And So It Begins.....

The 2008 season 'officially' began for me this morning in Kenosha, WI - I did the Masters 40/49 (yes, with the men) criterium held courtesy of Kenosha Velosport in an industrial park off Hwy 158. I'd have to say that air temp at race time (10am) was maybe 20 degrees. Maybe. But that's just a sidenote to an otherwise truly Midwest too-early season race. There wasn't much wind, just a little bit coming off the lake and right in your face between turns 3 and 4 which made for a nice cross/head wind on the back stretch. It wasn't a hateful wind but I made sure to keep my nose out of it.

Let me tell you a little about the course....pretty much flat 1 mile loop with various "hazards" to negotiate - I have to give credit to the American Bicycle Racing crew and Kenosha Velosport for doing what they could to make the course race-able. Some of the snow had melted so what water had found it's way to the pavement was frozen in a few areas that were nicely marked with some orange traffic cones. Then there were a few other icy patches that were large enough that there was just no need for traffic cones... There were lots of bumpy stretches with dicey pavment seams and most of the smaller potholes had been filled. Gravel and debris were out in force in all the corners and the larger potholes were covered with cut-to-fit pieces of plywood and held in place with duct tape. I'm not kidding. You better believe there were guys running those things over every lap.

Things got off to a reasonable start and after a few laps some hard attacks starting happening, though nothing that really hurt me much. Right after closing down a gap on the right side of the road a hard attack went up the left side. I saw that MetLifeGuy was on it so I sat in and let it go. With a hard effort I probably could've gotten over too but staying with those guys would've been supremely difficult - they're a bunch of friggin' beasts and I'd have likely gotten spit out sooner or later. Turned out the break held and MetLifeGuy ended up 3rd in the 40+. Ansgar took the field sprint for 4th and I was close behind taking 5th. In retrospect I should have registered and also done the 30+ race that followed. In that race the guys did a fine job of representing again with MetLifeGuy getting into a late break good enough for 4th and Ansgar again taking the field sprint.

It ultimately turned out to be a good day, even with the freezing coldness and course "features." Next time I'll be sure to do two races - I'm not remotely tired today and I can surely use the work.

Thanks for reading. 4 more days to NC....

Could it Be??

I leave for NC in 7 days and yep - the weather here still sucks something terrible so my departure can't arrive soon enough. It's a downright balmy 15 degrees at post time and the wind chill has got to be in the single digits. So it's another day for the rollers - could it be the last day of dedicated indoor training for the winter of 2007-08? I sure hope so - based on some of the long term weather forecasts (abc7chicago.com) it appears that things might be turning the corner and I daresay that spring may actually arrive sometime before June. Then again, this is Chicago....

Today's indoor session ended up to be in the 2-2.5 hour range and involved a fair amount of time spent at threshold. "What's threshold?" you ask...well, it's that place where the work is hard enough that you feel somewhat nauseous (so very pleasant) and you suffer a great deal but not so horribly that you'd rather be dead. I like to think of it as "uncomfortably difficult, but not un-doably so." Pre and post ride doppio - a given. Fortunately I had some fierce melon Gatorade on hand today so at least that critical part was covered. I needed some good, hard, angst-driven tunes broken up with more mellow stuff....here's a random sample - I was in an odd mood this morning so if it seems like a weird combination well, it is.

Kashmir - Led Zeppelin

Paint It, Black - Rolling Stones

Walk All Over You - AC/DC

Once - PJ

Hey Man Nice Shot - Filter

Welcome to Paradise - Green Day

You Could Be Mine - Guns 'n Roses

Stop - Jane's Addiction

Pain - Jimmy Eat World

Little Things - Bush

Watch the Tapes - LCD Soundsystem

WMA - PJ

Wrong Way - Sublime

She Sells Sanctuary - The Cult

What Matters - Matthew Sweet

All I Want is You - U2

Fade - Staind

Natural One - Folk Implosion

All Day and All of the Night (Live version) - The Kinks

Breakerfall - PJ

Fall to Pieces - Velvet Revolver

Best of Both Worlds - Van Halen

MIA - Foo Fighters

Wherever I May Roam - Metallica

PDA - Interpol

Girlfriend - Matthew Sweet

Tall Cool One - Robert Plant

Time Bomb - Rancid

Cherub Rock - Smashing Pumpkins

Better Man - PJ

Fool in the Rain - Led Zeppelin

Stay (Far Away So Close) - U2

Truly a weird assortment but it did the job for me this morning. I was feeling mellow so the low key stuff was perfect. What? Me - mellow? Yep. Probably more often than you might think. So begins the mental preparation for tomorrow's training criterium in Kenosha, WI...it's gonna be COLD.

The Morning SpinHeads...A Highly Cerebral Group

Keith, Me, Lindsey, Chad and Marianne - after 30min @ Threshold.

See? I really do teach Spinning on the rollers.

The south end of the room - mind over matter...
Lookin' good McMahon!!

The north end of the room - the legs follow what the mind tells them to do...

Above are a few pics from this morning's 6:30am Spinning class at the Loop gym where I teach and maintain a personal training clientele. The morning group is full of super strong, fit, focused athletes who always work very hard in class - no small task at that hour of the day. I've threatened for a while that that one day I would bring my camera to class - it happened today and I'm sorry to say that poor Bill missed his chance to be a star. Bummer. On the playlist:

Piss it all Away - Puddle of Mudd

Shine it all Around - Robert Plant and the New Sensations

Demolition Man - The Police

Flagpole Sitta - Harvey Danger

Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
Walk Idiot Walk - The Hives

Kryptonite - 3 Doors Down

World Wide Suicide - PJ

Teen Angst - Cracker

Panama - Van Halen

Blow Up the Outside World - Soundgarden

My intervals will be completed later - I'm not a morning person. I like to say that I can function in the morning but I can't perform. Not sure if it'll be indoors or out - the temp will be agreeable (woo-hoo!! almost 35 degrees!!) but logistics might be difficult given the type of work I need to do today - longer intervals are very difficult to do when you're constantly stopping for traffic signals and other related hazards.

Ugly Bike Love

The Winter Beater - Sporting the Fenders, 28-hole 404s and a Power Meter. Fat.

So I've decided to post a blog entry dedicated entirely to the beast we call the winter beater - but I need your help to make the post a reality. I know that lots of you have a frankenbike - the bike with a mix of mismatched parts that you vaguely remember was pretty high-end back in the day which now sits in storage wishing that you'd ride it (Bill, the LeMond, need I say more?). Is your winter beater a carbon Colnago cross bike with reflective tires, full chrome fenders, 15 lights and an SRM? Or, do you maybe reserve a bike specifically for winter commuting with studded tires that weighs about 40 pounds? Or a single speed Surly Steamroller wrapped with electrical tape and bling'd with a carbon fork? I'm looking for photos to include in the post (to start with anyway) so if you have something cool to share, please send it along.

Let the Countdown Begin - Again

That's right - I'm leaving town again for some training because the weather here in Chicago just plain, well SUCKS. We're caught in this cycle of snow/rain/melt/freeze/snow again/rain again/melt again/freeze again which alternately inititates a cycle of ride, fix punctures, get nearly run over by buses, cabs and other assorted a**hole drivers, clean the bike, etc. It's just wrong to remark on a long ride that it's a "nice day" when the temp barely reaches 20 degrees. I am just horribly sick of it and maybe even moderately depressed because of it. I knew things were getting bad when just getting stuck at traffic signals on the bike was beginning to seriously annoy me, along with other things that I normally just ignore. This morning's commute to and from the loop (about 8mi each way, depending on the route I take) was the final nail in the coffin - I've freakin' had it!! I have to get out of town so I'll be heading down to North Carolina for a long stretch with some teammates for some fair-weather training and hill work - some of my 'favorite' stuff.

Today's training session was completed yet again on the rollers and the soundtrack was a little bit more, um, aggressive in some ways... Pre and post ride doppio - that goes without saying. Good thing my upstairs neighbor wasn't home - the music was very loud and so were my rollers. I didn't have any fierce melon Gatorade so I had to make do with some lemon lime. To me, lemon lime to Gatorade is sort of like what vanilla is to ice cream - not amazing, but always does the job just the same.

Closer - Nine Inch Nails

How Many More Times - Led Zeppelin

Deep - PJ

I'm Shipping Up to Boston - Dropkick Murphys

Temptation - The Tea Party

3 Libras - A Perfect Circle

Cochise - Audioslave

Story of My Life - Social Distortion

I Will Follow - U2

Drift and Die - Puddle of Mudd

The Perfect Drug - Trent Reznor

Smack My Bitch Up - The Prodigy

Firestarter - The Prodigy

The Pretender - Foo Fighters

Serenity - Godsmack

American Idiot - Green Day

Flagpole Sitter - Harvey Danger

Hate to Say I Told You So - The Hives

In the End - Linkin Park

Blow Up the Outside World - Soundgarden

Battleflag - Lo Fidelity Allstars

Jesus Built My Hot Rod - Ministry

Aneurysm - Nirvana (the live version is best)

Thin Air - PJ (again, the live version is best)

I Wanna Be Sedated - Ramones

Armageddon Days are Here Again - The The

Shudder/King of Snake - Underworld

Ca plane pour moi - Plastic Bertrand

I finished things off with Trouble by Coldplay - I love it for reasons I can't explain. I think there were a few more "uplifting" tracks but I don't recall them at the moment. Anyway, thanks for reading. Can't wait to get out of here, even if it means having to climb hills - 17 days and counting....

(Enter) The Rain Bike

The Rain Bike - Sans Fenders, at the moment

Yep, you read that right - the rain bike. Actually, it's more like the rain/slush/snow/hail bike but you get the idea. I was feeling guilty about always riding my nice bikes in the sloppy weather so I looked through my graveyard of parts and basically saw that I had enough stuff to build a pretty darn good Frankenbike - all I needed was a frameset. Lou at the Pony Shop hooked me up with a super sweet Cannondale CAAD9 frameset and then built (on the cheap) the beast I call the rain bike.

Per the latest weather forecast, there's no forseeable change in this pattern of lousy weather we've been stuck in so I'm pretty sure I'll be spending a fair amount of time on this bike in the coming weeks. I imagine the fenders will need to be installed after this weekend as it appears that we're going to get hit with some more snow starting on Monday. At the moment it's decent out there albeit cloudy - upper 20s for a temp with a fair amount of wind, but at least it's dry - so I'm heading out to ride soon.

Oh yeah - I changed the blog template because I was getting tired of the same old blue/green color scheme. I liked the black right away on the preview so I went with it. I think you'll agree with me when I say it's more "me" than the old scheme was. Anyway, as always, thanks for reading - hopefully I'll have something more interesting to say next time I post!

Sunny Blue Skies, Minus 20 Windchills and Fierce Melon Gatorade

Sure, it looks pretty out there but it's just too damn cold to go outside - for anything. Yesterday, after watching the forecast for today, I decided that I would not be leaving the house for the entire day. I'd be happy to accept visitors, but I'm staying home - no small task for a spaz like me. That means but one thing: the day's training ride would have to be completed on the rollers. That's a problem only because the set of rollers I have at home is tired - VERY tired. Like, many thousands of miles tired. One of the cylinders has a bad bearing so that means they are loud, which in turn means that if I want to watch tv while I ride, the tv will have to also be loud. I don't want to be labeled a bad neighbor so I listen to the ipod while I ride.

The real key to surviving a 2+ hour roller ride - aside from the obligatory pre- and post-ride doppio? First, the ride needs to have structure or else your brain turns to mush. I did lots of intervals today. That definitely makes the time pass. Second, drink copious amounts of fierce melon Gatorade to stave off dehydration (don't ask - it's just one of my many quirky proclivities). Third, and most importantly, the soundtrack has to kick ass. If you find yourself fast forwarding through the playlist at any point, it's not good. Because I teach Spinning I have a huge music library (tax deducted, thank you very much) so it's very easy for me to put together long playlists of all my favorite stuff and not really ever have to hear the same stuff terribly often.

A random smattering of today's lineup is below - and I do mean random. This is not the entire playlist, just the good stuff that lets me hurt but still love it. It's not all fast and hard - some of it is deliberate, slow, emotional, intense stuff (I know, so very unlike me, right?). No matter - it works for me, and that's the point.

The Hand that Feeds - Nine Inch Nails

Evermore - Foo Fighters

Whipping - Pearl Jam (from here on to be known simply as PJ)

Spin the Black Circle - PJ

There There - Radiohead

Set Me Free - Velvet Revolver

Rearview Mirror - PJ

Days Like These - R.E.M.

Fake It - Seether

In Control - Puddle of Mudd

Slow Hands - Interpol

Release - PJ

The Pretender - Foo Fighters

The Working Hour - Tears for Fears

Voodoo - Godsmack

Outside - Staind

Passive - A Perfect Circle

Only - Nine Inch Nails

Fire - Jimi Hendrix

Warning Sign - Coldplay

Everybody Wants Some - Van Halen

Emerge - Fischerspooner

Mr. Brightside - The Killers

Gimme Shelter - The Rolling Stones

With or Without You - U2

Breed - Nirvana

Tick Tick Boom - The Hives

Thunderstruck - AC/DC

Kickstart My Heart - Motley Crue

Gravitate to Me - The The

Shut Your Eyes - Snow Patrol

Once - PJ

You - Candlebox
No Quarter - Led Zeppelin
In Hiding - PJ

The list could go on and on, but you get the idea - a bunch of unrelated, unique and different stuff that when mixed together can keep your mind occupied while your body completes it's work. While my preference will always be to ride outdoors, music makes indoor sessions tolerable for me while each passing day gets us closer to spring and the start of race season - I'm getting excited! As always, thanks for reading and feel free to forward music recommendations, I need some more stuff to write off.

Fat Tuesday, Bike Building, Rain, Snow, Espresso

Paczki.

No, I did not actually eat this thing - it's a photo from last year. BUT - the source of this little crack bomb indeed asked me if I wanted one this year. I declined, then felt bad about it. Nothing like some fat and sugar to fuel the endurance engine.

Don't you envy me? The view - from my front door.

What a fine return to my life in Chi-town I've had. I think I'm ready to leave again for a while, until this snow thing clears up. Oh yeah, that would require that we have an open airport here - no such luck. Today is a good day to stay in, watch the snow fall, drink espresso in large quantities, do some work, build my bike that I've neglected for a week and a half and take a nap. Did I commute to work this morning on the bike? Well, no. But I did ride outside for 2.5hr yesterday in the wind, rain, sleet and slush. It was insane. I almost cried but then I thought that crying would make it hard to breathe so I told myself to HTFU and just get home.

The RC-7, I really like this bike

So Gandalf stopped in to check out the bike before I started to rebuild it (see him up in the right hand corner?). He's so nosy. Surprisingly it appears that the bike made it through TSA screeners in San Diego without being opened.

Time for another doppio, some R.E.M., Social Distortion, Mighty Mighty Bosstones and bike building...thanks for reading, join me in hoping that the snow melts by the weekend so I dodge the rollers yet another day.

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....

Down Time

I haven't posted in weeks - not much to say. Lou's been doing a super job as the blog's eye-candy, hasn't he (refer to previous post)? December has been an odd month. I haven't touched the bike except to teach spin class on the rollers at work. All I've been doing is eating pizza and watching my new TV. Oh, and occasionally I get up from the La-Z-Boy to check email. I vowed earlier in the fall to not ride the rollers for any training sessions forced indoors due to inclement weather and I'm happy to say that I've stuck to that. Rather than ride the rollers, I just don't ride at all! I'm liking this whole "down time" thing. I seem to have gotten used to it and it's working quite well for me.

Yeah. And if you believe a word of that you know absolutely nothing about me - and that's all I am saying.

20 days to SanDiego.....

Montrose - Brrrrrrrr....

Yeah so it was stupid cold and I decided to be a nancy and assume the role of start line jacket and gatorade wench for the day. It was an easy decision for me. My racing brain was tired and really had no desire to freeze, slip, slide, fall or otherwise have any part of racing for the remainder of the year. I was happy to stay in the heated team tent and cheer for everyone who decided to race the Illinois State Cyclocross Championship at Montrose Harbor in Chicago. We'd had snow, sleet, freezing rain and cold temperatures in the days leading up to the race so course conditions were interesting - snowy, slippery, icy, muddy - a little of everything.

I had the occasion to be there for the 30+ and 40+ men's races and the first half of the women's races before I could no longer feel my toes and decided to head home. Congrats to Lou Kuhn who won the 30+ title (that's Lou at the top of this post) and to my teammate Imelda who scored the silver medal in the Cat 4 women's race. Mike Trulson from the Pony Shop took the junior title. Kristin finished a strong 2nd in the 1/2/3 field and is on the way to Nationals - good luck!

My previous post has a bunch of great photos from the day so check it out.

37 days to San Diego....

Montrose - Photography

Chris Strout

'Cross - Chi-town style

Franco, Imelda's BikeHusband - look at the legs....

Lou - Taking the final sprint in front of Kevin for the state title
Mark maneuvering through the dicey slick stuff

MetrLifeGuy powers through

Imelda remounting on her way to a silver medal (on my old bike....)

Brian - on the way to a strong finish


I snagged a bunch of these photos from Luke Seemann (with his permission, of course).

Nine Above

That's the current temp (not the windchill) as I sit here and contemplate what remains of a long season of training and racing the bike after yet another night of epic insomnia. The Illinois cross championship is coming up this weekend and things are looking downright dicey at Montrose Harbor as of last evening - ice, snow, wind, frozen mud, etc. At left is me from 2 years ago doing what proved to be one of the most ridiculous races I've ever done at Montrose. The conditions were far better that day than they are currently so I'm hoping things improve. Below me is a shot of Kristin winning last week's Wisconsin state championships in Hales Corners - doesn't it look like she's having the time of her life?

I fully understand that part of the whole cyclocross experience is racing in bad conditions yet having fun doing it but I have to admit that my strong voices of reason are speaking to me... It may seem to some that I am notoriously fickle when it comes to racing cross in poor weather. To some extent I suppose that's true but after being over to the harbor I have to question the sanity of those who think racing in those conditions can possibly be considered fun (in the traditional sense) for the "prestigous honor" of state champion. Honestly, is it really "racing" to have to ride at 5mph just to avoid falling?

Maybe I just need to HTFU. 44 days 'til San Diego.....

Jingle Cross Rock #1 Photography

See the previous post for the race recap. Here are some fantastic photos - courtesy of Paul Forsythe - to check out...looks like great fun, doesn't it? No, that's not an "I love this!" smile.... oh, and here's another darn cool shot but i'm to cheap to pay for it, so follow this link. Fast, eh?

Jingle Cross Rock #1

The whole day started with a "what the hell am I doing here?" moment and continued on an upward curve from there. It was damn cold at get-up time, a whopping 18 degrees with the prediction being a high of about 40 by race time. Note: One of the best things about UCI races? Elite Women don't start until 1:30pm. My teammates Monique (Mo) and Kristin were up early to head out for Mo's master's 35+ race and I decided to stay back in the hotel for a little while longer. No sense in freezing before I really had to, right? It was a prime opportunity for my mental demons to start their dirty work, eating away at my fragile pre-race psyche until I finally just left and headed to the race venue.

I arrived in time to see Mo and Tammy head out in the masters race. I'd missed the earlier races where Deb and Brooke were representing and both did quite well in the freezing coldness. As I stood there and shivered, Mike informed me that he and Mary had brought and set up their tent - and it had a HEATER! Those were the sweetest words I'd ever heard - a tent with wind sides and heat source to change and warm-up in about 200yds from the start line. All I needed at that point was to get the lizard working in my favor, no small task.

It was at that point I pretty much figured out that there was no way I was going to have a shot at pre-riding the course before race time so I changed and headed out to inspect what I could before having to warm-up. As the temp climbed, course conditions changed immensely. The grass run-up (with nicely positioned log to jump at it's base) had become a slimy, muddy mess. The course also featured a set of barriers, a sand pit that ran through a building and out a doorway, a few patches of loose gravel, a steep uphill (yes, I used the 27 tooth cog, thank you very much...) and a screaming fast descent before heading back to the start finish area. The conditions demanded toe spikes and well, I just didn't have any (sorry John....I know....). My shoes didn't actually accept them anyway so I was in for a lot of slipping and maybe even some falling.

Representing for Kenda on the start line were Kristin, Andrea, Catherine and myself. I got a front line starting position and actually had a moment of clarity and confidence about 5min before the gun went off. Weird how that happens. I have hours of brain swirling anxiety and and soon as it's go-time, I'm good. I need to figure that one out. Anyway, off the line I was sitting in 3rd position after the barriers and the long grass stretch to the run up, feeling damn good. I had a good dismount at the log and as soon as I hit the run-up I felt myself go slipping backward trying to find traction as everyone passed me. That's where my race essentially ended. I fell back to 9th position and it never really changed from there except for a couple of back and forth passes along the way. Lesson learned the hard way: buy the freakin' toe spikes and use them. It can mean the difference between a podium finish and a top 10. With the run-up being 3 times as long on Sunday I decided it was best to head home early instead of suffering the same fate. That, and I was experiencing some knee pain that didn't subside after ice and advil so I thought it best not to further aggravate it.

I have to thank Paul, Mike and Mary for being there and supporting us. It was great to have Brooke, Mo, Tammy and Deb around after their races - thank you for all of your positive energy and for yelling HTFU the hill. You have no idea how much it helped. I posted some of Paul's photography separately - excellent stuff.

I have to say that I kept the race report pretty concise - so many things happened that I didn't include basically because you'd be reading all day. Suffice to say that I had a great time hanging out with my roommates Kristin and Mo and that we all had a great team weekend.

Up next, Wisconsin state championships - gotta support the team and help get Kristin a WIN!!

Photos from Lansing

Clifford and Carolyn Golz took some great phots at Lansing and I felt is most appropriate to make an entirely separate post with some of them. Included are pics of some of my most favorite guys who happen to be really strong, talented athletes - enjoy!

SCW Lansing 'Cross Report

So I'm foregoing watching one of the best freak-out flicks ever made (Seven) to post this. Today I did the South Chicago Wheelmen 'Cross race in Lansing, IL. I really had to go, since I grew up in the town next to Lansing and actually was a Lansing resident during a brief, unpleasant episode in my life (and I'm leaving that right there). It was good though, because my parents, my brother Chris and his wife Michelle, the puggle and their friends were able to come out to spectate. It was cold-ish but not intolerably so and the sun was nowhere to be seen.

The course was entirely pancake flat with a sand pit, a single barrier and a set of three barriers. Everything else was pretty much grass with a few short paved sections and some wet leaves to make things interesting. The Women 1/2/3 field was small (6). I had a good warm up and was ready to go at start time, legs were excellent. Things took off fast as usual and I was having no problem staying right on the wheel I wanted, in second position. Problems started when I clipped my toe on the first of the three barriers (how embarrassing - the auto-jones) and hit the ground - hard. My bike was lofted at least 10 feet and everyone passed me. I briefly considered abandoning right there, I was hurting, embarrassed and had a big hole to dig out of. I remounted and proceeded to claw my way back to within 10 seconds of first position but wasn't really able to close the gap after the effort I was forced to do after becoming separated from my bike. I lost a few seconds here and there and ended up finishing second/first loser on the day. Not too bad but second still sucks, I guess. At least I got my entry fee back and did some hard work on the bike. I'd like to give June Upshaw some recognition here too - the girl's been sick for weeks - she fought hard and took third today, nice work, June.

I also have to give recognition to the most amazing, kickass effort put in by Lou Kuhn of the Pony Shop today - he ruled the 30+ race and made it look easy. Nice job Lou! Also not to be overlooked was Mike Trulson riding for 2CC (who works at the Pony) crushing the junior field today, and Mike Jones (MetLifeGuy) again doing 2 races consecutively and finishing in the top 10 in both. The Verdigris guys did a great job and pretty much owned the 40+ race and Imelda was representing Kenda in the Cat 4 race, finishing 4th.

I also need to thank a bunch of people who were present and ever-supportive: Paul, Mike and Mary, my family, Josh, Amy D., Brian, and the Verdigris guys by the sand pit. I'm sure there were more and I just can't think of who right now so if you were there, I heard your cheers and thanks. Hopefully there will be some decent photos - I'll post them later, when they become available.

Right now, I have to spend some quality time with a bag of ice. Coming up, UCI Jingle Cross Rock in Iowa City next weekend....

Chicago Athlete of the Year?

Some of you may recall that I was named Chicago Athlete magazine's Athlete of the Month back in September (which was very cool). Well, I could be Chicago Athlete Magazine's Athlete of the Year if you vote for me (only if you feel that I am worthy). Check it out here: www.chicagoaa.com/. The catch is that votes need to be sent via email to the editor, Amy Rushlow (editor@chicagoaa.com). I realize that sending an email to Amy is a pain but I suppose it makes sense, given that in an online poll I could just sit there all day and resubmit votes for myself over and over. Anyway, I guess what I am asking is for you to decide whether I am worthy of this designation and if you think I am, please take a few seconds to drop Amy an email that says so.

I'm certainly not the very best athlete in Chicago and I can't say that results are necesarily the indicator of how the Athlete of the Year should be selected. Athlete of the Year, to me, is not entirely about me or my performance. Instead, I like to think it's more about my passion to motivate and inspire the athletes that I coach and people I've had the occasion to work with to develop their own athleticism to it's fullest potential. While racing my bike is darn awesome and I absolutely LOVE to do it (for myself and my team), it's incredibly satisfying for me to see other athletes who I've worked with do amazing things - stuff they never knew they could do. To me, that's a pretty damn cool thing and in part what the award is about.

Now go vote for me!! oh, and forward it to your friends....

- and thank you, in advance....

More Estabrook...

I knew there were lots of cameras out there but whoa.....photos keep coming in, so I'll keep posting them since they all do a fantastic job of communicating how much I love to race 'cross (yes, you should detect some sarcasm there). In case you weren't aware, cyclocross is sort of a two edged sword for me - it's kind of fun but it really hurts. Since the fun currently outweights the hurt, I race. Otherwise I'd be sitting in the la-z-boy eating ice cream and watching ESPN most of the time.

Wisconsin - Estabrook Park Recap

Photos Courtesy of Amy Dykema

So I spent yesterday catching up on a bunch of stuff and ended up not racing in St. Charles. Good thing...I actually got a lot accomplished. That lent itself to a bit less anxiety compared to my normal pre-race mind traffic, which is typically somewhat out of control. No, it's typically very out of control. On the drive up to Milwaukee the sky was looking quite overcast and when we arrived at the race venue it was actually raining a little, so the course was a bit muddy in some places. Oh, and it was cold. WTF is up with Wisconsin? It's always cold there - even in July!! Fortunately we were running ahead of schedule and as the day's racing progressed the weather improved and the course dried out.

The Estabrook Park course is decidedly flat with a lot of grass, one short run-up that requires a dismount, a lot of twists around trees, three sets of barriers, a short single track section before the run-up and a few short pavement sections. I was able to take a few laps before our start which provided a small amount of confidence before I hit the trainer and blasted some Pearl Jam, Velvet Revolver, Nine Inch Nails, Led Zep and Perfect Circle through my otherwise fragile, anxiety-filled psyche. Representing for Kenda today were myself, Kristin, Monique and Susan in a field of about 15. I have to mention that I love racing with the Wisconsin contingent - they're all strong athletes and just really great girls to ride with. I'm fortunate to have them as teammates.

Things went off the start line rather fast and before I knew it two other riders and I had established a gap by the end of the first lap. Interesting also was the fact that the three of us started picking off members of the men's 30+ field along the way. We pretty much rode together the entire race, sharing the work at the front and letting things be decided on the last lap. I knew that both of them were strong enough to close any gap that an attack would create so I was content to sit and see how things would be at final sprint time, since I have a decent sprint and was feeling good. As the pace ramped up we started riding through some man traffic and I got nearly Jones'd by a guy on the run-up which created a gap that I could not close. In the end I finished 3rd, a few seconds off the lead. A decent finish and a little money too - the post race coffee was perfect since I was freezing!

Thanks to all the hardcore 'cross fans in Wisconsin who cheered and encouraged us to ride hard and work together. It was a good, positive race - no broken nails, no new bruises, no crashing. Thanks to MetLifeGuy for driving and providing entertainment - the guy did two races today, AGAIN. Makes me tired and sore just thinking about it. I also want to recognize Kristin, Susan and Mo - awesome job today ladies!!

Up next - a weekend off (well, from racing anyway) and more Chicago Cross Cup on the 18th....

Team Kenda Tire 2008 Race Announcement Made

So I'm sitting here watching the end of the Notre Dame/Navy game (which was a freaking amazing game, I must say) when Marek calls to tell me that I made cyclingnews.com. Well, the team announcement made it - very cool. You can follow this link or read it below:

Team Kenda Tire for 2008
In it's 10th year, Team Kenda Tire will bring its mix of seasoned and newer female racers to the US peloton with the goal of higher placings in 2008 National Race Calendar events.

New to the team for 2008 will be Jackie Kurth (2006 Junior National RR Champion) and Jacquelyn Crowell (5-time Junior National Champion). The team also picked up several new sponsors, including SRAM, The Allen Group and their Dallas Logistics Hub in addition to Plant Solutions.
Team Kenda Tire 2008: Kathryn Clark, Jacquelyn Crowell, Debbie Dust, Lee Farabaugh, Anne Guzman, Kristin Keim, Jackie Kurth, Amy McGuire, Andrea Myers, Yukie Nakamura, Catherine Walberg, and Kristin Wentworth.

We also got some print (and my picture!) on the truesport.com website - here's the link.

2008 will prove to be an exciting year for us - we have a strong roster and are looking forward to an excellent season of competition at the very highest level. We'll have a new look for 2008 - gone are the red flowers and in their place will be an interesting print....I'll keep that under wraps for now. Just know our team kit will be very green - and since green is my favorite color, I'm all good with that.....especially now that the all-over print shorts have been deep-sixed and replaced with a sweet looking mix of black and green with a little red and white here and there.

Some Vintage Velogoddess Coming at Ya....

So Imelda was digging through some old stuff and found this vintage photo from 2005 at Carpenter Park and I found one from Montrose Harbor when it was literally like 15 degrees for the state championships. Jeez that takes me back....I seem to recall that the dweeb I was dating at the time accompanied me in Carpentersville that day. God - the things you remember.... Anyway, thought I'd share a couple piecees of VG nostalgia. I'm happy to say that the Trek XO1 I was riding is now the property of John Schultz at the Pony Shop (thanks for dialing in my SRAM - it's the bomb) and that Imelda is now riding the Redline I was on at Montrose. Too weird.