Reese Family

2010-02-21T08:15:00.000-08:00

Just sitting here looking for a babysitter so Bruce and I can get out and ride our bikes for a bit. This has been a pretty rough winter. It snowed yet again Friday night making the gravel roads a mess. Sounds like we have more snow coming later today. Even if I do find someone to watch the kids, I'm not exactly sure where we would ride.

I feel a bit behind this year on my training. I began working on my masters degree earlier this year and spent a lot of time working on classwork. Did not have time to sit on the trainer like I do every other winter. The only thing saving me is the Plyo class I have been taking with Leah at Central Campus. It really kicks my butt. I love it.

My first class is over and I plan on waiting to take any more until later this year so I can catch up on my training. I have registered for a couple of events to give me the motivation I need to keep moving. I lucked out and was accepted to go to New York again to run in the More 1/2 marathon in April. I did the race last year as well....10,000 women running together in Central Park, it was amazing. I have also signed up for 100 mile mountain bike race in Wisconsin. I have A LOT of work to do before this race. It is similar to the 40 mile event they hold in the fall, but it will be held in the spring and limited to 100 riders. I did the Chequamegon 40 last fall for the first time. I think it is one of my favorites. It is beautiful country in northern Wisconsin. Trees for miles around. I am also contemplating signing up for my first Xterra race this summer. I was really excited to see that Iowa will be hosting one in August. It sounds like it will be a pretty tough race. It is an Olympic distance, but 25 miles of single track is a lot different than 25 miles of road riding. Can't wait for the challenge.

Well...looks like I have a babysitter now. Will be heading out in an hour or so to fight the cold wind and the icy roads. Ugh! It's a good pain I guess.

Kristin

BLUFF CREEK TRI

2009-05-31T14:50:00.000-07:00

Thurs night I decided to sign up for the Bluff Creek Tri on Sunday. I had been sick with a nasty cold all week so I waited as long as I could to sign up. I was still sick but I wanted to do the race really bad. Thought it would be really good training for the Pigman Half Ironman I signed up for in August. I didn't think I would get nervous since I was just doing it for training, but my stomach was in knots all day Sat. This was to be my second tri. The last one I had done was the Hy Vee tri two years ago.

I made plans with Julie Sedore to ride up together Sunday morning. We left at 5:45 and got up there around 6:30. It was a fairly small race with just over 325 participants. Made it easy to find a spot for your bike. We had plenty of time to set everything up and get over to the beach....I remember Hy Vee being such a rush, with nearly 2000 competators the traffic was hectic. This was a nice change of pace.

I arrived on the beach around 8:30 and got into the water. It was FREEZING cold. Took several minutes to walk in and get used to it. I swam around a bit and warmed up quickly. I stayed in the water as long as I could since I was in the last wave to start the swim.

When the horn went off I took my time getting into the water. The girls spread out pretty quickly. I loved that I had so much room to move, didn't have to worry about running into anyone. I felt great. I think the swim went pretty well, seemed like it took notime at all to reach the boat ramp.

I was excited to get onto the bike. Again, I tried to take off slow and let my legs get used to pedaling. Seems like they are always a bit fatigued after swimming. Had a nice tailwind the first 4 miles then headed into a tough crosswind. Along the route, there were three pretty nice sized hills. They were tough, but I just took my time and got it done. After the first hill there was a nice long section of flat into the wind....also tough. I was grateful for the tailwind as I turned again. I took off. I was bummed that my spedometor was not working. Would have loved to know how fast I was going. It felt great.

The run was very tough for me. I was really hot and there were only four waterstations along the way. I don't know if I have ever had that tough of a run. I had goosebumps halfway through, not sure if I was dehydrated or if it was the heat that was getting me. It seemed to take forever to finish, I couldn't wait to be done. I'll have to work a little harder on my running! Especially in the heat.

Overall I thought the race was a blast. I stuck around for a bit after the race to listen to the results and see If I had won any prizes. I was totally shocked to find out that I got first in the Athena division. Exciting!!! I also won a 25 dollar gift certificate to a restaurant.....In Iowa Falls. Hmmmm not sure when I will use that one!

Kristin

Another Great Weekend

2009-03-23T19:12:00.000-07:00

Another great weekend! I'm loving this warmer weather. Sat night we had a party for Bruce and his Brother Adam for both of their Birthdays. Adam turned 30 on Friday. We had about 20 people show up to drink some beer and play Wii. I played bowling and got my second highest score of 278. Missed two pins. Wonder if it is possible to get a 300. I tried not to drink too much since I wanted to do the Dirty Road Race on Sunday. Luckily for me, everyone was gone by 2 in the morning.....very unusual for one of our parties. Gave me enough time to sober up and get some sleep for Sunday.

Woke up Sunday feeling pretty good so I loaded up the bike and took off for Mitchellville. There were about 20-25 of us racing. Dee, Kim and I were the only women who braved it and Dee was on the Tadem with Dave. Kim and I decided to race together. We tried to stay with the group, but once we hit the gravel we were imediately dumped off the back. I wasn't prepared for the lose gravel. I felt very uneasy and took my time. Once we were back on pavement we worked together and caught up to a rider on a cross bike before we hit gravel again. We followed another rider for quite awhile before he finally dissapeared as well. It was pretty uneventful after that. The first lap went really well but the second lap was tough. The wind had really picked up. I was so grateful to get back on the gravel and out of the wind. Kim and I finished in a little over 3 and a half hours. Nothing to write home about, but it felt great. I was exhausted when I got home. It had been a long time since my legs have felt like noodles....I loved it.

Spring is Here!

2009-03-18T17:10:00.000-07:00

Wow, what wonderful weather we have had the last couple weeks. Really puts one in a great mood. Last weekend Bruce and I were both able to get some good riding in. Friday March 13th was Bruce's birthday. It has become a tradition every year to ride Bruce's age in miles. This year was a 36 mile trip. We decided to head south for a celebratory Fat Tire beer at the Cumming Tap. Great ride but Bruce got a flat about a mile from home....perhaps his birthday landing on a Friday this year had something to do with that.

Sat started out cold but I decided to make plans to run with some friends anyway. Glad I did. I ended up running by myself most of the morning. It was so peaceful. There was frost everywhere, it sparkled in the sun. It was so cold you could see the steam rising from the other runners as they passed. I felt great for the first 8 or 9 miles so I kept going for a grand total of 11, the longest I have gone so far this year. In the afternoon Bruce took off with the boys for his first road ride of the year. He got 50 miles in! We were both pooped that night. Kids were too for that matter. They were outside all day playing with their friends and getting MUDDY!

Neighborhood kids in our tree Summer 08

Sunday I got out for a great gravel ride. I started from home and rode to Kim's house. Kim, Kristin and I rode on to Bike World West to begin the real ride. We had a pretty good group of girls that came out. Dee, Emily, Ana, Kim, Kristin and I met up with Duffy, Jim and Lang and headed south to ride some hilly gravel. The weather was absolutely perfect and the boys kept us on our toes. Early on in the ride Kristin started getting really sick so a few of us hung back for awhile to make sure she got home ok. Bruce, being the sweetheart he is, picked her up and drove her home. Emily, Ana and I rode around on the gravel for awhile on our own, looking for a little less hilly way to get home. Duffy spotted us touring around and we hooked back up with the group. The ride home was pretty uneventful until a dog got a hold of Dee and knocked her off her bike! She seemed ok so we kept on going. I ended up getting about 35 miles of gravel in with the group before heading home again for a grand total of about 60 miles on the mountain bike for the day. Can't wait for the single track to dry out so I can do some real mountain biking!

Aquabi Mountain Bike Race

2008-08-21T17:34:00.000-07:00

This is a little late I suppose but wanted to post some pictures anyway. I had such a great time at this race. I decided to try racing sport this time, mostly so I could get in more distance, especially since the coarse wasn't very technical. Since Kim and I were the only women in the Sport category, we decided to let the guys go ahead and just ride together. This worked pretty well for most of the first lap until we got passed by a couple beginners. As I was heading up the hill with the steps a young man from the Rassie's team pulled ahead of me only to crash when he took a bad line at the bottom of the hill. Unfortunately for me, I was unable to ride up the hill at that point and it was the last time I saw Kim. The last two laps I rode mostly by myself. It was so peaceful.

I am really looking forward to the 24 hour mountain bike race in Boone. Kim and I plan on doing a two person team. We were up there earlier this week with Kyla and did some riding on the beginner loop. I absolutely loved it. Still haven't been able to ride the really technical part on the south side of the hill, but I am hoping I can wing it. Should be a fun weekend of riding and camping with the kids!

1st day of Kindergarten

2008-08-21T17:07:00.000-07:00

Today was the kids first day at Holy Trinity Catholic School. Everything went very smoothly for the most part. Boys were slow to get out of bed, which is normal for them. Makayla had her usual tantrum about her hair, accompanied by lots of tears. The watery eyes quickly dried up though when we arrived at school and she saw one of her friends. After a few minutes of searching we finally found the Kindergarten line. We stood and waited while the teacher's put name tags on each of their new students. Before I new it they were all gone. I was very sad, they have grown up too fast!

Iowa Games Road Race

2008-08-18T16:04:00.000-07:00

Last year I decided to expand my cycling horizons and do a road race. After five years of mountain bike racing, I thought a road race would be something new and exciting to try. I had heard the Iowa Games was a good race to try and so I went out and did the one lap race. I had a good time and did ok. This year I have done a couple of crits and did the Iowa City road race, where I finished sixth overall. I was excited to do the Iowa Games road race again this year. I had originally planned on doing the one lap race again, but decided to jump into the two lap advanced race this time around. Lou W. had sent out a team e-mail trying to get a good group of Rassy's guys out there to compete. I figured that if I want to get faster and a better road racer, this is a perfect opportunity to ride with the "big boys".
The race started out with a neutral roll out. I decided to hang back in the pack and see what happens. Unfortunately, the first thing that happened was my teammate getting a flat tire. Bummer. After that I settled in the draft. My legs felt good, but I knew I needed to save my energy for the hills. The group hit the first downhill and we spread out a bit. On the uphill, a few riders attacked and got away from the group. I cranked up the hill to try and stay with the group. . When I got to the top, the main pack had regrouped and was speeding down the road. I began to ride hard and joined three other riders to chase down the main peleton. With some good team work and a couple of hard pulls from me and my teammate David Carpenter, we were able to catch the group. The rest of the first lap was pretty uneventful. I managed to stay with the main group until we came upon the first large hill again. I made it to the bottom and was climbing back up with the group. Two riders in front of me touched wheels, causing the rider in front of me to put his foot down. I rammed my front wheel into the back of his foot, causing me to pull a large nose wheelie. I managed to not crash, but my momentum was gone and the pack was riding away from me again. I got to the top and again watched the main group leave me. I tried to ride with Kim West and another dropped rider, but my legs were too tired. I dropped off Kim's wheel and rode the rest of the race by myself.
I'm not sure where I finished, but I know there were a couple of riders that came in after me. All in all I had a great day. It felt good to be able to ride with the group for as long as I did. I think I could have stayed with them for most of the second lap had I not run into the other rider. Great job to my teammates Pig, Kris Kunze, Steve Fuller, and David Carpenter who all rode well and congrats to Lou W. for the first place finish. I also want to thank Steve Robinson and the other ALL 9 YARDS guys for the kind word of encouragement during and after the race. I can see why road racing is so addictive and I think I will have to try and do a few more next season.
Bruce

Hair Cuts

2008-07-24T18:50:00.000-07:00

Martin was so sad when his Dad cut his hair. Dad forgot how to adjust the clippers and ended up shaving all of his hair off. Martin cried and cried. We assured him he looked as cute as ever. He is smiling now, but you can still see a lonely little tear in his eye.

Riding when I can

2008-07-16T18:59:00.000-07:00

Things have been very busy for our family lately. Between my wife and I both working a lot , the bike training has been a little sparse. I have been getting a few rides in and Kristin is doing what she can. She has been riding to work almost everyday which really helps with the high fuel prices. I have been able to do the tuesday night rides every week which is a great workout. I also went out with a group for a great gravel ride last thursday night.

August looks great for mountain bike racing. I hope I can get my new bike together in time to race it once or twice.

The kids are enjoying their summer. They have been swimming a lot and are taking swimming lessons at the YMCA. We also went to Adventurland last sunday through Kristin's work. THANK YOU Meredith. We had a great time and the weather was perfect.

Kristin and I are going to try and do a couple of days of RAGBRAI next week. Lets hope the weather cools down a little.

Bruce

Weekend pics

2008-06-26T06:32:00.000-07:00

Some photos from this weekend. Thanks to my mom, squirrel, DQ, and Chris Maharry for the photos.

Green Days & Hy-Vee Tri

2008-06-26T05:37:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was a great time for racing. Central Iowa finally got some nice weather. After a couple weeks of rain, closed trails, and re-routing training rides we finally got some sunshine. Saturday afternoon I decided to race the Cat 5 race of the Johnston Green Days crit. I rode to the course and watched the women's race and the Cat 123 race. The course made me a little nervous. It was a flat course with two 180 degree turns. I warmed up with my friend Kyle Sedore. I was concerned because my legs felt dead. Kyle would sprint and I would fall back. I just hoped my legs would come around during the race. The Cat 5 race had a good turnout. I believe there were 21 of us at the start. I also noticed some strong riders in the group. Kyle and Taylor from Mercy. Herb H from All9 yards. My team was four strong as well with me, Loren S., Steve F., and Rick B. The race started and two guys were off the front immediately. The rest of us settled in and worked together to bring them back in. I was nervous about the corners and getting back in the pack after each one. After two or three laps I realized that I was not having any problems staying with the group. I shifted down before the corners and sprinted out of them to stay towards the front. I had a few near misses as a couple of riders went down in the corners. My friend Herb H. dumped his chain and was off the pace after about six laps. The rest of the race went well. The Rassy's guys all stayed towards the front of the pack and controlled it well. The official called for a prime with four laps to go. A DMOS rider sprinted for the prime with Kyle S. on his wheel. Kyle nipped him at the line and sprinted off the front. Loren and I worked hard to reel him in, but he had opened up a large gap on us. With two laps to go, Loren and I noticed we had gapped the rest of the field. We continued to work and ended up 2nd and 3rd. I have to thank Loren for working so hard those last few laps. He is a strong rider and a great wheel. Also, congrats to Kyle for the win. Kyle and I train together and he really pushes me to work hard. Overall I had a great time. Thanks to DMOS for putting on really fun race.
On Sunday, I competed in the 2nd annual Hy-Vee tri here in West Des Moines. I missed out on the tri last year and really wanted to enter it this year. I was asked to do the bike leg for a team coming to town from Chicago. It ended up that only Jeff S. was able to attend. We found a swimmer at the last minute from Ankeny. My wife and I got up early and headed down for the start of the race. My swimmer, Danny, ripped off a really fast swim. We switched out our time chip and I ran out of the transition area. I jumped on the bike and started toward the route. Taylor W. loaned me his converted time trial bike. I wasn't sure what to expect with this bike. It actually rode really well. The aero bars did hurt my arms after a while, and I found myself switching from the aero position to a more traditional position. I rode hard and passed quite a few people. I ended up finishing with a time of 1 hour 8minutes and 36 seconds. I was happy with the result, especially because I had raced hard the night before and was on a borrowed bike. The experience was awesome. People lined the streets, cheering for me as I passed. The final hill was great. A bunch of friends were on the hill, cheering people on as they pushed up a long grinder. Thanks to Kyle, Taylor, Maria, Kim, and all the other fans on the hill. It really lifted my spirits and gave me a boost at the end of the course. Also thanks to Taylor W. for the use of his bike. Our team ended up 7th overall in the mens relay division out of 50 teams. Thanks again to my teammates Jeff S. and Danny H. Great job.
What a great weekend of racing!
Bruce

Irwin's Wed night ride

2008-05-15T10:35:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful night for a bike ride. Minimal wind and lots of sunshine! I got stuck late at work with some last minute images that needed touched up and I was afraid I wouldn't make it. I left work around 5 and booked it home on my bike to drop off my back pack. I then headed north on Beaver hoping to catch the group before they got too far out of town. As luck would have it, they were all waiting at the stop light waiting to turn onto Beaver as I passed by. I slowed down and waited for the group to catch up. I was really excited to see Lacey Douglas out with the group. Her parents have been letting her skip her church night every other week to join the ride. It sure has been helping, she was on fire last night! She claimed it was the caffeine, but I think her hard work is finally paying off. She worked hard up front most of the night to keep the pace up. She did a lot of the pulling going north. At the second stop sign we turned left and I got out front, I pulled nearly all of this section. When we took a left another DMOS rider, whose name escapes me at the moment, pulled hard most of the way. We lost a few of the boys on this stretch but Lacey had no problem hanging on! The last stretch got interesting when Russ met up with the group. His fresh legs kept the pack moving very fast through the rolling hills. This was the most challenging part of the ride for me. There were a couple times when I thought I was going to get dropped but I dug down deep and kept going. My legs were on fire from bridging several gaps created by people who couldn't hang onto the tire in front of them. One gap in particular was quite large. I spent almost all of my energy catching up only to hit a hill. I got enough relief from the rider in front of me to keep going, but eventually he also began to drop back and I was again forced to go around and catch the front two riders. Near the top of the last hill, I went around them as well and pulled them to the stop sign. I fully expected someone to go flying around me, and they could have done so easily. I was pooped! I checked my computer when we got back and we had averaged 21.2 MPH on the ride....an all time record for me. While Lacey and I were excitedly talking about the ride, Derek from Irwins rolls in. I jokingly ask him what took him so long and he responded that he had stopped in Polk City and threw up. Nothing better than two girls pushing the pace and making a boy puke...Sorry Derek! I am so impressed with how well Lacey is riding. I can't wait to see how she is doing in another year or two when she gets more experience. She will be winning races before long. I am very proud of her!

Kristin

Waverly

2008-05-10T08:20:00.000-07:00

The whole family had fun last weekend up in Waverly. We headed up Sat afternoon after Bruce finished up at work. We had reserved a cabin, so when we got there I started unloading the van and set up camp while Bruce did a lap to check out the coarse. When he was done, I went out with Robin and Kyle Williams and Bruce warmed up our dinner. The coarse was very hilly so I knew it was going to be challenging for me. It was in great shape though, considering it had just rained the night before.

When I got back the kids were having so much fun exploring in the woods and playing in the cabin. It got cold quick so we went to bed pretty early. The cabin had a wood burner in it so we stayed fairly warm most of the night. We were awakened a few times by the Carbon Monoxide alarm. We obviously didn't know how to work the draft on the wood burner. Bruce ended up airing out the cabin and unplugging the alarm so we could get a little sleep. I was still tired in the morning though. I never seem to sleep very good when I go camping.

I got up early, registered and rode parts of the coarse again. Didn't really seem to matter how much I had warmed up, when the race started I was instantly out of breath going up the first hill. My gearing was all wrong when I started out and I quickly fell behind. I caught back up once we got onto the single track...at least for awhile. My nerves got me on a tight left switchback heading downhill so I got off the bike only to lose them again. It was kind of that way for the whole race. I would catch up on the flat part only to be lost again when going up hill or down a technical section. It was very frustrating. I lost the girl ahead of me for good when I dumped my chain. I ended up finishing 4 out of 6. One boy had a DNF, I think he got lost in the woods before the race and never made it to the start. The other guy, hit the wall about halfway through the lap and I easily went around him. Overall I got 2nd of two women and won a sweet new helmet.

Bruce raced after I was done in the Expert race....I think he is glutten for punishment this year. He did really well I thought for the little amount of training he is able to put in between me wanting to ride and taking care of the kids. He still goes out and has fun, I was very proud of him. He did five laps to my one, and still had energy to clean up most of the stuff in the cabin while I went out and rode another lap. He ended up getting 2nd in Expert 35+ winning 20 dollars!

The kids were very sad to leave, we had so much fun watching Bruce race and walking on the trails and bridges out in the woods. I can't believe how grown up and smart the kids are getting. They are so much fun at this age, we are really enjoying watching their personalities develope.

Duathlon

2008-05-03T07:02:00.000-07:00

Did my first Duathlon on Thursday! Never would have thought it would be so much fun, I really love the biking but I am not much of a runner...as was apparent in the race. The first two miles of the race I found myself running with my teammate Kim. My legs and lungs were not happy about running again after the 5 miles I had run earlier in the day. She really made the run alot more enjoyable for me, but once I hit the bike it was time to get serious. I found several rabbits to pass right off the bat on the first lap, only to find a large gap had formed behind the front half of the pack. I eventually caught up to some of them halfway around the second lap after quite a bit of effort into the wind. The first one I caught was on a mountain bike. I told him he must be one heck of a runner to be that far ahead on a mountain bike! He would have been trouble if he had a road bike he was cranking pretty good on those fat tires.....It took me awhile to catch him. I think I passed a couple more after him with the wind at my back I was feeling pretty good riding in the upper 20's, but knew more pain was coming soon. My transition was pretty slow as I walked my bike to the rack and grabbed another drink of water before I headed off on the last run. I must have been trying to procrastinate as much as I could :o) I was a little worried when I first started off when my calves began to tighten up. I took it easy and eventually my legs began working again. It didn't take long for the Mountain Biker to pass me again on the run....along with a couple other boys I passed on the bike. I kept going though, and held off most of the others I had ridden around. With less than a quarter mile to go I heard someone catching up to me. I wasn't sure if I had enough left to hold him off but I picked up the pace as much as I could and beat him by almost 20 seconds! What a fun day. Thanks Rassie's for putting this on. I look forward to racing in the next one.

K

Finally Racing

2008-04-30T16:36:00.000-07:00

Usually by now I have a couple of races under my belt. This year my race season started later than usual. Last week I finally went out and did a couple of races. And for the first time ever, my first race of the year was a road race. Last Thursday I went out and raced at the Race Like a Girl crits here in Des Moines. I did two of the RLAG series last year and had a great time. I raced in the Men's B race. The first race Will and I attacked the field and dropped them. Will went on to win and I finished second. The second race Steve Flood and I went back and fourth trying to win points for the snowball race. Steve edged me out on lap seven and went on to win the race. I finished second again. The third race I ended up last. The third race was a win n out race and I couldn't get my legs to warm up fast enough. Anyway I had a great time. Thanks to Donny and the PRC girls for the fun race.
On Saturday, I decided to enter the Cat 5 mens race at the Iowa City Road Race. This race was only my second road race ever! The only other road race I have done was the Iowa games road race last year. The race started out kind of strange. The masters went off first followed by the Cat 4 men. We were suppose to go off five minutes after the Cat 4's. Someone in the Masters group crashed into the ditch about a mile up the road. The ambulance was called in and our race was delayed for about 40 minutes or so. We got started after the ambulance had taken off. The first lap the group stayed together until one guy went off the front into the stiff headwind. We let him go until another guy went off and started working with the first guy. The front of the pack decided to pick up the pace and try to reel them in. After crossing the finish line and turning the corner the chase group dropped the hammer. I decided to do the same. I was trying to catch the wheel of my teammate Loren S. Him and one other guy were trying to catch the lead pair of riders. After a couple of miles of hard riding, I decided that I was not going to catch them. I was in no man's land. I took a big hit of my energy gel and decided to ride as hard as I could until the pack caught me. Luckily, I had a tail wind and could ride hard and not fry my legs. As I was getting close to turning back into the cross wind section, a rider passed me. I thought he was the lead man in the peleton. To my suprise, he and his teammate had went off the front of the pack and bridged themselves up to me. I jumped on their wheel and rested a bit. I went around the front guy and thanked him for the rest. He thanked me for being his rabbit. The rest of the race we worked together, fighting the headwind to the finish. At the end, we dumped his teammate and sprinted to the line. I lost the sprint by a bike length or so, putting me in 6th place overall. I was very happy with the way the race went. My teammate Loren finished 4th. This was his first road race ever and he rode well. Thanks to all the people who cheered me on, especially my wife and children. Also, thanks to all the local riders that I have been training with this year. Everybody is very supportive and have helped me gain a lot of confidence this year on the road. Also, thanks to Lou, Donny, and the boys at Rassy's for the sweet kits and gear.
Next up for me are the mountain bike races up near Waverly this upcoming weekend. I hope the rain holds out. Last year at Waverly was a mud fest.

Bruce

Iowa City Weekend

2008-04-28T15:45:00.000-07:00

What a busy and tiring weekend! The girls and I left Des Moines around 5 in the morning. For two hours we chatted and strategized on how we could get a win for the pink team that day. Nothing ever goes as you plan!

At the beginning of the race I noticed the PRC girls were starting at the back of the pack. I figured they thought the race would go the same as it had the last two times with no one making a break for it until the end of the race. I quickly took advantage of this, and talked my teammates into getting onto the front of the pack and working hard to split the group. It worked well, we kept up the pace until we hit the wind. Not wanting our entire team to wear out we talked a few more people in the group into working together to get a rotation going so we could keep up the pace and prevent the other group from catching up. As we turned the corner into a slight tailwind, everyone was relaxed, recovering from the headwind. Joann, Kaitlyn and I slowly crept of the front and began hitting it hard again. We all worked as hard as we could with the tailwind to create a sizable gap. I looked back to see a couple girls trying to catch us, they eventually gave up as we hit the large hill right before we turned back into the crosswind. When we hit the wind head on we continued to work hard to enlarge the gap even more. On the last lap we let up on the pace and refueled hoping that we had created a large enough gap on the second lap that we would stay off the front. With the help of our teammates we were successful. Dee refused to help pull the group back up to the lead group so PRC was forced to work. The early attack was risky but it worked in the end. It was a great day for our team with all of us finishing in the top half! It was time to start thinking about the next day!

Sunday had me worried. Shortly after Saturday's race, my hammies seized up and I could barely walk. I have never experienced anything quite like it. It took several hours to get them stretched out enough to walk normal. I couldn't even bend over to pick up my water bottle off the ground! Ouch. I worked on them the whole ride home and they finally began to feel better, by Sunday morning they were pretty good but I knew I would have to spend a lot of time warming up for the race.

I was not familiar with the course and was delighted to discover while preriding that the hills were not nearly as bad as I had imagined them to be. I began to get excited. The sun was shining and it was beginning to turn into a really nice day for the race. I decided that my best shot was to start out hard right off the bat. There wasn't much advantage to sticking with a pack today with all the corners and hills. The other riders would just slow me down. Unfortunately my legs were still not warmed up enough and I lost ground on the hill on the 1st lap and was caught behind Ana and Emily. I lost the leader and knew I had no chance of catching her without a huge effort. I decided to cut my losses and just keep with the group at that point, working hard enough to stay up front but not killing myself either. I was hoping this would help me save enough energy for the final sprint. Slowly some of the girls that started out strong began to drop off and new ones joined me. I just stayed steady and bided my time. With three laps to go I took my last pull into the wind and sat in on the next two. At the top of the hill on the last lap Kaitlyn attacked and I grabbed her wheel. She worked hard around the first corner or two then began to slow, I could tell she was tired. I quickly checked to make sure we had a big enough gap on the rest of the group. We were at least a half block or so ahead so I decided to sit on for a bit longer. As we neared the finish line I rode around her to win the sprint for second place.

K

Spring is finally here!

2008-04-21T18:51:00.000-07:00

With temps nearing 70 on Sunday it was a great day for a ride! I have been so sick of the cold weather training. It was such a treat to take off the arm warmers and tights and let the pale skin soak up some of the suns rays.

I started off from home around 1:30 and road to Dee's house. We continued on together to Bike World where we met up with several other riders to do the Van Meter loop. The ride was quite painful for me. I had gone out Sat night with my good friend Andrea for her Birthday and didn't get home until the wee hours of the morning. The kids didn't seem to care that I had been out late as they were up early as usual. The lack of sleep, and the hills got to me pretty quickly as I dropped off the back. At this point I was pretty sure I didn't want to drink another beer in my life! Fortunately the ride got a little better for me when we caught a tailwind. I ended up getting 55 miles in by the time I got home and I was TIRED!

A weekend of Racing

2008-04-07T17:14:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the first race of the season for me. I was quite discouraged when I woke up with a headache and a stuffy nose, my cold seemed to be getting worse. Fortunately it was quickly turning out to be a beautiful day. The sun really lifted my spirits and I soon forgot all about how nervous I was.

I didn't really know what to expect when the race started. This was the first year they had allowed women new to the sport to race in their own category. I was very grateful for this change. I tried a few races last year and was quickly discouraged.

The race started off slow and continued that way for most of the day. Only one girl was adventuresome enough to try and go off the front right off the bat. She stayed ahead for most of the race until she finally wore out enough to be swallowed up by the group again on the third lap. Shortly after that Dee grew tired of the slow pace and did what she does best, climbed the hills. It didn't take her long to create a huge gap between herself and most of the group. Kelli, Emily and Kristin G took up the chase and eventually pulled Joann and myself back up to Dee. At the top of the hill I noticed we had lost Emily. Kristin G quickly took off again with Kelli hot on her heals. Dee did all she could to stay with Kelli but all of her hard work on the hills were taking a toll on her. Not able to get catch a good draft I was out of breath as well. Dee finally heard me yelling at her to move over so I could get a the little break I desperately needed. Once I caught my breath, I quickly rode to the front to give Dee and Joann a quick breather. We picked up the pace and were slowly gaining on the girls but we had lost Joann. Dee took the front again and continued to gain ground but we were quickly running out of road. In the end Kelli overtook Kristin G and Dee and I rolled in shortly after followed by Joann. A good day for the All Nine women!

Sunday proved to be much of the same. Woke up with headache and a sour stomach to go along with it. The antibiotics I got the night before for my sinus infection weren't kicking in yet. I was very grateful for an uneventful race....well, for the most part that is. Halfway through the race Maria went down hard when her front tire clipped Dalena's taking Kristin G., Joann, and Ana down with her. We road slow for a bit but Ana was the only one who was able to continue.

Dee, Dalena and I talked about making our move on the 5th lap. The boys had just passed us going south into the wind and I saw my opportunity. Right before the last hill I motioned to Dalena and we took off. We quickly went around the boys trying to split the group up. I continued on hard around the corner, but was running out of gas. Dalena's headache was getting worse so I decided to let it go. We were off for another uneventful lap and I knew it would come down to a sprint at the end. With about a mile left to go everyone was getting into position and the pace was beginning to pick up. I just waited. Ana and Emily both took off with Dee, Kim and I after them. Dee quickly overtook them and I followed to narrowly beat Ana out for 2nd place. I still think we may have tied.....It was that close.

Thanks to all my teammates for a great weekend of racing! Especially to Kim who brought her daughter over to watch the kids so I was able to race on Sat. Thanks also to Dalena who is an absolute saint for taking my kids after the race so I could get to the doctor quick before the closed! I am finally feeling like a normal person again today.

Congratulations to Kelli for racing the Women's open event and kicking some major butt! Way to go!

TNWC

2008-04-02T17:00:00.000-07:00

First thing I want to say is that this is my first post on my new blog. I have been reading other peoples blogs for a few years. I especially like reading posts about cycling. It is fun to see other peoples accounts of rides and races that I have participated in or races that I wish I could have
attended.
Last night I attended my first Tuesday night bike ride, aka the Tuesday Night World Championships. This ride is quite possibly the fastest group ride in central Iowa. I rode the ride a couple of times last year and was usually off the back before the first stop sign. My goal last night was to hold on to the group as long as possible. I also need to work on my pack riding skills and to not be intimidated in the middle of the pack. Anyway, I decided to try keeping towards the front of the pack a little more in order to stay on longer. Well, my strategy worked. I was able to stay in the main pack the whole ride. My legs felt good and I had a great ride. I really want to do more road racing this year and rides like this can really boost your confidence. Sounds like the weather is going to get better toward the end of the week. I hope to get another good ride in tomorrow or Friday.

B

Sharing the bugs

2008-03-30T10:13:00.000-07:00

This last week has been rough for us. It started with Makayla a week and a half ago coming down with a fever. Three days later on Easter Sunday both boys had it too. They were so sick we could barely talk them into finding their Easter eggs....And guess who ended up eating most of the chocolate! They all had fevers and really stuffy noses for five days. I was beginning to think that Bruce and I may have avoided it but on Friday we both started getting the sniffles. Knowing the weather was supposed to take a turn for the worst I went out on a ride anyway Sat. It was quite brutal. Dee, Joann, Joe, Emily and I did a hilly 32 mile route through Boonville and Van Meter. What a treat to have a horrendous headwind on the way back. Thank goodness for Joe, he pulled most of the way home.

K