Everything that happened in the last month....

Well, the amount of time that I spend on the rollers and the trainer has increased exponentially since I last posted, which can only mean one thing. Winter is here. Last week we saw some crazy temperatures in the 80s, and this week has seen high 30s and 40s. I don’t really mind riding in the cold, but it is still a sad task to pull out my booties and winter jackets.

October was a busy month both for me as well as Cru Cycling. Firstly I started with a new training approach that has seen my hours on the bike hover around 15 the last couple of weeks. My legs are feeling it, but at the same time I feel like I am getting stronger.

Fall Break saw me down in Tennessee to get some riding in the mountains. I was lucky enough to meet up with Kym and Mark from camp and they dragged my flatlander (relatively speaking) legs on 75 miles of climbing. I’m pretty sure the entire ride was either going uphill or downhill. This was with a 4 mile climb at the very end of the ride which I climbed solo pretty much the entire time.

View from the top of Raccoon Mountain, looking over Chattanooga. 

Hilly Hundred was the weekend after that, and I had the opportunity to ride with the Delta Upsilon Cycling team and Lyndi (another girl from Cru) the first day. They pulled us for the entire 55-mile ride at about 17.2mph and she and I were glad to be done at the end. Seriously though, it was fun to ride with such a great group of guys, and made the following day so much more relaxing. On Sunday we rode with my Dad’s old Little 500 team, Whissler 5, and even got the opportunity to see a few trophies from their 3^rd and 10^th (if memory is correct) place finishes.  Talk about Old Man Strength!

Hanging with my teammate Lyndi from Cru while the guys changed a flat.

Tuesday Night Race Series wrapped up last week and I am happy to say I finished the series tied for first with my Scholar’s Inn Bakehouse teammate Rachel who was riding for her L5 team, Kappa Alpha Theta Cycling. I was happy with this, but even happier to take two of the sprints on the last night of racing, especially since I do not usually sprint well on the Little 500 track.

Finally, Fall Cycling Series was this past weekend. Cru Cycling went into it just looking to have some fun but we ended up doing really well. ITTs started everything off and we had a 5^th and 8^th place finish for our top two, placing us in second for the first night. Cyclocross was the next day, and of course it rained the entire afternoon, creating a muddy course. Kudos to the IU Student Foundation though for creating a tough course for us to duke it out on with our single speed bikes. I am proud to say I did not go down and Lyndi and I finished in second for our team, cementing our second place spot. Saturday was the Duathalon, and I am in awe of the runners on our team, Arianna and Lyndi killed it by finishing 3^rd and 5^th.

Cru and our BFFs from Melenzana following Cyclocross. Muddy.

At this point we realized that we were in first place going into the last day of racing. This is crazy for a team that is only going into its third year as a team. Although we were not able to hold that place through Street Sprints, Arianna and Liz from Cru had very good finishes and we ended up in second place overall for the series. This means we get to pick our qualifications time for Little 500, which will be nice (hopefully!).

Anyways, things should be slowing down now that November is upon us. I am very much looking forward to putting aside the Little 500 bike for now. The next race I will be participating in will be at the very end of February, when Lindsey Wilson traditionally opens up the collegiate season for the MWCCC. I have been blessed to be riding with a great IU Club Cycling teammate Emma and I know both of us are looking forward to getting a chance to race the Marian team. 

Automne

Fall has finally arrived here in the midwest. The trees are beginning to turn and the temperature is returning to a cooler (more tolerable) degree. With the change in seasons has come an increased amount of miles on the bike, which I am enjoying immensely  I am two pounds away from my goal weight for the upcoming season (though let's be honest, some more muscle would be nice, and keeping the weight off through the winter is always hard), and lucky me have been eating much healthier since the fall hit.

Racing is pretty much over, though the IUSF has started a series of Tuesday night races on the Little 500 track. This past Tuesday I was lucky enough to place 2nd, 2nd and 1st in the three events I entered, though the 1st place was likely due to the fact that a competitor dropped her chain. Needless to say though it was a fun evening and a good chance to fool around on the track in the middle of the rest week.

The Cru women had their first ITTs up in the Morgan Monroe State Forest on Friday. I think it was a wakeup call for some of the women on the team, but I was happy to finish only a few seconds off of my personal record for the course. Friday also saw me heading out on the IUSF social ride and keeping up with the guys, though myself and the only other girl, Emma ( a teammate from SIBH, and IU Cycling) were dropped going down Beanblossom.

Heading off for the time trial.

Looking forward I am excited to say that IU will be attempting to qualify as an omnium team for Collegiate Nationals! I thought I might have to qualify as an individual, but we have four girls who are committed and have the ability to be in the "A" Category, as well as a slew of guys who want to try for it. Should be an exciting year for Indiana University Cycling.

That's about it that has been going on in my life. I am really looking forward to the spring season, and excited for all that IU Cycling is hoping to accomplish!

Passé, Présent et Avenir

This week has been truly rewarding for me. As I've said before this past summer was a little rough, and definitely not according to plan. Coming off of the season I've had has made me work harder, and my riding is starting to show it.

Present:
I've been participating in the IUSF rides since school started, opting to ride the long route with the guys and hanging in longer than some of them. So far I've been dropped on Beanblossom and North Shore, and while that is frustrating, when I look at the data from those days I have been overall pleased. My Little 500 team usually rides Friday mornings and so I have been coming into the IUSF ride with 20-30 miles on my legs already. So tomorrow, I will be switching it around and coming in with fresh legs just to see what I can do. Along the same track of news, this past Wednesday Worlds was the 446 route. I went out (again the only girl) and managed to beat my personal record of hanging in with the guys.

Future:
Just today I got word that my power tap and joule headset will be in sometime next week, and I will be running power starting late next week. I will be finishing with my current training plan and taking a rest week at the end of September. Starting in October I will be working with Vantaggio Fitness, specifically Mark and Kim Fasczewski, the coaches from the Sewanee Development Camp. I am excited to start training based on power, and to move away from being self-coached. Although it has taken a lot of work to get to where I am today, I know the real work starts now.

Past:
Over the past few weeks I have realized how many people have helped me along to where I am today. First of all my Dad. He has been there since day one, supporting me, riding with me, and making sure I get the equipment and help I need. Also a huge thanks to Tom Saccone, and Lyle from the SIBH team for supporting me over the last two years. I would not be where I am today if it wasn't for my road team.

Peur

Everyone has their limits, and while some of those are defined by their physical abilities, much of it has to do with fear. Being afraid to get close to the wheel in front of you is a common fear amongst beginners and something I am working on with two of the rookies on the team. As you progress you limit your fear, becoming more and more comfortable with being in a pack, bumping, going fast, and just generally going past your comfort zones.

I've written about the wreck I was in awhile back, well unfortunately along with the injuries that has caused a new fear for me when it comes to the bike. Being from Bloomington we may not have mountains, but we do have our fair share of hills, a few of which are over a mile long, or have a grade over 14%. Historically I have been fairly comfortable descending in a group. Not any more, it could be the most experienced rider, or someone I have ridden with for almost four years, and yet I still find myself wanting to clench the breaks going down hills. This is not because the wreck was the fault of anyone in front of me, because there was nothing that anyone could have done, but rather because I saw them go down in front of me.

It has been getting better, and I am slowly getting more comfortable descending hills, particularly when I am with people who I have ridden with for a long time, but it still bugs me. Something to work on I suppose.

Needless to say I have had fear in my thoughts a lot lately, not only because of the wreck, but also because my team recently did a Full Moon Forest ride (up BeanBlossom). Ten PM at night, 7 girls (including two rookies), 14 lights and a 33 mile loop. Needless to say there was a fair amount of fear all around. For me it was the worry that something would happen to the girls and I would feel very much responsible, because it was mine and Lyndi's (the other third year rider on our L5 team) idea.

Fortunately the ride ended well. We had one dog incident and then there was a huge snake in the road, but other than that it was a great experience for the team. Overall the girls really came together, learning very quickly how important communication and trust is for a team. Plus we had all the drunk people cheering us on as we came back through campus. Anyways that's all for now, I'll keep working on descending, got to be ready for it by the time we go to TN for fall break.

Arianna and I halfway through the ride.

The entire team safely back at our apartment complex.

Éte

Summer was long. I mean really, really long. Nothing went according to plan, but in all honesty I learned a lot from the experience.

Coming off of Little 500 I was not in good road shape. I rode 70 laps of the race, and in all honesty I came off of the race and the spring season mentally and physically drained. I was not at all ready to go into the road season. Last year I had a really heavy Collegiate season, and had carried that into the summer, but this year that just was not the case.

After a short trip working down in the Dominican Republic I returned to the states with a serious stomach bug that stopped me from any serious riding for about 3 weeks, and just as I was getting back I was hit by heat stroke on one of my rides. It was an uphill battle just to get back into shape, let alone do well at races.

This brings us to early August. I was finally back on the road, feeling pretty good and had gotten some long rides in. I was fortunate enough to attend a USA Cycling Development Camp down in Sewanee, Tennessee. Honestly it was one of the best decisions I have made for my cycling career, it re-inspired me and I found myself committing to goals and coming back with a fresh perspective. The coaches, Mark, Kim, and Ryan "Bibs" were some of the most supportive people I have met in cycling and genuinely wanted to see every member of the camp succeed. The week in the mountains really was amazing, and really put me back on track.

Unfortunately it wasn't all kittens and gumdrops, on the second to last day of camp, while descending the mountain our group had a fairly scary wreck. The bad combination of a right handed turn, gravel, and a car caused a wreck in which I flipped over someone into a ditch and hit my head pretty hard. I was done for the week, and was pretty disappointed not to be able to participate in the long TT that day. Such is life, and I am thankful that there was no serious damage to my bike. This was the Thursday of that week.

Friday I drove myself from Sewanee, back to Bloomington, all the while dealing with some pretty bad headaches, and massive amounts of whiplash damage through my back and shoulders. Saturday I moved into my new apartment and then my Dad and I drove up to Ft. Wayne Indiana for the Indiana State Road Race Championships. Three days after my wreck I found myself back on the bike doing everything I could just to hang onto the lead pack, and try to support my teammate Emma.

I finished with the lead pack, and I can honestly say it was the most painful experience of my life. The two hours of racing really showed me what my limits were as far as pain tolerance, and how much I can achieve through pure determination.

That was the end of my season. It's currently four weeks since my wreck and I am no longer suffering from migraines as a result of the wreck. My focus has been completely changed and I am really looking forward to the coming Collegiate Season. In the next couple weeks I will be making the jump to a power tap system, and over Fall Break from the university my Dad and I will be heading back down south to get some long rides in the mountains. Going forward I have two goals for the coming season: Collegiate Nationals, and Indiana State Championships.

Début

So ends another Little 500 season. It was rough to say the least, but much was learned from the season. End of story, let's move on. I have been dealing with medical issues and am not allowed on the bike for now, though on the bright side I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow that should clear me to start riding as of Saturday.

Debut, commencement...the beginning. This begins my road season, and it is going to be very different from last year. Last year I peaked as a category 4 cyclist, competing in 20 races and finishing in the top ten 18 times. This year is going to be a cold smack in the face. I have moved up to category 3, and will be spending most of the season racing in category 1, 2, 3 races with women who have been at this much longer than I. The goal for this year isn't to win, it is to begin, and to just plain survive. At the end of the season, rather than peaking for the state championships, I will be peaking for a regional development camp. I am on the older end of the athletes who attend these camps, at 21 I am almost ineligible so I can expect a week of getting my butt kicked by a bunch of teenage boys. Oh joy.

All in all though that is the focus this year, get better, work hard, win if I can. The expectations are different but in some ways the stakes are higher. Regardless I have to begin, my time is now.

Folie

Folie is a french word for madness or insanity. At least that is my understanding of it. We had a two hour ride a few days back and someone mentioned winter riding, and how is it that Little 500 teams will get their riders to spend hours on the trainer and the rollers in the middle of winter.

My response? "It takes a special kind of insanity to ride through the winter."

Some might call it dedication, but lets be honest. Even the best or most dedicated cyclist can be viewed as a little insane for choosing to spend hours riding a bike that is going nowhere. Music and movies can only help so much.

And this is the crux of the issue. Cycling is all about handling the largest amount of pain, and boredom is no exception. Cyclists work constantly to increase the amount of pain they can handle, so that eventually their body no longer sees it as pain. They ride in awful conditions to learn their limits, because knowing your limits and being able to push them is what helps win races.

The first race I ever won was a basic four corner criterium, in the rain. I would not have done so well if I hadn't trained in the rain. The same holds true for Little 500. The majority of the training is done in the snow and the ice, so if you can't get used to that now you might as well quit.

Still, let's face it, when it all comes down to it I can't think of one cyclist I know who isn't just a little nuts for what they do. We all have a little bit of folie.