Reston: Where Thousands Cheer (if only my father laughs at that, it will be enough)

Posted on by lindsay
The Race: Reston Grand Prix Criterium The Course: 8 corners, an hour, no idea of how many laps The Field: 1/2/3 women The Finish: 1st I really wanted to win Reston. It's a race in my own neighborhood, it's an important event for the XO team and sponsors, and I had family and friends coming out to watch. A few days before the race, I came down with the snotty, disgusting cold previously enjoyed by my Nature Valley teammates, but was determined to make the best of it. As for race tactics, I was undecided about how to handle being a marked rider with no teammates. Everybody knew I'd want to chase everything down and nobody would be willing to let me go without a fight. When the race started, I sat in for part of a lap and then went to the front to set a moderately high pace. My hope was that it would ...continue reading.

Last weekend, brought to you in part by not racing

Posted on by lindsay
The weekend started in a haze, with a recovery ride on Friday evening that came on the heels of an all-nighter at work. Riding on no sleep after 27 hours at the office and a hard set of intervals from the previous day (does it even count as a separate day if you haven't gone to bed yet?) was like being high (not that I've had the experience of knowing what that's like, of course, innocent flower that I am). Music sounded incredible, cars speeding by were surprising and terrifying even though I was riding on the road where cars are sort of the norm, and at one point I was pretty sure large animals were peering out at me from the bushes. Then I stayed up late to watch Dance Academy, because I need Australian teenagers more than sleep. Saturday was a blur of still being very tired. I ...continue reading.

The Giving Tree

Posted on by lindsay
The first thing I did this Mother's Day was call my mother to ask about baking chicken. Can you cook the chicken directly in the marinade? How long should it bake? Oh, and happy Mother's Day. Love you, see you in a few hours, gotta run. This is not an uncommon sort of interaction. To say I am not the daughter of most mother's dreams is an understatement; while I'm relatively successful in life, I've also brought home a lot of angst and chaos over the years. I'm on par with a cactus or a porcupine in terms of cuddliness and I'd generally rather put a fork in my eye than have a conversation about my feelings, hopes, and dreams. As her only child, I know my mother had hoped we'd be best friends, charting the course of my life together, and instead I came out to be a stubborn, ...continue reading.

Basketful of Awesome

Posted on by lindsay
My family is big on tradition - every year, we read The Night Before Christmas on Christmas Eve, eat corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's Day, and set off illegal fireworks on the 4th of July. Easter is no exception; the "Easter Bunny" still hides my basket, because nothing says 'praise the resurrection of Jesus' like digging through somebody else's closets looking for a basket of candy. Spearheading this holiday insanity is my mother. She's not just a trip, she's an all-expenses-paid vacation to the moon; to know her is to love her and after meeting her, people always tell me, "Your mother is such a nice lady." (It is apparently not hereditary.) Anyhoo, here's a little video of my Easter. In true Bayer family style, my Easter basket was filled with whisky, pantyhose, candy, and some sharp objects. Then I proceeded to eat 90% of the candy in that ...continue reading.

With Great Horsepower Comes Great Responsibility

Posted on by lindsay
For as long as I can remember, my father has driven a BMW. Even as a little girl, I knew The Rules of riding in his car: (1) no feet on the seats, (2) no food/drink, (3) no slamming the door, (4) only use the door handle when closing the door from the outside, and (5) don't touch any buttons except the seat heater control. I credit my mother's presence for being the only reason I wasn't left on the side of the highway when I was around eight years old and threw up in the backseat on the way home from Thanksgiving dinner. It's understood that nobody drives his car except him; my mother and I joke that if he were periously wounded, he'd rather walk to the hospital than let one of us drive his car there. We laugh because it's true. Or so I thought. A few years ...continue reading.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Posted on by lindsay
I love Valentine's Day. Candy, flowers, sweet things, red and pink, bubbles, ribbons, sparkles, puppies...I want to be marinated in this festive crap. I'm serious; I'm even sitting here wearing a ridiculous flower in my hair: Okay. That's too much. My teeth hurt from all of that sweetness. And to be honest, I grabbed that flower off one of my Chanel boxes and superglued it to a hair clip while riding the trainer this morning. So really, this is probably more appropriate: But it's still a great holiday. What? You hate it and think it's manufactured by Hallmark? That's so original! You must be the first person ever to boldly make that assertion! It's a good thing that there are no other holidays that are over-commercialized [Christmas, Easter, Fourth of July, Halloween, Every Other Holiday That Is An Excuse To Sell Cars At A Discount]. However, while you are taking ...continue reading.