Pre-Spring Cleaning

*blowing off dust*
I have realized that it has been an extremely long time since I have written a blog post on here. I've just been so busy with school and racing, its hard to just sit down and type up a....oops, the door bell just rang.

Oh, its my 2009 State Track Champion jersey from the UPS guy. I wonder when I'll be get my 2009 Cyclocross Champion jersey...
Anyways, I've been having a lot of fun racing since my last post on here, which was apparently back before nationals. Since then, I made podium in the national criterium, and finished out the 2009 Florida Point Series in 5th in junior 13-14 and 3rd in Women 4, which I am very proud of. Team Colavita also won the team award in junior 10-12 and 13-14, which was great achievement on everyone's part. On Halloween night, my mother drove me down the miami to race the State Track Championships at Brian Piccolo Velodrome. It was an interesting experience and I renewed my title as Junior 13-14 Women, Florida State Track Champion. Then we headed full force into the cyclocross season. Racing in Lakeland, Dade City, Orlando, and Clermont, I got 1st and 2nd places in the Women C category. A few weekends ago we traveled up to Tallahassee for the State Cyclocross Championships, and to my delight, it was my type of course. Technical, steep assents and descents, and very slippery, I was able to ride away from the competition to win. Ta-Da.
So, here I am now. Eating m&ms, listening to Viva la Vida by Coldplay and typing away on the computer when I really should be studying. Live the Life :)

Nationals

We're heading off to nationals in Bend, OR tomorrow morning. Staying in the same condo as my teammate, Casey Braga, is probably going to be pretty entertaining but I'm even more looking forward to the racing. This will be my 4th year going to nationals and I'm really hoping to do well in my category, Junior Women 13-14.
Wish me luck!

Dahlonega Team Weekend

Team Colavita; will the fun times never end? I sure hope not.
Another weekend gone by with our fabulous team, this time in Dahlonega GA to work on our mountain climbing skills. As a true Floridian, my world of cycling pretty much consists of flat and fast so heading into the hills was a big change in terrain. But I was looking forward to it anyways.

The car ride up proved to be another epic one. Both Brandon Forman and Bradley Gordon outright stated that they were going to be in our car, no matter what, making for a very entertaining ride. There are two things that now common knowledge on our team that had the effect of making it so fun. One is that we have been campaigning for what seems almost forever to get Brandon to shave his legs like a normal cyclist. Illustrating the benefits and joys of cutting away that wild forest of hair that men like to cultivate on their legs. And two, it has become widely known the story of what I did to Casey Braga when he fell asleep in the car on the last trip to Dahlonega. Basically, every guy on the team is scared to death of me and my make up kit. So put those two together plus my mom driving and you’ve got yourself a three ring circus on wheels. After thoroughly disassembling our stow-and-go and finding a roll a duck tape, I resorted to trying to use it to pluck off Brandon’s leg hairs like body waxing. Then Brad pulled out his razor and after a bit of coaxing, began shaving his legs for him. Eventually Brandon started doing it himself and managed to get most of one leg de-hair-afied before the blade started to dull. Beginning on the next leg, it took almost an hour to completely finish, by which time there was a substantial pile of fur collected on the carpeting and seats.

Once we finally arrived at the hostel, around five in the afternoon, we waited for everyone else to arrive. My mom planned to meet Tracy and go to dinner in downtown Dahlonega (what there is of it) with them. Unfortunately it wasn’t until they arrived did we find out that they had already eaten dinner on the road. So taking Zoe with us, who needed things from the local Wal-Mart, we headed to Moes. After dinner went to Wally world to do all the shopping we needed for the weekend. My mom spent the time getting things for the pasta dinner Saturday night while Brad and Brandon, and Zoe and I ran around the store in search of other items. Filling up the shopping cart to the brim, we headed back to the hostel to where everyone else had arrived in our absence. That night was a little chaotic for me, trying to figure out where I was suppose to sleep but I ended up sharing a “girls” room with Zoe.

The following morning everyone headed to breakfast and then got kitted up to go ride. Our group left straight from the hostel and headed down the road for about a mile until we got to the three gap fifty loop. I didn’t really want to ride with the group on the first few gaps so I let myself fall back part way up Neels. Keeping my own pace the whole time up, Brandon and Tracy, who had also dropped, stayed in my sight the entire time, and with a little extra work at the top I was able to quickly catch them both. Grabbing a vest from the car before descending, I offered to ride down with Brandon who had never been down a mountain before and was considering riding in the car. Tracy led the way and we were soon at the base of Wolfpen Gap, where everyone else was waiting. We rode up just in time to hear them asking each other where JP and Jay went. I remembered thinking to myself “we’ve done just one gap and you’ve already lost two people!” After a bit of discussion they figured out that the two had probably missed the turn and continued down the mountain. Dean Warren promised to wait at the turn for the follow car that could go and look for them while the rest of us continued on. When I finally reached the top of the second gap, Wolfpen, I was again in sight of Tracy and Brandon. As we descended back into the valley our group was joined by Christian, Anselm and Jay, who had been found along with JP asking directions at the bottom of the mountain. At the end of Wolfpen, we met up with the rest of our group who was filling up on Gatorade and PB&Js in the gas station parking lot. After a little bit of our favorite skills trick we headed off to the final gap, Woody. Rolling through the countryside in a double pace line, I was surprised at the overall feeling of team spirit. I don’t mean that term as cheerleaders and that such, but more as a group of 11 junior riders, all wearing the same jersey and just chatting away as great friends who all love the sport of cycling.

From there we climbed Woody gap and then I enjoyed a fun descent where I tried to see how many people I could catch. Must have been kind of embarrassing for the guys to be passed by me but I still loving doing it anyways. Then it was just a quick climb back to the hostel and time for lunch. A couple of people had shown interest in climbing Brasstown Bald that afternoon so we jumped in the cars to drive over there. I had already done it once before and wasn’t extremely keen on doing it again so I just enjoyed the car ride and cheering for my teammates. Pulling to the side of the road half way up we stopped and encouraged Ian, Dean, Taylor and Christian in their long assent. While waiting at the summit for everyone to arrive, some motorcyclists drove up and told us that Mrs. Teather’s car had gotten stuck on the side of the road. Being with a ton of teenage guys has its advantages, all of whom jumped into my mom’s car as she drove down to help. Zoe and I waited at the top for their return and soon we saw the two vans come up. Once everyone was situated, we walked the final half mile to the observation tower. During this trip we got lucky, there wasn’t as much fog as last time and the view went for miles. It was amazing how much you could see from there, but I was also craving to just see the underside of my eyelids. Knowing there wasn’t an ounce of make up in the car; Ian was the first to nod off on the way back, Brad following shortly thereafter. I wasn’t sure but they tell me that I was out too for some time. Upon our return, the Gerbers announced that they were going for an easy hour and a half spin before dinner. I didn’t want waste myself for the next day so I chose to stay behind and help make dinner instead. I had already declared that I was going to be in charge of the salad, cutting, slicing, and chopping vegetables, with Zoe also there doing the same. Much to our surprise we even got Brad to wash and cut the broccoli and Brandon to stir the meat sauce. My mother was rather amused to see all of us bike racers in the kitchen making dinner without her, and I am very happy to say that nobody died of food poisoning either. After much of the pasta had been devoured there were some attempts at making a fire but the wood was too wet to keep it going for long. A few half melted s’mores were made but most just resorted to the pie and ready whip. Someone had the idea to play man hunt around the hostel for a while. I’ll admit it was pretty fun, though no one ever won and it resulted in a few bloody knees, and ankles. Saturday night I got the pullout couch to sleep on, and much to my delight, was quite comfortable, even with the thought of not being in a locked room and all pranks that could be done to me in my sleep.

The following morning I was awoken by Ashlyn to get up for breakfast. I was one of the early ones down but most of the team followed soon after, which the exception of only two, which I of course delighted in running down stairs to wake up. That day we were riding the rest of the gaps in the 6 gap century loop that we hadn’t done the previous day, Jacks, Unicoi, and Hogpen. Starting out as a group from Booger Hollow, I rode most of the way up Jacks with Tracy and then he, Brandon and I descended together to the base of Unicoi. From previous trips I had chosen this gap as my favorite of the weekend. Setting a steady pace from the beginning I was able to confine myself inside my head and spent most of the climb not entirely conscious of my surroundings and more relaxed. Reaching the top, I refilled my depleted water bottle and headed down Unicoi with Brad. It was almost like a roller coaster, gliding through the sweeping turns. I really felt “in my element,” completely in control the whole time, but exhilarated by the speed. Going through some corners at twice the “suggested” speed limit was great, until a blacked out Crown Victoria pulled up behind me. Oh geez! Well it’s okay; Brad was going even faster through the turns than I am. Eventually though, the car passed us and we made it to the bottom unscathed. There was only one more climb left in the day and in fact I was dreading every minute of it. Hogpen, 7 miles of just pure insanity.

Mile one: Well this isn’t too bad, but I’m going to reserve my energy, so just keep it easy.


Mile two: I’ve still got 5 more miles to go! What on earth was I thinking! But it is only seven miles total…



Mile three: Just got a quick downhill, I can do this… As the road turns upward once again.




Mile four: Well…It’s…Half…Over…





Mile five: I’ve got to stop and take a break. No, I can’t I’ve just got to keep going. But just a quick rest couldn’t hurt. Nope, I can’t get off my bike, going the whole way.


Mile six: Hey there’s my mom on the side of the road cheering for me. Do you think you could run beside me and fill up my bottle with Gatorade? There’s no way I’m putting my foot down now (one mile to go!)


Mile six point five: Where on earth is the top of this evil climb!?!

Mile 7: Whoa, made it to the top. Can I have a PB&J? I’m starving.

I could describe the climb in more words than this but you become one of few thoughts when going up Hogpen and there weren’t many interesting things that happened those seven miles. Descending was great fun though, once I was mildly recovered. Putting on rain jackets to protect from the cold, Jay, Brad and I headed down first. I watched my computer on the decent, waiting for the exact moment when I hit 50 mph. It came quicker than I expected, though I was in control of my speed the whole time. It was just fun to say that I had experienced going that fast on a bike. The entire weekend turned out to be a great experience as well. Perfect weather the entire time. The only time it rained was when we were just a few miles from the car at the end of Sunday’s ride. Thankfully we were still wearing our rain jackets from the descent and stayed dry. I’m really looking forward to another team weekend up in Dahlonega. Maybe not right away (give us time to recover!) but soon.

More photos from this weekend

Hanging out at East Point velodrome. Too bad it had just started raining and we couldn't get on the training.

After Sunday's ride, we decided to go to the top of Brasstown Bald to enjoy the view, or what there was of it.

Breakfast of Champions

Carpe Nundinae

Carpe Nundainae (latin): Seize the Weekend

Oh, where to start when talking about this weekend!

First of all, the car ride up there. You never really know what its going to be like spending 8 hours in a car with your favorite (cough, cough) teammate. Luckily, I was prepared. The first moment Casey Braga fell asleep, I had my makeup kit out. Blue eye shadow, pink lipstick and, of course, the nail polish. Needless to say, Casey had a bit of a surprise when he woke up. The rest of the trip up though, was very uneventful.

When we started out Saturday afternoon, I was really surprised about how confident I was going up Neel’s gap. Last time we were up there, back in February, I didn’t do my best on that first climb but this weekend, it seemed to pass much quicker than before. The same held true for Wolfpen gap. Much sharper than the first, I still was going very good and kept my teammate, Casey, in sight the entire time. Woody gap passed very quickly also to my surprise and descending was extremely fun.

Before telling about the next day’s events, I’d like to add in a little note about the weather in Dahlonega GA. For those of you who have read the book Twilight, its somewhat like that of Forks, Washington. Frequently raining, and almost always overcast. The only difference is that there are no sparkling vampires who want to drink your blood. (For those who haven’t read the book, don’t bother, burn every copy you see, and just keep reading this blog in your free time) Going up every gap, I either had my rain jacket on my back or stuffed into my jersey pocket. There were a few sections of sunlight both days but the time was nowhere need equal to that of when it was overcast and/or raining.

Now on to Sunday. Our route for the day took us over Jack’s, Unicoi, and Hogpen gaps. Jack’s was long, and rather steep at points, but rather boring for the most part. My favorite gap right now is Unicoi, the second climb of the day. It passed very quickly and was not very difficult but also has an entertaining descent to accompany it. Though it started raining when we reached the top, I still kept off the brakes going down, using only my rain jacket as a parachute to slow down when needed. But as we came closer to our next and final gap, I began to dread the coming climb. Remembering my last time up Hogpen, I knew it was long, steep, and offered very little break anywhere on it. Still I climbed as best I could, reaching the top at 3,450 ft, after an excruciating dull and lengthy amount of time. Though tired, the road going down was enjoyable. At some points it was such an incline, my computer hit 48 mph, something I’ve only gotten close to riding down Sugarloaf.

I can’t believe how good I felt this weekend. I think that it was a great training experience and hope that it has helped me become more prepared for Nationals this year, in Bend, Oregon. Can’t wait until the next time we going to Dahlonega, though I still need a little bit of time to recover from this trip.

What a weekend....

Okay, so I have gotten really lazy in updating this blog because I've been writing stuff for the colavita blog as well. So in the spirit of laziness, I'm just copy an pasting the post a wrote for that blog about last weekend on to here as well.
After racing all over the state of Florida every other weekend, there comes the question of what Team Colavita does in their free time. Well this past Sunday there were no events scheduled so the wonderful Gordon family invited the team over to their lake house for a day of fun on the water.
After returning from a +30 mile ride that morning, our junior racers quickly jumped off their bikes to go cool off in the lake before changing into bathing suits and eating a tasty lunch of hamburgers and calzones prepared by Brad Gordon and Stacy Forman. Then we were off on the jet skis, motor boats, knee boards, tubes, and a whole assortment of flotsam. It was very entertaining when someone had the idea to see how many kids we could fit on a 10 foot wide raft. The tricky part was finding a hand hold when the float went flying around corners at 30 miles per hour. We manged to hold a total 8 teenagers on for a while but it was never too long before at least one person spun off.

Left to Right: Top: Casey Braga, Bradley Gordon, Brandon Forman, Jos Chalmers. Bottom: Ian McGauvran, Michelle Blake, Ashlyn Gerber, Blain Gordon.

You could hardly keep the Jack and Owen Greene and JP Russo off the jet skis. And on a dry note, Nick Blanchard commanded the four wheeler for much of the day, doing multiple laps around the house.
Some off the other kids had a fun time playing "bumper cars" in smaller rafts and a few even tried out knee boarding for the first time, with spectacular results. Briana Luthman and Zoe Mullins gave the sport a spin and looked like old pros after only a few times around the lake. Who knew bicycle racers could be so good on water as well as land?
Thanks to everyone who brought something to the party (food, toys, etc.) and a huge thank you to the Gordons and Formans who had the great idea in the first place. It was a wonderful way to spend the day

Left to right: Front Row: Casey Braga, Blain Gordon, Michelle Blake, Ashlyn Gerber, Zoe Mullins. Back Row: Jos Chalmers, Bradley Gordon, Brandon Forman, Ian McGauvran.

For an interesting video of us on the big raft and a first hand account, go to: Ashlyn Gerber's Blog

Road Trip!

"We're at the top right Ashlyn"
"No"
What!?. . . You're joking"
"No"
"This isn't funny. . ."

The trip up/ Day 1
We had been planning our trip up to Dahlonega for a couple of weeks and when school finally let out on Thursday, I couldn't wait to just get on the road up there. The Gerbers had first proposed the plan to do some training up in the mountains and we quickly agreed along with the Bragas, Gordons, Jos Chalmers, Will Willis and David Bush. Everyone was meeting at our house around 3:30 and we were planning on getting on the highway around 4. After packing all our stuff into two cars, we met up with the Gerber-mobile at a rest area on the turnpike and started our way north.
Around 7:30 we made it to the Georgia border and then stopped for the night in Forsyth. The next day (my birthday!) we got up for an early breakfast and then went straight to the mountains. Our plan was to do Neels Gap first, followed by Wolfpen Gap and Woody Gap. Any riding after that was weather permitting.
When we reached the starting place for our ride (which happened to be the side of the road) I started looking around the back of the car for my gear bag... and couldn't find it. I asked around the other cars "have you seen my gear bag?" "Nope." Great! I left it at home. Luckily I can fit into most of my mom's riding gear and she was willing to drive the Braga van as a SAG car. *Big Hug Mom!*
So we started off and there were a few rolling hills (it was flat compared to the rest of the ride) before we got to the first gap, Neels. I had no intention of killing myself in the very beginning, so I took my time, riding along with Eddie Braga, who sang happy birthday to me whenever I started going really slow. I even invented a song for myself:

Happy Birthday to me. My present will be: Climbing up mountains, Until I can't even see.

Don't you love it? (I was a little anaerobic at the time...) Anyways. It was too foggy at the top of Neels and we didn't feel safe descending it, so all of us jumped in the cars and drove to the bottom of Wolfpen. I tried to keep up a steady pace up this one but when I finally reached the top, I was so far behind the others I jumped in the car again to catch up. But then the heater got to me, and I just couldn't bring myself to get out again. We were planning on doing even more riding the next day anyways, so why kill myself now? Everyone else still riding decided to do another lap, so my mom drove some of us back to the hotel to check in. Let me tell you, that shower was calling my name.
What a great way to spend your birthday right?

Day 2
I thought the weather couldn't get much worse over night. Ha ha... I was wrong. Little fog yesterday at the top? Alfredo sauce is more like it today. We were sitting in the hotel lobby watching the weather report: even more rain today, low visibility, snow by tomorrow. And to make things worse, overnight Will had gotten a cold from being so wet the day before and was in no shape to ride. The Gordons decided then that they were going just going to go home, taking the sick Willis with them. Now there were only 7 people left in our group. We decided that we weren't going to let the weather keep us down, so at the first tiny break in the rain, we were out on our bikes. I stayed in the car as everyone went back up Neels Gap as a warm up, jumping in with them at the top to spin my legs before we got to the next summit. Jack's Gap wasn't too steep but rather long and at the top we found the entrance to Brasstown Bald. But of course we couldn't ride up it just yet because we had two more gaps to do before coming back to it (whose brilliant idea was that anyways?). Unicoi Gap was next and probably my favorite, especially the descent. But we also came across a head-on car crash on the way down that slowed our progress some. Then it was time to ride Hogpen, in my opinion, the worst by far. It just kept going up and up and up (the beginning of this post is the conversion we had every time we thought it was the top) but finally we reached the summit. I was too tired to feel comfortable descending the slippery mountain, and gazed at the chunks of ice on the side of the road as we drove past. The second time up Jack's gap was also spent in the car, trying to recuperate and summon enough energy to make it up Brasstown Bald. After riding back and forth a couple of times on the road beside the entrance, I decided to just get it over with. The signs at the bottom said: "Ice on road," "Steep Grades Next 3 Miles," and a depiction of a winding road. FUN! I reset my computer at the base to track the miles, and about half way through I thought very seriously of just getting in the car. But I finally made it up to the top and ya know what... it was cold, thick fog and 5:30 in the afternoon. We must be crazy to do this for fun I thought to myself. But now I can say that I climbed Brasstown Bald the day after I turned 14.
Can You?

The Drive Home
I was going to leave this post at the "Can You?" but I just had to add this:
When we left Dahlonega the next morning it was still raining. The weather report we watched was predicting a snow storm rolling right across Georgia. When we were just outside Atlanta, the snow turned to sleet. And then finally in Macon, snow flurries started coming down. I even got to touch some while we were Five Guys for lunch. It was the first time I've ever seen snow! And then when we crossed the Florida border, the sun came out, and the temperature went up 20 degrees.

"So what did you do this weekend?"
"I spent it climbing up mountains on my bike in the rain and cold!"
"Oh. Well, I went to the beach"

The race isn't over until the fat lady sings

Well it isn't...

I tried and tried and couldn't think of an interesting way to start this blog post. So you get the generic introduction, but it gets better as I go, so just hang with me.
I was really excited for the up coming Sanford Waterfront and Lake Mary Criteriums that were held last weekend. I remembered it from last year: Saturday's course: 6 turns, technical and mostly smooth pavement, then Sunday was 3 turns and very wide open. I'll admit, Saturday's course was more of my type, but I was looking forward to doing well both days.
I started the weekend with the 10-14 junior race, planning to sprint off the line with my teammates Casey Braga and Briana Luthman. After winning two $5 primes, I settled for 3rd place overall, but was saving some energy for womens 4 later on. My warm up (or is it reheat?) a couple hours after juniors, consisted of a light spin on the trainer with my teammates throwing mini marshmallows through my back wheel (for some reason, that is big hit with the guys. Easily amused...), and then it was time to race again.
It seems to me that the first few laps were pretty uneventful (because I can't remember anything interesting about them) so I tried to repeat last weekend's break away tactic. I stayed off the front solo for about two laps with the field in hot pursuit. Eventually three women formed a chase that caught my wheel and I hoped I could work with them. I pulled a few extra seconds once they worked up to me, time for them to catch their breath, and then moved to the left to let the next women go through. "Give me... a moment.... to catch my breath" she gasps. Well, well, well, I just gave her a chance catch a breath and she thought it wasn't enough. You should know of course, what I, in usual Michelle fashion, did then. I got right back on the front and hammered to make them suffer. But unfortunately the pack still caught us and I settled in behind the women thinking: "Fine then, I'll just beat you in the sprint."
Well, I did. When they rang the bell, I sprinted out of the first corner and stayed away until the line 5 turns later, winning myself $40 payout.
But the weekend wasn't over yet.
Saturday night was a very eventful evening with a team party at the Gordon's house (they have a beautiful home by the way). Of course, the parents talked long into night, we didn't get home until 10:00, and after a shower and everything else, I was in bed 11:00. Not saying the party wasn't fun, but something tells me that 11:00 bedtime isn't good race preparation. Ether way, I was still up and going Sunday morning (I actually awoke thinking it was Monday) and ready to race in Lake Mary.
The junior race was rather interesting. The PAL team (Police Athletic League) was out there in full force, along with most of the juniors from the day before. Zoe Mullins also did her first race on team Colavita, even winning a medal. In my category, I came in 4th overall in the sprint but came in first because of LAJORS (Lance Armstrong Junior Olympic Racing Series) scoring.
And then for my 4th and final race of the weekend: Women 1,2,3,4
Right from the beginning of the race, the category 1,2,3 women were going hard. It was all I could do to keep up and after a few laps, I was shelled off the back. Ok, I was fine riding along by myself, it had been a long time since I've been off the back in a crit and anyways, I had already done 3 races that weekend. But the fat lady wasn't singing yet and on the other side of the course, four women had made a breakaway from the pack. These racers were all 1,2,3s and soon they had lapped me. It was then logical that I jumped on there wheels and hung on for as long as possible. After a while, we began to be able to see the field just in front of us. From listening in on the breakaway's conversation though, I knew they had no intention of lapping them. So, sprinting as hard as I could, I caught up with the pack. The moment I was on the back though, Julie Bishop whispered "Go Michelle" meaning for me to just ride through the group and off the front. Well, why not I though to myself, maybe I could get away with this. Of course, the moment I moved up in the field, the women got into a huge conversation. First: "where did you come from?" Then: "Is she lapped? Is she a four, is she a three? Whats going on? Is she on the same lap as us?" Personally, I was still a little confused about what was going on, but I knew that for whatever reason, I wanted to get off the front, so I told them "Hey, I think I got lapped by the leaders (which was true) so can you guys just let me get a nice finish? You know, just a good way to top off the weekend." And the amazing thing was, they let me (but I don't think that's ever going to happen again). So for the last few laps of the race, I was off the front with another women, trading pulls and hoping so badly that the race would be over before the other cat 4s had figured out what I did. And finally...the fat lady sang.
I don't think I could have asked for a better weekend: Four races, four podiums, $100 cash won. But do not even think about upgrading me yet.

Photo credits go to Brad Gordon

Dade City Criterium

(Also on the Colavita Florida Racing Blog)
The Dade City Criterium, undoubtedly my favorite race of the entire season. Every year the 6 turn course has brought out the best results in me and now again, the tradition has held strong.
I began the day with the junior race. After winning a girl scout cookies prime, I placed 2nd in the finish, just behind my teammate Casey Braga. But it wasn't until later, in the women 4 race, that I really let the energy flow.
Lining up for the start after an entertaining kiddie race, the officials gave us the usual procedure, Then Jenny Collins, a friend of mine, came strutting across the line displaying a beautiful wrist watch that would go to the winner of the race. Don't call me greedy, but I wanted that watch, and for the first few laps I debated about how to win it. After seeing the womens 1,2,3 race earlier in the day and Tina Elliot do an amazing break off the front, that strategy had stuck in my head and became the one I chose. My first chance to get away came when they rang a prime for a pair of pink socks (say that fast 5 times). At first I had no intention of sprinting for them but when someone else showed some interest, I just had to. Not wanting to waste the attack though, I kept the power up after the line. I tried working together with the lone woman who had caught my wheel, but the pack caught up a lap later. Sitting in the group recovering, I waited for another chance.
This time when it came, we were on the back of the course and Jeniffer Doucett was taking a very hard pull. When she slid off the front, and in behind me, I quickly chose to make a break. Jeniffer was tired enough that she had little hope of chasing me down quickly and also served a purpose in blocking others behind from trying. After a lap of head down hammering, I found that one person had made the gap and we began working together for the rest of the race. I was very confident that I could beat her in the sprint so I made no strategy to tire her, just make the break work. On the last lap though, I timed my pull so she would be on the front the whole lap, basically giving me my own lead out. Through the last corner I sprinted, my momentum alone pushing me past her, and then on to the line.
Afterward I couldn't believe how well the race and the whole day went. A huge thanks to Kiefer Village Jewels of Dade City who supplied the watch I won and everyone who helped put on the race.

Heat, Sugarsand and Speed

If I were to choose three words to summarize last weekend's state championship course at Jonathan Dickinson State Park, they would be: Heat, Sugar-sand, and Speed.
In my category, Women 4, there were four other racers for me to compete with, as well as the junior 10-14 group who was racing at the same time but being scored separately. I have to say, that on the start line I was the youngest women by a differential of at least 10 years. That can be a good or bad thing sometimes, but for this race it seemed to be my advantage.
On the first two laps, out of a total of four, I played cat and mouse with a lady who was wearing a green jersey and riding a mountain bike. (no I don't know what brand, that's for the boys to care about) She would beat me in the sugar sand and where I was forced to walk, but then I would catch and pass her on the road. On the second time over the barriers though, she was just ahead of me. In a split second decision to mental slow her down, I shouldered my light cyclocross bike and dashed across the barriers as fast as I could, arriving at the last one before she even finished stepping over the first. From there I time trialed a long section of pavement and hammered the sugar sand parts until I knew she would not be able to catch me. After that, I simply kept racing at the speed I had been before, quickly finishing my last two laps.
It was a long race, but a lot of fun. One thing that I learned from this race was that even though you may not be entirely out of physical energy, a mental hit takes away almost as much as having to chase down an attack.

This is also planned to be posted on the new colavita blog.

Colavita Website and Blog

I'm trying to write a summary of the past two race weekends but currently it is just unedited-train-of-thought. But in the spirit of getting our team websites out to the world (cue dramatic music) I'm happy to announce that Team Colavita Florida has a website and blog up and running now. Unfortunately, nether have much on them at this instant, but we are adding more every day. Here are the links:
www.colavitaracing.com
www.colavitaracingflorida.blogspot.com
Hopefully I will have my race reports also posted on here in due time. (warning: they may be rather long.)