This sign is a good warning to people that try to ride without a front wheel. Your fork will get caught in a perfectly square hole and you will endo, especially if you're wearing your strap on turtle shell.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
WTF?
This sign is a good warning to people that try to ride without a front wheel. Your fork will get caught in a perfectly square hole and you will endo, especially if you're wearing your strap on turtle shell.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Bear Lake Road Race
Why can't more races be like this one? Instead we have a ton of races with lots of climbs and strung out fields. I guess I should move somewhere flatter?
The race was fun and remarkably no one went down despite the constant battle for second wheel. The first flat 20 miles were pretty uneventful. There were a few short lived attacks from Ski Utah and two even shorter attempts at a paceline. As we neared the rollers the "other Stephanie" (not THE pirate hooker ICE Stephanie) went to the front and set a hard pace. I kept up with her and attacked on the hill. This managed to break our field from 20 down to 10. Unfortunately, I lost all of my teammates and a few good allies in the effort.
The Other Stephanie continued to keep working her way back up to the front and was very content to pull and even resisted offers to take a break- that woman is an animal! ICE Stephanie launched attack after attack on the downhills. I covered each one but everytime I caught her she'd slow down and the rest of the field would catch us. This continued throughout the rollers. Other Stephanie pulls, ICE Stephanie attacks and I chased.
As we headed toward the finish the pace slowed and I had a feeling that ICE Stephanie was going to give my last year's early break and solo finish a try. Sure enough, when the turn was in sight she took off. I once again chased but couldn't hold on. Finally another girl took up the chase and soon I was caught by the pack. With nothing left I gave a meager attempt to sprint but gave up when I realized I had been passed by all 9 women in our pack.
So I'm not too happy with my placing. In hinsight I realized I should have hung back and waited for someone else to go after ICE Stephanie and saved myself for a better sprint finish. But overall I am happy with my racing. I managed to stay up front all day, pull a few hard attacks and chased down several attacks by a kid half my age. The bright side is that ICE Stephanie will likely upgrade and instead of working us over she'll be getting worked over.
The race was fun and remarkably no one went down despite the constant battle for second wheel. The first flat 20 miles were pretty uneventful. There were a few short lived attacks from Ski Utah and two even shorter attempts at a paceline. As we neared the rollers the "other Stephanie" (not THE pirate hooker ICE Stephanie) went to the front and set a hard pace. I kept up with her and attacked on the hill. This managed to break our field from 20 down to 10. Unfortunately, I lost all of my teammates and a few good allies in the effort.
The Other Stephanie continued to keep working her way back up to the front and was very content to pull and even resisted offers to take a break- that woman is an animal! ICE Stephanie launched attack after attack on the downhills. I covered each one but everytime I caught her she'd slow down and the rest of the field would catch us. This continued throughout the rollers. Other Stephanie pulls, ICE Stephanie attacks and I chased.
As we headed toward the finish the pace slowed and I had a feeling that ICE Stephanie was going to give my last year's early break and solo finish a try. Sure enough, when the turn was in sight she took off. I once again chased but couldn't hold on. Finally another girl took up the chase and soon I was caught by the pack. With nothing left I gave a meager attempt to sprint but gave up when I realized I had been passed by all 9 women in our pack.
So I'm not too happy with my placing. In hinsight I realized I should have hung back and waited for someone else to go after ICE Stephanie and saved myself for a better sprint finish. But overall I am happy with my racing. I managed to stay up front all day, pull a few hard attacks and chased down several attacks by a kid half my age. The bright side is that ICE Stephanie will likely upgrade and instead of working us over she'll be getting worked over.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
5 Mile Pass
I have this great teammate that is always willing to work and sacrifice in road races for everyone else. I've seen her launch attacks and set up her teammates for the win. She's awesome! So when she wanted to mix it up and do some mountain bike racing this year I was happy to support her and give it a go. She's super tough on a mountain bike and so even though this was her first race she bypassed the beginner category and went straight for Sport. I've done a few mountain bike races and I am usually a bottom feeder in the beginner category so I happily stayed in the beginner category.
Due to the rain they shortened the loops and delayed the race. I was happy with my hard push up the hill. On the way down I did my usual and try to stay out of the way of the fast guys that were lapping me. (Thank you to everyone that tells me you're coming and which side. If you don't tell me then don't expect me to even try to stay out of your way. And if you buzz by me without a warning only to crash right in front of me don't expect sympathy.) Despite some stupid tip overs in the mud and some walking with my bike I managed to hang onto second. Kara did awesome! She finished 5th in the sport class on her heavy, old Gary Fisher.
Since yesterday's workout wasn't the physical blow out I expected I'm hoping to get in some miles today on the road bike. So far I am unmotivated to ride in the rain again. Aaaaaagh! Crazy weather!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Never dull
As I stood outside the hospital in the sunshine, cursing the weatherman for saying it was going to rain, crabby because I chose to leave my bike home, I saw the man. He was staggering down B Street propelled forward by the combination of slope and gravity. When he reached the bus stop sign he reached out, grabbed the pole and stopped his forward momentum. He swayed, lurched once, and somehow managed to land on his back on the lawn. I left my post at the bus stop across the street, knowing that as soon as I left my ride home would come. I crossed the street and hovered above the man and asked if he were okay.
“Are you an angel?” he asked me, he was laying face up, his arms outstretched, fly wide open.
I told him no and again asked if he was okay. “Are you trying to get to the hospital? Do you want me to get you a wheelchair?”
“I want to go see my friends. I can’t see your eyes.” He replied. It was then that I realized I might have had a bit of an otherworldly glow with the sun behind me shining through my blonde hair. He told me his friends were at the Veterans’ Memorial and he just wanted to be with his buddies.
I was at a loss for words. I wasn’t an angel and I couldn’t take him to see his friends. I helped him find his feet and told him that bus 11 would take him to the Veterans’ Memorial to see his friends. He was likely drunk and I probably should have called the police to pick him up for public intoxication but I just didn’t have the heart. The man thought I was an angel after all.
“Are you an angel?” he asked me, he was laying face up, his arms outstretched, fly wide open.
I told him no and again asked if he was okay. “Are you trying to get to the hospital? Do you want me to get you a wheelchair?”
“I want to go see my friends. I can’t see your eyes.” He replied. It was then that I realized I might have had a bit of an otherworldly glow with the sun behind me shining through my blonde hair. He told me his friends were at the Veterans’ Memorial and he just wanted to be with his buddies.
I was at a loss for words. I wasn’t an angel and I couldn’t take him to see his friends. I helped him find his feet and told him that bus 11 would take him to the Veterans’ Memorial to see his friends. He was likely drunk and I probably should have called the police to pick him up for public intoxication but I just didn’t have the heart. The man thought I was an angel after all.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
A little break from the norm
I spent the weekend "recovering" by officiating the collegiate race. Holly failed to mention that the prerequisite for collegiate races is that they are only held in really crappy weather conditions. This weekend more than filled that requirement. Saturday I kept warm in the rain by dancing and thinking about how happy I was that I wasn't racing EC. Thankfully, a good friend let me thaw out in her hottub last night so I was ready to spend today freezing again but this time with a little snow added into the mix.
Despite the cold, the races were great and I had a lot of fun. It was a nice weekend with a little excitement thrown in for good measure. Now I can return to my regularly scheduled program of working and working out.
Despite the cold, the races were great and I had a lot of fun. It was a nice weekend with a little excitement thrown in for good measure. Now I can return to my regularly scheduled program of working and working out.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Love it
Check out the new tabloid blog under cool links. Can it really count for a tabloid though if it tells the truth? Looks like Women's Cat 4 racing even got some notice, not that racing with a potty mouth is anything to be proud of. I'm looking forward to the update tomorrow after EC.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
I'm baaack
Yes, I know. I've been a huge blog slacker. Much has changed in my life since my last post. Mostly I've just spent my time becoming queen of Word Challenge on Spacebook instead of rambling on about things here.
Since my last post I've changed jobs, classes and have lost 20 lbs. All good stuff. I love my job! The work is interesting and I have no employees. No one has complained to me about what their coworkers are not doing, I haven't had to call a plumber or clean up blood droplets left in the waiting room. It is fantastic! There have been a few challenges from people that think I'm trying to make their lives difficult by making sure we're compliant, but overall things are good.
Another thing to like aobut my job is the commute. Work pays for my bus pass so between the bike and bus I rarely have to drive anymore. The bus takes longer than riding my bike but the entertainment is fabulous. The bus gives me enough material for its own blog!
Despite a plethera of bus anecdotes, plan on the usual bike racing adventure stories. So far I've done one race this season (not counting the solo riding I did in Vegas.)I raced Hell of the North. I whined and complained and threatened to keep my butt in bed but Kara was so excited that I showed up. It was freezing! I chose to ride my cross bike due to the long section of mud that each lap promised. Right off the start my brakes were dragging onto my rim and I had to stop and fix them. I watched the field ride away. Cussing and swearing I put my head down and hammered into the wet snow that was blowing sideways. To my surprise I looked up and saw I was catching someone. I hammered some more and managed to catch and drop a few more. I felt good and managed to sprint for 5th not bad for starting out dead last and with a 48 up front.
Last weekend I missed Tour of the Depot for a rainy weekend in Colorado with Backcountry.com. This weekend I'll be missing East Canyon to officiate the collegiate race, I can't say I'm sad about that! I am looking forward to the downtown crit in a few weeks.
Since my last post I've changed jobs, classes and have lost 20 lbs. All good stuff. I love my job! The work is interesting and I have no employees. No one has complained to me about what their coworkers are not doing, I haven't had to call a plumber or clean up blood droplets left in the waiting room. It is fantastic! There have been a few challenges from people that think I'm trying to make their lives difficult by making sure we're compliant, but overall things are good.
Another thing to like aobut my job is the commute. Work pays for my bus pass so between the bike and bus I rarely have to drive anymore. The bus takes longer than riding my bike but the entertainment is fabulous. The bus gives me enough material for its own blog!
Despite a plethera of bus anecdotes, plan on the usual bike racing adventure stories. So far I've done one race this season (not counting the solo riding I did in Vegas.)I raced Hell of the North. I whined and complained and threatened to keep my butt in bed but Kara was so excited that I showed up. It was freezing! I chose to ride my cross bike due to the long section of mud that each lap promised. Right off the start my brakes were dragging onto my rim and I had to stop and fix them. I watched the field ride away. Cussing and swearing I put my head down and hammered into the wet snow that was blowing sideways. To my surprise I looked up and saw I was catching someone. I hammered some more and managed to catch and drop a few more. I felt good and managed to sprint for 5th not bad for starting out dead last and with a 48 up front.
Last weekend I missed Tour of the Depot for a rainy weekend in Colorado with Backcountry.com. This weekend I'll be missing East Canyon to officiate the collegiate race, I can't say I'm sad about that! I am looking forward to the downtown crit in a few weeks.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Random Thoughts
I was just thinking how things change. When I was a kid it was such a treat to go to McDonalds. Usually it was too expensive for us to get Happy Meals so we just had to go with a burger. I thought how when I had kids I'd have enough money to buy them Happy Meals. My kids got plenty of Happy Meals growing up- probably too many. Now they love it when I actually take the time to cook. It is a treat for them if I take time to prepare a meal and we stay at home and eat it together. I guess it is one of those "be careful what you wish for things".
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Happy New Year!!
I'm finding that I'm moving very slowly today. No, I'm not hung over. I really didn't drink much at all last night. I've found over the past few years that I don't really need alcohol to give me an excuse to be uninhibited. I also don't really need the horrible hung over feeling the next day. I'm moving slowly I think because I am afraid that once I get going with my chores I will be off and running and will not slow down for quite a while. It will be full steam ahead into the new year.
Christmas was great! I think I am finally learning to manage my expectations better and am okay with change. Don't get me wrong, I still miss the days when my kids were up bright and early and would race each other down the stairs to see what Santa had brought. But, things have changed. This year on Christmas Eve my kids and I negotiated wake up times for the following day. I really wanted to be up at 5 so I could spend some quality time with them before heading off to see my nephew and nieces. They made it pretty clear that wasn't happening and settled for the still ungodly hour of 7.
At 6:45 I had already been up and had drank half a pot of coffee. I couldn't wait anymore so I knocked on their doors. Instead of the patter of little feet stumbling out of bed in their new pajamas, I was greeted by the moans of disgruntled teenagers. I waited 5 minutes before knocking again this time adding, "come see what Santa brought!" I could hear the eye rolling through their closed doors and through the covers that were likely pulled over their heads. I finally threatened to leave them and go in search of children that actually wanted presents when they managed to make it downstairs.
It isn't that my children are ungrateful, they just really enjoy their sleep, they always have. My kids have always slept very deeply and been near impossible to wake up. While I've always regarded sleep as a necessary evil, my kids bask in it.
Once up my kids enjoyed opening their presents. Santa brought the family Rock Band and a blender and we spent a wonderfully long weekend making smoothies and jamming out in our family room. I managed to make it out to see the little kids on Christmas Day and got to enjoy a little time playing Barbies with the girls and listening to my nephew play Jingle Bells on his new guitar. My sister and her husband looked tired by 8:30 am as they sat in their living room scattered with wrapping paper, dolls of various sizes, and horses in pastel colors.I had forgotten how exhausting Christmas is when you have little ones and had only remembered the excitement. One day they'll look back and miss those days.
Christmas was great! I think I am finally learning to manage my expectations better and am okay with change. Don't get me wrong, I still miss the days when my kids were up bright and early and would race each other down the stairs to see what Santa had brought. But, things have changed. This year on Christmas Eve my kids and I negotiated wake up times for the following day. I really wanted to be up at 5 so I could spend some quality time with them before heading off to see my nephew and nieces. They made it pretty clear that wasn't happening and settled for the still ungodly hour of 7.
At 6:45 I had already been up and had drank half a pot of coffee. I couldn't wait anymore so I knocked on their doors. Instead of the patter of little feet stumbling out of bed in their new pajamas, I was greeted by the moans of disgruntled teenagers. I waited 5 minutes before knocking again this time adding, "come see what Santa brought!" I could hear the eye rolling through their closed doors and through the covers that were likely pulled over their heads. I finally threatened to leave them and go in search of children that actually wanted presents when they managed to make it downstairs.
It isn't that my children are ungrateful, they just really enjoy their sleep, they always have. My kids have always slept very deeply and been near impossible to wake up. While I've always regarded sleep as a necessary evil, my kids bask in it.
Once up my kids enjoyed opening their presents. Santa brought the family Rock Band and a blender and we spent a wonderfully long weekend making smoothies and jamming out in our family room. I managed to make it out to see the little kids on Christmas Day and got to enjoy a little time playing Barbies with the girls and listening to my nephew play Jingle Bells on his new guitar. My sister and her husband looked tired by 8:30 am as they sat in their living room scattered with wrapping paper, dolls of various sizes, and horses in pastel colors.I had forgotten how exhausting Christmas is when you have little ones and had only remembered the excitement. One day they'll look back and miss those days.
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