commuter gear

Many people have asked me what gear I commute in. I just checked and it's a 39 in the front and an 18 in the back. That's about 58 gear inches, which is pretty small. I can get up Capitol Hill and Queen Anne Hill without looking silly though. I can pedal with a high cadence so it's usually enough for fast city riding.

shorter rest

Last week was an easy week so not much to post.

This week I'm back to doing tuesday and thursday intervals. This time a higher cadence. I thought it was going to be much easier but the program was for shorter rest! That rest interval went by very fast.

I'm having fun following a program though. I do the same workout on thursday - I hope it is a bit easier.

I held about 180-200 watts for my intervals.

meat and potatoes

Just got done doing another of the power builders workouts. This is the meat and potatoes of training. Good for your legs but not exciting. I have been doing these workouts with one of my teammates and that had made it much funner but she couldn't come over tonight. A good song helps though. I had some disco songs to listen to tonight.

It was icy and cold all weekend so I rode indoors and watched more movies. I finally watched the Star Trek movie! It is hard to go back to fast cadence on the weekends after working on slow power during the week. I have to reset the legs.

My legs were really sore after tonight's workout. I couldn't eat dinner at the table - I had to sit with my legs stretched out.

Training Plan

This week we got our team training plan from Cycle U. I did my first workout of the plan on Tuesday - Power Builders. Low cadence work with a big gear. We will be doing a steady diet of power building for a while. I'm excited to try it out.

Today we were supposed to do a group ride but it was way too icy outside. I saw some members of another team at the local pastry shop and they said they were waiting for it to warm up so they could ride. I told them the story of the guy on my team who broke both arms last year when he crashed on the ice, "his wife was really mad too", I added. Two of the guys said they were throwing in the towel and going to go home. I think the third was mad at me for breaking up the team ride. It was amusing to me. I'm sure they were better off not riding. I did a 2-1/2 hour trainer ride and watched a really funny French James Bond Spoof. It was hilarious.

Last Sunday Edmonds Ride

Last Sunday we did the Edmonds route again. It's really a fun ride. I did much better on the steep hill - Innis Arden. I tried to moderate my breathing and climb more efficiently out of the saddle.

Seattle Edmonds Loop

http://www.bikely.com/

North End

Our women's team did the north end of the lake today. South to I-90, then across to Bellevue, north to Kirkland and up Juanita Drive. It was windy. We felt really fast through Kirkland when we had a tailwind to our backs. We decided to take it easy and head back on the Burke Gilman trail. Two of my teammates are racing cross tomorrow and didn't want to go too hard. I warned them that we would have to stop and pet the yellow cat half way down the trail. We went by slowly and didn't see him but then I looked behind me and saw that a pedestrian had lured him out with food. We circled back and both cats, Scampy, and his black and white friend, Orca were chomping down the food like they were starving. They are pudgy enough though that we know they are well cared for. We gave them some love and then headed home.

Turkey Day Ride

I went on the annual Thanksgiving day ride to benefit NW harvest. We had a good turnout with a variety of teams. It was fun to see everybody again. I don't get to see the racers from other teams much during the off season except in passing.

Faces of Cross

Check out my photo in the "Faces of Cross" photo collection by Matthew J. Clark. I did tell him I wasn't a cross racer but he wanted to take my picture anyway. :) It was pretty funny when my cross teammates discovered that my picture was in there.

http://homepage.mac.com/str8films1/MFG_Portraits/large-11.html

More good weather

Right now light rain with minimal winds is pretty good. It was 41 with light rain on Saturday but we were happy not to have 50 mph winds and the torrential rain that they have been predicting all week.

We had our team party on Friday night before the ride. It was fun to be with everybody off of the bike and meet people's spouses.

Sunday was more rain so I ended up doing a solo loop up the golden gardens hill. I saw some kyakers who were just getting out of the sound. It didn't look like the minded the weather at all. I've noticed that people are more friendly when they see you out in the rain.

computrainer night

We had computrainer night in the garage again. I had a couple of friends over for a real good sweat fest.

We did 3x8 minutes with a 15 second surge every 2 minutes and then back to tempo. I held the 8 min at 210-220 watts with the surges at least 240 watts. Very hard to settle back in to tempo pace after a surge but the surge itself is not hard.

My legs feel wobly now.

Training fun

Last Wednesday one of my new teammates came over and we did computrainer together in the garage. It was great to have a training buddy! Mark made up a workout for us and we did progressively harder 5 minute intervals. The last one was a real grind (220, 240, 250 watts)! We are going to do it again this week too.

Saturday was really cold. I checked the weather at 8:30 and Woodinville and Renton were still both below freezing. We played it safe and did a loop on Mercer Island again to be a little warmer. We got in some good pacelining practice. On the way home we went through the arboretum. I like to have the team sprint for the bridge at the end because it's good practice. I played "motor" and led them up to the sprint point. It was like doing a keirin on the track! Everyone had fun.

On Sunday I watched the cross races at Woodland Park. I had teammates in every race! I watched for about 5 hours! It was fun but cold! I had to run up and down the hills to keep warm. It was at Woodland Park which is a great venue for cross races. I hope they have more races there next year.


I watched with my friend Kari from the track and her dog Josie. Josie did a little dance every time she saw one of the racers from the velodrome. It was very cute!


My teammate Bendan was able to ride over these barriers on the uphill!



The crowds were big!

Edmonds Again

We managed a dry ride again today, despite the forecast for 80% chance of rain. Yesterday they predicted strong thunderstorms and they were completely wrong! I rode inside for nothing! And I got a flat on the trainer.

I rode with the guys up to Edmonds today. We took a different route back this time from last week. We traded off being ride leader because we each knew a different segment of the ride. It was a team effort. I had some shifting problems at the beginning but the guys fixed it and adjusted the derailleurs for me.

I really like the Edmonds ride. It has some good hills and nice scenery. The hill called Innis Arden is a leg buster though. If you go that route save some energy. It's as steep as the back side of cougar mountain but not as long. I'm looking forward to discovering more new routes out that way.

Last week I went to the Washington State Bicycle Association meeting for all of the racing team presidents. We heard the CEO of USA cycling talk, Steve Johnson. He told us about their vision for bike racing and how the local scene and the bigger picture were connected. It was interesting to hear about our sport from the national organizer's perspective.

Elechlons

Yesterday there was a 70% chance of rain. I thought we would be drenched for sure but there were only a few very light sprinkles. It was a great day!

It was windy as we crossed I-90 so I taught my teammates how to echelon to get a better draft in the side wind. They got the hang of it really quickly. You can really feel the difference on the bridge because you can get pretty strong winds. We practiced a regular pace line after that and had a nice smooth rotating line by the end of the ride.

No ride for me today, I have to go to the calendar meeting. We will decide dates for all of the road races for next year.

Route to Edmonds

Today I rode up to Edmonds with one of my teammates. It was only 30 miles but my legs really felt the climbing! I looked up some routes on Bikely and then tried to piece a couple together. We got lost a couple of times but it was fun. I might try a different return route, next time though.

It was fun to try a new ride without the pressure of "leading" it. My teammate was fine with the prospect of getting lost. I had my GPS with me but when I pulled it out to find out where we went wrong I found out I had the wrong maps loaded! It did work as a compass and my teammate was right, we almost went in a complete circle at one point. Got turned around in time and headed back home though.

Good thing it wasn't raining. It was actually a nice day, but a little cold. Good day for a climbing route.

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Seattle-Edmonds-Figure-8

Seattle Edmonds Figure 8

http://www.bikely.com/

Fall leaves

There were a ton of leaves on our ride today. The whole trail was covered. It's a good thing I know how wide the trail is because you couldn't see the edges.

I had a nice ride today up the Hollywood hill. I was really surprised when I went past the wineries in Woodinville, there are two new traffic circles that have replaced the light at the bottom of the hill. It was great because you no longer have to wait for the light.

I threw in an extra hill (Perkins) at the end of the ride. My teammates commented that it wasn't in my advertised "ride description" on our email group. I told them that it was a bonus hill at no extra cost. They did great though and are really good hill climbers.

Epic Rain!

Today's ride was one of the most rainy rides I have done. It was really coming down. There was lots of debris in the road and some roads you couldn't see under all the water, which made it tough to avoid pot holes. I rode under I-5 and there was a waterfall coming down from where a downspout used to be.

I saw a huge raccoon running for cover and later heard the parrots down by Seward Park.

I started off the ride solo, knowing that I would run into other riders. Days like that are fun because everybody is more friendly. Even runners were giving me "the nod". I chatted with some old friends at the Leschi starbucks but I kept going because nobody was leaving yet. As I started across the bridge in torrential rain I found a blinky tail light. I put in on my bike. If it was yours let me know but it has a good home now.

I was circling Mercer Island and saw our men's team heading the opposite way! We all stopped and I finished the ride with them. Despite the heavy rain it was warm and comfortable. The fall leaves were spectacular and made it seem bright out.

The rain had formed a small river in front of my house when I got home.

I went to Hot Yoga later on in the day. I've been doing hot yoga for a month now and it's really helped me loosen up. I'm ready for another ride tomorrow now.

Route up to Maltby

I rode up to Maltby twice. Once on Saturday and once on Sunday. It's a really nice route. I take Ravenna Avenue instead of the burke gilman trail. Ravenna Avenue is a funny street and a little tricky to follow. One of the guys called it "jimmy jogging".

It's been awhile since I've done two days of riding that weren't commuting. It was unseasonably cold this morning - low 30's but the sun came out and felt really good. I was glad to have some company for the ride. It's fun to show new people my secret routes.

Fall Riding

I've been training on the weekends with the new teammates. Many of them are new to racing so we are working on cornering and good riding form. It is fun to see them progress.

I watched the track nationals on the computer and saw that one of the riders who just started this year on the track got a 6th place in the final points race. It was very impressive!

Season Wrap Up

The ferry ride over to the Blackberry crit. It's fun to ride over with the other racers.

Race bikes on their way to the crit.

I missed a bunch of posts and now I'm forgetting what all happened. I got really busy and had a hard time keeping up with everything.

I raced a final Friday night track and a criterium in Bremerton. I rode down to the Blackberry crit in Bremerton. It poured rain all morning but let up just enough for me to get to the ferry. The ferry ride was 1 hour. Then I raced for 50 minutes, rode back to the ferry for another 1-hour boat ride, then a 30 minute ride home. I brought three changes of clothes in my bag so I wouldn't have to sit around in wet clothes. The racing was fun and hard. I really like the blackberry course.

The last night of track we finished with a Madison race. We had six women's teams. I talked to one of my friends in the crowd afterwards and she said she had never seen a women's madison on a friday night. She didn't realize she was seeing the very first one ever! My partner Michelle and I were very happy - we stayed close and didn't get lapped and didn't miss any exchanges. Yea! We also had a tempo race where I got some points on the first sprint. It was hard with so many fast racers in the field.

I'm looking forward to more fast racing next year.

Last week we had our "meet the team ride" where new riders ride with us to see if they want to join the team. I'll be losing some key teammates next season so I"m really looking for new riders to join the team and train with. It's fun to ride with new racers because they have the excitement for racing. Maybe some of them will do track.... Any other track riders out there want to join me?

Rain Out! Marymoor Velodrome :(

Free hot dogs!

We tried to race on Friday. We went out to the track and waited until they called the race due to rain. For a while it seemed like it was letting up and the track would dry but it was not to be. The racers all sat around the edge and watched the track but it didn't help it dry.

I finally got to have a hot dog that I had been craving all season. It is always too late after we are done racing to get one from the hot-dog-mobile aka "carameas' sweet treats".
Then they opened the beer garden and gave out free drinks to the racers. I hope it doesn't rain next week!

Devon is not 18 so could not come inside the protective fencing.


The racers hung out to socialize.

Our loyal fans taking shelter in the bike storage area while eating a hot dog.

Seward Park Summer Criterium

Last Sunday we had the Seward Park crit. I raced with three teammates; Leina, Annette and Michele. It had been two weeks since I rode a geared bike but I made sure to remember shift each lap around. When I came around the top corner I found that my track spin really helped out because instead of pushing a big gear I just spun the legs faster to make up the gap after the corner.

This was the first time Leina had done this race and at one point I saw who I thought was her coming around the top corner in a big gear so I yelled "use a smaller gear" to help her. But it wasn't Leina - it was Annette who answered back "yeah, I know". We were just talking about how those two are easy to confuse. I think it will be handy to have a decoy out there for Annette next year.

I was able to keep up with the group until the last lap I was really tired by then. I came off the group but felt good about the race in general. Annette won and I think Leina was in the top 10.

Racing Between the Raindrops!

Friday was almost canceled about three or four times. It just didn't look like it was going to happen. I warmed up earlier than I usually do because I thought it would start raining before warm up was over and then I wouldn't get a ride in at all. Sure enough at 6pm it started raining lightly. But not for very long, and soon the bravest riders ventured out on the track again. We got through the first Keirin and I made it past the first round to the final. I was lined up second and got the motor before the first rider. Later though, I found out that the first rider's holder was wearing cleats and when he went to push her he went backwards instead of her going forwards!

After the next race it started sprinkling again so they ran the kids races on the apron (the flat part of the track). Then they called us out for our final. I didn't think the track was dry enough and I was super nervous. It was fine but I couldn't match the pace even though I was on Amara's wheel.

The next race was the miss-and-out. I rode hard at the front and kept the pace high. Then when I was tired I moved onto a wheel but stayed in the sprinter's lane. This seemed like a good move but my legs were too tired to advance.

It started sprinkling again and there was another delay. I thought for sure racing was canceled and was getting ready to go home. But then they called the riders out to race again. It was a weird night! We raced our last scratch race and I was tired. There was a break and I tried to chase but got tired quickly and ended up off the back. I worked with Carrie and caught back on just before the finish but my legs were done at that point.

It looked like rain would cancel racing before it was over. There were a few stray drops but racing continued. During the mens 3's race they kept on hinting that the race might be called at any time but they were able to finish and Mark raced the last race of the night. The race finished and not more than twenty seconds it started really raining. The racers quickly got off the track and it was soaked less than a minute later. Racing would have been canceled for sure that time if it hadn't just finished!

Friday Night!

There was a good crowd last friday. I raced Mark's Cane Creek wheels and they made me feel much faster. We did a point-a-lap, a miss-and-out, and a points race. The point-a-lap and miss-and-out were average for me. The points race I tried to be on a good wheel during the race. I was partially successful. I'd be on the right wheel for a while but then would find myself on the wrong wheel and I'd have to sprint around when there was an acceleration. It is so much easier to be on the good wheel. For the last sprint I found myself on the train of about 5 good wheels. I managed to move up just a bit to get 4th on the final sprint! Nothing spectacular but I felt a little bit of improvement! One of my friends showed up just as they announced my name - perfect timing!

Mark raced his own hand built wheels but goofed up his gears and realized he did the first two races in an 86 inch gear. This is what they put beginners in! His legs were really going fast. He figured it out before the Madison. He had fun racing with a brand new partner. Then we all went out to unwind at Celtic Bayou.

Monday Night Madison

We had fun at Monday Night Madison again. This time it was just me and Michelle and the guys. We missed having Devon but we still had a good time. We got some practice riding in traffic too. I managed to screw a few things up and get between an exchange. Once was because we got out of order on relief. It makes more sense after you've done it wrong! The mistakes help us figure things out and ride more confidently. We almost got some points from the guys but not quite this time.

Cold Friday at Marymoor

Last night was cold at the track. It was nice at the start but the evening went a little long and it was chilly by the end.

The women had a 8-lap scratch race, a keirin, and a points race. The 8-lap was a fast warmup and I was in too big of a gear so it was tough to deal with the repeat accelerations. I had a bigger gear than usual for the next race the keirin. Annette gave me some good advice for strategy and it would have worked but I just needed to be a little stronger! The big gear was a good choice though. I geared down for the last race the points but my legs were tired and I came off the group a couple of times. Annette gave me some good workout ideas to build my leg strength though for next time.

It was so cold by the last race that I put on my wool sweater underneath my skin suit. I wasn't shivering at the start but three laps into the race I was way too hot. Next time I'll have to wear a coat and take it off right before the start.

Friday and trainer workouts

I'm starting to forget last Friday and it's time to start racing again already!

We did a unknown distance, miss-and-out, and points. The miss and out I followed my strategy but just didn't have the sprint to make it through more than four rounds. On the 4x4 race I stayed close through the first set of points and then on the second set they also called a prime which we didn't realize was going to be points also. So everybody was a bit confused. Then I watched for a break. Sure enough one of the riders took off and I was right on the wheel. I came around on the sprint line but was just passed by two other riders but I picked up one point. I didn't get any points on the last sprint but was happy to stay with the group and not let anything get away.


On Sunday it was sprinkling so I didn't make it out to the track. I did some 3 minute intervals with the first 30 seconds at 400-450 watts and the rest at 200-250. Very hard! Tuesday I did some spin intervals at 130 rpms - 4x3 minutes. I loaded up some new music on my Zune player to ride to. I put on the theme from Monday night football to get going because they play that before every track race. Now my heart really starts pumping when I hear that song (you can look it up on Utube if you don't know what it sounds like).

Catching up - Three Girls Madison!

Friday we raced again at the Velodrome. It was in the 100's this week and they actually had to cancel racing on Wednesday and Thursday but luckily it cooled down to the the 80's and 90's so we could race again. The races were short due to the weather but they seemed extra short after the long races at the FSA competition. We had a 8-lap scratch, 2 lap heats, and a points race. The atmosphere was very laid back and relaxed since FSA was done. On the two lap heats I took a chance and went for the early attack but Jennifer came by in a big gear and I couldn't catch back on. The other races were fine - just hanging in with the group mostly. I might try a bigger gear next week to see how it feels. I do like spinning the little gear though. I figure it's good for me in the long run.

Sunday I did a Madison workout with Michelle and spent some time riding behind the motor cycle in warm up. It was still nice and warm and by the end of the workout we were getting hot again.

On Monday I did the Madison races. We had 5 teams this time, our best turnout yet. One of the riders showed up after the first race and then we had one extra person. So the three girls decided to form one team. Two riders were on relief while one was racing. It was a blast! We had so much fun. It made our speeds much faster but also gave us more to think about. When you have two riders on relief you need to keep track of each other as well as the rider in the race so you don't both come down for an exchange, or stack them up too close together. We blew our exchanges several times but had even more fun than we usually do. During the race was the first time I had ever done an exchange with Devon. It went fine but I was nervous before hand! The officials were really cool about letting us have a "pair of three".

This is a picture of the cool jerseys that Bilko brought before Devon joined the three-girls team.

FSA Grand Prix!

The weather provided lots of drama for this year's race. After a month and a half of sunny weather and no rain predicted, it rains on the biggest race of the year!

Friday evening, after warming up and getting all ready to go the sky started clouding up. There had been several races completed, but just before the men's Madison we started feeling drops of rain. They had to call everyone off of the track immediately because it gets slick very fast and you can wipe out before you even know what happened. It didn't look good with big grey clouds but they had us wait about 20 minutes.

When the rain started really coming down I ran under the nearest tent. I smiled big and asked the racers if they didn't mind sharing. It turned out they were racers from the Portland track, Alpenrose. We were chatting away when Mark found me under the tent and said "hey I just found these chain ring bolts on the track". The Oregon guy said to the other "hey those are the last two bolts you lost!" It was randomly lucky.

It stopped raining but the track was still wet. Then they asked the Men's teams to ride around the apron (flat part of the track). Mark was racing the Madison and I was very nervous seeing the track still wet. But a few minutes later it was dry and they had a safe race. I was up next for the 40 lap points race. 40 laps is twice as far as we usually go and I was really worried with all of the out-of-town superstars in the field. But our Friday racing served me well and I was able to keep up. We had a field of 31 which is very large for me. I was so happy to finish the race with the field. Last year I was lapped twice!

I went back out to the track Saturday morning and did a flying 200 and a 500 meter race. I was about the same as last year on the flying 200, 14.56 seconds but about two seconds faster on the 500. It wasn't fast enough to qualify me for the sprint tournament though. As I was heading home it started raining again! They had another delay.

I went back out Saturday night and after everybody warmed up and they ran a couple of races it started pouring. They had to cancel racing for the evening. We all headed over to the Celtic Bayoo restaurant and had a good dinner with some of the out-of-towners. It was fun to hang out with everybody and swap race stories.

Then Sunday was the rain-make-up day. I raced the 5-mile scratch race and the Madison.

On the scratch race I took a few more chances than the day before and attacked a couple of times. At one point I saw the top girls watching each other and I casually rolled up to the front. I was careful not to "look" like I was attacking but just started pedaling fast without too much upper body movement. I was able to get a gap before the others realized I was going, and then they were not motivated to chase. I was about 1/3 lap up, and they rang the bell for a $50 prime. I went as hard as I could because I figured if I got that much money I didn't have to finish the race. But the group chased hard and I got piped at the line! It got the crowd into it though and I heard a lot of people cheering for me. My teammate did great and got third in the final sprint. Hooray!

The final race was the women's madison. We had 8 women's teams. More than the men did for the second year in a row. It was so hot this year though, since it was in the daytime. We rolled off and it didn't take long before I was so thirsty and hot. It was a long race and I was very tired. I was so happy to finish that one! I dumped water over my head after the finish.

It can rain all it wants to now! FSA is done until next year.

More Racing!

Last Friday was hot! I don't like racing in the heat so much but by the end of the night it was really nice. The racing was hard for me.

On the first race some of the women were caught by surprise when they had us go from the rail instead of doing a neutral lap. As soon as I heard it I rolled of the rail and attacked. Three of us got a gap and I was really excited to have a chance to be out front but the other two wouldn't work. One of the girls sat up and slowed down because the third girl was a sprinter. I was so disappointed. I came around and tried to make it work anyway but just ended up tiring myself out. I hung on for the counter attack but was out of energy before the end of the race.

We also did a miss and out. I stayed safe for a few laps but then didn't sprint hard enough and was out.

The last race got really strung out. I felt like quitting but finished even though I was off the back. I worked really hard. Very tired after that race.

Saturday I rode the new light rail. Didn't take my bike on it yet but checked out the place to put your bike and how to board with a bike. I'll be making use of it soon.

Sunday Michelle and I met up for Madison practice at the track. We had a good time. One of our friends, Matt, was doing intervals and let us ride in his draft while we did our exchanges. He was going 24 mph and then later ramped it up to 27 mph. It was so nice to do exchanges at speed but not to have to work so hard to keep up the pace. Riding in the draft was so much easier. We also did some flying 200 efforts and a few standing starts.

On Monday Michelle and I raced Madison again. The practice with Matt really helped. We still blew some exchanges but were able to at least spend part of the time with the men's teams. Although when I got on Matt's wheel I was not able to hold it this time. He must have been going way faster than 27!

The juniors also raced on Monday. I can't believe how many of them there are. There was an A, B, and C group! Most of them ride for team Zoom which I guess is leading the team competition for all of the racers at the Velodrome. Those kids are going to be trouble!

Friday Night Racing

Last Friday was very fast. I don't know what the speeds were but it seems like we are getting faster every week. We started with a win-and-out which was very hard. I finished off the back of the group.

Then we did a Chariot race. This is the first time I've done a Chariot race. It is one lap from a held start. There is a picture of my first heat on wheels in focus. It looks like I'm going to take 3rd but I surprised the other two racers and came by them before the finish, which got me into the final.
http://www.wheelsinfocus.com/2009/MVA/710/W/pages/94AD9352mva7.htm

I need to work on my standing starts though because I couldn't make up the distance I lost on my bad start. I chose the first lane which I thought would be good but I didn't have a fast enough start to pull into the lead. The Chariot was fun for me though and I hope we get to do it again some time. It is so short that you can just go all out the whole way.

The last race was a 20-lap scratch race with primes every other lap. It was very hard. I felt like throwing up with 4 laps to go but I hung on to the back of the group. I like points races much better. I hope all of this hard riding makes the FSA race easier.

I watched Mark do the Madison afterwards. It is a very fun race to watch. I hope I can get more women interested in Madison so we can have women's Madisons on Fridays some day.

I raced the Redmond derby yesterday but my legs were not recovered. I didn't last too long and got pulled from the race. I felt bad but there is always another race next week. Today I'm finally taking a rest day.

Madison Races

Mark and I went to Madison races last night at Marymoor. Mark unfortunately had a "mishap" in the first race. He was diving down the track and his wheel slipped out. There might have been some debris on the track or he just took too steep of an approach and then turned the wheel the wrong way. In any case he and his partner are both fine but he missed the rest of the races for the night. So he took video of me and Michelle. The video really helped me see what we can do better. We can drop down much later and save some energy for us both. Also, I figured out that when we exchange high on the track I can't rely on dropping down to get the proper speed. Hopefully I can make use of this knowledge next time.

The racing was fun. It was interesting to talk to the officials afterwards and hear their viewpoints. They were glad to have practice officiating the Madison. I guess it's a challenge for them too.

Marymoor Friday Night Racing

The picture above is Mark giving me some advice before the miss-and-out. He was really telling me jokes to make me laugh. Mark has on his new Keirin gloves.

My races felt much better last Friday than the previous Friday. I was able to motor up on the wheel when I needed to.

The first race was the unknown distance. One of my competitors had just finished racing with the men so I thought I'd attack from the gun and try to thin out the pack. It was fun and I got a gap but the pack stayed together and caught me after a lap. Then I hung on until the finish. I think we went 13 laps which is on the long side for a miss and out. We were all getting really tired and were happy to hear that bell.

The second race was a miss and out and I tried to not get in the pole lane so I wouldn't get swamped but somehow my strategy still didn't work and I got swamped. It needs some more refinements.

The last race was a scratch race with several primes. I was hoping a group would go off the front and I stayed close on the prime laps but it didn't happen. I was happy to stay in the action though. On the third to last lap we really ramped it up and soon my legs were bursting. I wanted to stop pedaling with one lap to go. I finished about mid group.

Here I am getting ready to hold Mark for his two lap heat.

And here I am, not quite in the draft yet.

Today I did a spin workout. I was trying to hold a high cadence for 1-1/2 minutes. I blew up after the first 30 seconds. It felt exactly like the end of the scratch race on Friday! So I backed off the power and worked on breathing through the interval and was finally able to go 90 seconds. It amazed me how hard it was to do. After doing several of those I did a 10 minute set with 10 second surges every two minutes. I was able to briefly hit 500 watts again. I did a few weights afterwards and then I was really light headed. I drank a recovery drink and then felt much better. Ready for Madison races tomorrow! I hope the weather cooperates!

working on my pop

Today I did 10 minute intervals but this time I went at a slower pace and did a spin up for 10 seconds every 2 minutes. The idea was to keep in the same gear but spin really fast and work on muscle coordination. I was hitting about 430 to 450 watts on the 10 second efforts the first time through. Then I took a break and did another 10 minutes and was able to go over 500 watts on the last one. 500 watts was the peak but I was still in my saddle. I hope this helps for accelerations on the track.

On Sunday I did 3x8 minute intervals at about 230 watts with 300 watt surges every two minutes.

Today's workout was much more fun but now my legs feel bloated - in a good way. :)

Three more races and a track class

I've been really busy this week. I raced three times; last Sunday, Monday, and yesterday (Friday), and today I helped teach a track class.

Sunday was a road race in Boston Harbor. It's a bit frustrating racing on the road after the track because sometimes the racing is limited by how wide the road is. Some of the riders blocked the whole road off to keep people from chasing. This doesn't happen on the track. Except for that, the race was fun and eventually we hit a hill and things strung out and we were able to really race again. I made a hard bridge 1/2 way through the race and then did too much work and found myself sailing off the back. Oops. It was a good workout for the legs though. I felt I needed to do some longer distance, and racing is more fun than training. I did get a medal for third in the masters.

On Monday I raced the Madison again. This time we did two scratch races and one points race, all in the Madison format. It was really fun. I love the feeling of being slung into a race and getting the rush of speed. My partner and I really gained confidence with the racing and we were able to go into the exchanges at much greater speed. The faster you go, the more speed you can transfer to your partner, and the more you can slow yourself down. As I was waiting to go into the race again, I was high on the bank and this couple had baby puppies that were only 6" long. I was trying to concentrate on the race, to drop down to my partner at the right time, but they were so cute!

Friday was our regular racing again. Some of the women were out of town to race in California so I thought the pace would be easy. No such luck! It was harder than usual! Kele was out there and very strong and HB had four riders so it was very fast. I wasn't riding that great and was just hanging on to finish. I got on the wrong wheel in the first race and was careful on the last race to not make the same mistake. I was being more careful to ride at the front and did fine at first but then the legs gave out.

I think I must have been dehydrated or just not rested. On the last race my contact lens fell out which means I'm blind except for very big objects. Luckily I wasn't near any riders and I just eased carefully into the finish line. Next time I will drink more or wear a fresh lens.

Afterwards we went out with the group and swapped racing stories. It's always fun to hear stories from other's perspectives. It also makes you realize that everybody has good and bad days.

Today I helped teach the track class. The track class is always a good time for me because the new riders are so excited about racing and have lots of questions. The class had 22 riders and at least 5 women. One of them was my teammate and I didn't even know she was going to be there! I was so happy to see her! I can't wait to see all of the new riders out racing.

Rain Out

No racing at Marymoor tonight. We got out there and everybody signed up and was warming up when the rain started and they had to call us in. Even the kiddie kilo competitors were disappointed. Some of the kids went out on their tricycles to ride on the apron anyway.

I was ready to race. I had a great workout last Tuesday doing street sprints. I decided that I had been racing flat footed and was really going to focus on reacting quickly. Maybe next week. We had a great group of women too.

We all went out for food instead of racing. The track racers are a fun bunch.

Saturday Flying Wheels Challenge Track Races at Marymoor

Yesterday we had a special event - the Flying Wheels Challenge at the Marymoor Velodrome. The event was timed to coincide with the finishing of the Flying Wheels bike ride put on by the Cascade Bicycle Club so we had a huge audience of bike enthusiasts. It was great. The weather was perfect too. I forgot what it is like to race in the heat of the sun instead of the evening.

My teammate Annette raced with me instead of doing the men's races like she usually does. It was great to have someone to do teamwork with. We strategized before each race and came up with plans of attack. Sometimes things worked and sometimes we had to improvise but overall we were successful because Annette took first place! I got fourth place which I was very happy with.

There is a good picture of me on the "Wheels in Focus" site. The group didn't seem to notice me sneaking up the banking just before my attack in the points race. I managed to stay off the front for about 5 laps.
http://www.wheelsinfocus.com/2009/MVA/FlyingW/W/pages/94AD0458mva6.htm

I could hear lots of people in the crowd cheering for me. I'm not sure who they all were but I was really happy to hear them.

I was so hot afterwards. I'm just not used to so much sun. I let some of the kids who were watching pour water over my head. It felt really good. When I got home I went for a swim in the lake and then ate fresh peas from my garden. It was a fun day.

Friday Night Marymoor

I used Mark's fast Cane Creek wheels again on Friday but this time I used the front one too. It really scared me and I almost switched back to the normal wheel after warm up because I was having a hard time controlling it. Then Annette gave me the advice to put less pressure on it. It made sense. I was trying to muscle the wheel into place but that actually made it harder to control. After a while I got more used to it and calmed down.

Since I was worried about the wind I compensated in warm-up by riding extra fast. I forgot that on the neutral lap we would be going slow though!

I liked my new bike position but felt I had to get used to handling the bike again. So Friday was more like a chance to get used to my bike again.

Madison Racing at Marymoor

Every other Monday night we now have Madison racing at Marymoor! Yesterday was the first one so it was a shakedown. The cat 4's and Juniors also race on Mondays.

Our first two "races" were really just practice sessions with Kenny riding along with us to give us helpful hints. I paired up with my Madison partner from FSA last year, Michele from the Wines team. Madison racers have to have a jersey that matches their partner so Michele had these bumble bee jerseys so we could match. They were really cute!

We had fun and our slings got much better. Kenny showed us how to stretch out the sling to get more power transfer to your partner. Michele and I still need to get used to doing slings with other riders nearby but we progressed a lot during the course of the night.

The last race was a points race. Mark was racing too with his teammate Jerry. We were in the same race since there weren't enough riders for a seperate women's group.

The Madison is like doing a continuous relay with one person. You go as hard as you can and then sling in your partner. Then all too soon it's your turn again. It is a recipe for throwing up but very fun! We were toasted afterwards! I'm taking tonight off from training to rest my tired legs.

Madison Training

I did 500 meter intervals at the track Sunday morning.

My original plan was to race Ballard on Sunday but when Kenny was adjusting my bike he found that the steer tube was cracked on the inside. So my road bike is in the shop to get a new fork.

So Sunday morning I did sprints where you drop down from the rail and do 500 meters hard. You rest until for 3/4 of a lap and then do it again. It felt great to sprint in my new position but I was careful not to overdo it.

It's funny when you train at the track people always stop by and spectate. Sometimes they take pictures too. At one point I saw someone had a stopwatch out. It made me laugh. I wanted to know my time but didn't want to ask.

I did a couple of more laps hard and then warmed down while the Broakmark team was just starting their workout.

Bike Fit with Kenny!

I finally got a bike fit with Kenny Williams. I should have done it long ago! He adjusted my bike position on my road and track bikes so I will get more power out of my legs and hips. He also put some wedges in my cleats to get even power delivery from my feet to my pedals. He uses the Bike Fit wedges by Paul Swift. Mark also got a fit. You can see the wedges in the picture below. I needed three purple ones and Mark needed two yellow ones.

I can't wait to race on them. I could see Mark's pedal stroke get smoother as Kenny made the adjustments. I had a weird bobble in my right knee that we was able to get rid of also. I think I will have less pain in that knee now.

Last Friday Marymoor

Last Friday was really windy. Mark decided to let me use his Cane Creek wheels but when I put them both on I couldn't control the front one in the wind so I used just the back one. The wheels are deep dished to be more aerodynamic but are also harder to control in a side wind. The back one made me feel faster and I was eager to take it up to speed.

On the Tempo race I was anticipating a split after the 2nd sprint and went really hard but then the split happened after the third sprint just when my legs were dead. So I missed the split again.

The next race was the miss-and-out. I tried my "stay at the front strategy" but got swamped on the third lap and didn't get out of trouble fast enough. As we came around the last corner I was behind Amara who is the strongest sprinter right now. I didn't make it past her.

On the last race I really wanted to be in any break that happened to make up for the tempo race. I anticipated the first strong attack and got away with Jaydeen on a prime sprint. But then she pulled up track and I should have just kept going because she would have followed, but we were caught by the group.

Nothing much happened and we were on the second to last lap when I heard Jennie (Tela's coach) yell "rest!". This was the first that Tela has raced with us and I knew that she was super strong so I attacked hard, not wanting her to get any rest. I got a good gap and held it for about a lap but on the last 200 meters Tela caught me with the group in tow. I ended up getting last last but it was fun! I found out later that Jennie also coaches one of the other women in the group and was telling her to rest, not Tela.

I really want to work on my power and one of these days my attack is going to stick.

8 minute intervals

I did 8 minute intervals on Tuesday. I did them last Tuesday too. I do 220-230 watts with a 15 second surge every two minutes. Last week I went higher power but really died at the end. This week I did 220 watts and felt better as the workout progressed. The surges are 280-300 watts. I felt like my pedal stroke was getting better and I concentrated on the recovery part of the pedal stroke.

Enumclaw Omnium

After racing at the track Friday night I got up at 4:45 am to drive down to Enumclaw to work the stage race that my club was putting on all weekend. I worked at registration, was a spotter for the time trial, posted results, helped pick winners in the kids race, went to the hospital in Auburn to check on a fallen rider, collected primes for the criterium from the crowd, and corner marshaled for 8 hours at the road race. The race was a success though and the weather was awesome! It was unfortunate though that someone blew up a porta-potty with a pipe bomb. They want $1000 to cover the damage. That will cut into our profits and the money we were donating to the Special Olympics.

Friday Night Racing - first miss and out

It was a fast women's field last Friday. Beth, Jen, Carol, and Karen were there to add speed to our field. I got psyched out on the point-a-lap race. After just losing a sprint to Beth I missed an important break and was not able to catch back up to the leaders. I need to watch for the break after the sprint!



The next race was the miss-and-out. I went straight to the front and rode tempo. That worked for a couple of laps and then Christine and Jen came around me. I squeezed through and rode next to them and then came around again on the next lap into the lead. That kept me safe for another lap. After that they came by but this time I got trapped in the back and had to back out and around to the side quickly. I was close but couldn't quite make it by the last person. I was happy to have lasted half way and to have followed my strategy of riding in the front.




The last race was a points race. Everybody was tired. I got a few points by being near the front and I closed a gap to a small break. But then after the third set of points Beth and Christine went off the front. At first I thought it was someone else and didn't chase. Too late I realized the mistake. They stayed off and I didn't get points on the last lap. It was a fun night though. I think I got 6th but it was out of a faster group than the previous weeks. It was a nice night for racing too with warmer than normal temperatures.

Marymoor Crawl

So this is the Marymoor Crawl - three minutes on the track without crossing the start line followed by 1 lap all out sprint. Mark got 3rd! He was blown away by how fast Grant came by. The funny part is when the Counterbalance rider takes an extra hand off his bike just for fun (on the left side during the 3-min balancing part). It's even better in person!

Friday - Preseason #3 Marymoor Velodrome

I felt tired all week and low on energy. I skipped my Tuesday workout to sleep. So Friday I raced more conservatively than normal.

We raced an unknown distance, point-a-lap, and a points race. The unknown distance stayed together most of the race. I went off for a lap around lap 5 but was caught before any bells. I recovered enough to get 4th I think on the final lap.

On the point a lap I went for the first sprint but was edged out by Christine, then Christine and Cammie got away and were taking points. As they were getting caught I figured everybody was pretty tired so took the opportunity to attack hard. It was fun and I stayed away for three laps but then was really tired. I saw them coming but just didn't have it to contest the final two sprints. I think I got 4th again with my three points.

The last race was a points race. I tried a move that Mark taught me but I botched it. I will have to try it again next week so no descriptions yet. Other than that I tried to keep an eye on Christine who ended up winning for the night but we had some close sprints. I sprinted later than I usually do to save energy. It helped and I actually felt better after the night's racing.

I rested Saturday and then went out to the track early Sunday. I had the whole track to myself. It was great! I don't think I've ever ridden on it when no one was there. It felt very peaceful, just me and the track and some birds. I had to yell at some Canadian geese though because they came and tried to poop on the track. I did three sets of 10 all-out sprints. I felt clumsy at first and unbalanced but got smoother the more I did. I got a good feel for that last corner too. I was sore afterwards but it felt good. I seem to have my energy back now.

At the end of my workout there was another guy on the track on a road bike. I chatted with him and he said he was there because of a bet he had with a buddy. They had a contest to lose weight but they also had to make a certain speed on the track to prove that they weren't starving themselves and wasting away. He had lost 20 lbs! The bet was for a steak dinner for 4!

I went over to the parking lot in time to meet the ride for Glen Erickson. He is diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and was having a ride to benefit parkinson's research. I was glad to see they had a really good turnout. I didn't do the ride just hung out and chatted with everybody and then went back to the track to warmdown in the sunshine.

Friday Night Racing at Marymoor Velodrome

I had a good time racing last night.

We had a scratch race, a snowball, and a points race. The Starbucks team showed up with four riders and there were four riders without teammates. I didn't want Starbucks to control the tactics so I attacked early in the first race. Amara, Jane, and I got a gap and started working together. The only problem was that Amara and Jane are really good sprinters. We stayed away until the finish and I tried to come around 1/2 way through the last lap but didn't jump as hard as I thought I was going to. They both surged away from me and I got third.

The next race was a snowball. I was near the front so I went just hard enough to get the first set of points. I didn't realize until too late that I had a gap with a couple of riders. Jane was yelling go! go! but by the time I went the others had caught up. I got some points near the end of the race and it was good enough for second. I tried to ride from the front on the last lap but it backfired when the group came around at full speed.

On the next race everyone was watching for me to attack early. This time I rode around the track high for a couple of laps and kept on eye on the others. Amara was glued to my wheel. I knew if I attacked she'd be right there so I faked. I dropped down hard to the sprinters lane and then went back up track and dropped back into the draft. It was fun. I was in good position for the first set of points and just barely won a very close sprint. I got a few more points in the later sprints and it was good enough for 2nd overall for the night.

I really need to work on my power for those sprints! Mark had a good night and got 6th in the last points race.

Today I went for a recovery ride with some of the track racers. My legs were sure tired. I went for a swim in the lake afterwards and the cool water really felt good on the hot muscles.

New Rider Thursday Races

On thursday I helped out with the training races at the velodrome. It was fun to see all the new track riders out there. Lots of new women riders too.

To race on thursdays you have to have taken a track class then you are ready to race. After thursdays the riders go to the cat 4 races and then after that there are the Friday night races.

To give the riders more experience they had them race with a "pacer". They have to stay with the pacer until there is a bell and then they can sprint for points. This forced them to ride in a pack instead of having the strongest rider break away and miss out on the group riding skills. Mark and Brian traded off being pacer. There were 7 fields all together so they got a good workout in doing the pacing.

More intervals

I did the intervals again on Tuesday. I knew I would be still tired from Sunday but I wanted to get in another hard workout with time to recover before Friday. They were better this time but 4 was enough. On the last one I could barely hold 300 watts for the first minute. Hold the next three minutes at 230 was a little easier though.

4 Minute intervals with a power start

I took yesterday off after friday's track racing and today did some more 4 minute efforts. But this time I followed Mark's idea of doing a hard first minute followed by a sustained effort for the next 3 minutes. The plan was to go over 300 watts for the first minute and then hold 230 for three minutes. This was a tortuous workout! I think it even approached how much I hurt during the race on Friday.

The 300 watts part was easy. But then the next three minutes were really hard on the legs. After the second interval my stomach hurt and I had to lay on the swiss ball for a few minutes until it stopped hurting. I'm glad no one saw me. I managed to do two more intervals but it was tough. Glad to have that workout over! I think that might have exposed a weakness of mine!

Track is back! - Marymoor Preseason

The first night of preseason racing at Marymoor was Friday! I was so happy! I love racing on the track!

I had butterflies because I was excited to race again and I've spent all winter thinking about it! Now it is finally here. We will be racing every Friday except rain outs until September! Woohoo!

I made myself do some all out efforts during warm up to get the feel of really going hard again. The preseason races at Marymoor are a good shakedown to get ready for the regular season (two more weeks). It's a shake down for the officials too so they can run the races smoothly.

I forgot a few things. I forgot to get properly hydrated, I forgot the folding chair that we bring to sit on, and I forgot to pay attention when the field before you is coming at full speed into the warmup circle! After I realized I was dehydrated I tried to make up for it by drinking a bunch of water but that didn't work so well when we started racing! I can tell I'm dehydrated when my contact lens starts to fall out which is a big problem if you are racing. I think I'll get that worked out for next time.

I raced in a 49x15. Although it was a smaller gear than I ended up at last year it did not feel too big.

The first race gave me a scare. We rolled off of the rail for the neutral lap and I heard a big bang and saw Michele from Wines go down right in front of me. She blew out her rear tire. I had to steer quickly uptrack to avoid hitting her. I thought we'd restart but since she got up OK they let us start as usual after the neutral lap. I felt pretty frazzled! My plan was to attack right away for the scratch race but I was in the back due to the mishap and then Christine used the same strategy and attacked. I was glad to get things going right away. I think I ended up third in that race.

We had a new race called a "wheel race" which is a handicap race. They put all of the cat 2 riders in the race and then had riders from other fields stagger around the track for a "lead". I was in the very front with three other riders. We started from standing starts all at the same time. It felt like total chaos. I was aimed at the rider in front of me and had to avoid the holder so had a slow start. Before I made it off of the apron I was already passed by riders behind going all out. I went uptrack and rode hard and watched the show. Crazy! Annette got a much better start than me and took 7th. I wouldn't mind trying that one again though.

Next was a tempo race. I took the first set of points and then rested and went for some more before the end. I don't know for sure what place I got.

The last race of the night was the usual 4x4. I was happy to rest in between the sprints. I went early for the sprints to try and foil Amara's strong sprint. I don't have the power right now to let it get close to the line. I came close to losing my lunch in the middle of that race. It is hard to do anything in training that can simulate how hard you work in a race. I didn't win but took some of the points.

I wish I knew how I did for the night but the results weren't posted when I left and they are not on the web yet either.

It was a fun night. I was happy to see the track crew again. I can't wait for the next Friday.

More 4 minute intervals

Last Tuesday I did the 4 min intervals again. I got in 5 this time before my legs blew up. Held them at 250-260. I listened to a great song by the Elks that made me think of trying to hold on to the field when they are really punching it.

Glendale Road Race

The Glenwood Road Race was very rainy but not that cold. Annette, Cheryl, Michele, and I went down but Michele didn't feel well when we got there and decided it was best to sit it out.
Josh, Michele and I had driven part of the course looking for the steep hill which we though was at the finish but it turned out to be the first corner after the neutral roll out. It wasn't that bad but I managed to mess up my shifting the second time around and got gapped off. I chased for a bit but didn't feel strong enough to catch back on. Our race was 70 miles so I didn't finish on my own. I had fun while I was in there though and moved around to the front to try and shelter Cheryl and Annette when I could. The finish was really weird, it was 10 miles from the start so if you finished the race you actually did 80 miles.

Later in the race Cheryl wiped out on a corner. She wasn't sure what happened but there were some slick areas so maybe she hit a spot of oil. She suffered some road rash on her elbow and hit the ground hard. She hopped back on the bike and could see the group ahead and made a big effort to rejoin but it was too late to catch back on.

There was a girl in the group who obviously used too much soap when washing her kit because it all foamed up when it started raining. Her rear end was totally sudsy and there were little puffs of foam flying from her bike the whole time I was in the race. Maybe Cheryl wiped out on the suds?

I liked the course and would do it again. We took the ferry home which reduced the driving quite a bit. And we got popcorn on the ferry!

4 minute intervals

I did some 4 minute intervals last tuesday. When I did my last 5 minutes intervals I was at 220-230 watts but I know I need to get the watts up higher so I did a slightly shorter interval. I was able to hold 4x4 minutes at 250-260 watts. I was totally wiped out on the last one. Mark came in and asked me if I was on my 6th one yet. I about fell off the trainer. There was no chance of making it to 6.

Maybe next week!

VO2

Mark talked me into doing some VO2 intervals. I started at 220 watts and edged toward 230 watts. 5x5 minutes with 6 minutes rest. It was a sweat fest but I felt good after.

Walla Walla Stage Race

The Walla Walla stage race was last weekend - three races, a time trial, a criterium, and a road race in Walla Walla. The picture is from our team meeting between the time trial and the crit at Cheryl's mom's house. They made us lunch too!

Walla Walla was lots of fun and having the host housing made it great. We stayed with our teammate Cheryl's sister. We rode from our host housing to the time trial and the crit. The road race was further away and we had to use the cars. The weather was spectacular all weekend.

The time trial was tough because I don't have a very arrow position due to a weak shoulder. The course screamed downhill and was windy so you really paid for not having all the aero gear. I lost a couple of minutes just on that.

Next was the crit. 70 women in the 1-2-3's! It was a huge group. I sprinted out of the saddle for the first corner but was hit hard on the side by another rider. I hadn't even made it to the first corner yet! I ended up near the back behind the riders who were heavy on the breaks and couldn't get around before the group separated and gapped off. We formed a chase group and started working together. I was confused by all the corners in the group and couldn't tell which way we were supposed to be turning. In retrospect I should have memorized the turns. We had driven the course but I saw it from the back of the car and didn't get a good look. So I made an effort to memorize the turns and just in time. By the time I was sure which way we were going they called a chase prime. I waited until the three left corners and dove hard into the first one and kept going. When I came around the last corner I had about 200 meters on the group. I won $30! Unfortunately the fun was over as they pulled us with two laps to go.

The road race had a crazy start. It was a neutral roll out but the lead car kept slowing down and speeding up leading to many near collisions. I saw one of the girls fishtail in front of me just barely staying up. They also had us neutral on half of the downhill which was insane. My fingers were cramping from so much emergency braking. We finally got going and things were either all out or very slow. I got dropped after the first loop and it seemed that most of the riders behind me quit so I didn't have anybody to work with until 10 miles to go I finally hooked up with someone. So I lost a lot of time doing about 30 miles solo. I ended up last in the 1-2's but I finished instead of quitting so I wasn't really last. It was a beautiful course and I was happy to be riding in the sun and getting some good training. It was so warm that I drank all three of the water bottles I took.

Volunteer Park Criterium

Yesterday was the Volunteer Park criterium. I had an OK race. I stayed in the group but didn't do much to help out teammates. We had a large women's field which is great but now I have to get used to moving around in a big field. I had three teammates in the race, Heather, Heidi, and Annette. Heidi got a flat early on. Heather was racing in her first Washington race since she just moved here from Colorado. Annette did great getting 4th over all and picking up a $20 prime. I have a picture of her below with the "loot".

I need to get better at moving to the front of the group. I wasn't having a problem moving up but I would get 1/2 way up and then loose my position before the next lap. Annette gave me some hints and stuff to work on for the next race. After Annette got the prime she was briefly on the back and I thought, perfect, I will just follow her back up to the front. But as I watched her glide up to the front I was not able to do the same. It is deceptively easy when someone else does it.

I hung in until the finish but on the very last corner there was a bad crash and four riders went down. I think they are all OK but they did have to take two away in the ambulance. I hope they recover quickly.

Mark's race was the one after mine but just as he got to the race one of his brakes broke. His race was delayed by the ambulance so we switched the pedals on our bikes and he raced my bike! Good thing we are the same size! Except he changed the seat height and I forgot to mark it first - oops. He had no problem at all racing on a different bike and made it look easy as usual. No crashes in his race I think they were all being extra careful.


There were some good pictures of us both on Wheels in Focus:
http://www.wheelsinfocus.com/2009/Volunteer/W123/pages/94AD0677vp.htm
http://www.wheelsinfocus.com/2009/Volunteer/W123/pages/94AD0730vp.htm

http://www.wheelsinfocus.com/2009/Volunteer/3/pages/94AD0846vp.htm
http://www.wheelsinfocus.com/2009/Volunteer/3/pages/94AD0932vp.htm

Track Class at Marymoor

I helped teach the track class at Marymoor with Bilko yesterday. It was really fun! My goal was to pass on my enthusiasm for racing to the new riders and get them excited about track racing. It was a good experience.

I took the track class so long ago that I didn't remember what I learned or even who taught the course. When I went out to the track two years ago I didn't remember how to get off the track!

Bilko did a great job of deconstructing the process of getting on a fixed gear bike and riding it safely around the track. The class was an all women's class and none of them had ridden a fixed gear bike before so we had to start with just getting on the bike and stopping safely. Soon we had them comfortable and taking flyers around the track. Then we got to play follow the leader. I had one group and Bilko had the other group. I took them up and down the track and dove down the steep part. I hope they had as much fun as I did! It will be nice to see them at the races. I hope I get another chance to help out with future classes. It was super nice weather too which made it even more exciting because I know that track racing is coming soon.

Today I did more intervals - 10 minute efforts again but this time with 15 seconds hard every two minutes. I would hit 350-400 watts on the hard parts and then drop down to 200 watts until the next 15 seconds effort. This was Mark's idea and it was one of the hardest sessions I've done! Afterwards I took a recovery ride around Greenlake. It was a mob scene because of the nice weather but a fun place too cool down when you aren't in a hurry. Very entertaining!

Intervals

I did some intervals last tuesday. I've been taking a French class but now it's over and I can work on training during the week again. I did 3x10 minute power intervals pushing a big gear at a fairly low cadence. I held them all at about 190 watts. On thursday I did my first hill repeats. Just three to get the legs used to climbing again.

Independance Valley Road Race - IVRR

I bailed today. After meeting up with the guys at Speedy Reedy (39 degrees) we drove down to the race. I rode with Mark T. and we watched the temperature slowly drop as we got closer to Rochester. The heavy rain turned to a heavy sleet and then snow mixed with rain, light snow, and by the time we arrived and I registered for the race it was heavy snow (35 degrees). I talked to the four Blue Rooster girls who had just raced (Sara, Michele P., Sharon, Catherine) and they were freezing. They all finished their race and were trying to change into dry clothes. Sharon offered me her chemical hand warmers which she said were still warm. I took these wet soppy cold hand warmers from her and had to tell her that they were not actually warm that she was just hypothermic so they seemed warm!

Then I wandered outside and talked to Carol from Group Health. She had just gotten back from rescuing frozen riders and helped convince us not to race. It was just too much like Tahuya a few years back. I talked to Michele and she was bailing too. We talked to the other Blue Rooster guys and they were not deterred at all. Even our sponsor - Kevin, was all psyched up to race! I can't wait to hear their reports. We drove back to the Lakewood Starbucks and had coffee with Sara and Catherine. It was really nice. They were discussing the pro's and con's of racing with or without glasses in the snow. Having the grit go directly in your eyes or having your lenses get frosted up with snow. I had heard that there was gravel on the downhill but they said they couldn't actually see the road.

When I got home I did a 45 minute workout on the rollers with spin ups. It felt great.

Tour de Dung #2

I raced Tour de Dung last week but didn't feel very good. I had an upset stomach and when we got to the race I threw up. That was bad because I needed my breakfast to have enough energy to finish the race. I decided to race anyway since I was already there and didn't want to wait in the car. It went fine until the last 1/2 lap when I ran out of energy and got dropped by the group. It wasn't too bad though for how I was feeling.

La Casita - a great Rental in Tucson

Below are some pictures from the place we rented in Tucson. It is a small guesthouse that is attached to a main house. We rented the guest house and the owners live in the main house. They are very nice and love to have cyclist stay in the guest house. The house is about 5 miles from Mt Lemmon and is perfect for a training base. It has a nice kitchen and a BBQ and is in a quiet neighborhood. If you are interested in renting it email jamesboschert@aol.com with the subject line "La Casita Rental". You have to put that in the subject line or it gets lost in their junk mail.

This is the sitting room. There is also a bedroom, bathroom and kitchen.

There is a BBQ outside that we cooked chicken and hot dogs on.

It is very restful.

This is the outside. It is very cute.




They have 5 cats who are fun to watch.

The hummingbirds love these flowers!

More Mt. Lemmon

Mark and I couldn't stay away from Mt. Lemmon. I think the people we are staying with think we are crazy!


Yesterday was really hot when we headed up and I think I was dehydrated from the previous rides. I was really sore and we stopped at the 14 mile point and headed back down. Mark said that we could just come back tomorrow. We stopped at Auga Caliente park for a nice relaxing break before the last 4 miles home. The park has natural springs and is a favorite stopping place for local birds.



Today Mark was not so excited about going up Mt Lemmon again but I really wanted to go. We headed out under slightly overcast skies. It was much nicer, still sunny but not so hot. I did much better and wasn't so sore so we went all the way to the top again. It was a nice ride. We chatted with some of the other riders as they were going up. People are pretty friendly and you get a good mix of riders. Some are trying it for the first time and some are pro riders riding with their teammates. Some riders have sag wagons to carry extra food and water. I have Mark, who carried an extra big camelback with extra water. (Thanks!) :)

I enjoy the descent more than I used to now that I know the road better. I can watch the amazing scenery go by without stressing about the next turn. The funnest part for me is waving to the riders heading up the hill. They seem happy to see other riders.

That's it for this trip. Mark said we did about 18,000 feet of climbing. I will do well at the next race with a 20 mile climb! Just kidding - no climbs that long in Washington.

Mt Lemmon!

Yesterday Mark and I rode up to the 20 mile point on Mt Lemmon. It was a lot of climbing. I'm still adjusting to the heat and the elevation. It was a fun ride though. The cornering clinic I took with Kenny came in handy for the descent. 20 miles of descending at 30-40 mph!

It was really warm. In past years there has been snow at the top but not this year. We didn't even need our coats.

Today we rode mostly flat again. We headed down to Colossal Cave but this time did the Pistol Hill loop. It was a really nice road without much traffic. The last mile was the old road to the caves that is being overtaken by the desert. Bikes can still get through though but no cars at all on that road.

Afterwards we played some boules with our hosts Mike and Daniel. We are staying at a guest house that is connected to their house. If anyone wants a great place to stay very close to Mt. Lemmon I can give you their contact information. The guest house is for rent all spring and winter. Perfect for cyclists!