The American Dream

Posted on by Lindsay
My trip home from Redlands earlier this week began with an American Airlines flight from Ontario, CA (ONT) to Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), followed by a 90-minute layover before the second flight. I was waiting at the gate at ONT before the scheduled departure of 2:25pm, but by 2:15pm, there still was not a single airline employee in sight. I looked the flight up online and saw that there was a delay, but no announcement was ever made at the gate. This was not unlike my trip out to Redlands, where the American flight was delayed by 90 minutes without explanation or apology. I started to get anxious; the flight was now scheduled to land 19 minutes before my next one was due to depart. It didn’t look promising. A phone call to the airlines and a visit to the gate counter indicated that (a) if I missed my connection, the ...continue reading.

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.

Airplane

Posted on by Lindsay
I sat down on my final flight yesterday shortly before takeoff. I was still in the midst of a text message conversation, but a flight attendant hurried by and told me I needed to turn my phone off. Okay, fine, let me just finish this thought, say goodbye, and I'll be done. Another 15 seconds passed while I pecked away at my iPhone and the plane sat at the gate. The middle-aged woman next to me leaned over and asked, "You're not worried about causing interference that messes with the plane?" She was not kidding. I stared at her. "No," I replied bluntly. She looked unconvinced. "Well, if we crash and I die, I'm going to blame you." How to respond, how to respond, how to respond... "Okay." I paused for a moment. Then: "If you're dead, you won't be blaming anybody for anything because you'll be dead." Then we ...continue reading.

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.

“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:

The Beginning of The End

Posted on by lindsay
It is 11:06am and in one hour, I will leave my hotel in Boston to ride my bike downtown for my final race of the season. My hands are shaking as I write this, partially from pre-race nerves and partially because I cannot believe I am here, at the end of this incredible season. When I began racing back in March, I was riding my Seven cross bike with slick tires and planning to do a few road races as training for my first season as a pro cross country mountain bike racer. Now I am a road racer. I have the bike, the team, the clothes, the scars, and most of all, the heart of a road racer. A more thorough recap of this year will have to wait until after this race, since I'm in no state of mind to remember details clearly. Right now, it's all a ...continue reading.