FIFO Employee

Definition: First in, first out of the office. The sun finally came out and it's getting warmer tonight (how weird), it's Boulder riding night. Not quite FIFO today, but I'm getting up earlier and earlier every day...nice to see the sunrise again.

Lookout Time Trial

Awesome ride tonight! Took 1 min 15 sec off last year's Lookout Time Trial time (and last year's time was done in a real race). Love it when I can see the results of the winter's training... and very fun to get some fast riding in afterwards with VC guys (thanks for letting me be a wheel sucker). Time to go work on Team Bike Hugger blogging & then to bed so as to be able to do something similar (but up in Boulder) tomorrow.

Human Power!

Not a bad idea, for next winter. It's 70 and sunny today!

Stazio Take 2

Stazio was so much better this week than last. There was actual racing happening and the pace was reasonably high. It was easier to race it this week after having all week to think about the hill and not be intimidated by it. The pack was much bigger, too. Today's racing was self-centered--I was only there for my own fitness, along with bike handling and positioning practice--not for results or anything else. Amazing how much easier it was to race with this being my focus. Came very, very close to a prime, too. And, it also made it easier to not be too upset when the race was over and I hadn't heard a final bell (and maybe there was a lap counter, but I didn't see it the whole race). I was convinced there were at least 10 laps left, the race seemed so short. It was a beautiful day, too. Much better than getting pelted by ice rain and snow during yesterday's ride.

Happy Time Change!

Total oversight on my part: Thank you so much to everyone who was cheering! It was awesome to hear you out there. And way to go Einstein's guys!!!

Cat 4 Racing

Here's what early-season cat 4 racing is all about (and I'm not saying they aren't riding fast...just quite far apart). Cat 4 women are usually scared of racing the first few times. (This is understandable, I was a little nervous at my first race, too). Now you can see for yourself that it's really not all that scary. So, if you're new to the race scene, start early season when everyone is just starting, too. (The cat 4 rivalries really heat up as the summer progresses.) The best way to learn how to race is to race. It's helpful to have done some group rides for basic bike handling skills and drafting, but that's all there is to it. Go out there, race as hard as you can (worry about tactics later)--you'll learn a lot and feel great afterwards, no matter what place you come in. Guaranteed.

Team Bike Hugger / TRIA

Our Redlands team has a new name: Team Bike Hugger/TRIA. Bike Hugger will be posting blog entries written by members of our team (yep, I'm begging to do some of them).

Check out the Bike Hugger blog. It's really cool to find out that a blog like this exists. Their motivation for creating the blog and purpose of the blog is about as close as it comes to describing what I am trying to convey in this blog--except they are actually going to hit the audience who it's intended for. Read their definition of a "hugger." It looks like these people understand (at least their definition of hugger leads me to believe that they do). Often it feels like few people really understand my lifestyle and motivation.

Keep an eye on this blog, it looks like the posts there are very interesting!

The Stazio Group Ride and Climbing

Climbing has been the first order of business lately (as of yesterday). Got over 11,000 feet in this weekend & it was outstanding, mostly because it meant riding outside (still a novelty) and lots of sunshine. (When in Sunshine Canyon, expect sunshine.)

I did the Stazio crit today...the field was a whopping 12 or so people big. Pretty sad, really. It was also a sad race. Only 2 girls there actually raced (Kori, Lipton and Carol, Excel. Go Carol!!!) I know I didn't. The group I was with wasn't working much and it wasn't clear as to anyone's strengths or intentions. I tried to attack a couple of times, but with the wind, I didn't have enough to pull away. The "race" could be described more as a group ride, a really, really boring group ride that went around and around in circles.
This is almost the whole field (top 2 pictures). Everyone must be in a warmer place. What a brutal winter we've had! The first Stazio crit last year had much better attendance--maybe 30 women.
Rebekah and I after the crit. (Note the sparkling clean bike.)


This is how gunked-up the bike was after yesterday's Coal Creek to Ned ride.

From where the mud got too deep to ride in, almost the top of Sunshine Canyon. Time to clean the bike again. And, I finally got a flat tire (luckily, it wasn't noticeable on the ride today). Considering I picked ~30 pieces of embedded debris out of the tire this morning, it's suprising this is the first flat of the year. (Okay, today is the third outdoor ride in Colorado this year.)

Road Ridin'

Wow, it's pretty cool, kind of forgot how to do it. Visited Nederland today, awesome!!! This is kind of a test, this post will be updated with something real later. My camera decided not to turn on today, wanted to have the sunshine on record.

Redlands

This just in: I'll be racing Redlands. Translation: I have less than a month to become a climber. Another chance to escape the snow! The team is TRIA, 8 of us will be representing. Looking forward to meeting my teammates and spending almost a week in the sun, even if there is massive amounts of climbing to be done.

Google Traffic

Look what Google did. They now have a "Traffic" button on their maps (for major cities) so you can see how much traffic is backed up. I resisted the urge to Google Map Phoenix, but I'm sure that map is solid red. If I haven't said it enough, Google is cool. And, they saved me from posting a full rant on the weather here. Snowing again. Yes, again. Had to say it, it's just so wrong.