"No circular en bicicleta"

When it is good to not know Spanish... when the security guards are chasing you telling you not to ride your bike on campus. Whatever!

I just got back from riding the velodromo (see, I am learning a little Spanish) and will post pictures later.

All is good so far besides not knowing I was supposed to bring my own towels and soap. Summer camp 2009!

On again, off again... it's on!

A quick update as I sit in DIA waiting to go to Mexico City for the Pan American Championships. YAY! Finally.

Earlier this year, I was chosen to represent good 'ol USA at Pan Ams... in May. Swine Flu got in the way and they have been rescheduled for this coming week. The bummer is the change in plans really messed up the road racing season for me. (You can't really go from climbing mtns in stage races to tearing it up in a 200 m tt. Long road miles are good but at certain points of the training year and not a couple weeks before a track race as a sprinter.) The good news in the change of plans is that I am R.E.A.D.Y.

The adventure begins. Flying with bikes is always an adventure. I check in and give them my credit card to charge for flying with a bike. They inform me that the credit card machine they have doesn't work and I will have to pay cash. I inform them that I have pesos but not enough dollars to cover the amount. They inform me I need to go to the ATM. I inform them that it will cost me about $5 extra to get cash out of the machine. I inform myself to stop being cheap in order to make sure my bikes get there. I walk around DIA to find the ATM machine that doesn't accept my card. It doesn't work... and not because I don't have money in my account but because the machine is broken. I go back to inform the airline that I can't get cash and they inform me that I better find another ATM machine. On the DL I slide my bike box to the TSA guys to take with them since it has already been tagged. As I am walking around searching for another ATM and not having luck, I decide that since my bike has already been taken, I have my luggage tags, and I can't find an ATM, that I am going to the gate. Oh well!

As tough as I want to be with the old "it's their problem their credit card machine doesn't work", it sure will be my problem if they decide to hold my bike back in Denver. Crossing my fingers! Then again, this is why I am traveling a couple days early.

I hope to keep in touch! Stay tuned.

Cari

Na-Nu Na-Nu

Odd fact... I live a couple doors away from the Mork and Mindy house. True.

Don't let your babies grow up to be sprinters

I have spent the last couple weeks in training with my enduro boys and today was the first day back with the sprinter boys. Oh, the differences!

1) crude language o-plenty

2) there was farting going on today

3) smelly no socks

4) stuff always breaks on a sprinters bike

5) won't even sit on the same bench for a picture... and flips me off

6) BONUS- I don't have the biggest legs and butt on the track. the gorilla on the right wins.

Video

Little video interviews from the Hellyer race in San Jose.

PROMAN talks.

I hate my own voice on video.

Good times! Oh, minus the crash that happened right after that.

Just your basic morning view while walking the dog at home in Boulder... couldn't resist sharing the photo.

Happy 4th!

I think it was a blessing in disguise that the track was closed/rained out most of the week. My body was not really agreeing with me trying to jump back into normal training. Although the road rash is healing really well, I have had major neck pain. Wait mom! Before you panic, I am sure it is just muscular and not vertebral. (my mom reads this blog and hates hearing about crashing or injury.)

So, I hit the road bike pretty hard this week and visited the original Boulder Velodrome. See the picture below...

This is my super not-so-secret Marshall Rd. which makes for the perfect place to do efforts on the track bike. Other cyclists don't seem to understand that I don't have brakes and sometimes like to swerve in front of me... oh, and, there is the occasional horse crossing that I avoid. Other then that, this is a great road for no brakes and no gears and it doesn't require me driving 4 hours.

The mom in-law was in town this week and the husband was out of town. It was girl time! On the 4th we went to a farm dinner at Munson Family Farm. Super cool night! Dinner outdoors with fresh produce and cooked right there on the short bus.
Papa Munson picking our lettuce for the night's salad.

The husband volunteered his time these past 5 days in LA at the Junior Track Nationals. There were 2 kids off the Flatiron Flyers (new website!) competing in their first track nationals and Maddie who I coach also competing. Several other juniors from Colorado made their debut... love it! Thanks Boulder Velodrome for producing some wonderful new talent!

the rest of the weekend...

I personally don't enjoy reading blogs without pictures. Call me simple. But, I was lame and forgot my camera over the weekend. Some great photos from the Hellyer AVC here. I will try and keep the rest simple.

I raced again on Saturday... didn't feel great. Showed up after 3 hours sleep on Saturday morning for the sprint tournament. Did my typical warm-up and felt surprisingly ok. Did my jumps out of the saddle and that is when I started falling apart. I couldn't stand up without pain.

Poor Karl Erickson, friend from Colorado. He rolled up next to me and asked how I was doing. The first familiar face and I just lost it. Couldn't stop crying, went to the infield, he followed (I am sure he is wondering what the hell to do with this emotional female), and the morning went something like that. I was slower on my 200m then I was 2 years ago when I was almost brand new to the sport. ha! I decided to not beat myself up mentally by sitting in the sun all day (100+ degrees), dehydrating, and not getting a break before the night racing. So, I withdrew from the sprint tournament, went home to shower, eat, and nap.

I did manage to make it back that night for the rest of the racing and fun. Although I didn't feel great, it was fun to race and try to help out teammates. Hannan won the scratch and we were all so excited for her!

Notable mentions for the weekend- Jimmy Watkins is looking good! It will be fun to see how he does down in Mexico for the Pan American Champs in a couple weeks... I expect big things!

Sunday I ended up staying around town and racing a crit. Not a great performance out of me. Physically I wasn't all there still. Mentally, I was a big baby for some reason. I was on a borrowed bike (thanks Tim the best mechanic ever). I was glad to get in under my belt though. You can't get all crazy after crashing a couple times and racing on Sunday helped me get the nerves out. Shelley came in 3rd after a courageous performance and I ended up winning the field sprint.

Lesson to all cyclists... you crash, keep riding/racing. It really helps the healing and keeps the stiffness at minimum but also helps the mental part. But, keep the rubber side down!