Snow

March is the snowiest month in Colorado. This fact can be a hard pill to swallow when you are a bike racer-- especially after spending two weeks in sunny CA.

So, what's one to do? Ride the trainer? Sure, but everyday? No way.  Skip training? Hell no. HTFU? Yes. Get out and ride your bike.

You might surprise yourself with the fun adventures you have- and a surprisingly good training day. 

Sandwich a coffee shop stop in the middle of the ride, and you're good to go. My two adventures with Dr. Andy included stops at Tod's and Winot. Both were quite good and made for great ride "destinations".

Bonus of a CX bike- snow, dirt, mud, frozen-- who cares? I got to ride my bike today!

And I saw a snowman. The coolest snowman I have ever seen.

Sisterly humor

Got this funny e-mail from the Sister. Thought I'd share-

As expected, ride 1 went as follows:
-first 10 minutes...brrr I'm cold, am a I dressed right
-10-15 - wow I like this ALP cycles kit, comfy!
-Minutes 16-20 - knee warmers falling down, ride off the road into the dirt 
trying to retuck.  Nearly crash.
-20-30 - first climb, knee warmers with gap, too hot in vest
-30 - remove vest, fix knee warmers on side of road
-30-50 - ride like a normal person
-50-65- search for pee spot
-65 stop to pee, get viewed by people in a cement truck
-65-70 - wonder why I can't clip back in.  Oh yea, I have pee mud stuck in shoes
70-85 - ride like a normal person
85- see a Bald Eagle, stop to take picture
86-100 - bonk, barely make it home for lunch. 

Luck

The past two days it's been on my side. Luck that is.

Yesterday, I drove to Longmont, got on my TT bike and 5 min later realized I didn't have my saddle bag. No tube, no pump, no tools, no nothing. On my SRM file, you can see that very moment as my heart rate jumped sky high. It was a sickening feeling. I was going to be one of those people who flag you over to use your tube and CO2 because they weren't prepared for a bike ride.

I prayed to the little baby jesus, stayed close to either the car or Hygene, and didn't get a flat.
Thank you little baby jesus for looking after me.

Today, I was riding up Lookout (for the second time with my ALP Cycles athletes) and found $1. I think I'll use that $1 to pay it forward and buy someone something because I've been pretty lucky.

I also got my second NoaNoa espresso paid for by nice ALP athlete Sandy. Maybe I'll be gentle on her tomorrow and won't make her do her last interval--- or not. Intervals make you tough. With that in mind--

Blur

From palm trees to snow. Or was it snow to palm tress? Maybe both?Yes, both

I'm home from team camp. Wow, it went fast. We crammed a lot of stuff into that 2 weeks.
-4 days of racing
-8+ hours of driving travel time
-10+ trips to Handlebar
-12 days of riding
-3 recovery days
-3 trips up Gibralter
-endless paceline practice
-team dinners and lunches prepared by Chef Amy
-15+ team meetings
- 2-3 verbal spankings
- a lot of laughing
- a lot of eating
- 1 media training day combined with photo day
- a lot of FUN!!

3 weeks at home now. I like home-- keeps me grounded and happy. Though it is strange to have already raced, then come home to snow.

Luckily for me, I brought some Handlebar beans home. The Bezzera did well and I had 2 yummy shots this morning.

TT Day

The goal today was to take pictures during our ride. I forgot. But, thanks to Alexis, we got this photo mid ride.

We rode TT bikes today. It was fun. Recovery day tomorrow. Supposed to rain, so that's good timing.

Handlebar

Handlebar Coffee Roasters. We go there a lot. I go there a lot. Been every morning and twice after our rides. 5x in 3 days.

It's good. Good coffee, good pastries, good people. 

Erik and Chef Amy enjoying a cappuccino and baked good yummyness.

 FNG Lauren and I sharing the best GF muffin I've ever had.

 Cute border collie dog getting coffee. Sorry Lucy Dog, I pet this doggie too.

 Post very cold Gibralter descent. Handlebar warms the sole.

a long time

Ok, wow. I have not updated the blog in a long time. Actually, I forgot about the blog. Oops. Sorry if there are any readers who read this. Anyone out there?

If there are any readers, I'm in Santa Barbra for team camp. It's awesome. Well, ok, it's only been one day- but so far so good. Slept in (till 6am), layed around in bed, got up, went to Handlebar for two espresso's and to see Kim and Aaron. Breakfast, internets, recovery ride with the team, Handlebar stop #2, home, lunch, coaching work, massage, shower, coaching, dinner (we have a Camp Chef!!), team meeting.

Yes, our first ride was a recovery ride. We raced in Merced from Thursday through Sunday. It was a giant shock to the system to be back in host housing, racing, eating for racing, and general craziness. But, it was awesome, and I can't wait to do it all again- plus I rode really well! Redlands...one month away.

Yes, Captain Kurt hired Amy to be our Camp Chef. She's great and the dinner she made us was A-maze-ing. She's also taught me about Nutritional Yeast. Through some experimentation, book reading, and movie watching, it seems I'm heading more and more toward being Vegan, (plant based diet for the past month and I already don't eat dairy) so I need to make sure I get proper amounts of B12 and protein. I'll try it in my oats tomorrow.

If there are readers, I promise to try to blog more often. More blogging brings more readers, so I'll try.
Bed time now. I have my own room! Queen bed, and mini bathroom with a toilet and sink. It's awesome. I wish every housing situation could be like this.