Eat your fruits and veggies, but not trees

Allergies. It seems everyone who moves to DC gets them. And it seems every year they get worse. Is anyone immune?

Growing up I used to make fun of my cousins who had to get allergy shots - thinking I was superior and more healthy. They all "out grew" their allergies and me on the other hand, grew into mine.

I was the outdoorsy kid playing in the woods, running through the bushes, eating dirt. My favorite spots to play - the backyard under the Birch tree where I'd write stories on the paper bark and sometimes make birchtree-tea, and the front yard where I'd collect the pretty fall colors from the Maple tree and suck on the ends of the leaves thinking they would taste like maple syrup. I loved trees.

Allergies. It all started on a fall bike ride in college....we stole some apples from an orchard and stuffed our jerseys full of them. One of the orchard people caught us and chased us down with her truck yelling at us to stop stealing her apples and that they were sprayed with poison. We didn't believe her. We did let most of the apples fall out of our jerseys but did keep a few. That afternoon while enjoying my golden delicious, I cursed the lady as my mouth started to itch and then blistered. Ever since then, I noticed anytime I ate apples, cherries, plums, nectarines - the same thing. I thought it was the pesticides they used and my body was just too sensitive to it.

Well I swore that pesticides were the issue and was so frustrated when my recent attempt at 5 a day fruit/veggie campaign turned into a failure when even organic fruits and veggies were making my throat itch. So with no fruits left to eat, I went to the allergist to confirm that I am indeed destined to have to eat a meat based diet (despite growing up as a pseudo-vegetarian).

It figures the doctor's never heard of someone having these issues despite me hearing the same issues from other people. Even the allergist reported that I'm not allergic to fruit. WHAT? However I did find out that I am allergic to something I didn't suspect. She told me I am allergic to trees! That didn't make any sense. Then she went on to explain that whenever I ate certain fruits - such as apples and cherries, my body thought I was eating birch tree. But I told her when I did eat birch tree as a kid I didn't have a reaction. She looked at me like I was crazy. Anyway, turns out it's more common than I realized, and fairly recently is the connection being made as a cross-pollen confusion in the body. Weird.

And it also turns out I'm allergic to nearly everything else too. Nice! I just thought it was normal to constantly have a runny nose and itchy throat and trouble breathing. Oh and to break out in hives after letting a cute little puppy lick you all over......

Here's a link to an article about Oral Allergy Syndrome.

I hope this gives other fruit suffers some temporary relief.

First Weekend of MAC

Sunday - long drive to Allentown for MAC opener, UCI C2. Was thrilled to see teammates Anna M back racing after breaking her leg at Bike Jam in May and DD back to racing after a year off - being a mom again. The MAC elite is a whole new field this year with some of the New England gals coming down and with the B women that have graduated to elite and some new faces to cx like Laura Van G. It was really exciting to see so many 'new riders' to the elite (or returning riders like Alicia H on Sun and Mandy L on Sat). The race was a great reminder of how intense cyclocross racing is - nothing like road races or mtn bike races - it really is its own thing. Cyclocross is go at anaerobic or VO2 and enjoy the few short 10sec recoveries for a total of 40+ minutes; and you have to be mentally alert the whole time or you'll wipe out overcooking a turn or kill your legs by not being in the right gear going up a short little rise. Oh yeah and if you blow your start it sucks having to try to get past people in tight corners that are bottlenecks within the first 300m of the race, but that is cyclocross. And don't forget to unclip before barriers and to lift you bike up all the way. And for peat sake - don't drag your bike through the sand.

In the elite women's race Mo took off from the gun and was gone from the field for a while until Anna, DD, and LVG were able to form a little group and battle on - ending with LVG catching Mo on the last lap, and DD taking 3rd, Anna 4th. Nikki T, Arley and I made up the second group and exchanged leads for a little bit before Arley, riding a terrific race looking smooth and strong, was able to put time into us and finished for 5th. Me 6th.

In the B women's race Christina B did fantastic and finished 2nd. Hilary and Alica and Morgan all raced too. Also making the long drive was Randy R joining Judd in the Elite Master's field.

Sunday - Charm City, 400+ pre-reg'd! No UCI, but the new classic of Mid-Atlantic - dare I say more so than Granogue? Maybe not yet. Another perfect day in Baltimore, hot as usual, tons of spectators, and food, and just all around fun to hang out. Judd and I got there in time to set up our chairs and sit by the course cheering on the first race of the day. No other sport can I think of going to sit and watch it all day under a shady tree in a pretty park and just purely enjoy it - almost like being at the beach.

Saw a whole bunch of new riders in the women's B field including first time cx racers and attendees of the women's DC CX clinic Trish, Mary Alex, Kathy and a few others all did great. Teammate Marisa, who loves cyclocross as much as I, was out there too looking strong and happy this year. The Carolina twins, all grown up, came up to race. The Coppi girls started out strong with Jean commanding lead for half the race before getting a flat, Lindsey was moving up and in great position when tackled by a tree branch getting caught in her gears, and Sioban was looking smooth out there too. But as it goes with cyclocross there is a little bit of bad luck that adds another element of fun to the endeavor. In the end Kristina A took the win and Christina B, overcame a challenging start and moved up through the whole field to another great finish.

Cyclocross may seem a little cliquey but it's really not - it's more like an extended family reunion. It was great to see all the Coppi guys, the Lea's, the Wittwer's, the Wiss guys, Anderson, Erler, Randy, Masse, Buchness, Huhn, Carlson, Hunter and on and on - guys I've "grown up with" on the racing circuit for the past 9years or guys I ride with occasionaly on the Tues/Thurs group rides. Out of the women, other than Tracey Lea, Anna M, and Tammy Ebersole, I think we are the only women that are still doing the MAC races after all these years. Back in the old days there was only 1 women's field and it was about 20 women, and I consistently was finishing in the back of the pack, second to last or so, and slowly started to get the hang of it over the years and still have sooo much to learn. I wonder what ever happened to some of those gals.

In the elite women's race at Charm City, we had more pre-reg'd than the men's elite. I love it when that happens. DD and LVG quickly set pace at the front and pulled away for their own duel. Beth Mason had a great start and was riding the best I've seen her ride until she got stuck with a flat at the worst time, Arley took third by opening up time in the corners on Nikki T and I on the flats. I must admit the past few years I had been riding in no man's land and have to learn how to battle and be more aggressive for position and for the better lines. After all it is bike racing and not a grass TT. But not so aggressive I lose control. A massive slide out on one of the corners set me out for a good bit of time allowing 2 riders to pass - including Heidi, who finished 6th, who was riding an awesome race - really strong, consistent, and smooth. It was nice to have the confident Heidi back. I finished the race in 7th. Sonja made her cx race on a cx bike debut - I sware she's gonna get hooked - watch out girls the C3 empire is a threat. And Terri and Liz made their elite race debut after killing the B fields last year. Mandy snook away from Johnny (who was racing in DC) to play with us gals on the bikes. She looked great and looked happy - I hope she felt the same after the dusty suffer fest that was today.

It was a nice start to the season and fun to see familiar faces again - faces we'll see every weekend until Christmas. Great job to everyone.

Thanks to Wendy for host-housing. And a shout out to my CycleLife gals who were hanging out with the pro-men and marshalling in DC.

Thanks to those of you that donated items for the Special Olympics Juniors Day out for next week. The Lea's were much appreciative.

Cyclocross season started at 1am!

It's here. I was giddy all weekend for the transition. My bags are already packed for this coming weekend MAC CX opener - Nittany CX and Charm City. Although the bikes are still in disarray and I'm a little outta shape compared to a few weeks ago and not even sure if I'm able to handle a 40min cx race right now.

This season will once again have Judd and I travelling the east coast. The focus is on east coast USGP and the MAC series and filling in with whatever UCI races are nearby (which may mean a 10hr drive). Will pick up a few local MABRA races here and there if not travelling. The new venue for us will be opting to go to OH this year rather than the old Gloucester, MA classic. And now that Hendersonville NC is UCI again (since last I heard) I'll get to make 3 weekends of 10 hour drives to races (with Louisville and Hendersonville being my 2 favorite double venues and towns by far).

It's a long season (but not in terms of time) so I'm planning to ease into it and not burn out or get sick in November. In general, I'm looking for a good time, and staying happy, not little Ms Negativity. Although I want good results, I'm going to try to not get too frustrated if things don't go my way. Instead I'm focusing on riding a smooth hard race rather than focusing on the final placing.

Thinking long term here - hoping to score a few good USGP races worthy of enough self confidence to venture to Europe in December and January to see how the other half race and use that experience to carry me on into 2009. At which point I'll be ready to join my ladies again for an awesome road season.

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Hopefully this past weekend was the last HOT weekend of the year - a nice way to end the road season. I'll miss my teammates and friends who prefer the smooth pavement but it will be that time soon again come March.

I-95 Romance

It started out much to fast
with your front-end up my ....

I lovingly gazed upon you in my mirror
and wished you'd learn to drive or steer.

As you nearly hit me with your pass
you jackass!

It started out much to fast
but then sitting in traffic for miles, it now would last.

A little romance on the drive
I saw you give your friends a high-five.

With waving flags and empty beer can,
I could tell, you're a true football fan.

You made my heart pump with the beating of your base,
the sound of your hemi, and smell of your exhaust in my face.

Leaning out the window with out a care,
gently brushing the top of the sill was your armpit hair.

You smiled at me from across the lane
Surely you are in sane.

Before flipping the bird, I blew you a kiss,
this romance I sure will miss.

As you sped away and hurried past
I knew this romance would not last.

Scenic Page Valley

Another nice race held in scenic Page Valley with views of rolling farmland and happy frolicking cows enjoying mtn views of Massanutten and Shenandoah. Ahhhh vacation. The drive through Luray and beyond was a nice break from the traffic and pollution of northern VA. We stopped for sandwiches at Main Street deli in Luray just a few blocks up from the bike shop and then headed on to Camp Roosevelt on Massanutten. Our 'easy' hour long ride from camp had no traffic, no stop signs. We rode for a whole hour with no interuptions and we were able to do two decent climbs in that hour up to Edinburg and Edith gaps. Camp was nice and secluded. No smores because I ate all the marshmallows from last week's attempt for camp fire smores in Millersburg. No cracy wild people, but there was wildlife.The sound of a black bear rummaging in a garbage can had kept me up all night fearing for my life.

Morning arises and we got to the race an hour and half earlier than expected. A few folks were sleeping in their cars waiting for their race. The turnout for the race was disappointingly small despite it being a MABRA series event and also the VA state RR championship. Plenty of entertainment in between races with a bluegrass band, and some local crafts vendors selling baskets, honey, pottery and horse pictures. Although with feeding Judd's race and then getting ready for my own, I was only able to enjoy about 1 min of the music. They were all gone by time the race finished except the potter - smart because I used the prize money to buy a momento to remind me of lovely Page Valley.

The race - oh yes, that right I went there for a race. Depsite the 5 pre-regd riders, turned out we had about 12 women I think in the 1-3 race. Rachel Warner set early pace and Christine W then set pace on the early section of the first hill. The field split near the top of the hill and Rachel and Amity pulled Amanda, Ainhoa, and I around for most of the remaining 41 mile race. I didn't feel quite as much pizzazz as last time at this course a few weeks ago. I suffered a little more on the hills and the flats. Amity pulled us girls up the hills and on the flats despite it being her first race in a few months because of an injury. In the end our group of five were together at the finish and Amity and Amanda set early pace up the climb. Rachel attacked with about 300m to go and got the win. Ainhoa got me within a few feet of the finish line for 2nd. And third got me the VA cat 3 champ medal - whoo hoo. Christine rounded out the top 3 for the VA senior women.

Now what - two weekends with no racing......

CX season on the horizon

My goals for the season (set back in February) primarily focused on racing mtn bikes. I had no idea I would end up a roadie. Looking back I think it's really cool to say I've raced a "full road season" with a great bunch of teammates I love and against some swell girls in the MABRA. We are fortunate to have so many races in such a short drive and races for women of all levels instead of one race where you get pulled on lap 2 since you couldn't hang with the 'pros'. The road season is almost over and I'll admit, I'm already looking forward to next year, as are my teammates. But until then, I am determined to get each of them out on a cx bike or a mtn bike at least once in the "off season".

Now I'm looking forward to the cx season to see who's returning to the sport, what new teams will have emerged, what surprises are going to pop up on the stage, how much has the competition improved. After last season I wasn't sure I wanted to travel the whole East Coast again, but upon seeing the UCI calendar I'm once again excited about the races here in the Mid-Atlantic and possibly going back to NC, KY, of course New England. So much for not travelling much this fall. Perhaps a trip across country or a cross the world would be fun too. All this fun packed into 3 and 1/2 months - now that's a full season.

Next week I'll be dusting off the bikes, stretching the tubies, replacing the cables (well Judd will be) and will see if I can still remember how to do the Leprauchan leap....the first cyclocross practice begins on Wed in September at a park near you - you'll see adults riding through the grass on 'road bikes' carrying their bikes up stairs and over curbs and logs, and riding zig-zags down the little grassy hills. Oh just a few more weeks until the travelling circus resumes.

I'm not your Mamacita!

Regardless of race, age or whatever all men are "Dirty old men". I've finally come to accept that. It's almost somewhat amusing, cute, and at times pitiful but in an I-almost-feel-sorry-for-you kind of way, but guys are guys. Despite this realization, I'm still caught off guard when riding along the W&OD in my own little world and all of a sudden I hear someone yell something. "Ehhh Mamacita!" Yeah I'd prefer the calling out as opposed to a groping, and sometimes the yelling out is better than the creepy elevator eyes. The most amusing is when someones whips their head around and swerves on the bike into the other lane almost causing an accident. I really don't see what the big deal is. Keep it in your imagination guys and just accept that yeah chicks ride bikes too, get over it. And just because we are riding solo, doesn't mean we are riding a bike in order to pick up guys with "big calves". And guys, having an expensive bike doesn't prove to women that you have money - it just means you are selfish and spend money on your own stuff rather than your lady. And if we are riding slow it is not an invitation to strike up an awkward chat with your hopes that it leads to an invitation for a different kind of ride later.

New favorite race

Every once in a while a new race comes along that just makes you smile when you think back about it, eventhough you suffered through it. Last year Pleasant Valley in MD this year Page Valley in VA. Hats off to the promoters for starting new races. Both races have great courses, great course set up, locals enjoying the race as well.

Page Valley - nestled between Shenandoah Natl Park and Massanutten mtn had gorgeous mtn views like VT, and rolling farmland in the valley like upstate NY. The course was flat with some good tricky corners, two nice little grinding hills that wares down the competition, and some fun downhills.

A lot of people felt that their race was one lap too long as you could tell by the number of riders that finished compared to starting. It was hot and the hills take their toll. It was a race of attrition.

The women's age graded 30+ race, I think first time VA offered it, had a small field but many strong MABRA cat4s, even some gals frm MD. Although I've been racing for a while, most of the women in the race had been racing only a few months. It was really nice to see so many new women coming into the sport - of all ages.

No cash on the line. Just medals for the VA women. Racing for the sake of racing.

The race was off to a dreadfully slow start which was going to be miserable in the sun and heat if it remained so. It was frustrating watching the field attempt to pick up the pace to maybe 14mph on the flats but some riders refused to pull through and so the pace would slow to 10mph. Eventually things got going, someone has to make a sacrafice. Everyone says to not work, but if no one worked, where would we be.

Amy W from NCVC put in some great attacks and Lynn and the Artemis girls too to get the blood flowing and eventually the pace picked up as we completed lap 1 of 4ish. At the end of lap 1 I dropped my chain did a cyclocross dismount and put the chain back on, pedaled, dropped the chain again - trying my best to not pull a Christina Briseno and curse the Fword in front of the moto ref. I smiled and waved the wheel truck to go ahead and I struggled to put the darn chain back on two more times before continuing on. Got a lucky break when the field apparently took a wrong turn, and I caught back on.

The field finally got organized and got into a nice rotating paceline everyone sharing the workload and taking short pulls. The MABRA has a great bunch of cat4s this year and I was happy to finally meet and ride with some of them. The pace had picked up and the field had whittled out some riders. However it was the pace up the hill by Catharine and Ainhoa that caused the remaining field to split. We came up on the hill through the feedzone and I got dropped as my chain had another spell of falling off. This time with kids around I once again had to hold my tongue. And just smiled in my frustration as I was forced to start pedaling from a standstill at the steepest part of the hill. I put my head down and put my hands in the drops (which is rare) and TTd away after I crested the hill. I passed an Artemis girl and felt bad I wasn't able to give her a wheel to hang on to. I eventually caught up to Cat and Ainhoa and the three of us kept the pace going, each of us trying to do equal work.

On the last lap, we were all tired, thirsty, starting to cramp. We had over a minute gap but kept the pace steady. We went up the 2nd to last hill side-by-side (no one wanted to be behind me incase my chain fell off again). On the final climb we were still side by side. I kept fearing the chain would fall off so pedaled gingerly but strong and tried to pedal faster as Ainhoa powered by with a few meters to go but I wasn't able to spin the legs any quicker on that damn hill. Catharine finished right behind me. Amy from NCVC had an awesome finish for 4th.

Good lesson in adversity.

The finish was made sweeter with the Dr. Pepper from the little girls on the side of the road at the finish line, selling ice cold sodas and water for a $1.

It was a really great race and will go down as one of my favorites.

Speaking of favorites, favorite spectator was the old lady in her lawn chair smoking a cigarette and waving an American flag as the races went by. Love it.

Weekend recap

Saturday I joined a quarter of the Coppi team for a jaunt out Skyline Dr, usually a ride I reserve for September or March. The ride up Skyline was hot with 90deg temps, but there was a little shade and the breeze took some of the edge off. The views of the valleys below from the overlooks were nice until the haze started settling in around 11am or so. The Coppi's are a nice bunch of guys to ride with and always entertaining to hang out with. My favorite thing about riding Skyline is going to Jalisco, the only Mexican restaurant I know that serves tortilla chips and coleslaw. You gotta try it.

I was little disappointed for the postponement of the Coppi road race because the plan was to sort of peak this week for either MTB nationals or the MABRA rr. I felt like I was coming into form this week after having one of my best rides in a long time this past Tuesday on the Reston group ride. I love the days when you feel super strong and aggressive. It gives me something to look forward on all the other ordinary days. I don't get that many extraordinary days, but when they come I relish them.

Sunday was Hunny Bop crit. Diane M and Heidi livened up the crowd and provided entertaining commentary for the races as the announcers. Although we didn't come up with a win, I think we were pretty happy as a team. Sara was in nearly a 30K TT off the front of the field with HPC Kristy S., which took a lot of pressure off the rest of the field. Meanwhile the team did a great job at monitoring the field and we tried to be as positive as possible and not block or anything but there were a few times we found ourselves on the front and tried to maintain a pace at the front to cushion our teammate's break. Although it was so uncomfortably hot, half of our field had actually done the women's 40/50+ race a little while earlier. Many of MABRA's strongest riders were in that field. Hats off to those ladies. I felt for them as you could see some of their snap was gone and they weren't able to launch any attacks more than a 1,2 punch now and then which wasn't enough to do any significant damage to the remainder of the field or the break. So the riders were kind of outnumbered by our team.

In the end, Robin picked up a nice prime for a massage and dinner. Sara also got a prime and scored a very respectable and stellar 3rd. For the finish, the final wind-up was a really-difficult-to-hang-on-grit-your-teeth-pace set by Wendy followed by my dig up the little hill one final time to clear the way for Leslie's launch. As she went out, I made sure all was clear and then tucked in behind her to follow her in; 4th and 5th. Robin rounded out top 10 and Wendy rolled in with the rest of the field.

Is summer over yet?

Yeah it just started theoretically based on the calendar but I'm so looking forward to the fall. Although now that I've ridden offroad 4 times since March, I'll have to spend some time getting reacquainted to the feeling of wheels slipping a little and the getting over the scariness of grass and roots and gravel and get used to bumpy terrain instead of the smooth bike path WOD asphalt. What better way to start this period of readjustment than following Judd for an easy ride in my brandnew white, pretty Sidi road shoes. They are no longer white. They have scuff marks and grass stains from riding on the mtn bike trail around Lake Fairfax, and I don't mean the wide open cross-county trail. I'm talking the poison ivy and pricker bush covered deer trails that used to make nice running trails a few years ago before they became overrun with shady suspects and broken glass. But it was a good reminder as to how fluid I used to feel bombing down slick mossy asphalt paths of Reston, little bumpy roots and broken pavement, controlling the bike over slippy mushy mud and thick bumpy grass. Yeah I suck at it. Should really change the blog name to something else. I even walked down one of the "mtn bike hills" that I used to not fear - but to my credit I was riding on slick skinny road tires that I actually pumped up the other day so probably still have over 100psi in them, and I didn't want to break a spoke on the powertap wheel - yeah that was it.

LaDeDa

Summer days are for eating watermelon and sipping mojitos and, of course, the usual - racing.

Saturday was the MABRA crit championships in Hagerstown, MD. Imagine riding around a bunch of old mansions and having families out in their yard having picnics, sitting with lawnchairs near the side walk, or hanging out on the porch watching the race as if it were the 4th of July parade going through. There was even a fanatic who was awesome enough to hand out bottles of ice cold water after each race. It was really pleasant. After staying in Hagerstown for the ToWC stage race a few weeks ago, I was actually kind of disappointed there was a crit in Hagerstown thinking it would be the downtown area which seems really depressed and almost like a ghost town. In the end, it was like a hard stroll through a park. It was a pretty neighborhood and made me wish I could afford a house like that, and live near DC.

The women's races didn't have nearly as many racers as I anticipated. I guess the MABRA championships aren't a big deal as there were no HUB women and only Liz H from C3. And HPC only brought a handful. But later on I learned that vacation plans and other bigger races were on other peoples plans for the weekend. Nonetheless it was HPC, Kenda, and CycleLife that had the majority of team representation and Artemis, and a few other individual riders that rounded out the small field.

Amanda Watson from Artemis did an amazing amount of work on the front of the field. She's riding really strong. HPC as usual launched well coordinated and predictable attacks. We launched a few of our own as well. Jen Maxwell for Kenda also had another great race and it's obvious she prefers the fast paced races. For my own girls, Wendy, Leslie, and Robin were coming off a recovery week from Nationals which didn't leave the girls as stale as they feared. Leslie was well positioned and nearly won the sprint, leading from the final corner, before getting nipped by Sarah Caravella. The Robin I know is finally back and finding her racing legs - she was right back in March and April saying that July and August she'll be rocking again. Sara and Wendy were both the strong riders for the team and did a lot of work with some really strong pulls and chasing back late attacks during the last third of the race which left them a little piqued for the final wind up of the last 3 laps before the finish. But I think as a whole our team is coming together and everyone is finding their legs and starting to realize and believe in her strengths. I'm looking forward to the last 2 months of racing.

Reston, the Monaco of MABRA

The race turned out to be furiously fun and fast. The course was smooth and had flow. Lots of corners and lots of speed, it's like Monaco F1. It was really a lot of fun to race.

It was a small field that lined up since some ladies are out in OH doing the NRC race at Grandview (which I hear HPC Jen R took third on Saturday - whoo hooo) and my own teammates hit the road to go to Louisville KY for Master's Nationals. Sara and I contended with the rest of the field, which half was HPC.

The pace, not surprising, was fast from the start. Without a full team in force, we went with the conservative approach. Right away it was clear that HPC was going to set the pace as high as possible and attack after attack occurred. By the third lap, the field pretty much was single file for the rest of the race. I finally moved up and sat about 5th 6th wheel the whole race, well more like hung on. I wasn't sure who all was left behind or what was going on, I just started counting down the laps, glancing at the time, and then wondering which attacks would stick, which would come back.

With the race being hard and fast, and the weather hot, it was a gambling match to determine who had the legs to stick it, and who would come back a few corners later, or a lap or two. It seemed with every launch off the front, and with every chase, it was definitely wearing on those chasing and those attacking.

At about 2/3 of the way through the race, Lorena's 2nd or 3rd attack, was just about reeled back in when the Verducci rider blasted out of the field up the little hill past the wheel pit and it was likely she was going to make it across the divide. My heart sank because I was on the front, could see it happening, but I was tired from taking a turn on the front trying to push a hard steady pace to reel Lorena back. Sonja tried to answer and I tried to jump on Sonja's wheel but the Verducci slipstream evaporated and no one else came around.

There were several hard attempts to bring the two back, but there wasn't enough coordination among the remaining teams and HPC was quite successful at setting a comfortably hard pace that inconspicuosly protected the break or they'd successfully tire whoever was on the front by riding 2nd or 3rd wheel and slowing the pace back down once the rider tired. C3's Heidi Von T launched a massive effort that got the peleton's speed back up and reinvigorated the field. Also Coppi's Christian showed she's not afraid to mix it up with the other girls and took some impressively hard pulls on the front, not bad for a first year racer. During the remaining few laps though, teammate Sara motored to the front and her blistering pace caused a bunch of gals on the back to snap off the accordian as she strung out the field even further and cause gaps to open up between everyone.

Two laps to go, the pace was really fast. I had no idea we could ride these corners as fast as we were. I tapped my pedal on the pavement coming out of one of the turns and it was a little wakeup call to stay alert and not let the eyes roll back desite the friggin effort. I tried to stay latched onto the HPC train. Coming into the final turn Sonja started to move up but got caught up behind one of the HPC leadout riders pulling off. I got distracted with the hubbub since at the same time I was getting ready to jump on Sonja's wheel as she was about to come by. In the end Leslie G got the field sprint, followed by Sonja, and I threw the bike to eek out a 5th overall.

Christine W despite bad luck with a broken shifter rode the whole race with a 53-11! Only Christine could turn those gears on the whole course.

A bunch of us gals watched the remaining races while eating and drinking at Clyde's.

A local photographer, Ralph, came out to check out the race and snapped a few shots

"Good luck"

Yeah so I'm supposed to hold my cards close. Sometimes a little venting though can help one feel somewhat rational or sane as you reveal your crazy thought process to the world and then the readers confirm that you are actually quite the opposite of what you feel.....

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Just like how I hate it when people say "drive safe," or "don't break a leg," or other well wishes that imply the chance of impending doom; I hate the "good lucks" too.

While sitting at Starbucks eating an over-priced chicken-salad sandwich and mixing it with an iced mocha...(which I regretted later in the middle of doing hill repeats - yes I stopped my efforts after I nearly 'threw up in my mouth')....I was reading the Reston times which had a pic of Vic from Evolution, looking menacingly at the camera and appearing all badass while he stands with his bike in front of the fountain at Reston Town Center. It was a nice press-piece in hopes of drawing out some local spectators for the race this weekend. As I got up to leave, some random guy started to make small talk. I'll spare you the awkwardness of being hit on by this older guy and suffice it to say he wished me "good luck" on the race which I encouraged him to check out (only for him to support cycling and to eat at local restaurants, mind you). Anyway, his well wishing then got me paranoid.

So this weekend is, needless to say, a race where I'm hoping there are no voodoo dolls or "mal chance". Reston is the most technical, sketchiest, and yet the most exciting race of the season and it happens to be my local hometown race. So no pressure or anything, after all who doesn't want to win at their local race...god knows how long the win on the Lake Fairfax cyclocross course has continued to elude me. So there it is, yes I want to win the Reston grand prix.

At the same time while proclaiming my goal/hope/aspiration/dream for 'glory', I'm also admitting, I'm scared to death. Mind you, I'm always scared. I'm paranoid for christ sake and have issues with anxiety. But I'm no Heather Locklear and afterall, aren't we are all a little nervous, or at least wondering what the outcome will be. I get nervous before races - sometimes so nervous I feel so sick and think I shouldn't race (like at Pleasant Valley RR which I blogged about last year). For a big race, sometimes I start getting nervous a few days before--like on Tuesday for this upcoming Reston grand prix on Sunday.

What's there to be nervous about?....I have flashbacks of a certain rider who lined up and then ditched the race when rain drops fell, 1 minute before the whistle (smart move as it was a downpour and quite a few incidents). Well I also spectated the race and have seen some of the crashes, heard the stories, seen the bandaged wounds weeks later. I'm nervous because you never know what's going to happen before it happens. Of course Craig Clark is on my mind. And memories of Nicole Reinhart too. If I'm so nervous, then why do it? Well I've heard that sometimes the biggest reward only comes with the biggest risk....Hmmm must be some kind of reward. But you can't always go on skipping out on life because of fear.

So to rationalize outloud, yes I'm nervous. But yes I'm going to go to the start line. Yes I'm going to bring my "A" game. Yes I'm going to ride cautiously and call out riders that are unsafe (without sware words as we are advised from the Chicken), and admit outloud when I too do something stupid, if others call it. I'm going to enjoy the course because it's a good challenge and great opportunity to work on bike handling skills and maybe finally time a sprint correctly for a change or lead a teammate out ontime instead of a lap early. I'm going to be cool and calm, and not a freaking anxious wreck and take time to enjoy and accept the well wishings from the neighbors, friends, and coworkers that will likely show up. I'm going to stay positive from here on out and enjoy the adventure. (corny I know - but I what did I say in the beginning)

Attack of the Tomato Killers

One of my latest hobby flings is gardening--inspired by Anna M's eat local campaign and a lonely tomato plant. Not really sure what I was getting into, I decided to finally try a thumb at the lifelong goal of raising a plant. Besides being unable to kill a poisonous philodendron plant that I bought freshman year of college, all the other bonsai, cacti, mini roses, and various greeneries have come and quickly gone. Either my cat would eat them, or they'd just shrivel up on their own when I breathed on them. The philodendron I decided to end it's tormented life by tossing in the garbage after I saw my cat was nibbling on it. Although, out of nostalgia, I clipped it and still have a small branch of it. So basically, I'm not qualified to be a gardener and doing so, is pretty much plant torture, not nurture.

So I have this tomato plant. I put it in a bucket with some dirt. After a few weeks it started to grow a little. I was excited and kept giving reports to my friends. All my friends that have tomato plants though, now have little flowers or baby tomatoes. Not mine. My plant is like a giant weed and is about 5ft tall and scraggly. I thought they were only supposed to be like 3ft tall and bushy? Turns out I have a Super Marzano, which is basically a tomato giant. So instead of something easy and fun and a quick reward, I have this plant that is going to be 7ft tall and will need all sorts of support for it's future tomatoes if it even makes it that far. It's supposed to be really hardy though, so maybe there is hope.

After this weekend's race away, I was very upset to see that the wind had toppled and bent my scraggly scary fuzzy green beast and it looked nearly dead. What was worse is that if finally had a few yellow flowers too. I've restaked it and have tied the plant to the poll. It's really depressing because now it's all mangled and droopy.

I can't remember the plot, but I think the killer tomatoes attacked humans because of bad gardeners like me.

Hardly a day at the beach

I'm sure everyone in MABRA is complaining about how much TTs hurt in so many ways. This was my first 40K TT and third ride on the aero bike. The first two rides being more for "bike setup" which now I think needs to be completely redone. I would have been more aero on my road bike since I was not willing to endure, nor could comprehend that I was supposed to endure, the discomfort in certain areas when in the aero bars. Yeah I ended up riding on the wing like things next to the aero bars for pretty much the whole ride and was a sail catching the wind like on some of the boats I saw going by on the Choptank River after the race.

I didn't have a Powermeter to encourage me on and had no gauge of how slow I was going. I was too afraid to look at the watch I borrowed from Ilana. I could measure my speed only relative to how fast all the girls were passing me, which told me, yup I'm going pretty darn slow since they all seemed to be going so fast. I'd then count how long it took for them to disappear out of sight.

I am baffled though that people do TTs and that equipment hasn't changed enough yet to ease the physical pain caused by equipment. I did ask myself several times why people do these and why they say they love them. I think those that say they love TTs, beside masochistic tendencies and probably enjoyers of S&M, are most likely lying and using reverse psychology.

While eating crabcakes at Portside in Cambridge, after the race, I decided to turn the negativity around. I have decided to use reverse psychology too for a change and can put it all in positive light (it worked for me back in highschool cross-country with hills, time to give this old trick a whirl). "I love TTs." I will be telling myself this for months, until after the next 40K TT.

a weekend full of star envy and hot men

I love the CSC race ..... Strolling around the sidewalks of suburban chic Arlington enjoying views of tight asses and ripped muscles.....mmmmmm

I love cycling because there are SO many men, and most are hot. Although some have egos to match their thighs, they are still nice to look at. And you know it's not just the gals checking out the guys. You can hear the other guys commenting on so-and-so's hot ass, too.....

I got a crush on JP. Yes I know he's married and I wished him good luck for his daughter who was going to do the kids race.

Sounds like Robin had a good evening with hot men.

Urban adventures

I'm not much of a city gal, but I did enjoy my scenic urban adventures this past weekend.

Saturday was Bike Jam in Baltimore, only an hour drive north, but seems so far away on a map. The race was at Patterson Park, same place as cyclocross nationals in 2001, although the neighborhood area is much nicer now a days. There was no mud or rain to contend with as at cx nats that year. Instead it was a gorgeous day. There were a bunch of kids out doing the kids ride, and a bunch of riders doing the recreational event rides that were all part of the festival.

Did a double - and I think the next double I do will either be an espresso or a mixed drink. Ouch. Part of the hurt was not coming prepared with enough food/drink since I forgot about the down time in between the races, and it was getting hot.

In the W 3/4 race the team tried to set a nice hard pace from the start. Not many others would pull through and the pace would slow and crashes happen.

In the women's 1-3 race I was finally lining up for my first big road race. I felt like the awkward adolescent, not really sure how to fit in. I quickly drifted back and the thoughts running through my head were not that empowering, "...Oops, excuse me. Sure come on around, I'm just doing this for fun. Oh I'm sorry, am I in your way. Here let me move over and give you room to come around,..." I watched the laps count down, wondering how long I'd last, or when there would be a crash. Well crash there was. I was thankful to have survived and managed to avoid running over a head by forcing my bike into Sonja's leg, ensuring that I also missed her bike which could have turned into an expensive mess. The 12 girl pileup finally started coming undone and when I saw my Velo Bella cyclocross teammate limping away I started to lose it. I told myself to focus and there were constantly people asking if we were all okay. We got rolling again after a brief neutralized restart. And once again I just watched the laps count down. 10, 9, 8,...."I don't know if I can do this" and my tongue started dragging on my stem, and I took up the role as the caboose....4, 3, ... I think I can, I think I can... 2, crash, 1. Done.

I had to nix the plan to check out the Baltimore Map Festival eventhough it was only 3miles away at the Walter Art Museum. I was too worried that I'd get lost, not find parking, and would be too hungry to enjoy the exhibit. Only have until June 8th to get back up there to check it out.

Enjoyed talking with the New England gals that came down and talking about our preliminary travel plans for the upcoming cyclocross season.

***

Sunday's race in DC proved a challenge to figure out the best route to get to the race. The fast route (40min) was blocked by Rolling Thunder. Instead, I chose a circuitous route that would take me through Tenleytown, past the Cathedral, through Dupont Circle, through all sorts of lovely neighborhoods, and not so nice neighborhoods, industrial sections, and historical sections, until finally I hit the stadium, and go round and round until I find the actual entrance to the parking lot. It actually took me 30min longer to get to this "local" race than it did to get to the Baltimore race.

I got there just a little later than planned. I wish I could have seen the finish of the women's 40+ race. It sounded exciting.

In the women 1,2 race, HPC was great at controlling the race and leading out Lorena for primes and a grand win. Very cool. Very sad that Heidi G broke her wrist.

In the women's 3 race, Christina pulled everyone around. I could sympathize with her frustration. Sara tried to get away with with a few others a few times during the race, but no one wanted to work for a break it seemed or Christina wasn't in it and she'd bring it back. In the end it came down to a sprint and Sara set a great pace on the final lap. Robin needed one more wheel to have a fair run at the line, but unfortunately the leadout was sitting behind, not in front.

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A few teammates ventured up to NJ for Sommerville. Sounded like a lot of crashes yet again. Teammates finished safe and sound.

Local article on Tour of Sommerville.


Next weekend - Murad road race and Hoo-Ha mtn bike race. I'm not even sure if my mtn bike works.

In transition

The So MD crit was another fun race. I almost chickened out because of the weather and the technical nature of the course which I thought wouldn't be a safe combo. Yeah I was scared. However after seeing the pics from Wilmington the day before, seeing the MABRA girls out there on the line and mixing it up with some really really fast women - that's scarey. So I got over my panic attack and headed out.

As it turned out, the So MD crit was a lot of fun. They were right that the course would be a test of your bike handling skills with 11 corners and some offcamber and some at funky angles - but it also was a test on your concentration skills as well. You had to be on, constantly, through every corner and out of every corner to get back on the pedals and looking ahead to the next turn. If you day dreamed for a second, you'd get gapped. And in the constant attacks, thank you Sonja, you couldn't be distracted by the weather, your rear wheel sliding across the wet pavement, the feeling in your legs (if there was any feeling left). It was pretty cool.


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Instead of adding a new mtn bike to the bike collection this year as planned, I ended up buying something I never thought I'd need - a TT bike. (the guy selling the bike referred to it as a tri bike). I'll probably use it like what, three times? In response, a teammate said something along the lines - "yeah so, does it matter?" Nah. Bikes are cool. I'm still looking for a commuter bike which - based on the number of days I've ridden to work, I'd probably use even less than a TT bike.

Fun race

I thought this "technical" course at Ft. Ritchie would be scarey to race, especially if it was raining. However the course was pretty safe - no road debris or potholes. There weren't really any major curbs or obstacles on the side to have to watch out for. There weren't any course narrowings that were dangerous. The course was wide open and we had plenty of room to move around. Some of the corners were even a little offcamber and quick which required you to think a little, pick your line, and ride it while diving around the corner in your drops, but there was plenty of room to stick whatever line you ended up on anyway.

It was a fun race - started a bit hard and fast, not surprising, but it settled after a few laps. Once the break with my teammate was set and clear, it was fun for us to move around the field and do whatever including tag on and try to disrupt flyers that threathened to bridge up.

Congrats to C3 for a great 1-2 finish.

******

Strategies have changed now that C3-Sollay has a full team. That makes four "full" (6+ riders) women's MABRA teams with HPC, C3-Sollay, Team CycleLife, and Kenda. It would be really fun if MABRA had a TTT event.


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Sighting: Mandykins and her Cutie Boy at the race.

*******
Teammates Leslie and Sara and some HPC gals headed to Bear Mtn for Sunday's RR (brings back memories of collegiate racing).

Eavesdropping on space

After throwing all the crap back in the car after the races today I picked up my notebook with directions and tried to figure out my way back home. The biggest challenge for me is always the very first turn, after I get out of the parking lot. Unfortunately with a poor sense of direction and not knowing my left from my right, I tend to just go which ever way the majority of the traffic is heading or the person in front of me. This time I was following an equally directionally challenged driver.

Tired and delirious and really hungry after enduring the hours of baking sun and the crater filled moonscape they call the Poolesville RR the last thing I wanted was another adventure. We headed out on the roads and we came upon a bicycle parade with alien creatures of their own - and I don't mean the racer types. At first I felt sorry for these suckers whose brains were baking in their helmets and they appeared to be going so slow - but they were all smiling. And they came in all shapes and sizes and had all sorts of colors of jerseys and various types of two wheeled devices. I was kind of bothered because these damn "bicyclers" (which I used to snobbily scoff at because they aren't like us racer types they are more like just peddalers) were in the road, stopping traffic, and on top of that they were all smiling (and they all probably just road a lot further than I did too if they are doing some sort of epic charity ride). I couldn't help but smile too and realize that bicycling takes all kinds, why should I discount their appreciation and enjoyment from riding a bike - albeit slowly.

We drove further down the road and I was starting to wonder where the shopping center and restaurants were that I saw on the way to the race just before Poolesville. After about 15 minutes of not seeing another car, we pulled into a gravel parking lot and I thought - "Oh picnic, that will be fun - oh wait I don't have any food". Judd insisted we took a wrong turn while I was adamant we were just fine and that I had passed this gravel parking lot near a bridge (or one similar) on the way to the race.

If it wasn't for our wrong turn, we never would have realized that back in 1956 some guy had built an antenna array so powerful he could hear Jupiter! Bizzaro. I couldn't help but put on my foil cap to make sure that aliens couldn't eavesdrop on me.

We headed back the direction we just came from and drove for what felt like hours. We eventually saw another car with a bike on it, heading in the same direction we were headed this time. Thankfully it was my teammate Sara who was heading home and leading us back towards civilization.