I have been fortunate enough to land a pretty sweet gig helping out with the routing and signs crew at the Amgen Tour of California.
I had absolutely no idea what I was going to be in for - all I knew was that I'd likely be in one of the follow cars and the crew essentially set up and tore down courses. I figured - why not? I've never been to CA and being behind the scenes of a pro-race could be really cool. So, here I am, typing this right now on my phone from a quaint little lodge in South Tahoe on the eve of the first stage.
The trip out went as expected. Spending 8hrs - a full workday- playing planes, trains and automobiles is enough to make anyone lose some personality. I did have a partner in crime to travel with, but he spent most of the plane ride(s) trying to sleep. The one moment of panic came after we were already in the air on the first flight. I knew our connection was in Denver but the pilot welcomed us to 'a non-stop to St. Louis'. At that point there was nothing to be done but I wondered how the super-duper security at BWI could possibly let us get on the wrong flight. Eventually we asked the stewardess (that had as much personality as those bland, processed cookies she was handing out) who looked at us like we were crazy but assured us we were on the right flight.
As an aside, when did airlines start hawking Monster energy drinks?
An hour layover in Denver gave us enough time to grab lunch and off we went to Reno. I walked out of the walkway into the airport and didn't go 10 ft before seeing the first set of slot machines. Welcome to Nevada! We both had a couple of quarters and figured we'd drop one in. Hey, when in Rome, right? Then we realized these slot machines don't take coins - what is this world coming to!?!?
Fast forward to meeting up with the rest of our 8-man crew ... great bunch of people with a collective wicked sense of humor. This is going to be fun!
Pick up official clothing. Pick up credentials. Sign forms for driving rental vehicles (in our case, brand new F150s). Start loading the gazillion signs and posts etc we'd need. Finally food was in order so we went to the hotel casino/restaurant ... I forget how lucky we are in our area that you can't smoke indoors ... by the time we were finished, it was 1230am local time - 330 my time and I was fading fast.
I can't figure out how to post pics via phone yet ... day 2 update tomorrow.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
The Ride That Wasn't
Those that know me well can say a lot of things about me (disclaimer: nothing they say is binding in a court of law), but the one thing everyone knows is that I am super-disciplined when it comes to my workouts. I have been known to rise in the mornings long before the proverbial roosters crow and stay up way past my witching hour to fit in a workout. During my tenure on my previous women's team, I was usually one of the instigators of outdoor rides despite the cold winter weather. When teammates or friends join me for a ride in my neck of the woods, they know to be prepared for an epic journey.
The dusting of snow on Saturday prevented my weekly 65mile (+/-) ride ... we all know I've hit the deck a few too many times in the recent years and I'm so not going to tempt fate. The second the words ice or snow are uttered, I'm out. A two hour ride on my rollers (have I mentioned lately how rockstar my e-motion rollers are?) gets the job done but it's just not quite the same as hauling my off-season bum over the hills, so I was bound and determined to get in the weekly ride with my unnamed training partner on Sunday.
Yeah, I knew it was going to be cold, but I'm tough. Yes, being cold is one of my least favorite things in the world, perhaps second only to lack of sleep (that's not just bad for me, that's bad for everyone in my path). Dammit, I was going to get my ride in.
I arrive at our meeting point at 10am, as planned, completely ignoring the thermometer on my car that reads 24degrees. I commence putting the wheel on my bike, resetting the SRM, layering the vaseline on my feet and my face, breaking out toe-warmers and hand-warmers. There is a nagging voice in my head (one of many) that reminds me that my "Oh-Hell-No" temperature was 32degrees. I ignore the voices. My partner-in-crime is going through the same motions and neither of us say a word. Neither of us want to be the one to call it.
So, off we go, stubborn pride and sheer idiocy intact. Did I mention the wind on Sunday morning? Looking at the weather afterward, windchills were in the low teens. WAY below my Oh-Hell-No limit. No words are exchanged but I'm thinking that this little jaunt is going to be a death-march from the get. We are about 5mins down the road and I am already losing my fingers to the cold. That's with 2 layers of gloves (including a wind-proof layer) and a hand-warmer. I finally break the silence with "You know this is insanity, right". Response: "Yep". About two minutes later I call it. Something to the effect of "This is stupid. What the hell are we doing? I'm already losing my hands and we're not 10mins into this ride."
We loop around and head back to the cars. Good thing because it took me the whole drive home to get full feeling back in my hands. Who the hell suits up for a friggin' bike ride in 14degrees? Who do I think I am??!
I take off my bike shoes to drive (also remembered to take off the helmet - I've found people look at you funny if you're wearing a bike helmet while driving a car. Not that I know that from experience or anything), head back to the warm heat of my house and my beloved rollers. I pop in a fantastic Spinervals workout - Have Mercy. It's fantastic because it features workouts from various Spinervals videos from the beginning so the bikes, the kits and the hair-do's are all entertaining. You can catch several local hot rods in all their trainer-glory. And it's a killer workout. I go from frostbite to melting - sweating buckets. This is funny because I had a thin layer of vaseline on my face, anticipating windburn on a cold winter ride (as an aside, it also helps snot slide off your face if the occasion comes up). Indoors, the vaseline simply lets sweat slide down your face in sheets. Then you wipe your face with a towel and things get real nice and gooey.
Two hours later, having switched over to the Ravens game after 1hour of the workout video, I was toast. 4hours on the rollers in one weekend is more than enough. During that time, I made peace with my inner-idiot and decided that this one was out of my control (I can't tell you how painful it is to say something is out of my control ... really). So there you have it, the ride that wasn't.
The dusting of snow on Saturday prevented my weekly 65mile (+/-) ride ... we all know I've hit the deck a few too many times in the recent years and I'm so not going to tempt fate. The second the words ice or snow are uttered, I'm out. A two hour ride on my rollers (have I mentioned lately how rockstar my e-motion rollers are?) gets the job done but it's just not quite the same as hauling my off-season bum over the hills, so I was bound and determined to get in the weekly ride with my unnamed training partner on Sunday.
Yeah, I knew it was going to be cold, but I'm tough. Yes, being cold is one of my least favorite things in the world, perhaps second only to lack of sleep (that's not just bad for me, that's bad for everyone in my path). Dammit, I was going to get my ride in.
I arrive at our meeting point at 10am, as planned, completely ignoring the thermometer on my car that reads 24degrees. I commence putting the wheel on my bike, resetting the SRM, layering the vaseline on my feet and my face, breaking out toe-warmers and hand-warmers. There is a nagging voice in my head (one of many) that reminds me that my "Oh-Hell-No" temperature was 32degrees. I ignore the voices. My partner-in-crime is going through the same motions and neither of us say a word. Neither of us want to be the one to call it.
So, off we go, stubborn pride and sheer idiocy intact. Did I mention the wind on Sunday morning? Looking at the weather afterward, windchills were in the low teens. WAY below my Oh-Hell-No limit. No words are exchanged but I'm thinking that this little jaunt is going to be a death-march from the get. We are about 5mins down the road and I am already losing my fingers to the cold. That's with 2 layers of gloves (including a wind-proof layer) and a hand-warmer. I finally break the silence with "You know this is insanity, right". Response: "Yep". About two minutes later I call it. Something to the effect of "This is stupid. What the hell are we doing? I'm already losing my hands and we're not 10mins into this ride."
We loop around and head back to the cars. Good thing because it took me the whole drive home to get full feeling back in my hands. Who the hell suits up for a friggin' bike ride in 14degrees? Who do I think I am??!
I take off my bike shoes to drive (also remembered to take off the helmet - I've found people look at you funny if you're wearing a bike helmet while driving a car. Not that I know that from experience or anything), head back to the warm heat of my house and my beloved rollers. I pop in a fantastic Spinervals workout - Have Mercy. It's fantastic because it features workouts from various Spinervals videos from the beginning so the bikes, the kits and the hair-do's are all entertaining. You can catch several local hot rods in all their trainer-glory. And it's a killer workout. I go from frostbite to melting - sweating buckets. This is funny because I had a thin layer of vaseline on my face, anticipating windburn on a cold winter ride (as an aside, it also helps snot slide off your face if the occasion comes up). Indoors, the vaseline simply lets sweat slide down your face in sheets. Then you wipe your face with a towel and things get real nice and gooey.
Two hours later, having switched over to the Ravens game after 1hour of the workout video, I was toast. 4hours on the rollers in one weekend is more than enough. During that time, I made peace with my inner-idiot and decided that this one was out of my control (I can't tell you how painful it is to say something is out of my control ... really). So there you have it, the ride that wasn't.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Riding My Way into 2011
Happy New Year !
I was lucky enough to end one year and begin another in the best possible way - on the bike ! A short (too short) trip to NC this weekend found me riding on Friday in knee-warmers and arm-warmers, quite a shift from the Michelin man look we've all been sporting these past few weeks in the DC/MD/VA area. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to ride WITH Ken and his friends - a great group of guys. 60+ miles in 60+ degrees is near heaven this time of year. After a quick nap, a 2-hr yoga session with Laura helped to work things back into place seeing as I hadn't done a good, hard ride like that in weeks.
You could tell that our New Years Eve crew was comprised of mostly cyclists - everyone was either betting that someone else wouldn't make the early ride (8:15) or they were goading each other into more alcohol to make sure the later ride (10:15) would hurt. We kept it pretty low-key but had a great time. After a 3+hr ride and 2hrs of yoga, I knew I would be no good if I started drinking so I was in fine shape for the New Years Day ride. At least as far as hydration goes. I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I suffered toward the end of the 40 miles - many thanks to Louie and Chris for limping home with me.
After a cluster of a drive out of DC on Thursday (don't ask), I decided to head home on Saturday to avoid the return-to-work exodus on Sunday. It was a good move - traffic was nearly non-existent until I hit Quantico and even then it wasn't bad. As an aside, why - oh, why - do people insist on riding in the fast lane when people are passing on the right ? Why do they pace the middle-lane cars who are doing the same ? And, if there's no one in the TWO right lanes, why is everyone in the left lane ? It was amazing to watch traffic stack up behind these drivers - I honestly spent a majority of my drive time in the right lane to avoid them !
Yesterday I joined with an un-named rider for my 65mile loop out of Howard County to Frederick County. The weather forecast said rain until 10am but it rained well into the 11 o'clock hour. Didn't matter - it was warm enough to start and we both wanted a good ride so off we went, even in the light rain. That came back to haunt me as we were finishing up - temps were dropping and I couldn't feel my feet. Another half hour or so and things might've gone in a bad direction. As it was, we finished the ride almost the exact same time as the last time we did it (almost a month ago) ... that doesn't sound like much, but given the prior two days of riding/yoga/riding/traveling, I was pretty darn impressed with myself. I'm not going fast yet, but I don't have to - I just have to "go" right now. About 170 miles - all up and down, nothing flat - in 3 days to end 2010 and start 2011.
I'll take it.
I was lucky enough to end one year and begin another in the best possible way - on the bike ! A short (too short) trip to NC this weekend found me riding on Friday in knee-warmers and arm-warmers, quite a shift from the Michelin man look we've all been sporting these past few weeks in the DC/MD/VA area. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to ride WITH Ken and his friends - a great group of guys. 60+ miles in 60+ degrees is near heaven this time of year. After a quick nap, a 2-hr yoga session with Laura helped to work things back into place seeing as I hadn't done a good, hard ride like that in weeks.
You could tell that our New Years Eve crew was comprised of mostly cyclists - everyone was either betting that someone else wouldn't make the early ride (8:15) or they were goading each other into more alcohol to make sure the later ride (10:15) would hurt. We kept it pretty low-key but had a great time. After a 3+hr ride and 2hrs of yoga, I knew I would be no good if I started drinking so I was in fine shape for the New Years Day ride. At least as far as hydration goes. I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I suffered toward the end of the 40 miles - many thanks to Louie and Chris for limping home with me.
After a cluster of a drive out of DC on Thursday (don't ask), I decided to head home on Saturday to avoid the return-to-work exodus on Sunday. It was a good move - traffic was nearly non-existent until I hit Quantico and even then it wasn't bad. As an aside, why - oh, why - do people insist on riding in the fast lane when people are passing on the right ? Why do they pace the middle-lane cars who are doing the same ? And, if there's no one in the TWO right lanes, why is everyone in the left lane ? It was amazing to watch traffic stack up behind these drivers - I honestly spent a majority of my drive time in the right lane to avoid them !
Yesterday I joined with an un-named rider for my 65mile loop out of Howard County to Frederick County. The weather forecast said rain until 10am but it rained well into the 11 o'clock hour. Didn't matter - it was warm enough to start and we both wanted a good ride so off we went, even in the light rain. That came back to haunt me as we were finishing up - temps were dropping and I couldn't feel my feet. Another half hour or so and things might've gone in a bad direction. As it was, we finished the ride almost the exact same time as the last time we did it (almost a month ago) ... that doesn't sound like much, but given the prior two days of riding/yoga/riding/traveling, I was pretty darn impressed with myself. I'm not going fast yet, but I don't have to - I just have to "go" right now. About 170 miles - all up and down, nothing flat - in 3 days to end 2010 and start 2011.
I'll take it.
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