Well yesterday's CCTT was shaping up to be a great race... the weather was great, I finally got in a good warm-up, I felt good, and being my last CCTT this season, I had the motivation to kick some butt! Unfortunately, I got a front flat going up the hill and the race was over for me. :( I walked back toward the start for a while before a kind recreational cyclist rescued me and donated a tube and the use of his pump. I didn't have any desire to finish the course at that point (why bother?) so I just rode back to the start (avoiding crossing the finish line) and let them know that I DNF. I was pretty bummed about that because it was my last chance to get anywhere close to this season's goal. This season was really disappointing for me compared to last season. I guess I just need to train harder for next season.
And for some icing on the cake, I got a rear flat on my lunchtime ride today! Argh! I suppose it could have been worse... at least I had everything I needed to fix it. Had I forgotten to put my seat bag back on after the race last night, I might have been stranded out in the middle of nowhere with nothing but mooing cows.
Well I'm already starting to get nervous in anticipation of this weekend's Ward 150. There's no way I'll be riding 150 miles, but I plan to do one of the three loops (50 miles) plus riding to and from the house for a grand total of 62 miles (according to Erik's calculations). What makes me nervous is that I've never done this climb up to Ward so I don't know what to expect. From what I hear, it's a pretty tough climb, and with the shape I'm in right now, I predict that it will be very painful. Erik says I'll be cursing at mile 15 because it's so steep there... Joy!
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Mother's Day
On Saturday, we went down to visit Erik's mom. We had a very nice day with good company and good food. We ventured out of the house for a couple of hours to catch the movie Hot Fuzz which was amusing but not a candidate for my favorites list. I probably missed out on most of the humor just because I didn't get the references to other movies. Oh well.
Today has been a lazy Sunday. After waking up and eating breakfast, Erik and I discussed going for a bike ride, but ultimately decided that a nap sounded more appealing. So we crawled back into bed and napped until it was time to get ready to go over to my parents' house for a Mother's Day BBQ. Then after we got back home from the BBQ, we napped again. Usually I'm not a big fan of naps but they sure were nice today!
The BBQ was a good time as well. It was nice to see Gran & Ivan whom we haven't seen since our wedding. It was a nice way to celebrate mother's day with family, friends, food, and sunshine. :)
Mom being silly, hanging out with Gran & Mike.
Today has been a lazy Sunday. After waking up and eating breakfast, Erik and I discussed going for a bike ride, but ultimately decided that a nap sounded more appealing. So we crawled back into bed and napped until it was time to get ready to go over to my parents' house for a Mother's Day BBQ. Then after we got back home from the BBQ, we napped again. Usually I'm not a big fan of naps but they sure were nice today!
The BBQ was a good time as well. It was nice to see Gran & Ivan whom we haven't seen since our wedding. It was a nice way to celebrate mother's day with family, friends, food, and sunshine. :)
Mom being silly, hanging out with Gran & Mike.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
CCTT Report
CCTT #4 was another CRAZY WINDY day! That type of wind is so demoralizing because you're pushing as hard as you can but still your average speed is pathetic! It's fun when the headwind becaomes a tailwind though! :)
CCTT #5 had beautiful weather... finally! Poor Erik was so bummed because he forgot his cycling shoes so he couldn't ride. He is still convinced that it was the one chance he had to run a really fast time (because the weather was ideal) but since he didn't ride, he'll never know. As it turns out, Erik and I are about the same size, which makes it pretty convenient because we can share things like clothes, shoes, and bikes! So with Erik unable to ride, I decided to try his TT-specific bike and aero helmet. The bike is a bit sketchy at slow speeds and on sharp turns because the position is so aggressive, but in the aero position at high speed, it handled better. The bar end shifters were really nice! The theory was that I wouldn't have to take my my hands off the aero bars throughout the whole race, but it ended up not being the case because stupid me neglected to adjust the aero helmet to fit my head before the race so it kept falling down over my eyes so every few seconds I had to reach up to fix it... all that probably entirely negated any aerodynamic advantage I may have gained from the TT bike and helmet. Oh well. I don't have any desire to use that gear again though... the position was too aggressive for me and I didn't feel like I could make as much power. Not to mention, my neck was SO sore afterward.
Congratulations to everyone for riding so well this week. It took me FOREVER to catch Jeanie and Marni... you girls were riding really strong!
Race #4 (5/2/07) - 31:35 - Crazy windy, again! (11th out of 21)
Race #5 (5/9/07) - 29:18 - My fastest time yet but it's hard to say whether it was a result of the aero gear, the good weather, or both. But the weird thing is that I actually felt slower this week, probably because it took me so long to pass Jeanie and Marni. (12th out of 26)
CCTT #5 had beautiful weather... finally! Poor Erik was so bummed because he forgot his cycling shoes so he couldn't ride. He is still convinced that it was the one chance he had to run a really fast time (because the weather was ideal) but since he didn't ride, he'll never know. As it turns out, Erik and I are about the same size, which makes it pretty convenient because we can share things like clothes, shoes, and bikes! So with Erik unable to ride, I decided to try his TT-specific bike and aero helmet. The bike is a bit sketchy at slow speeds and on sharp turns because the position is so aggressive, but in the aero position at high speed, it handled better. The bar end shifters were really nice! The theory was that I wouldn't have to take my my hands off the aero bars throughout the whole race, but it ended up not being the case because stupid me neglected to adjust the aero helmet to fit my head before the race so it kept falling down over my eyes so every few seconds I had to reach up to fix it... all that probably entirely negated any aerodynamic advantage I may have gained from the TT bike and helmet. Oh well. I don't have any desire to use that gear again though... the position was too aggressive for me and I didn't feel like I could make as much power. Not to mention, my neck was SO sore afterward.
Congratulations to everyone for riding so well this week. It took me FOREVER to catch Jeanie and Marni... you girls were riding really strong!
Race #4 (5/2/07) - 31:35 - Crazy windy, again! (11th out of 21)
Race #5 (5/9/07) - 29:18 - My fastest time yet but it's hard to say whether it was a result of the aero gear, the good weather, or both. But the weird thing is that I actually felt slower this week, probably because it took me so long to pass Jeanie and Marni. (12th out of 26)
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