My Summer

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

Behind the Scenes

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

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!

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.