I know where Lorena and I are going:





And I don't leave until the summer of 2009 so there is still time to come visit us in D.C.

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Fitchburg Longsjo Classic Stage Race
Stage 3: Wachussett Mountain road race, 69mi

Uf! That was a killer stage. At the same time, it was also the most fun. I feel good about the fact that I pushed myself right up to my limits, wondering if I would make it to the finish before collapsing in exhaustion. But then I also can't help but kicking myself for not going with a 2-person break on about mile 15, that somehow lasted for the 54 miles to the finish line. I had even started to go with the girl who attacked, but then I thought she wouldn't be a strong enough breakaway partner (not on a big team, didn't know who she was) and that it would just be wasted energy when there were still SO many miles left to go. So I let myself drop back to the pack to get back into a protected draft. Anyway, I think that the big teams there raced really stupidly, because none of them really attempted to chase, and the break actually stayed for the remaining 54 miles to the finish. And all the big teams with girls in contest for the GC (general classification, overall win) lost their leads as a result of unintelligent racing. That's the cool thing about bike racing - if I had gone with that break, I would have placed 1st, 2nd or 3rd - but since I didn't, it came down to just pure ability on the final climb to the summit, which put me in at 22nd. It's cool that there are so many tactics playing out, that by putting yourself in the right move at the right time, sometimes you have the chance to beat people who are actually stronger. So I am bummed that I missed my chance to do that in this stage!
Well, it was a really fun race, nonetheless. I don't know why I get such a sick pleasure from the pain of climbing. It really hurt. It was about 6400 ft of climbing. But then you also get the fun descents to balance it out - we were going over 50 mph on the downhills - FUN!

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Fitchburg Longsjo Classic Stage Race
Stage 2: 34mi Circuit Race

My favorite quote of the day: "That hill climb was really tough. On one lap, it almost made me cry." - from my favorite junior rider, Nathan, summing up the course.

Well, stage 2 was fairly uneventful. The most memorable moment for me was being the victim of a snot rocket at 30 mph from the rider in front of me. Seriously! But the good news is that I did much better than the time trial, placing 13th in this stage. The bad news is that it only moved me up 2 places in the GC (general classification). We dropped about 15 riders throughout the race, but unfortunately only two of them were ahead of me in the first place, and the rest of us got the same time for a pack finish.

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Fitchburg Longsjo Classic Stage Race
Stage One: 10k Time Trial

Foiled! My grand plan to sweep every stage in the race: already foiled in stage 1. Okay, I know that is a pretty big stretch of the imagination, but still, I didn't exactly hope to come in 35th place either. Not a good way to start my first four day stage race. I haven't really practiced time trialling, and have only done one other time trial, over a year ago. And today I remembered why I haven't: they hurt, and they aren't much fun. It's like mountain bike racing, minus the fun. Basically, the winner is going to be not only the person with the most fitness, but the person who is best at staying focused and motivated to suffer the most. I guess I just didn't have that today. Good aero equipment definitely makes a difference too. I was a little jealous of the girls with the special aero TT bikes, funny looking aero helmets, disc wheels, long sleeve skinsuits, etc. But really - even the best equipment and mental state wouldn't have made up for the three minute gap between me and first place - fitness is still the biggest factor I needed more of.

My teammate Anna's plans were foiled also. So here we are, in our nasty smells-like-an-armpit (or dogfood, take your pick) Fitchburg State dorm room, making each other feel better.Okay, so regardless of the race....I'm actually having a really good time here. Since Anna and I are staying in freshman dorm rooms, we are having fun acting like giggly freshman girls again. And it's fun to stay in a place swarming with cyclists.

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Country Roads, Take Me Hooooooome
To the place, I belooooooooooooooong
West Virginia, mountain momma
Country roads, take me home.This song has been ringing through my head for several days now, since I started out my summer vacation this week with a trip to the mountains of West Virginia. This yellow barn (used to house pigs) was converted into living quarters a few years back, and is now a popular escape for DC cyclists. My team came here a couple months ago for a quick training camp, and I've been itching to return ever since. So I was stoked when I found out that I could squander away my first week of summer break with some friends who are even more obsessed with cycling than I am. I loved every minute of it! The barn is at the peak of the mountain, so every ride starts with a fast, fun descent and ends with a killer climb back to the top.

This trip was perfect because of its simpleness. Each day revolved around large doses of riding, eating, and relaxing. That's it. Perfect.

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The Honorable, Merciful, and Totally Intimidating Judge Gallahue
Okay, I didn't exactly plan out that I was going to go to court yesterday. Although now I'm absolutely happy that I did. I take a lot of flack for how much I always procrastinate things, and although I'm sure I would save myself a lot of stress if I didn't, in a strange way I sometimes run more efficiently this way. I probably would have just saved myself the hassle and simply prepaid the fine, if I hadn't procrastinated so long that that was no longer an option.
Last month I got a ticket for an "HOV violation" on the 66 Fwy ("Get your kicks, on route 66" - yeah, right!). I think anyone from the west coast, where roads and traffic rules at least make a little sense, can sympathize with me when I say that I never in my wildest dreams imagined that AN ENTIRE FREAKING FREEWAY could be carpool only between the hours of 4:00pm to 6:30 pm, Monday through Friday. Yes, THE WHOLE FREEWAY! Since I currently live in a commuters paradise and never get even close to a freeway normally during the workweek, I had no idea about this rule. Apparently there is a sign which warns you of this right before you enter the on-ramp, but of course you can't really see the sign, because it's mostly blocked by trees until you are already entering. Well, even then I did not notice the sign. I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of traffic on the freeway at rush hour in DC, but I had no clue that I was breaking the law, until about 5 minutes later when some cops had set up a road block to catch unassuming fools like myself. I was so confused. The cop could not care less. To make things better, when I had left to go to my car, I put my purse down to grab my mtn bike to hitch onto the car, and accidentally left without it. So I didn't have my license!!! The cop saw how flustered I was about that and at least showed a little mercy in not writing me up for a double violation. And all I wanted to do that day was go for a nice little mtn bike ride.
So, to make a short story long, when there is something that upsets me to deal with, I usually deal with it by not dealing with it. So I placed my traffic ticket onto a heap of other papers that I don't like to acknowledge. Rob kept reminding me to take care of it, but in the back of my mind I didn't want to because I didn't think I deserved it. At the same time, I didn't think I deserved to have to waste my time to go to court about it either. Then came Tuesday night at 11:30 pm, when out of the blue my heart started pounding the way it does when you realize you have forgotten something important, and I suddenly remembered I couldn't put off my indecision about the ticket any longer. I frantically flipped through my mess of papers and found my ticket, which declared that my court date was the very next morning. Uh-oh. That was my school's graduation day. It had become too late to prepay the fine, and too late to ask for a continuance. But the more I thought about it, like h*** was I going to pay that fine. I was going to court, and hopefully it wouldn't take too long so I wouldn't have to play hooky for my school's graduation.
Even though it was already about midnight, I drove back to the freeway entrance to make sure that the sign really was posted poorly. Although it was a pretty enormous declaration, it actually was blocked by trees until you got fairly close.
Okay, here is what I LOVED about court. That judge was so amazingly efficient. And even though he even had everyone who approached him feeling like a bumbling fool, things went smoothly, efficiently, and fast. Everything was right to the point. No fluff allowed in that court. It's almost like having a conversation with Rob! (Note: if this were Rob's story, it would be two sentences long. Something like, "I got a ticket, so I went to court. The judged waived $75 of the fine." I've gone on for several paragraphs, and haven't even gotten to what would be Rob's second sentence.) Anyway, even though he reduced me to a fool, and I didn't exactly present the eloquent case I had in my mind, he also reduced the $125 violation down to a $50 fine. So it was worth my time, and I actually learned and did something new. And I saw how the judge was reducing fines right and left. So, if you have actually made it this far in reading my blog - the whole point of this entry is this: if you get a ticket, GO TO COURT! Even if you are guilty and the judge seems mean and makes you sweat and go anaerobic at the thought of speaking to him. He actually just likes his power, and part of his power is to reduce fines for well-meaning morons like us.
p.s. I even made back for graduation! Thanks Judge Gallahue!
p.p.s. But that was only because I declared myself "guilty with explanation", which allows you to present your case right away. If I had declared myself "not guilty", then I would have had to wait around a lot longer. And since I wasn't really sure which argument to take anyway, I took the one that got me back in time for my job....But, now I wonder what I should have done, if not in the time crunch. Does anyone out there actually know? Perhaps I wouldn't have had to pay anything? Unfortunately, "How to Get Out of a Traffic Ticket 101" wasn't one of Rob's courses at Pepperdine Law School. Go figure. Three years and all that money later, and we still don't even know how to deal with a lame traffic ticket.

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Three Weeks and Counting

In case some of you were wondering, "hmm, where will Rob get posted to overseas?" Well, I will find out in about three weeks, and then I will let you know. Here are some of the options:
Lisbon, Portugal
Rome, Italy
Stockholm, Sweden
Canberra, Australia
Jakarta, Indonesia
Bangkok, Thailand
Santiago, Chile
Seoul, South Korea
Panama City, Panama
Caraucus, Venezuela
Plus, I could get sent some other random place not on the list. Anyway, I really just wanted an excuse to post something and this is the best I could come up with. Tune back in three weeks from now to find out where I am going. Or you could tune back in early to see which race Lorena has either won, or crashed out of!

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The Curse of Memorial Day Weekend (dum-dum-dum!)

It was a dark and stormy night.
Really, it was.
Last night I couldn't make up mind about driving out to New Jersey for a bike race. Rob reminded me of my vow last year to stay indoors around the time of Memorial Day. I reviewed some history in my mind.
4 years ago, Memorial day - collision, bike vs. car. Six broken ribs, punctured lung, 9 days in the hospital.
3 years ago, Memorial day - crash, mtn bike vs. rocks. Over-the-handlebars endo into a pile of rocks. Bruises and enough blood to make my leg the main attraction to every fly, gnat and mosquito in the park.
2 years ago, Memorial day - crash, bike vs. pavement. During the Long Beach Memorial Day bike race, the girl directly in front of me went down, bringing me and four other girls drafting directly behind her down like dominoes.
1 year ago, the week of Memorial day - collision, bike vs. car. 3 days in the hospital. Lots of time spent in rehab.
This year, Memorial day - crash, bike vs. pavement. I actually had a bad feeling yesterday that I would be in a crash today, but I figured I was just being superstitious, so I ignored it and drove to Jersey for the race. (Yes, Becca, I was in Jersey! It was all I could do to keep from calling you at what would have been four in the morning your time to tell you.) Well, with only one and a half laps left in the race, the speed was really heating up, and two girls clipped wheels right in front of me and did a spectacular, bikes thrown up into the air crash. It was unavoidable for me to ride right over the Lipton girl (double ouch for her!) and do a superman onto the pavement myself. Luckily, I landed about as nicely as you can going 25 mph onto asphalt, and only suffered a jammed wrist, swollen cherries on my knee and hip, some road rash, and *omigosh* a broken nail. The Advil girl broke her collarbone, and the Lipton girl's wounds were so bad she had to go to the hospital to get them dressed. So I was lucky, all in all. But still, jagged broken nails are so annoying. The worst was just not being able to finish the race. I felt absolutely FABULOUS today, like I could take over the world (Pinky and the Brain, anyone?), and instead all I did was drive back home with a good case of road rash.
So, maybe next year I'll just stay in bed on Memorial Day.

In response to Rob's blog about the Bike Jam race, the reason I was in last place for several laps was because I got behind a crash in that race also. I was able to stay upright by riding off the road and grabbing onto a fence, but then it took what felt like forever to catch back up to the main group. I don't know what my deal is with Memorial Weekend.
And just to clarify Rob's statement about my performance in his blog - as long as we're making opportunistic generalizations, I think we should equate 9th in one measly race to 9th best in the entire universe. At everything. Man, I'm always having to correct him!

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Another Race Report: Bike Jam/Kelly Cup

Well this has sort of become the Lorena race report blog, but I will write this one. Lorena got 9th in a ginormous national race. So basically she is the 9th fastest girl in America. She got off to a bad start and I was thinking "what in the world are you doing?" Basically she was in last place for the first couple laps, and there were about 90 girls in the race, so last out of 90...not too hot. But she made up for it in the end and was awesome.

If you click on this link you can see her name in the results: http://velonews.com/race/dom/articles/12321.0.html
So, my reports are shorter then Lorena's since I don't actually ride in the races. Maybe she will post a longer one later.

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Quick Update
Okay, here is a quick update to satisfy the appetite of all my hungry blog fans, who are starving for another peek into the life of Rob and Lorena. Here is a peak into our delicious lives of late.

Work
Yes, that is Bill Clinton. Right here at the Potomac School. I don't even want to know how much money we forked out to have him come speak at our dedication day. I mean, he was a great speaker and all. He even inspired our students to work on starting the first school initiated NGO. All I'm saying is that perhaps we could have taken the school on a field trip to the Bahamas instead. We should have voted on this.

Play
A few highlights of the last several weeks:

• Poolesville road race: I got in a breakaway with one other rider from another team. Here's how the team tactics played out. There were a few attacks (riders who suddenly spring away from the main group, trying to get a lead), but the main group caught back up to them. A trick is to get teammates to launch consecutive attacks - once the group sprints to catch up, another teammate attacks again right away, and after a few of these in a row, generally the main group will be too tired to catch up right away, and *wha-la*, a breakaway forms. I launched an all out sprint right after the field caught up to my teammate Jen and her breakaway group. After a couple miles, another girl also broke away from the main group and joined me up ahead. We still had about 27 miles of racing left, so it was in both of our best interest to work together to keep our lead over the chasing field. We took turns "pulling" (riding into the wind and doing the hard work to go fast) and "drafting" (riding right behind another rider to decrease wind resistance, save energy, and get in a so-called rest for a few seconds before pulling again). Working together we were able to maintain our lead to the finish line. And our teammates, in back with the rest of the field, tried to get in the front and make it go slightly slower so they wouldn't catch us. This is called blocking. The really, really fun part about being in a breakaway like this is that you are working in alliance with someone you are ultimately competing against. So you never know when that person might launch a sudden attack and try to outsprint you. Well, I decided I wanted to try to get rid of her on a hill climb (my relative strength). One second we were taking our turns drafting, and the next, before she knew it, I was up ahead on an all-out sprint to beat her. The only problem with this is that we were still about 2 miles away from the finish, and once the hill climb leveled out, she caught up to me and got in my draft. Now, the rest of the racers were still way behind, so we didn't have to worry about them. So once she caught up, we slowed down to a crawl. Neither of us wanted to be in front to allow the other person a free draft to the finish, where they would then have more energy to sling around last second and win. So we poked along very, very slowly - just keeping an eye on each other's every move. Finally, my impatience got the best of me. The finish line was only a couple hundred meters ahead, and I jumped for it. She caught me in the last couple meters and won the race. Shoot! But that was one of the most fun races I've done - consuming both my legs and my brain.

Pic#1: Working together in our breakaway

Pic #2: HPC/List teammates before a race

• Amy's visit: Amy, Rob's sister, flew out for a few days. It was a lot of fun hanging out with her and Brittany, looking at wedding dresses and talking about all the details for Brit's upcoming wedding this summer. I would have pictures of this, too, if photographers would only place themselves strategically in my everyday life the way they do at my races.


• Mount Saint Mary Criterium: Two girls broke away early on in this race. Once it looked like it would stick, I also jumped the field, along with two more girls, to join the breakaway. The five of us worked together the rest of the race to stay in front of the main field, and it came to a sprint finish between us. I came in second. I'm not so hot at sprinting. But the good news is, I beat the girl who beat me in the sprint at the last race. And I got my upgrade to Cat 2. Yay!


• On The Rocks at French Creek: FUN mtn bike race. Camped out in Pennsylvania for this one. There's just something I love about camping. I have lots to say about this one, and most likely no one cares to read yet another stinking race report. But if so, I posted a blog about this on my mtn bike team website, www.dcmtb.com. I'm still nursing wounds from two crashes onto the rocks at this race.

You may wonder what Rob is up to. Clearly, this blog is all about me. Most people with blogs write about how cute their kids are, or what their families are up to, or current events, or whatever. Well, not me. If Rob gets around to posting any time again soon, perhaps you can hear all about him! But here's the skinny: He has gotten to take some trips to NY for work, and he loves those trips. He plays soccer, runs and bikes. And he is my number one supporter at my races, my personal soigneur. I'm still trying to convince him to take the job as my personal massage therapist, but he hasn't signed the contract yet. Not even for $500/hour!

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The Greenbriar Challenge

http://www.herald-mail.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=164486&format=html

Oooooooo, yay, that's me in this picture in the Herald. Not that the reporters know or care, so I thought I'd point it out. They are looking at Katie Compton in black, to the left (who won the race), but I am the one front and center. So I pretty much have to create my own attention. Look at me!

Well, my bike was finally perfect for the first time in a mtb race this year. Bega from City Bikes performed an emergency operation on the front suspension I blew out at Sea Otter and had the bike perfect for me just in the nick of time on Friday night. Unfortunately, my legs were not in nearly as good of condition as my bike. After a great start and riding up with the lead group for the first couple miles, my legs and body went on strike, and the rest of the race consisted of people passing me and not having any strength to chase it down. It was a really fun, but really technical course, with logs or rock gardens to negotiate pretty much all along. It beat me up in a new way. The last descent was incredibly fun - it was a rocky mud bath that felt great to splash through at high speeds on a warm day. I finished 11th, which I was happy about given my lack of strength that day, but disappointed that I didn't come into the race fresher. Last weekend my road team, HPC, had a team training camp in West Virginia that consisted of 10 + hours of riding up, down, and all around the mountains there. Apparently I didn't give my body ample recovery the week after, and subpar racing is the result. I still haven't quite figured out how to train just right. Learning.

Another picture #1

Another picture #2

another picture #3

another picture #4

another picture #5

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With Love, From Mother Asia
Thanks , Dayna and Garrett, for our lovely Japanese gifts. This is the most stylin' tote bag I have ever seen. I take it with me everywhere, because the power is terrific and I always feel freer to use it than whether to use with what kind of use. You good people. Kansha shemashu.

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Lorena places 15th at the U.S. Open

http://www.cyclingnews.com/road.php?id=road/2007/apr07/usopen07

In her first "big time" pro road race Lorena placed 15th, in the money! Way to go Woman!

Pics will be posted in the future.

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US Open Circuit Race
Check it out - the road race I am competing in tomorrow in Richmond is going to be on NBC Sports (Saturday, April 7, 2007, 2:30 pm – 5:00 pm EST). Although, I am not sure if they will actually show the women's race since the men usually get all the media...but hopefully there will at least be a few highlights.

www.usopencycling.com

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Spring Break!

Spring break was fabulous! I got to do lots of bike racing and visit many of the people I miss so much in California. Unfortunately, I forgot the camera. So this is pretty much the most boring blog of text ever. All I have is a couple pictures from the Jeff Cup Road Race a couple weekends ago. I got third place, my best yet for a pro1,2,3 race. Isn't this picture beautiful? It was a really beautiful day in a perfect place to ride.

I got to meet my darling neice, Tori. She is a doll! Canon might have some competition for the best baby ever. And it was so much fun to have some good sister time with Rachelle.

I got to go mtn biking with Ralph on one of my favorite trails, often refered to as "Space Mountain", for obvious reasons. When I was driving away through the beautiful canyon near the trails, I was listening to my favorite cheesy music station, the Coast, and "This Used to be my Playground" came on the radio. It pretty much had me in tears. I love and miss that place so much!

It was a blast to hang out with many of my old Pepperdine friends - Rachel, Becca, Ryan, Whitney, Matt, Shelley, and Scott. Not much has changed; it felt just like old times. Becca and Ryan were as stoked to get Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Pez candy dispensers from me (as gifts for their hospitality) as I would have ever expected. And how exciting to find out that Shelley is now expecting a baby!

It was also wonderful to see Dena and her new baby, Peri (so cute!), as well as my good friend Gina Vincent. It is such a blessing to have such great people in my life.

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