blah blah

I've been having a pretty chill week. Last weekend, my dad took us on a "family" picnic to Tent Rocks and Cochiti Lake. It was fun, but my mom and brother were grumbling about the fact that we were parked on the side of a dirt road in the sticks eating lunch. For me, that just another normal day!

Tent Rocks





I haven't been riding very much. I have been feeling pretty tired...I guess all this racing is catching up to me. That, and the fact that I'm having difficulty getting 8 hours of sleep. Eh well. I went and saw the Da Vinci code yesterday. I thought it was well done, but can also see how someone who hasn't read the book could find it boring. I also went out with Jolene and Adam last night. Albuquerque...the land of my dating past. I ran into my senior prom date (and guy I had a crush on for 2 years in high school) who is in town for 2 days from guess where? Colorado. It was entertaining, and he was there with some other people I knew. I also ran into ANOTHER guy I used to hang out with, but that was in college. I get a little too sarcastic with more beer, so hopefully I wasn't too mean to people last night. ;) Whoops. For example, there were these idiots I was making fun of. I went to the bathroom and when I got back, they were at MY table with Jolene. I grabbed my purse and said, "Excuse me" and sat somewhere else till they left. Maybe I should be nicer?

My parents have been spoiling me with all kinds of yummy food. Behold...king crab. I wouldn't want to run into one of these...look at the size of that leg!





Tomorrow I'm leaving Albuquerque, vacation is over...sort of. I'm going to Durango for a few days. The Iron Horse Road Race is on Saturday which should be fun. The jerks canceled my favorite race of the year(the mountain bike race). After Saturday, I plan to just do some mountain biking and hanging out till Tuesday. Then I start work on Wed or Thurs. nooooo It's been a good vacation, but I guess I should try to make some money, especially since I have a new road bike waiting for me in Boulder! I actually miss being in Boulder...it's such a cool town to live.

Angel Fire

On Friday, Nina and I left for Angel Fire Resort, NM in anticipation for the Chili Challenge. The race is a reasonably large event, just one step down from a national. (called an AMBC-American Mountain Bike Challenge). Angel Fire is just a little ways east of Taos in some very gorgeous mountains, home to several Collegiate National Championships, and one World Cup race. We went and pre-rode the course on Friday and immediately I knew it was going to be a leg busting, high altitude event. The race starts at 8500ft maxing out at 10,500ft. The pro cross country race (23.5 miles) boasts about 6000 ft of climbing and lots of technical riding. I was enamored with the all tight single track in the trees and all the gut wrenching climbs. My legs felt pretty stale on Friday, so I extended my preride to 2.5 hours, riding 14.5 miles on the course. I was feeling pretty shaky after I rode it, particularly due to the technicality and length of the course. The single track was really narrow in some parts, so if you don't make it through perfectly, you can knock your handlebar, your tire, or worse... your shoulder into a tree; the descent(really fun!) was super windy and steep. There were several rock gardens and challenging ascents. National level races are usually not as technically challenging or long(which is kind of stupid if you ask me!). I ended up really liking the course...it was a true mountain bike race. Adam's parents are in town and went to the race with him, so I had the luxury of staying in their condo.

I was delighted to find out that the race start was at 10:30 AM (versus 8 AM. At 8 AM races, you have to get up at 5 or 6). I was feeling a little anxious since this was my first real pro race. While pre-riding, I had seen some other women riding the course including a Luna team member, so I knew that it would set the bar high. I started warming up and didn't feel so good on the bike. It's really hard to recover at high altitude and I think my legs were still complaining from the day before. In the past, this race had around 15 women. At the starting line, it looked like there were more like 25, possibly even more than the pro men's field. I'll know more later, they still haven't posted results. I was instantly intimidated lining up among these women as a lot of them are ranked top 20 in the country. I had a decent start, but I started to pop and people started to pass me. I decided my strategy for the day would be to just pick my own pace since the race was so long and people who went out too hard would get tired. The first 2 laps(we did 3), I was riding a lot with a friend, Jessica Kiesel, marathon world championship contender. I could drop her on the climbs, but she would always catch me on the really technical sections. She has amazing technical skills that would put most experienced guys to shame. There was another girl who I had to deal with, but she was pretty rude. She passed me and slowed down a lot, so I passed her. She instantly sped up to my wheel and as we approached a steep, short power climb, I heard a growling voice behind me say, "You BETTER make that!" Bitch! I showed her and dropped her hard on the next long climb. I was having a great time at the race. People at the feed zone and start/finish were highly amused that everytime I went through, I had a big grin plastered on my face. Adam's parents were watching at another spot and when I passed them, I'd yell out fun things. You have to entertain the spectators...they are out there to watch you and be supportive! The last lap was pretty tough because by then, you are completely blown and I was in my easiest gear a lot of the time. I tried to really punch it on all the long climbs. I could get up them pretty fast, but I was sucking down the thin air with my eyes popping out, and feeling my legs burn like crazy. Gotta love it. Riding over the rock gardens really takes it out of you because you HAVE to keep momentum going. On the last lap, I passed 3 more girls and almost a fourth at the end. I was less than 5 seconds back from the girl in front of me, but I just couldn't quite pass her on the final descent without risking cracking ANOTHER helmet. It was kind of frustrating because I beat this girl at every race last year. I think I finished about mid-pack which I am very happy with. This course was good for me because of all the climbing and high altitude, but I am still not amazing at the technical stuff and that held me up. I can ride a lot of it, just not at the high speeds some of the other women can. I guess that'll come soon...I've only been mountain biking for three years! My goal for my first pro race was not to embarass myself and not to get last place. I was pretty happy with my performance although I wish my legs felt a little bit better. Maybe I'm still a little fatigued from Gila. Props to Nina Baum for getting THREE flats and still kicking everyone's ass. She is badass(racking in some top 10 results at the national level) and would have definitely podiumed, if not won it, had it not been for stupid mechanicals. Good job! I think Adam got 11th in the pros too. You're awesome baby!

Nina and I at a cafe in Taos

Dirty and stinky after the race...

Nina and I drove back and listened to some fun tunes. When she passed me on the course after her series of flat tires, I sang after her one of the songs from the ride up, "I like to move it, move it!" It's a good one to have in your head during a race. Both of us are pretty high energy people, so the ride is always a good time, usually with a lot of profanity. ;) After the race, I kept saying, "That was so fun!" Mountain biking racing is infinitely more fun than road racing. Speaking of road racing, my next road race is on Saturday in Durango, the Iron Horse. I WISH I had my new bike by then, but not till the next week. Much to my chagrin, the mountain bike race got canceled. I'm still going to go tear it up on the old course!

AZ trip...contd

Saturday night, we camped in Prescott and drove to Sedona the next morning. it was a gorgeous drive. We ascended into the mountains, the whole time with me squawking away how I want to ride up the long climb and how pretty it was. It was strange...at the very top of the mountain, there was a small town built into it with steep roads. We arrived in Sedona, and it was a scorching 100 degrees.


Sedona

There was a popular bike shop Adam remembered, so we found it to ask where to ride and camp. The bike shop was really cool...behind the counter they had bike stuff, but it was also a coffee shop. The over-caffeinated employee was helpful and told us where to go complete with a map.

Blabbing outside the bike shop...

We were going to park at the trailhead, but it was expensive so we found a huge empty parking lot. The sign said, "No overnight parking." Plus, it was Sunday and all the businesses were closed. We rode to the trailhead and instantly I was dripping with sweat from the heat. The trail was really fun. Some parts were entirely of rock, and there were lots of fun little power climbs and descents. The trail came through a tunnel and there was a pretty substantial drop-off.


Whoops

You guess what happened:
a) I did a summersalt off the drop off because I didn't pull up and landed on my head
b) I got a bloody nose from wrecking
c) I got a bit of a black eye from wrecking
d) I cracked my $190.00 helmet and am still pissed
e) all of the above
f) I made it and was a badass

The answer is e. I was okay, just a little rattled. The trail descended down to a river that was pretty wide and deep, so we stripped off our jerseys and got in the river. There were other people around as well. It was so nice to get in the river after riding in the hot sun. Around the river, it was lush and cool. It was amazing that just a few miles away, there was desert with no shade.







We headed back and got to our car. The bikes were leaning against the car, but if we hadn't have been there, there would not have been a way to tell that the car was a cyclist's car. Suddenly there was a gold car sitting there with a women glaring at us. She was there quite awhile, so I turned around and stared right back at her until she opened her window to reveal a middle-aged, self-righteous, snobby, Sedona bitch. "I know you guys were riding your bike on the trail. You are NOT allowed to park in here. These businesses pay to have this parking lot for its customers. There was a tow truck on the way and I called them to not come. I could actually give you a ticket right now." It's a good thing Adam took care of the situation because my blood was boiling and I was ready to put that bitch in her place. Adam replied, "Well, there are no signs that say we can't park in here. just no overnight parking. Plus, all these businesses are closed. Thanks." The Sedona bitch continued, "You have to pay at the trailhead because they use that money for the trails. You can't park here." and she kept going until we basically had to say, "BYE!!!" We left here a pair of rotten bananas we ran over in the parking lot. I hate people who are like that. I would have liked to see her try and give me a ticket. Citizen's arrest. oooo After that, we rewarded ourself to some Cold Stone. mmmmmm The people in Sedona were rude...cutting in line, yelling at us for nothing. Get a life losers. From there we drove to Flagstaff and spent a long while trying to figure out where to camp. We ended up at Sunset Crater, a campground at the base of a volcano where we had camped last year on the way to Brianhead.

Flagstaff...



The next day we considered riding, but both Adam and I were exhausted. Instead we had a delicious breakfast in town and went to the plethora of outdoor stores where I preceded to drool over all the cool stuff. We packed up camp, hung out at an "alternative" cafe by NAU, and headed back to Albuquerque. There were a lot of freaks at the cafe.

I'm leaving tomorrow for Angel Fire. This will be a really rough race and there will be a lot of fast girls there to make me look bad! Adam's parents are in town and got this nice condo, so I'm excited to stay there. I'm heading back on Saturday with Nina. I peaked for this race, but I'm still going to be struggling quite a bit. Another bit of news... I ORDERED A NEW ROAD BIKE TODAY!!!!! YAAAHOOOOO. Poor Frank the Tank(my current 20 lb road bike) is falling apart, creaking, and was a major laughing stock at Gila. Check it out. Titus Modena. This is some new technology. If you want one, details on www.titusti.com. My doting sponsor.. :)




I have been reading the Da Vinci Code and am almost done with it after only 3 days! I hope the movie does the book justice. I think it's a great book because it gives a lot of perspective on the Christian religion, facts that aren't necessarily common knowledge. It is almost like a very interesting history lesson. Report on Angel Fire soon!!

Whiskey Off-Road race report

Friday morning, I was feeling very lazy and neglected to do my opener ride. This was my first of many poor decisions for the weekend. I had only done 2 super easy rides since the Gila and my legs were ridden with lactic acid. Adam and I hopped in our pimped out rental car(2006 Jetta, fully loaded) and headed out to Prescott. Six hours later, we arrived at High Gear bike shop to register and pick up our stuff. I had heard that the race promotor was kind of a tool, but had a completely different image in my head. I pictured an overweight chodeman. You know, the kind who pedals wit his knees pointed out and a big booty. Instead, this guy was a younger, arrogant looking guy who thought he was totally badass with huge sunglasses. That fad is still a mystery to me. 2004 was the first year this race occured, and Adam was there to win it. When Adam crossed the line, big sunglasses promoter(maybe overcompensating for a small pepe?) was flabberghasted and accused Adam of cheating. "There is NO way you could have done it that fast! I rode it yesterday and it took me an hour longer than you" he exclaimed. "You cut the course and I'm going to have to disqualify you." He was so persistent in his accusation that he even had Adam second-guessing himself that he accidentally cut the course. A few minutes later, second place came across the line and the tool realized he was mistaken. Everyone got cool schwag and big trophies, but b.s.g.(big sunglasses guy) gave Adam a little bag with trail size sunscreen. This year, Adam called to make sure we could still register because we missed online reg. Big sunglasses guy had warned him on the phone in his pompous manner, "You know, there are A LOT of fit guys coming this year. I hope you've been training." So w got our stuff and headed to the camp site, got set up, and relaxed.

Pimping it in Prescott. Who needs a hotel?

Saturday morning, 5:30 AM. i woke up with the birds and started getting my stuff ready. After choking down my usual pre-race oatmeal power breakfast, I got set up and ready to go. Adam and I cruised down to the start of the race at 7:20. On the way there, a chode was standing up and trying to sprint past me to show me that he was pretty awesome. Everyone was already lined up, so with no warm-up, we got int he group. There were about 400 riders at the start. Some fast guys, lots of chodes. I knew I was in trouble because I hadn't warmed up, and would be in the back on the singletrack. Much to my dismay, I was correct in my assumption and got stuck behind a bunch of fat guys who don't know how to ride a mountain bike. They'd bobble in front of me, I'd have to dismount. Then I'd have to let the 10 chodes coming up behind me by and get stuck behind them. On top of that, my legs felt HORRIBLE. I decided I would try to enjoy the day and the view. After all, 50 miles on a mountain bike is a looong way. AT the 10 mile mark, i still felt bad and was seriously considering bailing on the 50 miler and going with the turn around for the 25 mile race. I got to the feed zone at 15 miles. It had taken over 2 hours in the midst of the chodes which is a ridiculous amount of time. I knew there was a long dirt road descent followed by an even longer dirt road climb. I decided to press on. I could see how far back I was because you ride down to the bottom of this road and ride back up and continue even higher. I was the 7th or 8th woman back, and even 2nd had a substantial gap on me. I decided to see if my legs had opened up by the bottom of the climb. Sure enough, i started feeling great and motored it up the 18 mile climb. If ONLY I had done my opener ride, I wouldn't have gotten stuck in the back on the singletrack and made up like 30 minutes. I passed about 50 guys. The course got back on the singletrack and I actually caught and passed 2nd place on a technical climb. The course was not marked well, but I managed to not get lost. I was ecstatic to work my way up to 2nd place, especially after not really racing for half the race! Despite all the "FIT GUYS", Adam won the men's category as well. I was very happy with my technical skills and the Gila had proven to get me fit for climbing. I had to say, my Avid Juicy Carbon disc brakes are a life saver and make a world of difference on the descents. The ones in the race were my worst skill, and I actually did pretty well. YOu know, really loose, rocky singletrack with a drop off on one side. Not my favorite. so the race ended up being a success. Adam again got screwed out of some good schwag. I think sunglasses guy was bitter.

Cool bar where the awards were. There were a ton of people watching.

Adam giving a winners speech after a few cold ones.

It's quite apparent from this pic that being in front of large crowds makes me a little nervous??? Oh, the guy in the pic is big sunglasses dude.


At the awards ceremony, beer was super cheap and good. That's why I LOVE mountain biking. :) We were pretty beat and I was in my sleeping bag by 9 PM that night. The rest of the trip will be in the next entry...Sedona and Flagstaff. Highlights: riding in 100 degree desert on some sweet trails, summersalts ON my bike, and rude AZ people.

Off to Prescott for a world of pain!

I am so glad this week is over. It seemed like an eternity long, probably due to the fact that every single day I was in hell for several hours during the day, completely clueless about my take home final exam. I still am not really sure how a quasi-resonant zero voltage switching LLC converter works or why I even care! All I can say is that I am soooo glad that I never have to think about it again!!! I worked so hard in that class, so I just hope that I pass. Hopefully the GPA gods pity me this week, because my GPA is in serious jeopardy at the moment.

I'm off to Prescott tomorrow with Adam. We're going to do the Whiskey Off-Road which is a 50 mile epic mountain bike race. It should be pretty good. I'll take a lot of pics He won it last year and really had fun, so hopefully I will too. This will be my first race ever as a pro mountain biker. Hopefully it'll go better than my first ever pro road race last week! ;) I'm just excited to be on some dirt, fat tires, and to zoom down some sweet singletrack. Here is the new Titus get-up this year(oh, and my pimped out Racer-X). I can't wait to riiiiide that baby for hours. haha After the race, we're going to probably head to Sedona for a few days to camp and just ride. Hopefully Adam will be able to physically make himself go slow enough while the caboose brings up the rear. ;) I actually think my legs feel pretty good about now and hopefully are way stronger from Gila.


Last night I finally got to see one of my best friends, Jolene. Here's a pic...it's been awhile. We've known each other since we were 10. It was 2 dolla pint night at Copper Lounge last night and they had some tasty brews there.

NO alcohol was involved here.



Oh, I saw a low rider truck the other day with rims that had dollar signs on them. Ghetto-riffic.

My new favorite song

I have a new favorite song... there is this really cool internet music site. www.pandora.com and it tries to figure out what songs you'd like. I found this band on there. You should check out the pandora site.

Stroke 9 - Make It Last

The fire flickers out, making movies on her skin
And in the embers she remembers all the places that shes been
Four letter words fly from her mouth
She thinks shes breaking ground
Time takes its toll, she feels his soul
In everything around and I say

The way that you feel now
Its cool as long as I know
The way its gonna be

Make it last for an hour
We'll never feel this way again
Make it all that you want
And everything that I need

The booze reaches her blood
She forgets his name
The wood has turned to coal
But our desire feeds the flame
Will we surrender to the night?
Or will our conscience win the fight?
She wont regress, but cant confess
That everythings alright and I say

The way that you feel now
Its cool as long as I know
The way its gonna be
Its gonna take more
Where were gonna go....

Some Gila Pics

Start of the crit. That's a lot of fast girls!! This is a chode's worst nightmare.


Struggling to keep up the pace after I got dropped.

Here I was laughing at myself for being off the back in the crit.
Stage 3. The person in red at the very back... yeah, that's me. soon to be off the back!

BOOOOO

Believe it or not, all I want to do right now is ride my bike! :) I guess that means I'd rather be torturing myself physically rather than mentally...take home exam is NOT going well. :( I've been kinda slack on pics...here are some. I'll definitely take a lot when I'm in Prescott for the mtb race. Hell yeah. I can't wait.



My station for the next week. At least I can see the light of day out the window contrary to the dungeon at school. Damn those tan lines are sexy. mmmm




My mom makes such good desserts. That's what I'm talking about! :)

Gila, Stage 5 (final stage)

Yesterday was the last day of the Gila. If you didn't see me in the results for the crit, they messed up and gave me a DNF. A course marshall waved me off the course and that wasn't supposed to happen. Apparently I was supposed to get a few more laps. Oh well. I'm just glad they let me race on day 5 and they are going to try and figure out my time in the crit. I was glad to finish the race although it had been fun. All of the women in contention for the GC were very close, so from the get go, the pack was flying. I managed to make it through a couple attacks, but before the sprint line, there was a furious attack and a lot of people started getting dropped. I chased for a long time in the caravan, and the people in the caravan were really sweet and kept cheering for me. I would almost catch the pack on the descent and flats, but they would attack going up the rollers and I had no legs left after riding mostly solo for 5 days. I caught up with a girl on Cheerwine, Sarah Bamberaer, and we tried to chase the pack. I rode with her for awhile, but she was pretty exhausted from working for her team and couldn't pull. She told me to go on because she couldn't sit on my wheel any longer. I debated just chilling with her, but she told me she was going to drop out at the feed zone. I rode 50 miles alone yesterday. Doing that every day was definitely starting to take its toll. It was encouraging to hear Sarah tell me that I was definitely strong enough to hang with the pack, I just need to learn how to be in better position rather than on the back all the time. I had a good time yesterday riding through the valley and was looking forward to climbing Sapillo. I passed some 40+ guys on the climb. I was passing the signs, 15 miles to go, 10 miles to go, 5 miles to go, 1km to go...so close to being done with the Gila. Around 200 m to go, I heard a motorcycle and it was the leaders of the men's pro field. They made me pull over to the side of the road for about 30 seconds until the lead group passed. There were 7 of us who got dropped yesterday and couldn't catch back on. Only 2 of us finished the day. I got second to last in the stage. In the overall GC, I got DFL. Adam tells me not to think of it as last since over the course of the week, 20 people dropped out. Every time someone behind me quit, I'd be like, "DANG IT! I don't want to be last!" haha I partially solved my foot problems. I cut slits in the sides of my road shoes and it helped a little. I had a great time over the week and met some really cool, new people. All I can say is next year, I'm not making Gila my 3rd race of the year. I'm showing up fit and ready to git it!!

Now that my 5 days of physical anguish are over, I'm about to start 5 days of mental anguish. My professor is going to email me my take home exam sometime today. BOOOO I can't wait get it over with. I just hope i pass the class. Next up is Whiskey Off-Road Challenge. I'm resting up during the week and will hopefully be flying by the weekend. They have a 25 mile and 50 mile course. I really want to do the 50, but will have to see how I'm feeling. It's in Prescott, Arizona. I cannot wait to go and camp for a few nights. That's one of my favorite things about bike racing. CAMPING!

Tour of the Gila, Stage 3 and the Stage 4

Stage 3- Inner Loop

This was a very tough stage for me. It was day three of the stage race, and after a grueling stage 2, I was feeling pretty tired. The race got underway and I knew immediately I was going to have a tough day when I was struggling with the rollers on the way out to Pinos Altos. The pack got faster and faster up the climb and several people started to get dropped. I surprised myself and held on a little longer than I was expecting, but then the inevitable happened. There were various people around, but no one really wanted to work together. None of us that got dropped ever caught the pack again. I worked really hard up the climb and it turned flat. A train of girls, mostly Cheerwine and TRIA came up behind me and I tried to hop on, but couldn't. I had a great time on the Sapillo descent and passed 4 people. Of course, they caught me again on the flat. After the descent, there was a very long, windy valley. I had a couple more girls pass me, but was just too blown to try and work with them. Much later, there was a right turn and a long, gradual climb straight into a raging headwind. I was extremely exhausted at this point since I had already 10 miles in the pack, 55 miles alone and still had 15 left to go into this crazy headwind. The highway had roller after roller and it seemed like it would never end. Finally I got to the end and my shoes were killing me. I had unbuckled the velcro and the first thing I did when I crossed the line was rip off my shoes. I'm going to cut them for stage 5. I ended up being 3rd to last of the finishers. There were about 5 girls behind me that quit the race and 2 girls who finished. Despite my effort, I wasn't too disappointed considering I was only 30 minutes back from the main group and working all alone in the wind, and had ridden solo the day before as well.

Stage 4- Criterium

I'm not a great crit rider to begin with, so I already knew what to expect. The crit is always really fun to watch and there were tons of spectators out to cheer us on. I warmed up on the trainer and with the first revolution of the pedals, I knew I was in for it. My legs are so sore!! It's amazing what stage racing will do to you. I made my first error by lining up in the back of the pack. This was my first large crit with 60 women lining up. The biggest I had done before was 20 people and it was only for 30 minutes. This crit was to be over an hour long. The race started pretty fast and I did everything I could to hang on. We were turning over lap times that were the same as the cat 2 men, and afterwards, everyone agreed the crit was flying at a blistering pace. Unfortunately, my position condemned me and I was yo-yoed off the back after an embarassing 3 laps. I managed to hold my own for about 8 more until they pulled me. I was flattered that the announcer actually knew who I was and played up the fact I was from NM. It was pretty embarassing to get pulled, but I was also relieved. I know next time what to do better! I'm not very happy right now because they made a mistake and didn't include me in the results. I know I was 3rd to last...at least I wasn't DFL. I'll have to get to the race extra early tomorrow and make sure they put me back in the GC. I'm hoping tomorrow(the last stage), I can stay in the pack and conserve energy until the climb, then give it all I got... not that it will help my GC placing, but I want to finish this 5 day suffer-fest with a bang.

Tour of the Gila, Stage 2

After a grueling TT the day before, we had to get up really early(the one thing I HATE about bike racing) to get ready for our 71 mile day. I knew from the climb out of town that it was going to be a rough day for me because I was already getting dropped. I think that I just need to learn to be in a better position in the pack because I'm always at the back! The course profile was either flat or rolly with a long, steep climb at the end(aka Mogollon). Normally this would be great news, but getting dropped and chasing back on multiple times will tire a person out very fast. I kept trying to go to the front of the pack, but it seemed every time I did that, I'd end up at the back again so I just quit wasting energy trying to be in the front. there was one advantage to being in the back.... all of a sudden, there was a huge pile of bikes in front of me. I guess someone crossed handlebars and there was a big wreck. I got lucky and was up on my front wheel trying to stop and managed to avoid it. Among the chaos, I didn't know what to do. I thought in a wreck, you wait, but apparently not! I saw a group take off so I began chasing hard. This went on for like 10 minutes and I was completely red-lined. A looked back and saw a group coming, must have been the people who went down in the wreck. I hopped on the wheel of a Webcor girl and did the best I could to hang on. It was tough because my legs were already so tired. We got up to the main group and I thought it was going to be okay. Of course, I was at the back of the pack again, and was right behind Merrill Sapp. Suddenly, I saw metal parts fly in the air and she came to a screeching halt. I almost wrecked right into her and it turned out her derailleur exploded. I got dropped at that point since I had to slam on my brakes and again, was working really hard to chase back on. I managed to catch the group again, but by then we were close to the sprint line and the pack started attacking. I got dropped for good at that point and for awhile was going backwards and forwards in the caravan. After about 20 miles, I almost caught the pack again. They were only 50-100 m in front of me and even the sag motorcycle got behind me. I just couldn't make it and I totally blew up. The people in the caravan kept cheering for me, but it just didn't happen. Shortly after, I got superdehydrated(I had FOUR bottles) and could barely pedal. I had to make it up the big climb in the hot sun with no water. My back was killing me from being in a TT position the day before, my shoes are WAY too tight on my feet after a few hours, my neck hurt from being tense in the pack...bad... all around. I just needed to finish. The climb didn't seem that bad, but I could barely turn the pedals over. I saw the 1 Km to go sign, and after what seemed like an eternity came to the 200 m to go. At that point, I almost got off my bike and walked because I felt like I was going to pass out. I crosssed the line and the official said, "You get to ride tomorrow!" Meaning they weren't going to time cut me.

I rode over to the medical tent because I knew I was in trouble. They saw me coming and approached me. I got off my bike and fell over, and the medical people had to help me walk to get on a stretcher. I couldn't talk and was trying to motion that I needed water. The guy took my pulse and wanted to give me an IV(which I should have taken for better recovery), but I HATE needles and told them no. They insisted I have some oxygen and I drank a bottle of saline solution, and it actually tasted good. I finally regained my strength to walk around again and was amazed to see Merrill come across the line. Someone who had crashed and couldn't go on gave Merrill her bike and she had to solo it out too. I came back to the house, had to finish up my homework(which took FIVE hours), took an ice bath, and went to bed.

Here we go

The theme for this week will be "off the back" with Sonya Looney. Today was the time trial at Tour of the Gila. I got here last night and just made it for registration. I rolled up to the start today looking choderiffic! Clip on Aerobars, old ass frame, no skinsuit, no TT helmet, no disc wheels. Sweet! Today was actually my first TT ever (other than hill climb TTs which are short and don't require much special equipment. I am actually good at those). My goal today was not to get last although I was secretly hoping to do okay. I got 65th out of 69. Ouch. I still beat last place by I think 2 minutes(not sure on that). Oh well. I did have a great time and got in a good effort. I enjoy time trials, I just need to build up some fitness. Apparently I am a strange creature that needs to be studied in the lab because my AVERAGE heart rate for 49 minutes was 200. I was looking forward to telling Adam because he get so flabberghasted at my hummerbird heart rate. I guess this will fare well for me late in the season for mountain bike races. I was around 206 most of the time, but felt like I could have pushed it a little more. I'm pretty disappointed with my result, but it's my fault for only doing 2 races so far this year and showing up to my frist 1/2/3 race thinking I'll do decent. I'm ultimately using this race for training to be fast in July.

I'm staying in a house in Tyrone,NM (Mary Rudy's family) with 3 other girls. The town is 5 miles south of Silver City and is literally just a neighborhood. They are all super nice and not your typical roadie bitches. There were some snobby chics at registration. You know me, I'm friendly, I'll talk to anyone. In this case, when i started talking, they just pretended I wasn't there. I am actually feeling gigantic here at the Gila. I don't think of myself as being a "big" girl (although I need to drop a few pounds before July), but compared to these 100 lb 5'2'' chicks, I'm Thor. Maybe next year I'll get fit early in the season and try to tear it up here.

Tomorrow is the first road race so wish me luck. I'm a little nervous about riding in a pack with 70 other girls, but most of those girls are really good so they won't wreck me. This race will definitely be a great learning experience. The course tomorrow is pretty flat until the end and there's a steep climb. Hopefully I can stick it to 'em on the uphill. I'll let you know how many times I get dropped! ;)

Congrats to C dolla, AKA Collin Becker for tearing it up and getting 2nd in the Cat 2 race. Nice job!!!