Lil' Break

It's time for some R&R after nats! That's for damn sure. Hailee, Sky & I spent some QT together last weekend baking raisin cinnamon bread. Sky observed as bread project foreman & gave appropriate "meows" at times when Hailee & I were getting off task, like for the flour toss contest & impromptu hide & seek game.

I've also been running a little & considering getting my cross bike back into working condition. Watching starcrossed a few weeks ago & hearing of Josh's adventures racing cross have kind of given me the bug again.

It's been a little chillier & wetter here than normal & there is talk of a snow-dump year in the mountains. I have a new snowboard that I got last year but did not have a chance to ride that I am getting stoked to rip it up on. Also, through work I get a pro-purchase deal with Salomon & just ordered a skate ski package for this year. I grew up xc skiing & am stoked to try skate skiing this year, especially if it's going to be crappy riding weather. I have my work cut out for me though this off season for on the bike work to build sustainable power for TT's & lasting in the NRC road races. I'm excited for that though. In the past threshold work has not been a major focus of mine during the off-season, so bring it on. It's time to kick arseky.

Track Nats part 2

So, the actually racing part of track went ok. I managed to get 9th in the Pursuit. It was a lot of fun, but definitely something I will have to work on my technique, like staying out of the saddle the first lap to get up to speed & riding the BLACK line (a corner judge kept yelling BLACK LINE at me everytime I came by). After my pursuit (I was in the 2nd heat), I was in first place for awhile! HAHA. So much of track is technique & tactics & building that killer instinct. These are all very good things to work on. Especially for the scratch & points race.

In the scratch race, I was using different stem & bars than I had been racing & did not feel comfy riding a wheel or all that comfortable on the track yet & got dropped b/c I was riding like 2 meters off of the rear of the field for 10 laps - hmmmm not smart. I had a night to think about that & ponder what the hell I was there for & how I better buck the hell up for the points race.

I set my bike back up with the regular bars & stem & felt much better riding during warm up on the track. Jen & Heather V. also let me spend some time just riding on their wheels through traffic on the track which helped. I was finally starting to feel comfy on that crazy little bowl. During the points race, I was still riding towards the rear in the beginning, but getting used to using the banking to scrub off speed when there were pace changes (at Jen's suggestion) & getting used to how the other girls were riding. There was a lot of hesitation in the field at times except from the top ladies - I think that's what really makes a difference on the track. Our race was 100 laps long with sprints every 10 laps. Since the track is so short, there were always intermediate surges around 5 laps to go for every sprint lap when people would try to get off the front. At about 50 laps to go, this happened & a little group got off the front. No one was making a move to go after them & I was in perfect position to use my momentum to go (plus I was pretty fresh from not spending too much time at the front) & was able to close the gap to the 3 ladies, but one other girl came with me. We were off the front for a couple laps & then with 1.5 laps to go, the group was sitting up looking for someone else to pull & I jammed on it & started sprinting with 1 lap to go to try & hang on for points. I almost had 4th place, but the 5th girl came over the top just at the line. I was bummed I didn't manage to get points, but glad I had finally done something in the race. The rest of the race, I was doing better about position, but things were starting to get spread out quite a bit & I was doing a lot of work bridging gaps from people falling off the main field & never really saw the front of the race again. I really wish I could do it over again, but that's why experience is so important. So - as my coach said - nothing earth shattering in terms of results, but good experience.

Sky's new perch

Sky has miraculously claimed her Cat-Bed as her actual preferred sleeping/relaxing spot. This has taken months, but since I moved the bed to an out of the way spot in the end table, she has now decided it is an acceptable sleeping arrangement - she just doesn't really want people to know she is conforming.

First Day Track Nat's

So - quick updates: I was granted an upgrade, so I am eligible to race mass start events at Track Nationals. Yah! So, I booked my flight & booked it to LA. Yesterday morning, I realized that my plane was leaving last night, not this morning, like I thought - it had been awhile since I first booked my flight & I had been planning on leaving Wed. morning to minimize Hotel $, but later reconsidered after hearing how important it would be to have some track time before trying the whole competition thing out. Anyway, yesterday morning I was checking email at 6AM while drinking coffee & going through the whole relaxing morning routine when I saw an email from Alaska Airlines welcoming me to my flight. There was a little freaking out to be had while I packed my bike, rollers, equipment, tools, wheels, gears, clothes, etc. in a little under 45 min & then got ready for & to work by 7:30 with all luggage packed in the rally car. Why do I make it so difficult for myself? I don't know. Last week, I went to Vegas.
I forgot where I parked in the parking garage & spent an hour towing my luggage around looking for my car on 3 levels of the parking garage after getting in 5 hours later than I had planned due to mechanical issues with the plane I was supposed to be on. Sheesh! Luckily, Josh Simpson generously took me to the airport this time.

Anyway, I made it here to LA & spent some time on the track this AM. The wheels that Steve L. let me borrow work great. Jen, Kele, Jaimie, Wes, Dan, Adrian & some other Hagen's guy are all here, along with Kenny & other NWerners. It is really nice to see familiar faces.

The track is fast! It is 250 meters, wood & indoors. When you are up on the rail looking down, it is quite a sensation, like staring down a fat slide. This morning, during open track, it was kind of sketch for me with so many people zooming around, but everyone handles their bikes really well & there were only a few white knuckle moments. :) Getting on the track is ok, but getting off is tough. The straight-aways are so short & there were so many people on the track, I would have to sprint to the apron then jam on the brakes to get off. It was better just to keep rolling around.

Tomorrow is Pursuit & Scratch race for me. I want to make it to the finals in each. I know what I have to do & I feel pretty confident I can use my strengths to get it done.

SAY NO TO CROCS!

Winding Down

Wow - time flies. I've been busy these past few weeks finishing up the road season with an Omnium (5th overall) in Bellingham, WA & a Seward Park crit (2nd). I also went to race at Crit Nationals pretty much for the experience of riding 20 by myself before they pulled me off the course. Yep - not in it. Oh well - there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Track has been a bit of a diversion for me in August. I decided I wanted to try to qualify for Nationals at Alpenrose (which I did) & get enough upgrade points to race in the mass start events. I am still a 4 on the track & you have to be a 3 to race in the points race & scratch. I would love to be able to go & do the pursuit, points & scratch race. There is a chance the officials will give me my upgrade since there has been decent turnout in the women's fields on the track, but I might not know for awhile. I may succumb to begging, just so I can get things in order, like training & time off from work.

In the past 2 days, I finally set up a new power meter - yah! My teammate Michelle recommends the cycling peaks software, so I still have to get that. I have yet to download any of my data, but I probably need to start doing that to get a baseline.

I also found that WrenchScience offers a really cool free fit calculator on their site for registering with the site. I have just been feeling all wonky on my bike all season & Miller kept telling me that it would be better to ride with a lower saddle. Everytime I lowered the saddle, things felt really wrong with knees & upper body though. The WS fit calculator recommended a saddle height about 2 cm lower than where I had it for several years & a stem longer than any I had ever ridden. Luckily, my frame size is correct according to the calculator. I tried out the recommendations & found it instantly better. My back feels loose & my hips roll forward naturally & the bike feels so well balanced. Now I just want to stay out on my bike forever! The real test will come with the Tuesday night group ride with the Boys for the Mercer Island hot lap - I'm hoping I can hang through the corners better now. I've been killing them every time up the hill & making them suffer so bad. Miller keeps reminding me to save a little something so the group can all stay together. Anyway - the new fit should help through the corners which is usually where I pop off.

Tia & Andy just got married today at a beautiful little lake on the TST course. It was a very sweet ceremony. Best wishes to you, Tia & Andy!

Track and More

A couple of weeks ago, there was a nationals qualifying race at the Velodrome in Redmond - the FSA GP. I raced this after having just done one beginning women's race previously. It was an eye opening experience. I was not too comfortable on the track with no brakes coming from years of road racing. The first night there, it was great to have the company of experienced teammates and my coach out there. First up on the night was the Keirin - a race where riders get pulled up to speed by a moto and then sprint the last 1-2 laps. The race starts from a standing start. I was so sweating bullets waiting for the moto to come around. I didn't have to wait long though. When things got rolling I had no nerve to hold a wheel when someone challenged me for it. But I survived. Miller told me to try to get up there and get out front for the second round. I did manage get up the nerve to try to come around, but I didn't make it to the finals. Later in the night, I raced the points race. It was fun and I did try an attack, but it was on a lap too early before the points lap. Must remember to pay attention to lap card & bell. Anyway, it was a really good experience to race with the national caliber women & then see the contrast to racing on the local Wednesday night races for cat 4 women. I know this track racing will help in crits for positioning & overall tactics, so I really want to get better & improve. It is also a ton of fun. The fast racing in close quarters is a total rush.

I have done 2 more Wednesday night races since then to try to upgrade to a cat 3 before the Alpenrose challenge in Portland at the end of the month. If I can place as a cat 3 there, then I will qualify for track nationals, which would be awesome. I would love to go to nationals & have a shot at a title.

Last weekend, Josh & I spent some time with my brother, Dave, & his wife, Kiana. They came over to visit, so we got to do the fun tourist-ty stuff on Saturday & then they watched the Volunteer Park crit on Sunday. The crit on Sunday only had 6 ladies show up. I managed 2nd in the race. After that, I hopped in the men's cat 3 race. I was thinking of skipping the guys race, but my friend Jesse who is living in NM for school right now was in town & racing, so it was a good chance to ride together, but on the 3rd or 4th lap, there was a nasty crash & an ambulance had to come & take someone away who had been unconscious. That was enough for me & I rode home. Dave & Kiana had a fun time watching the women's race & luckily didn't witness the fiasco of the crash since they took off after the first race.

Josh & I are heading to Bellingham tomorrow for the Nooksack Omnium. I am looking forward to railing the TT & giving the field hell in the RR. If I can manage a win, it would be great for upgrade points. Josh is trying to win the men's cat 4 TT. He can totally do it. He has been really focused on training & preparing for this. He is a great TTer & has a terrific shot at it.