Joy on Bike

Photo Dump

2012-01-04T20:36:00.000-08:00

This weirdest thing happened when I connected my phone to my laptop tonight. A ton of pictures from the whole year showed up. And I had a few laughs. And winces. And just a bit of cheer.

What started as a dinner with friends, ended with this cake:

Brian proposed, and the celebrators didn't want to spoil the surprise (or what if I said no?!). And good luck we have had!

There was a bridal shower:

Where my friends from work came to celebrate with me. Even though I had quit work...I swear, one day I will blog about that and my new awesome endeavors...

This is one of my favorite pictures of Brian, ever! We totally tricked him into a photo shoot.

And then we cropped the CashCall Cycling socks out of the picture.

Riding my bike around town, I found the perfect spot to get married. The Lincoln Shrine.

Supposedly it was 103 degrees that day. But I don't remember. And Neil's pants were super short and his vest abnormally tight. And my bridesmaids were off the hook hawt. Note to self: When you allow them to select a "small black dress" and "shoes to match" they may out stage you. Just maybe. Those chicks have legs for days.

But it sure as heck beats the dress I had picked out. Paige was a good sport for at least one photo though. i still have them if you would like to buy them for the next quinceanera you are going to attend.

But before the wedding madness, we went on a trip. North to Boise then west to Bend OR.

The "Boys" as I like to call them, sure had fun with Brian's ability to sleep anywhere, anytime. And wake up bouncing off the walls. Mid Cascade Classic course recon in the sprinter van.

A photo stop a-top McKinzey Pass with Team CashCall...family in the making. And we had found snow.

Rewind even farther to base training last season and the memo Brian had put on my top tube:

SMASH BLVD and Dream Redlands. Eroded away by hours of training in rain, spilling electrolytes and sweat pouring off my nose.

I am most certain this badge of courage came from the Redlands Classic, man that thing lingered quite some time, great for conversation in health class watching the healing process.

The Classic also left me with a scapula that didn't want to rotate or move up and down. After my 3rd mid-race left side crash, Brian just stared and shook his head. Muttering, "Man my chick is sturdy. I can't believe she hasn't broken anything yet." In due time dear, due time.

This little guy healed so awesome, it looks like a heart. I asked Paige to Tat it up for me the day before the wedding. So funny because a lot of people actually thought I got it tattooed. Maybe for our 5yr anniversary. "BMc's Angel"

Closing shot. Just because I think its cool. Maybe I will find more photos to share for next time...

The kids are growing up!

2011-12-20T10:27:00.000-08:00

I used the wrong password to log into my blog. Twice. Life is full. And I am happy! I have been keeping up with other peoples blogs however, and I have been more than impressed and motivated by the blogs of some of my "kids." I'm friends with many of my former students and they keep me in the loop on their happenings, and they are too cool to not share!! Their journeys are all over the globe and each has its own flair and unique personality.

Kid sister PAIGE is in Lithuania as we speak! She went to her semester abroad a week late due to a certain wedding she was in and helping organize. :-) Her blog is intriguing, comical, educational and has SO Many awesome photos!

The Runner SARAH EMOTO was in my PE classes for years and I knew she was one who would stick with running and exercise in general. One Saturday while I was on the bike, I saw Sarah running solo and I knew I had earned my paycheck. Then I heard she was running from LA to DC. 3,000 miles later her voyage is complete. Read her story, her motivation to honor fallen heros and where the journey took her.

KYLE might be turning into a hippee. From rock climbing to snow boarding to living out of a tent in Yosemite to athlete extraordinaire, Kyle is truly living life. His photos make you want to go outside and find color and inspiration even in the bleakest of landscapes.

CARLY went to Nepal and embraced the culture to the fullest. Being a student at Point Loma University, she won the grand prize in a photo contest and you will see why with one peak at her blog.

And onto a peak at Brian's and my honeymoon...

Back in September, we went on a trip. And now that we have beat the Kardashian time-line, we know we are golden! We arrived in Jackson ready to hike our heels off, forgetting we were at 6k+ feet and although we were quite fit coming off the end of the race season, we do not have any form of walking, let alone hiking fitness. And these things do not manifest themselves until you complete the 2nd 9 mile hike at elevation.

Brian REALLY!!! wanted to see a bear. He looked for them everywhere. This sign stated one had been in the area the week before. He was pumped to say the least.

*Note his hiking attire. We were odd-man-out in these woods. Everyone looked like they fell off of an LL Bean catalog page complete with walking poles, pants that zip off into shorts, canteens, UV proof $90 shirts, and those hats with the weird cloth-mullet things. They most likely had food for 7 in their backpacks and an emergency blanket. For their 3 mile hike. We had shorts and t-shirts and whenever we saw a sign that said "1.5 miles to the lookout" we took it! Ouch...

This is the first ever self-portrait photo I have taken. Doesn't do the Tetons or glacial lake justice...

Storms looming over the Tetons, again, iPhone not so up to par with showing what it REALLY looked like!

At our cozy cottage inn, Brian did a bit of reading as I drank copious amounts of coffee....

The only bear we found...

Then we went to Yellowstone, but that's a whole other story in and of itself.

Firestone Flashbacks

2011-11-03T19:37:00.000-07:00

This is how you get through a 24 hour race. Yup. Coffee brewed in the pasture.

Our little home. So much food!

I took no videos, I took a few photos. Our 5 person team was trimmed down to 3 the morning of the event. Lets just say the boys didn't want to play. This left all the dirty work up to us. Me, Suzanne Sonye and Ina Teutenberg.

Thankfully it was really hot during the day. That sounds weird. But that meant that the night was tolerable. The fire pits got us all nice and toasty to go back out on the course where I got away with a long sleeve jersey and my bib shorts! Awesome!!

The course was so much fun! I have raced here so many times, I knew every part of the route! Although it was all linked together differently than before, and the cow-path breaking bumps were super rough by 3am! But I saw the tree that knocked Adam out, the switchbacks where Georgia Gould got heat stroke in 2008, the other set of switchbacks that Heather Ranoa lost her breaks and came screaming and carrenaing towards us in 2009. Lots of great memories of all my mountain bike friends!

Us gals kept it together, railing good times and having a blast until around 3:30am. Well back it up. I had 2 laps from roughly 12-2am and on lap 2, I passed a rider with double flats and zero lights. I said my usual "good job, have fun" and kept riding. Jerk!! I stopped and rode back up the trail to give the guy one of my lights. As soon as I started to head back down the single track POOF...there went my remaining light. Good thing I know that course so well! That was a fun descent and traverse back to the pits!

Then I finally hit a wall. If you know me well, you know how much I like my SLEEP!!! I had a 4am wake up call on Saturday to drive 3.5 hours to the event. I was cracked in every way. Trying to keep it together, I just lay down in the back of my Subaru on my camping pad with my sleeping bag and hatch open. And I passed out. One of those shaking-sleeps from massive stacked up fatigue. By that point I had ridden 6 laps, well over 60 miles and 6k of climbing and was beat.

But I didn't have enough time. Poor Ina shook my foot and said she had thought I was lost, because who in fact would sleep in an open car? My time to ride was close and she had made coffee, although it wouldn't stay hot long! Ugh. I couldn't do it! We decided to take an hour off and she was out on the trails again before sun up. My lucky straw got me the first laps, sundown lap and sun-up lap. So rad! Beautiful valley and sky, worth the effort!

We finished the day 22 laps ridden in 24 hours! Ina and I both did 8 and Suze did 6, one more than she did last year on a 5 person team! She got to ride that 6th lap in perfect temps in the nice crisp morning. Perfect!

Post race was the hardest for me. It was hot and no shade to be found. I was completely cracked and emptying all liquids I could find. Water, Coke, Gatorade. And sitting on a stump licking the crumbs out of the triscuit bag, I just couldn't get enough salt!!

Although waiting in the heat/sun was rough, have you ever put ice cold chamois cream on at 4am?!?! Hmmmm????!!!

And then the drive home started...

I went to my most favorite eatery, Ellen's Danish Pancakes to throw me in a food coma right off the bat.

Which quickly forced me to pull off the freeway for a power nap, waking only to the horrid thought of "Oh crap, I have 3 hours to drive solo. I CAN'T GO ON!!!" Despite all hardships, I made it home just in time for Brian to play pizza delivery boy! I had been thinking about this very piece of pie since 2am!

Yes, I promise to start eating better. Yesterday.

It seems I keep finding myself in oddly broken states with some amazing athletes and mentors, not to say movers in the sport for women. Ina and Suze were amazing teammates for the day and I continue to learn about the many layers of cycling, racing, competing and being stand up women for the sport, and in the sport. Thank you girls!

Exciting Times Ahead!

2011-10-26T19:14:00.000-07:00

I know, I know. My blogging is total weak sauce. But seriously, these days are flying by and I am having a hard time staying on track!!

Big Wheel Coaching is picking up momentum and November is packed with seminars, certifications and meetings. Looks like I will be out of town 50% of the month! That is something I am going to have to get used to for sure. I am becoming quite the home-body but looking forward to some high quality "host-housing" next month and lots of learning!!

But before we reach November, we are going to sign off on October with style!! Friday I get to fight my "eating and driving" traffic ticket in the San Bernardino court and head off to last minute race prep.

Destination: 24 Hours of Halloween! In Los Olivos which means I get to eat at Ellen's Danish Pancakes, at least one time!! Woohoo! I raced here a ton when it was a national event, but its been a few years for sure! Looking forward to the dust, bumpy cow paths and lots of fun!

The Team: This will be my one and only mountain bike race for 2011. Yikes! Barely getting it on the calendar! Thankfully, I won't be doing lap after lap after lap solo. I am on a 5 person coed team which promises to be highly entertaining and pretty dang fast. I asked "How serious are we taking this?" Answer: "We like to win." Got it. So Suzanne Sonye, Rahsaan Bahati, Ina Teutenberg, William Buckley, and well, me. I have been practicing my MTBing and feeling pretty sporty with it. Doesn't hurt that I picked up (Thanks Uncle!) a new Trek Superfly 100 which will for sure make me amazing. :)

I am planning on lots of photos, videos and funny stuff to take place at the event which I will gladly share with the masses. In all seriousness though, I am really excited about the event. It has been a great motivator to get me out in the dirt again which I truly love. it is giving me the opportunity to meet new people and amazing people in our sport at that. I am very grateful for the opportunity!

I am also doing product reviews and taking my off the bike fitness very seriously. I am at a juncture where I can really change my cycling for the better. Addressing the "health" of my feet with eSoles, using Trigger Point Therapy on my muscles, and Melt Method balls for my feet is just the beginning. And what better to do while watching training/coaching webinars?

Reviews to come on my coaching website once I have used the tools for a few weeks!

Enjoy your the last week of October!

Q and A. With myself.

2011-09-26T12:34:00.000-07:00

When I slack off this long on blogging, the thought of a blog post is almost too overwhelming. There has been a wedding, honeymoon, job quit, business began, racing completed and recovery time had. So a brief Q and A will get me started today.

Q: Hey Joy, I heard you quit your job! You must be a) a house wife! b) a professional cyclist? c) You opened a bike shop! d) babies!

A: Yes, I have retired from teaching PE after 8 years. But ALL the assumptions of what I now do with my time are incorrect. Although I see myself as a trophy wife for sure, there is minimal cooking and cleaning involved. The professional cyclist idea is pretty cool, but I just completed my resume for 2011, and lets just say it's not gonna get me paid in 2012. Opening a bike shop would be ridiculous and Brian won't even let us get a puppy.

In late 2009 I began my own cycling coaching company, Big Wheel Coaching and I am now pursuing that dream full time and having a blast! I really feel scholastically challenged and find myself experiencing a lot of growth as an individual, elements I have been missing over the past few years. More (promise!!) to come regarding BWC in the next few days!

Q: Your married, right?

A: YES!!!! In the sprinter van en route from Bend to CA post Cascade Classic, I had a shock of a realization: I have 5 weeks to pull this wedding off! And BOOM! it happened!!

Slight car issues on the way to the ceremony! Right after this photo, Uncle Greg got the car started, subsequently COVERING my face with a spray of water.

There we are!! Who forgets to un-bussel their wedding dress?? ME! If that's as bad as it gets, I will take it!

Q: We heard you went to the Tetons and Yellowstone for your honeymoon. Who the heck does THAT!

A: WE DO! We a) don't like cities b) don't like crowds c) don't like the sun, sand or surf. We picked a spot we could go run around outside and see cool things, it worked out darn well!

We hiked high up into the Grand Tetons to find an awesome reflection, with no other people in sight!

Our Inn created AMAZING breakfast!!! I ate with regards only to taste, enjoyment, and until I was full. Or slightly beyond full.

Although we took a solid 2 weeks off the bikes, these cruisers kept us sane enough! We covered every inch of Jackson, WY to find the best sorbet in town.

Don't play with wild life!! Although we made a few videos mocking our lack of large game findings, we actually saw a ton of creatures!

Sundays you will find me at CycloCross races cheering for my friends and clients, working the pits and if I get tricked enough like yesterday, actually racing my bike! it's all in the name of work now and I am having a blast! Although the race yesterday was a quick kick to the gut, that maybe my lack of training since Cascade needs to be slightly bumped up. Once I got back from Cascade, Coach and I decided to put the heart monitor away and avoid structure. The local crit practice on Thursdays became my interval work and Sunday crits my intensity for the week. That was a vast, but highly important and needed, change from the majority of my extremely structured training and racing season. Since the wedding, I have taken a few weeks off the bike and finally wound up back in the gym, doing core and weight routines and even a TRX class or two. This time of the season is so fun, exploring new physical and mental potential!

This is what happens when Matt Breyer says: "Hey you should race tomorrow!" Me - Nope, I'm good! MB: "No, you should. It will be fun." Me - "OK. What time are we leaving?" Total push over.

Steel bike, great for upper body training!! Nobody said you had to get over these dang barriers nicely.

Doing work, as the Pit Boss for Breyer.

Racin' Days

2011-08-08T13:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we raced in Brentwood, the heart of LA (I think...) and it was rad. Over $1,000 in primes for the women, a state jersey on the line and $300 to the winner. We raced our bikes hard from start to finish, great to have a race like this locally and not have to travel to one of the larger stage races. I showed up tired, fatigued, with flat legs and didn't put any pressure on myself. Funny thing is that I got 10th, which is usual, with a much different physical approach to the event. Conclusion: It's all in the MIND. Speaking of the mind, Brian has purchased several Mental Toughness/motivational books on tape to prep us for next season. Or the impending horribly hard winter rides and lack of heat in the house.

A few weeks back Brian and I took a trial honeymoon. We traveled to Boise, ID for Boise Twilight then on to Bend OR for the Cascade Classic. With his whole cycling team. It worked perfect because the boys traveled in a sprinter van pulling a trailer and Paul and I rode in the mini-van. :)

As I have stated before with the stage races, i was sure a time would come that the minutia of each stage, lap and climb would begin to blend and at Cascade they in fact did. I chose to race this 6-day event solo since composite options were slim. It panned out perfectly with great support from CashCall and since I talk a lot, I have a lot of friends in the peloton who were gracious enough to offer me feeds and moral support.

I was elated to not have a single flat, bee sting, crash, bonk, freak out or any other mishap. It was a clean race. 6 days of built up fatigue and racing landed me a 40th GC out of 106 starters and a 30th place on the last stage, making me finally feel like I was racing my bicycle, not merely a passenger in the event. It was very encouraging to see fitness gains and again the adaptation of stage racing coming through and not having to sleep 3 hours after each stage and waking up actually alert and ready to rock. Although 40th GC in theory is not something to blog about, for me its a big step, a sign of consistent improvement and one of my goals was to complete Cascade within the 5oth percentile. And that goal was achieved, and passed.

There were lots of funny aspects to the event, a few OH MY WORD moments, and a couple Heck Yes!! times, which I will probably delve into down the road. But for now it's time to build a business, plan a wedding and enjoy some relaxed bike rides with my friends!

If it hurts, fix it

2011-07-08T18:25:00.001-07:00

As athletes, we know our bodies well enough to know when we are injured. However athletes by nature are stubborn and goal-driven, thus we allow ourselves to overlook the nagging back pain, slight twinge behind the knee and occasional light headed-ness.

When I crashed at Redlands, early April, my hand got stuck in the spokes of my front wheel, slicing a nice gash in my middle finger and making the other three just plain hurt. I kept thinking it would go away, that I was being weak or that I just wasn't tough enough.

They were neither swollen nor black and blue. My dexterity was basically normal too. They looked weird though, almost crooked and my knuckles looked fat and funny. Riding didn't hurt, but braking and shifting could be a problem. Things like pumping gas, making a fist, opening salad dressing or gripping anything for that matter were a real BIG problem. I would wake up during the night with my fingers hurting super bad and in the morning would find it hard to move them at all. They constantly throbbed and ached. So weird!

Yesterday I went to my favorite massage/torturer Jason Ravel and I said "dude, my hand hurts so bad!" Come to find out, the fingers were extremely mis-aligned. Different than being dislocated, the connective tissue was and still is all out of wack, pulling the bones all over the place (extremely scientific explanation I know!). After 30 minutes of "massage" on each finger, I can make a fist and they each looked nearly straight! And fist pump I did! It's not all the way cleared up, but lets just say my quality of life has improved drastically. And I was able to open a jar of olives without crying Uncle.

3 months, almost to the day! I should know better! But without a "substantial" injury of a bone sticking out or massive stitches, I thought i would be just fine. Now by no means is this a horrible injury, and I think of my friends who have endured broken collarbones, elbows, femurs, and shoulders this season, and this tiny issue pales in comparison. Yet it makes a very clear statement to me to not let injuries go overlooked. Left unattended, they will probably grow!

So if it hurts, look into fixing it!

Words to live by

2011-06-28T19:19:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting here watching the trailers to True Grit, catching up on my friends blogs and thinking back to Mt. Hood, it all melds really well together! Again, an encyclopedia worth of life has passed since the last Mt. Hood climb but that last stage remains an amazing event.

I have found some awesome write-ups on Clara's blog about why we train and race and leading through her experiences training for the 2012 Olympics. If you have a chance, check them out HERE.

My day began by receiving a really endearing text from my boy Brian: "Harden up and earn your crust today!!" That's my boy! In fact perfect words to give me the swift kick in the bibs I needed to start the race.

Elated to have made it to the final stage of yet another stage race, I was primed and ready to go. I had studied the maps and route and knew where the tough spots would be. As I waited for the race to begin I felt the Northwestern Hospitality at it's best with massive bugs, flying things and critters crawling on me, flying into my helmet or my mouth. Ew! I would take a desert tarantula any day!

This stage was rad! I was able to stay with the bunch and with Clara way longer than expected and do slight moments of "help". When the road turned right onto a graded road covered with dirt and asphalt pebbles, I saw Clara go to the front with Peanut Butter so I jumped into the dirt and pedalled on up to flank Clara. I said "I like to ride in the Dirt!" She said "Ya, your a dirty girl!" It's the simple things you know. We, Clara excluded, were no match for the stronger teams heading into the mountains and as we blew past the 60 minute mark I plead with myself to just stay till 1:30, make it to the QOM! Time ticked by, I was with the group and I saw the 5k to QOM Almost "there"! The pace cranked up and the shuffle began, sifting out the strong, and at 1:28, I joined half the peloton, in the back.

As we rode up through the QOM, we were chaperoned by tall walls of snow on either side of the jeep-wide forest service road. The temps were in the 80's with high humidity, covering us all in sweat and splatter from the snow run-off which was cascading down the center of the road, which in fact was covered with moss. Awesome!!! We rode through gravel, dirt, switchbacks and freshly cut pines which smelled like Christmas Eve! Lost Lake lingered close by and the base of Mt. Hood seemed to be right around the corner.

Beyond the grandeur of the scenery, I was so pumped to in fact still be racing at 40 miles in. I was with a group of 5 leading into a screaming descent where I promptly got dropped, the caravan squeezed by and the chase began. I rode so hard my cheeks were streaming with non-tears, I was seeing black spots and going cross-eyed. The group of 4 was just beyond the caravan and in order to get past the caravan I had to ride the mossy shoulder with a rock covered drop off on my hip. With the group we gathered momentum and picked up 3 more, then 5 more and finally we were rolling steady and fast with 18-20 racers! I was in fact still RACING my bicycle. Rad.

With said group, however, there was of course the standard in-fighting and 5 out of the 18 were actually working. Of course since I am silly, I was working and promptly sat up to take inventory. It's these scenarios when you assess the competition. Who will draw the short straw and get dropped first? Who would be next? Whose gonna win the sprint? The thing that sucked the most is that the short straw came up in my hand. It was only a matter of moments.

At approximately 101 K of 110 K, I cracked. Nothing like the Gila crack where I was able to ride after. A crack that begins in your belly, heads to the quads, and fixates in the head with cramping, aches, shaking, and dizziness. The ironic fact was that I am a Sherpa by nature, carrying bars, gels, squishies and bottles. Yet, I take care of everyone else and HELLO!!!! I had consumed a ton but immediately remembered my breakfast sucked. Good job Joy Joy.

As I fell out of the pack, right next to the "Oregon Illegal Feed Zone" (Signs read "1 finger: Water; 2 Fingers Coke; 3 Fingers Gatorade- just awesome. but they were out of coke!) I realized I was riding to survive not for a placing today. Entertainment came from watching the rest of the group implode on the climb and the bets I had placed on the next riders to crack rang true - I would expect nothing less from a PE teacher, we can read through the most stalwart of bluffs.

Heading into the last turn, where the grade would peak at 16% on a gravely surface of shale and dirt I started to truly struggle. The zig and the zag began and oddly I found my front wheel diving into the left ditch. Oops. I stopped. Straddled my bike and put my elbows on the bars, head in my hands. WITH 1K TO GO! Wow, how can that happen? I went big and dug a Gu out of my jersey pocket and slammed it. Again, with a K to go. Befuddled I got back on the saddle, in the nick of time at that! The Peanut Butter entourage came around the corner in sync with my first pedal stroke. Phew, that would have been awkward!

As I crossed the line, Michael grabbed my bike and said "Every pedal stroke counts!" And that it does! With bloodshot eyes, shaking arms, unzipped jersey covered in salt, we had completed yet another one. "SoCal you look like crap" is something I remember hearing as well as the belly-laughs when I confessed to my Gu shot at the 1 K mark.

Always learning with eyes wide open, doing my best to Harden Up and Earn my Crust with the steady reminder that Every Pedal Stroke Counts. Great combo.

HERE you can find photos of the amazing racing, especially the 4th stage! I HIGHLY recommend this event to everyone especially if you are looking for a little taste of adventure, amazing food, and a great opportunity to Harden Up.

It's almost Brian's birthday...

2011-06-17T12:48:00.000-07:00

Brian get's to blog for his team as well, you can check out his Memorial Weekend Report HERE.

There must be something in the water, because between the two of us we have each crashed 3 times (as of Memorial Day haha), gone through multiple wheels and shifters and Brian went big and broke his frame. The subtle yet ever present stress that crashing adds to our racing life is becoming palpable.

A few weeks back at Barrio Logan, I was warming up on the trainer near turn 2 and just had an eerie feeling. I heard a crash, counted CashCall riders and asked a spectator on the corner "What color kit is down?" They replied with "Blue and white but not Swami's" Yup, that's Brian. I ran up there to find him having been jettisoned from the bike, into a tree and sitting on the sidewalk with a wide open finger drenched in blood. He is tougher than nails but as stubborn as an Ox. What needed stitches became a home art project of glue and tape.

Fast forward to Barry Wolfe Grand Prix. Lots of wind on the course and the boys were ripping it. Brian was railing up the outside with his team on his wheel, elbows brushing the hay bales. The strong wind blew the course tape onto the course, hooking Brian's handlebars and tossing him like a Bull Rider head first onto the asphalt. (He seems to always land on his head, I prefer to land on my left shoulder.) Teammate Devan rode over his bike after a few other riders ran into his back and when I got to him he was laying on the curb, arms crossed casket-style, eyes closed, with quite a bit of blood on his face.

It's actually slightly funny, because he just said "I'm ok, I'm just relaxing, Hows everyone else?" He claims he goes to his happy pace to deal with such issues. But it kind of freaks me out because I can't figure out what's wrong with him. Come to find out he had been knocked out for a bit and Devan had moved him and talked to him. A layer of his ear basically peeled off, so we called him Sloth from Goonies because it was super swollen and stuck out from his head. I know, we are super kind.

With two laps to go in the race, we turned his chair in the medic area so he could watch the finish and cheer for his teammate Dave as he won the race!

With a broken frame, helmet, seat rails and massive bruising on his neck and head, we took him to the ER. What a rodeo. They were horrible. Just put tape all over his head and scrip for Norco. He refuses to take Advil. A Norco would knock him out for a few days, so to say the least he did not get it filled and other than some surface wounds, he was just fine.

We have matching shoulders! But mine is on the left :)

Thankfully his little Bro Nich was around to help with comic relief!

While I was racing Mt. Hood, Brian and the boys were throwing down at the District State Road Champs where his teammate Dave won. I got back on Monday and the boys packed up and headed to Tulsa Tough on Thursday!

Tulsa was rad because it was Live Streamed through VeloNews. But I soon found this to be extremely stressful. I got so spun out watching it I color coordinated my closet and drawers! I will spare all the gore, but day one: Night crit in the rain. Crashes every lap, it was like Sharks vs Minnows with 10-15 riders coming out of the pits into the group every lap! 3 of his teammates crashed, one went down 2 times! Somehow he stayed upright. These were NRC races, so the big ballers show up and give no mercy to any riders! I was tweeting for CashCall and acting as Paul's eyes on the parts of the course that I could see.

Thankfully the race on Saturday was dry and the boys stayed safe. Sunday the race during the day with a massive climb called "Cry Baby Hill" which I think is rad! It was much easier to see the boys and I was glued to the computer! They were getting beer and water thrown on them each lap up the climb and Paul went through over 30 bottles in 60 minutes due to the 90+ degree weather and intense humidity. I could tell all the boys were suffering immensely and just kept watching the laps tick down. Finally 3 to go, their gonna be good. 1 to go....BOOM!! Brian comes into the last turn and ROLLS A TUBULAR tire and crashes, sliding on his belly across the screen! NOOOO!!!! The announcer says "Well Brian McCulloch has had enough of the race and has thrown his bike on the ground." So Funny! He was so bummed though. I sent Paul a text "Hey Brian down hard on last turn. Just let me know if he has a lacerated liver or something." He was fine. I was so proud of him! It was rad to watch the races live, to see him and his team dicing it up with the best in the country. Announcer Dave Towle said "CashCall Cycling is a team that fights above its weight and I love it. they show up with true determination." So cool.

I've said it before, but being a spectator is more stressful than racing!!! The CashCall Wives Club has decided we will have some bake sales so we can travel with our boys to the next race. :)

We know that this is all part of the beast. Training, nutrition, rebuilding our bodies and trying not to allow the things that are out of our control consume us. We are blessed to be in a great community and with directors/teammates that we trust implicitly and know have our best interests at heart.

Maybe I should work on planning the wedding now. :)

Crit Fodder

2011-06-16T09:42:00.000-07:00

Clara, Jade and Hilary warming up at our host house, which was on turn one of the crit!

Hailing from the industrial crit capital of the country, the IE, I was feeling primed and ready to race the Mt. Hood crit. The field was smaller than the NRC crits with less horse power on a course I could dig my pedals into. I was ready for redemption and some good juju. But usually the things we want the most we just can not have. I mean, all I wanted to do was ride with my team and be useful.

However I am a diesel and it takes me a few, er, laps, to warm up to the pace of crits especially with stacked up fatigue. I thought I warmed up well enough, but as I rode the back 1/3 of the group, trying to move up but kept finding myself in the gnarly headwind as the peloton strung out, a girl crashed in front of me and as I avoided it I saw a massive split created and BOOM I was dropped. IN A CRIT! I stayed in at San Dimas, Redlands, Gila, and now I got dropped. At precisely the same moment, teammate Jade followed an attack and got in the break as per our plan. One out the back, one out the front. It seems that whenever I am suffering like a dog trying to stay in, a teammate is cranking up the pace the front making my efforts that much more futile. Pretty funny if you think about it actually.

Awesome host house art!

Here is where I finally got mad. I haven't raced mad in years but I was pissed! I was embarrassed because I knew I could be in the race, I had committed to specific jobs and now I would spend over 20 minutes of a 40 minute crit CHASING!!! Michael was at the base of the climb and just kept telling me to relax and sit but the chase group was HORRIBLE. Girls attacking the chase, braking hard in the turns. You know it is super bad if I am telling girls to get off the brakes! There was one descending right had 90 degree turn where everyone was crashing. A girl in the chase group was riding straight out of the apex! I yelled at her to turn and she said "I'm so scared, this is so scary!" Really?! Then get to the back!!!

I saw the field slow and widen through the start finish and knew this was the chance to make junction. I jumped, found the group and pedalled to the front to find Clara, where I was supposed to be the whole race.

We got 2nd on the day. Clara tied with Kristen Armstrong of Peanut Butter 13 seconds back from first place. Sunday's road race was going to be a throw-down.

Before going to Gila, one of my many advisers told me "Your going to have develop an extremely tough upper lip and hold your head high." And that's just what I had to do. No time to doubt, no time to question my spot or what I was doing there. I knew that if I could chase back on and go straight to the front it isn't a fitness issue. It just always seems to be something...In this environment, I have the great opportunity to learn. Clara sat me down and said "Joy you are better than this! What can we fix." Awesome. Teach me, let me learn! Having her and Michael willing to spend a few minutes to help me eventually reach my potential was so great.

It's been said that Clara is worth three riders on the team with strength, knowledge, skill and know-how. Then it was said that I was worth three riders for the team in flats, crashes, mechanicals, and straight up bad luck. We gotta balance each other out. And I am totally stoked on my position. :)

I'm a busy bee and although our staff had an awesome director and mechanic, we were lacking a swanny. And a dishwasher. Bottle prep is actually slightly theraputic. Lots on my mind so might as well be productive! And we were going to need dozens of bottles for the last stage!!

Brian is heading to Tulsa Tough!

2011-06-09T22:19:00.000-07:00

Brian and his team, CashCall Mortgage Cycling Team have touched down in Tulsa, OK for a weekend of fast and furious racing at Tulsa Tough! You can watch live feed on Velonews, but I'm a little sketched out to watch. I would rather just wait and and hear how it went after the fact, I just can't handle the stress! It's so awesome that Brian and the boys get to race out of SoCal!

I gotta tell ya, the 2011 season so far has been amazing. It's

not the trip to Gila or Mount Hood. It's not competing in the Redlands Classic or losing 2 pounds. It has been watching Brian have a blast with his team! The six of these guys are like fraternity brothers and they race till the end for each other every single race! Seeing Brian have the opportunity to mentored and developed by a team and manager is awesome. he can also put all his mad skills to great use. He is a tactician, analyst and pit bull on every course! I see him as the glue that keeps his team together and it is just awesome to watch!

A-Train (Anthony) and Brian post A-Train victory, he and Brian were in the break together, with BMc throwing down the lead out!

Brian celebrates as Anthony crosses the line!

And Brian gets his first win of the year! The team went 1-5 and 7th on that day!

Each of the athletes on CashCall have already grown by leaps and bounds this year and their cohesion is palpable. The rest of the season is sure to not disappoint! So maybe I will tune into Velonews tomorrow night and watch some of the live action!!

The beautiful Pacific North West!

2011-06-07T07:21:00.000-07:00

Mt. Hood Cycling Classic 2011

I lived in Oregon when I was small, in a tiny town called Boring, outside of Gresham. Obviously a town like this would not suit me so I left when I was 4. When I did the NORBA MTB circuit, my travels took me to Aspen, Vermont, Arizone, Brian Head UT, upstate New York and the Carolinas, but never had I ventured into the mossy Pacific Northwest. I was pumped!

I was honored again to be a member of the Pactimo Cycling Team, a Sand Lot Gang of composite riders solicited to ride for 2012 Olympic hopeful and veteran Clara Hughes. Getting this invite would parallel receiving an email from Mia Hamm to shoot some soccer goals together or Jennifer Azzi asking me to come play some 3-on-3 basketball at a Hoop-It-Up tournament with her. For you males who forgot women get paid to play, its like wearing the same jersey as Alexis Lalas or Larry Bird, and not just because you won the radio call-in contest. LEGIT. I went into the weekend with eyes and ears wide open for all learning opportunities to continue developing all my skills on and off the bike.

In Hood River I met my new teammates, Oregon local hot-rod Jade Wilcoxson and Hillary Billington, another Oregon favorite. More on these gals later! I soon received the name "SoCal" due to my tan and the rampant tan-envy from the Oregonian peloton, and my standard shorts and t-shirt with flip-flops. Between the 4 riders, director and mechanic, we had our squad set for battle against the heavy-hitters Peanut Butter 2012 and the rest of the small, yet feisty peloton.

I have done hundreds of miles in prep, had chaos on the work front, and lots going down leading into this week of racing. My battle wounds are nearly healed yet my mangled shifters remind me with every shift and brake how crazy this season has been. I was as ready as I could be.

The event began with a 3.1 mile Prologue with about half as much climbing as the one at Redlands and I soon realized as I patrolled the parking lot that I was one of the very few on a road bike. My clip-on TT bars against thousands of dollars worth of the highest technological advances on the market. Thank goodness I’m a worker bee, not a GC rider!

Jade and I spun through town and over the country side to do some course recon and I was in heaven after 5 minutes. A massive river tumbled into the Columbia, dwarfed by towering Mount Hood, crystal clear sky and dense, eerie forests. We rode by orchards for every pear imaginable, Bosc, Bartlett, Angue...and up into the foot hills. The Prologue would be harsh! I was 5th from last, dry heaving at the finish and cross eyed as I stared out on the amazing view from Panorama Point. Ugh, this weekend is going to HURT! Clara was 2nd by a hair with Jade riding to an impressive 6th and Hilary safe in the middle!

Day two, Stage 1: 58 mile road race. This distance is cool, I can hang no worries! The route was amazing, careening along the Columbia, billowing clouds and temperatures in the high 70’s. I was feeling comfortable and confident, riding well in the group. Now Brian recently pulled the SRAM Rival components off the cross bike so that I would be compatible with everything Michael has at the races (which I promptly crashed at Ontario). Well I don’t like the way it shifts and I miss my Campy. I miss shifted, tried to shift again as the peloton turned a hard left UP. Stuck. In the big ring. I had been way up the group instead of my usual last 10 riders! My heard sunk. I jumped off, got the chain into the small ring but by the time I was back going, the 50 rider peloton was gone and I was behind the caravan. SOLO. Seriously, my fitness was golden, my position was great, my mind was clear but a pilot error got me dropped. I was really upset because up till now, I only get dropped due to fitness, now that my fitness was up, I made a technical mistake.

Let the chasing and suffering begin. I am pretty sure my chase was the same length as my prologue, 8:48 and my average wattage was way higher than the day before. Sure helps to have a MASSIVE carrot of the entire peloton to get you in gear. There were only 3 team cars in the caravan bringing the total of cars to 7. The medical car kept brake-checking me, guess she wanted business, and I was having a horrible time getting around COMM 1. They were also WAY off of the peloton, which isn’t normal. Usually (since I am experienced at this) I can sling-shot off the last car into the group. Now I had to gun it. The Peanut Butter car was rad though. Kristen Armstrong’s husband was riding shot-gun and as I yo-yo’d through the caravan again he said “This is it, make it or break, they are about to crest the hill” so I pinned it and got back on. So frustrating. But sure as heck not going to stop. When I get “good” it’s going to be awesome because I will have a mind of steel from getting kicked in the head so many times!

As soon as I was with the group and recovered slightly, the course leveled out a bit and feeding could take place. So I collected empties from my teammates and went back to the car to fill up. 2 bottles on the bike, 2 in the back of my jersey and 2 in the front, then hammer back into the group before a descent. Find the girls and do the hand off to Clara. But the other gals didn’t want a bottle since we were heading to a climb, although as the Snack Cart, this made me nervous looking at their single bottles knowing I would not be back to help them. I off loaded the extra bottles to a solo Tibco rider and off to prep for the climb. Where I promptly got dropped. I tried not to get frustrated, knowing that had I not used so many matches to get back on previously, I would for sure be in the second group. But no time to pine over what might have been, time to dig in and get over the top.

I am starting to loath chasing. Things bother me like cars in the road, or the girl who for literally 50 minutes pedalled 8 watts higher than me and stayed 75-100 meters ahead of me. Just SIT UP! We are alone. The time trial is tomorrow! Two is better than one. We teach that our women’s clinic to the rec group! I kept checking behind me and finally saw two gals coming so I sat up and rode in with them, nice steady pace practicing for that day that I am in the break away for 30k, not out the back. :)

Our girls did awesome with Jade securing 6th again and Clara 2nd in the bunch sprint plus taking the QOM (Queen of the Mountains) jersey. Still not in yellow, sitting in 3rd GC behind World Champion and Olympic gold medalist Kristen Armstrong in 2nd and her teammate of Peanut Butter in first/yellow with a solo breakaway on the day, Alison Starnes.

Day 3 was awesome. We had two events which is a new format for me. I felt like I was riding all day. And I for sure took 3 showers. They were pretty quick though.

The morning brought an 11 mile Time Trial over in Trout Lake, Washington. At the base of Mount Adams, another picturesque snow covered volcano. I really liked this course! We drove 40 minutes to get there and my face was glued to truck window remembering driving through Yellowstone, The Tetons and the Rockies as a kid looking for elk, moose, and big foot.

I am still “practicing racing” so the goals here are a proper warm-up on my sweet non-TT bike; having the last half of my TT with higher power output than the first, and trying to hold the straightest line possible and not look at too much of the livestock. I sure hope I at least won the “I’m on a road bike category” as I placed 6th from last. Better than the prologue, by 1. We were started 30 seconds apart and I could hear my chasers coming with their Darth Vader disk wheels, bearing down my neck like the Grim Reaper. Focus, just let them go, ride your ride. I finished riding hard at max power and cooked. Progress.

We were able to see the last 3 riders finish, Kristen, Clara, Alison. You could hear Kristen coming a K away, her team car behind her bellowing instructions “out of the saddle, dig harder” and the likes. She crossed the line with a heave and we saw Clara crest the 1K sign. Silence. Steady like a torpedo and smooth as if she was back speed skating on the ice. She won, by 6 seconds. Before we knew the results, she said she felt awesome about her ride and that if she won or got second, it wouldn’t change how she felt. She had done her best. Awesome.

Time to travel back to the house, eat, shower, sleep, prep for the crit!

Where was I? Oh yes...

2011-06-02T08:56:00.000-07:00

Since the Mt. Hood Classic prologue begins at 5:30pm today, I thought I should get on it make it happen to finish up some Gila entertainment before I get too deep into Hood. But just to say, I can feel another great adventure has already begun. Hood River Oregon is an amazing town!

So leading into the last stage of Gila, I had a few jobs. Get bottles. Be with the main group in the valley for support and just for the team to have more of a presence. And to collect arm warmers and vests from Flavia and Clara. I know, super important stuff here.

We knew that most likely I would get detached at the sprint then it was up to me to get back to the group. We began with a 2 mile neutral roll through town which was awesome! Clara, Flavia and I sat right behind the moto with Colavita and Tibco breathing down our necks for the race to actually start. Like clockwork, as the attacks went and the sprint line came, off the back I was. But this time with a bigger group!! Win. But somehow it ended up just two of us rotating together to get back to the peloton. I was running a 12-27 and on all the descents I was maxing out at 130 RPMs trying to find some gears!

This time it only took 35-40 minutes to get back to the caravan and the group. I rode to Michael and the team car, laughing, grabbed 4 bottles and he said "Hey, good to see you, I knew you would be back." Back in the peloton there was a break up the road and Clara wanted the group to be moving faster. "Joy, can you go to the front and set tempo?" Sure thing! Then Tibco got ansy and started attacking. "Joy joy GO" I heard Flavia yell from behind. D'oh! Now it was time to cover attacks!

As we neared the feed zone, there was a crash and saw out of the corner of my eye a little ball of green tumble. Flavia was down! She was tied at the moment for the Climbers Jersey with Mara Abbott, so I stopped with her, helped her get back on her bike then paced her back to the caravan and the peloton. At precisely 2:07 race time, when we made contact, I grendaded so bad, i'm sure you could have heard it! Funny because the night before I knew I had 2 hours of solid hard work left in me. And no doubt, after these efforts I was done! I spent the next hours riding solo through some of the most beautiful landscape I have seen in years. I kept telling myself to ride just a bit harder, to keep building my fitness. To practice taking arm warmers on and off in a fatigued state, to eat and drink a lot. I crossed the line 30 minutes behind the winner (Local friend Katie Donovan!) with a grin from ear to ear! Clara had won the over general classification in her first even back since 2003! And I was 2nd to last GC. On paper it doesn't look that good, but my number one goal for Gila was to finish. And I did.

The thing that really cracked me was driving 10 hours straight home, getting 4 hours of sleep and heading to work. Ouch. But it was all worth it!

Now to build my bike and get ready for a prologue!

Stepping Stones

2011-05-24T17:00:00.000-07:00

I promise that as I continue to stage race, that my race reports will become much more concise and fluid and timely. As of now each experience is so big and multi-faceted that it is hard not to fixate on even of the smallest signs of improvement and excitement. I still have one day of Gila to dig through, and that day, I finally felt like a bike racer. But until then, there is a slight side step to the Stepping Stones and Building Blocks that are becoming my weekends of hugging the fog-line on the local mountain roads.

So much happens each and every day and ride, its extremely hard to narrow it down. There have been crashes, but even those are far enough past that my hot pink sweatshirt lint is sticking to the uncovered scabs. Hot huh.

There was a crit in the rain, there was a turn with a large paint strip. Both my wheels went right, my body ejected left. Thanks to hours of softball as a teen and many afternoons spent on the slip-n-slide as a toddler, I kept my chin/face up and slid belly first into home. Er, almost the curb. I was shocked, and even more stunned as 2-3 racers behind me hit me as I lay prostrate on ground, launching them onto the slippery asphalt next to me. You slide really, really well on wet asphalt. I burned through two jerseys and a base layer to get some stellar road rash on my stomach, hips, and elbow. The worst is seeing your friends go down, and some sustain painful injuries.

The week following Rain Crit brought the largest volume and intensity of training I have had to date. The majority of my training period is done solo, and this week fell right into place. By Friday I was wrecked and fatigued, up against some huge climbing days.

This is where the fun began. Locally there are awesome roads, climbs, and places to experience! Friday I headed to Oak Glen for roughly two trips up the front side and realized there is virtually zero traffic up there.

3 hours, 5k of climbing 41 miles. Time for Mexican food!

After many Tour of California discussions, Brian and I decided to sit out the hype and pedal it out instead. One of our most favorite rides is Idyllwild through Hemet round trip. We picked up Mark on the way and embarked on an amazing ride. As we rose above the smog line and into the thin mountain air, I couldn't help but be thankful for the amazing place we live. And began wishing the boys we leave me alone! I was cooked and their pace was relentless, yet Brian would push me back into the group and keep me together. Oddly, I think this was statistically our best Idyllwild trip, but if I had read it strictly by the legs, I would have hung it up. They do lie sometimes!

92 miles, 7,200ft of climbing, 5:15 ride time. Plus a nap. And Mexican food.

Sunday Funday! Do you ever get an itch? An idea that won't go away and you aren't satisfied until you have explored it fully? Sunday was that day. All Brian said was "Don't do anything stupid."

The Plan: Ride to Big Bear round trip solo so I could see the finish of the Kenda Cup MTB race where I could see many friends and some of my awesome clients! I had no idea what would go down!

Riding up 38 it was smoggy and humid! The thick air stuck to my skin and clogged my lungs, I felt like I was back in Vermont prepping for Mount Snow NORBA national! As I got closer to Angelus Oaks the air cleared and the smell of pine started to over take the smog and I knew I was in for an adventure. I saw Jason Reynold (ZZ Top) and his pup heading for a walk and he offered me food and water, as did "Naked Man" (Those of you old-skool NORBA racers know him - now he works at a boys camp by Jenks Lake. And is no longer called Naked Man. His name is Rick.) Somehow, I seem to have people looking out for me and it is awesome. Rick passed me about an hour later and stopped, just checking to make sure I was dialed. I was since South Fork camp ground is open!

I have never ridden this far up HWY 38. From South Fork to Onyx hands down the worst, hardest, longest, when-will-this-end part of the ride! But I really really wanted a PayDay and a Coke, and there is NOTHING out there, so I knew I just HAD to get to Big Bear. And once you come this far, whats another 11-12 miles?! Unfortunately for the return trip, those miles rapidly ticked by as I descended into town! D'oh!

Here's the truth: Any part descending on this ride - INSANE head or cross winds. My triceps were on FIRE by the time I got home! The ride "down" the mountain contains about 3k of climbing. Jokes on ME! I never ever ride with headphones so I created training plans and wedding menus in my head in between spotting cloud creatures.

But getting to the race was the best reward! So many hugs and smiling friendly faces. I never thought I would be "that girl" that shows up to a mountain bike race on my road bike! But I have business to attain to! The ride home flew by, the PayDay and Coke were delicious, and I even ate some Cheeze-its for some salt. :)

94 Miles, 6:06 ride time, 9,300ft of climbing. :) My arms hurt the worst.

This ride was truly a breakthrough for me. Fatigued, solo, uncharted territory and success. I was never stressed, nervous, down, or unmotivated. I have some racing to do and exploring beyond our local San Bernardino mountains is to be had, the best thing I can do is prep myself both mentally and physically!

Total in 3 days: 230 miles, 21,500 ft of climbing and just over 14 hours. :) I did not ride my bike today.

Awesome to see Allison and Justin Mann out as well, and their blogs are awesome! Allison is coming off a rough spot of training with a foot injury, one day we will be lining up together in the dirt again!!

Gila days 3 and 4 and more!

2011-05-17T10:54:00.000-07:00

The largest thing I learned at Gila was adaptation. The body is truly an amazing thing and experiencing a vast adaptation to training/racing stress through the event was so cool. I woke up Friday morning alert and ready to rock. Day 3 at Redlands had been polar opposite! At Gila we had already experienced 2 4+ hour days in the saddle and it was awesome to wake up ready to at least ride on Friday!

Now a time trialist I am not. I like to think that in the future, with my history of mountain biking and being a power rider, the TT is something I could sink my teeth into. But with limited training time and the lack of an actual TT bike, that art form will have to wait to be developed. I decided that prior to Gila there were only a few things I could stress about and the TT just couldn't fit on that list. I have only done TT's at the stage races I have participated in this year, which adds up to 4. I'm a rookie.

The Gila TT was LONG!! 16.5 miles with TONS of wind and climbing. I put my clip on bars on, grabbed my aero helmet and did what I could. Although I was told to ride it like a "hard recovery day" I actually did try, and came in 3rd from last. It was really, really, hard. But to save the day, Clara won the TT as well as moving into the over GC lead. Rad. I knew I would have work to do over the next few days so my finish was fine. I was just stressed to make the time cut!

Before the TT I saw our buddy Reid Mumford of Kelly Benefits and went over to say hi. He asked how I was doing and I just shook my head and said "This sure ain't SoCal crit racing" and we both had a good laugh. What a different world I have jumped into!

The second thing I learned at Gila was to rest and recover. Eat soon and much, sit/lay/nap much. I am a horrible napper, but found it relatively easy to fall asleep at 2pm given the opportunity. I could feel my body healing and coming back into form.

Day 4, the crit, was the first time I was no affected by the elevation. thank goodness because this crit was awesome! Most SoCal crits last 40-50 minutes. This crit was 70!! So cool for me because at these larger events, I usually don't feel ok until 30-40 minutes into the event which is right about when other people start to feel poopy! My instructions were to stay in, stop tail gunning and conserve for Sunday. My non-sister Desira Miller (everyone thinks we are related. Because we are over 5'5" and ride bikes, and are white?!) was there working with SRAM (this was AWESOME because I got to see one of my favorites every morning and after every stage, just the little slice of home I needed, and she got heckle me at the crit) every time we rode up the climb and past the pits she would yell at me to to get off the back, haha, its getting better!!

Clara won the crit, sealing her overall lead once again with an amazing sprint. The crit was livestreamed and I got word that Papa Paul, Brian's team manager aka the Godfather, had been watching it at work with the whole office and could even pick my helmet out of the peloton! So cool! He said they all knew Clara had the win coming out of the last turn!

It was pretty awesome to be part of a team, let alone a team in the leaders jersey! And to know the team had a few small tasks for me that were within my skill set making me not just a number in the peloton, but more like Baby in Dirty Dancing, when she carried the watermelons to the party. :) Someone else could have done it, heck they could have gone without the watermelons, but it was her way of being part of the group!

The main issue I had after the crit was eating. Brian thought I was lying but seriously, the body gets so taxed that nothing sounds good and you start force feeding yourself because you know you are in vast caloric deficit and if you don't eat, the next day will be horrid. Nothing like eating a burrito at 10pm in bed...

Tour of the Gila: Stage 2

2011-05-10T22:01:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, bike racing is just plain hard. Because of that, I would like to dedicate this post to my Team Mom Cynthia Sjogren who enjoys taking the road less traveled and is on her 4th day of a hospital stay. Training with Cynthia has taught me many, many things, some of which I can share. :)

First and foremost, "Suck it up Buttercup!!"

Secondly - "if this old lady can do it, so can you!"

Third - when in doubt, sing a really annoying song, preferably out loud.

She dubbed one Brian-Induced death march in steady downpour and 40 degrees the "Unicorns *Pooping Rainbows Ride" and taught me that even in the most dire of straights, humor can bring you back to the front porch.

What does this all have to do with Gila, all the way in NM? The lessons I have learned on the wheel of Cynthia, Brian, Mark, Andrew, Craig, got me through this day. To many of the racers it was just another day in the peloton. To me, it was like getting kicked in the shins. Repeatedly. By 20 5 year olds. It just kept coming. As was my fitness. But doing these events on a solid aerobic fitness base bodes well for lots of development which I am sure to reap the benefits from down the road, but that Thursday suffering at 7,000ft, it was just one hard day.

The small peloton had a massive acceleration roughly 40 minutes in heading into the sprint, which I knew about. Yet that 4 minutes of complete VO2 effort left me dangling off the back with lack-luster stragglers and a few other worker bee's. Let the chase begin. Mentally I knew what happened, my heart was thumbing out of my eyes, my quads seizing up. But the lure of the caravan, just around the corner, inch-worming its way up the climbs, kept our group motivated to make final contact. It's a horrible feeling to be 50 meters off the last car of the caravan just as the front car drops over the crest of the climb to begin careening down the Gila Monster. Gapped. Out. Again. I found it interesting that I wasn't getting stressed or angry, just much more focused. We had a group of 5, which descending the gnarly Gila Monster - a route I did not know - I sheepishly thought to myself that I was glad we weren't with the other 45 riders at that time!

The hardest thing about the chase was eating. I didn't know my compatriots, some sketched me out, some attacked, and I just couldn't get food in riding a steady zone 3/4. I couldn't drink. This would pose to be my biggest downfall. I had learned the day before to surf the cars, ride the bumpers, hang on the tail just long enough to catch a breath and get up to the next car in the caravan that in the valley, our little group made contact. As I crawled past Michael and the car I grabbed a coveted bottle and headed through the group.

The group had been riding chill. For a long time. But once you are popped and you are 5 vs 45, you do the math. I found Clara and Flavia and they both did a really bad job hiding their amazement that I was back! Clara said "put it in the 27 and spin. Eat. Survive. That's it."

It had taken 1:10 minutes to get back!! That's insane. I paid for one 4 minute effort for 1:10. It was slightly eerie how the time passed descending the Enchanted NM forests and rolling through the desert like land. I tried not to look at my Garmin, I thought about those horrid, freezing winter rides, I thought about what Cynthia would do. Just keep pedaling, if you are steady, you will get there. It never even crossed my mind that we could get time cut, because we were going to make it back!

There were a few crashes in the bunch, some crazy tactics as I worked on my pack riding skills and hid as much as I could. Alas the final big long 15 mile climb came. And again, engage parachute, ride through quicksand, or straight drop back through the pack, it happened. I was alone again. As the caravan passed, Michael and Bea handed me extra bottles for the ride out and encouragement "Just ride your pace, make it to the finish. You did good." Hearing that kept me in it. I knew I could get to the end, just not too rapidly. The caravan was starting to take a liking to me because they got to see so much of me - falling out of the group, riding back to the group, and falling out again. Several team cars gave me a thumbs up, words of encouragement and a smile. Perfect. It was beautiful outside, amazing landscape, no Unicorns Pooping Rainbows today! I was experiencing raw racing at its best!

As cars snaked by I attempted to ride some bumpers but the only one slow enough was the ambulance. At least I am from SoCal so extreme smog is no big deal. But that was short lived! I found one other rider who had been in a crash earlier and rode together in silence into the finish. Shockingly only 10 minutes down on the winner. Cool.

I was beat. But a huge improvement from Redlands where my mind was foggy, was that my mind was clear, just my body was extremely taxed. I was covered with salt, my eyes completely blood-shot and water pouring out of them, cheeks and thighs covered with spit, with snot running down my lip. Where's Brian when you need him, right? haha.

I sat on the curb still in kit and helmet, with my head in my hands coughing, and coughing and coughing. I think I coughed up dirt from the Beaumont Stage it was that bad! Clara was busy doing interview and during a down moment she stuck her head out the door: "Are you ok?" haha yup, just give me a minute. :)

All I did the rest of the day was eat, shower, eat, sleep, eat, snack, and sleep. I was still on the list, I was not anywhere near defeated, and I found as much silver lining and sunshine I could. I was sharing an amazing experience with people who believed, even in my novice state of experience, that I could make it to the end. Super sweet. :)

Gila Stage One: Mogollon

2011-05-08T21:13:00.000-07:00

Back in 1996 otherwise known as the 10th grade for me, a collage-aged male told me I had no natural talent, in anything. He also told me I had really feminine hands that were not proportionate to my body...anyways. When I was told that, I did the only thing I knew how to do: WORK. HARD. Work ethic can get you through a lot of really rough days. I sure came in handy over the Gila.

The peloton at Gila was HALF the size of Redlands. The part that was lacking was the Pack-Fill, otherwise known as my peer-group. While they were off put-put golfing or babysitting, I was getting a blow-by-blow bike racer inservice, by some of the best tutors in the business!

The day was roughly 77 miles with a lot of flat on the way out. The ladies were chatting, eating and drinking in the crisp - albeit thin - morning mountain air.

Two hours in I had my first mini-lesson: Peeing on the bike.

Now I have the "privilege" of being around the boys when they do this and I am always quite jealous. This day was the first day I have ever coveted another riders shorts. I hate shorts, i wear bibs. But in this scenario - the short wins. There were many pee stops, pee stop induced crashes, and more pee breaks. I saw one girl peeing ON the bike. I thought that only happened 9 hours into an Ironman. In the dark. I saw Clara stop once with Kristen Armstrong and thought this is my chance, just DO IT! ....stage freight. Once you squat on the side of the road, with 7 others, you look up at the caravan crawling by. Of mostly mails staring out there windows looking for deer or something, but rookie move, it didn't happen. It was 4.5 hours before that relief could be had.

Lesson 2: Going to the car for feeds

This was exciting!!! I would grab empty bottles from the team, raise one up, the officials would call Michael and the team car to the front (from the back, our starting spot was well last...) and I would roll to the car and do the exchange of goods. I grabbed bottles and bars and headed back through the peloton to hand off the snacks. I felt like the ice cream cart! it was so fun! And it really helps the time pass!

Then the historic wind picked up and I soon learned that if I was alone, that wind was 10 times worse. The wind caused attacks which cause crashes which cause gaps. This chain of events sent me to a place I became very familiar with: OFF. THE. BACK. Now there were others there, but sometimes, not so much help. I think it "only" took us 20-30 minutes to ride back to the group. This time. :) You have to ride through the caravan of follow cars to get to the peloton, so when I passed Michael I grabbed more bottles and headed to my homies!

The goal was stay to the base of the Mogollon climb, which I almost made! I was pretty pumped, and just rode my pace as steady as I could to the top. I had passed of my last bottles and the girls were unleashed to tackle the climb! Flavia O (Froggy) ended up 2nd and Clara (Red-Hot) an impressive 3rd with my homie Mara Abbott winning the stage. This put Flavia in the climbers jersey for the next day!

I was so bummed at the 2 hour mark when teammate/homie/travel partner Beatrice Rodriguez (Bea) had been involved in a crash and her rear derailleur had been broken off! When I was finally getting back onto the group, she was in the car and I almost looped out. Not know why she was there, if she was injured etc was slightly stressful and unsettling. But at the end of the we were all glad that she would live to ride another day and no bodily harm - only emotional and to the bike - had been done!

Also Laura Hines who broke her femur at SDSR was on the mend and had come along to do swanny duties of helping in the feedzone and being a lifesaver! This was much appreciated!

Favorite part of the day: The car ride home 70 miles from the top of Mogollon was with Michael, Clara and Flavia. I fought the urge to nap hard and listened and absorbed some of the coolest lessons for the bike and life to date! What an awesome experience. Hands down, that 6 hour period provided me with more learning, feedback, and development than I have received in half a racing season. Being part of a team with the goal of development for a weekend was truly an honor. I almost took notes.

Before I forget, I raced the Tour of the Gila...

2011-05-04T16:18:00.000-07:00

Redlands pretty much kicked me in the shin. Repeatedly. I got a nasty chest/head cold after and my shoulder/scapula are still quite inflamed. But I was excited about what was in store for the rest of the season and got back to training like a retard the week after. I took a brief hiatus from the local race scene to heal and train, only to reappear at Devil's Punch Bowl road race and get my front wheel taken out from under me at the 20 minute mark. WHAM. Smack on the asphalt, same shoulder, same knee. And same scenario which I now embrace whole heartily - Chasing...

Needless to say that weekend was tough. But as Brian says, we have bigger fish to fry. And more specifically, I was heading to The Tour of the Gila! A fabled 5 day stage race in the Land of Enchantment - New Mexico, 6,500-7,500ft above sea level, blustery 50 mph winds, and climbing that rivals Breathless Agony. I thought Redlands was tough with 4 stages, one being a 3.1 mile prologue, followed by a relatively flat 74 mile road race, a 60 minute crit, and rad Sunset loop of about 68 miles. But that was just the prelude.

Gila:
Day 1 - 73.1 miles with a load of climbing
Day 2 - 77.90 mile road race with again, climbing
Day 3 - 16.5 time trial, on a hill
Day 4 - 25 lap/27 mile crit which lasted 1:10. That's nuts. With more than a bump in it.
Day 5 - The mystic Gila Monster road race, 71.2 miles of pure gnar gnar!

The Team:
Director Michael Engleman invited Beatrice Rodriguez (Sc Velo local mosher) and I to join the crew of Flavia Oliveira - teeny tiny Brazilian climber and all around rad chick as Clara Hughes raced her comeback event, after not racing since 2003. She has spent the last 8 years speed skating and holds 6 Olympic medals in cycling and speed skating. Only one of 2 people in the world to have received medals in both winter and summer events. But that's just the tangible stuff. The conversations with this team will be remembered forever, acting as a huge catalyst for my training to come.

Hopefully over the next few days i will be able to re-hash the hilarity, excruciatingly painful levels of suffering, the on-the-bike in services, physical and mental adaptation, the trust, and the amazing experience that being part of a general classification win was and is.

Yes, Clara came back with a bang winning the TT, Crit, and GC.

And for me, I did not crash, flat, mechanical, or cry. And I finished. Second to last, with an ear-to-ear grin.

Redlands Classic, Aftermath

2011-04-08T15:29:00.000-07:00

Now that the smell of Kettle Corn on turn two of the crit has dissipated, my bars have been re taped and my finger grown back together, and I have watched my massive bruises jump through a kaleidoscope of colors, it's time to close the RBC book. Although I can't stop eating, despite eating a massive bowl of oatmeal, a burrito, plus a banana, and some Nature Valley bars prior to Sundays race. At 10am....

After my epic bike fail I was worried about 2 things: The potential of a fracture to my scapula and Brian stressing about me yarding it as he prepped for his duel with Sunset. So I hid from him in the feed zone and then the medic tent.

I think this is a good time to introduce a complicated tangent to this epic: Brian's racing too. Last year I played super supporter to Brian and his composite team. Here in 2011, he rides for CashCall Cycling out of Irvine and had some big goals for Redlands. In November he and I sat down and sketched out our season goals and step one was competing in and completing Redlands. This race would act as a stepping stone and benchmark for the forthcoming season. We spent hours together throughout the winter silently climbing to Idyllwild, Oak Glenn, in the rain, in the heat, building on our unbreakable bond. Now at Redlands, we would be on parallel missions, but without the ability to physically support each other. We have a good system in place and each of us is well taken care of by our teams/directors/friends. And we would both be there if we could, and both want the other to reach as many goals as possible, so we tell each other to go home. :)

Paul Abrahams, Brian's manager/director pulled me aside after SDSR crit and said: "Joy, your a bike racer now. No more chatty patty, go change, get your recovery drink and sit down." Oof, time to take care of myself! So each stage of Redlands, neither of us watched the other race! Most stages he raced after me, so I would find him and his team, throw them all high fives and be on my way to recovery. And waiting for the news of how things played out!

Now when I crashed, the COM cars were on the radio ASAP, and all of a sudden, old friend Larry Longo announces at the start of the Cat 3 men's crit "Local Joy Duerksen has crashed out on the Sunset Circuit!" Hahaha For The WIN!!! Talk about freaking out! I think Brian's response was "She's a tough cookie, she can handle herself" as he paced back and forth! But everything works out, he knew I was fine before the start and had the ride of his life to date, finishing RBC 48th overall. That's a big deal because last year, he was 102nd.

I finally got to watch him race on Sunday! The Breyer's and I headed up to Ridge road where the suffering would be exquisite! It was awesome to see Brian and the local boys and the CashCall boys dicing it up!

Since my body has sent all of it's white blood cells and rejuvenating goodness has gone to bruise control and muscle fixing, I'm sick. Like home from work sick not riding my bike sick, overdosing on orange juice/garlic and lemon juice/dayquil sick.

Here's to recovery and rest, so we can get on with this bike racing stuff!

Redlands Classic, Sunset Stage

2011-04-06T19:47:00.000-07:00

The Stage: Sunset Circuit Race 68 miles

I haven't stared at the bottom of a coffee mug since dead week in college. I almost took two showers, cold ones at that, to attempt a full body revitalization for the days race. I stared at Mara and quietly asked with my hoody almost covering my eyes: "It gets better, right? Like at the next race, if won't be so bad, right?" She just laughed.

I had spent the night tossing and turning and dreaming of cupcakes. I woke up at 3am and ate a granola bar to stave off the hunger pains. I didn't know how I was going to get to the race, let alone race it. But somehow someway, we got there. This course was hands down my most favorite. Here in town we have the Tuesday Night Championships otherwise known as The Sunset Ride. Now the local ride does 3 laps on a modified route, so as of late, I have been doing the RBC route for training and loving it. I know how many minutes the painful Ridge Road climb is. I know how many pedal strokes to get over the QOM to Rossmont is. I know where JT will be standing by his dirt yard. This one was going to be a blast.

Our team was down to 5 racers now after the crit after loosing Katie and Tammy to time cuts in the crit. Katie got a plate in her collarbone 3 weeks ago and Tammy has been suffering a quad strain for quite some time, so they get the Purple Heart Awards for their efforts period. Really impressive.

The Goals: 1. Make 3 laps - after 3 laps if you get pulled/crash/mechanical you will receive a prorated time and get on the GC. 2. Make 5 laps 3. Make the whole RACE to 9 laps 4. And get to race all the way into Redlands (Only the lead group gets to come all the way into town, so this was a Shoot For The Moon goal...)

The Race: I got on the bike to spin the legs out and jaw-dropping shock of all shockers, I felt ok. Borderline GOOD. Creepy. I got to the start and I was in the starting grid with some of the coolest pro mountain bikers: Lea Davison, Melanie Meyers-Colavito, and Amy Dombrowski. RAD. The four of us had a good laugh about it and got the ice cracked before the start. We had a neutral start out of town heading all the way back up to Garden. I made sure Lisa and I were in the the group near Mara and getting closer to the front of the group for the inevitable. I knew once on Garden it would be at least 10 minutes of all out max effort. Just as I predicted, the fire works were lit. Fighting for position, not even near the fire house yet, and the group was getting strung out. Turning onto Mariposa, where our ride passes every week, Nicky Wangsgard from Primal was on my right, got out of the saddle and WHAM her chain broke and she hit the deck, with a Webcor rider going down with her. RIGHT in front of me. I threw my bike down, jumped over the Webcor girl as Lisa flew past me and jumped back on my bike. Chasing. Really? Lap ONE? Out the Back?? Chase. Chase. Chase. Lisa got with another few riders and it took me about 7 minutes to latch on to their group. Phew. But climbing up Ridge solo on lap one was humbling. To the right were the Gangs, students from school with their parents. Perfect for a suffer-fest photo op. Side note: The tall socks. I always wear black tall socks, to hide my cankles - close runner up to Norms. But those would not have matched the SC Velo kits, so i special ordered white. My "fans" at the crit and even teammates said "We just looked for the tall white socks!" Perfect, now that I don't have a bottle-blonde rat tail to pick me out of the peloton!

Once with the girls, our group started to grow. We had Olivia Dillon of Peanut Butter 2012 join us who had flatted at the start. I quickly realized that the chase group, is well, a bit edgy, aggitated, and agro. Because virtually we have been dropped and want to be up THERE yet we are HERE with "them" whoever "them" is. This group was railing. We grew to about 15 with the addition of Erika who we picked up. We had three teammates in the group and tried our best to work to gain ground on the leaders. We figured we were the 3rd group on the road and the lead group was roughly 1:50 up. This was great news as we went through laps 1, 2, 3, 4...we weren't going to be pulled, we could make it all the way! The riders we were picking up were no pack-fill either. Strong riders that made our group that much more of a threat.

The course was playing out like the Truman Show as we rallied through. There's JT, his wife and Jack in the yard - each lap - cheering the same thing. The dog to the left barks super loud, we swoop right past Christie's house and see Mallory out of the corner of my eye each lap. heading down Dwight thinking why is there NOT a hay bale on Tricia's mailbox? There's always one. Ack, I can't stop staring at it! Quick look left look left! All these thoughts were just flashes in the pan but they stick out so large!

Now I talk a lot. But usually its about nothing or positive things like "good job" or "nice pull" or "just over the top" or maybe asking if a teammate needs something. You, something that will HELP the rider or situation. But some of these gals like to take a different angle. Like telling you what your doing wrong, to get off the brakes, to take different lines blah blah blah. I have done a really good job at blocking "noise" out this season but on this day I was tired and run down. Things started to get under my skin. Rookie Move #4: Don't ever question yourself!!!! I was riding good, fast and strong (in my opinion at least) and the girls telling me what to do were always behind me, I should have just given them the wheel. I like to learn, so I don't mind when other racers give me advice. But trying to figure out in my anaerobic state what they were telling me to do or not do was futile. And I still don't understand it!

Start of lap 5 I was pumped. I was doing my best to stay off the brakes but this meant I was pushing the limits. And I found just where those limits were! At 1:33:54 ride time, approximately 23.4 MPH, 30.3 miles in, I decked it and decked it bad! Now the only time I crashed on my road bike was on the diagonal railroad tracks in the rain. Alone. And the night before, I completely put a hex on myself by having a lengthy conversation regarding crashing. The consensus of the dinner table was that all crashes are 95% rider error. YOUR. FAULT.

And I concur. 100% my fault and very glad I did not take anyone else down with me. I was riding maxed out, pushing the limits and my front wheel hit a bump and washed out, throwing me straight down. I think Erika got caught up a bit, but i was sitting on the center line with my bike hanging upside down on the rock wall to my left. Funny thing: All the follow cars were driven by my friends and pseudo-Uncles: Ken Kramer, Matt Breyer, Sean Rooks, Mark Love, Uncle Greg Johnson, Mark Friis, all drove my and later told me they wished they had taken a picture. :)

I yelled at Lisa and Erika "just go!" in my best After School Special voice with some dramatic flair but they refused. We were on lap 5 and would get a prorated time and on the GC. That was a community goal for all three of us. But I felt SO BAD and I am sure that crash ripped the chase group apart. My hand was bleeding pretty steady from shoving it into my spokes and my knees super swollen from the impact and blunt force trauma into the asphalt. No road rash! But I took the brunt of the fall with the left side of my helmet and left shoulder. Collarbone? Check. Scapula....this one isn't working so well. Front wheel. Big NO. Bar tape shredded and dangling off like ribbon on a present. Down to the fire station we rode and my Redlands Classic was effectively over.

Such a mix of emotions. I couldn't believe the girls pulled out with me and stayed with me. I was miffed that my pilot error had ended our race. I was elated that my legs had felt great and that we were still racing, not just riding the race. Ramon gave me his officials chair so the firemen could poke and prod my shoulder, all coming to the conclusion I was intact. Phew. It could have been so much worse.

To Be Continued.... (sorry I just have to, too much to spew out at once. Plus, who reads a dozen paragraphs anyways!?!)

Redlands Classic, Downtown Criterium, Day 3

2011-04-06T13:50:00.000-07:00

The Stage: Downtown Criterium. 60 minutes of rip-roaring fun on a 1 mile course with 9, yes 9, turns!

This is by far the most exciting stage to spectate at. The boards rattle, the announcer yells, the speeds arch over 32 MPH, it's pure fun. The local norm for a crit race is 45-50 minutes with 4 turns and maybe 30 women, but that would be pushing it.

This stage boasted 9 technical turns, 90 women and 60 minutes. I learned very fast at SDSR that racing a crit at this level is completely different than at the local races. Locally I can ride the front, get in breaks and be an active part of the race. At SDSR I played tail-gunner for the majority of the race with my heart rate redlined the entire time. It took me 40 minutes to get to the front of the race where Beatrice was. 40!

Today's GOALS:

1. Get off the back!

2. Make time (you had to complete 40 minutes of the race without getting pulled/crashing/mechanical in order to race on Sunday)

3. Race the ENTIRE race

4. Finish on the winners time - meaning being IN the group until the end

Quick and Dirty: All goals achieved, well #4 was slightly off, but not my fault and a whole other issue.

Pre Race:

I was tired. No, exhausted. Race time wasn't until 2:30pm so that gave me more than enough time to conjure up exquisite ways to NOT complete the event. And plenty of time to eat and eat and eat. That's the thing with stage racing, you get so hungry!!

Warming up was tough. Only because I can't focus. And when I am nervous, I talk too much, and wander, and talk. Bonnie kept reminding me to get changed and focus. I decided to not warm up in the pits because there were too many people I know there, too many people to hug and high five, and focus was far from happening!

Rookie moves #2, #3: Media director of RBC Scott Welsh put me on the FRONT row. FRONT. but somehow, I got shuffled farther and farther back. To the back, behind everyone and no longer on the front. 3rd horrible mistake: DROPPED CHAIN ON THE START. Completely entirely LAST going into lap one. Seriously? Step up your game and at least half way set yourself up for success. Here goes tail gunning for 3 laps.

But I got to the group. And I started to move up. I knew that Erika and Beatrice would be at the front and Mara would be safely tucked in the middle. Just get to Mara. Work work work. Use the group. Stay on the wheels. There she is! "Mara, I'm here!" shuffle shuffle, start working to the middle again.

As the race progressed, I was able to move farther up the group, and feel slightly better. i was staying near Mara until the "incline" where her climbing prowess would move her up 15 wheels and my job of surfing the group would begin again.

This hour was slammed with emotions. Along the course I had dozens of supporters. From Team Redlands teammates, to students, old friends, and coworkers, people were cheering for me! It made me slightly emotional, and moderately misty eyed thinking about what an awesome opportunity I had fallen into. And I wanted to soak it up, every lung burning second of it. I also thought, well its ok if I fall out of the race, I win for showing up. No, wrong answer. Finish higher, get into group. Try not to look at Scott on the corner. Stop showing your suffering like a whipped dog. Pretty sure the girls in the race were getting annoyed with whoever this "Joy" was that everyone was cheering for. Such an awesome experience.

The pace of the race was insane, and the attacks kept on coming. The primes were ridiculous. It seemed like every lap there was something to sprint for. Money, Peanut butter, sprint points, or bonus seconds. I found myself sprinting in the drops as if coming in for the finish, but fighting to hold on to 55th position as the field strung out single file, fighting for a jar of peanut butter. Just give it to them!!!! just kidding. It was awesome that teammate Beatrice won the prime with 3 laps to go!

High light of the race: Lisa Campbell was super stressed (as were we all) about racing an NRC crit on 9 turns. She had a rough go at SDSR 6 turn crit so I was ELATED to see her coming up the group with about 6 laps to go. She was in the group, and moving well and railing it. Coming in hot to a turn, we were side by side and I told her "Lisa you are riding AWESOME today!!!!" and she stayed in for the finish. Small victory for some, huge victory for us!

I think I finished 60th and moved up to 63rd GC. oof.

It was nearly impossible to sleep! My endorphins were raging, my quads were screaming, and my head was spinning! The race was replaying through my mind. Every railing turn, every crash, every wrong line replayed over and over. Then started the Sunset Loop of Sunday careening through my head. Every. Single. Turn. :)

Redlands Classic, Beaumont Road Race

2011-04-05T20:28:00.000-07:00

Day 2: 75 Mile Road Race, 23ish mile loops, 90 degrees with moderate wind.

The Goals:

1. Finish

2. Make the time cut (if you finish outside of 10% of the winners time, you are cut and can't race the following day)

3. Have a blast!!!

The quick and dirty: All three goals achieved! In not the most conventional of ways.

The team headed into the road race at full capacity of 8 riders. Our job, beyond the above 3 goals, was to assist Mara Abbott since she was our GC rider after placing 9th in the TT on Thursday.

I was pretty excited about the day, having done numerous training rides on the route. I was even more amped about being in a peloton of over 100 women, stacked with national and world champions, Olympians, moms, full-time pro bike racers and a good handful of girls just like me. Trying our hands at the Dream.

Now flash back to San Dimas Stage Race last weekend. This race was stocked with HTC, Tibco, Peanut Butter, a whose-who of women's cycling. And I got worked. BUT...the race was only 56 miles which is on the short side so the pace was barn-burning. There was also just one hill at 14% or something lame like that, lasting about 4 minutes where the girls with the horse power would rip it and tear the rest of us apart. It was really, really, hard. One would think going into a 75 mile race I would be really nervous. But I knew a few things. The longer distance would temper the pace, until at the last lap. The climbs were longer and I can do better at a sustained climb than short punchy efforts. I also knew there was a long stretch to recover, eat and drink. We could make it!!

Lap 1: I decided to ride as close to Mara, Erika and Beatrice as possible. We were at the middle to the front of the group, staying nice and tucked in. My eyes were pasted open. Watching. Observing. Taking it all in. I was shaking with excitement and the opportunity to learn and grow as an athlete!

First time through the feed zone: Rookie Mistake #1: I dropped not 1 but 2 feeds! Thankfully I snagged the 3rd one. The feed zone is huge, and we had feeders about every 50 feet, but somehow two bottles grenaded out of my hands! I was extremely sweaty, the bottles were wet, but I had gloves on which I thought would prevent this from happening. The following laps i honed in on those suckers and grabbed them with a death grip!

I shoved myself as far up into the group as possible, so when the inevitable happened, and we were climbing at mach 9, I wouldn't fall to far out of the group. And it worked. I got in a group with Bea and Erika and we worked our way back to the bunch, with Katie and Lisa close behind so the whole group came through together.

On one of the climbs, i did something squirrelly (but completely safe and under control of course) , and someone - I think a homie - behind me yelled "Hey you Mountain Biker, hold your line" and I realized I was riding next to Lea Davison...hahaha, I hope she doesn't think they were talking smack about her!

Lap 2: First right turn out of the start/finish....Rear Flat! Super sweet. Throw the right hand up, and try to get to the right side ASAP!! Along with numerous official cars, there is a neutral support car and a car for each team. Our car was #5. I think the Colavita car tried to run me over, honking and speeding by. This was my first in-race wheel change and I was pumped! Super pro mechanic Chris Davison hopped out of the car as I shifted down and we made the quick switch. But now, to get back to the peloton. I started riding steady and the car came up next to me with a bottle out for a "feed". I grabbed the bottle which was solid in Chris's hand for a "super long hand off at 30 mph" which didn't go so well for me. I hopped to the back bumper of the car and rode it as long as I could, until the caravan took a left turn where I then jumped from bumper to bumper through the caravan. RAD!!! I tried not to red line it but it was really really hard! I finally made contact with the group after what seemed like a lifetime, and immediately started weaving my way through to find Mara. Found her! Relax. Check on teammates. Anyone need this bottle I got? Whose having fun? It was so exciting going through the process, I never stressed! I knew Michael and Chris would get me back to the group, I knew it would be ok. Plus, I needed every ounce of energy I had because the wheel I got only had a 23 on the cassette, the next two laps of climbing were going to suck! :) I knew it though, it was my wheel, I run Campy, so don't have very many options.

Climbing up the first climb, i was in the middle of the bunch, jersey halfway unzipped due to the insane desert heat, and OF COURSE!!! A bee jumps right in. It only stung me twice on the back, or at least once and I made its stinger get the back of my arm when I pulled it out through my sleeve. But seriously, total wiggle-worm. Stay calm, its just a bee, don't let it get to your face, focus, don't touch that girl 7cm away from you, phew, he only got me once. Geeze...what else you got!?!?!

I keep finding myself in no-mans land in road races. I get popped just enough at the last 5-7 miles that its just me. This time I sat up for one rider, who only spoke French and kept attacking me. that was awesome. I finally convinced her that there were riders coming, and sure enough, Lisa showed up with about 5 other girls. It sooooo much easier to get to the finish with people. And it was a hard lesson to learn, just sit up. Wait. Be patient. Up ahead I saw a the familiar jersey of teammate Katie doing the same thing and we were all able to come in together. Only 3:14 down on the main group! Success.

Highlight Real:

1. Lisa C rolling up to me with like 4 extra bottles and handing some off to take up to the front. Its a pretty big deal for "us" to go back to the team car and get bottles for the team and ride them up to the teammates. That was Killer!!

2. Looking out for teammates. I talk. A lot. And this race I had a purpose to talk! Check on my teammates, and really work on my pack riding skills. I would say to myself ok, you have three minutes to get up to Bea and see if she needs anything. Awesome. Our group on the way in had 9 girls, 3 of us with me, Katie and Lisa. It was so fun to be able to legitimately share food, bottles, support, to teammates with a common goal.

The day took its toll on many riders, probably because of the heat and crazy pace. The team was down to 7 riders for the next day, as composite rider Jessica Chong had a rough go of the road race and was beyond the time cut.

I believe I was 63rd on the day, moving up to 66th GC from 84th. Phew! Now the hard part....recover. Eat. Sleep and prep to race again!

Redlands Classic, 2011: Prologue

2011-04-04T18:18:00.000-07:00

Stage Racing: Uncharted Territory

I must be trying to recover, since I finally have time to create a blog post. I was also able to go visit newborn Violet Hope and see how her Mama is doing. These things just can't take place when I am on the limit.

Let's get to business:

The Goal: To complete the Redlands Classic, 4 day NRC stage race this past weekend

The Opportunity: Ride as a guest rider with SC Velo/Empowercoaching Systems, Directed by guest director Michael Engleman, with team leader Mara Abbott who joined the team for the weekend as well, coming straight from Italy. The SC Velo team is a local heavy hitter with national champions and a lot of the horse power for in the local racing peloton, with Dotsie Bausch (just back form winning silver at the Pursuit Worlds Championships!) at the helm. We also had another local rider, Erika Graves from the NOW-MS Society join the team as a guest rider.

Bonnie, Michael and Dotsie, making a game plan!

Now of course I am a big part of Team Redlands, but we do not have the option to put a women's team in the Pro race, so I needed to race as a guest/composite rider for the event. SC Velo is stacked with awesome ladies and I was beside myself with excitement to be part of a team, working for a common goal, and doing something with a group of ladies I have really grown to appreciate. And these girls are hilarious.

I have been practicing racing the last few weekends, figuring out a sweat iPod warm-up mix, pacing myself during the time trial, eating well, sleeping more, and resting period. That's a lot to take in though. I used the Tour of Murrieta Omnium and San Dimas Stage Race as practice for all of these items and more and each of those were stacked with high learning curve, stress, success, failure, and a lot of fun!!! But nothing could really prepare me for Redlands. Nothing at all.

To keep this less annoying, I will do a report on one stage at a time. Because there is a TON to report about!

Day 1: Prologue 3.1 miles of basically up. A route I ride sometimes, and trained a ton on, making it a huge "home court advantage" for me going into it. I do not own a Time Trial bike nor do I plan on buying one. So I put clip on bars on the handle bars and went for it. Fortunately on this course, a road bike will do just fine.

Trying to be undercover, not really pulling it off!

Being the home-town girl I really really had to focus. I kept my headphones on during the whole warm up tried to not even look people in the eyes, which is extremely difficult for me to do! Bonnie Breese from SC Velo was my "handler" for the day meaning she would escort me to the start to get my bike checked by the USAC officials to make sure it was legal, and to give me water and a pep talk while I waited my turn. She was rad! Dotsie also stuffed my speed-suit with bags of ice as the sweat poured off my nose and down my back, it was going to be a scorcher!

Warming up alongside longtime homie Lisa Campbell

The start was rad. My buddy Ken Kramer got hold my bike at the start, Mark Love put my bike up there, and my friend Larry Longo was the announcer. So cool!

The race went well until the 3k sign, where I got out of the saddle for a little climb and realized "squish squish" my front tire was flat! Super! That is rad. No options. No spare bike, neutral support was behind me and you can't go backwards on the course. Soooo, one and only option....ride on!! So I rode the rest of the TT with a front flat which was pretty entertaining coming in hot into corners on a front flat and pretty tough getting out of the saddle and not wanting yard it on day one. I actually thought it was funny, just a little. I had tons of friends/teammates/students out on the course and the cheers and laughs kept me going! I wasn't caught (we start time trials every 30 seconds) and was pumped to learn I got 84/113. Now that's not amazing. But with a flat on the 3 largest climbs of the TT, I ain't gonna stress!

The other cool thing about being a local is that I had 5 trucks to pick from to get a ride down to the start. i will ride flat on a road bike UP, but not DOWN.

Day one a success. Because we made it through! Just starting the event got a lot of the nerves out but then the focus was turned to eating, laundry, eating, resting and finally sleeping.

Moderately chaotic homebase! Getting 8 ladies ready to race is no small task!

Winter Tanning

2011-03-07T20:36:00.001-08:00

Yup, we stayed on a floatilla. I felt like I was on a boat for about 3 days post Callville Bay Classic. It was the worst when I was standing center-court with 35 6th graders running around me dribbling basketballs. Oh yack!
The scenery was top notch. I'm not making that up either. A racer, mid road race, says, I know everyone is miserable (this was a fact) but check out how beautiful it is here! And in fact, it was gorgeous.
Brian looking very lean, mean, and pro at the TT start!
Sunset day one looking out at "home"

Although Callville was a few weeks ago, and I didn't do anything amazing, it was a great experience. I got to hang out and help the CashCall Mortgage Cycling team and do some racing of my own in between. The wind there was horrendous, well nothing interesting if you ever ride in Beau(Blow)mont - which I do often.

Rain coming in

The road race on Saturday started after 12. We had the whole morning to plot our outfits. This is where I became very grateful for our winter training. Cold. Miserable. Long. Raining. I have spend hours silently stuck in Brians draft, getting covered in the silt/sand/rain from his rear wheel. I knew one day it would pay off. And this day it did. I was prepared, well dressed and I ate and drank well. I wasn't too uncomfortable because heck, I have been much more miserable on the bike this winter. Things are paying off. we also did trial rides in really bad weather with our glove/rain jacket/leggings vs embro set up which lead to some really nasty days which are now nearly forgotten, but gave me a good game plan for these types of conditions.

Brians race was more difficult in that they had more elevation gain with snow and hail and of course it was longer, poor little fellow was quaking like a leaf at the finish!

Onto more entertaining things, Heather Breyer, and Bradley and Tara and Mohammed for that matter, helped us take engagement pictures. Those of you who know us well know we are cheap, busy, never serious, and pretty much lame.

I got to wear my Party Dress again! Or as the kids call it the Wonder Bread or Candy Land dress! WINNER! Please note my $0.45 earrings from Claires!
Hehehe looking out into the valley...We are smiling, at NOTHING!
Never, ever serious.

This weekend was nuts. Good news is I spend about 10:13 on the bike and did NOT get hit by a care. Phew. Got that over with. AND i rode the train tracks I yarded myself on in the rain, and did not crash.

I am prepping for some pretty legit stuff, so I have been on the fast track since November. Wait, that's not fast at all! But, this weekend called for the following:

Saturday: 5 hours. Each hour was like doing a Wednesday interval ride. 4 hours, 4 different intervals. Hour 5 was a "Tempo - to brush up on your base" heheheh. The workout was named "Everything but the kitchen sink" Awesome-sacue! I loved it. Slept in until 8:30. Food, coffee, solo ride. Fantastic. It was windy as all get-out perfect prep for things to come.

Sunday I finally convinced my homie Lisa Campbell to come ride with me, along with my teammies Cynthia and Andrea. I said, its no big deal. Just 4 hours and 85 miles. OF COURSE that's a lie. Dummie, that takes like 5 hours. I hope she comes back to ride again. :) We hit up all the Redlands Classic routes which means we went through Yucaipa, Beaumont, Banning, Redlands, Calimesa and more!

For sure, I was slightly smashed shall we say. But....in the best way ever!

So OF COURSE we go to Mexican food, to celebrate Cynthias bday!!

They of course gave her birthday flan. She is vegan.....so we *had* to eat it.

I LOVE panuchos!!!!!

Parting shot!!

OH, that's RIGHT!

2011-03-05T17:58:00.000-08:00

I forgot why my shoulder hurt so bad, then I remembered I got hit by a landscaping truck on Thursday. I should have stopped right then and sold his 3 lawn mowers, because everyone knows he has no insurance or money for that matter. So I rode away. I KNOW! I should have stayed blah blah blah, but I have little time to dilly dally, and you know the Redlands police are SUPER busy checking pot-hole depth and discussing whether or not they should remove the massive palm fronds from middle of the road. No time for smashed cyclists.

It was super weird actually because I got "hit" well a car bumper nicked my calf, like 1:30 earlier doing an illegal u-turn. This guy did an illegal u-turn left infront of me and I just slammed into the side panel at the side-view mirror, poor wheel went under the tire. I am writing this in jest, because its ridiculous, but I really am SUPER lucky that I yelled and he stopped. That could have been bad bad bad!

I didn't want to call Brian, he was doing a big ride. I didn't want to call anyone. So I just went home. And then of course the phone call from Brian. Hey how was your ride? Good. How was yours....oh ya, I got hit by a car...and I think I ruined your wheel....And this is when we knew BMc was a keeper "I don't care about the wheel, I would go buy a whole new set today, as long as you are ok"....aw....So, about that new wheel set..:))

So moral of the story: It's OK to call your significant other in a time of distress..watch out for cars making illegal u-turns (today I saw 7!!!) And even in the daylight, nobody can see my black kit and bike. Sigh...

An actual holiday, don't get comfortable!

2011-02-21T16:12:00.000-08:00

At times, things don't go as planned. Last weekend was the second race ever I didn't cross the finish line, and once again because my friends crashed. This one was bad, multiple broken ribs, a collarbone, one collapsed lung, one punctured lung. Glad Everyone is on the mend!

This weekend was the first time since I started racing in 2005 that i registered for a race and didn't show up. But it was probably for the best because this was Brian's race report: "My face and head were so cold I thought I was going to throw up. My brakes were frozen and the 20 mph tailwind made the descent about 48 mph, and the frost was frozen on my glasses." Super! His team however went 1, 2, 5, and he was 7th in the Pro 1/2 field. So proud of all of them!! More on his team to come, but you will be so pumped on them. :) You can join their fan club too if you want.

But for me, the plug was pulled about 8pm Friday night with sweet relief as I resigned myself to, well, taking care of myself. I ate, a lot. Slept, a lot. Took care of, well, not much. Saturday found me riding 2.5 hours on the trainer and just about going crazy by 4pm because I was NOT at the races...that is not going to happen very often!

Other things I have done:

I think of myself as quite the coffee, um, drinker. You can tell I have the shakes because of it so I can't take a proper photo. I'm still sold on Stell coffee but Handlebar is coming in super close!

DVD's. These were all super lame. I wanted to go back and get Easy A and Despicable me again, but then I would have to actually get to a Red Box (Brian thinks they are the most inconvenient conveniences EVER) or Blockbuster.

Once Brian got defrosted we did what any bike racer and down-time-taker would do: Go to our most favorite Mexican food place! Brian always orders the chicken fajitas without ever looking at the menu, with a double order of hand-made corn tortillas!

And they now have mariachi on Saturday nights too? SCORE!!

Sunday I did a lot of the same but I had an itch. I have been on the road bike SOLID for months and when I start feeling a bit out of balancing my immediate knee-jerk reaction is to ride my mountain bike. So I did. And thank goodness for clear weather, snow dotted single track, and tons of motivation! It was an amazing ride!

Looking back over Yucaipa from the base of Crafton. Poor mountain bike, chains getting rusty, headset squeaky but thankfully, my switchback skills were intact!

Top of Zanja Peak, looking out to Morton Peak and Big Bear!

So although there was a slight hitch in my weekend, it ended up being super positive. I have a STACKED spring of racing and nothing more important than getting myself dialed and re-grouping before things are too late! More to come on what the racing season will bring!

Things I would blog about if I had time

2011-02-01T19:38:00.000-08:00

1. Don't complain about how other people ride their bikes, learn how to ride yours and be confident on how to ride.

2. I made it through a W Pro 1/2 race, with cat 5 C men, and I am no worse for the wear. The guys were petrified though. Favorite thing i asked them to do "please put your hands on the hoods, your freaking me out" very nicely of course. They really appreciated the help.

3. I have a higher potential to yard sale myself on railroad tracks than be taken out by the cat 5 men crashing around me. This really happened.

4. Brian is on a new cycling team, and they have a phone number on their jerseys. Call it.

5. There are 5 boxes of unopened Girl Scout cookies on the table. And I ordered three more from a kid at school. If the door bell rings again, we are all hitting the deck.

6. All I do is work, train, prep food, eat food, help with Team Redlands, coach 16 athletes, and sleep. Pretty boring. wink wink.

7. I really like that my new Team Redlands kit matches my bike, helmet, glasses and gloves to a T. I just need some new cycling shoes. Please.

8. We could also talk about how i am not a committed non-gluten eater, but maybe should be, but I am lacking the motivation and the time to research it. This small nutritional fact could be the key to reaching fighting weight and great success. Or not.

I bring the Party to the Party

2011-02-01T19:28:00.000-08:00

Do not let the lack of updates fool you. There is a plethora of things to blog about these days, just never the time or energy to make it happen.

Everyone in town or Facebook Land seems to have a cold, so I thought I should try too. It's not too bad, especially when I can get hopped up on Dayquil, Coffee, and a new MultiVitamin before work. Today, I definately brought the party with me!

A few weeks back we had our winter formal and I was abliged to make an appearance. I was toying with wearing something black, grey, burgondy, but those were all way too drab. Instead, I opted for a dress online which showed up the day before and was perfect. This dress in fact was the runner up for Wedding Dress. No joke.

The kids thought it was awesome, said I looked like I was from Candy Land, which is one of the highest compliments ever received. One kid said it looked like the Wonder Bread package too.

My 9th grade class is pretty hip, but didn't know about Dumb and Dumber-fail! So I said if anyone dressed like them, I would buy them a box of chocolates. Paul won big time!

So now you know where to find me, at least you know we will be having fun!

Maybe just maybe, its a sign.

2010-12-21T08:41:00.001-08:00

This rain is putting the halt on everyones exercise and moods. But lets take a step back, pay attention to the news or google homepage and come back to reality and realize it is December in the Northern Hemisphere. Rain happens. It's our job as athletes to adapt to the situation and over come. Or eat Snowballs.

Many of us SoCal Cyclists train and race year- round. This is not normal and probably not the best idea. But we can't stop. The sky is clear and the temps above 70. Why would we NOT ride?! So perhaps we should take this opening of the sky as a little nudge to tone it down a notch, stop it with the extra credit bike riding and stick to the plan. Sure the trainer is mind-numbing and saddle sore inducing, but the anger many harbor towards the rain is just as destructive. And our Northwestern Friends, well they have been on the trainers in the basements for a month now. It builds character and mental toughness. This I do believe.

Sure we can train outside to a point in the wet stuff. I have had my fair share the last few weeks. But there is a fine-line between being hardcore and doing out workouts in the rain and being completely stupid. Have you seen the standing water? It comes to my bottom bracket. The horrible holiday drivers who only care about the Tickle-Me Elmo for sale at Toys R Us are making an even worse name for SoCal drivers. Seriously I have been buzzed by more drivers while riding in the rain than I have during the entire summer!!

2/3 of my weekend rides found me in the rain. The first one was great because all my gear did its job keeping me mostly dry. My workout went awesome and riding through the construction zones just made me feel tough, like I was riding for Roubaix. And then I shattered a front spoke, filled my gloves with water, and realized while standing on the side of the road in the downpour fixing my bike covered in mud, road cyclists are way out-sized by dump trucks and minivans. And that I was freezing.

Saturday we gathered the troops and headed to Sunny Sky's in Palm Springs. Well worth the efforts and notched another fantastic, long, hard ride.

Sunday posed another threat: Mud and the wrong MTB tires. On this ride I came to the conclusion that yes I am tough enough to race BLVD in the rain and snow and yes I can make it through 4 hours of bone-numbing rain riding, soaked through looking like a Pinky Mouse again. But sometimes, its just smarter to pull the plug, and not lose limb, ego, or life. A ride completed that results in a week of illness just ain't worth it. Plus, I have some Sunny Extra Credit riding to tap into, nothing lost here.

I have gathered some great DVDs to watch on the trainer this week and enjoying the cover of a roof without feeling like a loser for not throwing myself into the downpour day after day. There's a time a place to do that, and I am more than ready to embrace it when it comes.

But now, its time to enjoy the holidays and a recovery week. :)

50 and freezing. Weak Sauce!

2010-11-23T19:54:00.000-08:00

Winter has landed here in the land of sun and sand, and its slightly on the cold side. I'm not sure at what juncture between last November and today I became so soft, but come on! I have truly adapted to this Mediterranean climate. I even wore leg warmers and a long sleeve jersey on two rides! Gotta be a record!

Since I have a riveting day job molding the future as a teacher, the bulk of our fun rides take place at night or on the weekends. Lucky for me, Saturday and Sunday brought an onslaught of rain. Steady, windy, icy rain.

The largest hitch was finding everything I needed, which resulted in only a level 3 meltdown. Rain jacket, gloves, embrocation hot stuff, sweet Euro hat for under the helmet, clear lenses, and shoe covers. And probably 10 other things. I am pumped that I got all my flats out of the way last weekend, or those would have been some tough fixes with frozen fingers and sand and debris all over my wheels. Brian and I got fenders for Christmas last year and they came in super handy! Pretty fashionable too.

The heat embrocation was a huge win. Lots of lotion on the legs, heat embrocation, vaseline. Together, making my legs warm and toasty, super shiny like I was about to go for my next body builder photo shoot, and well, they also collected massive amounts of junk.

Now we had a few issues. First off, the kits for the year are quite white. With all the TSA craze, well lets just see you could probably see more watching us ride by than walk through the scanner. Poor Brian looked like one of those Pinky Mice, ready to be eaten. Secondly, we have the habit of drinking quite a bit on the bike. But with the cold and rain, seemed like I had to find 5 pit stops along the way. We stopped at the soccer complex, in the downpour, and man the looks we got. Not sure why, it would be way worse to stand under an umbrella in jeans for hours cheering for offspring.

Not to sound weird or anything, but once I got warm hands, my whole torso was toasty and dry, eyes protected, I had a lot of fun. Once I resigned myself to being cold and rained on, all was good. Just relax and ride. I need to learn what the tires feel like on wet asphalt, how to get nutrition out of pockets when my hands are numb, and how much the breaks actually don't work in the rain. I really did miss the whine of a wet mountain bike rotor though.

Sunday was even better! I opted to ride the mountain bike with some homies. I railed out in another downpour, through massive standing water and alluvial soil deposits. Rad. I slogged into Stells to meet not 2 but 7 of my classmates. From 1998. That's right. Boarding School in Virginia has produced some pretty cool grads, and we like to get together on occasion and ooh and ahhh over everyone's babies and hair cuts.

Quick coffee refill and an apple fritter, joined forces with Lisa and Cynthia and Andrea and headed to the hills and single track. Over the next three hours I was able to link the two major trail systems in town, rip awesome trails, spot a bobcat, and make it home unscathed. Perfect day on the bike.

That's it. Another weekend of Big Girl bike riding camp. With a ton of great people.

Just another normal weekend.

2010-11-17T16:44:00.000-08:00

We rode to Idyllwild again. I told you we would. This "winter" we are already logging a few hours and miles, so one should expect that hitting another 90 mile day without a hitch, well that would just be too lucky. Last week I felt good, the weather was brilliant, I was completely amazing on the bike (yawn), and the bikes worked like a charm. I will remember that day fondly.

This week we were joined by Teenage Heart Throb Andrew Sjorgren and Craig Turner (we don't have a nickname for him. Yet) After riding the Lynn Pletcher Memorial ride (which was AWESOME) we headed to the hills. I unhitched on the climb as usual, and promptly flatted. Three times. we run slime tubes (I have never weighed my bike) and the slime sprayed all over my bike and I. 2nd tube in, boom. Put slime tube back in, held 10 psi. Dilemna? Uh, no. I'm a bike racer, I wanna do a stage race, so I got on the bike and rode up the mountain 50-60 minutes on a rear flat. I am so pumped I had my carbon race wheels. I never really knew the white line had such a drastic curve to the right...

Nearing the Y, Brian came back to get me, leaving Heart Throb and Craig soaking up the sun and talking about kittens and unicorns. Another really awesome thing about my race wheels is that they are deep-dish. Not only do they catch like a yacht sale in the wind, you gotta have long stemmed tubes. But I just put a hole in the last one. So we used Brian's short stemmed tube. That was comedy. we could tell it was losing air so Brian told me to hurry and get as far as I could (1.2 corners to be exact) before it went flat again. And rode it the 5 miles into town. Somewhere in there we switched rear wheels. And yes, the wedding is still on.

Once we got everything sorted, I wasn't about to be alone. I rode those rollers harder than Sisquoc to stay with the boys. On the descent I got relegated between Turner leading me through the descent and Brian coaching me through, as Heart Throb rode Blindside...I could have killed him. These boys do not stop pedalling, and they don't brake. By the time we bottomed out in Banning i was silent, eyes completely bloodshot from being pasted open in the howling wind, face covered with sweat, snot, and eye non-tears. Big Girl training has begun.

Once back to base camp, we just ate and ate.

Sunday, was so much harder. It was about 3,000ft less of climbing, way less on the wattage, but oh so hard to get up and out. Papa Breyer was my riding partner and I could not have asked for better! "Big Wheel, what's the plan today?" "Um, I gotta just stay on the bike for 3 hours...." We made it 3:09. So. Hard. My right eye really hurt, come to find out i was having some nasty reaction to something, making it ache and track poorly and look horrendous. I thought of going home a lot, I thought about what I was going to eat, a lot. But Breyer and I talked like school girls about everything from racing to the stuff school girls talk about. He eeked me to 1:35 and I started to feel like at least a recreational cyclist again, and by the end, a shadow of a racer came out of the haze, just in time to duck in the doorway.

Riding these long days I have a lot on my mind. The future, the past, Lynn Pletcher, the amazing Robert Bender, my lifes path. None of it makes sense and I am not sure it should, but I know I am extremely blessed to be able to share such days with these people, even if silently suffering wheel-to-wheel, this is the road that was meant for me.

Farewell Robert Bender

2010-11-17T16:26:00.000-08:00

Robert, where to start! This photo sums him up perfectly. Happy, content, kind. I met Robert in 2005 up at the 12 Hours at the Summit in Big Bear. I can't remember if he raced solo or on a team, but from then on he became one of "The Guys" that I would see at the races, in the bike shop, and out on our local trails. Always offering a smile and some good convo.

I read somewhere on facebook a friend commented: "Robert thank you for giving Hulda Crooks cool corners." Ain't that the truth! He always had a shovel hidden out in the canyon I think so he could tidy up the burms and jumps. I loved that he had some of the most rad experiences, but to him, they were nothing to blog about. Just another day spent with good people. One to never boast, gloat, or make another racer or rider feel insufficient. I like his style.

I have been so impressed with the outpouring of love from his core friends and family. From organizing massive mountain bike rides, raffles at DH races, monster garage sales, and frequent beverage and pizza nights at Jersey's all in his support. This past Saturday, the 12 Hours of Temecula held a category just for Robert, Bike for Bender. I am so glad he was able to experience these selfless actions over the past few months.

Ride on my friend, and let's go hit some sweet jumps!

#cancersucks

To Idyllwild and beyond!

2010-11-09T17:30:00.000-08:00

I poached this picture of Tahquitz so you would be enticed and want to read more. Continue.

Ok, so how do am I supposed to take pictures while i ride? My hands are freezing, pockets are filled with bottles, arm warmers, chapstick, delicious snacks, and deep down inside, my phone in a ziplock. We can't stop for such things, we only stop for approximately one pit stop. I mean I took phenominal pictures in my mind! Riding through Hemet I saw an Ostrich, Beaumont a Hot Air Balloon in the back of a truck, Banning a couch. Which I in fact wanted to sit down on and take a nap.

Sometimes we set lofty goals. Most of the time we fall short. Sunday was not one of those days. Creating roughly 90.48 miles of riding, from Yucaipa-Hemet-Idyllwild-Banning-Yucaipa, we saw the world.

Riding up through the mountains was much more exciting than fearing for my life like I did last week on the back side of Oak Glen, dodging Apple Bobbers and Civil War Reinactments. Heading up the 79 or whatever it was, is super peaceful in comparision. The grade is not as drastic and the ample passing lanes make my life seem slightly more secure. Once you crest into Idyllwild, your stupid if you think you are done climbing. Enter the rollers near the tree line and subarctic climate (I had to put my arm warmers on, THIS is a big deal...) and giant Christmas trees ready for the taking. Lake Perris even looked inviting, from THERE.

When looking back, the most horrific terrible uncomfortable awful part of the ride was descending into Banning. For one reason. I could see Cabazon. And the windmills. And the Casino. It was already past 4 hours on the Garmin, and I know how far those dang windmills are. And why they are there, holy wind. My life was nearly lost 17 times due to massive gusts, leaving my hands literally numb at the bottom. Thankfully, the road wound west, away from Palm Springs. But it still dropped us straight onto the hot desert floor.

This ride was unique in that it was also un-chaperoned. Brian and I are usually flanked with good friends and teammates, but Sunday it panned out be just him and I. worked perfect for a date, we didn't have drive anywhere, spend money, get dressed up, or feel stuffy in any way. We also only spent about 75% of the time together, perfect for a date. I joke, I joke! But seriously, a much needed respite from the chaos that follows us. Riding in silence up huge mountains.

This ride is now my favorite. I hope winter stays away at least one more weekend, so we can go tackle it again.

What a Crock.

2010-11-03T12:13:00.000-07:00

I'm busy. So busy that my food prep has gone out the window. Or so I thought. I came across a super nifty Crock Pot, for which I will always be grateful. I was at first quite nervous to leave it stewing and unattended, but i do the same thing with the washer, dryer, dishwasher, and refridgerator, how is this different?

I am vegetarian for the most part, and just feel weird about putting meat in the pot, so I have not crossed that bridge yet. However, I decided to make a breakfast option and a lunch option, brewing up enough for at least a week!

I found this website super helpful. This chick went all Julie and Julia on us and cooked in the Crock for 365 days! Yikes! http://www.crockpot365.blogspot.com/ and there a bunch of gluten free options, for those of you in the market!

My favorite bfast: Steel Cut Oats! But I can't find the recipe...fail!

My second favorite bfast: Oat's With Apples! Cut the sugar, and I don't use milk, maybe some almond milk, unsweetened original. When I heat it up in the microwave, gets the apples cooked all the way through!

Before...and 5 hours later...

My first lunch attempt was Moroccan Lentils - pretty great. I ate them with Kasha grain or Quinoa, awesome for lunch on the run at work!

But todays, is completely legit. I made a bunch of brown rice in the rice cooker and added this black bean concoction to it. AWESOME! Not bad with a bunch of fresh veggies, avocado, lime juice, tomatoes, cilantro and scallions!

And 6 hours later and a trip through the blender:

I started a coaching company!

2010-10-07T15:36:00.001-07:00

THE COACH: Joy Duerksen

Physical Education and Health Teacher; Pro Mountain Bike Racer; Cat 2 Road Cyclist; ACE certified Personal Trainer; USAC Level 3 Cycling Coach

THE MISSION: Whether you would like to improve your fitness, complete a century, walk a 5k or become more competitive in your racing category, Big Wheel Coaching can meet your needs. Serving mountain bike, cyclocross, and road cycling enthusiasts and racers, as well as those wanting more structure in their fitness programs to obtain their specific health and fitness goals. All athletes are welcome, cycling, fitness, and/or personal training!

COACHING PACKAGES: Single Track $100/month; Open Road $150/month; Double Track $150/month for TWO clients (on same Single Track Program).

· Initial consultation with goal setting.
· Includes trainingpeaks.com account to log and track workouts.
· Daily training plans based on lifestyle, goals, and training zones uploaded to trainingpeaks.com weekly by your coach.
· Field testing (where necessary) to determine power and heart rate training zones.
· Weekly to daily contact with your coach regarding training, goals, schedules (see individual packages for greater detail).
· Weekly to daily review of power and/or heart rate files by your coach (see individual package for greater detail).

CONTACT:
909.499.1353 joyonbike@gmail.com

I specifically blame YOU.

2010-09-17T15:56:00.000-07:00

I blame these little germ carriers for my new-found illness. They may look cute and innocent, but alas they are not. Head cold, drippy eyes and coughing like kennel cough which releases crazy stuff from my lungs, I had to call in sick, for real, this morning.

Of course, right when the racing season comes to a screeching stop, the colds set in. I don't know if its the heat, stress, kids, lack of exercise and structure that lets the little guys creep in and take over. I think its because I had fun rides planned and good foods to eat and maybe a cool hike or two to accomplish. So, postponed they will be.

Hopefully I will be back on form by Monday, when the germ-carriers have their second volleyball game. It's a pretty big deal. As is my rat-tail in the picture.

Smelly-Bonelli

2010-09-15T11:58:00.000-07:00

Let's call this more of a Celebrity Appearance than a race. :)

I think I have raced at Bonelli for about 5 years...always different course, conditions, and competition. My favorite course was one that took us by one of the Ragging Waters slides, and you could almost feel the splash of the water and you could definately see the whites of the eyes of the kids as the screamed down the tube! That year my cranks fell off, so I ran two laps. I'm pretty stubborn, I don't quit easy. Probably pretty stupid if you think about it.

I headed to Bonelli Park to race the State XC champs this past weekend for a few reasons. I like to ride my bike, I like to see my friends, and I like to punish myself. Ok, i didn't mean to punish myself, it just happened. It seems that the season took it's toll on my about 3 days prior to the race, rendering me done and done. But I knew the course was going to be a fun one a lots of people to catch up with. I was bummed to not join Brian and the juniors and other teammates at the CBR State Crit Champs, where he won the elite 1/2/3 overall, but knew it was the right decision.

The energy was electric and high fives and hugs from so many great friends well-worth the entry fee! To see Patty, all the registration staff, Sharon, get a massive bear-hug from the newly-healed Justin and to catch up with Heather and Jason, and Allison both off amazing exeriences at Breck Epic and World's was totally rad! Along with Vanessa and the whole Backbone crew, running into Alexis and Essense, all was good. A huge thank you to all the racers and friends that were so gracious to me, it made me really happy to have such a warm welcome back to the dirt, although Roger kept yelling "roadie" at me. Awkward.

I was pumped to start on pavement, my new friend, and hammer for all I had for a few pedal strokes. Allison wrote in her blog something to the effect of the first 7 minutes were the best. Good stuff because that's the only time we were together, and I crashed hard with a fantastic Endo at 6:37....nice wake up call Roadie....

I spent the rest of the race talking to friends (literally), giving water to a dehydrated racer, getting another racer to sit on my wheel so I could pull them out to the finish because they were bonking, pretty much anything that could keep me from actually racing. Because if I revved it up and smashed it, I probably wouldn't have made it home from Smelly, let alone work to on Monday. Oh when I did rev it up, the pace didn't change much at all.

I loved the switchy single track through the woods where I saw Tonya Bray taking photos and other friends cheering and heckling us along with Lisa Crowe who made the wiser decision of the two of us and just came to cheer. I just threw a fist pump, hit some jumps and kept having a blast on the fun course.

My favorite part was getting a neutral feed from Elle Williams, a little lady I had the privilage to ride with in July when I did a ladies clinic up at a Rim Nordic race. She is all but 11 years old I think and was so excited to hand me off a cup of water! Now THATS what its all about!

Funny things happened out there too. Too many to recount, but i did set up a very ghetto feed for myself on a concrete can for bbq coals. It was just out of arms reach so I had to stop each lap to get the feed. I would ride by all the kids, talk to them about their race, then clip out and switch bottles all while the same lady sat about a foot away and just stared at me. For 5 laps. So odd.

I never have my own photos, so I steal them from facebook:

Heidi Bowen is super rad, I have traveled and raced with her for probably 5 years now! And yes that is dirt on my head and no I am not going bald. Thanks.

Dean Swank, one classy guy! Always positive, happy and helpful! And an amazing athlete! His lady Laura took these pictures for us!

When in doubt, I bust out some cool socks. thanks for the pics Laura!

Wait, did I forget to tell you!?

2010-09-08T11:44:00.000-07:00

It was my birthday.

I ate a whole cake.

It was delicious.

If you closely, there is a slight amount of bling near my sick Baby-G watch...

Brian actually kept a secret from me! He is a total jabber-jaw, and I am "into everything" which means I am way too much in the Know. But, alas, we planned a party for his Brother Nich fresh back from Afghanistan. I looked around at the group and thought wow, these are some great people here, and also though oh man, what a killer vibe tonight! DUH!!!!

In a rambling that only a video could capture, Brian asked me to marry him, and I said "what are you doing" and then I said "Yes." :) Pretty awesome stuff.

And no, there is no date yet, and no that does not mean we are engaged to be engaged. That's what 16 year olds do...please. It means we are busy and maybe this weekend over a large salad we will discuss those plans. Or just book a trip to the Giro and celebrate in style...

It's Time to Play Teacher Again

2010-08-16T16:05:00.000-07:00

Being a school teacher and all, I catch a lot of flack. Last year on President's Day, I asked a friend if they had to go to work, or if like myself, they had a holiday. They politely told me "No, us in the real world have to work on Monday." Oh, my bad. While the nations schools take a break from raising your children, to honor the founders of our country, you still have to trudge through the 9-5. FYI my job is in the real world. well, sort of. I do teach PE.

People also think that teachers are lazy. Mid February, while being at school up to 16 hours a day, training in the dark, I just keep my eye on the prize of June 10th and the slight chance of sleeping in so I can potentially recharge and get ready to raise your kids again for you in the fall.

This summer, however, there was little down time. It seemed as if we were heading to races one to two days a weekend from San Diego to Lodi in search of competition, learning, and punishment. In the car and through the short weeks I studied stacks of books about training, heart rate versus power training, biomechanics and kinesiology. When it was all said and done, I walked away with a USA Cycling Level 3 Coaching Certification and an ACE Personal Training Certification. And promptly reported back to my day job. So yes, I am very lucky to have had the opportunity to study during the day for such things. Not to mention train mid-day, work on team the team website, send emails, surf through Trainingpeaks.com and help my fellow teammates develop as riders and athletes.

Read between the lines, I had a stellar summer.

I thought this up on a solo training ride, which in fact I won.

2010-07-29T13:03:00.001-07:00

There have been a lot of really great group ride wins lately. Lucky. No race fees, no pinning of numbers, no course marshals, just open roads, blown stop signs and intra-category flogging. Good stuff.

Recently I have heard many a tall tale about "winning" the Tuesday ride or Saturday ride, and how said "racer" stuck it to all the other competitors. As much as I would like to brag about being in a break with 2 of the 4 horse-men for 5.78 minutes 3 Saturdays ago, its not really that big of deal, and as soon as I grenaded off the break, it was just as soon forgotten because I almost crashed Abel out into the curb. PS Thanks again for wheel...And if you won on Saturday, the guy who won the race on Sunday, where fees are paid and points received, sat on your wheel and watched you flog yourself in the wind endlessly, just to pass the random fire hydrant or hibiscus plant 3/4 of a tire ahead of that other weekend warrior.

Not to downplay your improved fitness, stamina and gumption for sure. But take into consideration that some group ride participants are following a prescribed plan that does not entail beating up on non-like-category enthusiasts. Sometimes they may be told to "sit in" or complete 3 specific 5 minute efforts or to just ride for fun. Because in fact, they may just be training for something in the form of an organized race or event. These are pretty fun too because you get grouped with people of like-abilities and talent where you can really shine, or in fact, be quite dull.

Anyways, on to more interesting things. I have been winning a lot of rides myself, because I ride alone. But I keep getting stung by bee's. 30 minutes into a 3.5 hour ride is not the best situation to get stung in. And I seem to keep having quite adverse reactions to their nasty venom. Sting #1 selected one of my only skinny spots: my cheek bone. Wham, swelling all around my eye, lids closed and eye oozing, reminiscent of those 14 episodes of pink eye in grade school. (Just kidding, I went to home school and had no friends that I could contract such a lethal virus from) But really, it looked like i took a left hook to my eye hole. Ironic fact: Brian received a bee sting on his temple, resulting in the exact same fat-face situation, although he more resembled Chunk from the Goonies.

Bee sting #2, after a quite lengthy "character development" training ride in the heat of the day, while descending HWY 38 at 79 MPH, bee landed smack on my medial right tibia, another fat-free location. The forth-coming swelling, itching, aching, and misery well, was just that. The next days ride found my calf hitting my bottle cage due to massive edema, which led to spending the rest of the weekend between training and racing in a benedryl induced coma.

Good times, and welcome to summer in beautiful San Bernardino County. Next time I may have pictures, but probably not. Im just too sweaty and smashed out on the rides to fumble with my phone in my "purse" (ziplock bag) to take any worthwhile shots. And yet again, they would probably be just of sweat and the bag if they do get taken.

So there's that. Best of luck in all your upcoming races and congrats again to all your wins.

So, what your saying is I am supposed to update this thing?

2010-07-20T17:11:00.000-07:00

My bad!

Since this blog is stale, for a myriad of reasons that don't even interest myself, you should go read these blogs in your spare time, since you have so much of it:

Unofficial Team Redlands Blog

Allison Mann - racing with the big girl MTB'ers

And I can't really think of any other things that are interesting, besides the Tour, races all over the map, and soaring temperatures that are completely out of control. I have maxed out on 7 bottles during a ride, tomorrows may call for 8. This requires a great skill in knowing the NICE parks to get water and use the facilities at, and starting with at least one completely frozen bottle in my jersey pocket.

I also saw a lady, while I was refilling a water bottle at a park, running. She ran by my with this weird crunchy sound. At closer look, below her hooded (with hood donned on top of a beannie) sweatshirt, the draw strings of a kitchen trash bag were flowing behind her. REALLY?!? Do you want to die now? Or when you go sit in the sauna wrapped in seran-wrap later on. She had no water with her, and looked as if maybe this was her 3rd jog in say, 20 months. I got out of there ASAP, i mean I know CPR and first aid, just didn't want to put a wrench in my workout.

I know that's rude. But I was shocked. I want to see what Google Search spits out this lame information that leads people astray! FYI Fluid lost to sweat and evaporation during exercise must be REPLACED.

I need a new Banner Picture...but haven't found one cool enough

2010-06-29T13:33:00.000-07:00

Most people just think I race, or stand around. Although I do race a lot, that only takes up about 2 hours of 2 days a weekend, that equals 4 hours. As per the standing around, I usually can not stay in one spot for longer than 64 seconds, so I suppose you could call it pacing. But I only do that roughly 4 hours two days a weekend, bringing my accounted-for time to a whopping 12 hours a week. So there.

While not standing or racing, I created a team website.

http://www.possabilitiesgaryfishersubaru.com/

In an attempt to keep the community, our sponsors, our teammates, and myself up to speed on our non-stop racing and philanthropic action, the website was a must. And it took me roughly 45 hours to create.

I also spent about 4 hours making an apple pie for the Gnomes 28th birthday. That was a pretty big deal and it took one weekend of racing to balance the calories out.

Speaking of, I won a race.

Oh my bad, that's the Over The Hump race and I was the only Pro female....
Wait a second, I won another race! I headed up to Big Bear to race one of my favorite courses. Probably has something to do with all the extended fire-road climbs, but I also had a blast in the technical single track and even got to do some mud riding! Man, it seems like forever since that has happened. From the altititude, to the dust, to the fun, it was an awesome day. There were 4 pro women out, but Allison Mann, assuming the fields would be as small as usual, jumped in to race with the cat 1 men! Good for her because she stuck it them! Super cool! That allowed myself, Dorothy Wong and Deirdre York to ride for the pro podium. I've gotta say though, it was so awesome to get high-fives and hugs from ao many old friends! Quite the recharge I needed!

I remember riding UP Fern trail 2005 12 Hours at the Summit! Where I first met Tinker! Thanks for the cheers and pictures from Justin Mann! Pumped here to be riding down it and on Uncle Greg's loaner Superfly 29er 2x10!! FUN FUN FUN!!

This Podium is really cool because it spans three generations of pro mountain biking women!
Back in 2007, racing the NORBA Final in Aspen, Deirdre won the jr expert womens overall title, and I won the overall national title 19-29 yr old women expert. Its always fun to catch back up with these gals and see where life has taken them! And we haven't changed a bit, have we. ;)

Being that our team is lacking a high number of female racers, sometimes my best option is to race with the masters or cat 3 men. Here I had the pleasure of racing with Papa Breyer and Rick in a cat 3 race. It is always fun to get to ride with more of my teammembers and to learn from them. Men's fields are a weird "animal" though, I will have to delve into that topic later on.
Climbing at Sisquoc, my favorite picture I think, channeling Jens...
Sisquoc Road Race. I was so excited to be able to stretch my legs in an event longer than a 40-50 minute crit. To get to ride hard, climb hills, and work with my teammate Cynthia. This race was hot and windy and tough. I was super pumped that I was able to finishe 7th, close behing the lead group. Then I got DQ'ed. No, not a Blizzard at Dairy Queen, DISQUALIFIED. I pretty much blame Brian for this.
There was about 300 meters to go. I had attacked and broken away from a group of 5 and heading in solo for my 7th place finish. Then the pro/1/2/ men's break passed me. That means I get neutralized. But then they sat up and slowed down, blocking me in and pushing me towards the gravel. Brian was in the group of 6 and was right beside me, so I told him to go away. Hahah. He tried to get the guys to let me by, then just motivated me to finish. But to the officials, it looked like I finished with the men. Even though they had like 60 more miles to go and I was riding hard with 8th place in hot pursuit and not sure if I should sit up and wait, pass them on the left or what. But the finish was right there! So I protested, extremely politely and pled my case. They hand wrote me in the results and said I was good to go after a 20 minute discussion, only to see on the official results online, I did not finish. High-Fives all around guys! Thanks a billion for the great work out and the ability to hit my PowerMeter High Score.
I will be back next time.

The woes of summer...

2010-06-10T14:22:00.000-07:00

About 22 hours and counting, I will be "free" for a few weeks. Free from snotty kids, free from acceptable pay (jk), free from my watch and free from my sneakers. So the good news is I will always be late and my feet will be dirty and swollen because I am barefoot. Sweet.

The other great news is the heat. We have ramped up our "overheating prevention" in some very key ways. Last Sunday on my high-noon mountain bike ride (YES I still have one and I swear, if someone else asks me if I still do, or if I ever ride it, I will kick them in the shin and run away) I put a bag of ice in my jersey up between my shoulder blades. Although it soiled my outfit leaving sweat/water/dirt lines like Dr. Seuss bathtub rings, it whittled my core down to about 101 degrees. Thank goodness.

With the shipment of our new kits, I also have an improved tan-line. My previous jersey (yes singular - I wore 1 kit, since last June. No bueno.) was a hand-me-down that the owner had cut the sleeves Bam-Bam style. Now I actually boast cuffs on my sleeves, thus tattooing those ever coveted tan lines. Genius.

In the theme of Giving Back, which seems to be rampant in the cycling community this season, I took a few newbie Junior Boys out to a mountain bike race. On a Tuesday (while Brian had his Junior Ducklings - i hope they don't know we call them that - here in Redlands for some skills training). Here's the cool thing. Unlike our local Tuesday Night Championships, you actually pay an entry fee, get cool stuff, have a closed course, course marshalls, droves of fans, and free food afterwards (if you count Clifbars and cookies) All in just under 1:30 minutes. Not bad, not bad at all.

The boys were pumped! Locked them in the team car and headed to the OC where the temps are 15 degrees lower and the middle school chicks 15 degrees hotter (so the young lads said). The course suited us all well in that it was a figure 8 with fast laps, crossing through start-finish 2 times per lap so I could see the whites of their eyes each time we crossed. The venue had a slight cyclo-cross feeling, with tight turns, sponsor pits and BBQ on the grill while the music pumped. Pretty much one of the most well put together and run Mountain Bike events I have been to in quite some time. Oh wait, I haven't raced my mountain bike since August....anyways, lets just say it was Super Sick!

Check it out if you get a chance! Over the Hump Series

They even had a photog out and pictures are online if you want to check them out and see the course a bit better. Some hills

And a way cool bridge!

Does anyone know how to get a sponsorship from Oxyclean? My white kit...dirt...sweat...I wonder what its gonna look like after my first crash....that's gonna be hot.

More Light Than Tunnel, at least right now...

2010-05-21T13:36:00.000-07:00

Women's Clinic Update: 101 happy participants! Sunday 75+ gals went on a supported 15 or 40 mile ride loop here in town with sag vehicles and ride guides! 20 went to the Ontario Crit, putting 40 girls in the cat 4 womens field! That is so awesome for this region!

I was pretty bummed to be so tired the whole time. With minimal sleep, pre-5am wake up calls day after day, I was off my A-game! All good though! Here is my little intermediate group! We worked on shifting, pacelines, double pace lines, eating and drinking on the bike and hill climbing! So much fun! And they all had a blast! And that was just the beginning of their fun day!

Big Bear Update: Dan Rendler saved my day Friday by delivering these to me at Women's Clinic Signin! They phonetics is hilarious and the notes so funny and kind! Kids writing thank you notes are the best! I sure hope they can get over to the finish of the ToC stage today and get even more excited about riding bikes!
Saturday night, i had to skip an important bday party to spend 2 hours at the grocery store finalizing my foods for the trip! I realized I would be driving the Uhaul truck to Morro Bay with all the kids junk in it, so why not throw the Mountain Bike in?!?! PERFECT!!!!!

Sometimes I act out of character. and the kids LOVE it! I wanted to make shortcake from scratch but come on, its a bunch of 10th graders, really. So I fillet Twinkies for Strawberry-Twinkie-Cakes!!!
I also got the kids to eat Family Style, like on HOOK!
Monterey! I loved the aquarium! Sea Horses were rad, with their Male-giving-birth way of life, the Otters were out in full force, and the fact that I was NOT racing the Sea Otter Classic...made all ok. Just kidding. But the fact that I have raced all over the Left Coast, made my navigation skills come in quite handy. Who would have thought!

Mountain Bike Trails! I totally picked the CORRECT bike to bring with me! The trails could be seen from camp, and as soon as I had breakfast cleared and packed and lunch prepped, I was able to head out, two different days, to check out the goods! An intricate system of trails between the State Park and Montana de Oro welcomed me. With no maps, no computers, no info, I just had to follow the trails. Somewhat like Blue Diamond by Vegas, I could see where the trails met and intersected. Smooth switchbacks, nice rock drops, techy ascents with flowers on all sides made for an excellent experience! And it was reassuring to know I can still ride the MTB :)

Kayaking! Justin Mace, great pal since high school, taught me how to kayak in 1998. And I haven't really done it since. It is interesting to learn, however, that those long ago learned skills, come back with a snap of the finger...

This outing turned out to be the most exciting of the week. With a Small Craft Advisory in effect, gale force winds, huge swell and strong current, the kids were sent two by two to their deaths. I mean, on a kayaking voyage to the sand spit. Well at least some of them made it.

Here's the quick and dirty. Sometimes, you should pick your kayaking partners based on skill and strength, not based on whether or not they are in your top five. A few of the kayaks got stuck, pushed out towards open water and were getting stranded. So I jumped in the single kayak to go and tether them and paddle them to shore. The two girls I got to looked as if they had been under a whales blow-hole, they were drenched with sea water. Extremely fatigued and frustrated, they were sitting ducks. I tethered them and in a move I have not pulled in 7 years of teaching, I yelled. I had to. I had to get them to understand that we in fact, will need to suffer. That pain was the only option and that working together would lessen my pain, ever so slightly. I started to paddle and seriously, it was like i was moored to a dock. No progress. I was working at above full capacity and the girls were trying there best.

Whenever something is hard, I think about Boulevard and freezing rain, pain and suffering, and slog on know that this pales in comparison. The poor girls however, do not have that frame of reference, and I was afraid I was freaking them out, so made sure to just keep talking to them and keep them calm.

Enter, harbor police. Yelling, gesturing and other antics ended with the girls and kayak being loaded, along with another kayak with a parent and male student. I had to get back to the other shore to corral and guide the 25 other kids back to the dock, so the police opted for me to hold onto the side of their boat, while they towed me to the sand spit.

Well in a small single kayak, going 15 mph, my grip on the rope to my right really sucked. The waves were big and I was getting pummelled. The nose of my boat kept getting pulled hard left, and I was about to let go, and someone grabbed my arm. And that was that. Full barrel roll in the fridged open ocean. Here is where Justin's lessons came in. Flip boat. Empty water. Rest on the bottom of it. I kept telling the police I was fine, because I was and they were yelling "GET IN TE BOAT NOW> GET OUT OF THE WATER!" Calm down alright! All is good, just gotta get in!

They wanted to take me to the dock but I was like um hello, I have other kids to save! Just kidding. But that was that. Pretty exciting I guess. Got the kids corralled (in a very odd Babel-like trudge through sand barefoot searching for them across the dunes) and back, just in time to make dinner.

Always remembering to keep things light and carefree! NEON day at school...

And Dez and I showing how to be friends on the bike at the clinic. I am very grateful to my solid, great friends right now that have really helped keep me on my toes, see things in logical perspective, and teach me how to race my bike, and be a good influence on others!

Keepin' calm and Ridin' on!

2010-05-14T13:48:00.000-07:00

May is a total double-edged sword. The weather is amazing, even for SoCal, but the work and race calendars are insane. Just keeping an eye on June 11th! Last year I was in a complete frenzy by this time, so I am pretty stoked that I have remained calm. Well calm for at least me. This has however, allowed a few things to fall through the cracks. Its all good though! I will get to them when I get to them.

I suppose I should write about some epic racing, but a 17 and 15th place this weekend, doesn't really warrant blogging. However, Saturday marked the first crit I have not been yelled at during, so I thought that was pretty bloggable.

Thankfully, Sunday the yelling resumed. Once again, not much to report about.

I thought this picture was reportable simply because I was in the drops, not on the brakes, and away from people. All quite weird and foreign feelings.
After this race, in the LBC, the Gnome and I got to spend some quality time with Carson Miller in the ER. Good job Miller! Just kidding. But we were quite impressed at the cleanliness of the facility and rapid attention he received. Snoops home town is cooler than I thought. Thankfully, all his wounds were superficial and everything checked out.

Come Monday, it was Give Back time! The Tour of California is about to start! Big Bear has a stage finish, and the guys up there wanted a little help! Redlands Bicycle Classic Race Director Dan Rendler, wheelchair athlete Kyle Massey and myself headed to the mountains to spread the word of PossAbilities, Cycling, helping others, and going after your dreams!!

In all, we saw over 800 kids at 4 different elementary and junior high schools. It was amazing! I got totally recharged for what was stacking up to be an extremely taxing and overwhelming week.

The students were so kind, gracious, appreciative and interested in bikes, Lance, funny super hero outfits and why in the world a ton of cyclists would ride all the way to Big Bear.

Outside Big Bear Middle School! These kids were hilarious!

In the gym with my Gary Fisher Pro Caliber, Gary Fisher Cronus Ultimate, and Kyle with his tricked out chairs! A HUGE thank you to bike Sponsor Gary Fisher! They have gone above and beyond with our sponsorship this year. Complete WOW!

SNOW! SNow Summit still has snow! Enough so that Cal State MTB race for this coming weekend had to be cancelled! Oh, and whether you noticed it or not, SUBARU has arrived in town! PossAbilities Gary Fisher Subaru cycling team is the regional team for companies, stepping up our game big time! The new team car arrived Sunday, just in time for the awesome trip to Big Bear!

Kyle and Dan chatting with the kids! it was COLD up there!
And lastly, today was Class Challenge at School. Being the Sophmore sponsor, we got to perform a 10 minute skit for the Justice League! I think we did a pretty good job and really hope the HOURS!!!! of work pays off in the end!

Today and tomorrow: Womens Cycling Clinic! 100 ladies registered, fun-packed days and lots of learning and networking!

Sunday: for the clinic, they head to the races or long rides. For me....Morro Bay for the week with 10th grade for the Biology trip. I get to drive the Uhaul and cook. Great idea to take the week off the bike. In the middle of racing season. I sure hope the kids like Quinoa and Spinach and Tofu. And LOTS of coffee.

Foist, this one is for YOU!!

2010-05-07T10:22:00.000-07:00

Mark, I am not cool enough to put the video straight on my page. Maybe i will learn for next time. Also, thanks for the Gnome promo back at the classic!

So are you an ELITE bike racer?

thanks for the link Allison!

Differing Views On Success

2010-04-26T14:28:00.000-07:00

"I WON MY RACE, AND NOBODY I KNOW WAS HERE TO SEE ME. I'M SO MAD!" Although this quote from a category racer at Saturdays Devil's Punchbowl Road Race almost had me in stitches laughing so hard, it also struck a deep-rooted cord with me. I can not race simply to win.

Maybe it is because of my mountain bike background, where battles were fought and won deep within the cover of the forest while I raced against the clock and against myself and my will to overcome. Or because while playing college basketball, Coach Jesse Clark instilled in us the belief and the understanding to not only be gracious in victory, but also in defeat. The occasions of success, for me at least number-wise, do not come about all that frequently. But it left me thinking none the less, that if I summed my success up in my printable results, I would fail. To every win there is a tale to tell, to every 20th place there is an equal and just as important story to be told. And no, I am not thinking this because of, or going to tell you the sad tale of my Out The Back 15th place finish on Saturday. ; )

To bring this complain-fest full-circle, which of course is the point here, I am going to high light what we as a cycling team does in our "free time". We volunteer. And not because we get anything for it (because technically that of course would NOT be volunteering) but because we love it, and it is part of our innate nature.

8th Annual PossAbilities Triathlon

5:05ish AM helping a handcyclist with his BRIGHT GREEN racing chair! Yes, I fixed my hair and drank half a pot of coffee before 4am. I had to start the day off RIGHT!

Once I woke up and got going, I had a complete blast! I saw old school-mates, students of my own, former and present teammates and people I used to teach Spin Class to as well as locals I ride with on the group rides. I was so stoked to get stationed in the transition zone where I could throw Hi-Fives to everyone and help them out when need-be!

In the pink, Julie Furber, one of our original Team Jose Ole sponsors along with Autumn who did the very first 12 hour Mountain bike race with Shelli and I as a team and Laura! They came out on a whim and finished together! At this event, success was measured by Being There! Ladies were elated to have NOT WALKED the 5k! To have made it though their leg of the relay, to have come out done a task which to them, seemed unattainable!

Being coupled with PossAbilities means that this event caters to challenged and disabled athletes! Hearing the stories of success in their former lives, working through immense hardship, to now completing and being competitive in athletic events was completely inspiring. David Bailey and Mike Young, pictured here in the chairs, are Motor Cross legends which both Jamie and Brian knew from their racing years.

Fermin and Beth! Rolled in with a smile and left with even larger smiles! Brian got to ride his scooter next to Beth because he was lead moto for the run course, where he chatted her up and got some info! She told him of her injury and how just last Monday, she completed the Boston Marathon. Fermin suffered a stroke in 2003 and his right side is now paralyzed. His movements reminded a lot of how my sister now walks due to her illness so I instantly had a soft spot for him in my heart. I helped them move some of their goods and instantly got Sherpa Status. Now THATS an honor.

Who says old guys can't race?!?! The gentleman on the right talked my ear off in the transition zone! He commented on how i looked "fit and healthy" hahahahha and we were fast friends from there on! He was cheering on his buddies heading out on Huffy mountain bikes for the bike portion.

I just put this one in here because I really like food and haven't blogged about it for a long time.

I didn't get this gentleman's name, but watching him complete all three portions of the event was amazing.

What cool event! The kids were careening down the slides and chomping on snow cones as soon as they crossed the line!

And the future! Liam and his brother did the complete tri and were completely SUCCESSFUL. Because they finished. Because they had fun. Because they are learning to push the limits and find a healthy balance to life. Because they are athletes.

I found Fermins website and this is what I learned:

"GIVING UP IS THE ULTIMATE TRAGEDY!"

Attempting Real Wold Assimilation

2010-04-22T10:28:00.000-07:00

Over the past few years, I have been lucky enough to have the wardrobe and style assistance of Paige and Darla whenever duty called for a little clean-up. Paige has since gone off to College, taking half the wardrobe with her, and Darla is probably about ready for me to figure out how to tie my shoes.

While in New Zealand I took matters into my own hands and purchased some pretty rad dresses, for dirt cheap. I had my trusty Sister there to lie to me "no, your butt does not look big in that" so that I ended up buying three.

I then realized my 5th grade girls class has some killer day-glow earrings. Further inquiry led me to the Mall and a Claires store, where for under $12.00, i walked out with 10 pairs of 1980's best representation of neon.

Then enter the Shoes. Joy, stop wearing Dansko clogs. Joy, no flip-flops allowed. Your gonna wear that? I did the best shopping i could, online, and found some hot pink and hot green pumps. Perfect. and for $11.59 and pair, plus shipping, bring it! My students also suggested the cheapest yet more durable fluorescent nail polish to complete my "look."

So to all my happy-fashion-helpers, and big thank you for helping me assimilate into the 30-something crowd. Well sort of. For some reason, I am always "brighter and bigger" than any and everyone around me. I stick out like a sore thumb no matter what...

Fellow teachers at the Spring Formal. Sporting dress from NZ, bright Green themed accessories. And a slight tan line.
Bachelorette party. Yeeeaaahhhh....(I could have been getting Poison Oak at Sea Otter, instead, i was getting toe blisters and belly fat in Vegas). This dress got the "Joy we can see your slip. Wait, I think that's your tan line comment." Sidenote: what is a slip and should I have one? puhlees....

Thanks to Paige, I now have my very own pair of "fashion jeans" from a thrift store, they are 7's. I hear they are a big deal, and for $30, fine by me. Here we opted for the PINK theme. One of my favs.

But alas, some things just can not be undone. The tan lines will forever be worn as a badge of courage and pride. Yes, my thighs are horribly white. Yes, i have countless scars and blindingly white abs. But alas, it proves a point that my passion and hobbies are more than just that. Cycling and fitness and taking care of myself are a way of life and I love it. If that means that the pool deck stares aghast at my whiteness, so be it. Shun the cyclist and welcome the Muffin Tops. To each their own. For me, these tan lines are just going to get darker. Along with Day-Glow and Mohawks. I guess its just my personality!

We made it through!

2010-03-31T15:00:00.000-07:00

The TEAM:

Angus Morton and Patrick Drapac from Australia and Drapac Porsche Professional Cycling

Larry Warbasse and Chris Butler, BMC U23 Team

Alex Jarmin and Orion Berryman from Swami's Development Elite Team, San Diego

And Rouge cyclist Carson Miller

Plus of COURSE, our own favorite BMc

What did I do? haha well....I "managed" the team. This meant sitting near Axel Meryx in the managers meeting and trying not to sweat. I cooked dinner for 12-18 people a night, lined up some massages, made sure our killer mechanic Jason was availible for tune-ups and clean-ups each evening, set up ez-up and chairs and camp at each stage, made sure we had upwards of 60 bottles filled and ready to go and the list goes on. Had to have some chats with the chief officials, accidentally stole two Mavic neutral support wheels, and basically stressed out. The Breyers, Mark, Tine, Jason, the Mortons, Lanzas, Welsh and the list goes on and on, of people who really stepped up so I wouldn't literally jump into the middle of the peloton during the crit so I could just DIE. What a massive, yet amazing and rewarding undertaking!

This team came together as a dream of Brian's that most people just smiled and played along with. By mid February it was clear that it was gonna happen whether we liked it or not, so we better batten down the hatches and ride it like we stole it! I think we truly got the pick of the litter for our Composite team. With 7 Guest Riders, you never really know what could hit the fan. Coming from Australia, Gussy and Patty are some of the most unassuming, gracious, and well-rounded athletes I have come across. And they can throw down on the bike!

Chris and Larry came hot off of BMC pro training camp and ready to whet their appetite on the competition. Post Classic, Chris got the call up to race for BMC Professional team!

Our Swami's riders made the long trek from San Diego to ride with us. It was great having some local riders who we have seen at other events and at least gotten aquainted with a little bit.

And then there is Carson. This kid is nuts. Totally self-supported, rode for Land Rover last year and this year has no team, yet finished 37th on the Beaumont Stage and went toe-to-toe with other fully supported riders the entire weekend. Awesome.

Just look for the lungs!!

We had a hard time spotting the new jerseys. Until I realized they looked like lungs, and now I can see them everywhere! Here, Gussy with 18 year old little bro Lachlan Morton pre TT. Lachlan is a machine! He rode in the brake of 10 on the sunset race, on his junior gears! We will definately see more of these boys!!

Ack!! FEEDZONES!!!! Man, looking for and feeding 8 boys is stressful! Especially when I do not know then that well. I didn't know if they would flip a lid if I missed their feed, which bottles they really needed, and basically they came at me at mock 7. After one feed I swear my pinky finger was broken! Thankfully on Friday Matt Breyer was driving the follow car stocked with at least 20 bottles filled with goodness. Carson sent BMc back to the car to get 6 bottles! Welcome to the NRC baby!
The crit was really amazing. Living here in Redlands brings the added bonus of having a huge home-court advantage and extremely large support crew. Brian is a friend to EVERYONE so the corners were packed with cheerleaders! Meredith Lanza made the COOLEST tshirts for Destry, Joey and Jamie that all said "GO MCCULLOCH" and the crew could be found littered around the coures cheering. Although Destry did say "hey that's my blue shirt!" He wore it with pride!

If you have ever watched Brian race a crit, you can tell he is a natural. He can squirrel himself into the smallest of places, probably because he is small too, and his professional motorcross background really comes in handy! Brad Huff from Jelly Belly called him "Hot Route"! This stage was Brian's best performance of the weekend, finishing 77th and on the lead time! He came around turn 11 completely roached and holding on the every bit of sprint he could muster!

It was so awesome post race to have our little compound swarmed with friends! All the other teams were packing up and our rag-tag crew was high-fiving and giving hugs to everyone involved.

Autographs for Kailee!!Brian and Destry! Yup, he's drinking a coke! Yikes! Carson taught me a lot of manager tricks. Have a cooler wtih premade recovery drinks, cokes, and cold towels for after each stage. Money!

Sunday Sunday. Brian took the approach to race each and every stage like it was the last one EVER and there was no race the next day! getting to Sunday was a huge deal, for many reasons. Brian is a cat 2 racing against a field filled with mostly pro/cat1 racers who are paid to ride their bikes and have a lot of experience. This is Brian's first season as a 2, he works 40 hours plus a week, trains around 20 a week and a lot of it in the dark. This picture here is one I will keep forever! At the start of the stage, a few awards are given out. One of them being the Carol King Sportsmanship Award. Brian got it!! When Scott Welsh was giving his little speech, he had to stop because he was getting choked up! If you know Brian, you know he is very unassuming, hates the spotlight, and would give you his jersey, shoes, helmet and even bike if you really needed it. To recieve such an award, in front of your peers, mentors, roll models and friends, was really really amazing!!

Then, he had to go upfront again! Being a solid philanthropist, Brian, with the help of teammates Mitch Porche, Evan Trubee and everyone else, raised over $5,000 to give back to PossAbilities which will enable more disabled athletes to particate in really cool events!

Here is Orian, Gussy, Carson, and Patty D waiting for the start. The kits will grow on me...

Only the front group is let through on Sunday and onto the circuits downtown, so we had our whole team to chear and support Lachlan Mortan as he flew through the last 5 laps of the crit course!

So. Tired. Eating pizza at Gourmet Pizza with the Morton family, Carson, and Brian's fam.

This is what stage racing does to you!!

And what doesn't kill you or break you up, makes you stronger! haha!OH YES!!! So, there was this San Dimas Stage Race. I got 2nd in TT, 6th RR 2nd Crit 2nd GC and got my cat 2 upgrade. Yada yada yada.

Cynthia rocked it into a 5th GC and Andrea did SO GREAT in her first stage race! We even got flowers. awwwwww....

What's next?!?! some crits, too much work, maybe some travel to stage races, but probably not another blog for a bit. This was time consuming! ; )

I hate you Sea Otter Classic and your rampent spam mail!

2010-03-12T14:58:00.000-08:00

Dear Sea Otter Classic Spammers,

NO I will not come to your "high-quality" camping zone with zero grass, no water hook ups, on the pavement.

NO I will not pay $75 to race a Short Track race that lasts 30 minutes against the world's finest Mountain Bike females only to be pulled from said event in 12 minutes. (That's a whopping $6.25 per minute)

NO I will not register for your Cross Country race because in fact we are now in the "Late Registration" phase becuase the non-late registration phase ENDED IN JANUARY!

NO I do NOT want to purchase poor quality racing photos of myself covered in sweat and dirt and spit from last year. I was second to last you re-tard because I hung out in the "woods" helping fallen warriors succumbed by the horrid heat. For a race I paid $85 for!

You usually send me an email around 8am or 11pm. This email blips up on my phone, and I get excited. I think that someone valuable, cool, exciting, has hit me up with some fantastic news of racing splendor, cycling t-shirts, or something pink. But no. You are once again pimping out Monterey, one of the most expensive, non-cyclist friendly "cities" I have ever raced in. It's like Disney (DONT EVEN GET ME STARTED) Where they charge you a car-payment of an entry fee and force you to eat $11.00 funnel cakes that in fact will make you fat.

So sorry, I'm not going to be able to make it. And no, I won't be racing a crit that weekend either.

But this weekend, I will be.

Happy racing my friends! Cheers to you heading to Bonelli, rock on and hit some jumps for me! I'm heading to the illustrious town of Murrieta for an Omnium Road Race. Crit one day, circuit race the next! Bring it!!

I know what I need. I know what I want. I want to go Kamikazi Biking!

2010-03-03T14:27:00.000-08:00

Kamikazi Biking!

This youtube was sent to me by Jake, the owner of St.Helena Cyclery, where I worked as one of my first jobs post college. Totally hilarious! Makes me laugh for so many reasons!

So back to local crit news, Team Redlands was out in droves. It must have been the warm sunny weather and the fact that it is not April yet, but whatever the case, great to see the dudes. And Mark Foist, first race post pelvis fracture last year.

Dez and I jumped into the 40+ mens race, which turned into your regular Saturday ride, buffered with random Citrus Valley Dudes (they all look alike, sorry guys), Dez, me, Mark Love and Foist riding in circles together. At least I felt safe(r).

So I was lucky enough to stay up until 11pm Saturday night, playing basketball in the Student/Faculty game where I only got dunked on once, ran over twice, and twinged only one muscle in my back. Awesome. Our 1/2/3 elite womens crit was "Super-Sick" as Destry would say. I snuck into the 6-girl break and eeked out the sprint for a win. I behaved myself and rode as smart as I could, thinking, "what would Brian do?" (He was absent racing at Callville, oddly, my two wins since like June he has been....racing elsewhere...suspect) I did however have to REALLY focus and NOT just rail the giant puddles on the course...that would have been FUN and frowned upon.

The most exciting part was having so many supporters out around entire course! Our community is stellar and having cheerleaders from Citrus, Redlands, and PossAbilities was cool. Its always nice to know other people are vested in our success and the process we are going through!Back to the grind and feeling just about like this. Here's to another sunny Sunday on dry roads! I wonder if I should cut my sleeves and run the Bam-Bam look when the new kits come in...

Wishing upon a star..

2010-02-26T12:58:00.000-08:00

One could only hope that it rains this weekend. Why wouldn't it? It's been 70 degrees and clear all week, and now that its time to go out and pound the pavement, bring on the precipitation!! I have yet to race a crit in the rain and I think I am ready. I have raced all other events in the rain: Mountain bike races, road races, cross races, sunday, its crit-in-the-rain time! YES!!! I have been working on my cornering, bumping, and dismounting, so i am pretty sure I am ready. I may even slap on my super-sick fenders, as to not soil my kit too badly.

Rain won't be the worst people are racing in this weekend. Sagebrush is rumored to be a mud pit and Callville is calling for 80% chance of snow for Brian's 90 mile road race tomorrow. Remember, if it doesn't kill you, it just makes you stronger. Or sick and fatigued, tired, worn out, hypothermic, cross-eyed and caloric-deficient due to excessive shivering.

Best of luck guys...all crashes will be scored using Olympic score cards and standards. Focus on form!

PS is Monday a Holiday? I sure wish it was.

He's in SCHOOL!

2010-02-25T14:11:00.000-08:00

Things always seem better on the other side of the fence, or the other side of the world! Nephew Griffyn has successfully enter year 5 of life, which also means going to school in a super cute school uniform!! As a side note, that means my sister Julene had him 5 years ago, which makes her old.

Speaking of the sister, she has ROCKED through 6 Chemo sessions and come out better on the back side!! Well, minus some hair! She pulled a Brittney in the mall and got that mop shaved off! Starting from scratch ain't ever bad! And she looks pretty darn cute!! I got the clippers close by and I just MIGHT....go for a shorter look. Yes, my hair can get shorter!!

I got a box! The Parental Units just returned from a trip to Zambia with a 3 week stop in New Zealand. They picked up this RAD New Zealand cycling jersey for me! Our kits haven't come in yet, so today, Im going to my own MS ride in honor of Julene and wear it!

You know its bad when I forgot my password to my blog...

2010-02-11T15:37:00.000-08:00

But none the less, I gotta let you know about this one!

http://theroof.tumblr.com/ YOU GOTTA CHECK OUT ERICA DAVIS'S BLOG!!
Erica and I went to PE school together and she is rad. Check out her story about losing her ability to walk, yet competing in triathlons, handcycle events - you may of seen her at last years Redlands Bicycle Classic, and most recently, she became the first parapalygic women to summit MOUNT KILIMANJARO...enough said... On tap for her is a full season of handcycle events and reaching the Summit of Mt Whitney, another first!!! They are also putting together a documentary to come out in the spring. Can't wait! And, you may just catch her on the Ellen show!!

As for us, we are still thawing out from BLVD road race where we met with the classic heavy rain, thick fog, horrid winds, and splattered hail. To complete the thaw, we are heading to Phoenix for Valley of the Sun stage race. Hope to return with some solid tan lines and no road rash.

Just to keep you in the loop....

2010-01-29T12:42:00.001-08:00

The Skies have parted and the rains have stopped! However, the 5 day deluge didn't hold me back too much. Although multiple trainer rides had me wanting to, well, do mean things. Friday I got Cabin Fever and headed out in the rain to do some intervals in the rutted out Loma Linda Hills. Solid.

Saturday, Desira and Andrea and I hit up Crafton Hills and Zanja Peak. So what the snow line was like 87 feet! We were going!

SUPER squeaky brakes make for lots of laughs! That's a good g 6" of snow right there. That doesn't happen every day around here. My brother from Boulder asked if I put studs on. HA! Please. Im still running my tires from LAST year that have dried up STANS and 1/3 the tread the started with. No biggy. Whats some running in snow with bikes?!

Cruisin up to the saddle!

The result of these two days of fun were extremely cold appendagages and too much laughing.

Sunday I felt bipolar in 75 degree weather flogging myself in some crit action. The Gnome had an awesome race and got second to some young-gun Canadian U23 champ and I just burned some calories in the womens 1/2/3 race and the men's 3's. Now that's some fun for ya, I could talk a lot about the men's 3 field, but I will just say they are nice. It is really fun to have team members in a race though, that is fun!

http://dmunsonphoto.exposuremanager.com/p/women/dh-w5of41_28_1_2

That's photo proof of a HOT day, but I don't want to snake it from DMunson, its his job to take pictures! ; )

Now, the weekend is here! As are the races!

Ride On!

The World Outside

2010-01-18T21:01:00.001-08:00

It seems quite simple to become engrossed in the riggors of our stressful lives. I have lost my debit card, gained 1.37 pounds, missed 1 hour of training time, not slept enough, not found my umbrella in time, and the mundane list goes on and on. However, we are coexisting here in some quite placid times. The weather is blustery and the friendships fantastic. Not much to whine about.

This weekend I got the opportunity to do a solid Team Training camp with up to 20 or our team. The coolest part was completing the Stage Coach 100 century ride with two juniors, the Wright Brothers. However simple it may be, opening the world of cycling fun to these kids was a total blast! We even did skills training on Sunday which only resulted in 5 crashes, three of which were Ian, alone.

Training took a whole new turn at K1 karts in Ontario! What a blast!!

Some of my students think Pink and I are twins. One of them posted this pic on my Facebook account to try and prove the point. Maybe I should donate her one of my helmets...

Sister Julene has made it through 4/6 Chemo treatments with great success! Each treatment has gone better than the last, so now instead of spending many days vomiting and otherwise feeling horrible, she just feels sick. Neither of which i would enjoy. However, the chemo and illness have taken its toll on her hair and she has gone short! Stellar choice sister! Looking awesome as usual! And she is feeling so much better, and getting back to more of a normal life!

Speaking of hair, Nephew Griffyn just went through his ceremonial hair cutting! Its a traditional Cook Island Rite of Passage, at 5, he's now the MAN!! Here are is AWESOME locks pre ceremony! He has NEVER cut his hair in any way!! When I was visiting I got a kick out of french braiding his hair!

Here is the little man and his first of MANY Hawks! Rock it!

And of course, no post of Griffyn would be complete without a picture of Gwen!

Of course there are dozens of current events that are flooding Yahoo and some of them are extremely graffic. A few come to mind that have attachements to me or us. The devestation in Haiti is overwhelming. I have a few contacts that are either there of working on aid that is going there. Here, Andrew Haglund arrived in Haiti yesterday I believe. YOu can check the blog link below which describes what he and the surgical team are doing. He has uploaded satelite images of where they are working and some stories. Amazing. He is doing an awesome job of keeping the blog updated. Cool to see positive things taking place in such horrible circumstances.
Loma Linda University in Haiti!

Yoshio Garcia, a local newly-turned-pro Mountain Bike racer suffered a catastrophic accident while riding his bike to work last week. He is still in critical condition with a semi-induced coma at Arrowhead Regional with severe head trauma. The mountain biking community has banned together in a large way to inform everyone of his condition and needs of his family. An account for donations has been set up through Coates Cyclery, who he rides for, because he has no health Insurance. Fight on Yoshio!!

And this photo just in! Brian's brother, SSgt Nicholas McCulloch, USMC in Afghanistan on an Osprey. He says it is freezing over there!!Sent him a box the other day, I wonder how long it will take to get there! We miss him a bunch! But he is staying busy and taking care of business!

FINE!

2010-01-15T11:11:00.000-08:00

I have received some complaints and otherwise unsatisfactory comments on my lack of blogging. So here you go!

Last night I had the honor of joining the High School kids on a Charter Bus ride to Big Bear for our Winter Formal. Although I did wear a dress, my tan lines aren't as bad as those above, but pretty close. We got to learn the Waltz up there at high elevation, which at least helped to burn off the Tirimasu I consumed.

Gnome rides for a quarter? This has got to be cooler than Jamie's idea of putting massage chairs in car washes.

And yes, much to my dismay, I rode a trainer. At least it was with 5 other gals and Andrea was nice enough to host it at her house and tell us what to do, like pedal faster. Solid. This in fact was my 2nd trainer workout in 10 months. I attempted another trainer ride Wednesday night, to only FALL OUT of the trainer, like the quickrelease kept slipping, 2 times! This erked me so bad, I headed back outside, at 8pm, to do my training ride.

Favorite ride: Oak Glen in the dark for Intervals. Open roads, clear sky, crisp air.

Quotable quote: "So are we fitting your primary bike?" (Eileen the best bike fit ever asks me) ME: "Yes. My road bike is my primary bike."

This season is going to be interesting!!

There's a new Blog in town!!

2009-12-31T16:36:00.000-08:00

http://mountainbikerskitchen.blogspot.com/

Check it! A nice cornucopia of mountain biker hotties has been assembled by Allison Mann so that we can unleash a cascade of food knowledge to everyone who cares, or just to ourselves. We all tend to communicate via food on Facebook and email, so why not just start a blog about it? My food blog is somewhat dormant, but I am sure the New Year will, well leave it just the same.

So in an effort to NOT post a list of wonderful things of the past year, I thought about posting things that really sucked about 2009, but my list go too long, and I began to get all emo. Nah, actually, tomorrow is just another day. Hopefully a sunny one with moderate temperature and excellent road conditions.

It actually got cold around here. So much so, that I had to "Build a Man" Since these rides take like 14 hours though, but then end i feel like a Sherpa with pockets back with heat-inducing clothing remnants.

After spending our interval ride on Wednesday in the rain and below 40 degrees riding up towards Angeles Oaks, today the Great Outdoors boasts sunny clear skies and temperatures in the low 60's. Go figure. I did, however, find a Tire Swing on my MTB adventure, I did not try it. May have to go back tomorrow...but I am not a fan of falling on loose corrugated steal in spandex. Although my tetanus shot is up to date.

The view from Sunny Zanja Peak. Nice.

On a sadder note, Shelli moved to Montana. It's way cold there. And its a long ways away. Boooooooo....And this photo is really small. What gives?!

While I am waiting for my powertap to download, I might as well write a Blog...

2009-12-21T14:50:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas break. I have already gone to 1/4 doctors appointments, cleaned my office, graded all the papers, cleaned my room, and made the rest of my lists to conquer. Somehow, vacations and holidays stress the heck out of me. But I must admit, Brian and I actually sat through Blades of Glory last night, and today, I already watched American Flyers. So rest is GOING to happen!

I am really lame at taking cycling pictures, ride photos, and posting about where we go. So this is all I got: When I arrived on Sunday to Brian's house for the team ride, all I saw was a bunch of bikes. Everyone was inside watching Paris Roubaix from like the 80's.

My students are pretty rad. I was gifted one, giant homemade 4th generation recipe cinnamon roll. It filled almost 80% of the paper plate. And the 5th grader presenting it was so jazzed.

Another student handed me this concoction. All homemade by herself, her mom, and her sister. Let's just say there is A LOT of sharing going on around here...this stuff is delicious! And I am pretty honored that the little ones would share their treats with me. They must know I am quite the food junky!

Ride, ride, ride....

I am getting pelted with base miles, intervals, and more base miles. It is RAD. So much fun! Here lies one small issue. I am usually at work from 7:30am-6:00pm. Hmmmm. Trainer? yes? NO WAY!!!

I got all suited up to leave post softball practice the other day and the Moms at school were FREAKING out. Where are you going? That's not safe. Going alone? your mad. Do you have lights? Three is not enough. You are wearing black. You will get hit. Are you dumb?

"You should ride a stationary bike at the gym in the dark."

"Great idea, but I don't race stationary bikes."

"Yeah, but you can put it on one of those interval race settings and it will be like a race."

"Nah, i'm ok, thanks. I let my gym membership expire."

And on, and on and on.

We are lucky around here this time of year. Moderate precipitation to speak of and mild temps. Everyone thinks we are SO lucky. Sure we are, but come and train with us in the middle of June in the middle of the day, not so lucky.

My goal: No trainer unless SEVERE weather ie torrential downpour and below 40 degrees. Otherwise, ride the MTB.

Riding at night is the cat's meow! The Gnome "secret shopper gifted" me a light to go on my helmet so I don't have to read my intervals on the powertap by street lamp. Awesome. I also have a light on my handlebars, the two put together, I look like a car, on its side, but a car none the less. I have been able to go out in shorts and a jersey last week and fair just fine! It is also pretty rad to see all the WACKY Christmas decor.

Seriously? WHY would you blow up a giant Santa on a Harley in your lawn? Why. And the blue lights all around the house? That's a lot of electricity for something so ugly.

Anyways, I finally got out to ride in the DAYLIGHT on Friday, and geeze what a difference! I would turn to look behind me and expect a giant beam of light to come with my head! The road feels different and the drivers are scarier! Probably because I can SEE them texting, eating, and yelling at their children instead of paying attention. In the dark, I just see lights.

Swami's or Bust

Weekend tribute to San Diego.

I have a theory. People on the coast of California are not only prettier, their are more fit too. So not fair. All these beautiful people out flaunting their stuff on the weekend. Joggers, trigeeks, cyclists galore. They have about 7 athletes to our 1. And 4/7 are cute. We are not. Just not fair. Their weather is so much nicer too. And the scenery. No industrial parks to ride through or pasture land. Just rolling coasts and places like the Elfin Forest. You can't be dowdy if you are riding in the Elfin Forest on your way to Solano Beach. You just couldn't be.

Anyways that isn't really the point. The point is Swami's Group ride is a r-o-d-e-o. Meaning I lasted in the pack about 8 seconds. When you are 13 minutes in, slammed up a hill, with Neil Shirley pushing you up the hill, while talking and grabbing gears, you know you better have brought your A game.

If it wasn't for Neil, Mich, and Derek from Pactimo who described the route to us and helped us find wheels, I would have flipped a lid. A pretty big group of us headed out to test the water and get some base in. These guys rail. There is no "55 minute spin to Riverside chatting about your daughters most recent ballet performance." Its a "we don't know you, you are a girl, you better fight for a wheel." At 1:00 exactly on the clock, we had finished a huge effort swooping through rolling terrain in one fast paced paceline. Rad. I haven't found that type of effort, in a very long time.

By the end of the day, Cynthia the Vegan wanted to eat meat, we had planned out 8 different restaurants and bakeries to go to, that day.

We also rode with a reindeer, two Santa's, one elf, and a couple who were riding their bikes from Anchorage to the tip of Argentina. They were on day 105.

And here are some photos....

2009-12-08T08:08:00.001-08:00

In no particular order, a brief photo blog of a sliver of the excitement to be had at the bottom of the earth!

Pretty much the best shock ever!! (not)

Some of the most AMAZING single track! Nestled near the ocean, in a thick forest and hard packed pine needle covering the swoopy track!

Great ride guides, the Knight's!

Thanksgiving is a bit unusual down there. We dubbed it Thanksgiving Americana, a walk through History! Julene was an Angel, I was Judy Jetson...duh...

I got to tag along to Physio...

Me with the Manawatu Mountain Bike Club ladies!! Windy and chilly!

this was hilarious! Once the screaming stopped of course! Someone left the dryer open and Gwen found it nice and warm! Not to worry, the power switch on the wall was off! She later learned how to put her planky in there instead!

I really like doing ab work, and since Julene needs to develop some more muslce post 2 months in the hospital, I found it quite necessary to do some mat work!

It is no secret that I drink a ton of coffee. In New Zealand, black coffee really is not on the menu. So I opted for frothy, milky, huge, cappacino instead. I may just be hooked!

Being a do-it-yourself kind of girl, I decided to make playdough. From scratch. The variety I created ended up quite sticky unless is was straight out of the freezer. Griffyn really wanted me to make a dinosaur, but that was not in the cards! It became much more fun to just get it everywhere. I had to hide my laughter though when he started to FREAK out because it was all over him. He said it hurt! Dude, its flour and salt and water. Your FINE.

Snowman, earth, snake.

Whenever the sun came out, we went out too! Dinner on the lawn! Its like 7pm here!

Julene because an adjunct member of PossAbilities! We support disabled athletes Everywhere!!

Trying to break me in easy, not so much. This took place about 13 minutes after walking in the door. Non stop fun!

Single Track Getaway!

2009-11-29T11:07:00.000-08:00

It has been pretty full-on here in New Zealand. Between craft making and dishes doing and kid chasing and cooking, not too much time to do things i would normally blog about! But Sunday brought a different landscape, and it was fantastic.

After connecting with the Manawatu Cycling Club last week, I knew they were good people and they offered to show me some trails on Sunday!

Mountain biking is the best hobby/obsession ever! I brought my shoes, pedals, helmet and kit (next time saddle too for SURE..yikes) and then found my sisters bike, a stellar Mongoose Rockadile in the back. This bike in the US would rate mid-level Wal-Mart buy, FYI. Thus the horrid seat. I don't even know if the gear ratios are the same, and the "shock" may have had 3 cm of travel!

BULLS: this is the town we went through to get to the tracks! The Knights, who I connected with before coming here, are in charge of the riding club and getting race courses mapped out and organized. Pretty cool.

The trails were a majority of single track in dark forested, humid country. There were no long climbs, but a ton of pitchy little ascents and descents. The efforts felt a lot like Short Track where you have to pin it for 4 seconds to get over the hump then keep the momentum going down the other side.

The tracks were so swoopy and smooth. A thick layer pine-needles mixed with the tacky dirt made for a fast ride!

With trails named "Snakes and Ladders" and "Roller Coaster" I knew I was in for a treat! Some of the drops and tight switchbacks popped my heart right up into my chest! Its been awhile since I have had that feeling and I love it!

Nothing like foreign trails, on a bike you don't know, in a land I am new to! So much fun! Unlike the trails at home, some of which i could ride with my eyes closed, every corner brought something new and exciting! Everything was bright green, with dew on the tops! I think the most similar trails are up in the Napa Valley or farther up NorCal. Just beautiful!

I was so impressed with the trail markings and on the really steep sections, pieces of outdoor carpeting had been put down. Pretty brilliant actually. This race course gets a lot of traffic, and with the rains and muddy soil, the hills would get eroded in a weekend. But with the carpet down, no excuse to walk, you gotta power it up the climb!

My body took a bit of a beating though. Geeze. Everyone was laughing at my bike! Going down the descents you could hear suspect rattles and my arms got sooooo tired! But thats a good thing since I haven't ridden a bike in like 2 weeks! I just kept thinking it was equivalent to at least one upper body gym session!

I think I had a grin on my sweaty face the whole time! Sure I could have ridden on the road or kept up my running torture, but I think the best way to truly immerse myself into a new culture or region is to Mountain Bike there!

Nothing is quite as exhilarating, fun, or just dang cool!!

They call this summer? where's my hoody!!

2009-11-26T10:53:00.000-08:00

So I have come to find out many things on my short adventure here on the other side of the world!

1. Summer here is colder and more rainy than any day we have had in SoCal since like 2007

2. I can utilize my iPhone and the Wifi to find any and everything at an instant. Some important items, in no particular order are:

How to make play dough

How to make Ratatouille

How to make pie crust, pie, numerous casseroles

What to do for a little boy with a belly ache

Where to find local mountain bike tracks

What exactly is 320 grams in cups???

How to drink vinegar to get rid of a chest/head cold

Etc....etc....etc...

3. The word LOVELY at home is used quite sarcastically. Here, it is a true fact. "That dinner was lovely. That family is just lovely." Odd...

4. Either it is the hair, the hot pink I wear, or the fact I am out running in gale force winds, but the farmers all stare at me.

5. Thanksgiving dinner will be Saturday, and we will call it a feed.

One of the coolest things I have come across is a mountain biking club. I found them online before I left and they are rad! I met up with them on Wednesday night in the park and they have a whole lot of junior riders! My favorite! We did cool skills and some hot laps on a "Short track" type course. Now that was some solid effort! Plans are in the works for the Real Deal single track expedition on Sunday!! Woop Woop!!

As for the sister, things are on the Up and Up. We have had a handful of "firsts" while I have been here which is really cool. Its full-on over here making meals, cleaning up, taking care of the 2 and 4 year old as "best" I can, although the one diaper change I got to do ended up with quite the altercation with a 2 year old. Yikes. I will stay in the kitchen!!

I will create another blog when I get home of links and photos, for some reason can't get them on here!

The sun is out and the wind is calm, better snag this opportunity to go for a run!

Off To Follow Summer...

2009-11-16T11:26:00.000-08:00

At least they call New Zealand the Island of the Long White Cloud...otherwise, I would be bummed out. I really do not like summer and the heat and frankly the sun at this point in the year. Its just been too dang hot and sunny. Although, riding my bike at night, which 80% of my rides end of taking place, has been oddly pleasent with shorts and short sleeve jerseys.

In about 6 mintues I get to head to the airport to begin a long trek to the Southern Hemisphere, and summer, to check on my sister and her family! I am not sure what I will find, except I do know there will be little feet waiting for me to run and play with! I can't wait! My roll is Comedy Enforcer, so the goal is to make Julene laugh so hard she cries, make her delicious vegan food, and anything else on her "honey do" list!

This is going to be quite the adventure!!

Wintering in SoCal

2009-11-02T13:46:00.000-08:00

Nothing but clear skies, 80+ degree weather bringing in the month of November. I am a bit cross about this, I must admit. Being that I spend up to 10 hours, a day, Outside, I am burnt out on the sun. And straight up burnt. I just know when I turn 50 I will be the stereotypical PE teacher with leathery skin who looks closer to 70.

In the spirit of Skin Preservation, however, Shelli and I ventured where I promised to never delve. The SPA......Glen Ivy Hot Springs and Spa offers a variety of blah blah blah!!! Sat by pool, ate salad, sat in sulpher hot pool, mud bath, eucolyptus steam room which nearly exfixiated me!! and finished off with some Roman baths. This experience proved again that most of my "ideas" about doing certain things out of my routine or comfort zones are super lame and I need to buck up and get on with it! Good fun and half off after 2pm!!
Hiatus: That bike break i took really panned out for me! I have been loving being back on the bike and catching up with everyone! I completed my FIRST full week on my NEW and IMPROVED training program and I am loving it. I get to fully access and utilize the Training Peaks site which is awesome! Powertap and Garmin files being uploaded daily and looked at by my coach is really cool. It's fun and refreshing to start from scratch and learn new tricks. This off season is going to be Great!!!

And it doesn't hurt that I have some pretty rad people to do it with!! over 20 riders out on the team ride sunday, 5 heavy-hitting chicks, and a lot of roads to be covered and climbed!

Well, ok...

2009-10-27T15:31:00.000-07:00

I am not one to go big on the holidays, which would include gifting; dressing up; cooking piles of food etc. But last weeked Brian and I decided to go hit up Des and Bart's super sick Halloween party!

I have a hard time posting these pictures without laughing, out loud, in my stable office. Seriously, this was ridiculous! Brian went for a LONG bike ride and left me with the task of creating his costume. With SPECIFIC instructions and some cash, off I went!

I think I matched it pretty well!! Nothing a chaotic trip to Marshalls and Joanne's won't fix!

If you look closely, you can see the grotesque back sweat he had! It was HOT, especially since he stuffed his shirt with a whole bag of stuffing!

The Yard Gnome was a hit! Although he was fat, sweaty, and smelled like chicken wings!

Ah, man, the weekend....thank goodness.

2009-10-16T12:43:00.000-07:00

So, things are crazy. I have been instructed to take two weeks off the bike and it is actually been really rejuvinating. I have picked up the art of "slow jogging" and have been able to meet up with buddies like Shelli and Des and Tine to crank out some miles and chat about everyone. I mean everything. Seriously, 4 girls over 5'9" out on runs. Trouble. We talk so much, we forget to run sometimes!!

Sister, sister... oh man, where to start. You can check out her blog if you like...but here is the short of it. A few months ago, after their trip to the US, my sister Julene was diagnosed with MS. this is a COMPLICATED and overwhelming disease that is very hard to diagnose and to understand. She has been in the hospital/rehab center ever since. Thankfully, my super cool Mom was able to go over to New Zealand for over a month to help out. Mom being an RN with like 80 years experience, is a vital asset in times like these (plus who wouldn't want Mom there in a time of need?!) so a big blessing that she was able to go.

Gwen, Me (we like to wear pink!), Julene and Griffyn!

As of today, my sister is still in the rehab center, looking forward to possibly going home next week. Her husband and kids are more than eager for her to come home!! yesterday she had her first roung of Chemo IV in an attempt to attack and regress the progression of the disease.

I'm looking forward to a relaxed weekend with friends and garnishing a little bit more of that Vitamin D!

Getting Chicked...

2009-09-30T13:50:00.000-07:00

After spending the evening Tuesday with Dorothy Wong, learning how to "Cross it Up" CycloCross style, I just may get that 30th race in yet...

In other news, some pretty rad chicks got in print about about bike racing and our silly little antics.

Check out these links, and a huge thanks to Heidi Volpe from Team Sho-Air who is a TRUE rad chick on and off the bike! She does duo endurance races, XC, road training, nutrition stuff, and pretty much the biggest Cougar around!

Check out stories from true killers like Katie Compton, Kelli Emmit, Alison, Powers, Krista Park, Allison Mann, and well me...

Outside-Blog

Bike Rumor

This is actually a really funny topic. Us gals chat about it OFTEN especially when we have mulitple age groups on a course at one time. We LOVE the older men. They are so kind and gracious. Sometimes there is a bit of "conflict" with the middle aged Sport (cat2) rider. Not sure what thats all about, but it usually goes something like this.

We beat them. They are miffed and "upset" that a GIRL beat them. How COULD she. Well dear, I train three times as much as you, OBSESSE about food, sleep, hill climbs, chamoi cream, hydration, and did I say I ride my bike a ton. Somehow I got a pro upgrade. I better act like. Train with any of us for a month, and you will soon be dropping us. I just don't like when guys are mad that a girl beat them. Period. Train more. Stop eating wacky things like burgers. Put the beer down. OR, just have a great time competing.

Heidi brought to my attention that a reader commented on the Outside-Blog that he had raced with me! I need to do some research but for the life of me, I don't know where or when I crossed his path! Thankfully, i wasn't a biscuit that day and he had good things to say about me, like my passion for the sport. But it really makes you think. A brief momentary encounter in the woods can leave a life-long impression on someone. Don't be too quick to order directions. Who knows if that rider is coming off a crash, illness, "life" issues etc, and your tone could potentially set them off of the sport we all love.

It never hurts to encourage, and show gratitude to another rider, we all know we appreciate it when it comes our directions. Heck, sometimes that has been the only positive thing in a race for me. My encounters with other people, of the same thoughts and beliefs and motives, that take that last remaining ounce of energy and encourage me to excell at what I set out to do.

Boy or girl, rock on! Because you are riding a bike, and we do it for fun!!

30, minus 1.

2009-09-29T11:47:00.000-07:00

I was all excited to race the season finale up in Big Bear this weekend, where Allison and I could be Unified again and pay money to race/ride against each other. But alas, I have been attacked by the illness that has gotten half the school over the last 3 weeks. If I just chopped my head off I would be fine! So I opted for sleep and more sleep over the weekend, officially starting my off season.

But before then, I did some Calculations regarding this past season.

Here are my race stats:

Mountain Bike Races: 12

Short Track Race: 1

Road Race: 5

Crit: 11

Total those up, you get 29...Sunday was supposed to be 30...I also did the math on how much I spent on entry fees....hehe....

A few more interesting things, I finished each race I started. I only had ONE mechanical and that was at Rim Nordic where my rear shifter broke 2 miles into 24. Riding a 3-speed out there was quite the workout!!

I also only had ONE flat tire! That was in a crit at Ontario, where I was able to ride/run to the pits, grab Joey's rear wheel, Brian set me up, and jumped back in on the last lap.

I was fortunate enough to NEVER race sick...in the past I have raced at least 3 MTB events sick and unable to breath out my nose!

I also realized I did one Mountain Bike stage race, and one Road stage race, and four of the crit days, I did multiple races.

On the road, I have been able to race the 4's, 3's, 1/2/3 and Men's Cat 3! That by FAR was the most fun on a road bike! Riding with 4 teammates, in a mens crit with at least 60 guys, I finally realized what crits were all about! And it was my last crit.

So basically I can look back at this stoked about getting a lot of racing experience, excited about what next year brings, and I totally understand why I am now sick. It was quite the cornacopia of racing and experiences, and I haven't yet quite decided how it will pan out for next season.

That about sums it up...

2009-09-21T13:43:00.000-07:00

Bonelli Unification Race...or something to that effect.

(Please note I am stealing pictures from Allison and random people on facebook ; )

So Allison, Krista and I became unified on Sunday. We led the race as a unified force, then, not so much. With many of our comrades hanging the jerseys for the year, oh, two months ago, the three of us keep paying our $$$ to go for rides together.

It was hot. I remember one point where I said outloud on the full exposed hot and dusty fireroad that looks down on the freeway interchange, "I'm so hot..." with the Napolean Dynamite exhale. I can't remember being that hot in a race since maybe Santa Ynez two years ago. I only wadded it up once, on a hair pin uphill turn going to the feed zone. Narrowly missed re-opening Staple and got some blood on my shoes. Cool.

High light was having BMc at the race! He flogged the Cat 2 boys, poor chaps, and finished the race with a win and a helmet full of twigs due to a crash in the last half mile that had him recounting seeing "dirt, sky, dirt, sky, dirt, sky....ground." while intergecting motorcycle sounds. "Brrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaap brrrrap...."

Brian is the best. Once my race started, which consisted of 3 laps at 12:30 start...he was at multiple points on the course giving me time gaps but more importantly, moral support. Between calling lines, to telling me to ride my pace and not to worry about the gap, he really helped me out!

The main reasons I went to the race, though, was to see my friends and support Team Big Bear and Shoair for the amazing job they have done with the series this year. Although I havent made it out of the state to race, I am very grateful to even have a series to go to! These guys have done an amazing job keeping mountain biking alive in the whole country! It's important to me to do my part to help promote, show up and have a blast at these events to do what I can to spread the MTB love!

As for the friends, got to hook up with so many cool people that I haven't seen since mid-summer! Great to see the friendly faces
Allison, Lisa, Dot, Tonya, Heidi, me!

So there was an overall to be won. I guess I didn't get the memo or have just been tied up coaching jr. high volleyball and not doing my research! This race landed the three of us, well, in the top three! Next to the Idyllwild Pavers, this award is awesome! Solid iron or something, welded together, and HEAVY!!! Pretty cool momento....although not sure what to do with it. Could maybe do Kettlebell training, or sit on it to milk a cow, or something of that nature...

The week is flooded with volleyball games and practices, some teaching and grading, tack on some baby visiting and cuddling, then perhaps a bike ride or five topped off with a touch of pilates. All in 100 degree heat.

Tomorrow is the Autumnal Equinox. What gives? Where is fall?!....

Is it nap time yet?

2009-09-11T11:01:00.000-07:00

Here we are, day three of that race in Costa Rica, completely wiped out, but ready to rock. Somehow (ie the couple from Mexico had their clocks set to Mexico time, where there was a time change) we got up at 4 am for the race. Never have I gotten ready to race so quickly!! Once we realized the issue, back to bed I went in full kit, spooning my gear bag.

Most people say its time to rest, relax, gain some weight, or pick up bowling. I just can't do it. So here I am, ready to go full-force into a weekend of solid riding and fun with friends! Although I may FEEL like the Joy above...I put on a good Poker Face.

Season ain't over yet folks....come to think of it, when will it be over?!?!

Well when you put it that way...

2009-09-09T15:18:00.000-07:00

I have been receiving a lot of flack for my absurd tan-lines, specifically those on my legs. Late-summer, an intervention was set to get me into more "feminine" shorts, in the attempt to make me not look like a "Fit Boy." Cute. I purchased a slew of 5" inseam shorts from Marshalls and Ross (Under $7 a piece FYI) and by my calculations, that inseam is about 0.5" ABOVE my Champ Sys cycling shorts.

It has gotten to the point that if another person scoffs at my tan by saying something witty like "Hey, can't you get shorts to match your tan?" or "Did the tanning bed mess up?" Or "Nice tan lines" i may just have to pop them in the jaw or better yet comment on their "Nice Muffin Top." But that wouldn't be nice.

Upon lamenting my persecution, I received this poignant email from BMc, just another reason why I keep him close by:

It's like this; some people get tattoos because it means something special to them, some people have scars that reveal traumatic experiences they've been through. We have pale kit covered skin and borderline obscene tan lines from spending as much of our time in the saddle as possible. It's a sign of our commitment and shows our perseverance. Other folks just won't and can't understand. Don't take it to heart, wear it like a badge of pride because to those that understand, they know what those tan-lines mean and what it takes to earn'em.

It's my birthday, I am allowed to whine. I mean Shine...

2009-09-02T12:43:00.000-07:00

I stayed up until midnight last night to see if in fact I would turn into a pumpkin upon turning the dreaded, dirty, thirty. I certainly did not morph into holiday decor nor did I audibly hear my metabolism hit the wall and slow down. But I am convinced I felt it. Just as convinced as the time i saw the Jackalope in Yosemite. It was there.

In this new wacky era of the interwebs and texting, I have been inundated with birthday cheer. None of it is unwanted, and definately not unwarrented. However, it has come at the strangest of times, modes, and well from some pretty strange people.

99% of people really did not know it was my birthday, had it not been for Face Book. They were then posed with a few options: text, wall post, IM, weird birthday cake for homepage wall etc. Many of the cheer-sharers I have not seen, heard from, nor would recognize if I was staring at them at Stell Coffee house.

Here are some of my favorites:

* Happy Birthday, Joy. You're probably going to take a birthday bike ride, in that case, don't get hurt.

*Happy Birthday you wackado!!!!!

*Happy Birthday, Joy!!! Hope it is wonderful and you get to do a good ride :)

*Happy Birthday Joy Bell. 30 huh! Enjoy it to the MAX. Skip school.

*Hippy Bathday!

*hb!

*Happy birthday Joy! I will ride my bike to work tomorrow in your honor.

*JOY to the World!! Have a Happy Happy day & eat tons of good stuff...then ride it off.

*Happy Birthday silly Joy!! ;)

*Happy Birthday Joy! Already making 30 look fun!!

I also am the proud recipient of multiple eCards. One had a rainbow that would fill in each color at a time, another had an animated kitten that got stuck in a ball of yarn, and yet another had a pink girl walking through a field. I sure hope Halmark has dibs on some ecards, or they are going to go out of business. The ecard is amazing because you can remember at 4:52pm a loved ones birthday, shoot that email out and be within the safe confines of the work day. Some of the cards i received were preselected and scheduled to be "released" today. Im not knocking them. They did make me chuckle a bit, and everyone knows I sure don't own stamps either.

I have received a litany of text messages. Rad...I have unlimited now. Whew.

Thank you for the well-wishes and laughs! The good times are just beginning!

Whaaaaat!?

2009-08-21T09:37:00.001-07:00

Road Racing and Crit racing in specific, are a team sport. I have no team!! Oh SNAP! I keep trying to convince other lone-rangers to band together with me, but no dice.

Pictured here, Erica and Katie from Kahala are LAUGHING at me when discussing the fact that there is a break, and if I infact attacked, I would be hung out to dry.

The SBDC chick doesn't think its funny. I guess we are supposed to be serious. Knowing me, that ain't gonna happen. I don't care how tight that turn is. But really, I asked the chicks "if I attack we are screwed, right?" Them, laughing. "No. YOu are." At least I know my place.

Back on the work front, school has started with a vengence. Once I get past the meetings and parents and lockers, I really like it. The kids are rad and I can already tell, we are gonna have some fun!

Today was the first, in 7 years, casual Friday. I wore the same polo shirt and plaid shorts I would wear on any other day. I suppose I dress pretty casual as a habit.

I am also currently plotting a new hair situation. Suggestions welcome, but colors must be neutral.

Happy pedaling!

I've been having too much fun to photo document anything...

2009-08-11T14:21:00.000-07:00

So take my word for it!!!

Maybe its because I am getting old or simply conditioned, but the 104 degree afternoons aren't kicking my butt as bad as they have summers past. Daily ride start time has been between 3-4pm, meandering into the dusk.

I am taking the manditory break from ruining teenagers lives by assigning them poopy lockers to check race results and other such web-based madness. Geeze, I have missed a bunch of cool stuff!! But recent pay cuts and more importantly, the self-perscribed debt-pay-off-plan have kept within a 3 hour radius of home.

I have, however, maintained my road/crit campaign which frankly leaves me emotionally taxed for up to 2 days post event. Since I am a cat 3, i can race the 3/4 events or the 1/2/3 races. Or be super over committed and do both. That's my favorite because I can be on the bike forever and figure this stuff out. There is a MARKED difference between the two events, and let's just say I have come to realize crit racing is a full-contact sport!

I poached this one off the net...I want that chicks PINK shoe covers. I have no idea what their purpose is, but i want them!

I got all amped out this last weekend and headed to the mountains for a mountain bike race, only to be greated at the top of the first climb with a broken shifter. Doh!! I got stuck with three gears, really fast, really slow, really not useable. Since Brian is a champ and RODE UP to the race from Yucaipa, he was on tap to get me into a "climbing" gear at the feed zone as i hammered off to work on my out-of-the-saddle skills! Sweet!

Great to see everyone at the races and catch up! And I realized/remembered how much I Love Love LOVE mountain biking!!!

This coming weekend, bit of a road trip to Sisquoc Road Race, then some more crit fun!

Over Complicating the Mundane

2009-07-16T13:19:00.000-07:00

So, I took a break. From the Internet. This decision has left me uninformed and I really actually like it.

One day, a few weeks back, I loaded the trusty Rally-Car Subarau with 5 bikes and headed north in a quest for cool ocean breeze, sweet single track, and stellar company. For once I can actually say, I found them all!!

The road racing scene is WACK which I fully became aware of as I ITT'd both a 60 mile road race and Crit in San Luis Obispo. The laundry list of "Things to work on and improve" grows and morphs each time I show up at these events. But I keep going out for more because the people are rad and the views fantastic!

Sister Julene from New Zealand, Brother Jeremy from Boulder, and well, me..IE BABY!

For fear of boring you (yawn) I will just cut to the gory stuff.

The kids "Stickered" me. And that Southern Hemishphere winter isnt working out too well for my sisters tan...

I met Gwenny!!! (this is a few days before she bit me...) And I got to see Griffyn!

We saw Zoo Things...
And we became Zoo Things!

We did Circus Stunts!!!

And rode in really small trains...

Then things went sideways. Super Bro Jeremy and I hit up some of THE BEST SINGLE TRACK I HAVE EVER RIDDEN. Heading up to Mr. Toads Wild Ride, South Lake Tahoe. 18 miles of pure bliss. Swoopy and dreamy and well banked, and everything a girl could ever want!!

After climbing and traversing for almost two hours, I dumped it, to the left, on a super techy ASCENT (that means UP...SAT word of the day) and yes, cracked my leg open on a perfect piece of granite!

ME: "Um Jeremy, I think we have a deep one"

BRO: "Yup, I can see your muscles and tendons."

ME: "Cool"

BRO: "Want me to clean it?"
ME: "Nope"

so i wrapped my trusty polk-a-dot tank on it and off we went.

Back at base camp, everyone was super worried about what to do....erm...I searched the iPhone for urgent care while dad...read?! but really, they forced me to go. ONE GIANT STAPLE closed that sucker up!

Family photos by the lake...

Shared war-wounds

So the doctor said no riding. So the family decided that meant I would love to go hiking instead. um....FYI...that hurts a lot more. We are all VERY excited at this point.

Sunday group rides take on a different flavor these days!!

Baby Gwen give the adventure a Thumbs Up!!

And now, its just normal stuff again.