Anna Milkowski

Fall 2010

2010-11-13T11:33:00.011-05:00

Now to bring you up to speed... Since my last update, I was just settling into teaching when I smashed my wrist racing in the Hub on Wheels Mayor's Cup Criterium in downtown Boston. I was going around a downhill corner when another rider and I somehow locked bars. And suddenly there I was moaning on the side of the road against a curb and a haybale, taking note of a deformed wrist but far more concerned I had a broken hip. Waiting to be put on a backboard I kept thinking "I'm so over this." Thankfully my hip was just badly bruised. Countless people were extremely helpful, especially my colleagues who covered the nearly two weeks of school I missed recovering from the crash and the subsequent surgery. After that adventure settled down, and after basically a month without exercise, the question was how to invent a cyclocross- and bike-free existence. I've slowly cajoled by body into being able to run, started swimming, and been enjoying teaching and other projects at school. And so, the fall in pictures: hiking in the snow, the Addison's new green roof, progress on Stefan's cabin, carving a pumpkin, trail running, and my bionic wrist.

Human Interest

2010-09-07T09:23:00.007-04:00

We talked to truckers and pilot car drivers and caribou hunters (seeking tips), stopped at the Coldfoot truckstop 240 miles in featuring an all-you can eat buffet, visited an Arctic visitor center, camped on a seemingly-defunct runaway truck ramp beside an airstrip, encountered one other cyclist, met Todd who built a cabin by Gates of the Arctic where he hosts Japanese tourists (teaching them to roast hotdogs and shoot caribou), talked to a UAF geology fieldtrip, ate enormous burgers at the Hotspot, contended with mud and 15% grade hills (Beaver Slide pictured!), and pushed the final day to make it 80 miles in a rainstorm after eating lunch off a bike wheel. I reached a truce with my non free-standing tent, learned to put the panniers on frontwards each day, and suffered no mechanicals.

Land and Sky: Atigun to Fairbanks

2010-09-07T09:00:00.000-04:00

Land and Sky: Deadhorse to Atigun

2010-09-07T08:17:00.013-04:00

You might need to click on "Land and Sky: Deadhorse to Atigun" to see all images...

Tech Specs

2010-09-07T07:56:00.002-04:00

Keeping it quick: I was on my brother's cross bike equipped for the trip with 34-34 gearing, mountain bike clipless pedals, rear panniers and fat dry bag with the sleeping bag rigged on the back. The improvised handlebar bag quickly become a fanny pack - not the height of bike fashion. Some items: down coat, fleece, tent, industrial strength booties, bear spray, tools, a book on climate change in the Arctic, misc clothing, water purifying tablets, Whisperlite, and EIGHT DAYS worth of food, topping out at about 55lbs on stuff loaded on the bike. I had my fingers crossed for my wheelset because breaking a spoke would have sent me hitchhiking. The uneven load combined with grabby front brakes lent itself to some wobbly handling. I hoped we ate enough to lighten the load prior to going down any big hills. You might note Joe was on a Pugsley...

Deadhorse and Prudhoe Bay

2010-09-07T07:30:00.001-04:00

After a weekend trip to Anchorage (700 scenic miles round trip) for Darcy and Toby's magnificent wedding party (not 100% sure they wish to be featured in this blog!), it was on the plane to Deadhorse, the "town" at the entrance to the North Slope oilfields at Prudhoe Bay. After all the trouble of buying new fuel canisters for our stove to avoid even gas residue, ditching the bear spray, and my retrieving my checked luggage so I could put a knife in it, the gate turned out to have no security at all... Once in Deadhorse, a collection of heavy machinery on a gravel pad, we took a tour of the oil fields, run by BP, which ended in a trip to the Arctic Ocean.

Biking the Haul Road

2010-09-07T07:04:00.008-04:00

Starved for adventure by too much familiar in my East Coast life, I leaped at the chance to join my uber-tourer friend Joe on a trip down Alaska's "Haul Road," (officially called the Dalton Highway), which ran south from Deadhorse 414 miles before joining the Elliot Highway for the 85 mile trek to Fairbanks. The road was constructed in 1973 to service the newly created oil pipeline which ran 900 miles from the oil fields of Prudhoe Bay all the way to Valdez where it could be loaded onto tankers. For much of the route - through the tundra, the foothills of the Brooks Range, over the Range's Atigun Past (splitting between Gates of the Arctic National Park on the east, ANWR to the east), past the "farthest north spruce tree," down the Chandalar Shelf, through Coldfoot, over the Artic Circle, and across the Yukon River, before ending in the unfriendly defunct mining town of Livengood "Liven' good in Livengood" - the road parallels the pipeline. Both pipeline and road seemed generally viewed as tremendous feats of engineering that had somehow mastered a remote and inhospitable landscape. While production is down as the oil field ages, Prudhoe Bay once produced 20% of US oil. And thanks largely to Ted Stevens and a diet of pure federal pork (in spite of so many Alaskans' disdain for government), every Alaska receives an annual permanent fund dividend check ($1300 last year); Alaska Natives of the Arctic enjoy a huge cut of oil revenue, making the North Star Borough one of the state's wealthiest; and shift work on the North Slope is a booming industry even in this recession. The trip promised to bundle a new conceptual landscape around energy and wilderness with an anticipated breathtaking physical landscape. Not to mention some good physical challenge.

Denali

2010-09-06T22:19:00.002-04:00

I mistakenly left all my Denali photos on my brother's computer in Fairbanks, so... me and a moose is all we get. With only one cold day and going on three hours of sleep due to a noisy late-night police/wreckless driver escapade outside Stefan's cabin, taking a tour bus all day was a welcome if lame way to see Denali. In spite of the weather, we managed to capture the "big five" - grizzly, caribou, moose, golden eagle, and wolf, clamoring with everyone else with cameras and binoculars to whichever side of the bus had the best view. It was rather ridiculous! The alternative way to experience the park seemed a stark extreme - trail-less hiking. In fact, just after our visit an Georgia man in for a conference went out for a day hike and was lost for three days. Not to mention Chris McCandless...

Mt. Prindle Overnight

2010-09-06T22:00:00.006-04:00

I would need to remember how to camp and overcome my fear of bears, so my brother took me backpacking. Yowsas let me tell you these White Mountains were not like New Hampshire's! No trails and no people. Finally met some sheep hunters out for a week or so hoping to haul out a Dall sheep (ewes pictured). These mid-aged women hunters with their rifles, maps and satellite phone splayed out in camp, talking about the wolf that visited the previous night and their intended forays to the ridge, for sure could outlast me in this wilderness 1000 to 1. Pictured: Torrs, sky, Dall sheep, and Stefan's ill-fated sleeping bag experiment.

Things Alaskan

2010-09-06T21:06:00.012-04:00

Things Alaskan: building a cabin, farewell to a caribou, warding off bears at the Museum of the North, patriotism (?), permafrost, requisite broken windshield driving through Wasilla, dog mushing, Fairbanks fur store, Sportsman's Warehouse, dry cabin water system, such light, the dump (no recycling in Fairbanks), "sturdy" pilot bread backcountry cracker gone gourmet, Chinook caught off cliff and badly filleted, moto, and hopping falafel stand.

Alaska!

2010-09-06T20:32:00.005-04:00

Post-Fitchburg entailed more joyful though lackluster suffering on the bike with dear team Wheelworks, including Clamfest for the first time, then the gorgeous, authentic, and hilly Tour of the Catskills, then a heat-combusting Beverly Crit, then Witches Cup by which point I finally had some racing legs, only to fly the very next morning to...

ALASKA!!!

I would get to see my brother's life in Fairbanks (a long overdue adventure), attend a wedding party of a grad school friend, add raw experience to intellectual grasp of a climate change frontier, and, in a late minute trip extension (sorry Green Mountain Stage Race), pedal the "Haul Road" (Dalton Highway) 500 miles from the Arctic Ocean to Fairbanks. The itinerary seemed destined to jolt me from my comfort zones!

Where to Begin?

2010-07-04T08:43:00.002-04:00

Well, I set a new record for blog neglect to the point that no one might read this anymore! Glimmers of inspired racing during cross season, but all in all a busy adjustment to my new teaching job, with plenty of moments of run-over-by-a-truck fatigue. I had to step back from being driven and find my footing at work. Coached rowing this spring (even rowed a few times), reveling in the progress of my novices and the victory of the top boat, but was unable to race the bike or train as I am used to. Just started racing three weeks ago, one crit where I faked it for 4th, then two road races where I got clobbered. I super-loaded the training in advance of a professional development trip to Costa Rica focusing on conservation, ecology, and certification programs for sustainable agriculture and forestry. I had a crackpot plan to race Fitchburg the day after my return after a week off the bike. (This was not even "seemed like a good idea at the time," this was "seemed like a bad idea at the time.") In spite of this it was fun to finally race with my team, and surprisingly exhilarating to leap directly from an inspiring week in Costa Rica right into my favorite local pro race with great teammates. But ugh. I was woefully in over my head. Dropped in the circuit race, rode it in. Then dropped in the road race, rode it in but time cut. At some point I will need to decide if I am committed to being fast and if I can make it happen with my current circumstances, because I will tire of being terrible, but it was fun and certainly served its role as a training boot camp. This photo from the flight from the Osa Penninsula, the remote southwest corner of Costa Rica.

New in 2009

2009-09-19T09:29:00.006-04:00

I could not be more psyched about racing on BikeReg.com / Joe's Garage / Independent Fabrications this year. That's that. Fantastic people and the best of sponsors, based right here in New England. Feels like home. Now to race the bike fast.

Bedford Cross - Sept 13

2009-09-19T08:40:00.004-04:00

There is nothing quite like a race to jolt one into cross season! You can roll around on the cross bike but it's just not the same. Hard to know what to expect emerging from over a month of training without racing, then the always-chaotic/tiring first week of the school year. Sustainability across the board, and zipping out to Bedford and my other life was a key step in the quest for balance. Weather was HOT; course was a dry grassy slog. According to others, the slog is my specialty, so I was supposed to be psyched for this course. Hopes of anonymity dashed at the line with Mo, Sara B-Z, a fair number of ringers! Holeshot off the line (evidently I can clip in even after switching back to Time from Crank Brothers) and leading then following Mo but AYA then my seat was coming off. Many thanks to JD and Matt Roy for help in the pit (left-hand bike change in the first race of the year!?), new bike but then AYA my handlebar was loose, so another left-hand bike change. Inexcusable equipment laziness, but point of race 1 is to blow out the cobwebs and eliminate glitches. I clawed my way back into 5th but definitely tired by the end, though closing a bit. Smoothness needed but hopeful about the legs and season. Mo rocked, and Anna/Anns were well-represented on the podium, taking 3 of top 5 spots. Way to go name. Photo courtesy Brad Jurga. Next up, Suckerbrook Cross.

And September!

2009-09-19T08:19:00.003-04:00

Eeking in just under the one-month-between-posts limit. Much to report! Transition time as I moved, started a new job, got a haircut... My brother returned from his e$%# ("epic" is now under quarantine) two-month canoe trip on Alaska's Yukon river so I no longer need to worry about him disappearing into the Bering Sea. Big news is I am teaching again, hoping I can successfully integrate environmental science, biology, and public health into a tip-top high school's curriculum and ethos while sustaining a strong racing life and making the most of the academic calendar's opportunity for expeditions and adventure. The pace of life is high, but whose isn't and ideas and energy and people should carry me through. Grad school felt like a lot of absorbing, now it's time to see what I can do. You run what you brung. New Haven was surprisingly great, but I am so happy to be back in the Boston area again.

August Update

2009-08-20T06:36:00.002-04:00

Quick update before I go pedaling, to end the blogging neglect! After Cascade and Nationals I wanted to rest and retool, return to the root of biking joy. Enjoyed some epic rides in the Berkshires with friends, including the famed Greylock Century loop, featuring the repaved climb (awesome except the rumble strips) and the spectacular roads of the Deerfield Randonee. Tinkering with my bike fit and saddle position had reached a point of disaster and confusion, so I immersed myself in the project of setting that straight, compulsively coming to understand bike geometry - the interratationships of tube lengths and angles and stem lengths etc - and learn the tricks for measuring various essential measures of fit. Curse those crooked old floors! By necessity, I suddenly had to conduct some bike tinkering myself, and lo and behold in spite of my ridiculous mechanical inexperience I seem to have absorbed a lot by osmosis. One project was prepping the cross bike for Deerfield's 25 and 27% grades on dirt roads. I had to chalk up the hours - no days - of time invested as a crucial investment in my summer goal of learning more about bike repair. In spite of Leonard Zinn, it's still unclear whether or not the SRAM 9-sp XO mountain derailleur will work with Red shifters, because in principle the hallmark of each is that they are both 1-to-1 in ration of cable pull. At any rate, the eventual set-up was the 10sp SRAM bike with a hand-crafted 10sp 12-30 cassette, masterminded by Bob of College St. Cycles. It consisted of the big plates from my 9sp mountain cassette and the little ones from my 10sp road cassette, with 10sp road spacers inserted. And it turns out the Force derailleur works fine with a 30, in spite of the published max of 28. It's also August, which of course means we are now allowed to think about cross! In other news, a friend is searching for a speedy woman cyclist to compete in the bike leg of the legendary Berkshires event, the Josh Billings RunAground triathlon, Sunday Sept 13. Zip me an email if you're interested.

Bend Rocks, Junior Racing, and Cross Natz Recon

2009-08-01T19:18:00.005-04:00

Last post I promise. Waiting for my red-eye here at the Redmond airport where after meticulous weight-reducing packing to get the double bike bag to 58 lbs (still 8lbs over - tough when the double Pika weighs in at 22...) and even a trip to Fed-Ex my bags didn't even get weighed! First to the Deschutes River with its trails and volcanic rocks, then we went to Bend's Old Mill District to watch the Junior Nationals crits and scout the 2009 Cross Nationals Course. As if the $8000 bikes ridden by 12-year-olds in Friday's time trial were not enough to turn me off on junior racing, holy cow - I could have made tip-top mockumentary a la Best in Show of the ridiculous parents at the course today. The pushiness, the screaming, the excess, the competitiveness - it was revolting. I could not understand how the officials could tolerate this! I compare this admittedly snapshot image of junior racing with collegiate racing and it just does not compare. The comraderie and spirit of collegiate, with people racing junker bikes and with time trials run "cannibal" style to minimize the ability to buy time trial speed - now that is the purity of cycling. That said, it was fun watching the 13-14 year old races (shutting out parental shouting, or laughing at it). One interesting aspect was that some riders are literally twice as big as others in the same field! Most importantly, the venue was the same as the 2009 cross nationals venue. Hard to say much given that we might have snow or icy ruts or mud but the venue looks awesome, with less elevation gain than in Kansas, though I am sure it can be found. The crit course could form the basis of the paved start-finish stretch. Some photos included.

Bye Bye Bend

2009-08-01T11:03:00.006-04:00

Got to pack the bikes. Bend is sort of a paradise (note urban riverfront), but after two weeks I come away thinking there's no way I could live here. East Coast is a pain in the neck but I like it. Psyched to get home, rainy and cold as it is. Last night Nils (the man behind the camera) and I went walking downtown, out for some food then stumbled upon this antique car show. Those ratty shorts of mine are getting trashed. Seems kind of metaphoric.

Nationals Time Trial - Roastarama

2009-08-01T10:08:00.004-04:00

The 35k Nationals time trial course included the 15-mile out-and-back up and down Skyliner Drive (the Cascade TT course), plus an additional 6-mile rolling loop. Once again temperatures were in the 90s. I'd spent the week practicing going fast on the descent - I really wasn't sure why I felt so ill-at-ease on this - but I felt like a runaway truck with failed brakes just waiting for the escape ramp on the highway. I'd figured it out that if over 2 miles I went 30 instead of 40mph I would lose 1 minute. I picked this because the math was easy and it's an exaggeration since speeds were actually higher but that's a lot of time! The extra loop was good, rollers and corners and smooth fast pavement compared to Skyliner's cracked and bumpy surface. I considered the course in thirds: strong and patient on the climb (just try not to lose too much time), attack that descent (make up some time), then fly through the fast loop (best section here). Seemed like a good plan...
I warmed up riding around, having ridden in the morning and not wanting to overheat. Doused myself in water and zipped up the torture implement of my black skinsuit. I had Kori Seehafer - a very solid time trialist - chasing me at 30 seconds. Seemed to be going fine, roasting aside. I caught my 30-second person and Kori caught me about 6.5 miles in - but after the turnaround she disappeared. Just after the turnaround there was a kicker to climb and my labored ascent of that might have been an indication of things coming apart. But I went much better than at Cascade down the descent, caught a few people, and entered the loop. I was barely hanging on, smoke coming out my ears, never finding that smooth powerful feeling. Finished and wow I got killed. I came in 4:38 back of the winner Jessica Phillips. Kori got 7th. I was 2:28 behind, which to me indicates that I went out to hard because I should have lost the most time on the first section, since it was my weakest link and since it was the slowest section of the course, one-third of the distance but much more than one-third of the time. But instead I lost less than one-third of the time there. Just another way of saying I combusted. Or that Kori is a very smart pacer, which she is. Less good ride than at Cascade, relative to others. Ah well. Evie Stevens missed out on the jersey by one-second. AY. Awesome and a small heartbreak I imagine. WOW for her though!!!! Alison Powers finished third. Suffice it to say people are riding FAST. Pictured: At the line, offical telling me about his Polish last name. Entering the loop - the still photograph conveys the labored effort remarkably well. What will I do without photographer Nils?

Nationals Road Race Notes

2009-08-01T09:51:00.003-04:00

Bit more about the road race since I made some mistakes and since I find the race interesting... The final finish was: Meredith, Chrissy, Kristen, Amy, then Kori (not Kat). As it turns out, the group launched to Kori before the feedzone climb (not on the second steep climb). I think Kristen (solo) followed Chrissy (VAC) and then Meredith (TIBCO) followed Amy (Webcor). At that point team racing came into play: Meredith was sitting on the break, with her powerful team stacked with sprinters Brooke Miller, Kat Carrol, and Lauren Tamayo, not to mention powerful all-arounder Amber Rais, waiting in the field. Kristen deemed this break her best chance for a result, racing without teammates and not a sprinter herself, so she drove it in spite of Meredith sitting on. Webcor, with only three (albeit very good) riders, was in a similar place, Amy-in-a-break a better shot than a bunch sprint. Chrissy was likely VAC's best chance, and also contributed to the work. But evidently when Meredith attacked, neither of the other four (including Kori after her long break) had the legs to respond. Meredith sealed the deal for TIBCO. I definitely had some underdog sentiment going during Cascade, rooting for Webcor agains the TIBCO assault, but Meredith is a very deserving champion. She's a terrific team rider who for a long time has been the engine behind the glorious results of others.

Nationals Road Race

2009-07-30T15:34:00.003-04:00

Once again I'm writing more as a journalist than a participant with a great story to tell. Hum... I did not believe I could make the selection so I went in with an all-or-nothing strategy of making an early break in the hope that the field would misjudge and give it too long a leash. I was alarmed to learn at the start that there would be no neutral feeding and was all the more recklessly inclined. OK my fault for assuming but come on - for an $85 dollar entry fee and a 110k race with temps forecast in the mid-90s!?! Rolled off the front at mile 1 and we had a nice group for a second - Nicky Wangsgard (Colavita), Brooke Miller (Tibco), and Sam Schneider (TT1) (pictured) - but then some actual contenders like Andrea Dvorak appeared and that was that. I sat in for a while then attacked around mile five. Three riders bridged up - Tibco plus Liza Rachetto plus another Value Act plus TT1. We got it rolling and lasted to the top of the feed zone climb at mile 11. I got gapped up the Archie Briggs climb at mile 17, chased back on, but it wasn't looking too good. Lap 2 the field was not going that fast but I was not going fast either up that feed zone climb. Up Archie Briggs I came off the back and hate to say it but sort of gave up. With the TT tomorrow I entered the race unsure if I would finish - but it's sort of a self-fulfilling negative prophesy that doesn't sit well. There really wasn't any point in flogging myself for 50th, but it's easy to second guess and ask "well, maybe if I had sat in I could have made it." Because as it turns out..... the uber-climbers did not kill it like they needed to to whittle the field done and the final standings came out of a group of almost 50 riders! My old coach Tom Stevens once gave me this salient piece of advice, that when I was strongest on the hills, even if I did not want to get away it paid to make others suffer by going hard. I would have expected this from Mara Abbot, the strongest climber and racing without teammates. Evie, also riding alone, seemed to be shadowing Mara. The two of them could have really put the hurt on the field. Following on twitter from the host house, seems like Robin Farina, then Amber Rais spent some quality time off the front solo, the field chilling, then after the catch Kori Seehafer launched a powerful attack. In the middle of the second climb on the final lap, Meredith Miller (TIBCO), Amy Dombroski (Webcor), Kristen Lasasso (Independent/Mellow Mushroom), and Chrissy Ruiter (VAC) launched off the front of the field. They caught Seehafer. Within 5k to go, Meredith attacked and got a good gap. Meanwhile, it seems that Mara Abbot launched across with Evie Stevens and Kat Carrol. Meredith Miller 1st, Ruiter 2nd, Lasasso 3rd, Seehafer 4th, and Carrol 5th. Dombroski wins U-23! Way to go Lasasso!

Nationals Road Race Preview

2009-07-29T15:24:00.004-04:00

Tomorrow brings the 111k Nationals road race consisting of four laps of the final stage of Cascade - technical with two notable hills per lap, positioning at a premium. We start at 8:30am so it won't be in the 90s until the end of the race. Nationals tends to play out as either full-out-hard or conservative-to-point-of-slowness, and everyone wants to win so teams fall apart, especially with no race caravan and no directors. What's going to happen on this tough but non-climber course with a flat finish? Are the powerhouse teams going to ride for a leader, or suffer infighting? We shall see! I'm guessing Mara Abbot is the strongest on those hills. If she wants to win she needs to get to work fast whittling the group down to a manageable size and getting rid of all sprinter-climbers. If not, riders like Shelly Olds, Kori Seehafer, Alison Powers, Meredith Miller, or Cat Carroll will rule the day at the finish. Never count out Katheryn Mattis and her Webcor crew - they rode hard for Evie last week but this week is totally different. Evie's no longer an unknown and will be marked heavily. Can she ride away again? Will a tip-top climber (Evie? Lasasso?) cling to Mara's wheel over the hill and win in the sprint? Will the teams muster a chase or will individuals hesitate to work? For me the writing is unfortunately pretty much on the wall that I won't make the selection on the hill when the attacks really go down - will see what I can do!

Cascade 6 - My World is Flat

2009-07-27T09:46:00.004-04:00

Stage 6 brought the most exciting course of the week, a rolling circuit with some tough hills and little recovery. A break went early with Lipsmackers rider Kirsty Broun, challenging Tina Pic's green jersey (pictured). I could just sit in and float in the field. I felt solid and smooth -best of the week - good with positioning and on the hills. The break reshuffled early in lap 2 and this time Lipsmackers had missed out. They drove it into the Archie Briggs climb in an attempt to launch a rider across. In spite of excellent positioning I got dropped. For once rather than back off early then claw my way back I held on then blew up right at the top. I pretty much rode the perfect race for me, I just wasn't strong enough at that one critical moment. So I am pleased and not pleased - pleased to put together a good race, not pleased my fitness was not good enough to make that selection. The frustrating part is that I am not unfit, I just have a flat fitness that is not well-suited to road racing. I need that extra gear asap, or it's really time to switch sports. This is wearing on me. At the front, lap 3 was a slugfest. Value Act's Kristin McGrath soloed from 1k to win; Evelyn kept the jersey, and my teammate Marisa sealed her GC in spite of having her wheel taken out in the final roundabout. Cascade is a great race - Northeasterners take note!

Cascade 5 - How Many Laps to Go?

2009-07-26T13:49:00.003-04:00

Felt like death in the morning but went out for a ride and caught up with the TT1 men thanks to much-missed former New Haven resident Chris Jones. Sat in their excellent draft around Sunday's challenging circuit race course and got the legs ready. Crit was a very long rectangle, raced aggressively by TIBCO and others but rather conducive to a field sprint. I was in the mix a bit and generally had a lot of fun and felt good on those flats. Timing was CONFUSING to say the least, a 50-minute race with time clock counting down and lap cards counting up - until the last two laps when they started going up - and I basically had no idea when the finish was, and neither did our tip-top sprinter Tiffany (shown in picture with me). Silly on us but race could take a lesson from cross with the lap cards. Junior Coryn Rivera won! One more chance today - a very challenging technical circuit with two tough hills followed by false flats rather than restorative descents. If I position well I think I can make it, but when the climbers go on these it will be super hard. Race is 3 loops / 50 miles and I expect such a slugfest I don't even know that there will be pause enough for a break of total non-threats like me to slip off the front.

Cascade Stage 4 - And Then I was Done

2009-07-25T11:27:00.003-04:00

Stage 4 was an awesome race, not so much for me but in terms of team racing and battles on the road. As I mentioned, Webcor entered the day with Evelyn Stevens in the jersey and IBCO with five riders in the top ten overall. We had QOM at mile 2 of the 71-mile stage, and TIBCO went from the gun. That first QOM climb was brutal on cold legs but I hung on. DFT had missed a break of eight that went up the road. I tried to follow a few bridgers across but it wasn't happening. It was time to sit and rest. Webcor (especially Katheryn Mattis) rode tempo on the front governing the gap. The rest of us enjoyed a very smooth ride on more of Bend's spectacular roads. As it turned out, TIBCO wasn't too happy with the break - their rider was not highly placed on GC or the strongest climber in the break - so in a sense their aggressive tactic backfired. They tried a few times to bridge across but as it was the break came back around 40 miles. For the next ten miles we had some aggressive racing and I followed moves. One stuck without DFT in it - not a disaster coming so close to the final climb - containing GC threats Cath Cheatley (Colavita), Jo Kiesenowski (TIBCO), and Alison Powers (TT1). Webcor drove a hard chase (there was a lot of dangerous horsepower in that break) and brought back the break over about 5 miles. We were all together entering the rollers around 60 miles in, pace very high. Then after feeling solid all day I just drifted off the back on a roller and that was it, dead long before my time. Clawed a bit but then I just rode it in with Katheryn Mattis (evidently I can climb on par with my old New England rival once she has ridden tempo on the front for 100k). She was getting reports from the radio - Evelyn at 25 seconds, 30... I remembered that feeling of how great it is when you have done your job and your leader is sealing the deal. Being psyched for them dissapated some of my extreme disappointment in my own climb. Webcor had ridden awesomely in the face of enormous pressure from the TIBCO gorilla. Evelyn won the stage - remarkable given the windy and long flat sections of the climb - with Amber Rais (TIBCO) and Alison Powers (TT1) behind. Teammate Marisa had a great climb and moved into 13th. Interestingly, although I got shelled before the climb even started, I will note that our East Coast climbs are much steeper (though shorter), and that we rarely (if ever) have courses as flat as the course leading into the final climb. The racing really feels different. Pictured: final climb up Mt. Bachelor.

Cascade Stage 3 - Room for Improvement in the TT

2009-07-24T11:00:00.004-04:00

The TT was a 16-mile out-and-back up Skyline Drive, gaining 1000 ft. I have a long list of all I can do differently for the Nationals course that includes this loop. Of course getting stronger would help too! Needed a super long warm-up after the previous day's finishing climb, since in spite of a brutal ice bath my legs felt like death. Did not really factor this in. Plodding at the start, rode my way up just tried to stay positive and not get bogged down. On this course my strategy would be to minimize losses to uber-climbers up the hill, then roar on the downhill. Simply needed more guts and more gears on the way down. 27th, 2:20 back of surprise winner Jessica Phillips! Marisa moved into 16th on GC. Tibco stacked the GC, with five riders in the top ten. Evelyn has a one-minute lead - will it be enough to withstand the imminent onslaught? Today's 71-mile stage with a finish climb to Mt. Bachelor will hold some answers.

Cascade 2 - Trying Hard for the Break that Wasn't

2009-07-23T09:55:00.004-04:00

Temps in the mid-90s again for the 80-mile stage. Marisa and I both worked hard early to try to make the early break - only it didn't happen. I spent a few matches but it seemed worth the risk. Tibco and Webcor were both aggressive early but nothing went. Finally, after the QOM at mile 52 (of 80), a powerhouse break went - Kat Carrol, Anne Samplonius, Stacey Marple, Erinne Willock, Andrea Dvorak, someone else - and none of us was there to follow. It was frustrating because quickly the field swelled across the road and the gap ballooned to three minutes. We had missed out. As it turned out, the break worked for some teams and against others. We came into the final climb through the town of Three Creeks and into a long windy false flat drag. If I had more confidence in my climbing right now I would have ensured better positioning. As it was I sat out the first surge up the steep pitch at 72 miles, then clawed my way back up to a group of support riders from the big teams as the grade eased. The grade was such that drafting played a big role. Of course I wonder if I had saved energy whether I might have weathered that first pitch and made a better group but honestly I am not so sure. This was definitely my best climb of the year, and it was quite tough even riding just a steady pace. A lot of excellent climbers struggled today, with surprising people falling out of the break or just not doing the climbs they are used to. The heat appears to be taking a toll. Marisa rode a great climb, finishing 15th, just over a minute back. I am almost six minutes back, 48th. Lindsey, Tiffany, and Ambre all rode solid climbs. And the winner.... Evelyn Stevens again! Northeastern racers, we should feel vindicated. Picture from Nils: team, landscape (!), start of finishing climb, and near the finish (me second from left).

Cascade Stage 1 - Energy Conservation or Doing Nothing?

2009-07-22T10:03:00.003-04:00

Stage 1 done and this epic race is on! Hot was the word of the day - 90 and basically no shade - and for a while the field wallowed at snail pace. We heated up for the sprint, then a QOM hill followed by a regrouping, then some hard sections of attacking on flat windy terrain, then a straight run into the finish. All in all it was kind of a mellow day and I felt fine on the single hill. Maybe it was mellow since I should have helped teammates cover moves more, but I went through a small period of feeling like death from the heat. It seemed destined to stay together, so sometimes it's a hard call to know how vigilantly to patrol the front. Because the racing at the front was super hard, but riding in the field was largely a very easy ride (HEAT ASIDE). There were a few moments when I thought a strong team could have split the field in a cross wind - PEI style - but the racing was just not that tough. I think everyone viewed the stage in the context of the stage race. Team is a great group, everyone rode well. Of course then when you see that rockstar Evelyn Stevens (this time guest riding on Webcor) attacked with 1k to go and WON, you think, DANG, I could have at least covered that. But ah well, on to the next mission: today's epic stage - a long flat drag into a 10-mile finishing climb on a 73-mile day with 90-degree temps. We will be aiming to place a rider in the early break and hope to do something cool! Photos courtesy Niles.

How iPaw Found my Wheel

2009-07-22T09:48:00.003-04:00

On Monday before the race our director/mechanic/soigneur picked up my bikes to make sure they worked. So cool, except during the loading process we left my front wheel leaning against his truck without noticing. Once we realized what had happened, hours later, host Niles and I scoured the street outside the house. We imagined fantastically how far it might have rolled. In the meantime, one of our host's three beloved indoor cats had gone missing. The cat was iPaw - a Christmas gift years ago instead of a coveted iPod - famous for hiding but known to freak out if outside. Karen scoured the house many times over, growing increasingly worried. Of course I feared that I had left the door open and the cat had somehow escaped and was in grave danger. Tom set up my bike with a replacement wheel and we readied for the race with a spactacular team dinner prepared by teammate Tiffany. Niles went out to walk the neighborhood one more time for iPaw. He saw his neighbor standing on his porch holding my front wheel, then returned home with the wheel to news that Karen had found iPaw! Thanks iPaw - I owe you one.

Cascade

2009-07-20T16:12:00.003-04:00

Hi from Bend, Oregon. Sometimes when I visit these Western outdoors sports meccas I wonder why I live in the East. This place is cycling and nordic skiing paradise. This is without even mentioning kayaking, which seems fair since I don't kayak... Anyway, staying with wonderful hosts who happen to be land use planners. Psyched to get dialed in with the new team. Rode the TT course and well, it's basically a 7-mile climb and a 7-mile descent. My biggest challenge is going to be going fast downhill - I am not well-practiced with high speeds on this bike. Pictured: plane to RDM, TT course (going up). Now for the next pre-race activity - food procurement!

Go West!

2009-07-17T07:20:00.005-04:00

Set aside my Fitchburg exasperation and am moving forward with plans to race Cascade and road nationals in Bend, Oregon. Hitting these races in tip-top form had been the plan all along, but I had not anticipated so much struggling up to this point. When I get as frustrated as I did at Fitchburg I come close to wanting to pull the plug - do a 100-mile mtn bike race and ride the 120-mile dirt-road Deerfield Randonee with friends - after all this is supposed to be fun! Maybe I am overly hopeful but I feel so tantalizingly close to being strong and so here I come! Can't stay mad at bike racing. Cascade is going to be epic - 6 days in the mountains at elevation racing in a 120-rider field largely self-selected for climbing prowess and with many going super strong in advance of nationals. I expect to struggle on some epic climbs, but absolutely plan to make intermediate climbing selections. I will be racing with the Colorado-based team DFT p/b Treads and hope there is occasion for my beloved long breakaway, maybe on the day with some ridiculous finishing climb up Mt. Bachelor. Hum... better check the race bible! Psyched for the time trial at both Cascade and nationals - this event actually capitalizes on my lopsided strength profile. Bike is supa fast so it is up to the rider. Pictured: my disk wheel (and other things round)! Too bad it's only 6-speed... In other news my brother just launched on a six-week paddling trip of Alaska's Yukon river. Craziest part is that in order to write they have the laptops packed up inside the canoe!

Decathlon Weekend

2009-07-17T07:13:00.002-04:00

Notes to self: don't underestimate the toll of moving, don't mess with your whole bike position prior to racing a technical crit, and Philadelphia really is far. What was supposed to be a good confidence-building and cash-cow weekend at the Iron Hill Crit and Union Vale was instead, well utterly exhausting (getting lost on the way to races is a key indicator of mental acuity and I was a disaster!) and a horrendous crit in which I simply could not corner. I am holding out it was good training... plus a friend's excellent birthday party where I caught up with many missed racing friends who've graduated to new endeavors, plus a visit with my aunt and cousin. Have I said before "less is more?"

Fitchburg Wrap

2009-07-17T06:57:00.002-04:00

Not good enough on the Princeton climb and I plummeted in the GC. Pretty disappointing since I should be able to make that modest selection. Sure it was hard, harder than past years due to the absence of the finishing climb, but it was basically a bunch sprint of 50 riders. I am quite strong in general power riding but when it comes to drilling it up a short climb I am sorely lacking - and this allocation just doesn't cut it in road racing. Thus the fitness trading concept... I will trade you some power on the flats if you can give me some zing for the hills. Voluntary exchanges and everyone is better off, efficiency maximized. Worked for a complicated problem like SO2, why not fitness deficiencies? Suffered from demoralization in the crit - I wasn't going to get dropped but when I made one attack and saw how windy it was then I gave up on breakaway ambitions and pretty much wallowed in 50th place. When I heard the motorcycle right behind me I would move up lackadasically. Not good. Lip Smackers kept Evelyn in the jersey and Tina Pic took the stage win again. The men's crit was astonishing - local hero Will Dugan procured the sprint jersey and the second-place gc rider bridged to the break in the final laps of the race (leader Zirbel's team having combusted in the chase) to seize the overall win. Wow! Great racing for Fitchburg's 50th!

Fitchburg CR

2009-07-04T09:36:00.002-04:00

11 laps of the 3-mile circuit with a stair-step hill gaining 100ft per lap. Lackluster race by me with energy wasted due to mediocre positioning but mission accomplished - mostly (small time gap to front 3) - still 8th in the gc, legs saved, and now I get to race today! Without the Wachusett finishing climb, and with Evelyn Stevens in the lead over Alison Powers by 1 second, the race promises to be a slugfest! See what I can do.

Ftichburg TT

2009-07-04T09:26:00.003-04:00

I was motivated for this one. Getting good at the TT had been a project for this season that got postponed with my early-season "fitness emergency," but I got on the bike as much as possible during the last two weeks and was ready to give it a go. I have a sick fast position and bike - it was just a matter of getting used to my position and pacing. Pre-rode the course four times this week which was probably good given that we raced in dense fog. Rode the race and maybe I went out too hard because I was pedaling through mud on the way back, at times the speed dipped to 17mph - yikes - but made it to the finish. But it was good enough for 8th! Two seconds out of 6th so of course I wish I pulled that off - because you could find two seconds just in the turn-around - but exciting. Alison Power won, with Evelyn Stevens just four seconds behind. Good to know that the woman who has been killing all of us this season in the Northeast is actually phenomenally fast!

Housatonic, East Hartford, Exeter

2009-07-04T09:23:00.002-04:00

Backlog of races to report so quick! Dead at Housatonic and Evelyn Stevens killed us again. Made that mistake of thinking I was totally out of the race after the first selection when in fact it was very close up the road. East Hartford - back to my wreckless racing self for a day - wahoo finding legs! Exeter was cool cool though I needed to follow that fast Nicole Freedman up the right side at the finish rather than get caught behind a near crash!

Home Again

2009-06-18T19:30:00.005-04:00

Stopped in the Berkshires for a few days - hard to say how much I love riding here. Evidently it rained the entire time I was in Canada so it is very green! Got to ride with my mom. I know her seat is a little low - she likes it that way. Now back in New Haven, where it's been raining non-stop. Trying to hold onto the sensation of being a real bike racer that I rediscovered at PEI, valuing recovery for instance and not buzzing around constantly. Doing some work on a land conservation conference taking place at Yale next week- trying to prepare for the storm, excited for a New Haven festival called Arts and Ideas, and liquidating tons of excess bike possessions. An imminent move promises streamlining. I'll miss New Haven though. Back on the bike getting ready for Fitchburg. Hoping now begins a new phase of the season where I am competitive in races. Housatonic Hills on Sunday.

Tour of PEI Stage 5

2009-06-11T22:05:00.004-04:00

Missed opportunity in the crit today. Unclear objectives and I underperformed. Bridge to winning break went and at that point I was actually sitting second wheel and just did not make it happen, having tried to go across minutes before. #$*%! Team did not make the racing as in previous days but so it goes. Overall it was a very positive week: 3rd on team gc, QOM, 6th, 10th on gc (and me 16th), three top tens in stages. Such fun racing, and extremely meaningful for me to find my legs again and to race with a strong team where aggressive racing made sense. Still astonished I went from last place last week, off the back every day but one, to riding solidly here. These last two weeks testify to the merit of the sink or swim strategy for fitness adaptation through hard racing, that is for sure. Montreal tomorrow, home Saturday, Fitchburg in the future. Speaking of which, perhaps I should make some plans...

Stage 4 Correction

2009-06-11T14:12:00.002-04:00

In the spirit of accuracy, quick clarification: Race leader Tara Whitten (battling on the road for yellow with Australia's Bridie O'Donnell) was in the break, driving it. So MTN would have taken second on GC. When Whitten crashed (along with the others) and needed mechanical service, that spelled doom for the break.

Tour of PEI Stage 4

2009-06-10T20:35:00.004-04:00

My adoptive team MTN Energade almost won the race today. I can't tell you how exciting it was. After some hard racing that included pressure by a long break of Natasha Elliot and a Quebec rider and some attacking by others teams including us, Carla and Marissa got away on a QOM. They were in a small group at first, then another few came across to make a force of about 10. For maybe 20 minutes the gap was hovering around 30 seconds. Chase was full bore but teams were getting fried, and honestly, the elastic had snapped. I even overheard as much from another team director. Then suddenly, just as it looked like the break was gone - 50 seconds and Carla would have moved into 1st on GC - Carla and another rider crashed in the break. The field saw it on a hill. And just like that the gap came down and the break was caught. Raced hard to the end but it ended as a bunch sprint. QOM won. So close but a great day of racing, with the notable exception of losing the team's sprinter to a crash (her second in two days). Still in disbelief I have legs. Hard race but nowhere near as hard as yesterday. Long portions of the race spent sitting on the chase, then some hard parts. But no echelons and no time riding in the caravan, much less steep and less incessant hills. Could actually take the hands off the bars to drink and eat. Lobster feast after the race and now we are in Charlottetown for tomorrow's crit. Time for a non-Euro to win a road/crit stage - how about a South African or at least a North American!?

Tour of PEI Stage 3

2009-06-10T06:15:00.003-04:00

Stage 2 brought a 120k road race contested in very windy conditions. I had heard PEI was FLAT but constant up and down would be a better description. The plan was to go for it to try to split the race and advance top rider Carla on gc, plus win QOM. Maybe it's that question of picking your battles. I was hoping to get in the early break because of my diesel fitness but the field would have none of even the most suicidal of breaks. Race leader Tara Whitten - an unknown to most - was super strong, helped impressively by two teammates. Australia took quite a lot of control of the race, and it paid off when Bridie McDowell, 2nd place on GC, won an intermediate sprint bonus that put her in the yellow jersey. I felt great for 50k, tried to cover some moves but then the legs turned to mud. After that I was basically surviving for 70k. My team killed it on the QOM, with rider Marissa escaping in short breaks to take the jersey. A big downhill crash occured when a rider who had ridden into the gravel shoulder tried to hop back up but instead catapulted herself into the field. MTN rider Cherise landed on her head, shaved the lens off her racing glasses - very scary. Hanka Kupfernagel got a chainring to her forehead. Totally unecessary. The crash followed by a QOM split the field into echelons but the front did not ride hard enough to stay away. Quality time in the caravan. Managed one attack to try to split the finish but I was basically useless. I had eaten 2 gels and 1 bottle all day. Stupid but the race was so windy I felt I could barely take my hands off the bars. After that it is all about recovery, as today brings another day of more of the same: 120k of wind and rollers.

Tour de PEI Stage 2

2009-06-09T05:52:00.002-04:00

Stage 2 featured a time trial across the Confederation Bridge from New Brunswick to Prince Edward Island, the world's longest bridge spanning ice-filled waters at 14k. Our director as well as the astute Cascades director Max (who had studied the previous year's worth of wind data on the bridge!) advised a few riders to sit up in the sprint yesterday so they could start the time trial early. Unfortunately I have been time gapped so many times before that I finished a respectable 35th on Sunday! We raced with a fierce cross tail wind that turned into a pure cross, then cross headwind over the course of the starters. I was satisfied with my ride - with my current diesel fitness a 14k flat windy time trial is probably my best event - and the team did great: 6th, 10th, 18th (me), 27th, then the sprinter. Because of the strange results, there is unquestionably a lot of aggressive and very hard racing to come. The team of surprise winner Tara Whitten of Atlantic Cycling Center is going to have its hands full.

Tour of PEI Stage 1

2009-06-07T19:42:00.004-04:00

Today brought 10 laps of a flat and windy 10k circuit with intermediate sprints. Avoided a big early crash in the wind. Totally different race from Montreal so far, just not nearly as fast. Felt a bit like some of the flat circuit races at Altoona. Wasted some energy jumping into a few splits destined to return but important to be part of the team effort and priceless to remember I actually can race a bike. Sprint finish won by Bronzini. Hoping to do a solid time trial tomorrow - I sure got enough practice in Montreal.

Tour of Prince Edward Island

2009-06-06T20:25:00.003-04:00

Hello from Summerside, Prince Edward Island, start to the Tour of PEI and home of Anne of Green Gables. Arrived last night after a nap-filled bus trip and enjoyed a very leisurely recovery day of sleeping, building up the bike, 1:30 easy spinning on the race course, taking care of some logistics, and the opening race banquet. Still missing my race wheels but they should turn up. To my relief the team I am riding with, the South African team MTN Energade, though surprised to have a guest rider foisted upon them, is extremely welcoming and a great group. They/we could win the race. I really hope to have some fitness and contribute to the effort. Hard to know what to anticipate. The field will be less strong since big gorillas Cervelo and Colubmia and smaller gorillas Nuremberger and Webcor went to Philly, replaced by new teams and some ringers flown in. German National Team will be a force. Courses are mostly flat with wind a major factor that will cause splits in the field. A 15k TT across the Confederation Bridge (bridge is 14k long....) on day two will shape up the GC and make room for breaks. I sure hope I gained some fitness from my rough race in Montreal. It is going to be a very fun week if I am strong enough. Pictured: view from the bus window, the bridge we time trial across (from the bus), and Summerside near tomorrow's finish line.

Stage 5: Mt. Sainte Hillaire

2009-06-06T14:00:00.004-04:00

Promise to add some photos soon. Final stage, this one featuring the novelty of a hill. Five loops with a 1k hill with QOM followed 3k later by the start finish sprint line. Much better with positioning. Cervelo controlled the race for yellow jersey Kirsten Wild, with World Cup winner Emma Pooley motoring at the front at 40-45k/hour the whole time just to ward off attack. Positioning war into the turn into the twisty bike path section preceding the hill. Finding my legs powering the flats but now how about a hill? Not so good - needed to chase back into the group even on the calm first lap. Second lap kaboom and thus I completed my max-time-off-the-back reintroduction to fast stage racing with 65 of rolling on my own and for a while with a couple tired riders. Moved up almost every day but and managed to secure the Lanterne Rouge. Um ahem... at least I finished! Finish the race at 8pm, then to a banquet, back to Montreal, home at midnight, pack the bikes, up at 5, get lost driving to Elisa's, drop the car, get a ride to bus to PEI, on the bus to PEI for 14hrs. Now today, short recovery ride in Summerside PEI. Legs this week. That is the plan.

Stages 3 and 4: Lachine TT and Little Italy Crit

2009-06-04T11:37:00.003-04:00

Rode the bike path the 3k TT. Did not invest too much in this event, given that I was feeling rather wrecked from the previous day, was 27 minutes down on gc, and that even when fresh I don't excel at this length of event. Time trial is done without aero bars or TT bikes given all the Euro teams having flown in, a short out-and-back on a spit of land in the Lachine Canal (maybe?). Scrubbed too much speed in the first set of corners but fine otherwise - 68th place and 29 seconds back. Others are just so much fitter. The winner averaged 53k an hour. Times like this I just realize that is a whole different league. After the TT, Cascade mechanic Gary identified and fixed my binding heatset - and suddenly the bike felt great - wahoo! Maybe I had not just been a freaked out scared rider these past few days, but my bike had actually been slightly unstable. Home for a nap and food. My teammates ate horse (pictured) but I passed... In the evening, we rode urban guerrilla through Montreal (past its bike-sharing stations!) to the Little Italy crit. Fast but non-technical four-corner crit. Riding on the outside you don't even have to stand up. Luckily missed a crash and was comfortable in the group for the first time all week. A bunch of riders caught behind the crash tried to chase rather than take a free lap, but it's nearly impossible to catch this field once gapped, and were sadly cut from the race. So hard to think clearly at times like these. Time gapped at the finish - silly as I had legs to have gotten myself up further. Cascades lost Joanie to the crash/chase escapade. Another got gapped when a plastic bag blew into her wheel and she needed to stop once free laps had ended. Today brings the big stage: 130k with a real hill, preceded by a 5k sprint/positioning war on a curvey path the width of one bike. Wish me luck. We've got one rider 26th on gc. Hope to position well and help her move up.

Stage 2: Granby

2009-06-03T09:16:00.002-04:00

I am very edgy in the pack these days and it's killing me. 11 laps of a 10k circuit last night, with QOM on a moderate big-ring rise and sprint laps on a finish line preceded by two fast left corners. For a while I was up there, in the racing mix and even jumping into the action once. I remembered the positioning strategy of following someone good (the alternate to just filling every small hole in sight), so I was riding for a while on the calm wheel of Hanka Kupfernagel - good fun. But then early in the race after feeling totally fine except nervous, on the lap where a QOM immediately followed the sprint, through the sprint I got gapped off and that was it. I was chasing hard for a few k with World Cup winner Emma Pooley, who had been riding on the front for almost the entire preceeding lap, but then she skipped into the caravan and I just couldn't. So it was another 60k alone. I hope I can ever guest ride again. My teammates are impressively solid and fearless (one a Montreal bike currier turned fashion writer, I learn...). Today we have a 3k tt at 11:30, then a crit in Little Italy at 7:15. It should be a calm day in a way - short super hard effort but then a crit that is uber-fast but a simple four-corner affair. The fans at this race are amazing - every lap last night there were probably at least a hundred people cheering me. You would have thought I was the winning break. After the race we eat dinner in a community center or school, with all the teams and race volunteers and organizers. That would be great if only I had not left my toothbrush and toiletries bag there last night. Onward to the race! Today will be better and I will definitely come out of this stronger.

Stage 1: Chataguey

2009-06-02T09:15:00.001-04:00

Stage 1 done and I am in 96th place over 10 minutes back! As always, there's a story: The course was a flat, four corner 5k loop raced 15 laps with intermediate sprints for time and finish bonuses. We raced at 5:30, mid-50s and rain threatening. The race was fast and nervous from the start, people pin-balling up the sides constantly to improve positioning. I started out positioning well enough, but by lap 3 had settled into about mid-pack. Suddenly the riders ahead of me crashed and I went down, easily but tangled in someone's bike. The crash delayed the whole caravan. I chased too hard too soon, and could not even hope to jump on bumpers when team cars came flying by at easily 35mph towing their respective riders on their bumpers. Burned myself to the point I even fell off a Colavita bumper that would have been my ticket back into the pack. And so the joke that I will go out of my way to do steady hard efforts continues, since there I was riding with two tiny riders not strong on this power course, riding a long sustained effort in the rain for the time cut. Later we picked up Mary Zider, someone I am always glad to ride with but not when it indicates we are both off the back. We jumped into the field for three laps (evidently this was ok), then finished on our own. Four teammates finished in the group, one came out of the crash as though kicked by a horse, and finished solo behind my small group. On the plus side, my legs felt the best they have all year. Today will bring a 110k route with some moderate QOM hills and a technical finish, with time bonuses bound to be hotly contested. Highly unlikely a break would go, let alone stick, unless Cervelo sees that as there best defense of the jersey. This race is pretty much for sprinters - though Thursday's race is a tough uphill sprint - and decided on time bonuses plus tomorrow's 3k TT. Positioning is the name of the game today. Side project is identifying German cyclocross star Hanka Kupfernagel in the bunch.

And on to the Next

2009-06-01T09:35:00.001-04:00

Transition between worlds and here I am Montreal for the Grand Tour of Montreal! Made some fitness progress in the last few weeks so here I go. At least I am fresh and motivated and on the way up not on the way down. Racing with Equipes Cascades, a great team of young talents based in Montreal. I am super psyched. Maybe I will even learn some French. Super hard four-day five-stage race with some of the best Euro teams. Generally an exercise in survival, but the team could have a few cards to play. Then on to PEI. Taking a vacation from e-life except maybe I will tend to the blog.

Finishing One Endeavor

2009-06-01T09:22:00.002-04:00

Memorial Day this year brought not Somerville but graduation. What a pageant - there was even a scepter on the podium intended to confer some sort of divine right of Yale. But ceremony can be good in how it brings closure, plus my Forestry School has a proud tradition of cap decoration (orange flowers pictured), complete with steel drum band to accompany marching. We certainly seemed to be having more fun than other schools. Great to see my mom and my brother, in from Alaska. Training at odd hours brought delights such as early morning rides in cold rain and lightning, only to have the day clear completely shortly after. I'll miss New Haven!

Baby Steps in Wilmington

2009-05-18T09:33:00.003-04:00

I was pretty frustrated with my ride at Wilmington, because I actually had some legs and did not get the most out of them, absolutely a step backwards in my quest for the holy grail of savvy bike racing. I was surprisingly nervous, even scared, about my first NRC race and first crit in a year, one with some fast corners that threatened crashes even though they were straightforward 90-degree bends. I had not expected this fear and did not welcome it - suddenly it added a whole new dimension to the already tough process of trying to get myself back into the mix. So I frittered energy at the front early (mistake 1), embarrassing to say even went for a prime (mistake 2), then moved just slightly too far back (mistake 3) and narrowly missed crashing when some people decided to have a big pile-up on a downhill straightaway. Instead of the calmness advisable in such situations, I was a picture of panic. I did think to lay the bike down with my forced un-clipping, then cut the course to the pit (where was it? - mistake 4) through an ally containing an inflated jumping carnival game (name?), causing moms to quickly sweep up their children playing in my determined course. I arrived at the pit, so worked up that I did not even realize when I leaped back in that I had forgotten my free lap - just cut off half the course. No wonder there had been so little time! Back in the race but edgy and with worse positioning. A rider gapped me off and that was it - I could not close. In a group that could not rotate effectively and honestly not feeling to good, having blown up. Officials kept us in the race since we were still in the money, but when we got lapped a few riders from my group of fifteen or so leaped back into the race, and I got stuck with those who sat up (mistake 5 - got to know my crit rules, be alert in such situations!). Then I blew up and rode in, just annoyed with myself and wishing I had been able to get a result and win some money. Places 14 and up were lapped riders! I was 26th. Action looked exciting at the front. LVG and Lassasso riding great together for the win. Looking on the positive side, if I compare to last month not last year I should be rejoicing at my improvement, and maybe I got some fear over and done. Skipped BikeJam Sunday and rode an epic hilly ride in the Berkshires - Bash Bish and new favorite Oxbow. Two weeks to get ready for some HARD racing. No joke here. It's going to be tough. At least school is over!

Looking Ahead

2009-05-14T06:46:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I finally gave the ix-nay to the computer (finishing school has involved catching up on all sorts of neglected tasks/new projects and I have been crazily busy) and enjoyed nearly a whole day of bike tinkering and adventure. In the morning I went for a small dog-walking hike with a friend up East Rock, the New Haven park I often extol. Then I was off to the bike shop to test ride a frame. It would be good to ride before the training race later in the day, since the past two days I'd been wasted and ridden at a snail pace. Riding out to East Rock through the campus on undergraduate move-out day, we found a student's wallet in the road. We stopped at school to email the owner and headed out again. Next up, approaching the top of East Rock we encountered plumes of smoke crossing the road, a pile of leaves on the roadside ablaze (probably from a cigarette). My friend called 911 as I used my bike water-bottle to try to put out the edge of the fire (maybe the size of a queen bed), and flagged down cars to get water from them. A construction worker with a big cooler of water stopped and quelled the fire. Then oddly, as he hopped back in his truck after this good Samaritan dead, he tossed an emptied plastic water bottle out the window. Ok, save the park from a big fire, then litter... Police and a fire engine came. Back to the shop, wallet reclaimed, then I dropped my chain leaving the shop. Turns out my derailleur pulleys were totally wrecked. Bob replaced them and I rode home then jumped in the car to drive to Bethel to race the summer series crit. The weather was awesome and the atmosphere of the race is like a big picnic, with families watching and music. SO FUN to race with the guys and in such a smooth field! Plus I was feeling starting to feel like a bike racer. I followed one guy over the top on the 3rd-to-last lap (the break already long up the road), and the next time up the hill I blew royally. But it's really good to determine the breaking point incrementally in a practice setting. From here, it's on to Wilmington for my first NRC race of the year!

Racing Roundup

2009-05-14T06:43:00.002-04:00

The blog got relegated to the status of reward as I was finishing up my thesis, and now suddenly a month has passed! Perhaps I’ve accumulated some substance. The journey through uncharted fitness territory continues. The golden opportunity is to emerge a much improved racer by learning how to do well even when I am not strong, but getting clobbered in regional races is demanding some patience. Next after Battenkill was Quabbin, a gorgeous single loop of rolling hills around Boston’s water supply. The field was not as deeply stacked and the hills were longer and more gradual. The selection occurred about 9 miles in on a gradual climb. I missed the split but when it started to look like it would stick I was able to go across by riding steady hard. From there I was doing things like focusing on pedaling as little as possible (actually I coasted for a quarter of the race – how unlike me!), delighted to be in this front group. I wasn’t too sure that I’d be able to force a break later in the race, and did not want to invite a slugfest of attacking when top end is my major fitness limitation and when the Anthem team had three or four riders in the group. In retrospect it might have been good to try to stealthily break the legs of some of the riders in the group who were well-suited to the final uphill sprint but were struggling in some of the windy power sections. Coming into the finish I thought I just might be able to win, weathered a single hill surge, but when I stood up to sprint there was nothing there – I just have no capacity to recover from a top-end effort. I was off the back in the sprint for 6^th place. Ann-Marie Miller did it again. Next up was Jiminy, my hometown race that is now disappointingly a mere 60k and a women’s open field. It was windy and the field was squirrelly. Jiminy was the first race I did that was specific Cat 4 field when I was just starting (after getting killed in open races). I used to identify the Cat 4 race fantastic first race for beginners who are wary of corners and technical course features. The outcome was exactly the same as Quabbin (except there had been no selection prior to the finish) – I had conserved a ton of energy and entered the finish with tip-top positioning, even backed off Evie Stevens’s early surge, but stood up to sprint and went from 5^th to probably 40^th, pedaling through mud. Next up was the double, Sterling and Bear Mountain. With this fitness, Sterling’s steep hill is my nightmare finish. It would be good training. The field was stacked with seven (or more?) NEBC riders and to my great surprise, cyclocross star Mo Bruno! Concerned about blowing up, I rode a steady tempo up the climb the first time to ward off attacks, then backed off all subsequent surges, such as Mo’s bounding attack on lap two. I was afraid to even stand up on the hill until the final lap. When a Colavita duo launched a terrific attack even before the turn into the hill, I backed off so much I was off the back. Climbing up that hill, under the bridge, I had to bridge all the way back into the main group, let alone the break of three that had gone up the road. Interestingly, I was racing with the Powertap and that time the break went the numbers were significantly lower than on the first two trips up the climb – I had completely sold myself short. After that I was not so sure what to do. Here I was rolling around through the wind in a group packed with NEBC riders sitting on, most of whom would dust me in the sprint. I made some attacks that weren’t great but that also would have been more effective if other independent riders had recognized it was in their interest to let me (and each other, generally) go off the front, leaving the work to NEBC. Finally I got the gal to attack under the bridge on the second tier of the climb, on the second-to-last lap, and it was effective but too late. After that I was too collaborative with the group because I was feeling pretty strong and since getting off solo or even in a smaller group was going to yield a better finish than my sprint. But I got 3^rd in our sprint, 5^th. Congrats to Rebecca Wellons! I raced home to eat some food and leap in bed before leaving at 5:30 the next morning for Bear Mountain. I was very tired warming up. Down the fast descent the first time, I got a bike wobble – no good – but the first time up the climb was fine. I had some hope I could make it to the finish (which suits me) since it was super windy and strongwoman Evie Stevens wasn’t attacking but riding a hard tempo, but no. On the third time up the climb, immediately out of the downhill corner, I stood up to follow a small surge and that was it – done. Mildly frustrating to not have the confidence to descend on the front, which would have helped me weather the climb. I basically just rode it in from there, very tired.

Dogs and the Bright Side of Battenkill

2009-04-19T16:27:00.004-04:00

When I put "first dog" on my gmail tag last week, everyone kept emailing to ask if I have gotten a dog (no, the Obamas did). But suddenly this was in the realm of the possible. How crazy if I had up and gotten a dog last week!? Anyway, here are some recent dog photos. The one in the truck is at the Stewart's Shop at the junction of NY-22 and NY-7, Hoosick Falls or so, on the drive up to Battenkill. German shorthair in Tucson; Great Dane in New Haven. Looking on the bright side of Battenkill: no crashing, excellent training, overcame hesitancy in the pack post-crash, riding epic roads and an awesome race, seeing friends... Hum, what else? I do not enjoy racing with zip top-end. The first steep hill and I was going backwards FAST. I should have raised my arm to alert the other riders in the field. Chase chase chase chase finally caught but I was so hopeless I attacked and then got shelled, which seemed inevitable. Then I worked as hard as I could in my group without getting dropped, just for good training and as an outlet for all the frustration. It was ugly though, I was dying on every hill, upper body "chopping wood" and basically gasping for air. Eventually I was so tired I basically rode off the road by mistake into a gravel shoulder and had to get off my bike. The group rode away and I just rode in. Excellent riding at the front of the race, or so I heard.

Battenkill Ahead

2009-04-14T09:14:00.004-04:00

As far as pedaling, the approach is different: Pilates and a slow wind-up, free-lancing it as far as team, and targets later down the road, but I am still here! Photo of beloved Mt. Lemmon, shelved in memory as I returned to winter in the Northeast, to be snowed on as recently as last Thursday. At times it feels I am swimming against the tide, especially during this rough winter that inhibited group rides and has resulted in fitness better suited for brevets than racing, but I am excited. I have a few new projects in the works, including improving at time trialing, and am really looking forward to racing the Tour of Prince Edward Island this June. Yesterday I was struck by a bolt of inspiration to mountain bike race. We’ll see about that since I do have road plans and goals, but there might be something to this idea of finding huge new challenges locally, spinning the challenge of no team into an opportunity to branch out (to borrow the cliche). Battenkill this Saturday and the race has gone big-time. It will be a huge challenge to play my hand right and to keep the experience in perspective. Last year I was coming off Redlands; this year I am coming off a single day at Bethel. The combination of the deliberate slow-wind up in training and the weather’s impact on the usual incidental development of top-end will demand some patience and perspective, especially given the background of doubt of returning from injury. But what an awesome race!

April Update

2009-04-14T09:07:00.004-04:00

Apologies for the lack of update - at least this blog cannot be confused with Twitter. Twitter’s amazing if it fosters democracy in Moldova, but do you really want to know that I’ve just woken up in New Haven, am having a cup of coffee while waiting to talk with my thesis adviser who’s at JFK, about to fly to London, before dropping my visiting college roommate at the train station, then picking up my bike from the shop? What is the consequence of Twitter for anything not online, not in the present? This is a “file drawer” problem if ever! The environmental field, or at least my experience of it, seems so flat these days with reference to history. Climate change pictured, 12,000 years ago at Murray Springs mammoth kill site from my trip to Tucson last month. Forcing myself to stay focused as I finish school in this next month, considering spatial and temporal heterogeneity with reference to biological and social processes in cities, contesting the inevitability of tragedy of the commons, drinking in a talk by Bill McKibben and a workshop on starting a non-profit AND so excited for future endeavors namely trying to do something not just think and a GET EDUCATED summer reading campaign. Not just the instant news I get sucked into – Politico, the first dog, and the astonishing role of pirates in the present – but real books. Alaska in August.

Winter Update

2009-02-16T07:03:00.003-05:00

Busy with school and embarked on a stealth training program featuring among other things, Pilates and watching hockey games. Tour of California looked dismal, race gone awry for lack of information. Good article about women's racing in the NYT. Not to mention one on electric shifting, which I find abhorrent. Trying to grasp the economic situation, keep up with stimulus packages knowing it's a lost cause if I fall behind. There's a spectrum of e-reporting from blog to facebook to twitter, which I find both ridiculous ("drinking coffee," "sunny day today," trivial and falsely casual (but actually highly constructed and self-promoting) details for anyone out there with much time to waste) and oddly compelling.

2009

2009-01-22T19:42:00.005-05:00

I've just returned from a conference on land conservation held in Valdivia, Chile. The timing was a bit crazy - missing the second week of school and just as I begin to establish a groove with training - but it was very thought-provoking and a fascinating chance to glimpse a country I know little about, even if I could not take an extended vacation. The blog now competes with facebook, but here are a few images from the conference, probably not accurately representing the large proportion of time spent indoors and thinking rather than enjoying summertime and the outdoors.

New Years Wrap

2008-12-31T15:04:00.006-05:00

2008 is almost gone. The weather continues to make cross-country skiing in New England, at least at lovely Notchview, a dicey proposition. Art can provide some color (Sol LeWitt pictured). Both might help you ignore Blago and his Paul Mitchell “football” (Burris is a TOOL), the practice of appointing senators, and the suspension of critical thought in light of personal gain demonstrated by Madoff investors, not to mention his lack of conscience. Power of profit motive to advance social good, from ecosystem services to microfinance, but we’ve also witnessed the worst of mismanagement and greed, as far as I can tell. Tell me the auto bailout doesn’t amount to picking winners… How about we invest in BetaMax? Or wait, here is a good idea, how about ethanol? Why is it news to base medicine on evidence? At least you can enjoy this series – not all newspapers are dead yet - including this one on the perils of scans, and not just from a cost-effectiveness standpoint. Tons of buzz about the work of Nicholas Christakis showing that health behaviors ranging from smoking to happiness to eating habits spread like contagions across social networks. Enviros clamor to present a united voice for Obama in this 391-pager. Green might be on the back burner what with recession and price of oil, or maybe not…. Green jobs, green infrastructure, two birds with one stone, co-benefits, service bundling, triple bottom line….Truth to the cliché of calling every hardship an “opportunity.” Word has it the new energy secretary Stephen Chu is a cyclist. Perhaps a cyclist sensibility will inform his work on this challenge. Self-pity I am not in Hawaii tempered by the weather reports from Fairbanks, with a high of -38 today. The bro reports on coal for home heating. He neglects health so check this out. One village in China burns such dirty coal that smoking is dwarfed as a lung cancer risk factor. Paterson proposes taxing soda for $400 million in revenue. Won’t solve diabetes in India but maybe in New York, plus make up for combusted Wall Street. Kelly Brownell gets his day. In biking news, the American cross racers are rocking in Europe. So cool. 2009 here we come!

Kansas

2008-12-17T20:55:00.004-05:00

Last minute trip to Kansas. Best ride of the year on Friday in the Masters 30, thanks to Tom Stevens's lines. Mediocre on Sunday on a hard dirt track with freezing hands, best gloves carelessly forgotten at the hotel given 60-degree temperature at departure, 3 hrs before our 25-degree race. Saturday's way-too-long ride, a circuitous route from course to hotel via international airport, featured some excellent farm scenery. Motivated to get strong again someday soon.

USGP 2 - Hooking the Tape

2008-11-16T20:24:00.012-05:00

Besides the fact that it was 45 degrees with 30mph wind gusts, the conditions were identical to yesterday's. I planned to have a better start today and give slightly lower tire pressure a shot, maybe stay on the bike longer since the running was so exasperating and since I felt I should have ridden more yesterday. I was psyched, then had a dismal start, then just kept on going backwards and hooking the tape and crashing, all day long. It was awful. I pretty much was having nil fun. Pictured: warm-up attire, the course conditions, and photo from the men's race, featuring former New Haven resident Chris Jones.

USGP 1 - Slogging Through Muck

2008-11-15T21:06:00.007-05:00

After a steady rain last night, today's forecast of a deluge with lightning did not pan out, unfortunately, so we raced through a maze of drying, bike-sucking Portland-esque mud under a cloudy sky at close to 70 degrees with barely a puddle to clean the bikes or offer a single fast line. I was not so good off the start and was quickly constrained in a mess of riders veering unpredictably sideways as they got caught in mud ruts. Found my way through this traffic, but that was it - I certainly was not moving forward. Had some battles mid way, including one with Rebecca, who noted "ah the Tom Stevens line!" during the race - and it was exactly that - the twice-as-far but dry line that traversed back and forth across the muddy rut. Then I tried to ride a swampy ditch and toppled over, still clipped in. Probably safe to say 50% of the time in the race, and really maybe even more, was spent running. It just seemed ugly - either I was heaving my way riding through mud with my upper body rocking violently, or I was gasping for air pushing my bike for minutes on end. Bike changes twice a lap. We raced 3 laps- maybe 10k? Or less? Average speed was maybe 5mph? The epically-long sandpit turned out the be the easiest part of the course. Apply power on pavement? That was the single opportunity to recover! Mo Bruno rocked the race, dancing her way to 3rd place! Teammates not too shabby either. I was 16th not bad since I did what I could but those +1 places, especially just out of the money, are always a bit irksome.

USGP Approaches

2008-11-13T21:18:00.003-05:00

The blog is black again, whatever that means - stealth and speed! Did not fly across the country with a double bike bag, but how does bike commuting to school in a deluge then spending 5 hours in an overly air-conditioned building wearing soaking wet pants, socks, and shoes compare? So tired and with such chilled feet at the end of the day that I inadvertently gave away $1 million in a mock negotiation. Heard Andy Revkin last night, think I might need to start a blog on issues of environment, health, and energy. Some buzz at school with professor Dan Esty on the transition team and on some short lists for EPA director. Psyched to race the USGP this weekend, give that sand pit a try. New derailleur hanger plus a hair cut so I am set to go.

Adversity Found in Toronto

2008-11-12T11:39:00.001-05:00

The hunt for UCI points (to maintain a good starting position for when I do get stronger), the appeal of a new adventure, and aversion to the unbearably long New Jersey Turnpike trek to Beacon resulted in a last-minute road trip to Toronto with Rebecca. The race promoters were infinitely helpful, setting us up with host housing and helping our crazy plan materialize over a matter of hours. The Centennial Park venue rocked. Saturday the course was a mix of power sections and lots of grassy corners fast mucking up, plus a dirt ride-up. A few puddles grew progressively deeper. Warming up I was reluctant to test one puddle, given 40-degree temperatures, instead just watched repeated masters riders endo spectacularly to try to gauge the line. Off the gun I was pretty good – I had horsepower for the first time all year!!!! I closed to the third place rider but by then I was cursing myself for a loosening saddle, unsure whether to pit given Josie on my tail. Didn’t pit, and rode differently to avoid total saddle malfunction, but maybe a mistake as I fell back to 5^th. But it was a very hopeful ride. I was disappointed I didn’t ride that puddle. I picked the method that was 100% effective and pretty slow versus the method that’s fast 70% of the time, disastrous 30% of the time, but maybe I gauged these odds wrong. It was just a puddle. Sunday’s course featured muddy switchbacks on the side of an alpine ski slope. I would have loved a compact (especially given that muscular strength is my big limiter right now) but found myself riding in a quality 4^th place coming off the first climb. Then I ate it in downhill corner, cracking my derailleur hanger. Got a bike once I made it to the pit, but I had fallen out of the race. I wasn’t gong to gain much time riding up those switchbacks at 30rpm. Plus I had gotten overzealous on the low tire pressure and was scrubbing speed into any fast corners for fear of rolling a tire. So it was a bit of letdown – but exciting in the broader context. Natasha Eliot is rocking this year. On to New Jersey! Pictured: Sunday's slope-side course. Oh and check out this NYT story, and few photos of the puddle and live-action endoing here.

Northampton

2008-11-03T17:02:00.004-05:00

Race report between FiveThiryEight and realclearpolitics: There’s no such thing as the friendly local UCI race this year. Lots of people are racing super fast, and suddenly pack racing and tactics are playing out in even hometown races like Northampton. Not to mention the 70-strong B field chomping at the bit, packed with riders who would be giving us all a run for our money if they had only thought to buy a $150 UCI license a few months sooner. Pretty awesome even while I hope to finish better than 8^th one of these days. You run what you brung and so it was. Saturday I missed the first selection off that fast quick start into the gravel holeshot corner, but was close for a bit, feeling comfortable until I wasn’t, and then the race was riding away further and further away. It sounded pretty exciting – a battle into the steep ride-up and through the barriers to settle the podium spots. Sunday I had a better start, made the right call to run the sandpit on lap one, then approached the ride-up behind someone who bobbled and lost contact with the front group. It’s hard to follow anyone up that steep ride-up, and I was happy with my choice to go up that in the 44 but not that lap. On following laps, duking it out with Amy Wallace, she was killing me in the sandpit riding as I ran, but then eventually I blew and she dumped me there. But then she slowed and I closed again – it was a quality battle. I switched to riding the sandpit, much preferring not to have to get off the bike. I can use a lesson in crossing those railroad tracks sans drama. The usual suspects tearing it up, plus Mackenzie back in action. No shortcuts but hoping to get stronger asap. Do you think an appeal to patriotism will help? Next stop looks like Highland Park. Still debating Beacon's Amphitheatre of Pain given that long haul and just not going well enough to justify the enticing trek to Toronto. New photos from rockstar Mark Suprenant. Start, the fateful sandpit decision, and pedaling 30rpm.

2008-10-24T15:09:00.002-04:00

Today marked day one of maximizing not racing in Kentucky: doing homework; organizing papers, bike parts, and clothes; rearranging furniture; cleaning the car; replacing the saddle on my commuter bike (pictured); doing core work at the gym; going for a pedal up my local hill; and even writing a few postcards. And drinking tea. I wish I could zip my way out to the Bay Area Halloween Race this weekend (or is it next?) - seems like a cross classic not to be missed. Racing in animal feet with tiaras etc. Following that election, hoping people (well, those voting for my candidate...) don't get lazy and forget to vote. Get that done and start solving these economic woes. Bike racer me rejoices in low gas prices; enviro me bemoans the loss of incentive for renewables.

Beyond my Shadow Podium

2008-10-20T07:58:00.007-04:00

Mental framing of the race weekend far superior to last week! I recovered from an entire week of grouchiness and falling behind with life and raced what I think were my best races. I was in the mix - in fifth and almost thinking I could make it up to the front - for a short while both days, then fell back to 8th. Sure I made some errors (lame on Granogue descent), but I rode solidly and I just think I am 8th-place strong right now. I sure wish I were faster. I hate listening to the announcers call the race ahead of me, with racers/friends I normally consider my peers/rivals duking it out while I am just doing my own thing missing out on all the fun and drama. That said, New Englanders Rebecca and Mo are riding superbly, Dee Dee has not missed a step with the new kid, and LVG has absolutely raised the bar with her awesome leap into cross. Still 7 weeks to go... I traveled down from CT to Granogue with Utah teammate Kathy Sherwin, who is also on her way back from injury (a mangled broken hand that cut short a breakout mountain bike season). She is doing a better job keeping recovery perspective, holding onto the gratitude of just being able to race again, mindful that it's a long process to rebuild the confidence and fitness you had before. Not to mention that it's nice to experience the outsider's wide-eyes, to travel with someone who actually has excitement for crossing the GW Bridge (for the first time!), to be excited for someone's first experience of the awesome venue of Granogue (even while she then proceeds to kick my butt on the bike...) We stayed with my college friend Andrew (cousin of Dee Dee) and hashed out the implications of our Myers-Briggs typings for our racing endeavors and the perpetual puzzle of the racing-work-life juggle. Good fun. All except the drive home. Pictured: shadow podium at Wissahickon (I won), real podium at Wissahickon (I wish), the fork I broke driving under a tree branch arriving at a race two years ago - reminder to avoid frazzle, my cracked bleeding finger burn in essential shifting spot - I am skipping Kentucky so it can heal, should have taken 287 on the way home, that GW Bridge, and Kathy at Granogue.

Perfect Storm in Gloucester

2008-10-20T07:55:00.002-04:00

Had to skip the race coverage on this one I was so abysmal. Saturday I was ok for a while, then gave up. By the end I was just gunning it into the sandpit for kicks not caring much if I had a big yardsale. Sunday I probably raced my best race possible and that's all you can do, but I sure miss racing in the fun part of the race.

LXN Junkie

2008-10-04T07:20:00.007-04:00

Watched the VP debate on the big screen at school (bad idea as I was exhausted all day Friday). Pictured following the live pundrity on computer. Not to be divisive, but how do you like my socks?

And a bike...

2008-10-04T07:07:00.009-04:00

Blog has been so sorely lacking in pictures but no excuses! This one thanks to Mark Suprenant. Vermont is such a star. Relaxing weekend at home storing up on travel energy and doing schoolwork. Yale ride this morning. The racing bonanza begins soon!

Vermont: Grumpy and Satisfied

2008-09-29T06:34:00.005-04:00

I was psyched for the mud but given unmatched wheelsets and lack of a pit crew beyond the good will of friends, to my relief the 2008 New England Verge Series kicked off this weekend in Vermont with a surprising lack of deluge! Tentative about my fitness, aware of capacity to blow up, I started very conservatively Saturday. Combine this with the fact my body was feeling pretty shut down, even at the Wednesday training race, and there you have me in about 20th place off the line. I started passing people, but the first time up the dirt BMX hummocks, a rider dismounted right in front of me, forcing me to run and lose about 4 spots. I swear unless you are riding a 46-tooth chainring, getting up this is about timing and conserving momentum. For a long time I was riding around in about 11th place, chasing the pack of 5-10. By the last lap I had actually opened up and was gaining ground. In 7th and hoping to make a run for 5th, I was forced to run the hummocks again, then the rider crashed right in front of me. I hit a foot-high rock obscured by grass head-on, astonished I had not wrecked my wheel (nice goose egg on the shin instead). Two riders flew by. At this point there was smoke coming out my ears. I recovered two places, using not the best of manners to secure the front position into the final barriers. Teammate Amy rode away, followed by cross newcomer Lea Davison, then Rebecca, Mo, and Amy Wallace. Sunday I told myself I would start hard and so what if I blew. Started in 4th and finished in 4th, just a solid ride with no mistakes even if I wasn't railing it around the corners. That's more like it. Lovely to be back in Vermont! Pictured: chasing Rebecca Wellons. I could keep up on I-89...

The New Green

2008-09-25T11:09:00.006-04:00

Cycling is a small world that exists and thrives on mutual support, even as we race fiercely. In this vein, check out the launch of Mo and Matt's new team, MM Racing, at Wheelworks on Friday, October 3rd from 7-10 pm. They will be unveiling a new title sponsor and conducting a raffle. Come enjoy beer from Harpoon and prizes from Embrocation Magazine, Chinook, Michelin, Mad Alchemy Embrocations, Pedros, Bowchies, the Atomic Cafe and a rapidly growing list. You can buy raffle tickets on bikereg.com. Get ready for some mud this weekend in Vermont! Fantastic field: the usual suspects, Canadians and even some West Coasters, lots of strong newcomers, and much-missed racers returning to cross after other adventures. Pack the rubber boots!

Fogelsville Cross: I am in the Mix!

2008-09-21T18:29:00.003-04:00

With the Portsmouth/Suckerbrook doubleheader out of the question, I opted for a UCI race in Pennsylvania that was just as close as New Hampshire (if hell traffic could be avoided). I figured the field would like be as deep or less so than at Suckerbrook, that there would be fewer people against whom I would benchmark myself, and that maybe just maybe I could pick up some UCI points. I was very nervous. Because of this long break, I feel a bit like a stranger in this sport that is extremely familiar to me, even though the pre-race parking lot abounds with friendly hellos, catching up with Velo Bella teammates and crew, and seeing photos of - even meeting - new babies. Aspects of it seem strange, as well as repeated, like the conversation “Do you think it’s better to run or ride the sandpit…” Sometimes this outsider perspective can give you the sense of humor about the sport you need. In 2005, when I took a big break from cross then returned for the final Rhode Island weekend, I remember laughing (with affection) at my Gearworks teammates as they stressed over whether to race in leg or knee warmers. This is bike racing – it’s supposed to be fun! I was nervous about my fitness but more nervous that I would be afraid, not have my head around racing, not enjoy it. My plan was to ride easy off the start, then try to do the last few laps faster if I had it in me. Off the start, my main incentive for giving it any juice at all was to avoid crashing. Mo was quickest and got a gap, but I was there. And surprisingly, I was there for the first 2.5 laps of the race – riding with my teammate Dee Dee (back from having a second child) and cross upstart Laura van Gilder (welcome!) in the group sitting 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th and closing on leader Mo. The course was all grass, twisty with lots of up and down, a barrier set and a sandpit – much less technical than the mountain-bikey Farmington. Mechanic Morgan was there in the pit, issuing supportive words. I was hardly technically fantastic but I could feel myself gaining a sense of balance on the bike and was having fun. For those 2.5 laps I felt utterly comfortable, even while I tried to avoid standing up and accelerating at all costs, given fitness limitations. I did overextend though, and experienced some going backwards mid-race, falling out of the group and riding in for 4^th. Dee Dee, Melanie, and I will need to play our cards better this season, use our numbers to out-fox van Gilder since there is no way we will outsprint her. No free rides! So while now I am left thinking “If I had not spent this one match (I went to the front a few times when Dee Dee and I had a gap on LVG), maybe I could have stuck in that group, maybe I could have fought for the win (LVG takes it)….” But then I remember the goals of the race, the context and I think with excitement and relief, “sweet, I am in the mix and getting stronger.” On to Vermont. Pictured: recovery dinner and dinner for my aunt's dog. I almost collapsed at the dinner table, that's how tired I was.

Jones is back

2008-09-21T18:23:00.001-04:00

Planning this weekend trip to Fogelsville Cross, caught up with details such as subjecting dear Bob to gluing tubulars (only to get new wheelsets a week from now) from a disorganized collection that appears to be 50% tires with slow leaks, I failed to recognize the potential for excellent closure on this injury. I had made plans to stay with my Advil teammate Reem in New Jersey. Letting myself in, a cat peaked through the door – it sure looked like Jones, the 16-year-old cat gone missing on Memorial Day weekend when I was last here, presumed dead. And it was! As I looked around the house I started to remember, hey the last time I was here was right after the broken leg, hanging out as my teammates raced Somerville, lying on this couch elevating my leg, hauling myself backwards up the stairs, and reading about conservation finance (this is the coping mechanism of immersing oneself in work). We went to Whole Foods, the site of my first big empowering outing with racing friends who picked me up and drove me and my car back home. This time I was running down the isles to pick up forgotten yogurt. Reem and I went for an excellent spin on surprisingly rural roads. This year I think I might adopt the “Friday ride once you get there” strategy, as though you just flew in. It was closure on my short unrealized road season too, and so nice to catch up with Reem. Advil won’t be around next year. Such is the tide of racing and sponsorship, but Reem, Mara and Heather outght to feel great pride in what they built and accomplished. Thanks to all the individuals and sponsors who made it happen this year. This morning I’m enjoying an excellent cup of coffee at my aunt’s, who reminded me it had been a long time since she’d seen me, after I canceled on Memorial Day weekend. So there we are, splicing complete. Onward!

Dose of Cross

2008-09-17T22:15:00.004-04:00

Turns out the Winding Trails Wednesday night series is a full-on race, with numbers, singletrack and trails, off-cambers, barriers into run-ups, a log obstacle, and lots of sandy corners! I rode around a bit and thought "yikes, what have I gotten myself into!" First time really on the cross bike, first time offroad... In spite of being quite hurried in the parking lot due to Hartford rush hour, I switched to my loosest set of Crank Brothers pedals. I probably made a bad call as an athlete - I had two alternate workouts, one a microburst of linked mini-sprints and the other this cross race - and pretty much ended up doing both. They tended to different needs: the microburst I'm crediting for recent gains in fitness and the fact that a single hard effort does not doom me as it did just three weeks ago, but the cross workout essential too to test the leg and begin the process of becoming smooth and confident on the bike. Plus so often these Wednesday things are not really races, but people riding around practicing. So I ended up training on the road, then jumping into the car for the cross race, intending to roll around and practice barriers. Then all of a sudden I was pinning on a number and signed up for a 45-minute race. Warming up I was delighting in the fact I will be using compact cranksets this year for cross - I was so overgeared - and at this point in my recovery I can generate any power at all due to cadence not force. On the line, I reluctantly started on the front row. I was quick off the line somehow (probably due to gear selection) and 50m into the race, the lead rider slid out and crashed in the holeshot corner and there I was third or fourth wheel, nowhere to go and airbone. While flying, I made note to unclip. Bike was a bit messed up - welcome to cross - but I got back on, a bit freaked out ("um, ok, good to get that first crash out of the way..."), and rolled around for a few laps. When the guys came around lapping me I put in a few efforts to stick. Gradually I gained some confidence and by the end I was smiling negotiating the sand and remembering the lines through the roots as dusk arrived.

Live from New Haven

2008-09-15T19:36:00.005-04:00

Neglected this blog (too busy watching Tina Fey) but it lives. GMSR-preventing events have settled and everyone is well, but when a race is just for training it did not make sense. I even got to see the brother unexpectedly, who arrived from Alaska where he reports on state politics on the day of the Palin pick. He said he had not ridden a road bike in 8 months, just spent 3 weeks with legs cooped up in a kayak, and there he was on my hard day, challenging on the hills on my time trial bike! I was really hoping he was fit... Also in the department of unexpected positives, I attended a friend's annual birthday party that I've missed a number of times since the inaugural one 26 years ago. School started in a frenzy, reminding me of the blessing and curse of having an effective overdrive mode. The pace is a stark contrast to my recovery existence, but energizing. On the bike, after training in a vacuum, I returned to the Yale ride to find myself feeling significantly more like a bike rider, the baby kangaroo jump growing. I am looking to cross with optimism and trepidation in maybe equal parts. Wednesday I will try it out in a training race (this is not the year to repeat my first-time-on-cross-bike-as-race habit). The doubleheader of Suckerbrook and Portsmouth Crit that the promoters magnificently arranged so it's possible to race both in a single day bonanza is going to be too much for me this year, regrettably. No world record attempts, in fact I'll be "racing sick," guarding those matches like never before. Less is more this year, with travel and training, quality over quantity, that is the plan!

Update

2008-08-29T06:06:00.002-04:00

Life happens and I won't be racing GMSR this year. Not part of a calculated strategy to enter cross as complete wild card, but let's pretend it is. Such an awesome race; good luck to all.

The New NRC: No Ridiculous Cost / Carbon Emissions / Country-Crisscrossing

2008-08-18T18:37:00.004-04:00

In addition to my sharp friends, even cyclingnews is evaluating what the NRC really means these days. Easy for me to sit back and criticize from my armchair of injury, but it sure seems that there have been few races where all the big guns duked it out. Notable exceptions would be the recent road and crit nationals (well, minus Olympians): and power to Brooke Miller who won both plus Jen McRae who pulled off 4th and 3rd. But even the Women's Prestige Series (and again, hats off to Aaron's for their awesome sweep of the series) seemed more dilute than last year, with a one-day crit replacing Tour de Toona, noticeably missing Webcor and other West Coast teams. OK EVERYONE did seem to be at Nature Valley, crashing on wet manhole covers in a field of 150 when PEI would have been much better racing... I've thought before of a series built on great races that support the women's field - because some promoters really do go out on a limb to do things like offer equal prize money, then find their events barely attended - but what is the new $4-a-gallon gasoline/"economic downturn" bike racing? I am sure the sport will rally but it sure sounds as though a lot of teams are folding, that things are looking a bit dire. Maybe it really is the old school approach, the Alison Dunlap/Katie Compton cyclocross approach, the aspiring "pro" approach, the less is more, where you hone your skills locally, the level of regional racing rises, and you hit the big races in your area and if you are ready, the BIG glorious races nationally. In New England for instance, we can do pretty well with Battenkill, Hilltowns, Bear Mountain, Fitchburg, Thater, Green Mountain, Housatonic Hills (ok what am I forgetting), then zipping up to Montreal to pretend we are in Europe. No news here but maybe racing is going grass roots, or should.

Ze 5 Minute Blog

2008-08-11T10:18:00.000-04:00

This blog is really turning to drivel but the last entry was so boring I have to add another. I will note that others are racing in the Olympics and at road and crit Nationals, riding tandems across the country, and kayaking in the Arctic circle near the Brooks range. Not to mention live coverage of synchronized diving and beach volleyball. How much rather would I watch even pistol shooting or weightlifting, not to mention soccer or rowing? Training away here. Take note I have even improved my epic hill ride, adding 15-minute dirt climb! Riding with a power ceiling so doing some quality 50rpm climbing, good for these weak legs. No joke; I honestly think I might handcycle faster than I can ride now. You try it - take your perfectly healthy leg and put it in a walking cast for 7 weeks and see what happens. Still at the gym, not yet bringing my own gallon jug of water (evidently the true sign of status) or drinking raw eggs for breakfast. Next stop GMSR, a good quality sufferfest!

Tour of the Hilltowns!

2008-07-27T13:44:00.005-04:00

There is method to my madness of showing up at one of New England's most challenging races when I absolutely lack race fitness! First, I am going to have a bit of fear jumping back in the pack and would like to get this out of the way as soon as possible, so I can actually race my bike a bit at Green Mountain. I would much rather race Hilltowns, with a flat/downhill first 20 miles that I thought I could hang for followed by a decisive 3-mile climb at mile 20 that shatters the field into groups than a race based on a top end (of which I have none) or a race to every corner. Ideally I would be able to ride at the front for the flat part, ride my own climb and hopefully have a bit of company since I still have some threshold power, then ride in a paceline in a small group. It would be a good test for the leg. And well, mission accomplished! I just about got blown out the back early in the race with one fast surge, but descended at the front since there is so little to be gained by racing this section, then watched everyone surge up the start of the climb, and pedaled my way up from last place, catching a few people, then rode in with a terrific little group quite understanding of my limitations! I was completely dragging by the end, struggling just to maintain 150 watts, and there were massive hills on the course that had not been there last year, but it was awesome. My leg only started to knot up once, but it recovered and did fine with the bumps and standing up. Great to see everyone too. Hats off to the other Anna M. Now I get to go home and train! Pictured: A clean bike is a fast bike, or at least a clean bike.

Cat 4

2008-07-15T12:47:00.004-04:00

When I was a kid, I used to tease my brother, who was fanatical about biking and the Tour, by shouting "biker!" whenever a cycle-tourist rolled past our house. He'd race to the living room window, expectations deflated when someone mosied by in full blaze yellow. We still say it. Back on the bike, and in New Haven where drivers on cell phones in SUVs race you to every red light, I am now happily wearing my blaze yellow vest. My Achilles/calf is slowly limbering up from rubber-band status, the switch from Shimano to super-loose Crank Brothers pedals is working and I felt able to spin today. I can begin to imagine pedaling hard, even standing up, not so far from now. Not quite Hilltowns-worthy... In the meantime, I am trying to learn how to swim better. I watched this video of an Olympic 50m free, laughing at the idea of it as instructional video and at the boxer-like posturing of these sprinters. This one that seemed a bit better. Or you could try to recover like Dara Torres. Swimming, resistance stretching, physio ball, they are all refreshingly new.

Way to go Leg!

2008-07-09T11:32:00.006-04:00

Quick because I am going pedaling but doctor's appointment today and I AM OUT OF THE BOOT! X-rays showed "a surprising amount of new bone formation." I can do everything except go running, but even that I can probably start in a month or so. Way to go leg! That's more like it! The straight-talking x-ray tech didn't disappoint (last time she told me I was in the "baby stages of healing"), exclaiming "wow! look at how much muscle you've lost!" Wow indeed and that's the next project but hurray for now. Thanks everyone.

Update from Training Camp

2008-07-08T06:13:00.001-04:00

My recovery is suddenly getting fun and interesting, a project to reinvent myself improved. I seem to be done with the freak-out period after those mediocre x-rays, now I am being less drastic in adding new activity (my recovery has been filled with overdoing it, then backing off) and starting to see some gains. One endeavor has been, in the words of a friend, "working on my physique." I have a New Haven friend to thank for the lifting, since after an unsuccessful too-early foray to the gym, when just the walking involved with Yale's expansive gym proved excessive, I was ready to give it up. But he urged me to try again, after more healing, and the routine of working out in the gym around motivated people, followed by a nice time in a coffee shop, that was priceless. Since then I have been doing upper body lifting and core strength three times a week. The gym here in the Berkshires is great, and funny. It's me and a bunch of retirees, some of whom are really fit and some who are not. Power to them. One guy was sitting on a weight machine completely absorbed in a library book (a guide to camping). I said "looks engaging," to which he replied "yeah, tough to get the lifting done!" Others are lifting in khaki pants. But we are all in the same boat and this group has been supportive. I am also thankful to the office for storing my race bike, which enabled mobility, huge given that I've been "house-sitting" or whatever you call it - watering plants and picking the flowers off the cilantro plants in the garden - this week at my mom's with no readily available rides by car. I'm going to build up an old cross bike as a commuter bike, put a rack and panniers on. I was finally allowed to swim at the six week mark, and it was fantastic, free to be boot-less in water. I was also happily shocked to see I can actually swim, though I still make note of "swam this far without stopping," as though I wrote in my training log "rode one hour without stopping!" All this is good but I sure hope the bone is healing. I find out tomorrow. This morning I am riding down into Connecticut where I can get a ride back to New Haven (should be nice to visit my life) - actually a sizable ride, so I hope everything feels good. Nice job New Englanders at Fitchburg!

AND BIKING!!!!!!!!

2008-06-27T11:42:00.000-04:00

Hiking!

2008-06-26T17:17:00.016-04:00

My brother continues to hike, tele-ski, and snowboard above Juneau. I have been hiking too! Oh, and someone designed a cardboard bike.

My Leg is the Center of the Universe Part VI

2008-06-17T05:31:00.018-04:00

I made it to yesterday's three-week checkpoint embracing the new policy of extreme rest and "don't make yourself crooked." I was pretty sure that the proscribed three weeks more in the cast for a normal person would be two weeks more for me. Instead my x-ray looks shockingly like it did three weeks ago - a broken bone with a diagonal gap between sections that actually grew. The x-ray techs, Oz-like speaking from behind a screen while looking at my x-ray, after a conversation about how they were prohibited from opinions, said "fracture" one to the other, then to me "how long has it been?" - "three weeks" - then a relieved (and ominous) "oh, you are still in the baby stages of healing!" My orthopedist is not worried, points to some evidence of new bone growth and reminds me the fibula is the source of bone grafts, but he upped his tune now to four more weeks in this walking cast. But again he says ride, that it will even help. Still highly skeptical, but my anti-crooked policy is out the window and I am going pedaling. I hope it hells fast too, or at least hells.

Canoe

2008-06-10T18:10:00.008-04:00

It is hot outside. I watched Black Robe about a Jesuit missionary traveling up the St. Lawrence in the 1600s and want to go on a canoe trip. Forget Nature Valley, take me to the Boundary Waters and let me sleep outside. I am resting this silly leg. I am restless. I have been inside too long but like I said it is hot outside. Played bridge and tweaked my leg walking on a dirt driveway. Ate some yogurt. Since I did not buy it, I am not sure how expensive it was though it was not wheat or corn. Read up on ecosystem services and transfer of development rights. Iced my leg. Drank some ice water. Made a phone call. Maybe I will learn the new camera. Or call in lost frequent flyer miles. Or do something edifying like learn to crochet. Is bike racing just going to grind to a halt as a result of fuel costs? Should it if we are causing a global food crisis? Photo credit. And talking bike racing: how about Jen McRae's 4th place at Philly?!!!!!

And playing Scrabble...

2008-06-06T16:51:00.003-04:00

The racing expression "don't try so hard" likely applies also to recovery. With a lot of wise advice, I think I finally came around. I had been pedaling a bit with the boot but honestly it's awkward and the more I hear the more I am concerned about assymmetry injuries. The return on riding is pretty low right now. Better to heal the bone and come back when I can pedal normally. So I will be relaxing (and engaging in academic thoughts) as I root for the team at a boiling-hot Philly and strive to have my bone fully healed at the three-week checkpoint (rather overly optimistic but who knows!). In the back of my head I am trying to remember how exhausted I felt in early November of last year, when after tanking at Chainbiter, I almost didn't even show up for the Northampton Cross. With regard to chocolate and waffles this December, this might be just perfect. Ok not perfect...but not terrible!

Watching Ants

2008-06-02T17:32:00.004-04:00

Walking back from yesterday’s expedition to Romeo and Caesar’s market down the block, where I sat outside and read and talked to strangers with time on their hands, I stopped to rest. Hanging over the crutches, I noticed the sidewalk was bustling with ants, and watched them for a few minutes. It has been a while since I have watched ants, and it’s probably good for me. My land conservation research has been very engaging, given me some ideas of what life could involve post-school, and there are definite benefits to an absence of distractions as far as productivity goes. Rather than considering this a vacation, I am considering it a chance to earn adventurous time later: late season racing with no tasks looming, cross season with a thesis largely finished, perhaps even a trip to Alaska… I do love Scrabble and without question am grateful to remember the pleasure of reading actual books, but most of what I enjoy tends to involve my leg. Keeping busy is also an obvious strategy to avoid getting bummed. I go back and forth, experiencing sea changes in how long I think it will be before I can bring some reasonable fitness to a race. I am well aware of the driven athlete's tendency to rush recovery with negative consequences, but this broken fibula is a pretty weird injury. The fibula is not a weight-bearing bone, but the attachment site of a lot of muscles going from the calf to the foot. It rotates with ankle flexing. So the treatment for a broken fibula is to immobilize the ankle, but pretty much anything else is fair game, including walking and pedaling on the trainer. Sounds crazy to me too, riding a bike with a broken leg, but with my orthopedist’s encouragement I gave it a try. Not going to win any time trials averaging 82 watts for half an hour, but my leg felt good! In other news: rooting for my team racing in Montreal’s Grand Tour (wishing I were there but not missing racing at night), eagerly awaiting Philly, and it is clearly time to ditch the crutches before I ran any more toes from my non-injured food into them. Until the new camera arrives, my leg!

Maybe I will even read a novel

2008-05-28T07:02:00.006-04:00

Immense thanks for all the kind wishes and support. These last few days have been eye-opening. Until now, my lifetime injury list consisted of tendonitis, a broken pinky finger and a broken thumb, various ailments requiring RICE, and a few miscellaneous injuries with amusing titles such as "housemaid's knee" and "gamekeeper's thumb." Even so I thought I got what it meant to be injured, but OH NO NO. Now I am experiencing a life of sitting still, of asking for a lot of help, of strategic transportation planning across my apartment, of feeling empowered by small accomplishments such as taking a shower or going grocery shopping, and of fatigue making me vulnerable to frustration at mishaps such as smashing a glass across the kitchen floor. That said, in just a few days I will file these experiences away and be walking around ably (even pedaling on the trainer, according to the orthopedist) in this air cast! I have a diagonal fibular break with a 3mm gap that should heal perfectly well, but it might take a while. Word is 3 weeks wearing this cast all the time, then if x-rays show the bone fusing well, 3 more weeks in the cast but spared wearing it at night. I fully intend to heal in 75% of the time of a normal person and be back racing in July, but whether that's Fitchburg on the 3rd or Altoona on the 27th remains to be seen. For now count these blessings/opportunities: I can get a lot of work done on my thesis; my summer job, arranged with geographic flexibility for racing, also matches perfectly with sitting in bed; Yale has a shuttle service for the disabled and injured that will take me anywhere in New Haven (I won't be driving for the duration of this, atoning my carbon footprint); I will get to see non-racing friends I rarely see; and I can do some strategic planning as far as career and school. In the spirit of the weekend's unspectacular-but-consequential accident theme, I dropped my camera on the couch Sunday and broke the lens, so for now, a photo from the archive. This one is from the blooming desert in Tucson.

Bike Jam

2008-05-25T07:33:00.003-04:00

Trying to be patient waiting for the field sprint yesterday at Bike Jam, I got lazy with positioning in a very sketchy field. Two people spontaneously crashed right in front of me on a straightaway, and just like that I have a broken fibula (the skinny bone in the lower leg). The break is not bad as this injury goes and I am looking toward a fast recovery. But what timing, just as I seem to be finding some legs, just as school ends and stress flies off my back, just as all the most exciting races arrive (Montreal WC, Grand Tour, Philly, Nature Valley...) I will find the opportunity in this somewhere.

Back in Action at the Wilmington Grand Prix

2008-05-18T20:22:00.008-04:00

Travel to Wilmington left a bit to be desired: 7hrs to cover 200 miles in an all-time NYC traffic epic. Found my way to the host house, eventually joined by our tuxedoed host and sprinters traveling by air who arrived at 3am. The team was here in force! Jen, Brenda, Heather, Reem, me (maybe in force...). Here is the race story: controlled the race, looking to set Jen up for the finish on a windy rectangular course. At one point had the ideal numbers-up of me off the front then Jen covering Laura van Gilder bridging up, but the move got squelched. Jen took charge and went off the front. I missed LVG's inevitable bridge, chased hard but just set up a bridge by unknown Juice Plus rider Laura McCaughey. She sat on LVG and Jen for the extent of the break, but we were pretty happy with the odds and kept things together. Heather paced Brenda back up after they got caught behind a crash. McCaughey, who turns out to be an Australian national track champion, outfoxed Jen and LVG and took the win. Jen got second - she is fast. I led out the sprint but did not hook up with Brenda so she ended up 8th, me 11th. I gave Erica Allar a really nice lead-out. 20-20 hindsight says be more aggressive, get me out there then have Jen sit on LVG's bridge... Photos: happy team, greenhouse of orchids, a tour of a microbrewery and Delaware history lesson, and one rider's broken fork that luckily held through the extent of the race. To clarify: this chunk was not actually missing as pictured during the race as a result of the crash, but was effectively missing since it easily pulled out after. Scary.

The View from the Launch

2008-05-11T08:28:00.006-04:00

There is some threshold between optimism and delusion, one that with 20-20 hindsight I failed to recognize while curled in bed Tuesday with some food poisoning / stomach flu, sleeping 14 hrs. Wednesday morning a friend at school, watching me struggle to walk down the street carrying a bag of exam blue books, asked if it were a good idea to race. I almost reassessed, but I had been looking forward to Joe Martin all year. The courses suited me, we had a good team including Sue, and because of Mt. Hood this would be a race where Advil-Chapstick could be a real force. I rallied somewhat for the time trial, and I guess I should be pleased with 10th given the circumstances, but I wasn't. On day two I was struggling mightily at the back of the tiny field before the racing even got hard, and by mile 20 I was off the back on a flat part, depleted and going backwards. Tim pulled around after maybe three miles and I got in the van, having lost six minutes already. It was pretty awful, but I was not going to repeat El Salvador. The team has been racing well, but yesterday is one everyone is second guessing. Trying to conserve and doubtful a break would succeed, the team let Cheerwine rider Robin Farina drift off the front, which seemed like a good idea given the wind. But there was no concerted effort to control the gap (Colavita's responsibility, but everyone's loss), which was aided by neutralization of the field, and Robin gained a whopping 10 minutes to seize the gc. Awesome ride by Robin, but also major errors made by others. There is a lot of regret and questions about how you change a race plan midway as well as "aren't we here to race our bikes?" I wish I could have been there, though who knows if I could have changed the outcome. Hanging out and trying to be helpful is kind of tough, but like in most sports when you get sidelined for injury or another reason, it's a chance to observe and learn and take stock. I am feeling well again and let me tell you, I plan to race my bike. Today is the final stage - a very challenging crit - and the team is extremely motivated to race. I am psyched to watch them rock!

There's no place like home...

2008-05-05T13:04:00.007-04:00

Hard to explain how glad I am to be back in Connecticut. Sunday we raced very conservatively, aiming to light it up late to make it fast enough to try to unseat Tina. It took a lot of patience to roll around in a barely-moving circle when I finally had the legs to feel like attacking, not to mention the pent up desire for revenge after the beginning of the week! But it is one thing to race to make the race interesting and quite another to try the strategy you think might get you the win - and we were going for the latter. I did ok though there is much to learn and I have do say getting the elbows out in a big slow moving mob as the sprint winds up is not exactly my forte - yet. But Jen got 3rd again, plus Brenda wound it up for 4th. Hot damn, and we are just getting started. These are the very best sprinters in the country, getting ready for a season full of showdowns, from Philly to Crit Nationals. And check out those stylish sprinters! Other photos: Anniston at night (Sunny King), faux mansion with moose in Atlanta gated community, one of Atlanta's much- lambasted highways, me and Ralph, a former student of my Dad's who knew me as a kid, plus a very sad sandwich. The crit series brought lots of good intensity training, offset by absolute upheaval of all routine generally considered conducive to successful training and racing. Joe Martin will be the measuring stick...

Sleep Deprivation amid Wafflehouses

2008-05-04T10:57:00.003-04:00

Things are getting better by the day! Friday the legs were coming around and it was super fun to race with Laura Bowles - we were starting to feel like a team. The sleep deprivation continues: race, eat, drive from Spartanburg to Atlanta, in bed by 2, up at 7:30, to sponsor event, lunch at Chipotle (no Wafflehouse!) nap at Starbucks, kill time, drive 2 hours to Anniston, AL. But sleep is overrated and you rally! We finally had our full team for Sunny King, sprinters galore. Legs finally getting better and so motivating to race for someone who can win. Jen got third and we are aiming for that top step today.

Still getting demolished

2008-05-02T08:48:00.002-04:00

Raced last night in Greenwood and it was again pretty dismal. I am not feeling very good and guess I just have very few matches to burn, but it has been tough to find the spaces to race among the full teams of Aaron's, Cheerwine, and Colavita, who continue to dominate. Laura is joining us tonight and watch out, because this weekend we will be in full force. I just hope my legs come around!

Help, we have no race food!

2008-05-01T16:17:00.009-04:00

We might have finished off our host family's spring lettuce mix and parmesan cheese, but this remarkably sneaky and iron-stomached 12-year old dog, Fitzgerald, devoured my gels and bars and ate 1,200 calories of Kirsten's protein bars in just one sitting. Remarkable!

Parris Island, SC

2008-05-01T16:06:00.004-04:00

Making the Corps, an account of Marine Corps boot camp on Parris Island, is one of my favorites, so I was thrilled to realize this morning, on the advising of my host Sam, a Marine Corps captain and pilot, that I could ride my bike there! He and I talked about some interesting parallels between bike and military culture.

Walterboro: Lost the battle...

2008-05-01T15:52:00.001-04:00

Decathlon day Wednesday: up at 4:30 in New Jersey; flew to Atlanta, then Savannah; drove to Beaufort, SC; built bike/picked up Kirsten/met host family's dog; drove to Walterboro, SC; waited through a bomb threat to race the bike; raced the bike at 7:30; drove back home, ate, in bed by midnight... Showed up at the race and other teams were saying "thank goodness you guys are here, it is getting old." The red teams - Colavita, Aaron's, and Cheerwine - are dominating the show and the others - Value Act, TIBCO, Vanderkitten - were getting grouchy. I had a new plan "be patient and count," with the intention of not wasting so much energy jumping on attacks, let alone making them myself, but then bridging to the break that stuck. It made sense given that Kirsten and Reem were looking to get their legs back. But easier said than done, right. I was patient - sort of - but then I missed the winning break. And I did try to get across, but the reds would not let me. Little me? I spent my energy trying and did not hold position into the final two corners and did not even finish in the money. Grrr. I was very sluggish on the bike with the jump almost laughable (prime - not even close), but otherwise felt ok. I guess it's to be expected after restful last three days on the bike followed by the long day. But I was pretty unsatisfied, not to mention exhausted.

The Bird Prime and Other Stories

2008-04-27T06:35:00.016-04:00

This week has been jam-packed with exciting things, though hardly the model for pro recovery of abundant sleep, stretching, and couch-lounging with book in hand! My model for bike racing is that of the multi-dimensional life, but I am guessing most of us can relate to the feeling of having dodged a bullet with recovery when you really extend and still pull off a decent race, don't get sick, don't leave your bike wheel in the race parking lot as a result of sleep deprivation, etc. For instance I've been helping some of the undergraduates in the environmental policy class I TA craft research papers. Their curiosity, optimism and work ethic is so motivating. Sometimes more is more. On Friday I ended up in Boston, went for a ride on the once-familiar terrain of the bike path, Concord Ave, and out past Hanscom field. I had somehow forgotten Boston is a major city - there is so much traffic there - and compared to New Haven there are so many cyclists that convention seemed to be not to wave at other riders. I actually got into a argument with a driver this week in New Haven: the car flew by me from behind scarily close, then almost rear-ended the car ahead, they were really driving crazily. I was so scared I was mad, so I chased them down (rarely a good idea) and yelled "you almost hit me!" But we were all too worked up and the driver was yelling "you are on a bike, you can avoid me!" and "you are on the wrong side of the road, you are supposed to be riding against traffic!" both of which are obviously insane. And now the funny part: I was screaming at them "be careful, I don't want you to kill someone!" And they were screaming at me "be careful, this is a very dangerous road!." I think under different conditions we could identify some common goals... Anyway, I showed up at Sturbridge dragging (glad I was racing since if training I would have gone 10mph). But we had a pretty good race on a cool new course. Racing without teammates, my hope was for us to have a selection that resulted in a small group forming, to prevent a scenario of my needing to cover everything if one team (Terry or Radical Media) decided to fire off attack after attack, especially on the run into the finish. I was not strong enough and it was so windy that we ended up with I think eight in the final group, but I embraced patience on the final climb, sat in, and was able to pull it off. I definitely got lucky since the 34-11 was not the optimal gear for the downhill sprint at the top of this climb. I had to sit down I was spinning so frantically! I heard later 2nd place finisher Denise Ramsden dropped her chain - this bad luck comes around, goes around. Now for the best part: I picked up my world-traveled bike bag from Tom Stevens, which presented an opportunity to inquire about what had been tipped as the best Tom Stevens story ever: the BIRD PRIME. One year, Tom was racing one of the Quad Cities Criteriums, Moline Illinois, a .4-mile loop on a 100k race. And there was a bird drafting the field, flying up, then dive-bombing back down right on the shoulders of the riders and into the draft when it lost ground. Well, the crowd and the announcer starting rooting for the bird. And they passed around a hat for a crowd prime. After the race, it was announced that Tom had won "the bird prime," with a photo showing Tom just edging out the bird. $180! Today I am going to ride 10mph. I am glad it's cloudy because my eyelids got sunburned yesterday. Does Tifosi make goggles? On Wednesday I start my crit-racing extravaganza in Walterboro, South Carolina. Attached is a photo taken by Barry Koblenz at Battenkill, when I was being patient on the first real climb, following Kathleen and trailed closely by Mary Zider and Natasha Elliot.