Damn, here I am in Montreal again preparing to race my first World Cup of the season in the pouring, miserable rain. I am not particularly fond of racing in the rain. In fact, I straight up hate it (just don’t tell my competitors that). And today’s race is going to be straight up hell - of all courses to race on when it’s wet, this has to be one of the worst because it’s terrible when it’s dry. I think I have been to Montreal 7 times now and the street surfaces keep getting worse and worse each year - bigger potholes, new potholes, shoddy patch jobs. But, I shouldn’t be the one complaining. For my Canadian teammates, today’s race is an Olympic qualifier! Not exactly the kind of conditions I’d wish for if I were racing to go to the Olympics.

Hopefully I’ll have some good news later today!

What better else to do than to ride 200 miles in 2 days?! On Friday morning Ben, our dear, dear British friend Chris, and myself began our 2 day, 200 mile bike adventure to Walden. With just small backpacks full of mostly cookies and a few overnight essentials (for me that included an extra pair of cycling shorts, casual shorts and shirt, a light pair of shoes and a toothbrush; for Chris that included those items already mentioned plus dental floss, deodorant, and probably mouth wash too), we started our journey at 5000 ft, headed up and over Cameron Pass at 10,300 ft, and then literally got blown into Walden at 8000 ft. Cameron Pass is still blanketed under a lot of snow and the temperatures were just hovering in the 50’s so we had to sorrowfully put on most of our extra clothing to keep warm - much different than the 80+ degree temperatures I had just experienced on Mt Hood a week ago - but the views made it worth the extra chill. After navigating our way into Walden (this consisted of one turn since we left Ft Collins), we cruised right up to our hotel, the Antler’s Inn, and settled in to our cozy room for the night. Most people might not think that a town with a population of only 700 could brag about such a nice hotel, but it surely is one to recommend to friends. The next morning we were afraid to step outside to see what the wind was doing - with such a nice tail wind the day before, the thought of riding 30 miles back to Cameron Pass in a wicked head wind was quite daunting. Fortunately, the wind gods were on our side since the winds had become cross winds rather than straight on head winds. And then, not but 10 miles into the ride luck struck again when the cross winds turned to tail winds! The wind helped push us up and over Cameron Pass (this direction being easier since we had only 2000 ft in elevation gain) and down, down, down all the way back to Ft Collins. Saturday was a particularly nice day down at the lower elevations so we passed many kayakers running the rapids in the Poudre - something that one day I would like to try. For now though, I’ll stick to the road that will lead me to my next race in Montreal, Canada.

Tah tah
Meredith

These pictures were taken from my Blackberry - not bad, hey. I tried taking a few photos from the Stanton Moore Trio concert we went to the other night at the Aggie but it was too dark.

Right, I know, it’s been too long since I last updated my blog, but damn I have been busy. Speedweek flew by with each day following a schedule similar to this – sleep in, eat breakfast, try to fit in a short spin before packing up the car to drive to the next race (the drive being anything from 1 to 4 hours), pull up to our next host house, unpack and say a quick hi to our gracious hosts, speed off to the next race, hammer out another race, eat while catching a bit of the men’s race, get home before it’s too late to do laundry, and then finally get a few z’s before doing it all again the next day.

And to top it off, on the last day of Speedweek we raced TWICE! The day went something like this – leave our host house in Anniston, AL, drive a couple hours to Roswell, GA, park the car and then ride our bikes the 7 miles to the Sandy Springs crit (the last race of the series), then ride the 7 miles back to Roswell just in time to pin our new numbers on our backs, recompose ourselves, rethink our tactics since Roswell was NRC and not part of the series, and get lined up to race the LAST race of the week. Whew.

Barely had we crossed the finish line of the bike race, celebrated another podium, and caught our breath before we had to think about our next race - this time in a car to the Atlanta airport! Powers, check; Lang, check; Allar and Miller, damn, missed our flights. Sweating it just a little since we had to wait on stand-by for the next flight to Ft Lauderdale, we sighed a deep breath of relief when we squeaked on to a 9:30pm flight.

Here begins another adventure…Erica and I flew into Ft Lauderdale where we were picked up and then driven to Duck Key. At 2:30am we pulled into the Hawks Cay Resort where we would spend the next 33 hours wining and dining and having a ball with 90 Aaron’s employees. The Aaron’s Rents group was at the resort for their annual manager’s meeting and we were there to meet and interact with the awesome people who so wholeheartedly support the Aaron’s Women’s Pro Cycling Team.

Walking into breakfast the next morning I am sure we must have looked like zombies with just a mere 4 hours of sleep in our tired and ragged bodies, but the appetizing smell and taste of the food spread out before us certainly perked us up quickly. We stuffed ourselves as if, believe it or not, we had been racing our bikes all week, and then we moved on to various activities planned for the day – team building with The Drum Café, pie eating contests, 5 person ski races, water balloon throwing, hula hoop races, and other crazy fun relay races to get the Aaron’s Rents group fired up. Erica and I mingled throughout the day taking pictures and videos of the different events, and we even managed a couple hours on the beach at some point between one of the activities and lunch. That evening we had cocktails and dinner poolside with the Aaron’s group, mingling, chatting and exchanging stories about life on the road as a pro cyclist and life as a manager for Aaron’s Rents. Before we knew it, our 33 hours were up and we were being whisked away to the Miami airport for our respective flights home. I have to admit, as eager as I was to get home I was enjoying the sun and warmth and luxury at the resort.

The subsequent 5 days at home were a blur. Day 1 I had to myself to try to frantically get things done and errands run before chaos would begin on day 2. Collegiate nationals were held in Ft Collins this year and I coach a woman on the Cal Berkeley team so I spent time with the women’s team showing them the different courses by bike and car. Because the TTT started at the butt crack of dawn and the course was just a simple out and back course along the frontage road, I decided to skip it and sleep in. However, I was up at the butt crack of dawn the next day for the road race – it was a hard course and I wanted to see how the women would tackle it. Less than pleasant weather greeted the cyclists that morning – the temperature was hovering in the 50’s and the winds had kicked up something fierce. However bad I wish that I could race on my training roads, I did not want any part of the race this day! Add in the steep climb just 1 km from the start and it was not going to be an easy race. Luckily I got to watch the race from the warmth of Casey Gibson’s (Velonews photographer) car as he jumped from place to place to shoot the race. The last day of nationals proved to be the most exciting with the crit being held over a tough figure eight course in Old Town. Under perfect race conditions the collegiate riders tackled the challenging course with high speeds and flair, keeping the spectators fired up for exciting finishes. And it was CSU’s Phil Mann who brought the crowd to their feet with a spectacular back-to-back criterium win!

Now I am in Hood River, OR, for the Hood River Classic…but that’s a story for another day!