9th fastest man in the US!!!

i know there are some reasons why i can’t really say that, but i don’t care.  scott had an incredible tt today in SC and i couldn’t be more proud of him!

local racing…

…is a love/hate thing for me, now that i have experienced….well, non-local racing.  i could go into it, but i won’t, because every cyclist i know feels the same, and they are the bulk of the readers.  suffice it to say, it has it’s moments, good and bad.

  but you can’t end a season too early, so i planned on doing some of the local racing to keep some intensity.  yesterday i headed up to a small town near davis to participate in a 72 mile road race.  i had done the race years ago as a cat 3 and had placed 4th.  the course was beautiful, rolling, with one miserable climb, but all in all great.  i think amber won the 1/2 women – back when she was winning everything with style and grace! (she still does!)

  anyway, i was a fan of the race and what i could remember.  however, what i guess i didn’t remember, or maybe it was different this year, was that…

 the women’s field did not have a lead, follow, or any escort vehicle of any kind.  the narrow country roads were completely open to traffic.  no field was neutralized upon catching another, allowing different genders and skill levels to mix, feel threatened by, and challenge each other for road space.  on roads open to vehicles.  getting the picture…?

i happen to really like this particular race promoter, and i think they genuinely do so much to foster this sport, provide opportunities for us racing and all on a shoestring budget i’m sure.  but this was crazy!  i have only been away from local races for 1 season – has it always been this way?  did i forget that quickly?

well, despite all this, our field was rolling along for about 1/2 the race, sticking together, and i was feeling good, if not a bit like an old lady, or a mama duck trying to make sure her ducklings got home safely everytime a motorcycle gang or farm truck or men’s field bombed by us.  just past the feedzone for the second time was the first, and only, crash, which ended my day.  i had just drifted back and watched the whole thing happen. i almost made it around, but then got hit from behind.  i was fine, as was my wonderful bike, and i could have more than likely chased back on.  but looking around at the other girls down, my heart just wasn’t in it.  someone had to let someone know that there were some pretty deep wounds, and a possible broken collarbone, so i opted to help out and rode back to the feedzone.  Well wishes going out to Sam, Yuki, and all the others!

after that was taken care of, i continued on the lap to enjoy the course, a bit of company from janelle (who was still racing and so didn’t keep me company for long) and the beautiful scenery.  then, in my truly horrible recovery tradition, i stayed at the line to watch the women finish.  and my extra shammie time was vindicated because VIRGINIA WON! and OLIVIA SECOND!  excellent sprint (although hairball because the center line rule applied, and yes, this section was also open to traffic…don’t get me started)

so a HUGE congratulations goes out to the vag and olivia – wonderful women, wonderful competitors.

OlympicRR

The Olympics are on TV but Emily and I do not have cable at the moment.  So, i have been wondering what the internet coverage for the olympics was going to be like.  So far so good, while regular TV is showing the opening ceremony that happened 13 hours ago, i am watching the olympic RR live.  No commentary, but its live.  They have been showing the pee stops and all!  And it looks hazy…i mean foggy.

Other sports i can watch live right now are : badmition, womens 48kg, womens sabre, womens air rifle, womens handball and basketball.

The badminton is pretty cool, its looks like ping pong with more running, and they use a shuttlecock instead of a ball.

long overdue

so, i have pictures and stories accumulating since Philly (early june!) but blogging is overwhelming for me, as are most things during this season, besides sleeping, eating, and racing.  i have felt a bit useless for months now…

  shazers, blogger extraordinaire and my own mother’s blog of choice (!) tells me to cut my losses and pick up where i am today, rather than digging through the archives.  so:

  where i am today is in one of the BEST, if not THE BEST, host family’s home in the anaheim hills, having just struggled with the National TT.  not a stellar effort….actually, the effort was stellar, the return on my investment, however, was not.  i tried damn hard, but could not put out much power and finished 17th in the end.  HOWEVER, the regulator (see blog link at right) smashed the thing and is our new national champion, and chrissy (again, to the right) came in THIRD!!!!  Whooooo-hooooooo!  and after arriving last night from europe at 11 PM!  that is some serious talent packed into a not too serious person.  it’s awesome.

 The crib

 The talent.

 The Bubble Gum, getting it done.

Olympics

A couple PA boys are riding their bikes over in China. And they are getting everyone all riled up because they are protecting their lungs, probably in the exact same way all the locals do, masks.

check out the story

Nice work Mike and Bobby.