Saturday, June 7, 2014

Gatineau travel.....

Good morning from beautiful Chelsea, Quebec.  Today we race GP Gatineau, 123k of flat, fun roads. I like this race - it's close to home, the city is fun and the weather is usually perfect for racing.  And to think I waited an extra day to come to Canada! Well, not by choice actually.  You know that moment when you are packing up from one race, getting ready to head out the next morning for the airport only to realize that you left your passport in Colorado????? You don't?! I do!!!!! HA!

I boarded my flight from Philadelphia to Dulles no problem but when we were boarding our flight to Ottawa, the guy shot me down:) I figured as much.  We were hoping that I could get to Canada and deal with it there but no, I had to rebook my flight for the following day and spend the afternoon in a hotel while Michael overnighted(not cheap) my passport to the hotel.  It wasn't that bad of a hick up actually and everyone laughed it off.

Once here we rode our bikes in the Gatineau Park, it's about a 22k loop and has some really pretty overlooks.  The roads are nice and quiet, lots of cyclists, lots of trails and lakes and in the winter time it seems like it is a nordic skier's paradise.

 One of the views...
 Another!
 These reminded me of my grandmother, I'm pretty sure they were her favorites...
 We even got Kevin on a bike!!! (Our director)
 Token bike/view shot....
 We had to move from one house to another and this was what we all looked like - bag ladies.  We laughed the entire walk and almost got carried away by mosquitos.
 My bed for the week..... we have our own bunk beds - it's so cute:)
 The cluster of us trying to get organized for a group photo.
The coolest dog, he is so big, so chill, so sweet!!! I want to take him home!!

After today, we fly to MN and we race there this week and weekend! Then a quick trip to MS to see mom and dad, then back to Colorado to start a long break.

Reading: The Four Minute Mile
Listening: silence, it's pretty early here at the host house
Eating: oatmeal - very unsuccessfully.  Some days it's great but not today.... force feeding
Watching: The LEGO movie!!! It's so cute!
Website: http://www.lenordik.com/en/homepage/   This is what we are doing post race today!!!!! So excited!

Monday, June 2, 2014

Nationals, Philly and in between...

Howdy from post national championships in Chattanooga, TN.  The time trial was on Saturday and the road race was Monday.  I was actually pretty happy with my time trial seeing that last year I went WAY to hard to soon.  This year I was top 10 and looking back to the beginning of this career, that’s a success:)  The road race didn’t quite go as planned and I ended up 6th.  

I last blogged prior to Women’s Tour in Britain, while I was in Norfolk with my host family.  Well the Women’s Tour was absolutely amazing! Over the top! World class! Top notch! So professional!  The team won overall team general classification, so we got to partake in the post race festivities on stage, that was fun.  And in the far distance, I saw the Norfolk neighbors with their cute little one on their shoulders, that was really cute! 

After the race we drove closer to London, I was flying out EARLY the next morning and the girls had to do an Optum event.  We celebrated a little bit by enjoying a genuine pub.  My food of choice was finally - fish n chips.  The next morning(4:20am wake up) it was time to head to the airport, time to go home, get some rest and some altitude.  It took most of the week to get back on a normal sleep pattern but what I lacked in sleep, I totally made up for by spending the days enjoying the beautiful mountain air!  Man, I swear the sky is more blue.  I finally could off load the beer I had been carrying around since Flanders:) ha!! Michael and Lance were happy to take the burden.... 

I will continue on the road for the next 3 weeks with races in Philadelphia, Gatineau, Canada and finishing with Nature Valley.  Enjoy the photos....

UPDATE.... I haven't had Internet to post to my blog until now, post Philly race.  I was 3rd on the day after climbing 'the wall' 5 times and my team doing an awesome job.  I'll take it. Now on to Canada! 

 The boys drinking the good stuff!
 The south has made it out west....
 Some leftovers....
 Sweet Brie, she is in her own world most times...what a mess...
 My nephew, the family came to Chattanooga, he was my 'date' for the night, such a sweetheart!
 Big poppa!
 My big brother...
 The Tully's.....
 The gals....
 Don't we look a little suspicious some days???
 I have a couple of powermeters to choose from...
 Brie and Janel, we were out on the nationals road course pre riding and getting ready for nationals...
 Kevin and Pat, our directors, working on a bike...
 My COUSIN'S beer - Yazoo....
 We drink a LOT of water;)
One of our awesome sponsors - John Kelly.  We stayed with him for a couple of days in between races.... 

Reading: The Perfect Mile by Neal Bascomb
Listening: Summer by Calvin Harris
Watching: people - I'm at the airport
Eating: nothing, I'm at the airport! 
Website: https://thefeed.com - you can put together a box of food, drink mix or supplements to be mailed to your house.  You can change it up every month and change the quantities, it's really cool! 
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