30 second intervals

I did a very hard workout of 5 rounds of 30 second intervals. It sounds easy but 30 seconds seems very long when you are going all out! I was at 440 watts for most of it but the power would drop by the last 5 seconds. Now my legs really hurt!

Mutual of Enumclaw Stage Race!

I did not race Mutual of Enumclaw Stage Race - I was too busy helping run the race. This year the race was a timed stage race with a time trial Saturday morning, a crit Saturday afternoon, and a road race on Sunday.

The best thing we did this year was hire a race director - Erik Anderson. It made things so much smoother. I helped out last year - but putting on a race has a steep learning curve. We tried to do better in many places this year. Our number one problem last year was a shortage of volunteers and that made everyone crabby by the end. We still had challenges this year but we got help from members of many of the other teams including Apex, Cucina Fresca, Bike-Sale, Starbucks, Greggs, Herriott Sports, Cycle-Therapy 4-corners, Lenovo, Footworks PT, and Olympic Othopaedic racing. I am sure I missed somebody. And of course my team, Blue Rooster/Sports Medicine Clinic did a great job with everybody putting in some long hours.

The weather wasn't the best. We got a little sun at times but other times it just poured.

We got a lot of positive comments from the racers. It was nice to see our efforts were appreciated. The race takes more than 90 volunteers. We also got help from the local community. The local Presbyterian church put on a spaghetti feed for the racers and the local high school provided volunteers to help in the feed zone. We also had volunteers from Mutual of Enumclaw to help make sandwiches for the volunteers and to help corner marshal. The volunteers come from Mutual of Enumclaw come out every year to help.

Our prize list for the race was $10,000. It was fun to give out so much money. In addition we handed out $1,200 in primes at the crit plus some cool prizes like tickets to a Sounders Game, gift certificates to Speedy Reedy, and free Massages at Living Lotus Massage. We stayed around after the race to hand out the checks. That was the most fun part but had to wait for the official results. At one point one of the Juniors came to get his prize with five family members in tow, all very excited. I felt bad that the check wasn't ready yet so we did a fake presentation for a photo op - and I handed him the check and shook his hand while all of the family took our photos.

Some of the riders don't get their own checks. One of the team managers came in and had us make out all of the prizes for his riders out to their team and then the team pays the riders. Maybe that is the way the pros do it?

We had a great turnout of riders for the race - our largest attendance ever. We had a great showing of riders from Canada - at least 10 teams came down. Also riders from Idaho, and Oregon, and probably a few even further out.

Well next week - to recover - we are putting on another race! Fremont Criterium is next up!

Flat on the track

I got to the track before anyone else was there and I watched this bird. It was being divebombed by crows. It was very beautiful. The track is a much different place before the racers get there.

I had a close call today. I had a flat on my wheel while I was on the banking and slid down the side of the track to the grass. I managed to keep the bike upright but I think I might be switching to tublar wheels which are supposed to be safer when the tire goes flat.

We did some standing starts today which are supposed to be really good for developing acceleration. Then some sprints with a partner and finally some Madison drills. It was hard but fun.

It started to rain just as I was finishing so I decided to skip my last set. I was still feeling a bit frazzled after my close call on the banking and didn't want to deal with on and off rain as well.

Friday Track

It was a fun night at the track - a little warmer this time.

My first race was the Chariot - a 1 lap drag race. You start lined up across the track with holders and go for the finish line. We had heats and then a final. On my first heat I drew lane one so I led the group. I went at 80% until turn 3 and then went full gas to the finish. Jessica came by me but I held off the next rider to get 2nd and advance to the final. The final heat was a few races later. I lined up with the winners from the heats and I decided that they all had bigger gearing than me so I would take off and hammer from the start. It worked well and I gaped them off. Amara was the only one who could close the gap and she came around me at the
finish but I got 2nd!

The next race was elimination, where they pull 1 rider each lap. That was especially hard because I only had two races to rest in between my "drag race" and the elimination. I lasted a few laps and then got eliminated.

My last race was a 20 lap race with points every 4 laps. I was riding in the back and saw Carol attacking up the side. I went with her and came around to take the first set of points. I was dead then and was worried about finishing the race! I hung in there and rested through the next points. I picked up a few more points on the next sprint and on the final sprint I got 4th. I think I ended up 3rd for the night.

First night of Track!

Last night was the first night of pre-season at the track. It was weird to be out racing again. It was a sunny day but somehow at 5:50 pm it started raining. No rain was predicted so it caught everybody by surprise. It was very light though, and 20 minutes later we were waming up.

I looked around at the warmup and realized I was the only woman out so far. This meant that the women's field would be canceled. A couple more women showed up later but still not enough. So I raced with the Cat 3 men ( the B-race). I did not expect that at all for the first night of racing.

The first race was a tempo and it was pretty fast. I did not choose good lines and gapped off about 1/2 way. I finished the race just as the first guy lapped me. The second race was a scratch race and I rode smarter and made it to the finish, getting gapped on the final sprint. The last race was a 5x5 points race. I was ready this time and concentrated on keeping up on the sprints and riding smart. I made it to the finish and even beat a few guys. It was fun! I felt really good about being able to keep up. I raced a 49x15 gear.

Last weekend I rode out to the track and watched 5 of my teammate taking the track class. I was so happy to see them out there. Then on Sunday we had another team practice but were cut short by rain. Got in a few sprints before the drops started falling.