Here we are already - packing up our bags on the last day of the ‘07 Tour de Toona. Time is flying by as we deflate airbeds, pack up suitcases, stash away extra goodies for the trip home, say good-byes to our staff and teammates (we only have 1 more official weekend of racing as TEAm Lipton), all while still focusing on our last task at hand…today’s last leg breaking stage - the crit. Getting to this point has brought lots of success for this team - 3 stage wins, 2 different girls in yellow, and total control of the race. Webcor relinquished the yellow jersey on day 2 to Colavita and then on day 3 we took over the lead, not looking back since. For 2 days we kept Kori sitting comfortably in yellow by setting tempo at the front, killing any breaks that weren’t good for us, getting into breaks that were good for us, and by simply racing our bikes. Although the team’s goal was to keep Kori in yellow through to the finish, uncontrollable circumstances saw Kristin take over yellow at the end of day 6, jumping into a commanding 2 minute lead. About 70 riders, feeling exhausted and jaded from one of the hardest weeks of racing at Toona in recent years, will line up for the crit today, many hoping for “that” break to get away so the peloton has an easy ride to the finish. However, we are here to race our bikes and for one more day that’s what we are going to do - try to get one more for the TEAm!

Final results to follow…

-MM

Yesterday we kicked off the prestigious Tour de ‘Toona - 7 days of hard, grueling, backbreaking racing. And this year the tour organizers decided to throw a new kicker into the tour (as if 2 ~100 mile days isn’t enough) - a TEAM time trial. Now, a TTT is hard for any team - coordination, unity, communication, and smooth pulls are absolutely necessary for any team to be successful - but when you’re team leader is the TT World Champion, you know you’re going to hurt something serious, something most people have never felt before, pain is going to dripping from every pore. Needless to say, I woke up yesterday morning with nerves churning in my stomach already as expectations for a good team ride were high and I, myself, wanted to turn in a good ride for the team. However, I just couldn’t hold Kristin’s pace and dropped off the group too early. Needing to finish with 3 girls, the remaining 4 girls dug deep, deep, deep to try to come across the finish line first. Although the girls put in an amazing effort, doing everything humanly possible, at the end of the day it was the strong time-trialling team of Webcor who put 8 seconds into us. Of course, at first we were disappointed and probably a little pissed, too, but upon reflection after the emotions had time to calm, we realized that we actually put in a great ride and were pleased with our effort.

Everyday at Toona is a hard day and today was no exception. We laughed when we heard how short the stage was (it’s a new stage), 48 miles, but there was nothing easy about it. The terrain was rolling the entire day, with a few tough, steep climbs and hard rain thrown in for good measure. Kori crossed the line in 3rd, while Alison Powers took over the yellow jersey, which means Colavita will now have to control the race.

Kohi and Haka are having a blast at home with our super puppy-sitter, but I miss them! Motherhood is tough, leaving my babies behind for a week. 6 weeks in Europe is going to kill me! They’ll hardly be puppies anymore by the time I get back!

Dad had a pacemaker put in the other day. I would never have wished that on him but he is feeling so much better now. He can breathe and actually move now without gasping for breath with each step. He’ll be out doing centuries in no time now!!

Well, tomorrow is going to be a ripper - it’s going to rip our legs right off that is. 98 leg breaking miles. I think going to bed is probably a good idea right now.

-MM

My first day of motherhood didn’t go off without a hitch, as I had hoped. Rather, my beautiful-eyed Kohi got one of her eyes caught up in something in her cage. I mean, it really scared the crap out of me to the point that I was trembling. A metal piece was caught underneath her eyelid and I had to pull it out. Although she was back to playing as soon as she was free, I wasn’t going to take any chances so I took her into the vet to make sure there wasn’t any internal damage that I couldn’t see. Fortunately, CSU is the top vet school in the nation so I just had a short drive away to take Kohi in for a visit to the opthamology clinic (I hear that Lance Armstrong and Toby Keith have taken their dogs to CSU as well). Extensive tests showed that she has just a small scratch on her cornea that can be easily treated with antibiotic ointment. Besides the minor scratch, her eyelid is also droopy which I hope will heal over time, too, for her sake and mine since it is a constant reminder of the scary moment. But, for now, my little brown baby has got a sad, droopy eye - but she is still the ever playful, bundle of energy that she has been from day 1.

Haka and Kohi have got tons of puppy energy. They know how to play hard - lunging, tugging and tackling each other - and they also know how to crash hard. They will play, and play, and play and then in an instant be hard asleep, wimpering in their tender puppy dreams. And, they also have lots of puppy love to give, which is good because we have a lot of lovin’ to give back to them!

Woof, woof!!

-MM

So, what does a World Champion/National Champion wear after she’s just won the TT National Championship for the 3rd consecutive year? At least we got her in the right kit before the awards ceremony…

And rather than try to explain just how convoluted the TT course was, it became easier to use our fingers to describe the layout of the course (but you’ll have to figure it out on your own)…and to signify a 3-peat…

All smiles at the awards ceremony…

One more race and then I’ll be home with these 2 cuties!

-MM

Haka, that’s the black puppy’s name. Check out the haka for yourself and you’ll see what it’s all about. It is something that we strongly associate with New Zealand, so for us it’s a perfect fit. Kiwi, an obvious choice, would have worked as well but my feeling was that people would think of the fruit more than the the people or the country itself. We might have a bit of explaining to do with Haka but I think it’s fun and perfect for a black puppy since it’s the All Blacks who make the Haka so famous.

And, Kristin delivered the goods again yesterday in the TT - for the 3rd year in a row. Damn, the girl is flying! She was unbeatable in her rainbow stripe skinsuit, beating Amber Neben by 50 seconds and Chrsitine Thorburn by over a minute - wow! In the rain, too!! Hopefully she will keep it going through World’s to bring home another rainbow jersey!! Kori rounded out the podium with a 5th place - her best ever finish at nationals so she was deservingly very stoked with that! Just another day and a half until the road race, where hopefully we can also hang on to the RR jersey.

I have some good photos to post from yesterday that Kristin’s fiance, Joe, took but I am still waiting to get them in my hands. As soon as I get them and am back online, I’ll get them posted.

-MM