Happy Halloween

Here in Boulder, everyone is dressed up for Halloween. I lived here last October too, but people definitely were not in the spirit. At the bike shop, a guy was dressed up as cloudy care bear. NICE! CARE BEAR STTAAAARRREEE. He said his girlfriend traded a shirt to a bum for the costume. Then I saw a kid at school dressed as a tiger. I saw another woman driving her car with a 5 o'clock shadow painted on...well, let's hope that was a woman... I am being lame and not participating in Halloween. It had to fall into a crazy week of school- two exams and a paper, and right before the USGP. Could I get any busier? Maybe!

I wanted to wish Adam good luck too. He leaves tomorrow for Costa Rica to do La Ruta de los Conquistadores, one of the most brutal mountain bike races in the world. It's three days long and is EPIC. http://www.adventurerace.com/eng/about-race.htm. He definitely will have his work cut out for him.

On another note, I officially hate the CU email list. This is what happens... usually more than once a week. Someone sends a serious email(like Nat's company was going to give CU Cycling members a discount on a WobbleNaught fit) and then all the little boys feel they have to add whatever sarcastic input they have to it and generally it really isn't funny. And you'll get like 15-20 emails of people going back and forth trying to be funny. First of all, you're dumb. Second of all, I don't have TIME to read your crap. Third, WHO CARES..don't you have anything better to do than sit there at your computer refreshing your inbox every 3 seconds so you can be the first to respond?!!!?!

The weather here has been so erratic. It was 70 this weekend and 25 this morning when I was riding to school.

And finally... look! a picture of me NOT on the bike. I look like I'm 15! ;)

...and yes, the wall in this new room I live in is pale pink. I guess I need to find my more feminine side with all this engineering and bike racing. ;)

Ok, no more procrastination. Back to studying neural modelling... YES!

Psycho-cross

Psycho- adj. crazy; insane. Considering my last name is Looney, this isn't all that inappropriate.

Yes. Not ONLY do you put yourself through the most extreme amount of anaerobic hell you can handle, but you pay MONEY to do it. Pain was the name of the game at Sunday's UCI Boulder Cyclocross race. I had fear in my heart and a lump in my throat as I lined up at the start with the big names of cyclocross. Usually, fields are bigger with a huge variation of ability in the elite/pro field, but today was different. Today, the hurt locker had my name on it, and it was screaming my name with authority. The field was relatively small, but it was stacked- Katie Compton(cyclocross national champion), Georgia Gould(pro mountain bike national champion), Kerry Barnholt (ex top mtb pro and top 5 cyclocross in the country), Melissa Thomas, Rhonda Mazza... pretty much all of the top 10 from the National GP races short of Lyne Bessette and Wendy Simms. The start was fast and furious from the get-go. I was grovelling just to hang on. About halfway through the first lap, the field started to spread out. I battled for a couple laps with Kristal Boni and eventually put a gap on her. The whole race, I felt really nauseated and thought I was going to lose it each time I ran the 100 m stretch of beach sand up the hill. The race was held at Boulder Resevoir. All I could do was suffer as hard as I could, try to ride as fast as possible through the wet, deep sand, and pray that Katie Compton wasn't coming from behind to lap me!!

Katie Compton and Georgia Gould... watch out!

The course was relatively flat except for the running section, so there was NO place to recover.
The pro mens' field... part of the sandy hill.


Shriver riding through the beach section.

Although I was able to go really hard, it was evident that I'm NOT in top form. My right leg was really sore from the EMG the day before and riding in a different position. I tried to be smart and moved my bike halfway to where my original position was before the fit. Too much change at once could be catastrophic. Even with the halfway point, my hamstrings were crying out from the new position. I ended up losing in a sprint to Kristal on the road at the finish. I only have one chainring on the front- a 39. It would have been nice to have a big ring for the sprint. I was almost last, but was soooo glad not to be waaaaay off the back. This is just a taste of what's to come next weekend- the USGP. I'm doing both races, and I think they will be better because yes, the top girls will be there, but there will be more than JUST the super fast girls. It definitely gave me a taste. I went so hard yesterday that I was sick all last night! Woops. I was able to sustain my hummingbird heart rate of 196 for about a 50 minute race.

Me-- pretty in pink??? SUUUUFFFFEEERRRRRRR!!!!!

I'm pretty happy with that!!! I can't wait till next weekend. The goal for this week is to somehow try to do a cyclocross mount. I just can't do it. A coach told me after my race that, "I would be a LOT faster if I got the technique down." This was my third race, and yes, I WOULD like to get the technique down!! :)

Speaking of technique...Todd Wells was bunny hopping his bike up onto this deck. This thing was almost up to my knee. Everyone else was running it and by my last lap, I could barely even get my leg high enough to STEP onto it! Good job Todd!





And here are some photos from the muddy race last weekend.... turns out I got 11th. Not too shabby!!

This is possibly one of the scariest faces I have ever made...well, it's almost Halloween!!!


I couldn't run up this hill because I had no cleats on my shoes and it was super slippery and muddy. I had to walk up the hill like a duck so I wouldn't slip!!

Wobble-Naught

I got a bike fit with laser precision last week, and man, is it going to make me so much faster(I hope)!!! It's a very scientific process using matlab where you and your bike are fit in space. The person doing the fit measures all your bones and the bike, and effectively gets it all into a position to the mm where you need to be. There were some major changes done to my position. The seat was moved from all the way back to all the way forward, and I need a new seatpost, different size stem, different size handlebars, and a new seat(mine was crushed!). The following day at Veloswap(this big bike convention in Denver), me and a couple of my teammates did demonstrations of this bike fit with an EMG (electromyograph). Electrodes are hooked up to 4 different muscle groups in your leg and a computer program shows the contractions. You then learn how to pedal most efficiently so each muscle group is contracting at its optimum level. I changed half my pedal-stroke as well. Here are some photos. It was funny because there were like 20 people watching. They wanted me to wear my 24 hr stars and bars jersey. Veloswap itself was total mayhem. I think everyone in the greater denver area was there and you could barely move. This wobble-naught technology is very cool and definitely worth it. This guy(Tom) was here to train Nat Ross to do these fits, so if you are interested in getting one, go to www.probikecenter.com or contact Nat at nat@probikecenter.com. You can also go to wobblenaught.com for more info.



Veloswap madness

Me trying to adjust my pedal stroke to be most efficient

It got tiring after awhile because I wasn't used to using my muscles in that position. the man there is Tom, the founder/inventor of wobble-naught.

Checking out the numbers....

During the weekend, there was a strawbale workshop for one of Brian's houses that is being built. Volunteers come and put strawbales in the frame. It's extremely efficient and aesthetic for the insulation and walls, and it's very green and environmental. For more on strawbale and modern, green architecture, go to Brian's website: fuentesdesign.com.

I should have taken more pictures... maybe I'll go by this week and take a few more. It looks really cool. The next phase is putting earthen plaster over the bales.

funny quote

"I'm not judgemental, I'm constructively judegmental."
-my friend who wishes to remain anonymous

Another beautiful day in Boulder

This is the view from Brian's balcony. Not bad, eh?

I did a cross race today at Interlocken. It was pretty fun- a little sloppy and slippery from all the snow we've had lately. I actually felt good on the bike today despite all the trouble I've been having. I need to start paying more attention to what lap I'm on though! I mistakenly thought the last lap was the second to last lap and was saving gas in the tank for a big attack. Oh well! Next weekend and the weekend after are UCI races and should be fun. I'll have photos from the cross race later in the week. Incidentally, my average HR for 45 minutes was 196 with a max of 204. I haven't gone that hard since the beginning of August. It's good to know that I still have some bit of fitness after not really doing much training and riding since then!

Let it snow!

It snowed like this on Tues, melted away, and I woke up this morning to... more snow!!! This is the view from my new place, right outside the gate!

Some pics

I figured I'd follow Courtenay's lead and put up some old school photos for fun since I have nothing to say! :)

That's right folks, I had a sweet mullet going when I was 2.


Gotta train...

WAH!

Isn't my little brother so cuuuute?

GIT IT! GO ON! PUSH!

AHAHAHA! That was generally my reaction when my brother cried. Why is it so funny when little kids cry? Maybe I'm just cruel.

I'm living in the shadow of a crazy wack-job

I'm in my new place. It's good times. 2 fun roommates. more details later. I must mention that a woman with the nickname "Crazy" used to live here in this very room. There are many entertaining stories about this woman. my roomie's(liz) blog, talks all about it. If you have time, check 'er out. http://www.leapnlzrds.blogspot.com/ mmmm, yeah. hopefully my organic, cycling freak habits don't weird out my new housemates too much... I definitely won't be meditating under a comforter on the couch while my chicken in boiling just in time for breakfast and making the place smell like funkaria.

It always rains when I MOVE!!!

Yes, that's right. Rain in the forcast, all week. sweet. Today you can't even see the flatirons. Yesterday I moved 2 small carloads(Yeah, you guys know my car, the tough bastard). My wimpy cyclist arms are really sore from carrying all my stuff. At least I don't have to try impress the ladies with my bulging biceps. So no racing this weekend, but I'm going to help with the installation of some straw bales into Brian's latest house. That'll be fun and cool. I didn't even ride my bike this weekend, but I went on a killer trail run on Saturday. It makes me want to start running marathons again...sometimes I miss those days! The days of no mechanicals or expensive machines. There are two cross races in Boulder next weekend that I will do. I need to make my technique better so when the UCI races come around, I don't look like I'm on crack.

I tried to pimp out the Ridley a little bit with a new seat, chainring, and some saaanazzy bartape.

Although I now have the pleasure of roommates, the house is pretty sweet and I have a view of the mountains from my sliding glass door. I have my own bathroom too. I'm glad to get midterms out of the way. I have a meeting this week with a profressor...I may be doing a PhD afterall if I get to include electrical engineering and make the bulk of it be physiology(maybe even MUSCLE physiology!). The PhD would be in electrical engineering though... so maybe someday I can do something I actually like AND make the big bucks! I'll let you know how that goes. I made a decision to tone it down next semester with school so I can really get some good training in. I want to be fast next year and I have a plan!!! I made so many mistakes this last season, so now I've learned and am ready to be fast. :)
I thought this was a funny pic of me so here you go.

You should listen to Postal Service, it's some good chill music when I'm not all agro.

Roads...where we're going...we don't need...roads.

Yeah, yeah...I know, I haven't posted in awhile. things have been busy-- I am moving to SoBo- WAY south boulder next week, have a bunch of exams, work, a little cyclocross. It's all good though. I've been taking some good diggers on my bike lately for some reason too. Oh well, dudes dig scars, right?

Here's what's been up the past couple of weeks:

Fuentesdesign/waltworks team dinner. Some people were missing, but you can see the breed of these pro dudes. Very interesting.....very!!
Chris Jung... AHHHH FOOOOOOD!

ahhh, didn't get Walt in this pic. :(

Nick the Welshman..ahhhh....more food! ;) j/k haha

This was at the cyclocross race last weekend in Morrison. I ended up wrecking spectacularly thereby messing up my bike. I still finished, but I wasn't really racing anymore. I was pulling over and cheering for people, pushing girls up the hills, doing ballet leaps over the barriers. More pics of this race to come, maybe.

The start, I was too timid to line up in the front row. I definitely don't have the confidence(or the skillz) of a cat 1. bahaha

JUMP ON IT!

The Tough Girls had a good showing at this race

Yesterday, Brian and I had to take advantage of the perfect fall day(although it was a little warm out!). There was a cross race in Boulder, but we decided you can't race cross in really superb weather! ;)





mmm. snow capped peaks.

Coming to GET YA!



Looks like we just missed all the leaves. They were more brilliant a little lower!