ahhh

Well I made it home on Monday night after a couple of delays and cancelled flights but it was all ok once my head hit MY pillow...zzzzzzzzz....

So Tuesday someone thought it would be a good idea for me to do Tuesday night worlds in Durango........my thoughts the entire ride were, "I left my lungs in MS!!!" but it was good to ride with my teammate Alison T. She has been here for a couple of weeks and taking in the sights and getting some quality altitude lovin, I think she is having a good time.

The weather here has been a perfect 80 degrees, low in the 40's at night, wow what a difference! I kind of understand why folks aren't out and about more back home, it is just down right nasty hot! If you aren't doing something at sunrise or sunset, you ain't gonna! Unless you wanna sweat, which isn't a problem for me but hey...everyone is different:)

I think the summer time folks that come to town are all here now, it seems a bit more busy than normal days.....WELCOME:) keep your eyes on the road, I'm out there working:)

Miller and I have been spending some quality time together:) awww, he is so sweet! It is warm enough and the water is high enough, I've taken him to the river for the last 2 days in the afternoon. He loves the water....what else can I say?

So this weekend is Iron Horse Bicycle Classic in Durango, it is an awesome race and a lot of the pros come in town for the racing. Then next week, Alison T. and I are headed to Tulsa, OK for Tulsa Tough, then back home:) I'm getting the hang of all this travelin and knowing what to pack, it gets easier as the summer progresses b/c you know you don't have to pack as much clothing! Nice!

So I'll check back in after the weekend, y'all be safe out there!

Bikes in schools

Showing off the awesome kit;)
Describing gel packs and other 'on bike' food

Vera Bradley "Loves me" print
Whoa, time flies when you are having fun:)

So the last time I was in town(Christmas) I had the opportunity to speak to 5th and 6th graders of St. Francis Elementary about cycling, nutrition and goals. It was such a great experience, that I asked the teacher if I could speak again when I came back in town post Joe Martin. The teacher, Mindy Giambrone was more than happy to have me back but this time I spoke to her 7th and 8th grade PE classes-all girls!

Also, this visit I wanted to bring in more than just my road bike and kit. So I talked to Jayce Powel at Indian Cycle in Jackson to see if they would let me borrow a Specialized Transition(time trial bike) and a time trial helmet. I also was looking for Kroger(local grocery store) to donate some food items for the talk. I wanted to talk to the girls about nutrition a bit more extensively seeing that this time in their lives, they become a lot more aware of body image.

Jayce was awesome and had everything ready when I got to the shop and they even through in some water bottles to give out to the girls after the talk! Thanks Indian Cycle!!!

Kroger on the other hand didn't think that the school visit was important enough to donate $30 worth of product.....carrots, humus, apples, almond butter, plates, cups and toothpics....oh well, live and learn.

So the first talk on Wednesday was with the 8th grade girls and when I mentioned Team VERA BRADLEY Foundation, their eyes lit up:) They enjoyed seeing all the Specialized equipment, I showed them how the shoes and pedals work, showed them the kit and how we riders get to items in our back pockets and I described racing in general, as well as racing for a cause. Then we talked nutrition and brought them over to the 'food' table and by the time we finished the talk, all food was eaten and even though some turned their nose up to the almond butter at least they got to experience different foods and understand nutrition a bit better.

I also had the chance to talk to them about the ugly four letter word, DIET! We also talked calories burned and calories consumed and that fast food doesn't count in my calories consumed column AT ALL! So all in all, it was an AWESOME talk and I hope I got through to a couple of the girls, if not on cycling at least a bit on nutrition and health and just exercise in general.

Next up was the 7th grade girls. It is amazing what a year in adolescence does to the brain! These girls were more interested in the sport and the bars, gels and drinks we cyclists use. Might be seeing some more pro cyclists coming from MS in the future??? I hope so:)

So after that day(Wednesday), I had another school visit on Friday to 75 6th graders, post state testing. What a combination right???

BUT FIRST....I had the opportunity to speak on a local radio station Friday morning. Every Friday the station has an hour devoted to sports. I felt honored that they invited me to join them so that they and their listeners could learn a bit more about women's cycling!!! That hour FLEW by! I could've talked for 3 more at least! We talked about safety and coexistence between cyclists and cars and some local roads(MRT) that are cycling safe, my athletic background, training, health, nutrition and the bikes in general:)

So after the radio show, I got in a quick 2hr ride, then home to change for the school visit.....I was a busy gal:)

It was also at the end of the school day at Bowmar Ele., so these kids were already looking forward to the bell ringing but with a little help from one of the students trying to put the TT helmet on wrong we all enjoyed the talk and by the time I left the school I was starting to loose my voice! I don't ever talk that much;) Plus, Vicksburg-Warren School District filmed the talk and said they would get me a CD, looking forward to that. I would like to see what I need to tweak on the talks because this is something I'm really enjoying and want to continue.

Guess how I ended the day.....driving to Mudbugs in Jackson for crawfish, crab legs and shrimp and brought it home so mom and dad and I could sit outside, enjoy a cold beer and some good grub. I was asleep by 9:)

Back in the south!

I flew to Tulsa, OK a week ago today, then drove a couple of hours with another girl to Fayetteville, AR and realized that I had missed the south just a bit:) It was good to get back to big oak trees, green grass and humidity!

The team raced in the Joe Martin Stage race this weekend and it was a successful race as we won!! Alison Powers, Robin Farina, Alison Testroete, Kristin Sanders, Erica Allar, Alex Rhodes and myself, we all did our jobs to make it happen and I had a blast.....until the criterium.....

There was something in the second to last corner that just wasn't right. It was a corner you could go through with a lot of speed(or so it looked anyway) but apparently there was either something on the pavement or a booger bear that wanted to see me a bit closer because I just slid out! My first thought, SHIT, I hope I didn't just take out my teammates because I was near the front. My second and third thoughts, here comes others on top of me. It was like a soccer tackle, as soon as I slid, I was standing out of it looking behind me to get the heck out of the way if I saw someone barreling towards me but luckily traffic had slowed enough. So I grabbed my bike gave it a quick look - yep rideable- and headed to the neutral pit, I still had to finish my job.

So I made it to the pit, got the SRAM guy to check it out and he sent me on my way when the group came back around. Unfortunately he missed that my left hood was a wee bit crooked so the rest of the race my hand was a bit cockeyed which was awkward, not to mention the intense burning sensations I was starting to feel on my hip, leg, arms and wrists. So I stayed with the main group, trying to regain composer and about 5 laps later, 2 more girls went down in the SAME spot right in front of me. I was gapped off the back and there was only a couple more laps so I just limped in with the next chase group.

After dropping my bike off to the team car and confirming Alex's win, I headed to the EMT tent. Those poor guys were not prepared AT ALL! They had run out of gauze just about, no antibiotic cream and some crappy bandaids, oh well, give me what ya got!! SCRUB HARD cause I don't want to have to do it later! Yes, I had someone's hand to hold and yes I felt like a little girl getting a shot but that HURT!

So next stop, back to our team car for some of our wonderful sponsor BEER!!!! I filled up a water bottle, changed clothes and went to hang out with the folks as they watched the men's race, I was feeling good by the end of that bottle:)

So after their race, we had podium, then off to the host house for a shower(more HURT) and then off to Memphis, TN to see my brother, his wife and my sweet nephew:)

Joe Martin is a cool race and I highly recommend it as one to get a taste of NRC with. It was perfect, not too hard, not too long, no major climbs and logistics getting to and from the race starts was taken care of! Check it out next year!

Anyway, we got to Memphis last night around 9:30 and hung out for a bit before crashing into the bed. This morning we got up and drove to Vicksburg and here I sit at mom and dad's house with a full belly of Walnut Hills and headed to Jackson tomorrow for a PT massage, maybe some ice and stem if I can get it, grab some bikes for a talk and take care of some other things on the list before I can settle into an easy ride back in Vicksburg tomorrow afternoon.

Time to wash clothes.....

PS...Doing a school visit on Wednesday/Friday....gonna try to stay in Jackson Sunday/Monday night.....I'll also be riding my bike everyday while I'm here as well.....if you see me on the road, honk-in a nice way:)