -who knew?  New toys are always fun, but this one is also going to help me dial in my training quite a bit.  I'm so grateful to my sponsors for making it happen!

7-28-10: great pics taken by one of our hosts in Bend: http://gallery.me.com/main_street#100241

7-27-10: not a happy ending . . .

I DNF-ed on the final stage at Cascade.  DNFs aren't something I'm ever proud of, and certainly not as the conclusion to my personally-most successful NRC race ever.  Just days before I had posted my best NRC result in 7 years, the 7th place finish atop Mt Bachelor.  Sunday afternoon, I found myself in front of the official stand, with an official unpinning my race number as I hung my head and cried. 

Rewind to the beginning of Sunday's race -it was evident the peleton was tired -a silly crash on one of the climbs really opened my eyes to just how deep the level of fatigue was among the racers.  I continued to try and position near the front to be safe.  As I looked around and saw my 4 teammates, I knew that our legs were faring much better than others' legs, and I could see the spark of hope in my team's eyes.  We made it up the climb to the feed zone and then we had the final steep climb to the top of the loop, just near the end of the first (of 3) laps, each 17 miles.  We had crested the top and I found myself in the front selection.  We began the descent back to the start of the lap and as I descended among the group of leaders we rolled over a small chuck hole -it wasn't a gaping hole just more of a divot in the concrete.  Though riders in front of me had just rolled over it -no one pointed it out.  I rolled over it and for whatever reason, my rear wheel hit it just right (my brand new used 3-days tubular being on that wheel) and the wheel just BLEW out.  Not pretty when you're hauling down hill.  As riders screamed by me, I made my way to the side of the road and calmly shifted and got the wheel off the bike.  I stood there on the side of the road as the rest of the riders, and then the entire caravan went by.  After all of that traffic, a neutral car finally stopped and swapped out my wheel. 

Immediately I knew it wasn't going to go well for me, as the wheel he gave me was so far out of line of my ksyrium that I couldn't find any gears that worked.  I didn't want to stop again as I really believed I could still catch back on.  So just kept riding and there was teammate Tiff who'd dropped back for me.  She heard my gears and offered her bike to me - such a sweetheart -but her bike's too big for me and we ride different pedals.  So I just kept on solo thinking "gotta catch back on, race isn't over, don't give up."  A short while later I see another teammate -Kasey- has dropped out of her group and is waiting for me.  BLESSED TEAMMATES.  She begins to pace me and we take turns taking pulls - a 2-woman TT isn't what you want to be doing on day 6 and we were both pretty cooked.  We began to pick up riders that had been shelled OTB and soon had a group of 7 or 8.  But no one was in any hurry to work and Kasey and I were toast.  As we made our way through the 2nd lap, the realization that my race was over, my GC standings were over and that all of the bad luck i'd endured for the previous 10 days had resulted in this moment -well the devastation just overwhelmed me.  And then the muscle cramps started.  In my haste to catch back on, I hadn't been drinking or eating and I began to pay the price.  As we neared the start to begin lap 3 I made the decision to pull out of the race. 

And so -I stood there, defeated, deflated, and depressed as the official took my race number. 

I watched as the race ended and my teammates finished - all 4 survived the day and all 5 of us had survived the week without crashing.  Marisa ended up our top placed rider in 17th which was a great result.  I immediately got into my car and started driving towards home.  Hoping to drive away from all of the bad luck i'd suffered, away from the pain of DNF-ing at a race where i'd come to do my best.  

As I drove home, all of the negatives began to fade away and the positives began to surface.  Our girls stayed safe all week.  We had some laughs.  I got my best NRC result.  We raced our bikes hard and contributed to the races, rather than just sitting in and surviving.  We had amazing host families.  We learned lessons.  We got good training.  The weather was awesome.  Bend was awesome. 

After the race it was learned that Kasey's husband had crashed in a bike race back in Colorado and was hospitalized. the reality of this completely overcame any thoughts about bike racing disappointments and I began to pray for his recovery and to send Kasey well wishes as she drove through the night to get home to him. As it turns out -there are FAR more important things in life than how one fares in a bike race and this was just another reminder of how truly small and insignificant bike race outcomes can be in the scheme of life.

And so on balance - now that I am safely home and can honestly say I survived my 12 days of hellish bad luck - it was a good experience.  Many thanks to the team, our director Tom Jow and assistant Julian, our hosts, Ellen, Nils and Karen, and everyone that cheered, gave us a boost, sent a nice or reassuring email. 

So - -after dealing with my car window shot out by a BB, my blackberry ruined, my mechanical in the 500m at the velo, my two flat tubulars at cascade, and oh yeah the plastic kiddie swimming pool that flew out of a truck bed at my car on the interstate yesterday - yeah . . . i'm feeling pretty glad to be home!!

7-24-10: cascade - only 2 stages remain (thank goodness i am ready to be home!).  Yesterday was the best NRC result I have ever earned - I finished the tough 71-mile road stage in 7th place.  It only took me 7 years of racing to break the top 10 ;)  hoping to continue this momentum and really still shooting to make a top-10 overall GC placing.  I know tonight won't mix things up much but tomorrow's circuit certainly will. 

We wanted a crack at the stage win just like everybody else so we joined in the chase to bring the break back: http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/cascade-cycling-classic-ne-1/stage-3/results

7-21-10: Cascade update.  Last nite was the opening prologue = 2 miles of all out effort.  I was 36th with a time 21 seconds off the leader - which frankly means nothing with the stages ahead.  Today was the first road stage - 74 miles with a tough climb in the middle (about 14 miles long) and a 9-mile climb at the finish.  We had a neutral start and then right away the attacks began.  I waited to jump on a move after the first few didn't go and sure enough, we got up the road.  Our group had all the major teams represented and was large enough that I thought we could actually stay away.  Problem was - none of the main GC contenders were there.  So we were basically relieving the pressure off teammates back in the field.  At one point the gap grew to 2:20 but never more so I could tell the field was keeping us in check.  

As a small group we began the climb just riding tempo.  About 1/2 way up we hear a moto behind and here comes Mara and Cath totally blitzing it-they go right by our group and a few brave souls that could, went with.  The rest of us mere mortals (about 5-6 of us) just kept riding steady.  A few miles from end of the climb our group was caught by the "field." I say "field" because it was about 20 or so gals - the climbers.  With them came teammate Marisa, which was great.

VBF was under pressure to get Alison close to the women up the road so they TTTed it at the front, which was great as it kept the pace moving.  As we neared the final 9 mile climb, a few in the group surged and that extra dig was more than my legs could hande.  I hung just off the back with 2 other riders and then eventually lost sight of pack.  QUITE a bummer after doing so well for 65 miles and then blowing up in the final stretch.  Altho my eating and hydration had been perfect, the heat began to affect me.  My right forearm was cramping-both arches in my feet were cramping, my calves were on the verge of locking up.  I had to pedal very carefully those final miles.  Total ride time ended up being around 3:30 -not a slow or easy day.

Although going with the break and working in the break was the reason I popped on the final climb, I don't regret it for an instant.  Tomorrow is the tt -can't wait!

7-18-10.  alpenrose velo challenge recap here: http://dftwomen.blogspot.com/2010/07/alpenrose-challenge.html

7-12-10: sunday was also a great day -i won the Colorado state crit championship!

7-11-10: yesterday in boulder - it was a good day ;)

http://www.dailycamera.com/top-sports/ci_15488564?source=email

7-6-10:

Tour of Lawrence recap: http://dftwomen.blogspot.com/2010/07/tour-of-lawrence.html

6-29-10: this past weekend I raced the Dead Dog classic up in Laramie, Wyo.  MY recap is posted here: http://dftwomen.blogspot.com. 

Next up - Tour of Lawrence  = more street sprints woohoo!! 

6-20-10: yesterday was the CO state time trial championship.  I won this event back in 07, lost the victory by one second in 08, and was sicker than a dog in 09 when i raced it.  So I really wanted to crush it this year and get a state championship win on my resume.  Coming off track-heavy weeks I wasn't sure what to expect.  But the legs just felt amazing, HR was responsive, equipment all worked, things went my way and I pulled out the win. 

I was supposed to be heading off to race the last 6 stages of Dairyland this week but have decided to stay home.  I know I am letting my teammates down, but I have professional obligations that needed my attention and just too many darn things sitting around that need my attention.  Fretting over all of it and the fact that it hasn't been getting done has caused me a lot of stress -so I made the call to nail the to-do list, get on top of my stuff, get in a solid hard week of training, and move on.  Sometimes you gotta know when to hold em and when to fold em. 

6-14-10: back from the fixed gear classic, my first track race of the year. not even the rain could stop the fun, i'm still chuckling about the jokes and laughs that were had during the weekend.  full recap here:  http://dftwomen.blogspot.com/2010/06/fixed-gear-classic-recap-from-megan.html

6-1-10: day maker!  I just received a copy of the article that Law Week Colorado did about me and my dual love for cycling and practicing law!  Many thanks to Heather Purcell with Wheels of Justice for recommending me to the author for the interview -what a great publicity opp for our team and our team sponsors!

5-31-10: finished up the 3-day omnium event, the Superior Morgul Classic, yesterday 2nd overall.  I took 2nd to Cari Higgins in the street sprints Friday night, 2nd in the crit on Saturday just narrowly beating Alison Powers at the line, and then had to let a few riders go up the road on Sunday during the road race in order to try and take the leaders' jersey.  Unfortunately I made a miscalculation, needing to finish in front of my teammate Kat instead of behind her, and so I lost the overall win for the weekend by one point.  Still, I was pleased with my racing and was really happy with our 1-2 gals Kat C and Joan, and our cat 3 gals, Roberta, Susan, Jill and Kat G, who were in our combined 1-2-3 field all weekend.  Our team learned a lot, represented our sponsors well, had a great time and best of all -we didn't have to travel anywhere for some awesome racing!!! 

5-22-10:

5-3-1: 5th Gila is in the books.  Sure wish that crash on day 1 hadn't happened, i simply couldn't make up enough time on days 2-5 to overcome that time I lost but that's bike racing!  finished 17th overall GC. 

http://dftwomen.blogspot.com/2010/05/gila-day-5-gila-monster.html

4-28-2010: day 1 of gila post: http://dftwomen.blogspot.com/2010/04/gila-day-1-good-bad-and-ugly.html

4-25-10: It scares me when I start measuring the memory in terms of half decades (because it makes me feel old) but here I am, going to the Gila for the FIFTH year in a row.  It's nuts to think we've gone this trip so many times - but there's something to be said for knowing the race and the courses and the normal dynamics to the event.   Here's a recap from today's crit in golden: http://dftwomen.blogspot.com/2010/04/subaru-crit-aca.html

4-23-10: Order yourself some sweet TODI shoes at 40% off (until May 1).  Visit www.todiusa.com and when you checkout use this discount code: HottmanHasAPair

4-19-10: back home in Denver after my trip to Monterey and Santa Cruz, CA for Sea Otter and the Santa Cruz crit.  If I had to rate the weekend solely on my results, I'd give it an F.  But I'm rating it on fun, gaining fitness, bonding with teammates and host family and other cyclists and generally having a blast the entire time - it therefore receives an A+.  I flew in Thursday morning and was racing the Sea Otter crit just a few hours later on Liza's bike (she lent hers so I didn't have to fly my race bike out).  I had some mechanical problems and kept dropping my chain so after chasing back on a few times, I was officially OTB.  Rather than quitting I decided to maximize the chamois time by TT-ing the rest of the race.  Liza made the front group and took 7th -which was great!

Friday was the Sea Otter road race.  It is only 47 miles so it's raced hard and fast, more like a circuit race.  On the second-to-last time through the feed zone, a small group got off the front and I wasn't where I should have been when it happened.  Still got plenty of racing in though, as the main field I was in still wanted to race hard -so there were plenty of attacks and accelerations before we hit the final 2 or 3 mile climb to the finish.  I ended up 14th.  Tiffany suffered a mechanical and had to stop racing.  Friday night our hosts had a grill party at their place which was an absolute riot.  We stayed up too late and drank too much wine but it was so much fun no one seemed to mind. 

Saturday was the circuit race.  This year we were to race for 2 hours so I wasn't sure how many times that meant we'd have to climb the hill on Leguna Seca.  It was a lot.  the first 45 minutes were very mellow.  At around 1:15 to go, liza launched a solo attack and got up the road.  She was joined by a Touchstone rider and they soon had 40 seconds on the field it was great!  With about 50 minutes left some of the pro teams decided enough was enough and launched an attack in the feedzone.  11 women quickly got off the front.  I was in the main field, which closed in on them but never could reel them in.  They finally got out of sight and we all got serious about racing for 12th place.  The last 3 times up the climb I wasn't sure i'd make it, so on the final lap it was all I could do to remain in the field for the sprint.  liza did great, sticking out 15th place.  I was 30th in the same field - and only 36 finishers.  I'd be curious to know how many we lost during the race it was pretty freakin hard.  Tiff and I were stoked with the hill repeats we accomplished. 

Saturday afternoon was magical because Jono proposed to Liza and we all got to share in their celebration and excitement.  It made an already awesome weekend absolutely memorable! 

Sunday morning we rolled out of Monterey and made for Santa Cruz.  There was a local norcal crit there and we'd decided to make this a 4-day training block, so we kitted-up and warmed up along the beach.  The crit course had a couple technical spots and a nice climb in it -the race was 30 laps.  So I figure that gave me 50 hill repeats in 2 days ;) I tried to follow the moves and get into a break during the first 10-12 laps of the race but nothing stuck.  2 girls rolled off the front and no one reacted, I thought for sure it would come back.  then a 3rd bridged up and they were gone.  DOH!!!!!  Missed it again!!  I tried to bridge up and spent a lap off the front but didn't make any progress and came back to the group.  Worked hard on good position with 3 and then 2 laps to go.  On the final lap I slid back and then had to try and pass people into the headwind on the uphill.  Not good.  liza snagged an 11th and I think tiff and I were 14 and 15 respectively -we didn't even check results because there were celebrations to be had after and food consumption to engage in!  We got to enjoy a fun Sunday evening (I rode my first beach cruiser, what a riot!!) in SC since we didn't fly out till this morning.

All in all, great QT with tiff and liza, great excitement with the engagement, fantastic host family fun and great training in the races.  I'm very pleased.

4-12-10: because I live so close to lookout mountain, I tend to train there a lot.  Which means I see a lot of folks riding there, which means I see a lot of them descending back down the mountain.  I see a lot of folks descending improperly -so I thought I'd try to offer 3 tips in the hopes that cyclists reading this can learn how to descend properly, for their own safety as well as the safety of other cyclists and motorists out on the roads:

1.  ALWAYS descend in your drops.  That way, no matter how big the hole or crack is that you ride over, your hands will not come off the bars (like they do if you are riding up top on your hoods). Hands coming off bars during high speed descent = bad.

2.  ALWAYS keep your butt on the seat.  Do not hover!  (Why do people do this? You are unweighting the bike, plus your legs get tired).  Weight the bike, sit on it, apply as much down-pressure to those tires as you can with your body weight.  Please do not stand up or get off the saddle while descending.

3.  ALWAYS lift the inside foot and stand on the outside pedal.  Do not go through turns with your cranks level (ie parallel to the ground).  Here's a photo to show you an example of me taking a right-hand corner at high speed:

note-the inside (right) foot is UP so that I don't scrape a pedal (which will cause a crash) and the outside (left) foot is applying down-pressure on my outside pedal (literally-think of standing on that pedal with that one leg).  I am also pushing down slightly on my inside (right) handlebar.  This is a good thing to remember if you come into a turn a bit too "hot" and you feel you may drift (ie over the yellow line) - just push down into that inside handlebar and the bike will slice a tighter turn, keeping you safe and out of the path of oncoming traffic. 

4-8-10: http://triablog.naturevalleybicyclefestival.com/2010/04/an-unfamilar-place-for-a-weeklong-race/

4-4-10: School of mines crit summary: we took 1st, 2nd, 4th and 7th!  Kat and Kasey got up the road early on with one other rider.  Eventually they lapped our group- it worked out perfectly because then with one lap to go I was able to lead out Kasey for the win, Kat took the field sprint for 2nd and because I'd gone ahead of the ladies in my chase group, I sealed my 4th place.  Joan rounded it out with 7th place.  It was a small field and a small race, but those provide the perfect opportunity to work with the girls on race tactics and to work on reading one another's minds during a race so we don't have to vocalize what we're thinking ;) 

4-3-10: School of Mines Lookout Mountain time trial was today.  In crazy wind, I might add.  Times were so much slower than usual!  I like this event because it's just up the street from our house, so I can wake up, drink some coffee and ride over there to race.  The wind made it really challenging, either trying to tip me over, or with the head wind bringing me to a complete stop.  Luckily Rob was at the top and drove me down because it was also very COLD!  Teammates Kat Carr and Kasey Clark were also there for the suffer-fest, as was club member John Huddle (YAY John!!!).  Results won't be posted until tomorrow.