Joe Martin < Me

Posted on by Lindsay
Today is the first stage of the Joe Martin Stage Race, a 4.84 kilometer uphill time trial. Then we have two road races and a crit over the following three days. Stage racing is great! Supermint is great! Bikes are great! Last time I was at this race in 2014, I had a massive meltdown. Things were bad that year. For reasons I'm still trying to understand, I fell apart completely and lost half a season to panic attacks, performance anxiety, and endless crying spells. It took months to climb out of the dark hole and stop hating racing and myself, and sometimes I still worry that shadow is going to come back. Joe Martin was one of the worst periods in that time. Things were going to pieces before I even made it to Fayetteville and on the night before the first stage, I took the team van, drove to a local bar, ...continue reading.

The Magic of Mint

Posted on by Lindsay
When Jono and I brought Andrey on to be the HB Supermint creative director, we had a vision in mind: somebody with a unique eye for brilliant photos who was able to tell a compelling story about a new team of professional cyclists coming together to take on a race season. There would be elation! Heartbreak! Suspense! An underdog tale, a phoenix rising from the ashes to conquer the elite racing circuit! Then as with all things in life, reality intervened. Andrey has done a wonderful job of making us look fantastic, despite repeated efforts on my part to thwart him. Exhibits A and B: But the storytelling part has taken a backseat to keeping up with the rapid pace of the season. We went from camp to racing Tucson, Chico, San Dimas, Redlands. Days of racing with associated roster announcements, stage reports, photos, sponsor announcements - all normal parts of ...continue reading.

And We Were All Happy Campers

Posted on by Lindsay
When I think of childbirth, I imagine it's a massive undertaking of pain and exhaustion, followed by the moment when you first look at the baby and feel a massive rush of joy and love. And probably some panic as well because WHAT HAVE I DONE, I OWN A HUMAN. This was also how I felt at the Hagens Berman | Supermint Pro Cycling Team camp this past week. After so much preparation and planning all fall and winter, we gathered the riders and staff at a house in Southern California to officially kick off our season. Seeing the whole team roll out together in matching kits on matching equipment followed by a matching car made me nearly fall off my bike with happiness and pride. We did this. Jono and I made this from scratch. Then I realized I'd forgotten to put the bananas and bars in the team car and now that ...continue reading.

GOFIGHTWIN

Posted on by Lindsay
The race season starts today. My sixth road season, fourth as a professional. Where has all of the time gone? I remember being brand new in the peloton, brimming with overconfidence and naïveté. Now I can pin a number in my sleep, speak fondly of races that no longer exist, and roll my eyes with jaded fatigue at the idiosyncrasies of this cycling world. And yet each season begins the same: wild hope cautiously guarded. You spend the fall and winter training alone, long hours on short, cold days. There is no easy way to compare yourself to your peers in the winter (well, Strava, but no). You self-motivate, work hard and then harder, and wait for the big reveal come the first race. Maybe I'll have made some gains, you say to everybody glibly, while secretly hoping to blow everybody and yourself away at the first event. It doesn't ...continue reading.

The Amazing Technicolor Dreamkit

Posted on by Lindsay
Today was my first ride in the official Hagens Berman | Supermint Pro Cycling Team kit. Team camp isn't for another week, but my teammate and I are racing Valley of the Sun this weekend, so Vie13 made certain we had our kits in time for the event. The box arrived at my apartment today, I opened it quickly while doing fifteen other things, tried on the items and sent Jono some photos, and then went back to the fifteen things. [I did take a moment to initial everything "LB", an annual rite of passage for small children heading to summer camp and every professional cyclist.] When it came time to do the day's ride, I grabbed one of the new kits, suited up, and headed out. I started rolling through the parking lot towards the road and then suddenly, out of nowhere, there was this overwhelming feeling of pride and joy. For ...continue reading.

Once More Across The Continental Divide

Posted on by Lindsay
In other news, I have relocated from Virginia to Tucson, AZ. It was so enjoyable to drive across America last year that I decided to do it again, only faster and this time with a dog. On December 28, I packed up the Chevy, put some bikes on the roof, stuffed Tanner in the back, and got on the highway. This trip, unlike the last fun, adventurous one, was all about efficiency. I had to be in Tucson by 1:30pm on December 31 to sign my lease before the office closed for the holiday, so I skipped luxuries like sightseeing, regular meals, and peeing in favor of driving as much as possible. The highlights were few and far between: Tanner threw up only once. However, he waited until the moment we pulled up to a New Mexico border checkpoint to do so. Turns out he'd eaten a rock that didn't agree ...continue reading.