The perils of mixing business with pleasure

Posted on by Lindsay
I dialed into a teleconference for work this morning from my team host house in California. Because there are people nearby talking and moving around, I immediately muted my phone. As the automated teleconference line added me into the group call, I was instructed, "Please announce yourself!" I un-muted the phone to say my name and company affiliation. Just then, a teammate standing right behind me loudly asked, "Do we have any more toilet paper?" I have never felt more announced.

Initial thoughts on being a pro

Posted on by Lindsay
Being a professional cyclist so far is totally cray (in the words of my teammate)! I am now rich and famous, so much so that I sign $100 bills when people ask for my autograph, which is, like, constantly. Okay, none of that is true. Few people know who I am, including people who have already met me before, and cycling appears to not have caught on to that whole "do what you love and the money will follow" concept. I still work full-time so that I can pay my bills and support my eating habits (which another teammate described by saying, "You are a food hustler! You pack away more food than anybody I know!"). But I do feel different now, because when I put on my team kit and head out to train, I can legitimately call it going to work and there is a sense of pride about ...continue reading.

Black Hills: Testing out my Rudy helmet.

Posted on by Lindsay
Before I knew that I was going to the Delray Beach crit, I planned to start my season at the Black Hills Circuit Race in the men's 1/2/3 field. It seemed like a good, low-pressure way to knock out a first race. That plan seemed out the window when Colavita scheduled me to race in Delray, but that race was on Saturday night and I had a 5:45am flight home from Florida (GAH! SO EARLY!), scheduled to land at Dulles Airport at 10:30am on Sunday.  That meant that if everything lined up schedule-wise (and I wasn't too exhausted), I could make it out to Black Hills and use that race as my training for the day. Between post-race events in Florida, late-night packing, insomnia, and a 4am wake-up, I got an hour of sleep and felt less than great when I got home. But I was set on racing anyway, because it sure ...continue reading.

Delray Beach Twilight Criterium

Posted on by Lindsay
Throughout the two years of my road cycling career, I’ve raced without a team. That meant having to carefully choose when to burn matches and always preparing for the finish. The Delray Beach Twilight Criterium last night marked the beginning of a new era – I was part of a pro team and was responsible for protecting my teammates and working towards a finish for somebody else. Going into the race, I felt great. A bit nervous, but nothing like some of the races last year where I felt like I was going to shatter into a million anxious shards or pee six dozen times. It was exciting: my first race as a professional cyclist, my first race of the season after another winter of training, and a chance to ride in nothing more than bibs and a jersey instead of strapping on a dead animal carcass to stay warm ...continue reading.

“Yo so I continued to A1A Beachfront Ave”

Posted on by Lindsay
[caption id="attachment_3944" align="alignnone" width="614"] Seven people, seven bikes, one elevator.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_3957" align="alignnone" width="614"] Heading out from our host housing. The place is unbelievably nice. The staff asked us to carry our bikes all the way past the gated street entrance.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_3948" align="alignnone" width="614"] Race? What race? We heard there was a beach nearby...[/caption] [caption id="attachment_3950" align="alignnone" width="461"] Hooray! The beach! Sunlight! Oh, shit. SUNLIGHT.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_3953" align="alignnone" width="614"] It's March and we're swimming in the Atlantic. I could get used to this pro cycling thing. Remind me to invest in a bathing suit.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_3946" align="alignnone" width="614"] Jackie is unhappy because the sea lice are out to get her.[/caption] And here we have Jordan and Jackie getting down to our teammate Leah's sister's song:

I am a [female] cyclist.

Posted on by Lindsay
I read this blog post today after seeing a few complimentary Tweets about it. People said it was a great look at the experience of female racers and the author had this to say about it: I'm a female cyclist and racer, and I couldn't disagree more. Her writing is good, she comes across as warm, honest, and likable, and I don't want to be unsupportive of any chick who is willing to be honest and open about her experiences. But I also don't believe in women waving a white flag against their male riding counterparts and attributing it to being a woman: "However, the rest of the time I'm training with men. Since I am a woman, this gives me an absolutely warped perception of my own fitness and ability simply because when I train with men I am constantly getting my butt decisively handed to me. Oftentimes I ...continue reading.