My first hilly RR of the year. Not so bad, actually better than last year were at lap 2 I blew up on the hill and got dropped. This year my goal was to not be the instigator of attacks I was to sit in ride smart and be patient. From the start I knew that two ladies would be taking off and I was pretty confident that know one would be able to catch them. The second time up the hill they simply road away from the pack. A second group of about 5 were chasing with one of my teammates in the group, the two up the road were both my teammate's so for me there was nothing for me to do but sit in. The group of five got reeled in on the flat section. Apparently the other teams failed to notice that we had no lead car thus the race was still up the road. I rider from another team came up to me and said we got them all back. I told her actually no, there is a break up the road, she was confused no she said we caught them. I told her "no I have two teammates that are long gone". She then said "hey we've got a break still up the road lets chase them down!" Good luck they are sooo gone. We stayed together and made our way up the hill the final time. I felt pretty good my back hurt some and I had to spin more than I am used to, not as much power especially when I would stand. Another one from my team pulled away from the group on the corner for the pack finish 1 2 and 3 for the day. Several more in the top 10. I didn't even see were I placed, for this race it simply didn't matter I finished with the pack I climbed better than last year and I road well just not aggressive. The race was good for learning and getting back to racing/climbing for me but it wasn't as much fun as playing with team tactics. There was no organization beyond the two that took off from the pack for our team. Mostly we all seemed to just be surviving and doing a fast ride not really a race. Good for training not what I consider a real race.
I think my teammates that disappeared up the road so fast that the rest of the ladies failed to even know they were gone are moving up to the 3's. I am very happy for them and I think they will do great. I saw that the 3's are getting their own scoring for the BARR this year, that is so cool, finally enough critical mass to start giving women in the category something to work for that is more attainable against their true competitive peers. They still race with the 1-2 but the separate scoring at least for the BARR races is definitely a step in the right direction. I also believe that when women can completely drop the entire field they need to move up, they are not learning how to race if they are in a solo break or with one other person. Their abilities are above the other women in the field and as great as it must feel to win it doesn't push them to become better racers. Hopefully the goal is not just to win for the sake of winning but to better yourself against those who are better than you. Every year there are new 4's that are more fit, stronger and faster than me. As long as I race I think this will the the case. But every year I see my own improvement and I know that eventually I will have that race that it all comes together, it may only be once but I am sure it will feel good.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Landis Case Thoughts
I am a scientist and know quite a bit about creating and following protocols. As part of my job I set up and maintain quality control of sophisticated instruments (flow cytometers the same instruments that were used in the Hamilton case. This is another whole issue that I have reserved comment on because I know how easily flow data can be miss read and without seeing the raw data I hesitate to draw any conclusion.) as well as helping investigators design experiments, run the instruments, analyze data and troubleshoot. I have also worked for a company that produces toxicology products for solid phase extraction of drugs/compounds found in blood, urine etc. for analysis on HPLC and GCMS as well as the quick initial screening for the presence of all drugs using simple chromatography. I used to design the methods to extract specific molecules of interest out of a sample to produce a clean mass spec or other analysis for the compound in question. I do feel like I am probably immersed enough in this field to speak up without just talking out my ass.
From the New York Times "Don Catlin, the former head of the U.C.L.A. antidoping lab who now runs his own antidoping research facility, said that initial tests of urine samples could produce negative results because none of the tests fail the screening for a high ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone. If a sample comes back below the threshold of four to one, he said, there is nothing to trigger the more sophisticated carbon isotope ratio test. That test examines the atomic makeup of testosterone in the urine and can determine if it is natural or synthetic."
Yeah, so seven samples taken did not have elevated ratios of T:E but one did. That one sample was then tested for synthetic T. C12 vs C13. This alone raises concern since it is the minute difference in C12 and C13 that consitutes synthetic vs natural Testosterone and a lab that is potentially flawed in its proceedures could easily get false results. Now I am no genius but one out of eight are elevated and gets further testing low and behold synthetic T is found. The one out of eight makes the 1:11 sample an outlier in my opinion, inconsistent with the rest of the tested samples. Usually if there is one sample that is not consistent with the rest it is suspect. In this case it became a smoking gun. The other problem is the other 7 B samples that were just tested by the same lab, again if it is a reliable test it should and would have to be reproducible with the same protocol anywhere. Having the same lab preform the test, excluding outside witnesses and coming up the identical results to the original one outlier is very curious. The other 7 samples did not trigger the more sophisticated test because there was no elevated ratio so how come they now test positive for exogenous Testosterone? Yes, yes I know that ratio of total T:E is not indicative of the T's natural or synthetic origins but it is the consistent synthetic finding NOW and the inconsistent T:E from the original tests that raises doubt for me.
Conveniently the French lab does not have to answer to any of this to anyone because they have now destroyed the evidence to which they are using to build a case against Landis. That is very bad and shady science. "It's true because we say it is" will never convince me. Science should be transparent if it is good then they should want independent verification to further solidify their findings and the overall reliability of the methods they use. Besides that there is the whole leaking of information that keeps happening. Wouldn't surprise me if the "results" were leaked before the tests ware even performed. Sheesh!
Landis is the winner of the 2006 TdF weather the French like it or not.
I am all for catching a cheat and keeping the sport clean, but how can it be clean when the ones in charge of the whole process are dirty?
From the New York Times "Don Catlin, the former head of the U.C.L.A. antidoping lab who now runs his own antidoping research facility, said that initial tests of urine samples could produce negative results because none of the tests fail the screening for a high ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone. If a sample comes back below the threshold of four to one, he said, there is nothing to trigger the more sophisticated carbon isotope ratio test. That test examines the atomic makeup of testosterone in the urine and can determine if it is natural or synthetic."
Yeah, so seven samples taken did not have elevated ratios of T:E but one did. That one sample was then tested for synthetic T. C12 vs C13. This alone raises concern since it is the minute difference in C12 and C13 that consitutes synthetic vs natural Testosterone and a lab that is potentially flawed in its proceedures could easily get false results. Now I am no genius but one out of eight are elevated and gets further testing low and behold synthetic T is found. The one out of eight makes the 1:11 sample an outlier in my opinion, inconsistent with the rest of the tested samples. Usually if there is one sample that is not consistent with the rest it is suspect. In this case it became a smoking gun. The other problem is the other 7 B samples that were just tested by the same lab, again if it is a reliable test it should and would have to be reproducible with the same protocol anywhere. Having the same lab preform the test, excluding outside witnesses and coming up the identical results to the original one outlier is very curious. The other 7 samples did not trigger the more sophisticated test because there was no elevated ratio so how come they now test positive for exogenous Testosterone? Yes, yes I know that ratio of total T:E is not indicative of the T's natural or synthetic origins but it is the consistent synthetic finding NOW and the inconsistent T:E from the original tests that raises doubt for me.
Conveniently the French lab does not have to answer to any of this to anyone because they have now destroyed the evidence to which they are using to build a case against Landis. That is very bad and shady science. "It's true because we say it is" will never convince me. Science should be transparent if it is good then they should want independent verification to further solidify their findings and the overall reliability of the methods they use. Besides that there is the whole leaking of information that keeps happening. Wouldn't surprise me if the "results" were leaked before the tests ware even performed. Sheesh!
Landis is the winner of the 2006 TdF weather the French like it or not.
I am all for catching a cheat and keeping the sport clean, but how can it be clean when the ones in charge of the whole process are dirty?
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
G-MAX flush
I got up this morning at 6:30 and decided that there was plenty of time to grout my shower tile before work. See, I hired a plumber to install my shower fittings, sink and toilet, he comes on Friday. As of last night I was a bit ill prepared for finishing work on the new bathroom, thus I must make it happen. I dreamt about it all night, little scenes in my head of grout, taping, mudding, painting and oh yea, getting a toilet. Now not just any 1.6gal wimpy Home Depot toilet, no no, I was introduces to the G-Max ToTo toilet this baby gets the job done the first time I hate that low flow toilet that you have to flush multiple times just to get the paper to go down. Anyhoo, so at 7AM I went out and started mixing up the grout. The job was annoying and I probably should have had my mocha before I started. Gravity is not your friend in many cases, 1. when you are no longer rubber side down, 2. whe you step on the scale and 3. when you are putting grout on a wall and it keeps plopping onto the floor. I finally worked out a technique of keeping most of it on the wall before smooshing it in every darn crack, 4X4 tiles look pretty but that is a lot of surface area to cover in between each one. I was down to my last two rows and the bucket was lookin' a bit shy to complete the job. Momentary panic as I had no more grout in the bag, only those plops on the shower floor. I scavenged up every bit of loose grout and narrowly escaped another mishap with this fun little project that I have taken on. Sponging off the tile made me feel better, it looks really nice. My hands an wrists are supper sore but it is just one more step closer to getting done.
And now... a little rant. Things that need to be G-MAX flushed. 1. people talking on their cell phones while trying to park, resulting in blocking traffic as they try to manoeuvre their car one handed oblivious to the line of cars (and bikes, me) waiting for them. 2. The next person on their cell phone trying to back out at the same time as #1 not paying attention creating a multiple car SNAFU neither able to negotiate either pulling in or backing out because they are too busy talking on a phone. 3. It the third person on the damn cell phone who gets impatient and tries to pull out from behind #1 and #2 almost tagging the car in oncoming traffic over corrects and almost hits me! 4. Is the guy in the Beamer 5 minutes later talking on, you guessed it his cell phone as he flies past me so close that I am almost knock off my bike, plenty of room and no traffic in the other direction. I sit up and give him a very uncharacteristic for me f/u and the accompanying gesture. Yep, G-MAX to all those people who can't hang up the dang phone or at least use a headset and pay attention to something outside their little self absorbed existence. OK, I am done.
And now... a little rant. Things that need to be G-MAX flushed. 1. people talking on their cell phones while trying to park, resulting in blocking traffic as they try to manoeuvre their car one handed oblivious to the line of cars (and bikes, me) waiting for them. 2. The next person on their cell phone trying to back out at the same time as #1 not paying attention creating a multiple car SNAFU neither able to negotiate either pulling in or backing out because they are too busy talking on a phone. 3. It the third person on the damn cell phone who gets impatient and tries to pull out from behind #1 and #2 almost tagging the car in oncoming traffic over corrects and almost hits me! 4. Is the guy in the Beamer 5 minutes later talking on, you guessed it his cell phone as he flies past me so close that I am almost knock off my bike, plenty of room and no traffic in the other direction. I sit up and give him a very uncharacteristic for me f/u and the accompanying gesture. Yep, G-MAX to all those people who can't hang up the dang phone or at least use a headset and pay attention to something outside their little self absorbed existence. OK, I am done.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Seward Spring Classic
Whew! What a weekend. It started on Thursday, I took two days off work to finish the dry wall and tile the shower. Feeling like there is a foreseeable finish to this project makes me happy. Friday night I went to the Bodies exhibit. Very cool and a bit creepy. I kept reminding myself that these were real living people many of them seemingly young and relatively healthy (minus the fact that they died) it made me wonder if they would have wanted to become part of this attraction. The process to create these human "sculptures" included dissection then vacuum sealing the bodies in a bath of acetone (to remove all liquid) and silicon (to replace the tissue)the circulatory system was super cool, they start by removing all fluid from they circulatory system and replacing it with colored polymeres then digesting all the tissue revealing the cast of the veins and arteries. Amazing to see the arteries and capillaries suspended in a case, the human form revealed by the network of vessels that deliver oxygen to every part of our bodies. I also thought the smoker lungs were just amazing, to see what all that smoke really does to the tissue should make anyone who smokes want to quit on the spot.
Saturday finished up the wall tile minus the grout (always one more step it seems) then took all the drywall leftovers to the dump. Relaxed the rest of the day.
Sunday was again a great day to race my bike. Broken clouds, bits of sunshine, what could be better? I drove down to Seward, on the way I had the pleasure of seeing a bald eagle sitting on a low branch of a tree while going down the switch backs huge beautiful bird so close that I could see the scales on his talons. Once at Seward I quickly got ready to warmup. My warmup consisted of a spin up the blvrd then back down to the hill heading towards Rainier Ave. Three hard efforts up the hill and I was ready to go.
There were 26ish women at the line, mostly WoW and TGH. Off the line we were crawling but we quickly upped the pace. This was a fun race, it was smooth for the most part I was up front most of the race so if there was any sketchiness I missed it but I didn't hear any complaints. I attacked and chased and got in a couple of little breaks, basically I worked really hard and played but should have saved more for the finish still figuring out how to be patient. Two laps to go and a TGH attacks on the hill, I hesitate (oops) then go. My teammate Morgan sees the move also and goes. All three of us are spread out with a gap on the field, me in third I should have jumped quicker to get on the TGH wheel instead I had to chase. At the bell lap we were still spread out and I could not close it, I looked back once at the bottom of the hill and saw the entire pack on my wheel. I wasn't going to catch the two up ahead of me but I also wasn't willing to slow because the pack would have swallowed me. Last time up the hill I gave it everything I had to stay out front before the final corner. Two women got around me right before we turned I pushed a bit more to catch the TiCycles wheel then decided to go for it and try to get around her I moved out and dug as deep as I ever have. We crossed the line so close it took multiple replays of the video to determine who crossed 1st, it was me!!! 4th place I am happy.
Saturday finished up the wall tile minus the grout (always one more step it seems) then took all the drywall leftovers to the dump. Relaxed the rest of the day.
Sunday was again a great day to race my bike. Broken clouds, bits of sunshine, what could be better? I drove down to Seward, on the way I had the pleasure of seeing a bald eagle sitting on a low branch of a tree while going down the switch backs huge beautiful bird so close that I could see the scales on his talons. Once at Seward I quickly got ready to warmup. My warmup consisted of a spin up the blvrd then back down to the hill heading towards Rainier Ave. Three hard efforts up the hill and I was ready to go.
There were 26ish women at the line, mostly WoW and TGH. Off the line we were crawling but we quickly upped the pace. This was a fun race, it was smooth for the most part I was up front most of the race so if there was any sketchiness I missed it but I didn't hear any complaints. I attacked and chased and got in a couple of little breaks, basically I worked really hard and played but should have saved more for the finish still figuring out how to be patient. Two laps to go and a TGH attacks on the hill, I hesitate (oops) then go. My teammate Morgan sees the move also and goes. All three of us are spread out with a gap on the field, me in third I should have jumped quicker to get on the TGH wheel instead I had to chase. At the bell lap we were still spread out and I could not close it, I looked back once at the bottom of the hill and saw the entire pack on my wheel. I wasn't going to catch the two up ahead of me but I also wasn't willing to slow because the pack would have swallowed me. Last time up the hill I gave it everything I had to stay out front before the final corner. Two women got around me right before we turned I pushed a bit more to catch the TiCycles wheel then decided to go for it and try to get around her I moved out and dug as deep as I ever have. We crossed the line so close it took multiple replays of the video to determine who crossed 1st, it was me!!! 4th place I am happy.
I feel like every race I learn something, it once was simply how to hold a wheel or just finish with the pack, now in each race I am learning what it takes to win and more importantly how to get the team a win weather it is me or someone else. Morgan won Laura was 3rd and I was 4th. Good days work rewarded with sitting in the sun with friends and my girls watching bike racing.
Monday, April 09, 2007
Race Race Baby!
I am surely on the road to recovery. I road around Mercer on Friday afternoon, the weather was too nice to just throw on the pack and ride my measly 6 miles home. Beautiful day to be on my bike, practically no cars or other cyclist, just me and sunshine. Very nice. I even got a start on my tan lines, no not a tan but the lines.
Saturday I woke up early and started hanging drywall, lots of smaller odd shaped pieces, slow going but progress. Funny thing, time flies when you are not paying attention, next thing I knew it was noon and needed to be at the Silver Cloud at 1PM to ride out to Bothell for our cornering clinic. Oops, quick change, Endurox and out the door. The clinic was great, it is why I really like my team, development of new racers and being around similar minded women and the amount of support. Especially from the Women's team captain Gina, she is the reason we have such a cohesive team and I have a huge amount of respect for her, a little warm fuzzy with out getting too mushy ;)
She is also why I woke up at 6AM on Sunday and was on my bike to Boat St. at 6:45. The morning was sunny and brisk a good day for a crit. Got to the course and started the pre-ride (sorry to all the guys still setting up but the pre-ride was really important for the new racers and chicken sh*ts like me to build a bit of confidence). Don't know if it is technically corner 3 or 4... uh the last corner before the sprint, I'll call it 4. I was feeling very edgy each time, I kept grabbing for the breaks more out of security then the need to slow down, this had me worried I told Gina and she said that she feathers her front break too, I felt much better knowing that and it gave me just a wee bit more confidence. Time to warm up and I felt awful, sick to my stomach, I couldn't get my heart rate above 167 my back was catching and pinching I finished the warm up and thought I was really going to be sick, nerves I was sure but it didn't make me feel better. Once at the start line the nerves subsided a bit and I just got ready to go. The gun and we were off, I got clipped in but didn't take off as fast as I would have liked to I was about two thirds back in the field, nope not the place to be. Got around the corner 4 not that bad. The pace was good I could tell women were falling off, I didn't want to get caught behind groups that were getting gapped so I moved up, to my surprise it was easy, not effortless but it wasn't killing me to get were I wanted to be. Holy cow I was not hanging on for dear life I was choosing position and thinking about what I wanted to do. The corner became smooth I trusted myself and my bike and took the corner faster leaning over and feeling good. Minor duh move I attacked to break things up and got a gap but knew I couldn't hold it for another 10 minutes slowed and was in a group of four, this was great but then they all slowed and we were caught by some chasers. Time to sit in recover and start positioning for the finish. I could hear Gina yelling at 2 laps "start thinking!" yep, time to choose my position. I did it 4th in line going into corner 3 then "shit!" we were going to overtake lapped riders right at corner 4! I psyched myself out and slowed just a bit giving a couple of riders position next to and in front of me at the corner. Now I had to navigate not only the 3 in front of me but four lapped women that spread out all over the road and several more that took the corner faster than me. I sprinted the best I could but needed a couple more inches apparently to nab 5th, 6th isn't too bad, it was a good day.
The 123 women rocked again yesterday. Suz showing us her amazing talent pulled away early and kept an impressive gap the remainder of the race. Back in the chase Amy held her position defiantly against some very strong women who I know had every intention of catching Suz but couldn't get it organized with the WoW in the group. Tricia fired off an awesome attack at two laps that splintered the field while Gina made sure that the ladies were playing nice. Good teamwork!
Next week, TST hmm, maybe not yet. Seward, I'll be there!
Saturday I woke up early and started hanging drywall, lots of smaller odd shaped pieces, slow going but progress. Funny thing, time flies when you are not paying attention, next thing I knew it was noon and needed to be at the Silver Cloud at 1PM to ride out to Bothell for our cornering clinic. Oops, quick change, Endurox and out the door. The clinic was great, it is why I really like my team, development of new racers and being around similar minded women and the amount of support. Especially from the Women's team captain Gina, she is the reason we have such a cohesive team and I have a huge amount of respect for her, a little warm fuzzy with out getting too mushy ;)
She is also why I woke up at 6AM on Sunday and was on my bike to Boat St. at 6:45. The morning was sunny and brisk a good day for a crit. Got to the course and started the pre-ride (sorry to all the guys still setting up but the pre-ride was really important for the new racers and chicken sh*ts like me to build a bit of confidence). Don't know if it is technically corner 3 or 4... uh the last corner before the sprint, I'll call it 4. I was feeling very edgy each time, I kept grabbing for the breaks more out of security then the need to slow down, this had me worried I told Gina and she said that she feathers her front break too, I felt much better knowing that and it gave me just a wee bit more confidence. Time to warm up and I felt awful, sick to my stomach, I couldn't get my heart rate above 167 my back was catching and pinching I finished the warm up and thought I was really going to be sick, nerves I was sure but it didn't make me feel better. Once at the start line the nerves subsided a bit and I just got ready to go. The gun and we were off, I got clipped in but didn't take off as fast as I would have liked to I was about two thirds back in the field, nope not the place to be. Got around the corner 4 not that bad. The pace was good I could tell women were falling off, I didn't want to get caught behind groups that were getting gapped so I moved up, to my surprise it was easy, not effortless but it wasn't killing me to get were I wanted to be. Holy cow I was not hanging on for dear life I was choosing position and thinking about what I wanted to do. The corner became smooth I trusted myself and my bike and took the corner faster leaning over and feeling good. Minor duh move I attacked to break things up and got a gap but knew I couldn't hold it for another 10 minutes slowed and was in a group of four, this was great but then they all slowed and we were caught by some chasers. Time to sit in recover and start positioning for the finish. I could hear Gina yelling at 2 laps "start thinking!" yep, time to choose my position. I did it 4th in line going into corner 3 then "shit!" we were going to overtake lapped riders right at corner 4! I psyched myself out and slowed just a bit giving a couple of riders position next to and in front of me at the corner. Now I had to navigate not only the 3 in front of me but four lapped women that spread out all over the road and several more that took the corner faster than me. I sprinted the best I could but needed a couple more inches apparently to nab 5th, 6th isn't too bad, it was a good day.
The 123 women rocked again yesterday. Suz showing us her amazing talent pulled away early and kept an impressive gap the remainder of the race. Back in the chase Amy held her position defiantly against some very strong women who I know had every intention of catching Suz but couldn't get it organized with the WoW in the group. Tricia fired off an awesome attack at two laps that splintered the field while Gina made sure that the ladies were playing nice. Good teamwork!
Next week, TST hmm, maybe not yet. Seward, I'll be there!
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Stop thief!
Arrg! Ballard is ramped with a ring of thieves right now. Last month at 2am I was awake with my daughter because she was ill. I was laying there trying to get her back to sleep when I heard by back screen door open. There was no doubt that it had to be physically opened by someone. I jumped up and went out to the kitchen in to the back of the house. I didn't know exactly what I would do if someone actually had gotten in my house. In retrospect I probably would have done things a bit differently but regardless when I got to the back the screen door was swinging shut. I fumbled around in the dark for my phone dialed 911 and went to the front of the house. I witnessed a tall man walking across the street he was trying to open my neighbors car. The police finally drove down my street 10 minutes later the guy is long gone. I didn't sleep the rest of the night.
Next morning I get in my car and realize that things don't look right, stuff is all over the floor and seats (not all that unusual but not in my normal messy fashion) then I see that my iPod is gone and all of the change I keep in the car minus the pennies, they must not be worth their weight. Talk to my neighbors later that day and come to find out that they were broken into as well, the guy just walked into their house and stole cell phones iPods and a shotgun, his next stop was my house we concluded since we found their cell phone case next to my car.
Last night my girls came over to pick up a few things for their trip to Hawaii w/ their dad. They were out from about 8-9:30. When they returned home they found all kinds of drawers open and broken stuff. This jerk of a thief broke my girls piggy banks and jewelry boxes stole another iPod and stole their dad's race bike. The guy broke in through a very small unlocked window and went so far as to unscrew the light in the motion detector on the back of the house. Even though this wasn't my house this time I feel even worse because of the impact on my girls.
Next morning I get in my car and realize that things don't look right, stuff is all over the floor and seats (not all that unusual but not in my normal messy fashion) then I see that my iPod is gone and all of the change I keep in the car minus the pennies, they must not be worth their weight. Talk to my neighbors later that day and come to find out that they were broken into as well, the guy just walked into their house and stole cell phones iPods and a shotgun, his next stop was my house we concluded since we found their cell phone case next to my car.
Last night my girls came over to pick up a few things for their trip to Hawaii w/ their dad. They were out from about 8-9:30. When they returned home they found all kinds of drawers open and broken stuff. This jerk of a thief broke my girls piggy banks and jewelry boxes stole another iPod and stole their dad's race bike. The guy broke in through a very small unlocked window and went so far as to unscrew the light in the motion detector on the back of the house. Even though this wasn't my house this time I feel even worse because of the impact on my girls.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
I do not like TT's I do not like them sam I am
I do not like them in the sun. I do not like them they aren't fun. I do not like them in the rain. I do not like them too much pain. I do not like them day or night. I do not like them to train right. I do not like them on the road or at CycleU's abode. I just don't like TT's I say but I will do them anyway.
Maybe I am a super wimp, is it the pain? am I just that out of shape? I really don't know. I can't stay focused and keep the hammer down. Maybe I was just tired. My bike was auto shifting so that didn't help but still isn't why I was so S-L-O-O-O-W. Keep training (and get my bike fixed)
Maybe I am a super wimp, is it the pain? am I just that out of shape? I really don't know. I can't stay focused and keep the hammer down. Maybe I was just tired. My bike was auto shifting so that didn't help but still isn't why I was so S-L-O-O-O-W. Keep training (and get my bike fixed)
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
UW tragedy
A 26 year old women was shot and killed by a man who she had a restraining order against, he then took his own life.
I know all too well the feeling of helplessness to someone who won't let you go and feels entitled to you as their own possession. People seem to feel that they deserve or should have all kinds of things including other people.
I have learned that you truly don't own anything that can not be taken away except yourself, but even this you have to hold onto and not give away.
Life is a gift, my children are a gift, my friends and family as well as cycling and health are a gifts that I love everyday and I will not forget how fortunate I am.
I know all too well the feeling of helplessness to someone who won't let you go and feels entitled to you as their own possession. People seem to feel that they deserve or should have all kinds of things including other people.
I have learned that you truly don't own anything that can not be taken away except yourself, but even this you have to hold onto and not give away.
Life is a gift, my children are a gift, my friends and family as well as cycling and health are a gifts that I love everyday and I will not forget how fortunate I am.
Monday, April 02, 2007
Racing is Fun
Yea! I was able to race my bike on Sunday. 1st was Saturday, I spent all day hanging drywall that my drywall guy didn't finish, I am still in need of two more sheets and one more day of cutting and hanging then the mudding fun will begin, *sigh*. All day I kept telling myself "drink water, eat and DON'T hurt yourself" but by the end of the day my back and wrist were sore. I made a nice chili lime shrimp and rice dinner with a glass of wine and iced various spots on my back and wrist, packed all my race stuff and went to bed.
Sunday morning woke right up and got to the routine of dressing, eating, and double checking my race bag. My ride showed up right on time and we were off. Seattle actually looked like it would be a nice day. My hopes were up for good weather in Sequim. Once off the ferry the rain started and I began to have doubts that the banana belt would pull through for the day. It was wet and grey until we hit the big elk statue that welcomes you to Sequim, oh lucky day no rain!
Once in the field (the grassy one) I became nervous, but I went about my routine that I did all last year and I started to feel better.
Things I did right...
I warmed up for 40 minutes three burns but not all out.
I stretched my back and legs
I dressed perfectly not too warm not too cold.
Timed the port a potty stops and getting my gear on to be at the line right on time.
Kept myself at the front end of the pack.
Attacked at the right moment when I saw a TGH going. Was in a break of two that turned into at final break of 11 used blocking, timing communication to get our girl in the winning break at the end awesome! We talked about strategy and we put it into motion. Attack - counter attack, keep up the pace but don't chase down our own team. Everyone got it. Personally I was worried going in that I couldn't hang or possibly finish and before the my attack I had even said I think I am done my back hurts. Luckily instinct kicked in when I saw the other girl getting ready to go I didn't think I went, gave it just about everything but reserved enough not to blow myself up when we were caught I recovered and hung in pulled and ended up getting 10th.
Things I learned...
I still don't hold a wheel well enough on the headwind sections, I worked like hell because I was off the wheel in front of me and couldn't quite close the gap with the wind. I would have had more for the sprint if I was closer. Good to learn (yet again), but in reality I didn't want to come in ahead of either teammate that was with me because of the point standings besides a STBX gal took out a TGH after the line! If I had been any closer I too could have gone down. Everyone is OK but there are lessons that I hope others came away with yesterday as well.
Next up
Boat Street, never done it. I will pre ride and make a day of decision based on weather and how safe I feel I can make it. It will be the 1st crit of the season and the 1st time for a CAT4 only on this coarse. I am mostly worried about others ability here, I have done plenty of technical crits and we will have our corning clinic on Saturday so I think my team will get it, not sure about the others. If I do it plan A is warm up good and hard, start good and hard and don't slow down! Plan B $20 isn't worth loosing teeth or breaking bones and bikes so if it is sketchy as hell, quit!
I am racing again that makes me happy.
Sunday morning woke right up and got to the routine of dressing, eating, and double checking my race bag. My ride showed up right on time and we were off. Seattle actually looked like it would be a nice day. My hopes were up for good weather in Sequim. Once off the ferry the rain started and I began to have doubts that the banana belt would pull through for the day. It was wet and grey until we hit the big elk statue that welcomes you to Sequim, oh lucky day no rain!
Once in the field (the grassy one) I became nervous, but I went about my routine that I did all last year and I started to feel better.
Things I did right...
I warmed up for 40 minutes three burns but not all out.
I stretched my back and legs
I dressed perfectly not too warm not too cold.
Timed the port a potty stops and getting my gear on to be at the line right on time.
Kept myself at the front end of the pack.
Attacked at the right moment when I saw a TGH going. Was in a break of two that turned into at final break of 11 used blocking, timing communication to get our girl in the winning break at the end awesome! We talked about strategy and we put it into motion. Attack - counter attack, keep up the pace but don't chase down our own team. Everyone got it. Personally I was worried going in that I couldn't hang or possibly finish and before the my attack I had even said I think I am done my back hurts. Luckily instinct kicked in when I saw the other girl getting ready to go I didn't think I went, gave it just about everything but reserved enough not to blow myself up when we were caught I recovered and hung in pulled and ended up getting 10th.
Things I learned...
I still don't hold a wheel well enough on the headwind sections, I worked like hell because I was off the wheel in front of me and couldn't quite close the gap with the wind. I would have had more for the sprint if I was closer. Good to learn (yet again), but in reality I didn't want to come in ahead of either teammate that was with me because of the point standings besides a STBX gal took out a TGH after the line! If I had been any closer I too could have gone down. Everyone is OK but there are lessons that I hope others came away with yesterday as well.
Next up
Boat Street, never done it. I will pre ride and make a day of decision based on weather and how safe I feel I can make it. It will be the 1st crit of the season and the 1st time for a CAT4 only on this coarse. I am mostly worried about others ability here, I have done plenty of technical crits and we will have our corning clinic on Saturday so I think my team will get it, not sure about the others. If I do it plan A is warm up good and hard, start good and hard and don't slow down! Plan B $20 isn't worth loosing teeth or breaking bones and bikes so if it is sketchy as hell, quit!
I am racing again that makes me happy.
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