The Biggest Bike Race Tailgate Ever!

So, Athens Twilight is an awesome event for the Pro fields! The races are run at night (obviously!) and it is the only day of the year that open containers are allowed on the streets. Being smack in the middle of a college town at night with open container allowed, the crowd was huge...and loud!!!
Before the actual bike race, the venue held a MTB crit, a funky bike cab race, running race and tike race! Definitely the most entertaining race I have ever been to.
Check out this guy's shirt, it says: "Chicks dig scrawny pale guys" And check out the "denim" spandex shorts...classic! :)

Racing went well for me. Saturday I rode strong but botched the finish by riding uphill into the wind before the sprint...don't ask me what I was thinking, obviously I wasn't. I got top 15, not sure the exact place. Sunday was much more style, less climbing more cornering. I got 8th...top 10 at an NRC race isn't bad...though I know I could have finished higher had I not spent so much time up front...I was having fun riding aggressively, I just didn't want to sit in for some reason, I wanted to make the other girls hurt! :)

Check Out the Green!!!

So I arrived in Athens last night safe and sound...though my bike had to go to the shop today, rear derailuer hanger bent (again!) and the guy at the shop fixed it "Right quick!" Though it did cost me $15 for 5 minutes of work!
I went for a ride this afternoon on the southern rollers, flat will a few gentle rises. Nice change of pace from SoCal climbing...and everything was so GREEN!!! It even smelled green! After my ride, I hung out in the hammock reading...The Chronicles of Narnia!
When you live on the road, food comes in boxes...this is my typical race/road trip breakfast..cereal with boxed rice (or soy) milk!I spent one night with a teammate, this is her dog "Boo." He is an attention monger!

Off to Athens, GA!

Packed up my bike today, tomorrow I fly to Atlanta for two NRC Races: Athens Twilight and Nalley Roswell. Should be fast, furious and fun!!!

In case you want to check out the races for yourself:
http://www.athenstwilight.com/
http://www.nalleyhrc.com/

El Cajon Grand Prix!

Fun course today! Flat, fast and technical...just the way I like them! :) The race today was in downtown El Cajon...east of San Diego. It was a figure 8 course. Aside from the bots dots it rode really well.
Yet another morning which makes me wonder why CA is thought of to be warm and sunny...one more race on wet roads with cloudy skies to add to the season...
The wet roads did not slow me down though...got 3rd place today and took more than enough time out front and chasing girls down. I wanted to get a hard race in before Athens/Nalley Roswell next weekend.

And the good news is...only 5 more points to my upgrade!!! :)

Camp in Portola Valley!

On Wednesday I flew up to San Jose to coach a private camp with an athlete of mine. He lives just a few miles south of Stanford's campus...Portola Valley is amazing! Big, green rolling hills everywhere you look with the ocean not far off. I was even lucky enough to climb his "home" hill which is 2/3 mi at 20% grade! This is looking out over his front yard...they only own a few acres but the rest of the area is no build so it looks like his yard goes on forever.

Adventures in the Elfin Forest!

Yesterday I decided to explore the Elfin Forest with Cos and Rudy, it is a park about 5 miles from the house in a canyon. The trail head sign warns of mountain lions and rattlesnakes. I figured the boys were big enough to protect me and off we went...this is a picture of river that runs through the park.
The boys loved the water! Rudy loved the park, he kept sprinting up and down the trail!
We got to pass through the river a couple of times. Rudy was smart enough to walk across the rocks! Our adventure ended when I saw a snake! Maybe two feet long, laying out on the trail. I was surprised Rudy did not try to eat it, he was eating everything else! Anyways, we turned around right away...it did not move at all when Rudy thundered past it back to me...I was not going to test it though!

Next time we will take the well travelled trail...it is all uphill and my legs were fried yesterday from a group ride!

Things That Make You Say "WOW!"

Last night after dinner we got a little rain shower and this awesome rainbow arched right across San Marcos! If you look closely you can see there are actually two, a very faint one to the right! It was incredible!

UC Irvine Anthill Crit...
So I couldn't figure out why they called it the "Anthill" Crit, I thought it was because the hill on course was pretty smalll...it actually is because they are the "UC Irvine Anteaters." And I thought being a "Dreadnaught" was bad in highschool!
It really was more of an anthill on course though...if you can see my face you can see I am working really hard to keep up...well, the headwind slowed the hill down and I am good at sitting in! :)
This is the fast downhill corner...I am not sure what happened to the rest of the pack? It was a good race, I rode really smart and stayed out of the wind all day long. I got a gap with another girl at 4 laps to go...that was caught and then with 300 meters to go I went, it was the right time though a bit far out. Photo finish...I got caught at the line and ended up in 2nd.
Mom and Dad were there to celebrate my second 2nd in two weeks! This being a collegiete race I won a whopping $23! :)

Now I need a win...

Livin' Large!
Since I had a recovery day, after I rode my rollers by the pool, I hopped right into the pool! I decided to work on my lovely tan lines...I even tried wearing leg warmers to block off the tan part of my legs...that got pretty hot and did not last long!
I worked on Sudoku puzzles while getting my tan...I just started working on these earlier this week when I tried one in the newspaper and failed miserably at it. Appearently my logic skills went on the wayside after the Masters. You will be happy to know I am now successful at beginner level puzzles! :)
And I am still working on my knitting. This is hat number 2...so far it is looking pretty good!

Back to the races tomorrow: UC Irivine Anthill Crit!

On The Boarder!
I woke up bright and early this morning to go ride the the US Paralympic Team. I had to give myself two hours to go 50 miles...this is what it looks like at 7am!
The Olympic Training Center is in Chula Vista, 7 miles from Mexico! Dad was worried about me being abducted and taken to Mexico...I got to see the Boarder Patrol on my way. Last year in Bisbee, AZ I actually saw the Boarder Patrol locate a group of illegal immigrats...we were only 2 mile from the boarder then, they did not make it too far!
The ARCO OTC...it's in a great area away from all of the SoCal hustle and bustle!
The paralympic riders are incredibly strong! After doing 5x5 30 on/30 off, I got to sit on Katie and Karissa's wheel...I don't know which was harder! Katie is a sighted rider for Karissa who is legally blind...they have won multiple national and paralympic medals! I had a great time riding with them, not only are they strong, the team has a great sense of humor! The guys wanted too see me suffer...my legs were definitely done when we got back!

If you have a chance, you should read up on the team, they are awesome! There are some amazing stories and they are incredible athletes! http://www.usoc.org/paralympics/news_33177.htm

Fancy Cars All Over!
Today I saw my second Lotus in 4 days. The one I saw on Sunday was an Exige, today was an Elise. Everywhere you look out here you see a fancy car...Sunday is the best day to look!

New Team Website!

Check out our new team website:
http://www.teamkendatire.com/index.html

I just sent my recent results in so they will be up soon! :)

Hollywood Chamios Fest!

So, LA not only has a huge racing scene...it has 1990 teeny-bopper pop stars racing in it as well! Mark-Paul Gosselaar (Zach Morris from "Saved By the Bell") is in regular attendence at the Cat 4 races around town!

NRC Podium!!!

I finally did it! I made the NRC (National Race Calendar) podium this weekend! I took second in the Garrett Lemire Gran Prix, women's 3/4. The girl who beat me, Neva Day, beat me on Saturday as well. She attacked on the final climb...I thought 2 seconds too long about it, tried to chase her down and, just before the line, got caught by another chase group. I ended up sixth. Today's plan was all about execution on the final lap. I never left Neva's wheel as I knew she was the strongest rider in the field...she is a pro triathlete...IronMan distance...with an engine. The final straight was only 100 meters...not quite enough time for me to come around her after the turn, 10 more meters...half a bike length was all she had on me at the finish. First would have been awesome, but I am not complaining about second!

This is from Saturday's race. An office park crit...I thought only CO had those! I am second wheel, Neva lead.

Oh, I forgot to mention: our race was at 7:01 am this morning...and last night was daylights saving...warming up in the dark reminds me how precious my upgrade will truly be!

By the way, Garret Lemire was in Ojai, CA...the coolest town I have ever been too! If I ever win the lottery I am moving there!