Form is on track..

Pretty happy with form after this past weekend at the Air Force Academy. TT, Crit, and RR over some tough, windy parcours. Got 6th in the crit and 12-13th? in the RR. Tactical errors were the downside but also the upside. I really believe that you learn the most from the mistakes you make. So I left the race feeling bummed but the talk tonight with Shawn cleared some things up. I'm super excited about next week. Last July while laying in the hospital bed, I told myself and everyone around that I was going to come back and Gila was the first major goal of the year. I still have a few things to figure out but things are aligning up well. Foremost, I need to gain my hands on some aero wheels, most especially for the tt, but hopefully some for the other stages. I got a tt bike last week. Its a sick black Leader. Yeah, no Cervelo but as the older woman I passed on Hwy 36 last week when she reasoned her way for getting the Wilier Izoard rather than the top-end Cento she says, "I'd rather spend the money on wheels." My sentiments exactly! Its got a pretty good setup so far. I will be throwing on a 55/42 chainring set and run an 11t on the rear. This should give me plenty of power over the tt course. So if anyone has a lead or wants to donate a set of wheels to me for the week, i would greatly appreciate it. I'd even pay to rent some wheels =)

On the way home yesterday from Colorado Springs, which is the culture opposite of Boulder, I found what I've been missing since moving here. Pacific Marketplace in Broomfield, a super asian market. Finally, an opportun to buy soy sauce, oyster sauce, chili sauce, lime leaves, etc etc at non-big box prices. And another culinary treat I was bestowed was the recent opening of Sunflower Market here in Boulder. Its basically a larger scale and more diverse Trader Joes' without the booze(stupid CO law). If you know me and my love of good food and quality ingredients, you can only imagine my glowing countenance. I now feel complete here in Boulder, well nearly complete. If one were complete, what would one live, work or strive for? Something to ponder for my readers.

With my new culinary purchases, I made a sick peanut sauce tonight that I topped over some stir-fried tofu, zuchhini, and chinese eggplant. It was deliciously spicy and sweet. Recipe? Of course I didn't follow one, I totally free-based as usual. Its my style =)

chow,
matthew

Yeah...I'm Still Alive and Kicking!

Its been 10days since my last opening up to the world. Lots of stuff happening just too tired to write it seems. When I first started this blog back in May of last year I was at the Tour of the Gila in New Mexico. Well, in two weeks time from today I will be lining up again on what is my first big target of the year. Training has been going well and the mind is aiming for a top position within the GC(general classification). So what's going on in my world? Child engineering, personal assisting, bike selling, bike repairing, racing, training, and team joining. Also a little cooking to satisfy the Julia Child in me. And Michael, my brother, is out here for work training. We've been able to hang out a little and did a great hike on Sunday. Pictures will be uploaded, I promise...

The Koppenburg was a let down for sure for me. But afterwards I reminded myself that sh&& happens and that's bike racing. Nevertheless, I went for 2.5hours additional after fueling up at home. Just really beat the pedals to submission choosing to ride the hardest portions of my routes: into 20+mph headwinds then climbing up Lee Hill all the way to LeftHand Canyon. I was angry and the cranks paid for it. when I returned home, I felt better. Riding has a mystical power to it that helps drain out stress, energy, unhappiness and bring comfort, fatigue, and satisfaction. I know I was the strongest that day, unfortunately the dice didn't roll my way.

On sunday, Michael and I did the hike around Walker Ranch. I ended up falling in the water after 1mi. Being the persistent, hard-headed, challenge-seeking type, I pressed on with michael. Fortunately, the weather was warm(upper 60s), sunny and dry. Socks never completely dried but I only suffered minor blistering. The views and the time hiking with my brother were well worth it. Anyways, I'm not going to back track =) Afterwards we hit up a food stop in Nederland. then finished up the drive down to Boulder on the Peak-to-Peak Hwy. All and all a super day.

On the team front, I've received some great news. I will be riding for Vitamin Cottage Presented by XP Companies this year. VC p/b XP has been one of the top and continues to be one of the top amatuer squads in the country. Tops in CO and this is a wicked hard district. I'm super jazzed about it. At the Koppenberg, my new teammate who I was racing with in the 3s rolled off at 4laps. Which dictated my tactics afterwards. Gila will be different this year b/c I will have multiple teammates which will be a definite help.

I got my first sunburn of the year yesterday. We had 80s here on the Front Range. Chance of 1-4" tonight. You know the drill for Colorado spring time by now. But this weekend should be in the 70s which will be good when I line up at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs for a TT and Crit on Saturday and a RR on Sunday. The RR is run on the 1986 World Road Championship Course. Starts at 7000 and rolls down to 6000?. Lots of rolling climbs. Should play to my favor as it seems to be a tough parcours and after day 1 of tt/crit others will be tired.

Look for the online updates...

Well enjoy your Hump Day and post-Paying the Man Day.

Chow,
Matthew

That's Racing...

Today was the Koppenburg redux. This past week has been a recovery week. I'd been training hard for the last two months and last weekend, body fell apart so it was good the race got moved to this weekend. Coincidently, Shawn, had penciled a rest week for me this past week months ago so we are definitely dialing the training in and understanding my body more and more. Now on to the racing....

I showed up plenty early as I was game to take it all today. Legs felt great in the warmup. Legs were great all day actually. The course is 5.5 miles long with 2.5 miles of dirt/gravel. After a quick 200m after the start there is a sharp righty then immediately on the dirt for a gradual climb. I knew that you had to be a top wheel going into the dirt b/c chaos would ensue. I got a nice jump off my front row start. A guy I met while on the sketchy Carter Lake ride last month lined up next to me at the start. He says, "just to let you know, we are going to drill it at the start." Okay...well they didn't exactly drill it by Belgian standards but I already knew my plan for the race, go hard, ride smart, and leave nothing on the course. The Koppenburg climb came up a little quicker than I thought. It was difficult to see it b/c the is literally a 100m climb at 17% cut into the side of the hill, or basically just a dirt drain. It was pretty rutted out on the right side. I managed to be 2nd wheel going in and picked a nice line and drilled it to the top. I would do this 6 times today and each time I was either the first or 2nd wheel going up. This was critical b/c I later learned from Shawn and Karl that chaos was behind me. It pays to be in front. On the 2nd lap this jag nearly sideswipes an oncoming car just so he can get the fastest line into the righty towards the start/finish. Okay ahole, we are two laps in, its a bike race, you have no contract, and you nearly destroy yourself against a car, for what?

Immediately after clearing the turn, a huge crash took out a large bit of the field. Apparently some wheel touching. When you are in front, you can't think about it. I never knew the damage going on in the back only checking back occasionally to see how many souls were still in the game. By the fifth lap, we had whittled it down to 15 riders or so. A vitamin cottage rider rolled off the front and no one gave chase. He managed to mix himself into the other category riders up ahead. Probably some drafting going on. On the last lap, I got first up the Koppenberg and was feeling good. A velonews rider who showed his time-trialing cards earlier went so I thought I had better go for it b/c this was a serious move with only 2.5miles to go. I jumped to the left side and got a gap of maybe 5secs but it got closed after about 2minutes. As we are nearing the top of the last climb, you can see the traffic piling up at the bottom of the road. FYI, roads were completely open to traffic and course marshalls didn't really give a damn about racers and cars coming together. I'm 3rd wheel going down the hill towards the righty to the finish. A rider jumps out of our 3 group and is moving his way up using the draft of the cars. Now this is a totally euro thing to do, WHEN you are trying to catch back on, not when you are in the lead group and leap frogging. I wasn't too impressed. As we neared the righty, still in good position, then a van pulls right into our line, I slow down and the pack goes around and gets a little bit of a gap that i was unable to close in the last 200m. That's racing I guess...

When i crossed the line, I was pissed. Legs were good, and I knew that I was one of the strongest today. After a short debrief with Shawn and Karl, they chimed in on their race experiences as it pertained to unluckiness. I still maintain that stuff like that happens and thats why its racing. Bike races are hard and so many things can go right or wrong. For me, I had everything in play positive, it was the car pulling out in front that popped my bubble. Ohh well, I'll be over it and prove myself next weekend. It was a good sign of fitness today so things are right on track. Two years ago, 3 riders in a chase got stuck at a train crossing in paris-roubaix. a train foiled their chances. It makes me feel better that sometimes, shit just goes wrong and you can't do anything about it. had this race taken place prior jul-26, i think I probably would have a bit more aggressive with the cars. I do admit that I'm a bit more conscious of cars when I'm going fast especially ones that are pulling out in front of you.

My brother Michael is coming out this week for some training with his new job. He is going to watch next sunday's crit in golden, co. That will mark the first person in my family to see me race hahaha =)

Super cool chick: Sarah Kaufman, friend from SF, won the NMBS(mtn bike) Marathon race in Fountain, AZ. Sarah turned pro last year and has been ripping up the enduro and 24hr scene. She ran a bike tuning clinic for me last year. Coincidently, we both studied econ and finance and dropped out of the corporate scene for bikes and racing. She totally killed the field; finishing nearly an hour ahead of 2nd place. Damn thats pro =)

Matthew