Euro Trip- Part 2

 Once we got to Italy, things got instantly better. We were in a 4 star hotel with good internet and a beach/ocean view. We were in town where we could walk to morning coffee.

The racing was better- minus the cars, which seemed to be everywhere. The peloton was smoother, the transfers shorter, the scenery better, and the temperature cooler. The helmet numbers, on the other hand, were not ideal.

Even Italian doggies were cuter.

 We no longer had to cook our own food. Though, due to the meat looking like this, I continued to stick to a plant based diet.

 Which included a lot of this type of food. Rice and ________

 I had a little more fun in Italy. My body stopped hurting from crashing, jet lag was gone, my fitness was getting better rapidly, I was enjoying riding my bike, and the small things like- internet, food, coffee, and communication was easier.

We had a nice last dinner at a pizza place that had great gluten free crusts. 2:45am wake up for a 3am departure for the airport to come home.

 I'm happy to be home. When I look back at my Euro experience, I have to admit, it isn't with fondness. I know some of this is due to it being the end of the season and I'm ready to be finished racing for now.

The racing made me fit, the racing will make me a better racer, but I did not enjoy it. This has been a tough reality to face and I'm not really sure what to think now.

I do know I'm still motivated to train and race next year. I still like winning races and having success as a team. For now, that's all that matters.

Here's to the off season.

Euro Trip- Part 1

 It all started nicely. Look I'm in France riding my bike. It's fun, it's pretty, it's all good.

Minus the sleeping arrangement with sheets big enough to cover almost half the small bed.

 Alexis and I went for pre Prologue Espresso- just like normal (though the flavor ranked one below nasty).

 We had nice team dinners and coffee together. 

Then it all went downhill-- and onto the right side-- twice. In one day.

 It sucked and I cracked.

 Everything hurt. My body hurt. It hurt to ride my bike. I wasn't sleeping. The internet sucked. The drives each day were long and windy, the and racing was hard with no success.

 I tried to HTFU. I tried to race my bike. I was sort of successful in that I won a trophy. Most combative of day # idon'tremember.

 But I was not having fun. This no-fun feeling has not happened to me for several years. I've made a point of making my bike racing fun. If I'm not going to get rich doing it, I might as well be having fun and enjoying my life as a bike racer.

Being in pain, away from home, not making money, and not able to have a chance at winning each day really made me think long and hard about "what am I doing here?"

Finally we finished Ardeche. We celebrated with grapes picked right from the vine,

 and beer and pizza- for me.

 We drove to Italy and I still had a bad attitude. I needed an attitude adjustment- ASAP.  I got one. Thanks to The Sister and her advice of "ditch the expectations and enjoy the experience", my trip has now turned into WWHD (What Would Heidi Do?).

If Heidi were in Italy, she would drink wine. Cheers.

Heidi would eat a chocolate croissant on the bike ride during the coffee stop (no the espresso is no good here. It's all over roasted and tastes burned). 

Here's to a better outlook for this week of racing, and here's to enjoying the experience- no matter what kind it is.
Racing starts this evening with a 2km TT. Yep, less than 3 min.

Changing it up

From a stage race (Elk Grove) to a 7.5hr mtn bike race (Leadville) to a crit (Fort Follies) to 2 European Stage races. This past month has been nothing but interesting--and fun!

I've enjoyed time at home, a vacation with He Who Must Not Be Named, riding mtn bikes, riding road bikes, and riding my TT bike. Though, it was a bit if a shock to the system to go from a 7 hr race to 4 minute intervals behind the moto on my TT bike.

Instead of calling the season over after Elk Grove, I've decoded, after 5 years away, it's time to go back to Europe and see how I fair against the Euros. Hopefully, I'll be better. More confidence, more race savvy-ness, and more maturity.

Thus, I'm on the bus headed to DIA. France first then Italy.
I'm excited.

What Just Happened?

 The past 5 days have been crazy-- in an amazing way.

First up, two days of mtn biking with a funny friend and He Who Must Not Be Named.

Then fly to race a Criterium.

 A kind of important criterium.

Crit Nationals in High Point, NC. 1.5 hrs of going round and round in circles trying to make the sprinters legs tired so my team has a chance at winning.

 Pre race focus-- I'd tell you what my mental mantra is before each race, but then I'd have to kill you.

The strategy kind of worked. The sprinters were afraid to make their own legs tired while Amanda Miller and I rode round and round for 80 min.

The result was very unexpected and I still can't believe it.

I am the new Criterium National Champion. Crazy. Freaking awesome-- but still crazy.
One of the coolest parts? The race director puts on races to raise money for MS. My team raises awareness for MS. Pretty sweet connection.

 To celebrate, we had a great team ride to Pilot Mountain on Sunday. I love riding bikes.

 To celebrate again, I didn't ride my bike today and instead when on a little hike around the house. Dang it's pretty right now.

This victory just proves that you should never count yourself out of a race. Anything can happen. Never give up.

Summer Break

It's officially "summer break". Summer break is a much needed break in the race season. It's a "time out" when I get to be at home, ride mtn bikes, drink margaritas, and do something other than travel around and race bikes.

Week #1 of summer break was spent-  walking dogs

Planting flowers and watching the wild flowers bloom.

 Riding and winning the Golden GranFondo with Sway (aka Teammie Maura).

Eating chips and banans during said GranFondo

Playing with Moe Dog.

Not shown is riding my mtn bike, hanging out with He Who Must Not Be Named, and chopping wood. A lot of chopping wood.

I've got three more weeks of summer break!!

The "between" Time

This is the first time, in several years, I have been hanging out between races. Instead of getting on a plane and going home, we have either driven to or gotten on a plane to the location of the next race.

This money saving tactic has it's pluses and minuses. For me, personally, I am a fan of being home, so I find it hard to come up with many "pluses". To avoid cracking totally, I'm trying as best as I can to find the pluses of each place we go and each activity I do.

Other than being at a ski area, in a super fancy hotel, a plus of staying in PA was this Bakery in Emmaus. Wow! My most favorite bakery ever. Gluten free goodies, vegan goodies, and goodies for normal people who eat normal stuff.

 The plus of it being so hot and sweaty in PA? When you sit down, you make a chamois sweat heart on the bench. Then you can send it to your fiance who you haven't seen in forever.

We did get Christmas in June. A shipment of Champion clothing made it's way to us in Philly. It was exciting.

Finally, after 5 days of hanging out in PA we got to race in Philly. It was fun and it was hard. I won the sprinter prize and got some cool swag. My little Liberty Bell trophy is a keeper for sure. Super cool!

 Then we flew to Tulsa and guess what--it's time to hang out again-- for 4 days. Yes, the countdown to home has begun, but we're on the home stretch. Tulsa Tough is coming this weekend and it's the best three days of crit racing the country has. Plus, dang good prize money.

I also happen to like Tulsa. I'd say it's my favorite city. I know my way around, we have some pretty sweet friends and friends of the team here, we're well taken care of, there's good coffee shops and restaurants, and the riding is pretty dang good. 

I saw this little guy on my bike ride yesterday. I've never seen a turtle in the "wild".

 

For now, I'll continue to make the best of my downtime. Ride bikes, chill out, find coffee shops, and have fun. 

Home in 4 days!

Moving On

Nationals are over. We're done with Chattanooga and racing for jerseys.
On our last day, we woke up early, breakfast (mine was chicken noodle soup and a little coffee as my stomach still wasn't feeling good), Camp House Coffee stop (I skipped it--that's how I know I was sick), warm up, race Nationals Road Race. Somehow, maybe it was the chicken noodle soup, I rode and raced really well. Finished 3rd place.

Then we got in the car, drove to Knoxville, and the next day drove to Bear Creek Mountain Resort in PA. It was a long ass drive.

We've had two relaxing days. Mine have been spent laying around, coaching, time in the spa, and a bike ride. I'm trying to win the laziness competition we are having amongst the team. Need to heal the body and get back to good health.

Tomorrow we are off to Philly. Super cool Philly race on Sunday with equal prize money for men and women!!