TOUGH

Tulsa Tough.  Starts today.  3 days... 3 fun crits!

This city does such a great job putting this weekend together.  The money is HUGE, the races are great, and the weather is always questionable.  So far, so good on the weather this time.

We got here yesterday which ended up being the ultra marathon day- travel, grocery x2, borrowing bikes for a trainer spin (long story), meeting hosts, making dinner, and finally sleeping.

Today we went on a short ride.  Tonight we start the madness.  90 women pre-registered + NRC= FAST AND FUN races.

Above: Rachel Neylan (new teammate from Australia) and Maddie Godby (devo racing for Rocky Mounts)

More on everything later!

Bonus!

Cool part about traveling is that I get to see friends that don't live in Colorado. 

To all my University of Alabama friends... it is true, Leah does still exist.  I saw her on my last trip to California.  Her internet stinks and she is avoiding facebook.  Therefore, you wouldn't know she was alive unless you saw her in person.  Oh, and she has a super cool girlfriend too!  

Proof:

We all miss Leah and I am so lucky I got to hang out with her!  

Bolder Boulder

I am from Atlanta which hosts the Peachtree Road Race.  A 10k that until recently was the world's largest 10k race (some Canadian city took over in 2008).  It's bloody hot running that race on July 4th.  All I remember of that race is that you lined up at the starting line before the sun came up and people are drinking beer before 10 am.

For all my Atlanta friends, the Bolder Boulder was the largest race in the US which all participants are timed (stupid fact) and the 5th largest road race in the world (more interesting.)  For a town on 100,000 residents... 54,000 people run this race.  That is pretty large.

I went out this morning to look for my friend Nicole running the Bolder Boulder.  Somehow her mom, Laura, talked me into running with her last year.  I was sore for 5 days.  I don't do that running thing anymore.  Thank goodness Laura wasn't pregnant and she could run with Nikki this year.  I can't keep with with that 3rd grader!  Amazingly, out of 54,000 people, I found them!  Even more amazing, when I took this picture of them, somehow their dad/husband and son/brother ended up in the background.  Weird but true!

On another note.  My friend Mande did some negotiating with the weather gods and traded her Portland weather for Boulder weather.  She is basking in the sun and I haven't seen it in days.  Mande, the joke is over!  

Day in Boulder... and bike racing

I have been home for a couple weeks (and will eventually post a blog about where I have been) and racing in the bubble.

Benefits of being home on a bike:

1) I get to spend time with the Flatiron Flyers!  I love these kids.  Seriously.

2) I get to ride my bike in Boulder and not busy California.

3) I get to race all the fun races I love!  Below is North Boulder Crit... can't beat that view.

4) This year I have started spending a lot more time mentoring Miss Maddie and that is so rewarding.

5) I get to ride, hang, and sometimes mentor the Rocky Mounts women.  

6) I get to teach classes at the Boulder velodrome.

7) I continue to dream about riding at the track in Colorado Springs IF THEY WOULD EVER OPEN IT!

Drawbacks of training at home:

Items 1-7 take up a lot of time!  People ask what I do in my spare time... what spare time?

Today was the Louisville Crit and they had the 1/2 Women race with the 45+ men.  We started together, raced together, and the scored us separately.  Personally, this was a great group of guys to races with.  Their pace was fast but not impossible.  Their skills were AWESOME!  At the end, there was only 2 women left.  I debated trying to sprint it out with the men but I went with the safe choice (I needed a W this year) and found the other girl left in the lead pack.  I stuck her wheel on the last lap and sprinted with about 150 meters left.  This was a hard course for me because of a massive hill so I was happy to take the W.

Last week was the North Boulder Crit and had a stacked start list.  Fast from the gun and didn't let up.  I loved it!  My goal was to be smart for the first time this year and not go for primes.  I needed to race smart.  I accomplished the goal and was happy with my positioning and awareness.  I ended third to Gina Grain (Canadian) and Tiff Cromwell (Aussie).  

So much more to share... keep posted!

I promise this time

I promise to update my blog at least every other day.  There is actually cool stuff happening in my world and I will start taking the time to write about it.

I started this blog to keep the family in the loop with my travels and racing.  Since I don't have the time to call all the relatives and close friends and give them updates, I should at least take the time to update the blog.  Ok, done.  I promise this time.

PROMAN Expands Junior Program

I love this team!  We have such a cool junior program that is really designed to mentor and develop the next champions.  These little ones are studs!

Home... alas

It's so good to be home.  Don't get me wrong, I am thankful I have the ability to take off for 2.5 weeks and train/race the bike.

I got plenty accomplished- saw mom and grandma in Tucson, visited with aunt/uncle/cousins in Tucson, great training in California on the track, good times with new teammate Kate, some decent racing under the belt, saw the beach, and got a quick visit with lots of other teammates and manager for a race and photoshoot in Santa Cruz.

I was BEAT by the last weekend.  So beat that I raced terribly.  But, that is what a training block should be like.  If I had fresh legs for the last 2 days of a 2 week training block, something would be wrong!

But, the epic adventure came on the trip home.  Car issues stranded me in Reno, NV.  To make a long story short, I couldn't open my gas tank door.  So, 3 nights in cheap motels (not cheap hotels people, that would be an upgrade) and 2.5 days in the car, I made it home.

The Rocky Mountains in the spring time.  Ahhhh.

This photo is from a friend of mine, Nick Wilder.  Please don't sue Nick :)  I know I didn't ask permission to use this photo; I just love it.

Back to reality though- spending time with Greg and Elke, catching up with friends over dinner, tax preparation (sorry to my accountant), gardening (well, that's in the plan), cleaning out closets, finally having a gym partner back, fun fixie riding with stud AP (it's the only way I can keep up with her), and opening 2.5 weeks of mail.

Hey Boulder... I missed you!