Camaraderie
Teammates are those wonderful people you can count on to run ahead of you at the grocery store to hide all remaining jars of the coconut peanut butter you have been craving for days and are so excited to buy.
Climbing our way up the podium
The Race: Sunny King Criterium The Course: 60-minutes on a 4-corner course The Field: 1/2 women The Finish: Our first team podium It's been bumpy start this season for Team Colavita as we settle into working together as a team, but things started to come together this past Saturday night at the Sunny King Criterium in Anniston, Alabama. Our director sent Tina, Jen, Jackie, and me to the crit while the rest of the team was racing Sea Otter. Our race plan was [redacted because this shit is super secret, dude, and I'm not giving out the recipe to the special sauce]. My race plan was to ride like a beast after carb-loading in the days before the race with an all-you-can-eat bakery buffet from Whole Foods. It was organic and Fair Trade and occasionally gluten-free, so clearly that means it was healthy and a good idea. After the usual ...continue reading.
Perspective
The Race: Presbyterian Hospital Invitational Criterium The Course: 18 laps of a 1.2-mile 8-corner crit. The Field: 1/2 women [caption id="attachment_4090" align="alignnone" width="614"] Morning openers with the team.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_4095" align="alignnone" width="614"] Tina waiting for her call-up with our director, Iona.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_4097" align="alignnone" width="614"] Waiting to start.[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="384"] Mid-race update from the USA Crits twitter feed, documenting that 'oh shit' moment when we started to chase.[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="614"] Jen getting set up for the finish.[/caption] The crit didn't play out as well as the team had hoped and I wasn't happy with my riding. It was a disappointing race and one we're eager to put behind us as we get ready for our next events. That being said, nothing else I was going to say in this race report matters anymore. My teammates and I got to do what we love - race our bikes, work hard, ...continue reading.
The American Dream
My trip home from Redlands earlier this week began with an American Airlines flight from Ontario, CA (ONT) to Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), followed by a 90-minute layover before the second flight. I was waiting at the gate at ONT before the scheduled departure of 2:25pm, but by 2:15pm, there still was not a single airline employee in sight. I looked the flight up online and saw that there was a delay, but no announcement was ever made at the gate. This was not unlike my trip out to Redlands, where the American flight was delayed by 90 minutes without explanation or apology. I started to get anxious; the flight was now scheduled to land 19 minutes before my next one was due to depart. It didn’t look promising. A phone call to the airlines and a visit to the gate counter indicated that (a) if I missed my connection, the ...continue reading.
Collision #2
While on a ride this morning, a squirrel darted out from the grass on the side of the road and under my front wheel. It was so sudden that I shrieked in surprise at the impact and immediately looked back to see if I had another body to add to the pile under the bridge behind my house. The squirrel had already dashed frantically back into the trees (hopefully not to die and end up in pieces), but something small and black was rolling across the road. I assumed it was something from my bike, so I circled back to check. It was a perfectly round, nearly black little ball. Without thinking, I poked it. It was a poop. The squirrel was so startled by the collision that he shot out a marble of poop.
Final Thoughts After Redlands
While I was boarding my flight home from Redlands today, I ran into another racer who was on his way home. “How did you do?” he asked as we made conversation at the gate. I didn’t know how to answer that question. He was looking for numbers; I wanted to talk about feelings and revelations and moments. Since the flight was already delayed (thanks, American Airlines!), I settled for a noncommittal answer and hurried to my seat. I don’t know how to explain to most people how I did at Redlands. Prior to this season, results were measured in numbers alone and I rode and answered only for myself. Every race was a chance to be a supernova, a unicorn, a winner. I wanted badly to win, over and over, and why? So I could get on a professional cycling team. Now I’m here and it’s like learning to race ...continue reading.