Winning all season long

Posted on by Lindsay
I'm still working on race reports from the Boise crit and the Cascade stage race; they're coming (probably), but in this moment, when I'm freshly home from this last trip and sitting at my own kitchen table, I'd rather say this: Being a professional cyclist has made my life. I love it. It's hard, the travel is sometimes exhausting, and the learning experiences keep coming, but it is so wonderful. I see places all over the country that I might otherwise have never seen, I travel with people that have become my family, and I get to ride my bike so much that I never want to see it again and then miss it instantly when the race ends. Sometimes I whine the entire way to the airport because I don't want to go away again blah blah boo hoo but then I do and it's always fantastic. This past trip ...continue reading.

For Cat

Posted on by Lindsay
Oh, Cat. I heard terrible news earlier - that you were hit by a car while riding your bike yesterday - and I feel helpless to do anything while you lay in a hospital bed trying to heal. I just saw you on Thursday night while we were both headed to the 6pm RBC ride, but we barely had time to talk before the ride rolled out. Now it will be a little while before we can talk again and, while I thought about putting these sentiments into a card that could be waiting when you wake up, I'd rather share them here and tell everybody about how special you are to me. I remember the first time we met: it was in the bathroom before the Black Hills Circuit Race in 2011. I was new to road racing, fresh off that bad crash from the week before and somewhat ...continue reading.

Speed Week: Life on the road

Posted on by Lindsay
[caption id="attachment_4210" align="alignnone" width="614"] Getting ready to unload the team van at another hotel. This time, Mary and I waited in the van and debated the merits of just sitting there all night until it was time to transfer to the next hotel.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_4211" align="alignnone" width="614"] Our Rudy Project bags overloaded the sad luggage cart so badly the tires refused to roll. Jordan's solution: more air pressure.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_4213" align="alignnone" width="614"] Welcome to the south.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_4217" align="alignnone" width="459"] More southern comfort. Not pictured: me. While the team bathed in grease at Waffle House, I caught up on work at Starbucks.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_4214" align="alignnone" width="575"] Iona and the dachshund from the Spartanburg hotel having a moment. I've never seen somebody so excited by a 4" tall dog.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_4208" align="alignnone" width="461"] An over-caffeinated Jamie decided that Mary (aka Scoots) needed constant attention this morning. That resulted in Scoots exploding ...continue reading.

Speed Week: Between the races

Posted on by Lindsay
[caption id="attachment_4172" align="alignnone" width="614"] In the team van on the way to Tybee Island. The theme of most of these photos is "Laura Gone Wild". The theme of this van ride was "No Calorie Left Uneaten" - we collectively ate throughout the entire 4-hour drive and stopped for dinner.[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="614"] Stopping to refuel. You can't take us anywhere.[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="461"] This is the third time on this drive that the bucket of bike-washing supplies flew out the back of the van and shattered on the ground. This time, the full cooler crashed down on top of the bucket and we all lost our shit and exploded into hysterical laughter.[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="461"] Laura was laughing the hardest and then got a little concerned about the side effects.[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="614"] Team Colavita out for a pre-race spin. Or not, as it would appear.[/caption] ...continue reading.

Camaraderie

Posted on by Lindsay
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.

A Musing

Posted on by lindsay
I am eating a bowl of melted cheese held together by pasta. This is two days after I decided to focus on getting more lean and one day after I decided to eliminate starch from my diet. Clearly, both are going well. My phone just alerted me that I am due in another meeting in 15 minutes, the third one of the day. Two meetings ago, I left abruptly at the beginning to get a cup of coffee from the kitchen. I don't drink straight coffee (devout latte addict here), but I needed something to cut through the fog in my head. This coffee was so strong I think somebody forgot to use a filter. I could have used it to burn through sheet metal. That was less than two hours ago and now I'm thinking of going back for more. Today in a nutshell. Things are strange right now. ...continue reading.