TGIF- 5/30/08

Is it just me, or do "short weeks" (those shortened by a holiday) usually feel longer than regular weeks ? Maybe its just because us OCD racers are still recovering from millions of miles driven and raced, or maybe its because we're out of sync with our normal schedules. Either way, Friday makes me happier than usual this week.

Kyle posts WTFM on a weekly basis, which must suck b/c its hard for most of us to find positive things to post on Monday. So, I thought I'd take the easier route - TGIF ... there's always something good about it being FRIDAY. So here are some positive thoughts, experiences and musings for your Friday afternoon:

- I took a walk from my office in Fells Point to the Inner Harbor. First time I've done that in a while. During my walk, I looked around for the first time in ages and noticed what a cool place Baltimore can be. The most exciting news is that there is a Starbucks within walking distance and two doors down is a Haagen Dazs. Someone is clearly trying to keep Wendy happy in Baltimore.

- Less cool is the weird guy carrying a boombox, blasting 80s music, on the waterfront. I avoided eye contact as he scared me a little. I couldn't get a good picture, lest he knew he was attracting attention.... but, this IS Baltimore.

- My ride this morning in Patapsco State Park was an easy spin, so I could appreciate the beautiful trails I get to ride on less than a mile from my house. I also ran into the train that passes through the park not once, but twice ... for some reason the train makes me happy. No, I don't like model trains or anything like that, just the sight and sound of the train is strangely comforting. Maybe I had a special connection with trains in my prior life. Who knows.

- Today I realized that I CAN wear my "good" sunglasses with my helmet (for my Vespa rides). This makes me very happy because the "not so good" sunglasses are ... well.... not so good. I love my Revos.

- The weather for Sunday's CSC even looks awesome (lets not talk about tomorrow's weather). BTW: Loved the blog post on Jens Voigt. My Man Jens...

- I love respect between competitors. It doesn't always have to be adversarial ... sometimes you can just appreciate having been a part of a great race. Props and respect to Chris Kelly, one of the classiest gals in the peloton. Photo courtesy of DemonCats (aka Kevin Dillard).

Okay, thats what I've got for now ... If you need more than THAT to be happy on a Friday, I can't help you !!

Speed Week-end

Its 730pm and I just changed into my jammies and I'm super excited about going to sleep soon. Most friends and loved ones already know that Wendy likes her sleep, but today is a special sleep day - I raced 3days in a row. I have traveled between Baltimore, Annapolis, DC, NJ, back to DC and finally back home to Baltimore in a span of less than 72 hours. Logged almost 600 miles driving. All to race approximately 70 miles. And those 70 miles were ... pardon the french.... balls out the entire way. I loved every minute of it. Even the minute where I rolled over some unfortunate girl's wheel as her bike slid across the road at bike jam. Even the minute when I was coming into the finish at RFK and around the final turn, Sonja clipped her pedal, fish-tailed and recovered (but gave me a heart attack as I was right behind her). Even the minute after the Colavita gal cooked turn 3 at Somerville coming into the bell lap, causing a chain reaction where a CycleLoft gal locked up her breaks and slid wide, taking me into the curb. Especially the minute where I managed to come to a stop right as my front zipp was kissing the curb, clipped out and touched my foot to the curb to stay upright and took off. Another Colavita gal came by me as I was getting back up to speed and told me I have a future in cyclecross. I thanked her for the encouragement once my heart disappeared from my throat.

Bike Jam for me was as it usually is ... (excepting last year, which, again, dont get me started on my training issues for 2007) ... we rolled around in a group, some surges went, we went with them, I found myself drifting toward the back through the top side of the course where I am deathly afraid of those damn little metal feet on the barriers that stick out like a foot and a half and are about pedal-height. I would then try to gain position on the little chicane, only to get squeezed through the backside, then inevitably I'd be in the wrong lane as everyone slammed on their brakes to get through the tight left. I'd semi-chase back on and make up lots of ground on the "hill", which was a lot less painful than I remembered it to be. Wreck happens on the front stretch and I'm pinched to the inside - I see the girl in front of me take a dive and watch in slow motion as her bike slides across toward me. On the brakes, I resolve that my bike can roll over a wheel, so I do it and make it through, only to see the field going down the road. I chased for all I was worth - and when I was about to blow up gloriously, Chris Kelly came by me to take a pull. Bless you, Chris. We flew through the circle and the left turn - then the wonderful Moto-ref came up and said we were neutralized, relax, we're all starting back up together. I still think we'd have made it, but it would have been ugly. I roll up to the back of the pack to find my chain dropped - dismount, fix the chain, hear my good friend Jill yell my name. Quick hug (a sweaty one at that) and the whistle blows again. Come around on the last lap, a Juice Plus girl causes a separation in the field when she takes out a few people. Luckily, Leslie was ahead of the crash. I was not. Lets face it, its not a surprise I was behind it ! 29th, upright, all my skin in tact. Except where I smashed my hand in my trainer earlier in the morning. Beautiful, no ? It felt even better.

Next day, RFK. First time I've ever raced this course. Another "dont get me started" story. It was fast and flat. I hovered mid pack most of the way but found a little more confidence and started playing a little during the middle of the race. Following wheels, I wound up in a couple of moves. I jumped across to another one. Leslie was staying a little smarter than me, nearer the front, but I just wanted to play a little. Relatively safe race, although a last lap crash did bring out the ambulance. Coming into the final turn, I hopped on Sonja's wheel as she had some momentum. And I lost every bit of that momentum as I watched her recover from clipping her pedal. Upright, all skin intact ... and 29th, again. Leslie finished up in the top 15. Watched the 3/4 girls play while we waited for payout ... fun race to watch, and our girls were super active but super smart during the race. We got a 4th and 5th, despite some miscommunication at the end. Sweet.

In the car for 4 hours to NJ, but Leslie booked a sweet hotel and after we ate a turkey-avacado burger (yum!), we put our feet up and basked in the knowledge that we didnt need to get up early. Our race was fast - haven't figured out our average, but I know that drifting through one of the turns I looked down and saw 25. Drifting. Much more comfy after two days of racing, so I moved up and down through the pack, finding the best lines, trying to be energy efficient and just having fun. I found Leslie in the pack quite often and tried to hang out near her. She gave me a wheel to move up toward the end of the race but I didnt react quickly enough to grab it.... I'm thankful I missed it, because on the next lap the Colavita girl next to Leslie went into the corner too hot and cooked it. (no pun intended) (but it is kinda funny). I got caught up in the melee that followed that incident, but managed to stay upright and finish it out in ... 48th. I dont care about that number - I already won my race since I managed to not get taken out in the frantic last two laps. Once again, Leslie scored a top 15. I have GOT to learn to close a race like she does ...

When Common Sense Eludes Us

I debated on writing this in the first person or as a collective - I decided that since I know many of the cyclists in this region and I know for a fact that I'm not the only one with this problem, collective was the way to go. If you happen to be the one sane-cyclist (oxymoron?) among us, please humor me.

We cyclists are not known for our self control. Like I mentioned in a previous post on the Team CycleLife blog, I'm like the greyhound chasing the mechanical rabbit: it doesn't matter if it doesn't make sense, when something moves in a race, I'm going to chase it. Thank goodness I found some rockstar teammates that can capitalize on my lack of self control. We are equally stupid on another front - our health. Yes, I know we all try to eat right (despite Ice Cream being my favorite food group). Yes, I know we exercise religiously - to the point of OCD. Yes, I know we dont really drink or party - except the young-uns that can do that crap and still hand us our arses in a race. As you can tell from my first blog post, Friday nights usually consist of gathering gear, clothing and food for the next day's event.

But when we're sick, we pretend it doesn't exist. We can be running a fever, coughing up lungs or nursing a broken wrist, but we still think that we can go out and race. (photo courtesy of demoncats; note Lance, who broke his left wrist the day before this race). I liken this to selective hearing - we hear our calling to train, to eat and drink the right things etc, but we miss that calling that says - Hey Stupid ... You're Sick. Its a Long Season. DO NOT DO THE TRAINING RACE TONIGHT.

Another reason I am writing this as a collective is that it makes me feel better about my stupidity. Hey, if everyone else is doing it, isn't it less-stupid ? So, last night I made the trek down to Greenbelt, where I've been playing with the boys the last few weeks with decent results. I am glad that they know that I can play on a normal day, because last night was a sad, sad performance. It was damp and cool, which probably helped the cold that I pretended I didn't have. A quick warmup told me I was going to suffer, but hey, I just did two hard races last weekend so of course I should be tired. Rationalization: the key to every cyclist's training regimen. An Evo guy (Kyle) took off from the gun and got a huge gap on us - no one seemed to be chasing so, of course, I stood up and took off. No idea what happened behind me, I looked back after the turn and saw that I had a good gap with one chaser. Thank goodness for Rt 1-guy who caught me and gave me a wheel. We were closing on the hill but I saw the pack closing on us, so I sat up. And coughed up a lung as I drifted toward the back. The Evo guy also drifted back and I silently cursed him for jumping (because I have no self control) - it was silent cursing because I could barely breathe.

I managed to recover as the pace slowed. Surrogate teammate Lance started driving the pace and that was it... finally sat up and sat out for a lap. Because I still lacked the common sense to call it a day. The A-guys passed and kind of eyed me up - yes, I know, I shouldn't have gotten shelled from the B race. Happens to the best of us. I jumped back in. I sat in for a lap. This was easy ! Maybe I just needed some recovery from the flyer. Then the whole not-breathing thing kicked in again. Not so easy. Finally pulled myself with 2 to go. As I slowly rolled through the parking lot, people were hacking, sneezing and generally being sick ... I was NOT the only one that attempted to ignore my health. Yes, that made me feel better.

Today I am working from home in an attempt to save my coworkers from contracting my cold and, more importantly, to rest up for this weekend's big races. On the former point, I'm thoroughly annoyed at people who come into work for two or three days, hacking and blowing their nose all over the place, only to infect the rest of us. Employers give us "sick days" for a reason. Use them. Don't get the rest of us sick because you want to use your sick days as vacation days. Yes, I'm bitter, because this is the 2nd time this year that someone at work brought in something and it went through the whole office. Have some common sense, people. If you're not a cyclist, you have no excuse !!!

Playing with the Big Girls

So this weekend was my first NRC race of the year - Wilmington Grand Prix in DE. First, let me rant for a second over the fact that every freakin' year, a race in wilmington is held the day before a race in southern MD (previously Leonardtown, this year was Southern MD Crit) ... it hurts my heart to kill that many dead dinosaurs in one weekend. Anyhoo.

Since my NRC experiences last year were less than good (don't get me started on my training issues in 2007), this was a big deal to me. I'm starting to come on strong as my training is progressing, but this was the big test. Someone told me there were about 60 women lined up for the race, with teams like Advil, Cheerwine, TIBCO and Juice-Plus showing up in force. Michelle and I discussed whether it was just us or does Juice-Plus sound like something we shouldn't be doing per the rules in competitive cycling? I digress. I had a good spot on the start line but, alas, that wasn't the start line. That was the pre-start line where they call up riders for the start, then we all fight and finagle our way to a dreadful, back of the pack starting spot. Sweet. My girl Leslie Jennings, being the rockstar that she is, got a call up, which was super cool - she was stressing her starting position and wound up first on the line.

Michelle had a great spot, too, and when they blew the whistle I had enough time to look up and see her jumping into a top spot as I was fighting to find my pedal. Seriously, don't we do this enough that we shouldn't be missing pedals in the middle of the season ? So, as per usual, I got a crap start and had to chase back through the field to get in good position. The first two corners were fast, which was great for me. Line up on the outside so you can swing wide and pass all the girls who got pinched on the inside. Done. The backstretch was a long wind-tunnel. The trick was to quickly get from the outside of the turn to the inside of the straight to get wind-protection from the pack. Then get back on the outside for the turn into the uphill and hold it there through the slow 4th turn. If you were in the back for the 4th turn, you're screwed - everyone jumps on the long straight-away on the way to start/finish. I know this because it happened to me a couple of times and I silently cursed myself for being in bad position every time. At least I think it was silent cursing ...

By the 3rd or 4th lap, I was sitting pretty in top 10, which was my goal for this race - try to stay near the front instead of yo-yo-ing off the back only to get dropped. At one point I started following wheels and found myself in a 3-woman break with Susanna from LSV - who, incidentally, is riding like she means it this year. I was kind of giggling to myself -as much as you can giggle in zone 12 - thinking ... WTF ? I'm in a break in an NRC race ? Of course, it was short-lived and I wasn't about to do anything stupid like kill myself to try to stay away ... 'cause that would be .... stupid. I drifted back through the pack as the counter went and unfortunately found myself about 4 riders back as the field split. On the windy backstretch. I started to chase but realized that there were only about 15 riders up there, so there HAD to be more behind me.

As a few riders trickled by, we formed a group and got to moving again. HPC apparently got left out of the split - which was the chase group by this time as rock-star Laura Van Gilder went off with Advil and Juice-Plus - and started working to bring it back. I sat on. Despite being heckled to pull through. I will never be accused of not doing my work in a race (I'm not a sprinter so sitting in and sprinting isn't exactly a good thing for me), but in an NRC race, I've got no business trying to be a hero. Sonja from C3 came through pretty hard and would essentially drop us on the uphill between turns 3 & 4, but we'd catch back up to her on the long frontstretch. HPC and Sonja did a ton of work (yes, I pulled through a couple times, as did some other riders) to pull things back together and we were back in the mix with about 10 laps to go. By the way, at one point in the middle of the race I made the mistake of looking at the lap cards ... it said 21 laps to go. I believe I audibly whimpered when I realized I wasn't even halfway through the race.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch - I mean up in the front pack, Leslie had been quietly hanging out. By hanging out, I mean pedaling her arse off. I knew she was up there and when we made contact with them I made a point to let her know I was there. Not like I had a whole bunch left to help her in the finish. The lead-3 were away, never to be seen by the peloton again. But when we joined the chase group, I was disappointed to see that we were a huge group. I guess the race was easier than I thought and everyone else stayed in ? More on that in a second. I moved up through the pack and found myself once again in the top-15 or so, holding steady. I had found a groove where I could expend as little energy as possible on the back-stretch and through the corners and yo-yo through the field fairly easily. I was feeling pretty good and a little anxious about the finish. With 2 to go, a Hub rider (unbeknownst to me, she was lapped) decided to try the same tactics on the backside of the course and cut me off in the corner - then proceeded to fade and gap me off the field. EFF !!! I chased the whole last lap, finally making contact in turn 3, only to have to jump out of turn 4. I just didnt have it - the heart, the legs or the lungs. I sat up and smiled as I coasted in - still annoyed by aforementioned Hub rider but very happy in my first NRC performance of the year. No ill-will meant toward Hub rider - we've all made the over-ambitious mistake at some time or another.

Now, back to that huge field I observed when we rejoined the chase group. About half of those riders were lapped riders. Teammate Robin, cheering on the sidelines, told me afterward. It made me feel better that it was NOT an easy race. Anyway, I understand wanting to give us locals a fighting chance to play with the big-girls, but if the lapped riders don't have enough sense to stay out of the finishing melee, they should be pulled. My opinion - and believe me, I've been that lapped rider that was pulled (and was usually thankful to be put out of my misery).

The great news is that I finished in the $$ - 23rd in an NRC race ! I was super stoked with the finish and with the race overall. Tell that to my coach, who commented on my numbers for the day:"it looks like you cracked about an hour in". Damn this sport anyway - good is never quite good enough !!

Cheers to all the local girls who done good - our number 1 fan, Lance (ABRT), who had his own issues in the 3/4 race, said it was one of the best womens races he's seen. It was safe, it was fast and I was proud to be a part of it. Awesome.

Environmentally Conscious - Sort of

As someone who enjoys the great outdoors (cycling, running, hiking ... you get the picture), I try my hardest to be at least environmentally conscious, if not environmentally conservative. Yes, for those of you that know me, I realize that driving a small SUV does not qualify under environmentally-anything. This is why I struggle with the concept. My BMW is convenient, comfortable and, more importantly, can fit 3 bikes and 3 people INSIDE. Again, if you know me, you know I am adverse to my bike being outside my car when traveling. So, I struggle to find ways to manage my addiction to convenience vs damage to the environment.

Arch McKown, former President of all things great in cycling (Team Snow Valley, now ABRT/Latitude), referred me to TerraPass - a carbon offset program where you can basically "buy" your way out of environmental guilt. That worked for a little while.

Then DC Velo made the huge move to include GREEN on their kits ... in the form of the Clean Currents logo. This wasn't just a logo for them, though - Clean Currents gathered data and donated clean energy credits to make the DC Velo events carbon neutral ! I thought that was pretty cool, seeing that we cyclists try to be "green" but we burn a ton of energy getting to and from events.

With all of this inspiration, I considered riding my bicycle to work in Fells Point. Unfortunately, I'd have to go through some pretty ... interesting ... neighborhoods so I quickly nixed that idea. Carpooling, while a good idea, is just not an option for someone as independent as I am. Since Baltimore missed the boat on mass-transit, thats out of the question. I considered - briefly - trading in my car for a hybrid ... but I'm not convinced that hybrids are the answer. The energy it takes to make them and then the uncertainty in how to dispose of the hybrid batteries makes me a little leery of declaring them "environmentally conservative". Besides. When I test drove the prius, they told me that seat-warmers were not an option.

Instead, I bought a Vespa. Yes, a scooter. And I love it. I've been scooting to work for about two weeks now (weather permitting). I actually got the scooter in early February, but its more of a warm-weather thing ... so last month, Tom Buzas at Battley Harley patiently helped me pick out a helmet and I was on my way. I figure if I scoot to work 2-3 times a week (not wednesdays, since I can't carry my bike on the scooter to get to greenbelt) I'll save $25+/week in gas. Yes, I'm an accountant, so I've done the math. Pretty cool if you ask me.

As a side note - I did have to get my motorcycle license and tag/insure the bike since its a 200cc motor (required for anything above 49cc - ie for anything that goes more than 30mph without you pedaling it). The instructors at motorcycle class could immediately tell that I was a cyclist - the skills to corner transfer nicely.

Another side note- No, I do not offer motopacing ... at least not for the competition !

Good Fun - cool weather, broken spokes & flat tubulars

First - thanks to AVC for yet another great race at a cool new venue. Nothing but positive feedback - the course was fun, fast and safe ... after Pot-hole Poolesville, we would have been happy with just about anything - but Fort Ritchie was a fantastic surprise.

Michelle and I planned to get in a good ride Sunday morning before the monsoon began. We both had family obligations for Mother's Day (yes, there is life off the bike!) so that made for an early start to the day. Michelle owes me one, 'cause I got up at o'dark thirty (click here for a pic of o'dark thirty) to make my way to her place for the ride. Somehow, despite the fact that it is MID MAY, we still had to pile on layers. Legwarmers. UnderArmour. WHAT ? What happened to spring ?

Its an amazing thing that happens around this time of year. Yes, I know it was in the 50s yesterday. Yes, I know we happily trained in temps in the 20s and 30s (masochists) during the winter. Yes, I know we should be thankful for 50s. But NO. I wasn't. And I won't be. I found myself considering an indoor workout instead of "braving" the "cold" temps. I think I have met my capacity for layering up, psyching myself up and physically getting up for a cold ride. This is the real reason I drove to the Frat House to ride - if I hadn't, I might not have ridden outside. When people found out that little tidbit of info, they'd point and laugh and maybe even call me a sissy.

So, we polished off our coffee and clipped in for a relatively low-key ride. Riding through RCP, I thought I caught a stick in my wheel and stopped to adjust my magnet - what I thought was the source of the "ting - ting - ting" noise I heard after running over aforementioned stick. Much to my chagrin, I actually broke a spoke. Seriously ?

Luckily, we were less than a mile from The Bicycle Place. Michelle used to work at TBP - its good to "know people"... we were able to drop off the broken wheel, borrow a non-broken wheel and get back on our way. The timing couldn't have been better for two reasons: first, the spoke had punctured my tubular (go ahead, ask why I was training on tubulars) and my tire was going flat as we pulled into the shop. Second, TBP ride was just gathering, so the shop was actually open on a Sunday morning. As an added benefit, we got to see Aziz (DC Velo), Beth and a couple of her new C3 teammates, and Eli (Harley) as we were passing through. I have never done TBP ride and had no idea that it was so popular - I wished we had time to go play with everyone but family duties called ... gotta chalk up brownie points while I can since they forget what I look like during race season.

Lessons learned:

- throwing a spoke sounds very similar to running over a stick.
- its good to know people. or to know people who know people.
- Mike at The Bicycle Place is super-awesome-cool.
- i should check out different rides in the area.
- training on tubulars is brave. or stupid. either way. (Not really a lesson learned, i already know that. circumstances beyond my control. but still.)

Blog Debut

Okay, I've finally done it. All the cool kids seem to have blogs and I'm sitting here at 9pm on a friday night so ... why not ? Its okay, dont feel bad for me because I'm plain-jane with no Friday night-life. Fort Ritchie race is tomorrow and since it takes oh- an hour and a half each way to get there and then we get to race somewhere in between - probably in the rain ... I thought maybe a calm Friday night was a good thing. Besides, I feel like I've been sitting in traffic all freaking day so its good to sit down in the comfort of my own home. This was my view this morning on 495, heading to Springfield. That pretty well sums up my day.

You'll note my Garmin and a little rabbit hanging out to the left (and my windshield wiper doing its job) - Garmin is to get me to where I'm going (I get lost in shopping malls. True story) and the rabbit is Simon. I found Simon one day when I was aimlessly riding my bike in Ellicott City. Feeling a little dejected at the time, I wasn't sure where I was going - literally or figuratively. I saw Simon lying on the side of the road and picked him up, cleaned (and sanitized!) him and he's been hanging out with me ever since. I know. I'm such a girl about some things.

Anyhoo, I'm not exactly sure where I'm going to head with this blog - its more of an experiment of sorts. I've been silently lurking the blogs of Melanie, Beth and Christina, amongst others, and since I like to write, I love to share with others and I like to hear feedback, this could be the beginning of something beautiful. Lets all hope !

Fort Ritchie tomorrow, then an early training ride before Mother's Day celebrations with the family. Its not such a bad life.