Kenda Cup West Sagebrush Safari 2010

After a few hard weeks of training, last week I was happy to take the week off. I did one ride midweek, and otherwise spent my time resting and chilling out. It was a much needed break both physically and mentally.

Unfortunately, the forecast for Saturday was grim. Pretty much rain and wind and cold temps all day. Justin and I got up around 7 to steady rain. We got together breakfast (devil grains!)



and then while I packed up some things and worked on our tax return, he was out in the garage grinding away at the mess that is 6.5 years of parts and tools. It was around 10:30 or so when I realized there was some blue sky outside. I rushed to get dressed and make bottles, and urged him to do the same.

Once we got started the roads had somewhat dried. 13 minutes in to the ride we started to get dumped on. That continued, then it dried out a little, then we got drizzled on for about an hour or so. Got to a decent climb, and it was feeling warmer. That didn't last too long, though. After the one descent we hit it was really coming down. Crazy cross headwind and just pouring rain for about 20 minutes. Most of the rest of the 3+ hours we spent riding into a headwind.

It was awesome to have my legs and body finally come around and work together. Everything felt like it was re-aligned and ready to go! Overall the ride was pretty stellar. Didn't get cold until the end, and energy levels were solid despite probably not eating or drinking as much as I would have on a non-rainy day.

The rest of the afternoon was spent doing final prep for the first race of the year, and some house cleaning (finally!).

Sunday we got up bright and early and headed south to Lake Morena for the race: US Kenda Cup Sagebrush Safari.

We didn't know it when we pulled in, but got a prime pit spot!







I hadn't had time to ride my new 2010 bike from Rock N' Road Cyclery at all! Did a parking lot test Friday night and that was it. Was stoked to have the new XX bling, but had no idea how the shifting or gears were gonna work out!





Brand new white shoes and mudfest?



Justin and I got suited up and headed out to do some warming up a little after 10 am.



Since we both raced at 11, no race photos!

I sort of expected a bit higher turn out for Pro Women, but in the end it was Pua Sawicki, Rebecca Tomaszewski (Niner Ergon SS!), Anna Fortner and Dot Won from Team So Cal (CX). At the start, I knew Pua would lead us out on the long flats to the first climb. A small gap opened up right away between Rebecca on her SS and Pua, and I worked hard to close and pull myself back to Pua. Was ok sitting in, but there were a few rollers and I realized I had a really long race, so let off the gas a bit, and the gap continued to grow. I didn't see any women behind me at all, so just kept my pace strong, but steady. Pua disappeared up into the men's class once the climb started, and I set out to catch up to my SS buddy Mark Scheetz! Finally got him at the top of the climb.

I was STOKED to hit dirt on my new bike. I was having so much fun pumping the singletrack. I talked to James post-race, and it's so easy to forget you are racing on this stuff! Just had a blast riding my bike. Unfortunately not too much later I was faced with a massive hike a bike section! It just keeps going! Made it up that, then was sort of trading places here and there with other racers on the rollers up top. Temps were colder for sure.

I got down past the muck pot at the bottom, and just as I hit the fire road to climb back up to four corners Brian Crooks yells, "Grab my wheel!" Well ok then! He did a monster pull for me all the way to the pavement where I finally felt awesome and put in some efforts. Got back to four corners and was stoked to hit dirt again. Legs were definitely starting to feel it by now. I hadn't done much in the way of hard efforts yet period, much less 1.5 hours plus of racing! Tried to keep my pace solid and kept moving. Once back to the hike a bike the other classes were out as well, so I offered encouragement and cheers where I could.

Back to four corners one last time, and I was ready to enjoy the final descent. There was some mud here and there, but it was pretty groomed compared to last year (freshly graded and DUSTY) so I just had a blast railing the descent and pumping the rollers at the bottom.

Was stoked when a Cynergy racer came around me just at the pavement and I sat on his train back to the creek crossings where I slowed up (still got inundated!) and then to the finish line.





Overall, it was an amazing day to race! My bike was flawless, race went about as expected. I was glad that I was able to put in a strong weekend!

Despite not feeling "right" with the trigger positioning on Friday night, and not having any idea how going from a 3x9 to a 2x10 would work out, everything came together worry-free once the race started. Felt like all the "gears" fell into place and I had no issues with a brand new bike or brand new shoes. Out of the box the gear just fit and worked as well as I knew it would!

Thanks to Rock N' Road Cyclery and Ergon for the support this year. Also, big thanks to Tim from Troupe and Crankbrothers for hooking me up with a set of SHOE SHIELDS. If you wear carbon-soled shoes and don't use these - seriously consider getting a set. Talk to your LBS and have them start stocking them. We needed two sets last minute Saturday and out of 4 shops locally only one shop had one set; the other shops didn't even know what they were.

Big thanks to Team Big Bear, Sho-Air, and all the people involved in putting on the race. Course was great and well-marked, results were pretty quick. Can't wait for the rest of the series!

I rinsed my shoes off with a SUN SHOWER (not a high pressure hose or towel) and here's what they look like:



I love Specialized!! Great design not making any of the fabric white. Stellar.

Kenda Cup West: Santa Ynez Race Report

I thought Sea Otter was a whirlwind! Justin and I got home late Monday, and were up and at'em early on Tuesday for 4-days full of work. Mid-week we traveled west to partake of a cool group ride with Ergon and Crankbrothers and that made for another really late night. Super on track for back to back race weekends! :)

Friday we got stuff packed up for an early Saturday morning departure to head north to Santa Ynez!

Podium bottle I got free from Sea Otter (thanks Camelbak, Garmin, and Clif!)



We got to the venue in the early afternoon, picked up our registration packets (series plate #5w, stoked!), chatted with Ty and Davey in the Sho-Air RV, and headed out for our pre-ride. The course was shortened a bit from 2008, but still included some fun sections. The course was both in better and worse condition than last year if that is possible? It seemed like it hadn't been used a lot, so the cows had been enjoying the trails, but I don't think the dirt had been soaked as much and then dried out, so there wasn't a lot of caked/broken earth like last year.

There were a few sketchy corners, but otherwise everything was in great condition.



It's all about product placement!



I'm trying to switch over to exclusively using E2Hydro drink mix and the E2 ProCharge recovery. Hopefully I can continue to use this stuff (I'm running sample packets at the moment). I've been really happy with the E2 Hydro on hot days (wish I would have tried it last weekend at Sea Otter, actually). I've struggled with Cytomax in the heat quite a bit. It just isn't really drinkable. With only one bottle cage on the bike I've got to have a mix that I can drink no matter what the temps, and something to wash the gel mix down with! I was really happy with the E2 Hydro on Tuesday in the heat on our lunch ride, so used it this weekend. The ProCharge ice cream tastes great with both water and milk, and is chock full of protein mix! Mixing it with milk I think ups the carbs a bit and gives it a nice blend of nutrients. Follow that up with PB&J and I was good to go!

Driving back to the hotel through Solvang we were scoping restaurants. There wasn't much for seafood except in Lompoc (according to the Garmin 705 "Where To? Feature), and neither of us felt like making the drive. We decided on AJ Spur's Steakhouse. The food was great, but we got a little more than I had bargained on! No worries - meant I didn't have to make lunch last night! It was the happening place to be I think. It was half empty when we got there, but full when we left!

The rest of the evening was spent preppin bottles and food (me)

The set-up



and going through the bikes and changing tires (Justin). He switched out my front tire to a brand new Specialized LK. It was great for Sunday's main event!

Despite trying to sleep in, it was an early morning for us (we're usually up before 6). We got to making breakfast and playing online, but it was pretty quiet! We anxiously awaited word on Luke's finish up at the 8 hours of Hurkey since he raced solo and was going for the big "W".

Eventually around 9 we figured we may as well head out to the venue, so packed up and off we went. The Cat 2 and 3 riders were just finishing up warmups, and we watched the waves take off as we chatted with Jason and Heather from So-Cal Endurance.

After some relaxation and race spectating it was time to suit up!

We did our warm-up on the hill that was used to shuttle downhill riders up to their start last year. This time they were using the "old" course, so the shuttle trucks weren't using it. There were quite a few others warming up there as well. The wind was picking up, but otherwise the weather was pretty good.

Justin went back to the truck to fiddle with his shifting, and I put in two more efforts and rode the finish chicane. We met back on the line where XC Pro and super supporter Robert Herber was set up with our start line/lap 1 bottles ready for take off!

The "call up" was kind of random, and I wound up on Joy's right side up against the barriers. Despite the series ranking plates, the call-up didn't seem to go by series placing. I knew it was going to be a weird start, and one or more of us was going to get squeezed out. I think I wound up 6th or 7th off the line; not a great place to start on the singletrack. The pace was smoking fast from the get-go as I think Amanda led us out for the first mile or so with Kathy and Zephanie right on her wheel. I moved up a few spots and I think was sitting 5th behind Krista as we made our way to the first singletrack climb. Passing is tough on a lot of the course since it is a lot of bench-cut singletrack. I put in a few efforts to try to move up, since I wasn't sure if the Kenda women had any tactics going into the race or not! The 3 of them held the top 3 spots all the way up the climb and I knew Kathy was putting in efforts to create an early gap.

Eventually I settled into 2nd and kept Kathy in my sights. Near the end of lap 1 I bridged up and sat behind her for a bit. She sat up to feed and I went around, but that didn't last long! She moved around me again on the ridgeline and I just tried to keep the gap manageable.

I had a bit of miscommunication in the feedzone and was not sure where Robert was, and I slowed up way too much. He was at the end of the line in a clear position (no one in front or behind him, so clear spot), so lesson learned. Keep it moving the ENTIRE time! Jason told me to make a move as Kathy was pulling more time! I kept her in sight for most of lap 2, and saw Amanda closing in on me.

They were both riding really strong throughout.

Lap 3 I was slowing down big time. General body fatigue was setting in and everything hurt (especially my legs!). Justin caught up to me and I tried to enjoy the windbreak, but couldn't hold his wheel at all. I yelled to him to go after Matt who wasn't TOO far ahead, and eventually he took off up the singletrack climb to try to bridge up in his class.

Amanda passed me easily near the top of the first singletrack climb, and my body wouldn't respond to hold her wheel. I settled in to a pace, trying to recover and make up time on the descents. Eventually I noticed my HR just wouldn't climb back up to race pace, so it was all about damage control and making sure to keep the pace just enough to hold on to 3rd.

The wind on lap 3 was downright brutal, but I tried to put in a final effort on the flats back to the venue to stay in 3rd, and just tried to finish strong.

Super tough race after Sea Otter last weekend. Gotta get the body used to these back to back hard race weekends!

Everyone raced and rode really strong and I was definitely pushed a lot. Had a blast out there racing. The course was a lot of fun.

I tried to spin for a bit, but I was pretty shot. Wound up doing a little loop with Heather, Joy, Krista, and Justin post-race and had fun hanging out and chatting! Definitely makes it worthwhile when you can hang out with other racers and get out of race mode. I've noticed there's not much time to chat when we're out trying to rip each other's legs off during the race!

Overall, great weekend. Definitely looking forward to backing off the racing and getting back to solid miles on the bike at a bit slower pace.

Pro Women podium



Pro Men podium



Cat 1 30-34 men

Take… "2"?

After the massive effort last Sunday at Fontana I took Monday off (as usual - it's my "errand" day) and decided since it was mid-cycle to do a bit longer of a ride on Tuesday, but with less intense efforts. I felt KILLER out on the bike. I hadn't had a training day like that in a long time. Wasn't pushing hard at all, but just really enjoying pedaling. Unfortunately Justin did not feel so great. We wound up a tad shy of 2 hours, with some easy efforts.

I was going to take Wednesday as it came, just get out on the bike at lunch and see how I felt... Well, I put in an effort and didn't feel horrible; did a 3min effort and then backed off a tad. So, I kept it going with efforts and recoveries the entire way. Solid hour! Still feeling pretty good.

Thursday we planned on heading out to our local easy mountain bike loop. I was planning on taking it easy, but Justin was out for redemption after a week of feeling the race efforts, the crash recovery, and tons of poison oak. He and Luke sped off, and I spun slowly behind, far far out of sight. It was pretty cold.



I took a right where I thought the boys may have gone, but I wasn't sure. Wasn't up for a steep climb, so I just stood around listening to the silence to see if I could hear them coming the other way…eventually I heard some tire skids and around the bend they came.



I chased Luke and Justin down with Ben from Troupe hot on my wheels. He asked if this was our "slow" pace! I was like, "I'm working like crazy!" I fell way off after that since my legs were feeling it and not happy. No reason to put myself in a hole! I was out for a cruise. Made the boys wait for me a bit, but that's okay. HR was ridiculously low every time I stopped pedaling uphill.

Friday was a short regen spin in the morning. Good thing, too, cause right after work it was off for a family/friend dinner and we didn't get home until almost 10. Spent the next 2 hours or so packing up for our first race weekend away from home! I had been up just after 5 on Friday morning, so by midnight I was a zombie. It's a wonder I didn't forget anything imperative.

Saturday we slept in til about 7 and I got to work making us some delish oatmeal. We got on the road shortly after, and before 11 were down at the venue for Sagebrush Safari.



We met up with Steph and Dan, and it had been a LONG time. We did a ride with them around New Year's, but they had been our prime riding buddies last year, and it was a much needed reunion!





We hung out on the flats chilling, but once I hit a higher HR I decided to just go for some sweet spot riding up the hill. The course was marked, so I just kept following the pavement up and up. I looked back and didn't see anyone for awhile.



Justin was putting in the chase

Mt. Pinos in the distance. We gotta climb up THAT??



The group catching up



Techy



Look fast - unsuccessful



Hike-a-bike!



I'm just glad that I spent so much time hiking LAST weekend that my calves and shins were fully ready for the task! :)

I was fully enjoying the course. The descents were SO fun! I wasn't sure how it would play out on race day, but I was having a blast on the pre-ride.

I hit the hills again once we got down off the fire road and put in another easy effort back up to Four Corners.

I knew I wouldn't like this on race day!



I set off up Pinos in a solo attempt and got in some hard efforts on the steeper sections. I was thoroughly enjoying the climb and the views were spectactular. Got up to the top and took a short break to eat what little calories I had (definitely under packed on liquid and food!)



Shortly after the pack rolled up!



We rode with a few other guys, and finally met Adam from the Gary Fisher 29er crew! We chatted a bit on the way back up to Four Corners (again?!) about Joy's adventures in Costa Rica!

Once back together we made a run down the final singletrack. It was nice and sandy and dusty! Still a blast.

We hammered out the pavement and made it back to the venue in time for some lunch on the rocks before heading to the in-law's for dinner and bed.

I didn't feel like I was really recovering as well as I could've been (tons of walking and standing, and hydrating), but we had a killer dinner of grilled salmon and ahi, salad, and brown rice. It was SO good. There was hardly anything left over! We all destroyed the food.

I sat with my feet elevated for a bit, and off to bed we went.

I'd crashed UPHILL on Saturday, so my somewhat "twisted" ankle bugged me all night, and my legs definitely felt the efforts from the previous day on Sunday morning. I made some extra oatmeal goodies, we packed up and headed south for the race site. It was packed already and we got there before 8:30!

I tried to stay out of the wind and seated, but did a bit of walking around. Everyone was pretty spread out, but chatted with a few people and hung out in the truck to keep dust-free and warm.

We got suited up pretty early and cruised around a little, and headed out for a warm-up. We made it about halfway up to Four Corners and Justin needed to do some adjustments, and my legs just weren't feeling like any further efforts were going to help.

Got everything suited up and off we headed to the line!

The Pro men took off in a cloud of dust, and we took off shortly after.

I had no idea what to expect when we hit the tarmac. I thought maybe the group would stay in a nice peloton so we could work together on the flats in the wind. Pua had other ideas! She sped off like a freight train and the rest of us wound up strung out behind her single file. I don't know about anyone else, but it was all I could do to just hang on to Krista's wheel in front of me. I thought I'd be blown by the time we hit the ascent. Pua attacked off the front as soon as the road turned up, and I went around a few people and was sitting in 2nd. Pua had already made a gap too big to close. There were men in front of me, and people behind, but no one going a similar speed, so I climbed into the wind up to Four Corners solo. I had a small gap on Amanda, Kathy, Natasha, and Zephanie, but they weren't letting the gap grow at all! I hoped to make up some time on the singletrack, but when I hit the slickrock climb they were right there!

I continued to put in efforts on the super fun descent that followed, and generally forgot I was racing I was having so much fun. A train of men rolled through, but I had no chance of hanging on! They were smoking. I don't think I touched the brakes on the fire road descent, but shortly after we hit a false flat and the hike a bike loomed in front of me. I saw Pua picking her way through the men's field ahead, so I knew the women behind me would see me also! Continued moving at all times and putting in efforts where I could.

I got to the top and solo'd that. Once I got to the turn to go downhill I was faced with a massive headwind! Going downhill is not usually so slow and laborious! Put in a lot of time solo, and eventually down on the false flat looked back and saw a big group of guys coming my way. I had no hopes of latching on to the first few, but tried to draft wherever I could!

The climb up to Four Corners was fairly painful. Lots of wind and no relief. I grabbed a fresh bottle (though my initial one was less than half empty!) from Business Darter who is a highly coveted pit man and definitely stands atop the pit guy podium at every event he is at! Not only did he hand me my bottle mid-climb, but he also was snapping shots whilest mid-hand off. That takes skill!

I wasn't much looking forward to climbing up to Mt. Pinos, but made the best of it. I looked back on the big switchback and saw a LOT of riders. I saw a few red jerseys in there as well and knew the Pro women were chasing me down! Pua was out of sight! I put in a few efforts thinking the top was much closer than it actually was, and suffered all the way to the top! It was sweet relief with we turned on to the fire road descent. I was hoping to recover a bit in order to have some energy for the last ascent up to Four Corners.

There was a LOT more traffic this time around with the other categories out on their shorter loop. Lots of traffic on the final descent, but I had a good time just trying to hang on.

I spent the final flat back to the finish line begging my legs to hold on to 2nd place. I hit the dirt and heard "just one more mile!" I hoped he was kidding, but when I saw the motorhomes in the distance I knew I had a LONG way to go!

Pushed it the entire way and was stoked to finish 2nd behind Pua! 3-6 came in not too much later! It was all really close! The Pro women definitely pushed my limits a ton this past weekend, and I was ecstatic to place where I did.

I was a bit out sorts after crossing the line, so half spun around in a daze, waiting for Justin. I cheered on a few people, wandered around, and Sarah was awesome for letting me know Justin was fine, but he'd stopped to help out an injured rider.

We took our time getting dressed and stayed for about 98% of podiums to cheer on Vu and Matt









After that I was done with the wind and the sun and we took off. We snacked on some Clif/Luna bars and then Justin had the brilliant idea to stop at Rita's in El Cajon. What! I was full already!

We split a burrito anyway (3rd meal since the finish!)



The ride home



No post-race beers or candy for me this time!

Killer weekend overall. No complaints. Sho-Air is putting on a killer race series for us here in CA and I can't wait to head up to Sea Otter in a few weeks!

It's not May, but I've got about a "month" of mayhem coming up pretty soon! 3 race weekends in a row. I decided already I'm taking the day after Idyllwild off! Course, I will have to do some cheering for the Super D!

Until next time...

Time's fun when you're flying…

Back-up title: If I knew then what I know now…

I spend quite a bit of time in a quandry as to where I belong in the racing world. I feel like at local races I am sandbagging, but it is often mentioned to me that these aren't "national level" races, and the competition is a lot better on the bigger stage. I don't have delusions of grandeur thinking I can hold onto Georgia's wheel any time soon (first off, she's probably been racing Pro longer than I've been riding a bicycle), but I also don't feel that good not giving any of the "local" Cat 1 racers a chance at the top step of the podium.

USAC feels that I don't belong in the Pro category, and since their site has been down all day, I can't check on any updated racing info (and I heard over the weekend they changed a few things?).

If I knew in late 2007, or beginning of 2008, that I'd be this serious about racing, I would've upgraded to Cat 1 (nee Expert) following Fontana last year. I would've gotten my butt handed to me at quite a few Expert races last spring, but I would've learned something. I had no idea. I didn't know I should've been moving toward something else. No one told me I was wasting my time. USAC didn't mind that I was winning most of my races, and podiuming the others.

I upgraded a bit too late last summer, so only had half a handful of results that went to USAC, and they were all for really local events. My result from the CA State race is a bit skewed, since I got a flat tire (tire glued to the rim = long tire change). I was 3-4 minutes up on my field and felt great. That's racing. I set my sights on not having a DNF for the race, and accomplished that.

Either way, I am where I am right now, and have a decision to make.

Now, let's back up.

I knew I wanted my nutrition to be stellar leading up to the race since we'd be basically training through. Saturday we were hoping for 3.5-4 hours, so I wanted to have the tanks topped off after a slow week, nutritionally and ride-wise.

Dinner Friday night - yellow sweet potatoes, chicken, and Trader Joes' Brown Rice Medley (super bomb stuff)



Since I mentioned it last week, I thought I'd get some shots of my new oatmeal concoction. I'd eat it more often if it wasn't so loaded!!





While we were packing stuff up I figured I'd shoot for some extra protein in my weekend diet, and I threw together some berry protein shakes for us for after the ride. I need to find a way to make them more liquid and less solid, but they're pretty good.



The taste of the protein powder is fairly overwhelming whether I have yogurt or not (Sunday I didn't have yogurt in there - it was thicker than it had been WITH it, also). Guess I'll have to live with that!

Not too long after we started the drive up north to pre-ride the course a few times!

Justin took some shots of my new bling



Mentally preparing for the start!



Preride shots







Luke











We got in 4 laps. One was race-pace, and the other 3 were mostly SST. I was super worked after the ride, and easily downed my protein shake and some water, then we went to check in and pick up our race packets.

I didn't really look in the bag until we got home, but we got hooked up! A ton of swag!



Cool number plates, free t-shirt, free water bottle (event "personalized"), a bottle of H20 Overdrive, sample of Rapidade (I've never tried it), sample of E2 Hydro (looking forward to trying this one), Gu pack, KMC power-link type deal, and coupons for Rock N Road and ESI Grips.

Figured I'd try out the H20 Overdrive post-race since it's 3:1 carbs:protein.

We both spent too much time on our feet (Justin prepping bikes, and me prepping food, drink, and clothing), but since I was having some pain and discomfort behind my knee Justin had me sit with my feet elevated (laying down) and had me take 4 Ibuprofen. I couldn't feel my feet after 20 minutes, so got up to shower and hit the foam roller.

I had half a cup of Kashi Go-Lean (non crunch) in some milk and went to bed.

Got up Sunday morning after a fairly poor night's sleep (I spoke too soon - the upstairs neighbors have spent the last 3 nights making noise), made some more oatmeal and got together post-race PB&J bagels and the berry protein shakes, along with coffee!

We packed up and headed north with Luke.

We were there plenty early, but we got a pretty primo spot. We hung out and chatted with James, Eric, Ryan, Herber, Jason Ranoa, and the Fletcher's, and eventually Justin and I headed over to the start to watch the Cat 2's take off! It was really warm already, and not even 11 am yet.





Once it got close to 11 we went back to hydrate, have some food, and get changed into race clothes for the warm-up. I did a fairly long warm-up, but spent a good amount of time spinning the legs out, and did a few hard efforts to get the body really warm and ready to go. It was seriously hot out.

Added a few new stickers!





Luke thinks it looks like a NASCAR body!

Slater got this shot of Justin and I warming up



I told Justin good luck and we both lined up in our respective locations. The Pro's took off, and shortly after the Cat 1 men were out of site. It was hot standing in the line, but no worries. We were moved along really quickly, and I think started some time around 12:50. I sort of lined up wrong - I wound up behind someone who wasn't on it when the women started, and then my gearing was a tad off. I worked pretty hard to bridge from the last 3rd of the pack up to the front half. I had no idea whose wheel to grab, but we were all jostling for position on the early climb.

I held on one wheel, went around, held another, went around, held another, went around, soon I only saw Melanie McQuaid and Krista Park in front of me, and we started to pass some of the older Cat 1 men. What!

I continued to hold Krista's wheel where I could, and she and I traded spots for most of the 1st lap. She gapped me a bit in the transition, and I managed to catch back up by the time we hit the feed station. I hit the lap button late, and up we climbed, trading spots here and there.

Lap 2 it got really hot. I had little desire to drink my Cytomax, but continued to take it in anyway since I knew I needed the fluids. This one bottle cage situation is less than ideal, so for hot races this summer I think I'll be trying a weaker mix.

Krista started to pull away a little more than halfway through the lap. I could've dug deeper and held on, but it wasn't really necessary, and my legs were begging for mercy. I sort of wish I would've gone and done a 3rd lap anyway, to see if I could've held off 3rd in the Pro field, but since I wouldn't have been "racing", I'm not sure it would've done me any good. I pulled off after my obligatory 2 laps, and spun around for awhile, after grabbing some ice cold WATER!

Had a good time cooling down with Rachel and Heidi and chatting about the race and stuff. I managed to make it back to the finish line area and catch Justin coming through! He finished 8th out of 24 in his first Cat 1 race, despite cramping up for most of lap 3! Way to start out the season!

We both had a killer day of racing. Sho-Air has definitely breathed some good life into the US racing scene and I'm really looking forward to Fontana later this month!



Since I shoved so much food in my mouth after the race (lots of water, H20 Overdrive, berry protein shake, PB&J bagel, half an In & Out burger - my first taste since 4/04, no joke) I wasn't even hungry until about 8 last night. I enjoyed some "victory cereal" and a small bit of pasta and olive oil.

I slept poorly again last night, but the legs are feeling good and physically and mentally I'm ready to hit the tarmac for some hard intervals this week. No matter what category I'm in come later this month and year, I've got to be ready to hit it and do my best.

This training thing really pays off.


Next up - more food info, and list of stuff I liked.