Get out and race!

Finally finally a rest week- it took me most of the week to unload the fatigue in the legs and I planned to go to Dash For Cash on Saturday, being only a few blocks away with lots of Minty teammates coming.
Well, I happened to answer the phone on Friday night and had to head into work for a few hours- this turned into a all nighter and most of the next day- bummer, but sometimes the real job has to take priority to pay the bills- I did have lively legs jumping into holes and on and off equipment all night- so I think I was rested just about right anyway!
Got a couple hours snooze on Saturday night, woke up and ate a great dinner the missus whipped up, then a movie and crashed back out- woke up Sunday still pretty tired but I had heard the new Sonoma Mountain Village course was good, so I loaded up the Protege with all my junk and headed north.
Got there a bit late, but reg was no problem, small fields my guess from competing with Dunlap and DFC the day before-seems like numbers are down some this year overall, perhaps the economy, I don't know.
Got in a 15 minute warmup that was completely insufficient and took a lap-I LIKE THIS COURSE!
Perimeter road around a business park- fast corners, chicanes, a little contour that wore on you as things went on, and lots of wind- side wind, head wind, tail cross wind.
E3 race was fun- the break almost got away and would have if Norcal Velo hadn't chased like dogs for their guy with a few to go- i took a few pulls and went into a early move that of course wasn't going, then the next one took off, story of the day, sigh.
The legs were funky and I mostly hung out midpack, then moved up for the field sprint, but really sucked when the poop hit the fan on the last lap and never really closed with the front sprinters- eked out 10th somehow.
Nice long break in between races- excellent scheduling on the organizers' part, I've been to lots of races with the E3 next to the M123 and other permutations- if your trying to get more bucks out of people, a little foresight goes a long way, especially to a Cat 3 that is most likely donating his/her second race fee in the 123 race. Make it fun and give him time to pin up and have a snack or socialize- I went to a local java spot and had a sandwich and a expresso, then rode back with plenty of time to get ready for the M123.
Not much to say about that one- a break rolled off in the first 10 minutes just as I was getting back in the line after a pull- at first I thought it was too early, but most of the teams were represented and SP did a great job marking anybody trying to bridge- pretty textbook stuff but they did it well.
I put in a few completely futile pulls and once got a few hundred meters solo, but at that point couldn't even see the break and was incinerating myself in the wind, so hung my head and went back to purgatory.
Decided sprinting for 6th or 7th at best was lame and made the rest into a hard training ride, blowing myself off the back with 3 to go where Dylan from BBC and I worked on out 2up TT skills, man I was tired!
All in all I was grateful just to get out this weekend with all that was going on, with the long range goals not for months it was good to see where I'm at right now and just enjoy rolling around a sweet corsa.

My visit to Treasure Island

This is my 5th year ( wow has it been that long?) coaching for SJR and their beginning triathlete program, I always get a kick out of it.

Endurance sports opened so many doorways and changed so many things for me it's really hard to quantify, plus I'm just not that good of a writer, but I never get tired of sharing that excitement when someone who was terrified to put her foot in the bay a few months ago swims 880m and puts her face in.

Those victories you take with you for life- good stuff.

We followed this swim up with a 6.6 mile circuit of Treasure Island on the bikes , then a 2 mile run along the shore.

Wow what a scenic piece of land in spots and a ugly run down place in others. Strange place.

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The Watchman

If you see this guy six minutes into your next cruise interval session, your getting pretty fit.
Quiz for all 4 people that look at this blog- what tri-valley road is this dude keeping a eye on?
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Nice Ride For 1989

Helping a buddy clear out the garage- this thing is ridiculously pretty.

I'm such a sucker for a nice steel bike.....

Got to get this thing out of here soon before I fall!

Taking a break

My oh my what a long season- from September on almost every weekend- I got pretty tired of the travel by December and will be cutting next season short a bit- but anyhow, the new team really got me stoked so I saddled up for ten road races or so through April.
I had mediocre condition personally but had fun and we got some stellar results as a team and always raced hard.
I always take a break in the spring and reset- this year I finished off the early road season with two new races that were a blast-
Warnerville- 3 flats for me- Vick gave me his wheel and I busted that as well- but we throw down for one another and that's what makes racing so great.
Santa Cruz- a classic I've always missed but WOW that was fun!
I struggled to hang on after a bad start from the back and with my one teammate breaking his der. cable early we were out of the fray, but I really enjoyed the corsa and will return.

I was a little tired as well from the first Get Ready For Summer race at the track the day before- this was really fun- a nice day, mucho peeps to visit with,good organization on Ricks' part and a excellent announcing job by Matt.
I raced the B's- this was a good group for me, I ran a 88 for the races wich was small but gave me a bit of hop and I wanted to keep some legs for Santa Cruz- the flip side of the 88 was getting passed in some of the sprints at the end but I liked the overall feel- I ended up winning the omnium- woot woot! I don't win too often so I really appreciate it- we all competed hard through the day and I was suprised to have done so well.
Fun times.

Back to the iron pit for a while and some needed miles- summer is right around the corner!

Bring the land barge

This is so, like 2009.
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Monday Morning Recovery Ride

Nice maples in the nursery and a good conversation.....
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