Ashley makes the Team!

Congrats to Ashley for making the West Lake Jr. High Girl's basketball team. The coach said "she doesn't have a lot of skill but she works really hard." (Sounds a lot like her Mother!) She has been working hard and has been up every morning at 5 am to get to practice by 6. I'm very proud of her.

Here is the schedule of her games:

All games are at 3:00 pm

2/4 Olympus @ Westlake
2/6 Westlake @ Churchhill
2/11 Bye
2/13 Westlake @ Bonneville
2/20 Evergreen @ Westlake
2/25 Westlake @ Wasatch
3/3 Eisenhower @ Westlake

Ashley will also be in the chorus for the school play Lil' Abner. I can't wait to come watch her in all of her activities.

Time to Toughen up

Hopefully this will help. It has been 3 days since the scary descent and my forearms are still a little sore. Two days ago I could hardly type. Diane recommended this little toy to help build up my grip strength. I hope it works. I have little bitty girl hands and since my crash they've been weaker than ever. Turns out just pedaling on the trainer or the spin bike does nothing for your grip because you never get to brake. I thought about adding a grip workout to my muscle class but I don't think the ladies at Gold's Gym are as worried about working their wrist extensors as I am.

Southern Nevada Stage Race Report

The Crit

The wet Road Race

The Time Trial

Stage one: Time Trial. We arrived at the TT start in the middle of nowhere, 20 miles North of Las Vegas. I met some of my teammates on the Ski Utah Cycling team and borrowed a jersey from Brandi. The TT started with a great tailwind and a down hill. I felt good and just kept my heart rate right at my LT of 174. I knew if I pushed harder I wouldn't be able maintain my speed. I got passed by 3 other women but I could still see that I was gaining on some that were ahead of me. My results weren't great 15th out of 16th, but I wasn't too disappointed. I was just so happy to actually be riding outside!

Stage Two: Criterium. I have to admit, I was so nervous. This was my first crit since my crash at RMR. I rode the first two laps hanging off the back and riding my hoods. The two things I knew I shouldn't be doing. Finally I relaxed enough to get in my drops and I started concentrating on how to do my turns. I managed to stay with the pack for the entire race although I kept drifting back every time we went through the gate. (I was scared of the stupid potholes after the fence.) I got dropped on the sprint finish. I felt like I should have been able to push harder but my nerves just wouldn't let me. I think the next crit will be better. I've at least made it over that mental hump.

Stage Three: Road Race. After a beautiful day for the crit we woke to pouring rain. At 8:20 we were off. My legs were instantly on fire as we started climbing and didn't stop for 9 miles. I got dropped pretty quickly and it took about 20 minutes for the burning in my legs to stop and for me to get into a groove. I rested a bit on Brandi's wheel and that seemed to help. We worked together for a little while but as we turned into the headwind Brandi seemed to lose her power. She had done a lot of extra riding that weekend and was into overload. The climb started to feel good as I found my rythm and listened to the raindrops tapping on my helmet. Then I was at the top. I started descending and quickly I lost what body heat I had generated on the climb. I was soaked to the bone and with the cold wind blowing on me it wasn't long before I could no longer feel my fingers or toes. The clouds were so thick I couldn't see where the road was going and I couldn't do much to scrub my speed. I seemed to just careen faster down the hill with each turn. It seemed that the descent would never end. I was so scared!! Mentally I broke down and let my imagination get the best of me. I could just imagine the damage the road would do to my body if I crashed at 45 mph. By the time I reached the bottom I was shaking. Partly from the cold and partly from being scared. I saw Sam's van and it was the out I needed. Part of me wanted to do the climb back up but I knew there was another long descent after that and I just couldn't bear it. So I abandoned. I beat myself up about it all day. Two DNFs in my last two road races. I just so want to be back to where I was.

Overall it was a good weekend. It was nice to get away and it was a good gauge of how far I need to go in the next couple of months, both physically and mentally. I am very excited about my new team. Everyone was very nice and welcoming and our team really looked top notch. Check out the great pics.

More cross photos

I know you thought you were done seeing cyclocross photos but I found some more. I just had to post this picture of me actually in front of Christy. (No, she is not lapping me- I am just getting better off the start line, as coach Sam has been trying to teach me.)

Notice I'm wearing red. Since it is now 2008 I decided to finally say good bye to the Porcupine Jersey and since I don't have my new Ski Utah kit yet, I'm wearing transitional red.

A little better

Okay. I sound much worse today but I'm feeling better. I think everything is draining and clearing out. I taught my spin class last night in South Jordan. It was a full house again, two people brought their Grandmas. Sweet! I was trying to take it easy but thanks to the Sudafed, which you now have to have a background check to buy, my heart rate was unusually high.

I called in sick today. I'm at home "resting", which includes finishing my school work and packing for Vegas. I'm sure I'll nap too!

My bike is ready to go. Sam tuned it up, lubed my cables, lowered my handlebars, and checked my cassette. The good news is I put my own cassette on and actually did it right!

Feeling like Crap!

Grrr. I could feel a cold coming on the past two days but I've been trying to ignore it in hopes it would go away. This morning I woke up feverish and stuffy and coughing. As if it is not bad enough that there are 8 inches of snow on the road, now I'm sick and only 3 days to the Southern Nevada Stage race.

Well, here is a cool video of our last cross season. I don't know how I managed to race all but one race and not have any pictures in it but there is a nice one of Sam leading out the pack at Ft. Bueneventura.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJc3N-hZwH0

20 years of racing.. .

Not my 20 years of racing- but I'm working on it. This is a picture of 2/3rds of Sam's race numbers collected over the years. Pretty impressive.