One of the coolest gifts John gave me for Christmas (not to diminish the rollers or Wii!) was the introductory course to riding in the Velodrome at Boulder Indoor Cycling. We both signed up for a 10 week class to get certified so we can go to the track and ride whenever we want. I have to say that I FREAKIN LOVE THE TRACK! Those who know me know that this is a first for me because I have had a love/hate relationship with the running track most of my adult life but the indoor cycling track is something that I just love! We have been taking a class at the crack of dawn on Tuesday mornings. Our instructor is a former pro cyclist names Michael Robson. He is an Aussie and he rocks! Not only is he passionate about cycling he is passionate about keeping knuckle heads like me in line before I trash myself on the track.
The track itself is just cool and scary to look at:
Quick Facts: Construction: Wood Overall Length: 142 meters Maximum Banking (corners): 45 degrees Minimum Banking (straights): 16 degrees Current Lap Record: 7.690 seconds
The track creaks and cracks as we go flying around it on our fixed gears. You need to see the track to appreciate its small size and steep turns. I have added this picture and a couple links for you to see more if you are interested. Trust me when I tell you it takes some getting used to as you learn to cruise around the track. You have to stay at 14 mph at the very slowest or you will simply slide down the track. That is enough to make it a real workout for me! I rarely dare go that slow. Since we have been riding we have had one crash in our group. Poor Tom couldn’t decelerate fast enough and he had nowhere to go but down. All I heard was the crash and slide. It freaked me out and it took me an entire class to get over the sound. I had a similar reaction when Sonja crashed in a bike race last summer; she was right in front of me and I saw her crash but the sound is what seems to stay with me. Tom was fine and back on the track in a couple laps. Last week I arrived at the track early enough to watch the hot shots before our class and two guys locked handle bars and one of them went down and broke his collar bone…just like that! So I have to say that I have a tendency to ride fast in order to keep away from people! We ride somewhere between 25 and 25 mph depending on who is pulling and what we are doing. I have learned all about madisons, exchanges and really holding my line! The rollers have really paid off!
Michael and our morning group are all there for a hard workout so we really hammer. The workouts are a gut buster for me as I chase the boys around the track! John and I got to go to two of Alan’s classes on Tuesday night and that was really fun too! It was a very different coaching style but we both had kicking workouts and the people were really nice. The challenge to track riding is being comfortable enough in your own skin to jump in with a group of people you don’t know. The better they are the better I am. It is really hard to follow people who aren’t as confident or who are squirrely. There are a bunch of vocal queues we use to let people know what we are doing at any given time and sometimes I feel like I am the only one yelling but I am cool with that if it keeps someone from crashing into me!
Thanks to Michael, Alan and Tim, who got us started at Steve’s clinics! This has been an awesome addition to my athletic abilities. It has definitely made me a better cyclist! And thanks to Johnny who makes his Pista look so good on that track!
I am so excited to announce that I will be racing with the GS Boulder Cycling Team in 2010! Since my return from Worlds I have really struggled with what to do, how to do and when to do just about anything related to my training and my 2010 season. In order to make some decisions I've spent tons of time thinking about all the fun I've had in the last 15 years and I came up with 4 things: learning to mountain bike with a different group of friends, adventure racing, bike racing and learning to be faster in all that I do.
My amazing sister gave me a HOT! mountain bike for Christmas so that was clearly a sign I need to jump into Xterras! Yahoo! And I shopped around for bike teams to race with...I am not a seasoned bike racer and I don't have the skills I may need to win races so I was looking for a team that would afford me the opportunity to learn from other cyclists, develop my skills in a group and have fun with new friends. My friend Nicole H introduced me to GS Boulder and she will be racing Category 4 too so I was excited about having at least one person I know to ride with, especially when I can't make the weekend rides in Boulder.
After having met with Melissa B we agreed that I would be a good fit for their Cat 4 group. I went to the team meeting at the new TREK Bicycle Store in Boulder and it was so awesome to meet so many people, check out the 2010 kits and hear about all the great things the club is working on!
I have spent the majority of my life traveling to Homer NY for Christmas and this year, after spending all my time and money in Australia, I decided to stay in Colorado for Christmas. As soon as I made my decision John and I started to plan all the fun things we wanted to do. (OK, I started to plan and he agreed!) The pictures posted today are from all the fun things we did with friends: Zoo Lights with the Stephens and Waltons, Botanic Gardens, Dinner with friends, tree decorating at my house, deep frying a turkey on the patio and more. Thank you to everyone who made my holiday really special!
I'm looking ahead to 2010 and thinking about a race season that looks like this:
Moab 1/2 - March 20th April wide open Rev3 - May 9th Buena Vista Bike Fest - May 15th Kansas 70.3 - June 6th Lake2Lake - June 26th Buff Creek Off Road? - June 27th Musselman 1/2 - July 9th Beaver Creek Xterra - July 17th Copper Triangle - Aug 7th Indian Peaks Xterra - Aug 8th Rattle Snake Olympic - Aug 15th Lory Xterra - Aug 28th ITU Worlds - Budapest - Aug 11 USAT Nationals - Sept 25th
Christmas with Johnny!
tyler, john and jackson at zoo lights
Chelsea is home!
Caravan to Moab
Beautiful Moab Canyon
Spaz in Moab
on the podium!
Pre Race Dinner with Christine & Joe!
no words...
we all look so happy at the start!
The views are other worldly!
The Girls Above the Canyon!
Me and Tyler at the Top of the World
The Colorado River Below
Self Portrait at the 12 mile mark!
REI Catalog Photo!
John Climbing the Mountain!
Tyler checks our results
John & Beth at the Finish Line
Wildlife in Australia
boys in the park
the wild jungle!
just a gorgeous place in the world
really cool flowers
Climbing Above the canopy
PC at Worlds!
Steve, Lori, Me, Tony, Sonja, Michelle
Team USA Pre Race Run
Lori, Michele and Sarah
hanging in the beer garden with Pop
Playing in the Park
Alison & Rachel in the beer garden too!
Our names are on our bibs! So cool!
mexican dinner the night before worlds???
Race morning was beautiful!
My amazing sisath!
My biggest fans!
Beach Start is so powerful!
Making the turn for my 2nd lap
Biking with the big dawgs!
In the finish shoot!
My butt on the finish line!
Post race chillaxing!
The Girls Goofing in the Beer Garden!
John celebrates with me!
My name on my uniform and its not a bowling shirt!
carbo-loading seemed to be the theme
Partying the night before the ride!
Karen, Me, John, MP & Barry
Karen carbo-loading before she shops!
Lipstick what????
keeping warm
Early cold start for Copper Triangle
no words...
Girls ready to ride!
Margaret rode for Steve Dewitt, another friend with PD
Top of Battle Mountain
Battle Mountain View
Catching up wtith Shoppers in Vail!
Smackdown at the Go Karts
Go-Kart Smackdown
Rich and Drake were impossible to pass!
John vs John
Prepping for One Million Faces
Post ride party!
Pre-race prep with the team
who is that???
Team 1 checking in for Athletes4aCure
Triboomer telling us what our jobs will be during the Pro races
Post Race Celebration at Dreamland BBQ!
Barry loving the 1/2 slab of ribs he stole from MP!
5TH Place looks really good on Michelle!
Tyler & BArry bonding!
The Evil river!
Red is my color!
Thursday night gang at Olive Garden
Checking out UAB and all the Co-Eds!
Red Heads Getting Ready to Race!
Me, Michelle, Sonja, Priscilla!
Red racing stripes for Race Day!!
Chilling by the Black Warrior River!
T, B & MP
Hard to explain...
sonja and michelle rockin out
Getting ready to go!
The "Mass" Start was Crazy!
The Butt Shorts make the scene!
Ken learning to read a map!
Adventure Racing Pros!
We had the best crew by far!!
The river looks gorgeous backwards!
Bad Bike Butt!
The stories and drinks are the best part of the day!
BV Divas Finish Strong!
Pre-race hanging out!
MF & BT scope out the boys in uniform!
My Hero Chrissy Wellington
Tony, Keith, Sonja and Me checking out results
We were all happy it was over!
Re-Con Gang!
The PC Team really rocked!
We were almost done!
Check out our new kits...in the front pack!
snacking before we start
Fun in the sun!
MIchelle Ford & me sporting our awards!
The day begins at Lake Mead
Checking out the Casino at NYNY
Nicole, John, me
Sexy toes before our night on the town!
Hanging with Tyler and Anne on the strip
The Long Dawgs
Chillin with John after the race.
John, Michael, Tyler and Nicole
Pre-race dinner at New York New York!
Our Biggest Fans!
Margy, John's Sister Experiences her First Tri!
Team Videographer!
Margy's husband Steve caught us on video!
Race morning the ocean was pounding the beach
john and beth getting ready to race!
John on his new TT bike!
John kickin it on the bike course!
Frozen feet off the bike
Hard to run through transition but still had good T times!
running to the finish...
Its all about showing up!
5:16 and 1st place! Not too bad for my first 1/2
john and beth celebrate finishing a great race!
Andrea at the Normatec booth
john and beth in the legs of life
2 years and we are still having fun!
john and beth at Venice restaurant in downtown denver!
john with his favorite tool
if he could play guitar all day he would be a happy man!
John BBQs tofu for both of us!
He is a great chef even with "beth food"
John and his favorite girl
Shania is John's beautiful black lab!
Barry and MP chillin after the race!
Moab is the best place to see old friends!
Paula and Melissa Clark Thorpe...one of the original OB Relay Team
The best fans come from Salt Lake City!
Christine and her friend Karen came to Moab for a quiet weekend! Ha!
Paula and her growler
she makes me so proud!
Time for drinks in the setting sun!
Dottie, Priscilla and Beth let the games begin!
Christine and Barry from Fazz!
Christine and John
This is what i get for asking them to keep their eyes open!
Christine and Karen posing in Moab
so much for keeping eyes open!
Celestial Seasonings in Boulder
The Mint Room is the Best part of the Tour!
Christine at the top of Mt Falcon
Talk about a dramatic experience!
Stacey's birthday celebration in Albany, NY
Snow Shoe #2
noell, barry, sarah, bt and mp!
MP & Me at the Coyote Cafe
Noell and James Chillaxing!
Winter Park 09!
John doing his 70's disco ski move
the snow shoe gang!
Barry, MP, Noell, Parri, Kayla & Andrea
Post race hanging around!
who is this masked frozen girl??
post race warm up!
Blog Archive
Trike Races Ruled!
Must be all that cycling!
Leah and Lacey were great teammates!
its all about team work at DAXKO!
i can't identify these people
there is a reason the 80's are gone...
Nicole and Beth revisit Flashdance
Feliz Navidad?
Margaret relaxing after power shopping!
Benj and Scot, big SU fans!
Angela and Madeline...posers!
Merry Christmas Jerry!
hanging lake hike was very scary!
Christmas comes early to Hotel Colorado
Nicole and Beth being posers!
I can't stand how much fun we have being silly!
nicole watched the cliffs very closely!
Zion National Park
So beautiful!
Climbing up to Angels Landing as a real character builder!
I love to swim so much and i was so sad i couldn't swim in Zion...
No Swimming in the Emerald Pools
Christine and Beth in Park City, UT
hugging on a moose in the middle of town!
Running the Human Race for the Utah Food Bank
nicole and christine are already conspirators against me!
Joe and Christine, our amazing Thanksgiving Hosts!
Friends that make you laugh are forever!
11 years ago we started running and here we are...
BT Running to the Finish
The Moab Crew Celebrates Our Wins!
Troy and Anabelle continue to be the very best fans!
Sometimes it is all about showing up!
The Best Race Director Provides Veggie Burgers!!!
i was so happy to eat something besides red taters!
Me wandering around the port-a-potties...clearly confused!
Practical Coaching on the Run!
Eric Willis provides us great insight into some PC athlete's running form!
Nice form!
On my way back to the finish!
What a fantastic bike course!
Pre-race Duties
Michelle, Noell and I are getting organized
Jenna and Tyler getting their schwag!
Have we learned nothing?
Hot water, carrot cake and beer after a race?
Where are the bikinis now?
Priscilla, Michele and Me Beachin It!
Relaxing on the beach!
The Boys!
Barry and John chillin at Mac Grill!
The key to relaxation
Samuel James Stephens
Carbo Loading PC Style!
My biggest fans!
I will miss them both this year!
Nationals 2007 Fun
Racing Super Stars!
Ken, Lori, Beth & John
The Steamboat Tri Racers!
John, Lori and Ken all had great races. The whole crew was there to cheer us! The best part of the race is when Paul, Sarah and Kelly were yelling at me to GO GO GO GO! Thanks you guys! I had a great race as well. I took 7 minutes off my time from last year’s race and finished first. I have to admit that having my shoulder working makes a huge difference in all 3 events! I was thrilled to have a 1st place but honestly the highlight is that I took so much time off last year. And I know I can take more time off on my run with a lil more work!
Post race celebration!
How about that? #1!
FOB
Tennant's in Scotland
Me, Ang, Ben, Scot, Sarah, Jerry, Madeline, Pop, Margaret
A seasoned triathlete who continues to learn every day. I travel the country selling software to YMCAs, I play with friends & family as often as I can and I soak life in moment by moment!