Translation to the normal world

Mainly, this goes out to my cousin Theresa.

Our conversation at WeeBee's wedding still makes me laugh. You explained perfectly how different our worlds rotate.

The discussion was mainly about how I am addicted to exercise of any kind and act like an addict in the first 48 hrs of rehab if I don't break a sweat daily. Theresa, on the other hand, has a body that would go into convulsions if she accidentally slipped on running shoes and simultaneously thought about sweating.

Well yesterday I was excited when I finished my ride to find out it was a 2,000 kilocalorie ride. (Ok T, I will explain.) We weirdo athletes have these computers that monitor almost everything we do. At the end of each workout, we download the data to a website/software that automatically sends this information to our coaches to analyze. With me so far? It is just like your "big brother" in the corporate world checking up on your work daily. Fun, eh?

The difference is that I love looking at the data and don't mind that the boss man may check up on me on any given day. One of my favorite parts is seeing how many kcal's I spent...ok, truth... it just means how many extra calories I can eat that day :)

While you, Theresa, are getting ready to give birth to a healthy #3 and (possibly) using that as your reason to eat anything your little heart desires. I use this data as my basis for indulgence :)

I thought of you, Theresa, as I celebrated my ability to not call a ride "hard" or "epic" and yet still have a 2,000 kcal day on the bike. I thought that you would get a good laugh out of that one.

T with Baby #1 on his #1

Important Moments in Life

While bike racing is oh-so important and will someday save the world... something like that... friends are what makes my heart warm.

Last weekend I traveled to Charlotte for the Presbyterian Criterium. Great race, great town, great crowds... gosh, I am starting to sound like a broken record since my last couple race weekends have all said the same thing. But seriously this time!

Traveling gets lonely sometimes so it is a bonus to have familiar faces in the destination city. One of our best friends, Stratos, lives in Charlotte with his family. Not only is he a kick-butt chef (and owns 3 restaurants that rock!) but he is a great host.

Here was my morning note and goodies left on the counter.

Stratos with his son Dino who can light up the room with his smile! Sorry to have missed the beautiful wife and daughter as they were vacationing in NYC. Next year!

Bonus friend sighting in Charlotte! Tracey, college soccer teammate of mine, showed up at the race in full school spirit. Some people never change!! What a sweet surprise seeing her after the race and meeting up later that night. Thanks Timmerman :)

Then back home and back to Colorado Springs 7-11 velodrome. Do you know I haven't race 1 time down there all year until last night? Not once. That is a total record as I obviously got my start as a bike racer on the velodrome and love the atmosphere. But, new goals... new coach... new focus... different timing.... this will all equal new speed and fitness.

Anyway, last night I ventured down to 7-11 with the junior crew from Boulder. The 12 passenger van was filled to the top with kids and equipment. Thanks Neal for setting this up! Good times.

Racing last night made me realize how much I miss everyone in the Springs. I'm back people! I bet you will see more of me now. My friends have been out of sight but not out of mind. Julia... Vera... Missy... Kate... even Sabga... I do miss you guys. Thanks for some good racing last night :)

Still rolling... just not writing

After the Portland race, I stayed the week with my dear friend Heather in the Portland area.

Besides me trying to avoid Heather kissing me all week...

we had a ton of fun. Berry picking and baking, Nike shopping, sleeping, laughing, and, of course, bike riding.

The next weekend we were off to Seattle for another packed weekend of track racing. I think we did about 8 races in 2 days. Long days. 14 hour long days.

Needless to say, I was pretty tired at the end of the weekend. So tired that I didn't even want to answer my phone. So blogging was way out of the question.

Seattle's velodrome in Marymoor Park isn't necessarily a fun track BUT the people, the race director, the crowds... they make it an awesome experience. If the US wants to make track racing a crowd sport like it is in Europe and Australia, they need to talk to Dave Mann and ask him how he does it.

The racing was once again tough and I once again did all the events included in the Omnium... in this case Points, Scratch, Miss-n-Out, Madison, Keirin, Sprints. I took several podium spots and ended up 2nd overall. Good times! The sneaky little Australian beat me for the overall.

Yes, we were all a little goofy by the end of the last night. Below is the Madison podium... a race you do with a teammate. Clearly we were all done with this racing thing... or at least Shelby was done.

Usually when I get home, I get a day off to recover. This time the "go" button was pushed right when I got home. Greg and I were moving and had to pack up the house. So, in between training, eating, and sleeping, we were packed, loading, and cleaning. The new house comes complete with a garage. I can't tell you how much this changes my life! No longer do I stumble over bikes to get in my bed or play musical bikes just to have a place at the kitchen table. Ahhhh!

So, I am now recovered (not unpacked) enough to blog... just in time for another weekend bike race. I leave Thursday for a race in Charlotte where I get to see one of my favorite friends!

Cari

Back to Racing

Ok, a week off and a 1.5 weeks of sick, and I'm back. This past weekend I raced out in Portland at the Alpenrose AVC. Funky track, great coffee, crazy tattoos, exciting racing, and superb friends!

I decided to do all the events since I am a "recovering" sprinter... why not?

Alpenrose velodrome is likely to scare most people. Steep, bumpy, and an awkward size... makes for some home court advantage for the Portlanders. I actually have a weird love for this track.

Racing all day for 3 days in a row. I had my own little apartment set-up.

Teammates :) Always posing for pictures!

Girl friends! I love meeting up with people from all over the country... trying to pummel each other on the bike and then laughing together in the infield.

The Tiemeyer beast never fails me! I still LOVE this bike.

Airing it out between races. Smelly bike racers!

Unfortunately, there is always a couple crashes. Cleaning the wounds could be more painful.

But at least there wasn't another one of these crashes... this was from the last time I raced here.

My 3 days in Portland ended with me winning all of the endurance events (pursuit, scratch, miss-n-out, points) and proving that I still have some speed in the sprint events (sprints, 500m, team sprint, keirin). With the results I won the Women's Omnium and came away happy!

Thanks to Charlie and the folks at Alpenrose for never failing to have a great race! Thanks to all the racers from across the country that traveled out to Portland. What a stacked women's field we had!!! I do think the women had more athletes participating than men this year (minus the Masters).

I will stay here in Portland and drive up to race in Seattle next weekend. More to come!

STING

Bronni sent me some great photos from our night at Chastain in Atlanta. Since it is raining here in Boulder and I am forced to stay inside, I have time to do things like... blog. There are plenty of other things that should take priority but who wants to clean?

Ok, Sting is about 60 years old and in amazing shape... and sexy.

Fun group!

Thanks LaScalas for letting Greg and I borrow your Jeep while in town. Don't worry, as usual, I ended up as the designated driver. We wouldn't let "that guy" drive.

Holiday Weekend

Greg and I were planning on going from Atlanta to Crested Butte for a weekend of camping and mountain biking. This was the week that was assigned to me as a mid-season rest... as much mental as physical. Although I have felt fine physically, the mental break is as much or more important and always welcome.

The good news and bad news... the bad news is that Greg was/is fighting a asthma/allergy hack and I came down with a summer cold so we cancelled the CB trip. The good news is that we live in Boulder and it feels like a holiday just hanging out here.

We did lots of staying home and sleeping but also managed to still mountain bike several days.

Greg and I on some trails outside of Boulder. Those are the famous Boulder Flatirons you always hear about. Beautiful!!

I got up to Nederland another day with my friend Mike and his friend Jess. Super sweet singletrack! Thanks to these guys for putting up with my lack of technical skills and being patient. In this picture (i-Phone once again so not great quality) you can see the Eldora ski area in the back. Still some snow way up high.

I thought I was breathing hard because I had been at sea level for 3 weeks and went straight to mountain biking at 9,000 feet. I guess I was getting sick.

Back to work this week. Translation- following a training plan. I am super inspired and looking forward to the hard work ahead. I can taste the winter track season!

How to blog with no bikes

I have had several people tell me lately that they read my blog but can't understand what I am talking about. I promised a girlfriend of mine I would do an update that didn't talk about two wheels. Perfect opportunity...

This past 5 days or so I took some time away from the bike to visit ATL, the dirty south. I have started traveling without a camera but I am starting to regret that since I either rely on other people and their cameras or I have the quality of iPhone photos. But, here we go...

The whole reason for the trip was to celebrate Mande and Joe's wedding! The Saturday night party was so much fun and Greg was did all the food for the party... yum :) Happy couple. So happy.

(stolen FB photo)

Sunday our friends threw a pool party for us complete with a shrimp boil. Gotta love the deep south!

Monday I got together with a several college girlfriends/teammates and their kids. I didn't capture everyone on camera... sorry girls! We talked lots of soccer which seems so appropriate for the World Cup season. But, we also had so much more to catch up on too. I love you all and miss you. (even the ones I didn't get to see)

Monday night we were lucky enough to join some friends at Chastain outdoor amphitheater to see Sting. Fun is an understatement. Thank you Michael LaScala for driving us around. Thank you Karatassos boys for dinner and tickets. And, thank you Sting for being Sting.

I do miss things about Atlanta and Chastain is one of them. One summer after college, Mande and I bought season tickets. Oh, the memories :)

Angela couldn't stand not being in our picture.

Because I was essentially on vacation, there were lots of perks like Greg making me breakfast in the morning. Oh, wait, he does this at home too. But this particular meal looked too good to not document.

It was great seeing my family (mom, dad, step-mom, brother and fiance) and my all my adopted family (mande, kara, jan, lascalas, karatassos, etc.) but there were so many people I missed. I could spend weeks in Atlanta and not get to spend the amount of time I would like with everyone. Thank goodness for Facebook, email, and cell phones!

Once I get the "real pictures", I will post more.