ironclm's tri world

DWTS Report

Skip now if you aren't interested in Dancing With the Stars.....

My secret vice (well, maybe not so secret) is reality TV and one of my favorites is “Dancing With the Stars”. Or, as I prefer, “Dancing With the Hot Russian Boys”. Very, very lucky for me that my friend Betty is also a fan, and even better, has friends in the TV biz! So we were able to get on the list to attend the show! (And said list is very difficult to get on it seems.) So yesterday I got up when the alarm went off at 3:45 AM and was on a 6:15 AM flight to LA.

We’ll skip the breakfast, hang out at Betty’s office, lunch, more hanging out, changing into our cocktail party clothes (including make-up and heels—don’t tell my doctor or physical therapist!) part of the day and skip directly to THE SHOW!

The instructions were to arrive at 3:30 PM and park and then walk to the gate of CBS (why since the show is on ABC? We don’t know.) Stand in line and show ID to get through the studio gate. A short walk and stand in an even longer line to again show ID and get your hand marked. Go through bag check and all cameras and cell phones and Blackberries (horrors! Can we live without them?) taken. Go through the metal detector and then into the studio/dance floor/seating/stage/whatever you call it.

OMG..WE’RE HERE!  FOR REAL!! It looks just like it does on TV…except smaller! The dance floor was really small. Wow, who knew? We each had a little “r” on our hand which meant the right side, so we had to walk across the dance floor to our seats. Every seat in the place had a name on it and you looked for your name. Upstage is the orchestra pit and a small raised stage and the stair cases on each side where the dancers walk down to start the show. Stage right/house left is where the judges sit on a raised dais, with seats behind them (not good seats as you are looking at the judges butts all night). Downstage is where a normal audience sits at a theater. If you are in the lower rows, the big cameras and production people can be in your way. Stage left/house right is directly across from the judges and prime viewing (we were here). Then, there are two balconies.

We walked in and in the front row on our side we saw chairs with LaToya Jackson and Katherine Jackson. We were about 5 rows behind them. In the next section, directly across from the judges, there were about a million Osmonds. Well, maybe not a million, but a lot, including Donny’s wife and at least one of his sons (Don Jr.) and Jay Osmond, the Osmond brother I had a crush on in high school! And the second generation of Osmonds? Very handsome. Julianne Hough was in the audience. Post-show, Tony Devolani (sp?) was there. We looked hard for Maks and Alec but no Maks or Alec.   L

Everyone had to be in their seats by 4:30 PM as the show went live at 5:00 PM (8:00 PM East Coast time). Everyone was seated except the two Jackson women who came in at 4:25 PM. We’d been instructed to clap A LOT going in to and coming out of commercials and then during the dances whenever the dancers did something tricky or nice. And when the judges were giving their comments and scores, we were told to react however you wanted—liking the scores or dislike.

Specific comments about the dancing and dancers:  First up was Dmitry and Maya (jitterbug). Dmitry is HOT HOT HOT! He knows how to make it look like he’s having fun. Maya was a bit stiff in that regard.

Sabrina the Witch girl and Mark B/waltz.  She was painful to watch. She looked scared to death the entire time and the waltz didn’t flow. He had a fake, pasted on smile the entire time and you could see he was really driving her around the floor with his hand on her back, instead of waltzing.

Iron Chef dude and Lacey/jitterbug:  He has a smokin’ bod (all those years of martial arts) and he was fun to watch. I hope he sticks around for awhile.

Aaron Carter and Karina/waltz:  He bugs me, as does she. Though she had on a gorgeous dress. That’s about all I can say.

Michael Irvin and Anna/waltz: His best dance. They were fun to watch. She had on a beautiful, beautiful dress. I would have worn it to work today if I could! Ha ha.

Kelly Osborn and Louis/jitterbug:  Her dress was very cute. It looked much better in person than on TV (as did all of the clothing). But she looked a little scared/stressed the whole dance. Overall they were fun to watch.

Snowboarder Louie and Chelsea/jitterbug:  He is one of my favorites even though he’s not the best dancer. They were fun to watch and it looks like they really like each other (as opposed to frozen pasted on smiles of others).

Model Joanna and Derek/waltz: Another fantastic dress!! They were very good.

Donny Osmond and Kym/jitterbug:  The best dance of the night. Betty and I had laughed about having Donny posters on our wall growing up and then seeing him on the show and all the women who were going nuts for him (a HUGE Donny fan base onsite last night). Well, seeing him in person and he’s way better looking in person! He’s pretty buffed and a lot more handsome than he appears on camera. Donny got a couple of new fans last night!

After the individual dances, there was the “dance off” and the dance was the mambo. All the couples started out dancing and then one-by-one, the judges raised a paddle with a couple’s name on it and one of the stage hands would tap them out. It came down to Mya and Dmitry and Joanna and Derek as the final two and Joanna and Derek won. Then, it was over.

The judges, Tom and Samantha:  Usually Len is the grumpy one but last night he was in a good mood, playing off the audience. Carrie Ann was the bitchy one and Bruno seemed preoccupied or something. When the host Tom Bergeron is talking, you can barely hear him in the studio. I’m going to have to watch the playback to take it all in. Samantha Harris was mostly back in the red room. She was on the dance floor at the beginning and she had a gorgeous dress on.

After the show was over we got the Blackberry, our parking voucher and hiked back to the car. All in all, a very, very fun time. I’d go back again for sure. THANKS BETTY!

Post-surgery Update #2

The second doctor's appointment was yesterday followed by physical therapy. All the stitches came out and it looks pretty good. I asked about graduating from the trainer to the rollers and maybe even an easy ride outdoors on the flat, but the answer was no....stick to the trainer for two more weeks. Two more weeks?!? Torture! She made one consolation--I can bump things up one gear ("...once you get warmed up!")

After seeing the doctor, it was over to physical therapy. We started out doing some walking (still working on walking correctly), then some calf stretching, some knee flexion, then some marching, step ups and finally some standing hip flexion and abduction and very light leg press. That was followed by ice and compression. I got the word to do the step ups, marching and stretching on a regular basis. And continue swimming and riding the bike. So not what I wanted to hear, but things continue to progress, just slowly.

Post-surgery Update #1

It's now 20 days since surgery and one post-op doctor visit down and one physical therapy session down. Last week the doctor took half of the stitches out. Hopefully the other half come out today. She said to ride the stationary bike every day, starting at 15 minutes and working up to 45 minutes, very light gear. So I've been on the bike 13 days in a row, working up to 45 minutes, doing exactly what I'm supposed to be doing. Maybe today she'll let me graduate to the rollers.

For physical therapy, the orders were to walk short distances multiple times a day and concentrate on walking correctly. I guess I'd been toeing off too much to compensate for the weak quad and pain in the knee. I'm also supposed to do 3 second "stand on one leg then switch to the other leg, do it 10 times" multiple times a day. I started out barely able to stand on my left leg and that has improved a lot.

The other biggie is walking up and down stairs. Normal sized steps I can now navigate. Big deal!! But deeper steps like getting on/off the bus or the cable car, I still have to take one leg at a time. But things are coming along!

Yes, the Season is Over

I went to Colorado Springs riding the best I've ever ridden--personal best times in all events, but off the bike my left knee had been hurting for quite awhile. I'm pretty sure it all stemmed from the crash back in February, but at that time I was more banged up on the head/neck/elbow/hip and the knee never really came up. A couple of months later after physical therapy for the hip/back, the pain had seemed to go more to the knee, but never was too bad. It kind of bothered me after sitting a long time and then starting to walk, but it never bothered me on the bike. In fact, riding made it feel better! An MRI in the early summer showed a small tear of the lateral meniscus. This was not really the time to do anything with it, especially considering riding still made it feel a lot better and there was a lot of racing to do. 

Fast forward to August and the week of Masters Nationals in Colorado Springs. Lots of pain off the bike (sitting/walking), no pain on the bike. There are stairs and a tunnel that you have to go down, through and up to get to the track infield there and a week of going up and down stairs pretty much put me over the edge. Since I can't ride 24/7 (and believe me, I've tried to figure out a way!), a trip to Dr. Van Pelt (who was actually my team doctor at Arizona State University and now at St. Francis Center for Sports Medicine) and he laid out the options: (1) more physical therapy, but that hadn't worked the first time; (2) shoot up the knee with cortisone (I have a personal bias AGAINST ever doing this); or (3) go get Dr. Lewis, consult with her and schedule arthroscopic surgery. Option 3 it was and everything done within the hour.

Last Thursday was the surgery. The plan was--to the hospital by 9:45 AM, surgery scheduled for 11:15 AM, home before 5:00 PM. I got there a bit early, go checked in, got changed and onto the gurney in the Come & Go surgery area. The nurse had me sign the papers, took vitals, asked what my pain tolerance was. "For injuries and things like that, 10. For needles, ZERO."  She kind of chuckled. I told her that I wasn't kidding. It was finally time to put in the IV. The part of the day that I was ~really~ dreading. For some reason, I was under the impression that they'd numb up my hand first. Hell no! She finally got the IV in (crap that hurt!) and started the drip and it hurt more! And it hurt just to lay there! My hand and arm were frozen to my side as I was afraid to move them lest it would hurt a lot. No, I was NOT kidding about that ZERO needle pain tolerance.

After the IV went in and the nurse took my glasses, I laid there with my eyes shut since I can't see a damned thing without my glasses. Dr. Van Pelt came by to see me. The anesthesiologist came by. Dr. Lewis stopped in to write her initials on my left (surgical) knee and "NO!" on my right knee. This made me chuckle...a little. She also said that they were running behind schedule in the OR so she didn't know when we'd get going. Oh well, I had nothing better to do at this point. I told her that the knee had really been hurting a lot the past few days along the medial joint line. Finally, a really nice surgical nurse, Johnny, came to get me to take me upstairs. I told him that maybe we should stop at the bathroom first as the surgery had been delayed and I'd had an IV running through me all this time......"good idea", he said. 

We finally get to the operating room and Johnny got me all situated and the anesthesiologist came in and said he was going to give me some anti-nausea meds through the IV. YOW! CRAP THAT HURT! When the meds hit the IV line and entered my hand, it felt like someone had stabbed me. He said the next one would sting a little but I'd be out soon. Well hell! Just knock me out. So he did.

I woke up in recovery wide awake and not groggy, ready to go. This surprised me a lot as other surgeries, I'd been plenty groggy. Plus, I had virtually no pain (about a 2 on a scale of 0-10.) After spending about 30-45 minutes in the recovery room and drinking some cranberry juice, they took me back to the Come & Go unit for more juice, crackers and more laying around. Even better, they had one of the nurse's assistants run across the street to the pharmacy to pick up the pain medication so they had my bag in the recovery room so I could give him the $10 for the co-pay. Which also meant that I had my Blackberry so I amuse myself! (Though I should probably go back and review the Twitter updates I did.) Finally about 4:00 PM they called Mateo to come pick me up and he and Jasmine came and got me and brought me home. Pain level still at a 2 or less. 

Friday night @ the track. Photo by Steven Woo.

Thursday evening I was wired and I ended up staying awake until about 2:00 AM. I dutifully took the pain meds before I went to sleep (Dr. Lewis and Nurse Heidi and Nurse JohnS had all said to take them before sleeping) but I hate how they make you feel, so I got off them as soon as possible. Luckily, the pain has been almost non-existent and even with getting out and about, I have had very little pain. I can walk around short trips without crutches and can bend the knee to 90 degrees with little discomfort. The bandages came off over the weekend and now just the small bandage over the incision sites remain, covered with a saran-wrap type bandage so I can shower. Lots of laying around, icing, leg lifts and just resting over the weekend. OK, I did get out for some sunshine and bike racing.

Sunday @ Giro di San Francisco. Photo by Mateo Ortega

Prognosis? I do know that there was a small tear in the lateral meniscus (outside of knee). And that pain on the inside of my knee? That was a very large tear of the medial meniscus, which did not show up on the MRI for some reason. But that's all I know for now. Tomorrow I go in for the post-op appointment, so I'll know more then on what I can and can't do and the rehab plan and the long-term ramifications. I'm just ready to get going on rehab and get back on the bike.

Tuesday, five days post-op. I could just barely get my leg around the pedal stroke. Photo by Heidi Larson.

RR: Masters' Track Nationals - Day 4

TEAM RACING DAY!

The last day of Nats is the team events (Team Sprint and Team Pursuit) and the Madison. Thanks to Doug Johnston, I had met his training mate Sallie and some other folks from TTown and Sallie and I were a team sprint pair. The Team Sprint is 2 women. You like up at the start together and on the bell, you both take off and teammate #1 slots in in front and teammate #2 slots in right behind. #1 does one full lap, pulling off within a marked area, and #2 continues on for a second lap. Everyone goes against the clock and the fastest time wins.

We got to the track by 8:30 and I got changed and got on the track and did about a 30 minute warmup. The track closed to warmup and I rode around the warmup circle some, got some water and some Gu, rode around a little more, sat down for 10 minutes, then went and rode the coach's rollers until nearly time to go to the ready. They were running the TS as 2-ups, meaning one team on one side, one on the other side of the track, start at the same time and take best times. There were 4 teams, two we knew were much faster and the other one, we thought we could beat them, but it would be close.

It was decided that I would be rider #1 and Sallie would be rider #2. We got on the start line and the countdown commenced...down to 5.4.3.2.1, deep breath and GO. I didn't get the best first pedal stroke, but up out of the saddle and pedal, pedal like mad! I stayed standing until nearly the opposite start/finish line....much farther than I had in the 500m TT earlier in the week. Keep the speed up through the turn and then, pull off between the cones and let Sallie shoot through.

Once I'd pulled off, I eased up on my pedaling and my bike started making all kinds of racket! WHAT IS THAT?!?!?! I tried to ease up pedaling as quickly as possible as it sounded like my chain or chain ring was going to fall off and if that happened, I'd be screwed. Big time. But nothing fell off (though the noise remained) and I slowed way down and got off the track. In the meantime, both riders #2 were finishing, but I was too concerned with the bike to listen closely to what the announcer said.

Results:
1. 50.584
2,  52.663
3.  57.736 <====
4.  57.885

Goal met!! A PR time in the TS and third place! We were both psyched to be on the podium.

That makes 3 personal bests and 1 other event tied for my personal best. Also, I've moved up in placing in every event and ended up 11/13 in the BAR (best rider) competition. (As opposed to last year when I didn't even get listed.) So I'm pretty happy with how the week went. Can't wait to start working on goals for next year!

RR: Masters' Track Nationals - Day 3

Sprint day!

They way the sprints work is everyone does a flying 200 meters for time first thing, then they seed the tournament from the times. I was 9th to go in the morning, so I got to the track early and did a pretty good warm up on the track--25 minutes in the warm up gear with a couple of jumps, then change to the race gear and do another 20 minutes with two more jumps. Hop on the rollers, stay loose until it's time to go to the ready. I was about the 8th person to go.

For the flying 200, they give you a push off on the back straight when the previous person passes on the way to their finish. You get 2.5 laps and the last 200 meters is timed. I rolled out and had gone through this in my mind many times the night before and during the warm up. Stay near to above the blue line the first 3/4 lap, then head up towards the rail and start to pick up the speed. On the second time around, get it rolling and up hill going into turn 2, keep the pressure on the pedals, then get to turn 3 and stand up and hit it, standing as long as possible. Take the corner a little late, which I did, but maybe too late. The corners in Colorado are tight, so I've been having a hard time keeping the bike down at the bottom of the curve and today was no different. Too high (which means losing time). Keep pedaling all the way across the line. I felt like it was a decent effort, but when the announcer said, 14.74 seconds, I was not happy at all. That equalled my best 200m time but I was expecting faster. I groused about it to the coach and of course everything he said was right (thanks Kenny), so all I could do was sit and wait to see where I was (as I had gone first). I ended up seed 5th of 6 (we started with 7, with one scratch). It was then another long wait until they decided how they would run my AG. The decision was for #1-4 to go straight to the evening's semifinals and #5-6 would have a one-ride final for the last podium spot. 

Back on the rollers to stay loose, ride around the warm up circle, sit and hydrate (as it was hot and sunny--my preferred weather!)  Repeat, repeat, repeat.

Finally, they called us to the ready. For the match sprint, you draw for position--#1 or #2. If you are #1, you have to obligation to lead things out. Since my qualifying time was quite a bit faster than the other gal's time, Kenny and Curtis gave me a few options of things to do. The official had her draw and she drew #2, so that made me #1. Her holder placed her bike fairly low on the track and Kenny told him to move it up as she was #2. (#1 has the lower spot on the track and #2 is higher.)  I saw him grimace and they weren't very happy with that. Good for me! I got on the bike and sat up, finally getting down into the drops and the official blew the whistle and Kenny gave me a push. I immediately went up above the blue line and kept going up higher into the corner as I was pretty sure she would not like that at all. Plus, I slowed way down, which I don't think she liked either. Continue nice and slow out of turn 2 and then pick it up a little. Uphill into turn 3 taking her really high and just past the midpoint between turns 3 and 4, I shot down the banking (which seems like falling off a building), standing up and sprinting as hard as I could, and I kept sprinting for the rest of the race. I took a peek back coming out of turn 4 and didn't see her, but I kept pedaling like mad until I heard Kenny say to shut it down. But I've been beaten in other sprints by letting up in the last 50 meters, so I did not want it to happen here! Win and 5th place for me, which meant the podium!  Standing on the podium tonight was SWEET!!

Thanks Coach.

Thanks Annabell for all the advice and for making me play follow the leader on the track yesterday. It helped.

Thanks Kevin for putting on the sprint tournament series. Match sprinting is like chess on bikes and it takes a lot of practice. The sprint tournaments are a great way to try out new things.

Thanks to all the Hellyer folks who were out there cheering today. What a fun week this has been. I'm already thinking about next year.

Thanks to my boys for all the trips to Hellyer this year. The best part of my week.

RR: Masters' Track Nationals - Day 2

2k pursuit - 6 laps against the clock.

11 women in my AG. Goals again were to ride a best time and not be last. There were some super fast women in this race, so the second goal would be tough. The morning started out dead still and warming up, but mid-morning the wind kicked up. By the time we raced, it was nice and warm and the wind was down a bit. I was in the first heat, riding solo.

I got in a good warm up, first in the warm up gear, then in the race gear. Since the morning warm up is really crowded on the track, I did the entire warm up on the rollers which worked out pretty well. We got my bike measured (mandatory) and it was fine, both the saddle position and aerobars. To the ready area and then to the start.

Countdown to zero and stand up, stiff arms, pedal forward, stand up until I spin out. I stood up over half a lap--yea! Sit down easy, get into the aero bars before the corner. Done and done. In July at States, I went out way too fast and then slowed down too much (but still rode a PR), so I knew I couldn't go out so hard today. Ease off a bit in lap 2 and try to float the pedals. Going into turn 2 on the second lap, the wind caught the disc and gave me a little shove, then some head wind on the back straight. At least the rest of the laps I could anticipate the wind in turn 2 and had no problem after that.

Lap 3 I heard Kenny yell at me to pick it up. As we were sitting in the ready, he'd asked if I wanted to hear splits. I told him, "No. Just tell me if I am over or under a PR time." So when he said to pick it up, I thought, "CRAP! I can't be behind, can I?" I pedaled a little faster and then coming around again I knew it was only 2 laps to go, so pick it up again and bust it out on the last lap. I crossed the line and heard the announcer say, "3:05". YES! That was a BIG PR!!! Just over 5 seconds. Super happy about that and I was in first place for 3 minutes. ha

I ended up in 10th and negative split the second kilo. Real happy about that. And both goals for the day met.

RR: Masters' Track Nationals - Day 1

Last year I rode at nats since they were at our home track. I didn't have much idea of what I was doing and did it for the experience. I pretty much came in last in all but one events. There are some fast women who race the track and they've been doing it for a long time. This year my goals are to ride personal best times in all the events and see if I can move up in the placings. Funny thing is that the 50-54 age group has nearly twice as many women as any other age group.

Our track is 335 meters with nice wide turns and 25 degrees banking. The 7-11 velodrome here in Colorado Springs is 330 meters and 33 degrees banking with tighter turns. I arrived Sunday and that afternoon we went over to the track so I could ride it. A little intimidating at first. It took me about 10 laps to get up to where the Olympic rings are painted on the cement (about 2/3rds of the way up) and another 10 laps to get clear to the top of the track (the rail). Another ride on Monday and I was feeling much better about it. Legs up Monday and relax all day, but the doing nothing actually made me a little stressed out though I did do 4 hours of work. Friends from our track came over and cooked dinner and we had good food, a couple of beers and then it was time to pack the bag and hit the bed. Right when I went to bed, it started to rain and was still raining in the middle of the night.

Got up this morning to overcast and cool. I'd prefer sunny and 90F, but it wasn't to be. We got to the track and got warmed up. Noticed some headwind on the finishing straight, so where you started your 500m might make a difference. (Two people ride at a time--one starting on the back straight, the other on the front straight. Fastest time of all riders wins.) I was seeded 10th/11, so riding in the second heat, starting on the backside.

Got in a pretty good warm up--a few laps on the track just to get the feel, then the rest on the rollers. My coach came down and that was a big help as I was a little stressed. I was definitely in the "let's just get this going" mindset. Watched a few of the earlier races, finished warming up, the coach took the bike to get measured, rolled around on the warm up circle, with a couple of people to go I sat and watched their starts, then I got called to the ready.

The 500m is 1.5 laps (more or less), so I was starting on the backside, finishing on the front side.  15 seconds, 10 seconds, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, beep. Look down the track; pedal forward, not down; keep the arms stiff; breathe! Keep standing as long as possible, then sit and 4 hard pedal strokes and then keep it rolling to the end.  First lap, OK, and then my legs started to tire, but I told myself to keep pedaling as fast as I could. Across the line and I felt good about the effort. Then I heard him call my time and I was pretty happy---a huge PR.  By over 2%!  I ended up 10th/11 which means I met my other goal. The gal I rode with ended up winning and setting a new world record and Lorraine, from our Hellyer track ended up second, also breaking the world record and 0.1 behind the winner.  Also from our track we had one National champion in the men's 65-69 AG, 2nd place in the men's 60-64 and Annabell also broke the world record for the women's 45-49 AG, unfortunately, coming in second, but a PR ride for her. So a very good first session. More racing by others tonight if the rains hold off.

Next race: 2K pursuit tomorrow morning.

RR: Masters' States - Day 2

Today was the 500m TT, Points Race and the Team events. The day started out a bit overcast and cool with light to gusting winds and warmed up and cleared off and got windy.

500m TT:

1.5 laps on our track.

After yesterday's quick start in the 2K, I was ready to bust out a good 500. I was about 6th woman to go and I got a decent start (standing start) and stood until nearly half a lap. I hit 28.9 mph and was pedaling like mad. I ended up 0.05 off my PR in much worse conditions, so I'm happy. 3rd place.

Points race:
30 laps (6 miles), sprints every 6 laps

Since the numbers weren't high for the points race, they combined all the women's age groups and we all raced and were scored together. But then they split out the age groups for awards. We had two points racing national champions in the field, one in my AG. And the race was FREAKING FAST!  We averaged about 25 mph for the first 12 laps.  On the first sprint I got 4th. Second sprint, got 4th again. At this point the front three kept the speed up and I was on the edge of breathing difficulty and then I got gapped just a bit so I pulled up to get my breathing under control and took a lap. When the group came around I got back in and then one person didn't look (always look before you move!) and came down on me and drove me off the track and onto the blue line. On the next sprint lap Donna and I got gapped and she and I traded pulls to the end. Unfortunately, we got caught 10 meters before the line on the last lap. Damn! Donna was in front of me and I thought she would pull off in turn 3 like we'd been doing, but she didn't so I was stuck behind her as the front group came up on me so I was pinned in.  I ended up 3rd in the AG. Not exactly happy about getting passed at the end but I am happy about hanging for the first 12 laps with the National Champions.

We had a long break between the rest of the points races and team stuff. During open track, I got on the track and just rode around easy for a bit. Wind had picked up quite a bit by this time.

W45+ Team Sprint:

Two laps, two people. One person does one lap with the second person sitting on their wheel. After a lap, the first person pulls off within the zone and the second person continues solo on the second lap.

Team Donna & Cathy (yea, original). She and I have done this a few times now and her coach was there and said I should go first and Donna second. Fine with me. Got to the start and on the gun, I had a HORRIBLE start. Not sure what happened but I went right, towards Donna. Crap! Get it lined out and take off as fast as I can and pedal like hell until the pull-off zone. She kept going but we both thought the points race took some out of our legs. Afterwards, her coach said we should have switched order. 2nd place.

W30+ Team Pursuit (or, all women's TP...no split of age groups)

3K or 9 laps on our track. They changed the Women's TP this year from 4 to 3 people, so you couldn't drop off one person as the time stopped after the third rider. It was me, Donna and Elizabeth, who just started racing this year and had never done a team pursuit. She wanted to bail, but we wouldn't let her. We told her that it was about just racing, having fun and getting the experience. We decided that she would lead it out, Donna second and me last, then do 1/2 lap pulls. 

The start was OK. Not fast, but OK. Elizabeth took us up to speed and the first lap I felt like I was going pretty easy. When Donna pulled off after the first lap, I slightly picked it up and after a couple of laps, when I hit the front again, I did full lap pulls. We picked it up a little more the last couple of laps and finished feeling good in 3rd place.

So, 6 races this weekend and 6 medals. Some good racing, some stupid racing. So many people told me that I am racing much better this year than last year which is always good for the motivation. I'm looking forward to Nats in August.

RR: Masters' States - Day 1

This weekend is Masters' States and my goals are to ride faster times than I did last year at this event. Last year it was about 3 weeks later in the season too.

Today: Sprints and pursuits

For the sprints, everyone did a flying 200m to get a time to then set up the brackets.  Going up an age group didn't mean fewer women. Instead, the 50-54 AG has the most women entered over all of the events. Very cool to see! And, it includes the national champion in a couple of events, so I have my work cut out for me.

I only have the wheels that came on my bike, which are good training wheels, but not aero race wheels.  Anabell gave her deep dish front and tri spoke back tubular wheels to ride. Thanks Anabell!! Rode a decent sized gear and with the wheels, I felt like I was flying, but in the end, I was off my best time overall and off my best time for this year. Then again, everyone had slower times for the 200.  Maybe due to a bit of wind?

Qualifying: Lorraine was first, me second, Dorrit 3rd.

Sprints.

Me v. Dorrit

Ride #1.  I beat Dorrit to the line and then got relegated!!! I was told that I came out of the sprinters lane. I told the head ref (whom I know) that I wanted a video replay.  Which they didn't have. Everyone said I might have come out one inch but she was way high and behind me (and I knew exactly where she was) and I didn't impede her.  I was pissed.

Ride #2. I was stupid and went way too early and was going too fast too soon and she came around me in the last 25 meters. Really pissed. At least I hit a new max speed: 31.9 mph.

Ended up 3rd.

Long break and back on the track to warm up for the pursuit. Changed gear, rode some, changed gear again. Decisions, decisions!! It seemed like the wind was picking up so I went with the same gear that I'd ridden in the one-on-one sprints. Good choice.

The 2K pursuit is 6 laps on our track. One person starts on one side of the track and the other person starts on the other side of the track and you ride against the clock. When everyone has finished, the fastest time wins. I got a decent start and stayed standing all the way through the turn until I thought my legs would spin off. Sat down and kept pedaling at that speed and effort. I came across the finish line for lap 1 and looked at my speedo and it said 27.x mph and I thought to myself, yikes! That's way too fast!! Like a time that would win Nationals easily. So I eased up some and still felt good. I really wish it had been a kilo as by the end of lap 3, I was ready to be finished. I tried to float my pedals to get a micro-rest, but the winds were all swirly and there didn't seem to be a good place to get a rest. Everyone was yelling to pick it up and on laps 5 and 6 I tried. Lap 5 maybe not so much, but lap 6 I think I did pick it back up some. Crossed the finish line and I felt that I went as hard as I could have. Wasn't sure of the time, but I didn't really matter as the effort had been really good.

I ended up 4th, missing 3rd by 2 seconds. But even better, the time was a personal best (and was over 10 seconds faster than last year).  Oh yeah, everyone else had aerobars and I was riding regular road bars (due to not getting my tri bars fixed in time since I thought someone was loaning me clip ons but that didn't happen. So there's the 2 seconds right there. I WILL have aerobars at Nationals.

So, good and not so good today. But the not so good was a good learning experience. Can't wait until tomorrow.

RR: Beat the Clock TTs

Yesterday at the velodrome was the Beat the Clock time trials, a fund raiser for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. One fun thing that they do is to open it up to road bikes and track bikes (NOT at the same time!) So this way the roadies and triathletes can check out the track. The coach had put this on my schedule and I'd done it last year, so it would be a good test. And also a chance to practice starts and the new aero helmet prior to next week's Masters States.

I was entered in 3 races but they added the 200m at the last minute, so I did that too, mostly to practice a couple of things (as riding a good 200 is somewhat technical), plus to use it as part of the warm up. I got to the track and first on the track to warm up were the road bikes, so I got on the rollers and did 10 minutes of warming up. Got off and changed cog and chainring and by then it was the track bike rider's turn to get on the track. Another 15-20 minutes of warm up on the track and I felt good to go. It was warm (not hot) and really really windy. Especially in turn 3 to 4.

First up, flying 200m:

I was the first woman to go after all the men. This was a track bike only event. I ramped it up early and was rolling pretty good through the turn but I guess in the wind you need to drop down sooner. I did keep my speed up through turns 3 and 4 and all the way to the finish. I was super happy with the effort, just not with the time, though seeing that everyone else's time was slow, the time didn't matter. Especially since I had the fastest time of the women!!  1st place.

Next up, 500m TT:

The 500m on our track is 1.5 times around and you do it from a standing start. I was about in the middle of the group of women to start and was feeling a bit nervous. Probably because I hadn't done a race with a standing start for 10 months. I didn't have my pedals in the best place to start and kind of lost focus during the countdown so I don't think I had a great start. Once I got going, again I felt really good and was able to keep it rolling the entire 1.5 laps. Again, not happy with my time, but OK with the effort.  4th place.

Kilo:

The coach put the kilo on the schedule and I've never done one as in official competitions only men get to do the kilo. All I knew was that it was a hard race if you do it right. Like falling over and puking hard. I didn't even know how many laps it was so I asked Warren how to approach it. He gave me some tips (and also said it was 3 laps), so I went to the start line and thought, "I'll have a PR time no matter what!" 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 - whistle.....head in the game and a much better start. Got into the rhythm and the first lap went by. Float the pedals on the second lap and try to pick it up on the third lap. I felt good and kept up the cadence and crossed the line feeling good. The first thing Warren said was, "You look like a pursuiter!!" My time was pretty good I guess and again, the fastest time of the women! I like the kilo!!  1st place.

2K pursuit:

My legs were feeling a bit tired by this time, and I had no aerobars, so this was going to be--take it out somewhat hard and try to hold on.  Six laps from a standing start. This start was the worst of all for some reason, but I got it rolling and felt pretty good. Lap 2, still feeling good, but float the pedals in the turn in the wind. Keep it rolling lap 3. Float the pedals again in lap 4. Around lap 5 I get passed by the State Time Trial Champion and I used her to lift my speed and keep it lifted. Lap 6 was probably the fastest lap of the entire 2K. Pretty tired when I finished. 6th place.

Got on the rollers and did a cool down. Very fun day and very happy with my riding.

American Velodrome Challenge, Day 2

Hellyer Velodrome, San Jose, CA, USA, June 27, 2009

 

Saturday started early in the morning with flying 200m sprint qualifications. The nine fastest in every field qualified for the sprint tournament.

 

Men 200m

 

US National Champion Jimmy Watkins set a new Hellyer Velodrome track record with 10.84 sec.

Jimmy	Watkins	10.84
Giddeon	Massie	11.34
Karl	Erickson	11.39
Peter	Billington	11.42
Daniel	Walker	11.50
Giovanni	Rey	11.57
Kelyn	Akuna	11.61
Stephen	McLaughry	11.64
Allen	Vugrincic	11.84
Michal	Rohoň	11.85
Sam	Milroy	11.90
Nicholas	Harter	11.95

 

Women 200m

 

Australian Scratch Champion Laura McCaughey set the fastest time for the women. US National Sprint Champion Cari Higgins did not start after her crash on Friday.

Laura	McCaughey	12.5
Jen	Featheringill	12.8
Elisabeth	Williams	12.86
Tela	Crane	12.95
Cristin	Walker	13.0
Elizabeth	Newell	13.1
Annabell	Holland	13.2
Andrea	Fisk	13.4
Shelby	Reynolds	13.5
Kendi	Thomas	13.7
Heather	VanValkenburg	13.8
Jane	Chateaubriand	14.1
Camille	Hook	14.3

 

Master 200m and San Jose Bicycle Club Master Sprint

The master men finalized their sprint tournament before lunch as they had Keirin racing coming up in the afternoon.

Stephen	McLaughry	11.6
Brian	Abers	11.9
Terry	Tenettte	12.2
Mark	Godfrey	12.3
Pekka	Jaske	12.5
Andreas	Vogel	12.5
Arden	Arindaeng	12.6
Mark	Rodamaker	12.6
John	Simmons	12.7
Alex	Millar	12.8
Tim	Montagne	12.9
Gavin	Scholle	13.0

 

Portland

’s men swept the podium:

1	Stephen	McLaughry
2	Brian	Abers
3	Mark	Godfrey
4	Pekka	Jaske
5	Arden	Arindaeng

 

The afternoon session started with the men and women sprint finals.

 

Milroy Construction Men's Sprints

Jimmy Watkins clearly beat Olympian and Friday night’s Keirin winner Giddeon Massie. The race for bronze was much closer, but eventually up-and-coming Daniel Walker won 2:0 over Kelyn Akuna.

1	Jimmy	Watkins
2	Giddeon	Massie
3	Daniel	Walker
4	Kelyn	Akuna
5	Peter	Billington

 

Zin Surgical Women's Sprints

The women’s sprint was a down-under affair. Australian Laura McCaughey beat recovering Kiwi sprinter Liz Williams 2:0. Jen Featheringill took third.

1	Laura	McCaughey
3	Elisabeth	Williams
2	Jen	Featheringill
4	Tela	Crane
5	Cristin	Walker

 

Sport Velo Women's Miss & Out

As in Friday night’s Point race, this was a battle between home favorite and world Cup bronze medalist Shelley Olds and Australian Laura McCaughey, with Laura prevailing again.

1	Laura	McCaughey
2	Shelley	Olds
3	Jennifer	Triplett
4	Cari	Higgins
5	Beth	Newell
6	Karla	Kingsley
7	Kira	Prokopakis
8	Cristin	Walker
9	Liz	Williams
10	Kendi	Thomas

 

Testarossa Men's Scratch

Local Hellyer track star and World Cup bronze medalist Dan Holloway, escaped from the field early on and managed to gain a lap on the field. Hayden Godfrey won the field sprint for second.

1	Dan	Holloway
2	Hayden	Godfrey
3	Grant	Boursaw
4	Steven	Beardsley
5	Steve	Pelaez
6	Iggy	Silva
7	Ryan	Luttrell
8	David	McCook
9	Maurice	Monge
10	Giovanni	Rey
11	Brian	Peterson
12	Derek	Dixon

 

Western Athletic Clubs Master Keirin

Hellyer’s Brian Peterson attacked right after the motor came off, took the lead and stayed in the front all the way to the finish line.

1	Brian	Peterson
2	Stephen	McLaughry
3	Mark	Godfrey
4	Brian	Abers
5	John	Simmons
6	Mark	Rodamaker
7	Michael	Hernandez

 

Testarossa Women's Scratch

This race was a great example of team tactics--while everyone was expecting another duel between Shelley Olds and Laura McCaughey, Shelley's team mate Hanan Alves-Hyde went off the front with Julia Manley and Tela Crane, eventually outsprinting her two break-away companions.

1	Hanan	Alves-Hyde
2	Julia	Manley
3	Tela	Crane
4	Laura	McCaughey
5	Shelley	Olds
6	Jennifer	Triplett
7	Cari	Higgins
8	Andrea	Fisk
9	Jen	Featheringill
10	Emily	Charbonneau

 

startcycling.com Master Points Race

This was a classic battle between sprinters and enduros. While 8 riders took points in the first two sprints, local pursuiter Michael Hutchison took off winning the other two sprints and cementing first place.

1	Michael	Hutchinson
2	Pekka	Jaske
3	Daryl	Hemenway
4	James	Keiser
5	Aaron	Hunter
6	John	Simmons
7	Michael	Hernandez
8	Brandon	Correia
9	Andrew	Nevitt

 

John Peckham Memorial Men's Points Race

Before the night’s last race was started, NCVA President Brian Peterson remembered friend and team member John Peckham.

James Stangeland won the first sprint and he would score 3 more times which was enough for a decisive win. Dan Holloway and Jame Carney battled it out for silver and bronze respectively.

1	James	Stangeland
2	Dan	Holloway
3	Jame	Carney
4	Grant	Boursaw
5	Steve	Pelaez
6	Benjamin	Jacques-Maynes
7	Iggy	Silva
8	Giddeon	Massie
9	Jason	Allen
10	Karl	Erickson
11	Ryan	Luttrell