My Kelly Cup Runneth Over

Posted on by lindsay
The Race: BikeJam/Kelly Cup The Course: 20 miles The Field: Pro 1/2 women The Finish: 1st After a great day at Wilmington, I felt uncharacteristically relaxed about Kelly Cup. It was a beautiful day, I'd already had one good race for the weekend, and although the odds were against me with three Optum Pro Cycling riders in the otherwise small field, it looked to be a good opportunity to practice tactics. Things didn't start off well. I was late to staging and started at the back of the field. The race took off fast, which meant I was trying to move up the side when people were already strung out. While I'd raced the course last year, I didn't remember the details of the curves and chicanes, so my hard effort to improve positioning was coupled with a few close calls and surprises as I thudded over pavement ruts and nearly missed course features ...continue reading.

I won, but the real victory is that for the first time ever, I put both arms up

Posted on by lindsay
The Race: Wilmington Grand Prix The Course: 25 1-mile laps, 8 corners The Field: Pro 1/2 women The Finish: 1st Wilmington was one of my favorite races last year - the course suited my riding, I had my best finish yet in a national-level event, and it was one of those days where hard efforts feel fun and invigorating. (That last part makes me sound like a yoga instructor.) When this year's edition fit neatly into my race schedule, I was excited for the big day. That is, until it actually arrived. Blame it on stress from work, insufficient sleep, or whatever, but come race day morning, all I wanted to do was hang out at home and watch "Dance Academy" on Netflix. (This show is like crack - mindless, cheesy tripe about ballet-dancing Australian teenagers that leaves me slumped on the couch in a fog of bliss and shame.) My attitude stayed crappy ...continue reading.

“It’s like French-kissing a unicorn while floating on a cloud”

Posted on by lindsay
Before racing started this year, I had low expectations for the season. Promising, right? It's just that last year was kind of awesome and it felt like expecting to accomplish the same gains and achievements again without extra time to grow and improve was setting myself up for disappointment. Let's consider the following figure: Since I began racing in 2007, I have seen large improvements from year to year in fitness and skill. It stands to reason that the time will come when I reach the point marked by the red arrow above, where a long winter of hard training will result in increasingly smaller gains over the previous year. The first race of every season is like uncovering the new car you just won: if you've worked hard through the winter early in your racing career, when you test yourself in that first race of the season, you'll be pleasantly surprised with ...continue reading.

Speed Week: Sandy Springs Criterium

Posted on by lindsay
The Race: Speed Week Sandy Springs Criterium The Course: 40 laps, 6 corners, uphill finish The Field: Pro 1/2/3 women The Finish: 14th Since I haven't talked enough on the Internet over the past ten days, I'm going to do a separate closing post on Speed Week to keep this one focused on this race and not all WAH-WAH over the end of a great experience. Here Are The Things I Want To Blurt Out: (1) It was very hot. (2) My legs were feeling the effects of the long week even before I started warming up, and I kept saying, "I'm so tired," because I hear it's good to remind yourself of negative things over and over. (3) Chad sounded as if he'd reached the end of his announcer rope after a long week of talking, and was blurting out whatever came to mind, including made-up words like 'mounging'. UrbanDictionary.com tells me this is a ...continue reading.

Speed Week: Electric City Circuit

Posted on by lindsay
The Race: Speed Week Electric City Circuit Race The Course: 40 laps, 2 corners, very open course with a "D" shape The Field: Pro 1/2/3 women The Finish: 8th + a $100 prime It is starting to feel like the end of Speed Week. While I'm growing tired of moving in and out of hotels and trying to piece together balanced meals on the road, I'm also sad knowing the end is coming. I'm in the final hotel now and, after the last race tomorrow, I'll be heading towards home. With the end of this experience on my mind, today went by so quickly. Left Spartanburg, drove to Anderson, raced Electric City, drove to Sandy Springs, settled in for the night. The race felt like little more than a (hot, tiring) blip on the radar. It went fine. I was satisfied with my riding - it wasn't perfect and I'd like to have ...continue reading.

Speed Week: Spartanburg Criterium

Posted on by lindsay
The Race: Speed Week Spartanburg Criterium The Course: 50 laps, 4 corners, some wind The Field: Pro 1/2/3 women The Finish: 9th After winning at Walterboro, I was flying high for that night and through most of the following rest day. I hugged my podium flowers, made jokes about wearing the winner's jersey to bed, and generally basked in excitement. And then by last night I remembered that I am me and that means I don't just look a gift horse in the mouth, I give him a full dental exam. Thoughts like, 'now I have to keep doing well or people will be disappointed in me' and 'what if that win was just a fluke' took over. It culminated in anxiety tears over lunch at Olive Garden today, which is ridiculous. The only reason to cry at Olive Garden is because the food is terrible. I did my regular warm-up (which usually hurts ...continue reading.