Nationals

Well sometimes you have good days and sometimes you have bad days but what a time to have a bad day...Nationals:(

I just never quite felt good and I'm sure it is from a long week of Cascade. Our race started at 8:15a.m. which was a great thing b/c : 1. I have a black kit, which is hot as all get out in the summer 2: Today is supposed to be the hottest day of the year in Bend, ouch! One thing that was really cool though was that at the start, my teammate Debbie got a call up! Which pretty much means, the field is about 20ft from the start, they call up the individuals that have done really well in the past and I'm sure since Debbie is the current Master's National Champion, that means she is doing really well:) So they let those individuals come up one by one so the spectators can see em and then they let the field come up behind em.....you go Debbie!!!!

It was so good to see her and meet her parents and her friends.....

Anyway, after the second lap and after chasing on twice, I was done, so I just rode back to the feed zone and called it a day......bummer....but if I didn't do it, then how would I know where I stand in the big scheme of things right?!

So tomorrow is the time trial, my start time is at 12:55 and then after that is done, it will be time to float the river. I'm hoping to do decent in the TT but again, it will just be decided on that day.......

Sorry I couldn't represent MS any better, next year maybe.....

Day 3,4

So stage 3 was the time trial. I really wasn't expecting to do to well just because of the previous days' events and I figured I should save some energy for stage 4, which was a good thing because it was hard! But I ended up putting up a decent time and that is part of the Nationals course so that was good training for that as well.

Ha! I'm just now getting Internet and getting back to posting, I'm so sorry!!!! And man, time flew! All I can tell you about the last 3 stages, is that they were hard and fast!!!! The criterium was a four corner crit with a long back stretch and front stretch w/ sharp corners in turns 3 and 4. Someone told me we averaged 27mph for 50min! OUCH! The last day was a circuit course (18miles x 3laps) which is also the Nationals course for Thursday (18miles x 4 laps) so it was good to race that to know what is coming up. I think by Sunday I was totally pooped:) But in a great way!

ValueAct girls were great and taught me a lot and they were all really cool with me being on the team as a guest rider as well....thanks for having me girls!

Yesterday and today are EASY days and then I will be getting ready for Thursday for tomorrow's ride....

Last night I went to see the Tanner family, their daughter Millie is doing the juniors race today and she is a good kid, so I wish her well:) That family is a hoot! I hope to see them again by the end of the week, we will see:)!

Sorry I'm all over the place but I'm trying to put in as much info as possible and get as much done as possible in between charging the laptop, eating, sleeping, sleeping, bike riding, sleeping, hanging out w/ people, sleeping:) hehe

Thanks for reading my rambles!

Day 2

Today was 80miles w/ a 10k climb at the end. So the plan for today was to get 2 of the ValueAct climbers to the climb and job is done for us. Well it ended up being extremely hot today, so I did my job as a domestic(worker for the team pretty much) and got bottles from the car and took them to the girls a couple of times and tried to chase down things that needed to be chased down.....sweh, I'm tired:)

Sorry if my post goes a bit crazy, I'm sleepy....

ANYWAY, so a break got up the road with one of our girls and the peleton was happy with the break so things slowed up for a bit until we got to about 5k from the start of the climb and then the pace started up again.

The break was caught and then it was time for our next girls to go and they did and I came in 16min. back with some of the other girls.

Kristin McGrath got third, so another podium for VAC!!! I'm so happy for my roomy!!!! You go girl!

So I just finished my massage, supper and team meeting for the TT tomorrow. It is 16miles, 1/2 of it is uphill, then turn around and come on back down the hill:) It will be hard but good!

Oh yeah, there have been a couple of crashes the last two days with some bad injuries I think, I hope all is well to those girls....one was right beside me today and pushed a couple of riders over in on me a bit but things have been upright and all is well!

See y'all later!

Day 1

Day one of the CCC was a blast, until the end;).....I did my job to my best ability, which was to cover anything that went and that I did:) Lisa Hunt(director) was awesome, talking to us on the radios and keeping us motivated. I came back and fed from the car and took bottles to the girls and managed to miss two crashes apparently that happened sometime. Also saw Louise from Team LaS'Port from Louisiana, she has family here and came out to give it a try! AWESOME! I did see in the results that she didn't finish, I hope she wasn't in any of the crashes and I hope she is ok!

I finished 3min down because after chasing things for 50miles, you get tired! And about that time, other racers started stringing it out, really putting the hammer down for the last 20k, I got dropped, grabbed some bottles from the car and said my peace:) I joined up with another group of girls and we worked together to get to the finish.

All in all, it was a good day for me......every race is a learning experience and I'm learning how to get to the finish with the front more and more each one. One day it will happen, I'm also learning the value of patience....dang it....:)

So after the race, we had some post race grub and drinks, went back to the team house, had a team meeting for the next stage, got a massage and headed on back to our host house.....

Tomorrow is a day of climbing but hopefully things will settle a bit until the last 20k, but who knows, either way I will give it my all.....:)

Oh, BEND IS SO SWEET!!!!!! Maybe my next move?????:)

Pre ride

So when we got in town yesterday afternoon, we found the host house and went to trader joes for some grub and got back home for supper. They have a HUGE yellow lab named Barney and he is so sweet! Kristin McGrath is at the same house with me, which works wonderfully, we mesh well together.

So this morning we get up had a great breakfast and then went to the other team house and met up with the other girls and went to check out the TT course, which is going to be interesting! It is 14miles long, half of it is up hill, turn around and go back down the hill and the road isn't that great so finding the perfect line will be key so as not to get bumped all over the place!

All the girls of ValueAct are super sweet and nice. I'm sure it is hard for them when a guest rider comes in and they have to show them the ropes every time......so thanks gals for letting me come play;)

Sorry Michelle, no pictures, I haven't had any time, plus trying to get acclimated to the team and my surroundings.....

Things are about to start flying by and before I know it this race and Nationals will be over:(

Did I mention that I'm having a blast????????

Cascade and Nationals

So I'm headed to Bend, OR as I type, for Cascade Cycling Classic July 21-26 and then Nationals(road and time trial)the following week. Lisa Hunt, the director of ValueAct Capital asked me to guest ride for their team and be a worker for their general classification gals. I was so excited and I can't wait! I shall do my job to the best of my ability:) So that probably means that I won't be looking for any stage or overall victories. All that will be great training and a great learning experience for hopefully future endeavors. I'm staying at a host house that will have 5 of the girls at the house, the other 2 will be at another house. So here I come!

Now I can add 3 more states to my list of where I've been:) Unless dad says, you've been there when you were just a little girl, that doesn't count:) Utah, Idaho and Oregon! I've never been to those and the drive has been so beautiful! The rock formations in Utah, the windmills and flat land in Idaho and I'm not to Oregon yet but I'm sure I will post something cool once I get there!

Then Nationals are after Cascade so we shall see how that goes as well! This will be my first time to do road and time trial Nationals, I did crit Nationals last year and had a blast, so this should be fun too!

Debbie Milne, my Absolute Racing teammate, is coming for Nationals as well! She has just won Master's Nationals in Kentucky just a few weeks ago and now she is coming to Bend to show the yougins how she does it:) It should be interesting, the road race is an 18mile loop that we will do 4 times and has a climb in the loop, not my best course but I will do my best. I'm considered more of a sprinter, not a climber:) Oh well, we shall see what happens.....

Another great opportunity on the horizon is the new cyclocross team I'm joining! I think it is sponsored by Hudz and it is based out of Boulder, CO. I've never done cyclocross but I think the director was interested because I'm an ex soccer player and I ain't afraid of a little mud, bring it on! So that may put a small damper in my homecoming in September but we shall see. I haven't gotten any details yet and even though I've been sent the roster, the only girl I knew(do to my lack of cycling knowledge) was Rebecca Much. She is a hoot! Check out her blog! She is laid back, super sweet, so that should be a good start:) and I'm sure she is a wonderful cyclocross racer.....

I also want to give a shout out to Michelle Williams! Thank you so much for your support! I DO have LOTS of extra parts, wheels, bikes, etc. I am taking my vitamins and eating as best I can but sometimes you just want a scoop of ice cream!! I hope all the Data mangement gals are well! Y'all are on my list of friends to see when I do get home, whenever that will be:) Dinner? Cico de Mayo?

Once Nationals are finished in Bend, it will be time to drive back to Colorado for a week, then fly to Downer's Grove, Illinois for crit Nationals. After that it will be crits until cross starts I guess:)

….and hang out with Brandon! He is flying up to hang out for the weekend!!!! YEAH! I don't know the last time I saw him but it has been a while! He is my best guy friend in the whole world! We met my freshman year in college, he was our student trainer for the soccer team and we've been best buds ever since! There was a group of us and we all still stay in touch, when we can! Brandi White, she is in Flowood, MS now as a physical therapist(another best bud of mine to this day), Amy Mann, she is from Texas and lives there today w/ her cute daughter and is fluent in Spanish, Beth Dreher, she lives in Nashville and beat cancer, Sam Corker, she is back home coaching all the soccer teams, Phil Hartness, born and raised in Starkville, lives there today as a financial advisor, Brandon and myself. True friends are hard to find and once you do find them it is awesome to know they are there for you YEARS later and haven't changed a bit! Love y'all!

Ally, 4th of July, bear, oh my

I would like to introduce you to Ally Stacher.  She is a cool chick that has already explored the world at the young age of 22.  She is a super outgoing, fun loving, hippie, bike riding chick that acquires friends everywhere she goes.  We meshed right away and she is going to be a blast to race with.  The world needs more Ally's.  She has gone back home now but we will be seeing each other again soon, at Cascades.  

Also, last week, Carla Thompson and her sister Alice had dinner with me at Serious Texas BBQ in Durango.  We had a blast talking about everywhere they have been in the last 6 weeks of travel, they seem to be the perfect traveling companions.  It was so good to see a familiar face from back home and have a great dinner with friends.

July 4th was pretty mellow, we had a get together with some friends and enjoyed some good food and a beautiful sunset.  That was about the extent of the festivities, I was  tired from the earlier ride, so I turned in before the fireworks.

This morning was exciting though, I woke up to a bear in the yard.  It got away before I got a picture.  I'm sure he will be back though......to be continued......