June 28, 2004
Whitewater Road Race
I'm too lazy at the moment to write a good report of the race, but I'll post the message I emailed my teammates:
I did go to Whitewater Sunday. 7 cat 4 women. Basically, just like I
know I'm absolutely not supposed to do, I sat up front and pulled the entire
race. The first lap I figured, no big deal, we're going so easy I'm not
using any energy anyway. My legs were still sore from the week before so it
actually felt good to work them in. Even when I slowed to a crawl no one
came around. Finally a few girls from a team of 3 from Illinois did short
stints of work. I kept expecting them to repeatedly send riders on attacks
and block us out...but nothing happened. I finally figured out absolutely
nothing was going to happen in this race so I was content to sit up front
and at least remotely get a workout. I did build the only gap (with 1 other
girl in tow) on the hill on the last lap, so at least I did something. Would
have just attacked more to pick up the pace and make it interesting if my
legs would have been feeling normal. I have a mental block on my ability to
sprint finish, so I don't even try yet, that's why I'd rather mix it up
during the race and not have it come to a field sprint. Anyways, road
racing is very frustrating for me yet. I'm used to riding much harder
throughout as with the guys. This race everyone rode together sloooow for
28.8 miles, then sprinted the finish, which I find extremely boring!! As I
said, I don't contest the sprint (and my legs were too sore to anyway) so I
was 6 of 7. Coyote Sam won, CZ velo Shelly 2nd, BBC triplets next.
As for the 1/2/3s- Kristin Kehl won by a huuuuge gap. followed by a coyote
then a UW, and then all the cows.
Well, maybe next time I'll be with some of you guys and you can help me get
used to 'race' riding.
Good job at the state crit!!! anyone at BSG?
happy riding,
-M
Posted by michele at 03:39 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Earthquake!
As if tornadoes weren't enough this week, mother nature shook Madison with an earthquake last night.
According to www.chanel3000.com:
The earthquake originated in Illinois and hit at 1:11 a.m. It could be felt from Missouri to Wisconsin and Iowa.
No injuries were reported.
Brian Lassige, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Colorado, said the quake was magnitude 4.5, and its epicenter was about eight miles northwest of Ottawa in northern Illinois, close to the small village of Troy Grove. The rural area is about 70 miles west of Chicago.
It was substantial enough here in Wisconsin to wake even me (who sleeps through anything, including screaming babies). Of course I was too groggy to be sure it was real. Confirmation came first thing in the morning though, when the news reported that it was not, in fact, just a dream.
Posted by michele at 02:51 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
June 24, 2004
Birthday Excitement
All of Dane County was in an uproar last night. I guess maybe it wasn't just because is was my birthday... perhaps the several confirmed tornadoes had something to do with it.
None of us Wednesday Night Riders guessed the sky could turn so fast. We had just commented on the lovely weather in fact. The sun was shining throughout our fast, hilly (worthy of my new Euskatel Euskadi bday present jersey), 36 mile ride from Mt Vernon. (-Once again the 'alphas' forged our own route. Why we bother to take the cue sheets anymore nobody knows!).
The rain started afterwards as we sipped beers and ate my big birthday cookie in the parking lot. No worries, it was time to move on to dinner anyway. It was as we made the drive to Verona that the hail formed and pelted relentlessly down. I cringed, fearing my new car would be riddled with dents. (Thankfully it looks ok.)
We stood outside the Draft House a bit to watch the sky in action. A solid black cloud mass plowed steadily in front. Behind, the textured thunderheads were in constant motion. Inbetween was an eery zone of green. A massive portion then took on the familiar circular pattern. Bits of cloud were rapidly sucked high in the updraft as immature funnels spit down.
Finally content no actual tornado would come of this (I guess we were wrong!) we made our way in for dinner. The 15 or so of us enjoyed good food and plenty of beer as we kept an eye on the weather reports and out the windows. I also enjoyed a couple of shots of tequila ;-) Unfortunately residents in many nearby areas were not having quite so much fun.
It was definitely a memorable night for a birthday. Read more on how it was a memorable night for many Madison residents here.
Posted by michele at 04:46 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 21, 2004
(Almost) Annual Ride to Eden
Kudos to our ride leader Paul for picking a fantastic dry and sunny (not an easy feat these days) weekend for his Ride to Eden. This was the 4rth such ride in 5 years- upstaged only last year by the birth of his son Owen.
12 of us (Paul, John, Greg, Carl, Tom, Glen, Glenn, Matt, Gary, Jon, Don, and I) set out from Paul's Cottage Grove home bright and early on Saturday. It was a brisk morning and my jersey, arm warmers and windbreaker were not enough to block the chill (of course the guys were just fine). But the sun was shining so after so many biking days of rain I could hardly complain. No one had a problem complaining about the peristant headwind though.
We did break from tradition (gasp) at our first notable stop, which was breakfast in Hustisford. We ventured to try a quaint new cafe. The lot of us filled the dining area as the owner slaved over the stove nearby- one of standard home issue. Needless to say he was working the 4 little burners like crazy to accomodate our hungry crew.
It was a great meal, but that didn't stop the salivating a few hours later as we approached Dundee. Burgers and ice cream time!! (hey, this is why we ride:-) It definitely hit the spot as we were all dragging a bit this late in the ride.
Finally, 117 miles after first climbing on our bikes, we rolled into Paul's parent's place in Eden. We had an enjoyable evening there complete with golf, boche ball, a campfire, and countless kids for entertainment. And don't forget the great food! Ok, none of us exactly lost weight on this ride.
Many thanks to Paul's parents Jim and Mary for graciously letting all of us bikers use their hot shower and whatever sleeping space we could find.
Sunday morning 11 of us suited up for the pedal home (we lost Carl and Matt, but gained Chip). Another beautiful day for a ride -and this time it was warm! Rather unjustly though, it was also another day of headwind...only this time stronger.
Once again we broke from tradition with a slightly new route home. Fortunately the 80 miles was at most gently rolling, and quite condusive to pace-lining. We worked together much of the ride to tame the effects of the wind.
It was another great ride, even though we were all pretty happy to be off the saddle at the end :-) Definitely looking forward to next year...
In the meantime check out some pics!
Posted by michele at 09:55 PM | Comments (0)
June 17, 2004
Wednesday Night Riding in the Rain
I did the Wednesday Night Bike Ride last night despite the threat of getting soaked once again. The radar was quite colorful, but after some minor debate we headed out anyway... and did the long route no less! 38 miles of scenic backroads near Cross Plains.
Any given week about 150 Wednesday Night Riders meet up at various locations on the outskirts of town. Numbers were down this time given the gloomy skies, but there were still plenty of die hards. My core group consisted of about 15 of such.
We managed to stay dry for the first half of the ride... Unfortunately, our route took us straight into the dark heavy clouds. Fortunately, the inevitable rain was light and the temp remained high. Given the weather everyone seemed content to stick together. As we would say- there was a whole lotta love going on. This is quite the contrast from most of our WNRs- where the primary goal is to make your dear friends suffer, and preferably drop them from the pack :-)
We usually hang out afterwards to compare battle stories as we down a few beers. Given the intensifying rain and even more intense mosquito population, everyone headed for home. Plus we had 2 riders with mechanicals that required rescue by car.
But, we'll all be back next week. It will be another hilly ride leaving from Mt Vernon. Here's to hoping for a dry day for once. Because even though it will be my birthday(!!!) I don't expect any mercy from the pack this time, but I do at least expect a beer!
Posted by michele at 03:57 PM | Comments (0)
June 16, 2004
Practice Crit
So I did my first practice crit last night. Lined up with about 15-20 riders in the B race, including 3 Cows and 2 UW women. My goal was to just hang in with these much more race experienced gals. Well, I accomplished that. The Cows did most of the attacking taking turns sending riders up. I used up a lot of energy trying to be the one to reel them in, and ended up sitting up the last lap out of contention. But it was fun to get the feel of crit racing (this was only my second) with some strong riders. Hopefully next time I'll have some of my own teammates in there for help.
Posted by michele at 04:50 PM | Comments (0)
June 15, 2004
Learning to blog
Just trying to figure out how to used this site so graciously setupby Ed.
this links to WCA cycling
Posted by michele at 03:22 PM | Comments (1)