Roller Races

I haven't posted since my car accident a year ago but I've been racing.  I'm fine but my car was totaled.  I couldn't post due to ongoing issues with the case.

But now I'm back and here is a photo from the roller races last weekend.  I'm getting my legspeed up for track racing.

Here is a link to the video:
http://vimeo.com/62586288

Cross Racing

I did the single speed cross race last Sunday at Marymoor! You can now callme a cross racer!

I did some cross racing about 15 years ago but it was on a mountain bike. This was my first time racing on a cross bike.

One of my teammates helped me after the warm up lap and told me how not to cornerlike a road rider. He said to keep some bend in the outside leg so you can have some control if the rear tire starts slipping. Also there is no need to point your inside leg inward (motorcycle style). And it is better to keep the bike more upright and lean your body instead so you keep the tread on your tire in contact with the mud. These last minute tips really helped. I had to consciously try to remember on each corner to and try and not use road technique.

I also went to the cyclocross practice at Marymoor last Wednesday with Sharon and learned that I had way too much pressure in my tires. Ihad 60 lbs in because that is what the side of the tire said. I took it way down to 32 psi in the front and about 35 in the back. That was much better. They also taught me to use just the right brake (not left) when going down hill or in a turn to keep from going over the bars.

The course was fast and fun. I was a bit scared having themen's category 3's and the men's single speeders pass me. I found myself hyperventilating a few times. But they were all very polite when they passed and many offered words of encouragment. Jodi passed me on my last lap and she looked very fast. It was impressive because at that point I was very tired.

It was a fun day. It was fun hanging out with the mud roosters today!

I also got my picture on the MFG cross site! http://www.mfgcyclocross.com/photos/detail/6281181563/

Friday Night Racing

Racing was really fun last night! The gals were fast so I was just trying to hang onto the wheels but on the last sprint I think I got 4th. I was happy to keep pace in the final sprint.

Last week a couple came up to me after racing and asked if I recognized them. I did - it turned out it was a couple that we had met while on vacation in Europe. They just happened to be in Seattle and recognized me. It was cool to have them cheer for me!

Friday Night

Friday night was pretty hard - this picture shows pretty much how I was feeling.




I had fun racing with Jessica in the Madison. We moved up to second on the last lap but we were third for the race on points. Jessica was really strong. It was really fun racing as partners.

Monday Night Madison

It rained last Friday but here is a photo from a couple of weeks ago showing me faking an attack. It worked just as good as the real thing - got the group up to full speed quickly.

http://www.wheelsinfocus.com/2011/MVA/617/pages/903C3768jpgmva6.htm





Last Monday Mark and I raced the Madison together. It was fun to be partners in a race. I felt like our slings were nice and close. I hope it works out for us to be partners again. It is hard because there are usually other riders wanting to partner with both of us.

Friday Night Racing

My first race went pretty bad. I ended up last, blowing up 1/2 way through. It was a tempo race which means there are sprints every lap. Very hard.

Then a miss and out which was fun. I made it about 1/2 way before being eliminated.

The last race was the points race. Going into the first set of points the group slowed down so I went up high on the bank. I always do this so when the acceleration happens all I have to do is drop down the bank. I was the only one on the bank though. No one was paying attention to me either. I casually pick up the pace. I tried to be as smooth as possible so no one would realize what I had in mind. We came around corner 4 and I attacked hard down the banking. I quickly got a large gap. At that point no one wanted to chase because they would be leading out the others for the points. Perfect for me. I held the gap and was able to ease up before the line and still get the 5 points. I quickly rolled up the bank and dropped back on the back of the group and held on through the counter attacks. I didn't want to attack that early in the race but the opportunity was too good to pass up. I sat in for the rest of the sprints but I might have gotten one more point on the last one. I got fifth in that race and was pretty happy. The group this year is very strong so fifth is a good place for me.

Here are a couple of photos -

http://www.wheelsinfocus.com/2011/MVA/63/pages/903C9237jpgmva6.htm


http://www.wheelsinfocus.com/2011/MVA/63/pages/903C9156jpgmva6.htm

I also had a fun track practice today. Got in some good sling-shot practice.

Mutual of Enumclaw Stage Race!

My team put on the Mutual of Enumclaw stage race last weekend. I raced at the track Friday night and then got up at 5am and spent the entire weekend at the race. It was exhausting. I helped organize all of the volunteers and helped cover any jobs that needed doing at the last minute.

I also got to hand out some of the yellow leader's jerseys and shake the hands of the winners. It was fun and very gratifying to see so many racers have a good time. There was one racer who chewed me out because he couldn't read the map in the technical guide, but aside from him everybody was really great.

We had a lot of racers come in from out of town, as far as Quebec, Canada, and California. I enjoyed getting to watch the high level of competition, right in our own back yard.