How's Your Ass-pen?

Done. The last official race has come and gone. It was fun. It was in Aspen, and it was a great way to end the season.

First off, our host house ruled. The view was so pretty.

Good kitty.

Not a bad view for our host house Bulls (actually steers but bulls sounds better).

 

 Day 1 brought a ride up Independence Pass- a must do when in Aspen.  Swanny Mike, me, and Rider Who Shall Remain Nameless made it to the 48 degree and raining top. It was a chilly ride down to the coffee shop.

Day 2 was a ride with ALP Cycles Coaching athletes Kelly and Cat, and a pre-race dinner put on by Snowmass that The Mom and Dad came to as well. Good times. 

Day 3, race day. Despite being only a 4 corner crit, it was fun. We raced hard, we raced well and I got second place. Bonus of the day was the Powers cheering section of The Mom, The Dad, The Sister and Niece J.

Post Aspen, we even took 3 more NOW roadies on the steel*wool ride.

Yes, Aspen was super fun, but coming home to JH and silly friends is still the best.

Update

There's been a lack of updates- in case you haven't noticed.

I came home from Cascade and didn't do much. I was tired.

Then it was off to Chicago for Tour of Elk Grove- a 3 day stage race in the burbs. All I can say is I'm glad I don't live in the suburbs- of anywhere. Stop lights everywhere, everything is a chain (stores, restaurant, etc.), and there were no coffee shops (other than Starbucks).

Pretty much, after Elk Grove, the season is now over. Major bummer that Aspen got cancelled to just a crit. Now, I guess it's time to ride mtn bikes and drink margaritas.

I figured, I have all this fitness, I might as well race the North Boulder crit this past Sunday. It's pretty neat because one year ago, at the NoBo Crit, I made my "comeback" post broken 'bow and 3 months off the bike. I suffered my way to 7th place and was so happy and proud. On Sunday, I took it one step further and won the dang race. That felt good. 

Post race Cari, Christa, and I went into the Boulder Creek to cool down. That felt good too.

Today, I got to ride mtn bikes with my NOW mechanic Erik. That was fun- and hard.

I won't lie, now that the season is pretty much over and it's only August, I feel a little lost. What do I do now? Nothing to train for and no trips around the corner. Guess I'll enjoy being home and chill out. I'm excited for it.

Yellow - at last!

 The trip started in Boise. We got to stay in the same host house as we stayed in in May and we knew exactly where the Crux was for our morning ride coffee stop.

After an afternoon of farting around, it was time to race. The Boise Twilight Crit-er-e-um. It had been 3 weeks since I last raced and I felt a little rusty. Then it started to rain, and I felt wet and rusty- also a little afraid as the roads were super slippy (and dirty).

 Post race, Devon looked like she had been to war.

 Anne had apparently been to a friendly war.

I was lucky enough to get second place - in an Exergy sandwich.

 We got a rainbow post race.

 Then it was time to drive to Bend, Oregon. On the way, we passed the cheese mini bus. I found it fitting as He Who Must Not Be Named and I eat this cheese almost every night with our dinner.

 We starting racing Cascade, a 6 day stage race. The good thing about having to go to Bend, is that it's a cool place. Nice scenery, good food, cute town, bike friendly, and good coffee. Yep, found 3 good coffee shops and had as much espresso as I could find time to have.

Another cool thing about Bend? I used to go there for ski camp.

Hello Mt Bachelor.

After Arrrrrmstrong quit the race, I got to wear the yellow leaders jersey. By the last day, thanks to my NOW teammies, I got to win the yellow jersey. Done. I've never won a big stage race like Cascade before. I've gotten countless 2nd's and 3rd's but never have come home with the jersey. This one is special.

 We celebrated by taking Devon out for Ice Cream. I copied Beth and got a sundae. I can't remember the last time I went out for ice cream but it was dang good.

Yep, this bike racing thing can be pretty fun. I'm lucky to have a supportive man and doggies and a great team to travel and race with.

The end. For now.

Break Time

 2 weeks home. 5 more days left. It's been a really great break. I needed it. I was getting tired of power meters, skinny tires, spandex, the race/recover cycle, and being away from home.

I needed to ride my new mtn bike, ride my road bike without worrying about my watts and cadence. I needed to get drunk at steel*wool, I needed to see my family, and I needed to remind my friends and He Who Must Not Be Named that I still care about them and want to hang out.

I needed a break and I got it. Now, I'm ready to get serious again. Time to train. Time to focus. Only 3 more important races left.

 On a side note- I got to do Saturday's part of the MS 150 on a tandem and it was awesome.

 Lori and I kicked ass. We were strong, we laughed, we learned, and we were finished by 11:30am.

Augusta

I have to say, the idea of going to Augusta early to "get used to the heat and humidity" for Nationals seemed awful. I don't like heat and I don't like humidity- but this trip was FUN! Actually, all trips this year have been fun. They are like going on vacation with your friends. We hang out, we laugh, we drink coffee, and every so often, we race our bikes around in circles.

This trip was no different. Robin, Addy, Erik and I had fun and it was like vacation. Later in the week, joined by the rest of our teammaies, we raced.

Not a bad view from our "lake house" -aka host house that was amazing.

Here's proof that Robin actually does dishes.

 This is my most favorite picture of them all. TT bike, sunset, lake, pretty.

 This was the first trip of the year we did not visit a coffee shop- not for lack of trying as every time we visited town, they were all closed. However, we replaced our double shot espressos for a double shot of wheat grass- almost every day.

Some sort of coffee drink that was ordered. It began as a Macchiato, and ended up as...?

 Being the Queen of Drinks, Robin was willing to try it all.

 Oh ya, we rode and raced our bikes. It was US Nationals after all.

 4th in the crit-er-i-um, 4th in the road race

 3rd in the TT.

Always having fun. Actually I was so busy having fun in the baby pool (peeing in it), I almost missed the awards ceremony for the crit.

I am so lucky. My team is fun, they are my friends, and we race well.

Tulsa Tough Fun

Tulsa Tough rules. Peroid. It is the best set of crit races there are. Good courses, good money, good crowds.

Night #1 had the biggest women's prime ever--$1,600. I was lucky enough to get it and I got to go to the podium because of it.

It was pretty dang cool--though, I'm sure a couple of my teammates would have enjoyed the double girl kiss more than me.

The next morning, we (Me, Robin, Anne) woke up bright and early to join 1,200 other riders for the Tulsa Tough Gran Fondo.

Post ride was a coffee stop and a surprise in the paper. Good article!

Cry baby hill is today. It's hot, it's humid, there's a lot of money, there are a lot of spectators, and we party tonight.

For Siz-ale

 It's time to upgrade. It's not that I don't like my Orbea- I do!- it's just that I've have it for a couple years  and I feel the need for something different. Not to mention, I've been riding Specialized road, TT, and CX bikes for three years now. Maybe it's time I finally get a sponsor correct mtn bike too.

Thus, I'm selling the Orbea. It's a good bike. Full Carbon, 4" of dual suspension. I took it to Tin Shed Sports to have it all fixed up-- new cables, new housing, trued wheels, nice and clean, etc.

 I am 5 feet 10 inches tall, thus this bike is a size Large.

 Asking price is $2k. If you're good at negation, perhaps you can get a better deal. I also like to trade stuff. You show me yours, I'll show you mine.