Tulsa Tough

Many things have changed in the past three weeks (graduation, moving, sad goodbyes) but I am finally on the racing track again down in Tulsa, Oklahoma. After Nationals I took some time off to rest up for the long season of (mostly) track but also road. Because of this time off, Tulsa is hard. Very hard. There are some specific things I could have done to prepare more for this race:

1. Take less time off.
2. Celebrate less.
3. Intervals in the sauna.

But, so what, the race is hard? It's time that I get myself into gear. My legs missed this burning, exhausted feeling...alot. And I sort of forgot how much I love racing, it's nice to be reminded again.

Tulsa Tough is made up of three crit races. The first two are fairly flat and technical and the last is a steep power climb with a screaming downhill into a tight corner. These are fabulous races. The race promoters do a great job promoting the race, giving out tons of prize money, even displaying the races on JUMBOTRON TVs around the course. The Tulsans get really into it and many people see it as a reason to hang out on the street and drink beer. In fact, yesterday before the race we had an inspirational exchange with some passerbys in a car. Went like this:

Man: Y'all inspire me so much, you have no idea. You inspire me SOO much. You're great.
Girlfriend of Man: YEAH AND HE'S A SOLDIER!!!!
Man: Y'all are an inspiration to us!! And you look so great in those outfits.

Other than the race being hard, yesterday (Friday) was smokin' hot (upwards of 95 degrees). I felt okay for the first part of the race until I felt my back tire start to rub, so I reached back and undid my breaks. But then it was rubbing even worse and every time I stood up I could feel my back wheel moving around. Loose. Skewer. This has happened to me before, but luckily that time it was a small race, I was off the front, and I argued with the officials until they let me have a free lap. But this time, I knew I wouldn't be as lucky. I tried to ride with it loose as long as I could, but the second something like that gets into your head, you start to suck. The last chance of surviving the race I had was to go to the pit and beg for a free lap. The official sort of laughed at me, asked me what happened, at which point I claimed someone ran into me and undid my skewer. But, he wasn't having it. He told me I would have to chase back on, no free lap. I tried harder for the free lap. Eventually, he told me he would let me get back in with the pack, but I would be 1 lap down. Whatever, I need to finish the race for confidence at the very least. So I finished, didn't want to sprint. I probably actually got somewhere around the 30s but because of my 1 lap deficit I am DFL in the results...AWESOME.

Today is a new day (an even hotter one) and a new race, hopefully we can have fun out there and win some money!

Photos coming soon.

Nationals Road Race Report

The stats: 26 starters. 6 Whitman women. Whitman women make up 23% of the field.

The story: Bizzos were literally peeing their pants when they saw us line up together. With our snazzy new clear rain jackets (totally PRO) and our mouths foaming with the alkaseltzer tablets we ate moments before, at least 4 women dropped out at our very sight. I'm totally kidding about 2/3 of that last statement, you decide which two.

After the totally sensible (ahem), screaming 50mph neutral start the race was off. Most of the race was spent in anticipation of the 3 major climbs per lap, no one wanting to waste themselves too early. Each time up the climb, the group was narrowed down to 6 or 7 riders including 3 worthless MIT riders (who go to bed at 8:30 and sleep with the thermostat at 20 degrees while wearing their jerseys...seriously), Ari Filliberti from Dartmouth (Roxy's old cronie from private school days), another Dartmouth girl, and Lindsy from Montana. Based on our school choices, we were probably the smartest breakaway all day. But, we weren't really breaking away. After the climbs on each lap, most of the field was able to catch back on just in time for the next set of climbs. The course was HARD, nothing like we usually find in the Northwest. The hills were short and steep, with the exception of the last, long and steep climb. Thanks to my Midwest upbringing, I felt right at home. The road surface was deceivingly nasty. Almost all of us, at some point or another, got a flat during the race. Fortunately, the Shimano guys change flats for a living, so I was able to catch back on almost immediately. But the most heroic act of the day goes to Eloise, who gave her wheel to Emily after Emily flatted, knowing she would be stranding herself on the course indefinitely, cold and wet.

The rain finally stopped and my face finally stopped feeling like it was receiving acupuncture. The finish was a series of two climbs, the final climb on the regular lap and an additional 1/2 mile steep climb up to the state park and into the fog. The finishing 200 meters was on a single lane trail/road, apparently they weren't anticipating a field sprint. When we arrived on the final climb, the pack shattered and Ari and MIT girl separated together. I was shocked to be sitting 3rd, other Dartmouth girl not far behind. I made up some ground on the two leaders, but unfortunately I could not close the initial gap. The cheer squad on the final climb really got me to the top. It was even borderline too much cheering (is that even possible?) and John Klein ran with me for a good 200 meters (yes, it was that slow). 3rd place, hell yeah! Emily got 13th and Chelsea 16th, both with very respectable rides.

A few photos:
Second to last climb.

Everyone looked about as happy as I did.

I'm probably smiling.

As the days get longer I find my spirits being lifted. Why? It's almost race season! And if that's not reason enough for a lifted soul, here are some others.

1. This season I'm racing for Team Kenda Tire. Many people ask me why my shorts have my name on them...my name is not Kenda. The team is NRC-focused and centered in the Midwest, though I have never met any of my teammates. I'm really excited and looking forward to racing with the team.

2. Each passing day gets me a little closer to the arrival of my new bike. She is green and beautiful, what will I name her? As a consequence of my impatience, I have been avoiding cleaning my Giant or replacing the chain or bar tape, because the second I do, I'm SURE my bike will be here (so maybe I should try?). It is almost at the point of embarrassment...I said almost.

3. After 4 long and arduous months without a computer, I can finally call another my own. Hello, chatroulette.

4. The FUSH (my twice-robbed, dilapidated house) gets a security system. No, not a hole in the porch (though we do still have that) or Harry under the house with a shot gun. A real, legit, 100% authentic security system. It's got this cool function where if a robber has a gun to your head and he's like "Turn off the alarm, bizzo" I can just put in a few digits and a) the alarm stops going off but (more importantly) b) it silently alerts the police that I'm with the robber. That's technology.

Plus it's getting warmer!

It's almost time...

FOR TRACK NATIONALS!

Leaving for Los Angeles on Monday, racing starts Thursday with Team Pursuit!! Sooo psyched.

Stay tuned.

My Trip to the Olympic Training Center

But first, a very short Nationals report. I got 4th, I suppose that's podium, but I was very frustrated and unhappy about the race. But, that's bike racing, right? And I'm super happy for Sam Schneider, who won. She's incredibly strong and most of the time doesn't get to race for herself. I have always admired the way she races.

Bend was an amazing place, we stayed in the most baller house. Unfortunately, I didn't take a single picture of it. But it was Dana and Pam's guest house of their huge log cabin-like house, with AC (particularly important during this time), a huge television (with a million channels, said Colin) and a loft with 5 bunk beds. Perfect for ghost stories, but Ian and Steve said they would pee the bed if I told any. We had a lot of free time during which we swam in the river (the DANGEROUS river), watched little boys with nicer bikes than me race their bikes, went for a few short but great rides, and were entertained by our resident magician Ian Crane. It was a great vacation. A few photos:





Moving on, a few weeks ago I was given the opportunity to spend a week at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista for a Women's Talent Identification Camp. So of course I took it. I arrived there with 4 other girls, none of which I had met before. I roomed with a girl named Elspeth from Trexlertown, which worked out perfectly since we both just wanted to talk about track racing. The camp was put on my Clay Worthington ("National Talent ID Coach"), Corey Hart (Sport Physiologist), and Kristen Dieffenbach (Sport Psychologist), all of whom are incredible people. The days went somewhat like this:

First breakfast. The food there was great, always all kinds of fruit and vegetables, and tons of choices. It was great for 5 days, but the resident athletes might get sick of it after awhile. After breakfast we would ride until lunch. Two of the days we were field testing during this time. There were 2 tests. The first test day was 2 kilometers. The way the test was formulated (by Corey) required this 2k to be on a 5-8% incline. It was HARD. The second test was supposed to be around 20 minutes, same formula, but ended up being around 30. It was HARDER. These tests measure two things: watts/kilo, and absolute power. Not surprisingly, I have a high absolute power output and a moderate watts/kilo. Meaning, I probably will not be doing any mountain stage races in the near future, but gives me something to work toward. Unfortunately, we did not do the lab tests that I had hoped for. The lab tests involve shorter efforts and measure more sprint-like power. So none of our short power output or "race winning power" was measured. But hopefully this data will eventually help me to find a team, but either way it's nice to have some sense of comparison.

After testing/riding, we would eat lunch and usually have a meeting or a talk. Wendy Peterson, a sport nutritionist, came to talk to us one day. She had a lot of interesting things to say, mostly now I know I should never ask a nutritionist if ranch dressing is really THAT bad for you (it IS, just if you were wondering). Corey, Clay, and Kristen also gave us talks in their respective fields. These topics included USADA, the value of field testing, why we should race track, why we should race in Europe, and some psychology stuff. VERY interesting. I feel like I learned so much that I could never remember it all. Then the last day, Mari Holden, 7 time National Champion, World Champion, and Olympic silver medalist, came to talk to us about her career. It was so cool to hear her talk about her path to the top and mostly great to hear her tell stories. I think meeting people like Mari really remind you that great athletes like her are also people, not too different from me or you. She was cool, and now she's even making her own clothing line. Check it out soon at .

Then dinner. After dinner we either had free time, game night, or went to the movies. I had a great time there and would love to someday go back. I feel really fortunate to have that opportunity and I know it's gonna be extremely helpful in the future.

For now, I'm going to relax a little, take advantage of the short time I have left to ride the track before Collegiate and Elite Nats, and get ready to go back to school. My friend Taco is coming to visit for the week and I could not be more excited. Here are a few pictures from the OTC.

The AVCs+FSA

One of the greatest things about track racing on the West Coast is the series of multiple-day track races held throughout the summer. It starts with the American Velodrome Championship in San Jose, California, heads to Portland for the Alpenrose Velodrome Challenge, and then up to Seattle for the FSA Grand Prix. If you go to one, you'll probably go to all of them. The racing is hard, the fields are stacked, and the people are amazing. Most of all, everyone wants to have a good time, so the atmosphere is almost entirely positive and stress-free. Last year I went to the Portland and Seattle races, but this year I hit all three, and I couldn't be happier about it.

1. San Jose: I'm in the Bay, Trick.

Jen, Tela, and I headed south in what would soon turn out to be an epic journey. We drove Maggie, the VW bus. Maggie is big, Maggie is beautiful, but Maggie has no air conditioning and only agrees to go 35 mph up hills. For this reason, we split the drive up into two days, pulling over on the side of a road near Grants Pass to pop up the camper and sleep. Unfortunately, we had parked about 15 feet away from a railroad track. That night my dreams were filled with locomotives and hobos jumping from abandoned trains. We arrived the next day, picked up Christine, and drove straight to the track.

This was the first time I had raced on the track all summer. I was happy to be riding for Broadmark and to have the best teammates out there (despite yellow not really being my color). For the first time we had ever ridden together, we worked very well as a team, got some wine primes, and celebrated pretty much the whole time (regardless to whether or not there was anything to celebrate). Thanks to Rick Adams, the promoter of Hellyer Velodrome, we stayed in comfort and luxury in Palo Alto.

The ride home, was....hot. In the central valley we endured temperatures of around 111 degrees for 5 hours straight. We stuck it out though, taking a quick dip in Lake Shasta to try and cool off. When we finally made it to the mountains, we could not have been happier. For a while, I thought I could never be cold again. But since then, I admit, I have been cold at least 10 times.

2. Portland: Let me see your hips swing.

This time, apologizing profusely to Maggie before leaving her in Seattle, we packed up our new travel companion Suzie. Suzie is big and beautiful, too, but she has air conditioning and keeps a constant speed on an incline. Sadly Suzie has no loyalty to us, so it took us about 10 minutes to start her every time we took the key out.

Alpenrose is a terrifying track. Its banking is at 46 degrees and it's 266 meters; small and steep. The most terrifying part is the warm-up. But after that, the racing is FUN. The track forces the races to be fast the whole time. This time I decided to just do the endurance events (plus keirin) and was much happier. Some highlighted results of the weekend include Tela and Jen 2nd in team sprint, Tela third in Sprints, sixth in the keirin, Jen third in the points, Christine 4th, and I actually won the points race! Beating Erica Allar by 1 point. I also got 4th in the scratch. Overall, a very successful weekend all around. Big thanks to Daryl Hemenway, our host, who lives about a mile from the track, made for convenient and quick trips back and forth.

3. Seattle: She's a whooty.

Home track. Home track? Yeah, I guess I can say that now. This was the first and only qualifier that I would be able to attend, so I was pretty stressed about it. But, turns out, the stress was unnecessary. First event: 3k pursuit. I got third, 2 seconds behind Shelley Olds and Jen. Pleased. Now that qualifying was out of the way, I was able to relax, the way I LIKE to race. I ended up qualifying in the scratch and the points, too, 4th in both (but 3rd discounting Laura, who is an Aussie). Jen got 3rd in the points, Tela got 5th in the sprints, and then Christine and Jen got 2nd in the madison! Beating Proman! It was so cool! I did the madison for the first time, too, with Heather VanValkenburg from Portland. I had never done an exchange before, but Heather was super experienced and it's actually pretty natural. I REALLY liked it. Word on the street is that this year they're having a women's madison at Nationals! So I'm trying to convince Tela the Crane to do it with me. But she's turned me down before, so I won't hold my breath.

Really great weekend! And what better way to follow it up than a taco truck visit and then a ride down to Matthews Beach. Perfect.

So what's next?? I'm headed down to Bend this weekend for the U23 Nationals Criterium. I opted out of the road race and the time trial, I am not suited so well for those courses. Then the 5th I'm headed down to Chula Vista, CA to spend a few days at the Olympic Training Center. I'm really really really (times 20) excited for that, but also really really really (times 30) nervous. After that, it's track all the way to October. Though, I am starting to get worried about not being on a track for a month before Nationals. We will see!

Here are some assorted photos:

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Today Tela and I went for an easy ride to Golden Gardens. It's always the easy days that get you. We were transitioning from the path to the road path, and Tela said "Follow that guy." But that guy just happened to LOSE HIS PEDAL at that very moment. My initial reaction was to laugh at how someone could be as idiotic as to lose a pedal mid-ride. My second thought was how I was riding parallel to the railroad tracks that were conveniently placed ON THE TRAIL. And I really had no third thought as I collided with the ground. I got up, brushed that dirt off my shoulder, and kept riding. Not even a half mile later the very same thing happened to an older gentleman. Except he had the misfortune of colliding his face with the road.

So, city of Seattle, two cyclists in a half mile radius...perhaps railroad tracks running parallel ON the bike path is not such a genius idea, afterall.