Boo's New Bike

182/365:  Look at that excitement!

I'm not sure who was more excited about today, Boo, Klucker or me.  (It definitely was not Bella!)  For about the last eight months I have been telling Boo that once he learns how to ride without training wheels, I will get him a new bike.  In the midst of his decision to tackle this challenge, my job craziness began.  So the second piece of that has been that as soon as I signed a contract with a different district, Boo could pick out the bike that he wanted.  The contract was signed on Monday and today we went to buy the bike.  And where else we go but Big Shark? 

I rode hills with the girls this morning and Klucker brought the kids to meet me for lunch.  Ms. Stephanie decided to come along and be a part of our day.  Boo had no idea what we were doing until we pulled into the lot at the shop.  He was so excited.  He looked at a few different bikes before he decided on this one.  Now he just has to practice getting faster.  His goal is to win the kids' races at Tour de Grove this year.

Training Camp Take Two

Two base camps in three weeks sound like heaven to a cyclist.  My goal for the weekend was to get about 160 miles in on the bike.   Big fail on that goal!  Instead my mileage totaled about 109 miles due to rain. 

Cindi & I getting ready to ride.  Love Cindi in a Big Shark kit!!!

Friday started out great.  Cindi and I left right on time and headed southeast.  No navigation errors, no issues, just a fun, talkative trip.  We made it to Nashville before noon, enough time to change clothes and get out to the Natchez Trace for an afternoon ride.  I would guess we had about 25 head out in small groups.  We were supposed to practice pacelines but that went south fast.  The groups split apart and we did what we could.  I knew Nashville was hilly, but I don't think I mentally grasped that there was nothing! flat.  I felt like I was either climbing or descending.  It was a lot of fun though.  We rode out for about 65 minutes.  On the ride back I was able to catch up with Richard and go at a conversational pace.  He has a beautiful new bamboo bike that he got because his daughter's nickname is Boo. 



The view from the bridge on the Trace.

Friday night was dinner at Fido's.  Yummy sweet potato gnocchi was dinner before heading over to socialize at Blackstone.  I cannot remember the last time I laughed so hard.  Cody's stories had us all in stitches, shaking our heads.  I won't divulge details as to protect the identity of the not-so-innocent, but I will say it was fun and we all made it across to the hotel in one piece.

But my evening did not end there.  We had a bachelor party next door to us.  As I walked to my room, I encountered the bachelor, comatose and unconscious in the hallway, with his soon to be brother-in-law.  I politely stepped over the groom and went in to go to bed.  I fumbled for jammies and finally crawled into bed before hearing a knock at the door.  Good sense would have told me not to open the door at 1:30AM in nothing but my jammies, but I often lose my good sense.  There stands the brother in law who proceeds to explain to me that he couldn't get the bachelor up and his sister was going to so mad and a million other trivial details.  I listened for a few moments before shaking my head and telling him "it's not my problem" and shutting the door.

Saturday morning got there far too quickly and it ushered in the rain.  It did not look good for the planned 80 miles on the Trace.  As the skies continued to open, more and more folks backed out of the ride.  There were about 12 of us who started out towards Percy Warner Park.  Within three blocks, two turned back and my feet were starting to schoosh on the downstroke.  By the end of four miles, I could no longer see through my glasses.  I rode about 35 minutes out before crying uncle and heading back.  The only problem was I didn't quite remember how we had gotten there.  Relatively quickly I found the road to the hotel and decided to take it straight back.  There was heavy traffic, but at least I knew where I was.  I warmed up in a hot shower before we headed out to lunch and a mani/pedi.  My thought was that if I couldn't ride, I might as well do something productive.  Next up was a core/stretching class by Amy that I muddled through with my weakling modifications.

And then came Saturday night.  Dinner at Bosco's was first.  Good food, great company, bad innuendos sums it up pretty well.  And then we went to Cadillac Ranch.  Amy was bound and determined that someone needed to ride the mechanical bull.  While I am happy to say I stayed much longer than eight seconds, I must sadly tell you there is no photographic evidence.  Although the photos below do display the talents of some of my teammates who took the challenge as well.  In hind sight, it probably would have been a good move to go home after that, but when has that ever stopped me.  Coyote Ugly was next . . . and it got ugly.  That's all I can say because what happens at team camp, stays at team camp.  Naw, it wasn't that bad…nothing anyone who knows me wouldn't expect, but again, protecting the innocent.  I will just say that after all the years of warning students about the dangers of horse play, I had to go and prove it myself.  Black eye, bloody (possibly broken) nose, and eight of us piling into the cab rounded it all out.   

Sunday morning came even quicker than Saturday morning and my face hurt more than I can tell you.  It hurt to put my glasses on when we went to ride.  I would guess about 25 of us went to ride.  Most of the group split off and met some guys from Grand Fondo bikes.  Seven of us rode West End/Harding out to the trace and did a few miles out there.  It was chilly, damp, and windy, but it felt good to spin.  It wasn't my best quality ride, but we managed to get 47 done. 

Tom's look regarding Cody's story should tell it all.

Cindi conquering the bull.

Our bull riding cheering section.

Bring it!

After a shower and lunch, Cindi and I headed home.  The ride home was much the same as the ride there . . . non-stop talking and stories.  In spite of the lack of mileage, it was a great weekend. 

Race Report: Tour de Grove

What a great weekend of racing! Mike Weiss and everyone at Big Shark did an outstanding job of creating an event for the Tour de Grove. I think the Grove events can only get better and attrack more racers and spectators each year.

Saturday started at Midtown Alley. It was hot and humid...very reminscent of last week in Tulsa. And, my heart rate reacted to the heat the same way it did the weekend before. I was running fast! I jumped on a trainer for the warm up and did about an hour warm up. I didn't feel like I was doing hard efforts, but my heart rate was running really high. I didn't pre ride the course because of the timing of our race, but wasn't worried about it because it was a basic rectangle, four-corner crit. The the north and south borders were long straight aways, the east and west were one block long. The backside was a gradual downhill with the start finish being a gradual up hill.

Fourteen Cat 3/4 women pulled to the line. I knew, or knew of, most of them. We got the pre race instructions and were off. Vanessa immediately began pushing our pace. She is known for her strong, relentless attacks and Saturday was no different. We were several laps in, staying together as a field, when she launched another attack on the east side, we went through the corner after her and she pulled off--broken spoke. Another lap or two and they rang the bell for a prime. That's always what I like to hear! I watched my pack position through the course. We made turn four and I started my move. This was such a long straightaway, I knew my timing was critical. I decided to go at the barricades and made my move. It was a good decision, an easy prime.

Crossing the line for the prime. *Photo credit: Paul Pate

I knew I didn't have it in me with the heat & humidity to stay away so I sat up and tried to get back in. Nobody was budging. I sat on front for about three quarters of a lap, in the wind. I finally eased back in when another attack went off. We hit the start/finish and got four to go. I looked at my data and was running a 192 heart rate--I felt really taxed. I stayed on with the group until we hit corner four. They got a small gap on me then. For the next two laps, Ashley and I worked to get back on, trying to catch Kate and another rider off the back. I was spent and knew it. I finally was able to jump back on in turn three of the last lap. We made turn four and the sprint started way early. I didn't have it in me to give. I didn't sit up, but I couldn't give as much as I would have liked. Ninth place for me. It was disheartening because I know I'm stronger. I didn't give as much for the prime as I have in other races, but just couldn't hold the race together.

I hung out and watched the other races and got to enter my kids in their first race. They were both excited as they pulled to the line. Callie had another little boy in her heat. He was about an inch shorter than she is, but was already riding without training wheels and boy could he move! She finished 2nd but and got to bring home a teddy bear. Andy's group was next up. He had a few more in his group and cruised to an easy 3rd place finish to bring home a bear as well. They were all smiles afterwards. The big win for me was that Callie said to wanted to race again (Andy did as well) on Sunday. I may get the little diva to be an athlete after all!

I headed to the street sprints Saturday night. It was nothin' but ugly. I lined up and was in the second heat. Carrie Cash, pro rider, another cat 1 rider and the winner of my earlier race were in my heat as well as another girl. Top three were to advance. We got the signal and were off. I was geared wrong off the line. I made up a significant amount of ground on the Cat 1 rider, but ended up fourth and didn't move on. That just added to my frustration about my results on Saturday afternoon. The crabby bug had bit me in the butt!

Sunday morning I was in a foul mood. I was still mad at myself over Saturday's results. I was contemplating forgoing the race and just doing the 80 mile ride with the group. Instead, we got packed up and headed over to the course. It was a three mile, 13 corner circuit race. I got to watch my friend Eric celebrate his 40th with running the 5K--he won his age group. Also, I wanted to preride it before the other races went off. I made a quick lap and made some note of some tight corners. The course would be interesting.

I hit the trainer area and got set up. Sunday's races were over an hour late getting started, so I went easy and got off the bike a few times during warm ups. I made sure to do some hard efforts on the trainer because, like last Sunday in Tulsa, my heart rate was way low. I jumped back on the course with a few laps to go in the master's race. I rode it with Teresa and Courtney and we discussed our strategies. Today was Teresa's "A race" so we talked about how to support her. We made it back around and watched the finish of the race and got on course. I pulled right up to the line and took my place. We had 16 women in our field today.

The whistle blew and I struggled to get in my pedals. UGH! Turn 2 and the first attack was launched by Vanessa. We reacted and brought her back, but it set the tone for the whole race. Attack after attack was launched. Two laps in, another Proctor girl lauched an attack between turns 11 and 12. She had a little gap and bombed into corner twelve. The corners were tight and close and she hit a rough patch and grabbed a handful of front brake. Can you say endo?

Proctor girl hitting the deck. Never grab a handful of front brake! Photo credit: Paul Pate

Video of the crash. *Credit to John Musselman

I think everyone made else made it through ok, but we definitely raced more heads up for the last three laps. The attacks and responses continued to come with no one getting anywhere. It was all about riding heads up and placement for the last lap. We got the bell and began our last trip around the course. Around turn nine, Vanessa faked an attack and sat up. The pack responded and sat up when she did. There goes Tara. I had warned our Cat 3 racers about her--that she would try to go from the front. The Hub girls responded and worked to pull her back. I was worried about going that hot into turns 12 and 13 but she got reeled in just prior to them. We hit the last turn and onto the finish straight. Time to sprint. While Saturday night's sprints didn't turn out for me, I at least had that knowledge about what the sprint was like. I stood up and went with the girls. I'm not sure who the two were immediately in front of me, but I made short work of passing them. Allison had a bike length on me and I still had life in my legs. I had no idea how much gear I had left--I had been spinning up and adding gear like crazy. Please, please, please let me have more. Click--there it was! I pulled along side and then ahead. Yes! I was on Teresa's wheel with 10 yards to go. I probably couldn't have caught her and didn't want to try. This was her race. She took third, I took fourth. I felt great and still could have given more.

Heading through the finishing straight.

The new kits look great from behind too!

*Photo credit: Paul Pate
The rest of the day was spent hanging out and guarding my corner! It was a great vantage point for the pro Women's and Men's races. Of course, epic is the theme of my life and the end of the Pro Men's race was just that. With eight laps to go, a thunderstorm moved in and the rain came. We got soaked to the bone! The officials made a wise move to shorten the race and called one lap to go. In the midst of that last lap, some how four cars got on the course and one of them stalled. It was mayhem getting them off, including pushing the van, but everyone came through safely.

Great racing, great accompanying events, excellent venue--it can only continue to get better!