"I'm gonna slip into the field like Han Solo"

"I'm rolling."

The velodrome rocks. And the chicks that have been showing up to race for the Thursday night race series rock too. And my Bella teammates who have been showing up rock even more...they rock so much that one of their last names is Rocker.

Last night's velodrome racing was fun because there was a great field of 9 women racing and Special K was one of them! She was racing for the first time and she did awesome (check out her race report)! The races are getting harder, but way more exciting and aggressive. Unfortunately, I could not get the lead out of my legs last night. I was struggling all night. So I just tried to do what I could to help my teammates and then slipped back into the field like Han Solo. If you want more details, check out Gilby's blog...she did awesome last night too. Pete took pictures, but I don't have time to upload them just yet...I'm off to the lake!!

The State Road Race

Saturday was the State Road Race down by Plainview. The Cat 4 women's race was 40 miles - three laps of the 13.3 mile course with a huge-ass hill at the start/finish and bunch of rollers on the backside of the course. Pete and I brought my brother-in-law Chris along to provide hand-ups in the feed zone. This was Chris's first bike race and feed zone experience...he was nervous about his duties, but we gave him a little training about how to hold the water bottles and he did great!

Speaking of holding water bottles, I'm still embarrassed by the total rookie move I pulled during the neutral rollout for our race. It was warm on Saturday, and since we haven't done any long road races yet this year, I was nervous about keeping hydrated. So during our nice, slow, rollout, I decided I should drink some water. I was near the front of the group, and when I went to put my water bottle back in the cage, it slipped out of my hand and almost caused a few riders behind me to go down. I think my teammate Kate, who was right behind me, ran over it and someone else had to swerve to go around it. Wow, did I feel bad. Luckily, everyone kept it upright. I was even more lucky that some race volunteers who were following in a car stopped and picked up my water bottle and brought it back up to me (thank you!).

So the race started when we hit the start/finish line which was part way up the big hill. I was breathing pretty hard by the time we finally crested the hill, but felt pretty good and I think the group was mainly intact (although Chris said he thought 2-3 riders fell off the back the first time up the hill). The Bettys, who constituted more than 50% of the total field, started attacking a bit. Paula, Kate and I (the only Bellas in the race) chased down the first few attacks, but then Betty-C attacked and got way off the front. I was feeling pretty good on the little rollers on the backside of the course, so I tried to take off a few times to start a chase, but the Bettys weren't having that. We were very outnumbered, and we really needed every non-Betty to get organized and help chase, but it wasn't happening. I made one last effort to chase on the downhill on the backside of the course, but to no avail. SPBRC-M and I discussed that we needed to get organized and start chasing down Betty-C once we got up the hill again. But for me, that plan quickly changed. As we headed up the hill for the second time, I grabbed a water bottle from Chris, and then I quite suddenly started to hurt just over the halfway point. That's the craziest thing about bike racing...one second you can feel great, and the next you feel like total shit. The field started to splinter at this point, and I watched as the main field slowly pulled away from me. By the time I crested the hill, the main field had a huge gap on me, and three other riders were riding by themselves between the main field and me. I started hauling ass trying to catch up to the first rider in front of me, and I wasn't gaining much ground. I won't lie...I wanted to quit. I did NOT want to do a 26-mile TT on this course...that is just not any fun. I looked behind me and saw GW-J. GW-J caught up to me and said "think we can catch them?" (referring to the 3 riders who were now working together just up the road). I was skeptical, but said "only if we ride really fast" (I know, very profound stuff). So we took turns pulling but it just didn't feel like we were making any ground. We hit the downhill and hammered hard, and after we made the turn at the bottom of the hill, they 3 riders were in sight. I decided it was now or never, so I started going harder and noticed I was finally closing the gap. I looked behind me, and noticed I had dropped GW-J, but she was still relatively close behind...I knew I couldn't slow up at this point, so I tried to give her a little "come on!" hand gesture with the hopes that it would somehow be motivating (in reality, she probably just wondered what the hell I was gesturing at her). I finally reached the 3 riders (my teammate Kate, Betty-J, and SPBRC-L) right at the base of the hill, and a look behind me confirmed that GW-J had made it too...so now there were five. I figured I was in trouble on the hill since I had just used up most of my energy to catch the group. I grabbed another water bottle from Chris on the way up, started hurting again, thought about quitting again, but was glad to finally be with a teammate who was right there next to me, so I kept going. At the top of the hill, I was surprised to find that we had dropped GW-J and SPBRC-L. I think the main field was out of sight at this point, but Kate, Betty-J and I started rotating and working hard. I was once again feeling pretty good...I was actually surprised at how good I felt. The 3 of us kept rotating all the way to the final stretch of the race. Kate and I kind of gave each other the little head nod, and at the 500-m marker, I decided to go...I opened up a big gap, which was a very good thing, because I had gone WAY too early. But I crossed the line in 8th place. Not quite what I had hoped for, but not bad for me either. Big props to GW-J, Kate, and Betty-J for doing their fair-share of the work during the race...I really wanted to quit, but you ladies totally made it fun and worth finishing. And congrats to my teammate Paula for getting 2nd - pretty impressive for the lone Bella in a sea of Bettys. And thanks to Chris for being an awesome water boy! As always, the Birchwood Bike team put on a great race.

Apparently I need to do some hill training.

SS

Mpls Crit: the craziest bike race I've ever seen...

...the photos pretty much sum it up:

Sascha's photos
Ben's photos
Kele's photos

The hail hit before the women's race...I've never seen hail that large. Pete, Patty Cakes and I were sitting in the car and the hail was hitting so hard that we couldn't even hear each other when we tried to talk. (Side note for my co-workers...the storm sewer was not keeping up in downtown Mpls...the car was sitting in about a foot of water before we decided it was best to move it.) The rain finally stopped, and the women were able to race, but a few minutes into the men's race it started to pour. I couldn't believe how fast those guys were taking corners considering the conditions. Unbelievable. After about 20 minutes, they finally decided to stop the race when a bolt of lightning got a little too close for comfort. Pete and his teammates all managed to stay upright and not get hit by lightning. Crazy stuff.

Today's race was an 86-mile road race in Mankato. Pete did awesome...I think he's sitting 37th overall going into the last stage in Stillwater tomorrow. He's a little disappointed in 37th, but I'm pretty damn impressed.

SS

My first win!!

Tonight I got my first win at the track! I also got my first Omnium win! I'm so used to not winning, I'm kind of at a loss for words. But I'll try to recap. First, let me just say, it was WINDY. There was a nasty headwind going down the front stretch of the track. In the first race of the night, the Miss-n-Out, Barb won and I was third (Elena was 2nd). The second race was a Handicap race, and Julie (U of M) totally kicked some ass. Jodi was second (woohoo!) and I was third. The last race of the night was a 30-lap scratch race. Julie attacked on the second lap, and I went with her. I looked back and we had a small gap on the field. So when Julie swung up track to get me to pull through, I just followed her up track, and once we went through the banking, I dove down track and counter-attacked. Much to my surprise, I somehow dropped Julie and found myself with a big gap (and about 26 long laps to go). As I mentioned before, it was windy, so riding by myself sucked. After about 8 laps dangling out front, I noticed the field was gaining on me, so I sat up and soft pedaled and decided I needed to get back in the field and get a draft so I could recover. But then I noticed that the field had slowed down, so I decided to go for it again. I was so tired, but I was starting to gain on the field and just when I thought I was going to catch them, Julie (being the smart racer that she is) attacked again. So they got another little gap on me, but then they slowed up again and I was finally able to catch up to them...and the draft was wonderful!! I couldn't believe it...I had just lapped the field!! There were only about 4 laps to go, so I just sat in the back and recovered for a few laps, then started to move to the front to help out Barb for the final sprint. It was such an exciting win, and my teammates totally helped me get it, and the crowd and Bob (the announcer) were so encouraging too...it was totally awesome (even though I got the worst stomach cramps ever as soon as I stopped racing and thought I was going to be ill). Huge props to Barb and Jodi for helping me out...blocking, chasing down Julie's attacks, etc. I love having teammates at the track!! I'm going to have a serious track hangover tomorrow.

On a side note, Pete did well in Stage 2 of Nature Valley, finishing with the main field. Unfortunately, Pat had some bad luck and had a little crash. But he took advantage of the situation and met some chicks (the leader's of the women's race caught up to him). But it's a bummer for Pat because he didn't make the time cut, so his race is over. Im excited for tomorrow night's (friday) kick-ass downtown Mpls criterium...it's such a cool race to watch.

SS

Chama-lama-ding-dong

Pat's staying with us for Nature Valley this week. The kid's hilarious and a lot of fun to have around. And I'm learning some new cycling vocabulary to incorporate into my blog, starting with "Chama-lama-ding-dong":

Pat: "You don't want to sit around in your chama-lama-ding-dong all day, do you?"

Pete and Pat both did well in Stage 1 (a 4.5 mile Time Trial) last night...here are the results. The photos of them are courtesy of Skinnyski. TT gear is totally dorky looking. Also check out Moses' photos...click here for a sweet photo of Pat working hard.

Hutchinson Crit...shortest race report yet

Women's Open race in the rain, didn't get a good enough warm-up, got dropped early...same old crit story, different day. Read the real race reports from Special K and Gilby since they didn't get dropped.

doing some hot laps at the track

Last night was the first night the Peacock Groove and I have been able to make it to the velodrome for the Thursday night race series. There were eight women in the field, which I think is the largest field I've raced in at the track, and three of the eight were Bellas (me, Jodi, and Rocker...how's that for laying the smack down Annie!). As usual, we had 3 races throughout the night: (1) a 10-lap scratch race, (2) a chariot race, and (3) a 35-lap points race. And there were a ton of spectators...I might even go so far as to say that the stands weren't far from being full. It was unbelievable - I don't know where these people come from - and they really got into the racing, so it was pretty cool.

The scratch race is just your normal race...first one across the line wins. We rolled out, and no one really did anything, we just kind of rode around in a double-paceline, so with about 5 laps to go, I decided to attack, mostly because I was bored. But it was kind of a half-ass attack, so we re-grouped, and I tried to position myself for the final sprint. At the bell lap, Fast Ann and Elena (U of Mers) amped it up a bit, with Fast Ann at the front. On the back stretch, I started coming around Elena and passed her and had my sights on Fast Ann. I also knew that I was unintentionally giving Gilby a leadout, as she was right on my wheel, but there wasn't much I could do about it. I was able to hold off Gilby for second place, so I was happy with that.

The chariot race is a two-lap sprint race with a standing start (i.e. someone holds your bike, the officials fire the gun to start and the holder lets go of your bike, and you have to start racing from a standstill ...it's hard on a fixed gear bike). We did the chariot race in two heats...four women in each heat. Then the top two of each heat went on to the final chariot race later in the night. The other three woman in my heat were Elena, Gilby, and Amber (Alan). Let me just say that I think I've only done standing starts about five times in my life, so I wasn't really sure what to do. So when the gun went off, Elena let out a power-grunt, and I'm fairly certain she was going through turn one before I even got out of my saddle. But, I hauled some ass and almost caught up with her, and was able to take second and move on to the final race. Fast Ann had won the first heat, and Rocker had taken second, so it was the two U of Mers vs the two Bellas. When we lined up for the race, Fast Ann was at the bottom of the track, I was second (up track a bit), Elena was third, and Rocker was fourth. As we were getting ready to start, I was really concentrating on my start...I knew if I didn't get a good start I'd be screwed. So when the gun went off, I actually got a decent start and felt like I was neck and neck with Elena. But then I heard Fast Ann say "whoa!"...and I quickly realized that while I was concentrating so much on my start, I had completely forgotten to concentrate on riding a straight line, and had started coming down on Fast Ann and cut her off. I felt super bad because that's a total sketchy dill spank move (I got that term from Rocker and I've been waiting for the perfect opportunity to use it). I wasn't sure what to do, so I actually slowed down a bit for some reason. And while I was being a dill spank, Elena was out front getting a HUGE gap. But Fast Ann was able to rocket around me and eventually passed Elena and took the win, which made me feel a little better because I didn't end up costing her the win...but still, I hate being the sketchy chick.

Our last race was the 35-lap points race. In this race, there is a sprint for points every five laps. The points went four people deep for each sprint - the first person across the line gets 5 pts, the second gets 3 pts, the third gets 2 pts, and the fourth gets 1 pt. In the end, the person with the most points wins (and that's not necessarily the first person across the line on the last lap). On the first sprint lap, I was feeling good so I went for it...and much to my surprise (and probably everyone else's), I was able to take the 5 pts from Fast Ann and Elena. I then tried to sit in the back of the pack and recover from my sprint, but I wasn't quite recovered by the time the next sprint came around and Gilby took a flyer off the front in anticipation of the sprint, so I was hurting. I didn't get any points on the second sprint and maybe the third (I don't really remember). But I think I was able to get points on the fifth and sixth sprints. So coming into the final sprint, Fast Ann had already accumulated enough points to wrap up the win, but second place was still open to Elena, Gilby and me. Fast Ann was leading it out, and Elena, Gilby, and I were lined up behind her when we started sprinting. I didn't have enough to come around Elena or Gilby, but I think I had enough points in the end to take third in the race...don't quote me on that though, Gilby may have passed my point total with that last sprint, and I never saw the results. The cool thing about this race was that pretty much everyone was able to stay with the pack, so the sprints were all well-contested, and for once, Fast Ann didn't lap the field!

I was pretty happy with my results for my first night of track racing, but I felt a little sketchy. I made one other really sketchy move in either the Scratch race or the Points race (I don't remember which one). I moved up on the inside of the track when there wasn't much room to do so...in fact, I won't bore you with the track rules, but I think I may have even made an illegal move. I realized about halfway into my move that it was a bad idea, but it was too late. Like I said before, I hate being the sketchy chick and I spend way too much time thinking about it after the fact. But I definitely have some room for improvement!

Props to Jodi who raced at the track for the first time...she did awesome!! And Rocker was super stoked about the races - she told me afterward that the 35-lap points race was one of the most fun things she's ever done. I don't know if I'd go that far, but it was pretty fun.

I totally have a track hangover today.

SS

you're so money and you don't even know it

I seem to have caught a cold now that it's 85 degrees and beautiful...makes total sense. So I've got nothing better to do than surf. Hence the following.

Being a fan of both Vince Vaughn and Brad Pitt, this story cracked me up so I thought I'd share:

Brad vs Vince: Who's the Money?

And a little supporting evidence to go along with that story...I heard this story on the radio which also cracked me up, so I looked it up on the web:

Wilson Kicked Out of Market

"Wedding Crashers" star Owen Wilson was thrown out of a market in the U.S., after entering the grocery store without shoes.

The Hollywood funnyman was with his brother, actor Luke Wilson, in their hometown of Austin, Texas, when the incident occurred.

The pair were attempting to shop at upscale grocery store Whole Foods last Thursday.

The 37-year-old left his shoes at home and tried to sneak past the stores security guard bare-footed.

A sources tells In Touch magazine, "Owen noticed the security guard looking at his bare feet, so he ran up and down the aisle trying to evade him.

"The officer managed to track him down and escort him out of the store."

Wilson was able to continue his shopping when a fan lent him a pair of flip-flops to wear.

Capitol Crit "race" report

This will be short. I lined up with 31 other women for the Capitol Crit on Sunday...what an awesome turnout!! There were a ton of Bellas...for once I think we outnumbered the Bettys. My legs were tired from my 3.5 hr ride with Special K the day before, but generally speaking, I felt pretty good. This was a 30-minute Women's Open race (instead of having separate races for the separate categories), so I'm fairly certain most of the Cat 4's paid their $25 with the assumption that lapped riders would not be pulled from the race (as is normally the case for Open races). When Teresa attacked from the gun, no one really chased after her, but it still started out fast. I can't really even remember which lap I got dropped on, but it was early...maybe lap 3? It was disappointing, and once again, you'll have to read Special K's blog to find out what happened in the main field. About 10-15 minutes into the race, I was crossing the start/finish line with about 3 other riders and I saw the official making a strange hand gesture at us. Usually when they're pulling you, it's quite obvious. At the same time, I noticed the pace car (with Teresa in tow) was about to pass me, so I assumed the official was just warning me that the pace car was coming. I figured if he was actually trying to pull us, he'd do it again on the next lap. As the laps passed, I started to notice a lot of the riders who had been in front of me were now on the sidelines. But the official never pulled me and the other riders with me, so we just kept going. In the end, it was an uneventful race for me, but at least I got to ride some fast laps for 30 minutes. Unfortunately for about half of the racers, they paid $25 to race for 10 minutes before they got pulled. It's a little unclear why riders were pulled...usually it's only necessary to pull riders when the race is dangerous or the field is large (and lapped riders make the race hard to keep track of), but I don't think either of those situations existed. Bummer. However, Margot got 3rd, and Barb, Karla, and Sheryl all finished with the main field, so that was totally cool. And Special K upgraded...which is cool for her, but a bummer for me and the other Cat 4's on our team.

Check out some cool photos from the race at Moses-Images.

And check out this crazy photo from the Rock Island crit.

Oh, and remember that documentary film that Bob, Elena, Julie and I took part in at the velodrome? There's now a trailer for the film...and if you look really close, you'll see a few 0.5 second clips of me (I'm dressed in all black): http://www.fastwomenproductions.com/

SS

belated memorial weekend non-race report

The Course













The Fans




























The Feed Zone














The Hand-up (from my sister)