Fender Schmender

Jackson Boulevard, as seen from the Spinning Studio Friday morning.
The Sears Tower - as seen from the Studio Friday morning. Normally we can see the whole thing.

The Kennedy expressway at 5:30am - everything actually pretty civil.

I've had a sudden, rude reintroduction to Chicago winter. Monday was a really nice day - temps near 50, some sun and lots of wind. Then the rain started and the wind changed - and I was out there riding, wet and shivering when it happened. The temp bottomed out at about minus 3 and the next day we didn't get out of the teens. Overnight the snow started and now I find myself getting slightly depressed as the inches keep piling up. I think there's about 3in out there now. BUT - if you think a little snow will keep me from riding you are so very wrong.

Take today for example. Definitely a day for the cross bike - very dirty, wet and slushy pavement on the main roads and hard packed slippery snow on the side streets. Oh, and light powdery snow on the sidewalk - but I wouldn't know about that because I never ride on the sidewalk...The sun was out so I decided to ride to work. It's only about 7mi each way - cake. I briefly pondered installing my very ugly, slow fender on the bike but opted not to, thinking it couldn't be that bad, now could it?

Hindsight is always 20/20. My chamois literally froze to my ass. I'm not kidding. That was kind of uncomfortable. Today's important work was completed indoors, on the rollers. Much as I despise it, the fender goes on tomorrow and it unfortunately will probably stay there for a few days, until I decide to risk freezing my ass again. At least I've gotten to February without letting winter get the best of me. That said, spring cannot get here soon enough. Now I'm off to shovel the snow - my landlord is vacationing in Hawaii and I volunteered to do it.

There's No Place Like Home

Where else but Cali can you see this sign?

So I'm back to the reality of life at home and it really isn't all that bad. Yeah, it's windy, cold and rainy but it's what I'm used to and it's what I rode my bike in for 3.5hr today. Not ideal but it can definitely be worse. It's going to drop back to zero in a day or two and I might be forced to ride the rollers....ick. But - as I said before, every day that passes is one day closer to spring.

While I totally loved the time I spent in California, it's not home. I could live there and it would still never be "home," if that makes any sense. The riding was great, most of the pavement was smooth, the sun felt amazing, the scenery was breathtaking at times - but I really would only ever want to visit.

So I guess what I'm saying is I'm happy to be home - to catch up with the important people and re-enter the routine of my life, doing what I really like to do. It's good for me to leave once in a while because I always return with some perspective. While I was in Cali I found some confidence, ate (a lot of very good) cookies, saw some cool stuff, laughed until my stomach ached, walked on the beach and watched an amazing sunset, got to ride my bike, learned a few things, read two books, got to chill with my teammates and missed things at home - now I'm back and everything's all good...but I will definitely need to go away again if this lousy weather continues. Soon.

It's All About Me Today. Oh, and Tiger Woods

Not much sleep last night so getting up while it was still dark this morning was not easy. The plan was to meet early at the Nytro bike shop then head out and catch up with some huge group ride. A lot of my teammates have caught bad colds and weren't all feeling great this morning so some of them cut the ride short and turned back at Del Mar after about 8mi or so. We'd ridden down the coast and then things turned inland at that point. I kept going straight toward La Jolla by myself. I decided after about 10min of riding on someone else's wheel that I wanted to do my own ride today - longer, do some hill work at my own pace and keep my route along Hwy 101.

There was a fair amount of up and down to be done on my route of choice and some fantastic scenery along the way so I just rode along in my own world. I passed through Torrey Pines while heading back up the coast and stopped to watch some of the golfers at the Buick Invitational on the practice tee. I rolled up to the fence and right in front of me was Tiger Woods - taking his practice swings along with Stewart Cink (god that guy is tall), Rory Sabbatini, Kevin Streelman and Aaron Baddeley. I think I could have just camped out there all day and watched/listened to them all. Amazing.

Following that stop I rolled on heading up 101 toward Oceanside, my turnaround point before heading back to the house today. Things started out a little cold early on this morning but by the time I hit Carlsbad the temp had to be in the low 60s with the sun shining in a cloudless sky. There were tons of surfers out and cyclists everywhere. My legs were really getting tired at that point - exactly what I wanted. I thought so many times to myself that there aren't many places I'd rather be today. It was great to ride along, take everything in and love being on the bike one last time before I have to put it back in the box and be on the way home.

My week at team camp has been very positive and productive in a lot of ways. The girls on the team are all very dedicated athletes who work extremely hard. We are all fit, strong and looking to make more of an impact on the national racing scene for 2008. I have no doubt that we will do well this season and earn the respect that our team deserves.

That's all for now - I have to go take apart my bike and get it ready for the trip home. Thanks for reading - I'll see you all soon!

Golf, Sun and FLOYD LANDIS!!

Amy, Lee, Kat, me, Jessi and Kristin at Torrey Pines

There are a few words in the English language that I use frequently - anyone who knows me is surely familiar with my favorites... Then there are words that I reserve for use only when the situation truly warrants it. Perfect is one of the words that I use infrequently and only when I truly mean it. Today's ride was, in almost every possible way, perfect. The plan was for a few hours of pretty steady riding down the Pacific coast to LaJolla then back up to Encinitas. There were a few sections of decent "up" to tackle (with corresponding "down") and some fantastic scenery to behold. We all headed out together (except for poor Molly who's sick in bed) and those of us who wanted more miles split and continued after a brief stop at Torrey Pines for some photos. The temp was probably in the mid 60s and the most amazing cloudless blue sky made for some excellent riding conditions today. Lori, Kristin, Lee, Kat and I stuck together and went longer.

The Buick Invitational is being played at this moment at Torrey Pines so we cruised by the golf course and actually saw Madison, WI native Jerry Kelly's group heading up the fairway toward the green - that was very cool. Talk about some GREEN grass! For those of you who are not aware, I LOVE golf. Don't play the game but it just fascinates me. Once summer hits I typically crash in front of the tv after the morning ride and just watch golf all afternoon.

Anyway, about 2mi from the house we were stopped at a traffic light and a group of guys wearing dark blue kits was stopped ahead of us, in front of a few cars. They looked like a bunch of super-fit masters racers (the best kind of racers, in my opinion). In the back of the group was a guy wearing all black with no helmet. It struck me, "that looks like Floyd,"and I thought, "no way - can't be." Then he turned around and yep - it was him!! They pulled off at the corner and we exchanged waves then we contemplated turning around. In the end we chose instead to continue back home or to the coffee shop.

The plan for tomorrow is a long group ride with some locals. I fear that it might just turn into a hammerfest but that's okay. It's my last chance to ride here before heading back home and I've been saving my best legs so I'm ready to hang in and suffer a bit.

Thanks for reading - I need to go eat a cookie and have a pedicure after a perfect day on the bike.

This is a Job for the 27-tooth Cog

Kat and me - on grill duty

Team camp is moving right along here in SoCal and inevitably, a few of my teammates and our manager have developed nasty colds. I've been fortunate to stay well so we split the squad today and did separate rides. I went the climbing (snowy, icy, hailing, wet, windy) route with Anne, Yukie, Kat, Carrie and Amy while Kristin, Jessi and Lori rode down to San Diego and stayed mostly in the sun (see their blogs, linked below to the right, for the lowdown). Molly and Lee headed to Irvine for a special ride with their coach today. Paul was kind enough to drive support on our ride.

After yet another night of wakefulness (ugh) and some breakfast, we rolled out in the vans and headed inland to Ramona, our starting point for the day. The plan was for approximately 43mi, the first half being up (hello, 27 tooth cog - damn right I used it!) and the second half being down. I think we all brought every piece of clothing we had which was a good thing, as we encountered an interesting mix of rain, sun, clouds, fog, snow, hail (which was painful) and strong winds along the way. Paul stopped several times for us to remove and then replace garments as the conditions changed (thank you Paul!). We climbed to Julian and by the time we got there the temp had dropped to near 30 degrees, we were all soaked, there was a lot of snow on the ground and the wind was pretty severe. All of us had been climbing well to that point - even me, the "criterium specialist." I did suffer a little bit on the very last step into Julian but I made it into town withe everyone else and put on some more clothing for the descent back to Ramona.

As we headed down, the wind made it difficult for me to handle my bike - deep section wheels - not a good choice for today. I was wet and cold so I decided to be safe and put my bike in the van for the descent. I was completely bummed - I had good legs today and so wanted to ride back down to Ramona with my teammates. Carrie joined me in the follow vehicle not long after - shivering, wet and cold.

The route we took today was fantastic and incredibly scenic -good pavement, not too much traffic. Some of the area that we rode through had been profoundly affected by the wildfires that were burning a few months back so we saw a tremendous amount of destruction in some places. It would be great to return sometime when the sun is shining and the air is warm.

It's raining here now as I finish this post. I'm hoping things clear up in time for tomorrow's ride and that things back home start to warm up - I've had lots of reports of freezing brains from everyone in Chicago.

Thanks for reading - I'll be sure to check in tomorrow. Until then, wish me luck in escaping my teammates as they attempt to make me eat more cookies.

Easy Miles - Amazing Day

The plan for today was a 3hr steady, low key cruise down the shore to Del Mar then inland for a while before heading back north and west to Encinitas. Interestingly enough, we encoutered a fair amount of wind - I didn't know there was wind anywhere else but at home! Because we were sharing the work and riding easy, my nose stayed out of the wind quite nicely today.

Chicago's wind tends to be somewhat ubiquitous - headwind on the way out, headwind along the way, headwind on the way home - you get it. I think I even have a headwind on the rollers, indoors. My plan at home is usually to find a good draft and stay protected while pulling through here and there. Typically no one complains about my wheelsucking. Well, at least they don't say anything about it anyway. For the record, I do feel guilty about it.

There was a fair amount of "up" today but not anything severe and since we kept things low-key my legs never felt tired. Of course I'd be remiss not to mention the good amount of descending we got to do - fast and fun - always a rush. It's another day of perfect blue skies and temps in the 60s - just can't beat it. I didn't whine a single time.

I keep checking in with everyone back home and really - I'm so sorry to hear it's so nasty there. The best way to look at it - each day that passes is one more day closer to spring. Then again, do we have spring in Chicago? Either way, it can only get better so hang in there. I'll be home soon enough to join the misery. But now, I have to take a nap....

Things Go Up and DOWN!

In Oceanside, early in the ride

Jessi brought her camera along today and snapped some cool shots of us on an 80 mile ride that took us up the coast to Oceanside, inland to the moutains, down to Escondido and then back out to Encinitas and the Pacific Ocean (with lots of nice "little" UP sections along the way). There was a fair amount of relatively severe climbing today but everyone was up to the challenge and we had one fantastic ride. Temps were in the 60s with blue skies and no clouds to be seen. Perfect.

The best part of going up is of course going down, one of my most favorite things. The road surfaces were excellent and the scenery was awesome. We had the opportunity to scream downhill at 45+mph through an amazing valley into Escondido with about 20mi left and I have to admit it was by far the best part of the ride. I wanted to do it again!! But that would have entailed a LONG climb back up so I opted to continue back home, since climbing is not my forte.

My legs were great today and I felt amazing - good for some winter confidence and my fragile athlete psyche. Tomorrow's plan is for some easy miles, maybe 3hr total followed by a manicure/pedicure and a lot of relaxing/team bonding. I'm going to try my best to get some sleep and just 'live the dream' a bit.

Thanks for reading - hope y'all are staying warm and dry back home - I miss you!

Palomar Mountain Ride - Priceless

Lee and Kat on Palomar - where we turned around

After another night of wakefulness I was hearing something outside that sounded oddly like (gasp) rain at five o'clock this morning. Sure enough, it was raining in Southern California, and cold too. We loaded the vans after a quick breakfast and headed out with full rain gear in tow, hoping that things would clear up by the time we arrived at Jilberto's Taco Stand, our departure and rendezvous point for the ride. We went into Jilberto's before the ride and for some reason, a couple teammates and I grabbed some small plastic bags to take along, just in case we needed to cover our toes or something. The plan for the day was to climb Palomar Mountain, supposedly one of Floyd Landis's favorite climbs. The ascent is supposedly 6100ft in about 12mi with something like 21 switchbacks (not counting turns or curves, switchbacks) to the summit.

The pavement was wet but the sky seemed to be clearing as we started on our way, clueless as to what the next two hours would hold. Have you ever seen those MasterCard "priceless" commercials on tv? You know which commercials I'm talking about - keep that in mind as the story unfolds here. As things went up our group got more and more stretched out along the side of the mountain and the temperature began to drop. I had a feeling that we were in trouble when I began to notice that the cars coming down the side of the mountain we were ascending were covered with snow.

I'd settled into a good rhythym and was actually climbing pretty well (thank you very much to the guys back home who regularly drag me around), feeling quite good. When we got to within about a mile of the summit, it became clear that going all the way to the top was a dangerous proposition today. There was a lot of snow and slush on the road, it was very foggy and the air was tremendously cold and damp. Most of us had rain gear but not really any thermal or windstopper clothing on so we were all pretty cold - we knew that the descent was going to be treacherous because of falling rocks and slippery conditions so we chose to turn around and carefully head back to our departure point. I'm pretty fearless when it comes to descending and cornering at speed so I dove down first and just let it rip all the way until I could no longer feel my hands - I was wearing long finger gloves that were completely wet so my hands were totally frozen. I still had a fair amount of descending to do at that point so I.....pulled out the plastic bags and put them on my hands!! I really had no choice - it was either that or just stop and hope to be retrieved by one of the vans after everyone else got back to the parking lot.

What can I say? My hands actually warmed up and I was the first to make it back. As the commercial goes....

Blue Precision Cycles RC-7 bicycle equipped with SRAM Force, Zipp 404s with wireless Power Tap and other ridiculous high-end stuff: $5000+

Fully custom Rocket7 carbon soled cycling shoes (embroidered with "velogoddess"): $550

Ultra-chic Assos rain jacket: $250

SRAM 12/27 cassette - a mountain climbing necessity: $100 (you are DAMN RIGHT I used that 27 tooth cog today!!)

Two stupid plastic sandwich bags swiped from Jilberto's Taco Stand: Priceless

Thanks for reading - I'll try to check in again soon!

Checking in From Camp....Day 1

Well, I guess it's really day 2 - we arrived in the late afternoon yesterday and spent a lot of time at the airport, waiting (much too long) for our rental car. Jessi and I camped out in the sun for quite literally at least 90min, just waiting for Paul to retrieve us from the arrivals area of the San Diego airport. I think the security guards were beginning to get nervous the longer we sat there...

We're staying in a large multi-room home in Leucadia (http://www.casaleucadia.com/), about 40min north of San Diego and just south of Carlsbad. There are (I think) 12 of us here along with Paul and Jim Flora who will be our wrench. While the accomodations are quite comfortable, I admit to a bout of severe insomnia last night, so I guess I'm not quite comfortable. Hopefully that will not be the case tonight.

We got in about 4 hours of good saddle time today that had us riding on Highway 101 along the Pacific shore. This was an especially cool ride for me because we covered the same route as the Carlsbad Marathon and Half Marathon (which I did a few years ago and was actually held today), so I was in familiar territory. There were a bunch of surfers out riding and I was surprised to see the MetLife blimp (Snoopy 1 anyone?) floating over Oceanside, CA, our turnaround point. Weird - the things you see on a ride...Temps were perfect - about 70ish for a high after a low in the upper 40s and no clouds to be seen. I admit that I even have the beginnings of some bad tan lines.

We are planning to head inland tomorrow to a 40mi loop that includes a 12mi climb that Jim is familiar with. I'm actually looking forward to it - climbing is a big challenge for me and tomorrow will be a good test for my legs and my usually fragile psyche when the road gets vertical. I'll be sure to check in with the lowdown tomorrow evening. I might even have some photos - we'll see.

I am SO Outta Here!!

Yep - heading out in the morning for 9 days in San Diego for team camp. It can't come at a better time since the Chicago weather forecast is calling for subzero temps with brutal wind chills this weekend that will continue into next week.

I'm excited not just to be riding in the sun (and re-establishing my bad tan lines) but also to meeting new teammates, catching up with returning teammates and spending time just doing the whole 'bonding' thing. we're planning to ride quite a bit but are also leaving some time to do a bit of fun stuff off the bike too.

I'll be checking in and hopefully posting a bit while I'm gone - I might even include some pictures.

Help Wanted

Wanted: Someone to Clean my Bikes

I'm not kidding. I will pay you to clean my bikes. Above is an example of just what type of ick you would be responsible to clean, scrub, degrease, polish, and lube in effort to restore my bikes to top working order. Previous bike mechanic experience a plus as it's possible that some repair work might be necessary from time to time. Work must be completed at my residence - sorry, no travel stipend. I will provide hot and cold water hose, buckets, soap, degreaser, brushes, towels, any necessary tools, your beverage of choice and pretty much whatever else you need. I might even stick around and provide comic relief if I'm not otherwise engaged. Oh yeah - male candidates are strongly urged to apply. Would that constitute gender discrimination?

Negativity and Resolutions - VG Gets Cerebral...

Some bad-ass spin-heads at Union Station...you guys inspire me!!

So I had a conversation with my Spinning class today. Or should I say that I had a conversation with myself in front of my Spinning class today... Either way, it was an interesting and thought provoking few minutes. I've been having lots of "what the hell am I doing here?" moments lately, both on the bike and off. It strikes me that there's a ton of bad energy and negativity circulating in the world lately and until recently, it sort of sucked me in and was making me unhappy at times. I mean really - how many times can I be cut off or nearly killed by a cab or bus while on the bike and not have some sort of antimosity brewing? But I digress.

Reviewing the content of some of my previous posts as part of the goal setting process for the 2008 racing season, it's clear to me that aside from succumbing to pressure and anxiety, I allowed a fair amount of negativity to permeate my thoughts and affect my entire existence - not just my racing. I'm sharing these thoughts because I doubt that I am alone in feeling this way, and it's not just about racing but every interaction I have, whether personal or professional.

So what - right? Well, I guess the bottom line is pretty simple. After having a lengthy discussion with my coach last week, it's clear that I need to quit focusing so much on the end result or desired outcome and think more about what happens along the way. The result I want will be there for me if I'm more focused on what needs to happen to get there - and I probably won't find myself thinking, "what the hell am I doing here?" That goes for everything - work, personal stuff, family stuff, racing stuff - everything. So next time you hear me being negative, slap me upside the head and tell me to stop and look around - getting where I want to be is happening everywhere around me, it's best that I be a part of it.

On the resolutions front....I actually resolved to curb my use of the "F-bomb," one of the most versatile words in the English language. After 3 days I'm happy to report that I have abandoned that effort. My thought? F* it. Sometimes it makes me happy to use it, so why deny myself the pleasure? God forbid - the Catholic guilt complex....