Bottle Rocket

My Summer

2011-07-28T06:56:00.000-07:00

Nancy says I need to update my blog more often. So here's what I've been up to this summer:

Behind the Scenes

2011-05-29T18:43:00.000-07:00

Races aren't all about the bike. We do other stuff too, like help the environment by ridding it of invasive grasshoppers or improve our fast twitch muscle fibers in a game of Foosball.

Welcome to the Twilight Zone

2011-05-29T17:50:00.000-07:00

So one weekend when I was little and didn't have a bike race to go to, I decided to watch some TV. The only things on were golf and an episode of the Twilight Zone. Choosing the latter, I watched as the frightening story line developed. A dysfunctional family, with two misfit kids, moves to the perfect neighborhood where the parents serve their children spiked lemonade that makes them sweet and complacent. The rest of the show was then about how one of them rebelled and eventually ends up dying, happily ever after. This memory
has burned in the back of my mind since then and added a new level of terror at the race this past weekend.

The flyer said it was in Naples but Google maps showed the courses to be in the middle of nowhere town of Ave Maria (Pronouned: av-A mar-E-a, not Avenue Maria as we quickly discovered). As we were driving up we could see the town center from nearly a mile away because of the giant cathedral. It seemed like every road in the development lead to the large building who's metal exterior seemed better fit for housing F-15s than Sunday mass. This is where the Twilight Zone theme song started to play in my head. Do-Do Do-Do Do-Do. Freaky religious settlement and we were supposed to be staying in the Ave Maria University dorms? In the lobby there were crosses everywhere! Not that I don't appreciate religion and I am definatly not bashing Sunday Mass, but don't you think the complementary rosary in our room was a bit much? Walking into the bathroom after our long drive and come to find out even their toilet paper is heavenly!

Saturday morning, wake up, ride to the course. I cheered for my teammates Anselm and James in the junior race and then got ready for my own. Zoe and I got on the line with about 13 women and we started the race in a decent group. Elizabeth Morse Hill got things pretty heated up and I found myself just getting dropped from her four person breakaway when the girl in front of me went down. Elizabeth got away from me but I caught up with the other woman. Us and a couple others formed a group of four that we brought down to a field sprint, where I took 3rd for the Womens 1,2,3.
My enthusiasm was low for taking pictures after my race when I discovered that the dorm lobby had A/C and cable, at which point I chose to sit on the couch watching Disney channel and eating pasta until my time trial that afternoon. Unfortunately it didn't do me much good and I ended up flubbing my time on the 4.5 mile course. Just couldn't seem to get a good rhythm going and I placed in the middle of the women.
But I didn't let that keep me down and a good ol' grasshopper smashing put everyone in great spirits before dinner. (I promise you, they're an invasive species, ask any gardener)

The course the next day was still located in Ave Maria but probably at the farthest possible point from the cathedral, which was understandable. If you've ever gone riding on a Sunday morning and have experienced what people will do on their way to church, you'll understand what I mean. There were only three of us 1,2,3 women in my race and, after I collected a prime for a bag of cliff shots, we all ended up in a breakaway together. It was a three corner course so we took turns pulling on each straightaway. I spent most of the race trying to figure out how to alter our pulls enough so I could be on the downwind straight but it eventually just came down to a sprint finish where I took 2nd. I cooled down and headed back to the car. On the way through the parking lot I came across a little girl selling lemonade with her mother. She was so adorable but I couldn't help but think back to the Twilight Zone episode; what had she spiked it with I wondered... Yet I fell victim to her cuteness and had to buy the last cup. So if I suddenly because sweet and unbelievably nice, it's all because of the lemonade.

Overall Race Rating: Though slightly hazardous in parts, the courses were great. Venue was perfect for a race, hope they do it again next year.

Why, Hello There!

2011-04-12T12:30:00.000-07:00

My adopted big sister Jackie Crowell is making me feel guilty for neglecting my racing blog because she has taken up writing her's again. Granted, Jackie has a much more interesting cycling life than I do, competing in the Netherlands, China and Qatar (wherever that is), but that doesn't mean that I can't write about my racing in good ol' la Floridia.
I enjoy writing articles for Florida Racing/Cycling Magazine that summarize the womens races, and I especially appreciate the positive feedback I get from readers, but writing race reports for a magazine is limiting in ways that a personal blog is not. For instance, here on my blog I can complain about how I've gained 2 pounds recently, and how I ran to my mother begging her to tell me that it's muscle and not all of the Klondike bars I've been eating lately (They were 2 for 1 at Publix, what can I say?). Somehow, I don't think most people would enjoy reading about that in a racing magazine.
My racing has been good so far this season, I've already accumulated 8 wins in the Women 3/4 category, (including Webster Roubaix for the second year in a row!) and I've started racing Women 1-3 in the shorter races. It's a whole different mindset racing with the stronger women... but I should save that for a later blog post.

Gotta go for a ride at Wekiva this evening, and I'll probably spend most of the time on the bike gossiping with my teammate while her dad tries to make us suffer up hills.

Survival of the Fastest

2010-06-09T11:59:00.000-07:00

Iowa – Memorial Day equals an extra long weekend for a junior bike racer like me and if you add Memorial Day to Cycling - like any good Algebra 2 student can do - you get an awesome three days of racing.

The weekend had started out early, with a flight from Orlando International at 7:00 o’clock Friday morning. That afternoon, Dean and Taylor Warren competed in the Wapello to Burlington road race. They both finished midpack and followed it quickly by a test ride of Snake Alley… Classified as the “crookedest road in the world,” Snake Alley is a one block, 12% grade, 6-switchback-long hill climb. And each year, there is a bike race run up it.

The excitement of lining up with 56 other junior racers to compete in the 2010 Snake Alley Criterium was like no other, but it quickly wore off when I realized I was on the very back of the pack. Callups were based on registration order, and being the faraway-Floridians, we had waited to the last minute to sign up. One racer beside us suggested we “cyclocross it” up to the front at the start. Giggle. With the whistle and a few curb jumps later, I had passed 20 riders in less than 5 seconds (and by the way, it was completely legal, it’s not my fault everyone was scared of the parking lane.) Anyways, a minute later we were at the base of the snake. In the 2nd switchback a rider took a spill just in front of me. Trackstanding for a moment, I had to swerve to the left to avoid crashing into him. Too bad for that kid behind me I cut off, I had just thought, when a voice on my wheel shouted my name. Oops, I guess you don’t get bonus points for cutting off your own teammate. Sorry Taylor. Continuing the suffering to the top of the climb, I shifted into a larger gear to descend and surprised myself at how many guys I was still ahead of. Reaching 30 mph downhill, one of them had just caught me when he entered the 6th turn and slid out before my eyes. My adrenaline rush had already come and gone with the previous crash so I lazily swerved around him and continued on. Compared to the first lap, the rest of the race was rather mundane. Enduring the snake 7 more times with my female competitors nipping at my heels was nowhere near as fun as just the experience of being there. I ended up winning the junior +15 girls and spent the rest of the day dedicated to maxing out my camera’s memory card with over 1,000 photos.

6:20 Sunday morning, my mother and I awoke to realize we were staying in a hotel filled with racers: Cyclists who were perfectly capable of devastating the Super 8 breakfast table with little effort. Getting out of bed earlier than planned, we managed to secure a few waffles and some juice before heading a mile down the road to that day’s course. A one mile long criterium, featuring a long sweeping downhill adorned with a cataclysmic speed bump before the long climb to the finish line. I raced Junior +15, keeping up with the national level boys for nearly a lap before coming out the back. There were a few other girls who stayed on the pack longer than I did but I was able to quickly catch them on the descent. When I got in a group of about 5 guys I realized that I had been to Junior Development Camp with a few of them. Fighting for a wheel, I’m sure they recognized me as that racer who won half the games of knockdown, earning me a few “atta-girls” while I was with them. Later in the day I raced women 1-3, a very interesting experience. Because of some friends in high places, I was able to obtain a top-ten race number, qualifying me for the front line of the race start. However, as I rolled up, I realized the woman beside me had the exact same number as I did. Uh-oh! Apparently because the category 3 were being scored separately from the women 1/2, they had repeated the number system and there were duplicates of every number in the field. Everyone was repined with a new race number before we got on the road but it was practically pointless for me. I stayed with the pro pack for a few laps into the race but a couple minutes after I was dropped, the officials accidentally pulled me from the race, mistaking me for many of the lapped riders I was already ahead of. It was disappointing but I didn’t let it keep me down; the next day was my favorite race of the weekend.

Standing on the start line once again, this time at the Rock Island/Quad Cities Criterium. A steady rain had begun earlier that morning, sending junior and masters racers sliding in the eight turn criterium course. Seeing as my own teammate had gone down a couple of races before, I was anxious not to end the race weekend on a bad note. The previous three days had been a compilation of climbs, descents, and fast cornering, only two of which I had really enjoyed. But now I had the ultimate advantage over the other racers in women 2/3 that day, with flat, fast and wet city street. My strategy for the first lap was simply to be the fastest one through the corners and let everyone else crash behind me. Soon that technique carried over to every lap, racing as hard as I could for my own survival. Midway through the race, a breakaway of 4 women got away and I ended up in a chase group of seven. I didn’t even know we were ahead of the rest of the pack until my mother shouted it from the sidelines. A few women tried to solo away but they were all either caught or crashed themselves out. When it came down the final lap, I found myself sprinting second wheel on the back side of the course, exiting the final corner with my head down until the line. A woman on my left, twice my size, beat me to it by just an inch but I finished 6th overall. Such an exhilarating feeling to end a weekend like that; I can’t wait to go back next year.

(Also published in the May edition of Florida Racing Magazine)

Webster Roubaix

2010-04-04T18:34:00.000-07:00

Webster Roubaix is an outstanding event that is legendary for it’s dust, so thick that I have yet to finish cleaning the remnants of 2009 from behind my ears. Hanging out with racers who take pride in having a sparkling clean bike, I absolutely love watching their disgusting faces as they fly by and as I am still a 10 year old at heart, this race is a great opportunity to spend some time playing in the dirt.

In past years, I haven’t had that greatest of finishes at Webster Roubaix. In 2008, at the age of 13, I stayed with the field the entire race only to be crashed out a few hundred meters from the line. 2009 wasn’t my year either, when Dave Viney rode me off his wheel just a couple of miles into the race. But this year, I became determined to win the title of Webster Roubaix champion and to own of one of yhe distinctive, coveted trophies .

From previous experience, I knew a few key tips to succeed in such a difficult race. The number one rule that I kept repeating to my teammates during the day was that you had to be one of the first people on the dirt, because it’s nearly impossible to move up after you’re already in the dust. I also noted that Dave Viney and Julius Aulisio were a couple of masters who I was going to be racing with, that I really needed to keep an eye on in order to stay with the group. I was also racing with Ashlyn Gerber, a great friend but very strong competitor, who I knew was going to be hard to beat that day.

There were 11 women at the start along with the 21 Masters 55+ and 65+ we were also racing with. This included my teammate, Zoe Mullins, who was competing in her first ever womens road race! We started off on the dirt neutral, meaning the actual racing couldn’t commence until everyone was on the pavement. Some people took this as a moment to swap recipes before the attacks started, but I used the time to position myself perfectly in the pack, as in right at the front. From the beginning, the speed was held between 21 to 25 mph and for the first lap of the race, I kept within the top 7 of the peloton. There weren’t any extremely notable attacks and no breakaways but when we got within about a mile of the dirt road you could sense that everyone was gearing up for a hard effort. I knew what I had to do and immediately jumped on Viney’s (Dave Viney) and Jubie’s (Julius Aulisio) wheels after being one of the first through the sandy corner. Viney had a plan for that race, and that was to attack every lap on the dirt section, dragging us through the start/finish at 25 mph, with myself doing everything possible to hold 3rd wheel in the paceline. When we would finally get of the dirt, Viney would pull off and we would all reorganize into a group, though it was significantly smaller every lap than what we had before hitting the dirt. I didn’t quite realize how significant the breaks were until Jubie pulled up beside me while I was sitting about 10th wheel and said that there were 3 women left in the pack including myself and Ashlyn. Surprised, I looked over my shoulder to only find 2 other people behind me in the group. I was guaranteed a podium spot, and just one step closer to that trophy.

We dropped the other lady a lap later, and Viney finally whittled the group down to four riders off of the dirt section with 2 laps to go. I was one of the victims of that lap’s attack, along with Ashlyn and three other masters. We rode all together for a lap and half until some guy came flying by us with one lap to go. I’m thinking to myself “Who on earth is this guy and where did he come from?!?” The first answer I came up with was that we had been lapped by the +45 group and so I shouted not to chase him because he was in a different category. But then a voice behind me said “No we’re not.” Scared me half to death. Apparently out-of-sight/out-of-mind works both ways; for break aways and dropped riders. The woman that we had dropped earlier in the race had teamed up with another master who paced her back up to us. Judging by how much work she must have done to catch up with us, I wasn’t too worried about her at the finish, but still, it scared me there for a second.

As we turned the last corner onto the dirt, Ashlyn attacked. She got a pretty good distance on me, and I tried to chase her down but couldn’t quite catch her. I had almost accepted the second place finish when the group of masters I was with rode past me. Jumping on their wheels, I started gaining ground on her and when the finish line came into sight, we had pulled even. A quick glance over at her, proved that Ashlyn had burned her last match going too early and I continued on past her to the finish. That finish line never looked so welcoming.

It may take another year to completely wash away the dust from 2010 but there is no way to wash away my smile from winning Webster Roubaix.

Miami Cyclocross

2010-01-13T14:03:00.000-08:00

As I was watching the Miami cyclocross, it came to my attention that there was a massive, white iceberg floating in the bay behind us. When I pointed it out to my mother however, her response was "You mean that yacht?" "Oh, could've fooled me. It's so cold that I wouldn't be surprised if I started seeing penguins and polar bears too."
Considering that this weekend's race was in Miami, it seems just morally wrong for it to have been as cold as it was. Saturday morning before the race, we were sitting in IHOP eating breakfast and wondering when the rain was going to stop, or at least, when it was going to turn into snow. In preparation for the race we piled on layer after layer of warm clothing; shorts, leg warmers, tights, jersey, arm warmers, jacket, rain jacket, hat, gloves, etc. The only problem came when considering which layer to pin the number to. My warm up consisted of a cycle, huddling around the fire, huddling in the car with the heater on, and huddling around my mother and teammates near the start line. I was actually extremely thankful when the race finally started because it meant we were going to get a little warmer. I sprinted off the line, away from my few opponents and fell in behind my teammate Brandon into the first turn. The cold must have given us both tunnel vision because we almost missed it and we went careening into the marking tape. Aside from that, and a few other mishaps, and excluding the freezing rain and wind, it was a great race. I did not go for a cool down lap.
Have you ever heard the song that goes: "the sun will come out, tomorrow"? Biggest Lie Ever. Sunday was colder, winder, and just as overcast as the day before. The only saving grace was that it wasn't raining, but who needs rain when you've got 20 mph winds and its the coldest day ever in the history of Miami! So we woke up and put on even more clothes than Saturday; Earmuffs, balaclavas, shoe covers, the whole shebang. Again, I couldn't wait for the race to start but the proceedings were held up by a frozen pelican who decided to cross the course right in front of the start line. After a bunch of oohing and ahhing over the bird, we finally got going. It was a mountain biker's type course, with a lot of technical turns, and once I got to the loose rock sections, it was easy to loose my opponents (snicker, snicker). I loved going through the start finish area every lap too. The race promoter had made it mandatory that anyone standing there had to have a free cowbell in their hand and cheer like crazy for every racer who came through. After my race I also made sure to stop in for my free Belgian waffle as well.
It took me an hour of sitting in the car with the heater on full blast to finally thaw out from the weekend and I'm still a little worried that my toes are going to fall off and they already turned blue. (oh wait, that's the nail polish)
CAN'T WAIT TO DO IT AGAIN NEXT WEEKEND!

Pre-Spring Cleaning

2009-12-16T11:17:00.000-08:00

*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

2009-07-24T12:28:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-17T20:09:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-25T18:14:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-25T18:10:00.000-07:00

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....

2009-05-06T11:06:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-03-02T13:56:00.000-08:00

"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

2009-02-24T11:42:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-18T14:36:00.000-08:00

(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

2009-01-19T07:09:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-14T10:51:00.000-08:00

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.)

Colavita Website

2008-12-21T13:44:00.000-08:00

Colavita Florida now has it's own website! It is still under construction but it is up on the web. Hopefully soon it will be full of all of our team's information, calender, racer bios, etc. There is also some talk of a Colavita Racing Blog but I don't think it has been made yet.
http://www.colavitaracing.com/

Happy Holidays

2008-12-13T11:32:00.001-08:00

I was having a little too much fun with paint. Anyways, Merry Christmas! And please don't kill me for this!

P.S. If you're reading this on facebook, you probably can't see the picture to go along with this post. Go to my blog to see it or I might up load it to my photos.

Addition:
So you peoples won't be to mad it me, I made one for myself. To make ether bigger, just click on them.

B3

2008-12-03T16:48:00.000-08:00

Man, I have been meaning to do this for like months and now someone's beaten me to it. But there's no such thing as too much support and publicity.
Bikes, Beans and Bordeaux is a small, local restaurant in Orlando and a great place to eat. Their menu consists all of healthy sandwiches (examples: the "Lance-wich" or the "Tour de Tuna) , salads, soups, etc, that taste even better after a long ride. The atmosphere is very friendly and they don't care if you come in wearing sweaty ride clothes. Besides the menu, there are a few other subtle hints relating to cycling, but I'm sure even you non-cycling friends would enjoy dinning there.
It was e-mailed to me, a link to the team armada site which had a video posted about Bikes, Beans and Bordeaux. (the reason why I am finally writing this...) Here is a link to the Team Armada site with the post I got the video from.
http://team-armada.blogspot.com/
I've also added to this post a couple photos of my own that I took.
The B3 Café is located at 3022 Corrine Drive, Orlando. For a map and directions, click here.

Bikes Beans and Bordeaux from Chad Taylor on Vimeo.

Tallahassee Cyclocross

2008-11-24T09:26:00.000-08:00

I can't really come up with any interesting way to explain the weekend so I guess it's just going to be a summary.
Saturday:

The course was around a high school campus and consisted of a ton of steep run ups and downhills (which were also very steep). Each lap you went over two barriers, around a running track, and down both long jumps and through the sand pits at each end.
I got 1st place in womens B, out of a pack of 1. Also, I won a nice pair of sunglasses with 4 different pairs of lenses. Casey and James also did well, 1st and 2nd in the 10-14 field
My camera caught a great video of Jos crashing into the barriers on one lap and it is already on youtube.
I did not crash at all during the race but managed to go over the handle bars while playing around afterward. Luckily, nobody saw it ☺.

Sunday:

The course was about the same as saturday, just going in the opposite direction. All of the down hills of the day before were now excruciating run ups and vice versa. They did add in a voodoo spiral ( or death spiral, everyone had different names for it). Basically, you went around in circles, getting closer and closer and then all of a sudden, you do this quick little turn in the middle and ride out, not once crossing your path. It's really weird at first but cool.
On sunday I actually had some competition but I still beat her by a good distance at the end of the race and won myself a nice Rudy Project (pronounced Pro-jé in my world) helmet. There was also another junior 10-14 who got second, Casey won 1st and James in 3rd.
Brent did an amazing crash, landed on his head and cracked his helmet. He said he was somewhat dizzy but shaped right up when we told him that JP could drive him home.
That night we went to the Dixie Grill for a great dinner, consisting mostly of their famous fried chicken. Jos made everything complicated by asking for an extra chicken tender so the waitress said that he could look off the kiddie menu instead and she even brought him one of the those playschool toys that you get with a happy meal. He was ecstatic.

It was a pretty fun weekend, we didn't fall down too much and even got some more people hooked on the sport of cyclocross.

Horrible 100

2008-11-16T15:14:00.000-08:00

The ride start

Burma-shave signs started before you even got to the parking lot. It's intolerable, this much we know is true, but our bike club has heart, and we're doing our part, at the party we're having for you.

Today was the wonderful Horrible 100. Last year was the first year I rode it and I did the 100 miler. This year though, I didn't feel like going that far, and why do the 75, when with just 25 more miles, you reach 100! (but wait! If you call now...) So I decided to ride the 37 with some other people, including Brianna, a new rider on our team. It was a pretty nice ride, rather cold, or should I say, very cold when we started, complete with a convent headwind most of the way. I rode up the front side of sugarloaf even though it wasn't on the course, and hit 44 mph going down. The rest stop we stopped at had some good chocolates (and nutella). Just for future reference I did multiple tests to make sure that it was good. There were a couple stories I heard about people going out of their way to get to the formerly known as: OZ rest stop to get my mom's brownies and peanut butter balls only to find out that she didn't make any and wasn't even at the rest stop. Can't wait until next year!

The mighty warriors after their long, slogging, winding, hilly, cold, terrible...I mean great 100 mile ride

Dictionary

2008-11-09T16:15:00.000-08:00

I was doing my science vocabulary words and got bored so I decided to write this:

Boredom: n. the state of being weary and restless through lack of interest

Wow, what a great definition. I think you could just cut it down to the lack of interest part. In my words: Boredom: n. doing nothing for the absolute fun of it.

Random: n. a haphazard course; adj. lacking a definite plan, purpose, or pattern b: made, done, or chosen at random.

I though there was some rule that you can't use the word in the definition... Mine: Random: n. something that makes no sense; example: homework.

Bicycle: n. a vehicle with two wheels tandem, handlebars for steering, a saddle seat, and pedals by which it is propelled ; also : a stationary exercise machine that resembles such a vehicle

Um...how about my definition: Bicycle: n. The best invention ever, (maybe tied with indoor plumbing) keeps you far below the average weight of someone at McDonalds, great way to get around town, especially when the first car your mom whats to get you is diesel, volvo, station wagon that probably does weigh as much as the average person at McDonalds, and the bicycle can help save the world! (thank you sven![inside joke])

Is this post sad or what?

Photo Album 2008- Cyclo-cross

2008-10-18T13:41:00.000-07:00

The road racing season is over till next year and we don't have any cyclo-cross races until November. So, I'm going to spend some time putting together a collection of posts with photos and a paragraph about each race this year. First off is cyclo-cross which began in late November 2007 and went through to the end of January. It was kind of a nice change, after racing on roads all year long, cyclo-cross was what we needed. The courses really varied, from sugar-sand-land in Stuart's Johnathan Dickinson, a muddy retention pond in Largo, single track and open fields in Sarasota, and an old rock quarry in Miami. The races also were different in many ways because of the courses and there were a couple of memorable crashes as well. One weekend in Sarasota, nearly everyone on the team crashed and spent the rest of the day icing parts of their bodies. (Unlucky for me, it was one of the few weekends I actually did well and everyone else is too busy talking about what they hurt to tell me "good job" :P) Speaking of crashing, you might remember the photo below: Mud Man. I'm not sure if I should consider this one of my best photos or not. He was already there and I just took the picture. But either way, it's just great. Too bad I don't know who he is because it would be wonderful for blackmailing :)

P.S. Tell me what your think of this. Am I wasting my time with this "photo album" or do you actually find it kind of interesting?

Next: Tour of the Bahamas

Last Race of the Season

2008-10-13T11:58:00.000-07:00

I don't know where to start when telling about all of the events of this weekend, I think it would take a novel to write everything that happened in those two days.
Saturday:
There is something poetic about waking up at 4:30am, getting to the race course while it's still dark, and not being able to tell whether what you just stepped in was a cow pie or an ant hill.
It was a slightly rolling road race course that day. There was only a small group of juniors, as always. Our group stayed together for most of the race with the exception of Nick rolling off the front a couple of times. With about 3 miles to go Lucas and Jeff attacked and got off the front. Everyone chased and I ended up at the back of our separated groups. I rode into the finish alone and got 5th place.
After the road race we had 5 hours to spend before the time trial. I wasted every minute of it.
Fast Forward....
The time trial start list had me going off 23rd, at 3:11:03, and the last in my category. The course was part of the road race that morning: A rolling ,2.5 mile out and back from the finish line. Basically I went hard out and went hard back. On the last hill my 30 second man (started 30 seconds before me) was 20 seconds ahead of me. I really wanted to make podium and jammed it up the hill. By the time I was at the top, he was only a few yards before me and I beat him at the line. The results said I had a time of 12:40 in 3rd place. Not too bad...
That evening was the award presentations at the Appleton Museum of Art. I got a trophy in the junior 13-14 and women 4s Florida Point Series, as well at $25 in womens. Colavita also got the team points plaques in junior 10-12 and 13-14. I have to say that we did dominate the categories. They last thing on the agenda that night was the special awards including the E.J. Rogut award. It's wasn't much of a surprise, to me at least, that my mom won it. She has done so much at every race this year. From setting up, to junior roll out, to fixing broken bikes. The Blanchard family had also noticed this during the year and decided to have a trophy made for her. It's a laser cut of everyone on the team, placed like we're riding in a pack following my mom. It's really cool and I think she deserved it.
Sunday:
Well, I fell asleep 2 times on the way to the race...
The course on Sunday was a flat, lollipop shaped, out and back. The juniors only did one lap, 15 miles, and I was hoping that it would be just a fun race. I dream way too much. I will admit that it was me who kind of kicked the pace up in the very beginning but it didn't last very long. Nick got off the front a couple of times and after one time, the others didn't chase so I sprinted up to him to maybe work together to get off the front. They didn't follow us very quickly but after a while they developed a chase. A quick glance back told me a couple of things at once. Lucas was on the front pulling them up to us, and when he caught us, we better stand up and match the group's pace because they weren't slowing down. Our group consisted entirely of 13-14s and after a couple attacks it became a staring contest. I couldn't get to the back of the group like I wanted, so I simply went off the front. I don't think it really counted as an attack but after I had a good gap, they all stood up and chased me down. I did the same thing a few times and finally they just didn't chase me. I stayed off the front for a while, a mile at least, picking up the pace more and more as I went. There was no warning they were coming by me until someone shifted their gears and I turned to see the four boys shooting past me. I tried my best to catch on to their train but couldn't. After a while I let the 10-12 juniors catch me and rode with them. They had decided that they had nothing to lose and wanted James to win. With a few miles to go I became his lead out and Justin and Anselm dropped back. As we rounded the corner I sprinted him to the finish and then went to roll out. I got 5th place in the road race and 3rd in the overall omnium.
It was a really fun weekend (especially the awards ceremony and watching the cat 4-5 race from the wheel truck) but I can't believe the racing season is already over! I feels like it just started! :( I guess I will see a lot of people at cyclocross but I still can't wait until 2009!

Of course...

2008-09-28T15:47:00.000-07:00

Everyone in the world knows my mom;
example:

From: http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/

Because that’s how it is.

I just picked up my new Surly at Retro City Cycles. It’s BEAUTIFUL! And Diane Blake said, “It’s going to rain now, because you’re on a new bike.” That’s how it is. And the sky opened up the minute I rolled out of the parking lot. And I was wearing my office clothes (such as they are). And I only had a mile to ride. And I got drenched. And wet jeans weigh more than steel bike frames.

And I sure do love fenders!

Posted by: Keri on September 22nd, 2008

(speaking of surlys, my mom just got a pugsley, it' so cool!)

Riding around in Circles

2008-09-28T07:31:00.000-07:00

I can now truly say I have tried every form of bicycle racing there is. Road, Mountain, BMX, Cyclo-cross, (Highwheels too if you want to count that) and now track racing. I've only ridden on a velodrome 3 times before and now I was trying my hand at the Florida State Junior Track Championships at Brian Piccolo Velodrome. Luckily, there was no one else in my category and I won by default. I was still really fun though, and I wish that more people had shown up.
The races consisted of a 500m TT, 2000m scratch, and a 5000m scratch. The time trial was a 1 1/2 lap aerobic sprint and I got a time of 45 seconds. The next two races were 6 and 9 laps long where I basically just rode around (now if someone else in my category had shown up it would have been a different story... hint, hint... to my friends: next year) All four of the juniors were in different categories so we all got gold, it was a bit crowded on the top step.

Finally!

2008-09-21T13:57:00.000-07:00

How long has it been since the last Florida Point Series race? I'll give you a hint, it's longer than I can count on my hands and toes, even if I had extra ones... Anyways, after nothing but training rides, last weekend's race was something I had been really looking forward to.
The Saturday race was at Pinellas Park, a circuit course. My first race of the day, in the heat of the afternoon, was the junior race. There was nothing extremely interesting that happened but there were a couple of new riders in our small pack. The finish came down to a group sprint and I came in 5th place in 13-14. It's a satisfying result because one of my goals was to get some more points to keep me in second place in the Florida Point Series. The highlight of my weekend though, was during the women's race a bit later on. While warming up, I'll admit I wasn't too excited about racing with the women 1,2,3 and masters +55, along with the pack of 4s. A friend [and multiple national champion ;)], Jackie Crowell was racing with the 1-3 women and I decided that I would do my best to stick on her wheel (for reasons stated above...) Turned out to be a really good idea on my part. Throughout the race there were good attacks by both categories, but I stayed right in the pack, nearly always in a good position. (One of those exceptions was when I ate my jell and then remembered that I was wearing a skin suit with no pockets to put the empty packet in) Every few laps I repeatedly surprised myself with how long I was staying in the pack during the 40 minute race and pretty soon the cowbell rang. Amazed that I was still with the large group I started moving up in preparation for the finish. But as the end got nearer, the adrenaline higher, the riders got squirrely-er. I got rather shaken by the number of near crashes in the last 500 meters. I crossed the line placing 5th, 2.5 seconds behind Jackie Crowell and just before my friend Ashlyn. The excitement of doing so well was great, I wanted to jump up and down but decided against it. (Later on I learned that our average speed was 28 mph, for 40 minutes...)
So now that I've written a novel about my amazing womens race, I'm going to counter with writing very little about Sunday. Actually, there's nothing really to tell except for was happened in the first and last mile of the race.
First Mile: It was more like the first 100 yards from the start was our first turn, a right. I don't know who fault it was (though I have my suspicions), but someone at the front turned left and half the pack followed. We quickly realized the mistake by all the shouting and did a quick 180. Just to make me feel bad, the only ones who turned right like we were supposed to were the 10-12's.
Middle: Riding
Last Mile: Christian and I were on the front of the group when our teammate Nick did a quick "sprint?" ahead of the pack and got a bit of a gap. A couple seconds later Jay, Lucas and another junior came flying around us and got a large gap, going straight into a bullet train of four. Casey, Christian and I quickly followed suit but could not catch the break who kept throwing nervous glances back at us. I guess you could say we ran out of steam and they got away going up the last hill. I rode in by myself and after dodging a couple of cars, came in 7th place. Lucky 7.
It was a long and hard but fun weekend, and it's finally over. Can't wait till Lakeland!

Election 2008

2008-08-27T10:50:00.000-07:00

Watch the entire thing... It's not what you think

Tropical Storm, Depression, Hurricane, Who-Really-Cares... Fay

2008-08-23T09:40:00.000-07:00

I was planning on writing something on Fay and then I noticed that Jackie beat me to it. But I can't think of anything else to write about besides the Olympic boxing match I'm watching right now, so...
As many of you know, school started Monday; Same day that Fay was bombarding the keys. That afternoon, as I watched the storm move up the state on the news, I learned that school on Tuesday was canceled. It was like summer had started again. But I've got to laugh at the school board, because it only rained about once that day. Of course, when we went back on Wednesday and Thursday it rained all day and nearly ever student in the school could been seen huddling under an umbrella or rain coat going classes. Because of the rain our Thursday ride was canceled so I rode my trainer in the garage. I thought I heard a transformer blow and my mom came out to tell me that school was canceled again Friday because some of the schools in the county were flooded or didn't have power. What a great first week of school, only three days of class and we still haven't learned a thing!

Sunlight!

Nationals

2008-08-11T07:20:00.000-07:00

Day 1, Aug. 4th
I don't know where to start... We left OIA at 10:00 AM, had a layover in Albuquerque, changed planes in Phoenix, waited for a delayed flight, and finally made it to Orange County, California at around 3:00 western pacific time(6:00 Florida time). The first thing I noticed when we landed was that everything is brown, there's no green!!!
With the time zone change, even though it was the middle of the afternoon, it was really evening in Florida so I went to bed pretty early.

Day 2, Aug. 5th
The racing didn't start until Wednesday so my mom and I decided to do a bit of sightseeing and drive down the Angeles Crest Highway. It was really pretty, and when we got up to Mount Wilson, we got a beautiful view of Los Angeles. After the long drive back down, we went over the to race hotel to the packet pickup and then drove part of the time trial course before going back to our hotel.

Day 3, Aug. 6th Time Trial
I woke up rather early and lounged around the room because my start time wasn't until 2:15. When we arrived at the time trial start there wasn't a bit of shade to be seen, so my mom went in search of a tent. My warm-up consisted of a few laps of a road near the parking lot and around 2:05 I headed to the start. This year's time trial course consisted of an all-up-hill bike trail and then a long, grinding hill, a blazing downhill, and then an uphill finish. Why they chose to put juniors through that is beyond me (something about CA wouldn't give them the permits to hold the race on a flat road? `:| ) Anyways... While I was racing, I just kept pedaling and trying not to fall over. When I finally finished, only one person passed me, and I passed two, I could hardly stand at roll out. It was very hot and dry so I had horrible cotton mouth, and no water bottle (on a time trial bike?) And with the way the course was set up, I still had a six mile ride back to get to the car, something I didn't plan on doing (and ended up not doing) Later on, they posted the results and I got 11th in 13-14 with a time of 27:17. Not too bad...

Day 4, Aug. 7th Criterium
Now crits are my thing. I was really looking forward to this race, and hoping to do well. We got there around 9:00 and my race was at 11:00. I warmed up riding around Angels Stadium watching the other races going on until it was time for mine. We lined up, a group of about 25 or so riders and were soon off. Starting on the second lap they rang three consecutive primes, and I won every one. I was felt really good and had a really good chance of getting podium when... SOME KLUTZY, SQUIRRELLY GIRL CRASHED RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!!!!! And to make it worse, in the chaos of everyone crashing around me, I forgot to take a free lap... stupid, stupid, stupid... I didn't remember until a few laps later when it was too late. But I still finished and got 15th. I was planning to do better but I guess it's acceptable.

Day 5, Aug. 8th Road Race
From my disappointing race the day before, I decided that I was going to do my bestest best in the Road Race. Let me tell you now, my brain had not talked with my legs that morning... I hung with the pack fairly well on the first lap, I was rather happy actually. It was when we entered the second lap that the attacking began. One after another, they just attacked until I couldn't hang on any longer, and they rode away from me. I then spent the last lap of the race chasing two girls who dropped just in front of me. My legs were just empty of energy, but I somehow I caught up to and beat one of them, placing 14th out of 24 girls.

Day 6-7, Aug. 9th-10th Home
On Saturday we went back out to the road course to watch Jackie Crowell race... and then later went and drove the pacific coast highway for a bit more sightseeing.
On Sunday we left the airport at around 1:00pm, had to change planes in Las Vegas (I am NEVER going to go there again unless it's to change planes, they had slot machines in the terminal!!!) and then had a four hour flight back to Orlando, arriving at 12:00 (midnight, he, he, as in this morning...Yawn...)

3 Things I could have done better

Remembered to take a free lap
Maybe pushed a bit harder going up the hill in the Time Trial
Relaxed more after the Criterium in preparation for the Road Race the next day.

I don't really know what I think of my results this year but I'm planning on training harder, and doing much better next year.

My Photos

2008-08-03T15:25:00.000-07:00

Last year there was a photo contest on Florida Cycling and if there is one again this year, I plan on sending in some photos. The only question is which photo(s). So I'm going to have a photo "contest." I have chosen a few shots I really like and you guys can vote by using the poll in the side bar or commenting (if you like more than one). And please only vote once... :)

1. Webster Roubaix (a big favorite)

2. Gainesville; Crash in the masters race

3. Taken at the State Road Race Championships...

4. Lucas at the Herbalife Race Weekend

5.Field Sprint, Pro 1,2 State Crit

These aren't the only photos I like, I just got bored of uploading them...

Gwinnett Race Weekend

2008-07-30T16:47:00.000-07:00

I'm still writing this race summary, doubt I'll ever finish it (I'm too lazy), I just wanted to post what I've written so far

Weekend Results:
Friday

Juniors: 4th, 3rd in LAJORS

Saturday

Juniors: 4th in LAJORS (I do not know what I got overall)

Sunday

Juniors: 3rd in LAJORS (Again, I forgot what I got overall)

Summary
Ok, So there is a really good chance that I won't get around to writing a full summary of the Gwinnett Race Weekend, so here is a quick run down about what happened in the races.
My mom and I drove up Thursday and after a hour searching, we found our hotel. My first race was on Friday but it wasn't until 2:00 so we had some time to kill, and decided to go to stone mountian. It was really cool but we didn't have time to climb to the top because we had to get to the race. They were just setting up when we arrived so I got on my uniform and rode the course. It was a rolling course, the flyer said flat (Georgia flat) but other than that, wasn't too back. There was a large pothole on the back side and a screaming fast downhill with a right turn at the bottom. But what really got me about that race wasn't the course, it was the number of Frazer Cycling Team kids on the start line. There was like 30 of them (not very much of an exaggeration) and 3 of us on Colavita, with a few others.

Race

2008-07-27T19:03:00.000-07:00

Photos and summary from Gwinett coming tomorrow. I'm tired.

Wheelmen Videos

2008-07-21T11:13:00.000-07:00

I have finally found some videos from this year's wheelmen meet. Yay! One of them is of us doing the formation riding and the other is riding on "the monster mile"
Dover Speedway
Formation Riding

What's Next?

2008-07-19T17:45:00.000-07:00

The racing scene has been kind of quiet lately, but in one week, it will be "starting up again." This next weekend I'm planning on doing the Gwinnett race weekend in GA. It's a four day race weekend but I'm only racing three of the days, juniors each day. Race Flyer. Then for August 4th-10th we're flying to California for Nationals. Last year I got 3rd in the Time Trial and Crit, and I'm hoping to do even better this year. I really can't wait. I'll try to write some reports/summarys of these races, but until then, I guess I've got nothing to type about.

The Wheelmen

2008-07-14T10:51:00.000-07:00

So lets play where in the USA am I this week?
Answer: Dover, Delaware. Riding antique highwheel bicycles, during the 41st annual Wheelmen Meet.

It's been a really fun and exciting week. We left Monday afternoon and drove up I-95, stopping in North Carolina for the night and arriving Tuesday afternoon. We had no trouble finding Wesley College, where we were staying, because downtown Dover was much smaller than I expected. As my mom unpacked the bicycles, I roamed around the college, discovering where everything was. I found the Rec-Room, Amphitheater, and most important of all, the dinning hall. That night we walked into town for dinner and then went to a talk by Joff Summerfield about his on-going trip around the world on a highwheel bicycle. It was really interesting to hear all about his experiences and where he is going next. To read his around-the-world journal, click here (P.S. many of the photos here were taken by Joff Summerfield(because I was too lazy to carry my camera around a lot))
Wednesday morning we left the college on our highwheels to ride over to Museum Square. We visited the Johnson Victrola, Small Town Life, and Archeology museums. I think the most interesting was the Johnson Victrola museum, because it contained a large collection of antique music players and radios. We even got to hear an old record of Stars and Stripes Forever played on one of them. After lunch we took a bus to go visit Dover Air Force Base. It was unbelievable seeing the size of some of those airplanes. They seemed so huge compared to my mom's Luscombe. After we returned to the college there was the Youth Formation Riding practice, dinner, and then to bed. I wanted to get a good night's sleep because the century was the next day.
I got up at 5:00 and went down to the century rider's breakfast and then was out on the road. We were to do two laps of a 50 mile course that meandered through the countryside and was flatter that flat. The roads were beautiful, occasionally tree lined and the weather wasn't extremely hot, but I still got a major sunburn. The only problem I had was that highwheel seats aren't the most comfortable to sit on. But my mom and I made it, arriving back from our first lap at around 11:00. It was all I could do not to just leave it at 50 miles. But I did go back out on the road and did much better than the first lap. We had to stop for an Amish homemade pie at the second rest stop and it tasted soooo good. We finished around 4:45 and went to dinner at Olive Garden. I can definitely say that I slept well that night.
The next morning, Friday, I woke up refreshed but still a little sore. After a quick breakfast, I ran back up to the dorm room, I forgot to mention that our room was on the top floor (why are we always at the top) and got into my Wheelmen uniform/costume for the OHWT (Official High Wheel Tour). This year we had the privilege to ride on the Dover International Speedway, A.K.A. The Monster Mile. You never really understand the size of the track on TV, the stands themselves were huge, enough to hold 135,000 people. The thing that really got me was that the banking of the turns was much less that I would think. Only 24 degrees while Brian Piccolo Velodrome is nearly 30 degrees. After riding the track, we went out to take a picture in front of the Monster (photo coming soon) and then rode back to the college. We had another Formation Riding Practice and then on to the games! This year there were only three competitions, the slow race, thread the needle race, and a team race. I got disqualified in the slow race because I went out the side but absolutely flew in the thread the needle race getting first in my category. In the team race, they wouldn't tell us what it was beforehand but we got a team together anyways. Ryan, TJ, Andrew and I made a team and named ourselves the fast and the furious (for lack of a better name). In short, it was a crazy race, involving taking off both pedals to run around the bike and put them back on, pinning on a number with tiny safety pins, and the rider eating 5 saltine crackers (do not try this...). Like I said, crazy. After dinner, there were two seminars but I just spent the hour in the rec room playing (and losing) games of pool.
There was basically nothing for me to do Saturday morning so I went back to the rec room to wait until lunch. We again dressed up in our uniforms to take the meet photo and then rode downtown for the parade. The parade ended at the Legislative Mall where a large group of people had gathered to watch the formation riding and demonstration. First off was the youth formation riding which we had been practicing all week for. After that was the demonstration on mounting, dismounting, and riding the highwheel bicycle. The history of the bicycle followed, from the hobbyhorse to the geared safety, and then it was time for my favorite part, the trick riding. I had fun showing off some of my best tricks and trying a few new ones. Videos from the 2006 meet: Formation Riding or Races and Tricks. We then rode back to the college and got ready for the Victorian Tea. This year they had a costume contest so my friends and I all decided to enter. You had to tell a panel of judges about your dress and why you thought it was Victorian. It was rather hard standing up there talking about the dress I got from the Salvation Army but I ended up getting 3rd in the under 18 category. After the tea was the banquet in Dulany Hall. I won't go into any detail but it was really fun. The next day after an early breakfast we left Delaware and made it back home at midnight. It's been a long week but I can't wait until next year!

Side Story: My mom has this singing flamingo and we brought it with us to the meet and put it outside our dorm room. Of course the next day it disappears. We heard all off these reports of which floor, 1st, 3rd, 2rd... We never really knew where it was. And in it's travels it acquired a entourage of objects: Two neck ties, a cup of water with a quarter in it, an empty bottle, a crouton, a burnt cookie, a ribbon, two fake flowers, and a sticker. The batteries had also died from it singing every time someone went past. On the last day we had to go on a search for it to take it home, but I know this is just the beginning of the traveling flamingo.

Must See!

2008-06-30T14:30:00.000-07:00

It's a total time waster but really funny!

Click Here

Hills, Heat, and the Last State Championship Race of 2008

2008-06-14T19:42:00.000-07:00

This weekend was the State Championship Road Race in hot and hilly, Ocala, FL. Thinking about last year, I remember the uneven terrain, rough roads and mile long sprints. I also remember that races never happen the same way twice.
I warmed up on the first hill a couple of times to get those muscles moving. I also did a couple of sprints and lined up for the start. When they said go, Justin sprinted off the line but I didn't chase him because he isn't in my category. Why should I? We turned the first corner and went up the hill. Lucas jumped after Justin followed by Felipe. Ricardo also chased them but couldn't catch up. As we got to the top of the hill we went into a unspoken rotating pace line with Christian, Nick, Jay, Anselm, Justin, and I. Ricardo was a ways up the road from us and Lucas and Felipe even farther. It seemed that everyone set a goal to catch Ricardo and half way through the lap, we did. He jumped into our pace line and we just kept going, now trying to catch the break too. Suffering up the last hill on the first lap, we heard a whistling sound and knew someone had a flat. I turn my head and saw Jay sprinting up the left and knew the sound was coming from him. From previous "playing around" I knew that it's not to hard to make a fake "flat sound", so I went after him until I could see his tire was wobbling around. Our group went around him and didn't see him for the rest of the race. Skipping to the middle part of the second (the last) lap; My teammate Christian wanted me to try to get off the front, but I knew it would be to far to time trial to the finish. We nearly sprinted up the last hill and the pace quickened as the finish neared. Before we could even see the finish line we were flying. It was Ricardo and I side by side, followed by Anselm and Justin. Our sprint broke out a bit too early and I just blew right before the line. In the end, I finished fourth in 13-14 and spent the rest of the day taking photos and relaxing.
I'm happy with my finish this weekend but here is a list of what I could have done better:

Practice more on hills. I can tell I'm doing better, but not good enough, especially for nationals this year.
Stay in the draft a bit more to save energy.
Gone harder and longer in the sprint.

Toyota of Stuart Race Weekend

2008-06-08T18:25:00.000-07:00

June 7
Camp Murphy
I warmed up on the rolling, Johnathan Dickinson, race course. There was a race there last year so I was familiar with the road but I see it differently from last time. The "hill" is just a speed bump but the finish straight seems longer. The junior race had a fast start with Justin going right from the gun. I had a good feeling and my legs felt great. A couple laps in my teammate Nick attacked and the pack picked up some speed. I tried an attack on the back straight and got a bit of a gap. It didn't last very long when Lucas and Felipe sprinted up to me, followed by the rest of the field. We came back together for a bit until Nick attacked again. And then again. By the time Nick cooled down, we had about two laps to go in the race. On the last lap I found myself on the front of the pack with my teammate Christian behind me. I motion him to not chase me and I attacked. It was on the back side and a ways from the finish. Just before the last turn Lucas, Felipe and Christian came around me. I tried my best to pass them but couldn't. I finished fourth across the line and headed to roll out and then to warm down. Someone told me after words that the junior who won did not past roll out, bumping me up to 3rd place. Because of my performance last year in the womens race I didn't want to do it this year and I'm glad I choose not to. The race was in the heat of the day with the sun directly overhead and the heat waves making the cement look like water.

June 8
Stuart Criterium
This is my fourth year racing the Stuart criterium and I was really excited about it. In the junior race, Lucas and the other kid got off the front and just disappeared for the rest of the race. It was Christian, Anselm, Justin, Ricardo, and Me in a group. We pretty much just road around for most of the race until the last lap. I wanted to try to block Ricardo but he got ahead and I ended up sprinting Christian to line and having him beat me by .001 seconds.
Right after my 13-14 race I went to roll out and then jumped into the 15-16 race. I signed up for 15-16 because it was a LAJORS race (Lance Armstrong Junior Olympic Race Series) which means they split girls and boys for the results and I might be able to get into camp next year because of it. It wasn't a very exciting race, they dropped me in the first lap and I basically road around by myself for most of the time. Since I was the only girl in the race I won by default so I didn't care what everyone else did.
At the start of the womens race later on, I was feeling pretty good, a little tired, but not too bad. In the first lap I was near the front when a Herbalife rider passed me on the right. I automatically pulled in behind her and she sped up a bit. The next thing I knew, the pack was 40 feet behind us and making no attempt to chase. As we came around the last conner on the first lap we had about a 100 yard gap. It was a little strange for me to be off the front but I still kept on going. I knew that the 1,2,3 wouldn't chase us so we might have a chance. On the second lap Jennie sprinted up to us and we let her into our "pace line". She complained about pulling, saying that they were going to catch us any ways. Then why did she waste energy sprinting up to us? I don't really understand her train of thought. As we came around for the third lap the pack sprinted for a prime and they caught up to our group. On the second straight someone attacked and the whole pack speed up. I was starting to feel the affects from my previous races but I wasn't giving up. There was a gap in the pace line that I was about to pull into when someone yelled "don't let her in", I went over anyways and they yelled something else I didn't quite hear. I've been racing with most of they for quite a while so they know I can ride and I've even beaten some of them so I don't know why whoever it was, was that way. Anyways, on the next lap I did get dropped but I did do a good sprint in an attempt to stay with them. For the next few laps I rode around with a women from citrus cycling until the leaders, a break away of four women, lapped us and I jumped on. I stayed with them until the finish where I ended up getting 8th in womens 4.
What I could have done better:

Chased after Lucas and Felipe longer on Sunday rather than giving up
Been in front of Ricardo through the last turn
Not let other riders get on my nerves, I need my attention for other things
Work with other riders

I'm very happy with my performance this weekend and can't wait until next weekend.

First entry

2008-06-07T14:31:00.000-07:00

I've gotten tired of typing up summaries of my races in WordPad on my computer so thats why I'm starting this blog. Now I can share my life with the world! Or at least with the few people who decide to read it. Like I said, it's going to be for my race summaries or reports or whatever you want to call it. Feel free to comment on them. You can also leave comments about some of my latest photo albums if you don't have a Google account (to get to my photos, see links, and my photo page). Thats all I have to say for now.

-Bottle Rocket